A PB of sorts :-)

Tuesday: 10k
Week Total: 10k
Month Total: 376k
Year Total: 376k

It was a huge roll up at Pat's again today. There seems to be new faces every session. And best of all they come back! Its just so hard trying to remember everybody's name. Clairie and I are thinking of suggesting to Pat we have a 'name tag' day. Well, 'name tags'. Not just one for the front, but one for people's backs as well, especially handy for those of us who do a lot of chasing :-)

On the pgm was 5 x 500m reps and 1 x 1k rep. We did a longer than usual warmup to New Farm - via Kangaroo Pt and over the Story Bridge. Last time I did this session, after my injury lay off, my times ranged from 2:01 to 2:05. So I was hoping to go under 2mins for most of them today.

There was a great atmosphere out there this morning. As people finished their sets they gathered and cheered everyone else running in. Then at the end as Pat was running towards us all after collecting his witches hats and signs we formed a guard of honour for him to run through. So he put on a bit of a stagger as if he was doing it tough at the end of a marathon.

Anyway, my 500m times were -
1:55
1:52
1:56
1:54
2:00
The standing recovery between each was supposed to be 60 seconds, though I cut it short every time, the shortest recovery (46 secs) was before the faster rep. The 1k that followed was a bit sad, 4:14, though I did have to run a few extra meters to grab my water bottle ;-)

Not a bad day at the office, those 500m times are pretty close to the best I've ever done. Gotta be happy with that, especially considering its come at the end of a month where I've recorded the most mileage ever (previous record was 353km).

STaR Trek

Sunday: 31k
Week Total: 80k
Month Total: 366k
Year Total: 366k

On Sunday morning I joined in with the STaR called the 'Airport Adventure'. Heading off with a fairly big 6am group but soon settled in with a smaller pack, which got progressively smaller. Probably not much after halfway it was just JD, Horrie and I.

Until this point the run had been very scenic going through some lovely waterside suburbs including the famous Sylvania Waters. I'd been warned there were hills to come, and I guess that's when Sylvania Waters ended and Sylvania Heights started. JD was flying up the hills, leaving Horrie and I for dead. But then on the downhills it was Horrie who was flying. Me, I just plodded along :-)

Anyway, we finally conquered the last big hill on the map. But then we took a wrong turn and not only added a little extra mileage, but it also added one more big hill!

We drank on the run it and wasn't until about the 21k or 22k mark we had a decent water stop. The last few kms of the journey were a bit of a stuggle so it was good to see the mass of green and white gathered at the finish.

Total run time was 2h52m, average 5:31 per km. So a little slower than my previous long runs but without all the stops for water the overall time was actually quicker, and that made the run a little more difficult. In our Brissie runs even though most of us carry water we tend to stop and drink every few kms. Not any more!

CR 5k Challenge

Saturday: 13k
Week Total: 49k
Month Total: 335k
Year Total: 335k

Ran an easy 3k warmup to meet up with a bunch of CRs at the start line of the 5k Challenge. The goal was to get close to 21:30, but wouldn't have been surprised if I was a little over that. This time last year I ran 21:03 which was my PB.

Pre race it was great to catch up with other CRs and fellow bloggers including Kit (who had a great run!!!), Superflake, Don Juan, sfGnome, Wild Thing, and the blogger formerly known as Benny R - Captain Chunderbolt.

I took off with the 21 minute group, with Ray leading the pack. I was at the back from the word 'go' and it seemed forever before I even caught up to or passed any of them. About the 2 1/2 km mark I went past JD, and really put the foot down so as to hold him off for as long as possible ... I knew with his fast finishing it was only at matter of time.

Funny how the whole thing becomes a blur, runners from the faster groups must have passed me but I only remember The Colin (really early on) and then Boof at around 4k. With just 1k I figured with a bit of hard work I might just crack the 21:30 so went for it. I was still expecting the JD to do his usual trick, but was more worried about my own time than anything else.

Ran the last km in 4:03 and crossed the finish line in 21:12. Only 9 seconds off my PB and way better than I had expected. Oh, and JD never caught me :-)

Score - JD 1, Tesso 1. Next race - Canberra Marathon. Gulp!

Aus Day Fun Run

Thursday and Friday: 16k
Week Total: 36k
Month Total: 322k
Year Total: 322k

As I was going to be in Sydney for Australia Day I couldn't resist entering the Aus Day fun run. My goal for the 8k was to run at 4:35 pace or less, which, if my maths isn't too shoddy, would have given me a time of 36:40.

It was great to catch up with so many CRs pre-race, some of us even warmed up together, something I often forget to do. I started the race with JD, Go-Girl and Katie, but we were a fair way back in the crowd. It took us 22 seconds just to get to the start line!

The first km was very crowded, and so was slow. But after that, even with all the twists and turns and dodging and weaving I managed to maintain a pretty steady pace. I wished I'd worn my Garmin though, the km markers were very dodgey.

After that first chaotic km I spotted Gronk not too far in front - yay, a target! But he was having a great race, I don't think it was until around the 6k mark that I seemed to make some ground and eventually caught up to him.

Meanwhile, JD and I had been playing a bit of cat and mouse. As we passed the start/finish heading for the last lap I was just meters behind, and the CR cheersquad were egging me on to catch up to him. Alas, it wasn't to be. But at least trying to do so got me a better finishing time than expected - 35:04 (on my watch). I was happy that those who did wear their Garmins measured it as just over 8k, so at least the course wasn't short.

Score - JD 1, Tesso 0. Next race, Saturday's CR 5k Challenge.

Afterwards all we 8k runners cheered on the 4k people. It was fantastic to see Timbo out there, especially when he spotted the finish line, put the foot down and sprinted away from his dad Horrie :-)

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Friday morning I did a very cruisey 8k, running into and around Darling Harbour. Not much to report other than the fact that in the space of about a minute I ran past and said hello to five other runners (all running on their own) and not one hello came back my way! Just after that I passed a couple of guys walking along drinking Coronas and having a ciggie - they said hello! It was around 7am. Beer o'clock is very early in Sydney :-)

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Today and yesterday Total: 20k
Week Total: 20k
Month Total: 306k
Year Total: 306k

First up thank you so much to everyone for song requests. I'm still taking more if you haven't requested anything yet. There have been such interesting suggestions and quite the variety of music - everything from Mozart to Ramstein. And I've so far managed to find each and every one :-) It really is gonna make Caboolture so much more enjoyable for me.

Yesterday morning at Pat's was hill reps in the Gardens - my favourite session! As always we had two options of where to start our sprint, so I decided I'd be taking the longer one each time. That meant running fast on the flat for a while before attacking the hill. The first hill climb my legs hurt, it was a struggle, so rather than an easy recovery I did a semi-fast one. Not sure where the logic is in that. Guess it just made me feel better.

It was great having Clairie and others around to try to pass or keep up with. Of course I'd only pass them when they slowed on the downhills but then I'd try to stay in front of them until we got to the top. Failed just about every time but it was fun trying :-)

Blogger Steve L's friend Colin is in Brisbane for a week or so and he came along to The Regatta today. A bunch of us headed out at around 5 min pace. I really wanted to save myself for the Aus Day run so at the 5k mark let them all go and I turned and ran back a little slower. I went via South Bank to add an extra km.

At the Vic Bridge I ran into Steve McC and stopped for a chat. A few minutes later Colin came flying down the path, with Clairie not too far behind, so I bid Steve farewell and rejoined Clairie for the trip back. She said she was struggling to maintain the pace. So I suggested we try to catch up to Colin and the guy he was running with. I told her to imagine it was the Olympics and they were in 1st and 2nd place. She was off!

All up for me it was 11k in about 56 mins. A little quicker than intended considering the race tomorrow.

Fast forward a few hours and I'm sitting at an Internet Cafe in Sydney. Tomorrow morning is the Australia Day Fun Run. It really will be a fun run, catching up with the all the Sydney CRs once again. Not sure how I'll go, 4:35 pace the whole way would make me happy.

Help Me Make It Through The Night

Its my rest day today but I'm still dedicating some time to running by working on my 'race strategy' for Caboolture, starting with the music. I'm gonna break it up into hour or half hour long segments of different genres or themes.

I thought one of them could be requests. If you have a minute and don't mind indulging me, please let me know a song and I'll play it for you. If I don't have it already I'll try to get a hold of it.

I know you don't get to hear your request, but I do :-)

Sunday School

Re Caboolture CJ asked ...

What time does it start?
6pm on Feb 4th

How are you feeling about it?
Excited but worried

Will you be using your ipod for part of it?
YES!!!

It won't last the distance will it, or will it?
No, mine won't. But the lovely Clairie has come to my rescue and so kindly offered her hubby's as backup. Its already on loan to me while mine is being fixed.

*****

Today Total: 13k
Week Total: 90k
Month Total: 286k
Year Total: 286k

After Saturday's long run the plan for Sunday was just to roll the legs over and take it easy. The iPod was loaded with some cruisey stuff and the watch was purposely left behind.

Got to the Edward St entrance of then did my measured 2k lap before heading back home, so 13k all up. I saw so many runners, it was like a Who's Who of the Brisbane running scene, it seemed the only ones missing were the ones who were out and about Saturday. Of course I stopped and talked to whoever I could, any opportunity for a little break :-)

But they were useful little breaks. Fat Bloke told me about the run/walk strategy he has used in this event in the past. Siri told me about how she eats during ultras. She even gave me a wild berry flavoured Power Bar. You can't get them here, she brought it back from the States. And Ruth suggested chopping the energy bars up beforehand so they are in bite size pieces, they do that for their long bike rides.

Learnt a lot!

V Attack

Today Total: 33k
Week Total: 77k
Month Total: 273k
Year Total: 273k

Last post Kit asked how long till the big race (ie Caboolture Dusk to Dawn). Its on Feb 4th, so just two weeks away now. Yikes!

This morning about 5:00 Clairie and I met up with Robbie and Phil and we headed off to do 10k before joining the others at 6am. We went out to UQ, which meant a few hills along the way, then around the ring road where we stopped for a quick drink then headed back.

With Robbie at the helm the pace seemed a little fast, though not uncomfortable. He's so entertaining to run with, he's like a walking, well, running, encyclopaedia when it comes to his favourite topic, which just happens to be running!

Back at The Regatta there was a good crowd ready to roll, probably 30 to 40. Some, including new recruit to the group, fellow blogger Shane, headed off to Mt Coot-tha. Others set of in the direction we'd just come from, and the bulk of us went along the bikeway into the city and beyond.

Tara (doing her first marathon in Canberra), Clairie and I hung in together. After the chasing Robbie for the earlier 10k Clairie and I were keen to slow things down a little. And it sure felt like we did, but checking our pace it didn't really drop off too much. Must've warmed up I guess.

Got to New Farm Park and I was feeling a bit zapped of energy but couldn't face a gel, so we zipped up to the local shops and I grabbed a can of V, the black one with all the good stuff in it :-) The first couple of mouthfuls did the trick and I poured the rest into my fuelbelt bottle.

Off and running again next thing there was this popping sound, and I feel something hit my arm. Bloody birds - I was sure one had hit me a very loose dark coloured poop. I was grossed out! Kept on running and a minute or so later had a bit more V from my bottle, and pushed the bottle top down. Next thing, pop! And I get squirted again. Doh! It wasn't the birds after all, it was my drink getting shaken up and then exploding :-)))

With about four kms to go we picked up the pace a little, and then with one to go Clairie shrieked something about her favourite song and she was off. Of course we had to keep up and all did that last km in 4:28, our fastest of the day. Gosh, this pair are looking fantastic for their first marathon!

All up 33k in around 2hr 51 min. According to the Garmin the first 10k we averaged 5:12 pace, and the next 23k around 5:17s.

The journey home from New Farm was probably the easiest part of the run for me, must've been that bird poop I was drinking :-)

That reminds me. What do you do if a bird shits on your windscreen?

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Never take her out again :-)

Slow down, you're movin' too fast

Today Total: 15k
Week Total: 44k
Month Total: 240k
Year Total: 240k

I had planned to run Mt Coot-tha this morn, but had a bad night's sleep and was feeling a bit shattered so instead thought I'd practice running close to my Caboolture pace (5:45 to 6:15) just so I know what it feels like. It was perfect summer running conditions - rain!

I was alarmed at how heavy my footsteps were, even with the iPod on I could hear them. Hmmm, must be tired. It would've been at least five minutes before I realised they weren't my footsteps, it a girl I had passed earlier - doh! She had been right on my tail the whole time. Yep, I am tired! Anyway she stayed there for another five minutes or more which of course meant I coudn't slow down even though I was way under my goal pace, running 5:15s.

I ran to the end of the Gardens and then I timed a measured 2km loop around there. The goal was 11m 30s (5:45 pace) but the first loop was 10m 39s. Too fast! Tried again and the second loop was dead on 10m 39s again. Too fast, but at least it was consistent. Thankfully on the journey home I finally managed to do a few 5:45s.

There were several Pat Carrollers out there today. Ran past Wayne early on, and then Rachel in the Gardens. Then at the end of my second lap in there Rachel came back towards me with hubby Barry in tow, so had a chat to them. Then on the trip back towards the Regatta I saw Ally who had just finished her morning run, so stopped for another chat. Capped of a good morning having a coffee at The Regatta with Clairie, Chris and co.

The Caboolture pacing may need a little work, but I think I have the socialising bit down pat :-)

Hit with a bit of four by four

Today Total: 9k
Week Total: 29k
Month Total: 225k
Year Total: 225k

Firstly in answer to Shane's comment on yesterdays run ... "Considering the first 2k you must of really picked up the pace in the last few Km, Good time. After the 7k did you just cruise home for the remaining 4k?".

I did an easy 2k, then cranked it up for 7k, then did a 2k warmdown. So that middle 7k was 33:33. Didn't really bother timing the easy kms.

This morning at Pat's was 4 x 4 min efforts. We warmed up and then did strides at the River Stage in the Gardens. Before taking off Pat announced to the group the news of Scotty's engagement, and of course seized the opportunity for yet another ex-wife joke :-)

Even with a few of the vital players missing the group was pretty large, and it was a little crowded running up the pathway. It didn't bother we runners too much, but boy, there were a couple of snappy cyclists out there who must've got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning.

As we were running back at the end of the last effort Pat yelled to us that if we gave it our all we wouldn't have to run up the grassy hill - yahoo! The pace picked up and we all flew back. But then Tori decided she'd run up the hill anyway. Gary followed. Then of course so did the rest of us. I think Pat was pretty chuffed when he came around the corner and saw us all hootin' up the hill.

Shortish Longish Run

Today Total: 11k
Week Total: 20k
Month Total: 216k
Year Total: 216k

Wednesday is usually longish run day (15k to 20k) unless, like this week, I'm between night shifts, then its a rest day. But I had a rest day Monday, and things were quiet at work so I took off at 5.20am even though I didn't much feel like it.

The legs were heavy, I was tired, and I could feel the affects of yesterday arvo's massage. Ran towards the floating walkway and the first two kms were sad. But then I suddenly felt a bit better so picked up the pace to around 5min kms. Ran to New Farm Park and did a few laps. Saw Gary M along the way, he called out something to me but I have no idea what, my music was up a bit loud :-)

By the 3rd km I was just under 5 minute pace and so I thought I'd try to keep it up for another 2k before slowing down again. Once I'd done 5k I decided to make it 6k. Then 7k. Checking the watch I thought I could get close to my time for the 7k at BRRC on Sunday (it was 33:09). 'Take Me Out' came on the iPod and I really kicked it in the guts. But even Franz Ferdi-panz couldn't get me there. Time - 33:33.

Pat Malone

Today Total: 9k
Week Total: 9k
Month Total: 205k
Year Total: 205k

On Pat's pgm this morning was 30/30s - 30 secs fast, 30 secs slow. On the physio's advice I'm not doing any sprinting at the moment but rather than skip the session altogether (and likely do something lazy instead) I rocked up and asked Pat for an alternative. He suggested 1 min fast, 30 secs slow - that way the fast wouldn't be a sprint.

After warming up with the group and doing strides on the grass, they set off running around the 'square' and I headed up and down the main straight. I managed to squeeze in 12 sets before I saw the pack coming toward me on their warmdown.

I thought it might be difficult doing the session alone, but surprisingly it wasn't too bad at all.

A Family Affair

Today Total: 7k
Week Total: 86k
Month Total: 196k
Year Total: 196k

I'm looking after a couple of my nephews (7 and 9) for a few days. Hmmmm, how do I do this and not miss out on running? Oh, and not go crazy, though that's an entirely separate issue.

I hate missing races, and it was the fortnightly BRRC meet this morning, a 7k and a 14k. So I offered the kids money to come along and help out by picking up cups. My superior negotiating skills got the price down from the $8 they were demanding to a more reasonable $5 :-)

We arrived in time for the longer race, but once there I decided after yesterday's 30k that 7k was more a sensible option. There was a big turnout for the 14k. Blogger Shane was there, and Greg, the kids 'fitness trainer', his triathlon crowd rolled up to race.

Anyway, my plan was not to race flat out, but to run at a steady 4:45 pace. Robert Song was at the Orleigh Park turnaround but I was so busy listening to Steve The Footman's broken leg story I didn't see him ... until he made a smart comment about me ignoring him :-) And Lady Jove was a water station sergeant, hope she's still talking to me after I left those assistants there to annoy her.

Running back towards the city I spotted my sister walking. After talking about it for a while she had finally joined up BRRC. I suggested to her that she should come along and start walking when the longer run starts but walk the short distance, that way she wouldn't be finishing way behind everyone. But today she was running (well, walking) late.

It was pretty humid, and I think that made the steady 4:45s not as easy as hoped. My splits were -

4:48
4:40
4:50
4:44
4:44
4:59 (what ???)
4:22

Total - 33:09

Lots of people seem to have a long 6th km, I'm wondering with the work being done on the boardwalk if the marker there was accurate. Anyway, seeing that on my watch I really put the foot down for the last one (I know it was accurate as the marker was in the usual spot).

It was good to see Radar and his pooch running in the other direction in the final stretch. Fantastic, he's back in action! .... I have to say that, he reads my blog :-)

The humidity made for a tough morning, but there was no holding back Claire Geraghty who ran an unbelievable race (53.?? I think) to do a 2 minute course record in the 14k - the previous record was set in 1991! And we wear the same type of Lorna Jane running tights, though hers a tad smaller and they go faster :-)

A Getting Ready PW

Today Total: 30k
Week Total: 79k
Month Total: 189k
Year Total: 189k

Friday I worked overnight and was going to leave there at 4.30am, run to The Regatta for the Saturday run, stick with Clairie for her scheduled 24k, then run back to work to collect the car. That would've given me around 33k and at least 3 hours. Although I started getting ready to leave at 4am it was 4.35 before I was out the door and so just drove home (10 mins), did some more getting ready and was at The Regatta just before 5am. Hopeless :-(

More were expected but there were just three of us there for the early kickoff - Clairie, Mark (iliketoast) and myself. We applied the 5 minute rule, then the 8, and then the 9 before taking off along the bikepath, over the Goodwill and then via Kangaroo Pt and the Story Bridge to New Farm Park. It was just over 12k to our usual tap. The other two, knowing I needed to clock up extra kms, kindly offered to do some stretching while I did a lap of the park (around 1km). Then they joined me for another one before heading back.

On the floating walkway we ran into deputy premier Anna running in the opposite direction, and stopped for a quick little chat. A minute or so later Tara, Ciaran and Scotty plus a few other Regatta runners rolled up so it turned in a longer chat.

Back on the road and into the Gardens where Mark and Clairie worked out they needed to do a lap there to bring their total up to 24kms. We did that and at that point I decided if I went back with them I'd surely pull up stumps way too soon. So they ran back and I put in another one and then ran out to Admiralty Towers. Saw Ruth, and stopped to say hello. Then Rachel wandered by and joined us. It was turning into a very social morning :-)

With about 5k to go I upped the pace a little for a km, and then upped it a little more (to around 5:10s) for the next two. Just 2k left and I really really just wanted to get this one over and done with so put the foot down and did these at around 4:45 pace.

All up 30k in 2:38 (av pace 5:16). So a good and bad morning. Good being able to do 30k in that time, especially finishing so strongly. Bad in that, with Caboolture in mind, I wanted to be on my feet for at least 3 hours, even if I ran the same distance.

Work Needed

Today Total: 12k
Week Total: 49k
Month Total: 159k
Year Total: 159k

I worked overnight last night and had taken all my stuff in with me just in case I felt like a trot around 5am and had no work to do. We are going through our quietest time of the year so knew if I did feel like it I'd be able to run.

The legs weren't really sore, but the hips and glutes were. In fact for the first time I can recall ever these have been hurting and have been for the past month or so. I'm wondering if its because my body isn't used to all the physio exercises and stretching.

Anyway, I'd finished everything that needed to be done before end of shift so hit the road around 5.15am and the first 500m or so were a bit of a struggle but after that all the kinks seemed to be gone. I wasn't pushing it, running about 5:45 pace.

I ran down to Riverside then to New Farm Park and did a lap. Then another. Then I thought it might be good mental practice for Caboolture (12hrs on a 500m circuit) to do more laps before running back. I managed two more before getting bored with it. Hmmmm, might need to do more work on that side of things.

A Mountain of Music

Today Total: 12k
Week Total: 37k
Month Total: 147k
Year Total: 147k

On my last post Clairie asked .... "How are the adductors going with the mileage/speed?"

They are okay, though I still do feel some pain in the area. After talking to others who've had similar injuries, I'm expecting this to take a while to subside. And I am heeding Adam the physio's advice of no 'all out sprinting'.

Which is why I opted out of Pat's session this morning (it was 30sec or 1 min reps) and headed for Mt Coot-tha instead. Sharon and I were wanting a road run and so planned to get to the JC Slaughter Falls car park at 5.30am, the same time as Clairie, Lizzle and the rest Chris's group who were doing some mountain goat hill reps.

After the tough workout yesterday, and too much pizza and red wine last night, I wasn't expecting much. But from the moment I started running I felt great. Not sure why, but I think a lot had to do with the great music I was listening to.

Going up the big hill (a 2.5 km climb I think it is) there was a cyclist about 20 meters in front of me and I managed to maintain the same distance behind him right to the top. He kept looking back, checking for cars I suppose. But I told myself he was worried a runner was gonna catch him :-) Going that final couple of hundred meters to the top playing on the iPod was Fiona Apple's "Extraordinary Machine" ....

If there was a better way to go then it would find me
I can't help it the road just rolls out behind me
Be kind to me or treat me mean
I'll make the most of it I'm an extraordinary machine

The minute we got to the ABC he took off, and I didn't see him for dust. Oh well, maybe I'm not such an extraordinary machine.

I reached the water stop shortly after that still feeling great, but there's a few kms of undulations to come, which I hate. Ha ha, next song was Bernard Fanning's "Not Finished Just Yet". I dedicated the next stretch of road to fellow CR blogger and Toowoomba's biggest Bernie/Powderfinger non-fan The Enforcer :-)

I wasn't planning on pushing it, but couldn't help myself go a little faster than I normally would on this run. Again, the music helped including one of my favourite discoveries of 2005, Jens Lekman with "You Are The Light" ...

Yeah I got busted
so I used my one phone call to dedicate
a song to you on the radio

Makes me laugh every time. Lots more great tunes followed and before I knew it I'd hit the Summit Restaurant and long downhill back to the car park.

At the finish I was pleasantly surprised to see 51.55 on the watch (its a 9.6km circuit). On training runs it usually takes me a couple of minutes or more longer. And I reckon I could've gone faster too without too much discomfort. I was thinking about doing a second lap but decided not to. I felt too good and wanted to make the most it, if that makes sense. So I just added a bit of a warmdown afterwards to bring the total kms to 12k.

I'm still trying to figure out why, but its probably the best I've run in a long time, it seemed almost effortless. No doubt I'll come back to earth with a thud on the Saturday long run.

Wednesday Workout

Clairie and I decided it was time to get serious about our Wednesday morning runs. On her pgm was 12k at 5:45 pace. Hmmm, doesn't sound that serious at all. We pretended she misread it and planned to run the distance at around 4:45 pace :-) I wanted to do closer to 17k with a good chunk of it at a decent clip so seized the opportunity to run with her.

We took off with the Regatta crew and for the first time (well, for me anyway) we were out in front of everybody. Just after the 1k mark Clairie realised her wedding ring wasn't on her finger. And she never takes it off! So we immediately turned and ran back, keeping up the pace but searching the entire way. When the others went past they all had very curious looks on their faces, and even more so when she held up a finger .... not that finger! We got all the way back to her car and thankfully there is was on the ground. Talk about "whew"!

So, it was back to the bikepath. We settled into a decent pace, hovering between 4:45s and 4:50s I guess, give or take. Passed Tanky and Siri along the way but didn't stop for a chat, we were on a mission. Got to the tap halfway through the Gardens and the Garmin read 7k. It was 5k back to The Regatta so Clairie turned for home. I was tempted to go with her but knew once I got to the Regatta there's no way I'd put in the extra kms I'd planned so forged on.

Keeping up the same pace I did a couple of laps around the Gardens, then headed over the Goodwill Bridge and towards West End until I'd covered 13k. I was knackered and figured that was enough! From there it was spot on 4k back so did this at a more leisurely pace. Ran into Annie and Sharon on the way - yay, I could stop for a chat.

I was totally drenched in sweat by the end, even my shoes were soaked. So I'm hoping the humidity was a contributing factor to just how hard that first 13k felt (91% at 6am). I was tempted to cut it short or slow down but kept reminding myself of Vat_Man's wise words "if you wanna run fast you've gotta run fast".

Maybe there's a wiser person out there who knows of an easier way .....

3k TT - January 2006

Today Total: 8k
Week Total: 8k
Month Total: 118k
Year Total: 118k

It was pouring rain again in the early hours of the morning, though it had stopped by the time I set off to Pat's for the monthly TT. So no rain was good, though it sure was humid - around 93% when we took off. Nobody seemed in the mood for this today, then again, are we ever :-) December was my first time trial that I could run 'fast' since being injured and I did 12.25 (my PB set in Feb 2005 is 11.53). So for today the goal was 12.15.

I ran the warm-up mostly with (little) Linda who was having the worst time keeping her fuelbelt on - and I thought I had wardrobe malfunctions with mine! It was great to hear about her upcoming hols with Ally and Annaliese. Part of it will be spent in the States in a QLD Police relay team competing against over 200 other police teams, each with twenty runners - bad dudes beware!

After our strides Pat gave us a quick talk and mentioned how great it is that we encourage and help eachother during these TTs. This was certainly to prove true for me today.

My first km was 3:59. Great! I was just meters behind Scotty, Keith and one of the Andrews, and halfway through the second km got past them. I was really trying not to lose time in this km, its always my downfall, and thought getting ahead of the guys I might be on track. Alas, the second km was 4:09. Dang!

Keith soon passed me back and so I tried to keep him within reach. And I wanted to keep Clairie in my sights too. I knew I'd never catch her but didn't want to let her get any further in front. I managed to do this, and in fact started to gain ground. Then the little bugger put the foot down with about 200m to go! I did the same. Soon Peter H, who had already well and truly finished, came back and ran beside me egging me on to the finish line. I couldn't let him down and ran so hard I nearly chucked! The last km 4:05.

Total time 12.15 (adding in all the fractions of seconds). I'm happy with that.

I wouldn't have done it without having Clairie to chase - thanks matey! And I reckon I would've been a couple of seconds slower had it not been for Peter coming back and running in with me. I suggested later that next time he may like to join me at the 2k mark :-)

100 Not Out :-)

Today Total: 12k
Week Total: 100k
Month Total: 110k
Year Total: 110k

Sunday morning was another perfect one for running, a little light rain and not too hot. We were having a send-off run for MJ, she's off to Kapooka for seven weeks of boot camp, the real deal.

Around 15 of us rolled up to the starting point, just behind Toombul shopping complex. There is a dedicated bikeway/walkway there that is mostly bitumen, dead flat, with a canal on one side for much of it and basically parkland around. And there are kilometer markings. I can't believe I haven't run here before, but I definitely will again.

It was all at a cruisey pace, enjoying the scenery, the company and the noisy froggies. Most had declared they were doing 10k. Until this point I'd racked up 88k for the week. Another 10k would make 98k ... but another 12k ..... I'd never run 100k in a week before.

Matty was cycling near us and chatting and then zoomed ahead to the 4k marker with drinks for everyone which was so thoughtful. I was thinking of going to the 6k mark and back but instead turned at 5k with the others and went back to the start before heading in the other direction for 1k out and back on my own. That brought up the ton - woohoo!!!! Best thing is I feel no more fatigued or any sorer than shorter training weeks.

A magnificent brekky followed on the deck at MJ's place - every type of fruit you could imagine, croissants, pastries, bread, tea, coffee, juice etc etc etc. And speaking of tons I think I weighed one by the time we left :-)

30k River Loop

Today Total: 30k
Week Total: 88k
Month Total: 98k
Year Total: 98k

For today's long run it was a 4.30am (yes am!) start at The Regatta. Surprisingly 10 people showed up at that hour. Geoff is doing 6ft Track so basically said hello and goodbye and went off and did some bush bashing at Mt Coot-tha. The rest of us - Clairie, Karen, Tara, Min, Liz N, Phil, Ciaran and Nick ... oh, and me - did a river loop.

It had rained a fair bit overnight and so it was humid but pretty overcast, so that made for more pleasant running than we anticipated. For most it was the first long run in the build up to marathon season so took it kind of easy. We all stuck together and stopped for water every couple kms.

At Dornoch Tce Tara and Ciaran peeled off as they were only wanting to run 25k, the remainder of us continued on and ran down to the river at West End and back through South Bank to the Goodwill Bridge and home to The Regatta.

With a few kms to go Clairie and Phil started hitting the straps a bit, she said she wanted to bring it home at 5.20 pace. So I had to go with them! The last three kms were something like 5:10, 5:19 and then a sub 5. We ran an extra few meters at the end until the Garmin clicked over to 30k exactly in a time of just over 2hrs 42mins. That worked out to an average pace of 5:25s.

I was so happy with how I ran and how I felt, especially at the end. And I managed to do it on no brekky (other than a coffee) and just water, and only for a minute or two around the 20k mark did I think a gu or something would have been good.

Actually, everyone seemed to be running so well. Its only the second time Clairie has done that distance and she finished so strongly. And its the furthest Phil has ever run, yet he made it look so easy.

Yep, a good day at the office :-)

The Bizarro Aki

Today Total: 9k
Week Total: 58k
Month Total: 68k
Year Total: 68k

Another day shift today (7am start) so drove to work early and ran back to join Clairie and the Regatta Runners for their 6am start and ran back into the city with them. There had been some heavy rain in the early hours of the morn and even though the sky was overcast and grey it was warm and very humid (24 degrees and 90% humidity).

There weren't as many runners or cyclists as you'd normally see at this hour, maybe the hint of rain put them off. Even the number of Regatta Runners was well down. I only spotted a couple of the usual suspects out there including the Aki lookalike. She always runs in the early morning and over the years I've never ever seen her dressed in anything but long tights and long sleeves, no matter how hot or cold it is, but today she was in a sleeveless top and shorts.

Clairie and I both declared we'd take this one slow and seemed to be doing so. Still, the front pack weren't that far in front of us, so either they were cruising as well or our slow is getting faster. I tried to veer off at the Vic Bridge to head up to work but my ever faithful running buddy turned herself into a roadblock and forced me to run a whole 200 meters extra to the next exit.

Running back past the casino the cold air blasting out the big open front doors was absolutely beautiful. I should've stopped there and then and stretched (or at least pretended to) and then walked the couple of blocks to work. Must remember to do this next time.

Happy Chappy

Today Total: 11k
Week Total: 49k
Month Total: 59k
Year Total: 59k

It was a 7am start time for work today so it was up really early to drive to work and then run the 2 1/2 km over to the Ship Inn for the 5.40am kickoff at Pat's.

On the pgm was 4 x 1k reps or 3 x 1ks with a 90 sec standing recover, and 2 x 500s with a 1 minute recovery. I'm starting to feel the effects of upping the kms and arrived today feeling tired and a little sore so figured I'd be around 4:10 pace. Anything under that and I'd be happy.

Well, I ended up more than happy - I did my three 1ks in 3:55, 3:58 and 4:01 :-) As I had to get to work I left the group after the third one and ran 2 x 2 minute efforts back towards work.

There was a bit of conjecture as to whether the new km line marker was in the same spot as previously, some of us thought it seemed to be a couple of meters shorter than the old one. I'm hoping the old one was long ;-)

Annual Plu Run

Plu is on hols at Main Beach. He was up around the same time last year and a group of us headed down the coast for a run with him. This Wednesday morn it was just Karen and I. The plan was to do an easy hour but after 30 mins we were close to Kurrawa and so forged on so we could show him where the start of the Kurrawa to Pt Danger race was. It was dead on 6k to that point.

After a quick drink (no champers this day, just water!) we headed back to the start. The 12k took us 1hr 10min, so an average pace of around 5:51 according to the trusty Garmin.

We hit the ocean for a quick dip afterwards, in our running gear :-) The water was surprisingly chilly. Karen and I just waded and hoped the cold water would help the legs recover a little. Plu was brave enough to dive right under a few waves.

A leisurely brekky at the nearby cafe topped off a fantastic start to the day. Its so good to meet up with visiting CRs and catch up on all the goss ..... and maybe even spread a little :-)

Let's go - go - go!!

After a week off Pat's (by popular vote there were no sessions last week) it was all systems go again Tuesday morning. It was great to see not just most of the regulars back and rarin' to go, but five new starters as well.

On the pgm was 6 x 500m or 400m efforts, and a final 500m, with a 1 min standing recovery between each. First up I did two 400s, then two 500s. Then just to be different did two 450s before that last 500 to finish. I cut down the recovery time for the shorter ones.

I have no idea of my times as my running watches are out of action. And the Astro Boy one Santa left me may assist in my never-ending crusade against the forces of evil, but it has no lap timer.

Coasting

After the BRRC race on Sunday there was a suggestion of a run at the Gold Coast the next morning. So almost 24 hours and a few SMS's and phone calls later about a dozen of us rolled up at Main Beach Surf Club to make the most of the last of the public hols. Included in the line-up was Kelvin, who was still up here visiting rellies.

I was starting to feel the effects of a big week of training - I'd racked up 86k the previous week, 56k of them on hills. So for me it wasn't a fast run. But it was an enjoyable one. People dropped off and returned to the start at different points and I ended up running with Tara and Scotty. After about 45 mins we turned back and discovered we were now running into a slight headwind which helped cool things down a little.

All up we did 17k in around 90 mins, even though the body was a bit sore that time appeared to go fast.

A great brekky at the surf club followed. For a while I thought we'd be there for lunch as well, nobody seeming too keen to move from the air-cond and the great view.

No Watch

The battery on my Nike watch died a week or so ago. Last time this happened I couldn't find anyone here to replace it and sent it to Melbourne and $55 or so later it was okay. I was at the Gold Coast the other day and dropped in to the Nike store. I figured might buy a newbie, it wasn't gonna cost me much more. I was lamenting to the saleslady about how much it cost me to replace the battery last time and she was agreeing it was a pain, and said something about just one jeweller around that services Nike watches "and he's all the way up in Brisbane, at Toowong". She just lost a sale, his shop is 500m from my place :-)

Anyway, in the meantime I've been using my Polar HRM watch. But sitting having a cold drink after our run on Friday it just fell off, the band had snapped! So guess I'll be taking two watches to the friendly jeweller.

This morning at BRRC was the annual 10 No Watches run - great timing :-) What happens is you nominate a time you are going to run and nearest their guess gets the prize. After yesterday's 28k of hills I put down a time of 52:56 for myself.

I thought I was going a little faster than that but felt comfy so didn't worry about my prediction. Just after the 3k mark blogger Shane ran up beside me and introduced himself. It was great to meet him after weeks of reading eachothers blogs and commenting. We stuck together and chatted until the finish line - funny how much we knew about one another already!

I crossed the line in 49:06 - missed it by thaaaaaaaat much :-) Not to worry, at least it was good to know I could run that pace pretty comfortably after such a big week.

Robbie was spot on with his 42:00 and Lizzle one second off her 55:56. Amazingly she won this event last year as well. Both of them won watches for their effort (hmmmm, just what I need at the moment). But then my name was called out for a random prize and I got my first piece of BRRC club gear - a crop top!

What a great start to 2006 :-)

A Jolly Glorious Run

For a long time we've done our New Year's Eve run at Mt Coot-tha but for 2005 we decided to run Mt Nebo instead so it was almost back to the scene of Tuesday's crime. We were meeting up at 5am at Jolly's Lookout so this meant a 3.50am alarm after getting to bed after midnight .... and after a little too much food and wine.

This was a road run to Mt Glorious and back, 28k of hills. I think the hills are as tough as those on Tuesday's trail, maybe worse, but luckily the weather was much kinder. And we were all carrying much more water.

There were quite a few Neville No-Shows, just ten starters. Nick hung back and kept we girls amused on the out journey. Clairie and MJ turned back after 10k and the rest of us forged on to Glorious where the other guys were waiting outside the cafe. AB had just brought a giant bottle of water and passed on what he didn't want to us to top our bottles up. He also offered us a swig of his home made gu - mmmmm :-)

On the way back Nick sped up and ran with the guys, and a few kms in Fiona headed inland on a bush trail and that left Karen and I running back together. Aside from us there was just the odd car, motorbike or cyclist on the road. A number of times we slowed down and just took in the magnificent scenery. It really doesn't get much better that this - the peace and beauty of bush running but with bitumen underfoot :-)