Lentil Fever

7.00am, 2 hours, Centennial Park

I pulled up pretty well after yesterday's afternoon 10km race, although I was predictably a bit tired in the legs.

It was a pleasant morning for a canter around the park, although there wasn't much in the legs to pick up any speed. Wine Trail Runner looked fresh and energetic after his 4 km PB, probably due to his special runners diet of French lentils and wine. You can't over-estimate lentil power.

The last inner fence lap of the park was a real struggle but I hung in there amongst the greyhound youngstersx, and then I sauntered home. Tomorrow might be an easy day.

ANSW Novice 10km

3.15pm, 10 km, Scarborough Park, Ramsgate

My first race as an ANSW registered runner for sydney striders. Funny how running, like an opiate, sucks you in for increasing doses of a hit, and the commitment builds.

In short I had a cracker of a run, a 10 km PB of 37.27, over a minute faster than the last PB 38.31 set 3 weeks ago at striders Domain. A little bit scary how I can pick up that amount of time in such a short time. Today I was expecting around 38.30 or even a low 38.00, but I thought a 37.xx was a long time away or Mission Impossible III.

The course was two 3km loops around a lake and two 2km laps around sports fields. Each loop felt longer than 3km and 2km. I took off at the start behind Vat and sat behind him and spied Mohammed just ahead. So I was comfortable that I was at the right pace and not loafing early. It took me a long time to catch up with Vat; I hate passing good runners like a show pony so I only catch people if I'm comfortable I can stick with them. I then followed Mohammed for a while and caught him at the top of the lake on the second 3km loop. I was on the knife edge calculating whether I'd blow up or hang on with the pace. I reeled in a handful of others over the next couple of kms which is usually a good sign, but I was still worried about blowing up. I appreciated the cheers from the supporters including Sean who said 'dig it in' after 6km. Guess what I'm going to say to Sean next time I see him race. It was great to see Horrie and Belinda out there supporting.

The surface was loose and uneven around the 2km loop, not my favourite part of the course, but I had a couple of others to chase in a quality field, and when I got to the finish I almost fell over the line.

Bizarre XXX blogging

7.00am, 30 minutes easy, Mrs Macquarie's chair - Opera House - Botanical Gardens

The legs felt heavy this morning, but no aching or creaky joints. I was thinking the heaviness was due to the heavier asics 1100s but decided to blame the 3 day mid-week program exertion, blame anything but me.

The run was pretty much a battle not to slow down to a crawl.

There were quite a few people out on the SMH 1/2 course this morning, all doing their secret training for the race. I was glad I wasn't racing this morning.

The next few weeks have me doing locum work in the mornings so blogging these pearls of wisdom will be delayed. Instead of browsing on the solicitor's existing Internet Explorer and leaving a trail of history and cache entries on IE, I've downloaded Mozilla Firefox onto the absent solicitor's computer, and created bookmarks including coolrunning. This is also easier to uninstall and destroy more of the incriminating evidence that I've been farting around on the net reading news and running trivia.

Somehow I've drawn the line at spending time writing blogs on someone else's time. Bizarre I know. As for running, it is a consolidation period of searching for lost speed so there won't be much drama to report in any event.
Now, back to the XXX web sites.

Big Bertha on cones

6.15am, 4.5km hill circuit, Centennial Park

A good crowd at Centennial Park for the gruelling wild wally hills circuit.

Legs felt good for the first few laps and then tired. The lap times were reasonably even. There was plenty of action out there with so many people on the course. David and Cindy finished after 3 km so they must be doing something right or special on the weekend. I was largely wedged between Royworlds who took off after 8 laps and Vespa.

Finished in 17.20 on the 'coned' course, that is the course marked with cones. For several months we ran the course without cones and I suspect the coned course is a bit longer. Speaking of cones, I'll also have to try Big Bertha after a few cones. Could be a long session.

The green, green grass of home

6.45 am, 90 minutes, Moore & Centennial Parks

I timed the start perfectly to run into driving rain after 30 seconds. Although from the blue sky and broken cloud above, I knew the rain wouldn't last.

I decided to go for the grass surfaces this morning, and headed to the parks. Moore Park lived up to its name with more driving rain, and a few other nutty people exercising in the rain. A few keen golfers were out on the course in the rain so I'll have to get out earlier to beat them next time.

I ran with a consistent effort and variable pace this morning; just getting a few kilometres into the legs and enjoying the soft surfaces of the golf course and Centennial Park. There is also something very pleasant about running in a sea of green grass on a sculptured landscape that allows the mind to wander away from traffic and tree roots. The thick grass on the golf course also seems to make me work a bit harder and suck the energy out of the legs so I ended up running different paces according to surface.

ANZAC day marching

6.15 am, 4 * 1500, Centennial Park

A good crowd at morning training including guest appearances from Fats, Vat, Greta T. , 'the Marathoners' who are still on the celebrity circuit after Canberra, and Billy Idol in new-looking puma runners that Amjan pointed out to me.

Slowly wound up the times: I ran the first rep with Royworlds and Wine Trail Runner. Then I tried to follow Greta and Vat around, and I was quite intrigued with how Greta would kick and go with Vat when he tried to pass her. I stopped feeling soft and sensitive and picked up the pace toward the end of the third rep. Hung on for the last rep. It was a good session.

Times were 5.54, 2 * 5.40(-ish) , 5.27.

Accounting for his sporadic appearances, Billy told me after training that he is pretty much on the go for most of the week with a schedule that includes: tennis, ocean-swimming, life-guarding, boxing, body-balance, and exercise-instructor. I'll be eating my words that he won't last at training with a hyper-active routine like that.

Royworlds spied Superflake in Centennial Park. SF was looking fit, and I wondered if Blue Dog was sending Bernie G down to the Park to pick up some intelligence on SF's progress .

Yesterday's hero

7.00am, 1 hour, Centennial Park

I slept well after the physical hammering I gave myself over the weekend.
Never again ;-).

It took me about 20 minutes to warm up this morning, and I swapped running wardrobes into the t-shirt for the cooler winter running, only for sweat to start pouring off the brow. I should've stayed in the six foot track singlet for another week. I'll just have to wear it around the house today: Yesterday's hero. From Saturday's race results, it looks like I came first in the age category, at least first amongst those who could be bothered to register in my age category (and ignoring Keith Bateman in the 50+), so don't write me off yet kids as a one-hit wonder.

Some overnight rain had softened the ground which made Centennial Park less dusty, softer and nicer to run on. I started feeling fatigued around 30 minutes and commenced winding down the run which was very pleasant, particularly when the sun came out for a while.

Saturday Night Fever

8.00am, 2 hours, Moore & Centennial Parks, Randwick racecourse

A very late start for me. Slept in to almost 8am. Last night I had the pleasure of Lulu and Wine Trail Runner's company for dinner. WTR really should do that food and wine blog.

I felt a bit washed out this morning: must have been something in the lentils last night. But I felt good considering I'd been racing 8km yesterday afternoon. And gee it was good to sock back a few drinks, get really hammered, and then go out running the morning after on reduced sleep: just like an 1980's flashback, Saturday night fever.

The run was uneventful apart from a new diversion around Randwick racecourse which is a run I used to do when I lived in Kensington in 1996-7. The speed of the run was all over the place.

Mutch Park cross country

3.15pm, 8 km Cross country, Mutch Park

An interclub endeavour cup between Randwick - Botany Harriers, Sutherland and St George with a few striders.

A good run, and went through the 6km in 22.30, 40 seconds faster than last time when doing a 6km run. I got the feel of the course second time around.

Thanks to Kit and Deanne for the support. I didn't know they were out there on the course marshalling, and I kept thinking how do so many people know my name. Also support from Superflake and Sparkie. Good runs from Royworlds and Brightshoes.

Wild Wally: wanted Dead or Alive

6.15 am, Wild-Wally 5 * 700m hill circuit, Centennial Park

A cast of thousands out at Sean's morning squad today. Some very good runners with Royworlds navigating by his Garmin 305 with eyes closed. A lot of talk at training of Ewan and Amjan doing mountain running, and Sean can envisage Ewan representing Australia in 2007: and you think I make this stuff up. Royworlds was running well now that he's got some decent athletes to run with.

I was slow to warm up in the drills again but better than before: I could be an afternoon runner after all. I followed Liz Miller around during most laps. She is coming back from injury so Liz didn't disappear too quickly. I also had Sparkie, Vespa and the tanned Adonis whizzing past on different laps: none of this boring predictability of the old squad days. I couldn't decide if I was running these laps well or not since it has been about 2 months since I last did Wild wally.

Times were more consistent. Ran the laps in 2.34, 2.26, 2.25, 2.24 and 2.21.

Champions League

7.30am, 30 minutes easy, Centennial Park

Since the program said short run, I caught a bit of soccer on the tube this morning before getting outside. I had a breezy gentle run in the sunshine to the park. A later start meant more traffic on the roads and, from the sounds of the car-horns, more road rage out there.

A pleasant run this morning with a few extra stretches beforehand which revealed how less flexible I am these days. Soon I'll be spending more time stretching and on maintenance than running. It's not easy being a finely-tuned super-star but somebody's got to do it.

The 'lentil-free' windsprints

6.15 am, 4km , Centennial Park

The Canberra marathoners were back at training, they looked very fit.

Sean had a big group doing windsprints around McKay Oval: stride the straights, float the bends. We last did these in September with a much smaller group, and without a track being marked out so it was a bit more casual then. Sean said he was interested in the total time, which I didn't think was a big deal, maybe just to stop us loafing around.

This morning I followed a few people out and the tempo was more consistent between straights and bends in accordance with Sean's description of the run. I noticed Kit started up the back, lucky thing, some excuse about a long Sunday run the other week out of town.

It was a nice bit of variety in the training program. Time was 14.58. It was all over relatively quickly, tasty, but not sure on the substance. Like eating at MacDonalds.

Sex & Death

8.00am, 40 minutes easy, Woolloomooloo - Botanical Gardens

It took me about 35 minutes to warm up and by then I was almost home again. Nice crisp morning for a run. After reading 2P's blog yesterday, I kept listening for my virtual HRM to beep but my legs told me 'don't bother with the ticker we call the shots', which is pretty right.

I ran past the Botanical Gardens Glass-house and the big red banner outside said "Sex and Death - orchids and carnivore plants" so it's all happening in the garden. I'll read the additional fine-print on the next run. Not that I was running that fast, I was too busy watching my step for sex or death.

The training program has me dropping down in kms this week for an easy week, so easy it will be. This is written for MPHaz who occasionally reads this blog with incredulity, and doesn't believe that I am taking it as easy as I say. Would I lie to you honey?

Flat track specialist

7.00 am, 90 minutes easy, Centennial & Moore Park

I was stiff in the legs after yesterday's race, and getting used to the shorter recovery of a morning run after an afternoon race. It was a very easy run through the golf course at Moore Park to Centennial Park where I had to pick up the pace to even keep up with the back of Sean's squad, and Mohammed who had already run 90 minutes. He's a freak.

I was feeling very slow and marvelling at all those fast runners in the distance surging effortlessly around the park. I fell off the back of the squad going up the York St hill: of course I expected this being more of a 5-10 km flat track specialist rather than some long-distance mountain nut.

I had an entertaining chat to Vespa (and had to pick up the pace to do it), before heading home gingerly. The time passed quickly despite the extra effort required this morning to keep going.

Hungry like the wolf

2.30 pm, Randwick-Botany Harriers 7km Road Race, SirJoseph Banks Park, Botany

It felt good not going for a run this morning, and pretty weird. At 7am I thought what am I going to do now, so I went and bought the paper.

Tip for early afternoon racing, don't get hungry at 11.30am, it is too late for a decent feed. I'll stay hungry next time.

The Joey Banks Park course is flat on a bike path and road, and fast, at least faster than the hilly cross country course at Mutch Park. There was a small field with a few of Sean's runners in attendance: Vat, Mohammed, Easy Tiger, Mr Ed, David, and Lowana spectating.

I felt tired during a short warm up and then felt the lunch inside me.

At the start I followed Easy Tiger, Vat, Mohammed and Ed out and briefly noticed the views across Kingsford Smith airport. The pace was pretty decent, a bit hot for me at the start, but the others didn't disappear. There was a guy breathing heavily right behind me, and I was keen to get rid of him.

I ran most of the way with Vat and Easy Tiger. The road section at the top of the park reminded me of a small scale Sydney Marathon Clinic course with deserted streets. After the turn around, Easy Tiger surged at the top of the park and I thought he would disappear with a big kick. I then ran along with Vat and he also seemed keen to move away from me. Vat told me to stop surging which was quite funny but I was too out of breath to reply that I was surging for his benefit. Vat ended up pushing me along until the finish. It was faster than I wanted to go. I'm still not convinced I enjoy the 5km - 10km distance at this pace. So I'll have to give it away or get fitter.

I finished 5th in a miniscule field. Time was 25.27. Happy with the run.

Australian Idol

9.00am, 30 minutes easy, Mrs Macquarie's Chair - Botanical Gardens - Woolloomooloo

I had a lot of fun last night at CR drinks, and drinking on an empty stomach I reached my lacked-ate (lactate) threshold after a couple of hours. I tried ingesting a falafel gel which delivered enough energy to get home by 11 pm.

An easy run this morning in the brilliant sunshine and due to the late start I ran into a huge crowd of Japanese and Chinese tourists at Mrs Macquarie's Chair, and became one of the most photographed athletes in the Asia-Pacific region. I quickly disappeared into the anonymity of the botanical gardens and turned around at the Opera House.

The body and head were feeling OK but not fabulous, and it was a pretty easy run after last night. I was lucky the program said only 30 minutes.

A new red wine & Big Bertha

6.15 am, Big Bertha 4.5 km hill circuit, Centennial Park

Good to see WildThing out there this morning for her debut Big Bertha, and Ellie made it back for a second session with Sean this week: If she's not careful she might get fit and fast.

With increased numbers on the circuit there were people all over the circuit this morning providing constant action. For me this was the first hill training for over a month, and I felt strong for the first 15 seconds before starting to fade. The theory of a long summer of hills providing some lasting benefit goes out the window for the time being. Ewan and Mr Ed disappeared quickly ahead to run course PBs and I had Vespa and Cindy close behind just cruising and checking out the course.

Ran 17.34, which was not a bad time. Good news this week is the low-grade achilles tendon soreness I've had since early March is receding while I've been ramping up the kms and speed work. I've increased the stretching, switched all my runners to less support and lower heels, and drank a new cabernet sauvignon, and something worked. Happy as a pig in shit.

The Secret training

6.30am, 90 minutes, SMH half marathon course

While contemplating where to go for this morning's long run, a moment of inspiration suggested the SMH 1/2 course for a bit of variety and secret training.

I was very slow to get going after yesterday's intervals. It took me 15 minutes to warm up and then I felt tired after 25 minutes. I reached the SMH 1/2 course at the Art Gallery to be overtaken by some weekend warriors. I skipped the Mrs Macquarie's Chair section since I've done that regularly and headed into the city.

It was quite good to run over the course after almost a year. From memory, the SMH 1/2 has ended up as my regular 'coming back from injury' race. So fatigue has set in early during past races, and I'm still haunted by the never-ending Hickson Road finishing straight.

This morning most sections of the course seemed shorter particularly around the Rocks. There were a few people running around the city but few others were on secret training. I stopped and stretched after 45 minutes, felt much better again, and then did a second lap of the course with a couple of shortcuts.

Billy Idol at Centennial Park

6.15am, 10 * 400m, Centennial Park

Another big crowd at Sean's training. Lots of new faces: Ellie, Sparkie, and Vespa who were all running well and looking like seasoned athletes.

Billy Idol was back at training. He didn't look too keen during the warm up drills: hands in the pockets during the drills and hence not quite getting the full leg extension intended by the exercises. I'm not sure if Rebel without a cause will last that long.

I was a bit stiff in the warm up which was expected after yesterday's run and the last few days.
It was a bit hard to get a position at the starting line with so many people there although it was good to have so many people running around. Times were between 1.22 to 1.14. A good session and back to the full track workout.

Jogged back to Paddington with Sparkie.

The Green Jacket

6.30am, 1 hour, Moore Park

Woke up to the final round of the USA Masters golf on television while I did some preliminary stretches. So slipped into the green t-shirt for a run on the Moore Park golf course. I was feeling a bit stiff from Sunday's long run, so another recovery effort.

A pretty gentle run but felt good on the fairways and avoided all the bunkers. I could still feel Saturday's race in the hamstrings so it probably did me some good.

The biggest loser

7.00am, 2 hours, Centennial Park

Legs were tired after yesterday's Mutch Park race. Nevertheless, overall there were no major niggles or problems and it was a steady run. I felt like bailing out after 90 minutes but hung in there. Then just after 90 minutes I got a second wind, a very faint whisper of a wind, but something to indicate I wasn't completely gone. I thought of those poor sods doing Canberra marathon today and decided to stay out running in sympathy for another 30 minutes.

This has been a good weekend for getting the mileage up, trying to lose weight and even eating more. The appetite is back. Today I'm going to study the cook books.

Mutch more than meets the eye

2.30pm, 6 km race, Mutch Park Pagewood

A Randwick-Botany athletics club organised race with attendances by Wine Trail Runner, Chonky, Royworlds, and Lulu spectating.

The course and surface were uneven, grassy, sandy, hilly in part, winding and quite deceptive. This was no stroll in the park but a good hard workout. The pace wasn't flattering but reasonable in the conditions. Have young kids running circles around me just added to the perceived struggle.

Finished in 23 minutes 12 seconds. Plenty more work to do, and won't be taking Mutch park easy again. A long warm up and warm down added another 60 minutes to the total time ran today.

Flower Power

7.30am, 40 minutes, Mrs Macquarie's Chair - Opera House

A sleep-in to 7 am and then an easy run in the crisp breeze. The legs were feeling a bit tired from yesterday's fartlek, but got going after a while. I've noticed I'm no longer quite as wrecked as I used to be a few months ago on the recovery runs, so I've gone up a level in fitness. Interesting to see if that converts to faster times in due course.

A nice bright sunny morning and ran amongst the pleasant odours from the botanical gardens. Contemplated life as a botanist but I've killed off too many pot plants in the past and dislike gardening so won't give up the day job yet.

Purring along like a Rolls Royce

6.15 am, 1 hour fartlek, Centennial Park

A big crowd at Sean's training but no Billy Idol or Warwick Capper this morning.

Legs felt good after a sluggish day yesterday. I think I've almost recovered from 6 foot track and there' s a real challenge next week when I'll have to find some new excuses, or run hard. Between surges I recovered pretty well this morning, and maintained a good work rate chasing Ewan, Liz, Sean and half the squad it seemed. Wine Trail Runner was running well since he no longer has a car to rely on. Happily some insurers are funding a replacement car for him which wouldn't take into account the previous damage caused by his careless wife. Years ago I studied a case in tort law on liability for repairs after multiple accidents on a rolls-royce. Mine doesn't have a scratch on it.

A touch of Canberra marathon fever in the air this morning with a number of entrants tapering down. Kit looking very composed, and could be in sub 3 hr 30 min condition. Actually there is the danger of over-hyping expectations and putting too much pressure on someone before a race; which is one reason why I like to stay under the radar or have a bit of fun with a credible underestimate of the finishing time. So I will say that Kit looked shocking this morning, especially carrying that fractured pelvis and bird flu.

Swans Way

6.15am, 90 minutes, Moore & Centennial Park

A sluggish morning where the legs felt tired from the last few days of running. I am returning to a full schedule pretty quickly, and also approaching 80 kms this week. On the theme of birds, the mileage this week does not give me too many lazy hazy autumn days to swan around in the sunshine.

It was a very nice morning for a run where I only spread the wings on rare occasions.

P.S. Swans Way is borrowed from Marcel Proust's 'Remembrance of Things Past' which like this blog can be hard to fathom.

No, not The Lake

6.15 am, 4 * 1400, Centennial Park

Completion of some construction works in Centennial Park has meant the re-opening of the dirt track around the lake to runners again after at least 9 months. I've been warned this is an old favourite training course of Sean's. Sean has been in Japan for the world cross-country races and returns tomorrow.

So Cindy took charge of training and said take it out easy since we'll be getting used to the Lake. There was a good group out at training including a group of loafers taking it very easy, and using as an excuse some cushy road race on beautifully paved streets in Canberra this weekend. Sounds really soft.

The pace on the first lap felt like it was sizzling. The first lap felt faster than the track sessions although doing one large circuit only seems longer. Nevertheless, it is a lot more interesting doing the lake than reps of an oval. It will take a few more laps of the lake to get used to the corrugations and small variations in the course.

On one lap Royworlds yelled out when he ran into some Centennial Park ducks which are probably a bit too accustomed to people. I imagine he'd also deny being scared of mice too.
On another lap I could hear those loafers yapping away while the rest of us were busting a lung.

Times were 5.21, 5.11. 5.15 and 5.05.

Resuming normal service

7.00am, 1 hour 10 minutes, Rushcutters Bay - Dover Heights return

Yesterday's 90 minute run was getting the weekend back to the normal routine. I fell asleep twice yesterday afternoon during the Formula 1 Grand Prix, once during the warm up lap - it was rivetting really, again a normal Sunday.

I almost went for the t-shirt for this morning's run, but it wasn't quite that cold in the autumn sun, and I've got a whole winter ahead to mix 'n match t-shirt outfits.

I was a bit slow to warm up but maintained a good pace along New South Head Road. Then took the back streets up Rose Bay North to Dover Heights up the steep section, which would have been good six foot track training: missed it by 'that' much. I felt a bit sluggish after climbing the hills up to the Vaucluse water-tower, but got a second wind just on the hour and cruised home.

Get smart - Would you believe it?

7.00am, 90 minutes, Centennial Park

A pretty cool and fresh morning for a run in bright sunshine; winter is coming.

The legs were a bit tired but the pace was good. This was supposed to be an easy session although I picked up the pace toward tempo for a while. I eased off after an hour when the legs got quite tired again. This is what you get when you run a 10 km PB the day before.

A nice easy run, and would you believe it, I've lost a bit of racing speed over the last month. You might reply not over 10 km. Would you believe over 5km? How about over 100m?

Striders 10km Domain

7.00am, 10 km, Domain

I did my first volunteering for striders on registration, which I hear was relatively quiet for non-members. I was certainly slow and a quiet model of concentration in transcribing numbers and names lest I foul up the results records, but it wasn't rocket science and the time passed quickly. And for a few visitors I got to note the contact details down ;-) for the follow up 'telephone survey' . President Dave efficiently managed volunteers to allow me a warm up before the run.

No great expectations for today's run after a shortened return to speed work this week at training, which meant I washed down last night's rainbow trout with a couple glasses of red wine. Perfect preparation.

I started actually fast, but not that fast reaching 1km in 4.05 min and thought I'd be around 40 minutes for a comeback to racing. For the first few kms I alternated between feeling good and surging and holding the pace when I felt flat, I could feel those pegs hadn't quite forgotten the punishment of six foot.

I was getting a bit of stick from those volunteers at the Finish line drinks station, Kit & Lowana, because I'd earlier predicting today's performance as a fartlek effort. It was quite funny although I was gasping for air to acknowledge the cruel teasing.

I felt a bit fatigued around 4 km and thought I might tank after 5km but held on in the second lap. I was around 23.30 at 6km, 31.10 at 8km and thought I'd give 39 minutes a shake. I followed Luke Skyrunner for a while until he took off just after 8km.

The little bit of good karma generated by volunteering returned to the final lap of the course. Finished in a small PB of 38.31. This was another surprise.

Finished up with a scenic and pleasant breakfast with Kerry, David, Deanne, and those naughty volunteers.