Sunday 7/8 - Bridge to Brisbane Sunday Long Run

Sunday Long Run - 70 mins/15km's

A simply gorgeous Brisbane morning greeted 21,100 runners for the annual Bridge to Brisbane. My proper comeback race is the Noosa 5k in two weeks time, but that wasn't going to stop me participating in this event, which slowly continues to grow in stature, despite occasional organisational hiccups. I had planned to just enjoy a cruisey run with MJ but that went out the window last week when her back started playing up. So, I looked for a team mate who would be running splits around my normal Sunday Long Run pace and whom I could pace and settled on Chelle. I figured that given a multitude of injury problems of late, Chelle would be slightly short of her best and right on my pace. Wrong! Chelle ended up running a 10k PB on her way to a 56:20 and we went a little over 4.40's the whole way, but fortunately, my body was comfortable at that pace and I didn't over exert myself. Way to go, Chelle!! It could have been worse, however. I could have run with Tesso who had run 3 hours on Saturday AM and pre race, announced an intention to run an easy race in "around 4:45's". That didn't last too long as Tesso took off at speed and ran a blistering low 53 race - onya Champ!!

After the race, I excused myself from my team mates in the Recovery Area and did a bit of a loop back to my car for 17 minutes to complete the 70 minutes needed for my Sunday Long Run. Fortunately, its a Recovery Week on my program so I only needed to do 70 minutes instead of the 100 minutes I am currently peaking at. The Recovery Week has come as a big relief as my legs have been feeling the effects of some very fast recent speedwork and in particular, Tuesday's 3K Time Trial. Hopefully, the legs will be right to start firing again come Tuesday.

Chelle and I then stopped off at MJ's for a nice breakfast before I went to work. For dinner, MJ, my brother Adam and I all enjoyed a large and tasty rump cooked on the BBQ. I've really enjoyed a rump on the BBQ for many years, but its only very recently that I've started to get more scientific about the cooking of that perfect steak. By scientific, I mean cooking the steak according to a specific plan as opposed to looking for visual indicators such as the blood seeping through the surface. So, I strapped on my Timex brought the BBQ to maximum temperature in six minutes before easing it down to medium-high temperature for two minutes and then throwing on the pepper laced rump. I ended up cooking the rump for 4:30 minutes on the first side and 4:00 on the second and the medium to medium-well done result was satisfactory. In the meantime, to quote Lexus, I'll continue the relentless pursuit of perfection in the perfectly barbequed rump. Hhhmm, lets see - maybe I'll leave the BBQ on for 12 minutes next time and the rumps on for less? Whatever, I'll let you know when I've found the specifications for perfection, Matty style!!