PCRG - 3KTT - Legs dead but streak continues

Tues - 3KTT - 10:07 - 3:21, 3:26, 3:19
Wed - 80 mins, 16k's @ 4:50-4:55 mins/km

My goal for the TT yesterday was to continue my rate of improvement and run in the 9:58-10:04 range which would give me my second fastest time ever. Despite my best efforts at a race like prep in the 24 hours leading up to the TT there were several hiccups. I've been driving my brother Benno's car whilst he is on a UK working holiday and I had to put it in for some smash repairs(not my fault!). As such, I rode into work on the MTB on Monday - an easy 20 min ride. Riding home was not so easy with lots of hills and a fierce headwind to contend with and my legs were feeling it. Then we couldn't have dinner at 6:30 because our regular butcher just down the road closed early and I sent Adam to Coles for chicken breast and he came back with chicken thigh as they had run out of breast - do you know how long it takes to cut all that damn fat of chicken thighs?? Anyway, we didn't have the stir fry till 7:30!!

Anyway I felt ok in the warm up and was quick of the mark when Pat sent us on our way. I was well placed at the 500 behind Al S, Andy, James, Jason and Coach Pat but that was where the wheels came off. More accurately, my legs went dead - there seemed to be no spring, zip or whatever you want to call it in them. Glenda and a new bloke went past me and then alarm bells started ringing loudly at the 1k which passed in 3:21, well short of the 3:15ish I would have liked. From experience, I know that most runners run the 2k slowest whether they want to or not and I knew that I would have to dig deep and overtake Glenda and the new bloke in front of me which I did around the 1200m mark before clocking 3:26 for the k - a considerable improvement on last months 3:30 middle k. Still I needed a 3:20 for the last k and set myself the challenge of running down Coach Pat who was about 10m in front of me. I busted a gut to catch up to Pat at the 2800m, passed him and ran as hard as I could all the way to the line with my feet so hot in my new Brooks Glycerin 5's they felt like they were on fire. Got home in 10:07 to extend my streak to six consecutive faster times at TT's.

Still, I was quite disappointed in my performance given that I had aimed higher. It seems like I still haven't come up from last week's gut busting 8 x 500's which I have since found out was run in 88% humidity and 24 degrees at 5:30am with an apparent temperature of 28 degrees.

Today, regulars Glenda and James joined me for my Wednesday PCRG run around the river while Davo and Mel B were first timers. Mel B used to run with the PCRG back in 2004 and it was great to have Davo come along as he continues his comeback from injury. Davo peeled of after 35 minutes and James after 45 mins leaving Mel and I to stick with Glenda's typically cracking pace that only slowed when we went up the hill to the Story Bridge. It was a good hitout in typically humid conditions and I was pleased to handle the pace fairly comfortably after the dramas with my slow pace last week.

Happy to clock my first 300k month since late 2004 - getting through a few more months like this will give me confidence that my shin splints are further and further behind me.

This week - 26k
This month - 309k
This year - 309k

Disappointing end to the week, but got the job done

Thurs - 80 mins, 16k's @ 5:03 mins/km
Fri - 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:05 mins/km
Sun - 120 mins, 24k's @ 5:03 mins km

Clearly the after effects of the hard session on Tuesday, the heat and humidity among other things conspired to slow me down in the second half of the week. For the first time in a long time, all easy runs were slower than 5 min pace which is a little disappointing. However, I'm trying to focus on the good news which is that I didn't force the pace and I also racked up my 4th consecutive week of 70+ k's and have done Pat's program to the letter for one month now.

Thurs saw me doing my run at 6pm after a thunderstorm. I left the singlet in the car and enjoyed the therapeutic sting of the rain on my bare skin. My right plantar fasciitis did not enjoy the wet conditions and started to ache on the run home. With 3k's to go, I was forced to sit down on the still warm bitumen path of the Kedron Brook whilst the rain continued to come down. I then used some of the tape from my right ankle to give the PF extra support before an uneventful finish to the run. An hour later, my left foot was giving me grief and it was uncomfortable for me to put weight on it. The cause? I was a little careless strapping up my left ankle and I must have started to favour the right foot when the PF started aching. I immediately iced the foot, elevated it whilst watching a DVD of Harrison Ford in Firewall and then firmly compressed it in a bandage before going to sleep.

The foot was almost 100% on Friday morning, thank God!! And thanks to the genuis who invented RICE!! Friday saw me do an easy 10 in obscenely hot conditions at 3:30pm just before my rub from Bruno. A three minute cold shower after the run was not enough to cool me down and a minute later I was soaked in sweat again - fortunately, Bruno has plenty of towels ;-)

Sunday saw me do another evening run to allow me to put some extra recovery time after having six beers at RooBoy and Tanya's engagement party on Saturday arvo. I felt bloated when starting the run at 5pm due to a late top up of food in the stomach. I got through the run ok, but it just wasn't meant to be on the day.

I shouldn't be too hard on myself and I know that my pace will return to 4:45-4:50 territory when the weather cools down. Am resting up today in anticipation of a low 10:00 or perhaps a sub 10 at the 3KTT tomorrow.

This week - 70k
This month - 283k
This year - 283k

Easy does it

Wed - 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:03 mins/km

Went to Good Life gym at Chermside with MJ to check out the facility and do an easy recovery run on the tready. Gees - my legs were real sore from the hard session yesterday and I really needed the easy run.

The rest of the day was a bit of a write off with a bad headache. Not sure why I got it - perhaps dehydration that was not helped by having the bedroom air con on all night. I might have to take a leaf out of the Brisbane Lions' book and put a bucket of water in the bedroom to add moisture to the air.


This week - 20k
This month - 233k
This year - 233k

Scorching

Fri - 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:02 mins/km
Sun 120 mins, 24 k's @ 4:59 mins/km
Tues - 8 x 500 with SR. 95,43SR,91,33,97,43,95,35,100,39,96,39,103,38 Avg 96.5, Avg SR 38.5

Fri - Easy 50 minute run in warm conditions followed by a ig day at the cricket and a rare 15 drink binge. From my front row seaats I saved a beach ball going into the crowd and soon after received a textie from Clairie asking was that you? Despite being topless, wearing a green Aussie hat and khaki shorts, Clairies jet fighter pilot vision managed to pick me out from more than 50m away from her spot in the Upper Deck. Warning note to everyone - Beware Clairies eagle eye!!

Sun - Started a run with Langy at the Nundah Criterium and ran along the Kedron Brook. It was already very warm at 6:40am and was shaping as a long morning for Langy who already had 30 mins under his belt. The first 5 k was slow but picked up when we hit shade and we were grateful for the cooler conditions and shade at Nudgee Beach. I felt really strong the last 5k but Langy and I kept reminding each other to take it easy and not go too fast - especially with some key speed sessions coming up.

Tues - Pat yesterday set me a target of 95 second splits equating to 3:10 pace and despite doing most of my running at 3:20-3:25 pace recently, I decided to go for it. I reasoned that it was as good a time as any to have a one of faster session before resuming 3:20ish speed sessions until March.

A record 92 runners fronted up despite facing the most oppressive humidity so far this Summer. Many of the boys elected to remove singlets. I led a big pack of 10 through the first split in 95 making jokes with Al Stevenson about how much weight he had put on since his marriage. Al soon proved his class and fitness running splits in the high 80's whilst being hotly pursued by Andy, James, Jason and Tim. Not far behind, I battled it out with Langy and Glenda. A fast 91 second split followed on the downhill leg - gees this was getting quick. However, the heat and humidity took its toll by the time we finished the 5th leg by which time most runners were sucking in the big ones with hands on knees. I knew that I was averaging just under 95's after the sixth leg but the seventh leg uphill got me and the fatigue ensured thaat I clocked a 103 before salvaging some of the damage with a 96 final split for a 96.5 average. Most of the Group was pretty shattered afterward and as such, Pat did not ask us to do Gold Coast Hill but I, Mike R, Keith and one other bloke did so anyway.

Part of me is disappointed that I did not achieve my goal but another part of me is satisfied that I gave it everything I had.



This week - 10k
This month - 223k
This year - 223k

Contrasting runs

Wed - 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:02 mins/km
Thurs - 80 mins, 16k's @ 4:49 mins/km

Another late start at 7:30am on Wednesday morning saw me plodding through the heat at 5:02's. I felt great so the pace was a little disappointing even though I know the heat was to blame. Importantly, I did not force myself to run faster - an easy run is an easy run.

This morning I woke up at 8:30am after yet another 1:30am mission of mercy for work that didn't see me back in bed till 3am. I didn't want to endure the disappointment of another slow run in the heat so delayed my run till 5pm when I was greeted with a cooling breeze blowing in from Moreton Bay for my midweek long run along the Kedron Brook. Given that I am not doing a second weekly speedwork session or tempo run, Pat has switched my midweek run to Thursday from Wednesday to allow extra recovery time from Tuesday's speedwork session. It was almost a relief to clock a smooth 4:47 opening split and that pace was close to the norm for the remainder of the session as I cruised along feeling strong, upright and comfortable. Was pleased to average a comfortable 4:49's. Its amazing what difference the temp makes!!



This week - 36k
This month - 179k
This year - 179k

8 x 1 min under Story Bridge

8 x 1 min with 30SR, 3k WU, 3k WD

Before we started our session this morning I took over after Pat's motivational spiel and announced to the Group that our very own Glenda had just been ranked the 18th fastest Australian female Marathoner in Dave Cundy's annual rankings of the fastest 100 Australian Marathoners: http://www.canberramarathon.com.au/index.php?pageid=131 Onya Glenda!! Superflake was kind enough to remind everyone on CoolRunnning that I will need something a little faster than 2:44:33 to scrape onto next years list!! I love these lists - they really motivate me. I've always said that I would have done much much better at school if the entire grade was ranked at the end of each term from one to two hundred or whatever. At school, I was probably ranked in the top 25%-40% vincity but had there been an official ranking I'm sure I would have busted a gut to make the top 10% and pick off a few people in front of me on the way. Unfortunately, our education system is designed to protect the self esteem of the lower ranked students rather than promoting competition amongst the good students to make all of them even better. Anyway, enough of my ramblings.

My program called for me to do my efforts at 80% today and that's what I did for the first six reps concentrating on a controlled rhythm. I let down in the seventh rep and streeted the A-Team by at least five metres - felt really strong on that rep and could have run even fasterr. I also ran considerably harder than 80% effort on the last rep. Two reps of Gold Coast Hill followed before the usual warm down at marathon pace back to the Ship Inn with Glenda. A nice session in the bank.


This week - 10k
This month - 153k
This year - 153k

Oops....I made a mistake!!!

Fri - 50 mins, 10k's @ about 5:00 mins/km
Sun - 120 mins, 24k's @ 4:58 mins/km

Friday saw me do a easy run at 3pm just before I went to see Bruno for my first rub in three weeks. Predictably, everything was tight but I'm feeling much better for the rub now.

On Sunday, my alarm woke me up at 5:50am and I glanced out the bedroom and bathroom window to see dark overcast clouds. 'You beauty' I thought. 'I can go back to bed for another hours valuable sleep and still be able to do my run later on without having to risk being sunburnt'. Suffice is to say that after waking at 7am and then procrastinating for a while, I started my run at 8am and ran 500m before the cloud cover blew away to reveal a fierce sun......Two hours later, I was grateful to finish after enduring 1hr40mins of full sun exposure and only 20 mins of cloud cover. Obviously, my pace suffered and there were quite a few splits over 5:00min pace. It was a gutsy session, but I'd rather have a quality session and will be trying not to make this mistake again!

This week - 71k
This month - 143k
This year - 143k

Wednesday and Thursday

Wed 85 mins, 17k's @ approx 4:50 mins/km
Thurs 50 mins, 10k's @ 4:57 mins/km

Backed up for another 4:30am start on Wednesday and Langy and I headed for the Ship Inn where Andy C, Glenda and Jenny A joined us for a run. This was the first real opportunity my Wednesday group has had to do a loop comprising the new Green bridge so that was the popular choice. As such, we headed through West End and up the hills to Dutton Park before crossing the Bridge and returning to the Ship Inn via Coro Drive. Mindful of yesterday's TT, I made sure that I was running at a comfortable talking pace and not pushing too hard. It was a great run with Langy and Jenny hanging back with me whilst Glenda and Andy were a tad quicker up front, occasionally pulling 100m ahead. Pulled up well.

I was called out at 1am this morning to do a mission of mercy for work and didn't get back to bed till 90 minutes later. As such, my eight hours of sleep took me to 8:30am and it was 9:15 before I commenced a run along the Kedron Brook. I was slow warming up today and it was not until the 5th k that I broke 5 minute pace and then cruised home in 4:50's for an average of 4:57's. The body is feeling pretty good at the moment, but nevertheless its been three weeks since my last massage as Bruno has been on holidays and gees, I'm really looking forward to my next rub.

This week - 37k
This month - 37k
This year - 109k

PCRG - 3KTT - Five consecutive quicker times

3KTT - 10:09 - 3:18, 3:31, 3:20

I kept my streak of time trial improvements alive in cool and overcast conditions this morning in recording my fifth consecutive improvement to give me times of 10:46, 10:29, 10:27, 10:20, 10:14 and 10:09 for my last six TT's. Just as important as the improving times has been the knowledge that I've had petrol left in the tank after each effort. Also of importance is the fact that I've looked after my body, remained injury free and turned up at the TT ready to run. I'm now aiming to keep improving at around 7-10 seconds per month and reach at least 9:30-9:39 territory at the June TT prior to the Doomben 10,000. Potentially, I could flog myself at the the next TT for a time in the 9:40's but I would prefer to continue working my way there gradually rather than risking injury.

The carbo load went well yesterday and I awoke confident in the knowledge that I could have a smaller breakfast than albeit still more than most of my colleagues eat. Langy continues to be amazed at how much I need to eat before training and told me so for the upteenth time when I drove him to South Bank this morning. This morning I settled for a small bowl of porridge, an Up and Go and a GU and the energy levels felt good when I arrived at the start line after the usual 2.5k warmup. Not all was perfect however as my mouth was extremely dry and my throat parched - from now on, I will bring a bottle of water and swig a mouthful before all TT's just like I do for all races. The legs still felt a little weak and tired from the DOMS I've attributed to kicking a soccer ball around last Friday but I wasn't too concerned as I had done everything else right.

When Pat sent us on our way, I got away nicely and was in the top three to the 100m before settling down five metres behind Pat, Langy, Glenda, Steve and a few others. The legs felt a tad weak in the first k but I still managed to clock a 3:18 and I knew the legs would come good eventually. The pack in front of me went to sleep for the second k and I didn't judge the drop-off in pace as well as I could have, thinking I was going to clock a 3:26-3:28 so it was a little disturbing to see 3:31 on my Timex Ironman watch. By now the legs were coming alive and the rest of me felt strong and I thought I better put in a brief surge to make up for the slow second k and put my target time in the bag. Cresting the hill at the 2.1k mark, I gunned it and inside 100 metres I overtook Steve, Jamie, Pat and Langy who were all running in single file strung out five metres in front of me to move into third place behind Andy and Jason. It was a sensational feeling to easily overtake some quality runners whilst feeling strong throughout! Accelerating down the hill next to the Boatshed I thought 'Gees, I could go hammer and tongs from here on and dip under 3:10 for the last k!' Never mind that I've never clocked 3:10 for a 1k split in my life before!!

As it was, once I had my goal time in the bag, I just cruised home with a 3:20 whilst urging the pack to catch up to and overtake me. A very pleasing session.

Sunday - Average at best....

120 mins, 24k's @ 4:57 mins/km

As the title suggests, my effort this morning was average at best. I was hoping to be able to cruise along at 4:45-4:50 mins/km pace but the body didn't feel up to it and I didn't force the issue. Primarily, there appeared to be some DOMS in the legs from kicking a soccer ball around the local park with my Japanese homestayer, Hiro on Friday. I was quite aware at the time that kicking a soccer ball around for the first time in years could bring about DOMS so I restrained myself accordingly - but as it turned out - not enough!!

Nevertheless, it wasn't that bad a run and my breathing was comfortable throughout and the HR was settled - even when I ran past a red bellied black snake sunning itself! Given the average run, it was probably just as well that the super fit Langy stood me up after himself being stood up by his baby sitter. I could have done without being dragged along.

3K TT coming up on Tuesday and despite going easy at speedwork last Tuesday, I'm confident of making it five consecutive faster TT's and running 10:13 or better. After I really benefitted from my two day carbo load leading into Kurrawa, I've decided to trial a one day carbo load the day prior to time trials and 5 and 10k races. I'm very aware that carbo load don't benefit most over short distances but I think I may be an exception to the rule. Looking forward to learning more on Tuesday.

On these days.......

Tues - 1/500/1/500/1 with 30SR - all reps around 3:55-4:10 pace
Wed - 90 mins - 18k's @ 4:58 mins/km
Thurs - 50 mins - 10k's @ 4:58 mins/km
Fri - 50 mins - 10k's @ 4:59 mins/km

It was on these days three years ago in 2004 that I made my comeback to running. On January the 4th, 2004, I shuffled and struggled 4k's in over 20 minutes! Seven months later I ran 3:12:45 in my debut marathon. With my second marathon now just seven months away, its exciting to contemplate what I can achieve this time given my mileage of 70k's a week this early in the campaign! Bring it on!!

Tues - took it easy at speedwork as I was still well short of 100% after the mild cold I had on Sunday
Wed - a gorgeous run in steady and torrential rain that did not let up for 90 minutes. I really enjoyed the sting of the rain on my bare (mostly) skin.
Thurs - an easy 50 min run
Fri - another easy 50 min run. Although I feel fully recovered from the flu, my legs have been a bit tired the last few days and I'm looking foward to freshening them up over the next 48 hours before Sunday's long run.

Matt

Sunday - The sleep dilemna & Farewell 2007

10 mins, 2k's @ 5:25 mins/km

Saw a sensational Bullets games against our hated rival, the Sydney Kings on Saturday night with the fabulous Bullets coming from behind entrenching us on top of the ladder. Felt like a cold was coming on so only had one beer.

RooBoy and I then came home from the game and together with MJ, the three of us got carried away with an an inspiring brainstorming session about investment property in my kitchen that didn't end till 11pm! I went to bed disappointed with my lack of discipline that would see my do my Sunday run on a bare minimum of 6 hours sleep.

Unfortunately, I ended up having a bad night's sleep, barely getting four and a half hours. I woke at 5am in a state of utter exhaustion and it didn't take me long to decide to go back to sleep for two hours and text Langy to bail out of the Mt Cootha run we had planned with some others. Two abusive SMS responses from Langy designed to fire me up failed to have their designed impact and I was comfortable with my decision to go back to sleep. I've always erred on the side of trying to get a full night's sleep and delaying my run rather than risk going for a run and trying to catch up with sleep later and that's what I did on Sunday.

The dilemna turned out to be all academic anyway as when I went out for my run at 8am, I ran a truly horrible two k's in 10:50 and felt simply awful - there was no doubt that a cold had me well and truly in its grasp. The shins were a little achey as is usual when I get a cold and I quit on the spot and walked the two k's back to my car.

Not quite the inspirational run I would have liked to end the year with, but nevertheless its been a great year of consolidation for my running and I believe I've well and truly laid the foundations for future success - bring on 2007!!!

A big thanks to all those who have supported me this year and shared their wit and wisdom!!

Matt

Back in hard training!

Tues - 3k WU, 4k's @ 4:10 mins/km, 3k WD
Wed - 90 mins, 18k's @ 4:55 mins/km
Thurs - 3,2,1 mins, 30 sec efforts with 30 JR. 30 SR. Repeat
Fri - 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:00 mins/km

Tues - A grinding tempo effort in steady rain. Went to a mates place later on for several beers whilst watching the Boxing Day test. Instead of playing cricket at lunch, we went down to the nearby sports field for mud footy. The game started off as touch but the second half degenerated into tackle footy. I managed not to do anything stupid with my legs although I picked up a nice graze on my butt after sliding several metres to touchdown for a breakaway try before the defence arrived.

Wed - A solid 90 minutes in the rain. Not another runner to be seen. I love running in the rain knowing that I'm doing my training when my competition is perhaps skipping a session.

Thurs - Long fartlek session at Pats with about 30 of us turning up for the first post Xmas session. I didn't have a great deal of zip , but my endurance came to the fore in the jogging recoveries and I finished third behind a standout Andy C and James.

Fri - Easy recovery run late in the arvo.

Second Recovery Week

Tues - 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:00mins/km
Wed - 70 mins, 14k's @ about 4:50-5:00 mins/km
Thurs - Surge and Hills
Fri - 40 mins, 8k's @ 5:00 mins/km

I was originally going to get straight back into hard training this week, but by the time Tuesday rolled around, I realised that the hard 25k in heat and over a few hills had taken a greater toll than I had anticipated so another recovery week was on the cards. It felt good to map out a recovery week bigger than all my training three months ago!!

Tues - An easy 10k along the Kedron Brook

Wed - A cruisey 70 minutes with Slash and Aza along the Brisbane River. Ran into Tori, but no sign of Tesso and Clairie - I hope their Wednesday river loop is a real run and not a figment of their imagination ;-)

Thurs - PCRG Xmas Run. One of my fav sessions - surge and hills. Glenda issued a none too subtle reminder that I've got a fair bit of work to do with my core strength. Seeing me shirtless, she made as if to test out my abs with a punch and then pulled back with a grimace when she realised that they weren't quite rock hard! Something to remember for motivation when I'm in the gym this Summer!! With everyone dressed in Xmas theme, I ran solidly on the surges but was the first to lead the way to the QUT Grass hill which I attacked with a vengeance. I then led throughout on the hills. Whilst everyone else made their way to the South Bank pool for the Xmas breakfast, Glenda, Langy, Daniel T, Robbie and I resisted the temptation to join them and did a full 15 minute warm down at marathon pace. Great way to finish a session. It was nice to pick up my second Group award for the year and I again chose the BCC Gold Class passes - thanks to those who voted for me!! That's a pic of Glenda and I finishing our warm up run.

Fri - Easy 40 mins in the arvo followed by a rub from Bruno. My first homestayer arrived as well. A 23yo Japanese bloke by the name of Hiro who loves soccer and hates tomatoes. He's already been in Toronto for seven months so his English is quite advanced and we're getting along well so far. On the downside, I bumped my head into the garage door quite hard and am suffering through a bout of tinnitus at the moment. I have to try and hear through a constant ringing noise in my head and can get dizzy at times but should be over it in a week or so.

Sunday - Recovery week concludes

Sun - 90 mins, 18k's @ 5:00mins/k

It was nice to finish off my recovery week with an easy 90 minutes late on Sunday arvo. Even nicer was the realisation that my recovery week had totalled 40k's - that was a fair dinkum week's training not long ago!!

Rushed home from my run and then went to the Bullets with Langy to watch the boys continue their impressive season. Robbie L was at the game but left suddenly at half time - perhaps he's started secret training for Kurrawa 2007 already :)

Satrday - Recovery and refelections

Wed - 30 mins, 6k's easy
Thurs - 40 mins, 8k's easy
Fri - 40 mins, 8k's easy

While my indestructable rival from Kurrawa, Glenda was chasing Langy, Andy, Gaz and co at speedwork on Tuesday, I took the day off and just concentrated on walking around and stretching as much as possible. DOMS peaked on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning but I've since recovered well.

Easy runs on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday passed without incident and today saw MJ and I at Movie World where we had a great day out. Gees, the Lethal Weapon is a helluva ride!!!

I've had plenty of time to reflect this week and my efforts on Sunday have given me the confidence to break new ground in 2007. As Scott Brown said to me, 'you've learnt that a steady, injury free build up is the secret to success.' With an easy week behind me, am really looking forward to my Gold Coast campaign.

Sunday - Kurrawa to Duranbah - Coming out party!!!

Kurrawa to Duranbah - 2nd leg 25k in 1:44:05 4th or 5th Relay Team

After more than two years of frustration battling the shins splints with only one 110% effort race in that time, this was it - my coming out party!!

My preparation had a few hiccups. Rather than get up before 3am and drive down from Brisbane, I booked MJ and I into an El Cheapo motel for the night. Unfortunately, a microwave was not provided and I was unable to make my own pasta dinner. Never mind. MJ and I then went for a drive along the course so I could scout the route and at the border, we stopped for dinner at Latitude 28, boasting magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean. We both ordered the pasta of the day which turned out to be a creamy prawn pasta rather than the tomato based pasta I was hoping for. My stomach is not used to creamy meals but I remained calm and philosophical. I had a three day carbo load under my belt and my stomach is pretty adapatable.

Race morning saw a bombshell dropped with the announcement that Jonesy had slept in and the much hyped Slash/Matty v Jonesy/Glenda PCRG Intrasquad match race was off. I said to Slash - 'lets go for a top 5 spot instead!' Slash didn't let that or the 40 minute starting delay bother him and ran a strong leg down south duelling with Phil K most of the way and arriving at Kurrawa in 7th spot, just behind Phil. Also arriving at Kurrawa was Glenda who had decided to run her leg of the relay anyway so at least the two of us could have a race! When Slash arrived Glenda didn't wait for me and grabbed an early 20m lead whilst I fumbled to strap on a borrowed Garmin (kindly lent by Chelle) after Slash passed it to me. Game on!

I ran steadily up the hill just after the start and then took my time making up the deficit to Glenda over the first two k's. As I warmed up, I increased the tempo and then caught up to Phil K's partner Stevo a sub 3 hour marathoner coming back from injury. Stevo courageously tried to hang on to me as I steadily increased the tempo but I knew that I was too fit for him and so it proved as I dropped him after a 2k duel. I then steadily reeled in Glenda by the time 5k's passed. An exciting duel then followed as Glenda and I swapped the lead a few times and steadily continued to increase the tempo, going through 10k's in 39:40. Here I took my first GU and was extremely appreciative of the cool Enervit drink that MJ handed to me. Having a reliable crew member driving along the route and handing you drinks and supplies is critical to a good run at Kurrawa.

As the temperature increased to 24 degrees, the battle continued while I counted about six or seven lead changes between Glenda and myself. I got a 10m lead on one occasion but Glenda pegged me back. By now, doubts were creeping into my mind. I was feeling ok but was unproven at this pace over this distance and I was up against a 2:55 Marathoner. I kept telling myself to trust my training and my carbo load and maintain the pace - Glenda had confessed to being underdone after missing a weeks training with a foot injury a month ago so I kept telling myself to maintain the pressure and maybe she'll crack. Finally, along Golden Four Drive around the 13-14k mark I realised that Glenda was no longer with me and I had opened up a 20m lead! I battled my way up the hill after Tallebudgera Creek and then coming down the other side, I struck my first major problem. Rushing to put on my sunscreen prior to the start, I had made the rookie mistake of putting some onto my forehead and now it was trickling into and seeping into my right eye, stinging it. I tried blinking the eye repeatedly and then ran with it shut for a minute. Just when I thought I was going to have to pull over at a water bubbler and wash it, relinquishing my lead in the process the eye came good. Phew!

I was now running alone through the streets of Burleigh, clear of Glenda but the temperature was hotting up and the doubts were coming back - could I maintain the pace solo over the last seven or eight k's? It was at this stage that I started to visualise one of my favourite all time inspirational scenes - that of Deek strongly pulling away from Olympic Gold Medallist, Carlos Lopes in the last kilometre of the 1983 Rotterdam Marathon. I love that video tape! I relaxed my body and I thought about how much Deek must have been hurting and how he dug deep and didn't give an inch. Could I do it too? Bloody oath I could!! And so it proved - as I continued to visualise Deek's powerful finish, I noticed my body had straightened, my breathing was regulated and my pace had picked up a touch.

Unfortunately, I must have got carried away with the daydreaming and as we approached the last point along the coast, I saw some witches hats(which had been designating turns all day) halfway up a long hill and figured a turn must be up there. Cresting the hill with doubts in my mind for the withces hats had not indicated a turn, I sneaked a glance over my shoulder and sure enough - Glenda was nowhere to be seen! I had taken a wrong turn! Continuing down the other side of the hill I immediately hung a right to get back onto the coast espalande and was dismayed to see that my 50m lead had been trimmed to about 20m! I knew that Glenda would sniff blood in the water if I didn't increase my lead again as quickly as possible so I dug deep and steadily upped the pace again. Despite that, it was here that I was passed for the only time by Jess Kirley, a 2:40 Marathoner coming back from a knee injury. I keep in touch with Jess by enmail when I can and he has been where I want to go with my running over the next few years so now I started telling myself to try and hang on to him - lets find out what if feels like to be a 2:40 Marathoner!! Alas, I was only able to hold onto Jess for a few hundred metres but managed to keep up the speed enough to ensure that he didn't pull too far away. While it might have felt like I was going fast I knew that my pace had dropped from the early 3:58's to around 4:10-4:15's at this stage (The Garmin lost satellite tracking around the 9k mark)

By now, the sun was scorching down, there was no shade, there was only four k's to go and I had pulled well clear of Glenda again. I could feel one of my toes blistering, my stomach was starting to get a little queasy and I was hurting more than at any other stage of the race. I kept telling myself 'its just a little further than a 3kTT and your used to hurting for the whole 10 minutes of that, so keep going!' As I sped along Hedges avenue, I could see that Jess was no longer increasing his lead over me and I knew I wasn't the only one doing it tough. As the park hosting the start/finish area loomed, I glanced at my watch which registered 3:27 and managed to coax a little more speed out ofn my weakening body to ensure that Slash and I dipped under the 3:30 mark! U beauty!

I ran through the ticker tape doing the double fist pump and then collapsed to my hands and knees - I had done it! 1:44:02 for 25k's in pretty tough conditions with three big hills thrown in. More importantly than the time, I had outduelled a 2:55 Marathoner and only been overtaken by a 2:40 Marathoner. After two years of knowing that I belonged in the company of this calibre of runner, it was bloody nice to confirm it!

I really could not have accomplished what I did without my inspirational PCRG team mate, Glenda. It was weird to be racing each other and hardly speaking after training so much together! Our duel for the first half of the race set up a good time and MJ was there for me on no less than 10 occasions along the route offering Enervit and GU's to me when I needed them.

I did all the right things in the hours after the race and pulled up well. Drank over four litres of fluids before I needed to head to the bathroom for the first time - it never ceases to amaze me how much you can lose!!

Its great to end 2006 on a high. I'll take a very easy recovery week now and then continue my Gold Coast Marathon campaign. Bring it on!!

Kurrawa to Duranbah - The Game Plan

Wed - 70 mins - 14k's in 4:40-5:00 range
Thurs - 2k's in 8:02, 3k WU, 3k WD
Fri - 15 mins - 3k's

Well, the Kurrawa to Duranbah 2 x 25k relay is less than 24 hours away and I have that nice tingle of antipation coursing through my veins as the clock ticks down. A month ago, this race was going to be a very hard run but i've been pleased with my progress since and I'm ready to well and truly flog myself for the first time since August last year. Slash has the first leg, then for the run from Duranbah north to Kurrawa, I will aim to run 3:55 mins/k's with the help of Chelle's Garmin 301 as there are only k markers every 5k's. Of course, if it is a scorcher by the time I start at around 6:45, then I may have to be a little more conservative.

Slash and I are hoping we can get a top five finish in the relays, but just as important will be beating our PCRG rivals, Jonesy and Glenda. On paper, Slash will have the edge over Jonesy in the first leg and with a 79 min Noosa Half under her belt, Glenda will have the edge over me in the return leg. But of course, that won't count for anything on the day and it will be interesting if Glenda and I end up in a head to head duel at some stage. Basically, I would expect Glenda to try and burn me off ASAP because she knows I am likely to outkick her in the last kilometre if it comes down to that. So if that eventuates, I'll just have to throw that plan for 3:55's out the window and hang on for dear life!!

The last few days have gone well. Wednesday was the first of what I hope will be a fortnightly run along the Brisbane River for myself and a handful of PCRG A-Teamers. Glenda, Slash and James M joined me for the inagurual run and we had a good hitout. Taperering shortened Thursday's run to 8k's of which just 2k's were at race pace and yesterday saw a light 15 minute run at 4pm just before a rub from Bruno.

I also started the AIS carbo load on Thursday morning and so far it is going well. This will be a critical test as it may be my only chance to experiment with this carbo load before my Gold Coast Marathon next year.

In the office now for a couple of hours and then MJ and I are driving down the coast and staying in a motel. With a 5am race start, there is no way I'm getting out of bed at 2:30am like last year!!!

So, I'm ready..... BRING IT ON.

PCRG - 3KTT

3KTT - 10:14 (3:22, 3:39, 3:22)

After a disappointing past couple of days, I was keen to make amends at today's 3KTT. There was a fair bit of trepidation last night when I wasn't feeling that great (possible cold coming on) and had occasional minor shin discomfort. I started bracing myself for the possibility that my streak of three consecutive faster times (10:46, 10:29, 10:27, 10:20) at the 3KTT would be broken. I did everything right yesterday and last night to help me get to the start line - plenty of water, Vitamin C, extra multivitamins and antioxidants and no dairy or alcohol.

Fortunately, I woke up feeling pretty good and after showing some blistering pace on the third run through, I knew that I would be ok today and set myself a target of 10:19, one second faster than last months 10:20. After the usual mad dash for the first coupla hundred metres, Mark T, Andy C and James M accelerated away up front with a big gap to a pack of seven of eight. I was tacked onto the back of this pack which included Peter H, Mike R, Jamie, new boy Stevo and surprisingly, Big Mark who I thought had a PB in the high 10's. 'Hang on' I thought to myself. 'Where's Langy? He wants sub 10 today. Have I gone out too fast?' A glance to my left and there was Langy accelerating past me and then joining Pete at the front of the pack. It later transpired that Langy was slowly away and had been enveloped by other runners at the start.

The first k went by comfortably in 3:22 and it seems that some of the pack felt they had gone out too hard and decided to back off a touch. I immediately sensed the drop in pace as we moved onto the narrow footpath and fearful of getting caught in traffic, I immediately put on a surge, going past five blokes at once and settling into sixth place with Jamie - a little over five metres behind Langy and Pete. And there I stayed as I clocked a 3:29 split for the middle k. Thank God I wasn't caught napping when the pace slowed otherwise, I would have been in big trouble! As I ate up the metres in the run home, I calculated that I needed a 3:25 to meet my goal and as I went through 500m in 1:40 mins, I knew that a good time was in the bag. With plenty in reserve, I was able to yell out to Langy 10 metres in front of me to stop loafing and kick for home and I had a fair bit to say to others over the last 500m as I cruised home with a 3:22 k for a time of 10:14. Pete, Langy and Jamie weren't too far in front.

All in all, I am very, very pleased with today's run. I thought that I controlled my run very well and that my stride was even and efficient. The fact that I was able to cruise to the line over the last 500m, do a bit of talking and still record a 10:14 leaves me in no doubt that I could have done sub 10 had I absolutely shattered myself. But of course, with the problems of the last few days and Kurrawa a few days ago, a flogging was not on the agenda,

So, the remainder of this taper week sees me doing 80 minutes easy tomorrow morning, 40 minutes on Thursday with three k's at goal race pace and then 20-25 minutes easy on Friday. Bring on Kurrawa!!

Diappointing times

Wed - 90 mins, 18k's @ approx 4:45's
Fri - 4k tempo, 3k WU, WD
Sat - 50 mins, 10k's @ 4:52 mins/km
Sun - 50 mins, 10k's $ 4:55 mins/km

For the first time in a while, the demands of work and life have negatively impacted upon my running. Whilst I have not missed a run itself, I have not done any core strength for two weeks and have done few glute firing ex's or foot strengthening ex's. And I'm FILTHY with myself. Will try and get back on top of things this week.

Wednesday saw me do a midweek long run with Slash around the River which went well, but was then followed by 13 hours in the office - was exhausted after that day.

Delayed my Thurday tempo run till Friday which I did in warm conditions at 10am at Golden Beach near Caloundra whilst MJ visited a physio. We then had a nice lunch at Alfie's on the Beach to make a nice day of it.

Sat was an easy late arvo run, delayed to allow recovery time from some shin discomfort.

I was planning to do a 2hr long run on Sunday but my shins continued to give me some minor grief. I probably have a mild virus that is making me feel like this although the rest of my body feels fine. I decided to reduce my run to 70 minutes (a good taper for Kurrawa) which went ok and without discomfort for 50 minutes until an electrical storm hit. I love running through heavy rain but electrical storms are another matter and after 30 minutes of waiting for it to pass, I decided to call it quits. Hopefully my body will thank me for it at Kurrawa.