July's CR Bay 5K.

SATURDAY 30/7/05, 6.15AM, 17.5K, WEEK TO DATE 68K, 4.5 HOURS SLEEP

Ran from home to the start. Found it was quite cold on the Bay- much cooler than home, which is a reverse of the usual trend- even though I had gloves on my hands felt the cold. Calves and soleus still sore, though not as much as yesterday, could also still feel the hip but again not as bad as yesterday. Should be right in another day or so if the usual trend from Martin's treatments follows through.

Lined up with the usual 20 minute wave- Prof, O Runner, Colin etc. Didn't really feel good, form wise, and this is how it worked out...

3.52
3.55 (7.47)
4.01 (11.48)
4.05 (15.54)
3.59 (19.54)

So not too bad, not great, haven't had the best preparation. Good runs from Prof, O Runner, Queen Bee amongst others. Ran back to Timbrell park then turned off and ran home.

I mentioned to the others that, going back through my old numbers, I've never broken 3.50 in the last K of a 5K, whereas I do it quite often for the last K of my 10K races. Is that normal for everyone else?

Next Saturday is the Striders LCNP 10K- I'll have a go at my course record 41.03 there. I'll do the STaR tomorrow.

The Horned One and a Recovery Run.

FRIDAY 29/7/05, 6PM, 6K (29.45, 4.53min/km), WEEK TO DATE 50.5K, 5 HOURS SLEEP

Went to the Horned One's again this morning for some work on left hip and both soleus muscles. Received an array of acupuncture needles, some joint cracking and a comment that my calves really could do with a massage.

Slipped out to my 6.1K office->Waterloo park->return route after work. Cool clear night. Still felt a bit tired, but in bursts I could feel some good form coming back- mechanically the best I've felt since before the 100K. Not quite over it yet, but getting there.

Intervals- 2K Reps.

THURSDAY 28/7/05, 12PM, 11K, WEEK TO DATE 44.5K, 6 HOURS SLEEP

Last night and first thing this morning I could feel my left hip clicking, and my left soleus is still sore. Made another appointment with the Horned One for tomorrow morning.

Ducked up to Dunbar at lunch with the objective of running 3 x 2K intervals on the grass there. Had to noticeably back off a bit on the run there (2.7K in 13.07) due to my aching soleus. Took off my shoes and socks and started running barefoot.

Rep 1 (5 laps of the track)
94
97 (3.12)
95 (4.47)
94 (6.21)
94 (7.56)

3 minutes easy jogging

Rep 2
95
95 (3.10)
95 (4.46)
96 (6.22)
94 (7.56)

3 minutes easy jogging, feet were beat up so I put shoes and socks back on

Rep 3
92
98 (3.10)
97 (4.47)
Got to 1350m and stopped. I was really battling and didn't want to put myself into a hole with the Bay 5K on Saturday.

Ran back to work in 12.48.

This was harder work than the 2 x 2K I did just before the 100K, where I did 7.55 and 7.47. Still a bit tired from the 100K I suppose- especially as I seem to bottom out, fatigue wise, about 10- 14 days after an ultra.

Usually I have run the shorter, quicker intervals on Tuesday and the longer intervals on Thursdays. I may reverse this order if recovering from the longer reps looks like affecting my weekend races.

Stu Mac is going to beat me to the sub 40 10K! But hopefully not by much.....

Recovery- LCNP.

WEDNESDAY 27/7/05, 12PM, 11.5K (55.49, 4.51min/km), WEEK TO DATE 33.5K, 7 HOURS SLEEP

Was going to get up and run early before work but AGAIN switched the alarm off and went back to sleep. My body seems to be objecting to early starts at the moment; I'll try to accomodate this to some extent.

At lunch, did the old office->LCNP10K reversed->office route on a clear sunny day, probably about 20 degrees. I was able to take my singlet off and enjoy the sun and air on my skin. We've had some very un-winterish weather in Sydney in the last week or so.

Pace was much improved over Monday, although form didn't feel too outstanding. For most of this year I've been making a point of doing as much running as possible under 5min/km pace- time to lower this to sub 4.50 pace, perhaps. I was at the Porters Creek Bridge outbound in 8.40, "8K Marker" in 15.01, turnaround in 25.02, came off Scribbly in 39.40ish, Porters Bridge inbound in 45.30 odd.

Left soleus felt sore before the run and more so afterwards, a legacy of last night's barefoot 400s no doubt. I can see why there is a school of thought that running shoes lead to more lower leg and achilles injuries, if the extra distance the foot travels when running barefoot affects me like this. My lower legs often feel beat up after a hard barefoot run on grass.

Intervals- 400s.

MONDAY 25/7/05, 4PM, 11.5K, 5 HOURS SLEEP

Work->LCNP10K reversed->work. Very slow- 59.05. Funny thing is I didn't feel stuffed or anything, just only had first gear. Lower legs muscles very tight.

TUESDAY 26/7/05, 5PM, 10.5K, WEEK TO DATE 22K, 6 HOURS SLEEP

Ducked out for a run up to Dunbar (2.7K in 13.13, felt like I was stuck in first gear again) for my old 8 x 400 session, barefoot. I'd meant to do this before work but slept through my alarms. Need to get myself reorganised. Also, this session is now an old favourite, makes me hurt, I've been getting lazy.

60 seconds active recovery. Had to have a pit stop after the 5th rep so added two more as compensation to make it 10.

89
87
84
85
85
*quick break*
85
87
86
86
86

Ran back to work in 12.48.

I really didn't know what to expect, having not done too much top end cardio of late (except a couple of hill sessions). Averaging around 85, 86 is not too bad, I can bring that down to 82 or quicker in a few weeks.

The one aspect of this workout that was genuinely pleasing was that I didn't fade in the back half of the session, which tells me that I didn't suffer too much endocrinal damage at the 100K and am already mostly recovered.

Early Run and the Horned One.

FRIDAY 22/7/05, 5.45AM, 9.5K, WEEK TO DATE 37.5K, 6 HOURS SLEEP

Had to fit in a run somewhere in a day which had an appointment with the Horned One at 6.30am, a work lunch, and dinner at friend's after work. So I decided to run to Hunters Hill for my 6.30 appointment- I've cycled there a few times before, before so Martin wasn't too fazed when I turned up on his doorstep in my running gear after clicking through 9.7K in about 52 minutes, toting a backpack of work clothes.

Cold morning- clear, about 6 degrees- so I ran in a coolmax longsleeve, shorts, cap, gloves. Felt the freshest I had since the 100K, although I was taking it easy and still felt a bit fatigued on uphills.

I received 5 acupuncture needles in each hip and in each ITB for a total of 20. The hip needles were as long as my hand- I knew I was in for it when he ducked out with the remark that he needed to get "more of the big ones". I suppose they needed to be long to reach right into the joint.

Then a lot of back cracking. He said that xyz in my back had gotten out of alignment, thus displacing my hips, which pulled on my ITBs, etc, so my hip pain during the 100K and subsequent ITB pain were related.

Suppose I'll see tomorrow how the treatment went.

Comment on My Training Structure.

A friend emailed me to point out that my training seemed to have lost structure of late- I'm not doing the alternating high/low volume weeks I was doing in April and May. Whilst I missed about three weeks quality training with the flu, this is an accurrate comment, so I thought I'd copy my reply here, and I'll welcome any further comments or observations. bear in mind my goal is sub 24 hours at the Glasshouse 100 miler in September (three finishes so far for me- 2002 in 27.39, 2003 in 27.11, 2004 in 28.56) and then the next goal is a good run at Coast-Kosciuszko (245K) in December.....


The main reason my training has lost structure is because at the moment I'm doing a "big one" each month- May rogaine, June rogaine, July 100K, etc. It takes a couple of weeks to get over each of these and by then the next big one is only a couple of weeks away, so not much room for a high mileage week. I'm happy to have all non-recovery weeks at around 100K total, rather than the 170s I was reaching in April.

As long as I do some quality each week- eg I'll do a cross country race this weekend, and based on that will resume speedwork next week.

In previous years I avoided doing many overly long runs and just did a 50K bush run each weekend- eg in the six months leading to Western States in 2003 the longest run I did was Bogong-Hotham, which took 10 hours, after that my next longest run would have been around six and a half hours. And off that training regimen I still didn't put together good "back halfs" of my long ultras (faded badly at Glasshouse 2003 and 2004 and at WS) so this year it's fewer long runs for me, but the long runs I do are much longer than before. Maybe it'll work.

Recovery.

MONDAY 18/7/05, 11AM, 5K, 7 HOURS SLEEP

5.1K in 25.43 on grass at the Marist sports fields in Brisbane. Felt tired but got better as I warmed up. Main physical symptoms from the 100K- some quad stiffness, mild ITB soreness, and very sensitive knee joints- jarring my leg sent a bolt of pain through the joint. The knee tenderness gradually went away during the week but was still occasionally noticeable on Thursday, and the ITBs were still a bit sore on Thursday also.

TUESDAY 19/7/05, 7PM, 6K, WEEK TO DATE 11K, 4.5 HOURS SLEEP

Flew in from Brisbane, busy day at work, ducked out after work for a run office->Waterloo Park->return on a cold night. Felt tired on uphills as expected. DId 6.1K in 30.29, so 4.59 pace.

WEDNESDAY 20/7/05, 11.30AM, 10.5K, WEEK TO DATE 21.5K, 6 HOURS SLEEP

Office->Dunbar Field->5K barefoot on grass->return in 50.34. Tiring by the end, didn't feel smooth or moving well at all really.

THURSDAY 21/7/05, 7.30AM, 6.5K, WEEK TO DATE 28K, 4 HOURS SLEEP

Office-> bottom of Scribbly Gum->return in 33.49, just trotting along, ITBs still a bit sore, felt tired, cold morning. Booked an appointment with Martin Horne tomorrow morning to look at hips and ITB.

Gold Coast 100K.

SATURDAY 16/7/05, 6AM, 100K (10.27.03), WEEKLY TOTAL 145.5K, 5 HOURS SLEEP

Gold Coast 100K- 16 laps of a flat 6.25K loop of bike and footpaths in Runaway Bay, QLD. Not my desired surface by any means! 30 starters, 23 finishers, I was 12th, but faded badly in the second half. My hips became painful, plus groin, stomach, lower back, to a lesser extent quad and calf muscles tightened badly, and I had to deal with two bouts of nausea, which several other competitors also reported.

Ran with Spud through 50K, accompanied at times by Fat Bloke, Run67 and Whippet Man, before I faded. Spud went on to finish 7th in 9.34, which is where I should have been given we've been very comparable this year over all distances. Haven't put together a good "back half" of an ultra for a while and it's starting to bother me. During the run I walked each lap of the track whilst eating- at first muffins, chips and nuts, but later on all I could get down was chocolate Moove and the odd banana. At the aid stations I had water mostly, although I had a few cups of Endura which I really did not like.

My guess is that doing rogaines meant I was well adjusted to the metabolic demands of a 100K run but my body structure just wasn't up to it. I stiffened up quite noticeably in the last 15K or so of the Canberra 50K, but then felt fine running 60K on the highway with the Comrades boys a fortnight later- no doubt thanks to the conditioning effect from Canberra. However, my longest runs on sealed surfaces since then have been a few STaRs, which are not quite in the same league (or consistent enough) to condition the body for this sort of stuff, although I am open to other suggestions....? I also got fairly mentally depressed after losing touch with Spud, found the course fairly uninspiring.

The weather was sunny and clear, quite cold at the start rising to about 20 degrees, with a cool breeze fairly constantly. Good running weather.

Particular thanks to my valiant crew, and to Ian Cornelius and his volunteers. Not sure this format of event will lure me again soon though....

This was my 50th marathon/ultra.

Splits for each 6.25K loop:

6.25K 33.48
12.5K 33.48 (1.07.37)
18.75K 34.45 (1.42.23)
25K 33.28 (2.15.52)
31.25K 34.09 (2.50.01)
37.5K 34.08 (3.24.09)
43.75K 34.41 (3.58.50, marathon split 3.45)
50K 35.42 (4.34.33)
56.25K 37.01 (5.11.34)
62.5K 38.38 (5.50.13)
68.75K 41.33 (6.31.46)
75K 44.07 (7.15.53)
81.25K 50.33 (8.06.27)
87.5K 46.49 (8.53.16)
93.75K 46.25 (9.39.42)
100K 47.21 (10.27.03)

Recovery.

FRIDAY 15/7/05, 5PM, 10K (50.12, 4.58min/km), WEEK TO DATE 45.5K, 7 HOURS SLEEP

10.1K out and back along the Brisbane River. Cool clear evening with Skiz joining me on a bike. Encountered Undercover Bro and his Husky dog Alaska whilst running and trotted with him for a while (had to slow down to accomodate the hound, but it gave us the chance to crap on some more about ultra stuff- see you at 12FT Dave!).

Felt pretty damn ordinary at the start and felt a bit better once I warmed up, but never felt particularly good.

100K tomorrow.

Intervals By Moonlight- 2 x 2K.

THURSDAY 14/7/05, 6PM, 10K, WEEK TO DATE 35.5K, 5.5 HOURS SLEEP

Missed an early run due to a late night watching Le Tour and was too busy at work to run at lunch, finally got out after the sun had set, figured I might as well run up to Dunbar and see if it was possible to do speedwork in the dark on the unlit track.

Surprise, the moonlight and background light made it possible to see the lanes, so by moonlight I belted out 2 x 2K barefoot.

2.7K run to the track as warmup in 13.11 (4.53 min/km), then

97
95
98 (hit lap button too late, probably 95 really)
90 (as you can see)
93
= 7.55

3 minutes jog recovery, then

96
96
93
91
90
= 7.47

Ran back to work in 12.45 (4.43 pace)

Clear and about 12 degrees. The pleasing thing was that this workout was not taxing at all- legs didn't feel thrashed, nor were the lungs burning. Oh, plus the poetic aspect of speedwork in the moonlight, that was something a bit special.

Recovery, Barefoot.

WEDNESDAY 13/7/05, 11.45AM, 10.5K (48.20, 4.39min/km), WEEK TO DATE 25.5K, 6 HOURS SLEEP

Cool sunny day. Ran up to Dunbar and did 5K barefoot on the track there. Hadn't done that session for a while and my calves and soleus were telling me this by the end.

Felt tired but pace was decent.

Speed/Hills.

MONDAY 11/7/05, 4PM, 6K (28.05, 4.36min/km), 6 HOURS SLEEP

Office->Waterloo Park->return on a cool afternoon. Felt a bit tired on the way out but once I warmed up I felt quite good indeed, negative split by over 20 seconds.

TUESDAY 12/7/05, 12.30PM, 9K, WEEK TO DATE 15K, 5.5 HOURS SLEEP

Nasty old day, cold and only 12 degrees. Got home very late Monday night so missed the Tuesday morning hill group, so at lunch I did an easy 2K warm up then went into Tuckwell Park and did 60 seconds hard/60 seconds jog for 10 minutes (ie 5 reps), then crossed the road into LCNP and did 8 reps of the "Ranger's House Hill" familiar to runners of the Striders 10K races. I started at the speedbump and finished at the GATES CLOSING sign.

50
50
47
50
50
51
52
49

I was in real pain and foaming at the mouth after this one. Walked around for a couple of minutes to recover, then jogged back to work.

Got a pain in the top of my left foot. Tight laces I suspect/hope.

Great NOSH Race (and more).

SUNDAY 11/7/05, 10AM, 32K, WEEK TO DATE 95.5K, 7 HOURS SLEEP

Funnily enough I'd never done this race before, and had no intention of doing so until Friday night, when Paul Every told me he was planning to run it, then run back, and I could therefore do my long run and enjoy a new race at the same time. With a 10am start time, it seemed too appealing to miss.

I was woken around 5.30am by gusty south westerly winds rattling my blinds. Looked a bit cold, wet and grim out there, so I went back to sleep for two hours.

I got off the train at Lindfield and ran a mile to the start, saw a few familiar faces (Mr Every, Queen Bee, MPHaz, MikeF, Jim C) and started with a singlet on and a thermal longsleeve wrapped round my waist if the rain and wind got much worse. It never rose above 13 degrees all day with substantial windchill.

I'd run on most of the trails the course took in at some point, but didn't appreciate the variety of terrain that we would encounter- mud, narrow paths, wide trails, scrambling over rocks, tree roots, using all fours, feet sinking into soft earth and grass. Great fun, perhaps more fun than if it had been a warm, dry day. Paul said several times that this was his favourite race in metropolitan Sydney and the one he'd reccommend to any foreign visitor.

I traded positions several times with MikeF who was running his first ever offroad race, and who produced the quote of the day: Hey Sean, this trail running is frightening! Also saw the great Max Bogenhuber out there a few times.

I scrambled up a steep rocky climb to find myself on a fire trail at 12K, and suddenly realised I had to run fast again- you do a lot of shifting gears and paces in this race. I pushed all out for the next 2K before the trail narrowed and became dicey for the last kilometre, with MikeF closing in then doing a faceplant right behind me. Hauled myself across the line in 81.26 and that seemed to be a decent result- only a few minutes behind Mr Every and MPHaz and right on the heels of my old 10K sparring partner Rocket Rod. Next year it'll be sub 80.

We started freezing almost as soon as we stopped so Mr Every, Rocket and I headed back quite soon after finishing. We took our time- over half an hour slower than our race time in the other direction!- during which we encountered a lot of fallen trees that had been blown over by the wind after we had passed through on the way out.

Good races by Sportsman and Blue Dog amongst others. Looking forward to next year, when hopefully we'll have a big social bunch taking the scenic route back to the start.

EDIT- Great NOSH course profile and pace chart of my race.



SUNDAY 11/7/05, 4.30PM, 6K, WEEKLY TOTAL 101.5K

Commute on foot from the station to a family function, cool weather, 6K in 29.13 (4.52min/km) on bike path. Form felt quite good, moving well considering I was toting a backpack.


WEEKLY TOTAL 101.5K Getting back into decent mileage and with some promising signs there in the speedwork and races.

East Metropolitan CC Race, Mutch Park.

SATURDAY 9/7/05, 2.30PM, 8K, WEEK TO DATE 63.5K, 6 HOURS SLEEP

Late night on the drink, got up at 10am feeling reasonable, after brunch headed over to Mutch Park at Pagewood for the East Metropolitan CC 6K race there. I thought it started at 3pm, so when I turned up at 2.25pm and found it was a 2.30 start, I had no time for a warmup- just started racing!

The course was three laps of a 2K course over a mix of grass, earth, hills, dirt road, trees etc. Paul Arthur won. I ran 24.49 and was happy with that. My Garmin measured the course as 6.14K, Vat had it as 6.2K. If it was an accurate 6K, I averaged 4.08min/km, if 6.14, then I did 4.03- happy either way. My splits were 8.08, 16.38 (8.30), 24.49 (8.11).

Somewhat cloudy, 18 degrees with a cool north westerly breeze. Slow 2K warm down with Vat and Amjan.

Skizzik took a number of photos of the race, my thanks, here are a few....

Pair of reprobates before the start.



Near the end of the first lap.



Finishing.

Recovery- LCNP Run.

FRIDAY 8/7/05, 7.45AM, 11.5K (55.37, 4.50min/km), WEEK TO DATE 55.5K, 5.5 HOURS SLEEP

Came into work and ambled round my usual office->LCNP 10K reversed->office course. Cool morning, but the overcast clouds meant it wasn't too bad and I was comfortable in shorts, cap and tri top. Form felt okay but I was a bit tired, and noticeably sore in the hamstrings and calves- a legacy of yesterday's session I think, haven't run barefoot on grass for a while.

Encountered MPHaz heading out on his own run just after I crossed Porters Bridge outbound, and when I turned around at the weir O Runner was running across it, so I ran with him for a couple of km until I turned off to climb up Scribbly Gum- not long before this we saw MPHaz coming back towards us, heavily rugged up in goves, beanie and a pullover, whilst O and I were comfortable in much lighter garb. Little bit of a CR convention this morning.

Intervals- 2 x 2K.

THURSDAY 7/7/05, 3PM, 10K, WEEK TO DATE 44K, 5.5 HOURS SLEEP

Cloudy, 16 degrees, a little drizzle about which cleared a few minutes after I started.

Ran from the office to Dunbar Field in 12.43 (2.7K, 4.43min/km- felt a bit tired at first, but then warmed up), took off shoes, did 2 x 2K barefoot on the grass.

96
96 (3.12)
94 (4.46)
94 (6.21)
93= 7.55

3 minute jog recovery

95
96 (3.11)
95 (4.46)
93 (6.20)
90= 7.51

Ran back to the office in 12.37 (2.7K, 4.40min/km).

Felt pretty good about this- only really working hard in the last couple of hundred metres of the first rep and last lap of the second rep. When I ran 40.25 for 10K in May I did 7.55/7.47 two days before. I don't think I'm quite in that shape, but sub 41.30 should be doable at the moment.

LCNP Run.

WEDNESDAY 6/7/05, 2.30PM, 11.5K (54.36, 4.45min/km), WEEK TO DATE 34K, 8 HOURS SLEEP

Not quite sure how I conned 8 hours sleep, but it didn't seem to do much good as I spent most of the day feeling half asleep. Finally got out for a belated lunch run over my office-> LCNP reversed->office course. Cool, clear afternnon. Felt tired at first (especially on uphills) but gradually warmed up a bit, although I never really felt that good. Time was okay. Reached Porter's Bridge outbound in 8.48, "8K marker" in 16.00, weir in 25.01, bottom of Scribbly Gum in 39.05, Porter's Bridge inbound in 45.02.

Still not really a fan of these Asics 2100s. Might buy another pair of 1100s instead.

System Check.

TUESDAY 5/7/05, 7PM, 6K (29.36, 4.51min/km), WEEK TO DATE 22.5K, 4 HOURS SLEEP

 

Up at 4am, fly to Sydney, crappy stressful day at the office, out for a run late, office->Waterloo Park->return. Cool, about 13 C. Not surprisingly, slower than I did it in last week. Tired on all uphills, form felt okay.

Mt Coot-tha.

MONDAY 4/7/05, 11AM, 16.5K (1.29, 5.27min/km), 6 HOURS SLEEP

I am in Brisbane today so decided to run a loop of Mt Coot-tha, starting from down near the Brisbane River. I did the road loop as I wasn't sure of all the trails on the hill and a friend rode a bike with me on the trip.

Some nasty hills up there (from the Slaughter Falls carpark to the reservoir specifically, which tops out at 280M ASL), quite nice through the bush, reminds me a bit of running in LCNP but much hillier. About 20 degrees, I ran for much of it with my singlet off. Some excellent views too.

Felt pretty crappy on every uphill (not surprising after the weekend) and started to get hungry in the last few km and died a bit as a result. Lunch was inhaled, more than eaten.

Gold Coast 10K.

SUNDAY 3/7/05, 9.30AM, 14K (4K warmup, 10K race), WEEKLY TOTAL 79K, 4 HOURS SLEEP

I flew up to GC just after lunch Saturday and spent much of Sunday morning watching the GC marathoners and half marathoners doing their thing before lining up in the 10K. I was hoping to better yesterday's result from Homebush.

Sunny and 19 degrees, but it felt warmer.

I accelerated gradually through the first 3K before settling into an average of 4.10min/km. Legs felt a bit sore but I was moving well and felt fluid. After the turnaround I started to contemplate a 41.30 finish (which I'd be very happy with!) when the proverbial house of bricks fell on me just before the 7K mark and I battled in for 42.40.

A combination of the aftereffects of yesterdays race and some lingering endocrinal fatigue from the rogaine I think. Again, I'll be conservative this week so I'm fresh next weekend for my ramp up to Glasshouse. At least I got some solid speedwork in this weekend.

My splits:

1K 4.14
3K 8.17 (12.31, missed 2K sign)
5K 8.19 (20.50, missed 4K sign)
6K 4.10 (25.01)
7K 4.16 (29.17)
8K 4.27 (33.44)
9K 4.27 (38.12)
10K 4.27 (42.40)

Striders Homebush 10K.

SATURDAY 2/7/05, 6AM, 24K, WEEK TO DATE 65K, 4 HOURS SLEEP

Bit of a trip into the unknown this morning, I hadn't done any speedwork since last month's 10K due to illness and a few other things, so I was curious to see what I'd lost. 43 minutes seemed feasible after running 40.25 and 41.03 at my previous two 10Ks before illness.

I only live 7K from Olympic Park, so ran to the start as warm up, and ran back after the race (both at about 5.15 pace) for a 24K morning.

Clear and 12 degrees at the start.

I found myself in a loose group of O Runner, Spud, Charles Coville, John van Yzendoorn, Jim Cryer and a few others. I was hurting by 3K- legs were okay, but my aerobic fitness just couldn't match that and my throat and lungs were burning. Spud and Charles went past me just after halfway but O Runner and I kept swapping the lead back and forth until I put a little gap into him at around 8K.

However, he has more outright speed than I do so I knew he'd come back at me, and so it was- I could hear O's breathing and footsteps closing in behind me with several hundred metres to go, but I just managed to hold him off as he ran out of room and I finished just in front in 42.06.

Definitely the most painful 10K I've done for quite some time.

Splits (very uneven!)

4.22
4.01 (8.23)
4.04 (12.28)
4.20 (16.48)
4.02 (halfway 20.51)
4.16 (25.08)
4.16 (29.25)
4.20 (33.45)
4.19 (38.04)
4.00 (finish 42.05)

So, yeah, not bad under the circumstances, now I have something to work with for the next couple of months.

Not sure of the total number of runners, but Glenn Guzzo won in 30.40, Charlotte Paul was first woman in 36 odd, Brightshoes ran s scary new PB of 33.46 (last kilometre 3.08!), Vat, Fats, Superflake, Queen Bee all did PBs, Spud ran well to just miss his PB.

Pre-10K Loosener.

FRIDAY 1/7/05, 1PM, 6K (27.54, 4.34min/km), WEEK TO DATE 41K, 6.5 HOURS SLEEP

 

Humid and 17 degrees, office->Waterloo Park->return. Felt good on the flats, shit on all uphills. Probably pushed it a bit hard given the 10K tomorrow.