Heads Up.

Just wanted to mention that my two mates Pastyboy and Vat are running the Gold COast Marathon this Sunday. For Greg, it will be another tick in a long list of varied athletic achievements. For Craig, it will be the culmination of two years dedication to run 42.2 consecutive sub-4 minute kilometres.

I wish them both well. Thanks for being around, fellas.

3K Rep.

THURSDAY 29/6/06, 4PM, 12K, WEEK TO DATE 54K, 7 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: NIKE TRAIL FREE

SW had me down for a 3K rep and a 2K rep today with 5 minute recovery between.

On awakening today the achilles felt noticeably better than yesterday, but walking around this morning told me it was quite a distance from 100%. Put off the running to give the anti inflammatories more time to work and decided I'd play the interval session by ear.

Ran down to Pitt Park- 5K warmup. Achilles a bit creaky.

The 3K rep was weird. I cruised comfortably through the first K in 4.11, second in 8.22, finished in 12.33. Can't get more even than that. I finished with little distress- was aerobic the whole way- but when I tried to reach down for more speed on the last lap, it wasn't there. Not sure why.

Decided to pass on the 2K rep as I wanted to be right for my rather large training run on Saturday. Did a 4K warmdown on the track in 19.32. Another Martin Horne appointment tomorrow.

Around the Oval Again...

WEDNESDAY 28/6/06, 5PM, 6K, WEEK TO DATE 42K, 5 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: ASICS 1100

Still having trouble sleeping. Lay in the bed until after 2pm before sleep came.

I was down in Sydney today and visited Martin Horne while I was there. He was impressed at how swollen my right achilles was and diagnosed tight calf muscles and achilles tendonitis as a result of ramping the miles up a bit too fast. He did his usual acupuncture thing, ran some current through both calves, and injected an anti inflammatory into the right achilles. Plus gave me an anti inflammatory cream to rub into the tendon. Both calves felt really battered after the acupuncture and current.

Like yesterday, I headed over to Mel's work at the end of the day. SW had an easy half hour run for me today, so I ran around an oval near her office for 32 minutes while she also ran. Lower legs felt a little looser than yesterday and I was actually moving reasonably well.

24K.

TUESDAY 27/6/06, 4PM, 24K, WEEK TO DATE 36K, 4 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: ASICS 1100

Sleep was all fucked up courtesy of the soccer, and felt tired all day.

SW had a 24K, 2 hour run for me today. After spending much of the day at UWS, I caught the train to Mel's work and dropped my bag there, set out just after 4pm. Not having planned this run too well, I ended up wandering round the streets of Ingleburn, Glenfield and finally, when it got dark and I didn't want to run on unlit footpath or next to main roads, ended up doing laps of an oval to make up the distance. Mel finished work and we went to dinner.

Was moving all right- 5min/km after a sluggish first K. Right achilles was quite sore and stiff- when the foot is flexed there is actually a creaking feeling. Seeing Martin Horne in the morning about it.

Boring run and I felt a bit guilty about Mel working back a bit so I could fit it in, but the workouts that really count are the ones you didn't want to do, yet did anyway. I wouldn't say I was smugly occupying the high moral ground, but maybe just a step or two up.

30 minutes tomorrow.

12K around the Park.

MONDAY 26/6/06, 2PM, 12K, 6 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: ASICS 1100

SW had an hour run for me today. My achilles was still creaking like an old door hinge (Martin Horne will have a crack at it on Wednesday) so I elected to avoid hills and hard surfaces by running down to Leura Park (2K run), circled the oval for 40 minutes, and ran back the way I came in 62 minutes.

Quads surprisingly good after the beating they took yesterday. Started to feel a bit tired near the end, but running 22 odd laps of an oval isn't as boring as I expected...

About 10 degrees, sunny, wore a t shirt and new Nike shorts.

Woodford-Glenbrook 25K.

SUNDAY 25/6/06, 10.30PM, 25K, WEEKLY TOTAL 94.5K, 6 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: ASICS 1100

A confluence of a few things had me doing this race today. SW wanted a hard 20K run from me, he'd also advocated picking the odd race of 20-30K distance to substitute for the semi long solid paced run, and a committment I thought I'd have on today didn't materialise, so I made up my mind to race around 8am and drove down the road to Woodford to register.

Clear old day. The course follows the Oaks Fire Trail, starting off up and down and quite eroded and rutted, but the second half is all gradual downhill on a very smooth surface.

My right achilles was still damned tight and sore- referred tension from my calf. Not good for a pounding downhill race, so I started fairly conservatively and just set about finding a rhythm. After struggling a bit on the early hills, from about 45 minutes I was chugging along reasonably well and started to pass a few people, including Gefjam just before the helipad at 12K. My achilles was sore all the way, but a bit looser at the end than the start.

From the helipad it was a steady descent to the finish and I picked it up a bit, passing a few people till I ran up to Prof and adjudged his pace good enough to match mine. We hung out pretty much from there till the final stretches, doing around 4.30min/Ks and Prof constantly studying his 305 and trying to work out whether the sub 2 hour finish was on or not.

After a few Ks Gefjam caught back up to us and I was redlining- kept wishing the bloody finish would come up so I could stop! Prof and Gefjam drew away from me a little bit in the last couple of Ks- just couldn't hold onto the other two- and I crossed in 2.02.

Felt pretty happy with the effort- knew I could have gone no faster (thanks to the boys for dragging me through) and definitely good training. Spent the afternoon wandering round in Skins- legs feel fine now, but we'll see how they are in the morning.

Great to catch up with the crowd- Mr Every, Kanangra, Spud, Rocket, Blue Dog, Sarge, etc.

East Met XC, Mutch Park.

FRIDAY 23/6/06, 9PM, 5K, WEEK TO DATE 68.5K, 5 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: NIKE TRAIL FREE

In Sydney all day. SW had an easy 6K on the schedule which I was hoping to do at uni in the afternoon, but it didn't happen. So, driving home on a wet evening, Mel dropped me at Wentworth Falls and I ran home from there in 28 minutes, via the Highway then Scott Avenue.

Right achilles very sore, extremely tight calf full of knots. Got some excruciating massage on it when I got home.

SATURDAY 24/6/06, 2.30PM, 11K, WEEK TO DATE 79.9K, 10 HOURS SLEEP (!), SHOES: NIKE TRAIL FREE

Slept RIGHT in, then down to Mutch Park Pagewood for the 6K East Met cross country race there. Long drive.

Did a 3K warmup including some strides- right achilles still very sore and I had to baby it during the race. The course was 3 laps of a 2K lap with one bugger of a hill, mostly grass with some sandy stuff added in.

I was telling myself to take it easy through the first lap, but somehow went through in 8.09 which was way too quick for my current shape. From about this point I ran alone for the rest of the race- no one in front of me or following me, which didn't help. Second lap was 16.40 or so, still holding things reasonably, but after that I slowed quite a bit and finished in 26.44, almost 2 minutes slower than my time last year.

However, quite an improvement than on the Sydney Park race two weeks ago, so not everything is bad.

2K warmdown with Vat.

Intervals.

THURSDAY 22/6/06, 4PM, 16K, WEEK TO DATE 63.5K, 6 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: ASICS 1100

SW had intervals for me today- 5K warmup, 5 x 100m strides, 3 x 4min (1min jog recovery), 2 x 3min (1 min recovery), 3 x 1min (30 seco recovery), 5K warmdown.

After rain most of the day, I headed out about 4pm on a cold, foggy afternoon and ran down to the track at Pitt Park. Felt much better than yesterday, although my calves were still tender and achilles also.

SW had advised me to take these intervals at around 10K pace, although I could bash the last couple of 1 minute intervals- the intention was to keep things aerobic. Pretty short recoveries.

Felt a bit tired in the legs as I ran the session, but just tried to run within myself and keep it consistent. Probably averaged around 970m for each of the 4min intervals (second one a bit shorter than the others), around 700m for the 3min reps, and about 250 for the 60 second reps. Didn't hammer myself.

Felt a bit creaky at first on the way back, but gradually eased into things and was moving reasonably well at the end.

Creaky.

WEDNESDAY 21/6/06, 3PM, 9K, WEEK TO DATE 47.5K, 5 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: ASICS 1100

9K in the program today.

I was down at UWS Campbelltown again today, so in the afternoon headed out for a rough lap of the grounds.

I was much rougher today than I was on Monday after the 60K- I was moving like the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz, without any oil. In particular, my calves were bunched up and felt ready to explode at any moment.

Ran most of the way round the perimeter of the campus on grass and some old trails, then returned via roughly the way I came, pretty hilly and rough underfoot, all on grass. About 52 minutes.

Never felt good. At least it's done.

I'm not very familar with the grounds of this campus, but if I lived nearby I reckon I could work out some great loops through the grounds, with plenty of elevation change and variety.

Got a massage tonight on my calves- full of trigger points that were seriously painful to work out.

Temp for the run was about 13 degrees with drizzle.

32K.

TUESDAY 20/6/06, 1.30PM, 32K, WEEK TO DATE 38.5K, 6 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: ASICS 1100

Wretched night's sleep, tossing and turning till 4 or 5am when I finally nodded off for good.

At my request, SW has tweaked my schedule so that, in weeks where my longest run is not a race, I do my long run on Tuesdays- gives me time to do things on the weekend.

Off the back of the 60K on Sunday, the longest run this week was 32K, at easy pace.

I left home after lunch and headed down to Echo Point, then Cliff Drive to Narrowneck, where I ran along the firetrail to the bushfire spotter's tower, and returned home, skipping the minor deviation to Echo Point on the return leg (the tower is a bit over 16K from home). Final time 3.17. Not very fast, but that wasn't the point today.

About 12 degrees at the start with rain sometimes threatening, but never evantuating. 8 degrees when I finished. I started in a capilene t shirt with a longsleeve tied round my waist, which I donned after turning round. I carried a water bottle in each hand.

I was feeling pretty wretched for the first 40 minutes or so- not surprising given the 60K run was only two days ago. However the long, nasty uphill to Kure Hill on Narrowneck woke the legs up and after that I was moving well, even on the uphills to an extent.

Just before this hill I passed the side trail to Devil's Hole. Last Tuesday there had been a grey Kombi parked at that trailhead. This Tuesday it was there again, although gone when I came back.

Some great views from Narrowneck on either side- Jamison and Megalong Valleys. The view of Mt Solitary from side on is different. On the way back, with the sun setting over the Great Dividing Range, the spectacle to the west, the Megalong Valley, was magic stuff.

To my surprise, I never got hungry and never really slowed down- even splits to within a minute or two. Very happy with that- just a good aerobic cruisy run on a hilly trail.

I'm on Grass...

MONDAY 19/6/06, 3.30PM, 6.5K, 8 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: ASICS 1100

Half an hour in SW's program after the big run.

Knees and achilles have been stiff since finishing yesterday, but warmed up as this afternoon I trotted down Govett St, ran 9 laps of Leura Oval on the grass, then went home in 33 minutes. Was moving fairly well by the end, particularly surprised going back up Govett St hill- I was looking for signs of endocrinal fatigue like accelerated heartrate, but no signs.

Some clouds in the sky, 10 degrees.

Long Run.

SUNDAY 18/6/05, 11AM, 58K, WEEKLY TOTAL 127K, 8 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: ASICS 1100

Out the door after a solid sleep in. I went for a more time efficient route than yesterday, running to Tableland Rd via Wentworth Falls Lake, then the Ingar and Murphys Glen Firetrails to Woodford, then return.

Quite a bit of elevation change- from my place at 990m elevation the course descends over 20K to 400m elevation at Bedford Creek, then climbs to Woodford at 29K, then reversed- down to 400m, then climbing to almost 1000m again.

Cool day with a few clouds- probably 10 or 12 degrees at most. Wore a coolmax t shirt most of the way, swapping it for a longsleeve coolmax at Woodford, then for a fleece pullover at Tableland Rd for the last 10K.

After feeling wretched for the first 5K, I picked it up on the gradual descent to Bedford Creek and was doing sub 5 minute Ks along Ingar firetrail. The climb out of Bedford Creek gorge was slow but I managed to run it all and got to Woodford (29K) in 2.48 and feeling full of running.

I had a substantial meal at Woodford and felt very sluggish on the return leg, the gradual uphill wearing me down gradually until I arrived back at Tableland Rd (48K) feeling buggered, having passed the marathon distance in about 4.25. A couple of Up and Go liquid meals and I set off for Wentworth Falls in the twilight, met Mel for the last time at Wentworth Falls Lake (55K) and slowly ground out the last 3K for home in gathering darkness. 58 kilometre run, duration 6.22.

My longest run since the 100 miler at Glasshouse, nine months ago.

Legs were quite thrashed afterwards and the rest wasn't much better, but some hearty eating has helped considerably in the last few hours.

Very glad to get this one out of the way. Didn't feel as good at the end as I did at the end of my run to Packsaddlers the other week, but I was quite a bit quicker than that run, walking much less over a course with plenty of long vertical.

Gutsa!

SATURDAY 17/6/06, 9AM, 16K, WEEK TO DATE 69K, 5 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: ASICS 1100

SW had me down for 60K today; decided to pass on Poor Man's Comrades and do a local run- from home to the Six Foot Track, along the course to the top of Pluviometer, and return.

Very poor night's sleep and felt tired from the start of the run. Clear, cool day, around 7 degrees. Still plenty of frost around when I got going.

Not long after crossing Pinnacle Hill and starting my descent to the Coxs River I caught a foot on a tree root and fell heavily, cutting my right leg in a couple of places and jarring right hip, elbow and ribs. The blood was flowing freely enough that I decided to go no further, so rang Mel on the mobile (with my other hand pressing down on the lacerations) and got picked up from Megalong Valley Rd.

Home for some solid doses of antiseptic and a resolution to try again tomorrow.

Recovery.

FRIDAY 16/6/06, 12PM, 6.5K, WEEK TO DATE 53K, 8 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: ASICS 1100

Slept in.

SW had me down for another 6K in 30 minutes today, so at midday I left home and ran down Govett St to Leura Oval. 10 degrees, sunny, wore a t shirt.

Circled the grass oval 9 times and returned the way I came. Legs feeling it a bit today- the climb back up Govett St was hard work, so I just shuffled up it. 33 minutes, 6.5K.

Highlight was two horses grazing on the grass on the side of Govett St as I went by, and still there on the way back.

Hilly Tempo.

THURSDAY 15/6/06, 4.15PM, 14.5K, WEEK TO DATE 46.5K, 7 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: ASICS 1100

SW's program today called for a "6km hilly circuit (continuous)" with 4K warm up and 4K warm down. Normally his squad would be running a hard hills circuit in Centennial Park today, but given I live 2 hours away I get to make up an equivalent session- basically 6K hilly tempo I suppose. It was about 9 degrees when I started, wearing t shirt and long Skins- wanted a bit of support for this session.

I warmed up with 4K following the railway line via Scott Avenue, then for my session I chose a mile long stretch of Megalong Rd from Clarence St to Gladstone Rd, very hilly- I ran this stretch as a double out and back. As a course, it included 6 uphills of about 400m length, two short (steep) ones of about 100m length, and equivalent downhills.

Bashed my way through the 6.75K in 33.04, 4.54 pace, with a nice negative split- 16.49/16.15. Neither leg strength nor aerobic conditioning are that great at the moment, but the negative split is a good sign.

Warmed down with 22 minutes of running round Leura Oval, on the grass.

I'll find a suitable offroad circuit in the near future.

6K Easy.

WEDNESDAY 14/6/06, 1PM, 6.5K (30 minutes, 4.37 min/km), WEEK TO DATE 32K, 7 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: NIKE FREE TRAIL

Pretty crappy night's sleep- sweated badly. Been happening a bit lately.

SW's schedule was 6K easy in 30 minutes. I wanted a soft surface for this, so went down to the track at Pitt Park and ran around it for 30 minutes. Ended up covering 6.5K. Sunny day, about 12 degrees.

1K 4.49
2K 9.32
3K 14.17
4K 18.56
5K 23.30
6K 28.07

Picked it up a bit in the last two minutes with the extra half K in sight.

Hills tomorrow.

Went and got a Coach... and ran 18K.

TUESDAY 13/6/05, 11AM, 18K (1.35, 5.19min/km), WEEK TO DATE 25.5K, 5 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: ASICS 1100s

After my less than stellar run at the Striders Lane Cove 10K the other day, it hit home that the first race of the Triple Crown- Glasshouse 100mi- was three months away, I wanted to run well there, but my post-illness "comeback" to proper training was not progressing well and had no real organisation or drive.

So I enlisted the services of Sean "Long Arms" Williams to coach me through the Triple Crown and ultimately to Western States 2007. After much email and phone correspondence and a face to face chat on Saturday, the first fortnight of Sean's program arrived in my inbox this morning. 18K in 90 minutes, with a hard 20 minutes in the middle.

So late this morning I slipped out the door into the winter sunshine, about 12 or 13 degrees. Don't wear a short sleeve t shirt that often in winter up here and I enjoyed the sensation.

I ran down Govett St, up Lovel St, Lurline St to Echo Point (where I bumped into an old running acquaintance, Ross Yates, and friend), then Cliff Drive to Narrowneck and out along the fire trail there to Golden Stairs carpark, and return in 95 odd minutes. Pretty hilly route- turnaround was at 9K, 47 1/2 minutes into the run, so very even splits which was good to see (the return leg is overall uphill, although plenty of elevation change in between). My "hard 20 minutes" started as I passed Landslide Lookout just above the Narrowneck turnoff, and ended when I got back to the same point.

Working hard at the end, but form seemed good. Again, I didn't have much to say on the steeper uphills.

Gmaps Pedometer map of the course is here.

Day 2 of the Sean Williams way coming up tomorrow!

30/30s.

MONDAY 12/6/06, 5PM, 7.5K, 8 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: NIKE TRAIL FREES

Down to Pitt Park at twilight, about 6 degrees. Mel ran around the grass track for half an hour so I did a 2K warmup, 15 minutes alternating 30 seconds hard/ 30 seconds jog, 2K warm down, as she did her stuff.

Felt surprisingly good actually- the cold bug of the last few days has almost cleared up. The 30/30s weren't the usual lactic, foam-at-the-mouth session, I felt mostly aerobic and in control. Was moving well in the warmdown.

Eat Met XC and Blackheath Bleakness...

SATURDAY 10/6/06, 2.30PM, 9K, WEEK TO DATE 81K, 7 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: NIKE FREE TRAILS

Took the long drive to Sydney Park today for a chat with Sean Williams and ended up doing his East Met Cross Country Race, three hilly laps of grass and mud through the park. 'twas cloudy and a bit humid as I saw Superflake and Blue Dog slowly run away from me as I wheezed around in 34.31- first lap was 10.45ish, second lap was 21.40 odd, and the third lap would have been slower but for some horrible bugger in an SMH t shirt chasing me up and down all the bloody hills. Had nothing to give on the uphills. Wore the Nike Trail Frees and liked their performance- good grip and lightweight.

Nice to catch up with the Sydney crowd- Superflake, Vat, Blue Dog, Silver Fox, ex-Vespa, Brightshoes etc.

SUNDAY 11/6/06, 7AM, 15K, WEEKLY TOTAL 96K, 5 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: ASICS 1100

A run from Blackheath with Yurtie, Poider and Roxii. Original run was meant to be 2 hours, out along Ridgewell Rd (aka Burramoko Fire Trail) to Baltzer Lookout, then return via Popes Glen and some nasty hills. Temp was about 3 degrees at the start and I was wearing rain jacket, polypro longsleeve (with singlet over it), beanie, gloves and shorts.

My sore throat etc from previous few days had graduated to a proper cold with associated congestion etc and I was feeling fairly unimpressed from the start of this run- hard work all the way. After turning around at the spectacular Baltzer Lookout the temperature started to drop and my fingers started to complain about this fact. I was feeling stuffed after just 40 minutes on gently rolling fire trail, and Poider was also feeling a bit off so from the turnaround we just ran back to Blackheath rather than add in the extra hills. Windchill was about minus 2 at the end.

Not a good run, that one. Hope it's just because of the cold I'm carrying.

Sublime Point.

THURSDAY 8/6/06, 4PM, 12K, WEEK TO DATE 72K, 6 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES: ASICS 1100

Cool, clear afternoon, 10-11 degrees. Nice to get out in a t shirt again. Ran out to Sublime Point and back- 11.8K in 62.26 (5.16min/km). Felt like things were moving at their best for some time, even though I've had a scratchy throat the last couple of days. This is a great course, very hilly and some sections you can stretch out, with a great lookout at the turnaround, but it's a bit annoying that the uphill nature of the return leg means you get to halfway in under 5min/km and finish with an avarage of 5.16...

Decent run, anyway.

Leura Ladder.

WEDNESDAY 7/6/06, 3.30PM, 12.5K, WEEK TO DATE 60K, 5.5 HOURS SLEEP, SHOES- NIKE TRAIL FREES

Took the new Trail Frees bush this afternoon. Left home on a 12 degree afternoon, down Goveet St, up the long hill on Megalong St to the Mall, then around into Craigend St and onto the firetrail at the end of that street that leads down to Leura Cascades. Then picked up the Prince Henry Cliff Walk (a historic walking trail) and followed that round to Leura Falls, and then took the long, winding descent on interminable flights of steps to Federal Pass. Prince Henry's Walk is relatively rough going (and wet), and the Leura Falls stairs took forever (20 odd minutes for a kilometre) before picking up some excellent (damp) running terrain on the Federal Pass Trail from Leura Forest to the Dardanelles Pass intersection.

I like this section. Smooth enough to push things, but with the odd rock, root or switchback to ensure you keep paying attention. It descends for about a kilomtre, then ascends for the same to Dardanelles Pass turnoff, which I took to the base of the Giant Staircase. I then ascended the Staircase in 9.48 and ran out to Echo Point, where the view was clear but a few pockets of fog drifted in the Kedumba Valley. Some rain was sweeping over Narowneck and it was getting dark, so I ran home via the road (Lurline St, Lovel St, Govett St) instead of returning through the bush, about a 90 minute run, pretty slow going with all the steps etc.

With a bit more time, next time I'll continue along Prince Henry to the Scenic Railway, descend Furber Steps, and come back through the bush.

Like the Frees, although they don't grip as well as, say, Salomons, they're not bad on wet rock etc at all.

Shoe Test.

TUESDAY 6/6/06, 7PM, 5.5K, WEEK TO DATE 47.5K, 8 HOURS SLEEP

Recovery run on my "short and hilly" route. Was a minute slower than Sunday on the outbound leg, but held the time even on the way back- felt good on the long downhill from the Mall particularly. 29.41- 5.24min/km. Solid fog, about 10 degrees.

I wore my new Nike Trail Frees tonight (yeah, yeah, I know it was a road run). Funnily enough, they seemed more suitable to road running than the regular Frees! They're a slightly chunkier shoe with, it seems, a somewhat raised or thicker heel, which made footstrike a little less jarring than regular Frees, although I still tended to switch to midfoot/forefoot strike occasionally- mainly on uphills. The rubber spikes on the forefoot didn't bother me. Should be a great shoe for grass running.

I like the shoe more than the normal Free, on first impression. And the heel mesh is reinforced so it doesn't tear, which was the bane of the original shoe.

Narrowneck "Marathon"...

MONDAY 5/6/06, 10.30AM, 42.5K, 6 HOURS SLEEP

Woke to rain, thick fog and cold, and procrastinated about heading out for my long run. Original route was about 55K- into katoomba, out to the end of the Narrowneck plateau, drop off the end via Tarros Ladder, around to Packsaddlers via Medlow Gap, then down Megalong Valley Rd to the Six Foot Track crossing, which would take me back up to Katoomba and home.

I finally rugged up in three layers (including a waterproof jacket) plus beanie and gloves and headed out the door with Camelbak loaded up with 3 litres of water, extra clothes and food. It was a bloody weight on the back- got to work out a better way of doing these things.

Trotted down to Echo Point first to see if anyone was around- and there were about three dozen tourists taking photos of the fog. Continued along Cliff Drive and turned onto Glenraphael Drive, which is the firetrail that runs the length of Narrowneck.

Never saw another person on Narrowneck- it was cold, with steady rain and wind, and visibility was usually 30 metres or less. So the usual spectacular views from the plateau were utterly non existent- it was like running down a grey tunnel, and not surprisingly I started to get quite cold after a while.

The trail here rises and falls quite a bit- a rollercoaster with some long climbs and a few short, sharp ones, but I wasn't breaking any records along here. Footing was a bit rough in patches- the trail has a lot of gravel and loose rocks. As I got further out the wind picked up more and my hands started to go numb. I was spooked out a bit by this, and decided not to drop down the ladder and continue on my usual route, but just do an out and back to Clear Hill, the far end of Narrowneck. I was conscious that there would be no one down there at Medlow Gap, Packsaddlers, 6FT etc and this had a bit to do with my change of route. CLear Hill was 19.5K from home.

Slowed down on the way back and started walking uphills. Eventually came off the trail onto Cliff Drive again and ambled back to Echo Point, then rather than returning home via Lurline St and Lovel St as I had done on the way out, I continued along Cliff Drive and Olympian Parade to Gordon Falls Park, then back home via Lone Pine Drive, the Mall and Megalong Rd to bump the distance up past the marathon, which I could get a bit of satisfaction from.

Did 42.5K in 4.49. Slow, slow, but I can assume some high moral ground from running for so long in shitty weather and I have run three road marathons in slower times...

28 Minutes.

SUNDAY 5/6/06, 6PM, 5.5K, WEEKLY TOTAL 43K, 7 HOURS SLEEP

Half an hour down Govett St, end of Megalong St and back, my usual "short but very hilly" route. 6 degrees.

Striders Lane Cove 10K.

SATURDAY 4/6/06, 7AM, 11K (1K warmup plus 10K race), WEEK TO DATE 37.5k, 5 HOURS SLEEP

Up really early for a long drive to Lane Cove for the Striders 10K- only the second one since September 2005. The extra 15 minutes hitting the snooze button at 4.30am cost me a decent warmup, only got in 1K beforehand. Was hoping for a 45 minute run, it was humid and about 9 degrees, a contrast to the night before when Mel and I ate dinner at Blackheath with snow falling outside.

Started out with Podrunner for the first 4K or so, not doing so well on the uphills, finally got around in 46.19.

Splits
3K (first 2K markers had been removed) 13.48
4K 4.41 (18.29)
5K 4.56 (23.26)
6K 4.31 (27.57)
7K 4.41 (32.38)
8K 4.41 (37.20)
9K 4.43 (42.04)
10K 4.15 (46.19)

Not that happy really. Three months till Glasshouse and need to get serious.

North Katoomba Exploration.

FRIDAY 2/6/06, 3PM, 12K, WEEK TO DATE 25.5K, 7 HOURS SLEEP

No running in the last few days- very tender knees after the hills on Tuesday. Not sure why, knee trouble is not something I normally have.

This afternoon I headed out for an exploration of some firetrails around Katoomba dam. Headed out with the temperature 2.5 degrees, windchill minus 2, and drizzling with the odd hint of sleet (it was snowing at Blackheath, 10K up the road) and was rugged up in fleece top, waterproof jacket, gloves and beanie, which kept my upper half nicely warm, but the legs only had shorts and got a bit numb at times.

I buggered up my navigation a bit but finally got onto some of the firetrails above the dam, to find that most were signposted off, no public access. I jogged around the ones I could access for a while before returning home through Katoomba- 12K in the sedate time of 70 minutes.