Mt Portal- Nasty....

Did 5.5K on Monday afternoon- checked out some firetrails off Cox St in the Cascadias. Felt a bit beat up.

TUESDAY 31/10/06, 4PM, 17.5K (1.33.31, 5.23min/km), 6.5 HOURS SLEEP

Shogun and I did Mt Portal again on a hot (29 degree) afternoon- I gave the Cascadias their first real battle hitout.

We both felt a bit rough from the start, so we agreed that, unlike the last two weeks, we wouldn't bash it this time- instead just try to get around in sub 90.

Fairly obvious that wasn't going to happen by the turnaround, which we reached in 46 minutes, and from there I pretty much wheezed back in 93 minutes. On a hot day, not much fun, but good to have this run logged in the bank again. Cascadias were fairly stiff on the roads, but felt a bit better on the trails. Then again, hard fire trail is probably not their ideal venue.

Shogun commented after the run that this was probably our toughest course of the week and I think it's true- very hilly, literally no flat, and the last 3Ks are pretty much all uphill.

Mel arrived home a few minutes after I finished and found me on the front step, drinking my second protein drink and nodding off to sleep....

Kembla Joggers Mountain Race.

SATURDAY 28/10/06, 8AM, 22K (1K warmup, 21K race), WEEK TO DATE 84.5K, 5 HOURS SLEEP

To Bulli for the Kembla Joggers mountain race- Sandon Point to Brokers nose and return. Shogun was good enough to give me a lift down and back.

The course ( http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=512056 ) starts on the beach at the trig point- 13m ASL- and climbs to Brokers Nose (440m ASL) on fire trails- several steep climbs with undulations mixed in. 
There's enough uphill on the way back to ensure you can't just let gravity roll you all the way down.

Wool, windy at the start. I started with the 5 minute group- Sogun assumed the lead and I chatted with Anklestrapper for the first 2K before letting them go and Glenn H assumed a position 10 metres behind me, as he did at the Bulli Pass race at the start of the year.

Felt a bit slow but ran all the way to the turnaround in 1.03.30, passing a few scratch runners en route, including Chub and Amjan. Fats and MPH blew past at speed on the way up.

On the way back I had Glenn right behind me and could see Nikolay ahead, Glenn took a couple of falls and was left behind and I reeled Nikolay in with less than a K to go, coming down Point Rd. He hung on for a couple of hundred metres, then I bashed down a small downhill and was able to shake him. Ran the last K in 4.03 to come in in 1.54.00, 5.26min/km for the whole trip.

Fairly happy with that- Shogun was in the high 1.40s, Fats won in 1.23 or so.

Legs don't feel too bad at present- not a bad hitout.

Brooks Cascadia Test.

FRIDAY 27/10/06, 2PM, 5K, WEEK TO DATE 62.5K, 7HOURS SLEEP

Got my Brooks Cascadias today, took them for a few loops of the grass of Glenbrook Oval, also a taper for tomorrow's mountain race. DId 5K in a touch over 23 minutes. Legs still a bit beat from the last few days.

Cascadias are a straighter last than my usual Asics. More testing in the next few days.

Long Angle Gully.

THURSDAY 26/10/06, 5AM, 25.5K (5.26min/km), WEEK TO DATE 57.5K, 5 HOURS SLEEP

Bad night's sleep- kept turning and woke up drenched in sweat- my body's occasional way of saying "hey, you had Glandular Fever not long ago" so felt a little seedy from halfway through this run. A cool 15 degrees with showers threatening but never falling.

Sarge rang up last night and asked if he could join Shogun and I this morning- so it was a pack of three that ran up past Glenbrook Lagoon and Blaxland station and onto the Long Angle Gully firetrail that runs off the end of Winnicoopa Road.

We followed this trail almost all the way to Singles Ridge Rd, Winmalee- turned around about half a K before the road as time was running short. Sandy underfoot but good footing all the same, rolling hills which got steeper on the way to the turnaround- one very steep uphill we named "Low Gear Lane".

I fell off the poace of the others after the turnaround and battled in from there- got home a few minutes after they arrived, and I was well stuffed.

Good conditioning though.

Need to take it easy for the rest today, my body was asking for respect even before we started.

Gmap of this morning's route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=511855

To Blaxland for Recovery.

WEDNESDAY 25/10/06, 6PM, 10K (5.03min/km), WEEK TO DATE 32K, 6 HOURS SLEEP

Bit beaten up in the quads today, no surprise given how we attacked the downhills yesterday.

Mel had a workout scheduled for 6pm so I left with her, intending to run over to Glenbrook Oval for some running on grass. However, the oval was in use so I kept going up the road and turned around in front of Blaxland Station and came back the same way- spot on 10K.

Legs a bit tender.

Long one tomorrow morning.

Mt Portal.

TUESDAY 24/10/06, 5PM, 17K (1.27.16, 5.04min/km), WEEK TO DATE 22K, 6 HOURS SLEEP

Shogun and I ran Mt Portal again, aiming to break last week's 1.29 run. Went out a bit fast- second K was a 4.20. As usual, on the way out Shogun was in the lead on the big hills. We made a point of attacking the downhills too and turned around in 83 minutes flat- 4.56 pace. Doing the whole run in sub 5 minute pace seemed possible until we had to climb out of Glenbrook Gorge, when our average pace went from 4.52 to 5.04 in less than a K. I was feeling fairly strong by now and attacked the uphills on the way back and we did a 2 minute PB, but missed the sub 5.

Both of us stuffed afterwards! Good run.

Mt Portal Gmap.

Here we go: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=508824

Toe Issues...

Instead of running Brindabella, I spent Saturday at the podiatrist having my big toenail carved up- seems it started to become ingrown and then infected- there had been some pain when running for the previous few days, and for a few hours afterwards it was sore enough that I was limping around.

Tested the toe on Monday evening with a 5K run up to GLenbrook pool and back at 4.53 pace. No problems.

River Run extra...

Gmap Pedometer map and profile of this morning's River Run is at http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=501835

58.75K for the week to Friday.

River Loop.

FRIDAY 20/10/06, 5.30 AM, 17.25K (1.17.54, 5.07min/km), 6 HOURS SLEEP

Shogun and I repeated our River run- Explorers Rd- Lapstone- Leonay- Emu Plains- Mitchels Pass- Glenbrook lagoon- Lucasville Rd- home. Very humid day. We bashed the last half and got home a minute faster than our previous best- last 3Ks were  4.41, 4.40, 4.39. Got a bit competitive there at the end. I ran well on the hills.

Long Euroka Loop- 24.5K.

WEDNESDAY 19/10/06, 5AM, 24.5K (2.11.42, 5.19min/km), 4HOURS SLEEP

Long run with Shogun- an extension of our run last Thursday- Gmap pedometer map is http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=500067

We were moving pretty hard for a while there- the long uphill to the Oaks picnic ground (where we turned) was consistently sub 5.10min/km, and then the long gradual descent to Euroka was done  4.40s by me, but Shogun was gradually pulling away. Doubted I'd be able to run all of the brutal climb out of Euroka but did so without much damage, and also the hill out of the gorge (Shogun was ahead on both hills). We faded a bit over the last 3K which bumped our average pace up a bit too much, although the last 700m was done at  5.06 pace. 24.7K in total. Good run with plenty of vertical.

Mt Portal, Faster.

TUESDAY 17/10/06, 6PM, 17K (1.29.22, 5.08min/km), 6 HOURS SLEEP

Met Shogun for an evening run from home to Mt Portal lookout and back. As always, this is a pretty hilly run.

Pace was solid from the start and we made the turnaround in mid 44 minutes- usually I get there in 47 or so. Shogun left me behind on the big climb back out of Glenbrook gorge on the way back, but the last K up Lucasville Rd back home was pretty much racing each other and he managed to edge me out. Finished in under 90 minutes, don't think I've done it in under 93 before.

Well pleased.

Heat and Pizza.

SATURDAY 14/10/06, 10PM, 7K, WEEK TO DATE 65.5K, 9HOURS SLEEP

Decided to sleep right in and pass on Fitzroy Falls. Perhaps Brindabella.

37 degrees today so Ididn't run till quite late at night, and even then I was still sweating like a man with a fever in a sauna. Plus I was still full of the pizza I had for dinner and thus fairly uninspired, so only did 7K to the bottom of Glenbrook Gorge and back up and out again in 38 minutes. Burp.

Nepean River/ Lucasville Station Loop.

FRIDAY 13/10/06, 5.30AM, 12K (64.13, 5.21min/km), WEEK TO DATE 58.5K, 4 HOURS SLEEP

Another night at work followed by an early run with Shogun. Originally we were going to do our 15K Nepean River/ Mitchells Pass loop, but were both tired (me especially) and we cut it short a bit, which meant adding in some steep trail. Full route was Lucasville Rd- Explorers Rd- Lapstone station- Nepean River- GWH- Knapsack Bridge- Siding Lookout- Lucasville Station- Glenbrook RAAF- home. After a shower, I slept another 3 hours. Still pretty tired.

About 16 degrees, but felt warmer, and of course it got very hot (37) during the day.

20K Euroka Loop.

THURSDAY 12/10/06, 5AM, 20.5K (1.46.50, 5.12min.km), WEEK TO DATE 46.5K, 4.5 HOURS SLEEP

Working nights is pretty rough on the old sleep, and this morning Shogun and I started running at 5am so I rose at 4.30.

We ran from my place into the National Park via the Gorge, up the Oaks Firetrail to the junction with Bennetts Ridge FT, back into Euroka campground, up the hill out of there, back through the Gorge and home. Lots of hills.

Once I warmed up we moved quite well, felt fairly strong except for the big hills out of Euroka and the Gorge. Bashed the last kilometre home.

Getting some good aerobic conditioning these last few weeks.

Mt Portal on a Hot Day...

WEDNESDAY 11/10/06, 17K, WEEK TO DATE 26K, 6 HOURS SLEEP

On a 28 degree day I ran from home into the National Park, down and up the Gorge, then the Portal Firetrail to Mt Portal Lookout, and return. Some pretty long hills in this one. Travelled well at first but at the bottom of the gorge on the way home the heat finally got to me (shorts were crusted in salt after only 14K running) and it got very ugly from there to home, with some walking involved.

Good course this one, pity summer is coming....

Mitchell's Pass Loop.

TUESDAY 10/10/06, 9K (46.00, 5.00min/km), 7 HOURS SLEEP

From home I ran Knapsack St- Quarry Lookout- Knapsack Bridge- Mitchell's Pass- Glenbrook Lagoon- Lucasville Rd- home. A loop of 9.2K with the long ascent up Mitchell's Pass included. Good strength run.

Felt a bit rough at first, but pushed home hard as I tried to get the average down under 5min/km. 
Splits for 7, 8, 9K were 4.43, 4.25, 4.38. Good run.

We Got Momentum, Baby....

Haven't posted for a while. Move of house (again... to Glenbrook), a hip injury before Glasshouse, meant I didn't have much to talk about for a while there.

I did get through the 100 mile at Glasshouse though. Didn't break 24, but hadn't done much training and held target pace together till 130K, and have a few things to take away for the next 100. Refreshingly few hints of Glandular Fever lately, although during the 100 miler my skin did break out in a psoriasis rash again, as it did when I got tired or stressed during the depths of GF.

Just knocked over my first 100K training week for a while. Here's the story...

TUESDAY 3/10/06, 5.5K. Explored the Knapsack gully's trails- ran from home along the old top points of the Lapstone Zig Zag railway line (now a trail), then a very steep and rocky descent via Siding Lookout to the bottom of the gully, up the other side to Elizabeth Lookout, and return. At least 300m of climb and descent. 43 minutes for 5.5K!

WEDNESDAY 4/10/06, 26.25K. Long run from home via Lapstone to the Nepean River at Leonay, Emu Plains, climb up Mitchells Pass to Blaxland, Wilson Rd to Warrimoo, and home via Glenbrook Lagoon. Felt rough once I came off the big downhill, but was moving well on the gradual climb from the top of Mitchells to the turnaround. 2 hrs 23, 5.28min/km.

THURSDAY 5/10/06, 15.25K. Ran with Shogun from home at 5.30am, shorter version of Wednesday's route. Lapstone, Leonay, Emu Plains, Mitchells Pass, Glenbrook Lagoon, home in 1.21, 5.19min/km. Having someone to run with in the morning a few days a week is a big help.

FRIDAY 6/10/06, 15.25K. We repeated the same route but tried to run it faster, and bashed around in 1.18, 5.10min/km. Well pleased with such a hilly run.

SATURDAY 7/10/06, 14.5K. Checked out the Riverside fire trail from Emu Heights to Yarramundi and back- follows the Nepean River. Mel rode her MTB along. Great surface, smooth dirt all the way, but horrendously hilly and Iwas not feeling good on a hot day. Walked a bit on the way back. Would like to have another go at this trail when in good form- bloody good strength run.

SUNDAY 8/10/06, 24K. I did a triple out and back along River Rd at Leonay/Emu Plains- 4K out, 4K back three times for 24K. Flat run with little traffic, Mel cycled with me on a cool afternoon. Battled a bit early on as my lunch wanted to come out, but I picked up the second half and did a bunch of sub 4.40min/Ks to bring it home in 1.59, 4.58 min/km. Bloody pleased with how it turned out, second half 5 minutes quicker than the first.