Euroka Loop.

THURSDAY 30/11/06, 5AM, 20.5K (1.48.46, 5.17min/km), WEEK TO DATE 44.25K, 4 HOURS SLEEP, ASICS 1110

Shogun and I did a shorter version of our Euroka firetrail loop- Lucasville Rd- National Park gates- Glenbrook Gorge- Oaks FT- Bennetts Ridge FT- Euroka Campground- Glenbrook Gorge- National Park gates- Lucasville Rd- home.

Relatively cool morning, 13 degrees. I'm still blocked up in the head, but legs felt good climbing out of the gorge the first time, however Shogun got away from me a bit on the gradual descent along Bennetts Ridge to Euroka. We had a good duel in the last K along Lucasville Rd.

Pleasing run. Good that my legs felt strong on a big uphill for once- might be the spin classes.....

River Run...

Did 5.5K around Glenbrook lagoon Monday evening. Bit of a struggle.

TUESDAY 28/11/06, 5AM, 18.25K (1.37.06, 5.18min/km), WEEK TO DATE 23.75K, 4 HOURS SLEEP, ASICS 1110

Lousy night's sleep, met Shogun at 5am for a longer version of our usual River Run, adding an extra 3K along the river and along the highway into Emu Plains- Gmap is at http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=563418

I was still blocked up and Shogun was feeling a bit tender after running Stalky's Escarpment Classic on Sunday, so we cruised along, taking it easy on a 20 degree morning. Got up Mitchell's Pass in good form, fell of a bit in the last K. Good to blow out a few cobwebs this morning.

Another Spin/5K.

Did another Spin class at Springwood this morning- really tough session, hammered the quads. Mel dropped me at Blaxland on the way back and I ran the last 5K home- horrible run, legs were totally dead and the last uphill on Lucasville Rd was the biggest hill in the world.

Had a mild fever for the rest of the morning and afternoon- didn't stop sweating till mid afternoon. Sleep has been pretty poor recently.

Feeling a Bit Better...

After much popping of pills etc, I did a spin class last night (Friday 24th) after doing bugger all since Monday. Got through the class okay, but trouble breathing near the end- still plenty of fluid circulating in the throat and sinus.

5K run Saturday morning to Glenbrook Pool and back to see if I was fit enough for Stalky's Escarpment Classic mountain race on Sunday and I really struggled on all the hills and the legs were wondering what this strange activity was I was asking them to perform. Finished the 25 minute run absolutely drenched in sweat, a sign that any race tomorrow would be silly.

Pretty run down at the moment, happens to me quite easily in the post- glandular fever lifestyle.

Scheduled a spin class in the morning and a short run afterwards.

SMC Half and Flu.

Fronted on Sunday morning for the SMC Half at Smithfield- only my fourth ever Half. I've run more 100 milers than Half marathons.

Went through halfway in reasonable time (47 minutes or so) but the heat was burning me up (later on found it was only 22 degrees or so) and I slowed dramatically in the second half to wheeze through the finish in 105 minutes. Very depressing and inexplicable, until...

I woke up Monday morning with achy muscles and a sore, swollen throat, which during the day became fluid in the chest. Did a 5.5K run around Glenbrook Lagoon at lunchtime- four laps of the very pleasant trail round the water's edge, but was really struggling.

Today (Tuesday) I have fluid building up in my head as well.

Oh well, I know why I had such a crappy race on Sunday.

Spin and River Run.

Did a Spin class at 8am- eventful, but a good pounding of the quads.

SATURDAY 18/11/06, 6PM, 15.5K (1.16.32, 4.57min/km), WEEK TO DATE 45.5K, 7 HOURS SLEEP

Met Shogun for an evening run over our Explorers Rd- Lapstone- Nepean River- Mitchells Pass- Glenbrook lagoon- Lucasville Rd- home route. Warm evening- 27 degrees.

We added a few hundred metres to the route by taking out the highway crossing at the lights by Glenbrook Oval and replacing it by crossing the highway at the Fletcher St bridge next to Glenbrook Pool.

Felt rough once we hit the flat along the river, but moved well up the long climb of Mitchells Pass and ran strongly pas the pool to Glenbrook Oval, where I eased off a little with the sub 5 minute K average in the bag, with an eye on the SMC race in the morning.

Quite happy with this run. Good stuff. Haven't broken 5min/km on this route before.

Oaks/Euroka Loop.

WEDNESDAY 16/11/06, 5AM, 20.5K (1.48.51, 5.18min/km), 4 HOURS SLEEP

Thought a day off was wise given the illness that led to the GNW DNF, so no Wednesday run.

From a 5pm run last time to a 5am run. On a cold, cold morning for November (7 degrees- Shogun was dressed in Skins and longsleeve shirt) Shogun and I did a shorter version of our usual Thursday morning loop, into the National Park and up the Oaks FT, turning off at Bennetts Ridge FT and coming back via Euroka campground (normally we follow the Oaks FT all the way to the Oaks picnic ground before turning around, which adds another 4K). Felt decidedly ordinary on the way back and really battled on the big hills on the way out of Euroka and out of the National Park. Shogun was in excellent form. Our usual tally of kangaroo sightings in Euroka was down- only two this morning.

Spin and Lucasville Station/Mitchells Pass Loop.

Did a Spin class this morning at Springwood. Well, they call it RPM rather than Spin. A great quad buster- funny thing was a few hours later it felt like I hadn't done anything.... Shogun and MPH have convinced me that this will improve my hills. We shall see if what works for them works for me....

TUESDAY 14/11/06, 5PM, 9.5K (45.00, 4.46min/km), 5 HOURS SLEEP

In the afternoon Shogun and I ran a 9.44K loop thus... Hillside Ave- highway underpass- Knapsack Ave- Zig Zag Trail (old train line)- Lucasville Station- Siding Lookout- Knapsack Bridge- Mitchells Pass- Glenbrook Lagoon- Fletcher St bridge- Lucasville Rd- home. Gmap is http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=541552 - a course with a mix of trails early on, a big hill, and rolling hills to the finish. Had limited time so couldn't do our usual Mt Portal 17K run.

Hot day (28 degrees) and we pretty much raced each other in over the last few Ks (although Shogun ran away from me on Mitchells Pass, then slowed down at Lennox Bridge for me to catch up). K splits were...

4.38
5.06 (bush)
4.16
5.59 (Mitchells Pass)
5.00 (uphill to the Lagoon)
4.54
4.31
4.14
4.40 (Lucasville Rd hill)
Last 440m at 3.42 pace.

Buggered at the end. Good session.

GNW- DNF at 52K.

Too tough for me on the day! More later perhaps....

Another Blaxland 10K...

WEDNESDAY 8/11/06, 6PM, 10K (48.04, 4.48min/km), WEEK TO DATE 25K, 6 HOURS SLEEP

Another 10K up to Blaxland and back while Mel did PT. Felt pretty good tonight! Cool, southerly wind, drizzle threatening, wore a t shirt.

Easy 5K.

TUESDAY 7/11/06, 8AM, 5K (25.09, 4.58min/km), WEEK TO DATE 15K, 6 HOURS SLEEP

Tapering for Great North now, so a 25 minute trot up to Glenbrook Pool and back was all I did today, a touch over 5K. Very humid.

Wore Cascadias again- Brooks reckon these shoes are okay for road running (to some extent) as well as trail, eg on a course where you run on road between trailheads. Don't really think so- pretty stiff and not much cushioning on this morning's road run, calves were tight for a few hours afterwards. Fine for singletrack stuff, not sure about firetrails, and not sure if I'll wear them at GNW or not.

Blaxland 10K.

MONDAY 6/11/06, 5.45PM, 10K (47.42, 4.46min/km), 7 HOURS SLEEP

Up to Blaxland station and back while Mel was doing PT, travelled via Glenbrook Pool, Glenbrook Lagoon and the top of Mitchell's Pass Rd. Felt a bit slow for the first couple of Ks then picked it up and was moving well from then on. Cool, humid evening.

Week to date 57K...

Oaks-Euroka 24.5K.

THURSDAY 2/11/06, 5AM, 24.5K (2.15.46, 5.29min/km), 4HOURS SLEEP

Lousy night's sleep.

Shogun and I did our long Euroka loop again ( http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=500067 )- Lucasville Rd- National Park Gates- Glenbrook Gorge- Oaks FT- Oaks Picnic Ground- Bennett Ridge FT- Euroka- Glenbrook Gorge- National Park Galtes- Lucasville Rd- home. About 15 degrees and humidity close to 100%.

Dark at the start, but we got a wonderful sunrise about 40 minutes in. Another highlight was all the roos in Euroka- we normally see a few, but today there were a lot and they stood on the side of the trail as we passed- totally unfazed.

Felt pretty good for the first 75 minutes or so- trying to cruise it a bit, not too hard- but struggled on the big climb out of Euroka and it was pretty slow trundling from there- the slog out of the Gorge was a real drag, as was the hill on Lucasville Rd.

Last long run before GNW- glad to get it done. Was running well last week, but seem a bit off this week.

Blaxland 10K.

WEDNESDAY 1/11/06, 6PM, 10K (49.23, 4.56min/km), 8 HOURS SLEEP

Ran to Blaxland station and back while Mel was having a PT session. Warm, about 25 degrees. Felt a bit rough- heart rate was up and legs a bit off- but had the odd stretch where I was cruising along. One of those funny runs.

Wore my Kayanos for the first time since I did the last couple of sections of Glasshouse 100 in them. At Glasshouse, I ended up losing both big toenails post-race. This evening, my right big toe was sore after the run- suspect the top of the toe box is pressing down over the nail in these shoes- the toe box is a lot narrower in the Kayanos than in the 1100s or other shoes. Might consign the Kayanos to lawn mowing duties in future....