What a scorcher as Sydney sizzles.

Rest day running wise but was out early for a spin on the bike, cycled to the park and after a few easy laps did 6 x 6 minute efforts again with only 2 min break between each rep. Just short of a full lap each time but was more then happy to get out on the bike and return home with 50ks done.
Lunchtime was another ride into town to the pool and with the temps sizzling on Sydney's warmest day on record i met up with a good crowd that included Pete, Mermaid, Toddie, one of my mates from outside HuRTS along with rare appearances from MrAce, Skippy Heyden, Greg and Kanser, and the original HuRTS Hasselhoff Mikey Conway. In fact felt slightly sorry for MrAce as when he arrived with his small frame and floaties the Lifeguard directed him straight to the infants pool and told him to stay within arms reach of the side.
Did a 700 warm up with Mikey before the crew arrived and then knocked out a pyramid session similar to the one i did on Monday. No fear of an easy session and standing at the end of the pool today though  with Militant Mikey on duty keeping us more then honest and directing us where and when to go :)
Sat on Mikey's feet pretty much for the whole session and it felt very easy today unlike the Monday set i struggled with.
2.3ks done for the day.
A few funny moments off note were,
1.Seeing who swum more between Kanser, Greg and Heyden......i reckon they only knocked out about 215 metres between the 3 of them.
2. Watching Kanser attempt to use Pete Walkers Hand paddles, absolutely clueless, at one point i thought he was going to stick them on his ears.
3. Being amazed by Andy Heyden's pale colour, The mans looks as if he is suffering from a case of Anaemia he is that white i swear it was Casper the Ghost joining us. and i had grave fears that he could even get back to his office with the high temps and sun beaming down on him.

Great session done and enjoyed although the cycle home was tough as the temps were hitting the mid 40s by that stage.

MrAce (Mike Race) all happy at the end of today's swim set after he negotiated with the Lifeguard to be able to swim in the big pool - Congrats mate.

Andy Heyden with his new Alter Ego - Casper. The Most Pale man in N.S.W i reckon,  How he survived the run back to work after todays swim was anyones guess.
Got my long run to do this weekend, not sure where and what day that will be done on , Kind of want to go with the boys who are doing the Striders STaR but feel it may be to fast , on the other side i could just cruise around the park with Enda for the morning.



4th Member on the Berlin Hit list is Macca
Paul 'Macca' McClarnon.
Macca is a relatively new to the group within the past 2 years or so and boy what a TOUGH cookie he is. Think i need to check his passport as its very unusual for an Irishman with this quality and somewhere in there i reckon there must be a hint of English :)
The HuRTS group has a few who can grind races out and put in the hard yards when it gets tough but i reckon Macca could perhaps be just the toughest. This guy just never knows when he's beat, Up till about the start of last year we were pretty much neck and neck with me pushing him all the way in some races but since then he has come on in leaps and bounds and now mixing it with the likes of J-Fen, Heyden and Fats,  Helped big time with his Sunday long runs with the Chairman that sees them knock out 30ks for fun these days and its not unusual to see them finish off the last 10ks in sub 4 minute pace.
A great example of Macca's strength was last years Melbourne Marathon - leading in he was under the weather but still managed to knock out a solid 2.39 (?)
With more of the long weekend runs i can see this kid running  a possible 2.36 on the tour.

Macca during the Sydney Half Marathon Festival last September with a super quick time with Heyden close by.

And another reason he's been selected for the tour ..... He loves his Yeast.

Although his only downside is he is Irish and this will be the only time he gets to hold the Churchill / Sands Cup :)

Have a great weekend
Cheers