Berlin .....OUT

Well it was always going to be a battle but today was D- Day and sorry to report that I have succumbed to injury that has now ruled me out of Berlin. Very disappointed but not a lot I can do,

Full write up later.

Swim 1k Time Trial Time - 16.44

Decided to miss the Thursday HuRTS session yesterday as not keen to push the body to much and risk any injuries preferring to save myself for the more important Saturday Long run this week (another 30k plus)

Friday – It was time trial time at the pool for the monthly 1k rep that coach Walker has successfully organized over the winter months, Absolute cracker of a day that brought some fine sights down to the pool ( taffy James has never seen anything like it…. Well he does come from Cardiff I suppose), Great turnout with 12 on the start line although no sign of Champagne Charlie or Enda. First to go off scratch was MrAce (with a more then generous handicap) followed by last months Golden Duck winner Champ.  I wasn’t far behind and was soon on my way, settled early and was moving OK and soon caught Julia but couldn’t believe when Taffy Lad James gave me a good bump out the way on the turn already catching me at the 550 mark. Tried desperately to get on his feet and surprised that I could for the next 300 before there was nearly an almighty head on when Champ, Taffy, J.C, Elan and came together on the turn.

Happy with my 16.44 for the day an improvement of 23 seconds on last month, Elan took out the fastest swim of the day with a blistering 13.11 also taking out the Golden Duck as he was the first home on handicap as well. MrAce needs to go back to school to count to 10, as when he took of for his 21^st lap it cost him certain victory as no official time was recorded and Elan only going past him with less then 50 meters to go – amateur J

So back out in the morning for the 30k with Enda and a few of the others, think we are down to do 2 x normal 10k loops then one at Marathon Pace….Ouch, that could be tough.

Another big weekend of footy with two massive matches, The Old Liverpool vs. Man Utd is on again followed by the North London Derby between Arsenal and The Yid Boys from Tottenham., Going to back the mighty Reds this week against Man Utd as I think there confidence is up and Anfield will be rocking no doubt that may just get them over the line.

Timmy’s Tip – Liverpool 2 Man Utd 1,

                    Arsenal 2 Tottenham 2

Unfortunately the Potters are away to the Scrap Dealers of West Ham and I can’t see us coming away from there with anything – West Ham to win 2 -1

Times for today's 1k swim trial

What we swim for.... the 'Green Duck' Green because Angus refuses to give back the Golden Duck after his win in June, and Champs not giving us the 'Red Duck' back either :)
Elan takes the honours today with his blistering 13.11 time

Have a great weekend
Train well and stay safe
Cheers

Trying just to stay in one piece.

Caught up with the BRAT Hardmen (Enda, J.C and the Laughing Policeman Samsy) this morning to help tick the ks off, Good craic although J.C was very quiet this morning and looked in a world of hurt so much I didn’t even get one sledge out of him in 30 minutes, with him failing to even attempt the Woollarha Hill? Enda on the other hand is flying fresh from his 76 half marathon on the weekend and has a spring in his step to go with his newfound ‘Cocky attitude’ that is on show in time for Berlin . Rolled around the 6k loop in about 4.25 pace before going on to do one of the 10k outside loops at the same pace.

4.26 average all up for 15ks in total – bit shorter then I wanted but my hip was starting to niggle …………..please tell me its not another hurdle, It seems to be one battle after another these past 8 months?

Cheers

Centennial Park 6 x 1k Reps (90 Seconds Recovery)

Busy morning with work so decided to stay on in the park and do my own set today instead of taking another 2 hours out the day to join the boys.
Went with the staple 6 x 1k reps (90 Second break), and after having a chat with Kanser on Sunday over breaky it was best to do them working at 90%.
Rolled over the first coming in on 3.28, felt OK and was looking to hold the remaining all around the same pace. Had to work harder around rep 4 & 5 just to come in under the 3.30 and I'm pretty sure i was working above the 90% mark.
Happy to get them all done though, although its certainly nothing to write home about and any confidence i had is slowly diminishing with less then 5 weeks to go...... Just have to keep reminding myself to 'keep plugging away'

Plan in the morning is to run 20ks for midweek medium long run, might see if the BRAT Hardmen are around at any point to help pass the time and ks away.

Well another Ashes series is wrapped up with the boys retaining the little Urn once again, Not really the finish we all had hoped when the ridiculous bad light rule stopped play when England only needed a further 21 runs to wrap it up. In fairness though they perhaps didn't deserve it after i witnessed a poor display of slow play on days 2 and 3. It was like watching paint dry at one stage.
Won't be long before the return series starts in Brissy in November, think it will be closer when the Aussies play on home soil.
Hope you all took the tip i gave on the 10th July's posting where i stated a 3 - 0 victory to the English boys, bit of extra spending money for Berlin if so :)

Cheers

Long Run with Bacon & Eggs to Finish

 Busy morning in and around the park with the ‘5k Colour Run that was held in Centennial that saw thousands of young girls swarming everywhere Met up with C.T first up who run the 10k loop with me before Kanser joined us around the 6k mark, Pace was honest and felt OK as we crossed in 44.48 (4.29 pace), Chris departed about the 14k mark to join another crew and all of a sudden the tempo seemed to pick up almost instantly. The GPS died at the 18k mark but had the trusty stopwatch to see that the 2^nd 10k was done in 44 dead (4.23) Seemed to struggle around the 24 k mark as the pace was picked up YET again…..Kanser does help me out loads but he’s a nightmare to run with as you are never running side by side and he is always some 5 meters ahead at any stage of the run. Managed to hang in there to complete the 3^rd 10k in 43.01 and was pleased when Kanser was then done for the day as it meant I could do the extra 3ks at a more sedate pace. 12.43 (3ks)

All up 33ks in 2.24, Battled my way through it and in truth I found the last 10ks really hard and got me thinking that despite getting my long runs in over the past month or so I am so far behind where I should be and there is less then 5 weeks to the big one. Still 47ks over the weekend, so I can’t really do anymore at this stage.

A quick trip back to the ‘House of Kane’s’ where the ice pool never felt so good for those aching muscles, and better still the old ‘Bacon & Eggs’ were back on the menu, alongside the best Cuppa EVER served in the household (please tell me it wasn’t Aldi)

Felt tired all day after that and those beers were a godsend in the afternoon.

Monday – Legs felt heavy and went for a swim with the boys (and Girl….Julia was back), had a cracking start as I stayed on Todd’s toes for the first 400 with a record 6.27 but sadly it was all downhill after that. I was buggered and even missed a couple of the 200s out at one point.

A good massage followed as I tried to get some life back in the legs before the speed set that old Kanser has lined up for me on Tuesday ( 6 x 1k Reps)

Cheers

Back into It..... As the Assassin Strikes Again.

Well after a forced week of doing bugger all I was back out there this morning for a hit out, I have plans to run long with Kanser in the morning so today was just about getting out there and knocking out an hour or so.
Caught the Saturday long run crew just as they were about to finish there first lap, waited an age for them and wondered what had happened (thought they may have waited for Kanser at the start?). Finally saw C.T and a gang of about 8 in tow, Saw a very sheepish Eamonn ‘The Assassin’ about 10 metres behind and its here it all started to fall in place as to why they were late. (More later)
Did the first 10k loop including the Woollahra Hill in 44.02 (4.25 pace) feeling remarkably good, even pushing the pace at times running with ‘Allo Allo’ Rene and C.T. A 4k flat lap followed as I picked it up slightly (4.18s) to finish up with 14ks done in 61 minutes (4.22 pace)
Happy with that and good to get back out there, as mentioned will go long with Kanser in the morning – lets just hope there is no repeat of last Sundays performance.

Back to the INCIDENT …. Yes the Irish Assassin has struck again, after taking out Slim Sammy Agnew earlier in the year, Eamo decided to upend Lady Laura this morning after only 7 ks( it’s the only way to slow her down it seems), Laura taking a full on tumble, banging her head with claret spilling from her mouth. Outcome……..the end of her morning as she was whisked off to the local hospital to get checked out (more for precaution). Good news is she is fine and will be back with the team next week,
Don’t know why but I felt sorry for Eamo, as every bugger kept there distance from him after that, I on the other hand had a quick word and asked him if he could come out and run with Enda sometime next week J


Big night again (when isn’t it?) on the footy with Stoke playing Slim Sammy Agnew’s newly promoted team Palace at the home of footy ‘The Brit’ already had Sam on the blower to me jumping up and down wanting to get his bets on (I think he’s already drunk to be honest) anyway I’ve taken him on and seeing I’m a fair bloke I’ve give him the draw as well.
Timmy’s Tip ‘Stoke 2 – C.Palace 0

Finally good luck to Enda tomorrow who is venturing north to the Central Coast for a Half Marathon, see he’s taking on Richie Palmer. And this may surprise many BUT I’m tipping Echinacea to get a rare win over Mr P ……. Let’s wait and see J

Have a good weekend
Also, many thanks to the people who have either text or emailed me to check on my well being, happy to report that I’m back on track and hopefully all is well
Cheers

Crime Scene set up as Lady Laura becomes Irish Eamo 'the Assassin's next victim.

Long Run Curtailed

Was looking forward to the Sunday long run this week after another pretty solid weeks training behind me, so met up with a good team that included Enda, Kenny, Super Kev, The Leech, Ben Ten and a couple of others.

Set off on the first 10k loop but felt physically sick after only about 4ks into the run, stayed in touch with the boys for the whole loop but was forced to pull the pin on completion.

Felt terrible and there was really no point of trying to go on, I was forced to sit in the park for about 30 minutes after trying to steady myself for the short drive home that was to follow. To add insult to injury my groin was then playing up towards the end of the 45 minute run that I did manage

Oh dear….. Can’t take a trick at the moment L

Going back to bed. Will discuss the overnight footy tomorrow but in the meantime I hope you had a flutter on the Liverpool vs. Stoke result that I gave out yesterday?

Running with the 'Ab Men' for an easy Saturday.

Lovely morning around town once more so after I finished work I trotted over to meet the Saturday crew who were running long, Was hoping to find The Leech so he could give me some of his ‘Magic Potion’ he promised me but alas he wasn’t there. Instead I was greeted by the ‘Ab Men’ that was Taffy James, Alex ‘Claude’ van Damme, Jeet and one other guru from AMP?  Had to have a twenty minute stand around as Jean Claude refused to move until he had shown me his collection of photos of HIMSELF on his mobile posing around topless with his iron board abs on display. Don’t think he took too kindly when I said ‘Yes, its amazing what that Photoshop can do these days isn’t it, I can get Tommy H to even look like that’

Anyway finally got going and just did an easy 10k loop although I did cut it short and decided to miss out the hill at the end of the loop for just shy of 40 minutes for the morning.

Saw the Hardman J.C floating around on his long run (still with lime green top and long pink socks, what does he look like?), Anna Fitzgerald training hard, and even HuRTS social girl Olivia on a rare spotting around the park with her new male training partner????

Happy again to knock out a few more ks to the weekly total, although the test will come tomorrow to see if I can get myself through another 30k plus?

Can’t wait for this evening – remember 9.45pm Fox 1 – check out the Rip Roaring Potters in action against Liverpool, then stay up to watch Cardiff play West Ham if you are struggling to get to sleep this is a certain way to fix that problem J

Cheers

Swim & Strength

Forty minute strength and conditioning session first up as I thought it more beneficially then the Yoga class that I have been doing. Tough enough again as it really does highlight the weaknesses in the core that I have.

Down to the PAP for the Friday swim at lunch and a great turnout where the slower lane just got a whole lot faster(in the slower lane) with the addition of Taffy James, Toddie and The Leech replacing Mikey, MrAce, and Cialis who were not seen.

Set was 2 x 400, 2 x 300, 2 x 200 and 2 x100s – The pace was on from the start with the three boys Todd, Taffy and Eoin sharing the workload as Brendan, Champ and I happy just to hang on throughout.

Good session with the last 2 x 100s done in 1.31 and 1.30 to finish off the 2k set, just in time for  MrAce to make and appearance for the day

Might take a rest day tomorrow then the big 30k plus long run set down on Sunday with Enda.

Great weekend of footy planned with the start of the Premiership – First match to kick off is old team Stoke vs. the team I have followed for the past 40 years Liverpool (early game 9pm make sure to take a look)

Going to be a tough year for the men from the Potteries and I can’t see them coming away from Anfield with anything

Timmy’s Tip – Take Liverpool to win 1 – 0

Got my usual tipping comp going as well that is always a good laugh, even Tommy H has alongside Enda who managed to snag 3^rd place last year (despite knowing Fxxk All about foooty)

The HuRTS boys including Tom (Newcastle) , Taffy( Cardiff), Slim Sammy( Crystal Palace), Enda (Aston Villa) and I (Stoke City) have our own little comp, with the highest team come the end of the season getting a FREE afternoons worth of drinks care of the other 4 ….. Bring it on J

Have a great weekend

Train Well

Cheers

HuRTS 3 x 2ks reps

Jogged down with Tommy H for the 3 x 2k session that saw us start outside the Passenger Terminal and basically run up Hickson Road
finishing on the corner where the normal 1.2k reps end up.Great day yet again and a good turnout to boot, Someone must have upset the chairman as he wasn’t hanging around today waiting for no one and took off at a million miles an hour with “Kenny & Ben way behind eating his dust.
With only 3 reps I was keen to try to push this set today and led a group out that included Slim Sammy Agnew, Mikey, Hamish, Dom and a few others, crossing in 6.59, was buggered even then but with a tail wind for the second I was keen to try to pick it up even more. Succeeded in doing so but so did every bugger as I dropped out the back slightly over the last 250 meters to record 6.56
A quick word with the chairman in the break as he told me to ‘hold the form and bring it home under 7’ and we were off again for the final rep. Just tried to stay focused and hang on to Mikey as I then run stride for stride with Lady Laura. Could see the clock ticking away with 150 to go so made a big effort for one last surge, unfortunately the clock just beat me as I pressed out with a 7.01
So with times of 6.59, 6.56, and 7.01 I can be pretty pleased with that overall, then did the longest cool down in history of HuRTS with Tom, Skippy and Mikey for over 6ks that saw nearly 14k done for the day.

Think we may have found the latest Enda/Richie High Love nest within the squad when Mikey told Slim Sammy Agnew that he looked like some athlete called Nick Symmonds, who Mikey has life sized posters up in his bedroom. Even Slim Sammy went all coy as we cooled down through the Quay when told and quickly called time on his cool down (for full photos check out the Chairman’s blog) ……Stay tuned for more J

Cheers

Running with the Leech.

Another superb morning early doors around Sydney as i caught up with 'The Leech' Eoin for my midweek run. Did 8ks beforehand pretty easy pace then had the pleasure to run with the man in form Eoin for the next 9ks. He wasn't messing around either easily chatting whilst we sat on 4.21 pace that included the Woollahra Hill.
Even managed to get his 'secret to success' out of him, I wont divulge his what it is but lets just say all my problems could be solved once Eoin brings me some of his special potion :)
18ks all up for the morning. feeling pretty good.

Mid morning back for another 90 minutes of Mr Bendy, and upon arrival at the door i was met by the Yoga Yeti and greeted with "Morning Mr Tim, whats your yoga class about today?"
Me - (looking all confused) "Hmmmm, staying alive?
Y.Y, " No'
Me - not fainting'?
Y.Y, 'Nooooooo'
Me - avoid resting in a horizontal position for less then 75 minutes?
Y.Y "Nooooooooooooo'
Me, - 'Ok, I'll try to lift one leg of the floor.
Y.Y - No ,its RELAX, don't try to overdo it and enjoy the experience'

90 minutes later, all done - can't really say i enjoyed it much more but it felt slightly easier :)

tomorrow will try to get back into town for the HuRTS 3 x 2k session

Cheers

HuRTS Tempo 45 minute

Monday – Struggle Day as the quads were pretty sore so only managed an easy 8ks with clients but I think it helped, the head on the other hand needed much more work. Meant then had to venture down to the pool for the swim set, good showing once more as another 2.3ks were done in total.

Tuesday, Into the city for the dreaded 45 minute tempo session and with the quads still a little tight I went out easier and sat in with Mikey, Slim Sammy Agnew and the Taffy Lad (still trying to talk Slim Sammy to get on board with the premiership bets?), Felt pretty comfortable as we cruised around reaching the theatre company in the 22.5 minutes (4.02 pace), turned and then tried to hang on to Sam for as long as I could, succeeded until the first hill near the far gates beside the stairs and then had my ‘Oh, this is going to be a struggle to get home’ moment. Run by myself coming around Mrs. Macs and the A.B.C as Skippy Heyden and Razor were to come by. But my prayers were answered when ‘The Chairman & Johnny Bartles saw me struggling and picked up a leg each and basically carried me for the final 1k or so to reach back to the starting point in 44.15 ( 45 seconds to spare)

Return trip worked in 3.55 pace for 11.10 all up – again nothing special but happy enough with that.

Will be back out in the morning where I will try to knock out another 20ks around the park area.

So, 4^th Test match all done and dusted with a day to spare after England broadsided the Aussies again, Another batting collapse from the tourists with  Broad doing the damage with ball in hand. See my mate Watson is injured again; my tip is he won’t be in the team come the first test in Brissy in November, whilst that Smith is never a number 6 TEST batsman and can’t believe he’s even in the team.

One to go and lets hope the POMS make it 4 – 0 down at the Oval.

Just when things couldn’t seem to get any worse (with running) – and I’ve not been winning any bets of late due to my poor form and Enda’s reluctance to have a fair bet, I get the dreaded ‘Timmy you owe me $20 call today’ from none other then Charlie ‘Warrior’ Dalziel can you believe?  Seems I made a bet that he wouldn’t beat HuRTS female Elle at this Years City to Surf??????

Still awaiting confirmation on that one but God, it must be bad when Charlie’s queuing up to cash in J

Cheers

Elle with run of the day girl - HuRTS #1 Lady Laura James, Not sure what Elle's smiling about? .... Seems she cost me another $20 - think we need to talk :)

City to Surf 53.47

Well for myself I regard City to Surf as one of the best days on the calendar and it normally signifies the end of winter as I see it, but I knew this year I was going in well under done after a frustrating 6 months of injury so I predicted that a time of  54 was on the cards and my slowest time since 2002.

Still it wasn’t going to deter me from getting out there with the masses and the huge HuRTS team on show on a spectacular Sydney morning with bright blue sky’s and not a cloud in sight.

Warmed up with the Chairman Tommy H and Lady Laura (hoping there good form and inspiration  would rub of on me) before heading over to the start line where the atmosphere in the preferred area is always electric. Placed myself beside Bartles and this other geezer named Kelly (who ended up coming 3^rd) before the gun took us all by surprise and the fast start was soon under way. Tracked Laura for the 1^st k or so before settling down behind girl in form Anna Fitzgerald for what would turn out to be the next 13ks. Felt pretty comfortable early, which was a sign I wasn’t going to hard and it was just on the 5ks mark that Walker, Super Kev and Taffy James were to come past. Super Kev then run straight in front of me to cross the road…. Thought he was in trouble or needed a toilet stop, BUT oh no, he went straight over to ‘High 5’ the 30 odd guys all dressed in Smurfs outfits. Ticked off the 5ks in approx 18.18 (3.39 pace) and still hanging on to Anna who was struggling as much as I was, Heard a booming South African voice just at the start of the hill saying ‘C’mon HuRTS lets smash this hill’ as ‘Ronnie Biggs was about to come past me, Tried to just get over Heartbreak without pushing it as PLOD was on commentary and camera duties standing half way up with a big smile on his face telling me Enda had already passed through some 4 minutes earlier.

Really struggled (as I always do ) around the climbs of Military Road up to the 10k mark passing through in 38.40 and hoped to be able to bring it home strong, The day was made a whole lot worse when Hardman J.C came past at the 12.5k mark and I was unable to go with him, He said he put in a bit effort and hoped I didn’t see him (he wore bright Green top, pink shorts and stockings, looking like he’d just left Oxford St…very hard not to)

Saw Kanser armed with camera at 13ks and basically I just took it all in from there, as Mikey was yelling out support over the final 150 meters with me coming home in 53.47.

Was I disappointed with my race and time? Well to be honest no as it’s where I am with my training and I knew I was in 54 shape and there is no hiding on that course. It’s just more frustrating to see the others who I can normally run with all fly past getting good times that hurts more. Hopefully it will stand me in good stride although time is fast running out for me. I just need to continue to get those long runs in and do the training.

Once more the team wasn’t about to let us down with some cracking runs, with old warhorse C.T first home and Barts turning Tom over with a strong last 500 meters, Great to see Enda, Richie P and Kenny all run PBs for the day, but the Timmy run of the day went once again to HuRTS #1 female Lady Laura James who finished 5^th girl with a 50.37 – unreal.

I wasn’t too far out with my times listed below

Predicted Times              Actual

Tommy H   46.22           46.42

C.T            46.27           46.14

Barts          46.31           46.36

“Kenny’       48.57           48.47

Macca         49.08        DNR

Allo Allo       49.29         50.xx

Rich P        49.44          49.22

Enda          50.01           49.26

Lady Laura 51.20            50.37

Pete W       51.37           52.28

Slim Sam    51.48           53.xx

Taffy J         51.52           51.37

Y.Timmy     54.00           53.47

I did a little race report more on the team for the website that you can check out all the times from;

http://hurtsquad.com/2013/08/city2surf-wrap-2013/

Many thanks to the Chairman Tommy H once more for the drinks in the tent after , always good fun before heading over to finish the day at Beach Road to really do the damage with ‘Allo Allo, Tom and Anna (god she couldn’t get away from me even after the race J ).

Special mention to Enda who kindly supplied the post race breaky BBQ (even supplied English sausages can you believe?) – went down a treat, unfortunately he has the same problem as what Kanser does ………….he doesn’t offer any sugar for my tea.

Finally to the Taffy Lad (or should that be Aussie now) James Matthews who kindly saw me safely back to Erko with a  lift and at the same time had to listen to me babble on and repeat myself about 20 times for the half hour journey ….. That’s another beer I owe ya mate J

Top day all round – Next major BIG event is Berlin …… Happy Days ahead (hopefully)

Battling On -

Heartbreak Hill - Struggle Street as PLOD enjoys it all.

Best part of the Day - Care of Allens, with Taffy James, Laura, the Chairman, Jeet Timmy, J-Fen (just) and Barts.

and a SAD way to finish, With the winning female looking as fresh as a daisy, the trouble Enda will go to get his ugly mug on the telly, Seen here looking as if he's just been shot ....Oh Dear :)

Cheers

City to Surf - through my Crystal Ball.

Rest Day and really have backed off the past 3 days and apart from a little swim done bugger all to be honest in an attempt to freshen up. Still not confident of a decent run but will give it my best shot. The guys on the other hand are all going well and listed below are a few of the regulars that I have attempted to predict the times through my crystal ball.

First home in my book will be the Chairman – does he ever run a poor race? Followed very closely by C.T and Bartles, best of the rest will be old training partner Richie Palmer putting Enda to the sword and then a mass coming home in under 52 minutes that will include Lady Laura, Pete Walker, and Taffy James.

Predicted Times

Tommy H   46.22

C.T            46.27

Barts          46.31

“Kenny’       48.57

Macca         49.08

Allo Allo       49.29

Rich P        49.44

Enda          50.01

Lady Laura 51.20

Pete W       51.37

Slim Sam    51.48

Taffy J         51.52

Y.Timmy     54.00

Anyone else I may have missed please let me know and I will give you a time J

Have a great run everyone and looking forward to the post race party with the gang and an afternoon of festivities.

A full report will be coming back with photos on Monday

Also with the footy season under way next week, and with HuRTS boy J – Fen is still on the injury table and feeling a little left out when we talk English premier league the HURTS committee has sent him overseas to Tottenham F.C to help out over there and learn a little about the game. This is what has been sent to me with his progress. (Yes J-Fen has also grown a moustache)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KeG_i8CWE8&feature=youtu.be

Cheers

Full Monty going the Urinator as Hot Spot heats up

Met up with Enda early this morning and had a chat in between his massage, then getting his bowl of muesli and coffee in ready for Sundays City to Surf. He even went one step further can you believe and got his computer out and insisted I go through his VO2 max results that he is proud of for the next 40 minutes.

Down to the pool after and a massive turnout with all the regulars and the return of the Hardman and the Leech after his recent Roth Ironman, although a 9 hour time is good it doesn’t count for much with the HuRTS swim team as he struggled his way through it just to stay on ‘The Champs’ feet and was seen cutting a forlorn figure before the end of the session.

Yours truly once again mixed up his ability with ambition and went out with the fast boys for the first 400 before realizing the error of my ways and quickly rejoined MrAce, Brendan, Cialis, and The Champ back in the slower lane. Soon joined by the Leech and from there we all took turns leading the lane.

Felt pretty good today and managed to snag a rather sharp 200 on my turn at the front for the 5^th rep and then convinced Coach Walker (who had finished) to help out and lead us out for the final rep of the day.

2.4ks all up including the 1 x 400, 4 x 100s and 6 x 200s that made the bulk of the session.

The 4^th Test match starts this evening from Durham in England, and before a ball has been bowled there has been controversy about the use of ‘Hotspot’ and that the players may have been using some sort of silicone to mask any showing – Can’t believe it myself and think there is nothing in it, surely nobody could go so low with such a shameful act? The news that did surprise me though was reading about ‘Our Monty’ …. Yes the Turbinator Monty Panesar has been up to no good, reportedly urinating on bouncers after being asked to leave a seaside nightclub.

This type of outrageous behavior I could accept from Enda but Monty???? ….Leave it out.

Mentioned last week I think the Aussies will find it hard to come back after letting the series get away, so I predict an England win in this test to go 3 up, with Captain Cook to be top scorer.

This week is the City to Surf and sees me run my 21^st straight race, fear though this could also be my slowest since about 2002 especially after last weeks Striders race. Just checked out all my times since they started with the timing chips back in the year 2000

The last 13 times have been;

2012 – 51.27

2011 – 49.17

2010 – 50.59

2009 – 51.36

2008 – 51.34

2007 – 51.31

2006 – 50.18

2005 – 50.27

2004 – 49.30

2003 – 53.13

2002 – 54.40

2001 - 59.22

2000 – 58.34

Good luck to all the guys and girls running on Sunday hope there are plenty of good runs and PBs to follow in what is regarded as the best run/ fun day on the calendar. I will give a rundown of everyone’s times and how I see if unfolding with a brief write up tomorrow.

Enda is in great form and he knows it, as I was leaving this morning he shouts over to me “Timmy. What’s your PB? It’s going to get smashed on Sunday” ……. Give it your best shot mate J

Have a good weekend

Cheers

Medium Midweek Run

Finished work then had the pleasure of running with the Hardmen around the park that included Enda and J.C, Pace was pretty honest and the banter and trash talk was even hotter as Enda continues with his ‘I’ve done NO training’ regime. Worked a Woollahra (6k) loop before a brief stop for a chat with PLOD who has just returned from his European holiday.

Run on then into the city with Enda before picking up the pace back to the park with a flat loop to finish off for 16ks all done by 8.30am

16ks in 70.54 averaging 4.28s for the day.

Felt pretty tired and will now take the chance to taper and hopefully freshen up before Sunday’s run now.

A little breakfast then It was back to visit the Yoga Yeti for another 90 minutes of pain. Had the usual ‘No, No. No, that’s not doing anything” call from the instructor (I don’t think she likes me to be honest) as I stumbled my way through the class sweating worst then Hardman J.C J

Cheers

Recovery Day as we Retain the Ashes.

Decided to take today as a recovery day and avoid the speed session, Just did and easy 7ks with a client to turn the legs over as I didn’t want to overdo it or risk any injury at this stage.

Will be back out in the morning and will try to do about 16ks and might try to pick the pace up for the final 6ks or so.

Well the Ashes are in the bank again for the 3^rd straight series after rain halted any chance of a result overnight. Happy enough with that as we now head to Durham for the back to back test match. Good match from the Aussies but it will be hard for them to pick it up from here knowing that all is lost. Get on the Poms to and make it 3 – 0 by the time we wake Monday after City to Surf J

After yesterdays sighting of HuRTS favorite MrAce on the streets of Sydney, i actually followed him back to work as i've always wondered what he did for a crust? Still not sure to be honest but he looked pretty happy with his work collegues

cheers

Sunday Long Run.... On a Monday

Had to get out and do the Sunday long run today as after having a big night on the Saturday meant I was unable (or in any fit state) to do anything yesterday. On another spectacular day in old Sydney Town I thought I would run a lap of the park before heading into the city to meet the HuRTS lunchtime crew to help pass the ks away. Couldn't believe it then when only Super Kev, and another guy Shane (?) were the only two there. Slim Sammy Agnew was crook, Mikey (calf), Kanser(foot problems), Chairman Tommy H let me down after crying off after the 'Tooth Fairy' failed to leave him $2 after losing his front gnasher overnight and Enda has his usual weekly head cold. Got into the city in 43 minutes (4.27 pace) and then did the regular loop with Kev although I was dropping off the back at times as I racked up just short of 14ks at 4.30 pace. The last 30 odd minutes back to the park and the flat loop were tough though as I counted every Kay down and it really was a case of character building just to get through it. 30ks all up in 2.14:48 averaging 4.29 for the day, quicker then last week with Enda Reno and J.C but it was flatter and I certainly didn't finish as strong as I did last week that's for sure. So that's the 2nd 30k run down and another 5 to do I reckon.....lets just hope they get easier :)
 Need to get back out tomorrow for the speed session, now that could be tough as the legs feel very heavy now.
Also some bad news today for two of the team and that is there City to Surf dream is over for another 12 months with both Mikey's OUT, MrAce and Conway pulling the pin, although it wasn't getting MrAce down as whilst heading into town, I saw him looking pretty upbeat going off to the HuRTs swim set, he seemed a bit pre occupied and I never got the chance to talk to him but I did manage a quick snap whilst I was stuck at the lights :) Cracking weather here but unfortunately for the English boys it’s not the same in Manchester and will mean we don't get the win to go 3 - 0 up? Although I'll take the draw that will mean we RETAIN the Ashes so it's not all doom :)
 Hope you got on the Timmy’s' tip prediction last Friday?
 The Footy season is under way in England ...Well it is for Skippy  Heyden’s QPR in the Championship, the big boys still have another fortnight before the season kicks in, Good win for QPR I see and already have nearly doubled there points score from last season and will surely bring a smile to Mr Heyden’s  face (for once).
Cheers

MrAce, still upbeat after pulling out of Sundays City to Surf - on his way to the Monday swim.

Hills, Hills and more Hills.

Morning, Striders 10k Lane Cove 38.38 - Greeted by an even slimmer Slim Sammy Agnew (does his wife feed him these days?) then went out and was joined by Irish Hardman Macca for the 2.5k warm up. Good few friendly HuRTS faces out there including Pete Walker, Taffy James, ‘Kenny & Renee’, Skippy Heyden, Mermaid, Elle, and the old Sweaty Sock (Craig)

Very unusual start with nobody wanting to take the lead (not even E.J) with everyone just cruising the first 1k sitting on 3.40 pace, with Ana White deciding to take it on after that for a few hundred meters before Kanser’s best mate Uncle Criniti decided enough was enough and was gone and never troubled again.

I settled behind Walker and the Taffy lad after that running beside Slim Sammy Agnew and felt OK, which was until about the 4k mark when Sammy called out 15.15 then just as the hill started for the climb I went to pieces and had nothing. Sam who was now running with Ana got the slight gap on me and from there on in I felt awful but just concentrated on keeping the pace steady. Checked the watch at 5ks and saw 19.22 (oh dear) and knew that I would need a big negative split just to break 38 minutes.

Crossed the finishing line with another disappointing run of 38.38 – not what I was looking for but I never tapered for today and had a big week so I wont get to upset about the time. I think the winning time was only about 34.xx so it certainly wasn’t a fast run race with the top end a little light on. Skippy and Macca both recorded 35 something, Walker in the 37s and Slim Sammy touched out in 38 (?)

My k splits for the day were (approx) 3.40, 3.42, 4.02, 3.47, 4.03, 3.53, 3.50, 3.52, 3.55, 3.40

Results - http://www.sydneystriders.org.au/10k/13/TK13R07OR.shtml

Noon – State X/Country 7.5ks Rydlemere. Got a call from the chairman asking if I could help out with a run in the state x/country Striders team, so it was a double up day with a trek out to Rydlemere to knock out the tough 3 x 2.5k hills galore that was on. Legs felt very heavy even before the start after this mornings run and really wasn’t looking forward to it at all, even having hot flushes that Flakey would turn me over J

With a first loop of 9.39 and Flakey still hot on my tail I could feel the pace drop on the first big hill second time around, saw the Chairman and Kenny coming in the other direction looking strong and I got a glimpse of Flakey who looked worst then I was and was losing ground on me.  Second loop down in 10.14 and it was a battle to even go around for a 3^rd, got a good ‘C’mon Strider’ as I labored up the hill again and it was non other then City to Surf winner from way back Paul Arthur so decided to try to stick with him over the final stages of the race.

Looked terrible in crossing the line in 30.09 with a final lap of 10.16

Big day of running for over 20ks in total done with plenty of hills that I am badly in need of before City to Surf in 7 days time

Night – Taffy James, Snags, Stubbies, & Sheila’s Party.  HuRTS resident Welsh Boyo had a big bash to help celebrate becoming an Aussie Citizen and went along for a snag or two and plenty of beers in the process. Meant I missed my Sunday long run today so looks like I need to get it done on Monday this week. I will run then join the boys for the lunchtime session before making the ks up returning to the park hopefully getting the 30ks done that I need.

Keen to have a good weeks training but will taper a little before Sunday’s City to Surf.

Striders and HuRTS gang - Flakey, Tommy H, James 'Kenny' and Ana.

With the latest 'Dinki Di - Taffy James.

You can take the boyo out of Wales but.....

Cheers

Got Nothing (for a title or performance today)

“Timmy, Breath in, stand tall, straighten your leg, butt tight, arms strong, relax…… and give me some indication you are enjoying yourself”…….. Yes, it could only mean another 90 minutes in the Torture Chamber at the Yoga place. I was feeling tight and tired even before I started today after yesterday’s run set so could have easily give today’s session the wide berth. Still got through it and another session in the bank, so to speak.

Then down to the P.A.P for the Friday swim where there was perhaps the biggest group for a long time with Mikey even returning, Heart wasn’t in it today so I was looking forward to sitting at the back and just rolling the arms over for the 2k session. Couldn’t believe it then when whilst on my way back down the pool throughout the warm up I see the boys all flying past me on there first 400 rep…..what’s all that about?

I jumped on Charlie’s feet to complete the next 300 before Mikey, MrAce, Brendan, Champ and I had an 8 minute stand off on who was going to lead the next 2 x 300 reps, looks like I drew the short straw and had to do both. Then lucky enough to see Super Kev was just about to start his 3 x 200s so I jumped on his feet and tried to make things that bit easier. Still struggled even then and was more then happy to see the final set of 4 x 100s done for the day.

Despite Mikey not swimming all Autumn/ Winter he still went well and wasn’t far off my feet, Unfortunately Poor Champ couldn’t repeat last weeks performance in winning the Golden Duck and retreated early and was last seen kissing said Duck all the way back up George Street to work.

Big weekend planned of racing, socializing and training – Sydney Striders 10k is on at Lane Cove in the morning and the Chairman Tommy H put a call out to help out at the State X Country 7.5ks in the afternoon, Taffy James (now Aussie James) is celebrating getting his Aussie Citizenship by having a big ‘Snags, Stubbies, Boomerangs and Sheila’s Party so need to check that out and somehow have to get a long run in on the Sunday.

Forgot to mention in the last post – The 3^rd Test started at Old Trafford overnight, Aussies Day fair to say with Captain Clarke finally getting some runs, not without some controversy as well – very poor decision, but just get on with it I say. Couldn’t believe over lunch Brendan Julian, Blewett and Flem talked $h1te about it for about 20 minutes.

Timmy’s Best Bet (albeit after day one) – Take the draw and get on Captain Cook to smash a few runs along the way

Have a good weekend, train and race well all those that are having a hit out  whether at Lane Cove, Rydlemere  or further a field , Good luck to Razor Wareham ( don’t think he would be seen dead reading this blog to be honest but still…) who is up in Townsville doing another marathon.

Cheers

Hickson Road 1.2k Reps

With Mikey absent with a calf problem he was then sending emails out left, right and centre prior to the session that saw half the team all over the city trying to find the meeting place, but it was left to the reliable Chairman Tommy H to sort us all out when he demanded we start at the Park Hyatt to enable us to get the full 1.2ks in to do the tough Hickson Road session.

Good turnout once more with Slim Sammy Agnew starting to shine by adding some consistency with another showing, I felt pretty good before the session and was keen to give this one a solid hit out.  Got running with Bartles and Tom (can you believe) on the first rep (who were taking it easy) and crossed in 3.54 (about 3.16 pace), knew it was too quick but wanted to see how long I could sustain the pace. Surprised myself with an even quicker 2^nd rep and was happy to tuck in with the ever improving Lady Laura on the 3^rd and 4^th. A few kind words from Slim Sammy Agnew on the 4^th kept me honest when I was losing it a little and was more then happy when he and Enda run the 5^th rep with me to stop the times from blowing out.

Pretty happy with the session on the whole and I’ve always said if I can run this session with times ALL under 4 minutes then I know I am starting to improve – so here’s hoping J

Times today were:

3.54, 3.52, 3.59, 3.58, 4.00

Said it before but the team were flying again today, as mentioned Lady Laura seems to have found another gear over the past week or two, and there must have been a dozen guys ahead of me today who all were running about 3.15 pace for the session… Unbelievable. At this rate I can sense a few PBs will be broken at next weeks City to Surf (unfortunately I won’t be one of them)

Away from running for a moment, the Trash has been sent another ‘When I Was Young’ photo – following on from Kanser, Fats, Enda we have another HuRTS member from his junior day’s .Can you guess who he/she is????

Clue – The ‘Gay’ Hand may give it away J

Back down for the Friday swim again today and with Mikey in the ‘Broken Wing Club’ we may even see him return to the fold, If so it may mean Golden Duck Winner from last week – Champ gets to move up a position in the lanes? Also got to head back for another Yoga session for more fun and games ………….well lying down for 90 minutes at least.

Showing good form even at a young age,  Still not sure about that 'hand' ?

Also in a family shot (centre), must have been to the same barber as Enda when he was a kid ...Bowl Head.
Big Brother is on the left and with a hair style like that there is a possiblity that he will take off whilst running the Berlin Marathon
Can we Guess WHO they are?????

Cheers