Moore Park 3 x 10 minute efforts with Kanser.

Monday.

Woke to a very battered body, foot sore, quads screaming at me and was walking around like a man of 80. Really wasn’t in the mood to swim but with Wollongong this weekend I forced myself down to the pool. No sign of Monday regulars Kroney and Angus whilst I presume it was a tad too cold for Crossy Lad who let me down once again?

One big surprise was that Taffy James arrived that I thought was unusual, that was until I found out what was on this weekend and all his mates are in town and  had also decided for a quick dip (and frolic)

After a warm up I basically did 3 x 500s, One freestyle, the second with pool buoy and the 3^rd with buoy and paddles that resulted in quicker times for each. A 200m with Taffy and then the final 100m ‘6 Nations Challenge’ between the Mad Welshman and myself to end. (pleased to report the Red Rose won the battle of the day)

2ks all up.

 

Tuesday.

I knew another hot one was on the cards so enlisted old Kansers help yet again early morning. Despite yesterdays swim I was still walking around very gingerly and in truth wasn’t even sure I’d get through the session. We decided on doing 3 x 10 minute efforts around the Moore Park 1k track on grass as we then tried to work out what pace we should both hold. A big day on the turps yesterday for Kanser meant he looked like he’d already done the session before we started as we both stood around looking for inspiration from each other.

Eventually started and pretty much from the off I was leading out (very unusual when with Kanser) and was holding an honest pace of 3.38s, ticked the first and second lap off and was just over 200m short on the 3^rd when the 10 mins was done.

Feeling great and all of a sudden the pain disappeared and even with the hot and humid conditions and Kanser not even on my shoulder I was able to kick it down more on the 2^nd effort and roll around at 3.33 pace

Pretty much thought I was done at this point and if Kanser had a called time I wouldn’t have argued, but NO a 3^rd was called and surprised myself even further as I was holding, even running slightly quicker going through 2ks in 7 mins (3.30s) before finishing averaging 3.33s

 

Wrecked at the end, but very happy with the end result and its perhaps my strongest set for the year to date,

 Distance and pace  for the 3 were:

2.77ks @ 3.38s

2.85ks @ 3.33s

2.85ks @ 3.33s

 

10ks for the day and  also managed to cycle 25ks for the morning to and from the park.

 

Easy week this week, but will try to get into town tomorrow to catch up with a few of the team for the lunchtime (easy)run.

 

Cheers

Striders Internal 14k Equaliser 65.47 - 9th Overall

Early start as I headed over the bridge and up to Belrose for the internal Striders ‘Equaliser’ 14k event. Bloody tough run this one, with plenty of trails, hills, river crossings and a little bit or road running thrown in for good measure.

Nice team of HuRTS in attendance with Tea Towel Tony Fats, Razor, Brucie, Toby, Skippy Heyden as well as Johnny ‘B Grade’. It’s a fast start for pretty much the first 4ks down to the river crossing although with the rocky surface you still have to take it easier and I lost count how many times I lost my footing. I’ve done this race about 9 times now so I know you can get over the crossing without getting your feet wet by taking a 10m detour, But muppet head here, just followed Vietnamese Vinnie Voung straight through the middle and spent the next 2ks cursing my actions.

Still, I was feeling pretty good and got away from him on the first real climb and all was going well until about the 6k mark, where a spilt in the path led me to question left or right??? Had to wait until Vinnie Voung caught up to be told and continue on my way.

Nice to get back on the road for a good 1000m and open the legs up a little before returning to bush for the tougher 2^nd half, Skippy caught me at the 9k mark and basically run with him for most of the way home, found I was climbing and coming down the hills quicker but he was faster on the flat sections. Was hanging in OK until about the 12k mark and then with just the one big climb to go I simply lost it, Heyden got away and then Voung caught me with about 1400m to go. Tried to rally once I got to the top but he was 80 metres ahead by this stage so any chance I had of catching him was gone.

That last 300m is cruel as I seemed to stagger over the line in 65.47 for 9^th place overall. Average pace was 4.42s and the k splits made for interesting reading with the following;

3.47, 4.06, 3.57, 4.46, 4.47, 6.29 (lost), 3.58, 4.38, 4.26, 4.39, 4.29, 4.59, 6.41, 3.56

A little disappointed with the 2^nd last k and the fact I couldn’t finish if off well, but still a good workout all the same and happy that it was only Andy Heyden that actually came past me at any stage of the 14ks

Some great runs from the team with Fats gearing up for 6ft in two weeks with a solid win over Razor and Binfield 3^rd, Toby beat Brucie for 4^th spot and Heyden run 7^th meaning we occupied 7 of the top 9 places.

 

Caught up with good friend and all round top bloke Richie High and son Ben post run in the leafy suburb of St Ives for a catch up over coffee and get all the latest news and gossip. Always good to catch up with the talented Mr High who beside his running is also a good cricketer (once bowled  Adam Gilchrist out) , tennis star and 2^nd best pool player in the HuRTs squad. He still looks in good shape and promises that we will see him at some of the training sessions to come as well as the Striders races.

 

Can’t finish up without mentioning Stoke City’s fine win over the pathetic Aston Villa side that is heading to the Championship, Not the best performance from the lads but it doesn’t need to be if you are up against the Villa these days. To complete my morning I see England gave those pesky Irish boys a nice touch up in the 6 Nations. Now, if I can just find Enda, Kanser and Jac this week to give them some abuse.

 

Afternoon spent with Pommy Birch in the delights of Erko in a nice hip bar listening to reggae music over a few ales – almost the perfect weekend.... except for that 13^th k in the Equaliser.

 

Skippy Heyden, Brucie, Fats, Timmy and 'B Grade.

River crossing, why didn't I go around ?

Thumbs Up, but I was far from happy.

Fats powers to the line in 65 mins as he gets ready to take on his favourite 6ft track.

Top of the last hill and heading for home.

Top Man Richie High and son Ben

Sunday Beer of the Day, Mt Tennent Pale Ale, Nice drop with the touches of tropical and citrus fruits and at 5.2% its not for the weak heads. Great Sunday beer, although you wouldn't knock out a full session on it.

Cheers

 

 

 

February Golden Duck 1k time trial - 17.08

Not many of the regulars today for the February 1k Golden Duck swim time trial but the speedsters were well and truly out. I was first away and my handicap was 16.53 as only 7 of us lined up to take the title.

No Leech, Kroney, Champ, Gleeson, Coach Walker, Ho and even Brendan Wong couldn’t get past the Hunter St connection and decided on the Spring Rolls instead.

Swimming been a little down lately and although I’ve been knocking out some ks its all been at a lot slower pace so I knew today was going to be a battle especially as I had NO feet to sit on and had to pretty much do the whole thing solo.  Plodded along and got a smack in the head care of Crossy Lad as him and Angus flew past at the 550m mark,  meanwhile the even faster guys ‘Fast Tim’ and Manly Steve were burning up the pool.

Worked out about the 850m that everyone except Todd had gone past me, meaning I was first away on handicap and still only beat one home as I  touched out in 17.08 

Slowest time for a few months but it’s still a reasonable time for me, especially with no speed work done.

A little controversy at the end as we determined who had actually won, a 25 minute wait before Angus Boyd was deemed the Feb winner, with ‘Fast Tim’ covering the 1k in the fastest time of 13.15

Finishing times were.

Fast Tim          13.15

Manly Steve  13.48

Angus               14.57 ‘Golden Duck’ winner

Crossy Lad       15.13

Todd                  15.51

Timmy               17.08

Danni (new guy) with no handicap 15.45

 

 

Big weekend on the cards once again. The premiership returns after a weekends break, with Stoke taking on Enda’s muppets from Aston Villa. They are woeful and relegation is a certainty, although I’m predicting that Villa are going to surprise everyone this weekend by showing a real improvement and only losing 3-0

Elsewhere at Twickers England take on Ireland in the 6 Nations, I’ve been trying to load up on the boys but the Irish lads are running for cover and won’t take a bet – very poor.

Timmy’s Tip. England 31 vs Ireland 12

 

Have a great weekend

Train well and stay safe

Cheers

 

HuRTS Heatwave 8 x 800s Rushcutters Oval.

Prepared myself for a hot one by heading to the pool first up for the standard 3k swim at P.A.P early doors, Great session and tried to work on a bit of speed that saw me jump out nearly an hour later with 3.2ks done for the day.

Temperatures rose over the course of the next 4 hours and by the time the HuRTS lunchtime session came around we were looking at 38 degrees and I was buggered just marking out the course at Rushcutters Oval for the 8 x 800s.

Big turnout though and good to see the Chairman put in an appearance, with the likes of Barts, Hoey, Kanser Kenny, Macca, Charlie D,  Leech and the ‘3 Pointer Sister’ girls Renee, Jac and’ Eastside’ Elle all putting in a shift. The grass was immaculate and with the trusty NEW Brooks shoes I bounced along sitting in with Tommy H coming home in 2.40 to kick things off.

The 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th were all similar but I could feel like I was cooking and from about 500m on each I started to labour,  The 5^th destroyed me and despite taking plenty of water on board after each rep I was toast.  Reluctant to pull the pin entirely, so went the alternative option of just seeing it out with 400s and trying to stay tucked in with frontrunner Barts at the same time. Number 6 didn’t feel much better as I was still going off the 4 minute rolling cycle but with the extra break coming after that I was fine to see it out with a final kick down of 69 to complete the day.

Times were: 2.40, 2.41, 2.42, 2.43, 2.46, 75, 73, 69

Superb effort from the 20 plus team, with everyone putting in for the day, none better than the Leech who was seen matching it with Barts on rep #7 especially.

I think a few of the lads jumped into the water nearby at the end to cool down, I was just more than happy to even get back to my car without passing out.

 

Normally take Friday OFF but as I’m a little short on the ks this week, I’ll knock out 10k after work in the morning , and the monthly 1k Golden Duck Swim Handicap is on at lunch that I must try to fit in as well.

 

A few pics from the week,

 

Some of the team that braved the harsh conditions today at the end of the 8 x 800s

Anyone else notice the resemblance between one of HuRTS happy people Renaud (middle above) and one of the greats ?

A great way to start any day with a  swim down at P.A.P at 6am in the morning.

No sign of Taffy James again today, although he did say he had something more important on????
 cheers

A few Midweek Ks logged

Wanted 14ks but only had time for about 10k once I had done a warm up and a short cool down. That said it was done with my fastest group I have on my books and some of the 5 minute efforts they were knocking out were done at 3.55 pace and the slowest was 4.48 per/k so was happy enough with that as once again the heat was already climbing at 7am

 

If today was bad weather wise, tomorrow is going to be a killer with highs predicted near 40 degrees for our Rushcutters session

 

Kanser Confused Tempo

Very hot day planned so reverted to plan B – the early morning session once I’d finished work. Just under 12ks done at super slow pace before hooking up with Kanser for a tempo run.  Where ever there is Kanser there is Confusion and took me an age to find him, finally tracked him down outside the park on Moore Park and he was already into it.

Tagged on and found he was just wanted to do 7k tempo around the 1k course , I love Kanser like a brother but he’s hopeless to train and work with as I found I was running around the 3.35 pace for the first lap and getting dropped as he run 10m ahead  WTF??????

Decided to run the pace I was happy with and settled at 3.42s that felt comfortable despite the already soaring heat, Could see Kanser’s pace drop around the 3.5k mark and overtook but in truth my pace didn’t alter at all.

Stopped on 5ks exactly in 18.50 average pace 3.42s as I then waited for Kanser to come home where we both decided that was enough for the day.

Certainly not the longest session done and perhaps only half of the usual lunchtime HuRTS set but by the time I cooled down I’d racked up 18ks for the morning.

3.42s are an improvement, and that included the first 2ks pretty comfortable.

Will need to get back out tomorrow though and knock out a steady 14ks or so, temps expected to be in the 30s once more so will look to do early.

 

Cheers

 

 

24ks Sunday Long Run.

No Ho, Jeet, Leech, Corky this morning of the regulars and when Enda’s ‘glass back’ went that prevented him from running we were left with a smaller team of only about a dozen for the Sunday long run.

A few beers Saturday arvo, late night watching footy and not much sleep I wasn’t really in the mood but actually got there 20 minutes early that enabled me to do a flat lap of nearly 4ks before we set off for the usual 6k loop. ‘The Sweaty Sock’ Craig Wiseman upset our Olympian at the start and we basically didn’t see her again for the next 2 hours, whilst Kansers confidence hits new bounds as he continues his war of words on what he’s going to do me come the Canberra Half.

Steady pace as we collected the later arrivals at 7am at the cafe that included Frenchie Jerome and a couple more before doing the 10k loop, ticking along nicely until the furthest turnaround point at the racecourse before I sensed the pace quicken that saw both Kanser and I fall out the back. Stepped it up and all of a sudden we were moving closer to 4.15 -4.20s, with the Sweaty telling me back at the cafe that the last was 4.09.

With 20ks on the clock  and the group pretty much done I enlisted the help of the talented Frenchman to keep it honest with another flat lap at sub 4 minute pace and he was more than happy to oblige.  Went through the first K in 4.02, then 8 minutes for the two and somehow managed to kick it down even further around the tougher park of the park at Fox Gates to finish averaging 3.57s

24ks done for the day averaging 4.29s in 1hr.45 – probably best I’ve run and felt this year, and got me thinking I should drink more on Saturday and watch even more footy as it did the trick.

 

A few afternoon beers with the ‘Love Doctors’ Craig and Victoria around Surry Hills, with Jeet joining in the banter later although NO sign of Pommy Paul Birch who I hear has gone and got himself engaged. Pretty low key affair by all accounts, (Taffy actually enquired ‘Who is HE’ when told). That small I didn’t even receive an invite, either that or it got lost in pretty much the same way my NOTB ‘Indian Curry Night’ did?

 

Rest day Monday, but will be back for another big week on Tuesday, Heard it’s going to be high 30s so may take the early morning option to avoid the heat.

78ks done for last week recorded.

 

Cheers