Swimming with the Birthday Boy

No sign of Coach Walker, Taffy, MrAce, Julia, Champagne, Toddie or even Mermaid today but we were privileged to have the man in form and birthday boy Enda return to the pool to mark the celebration of his 38th birthday.
Big News of the day (see no secrets here) was arriving early to see Elan walking up and down the pool deck COACHING.........none other then 'The Champ', little wonder he's flying at the moment getting one on one's with one of the fastest going around.
Despite Pete's absence he did leave us with a set to do that included;
1 x 400, 2 x 300, 3 x 200, and 4 x 100s
With Elan long gone i sat on QLDer Dave's feet for the first 400 and was happy to roll in on 6.30, and then as late as ever Angus rocked up and with Dave declaring me to go in front of him i was about to work as hard in a swim session then i have for a long time (in fact for EVER), Just about hung on in the 300s then the pace seemed to step up another gear as the 200s were even faster. Was just about down and out at this point of the session before Elan decides to take charge and DEMAND that the 100s will be swum FLAT OUT and in return we get a slightly longer break.......Jeez, thanks mate.
Normally when i swim i can see the persons feet ahead of me , but today it was just a wash of bubbles, and STARS as i tried my best to hang on to Angus over the shorter final stages.
Times were perhaps the fastest this young lad from Stoke can do and were as follows;
6.30, 4.44, 4.41, 3.02, 3.03, 3.01, 1.23, 1.24, 1.24, 1.25
Wrecked at the end and could barely lift my arms to get out the pool, only made to feel a little better when i saw the condition of Enda looking like he'd even struggle to blow the candles out on his nearby cake.

If i thought i was struggling then you should have also seen Warrior Charlie, who was doing all sorts with his fitness guys, running, swimming , doing weights etc.... he looked like he was getting smashed and spent more time walking up and down the pool with a kick board then anything else..... Poor Bloke.

Big weekend in the footy once more and afraid to say the boys in the Mediocre Cup are up against it once again, Taffy and Enda will be battling it out for bragging rights, Tom's Toon will get a belting away from home, Slim Sammy Agnew's Palace will be lucky to get NIL again this week against the 'Blue Noses from Everton and unless the Goalie scores for Stoke i think we may be struggling to get anything at Swansea... All doom and gloom it looks like then :(
Still, if I'm looking for the upset then I'll take Stoke to pick up a point at the Swans
Timmy's Tip Swansea 1 v Stoke 1
in the big game Arsenal vs Man Utd - I'll go with the same scoreline

For all the EXPERT tips and analysis then tune in to your truly Saturday evening at 9pm - Yes, i can talk $h1te with the best of them.

Will try to get out for a run in the morning, no sign of Kanser still and Enda is also away so looks like i may be running around the park by myself.

The Champ getting one on one coaching lessons from Elan..........At $100 per hour its a small price to pay to stay ahead of Enda he tells me.

Charlie Dalziel with kick board, I thought the idea was to KICK with the board not hold it up and walk the length of the pool?

"OK, I'll give the kick board the flick - but I'm still walking" , Nice work Warrior Charlie.

Also forget to include in the week , results from last week triathlon at Heffron.

1 55 Dave Matthews 01:00:16 2029 1 00:10:09 1 1 00:33:03 2 1 00:17:03 1 1

2 58 Stew Campbell 01:04:35 4049 1 00:13:30 10 5 00:31:09 1 1 00:19:55 8 4

3 59 Tim Lindop 01:05:37 4049 2 00:13:24 7 3 00:33:09 3 2 00:19:03 5 3


Have a great weekend
Train safe
Cheers

Wales 0 vs England 1

Stunning day in old Sydney town today as i made my way over to Rushcutters to don my duties for the HuRTS boys and mark out the 800m track in time for the 8 reps that was on the cards for the lunchtime session.
Before that though i had my regular Thursday morning swim session with the Taffy Lad down at the P.A.P and set myself for the tough 40 minutes after James called 10 x 200s. I've been swimming better of late although still no match for the Welsh Wizard so decided that he would lead out all bar the 4th and 8th rep. Times were pretty good throughout all coming in under 3.20s but i could see Jimmy wasn't at his best this morning. So with this in mind (and after he led out rep #9 i issued him with the Dai Davies/Kevin Keegan (Wales England) Challenge? A straight 200 rep to finish off the morning. Had to then wait while he then gave a full on rendition of 'Land of my Fathers' as the hairs stood up on the back of his next and the 'hatred of the English was evident in his eyes.
Anyway, to cut a long story...........Old Jimmy, was last seen crying in his Welsh leek as the Keegan Cup is now safe and sound in Erskineville (for a week at least)

So back to Rushcutters and a big crowd, that saw the front group of Kenny, Enda, and Razor, with Mikey, Dom, Leech and a few others not far behind, I went through the first Rep in a sharp 2.36 and knew there was no chance of holding the remaining 7 at that pace.
Settled a little after that and managed to keep them all around the 2.40 mark, before getting the final one back to a 2.36

Rep times 2.36, 2.39, 2.39, 2.40, 2.40, 2.41, 2.40, 2.36
Quicker then what i managed at Tuesday's session although in truth its a far better surface then McKay and it was nowhere near as windy today.
Enda continues to run well, knocking them all out around 2.31s (?) and Mikey was telling me that he averaged 2.34s all up - very impressive

Swim Times were .3.16, 3.19, 3.18, 3.15, 3.17, 3.20, 3.18, 3.10, 3.20, 3.04

Talking swimming - heard on the grapevine that The Chairman Tommy H has started Swim Correction Lessons today in an effort to avoid being 'Chicked' come Biathlon time at the A.B.C Pool.
We have a date set for the big SHOWDOWN (or should that be Lowdown?) - Pencil in the 12th December, Xmas drinks to follow.

Also tomorrow is a famous day on the Irish calendar..........No, its not when the potato famine started, but something more important. More will be revealed tomorrow :)

Cheers

800s Pizza Style with the Stallion

Enda at the end of his 800s - trying to break into the top 10 HuRTS guys

With the Italian Stallion Durante - watch out he's coming back.

Michael Owen getting ready for Flemington to watch his horse Brown Panther in the Melbourne Cup.


With Kanser giving me the brush YET again choosing to head out of town to Noosa (for another holiday) I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the Italian Stallion Man Michael Durante was going to join Enda and I for the 8 x 800 session down at McKay Oval early doors.
Arranged to meet at 7.30 am but then had to wait till 8.05:37 till Enda gave Durante the full version of events from his Saturday morning run
With Enda leading from the front I run shoulder to shoulder for the first rep with M.D crossing in 2.47, before he picked the pace up on the next couple running a few seconds ahead whilst I tried my best to keep it consistent.
Was working hard in the heavy wind that was swirling around the oval especially around the 500m mark, but Durante just got stronger and was soon pushing Enda all the way over the 2nd half of the session. Not sure how he still does it in truth - the mans done nothing for must be 2 years now and still has a good turn of speed (especially over the shorter reps)......Mind you he does have a 1.53 800 to his name :)
I was happy enough with the 8 reps and never blew out as my times will indicate. Fair play to Enda who was a good 10 seconds ahead of me for each rep and was closing in on 2.30s come the finish with M.D only a couple behind him. I may have to hold my hand up and say I was wrong about our Irish friend and admit that maybe he could be ranked JUST in the top 10 from the HuRTS boys especially on current form?
Times for the day; 2.47, 2.45, 2.45, 2.43, 2.45, 2.44, 2.43, 2.42

Good session and glad to have the boys there to help out even if I was a long way behind, just to work off them certainly helped.

Well big day this arvo, heading out shortly to have a few jars to celebrate the Melbourne Cup and hope to pick a winner or two. Big race and it’s a bit of a lottery, loads of International runners that seem to have upset the Aussies (again). Wouldn't it be good if ex- footballer Michael Owens Brown Panther could get up for the English superstar?
Timmy's Tip of the Day is a flick of the coin between number 4 Sea Moon and number 8 Dandino - so will have my 50p on those, and chuck in a few others #6, #7, #12, and #23 to help me snag the trifecta .....If it comes in then please tell my clients I won’t be at work at 6am in the morning J

Good luck to all - hope you win a fortune and clean those bookies out
Cheers

Route 1 - Direct Style

12ks this morning to kick start the week that saw me do the 2 x 6k Woollahra Hill loops of the park that i have seemed to neglect of late.
Very windy out there that saw me struggling at times and then cruising with the help of the tail wind. Helped big time with the tail wind coming on each lap as i made my way up Woollahra 700m hill. Worked the first lap at 4.20s coming in at 26.06 and then tried to lift it once more as i completed the 2nd lap. Again the head wind made the first part tough but got through it and stopped the clock on 25.34 second time around (4.15s)
51.40 all up averaging 4.18s for the morning - Worst part (or is that best?) was that it was only about 10 seconds per/k slower then what i was able to run on Saturday at Strider's.

Down to the P.A.P at lunchtime and only a very small turnout for this one with Coach Walker, The Champ, Eloquent Julia and I on show, that meant i was going to have to do more work on the front then i wanted to do. The set was 6 x 200, and 6 x100s with a few drill/technique 100s thrown into the mix.
I lead out the 1st,3rd and 5th rep and i then made The Champ do the even sets. The Champ was struggling a little today so i was happy to have a (slight) breather on his turn
As for the 100s - I just tried to stay on Pete's feet for the whole 6 (as he was just taking it easy today with no Elan, J.C, Catfish or Mermaid there to push him)
Times for the day; 3.15, 3.27, 3.18, 3.30, 3.17, 3.37, 1.35, 1.34, 1.35, 1.34, 1.34, 1.33

Tomorrow morning will head back to McKay for my regular 800s , Kanser is away this week in Noosa so i may have to give Enda a call, although if i have to listen to him sprout on about his Strider's win one more time I'll be heading straight to the coffee house.

Pretty disappointing result again for the Potters, only drawing 1-1 at home this despite scoring after just 14 seconds of the game against Southampton.  I know many say our style of play is pretty direct and we just 'hoof' the long ball forward but this goal just put a new meaning to 'route 1' as our goalie scored - unbelievable.

Cheers

BRAT Triathlon Heffron Park 65.31

Down to Heffron Park this morning for the BRAT club triathlon, with Noosa on the same day i thought many of the stronger athletes would be up north - And so it was with only the impressive Dave Matthews (who did a 16.20 at the biathlon last week) in attendance, although sometime HuRT and Hard man Brendan Krone was there as was gun cyclist Stewie 'Computa'
After yesterday i was just keen for a good hit out and decided to sit on Krone's feet with about 4 others for the swim leg. Felt pretty comfortable as i went through a touch over 13 minutes. A quick T1 (unlike last weeks debacle) and i was off on the 20k 10 lap technical bike course. I still had the disk wheels on the bike from last weeks Nepean Tri and was working pretty hard making sure i kept a few of the others at bay as i knew they could possibly run me down in my present condition. Computa came flying by as if i was standing still at one point but my lap times were OK and i came into T2 with a bike time of 32.40
Out on the flat 5k run course and legs felt heavy even after the first 800m, just tried to hang on and was happy to see only Matthews and Computa ahead with just 2ks to go.
Worked the 5ks at 3.50 pace to finish the run section on 19.00 to stop the clock in 65.31 overall  and i think 3rd place overall (not 100% as there were 2 starts and the slower people go in the first wave and sometimes you get a few who fly under the radar).
In fact i should be pushed up a spot as Stewie Computa for some unknown reason swims in his wetsuit (in the pool can you believe) and technically is outside the rules :)

Good all round weekend for the HuRTS boys i hear, first Enda and the Leech take out the Strider's, then Tucks wins a marathon (don't know where to be honest) and Skippy Heyden gets 2nd in a 60k walking event.
Good luck to Sonya tonight over in New York, Her preparation hasn't been great as she hurt her back and then got caught in the cross fire whilst at L.A Airport having to to hide under the tables whilst a madman was running around - scary $h!te :(

Back out tomorrow, would love to get a run in somewhere and may even sacrifice my regular Monday swim in order to fit it in.


Cheers

Striders Lane Cove 10k - 40.40

Well normally I’m a regular to these races throughout the year but for various reasons I think I’ve only done two for the year before today’s attempt. Rolled up nice and early and met the Irish gang Enda, Eoin and Eamo before getting out for a couple of ks warm up and listening to Enda’s tales of woes once more. Also good to see the other HuRTS boys Walker, Manly Benny, and Angus Boyd toeing the line as well.

On the start line with Enda and I look left and right and it suddenly dawns on me that there is nobody of any stature lining up ………No Barts, No Chairman, No Tucks, No C.T and certainly nobody like Criniti, De Canto, or any previous winners or big names. I then remarked to Enda, “seriously mate, you can win this today’

Started pretty slow and sat in nicely behind Nicole Ward (leading female) and when through the first kilometer in 3.43, and held that before the first climb up ‘Scribble’ lost it pretty much straight away going up there and basically that was race over. Managed to get to the 5 mark in 20 minutes and was happy just to try to run a solid tempo for the final 5ks home. Had a look at the front runners flying down the hill both looking good and I could sense then that battle was on the cards for the first two placings.

Just cruised home sitting on over 4 min/ks for the back half stopping the clock in 40.40 – Yet another disappointing run for what capped off a miserable year and I can only hope that things return for a better 2014, although I think I can start by losing a few kilos and putting some proper structure back into my training and stop Fxxxing around.

Returned to the recovery area and was met with the biggest smile by Enda Stankard that told me straight away he had got the victory, with the Leech pushing him all the way to get 2^nd   a mere 3 seconds behind (we don’t call him the Leech for nothing) A great effort from the Galway Goon and you can only beat what is put in front of you even if it was ‘A Battle of the B Graders’ today. Striders have been going for over 30 odd years with about 370 10k races, with over 16’000 runners participating in them and NEVER in the history has a time of 35.37 been good enough to win a race before today’s running.

My phone was a buzz once news got out with the Chairman upset he didn’t come out just for a stroll and even Kanser reckons he could have got the victory despite only just getting back into his program and we won’t even mention what Lady Laura James would have run J

Even though I am running rat $h!te I still enjoy getting out and being part of it all especially the Striders races (you even get good encouragement from 60 minute runners) and always good to chat with the HuRTS lads post race.

Will get out and try to kick start my fitness program tomorrow – not sure if just head out to run easy or test myself a little more at the local BRAT triathlon down at Heffron?

Have a good weekend, and remember to get on the mighty Potters tonight in the footy J

1st and 2nd across the line.......HuRTS #14 Enda and #19 The Leech

Finish line with Enda, Eamo (Assassin), Eoin (Leech) and Eimmy

A couple of photos from Thursday's Presentation of the Chairman

thirsty work for the Chairman even doing the presentation.

And moments later seems to be struggling to stay awake.

Cheers

HuRTS Presentation 2013 Wrap Up

Well the year seems to have flown by and it was time to gather all the team for the annual HuRTS presentation. Was it really 12 months back that the chairman was carried out of the pub in disgrace and given a 6 month ban by the Harbour Bridge Hotel and had passport stamped 'Never to Return'?
The Tilbury Hotel was the venue for this years hosting as I rolled up to find a massive crowd on show, Had a good few beers chatting away to many and it was great to catch up with HuRTS #1 Tucks again for the first time in 12 months as well as giving Slim Sammy Agnew a little abuse for his Palace Boys. Pleased to report that there was no repeat performance from the Chairman Tommy H and he managed to get the awards under way without slurring his words unlike last year.
First up is the prestigious Male Performer of the Year and no surprises with this one with the highly respected and fine runner (not to mention fine Home Brewer) Tony Fats collecting thanks to his 6ft win back in March. A nicer bloke you couldn't meet and his speech was top notch, nearly brought me to tears at one point as he thanked his training partners.
In the female division it was a walk in the park for Lady Laura James after her outright victory in the Half recently, and then recording a fine 2.47 marathon in Melbourne.
The Most Improved was next up and this was a lot tougher to pick this year Ben O' Brien had a good year, as well as Warrior Charlie and I thought that James 'Kenny' Everett would get it but was then surprised (although still well deserved) when young Eleanor Goldricks name was announced, With all the big money splurged at the bookies on a Young Timmy taking out the 'Serg' Under Achiever award all eyes seemed to looking in my direction when Tom was reading out nominations and in what I still consider a carve up I was thought to be more worthy then a 3.56 Marathoner in Charlie Low or even an Angry Kiwi who has done bugger all but fall of his bike on countless occasions.
The Leech took out Tri Guy for the year with his 9.04 Roth time in the Ironman, Tucks never seems to go home empty handed and despite a 40 minute sleep IN a race it was still good enough to win the Ultra Cup. Tommy H finally broke his duck when he scooped the 'Spirit Award' for all his hard work throughout the year although Mikey I think had his eyes set on that one again.
We also had another trophy to hand out and although not recognized by the chairman it should be added on the list for next year. The HURTS Hasselhoff Swimming Award was held for the first year and the inaugural winner was the man who brings it all together for us and made us that much faster.....Coach Pete Walker.
So the full winners list looked something like this;

Male Performance of Year: Tony Fattorini
Female Performance of Year: Laura James
Most Improved: Eleanor Goldrick
The "Serg" Award: Tim Lindop
HuRTS Spirit Award: Tom Highnam
Ultra Runner of Year: Andrew Tuckey...
Triathlete of Year: Eoin Reville
Swimmer of the Year - Pete Walker

The beers flowed a plenty once the formals were all out the way and poor Tucks bottle of Johnny Walker never left the place as it was opened and drank by all the winners out of there respective cups, and some 10 minutes later a empty bottle was all that was left.

Things started to go downhill after that but I do remember heading over to favourite 'Harry's Cafe' for the traditional Pie n Mash supper and finding half the team over there with the Italian Pizza Loving Durante first in the line already going back for seconds.

As always a top night had and great to see everyone out enjoying the night and coming together, I think we have one more social before the end of the year with the J.P Morgan coming up in a fortnight. Let’s hope Enda gets that tent ready for us all post race :)

A few photos from all the winners last night

Performer of the Year - Tony Fats with the Chairman, Fats with his Oktoberfest shirt on and he wasn't even there.

Lady Laura James after taking out top Female.

Elle after scooping the Most Improved - great effort.

The Chairman nearly in tears after finally getting on the honours list  getting the Spirit Award, Nearby Mikey is less then impressed at losing out.

Not the one i was really after but the boys seemed to stitch me up on the Serg Under Achiever Award.

Tucks took out Walker of the Year (Ultra) despite a 40 minute kip. His bottle didn't last long after the photo was taken.

Tri Guy of the Year - Eoin the Leech after a great 9.04 in Roth

Swimmer of the Year - Coach Pete Walker

Cheers