Race, Brunch, Repeat

Joined Wongy and Christian for some easy kms starting at the Art Gallery. Apparently it's quite surprising I run most of my mileage at 5 min/km pace or slower.

Christian dropped off at CQ, so we kicked on to Darling Harbour where I cut back on Pyrmont Bridge. 11km all up, very easy.

Foot feeling a touch funny. Must mean I need to wind it back tomorrow.

All the best to a few of the guys running Sun Run this weekend. No racing for me.

Non-eventful day, but great to see the sun reappear. 6km to work along Blackwater and Glebe.

Anzac Bridge

Chose to rest at lunch, but instead joined Wooey for a run to Pyrmont after work. Poor guy has to pick his Cole Classic bib up at Fairfax offices. Ended up doing 12km at around 5 min/km after a mini detour through Glebe and Annandale.

Just shy of 19km commuting for the day.

Headed out into the downpour at lunch. Missed the 12:15 start so toughed out a solo run around the Cove, Opera House before finishing up around Hickson.

10km all up at a lightening 6 min/km pace. Monday rest has really paid dividends. No sign of soreness from yesterday's fartlek.

Felt so good in fact that I added another 6km jogging home.

16km for the day.

Sydney downpour at lunch, but I love running in these conditions.

Today was a 45min Fartlek starting at Art Gallery. Never done this one, but it consist 5 reps of 3/2/1 min 'ons' with a 1 min off. I like it better than the 1 min on / 30 sec off as it is easier to maintain rhythm.

Big crowd today despite the rain - usual suspects upfront, really pushing the pace hard. So hard I was stranded for almost the whole run.

Got to 6.2km, about 300m past the Hickson bend before the 22.5min turnaround. Front guys Tom, Crossy and Jono must have been a good 300m ahead of me!

Started to get stomach cramps on the return, but finished strong. Importantly got back 2nd with 30 secs to spare. Was a little worried I'd be run down by the fast guys.

Per GPS watch, 12.3km in 44:30, so 3:35 min/km average. Not bad.

Battled the rain by adding another 6km running home.

Around 20km for the day, but very fresh after a rest yesterday.

We ordinarily go to Marrickville for quality, cheap beef noodle soup (pho) plus the best sub $5 pork rolls (banh mi) in Sydney.

5 min wait outside Cornersmith, Marrickville

SMH Good Food and bloggers are rife with praise for Cornersmith. No menus, just the chalkboard.

Chalkboard menu only

These guys don't try to overachieve. Local produce, delicately prepared and served with quality bread. Simplified further ... fancy sandwiches and rolls.

A few pre-feed judgements:

- positive - simple, glorified sandwiches, dynamic menu but priced accordingly.
- lukewarm - very proudly markets ethically sourced produce.
- negative - ridiculously elongated and ingredient names.

The menu choices are not extensive, but the descriptions are an eyesore.

Soft poached archerfield farm eggs w/ rye toast, smoked onion relish ($9) plus lentil, barley, hazelnut and zuccini salad ($6)

My dish - 19 words. I have to call it how I see it. This is poached eggs on toast with a lentil salad. Opportunity cost - three bahn mi plus three bites of a fourth.

Without the salad, an award winning cafe serving poached eggs on toast is an insult. Add the side for $6 and you get a dish that is incredibly fresh, balanced and slightly less insulting to my satisfaction gauge.

I rarely extend a poach rating to eggs, but these two bad boys were spot-on in texture and shape.

Poached egg roll w/ pasture raised ham, red cabbage slaw and smoked chilli aoili ($12)

Lorie loves her fancy egg roll. The crispy slaw and better yet, an addictive chilli aioli makes this upscale sandwich a treat.

When a tiny Filipino girl polishes off the last crumb and wants more, you can bet portion size is an issue. I had to fight tooth and nail to get a bite (or four).

To me, this roll works as a fresh, healthy snack.

Both dishes well executed, but how does an 'archerfield farm egg' and 'pasture raised ham' compare to just 'chicken egg' and 'salted pig leg'?

Easier on the ears, harder on the wallet but sadly no different to the palate.

Pre-massacre shot of poached eggs with lentil salad (top) and poached egg roll (bottom)

So the food is very light and healthy. Perfect for those on a calorie restrictive diet. For everyone else, you need to order two mains or do a 'banh mi warm-down'. As a big advocate of a post workout warm-down, I apply this both on foot and on plate.

Score summary below:

Food - 8/10 - simple, well executed. Salads that are beyond my DIY abilities.
Value - 7/10 - low teens pricing for what is in effect, gourmet sandwiches.
Other - 6/10 - cross on confusing dish names. Tick on fast service, somewhat helped by pre-prepared salads and most likely, a next-gen poaching machine.
Overall - 7/10 - unique, tasty experience but not overly memorable.

Lovely partner in crime.

If appetisers for brunch were not so culturally and physiologically offensive, I would certainly look to return.

Feeling a little violated by how they marketed a humble ham roll, we remedied this with a back-to-back visit to Marrickville Pork Roll for yes, a very unambiguous pork roll.

The genius inside this shed is a two-Viet lady production line that is so efficient it puts Chinese sweat shop to shame.

Crispy white roll, generously filled with pickled veggies, unidentifiable strands of pork meat and a delicious pate and chili sauce. No to responsibly sourced produce, but yes responsibly priced.

Cheap and delicious.

Got a brilliant jalapeno plant for a house-warming gift. I backed myself to eat its first yield, which subsequently had me keeled over on the couch, delirious for 3 hours at night.

Next morning I was in no state for a LR at Centennial (or so I thought). Plan B a 'see how I go' exploring Five Dock, and later Abbotsford area without the watch.

Very happy with how I felt by the end. Current humidity levels mean I must be losing 2-3L of water on these runs - should probably be hydrating along the way.

Nothing strenuous and very few hills but 2 hours of jogging in the bank.

100-110km for the week. Need to get some elevation training into my runs in coming weeks! Else my quads are in for a huge shock for any trail races.

Little to report. Generally try to keep Friday as a recovery day.

Thursdays turning into a real recovery day this new year.

Got out for a short run down to Blue's Point with CH from work. Was almost walking up the inclines while waiting for him. Probably a good thing. 8km all up.

Got home and joined Lorie for some yoga, streaming off youtube onto the new TV. Lasted about 30 min before I got impatient and hungry. Some good stretches learnt for the hips though.

Continuing to build the base miles in between two speed sessions per week (Tuesday, Saturdays).

With Conway back from 3 weeks of trails and surfing, I joined a group that also included Steve, BW and others for an easy one circling the water to Hickson Wharves. Run extended through Darling Harbour to Pyrmont, before cutting back.

15km all up at 4:40 min/km.

Added another 5km home, but that was a lightning 6:30 min/km.

Normally Tuesday is speed. With my foot feeling ever so mildly sore, I decided just to do half the 2x20 min lunchtime session. Joined Barts and Tom and assumed the pace setting duties.

Sunday - Swim

Some back-breaking yard work on Saturday afternoon plus having 40+ people over for a BBQ on Sunday gave me a good excuse to take an easy day.

Ducked out early morning for a few laps at Drummoyne. Seem to be getting slower and slower in the pool. Not sure what the opposite of a beached whale is, but I'm the equivalent in the pool....

Joined Lorie for a short 4km jog around Annandale in the afternoon. Trying to encourage her to scout out a regular route to do after work.

Closed out the week perhaps a touch over 100km.

Monday - Back to Uni

Must have some delayed soreness from Saturday LR. A little flat today, so I opted not to run at lunch. Met Bryan at USYD on the way home for a short run around Redfern plus surrounds. Circled back around the uni, through a few classic buildings before heading home via Glebe.

Poor Bryan looks like he lost about 5kg from a stomach bug over Xmas. Pale and malnourished. I'll have to fatten him up with some nut butter.

With the jog in earlier, it was about 16km for the day. All easy.

Out the front of University of Sydney

It's a stifling 30 degrees and after losing a large portion of my body weight during a short jog, I'm too hungry to cook breakfast.

Hence we ourselves at the 'other' option nearby. Clover in Annandale is colourful, quirky and a little capricious in style. It's all a distraction from what really matters.

Clover on Booth Street, Annandale

There's some seriously bulletproof customer feedback on the wall:

"Q: What could we do better, A: Not much all all"

Surprisingly it is not too busy at 10am, a bad sign (I think).

Moderately busy inside.

Baked eggs in multiples disguises populates the menu. I discover the chalkboard baked eggs ($12) is a poor man's version of the beans hotpot ($16) - smaller without beans.

'Small' and 'no beans' are two unacceptable words for a guy whose emotional state so precariously depends on a hearty feed of eggs to jump start the weekend. My hotpot with mushroom and capsicum is marched out within 10 minutes.

Rustic board underlying the dish - always a nice aesthetic.

Hotpot with mushrooms and capsicum - $16

Just like an abandoned child outside a casino, three sandwich-thin white bread slices were untouched on the side.

Lorie only wanted bacon and bacon she got at significant cost. $19.50 for two poached eggs, bread, salty haloumi and some veggies.

Poached eggs on quinoa toast with mushroom and added bacon - $16 + $3.50

I do like the juiciness of the mushrooms, plus quinoa toast with some pesto is nicely predictable.

Eggs were over-poached and bacon was bacon. After not finishing either dish, we stood up paid in hard cash and left.

Because my expectations were so high, I left quite sad. The last time I was this upset was when I let my wife's dog out, only to have it tragically run over by a car.

If food poisoning is a culinary head-on collision, tasteless baked-eggs from a specialty baked-eggs house is a side-on at a T intersection. The high price but small serve is realising you don't have health insurance.

I also proved it possible to walk away hangrier after a meal.

The true twisting of the knife? Dish of the day being awarded to Bunnings, 10 minutes later.

With a sizzling sausage first in bun, then in mouth, it was $2.50 well spent...

The road not taken ... Bunnings sausage sizzle - $2.50

Food - 5/10 - good concept in baked eggs, not many other choices. No seasoning.
Value - 4/10 - overpiced for what you get (or don't get).
Other - 5/10 - just like a screaming kid on a plane, car noise from Booth St is music to the ears.
Overall - 5/10 - a real disappoint that warrants little praise.

Most baffling is the lack of opinion provided by Good Food Guide. I will not be returning to Clover not would I recommend anyone does.

I still find myself still searching for THE legendary baked eggs dish in Sydney...

... the one that culminates with a fist full of rustic bread swiped carefully along the base of an iron pan, just to salvage that precious last splash of slowly roasted tomato.

Annandale baked eggs head to head - Clover (top) vs. Revolver (bottom)

Brought forward my LR to Saturday.

Felt strangely fresh again, so about 10 minutes in I decided to do 1km on 500m off until I could walk no more! 16 reps later, I decided enough was enough.

Kept the 1km intervals at a fairly relaxed 3:50ish, and used the float to recover. Felt I got a lot out of the session - much better than just jogging around for 30km.

In the back 10km, found myself trotting along Canada Bay and Drummoyne for the first time. By that stage the heat was really picking up.

Must have lost 10% of my body weight in water. Next time I should probably hydrate along the run.

Run summary - 32km at 4:29 min/km. Pulled up very well.

Much fresher today after an easy Wednesday and a pretty hearty dinner cooked by Lorie!

Certain temptation to add a Thursday session with Tim's hills plus 5k tempo, but I resisted.  Still have quite a few weeks to beat my legs up further.

All to report - easy 12km with Chris across the bridge and down to Blue's Point. Last 4km was solo are Hickson Wharves. Humid yes, but much cooler

Back to basics of 6 min/km today. Feeling relatively unspectacular so I was happy to just enjoy 6km to work and the same return journey in the evening.

Will look to use days like today as 'fillers'. Should be right for a lunch MLR tomorrow.

Still feeling the effects of my weekend double (14km tempo backed up by 32km LR). Quads in particular feel heavy. A bit of late morning banter from Charlie was enough to motivate me to turn-up to the HuRTS session.
Certainly hot and humid enough to make turn a 14x3min interval session from painful to very painful. Felt I was dragging around brick legs, so I 'foxed' in the middle for at least 10 reps. Pace was probably 3:35s and breathing well controlled. Last 2 reps I picked up to sub 3:20. By that stage the legs had warmed up (or alternatively, numb).

With the lower intensity, I used the 60s break after each rep as an effective float. Idea is to keep the HR up.

The initially huge turnaround of 40 reduced to about 10 by the end. 75% attrition.

Short cool-down around Opera House to make 17km for the run. Very happy to get through this mentally tough session. Now I have a pass to just do 'junk' for rest of the week.



Could barely bring myself to run home, so it was a jog/shuffle for 6km to finish the day.

Over 40 blog reviews, a 90%+ rating and some seriously promiscuous food shots of baked eggs. I'm desperate to brunch at Revolver in Annandale.

The tasteful (wife included) may be excited by the Victorian-style wooden chairs in this hipster cafe. The limit to my own 'taste' in on the plate ... and later in my stomach.

Victorian pub exterior, hipster interior

It's 11am on a Sunday and I've just returned back West from a long run through the pouring rain up the rolling hills of Sydney's East.

This makes me hungry enough to eat a horse ...plus the saddle ... plus the jockey.

Add to that being at the wrong-end of a 20-person queue. Lucky for the missus and I, owner Mark is friendly and runs a tight ship of attractive, helpful and clinically efficient waitresses.

Revolver counter

Baked eggs in the way of a Veggie Big Breakfast. On a rainy day, nothing else matters. Meanwhile I coerce Lorie into choosing something with trout. She's craving bacon, but is overruled.

Vegetarian Baked Eggs and Trout Rosti

Dishes comes out. Now as a round-faced kid, I would chronically burn my fingers on a hot tray of freshly baked M&M cookies. Two decades later ... the same round face grimaces as I scald my elbow on the hot iron handle.

Beautiful dish - colourful veggies bubble inside an iron pan on a wooden plank. The beetroot puree and feta melt into the tomato lava. An avocado sits proudly on top like a pistachio ice-cream quenelle.

It's levels above a home DIY effort with two eggs, canned beans, salt and pepper shakers and an oven and worth the $17.50.

Veggie Big Breakfast - baked eggs, tomato, avocado, mushrooms, eggplant in beans with beetroot puree and soy & linseed toast - $17.50

I discover hummus to be best slathered on the grilled bread, then subsequently dunked in the tomato.

The missus breaks the silence with a loaded question - "what would you change?'"

I curtly respond - "the pan needs to be a few inches deeper".  My bucket list now includes the same dish in an iron pot and a wooden spoon to match.

Trout Rosti - Smoked trout on a corn rosti with red capsicum relish, baby spinach and avocado - $17.50

Over to the Trout Rosti, which has an uncanny resemblance to corn fritter. Impressive pancake-proportions ensures the missus goes down quickly without a fight.

Only two minor disappointments:
(i) cold trout doesn't seem to work on a hot dish
(ii) trout to rosti ratio too low. I want more.

What's the point of half an avocado plus four baby spinach leaves? Well, it dresses a relatively unaesthetic corn pancake in a cute green hat and gives you a health kick at the same time.

Hat aside, I will return for the blackboard specials and also to better understand the mermaid on the wall.

Mermaid on wall?

Just like Postman Pat, Revolver delivers:

Food - 8/10 - not overly innovative, but rustic, warming and tasty.
Value - 7.5/10 - most items on the wrong side of teens. Thankfully no '2' handle.
Other - 9/10 - great staff, personalised service but a long wait.
Overall - 8/10 - excellent food,  not going to break the bank, wish the crowds would go away.

Only tainted emotion upon leaving was that of FOMO (fear of missing out). Some other enticing options were left unexplored...

Trusty partner in crime.

Translated - we'll be back for the salmon fillet and vanilla pancake.

What better way to start a rainy 6am Sunday by rolling out of bed, driving to Centennial and turning up at the kiosk 5 min late for the HuRTS group run.

First ascent out of the park, I knew I was in for a tough one. Quads very sleepy/grumpy from my tempo yesterday. It's that feeling where you  know they won't warm up. Course was the City 2 surf, so I ran the first 5km hard and caught a pack of ten by Rose Bay.

Coastal views kept the run surprisingly fun. Never seen this side of Sydney before (why else go to Vaucluse?). Lots of arbitrary stairs, a nice run up to a lighthouse and grassy flats that bordered cliff faces. Beautiful.

Passed Bondi Pavilion at 18km (where Enda/Tim dropped off for the swim), before continuing through to Bronte with CT and Anthony.

Cut back inland towards Queenspark, circled Centennial essentially until I saw a '3' handle on my mileage.

Good to restart the long-runs, but I'm certainly feeling out-of-shape.



32km all up at 4:50 min/km.

Thursday
Called out for an 'easy one' by Renee and James E. Was looking for an excuse not to do the Rushcutters sets and welcomed the invite, despite the third wheel prospectus.

We trailed the water from the Domain, through CQ and Hickson Wharves. Decided to shoot down to Darling Harbour to make the run 12km. Horribly hot but the slower-than-5 min pace helped.

Rode the bike back home to keep today's mileage low.

Friday - Rest
Getting a bit worried here. Got a fitbit for Xmas, as did most of my family. Normally in full training there is no competition for the 7 day rolling steps.

During festive eating and resting season, the margin is much closer.

Fitbit - 'friends'

Anyway no run today, just a quick swim at Drummoyne before work.

Saturday - Bay Run Tempo at MP
Sadly had to turn down an offer to do the B&B swim from Manly this morning. Simply couldn't bring myself to join Bryan, Derek and others for a 6:45am start.

Took to the Bay Run with some renewed energy, specifically fueled by 1kg of Ginger Mud Crab from hosting a dinner last night.

Could be the new pre-race meal. Felt a little sluggish but did the double lap in 52:20, or low 3:40s. First few km at 4 min/km, then moved to 3:35 min/km for the last 3km. Basically my ideal MP. No way I'm in shape to do this over 42km though...

Saturday (10-Jan) Bay Run x 2

Tuesday
Nice little picture along Glebe on my walk into the city at 6am.

City from Glebe

Tuesday normally synonymous with pain, but I'm giving myself this week and next before recommencing speed. It was a good decision to avoid 4x10min intervals in horribly humid lunch conditions whilst avoiding serious man-traffic around the Cove. .

Instead, I ventured out with Wooey back around Hickson before heading out around Darling Harbour. Great run, easy pace and mirrors the 10km track we covered last week. Looking to get back into the swing of things next week perhaps...

2nd run for the day was back home. Somewhat guilt fuels (from an easy lunch run). Covered 6km at 4 min/km with a bag. Call it a slow tempo progressing to a large home-cooked meal.

Wednesday
5km or so cycle into work. Almost spend more time changing and showering than in the saddle....

Headed down with Chris H from work to the North. Hot again, but the breeze was welcome. We shout out to Blue's Point before returning along the piers through Luna Park.

I almost feel sorry for the millionaires living in the Milsons Point apartments dealing with screaming kids (all day long). A short 8km all up - CH does not deal well with hills.

Nice and easy day...a good chance to rest the legs.

Been experimenting with some grain alternatives. Found a winner in buckwheat groats, which is actually a seed.

Buckwheat is a great gluten-free option for porridge, muesli, pancakes and even a rice substitute. I tried it all in the last few weeks with astounding success (aside from pancakes that are as dense as bricks).

Buckwheat porridge with Coconut Almond

Porridge recipe below - I find the texture is a lot more fun than oatss.

Buckwheat porridge
- 1/2 Cup buckwheat groats
- 1 Cup water
- 1/2 Cup almond milk (or cow's milk, soy milk etc.)
- 1 Tbsp Coconut Almond Spread (use MiLA's)
- dash of salt

Add buckwheat, water and salt and bring to a boil on a a stovetop. Combine with milk and let simmer for 10 minutes.

Drizzle the spread and feel free to add any (or all) of cinnamon, greek yogurt, chopped nuts, honey and fresh fruit. A really good new breakfast staple if you suffer from oats fatigue or gluten intolerance.

Headed out at lunch today for the HuRTS wharves MLR. Reasonable turnout of perhaps a dozen - more than expected given how early we are in the year.

Wanted to just circle back on what has been the best 12 months of running so far.

I remained generally healthy, but struggled with Plantar Fasciitis from July. It was consistent, base building that enabled me to do well at the longer-distances. Managed to PB from 5km all the way through to 42km.

Highlights below:

1. Base Training (Jan to March) - early January I was still in recovery mode from the 6 Inch Trail 48km Marathon a few weeks before in 2013. Post that, I had 3 months injury free base building. Most of this was frolicking around Melbourne. Managed to build to a 100km week with 5k parkrun every Saturday.

6 Inch Trail Marathon (Dec-13)

2.  Parkrun WA (Jan to August) - Moved my 5km PB down to 16:13. Must have gone sub 16:20 five or so times this year. This compares to 17:30 in Aug-13, so a 85s improvement.

Albert Park Melbourne Parkrun (Jan)

Claisebrook Cove Perth Parkrun PB (March)

3. Bunbury Marathon (mid-late April). First place and 2:38 marathon in hot, dry and windy conditions. 10 minute PB from my sole-2013 marathon (Perth City to Surf). Leveraged a solid 12 week build-up and turned up physically and mentally fresh. Race was run even split 79 / 79, but pulled away from a pack of 3 others at about 15km and put a 10 minute gap to 2nd place.

Bunbury Marathon at 15km (April)

#1 in 2:38, a 10 min PB

4. Perth Marathon (start June). Third place and 2:35 marathon, so a new 3 min PB vs 6 weeks before. Only decided to run this 3 days out, hence effectively no taper. Week before was 100km, and I ran 6-10km per day right up until the day before. Went out conservatively despite great weather, expecting to fade in the last 10km. Passed half way in 79:30 odd, 18th place.

#3 in 2:35 at Perth Marathon (June), a 3 min PB

The dreaded wall never set in and I moved from 3:45 pace to sub 3:40s and ran down the field. 2nd half 76 was a half marathon PB by a considerable margin. Finished strong, felt fresh and that was my peak for the year.

5. Injury Plagued (June to August) - back to back marathons in 6 weeks really took its toll. Was unable to run consistently and struggled with PF at least until October. I had taken 2 weeks off but it was not enough. Lesson learnt.

Walking Parkrun with an Injury and Sasha (August)

Had to say goodbye to Perth to make the interstate move to Sydney. Met some incredible people that became a 2nd family.

Parkrun crew in WA (Aug)

Resumed training with HuRTS from August. Despite a bogus left foot, I still limped over the line to record a few more PBs for the remainder of the year.

6. Striders Homebush 10km (September) - 34:18, so over a 90s PB vs 2012.

10km PB at Striders Hombush (September)

7. JP Morgan CC 5.6km (November) - 18:17, so a 2 min PB vs 2011

Taking a leaf from Tom's Blog, a few lessons:

1. Base building critical. Consistent mileage with speedwork on tired legs is really beneficial to being a strong 2nd half runner

2. Don't ignore speed. Didn't do this well first half. It meant my 5-10km times are really a tier below my marathon

3. General nutrition matters. Put a lot more good fat into daily staples. Nuts, seeds, avacados, coconut specifically. Helped with weight maintenance, satiety and less reliance on sugar for fuel.

4. Race nutrition not needed. Ran Bunbury with one gel, and Perth with nothing. Didn't need any carb intake during the race. I did all my long-runs  on no breakfast, no nutrition.

5. Rest days are important. Still trying to work on this one...

6. Most important 2014 lesson, appreciate the wife. Follows me around the country, drives me to events, runs with me. joins me for runs without complaining. Also a great partner in crime for brunching.

Small size, tiny appetite but big heart

2015 Goals

- Trail ultra - just finish, don't care about time/place.

- Road marathon - low 2:30s.

- Half marathon - sub 75.

- C2S (14km) - sub 48.

- 10km - sub 34.

- JPM - sub 18.

Races I have in mind including any (but not all of) 6 Foot, Canberra, Melbourne, C2S, SMH Half, Blackmores, NY and various local 10kms.

Thanks for reading and happy NY.

First runs for the NY.

Took the direct route across Anzac Bridge, a little detour via Pyrmont and straight into work. 7km all up and surged a little on the mild hill as I ascended the bridge.

Headed out once more at lunch with Wooey. Bad ttled the crowds and pedestrians along the Bridge. A few rolling hills on our way to Blue Point before circling back around Milsons Point. 8km all up to make 15km for the day.

Good to be back, will keep the training light on for now.