Out in pitch black due to an early start to work. Must be the fourth straight day of recovery pace. Foot perhaps feels better with the wind-back. 8km tracking Paramatta Road then George Street. Normally road crossings are a pain, but it's a non issue at 6am. Rode the bike back after work. The 6km to Lilyfield is simply too short. Hence I...
Thursday A little gap at lunch left me a great opportunity to circle the Opera House and shoot down to Rushcutters via Garden Island. Went solo today and it truly was unplanned. Foot continues to feel a little suspicious. Everything else, particularly the quads felt great. 12km all up at 5 min/km. Late finish and evening rain prevented a cycle home (light not...
Almost pitch black at 6am, but that did not stop me from flapping around at Drummoyne pool for 2km. Embarrassingly slow as always, but works wonders for the ITB. May look to join HuRTS swims from next week - suspect I'm too slow to actually participate. On the running from, 2nd week in a row I've skipped intervals on Tuesday. No reason to...
No surprise that the left foot disliked 30km of pavement on Sunday. Woke up to a little swelling plus that little tingling above the toe. I'll certainly have to keep the mileage low this week and substite with swimming / cycling. Hence today was just a 7km recovery home. Ordered another 3 pairs of shoes from Eastbay which was delivered today. A necessary...
To call this a race is a stretch. A hard training run is more appropriate. HuRTS nice guy Brendan W (Wongy) pitched an offer on Friday too hard to refuse. 'A nice little club run down in Smithfield'. Throw in (i) a free car pool, (ii) the promise that the 'regular' is about my pace, and the real clincher... (iii) food at the...
Copo 2011 was where my love of brunch was first conceived. I return perhaps 10% lighter but with a 30% larger appetite and greater propensity to criticise. Either Drummoyne has been through Zimbabwean-style hyperinflation or the cafe is trying to eye gouge on price. Crowds are thinner and a lack of 'Surry Hills' buzz is disconcerting. This is important, - the anticipation of feed...
Despite a very hectic work week, I managed to sneak out quickly during lunch. Ordinarily 3-4 weeks from a trail marathon should typically be a peak mileage week. Trying to ignore my lack of prep here and just bank easy miles. So today was 5km around the Opera House down to Garden Island and return. Pace was intentionally slow, but coming around Mrs...
Jumped on the bike and headed down to Drummoyne pool for some early morning laps. Very slow, embarrassingly slow actually. Does wonder for the tight ITBs though. 1.6km all up freestyle, before heading off to work. Starting a new routine Wednesday's with some ex-School buddies which included Ben D and Tom. 2nd week straight. We started from Bridge Street, followed Hickson Road before...
Did the right thing and avoided intervals (4x10min). I do normally enjoy this a tingling in my foot is a little concerning. Completely disinterested in another easy trundle at lunch. Headed to Hickson, where an elongated set of stone stairs rises towards the Rocks. It's a good 5 flights of 16 steps One rep consisted alternating from double leg hops to simple single...
Sunday - Birchgrove plus Pancakes With my LR banked on Saturday, I simply intended to add some very easy base miles. Shot down to the Bay Run and headed out to Balmain along the water. Threaded through the streets towards Birchgrove. Great suburb, well hidden and deceptively close to the city as the crow flies. To keep things interesting every 1km I did...
Valentine's Day and the first time eating along Glebe Point Road in almost eight years. Little has changed, included the wife's stature... 4 ft 10 inch wife next to a 2 ft sign saying 'life is too short' Brewristas has such an expansive drinks selection that food is almost an afterthought. I fail to convince myself that the 'ultimate nutella frappe' with added...
Friday Effectively resting today. Took the bike into work, but not without a fun little detour around the Bay Run and a somewhat random out-and-back across Gladesville Bridge. You can't beat the views around 6am right now.... No run at lunch and just a short jog into Pyrmont to meet Lorie. We poked around the Lunar Night Markets, ate a few dumplings and...
Seem to be accumulating some serious right hip tightness. Could be the recent race and my lack of race fitness. All I could manage was 7km at 5:30 min/km in the morning, followed by a plod of shame later in the evening. 15km for the day. Body needs either a good swim or massage in the next day or two. ...
Heat plus humidity as bad as it was yesterday. Joined Jono for a midday recovery starting at Macquarie offices then down Hickson to CQ. Returned the same route to make 8km. Per my running OCD, felt the urge to round to the nearest 10. Luckily Wongy popped up on his return from Pyrmont. Headed back again to CQ with Wongy at a slightly...
Boy has my body almost forgotten what it's like to do a hard session in the heat. With the quads still wobbly from 10k race plus 33km LR on weekend, I had little need to push hard. Big turnout, but from the outset I let the front group including Crossy, Tucks and Jono go and did the pacing duties for the 2nd group....
Sunday - Centennial Centennial group out in force this morning. A promising late night email goes out suggesting an 'easy and flat' trundle around the park. Turns out this was a pipe dream with just Enda and I racing yesterday, plus a 70 min half female runner in company (Eloise). I ran 8km to the Kiosk from Lilyfield, joined a group of 10ish...
I was not sure what to expect today. Easy week of training, but first race in 10 weeks and no doubt non stop feasting and less running over the break has not helped. Poor Lorie was dragged out of bed and forced to drive to Homebush all before 6:30am. The allure of a post-race brunch did the trick. Reasonable turnout from HuRTS -...
A 5:45am wake-up and 1 minute PB at the Sydney Striders 10km race provides the perfect reason to celebrate. My choice is in the brunch hub of Sydney, Redfern. Kepos Street Kitchen (KSK) is immensely popular; yet I am as nervous as I was before the race. 'Must trys' are prone to disappointment - e.g. Cumulus (Melbourne) does a 63 degree poached egg...
Thursday With some strange tingling in my left foot, I felt it best to take another easy day. Short 7km at lunch dancing around Hickson wharves and Observatory Hill. Solo this time, with 7 sets of 15x dips plus 10 push-ups. Always like using the excuse of some cross-training to ease up on the running and give the legs a intermittent breaks. Friday...
Little to report today. 7km in the morning at 5:30 min/km. I'd say my left foot still feels strangely numb, which means the next few days should best be taken cautiously. Had a nice 6km walk home with Lorie across the Anzac Bridge from the CBD. Forgot what it's like not to run... painfully slow. ...
Consistent with my four weeks on, one week off, I continue to somewhat sheepishly avoid anything hard so far this week. Left foot feeling a touch 'funny' after Sunday, not painful but perhaps a mild tingling. Mentally very willing to do the HuRTS, but did not want the risk that a tingle becomes a stabbing pain. Seems quite a few people are getting...
Possibly the best cookies I've ever made. Three key ingredients make this a winner (chickpeas, almond spread and almond milk) All-natural, high protein and if you leave the honey out it is vegan-friendly and sugar free. So easy it is hard to stuff up with 5 min prep time. Texture comes out very soft, tastiness guaranteed. High protein almond cookies with honey High protein...
Very happy with how the body is feeling with the mileage slowly building so far. Despite this, I'm due for an easy week. Still looking to do a speed session or two, but I'm able to cut out a lot of the junk mileage. 8km at 5:30 min/km in the morning. Tracked Blackwater Bay then looped around Pyrmont in the pouring rain. Skipped...
Marrickville has a formidable line-up of cheap-eats: pork sausage roll (Bourke Street Bakery), Vietnamese pork roll (Marrickville Pork Roll) and beef noodle soup (PHD). I dream of the day when I add a fourth to this amazing hit-list. Specifically, I yearn to conquer the gap between a missed-breakfast and a too-long-to-wait lunch. Illi Hill is new to the brunch scene and has a...
Saturday - Cross Training Slept like a rock and accordingly woke too de-motivated to do a planned tempo around the Bay Run. Today's 10km run consisted multiple sets of push-up burpees. Essentially I collapse to the ground for 10 reps of double push-up burpees, before jogging 750m and repeating. I do this until I lose feeling in my arms. 13 sets in total,...
