Race, Brunch, Repeat

Saturday
Maiden Sydney Striders 6ft training run through Lane Cove National Park. I've been told of mythical trails through LCNP but never explored. Absolutely no regrets I joined a very large contingent of Striders.

I did detour about 10km via Epping Road before the the start (Delhi Road entrance). Initial pace was easy but I settled into the front group of 6 where the pace incrementally quickened.

Setting off on the run

On road, I'd very easily cover these guys. On trails, it is quite the opposite and particularly on technical sections (loose rocks, large steps) I struggled to keep pace. Clearly a lot to work on for me: stronger stabilisation muscles, faster cadence, stronger quads and better concentration.

Our lead over-shot the loop by 2km and we had to turn-around. It worked out well as we finished with the broader group, making the run 14km. Some solid splits, with flatter sections at 4:30 min/km pace. I plodded back up Fullers Road and inadvertently made this my long run for the weekend.

I will look to return to these trails and exposure further northwards.

Run summary - 30km at 5:30 min/km pace of which 14km on trails.

Sunday
Picture perfect weather. Joined Matt for a 'recovery' run down to the bottom of Northbridge. I kept a fairly metronomic 5min/km down Sailors Bay Road. There's a great 2km stretch of trails that starts near the gold course and circles the water to Tunks Park.

Matt was visibly frustrated the whole run with my slow plodding. Legs felt flat from yesterday and I had no motivation to surge. He dropped me on trails, then again on the ascent to Cammeray from the Stone Bridge. Nonetheless, great run covering 17km at 5:20min/km pace.

Update - jumped on an afternoon flight to Hobart, checked out the Aquatic Centre and did 45 min easy freestyle just to loosen the legs up.

Overall a good close to a heavy week of running. Feel great, loving the mix of speed, trails and swimming. Better yet no niggles.

Weekly summary - 150km

Happy Sunday!

Sotto on West is located on West Street, directly opposite to a larger arch nemesis in Cafe Eighty Ate (see review here). It's a good setup - well lit, cool spring breeze and a decor best described as both fun and homely. Staff are early 20s, friendly and service is quick.

Tip of the day - 'Hangry' wife equals miserable life

Is it unfair to deliberately move my long-run to Saturday just to accommodate my food adventures? Of course not... I am hungry, on the hunt for a solid brunch and my pencil is sharp.

What do you do whilst waiting for brunch-o-clock?

Trio of mushrooms with poached eggs, goats cheese, asparagus on toast - $17.50

Any item with 'salad' always carries the risk of being over-priced rabbit food. So I did my due diligence on the warm winter green salad with poached eggs. I asked the (petite) waitress if this was hearty, to which the response was "yes its filling and you get a lot of greens."  Good enough answer for me so ordered it I did.

Warm winter salad with poached eggs - $17.00

When served, I pleaded with the waitress with my best puppy dog eyes 'where did the rest of it go'? Maybe I am too harsh, so here is a positive - fresh, crisp and clean flavours for the first three bites ... but then I was staring at an empty plate. I can also attest to the fact that my poached eggs were smaller than Lorie's dish.

The fancy balsamic criss-cross dressing underneath is best translated as 'I am a $5 dish dressed as a $17 dish' . It added nothing aside from arrogance, and the only time I ever want to see a criss-cross is on a hot cross bun. I was in a poor mood in the aftermath, a sentiment my wife had to deal with for the rest of the day.

Money not well spent

Goodbye forever Sotto on West

 

Leaving the house for the usual run, I had to turn back after 750m having left some work documents at home. No harm down - 9.5km instead of 8km but very easy.

Joined Charlie (work), A-MB (work) and A Biggs for a run across the bridge to Cremorne Point. We met with quite a few others from the Mon/Wed Warriors group at the north end of the bridge. Good turnout and first time meeting quite a few - notably James (aka Dr Skins) who clearly lost a bet.

Apparently running skirts offer great breath-ability but still questions over chaff-age risk?

Overall a beautiful run out to Cremorne Point. Good view of the city mixed in with lots of stairs and hills; still a pace comfortably in my recovery zone. Four of us broke away on the return and picked-up the pace back into the city. Run summary 13km at 5:15 min/km pace.

Today felt good - 22km all up and frankly feeling as if I've had a light week.

Still trying to work out where to brunch this weekend.

It's rough when travel breaks up the routine - what to do when leaving 5:20am to Melbourne and back 14 hours later? I hopped out of the cab and jogged to Chatswood Oval late evening.

Woke up unusually early (5:30am) and took my time with an easy 10km to work...slower the better for me at 5:35 min/km. These sort of runs are perfect looseners that don't compromise recovery.

At lunch joined a smaller HuRTS group that included Conway, Charlie and the two triathletes Crossy and Kevin. I like the Wednesday course as it is flat and you get good water views from the wharves as well as from Pyrmont. Only frustration is the man-traffic at Darling Harbour. Legs felt great, 4:35 min/km pace felt like 5:30 min/km pace and I had to nudge MC to cut the run at 80 min.

Run summary - 19km at 4:47 min/km pace. This makes 29km for the day (a record for mid-week)

Also my TomTom GPS watch has frozen and is unresponsive. Wedding gift 12 months ago and already broken? Hopefully it revives in the next day or two as I felt like a muppet at lunch carrying a big android phone around.

Interrupted day of training with Melbourne Cup work lunch at Sake, The Rocks. This saw my normal HuRTS session (45 min fartlek) substituted for a 6 course fusion Japanese feed. Good for the palette, bad for the training.

Of course I anticipated this and put a twist into my morning commute. I headed down to Blues Point with ad-hoc push-ups added in along the way. Took a few photos before circling around the water past Luna Park (seem to be frequenting this a lot).

Mcmahons Point

By the time I trotted into work, legs felt great, I counted 10x12 push-ups and 11km total.

Normally Tuesday is a punishing day. Without the speed-work I was able jog home (5 min/km pace) and detour via Lane Cove Pool. After a relaxed 50min freestyle and some mild calf cramps, I called the misses to pick me up - no motivation to run in the cold wind.

Evening summary - 9km at 5 min/km plus 2.5km swimming.

Small other bit of good news - came out slightly ahead in the Melbourne Cup but wining the office sweep! I'm a net loser on this event for the last 5 years, but its good to have one win at least.

Low motivation Monday, but I still enjoy running way too much to consider a rest day. Two legs, some time and a patch of dirt is all I need.

New norm for me is the Monday HuRTS recovery starting from Macquarie Street. I planned a shorter one and headed down to join a fairly large group (15+). Run took us through the Domain, around the Opera House and finally circling the piers along Hickson Road before the return. Legs felt better the longer I ran and I kept strides with the front that included Bruce and Ray.

I decided to back-off the pace on the return and listen to Conway nominating Enda for the underperformer of the year due to his black-out performance. Highlight was successfully hurdling the boom gate at the Hickson turnaround. This could have ended badly but stupidity and guts took the day.

I was lost in thoughts jogging around the Cove, nearing the end of the run and heard an all too familiar female shout 'Mike'. Turned around and saw none other than my sister, Izzy on a (very seldom) lunch-time run. I did the brotherly duties and kept her company for 2km. 5:30 pace got a touch boring, so I dropped her at the hills near the art gallery and called it a day.

Took a quick camera phone photo first of course.

Unexpected lunch encounter with sister

Run summary - 16km at 4:43 min/km.

Melbourne Cup tomorrow so there will be no speed work - good chance to rest up. I'm hungry for a PB at JP Morgan next week.

It hit me when I woke up... the feeling that there are two large wooden stakes through the quads. Lucky I live in a one story house or I'd be in trouble.

Nonetheless I joined the HuRTS long run in Centennial Park on Sunday morning. Flat course... an easy sell over hills in Lower North Shore.

Notable absences included Enda (hopefully OK from yesterday's blackout) and Timmy Lindop. Among the regulars were Barts, CT, Ray, Jeet (recovering still from Melb), Paul (also recovering from Melb), Laura (back from injury) and a few others. Barts was particularly riled from a sub-par effort at Stiders and took his anger out by pacing us too fast for the first 15km.

Frankly I never felt comfortable the whole run. My LR's have typically been slower than 5 min pace, but the group runs around 4:40ish.

The miles ticked away and my initial planned 21km did turn into 25km, then 30km. I was happy to drop off at 25km and finish with an easy 5km wandering around the kids cycle track. Wind was tough, weather was crisp and the park was buzzing with activity. Great start to a Sunday and my intention was to work up a good appetite for brunch (see review Cafe Eighty Ate).

Centennial Park

Run summary - 30km at 4:39 min/km

Weekly summary - cut back week

Cafe Eighty Ate is a medium-sized, semi-outdoor local cafe that sits on West Street. I need to confess having 'Ate' in the name is a real draw-card for me. I also run/ride past this place on the way to work most mornings.

Cafe Eighty Ate - bustling trade along West Street

Judging a brunch venue comes down to taste, value and size; all three are intrinsically correlated. A dish is only good value if it tastes good and I go home satisfied...My caveat? I eat healthy, am frugal and have a big appetite.

The stock menu is completely uninspiring and revolves around eggs and other staples (french toast, bacon, pancakes). Pricing is mid-range and an omelette costs $12.90.

Luckily there is a few'weekend specials; six to choose and pricer at $15-19. My eyes instantly fix on "shakshuka with poached eggs" which I know to be a very safe bet. Tragically Lorie thinks the same way and I am left with a menu staple, avocado and salsa on toast plus 2 poached eggs.

Shakshuka with poached eggs - $19

The shakshuka takes dish of the day by a mile. Highly aromatic, rich tomato base that has a mild chilli kick and reasonably balanced seasoning. It's got that chukiness that good baked dishes have, not too watery. The side of dukkah gives a rough, 'earthy' flavour and the cumin really comes through.

Avocado and salsa ($10.50) with two poached eggs ($3.60)

My avocado on toast is satisfying enough, reasonably presented but essentially what you'd expect from a half decent kitchen. Frankly I spent most of my time staring Lorie down, desperately hoping she would tap out early and leave me some.

OK two great things about a wife that is 4 foot 10 inch and weighs under 40kg. Benefit one - I look like basketballer Yao Ming in photos. Benefit two - I always get her leftovers. I grabbed the remaining soughdough and rye bread and polished off the shakshuka. Guilt free and happy!

Self-proclaimed Yao Ming of brunches

As you'll see in my summary below, my only gripe was food taking 25 minutes to serve and prices on the high end. The cafe does not try to over-achieve. I'm sick of overly pretentious cafes that hide mediocre dishes with clever names or go after the word 'superfood' like a fat kid on cake.

6am out the door for a road trip to the Blue Mountains. Strange idea for a triple date but company included Lorie, her two sisters + boyfriends; 3 hour hike near Wentworth Falls.

We started at Charles Darwin Walk, near the train station and very quickly I was let off the leash and released into the wild. I wanted to get as much elevation in as possible and was not disappointed. I was also able to negotiate not just walking by giving Lorie two options.... 'let me go or carry me'.

It's all about compromise ... Free ride for me, back workout for Lorie

Most of the 2.5 hours in the wilderness was on single-file, technical trials with stairs, stairs and more stairs. Had no idea where I was going, but notable tracks included: Rocket Point lookout, Wentworth Falls, Vera Falls and a final 450m stair ascent up to the Conservation Hut.

Sinking feeling once you descend... there is no elevator at the other end.

Wentworth Falls

Highlight ... dazed flat on my back or coughing up dirt off the side of the trail on a technical loop around Vera Falls. I think I tasted dirt about 10x?

Experienced navigator required? No marked paths? Ticks all the boxes

I did find it too hard to run a lot of sections. It gives me a good appreciation of trial races and I have lots of work to do to run TNF or Six Foot. Eventually I emerged from the bushes onto the street. Watch said I had done 15km, so I decided to 'round-up' to half marathon by wandering around the streets till I hit 21km. This helped lower my ave. pace to a still embarrassing 8min/km.

Emerging from the wilderness

Overall a good blend of hiking, stairs, getting lost and falling down. I expected my quads to be a lot more wrecked. Run summary - 21.5km of which 14km on trials. 1315m elevation change, the most since doing Inca Trail last year.

Elevation change 1.3km

I celebrated the day of hiking by dressing as a Captain with whiskers and finding a Geisha; plus also eating about 1kg of roasted chicken.

Geisha found

Finally, well done to those that decided to run Striders 10km at Lane Cove. Heard it was tough going at 26 degrees which got the better of many. Hats off to Enda who despite being very sick, clearly gave it everything (and more).