Race, Brunch, Repeat

Temperature soaring today, must have peaked at 32-33 degrees just after lunch. It would have been criminal to not find a body of water to jump into. 

Redleaf pool from the cafe

Fairly uneventful day and feeling remarkably fresh despite racing yesterday.

Slow morning recovery 8km to work as usual. At lunch I joined HuRTS - much smaller group today for option B: wharves recovery run. Makes sense as you'd be silly doing race + speed back to back.

Energy and quads felt fine, some mild pain again under my left foot after the run. I dropped off at 12km as by that stage, I had basically done 20km for the day. Most of the chat was how ridiculously well everyone went at the JP Morgan run. Must be the good conditions plus solid training everyone has been putting in.

Very frustrating afternoon - found out my MiLA's courier had broken half the spreads to be sent to Conway for the HuRTS people that have ordered. Apparently made a mess everywhere and I feel really bad over this ...

Final race of the year and some very good results at the JP Morgan CC.

Now I hate evening races with a passion and preparation was against me - flew in the night before at 11pm and legs not recovered from last week. I'd be happy with a sub 19min over 5.6km.

My warm-up was the run to Centennial Park after work (6km), but I arrived 1 hour early. Saw the usual HuRTS suspects at the Allens tent, most down-playing their chances. Round 2 warm up with Jeet and a nervous Tom before I found myself at the start line. Interestingly saw Olympians Jeff Hunt and Marty Dent nearby too.

Start line - I'm hiding left side in fluro yellow

I start in a good spot, right near Macca, Timmy, Enda and Conway. Gun goes off and by the first (and only) ascent, too many muppets are blocking my way running sub 3:20 pace. I follow Enda onto the sidewalk latch onto a group of 6 as we pass 1km marker in 3:25. Breathing ierratic and definitely not comfortable.

The next 3km is relatively uneventful and I do my best (unsuccessfully) to close the 20m gap to the group ahead. Some solid splits with my pace generally 3:15 min/km along the long stretch of road. .

I knew to wait for the 4km before making my move. It's a false hill and by the Fox Studios Gate turn, a stiff headwind emerges. The challenge is being stranded without a group, battling mental demons and feeling rubbish.

It is just after this point though that the group in front starts to fade badly. I look like a hero despite my terrible 3:27 min split for the 4 to 5km stretch. I am able to pass the group (including Enda) with ease. Coming onto the grass, I feel some heavy breathing but have no interest in a sprint finish. With a final surge, I stride over the timing mat in 18:17.

Delighted to find out later this put me top 20 and maybe a 2 min Pb vs 2011 (when I did it last).

Run summary - 18:17 over 5.6km ave. pace 3:15.
Splits - 3:26, 3:22, 3:11,3:14, 3:27 and 3:12 pace last 0.6km

Great performances all round from people I talked to after:

- Thurston 3rd in 16:35
- Tom Highnam 4th in 17:05 (PB)
- Barts not far behind in 17:20
- Clarky very happy with 18:08
- A Lowsy not far behind me at 18:19
- Enda much stronger than I thought in 18:21 (20s PB)
- Macca 18:43
- Conway hamstring handicapped but close to his PB with 19:13
- Jeet stoked with 19:16 (over 1 min PB?)
- Timmy Lindop 19:30ish under an alias

Also a very solid effort from my work team. Charlie ran 30s faster than expected mid 21s, followed by Matt, Wll and Wooey in close succession around 22 min.

Thanks to Tom for offering great hospitality at the Allens tent - very kind.

Lorie at the finish line

Quiet achiever Lorie did 31 minutes ... not sure if this is a PB but have to admire her for just turning up and giving it a go. I finished off the day with a burger, a drink and 3km of warm down.

Overall a great race but one that seriously hurt. Lucky we only have to do this once a year.

Conway pretty happy with his low 19s

I've realised now in 2014, I have PB'ed every single distance from 5km, 5.6km, 10km, half and marathon. I'll eat my hat if I ever do that again.

Just a sneaky 1km jog to the Hobart Aquatic centre early morning plus another 1km return. Add a medium-intensity 1.6km freestyle into the mix. Frankly legs felt flat and perhaps a touch under the weather. Hopefully will be right for JP Morgan...

Early morning recovery run tracking southwards from Hobart wharves. Much colder this far south but enjoyable nonetheless.

Hobart wharves

Got as far as University of Tasmania before turning back. Obviously no incentive to push the pace and I had to get back before 7am. 8km at a touch under 6 min/km. No harm done  but frankly legs feel a touch flat.

Coastline approaching Uni of Tasmania

Daily summary - 19km all recovery zone.

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.