Monday - 40 minutes + hill strides

Nice and short this morning. Was tempted to run longer, but thought better of it. The whole point of easier days/weeks is to allow the body to absorb all the previous training completed - and adapt. Besides, I was pretty exhausted after a massive weekend and all of last week. Stuck along the beachfront. 9.05km in 4:25's. Then to Raglan St for some hill strides. 10km to start the week.

Sunday - 2 hours 10 minutes (solo)

Got a message at 4:50am this morning from Justin informing me that his lower leg is too sore, so he won't be running today. I messaged Hamish (my only other confirmed starter) to ren sure him that I was still running. Started at the pool at usual time of 6:15am, picking Hamish up almost immediately. Poor guy had been sick all week, and hadn't actually trained since last Sunday's long run. A slower run didn't bother me, especially following a solid day yesterday. However, as we approached Dee Why, Hamish's cough got worse and worse. He had to stop. He was extremely apologetic, but I was the one who felt bad. So there I was, 5km into my Sunday long run completely solo. The last time this was the case would have been back in February. Nevertheless, I actually enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. It was a magnificent sunrise, and mild morning on top of that. The crowds were down, so had plenty of time to think to myself. One random question came up - can vegeterian stop eat fish roe? Controversial topic that one! Anyway, got back to North Steyne, then did a lap around my block getting to 29.85km at the 2 hour 10 minute mark. The inner OCD in me decided to push on for the extra (what was 33 seconds) to bring it up to 30 on the dot. 4:21's, holding a very comfortable and conservative 134 beats per minute. Felt remarkably good this morning - I am starting to believe that the past few weeks I had been mildly anaemic. Nothing some liquid iron cannot fix (although I might have to purchase some straws, as it completely stains my teeth). 150.7km for the week! Next two weeks will be progressively less in the lead up to the C2S. Got some really sharp speed work this week - gotta try and recruit some starters for Tuesday and Thursday morning (Tom, Scott)!!!

Saturday - 4 laps of the hill loop + 1 lap of the white fence (am) + 40 minutes easy (pm)

Another cracking session this morning at Centennial Park. Great to see Neil Pearson back for a Saturday session - both him and Alex are always good to have there to keep me honest (Matt, Keith and Tom are light years ahead). A slight variation of the previous two weeks - but to be honest, one that I prefer. Only having to do one lap of the white fence after an extra lap of the hill loop was a good trade off in my mind. Went solid from the start this morning, but kept it controlled at the same time. Sat behind Alex for the first lap uphill, then took a lead up top, before Neil came flying downhill (the man is a demon on the downhills)! One lap down, three to go (plus a white fence). Sat with Neil until the start of the hill on the second lap, but felt good so took a lead. From then on I was able to gap Neil and Alex for the remainder of the effort, finishing it off completely solo. 9.45km in 3:29's. One more lap than last week, and 4 seconds per kilometer faster. Really felt strong and in control the whole time (must honestly be going back to the iron supplements as of Wednesday)! Then a quick regroup for a single lap (thank god) of the white fence. Again, ended up running this out the front solo, with a few turn around looks to check out where the others were. Could see Alex, but he wasn't getting closer. Had the heart rate monitor on, and tried to ensure that I kept it in the low 170's - above that is beyond threshold pace. Managed to mostly do this, finishing in 3:25's. Not too shabby after an almost 10km hill effort. Alex came in about 20 seconds after, then Neil about the same time after Alex. A great solid 13.2km of hard tempo running. Finished up with a 5km cooldown talking to Nick Seeto about this weekend's German Grand Prix. Just over 22km all up.

An easy 40 minutes this afternoon. Did the Nolan's/golf course loop to avoid the crowds along the beachfront. Took it super easy. 8.5km in 4:43's. About 31km for the day!

Thursday - Hills and 15 minute tempo (am) + 40 minutes easy (pm)

I was stoked to have Quentin join me this morning - thought I was going to be solo once again! We met at the bottom of Darley Rd at 6am (after a 20 minute warm-up) ready to go. The hills consisted of 1 x 4 minute (1st minute back hard), then 6 x 1 minute hills (the 1st and 4th with hard runs back down). A nice way to get the heart rate up! Just shy of 21 minutes all up, getting in just over 5km. A short break before hitting the dreaded 15 minute tempo (was tempted to ignore Gary's advise and do this first)! This is where having Quentin with me made the world of difference. Similar to last week with Tom, we were able to share the work throughout - making the effort psychologically that much more bearable. We kind of led a kilometer each. The first two kilometers were 3:19, 3:20, before hitting two slower splits of 3:28, 3:30 (I often wonder how much the GPS loses its bearings between North Steyne SLSC and Raglan St), before finishing with a 3:17 split for the final 400m. 4.42km all up in 3:24's. Not too bad at all considering the hills prior. Effort wise I really kept it 'comfortably hard,' averaging 163 beats per minute, maxing out at 168. The heart rate graph looked textbook! A nice easy cooldown for 5km bringing up just over 19km for the morning. A great way to start another stunning day. I'm going to give myself a few days off from the weights, as I have been feeling flat lately (although I think the last two Saturday sessions may have been more of a factor). Another easy 40 minutes planned for later today.

An easy 40 minutes around Manly this afternoon. 8.62km in 4:38's. Just under 28km for the day!

Wednesday - 80 minutes + strides

Up in the darkness to meet Ben at Justin for the traditional Wednesday medium long run. Justin had been running for 55 minutes prior to this, so took off like a rocket! Went and did the North Head loop, then back down for a few laps along the beachfront. Feeling tired this morning, running 27km yesterday probably not helping the cause. The heart rate was low, averaging 123 beats per minute. I need to keep a close eye on this, as if it stays low like this (especially in the harder sessions) then I need to take a few easy days. 17.24km in 4:38's. Finished off with some strides along Pine Lane. Another beautiful sunrise coupled with a balmy winter's morning.

Tuesday - 4 x (5 minute effort, 1 minute jog, 1 minute hard), off 2 minutes rest (am) + 40 minutes easy (pm)

The good news is that this morning I was able to identify my weakest link. My high end aerobic capacity (which admittedly hasn't really been targeted post-injury) is lagging all other areas of my running fitness. It's those 3-5 minute hard efforts that my body hasn't been exposed to in a while, and didn't I feel it this morning! Met Burkey and Justin at Manly LSC at 6am, the latter doing an 8km tempo effort. Wasn't too sure how to attack this, as 5 minute efforts are close to a mile - so as always, taking the relatively conservative pace initially is very important. Burkey went out bloody hard, as I kind of expected, and I would have been gob smacked if he was able to hold it. Let's just say I wasn't gob smacked. A slightly headwind running up to Queenscliff - meaning that both the first and third 5 minute efforts were directly into it, with the first 500m or so of the second and forth 5 minute efforts into it as well. The flip side was that each subsequent 1 minute effort was southbound with a slight tailwind. All-in-all, effort wise was certainly there - just the pace is lagging. I simply need more of these types of sessions (as I have been doing lots and lots of 3+km efforts with 7km tempos). 1.52km (3'17), 0.33km (3'02); 1.53km (3'16), 0.33km (3'02); 1.49km (3'21), 0.32km (3'09); 1.52km (3'17), 0.32km (3'06). All up averaging 3:17.75 min/km pace (didn't want to round it up) for the 5 minute efforts (1.515km). Did a similar session in November (5 x 1 mile, off 2 minutes) averaging 3:13's, so still a bit of improvement left. A nice and easy cooldown with both Burkey and Justin. Just over 18km all up. Going to hit some weights now, then an easy 40 minutes before lunch.

An easy 40 minutes around Randwick before a late lunch. Made the mistake of wearing the heart rate chest strap too high once again - but figured this out after about 7 minutes, so all good thereafter. 8.65km in 4:38's. Just shy of 27km for the day!

Monday - 75 minutes + hill strides

Out with Ben this morning for a spectacular sunrise and a beautiful crisp Sydney morning. Felt surprisingly good this morning, given that I had just run 62km since Satuday morning. Ben felt the same - must be the weather (or last night's paella). Did a lap of North Head, then a lap of the beachfront. 16.29km all up at 4:36's. Reintroduced some hill strides back into the program this morning post-run. So another kilometer on top. Feeling good, it's starting to come together again!