Thursday morning session - Deek's Quarters

They say that you can only perform 'Deek's Quarters' on a 400m track! Therefore, I should call this a 'modified Deek's Quarters,' or perhaps even 'Lewis' Quarters.' This short, but very sweet session, is named after another Australian sporting icon, Robert de Castella. On paper, it's very easy - 8 x 400m with a 200m float. Similarly to the Mona Fartlek, the term 'float' is not used lightly - and is ideally no more than 10-20 seconds per km slower than the repetitions. What your left with at the end of Deek's Quarters is 4.8km of bloody hard running! It is said that the time in which you cover the 4.8km is a strong indicator of your current 5km time (I certainly hope so anyway).

Ran a steady 3km warm-up from my apartment in Manly to North Head, and ran the session on the circuit loop up there. Psychologically it was easier to push the intensity in comparison to my previous Thursday favourite session of 15 x 400m/ 200m float given the marked reduction in repetitions. However, this was completely offset by the increase in intensity - leaving myself with what I believe to be actually a tougher session. I completed the session in 15:40 minutes, which I was pretty happy with for a first attempt - especially given the undulating nature of the North Head loop. The right foot held up fine, I didn't actually notice it until the cool down.

Enjoyed another spectacular sun rise during the long 9.2km cool down along Manly Beach! Went home and bit the bullet and entered the 10km race at the Australian Running Festival in Canberra this Saturday. I adament on getting my pacing right, and Canberra could prove a good opportunity for this as I will likely not know the other athletes, so I can focus solely on myself and ensuring that I don't go out too hard once again!