For the love of it

Check out this cool video from Salomon. https://www.youtube.com/embed/D9AmGy2QXKE

13km on Winter Solstice

I went from running 13kms in 30 degrees on Wednesday to 13kms in 5 degrees today. Felt okay but not a killer pace. Ran through frozen fog at the end and despite pushing hard at the end, I didn't sweat much and had specks of frost on my T-shirt when I finished. 13kms in 59 mins. A winter pic of home below.

Morning run

Got out with the BOB running buggy this morning for the second time. Ran an easy 13km on another hot day. I have to say, the buggy is fantastic. Takes bumps, kerbs and even some trails really well and Charlie loves it - sleeping for over an hour. Flying home for Christmas this arvo so some winter training ahead. 13kms in 65mins.

Trip home for Christmas

I've a couple of races planned in Ireland to keep me honest. Not the distance stuff yet but a meaty 10k up and downhill followed by a fast 5k. Will do a mile race on Christmas Day too. May hit the trails of the Dublin mountains if I get a chance. Otherwise, I'll be out for some long runs at home.

 http://fatturkeyrun.wordpress.com/
www.liffeyvalleyac.com/pages/Tom-Brennan-5k/13
http://www.goal.ie/GOAL_Mile_Locations_/146

4 x 10 minutes

Another hot day for a speed session with HuRTS but that's what happens with midday sessions in summer. Stayed with JC, Samsy and Luke for the first rep and pushed the pace a bit but felt good, getting to just before the NSW library. Samsy and JC took off on the second rep with Luke and i hanging on their coattails. Got back 25 seconds under the 10 minutes and I knew I'd pay for it on rep 3. Fell back a bit on the way out, running with Laura and Luke with my target now the top of the Domain hill, 100m back from the previous run out. Turned for rep 4 and managed to pick it up again in the last 500m to stay with Samsy and finish 30 seconds under. 10kms all up in 39:05 running time. Took a dip in the Harbour afterward with Tom and co showing off their lack of swimming prowess. Better than me all the same, as I hung onto the ladder, not for fear of sharks but fear of sinking. I need to sort out my swimming.

Monday run - first in a week

So the ankle has pretty much cleared up and I felt good to run today so I joined HuRTS for the usual Monday run and found we were pushing the pace at times. Was pretty humid but felt okay and most importantly, the ankle held up. 11kms at 4:24 per km pace. Will do the speed session tomorrow.

HuRTS awards

Still no running for me this week. Ankle is feeling better by the day but don't want to risk putting too much pressure on it yet. Besides, the more important HuRTS awards and Christmas drinks are on tonight. Should be a good laugh. The latest odds/trash talk can be found on Timmy's blog.

 

From May 2012: A race according to plan: TNF 2012

As I've now revived my blog, I thought I'd put up my race report from The North Face 100 back in May. I normally have two A races per year, one on trail and one on road. 2012 was TNF 100 and the Dublin marathon. 2013 will be Western States and the Berlin marathon. This is worth a read if you are thinking of running TNF 100 in 2013.

The Beautiful Blue Mountains
Anyone who knows me or runs with me is used to my ramblings about The North Face 100k by now so when Charlie asked me to write a blog post about my race I was more than happy to oblige. This year, 2012, was my third, and possibly final year, running TNF 100 – although the first thing I said to my wife when I crossed the line was that I have to come back to Oz for this. TNF 100 is, without doubt, my favourite race over any distance. It offers everything – killer hills, technical trail, fast firetrail and stunning scenery in one of the best locations in Australia. I’ve also had a great race each time with year on year improvements from 14:54 in 2010 to 13:06 in 2011 and now 12:34 in 2012.
Training
My training started back in December. After a couple of months away in Ireland getting married and then living it up in South Africa, I came back a bit slower, heavier and struggling to keep up at some of the HURTs ‘easy’ runs. What better way to fix that then a trip to the stunning South Island of New Zealand with Terence and Charlie for a second race of the Kepler Challenge. 60kms of hills and a half decent time of 6:47 set me up nicely for the run up to Six Foot track, my hope for a 4:15 and retribution for a major blow out in 2010. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be with one of the many trail race cancellations of 2012. Luckily, I had already run the Shotover trail marathon in early Feb, a gnarly trail race in the beautiful mountains around Queenstown. I thought it would be a nice easy training race until the organiser informed me that it was far tougher than Kepler and I should double my marathon time for a predicted finish. I ran it in 6:02.
TNF training
With Mount Solitary also cancelled, my run up to TNF on the trails involved mainly training runs. A gang of us, including Jonathon and Tucks, made it out for runs in the build up. I got to cover the majority of the course over these runs. That made it my fifth time covering the course over the last few years. I credit this for helping me go at least 30 minutes faster than the rest of the field. Know when to push hard on the hills of this course and understanding the final tough 8km counts for so much. I’m also targeting a sub 3 hour Gold Coast marathon in July so I focussed more on shorter faster runs with a few races at 10k and half marathon distance.
Pacing Plan
My plan for TNF was to knock 30 minutes off my time from last year. So that gave me a target of 12:36. I set out a pacing plan with a target of 12:25, always aim higher. The plan was based on last year’s splits to each checkpoint (CP) with significantly less time at the checkpoints by using better kit (the amazing Salomon XT Advanced pack with bottles to refill) and taking on more nutrition as I ran. I’ve put in my pacing plan below compared to my actual times.

A not so conservative start
I set out pretty fast at 4:55 per km for the first k. It probably doesn’t sound like much to you guys but up some steep hills at the start of 100kms, it’s a bit over the top. I settled into it after that and found myself running with Beth Cardelli (the eventual female winner). I lost her at the technical landslide section as she nimbly bound over the rock while I clamber awkwardly along. We reached the top of the Golden Stairs at 18k and onto Narrow Neck where I could open up and push the pace for the next 10k. Then back down to Dunphy’s camp and a hard left up to Iron Pot Ridge – the section where you see people dotted in the distance as they climb up the mountain. And if the climb wasn’t enough, the downhill is just as steep, not for the faint hearted. My mate Andy, who stormed onto an 11:52 finish, stormed passed me here as he did in 2010 with Julie Quinn close by.
Endura? Not so much
As I made my way to the Megalong Road and passed the marathon distance, the heat picked up. I stupidly depended on the race organisers nutrition for CP1 and CP2 but the Endura they supplied was heavily diluted and combining that with some early fast running brought the onset of cramp. I knocked back a few salt tablets and got some encouragement from my mate, John Howes, so plugged away to CP3 where my crew lay in wait with the proper nutrition. I took on a pack of crisps, coke and some more gels at CP3 thanks and refilled my bottles in extra quick time thanks to my brother, Niall, and Elaine, my wife and long suffering pro supporter crewer.
The dreaded Nellies
Next up was the daunting climb up Nellies Glen. By that stage I had fought off most of the effects of cramp but had a few tingles with the uneven hikes up the steps. That 1km climb took me 20 minutes, my slowest of the race but one of my quickest up this section. CP4 is known as the CP with the highest dropout rate after people get so smashed climbing up Nellies and with 35kms still to go. I got in confident that I was on track and going to finish well as the final two sections have been my strongest. Taking on a bit more food, a quick change into some fresh shoes and a warm shirt and I was off again. John Howes had caught me at this stage after a super quick CP strategy. I ducked in for a quick toilet break after Echo Point so he went on.
The wonderful Kedumba
If anyone is unfamiliar with this section, it’s where you run downhill on wide firetrail from 800m plus of elevation over 8kms. I loved this section in 2011, opening up and passing so many people on the way down. This time I was a bit further up the field but still managed to reel in seven people, including John. The downhill is followed by 8km back up again, a tough slog as it starts to get dark. I was met on the way up by John Bowe, a fellow Irishman and friend running the pairs, who had some nice words of encouragement as he pushed on.
The final stretch
I got into CP5 knowing that I was on track for sub 12:30 so I wanted to limit my time at the CP. A quick mouthful of soup, some coke and a refill of the water bottles and I was off on the road and into the darkness. The 3km of road here lull you into a false sense of security if you haven’t run this race before as what follows is 8km of technical trail, steps, cliff overhangs, water crossings and plenty of mud. I ran with my usual Petzel torch but still managed to stack myself, cramping up my legs in the process. It took me a couple of minutes to get going again and regain my composure so in hindsight, this was probably where I missed the sub 12:30. I continued on, pushing hard and passing some more runners. I crossed the line in 12 hours 34 minutes, 32 minutes quicker than 2011. Not quite sub 12:30 but I guess that means I’ll be back for more!
Congrats
Congrats to Tucks and Jonathon for some fantastic times at the weekend, representing the squad well and mixing it with the pros. Also, congrats to my friends and trail running buddies for some fantastic times – Andy, John, Kermit, James, John and Chris, Sally and Tony. Nick and Gretel, next year will be your time.
Thanks
Thanks to Elaine and our bump for some fantastic crewing on the day. Thanks to my brother, Niall for all the hard work and support. Cheers to Howsie, Luca and other familiar faces supporting on course. Thanks to the Hurts crew for all of the fantastic training over the last few years. Without so many good runners and great company to run with I wouldn’t be anywhere close to putting in these kind of times.
Next up?
I’m hobbling around a bit today but no injuries or niggles to report so next up, Gold Coast 2012. See you all on the road soon…
The stats
Kms run since December – 1700
Race day nutrition – 10 x Leppin gels, 5 litres of Powerbar Iso Active, 2 litres of Endura, 2 litres of water, 500ml coke, 6 salt tablets, chicken sandwich, 1 pack of crisps, cup of soup
Weight lost during race – 4.2kg

Some pics



 

Dublin marathon race report - a sub 3, 3 years in the making

A bit late with the report but for those of you who are interested, here's my Dublin marathon round up.

Intro (skip to the RaceDay if you want the short version)

I started running with HuRTS in October 2009 following successful 3:07 Melbourne marathon that got me a Boston qualifying time,something I aimed for since I started marathon running in early 2006. But now I felt I needed to up the stakes, to get more serious about running, to run longer distances and enjoy the trails of Australia, but to ultimately run a marathon with a finish time that began with 2. For me, HuRTS was the logical step to doing this. By surrounding myself with runners who had met and gone beyond this target, I was pushing the envelope and bringing my training up to scratch.

I didn’t go straight into it though. My plan was to run my first 100km in May 2010 and to target sub 3 the following November in New York.I managed to finish the North Face 100 in a respectable time but missed out on New York with a hamstring tear after a long distance run followed by a football match – not a good idea. I hung up my football boots – I was pretty useless anyway – and decided to focus on distance running. Following injury I got back into the swing of things towards the end of 2010 but my love for trail ultras diverted me again to TNF 100. This time my aim was to go under 14 hours and win a silver belt buckle. Box ticked, I was to run a marathon in August 2011 back in Ireland.

It was the second staging of the Galway marathon and couple of weeks out from my wedding so ample time to recover from TNF and run a decent marathon on home soil. Unfortunately, the marathon was cancelled two weeks out from the start due to a nonsensical city council demanding more money to stage an event that would bring valuable cash to the local economy. So I ran a hellish mountain 30k in the Irish ‘summer’ instead, risking injury and hypothermia a week out from my wedding. After a wonderful wedding and indulgent honeymoon, with limited training, I ran a half decent 60k race at Kepler in December 2011. Then it was back to the drawing board to plan for 2012.

This time, TNF would feature again – the target being sub13 hours – but I would not be missing out on my illusive sub 3 hour marathon and I pencilled in Gold Coast in July, Sydney in September, Dublin in October and New York in November. Surely they couldn’t all be cancelled and the law of averages meant that I would at least run sub 3 hours in one of them?

After running a successful TNF, I set my sights on Gold Coast. Some decent training with Mike Race, Laura and the rest of the Saturday crew brought me up to scratch for a decent tilt at sub 3. However, on race day I had a shocker. After crossing halfway in 89 minutes, I pulled up with stomach cramps and then a stitch. At the time I blamed it on my pre race up and go but afterward I accepted that I was undertrained and not yet recovered from TNF,only 6 weeks earlier.

Back to the drawing board. I took a bit of a break through July and with the added excitement of our first baby on the way, sub 3 started to become less important. But I was still determined to do it. I signed up with a coach, Chris Truscott, and his advice was to scrap Sydney and race either Dublin or New York for sub 3. I decided to run the half in Sydney and run the full at home, in Ireland. My first marathon at home since 2007, the first where my son would be waiting at the finish and my first sub 3? It had to be. I stuck with the plan of running New York, only six days later, telling everyone it was a recover run – after all what better way for an ultra runner to recover from a marathon than to run another marathon.

Chris put together a week to week training plan, focusing on a solid long run at the weekend but incorporating the HuRTS sessions and premarathon races. I stuck with the plan, only dropping off around the time my son was born and when I had a niggle. The results started coming. A 4 minute per km half marathon at Sydney, a low 38 at the Striders 10k and a 37:45 in Ireland the week before the Dublin marathon. It wasn’t all plain sailing though, with a few very ordinary races at the height of my training but the signs were good.

We arrived back home one week before the marathon. It was the first time for Charlie, our new son, to meet our families and to say it was emotional was an understatement. I went off the booze for the month of October and stuck with it, despite the many temptations on returning home. The week leading up was pretty full on with visits to friends and family all wanting to meet Charlie, not Elaine or I. I tried to get some rest and hopefully would be in good shape come race day. Elaine was fantastic and even gave me a break from baby minding duties in the two days leading up to the race.

Race Day

Dublin is a fantastic city. Despite all of the crap that it has gone through in the boom and bust years, it still has a character unrivalled in any other city I’ve been to. And that’s tough to say give thatI’m not from the city. The marathon is known as the friendly marathon and anyone who has run the 26.2 miles will attest to that. This year, for the first time in its history, the marathon attracted a sell out field of just under15,000 people and a multiple of that came out on race day to support.

My day began with an early start and the typical muesli and yogurt breakfast, washed down with my Powerbar electrolyte drink. The drive to the start from home took less than 40 minutes with no traffic on a cool bank holiday Monday. My race plan was to get my brother, Niall, to meet meat 4-5 points in the race with an electrolyte drink (stronger mix as the race went on) and my Leppin gels. That went awry when Niall couldn’t get access to the course in the car due to the roads getting blocked off after we parked. His plan B was to run around Dublin with my drinks. And credit to him, he covered at least 10 miles and met me at almost each point.

There was a real buzz at the start. It was the biggest marathon I had run in a while so I was taken aback by the atmosphere and nervous excitement. I bumped into John O’Regan and Gerry Duffy while doing my warmup. John was pacing the sub 3:30 group while Gerry was targeting sub 3,although I suspected that he’d be closer to 2:55. One last stretch and we were off.

First km on way down O’ConnellStreet (‘ah here!’):

I got a bit carried away in the first km, running a sub 4minute km but the atmosphere took me along and I was feeling good heading downO’Connell Street, North Circular Road and into the Phoenix Park. I settled into a 4:08 pace and felt comfortable so decided to hold. Coach Chris had advised that I hold back at the start of the race but I felt comfortable and stuck with it. I was amazed with the crowd turnout all the way through this race, on a cold autumn morning. We ran through the park and I was greeted with a pack of people from my home town club, Drogheda AC, cheering loud. I recognised a fewon the sidelines and it really gave me a boost.

We ran out of the park and up by Island Bridge. This is a pretty hilly section of the race and we were greeted by a bunch of cheering Aussies cooking up a barbecue on the side of the road. Was great to see Aussies doing what they do best, despite the cold, but the smell of sausages and bacon was enough to turn my stomach as I encountered the first major hill of the race.

I approached the Drimnagh Road, still holding 4:08 pace and almost at half way. I was still wearing sleeves at this stage (maybe I’vebecome a soft Sydneysider) but was glad for it as the road opened and a very chilly headwind hit us for a mile or so. I was about 200m away from the nearest group so I tried to up my pace to find a big guy to draft behind, as all goodtriathletes do regularly. I decided not to bridge the gap for fear of pushing too hard so I slugged it out until the half way. I crossed the half marathon point in 1:27:37, still feeling strong. At this rate, I would be closer to a2:55 marathon. That gave me plenty of confidence but the hard slog was still ahead.

I ran through Rathgar to find my mate, Padraig MacGiolla,cheering me on, the same spot where he was in 2007, only this time he didn’thave to hang around as long. I love this part of the course, heading through the leafy South Dublin areas of Terenure, Rathgar and Milltown. This section includes some rolling hills but nothing too tough. I reached the start of ‘HeartbreakHill’ at 32kms. This is a two mile stretch of gradual uphill but not quite the hill we are used to in City2Surf. Despite this, I started to struggle as I tried to maintain my pace. My heart rate rose and it took me some time to get it under control and back into a rhythm. I remember looking at my watch, as I turned by UCD, and thinking that if I maintained 4:30 per km pace I would still come in under sub 3 hours. Sure enough, my legs suddenly dialled in that pace and no matter how hard I tried, I could not get above it.

The last 10km is a bit of a blur. It was really about gritting my teeth and hanging on as my pace had dropped but sub 3 was still within range. At this stage, some people started passing me. I have to give credit to the race and the standard of the runners who took part as there were plenty of people vying for times under three hours. I got to 3 kms to go and met my brother with one last drink and a gel. I took a sip of the drink but not much Leppin gel, as it wasn’t going to do much at this late stage. It was time to knuckle down and hold on.

Landsdowne Road (and struggling runner) in the background:

From the point that I crossed the Grand Canal Bridge with just over a mile to go, I could hear spectators talking about sub 3 hours. This meant only one thing, the pacer was closing in on me, like the grim reaper ready to sweep my hopes of a sub 3 finish away for not running a better paced race. I managed to hold off the pacer until about 800m to go. As he passed,with a group of about ten others, I heard him say that they have 50 seconds on the finish. I looked at my Garmin that was telling me I had less than 600m to go so I was happy with that. But as they passed, it felt like they were doing an interval session and I was on a light jog. I jumped on the back of the bus,just trying desperately to hold on, but thinking that I had my target in the bag.

Then, we turned the corner at Trinity College and I saw how far away the finish line was. I also got a glance at the clock that read2:59:10. It was time to run harder than I had ever run before. There was no way was I coming away with a 3:00 marathon for the sake of a few more seconds of pain. I put the head down and went for it, running faster than I have in 5kraces, and posting a pace of 3:36 per km for the last 400m. I finished in a gun time of 2:59:54 and a net time of 2:59:51. I was overjoyed and nearly collapsed into the arms of Dave Kane when I met him at the finish. All of the work finally paid off and I got what I came for, the holy grail of a sub 3 hour marathon. I embraced Elaine and Charlie after the finish and got a bit weepy. It turns out that they were at the finish with Elaine’s Dad, Ronnie and my parents and saw the drama unfold first hand. Elaine even held Charlie out to get my attention but I was fully focused on the finish line.

The painful sprint finish:

Thanks to all of my friends and family for the support and assistance over the last while and helping me achieve my goal. 2012 has been a fantastic year, both personally and from a running point of view. 2013 looks to be another cracker with some great races planned and plenty of training with my son and his running buggy.

My race Garmin file (never trust the GPS): http://connect.garmin.com/activity/243433212

My finish video (check out the pain of a sprint finish): http://mysports.tv/default2.asp?r=1545&e=DM12M&n=Robert+Costello&ct_s1=09:01:52&nt_f=03:22:59&ct_f=12:01:43&ct_s2=09:43:12&ct_s3=10:29:27&ct_s4=11:16:58&k=5mtotaal&ks=100079119&b=720p&l=EN

Number of Leppin gels: Five
Powerbar endurance drink: Approx 2 litres (plus about the same in water on course)
Shoes: Asics DS racer

Ankle update

Paid a visit to Lewis at the Body Mechanic this afternoon. Prognosis on the ankle is good. It's only a grade 1 strain and should be good to run on it, provided I can hop 15 times on one leg, within a week. He taped it up pretty well too. Some gun runners working at the BM with Blair, Mark and now Lewis, a 2:43 marathon runner. He runs up to 130kms per week by himself so talked him in to coming along for a few HuRTS sessions.

WS 100 training

Ian Sharman, a top ultra runner has put together some useful tips on training for WS 100 that I plan to follow. http://sharmanian.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/how-to-train-forwestern-states-100.html

Injured

Was out for 16kms at lunch with HuRTS and rolled my ankle at the Crusie Terminal on Barangaroo. Some inconsiderate f#$kers left empty bottles of beer strewn across the path and I went over one. In a fair bit of pain now so trying to get a physio appointment to assess the damage. Hopefully nothing major but finding it difficult to walk on. RICE. Cheers to John Bowe for stopping to see if all was okay, to Russell for clearing the bottles and the concern of the rest of the crew. All the trail running I've done this year and I get injured on a bloody pan flat footpath!

 

Western States 100 miler

I woke up on Sunday morning to an email saying that I was successful in getting into the Western States 100 mile race for 2013. This is a 100 mile race, the oldest at this distance, that's probably one of the most prestigious on the ultra marathon and trail running scene. It starts in Squaw Valley California and finishes up, 100.2 miles later, in Auburn, California, crossing the wilderness of Emigrant Pass and covering 5,500 metres of ascent and 7,000 metres of decent. It's a pretty popular event with over 2,200 applicants but only 450 places. I entered the lottery and my name came out, 85th on the list. I had planned to do an ultra in Italy at that time but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to tick the WS100 box so we'll be making the trip to Cali in June. Check out the promo for a recent, fascinating, documentary on the race. Hopefully I'll be returning from the Squaw with one of these babies to add to my belt buckle collection.

 

Sunday: 24kms and two barbies

Got down to CP for24kms with Kanser and Timmy this morning. Felt slow and sluggish in the heat for first 10 but picked it up after that. Final 4km was close to 4 mins per km pace. Not quite 30kms but decent run.

Went straight home to pick up Elaine and Charlie for a trip to Anna's for a Christmas barbie. We had a wonderful time with lots of the HuRTS crew and their kids in tow and some delicious food spread out for us. Thanks Anna and Mark.

Went from there to the Irish barbie at Enda and Ange's. Another great time with more food and plenty to bring home. I'll have to throw in a few extra kms this week to burn it off. Cheers for a fun day guys. Here's a pic of big Charlie and little Charlie.

 

Saturday: first run with the BOB

Was out with work for a few Christmas drinks on Friday so decided not to do the HuRTS 3 x 10km and instead run with Charlie in the BOB. Elaine was a bit reluctant at first but it turned out well with me getting in a decent 13kms and Charlie enjoying a snooze in the comfort of his new buggy. I even got onto the inside track in Centennial Park and met the HuRTS crew on the way around. Conor was amazed at the handling of the buggy and now he wants one for his son, Jack.

How Runners Benefit From Sport-Specific Strength Training

Following on from my post about CrossFit, here's an interesting article on the benefits of strength training for runners.

http://www.active.com/running/Articles/How-Runners-Benefit-From-Sport-Specific-Strength-Training.htm?cmp=17-4-3719

The Pyramid

Today was the Pyramid in Rushcutters. This involves a ladder session on the 450m oval at Rushcutters. A rep followed by a rest (half the time it takes to do a rep). The session goes 1 lap, 2 laps, 3 laps, 4 laps, 3 laps, 2 laps, 1 laps. During my marathon training I tended to avoid the Rushcutter sessions as they are short and sharp and not always ideal for the marathon. But now that I want to improve my speed and bring down my 5k and 10k times, i need to go hard in these session. The group was split into two - Mike C, Tom, Timmy (just back from God knows what in Thailand), Enda, Kanser and James. The second group consisted of Laura, Luke, Christian, myself and Ironman guy (some dude from UBS that has been at a lot of these sessions lately). I'm happy to say, I was best of the rest in the second group with some solid laps. I even went harder on the last two, burying myself when IM guy tried overtaking me (after cruising the first four) on the second three lap rep. about 1:35s per lap average with 11km all up (including brisk warm up and cool down).

Tried CrossFit for the first time this morning. I have to say, it's pretty good and ideal for some cross training and strengthening of my arms and core. Will try and fit in one session a week and see how it goes. Also, until today, I didn't realise how crap I am at push ups.

 

Wednesday HuRTS

Another hot day for a HuRTS session. Not as humid today but pretty windy which made for a hard slog around Centennial Park. Got down to the corner of Bent and Macquarie for 12:10:30 to find that Mike C et al had all long gone. Must have went well before the usual 12:10pm as I didn't catch up with them until the navy base, putting in 3:50s per km for the first 1,500m. It set me up for a tough run. I think Tom needs to get back for the Wednesday runs as he always ensures we start late.

Was joined by the Wednesday regulars Mike C, Anna, Indrajeet, Ben and Jonathan W. Also had James and Alex, a gun two thirtysomething marathon runner from Sean Williams' group join us. Mike C was up to his usual car dodging tricks with a few close calls for the rest of us. I think someone needs to teach him the Safe Cross Code. Finished the 19kms in 1:26. 20km all up in 1:30.

Tuesday fartlek

Coach Chris won't be happy. The HuRTS session for today was a 45 minute fartlek with 1 minute on and 30 seconds off. Chris suggested that I do a 3/2/1 session instead. It was pretty hot today and I find it harder to motivate myself for intervals alone so I opted for the 1 minute on 30 seconds off. Took off at a decent pace with John Bowe doing his usual 'hare out of the traps' run. got chatting to Richie High on the way out. Well, he did most of the chatting as he was on an 'easy' run while I was clearly not. JC caught up with us and I think Richie was relieved to have someone who would converse properly with. Turned at the first flyover after the Harbour Bridge and held onto the coattails of Richie and JC until the Botanic Gardens. Was on track for finishing under 45 minutes until the last 2kms where I struggled with the hills and heat. Still, John Bowe, in typical fashion,  faded in the distance. Plus, not many of the faster guys had passed me by the time I got to the finish so not a bad session. 11.1kms in 45:28.

 

Good to see Todd and Laura back into the full swing of training after a long time out with respective injuries. Also, Enda has a weird slochy style when running uphill. Never noticed it before but he passed me at the hill beside the Boy Charlton Pool bent forward like an auld fella. maybe that's why he sticks to pan flat IMs.

 

Post run, Mike C suggested that some of the Tuesday session will now move to Rushcutters. I have to say, I'm not keen on this. I like the Rushcutter sessions and think that the Thursday sessions (where there is also an alternative) are perfect for it. But having longer sessions down there, added to the time it takes to get there and back, is asking a lot, particularly of people working west of the CBD.

 

Elaine text me this morning to say that our new running buggy has arrived. Looking forward to giving it a test run with Charlie this evening. It may well be one of the best buys yet for our family. Run time for me, motion and outdoors for Charlie and free time for Elaine.

 

2013 Race Plan

I've been having a look at my race plan for 2013 over the last few days. I typically do two major races in a year, an ultra in May/June and a road marathon in 2013. This year may be slightly different as we'll be home for most of the time. I'll miss out on TNF100 for the first time in four years but I've found an alternative race in Italy. http://www.ultratrail.it/en/ I've already started planning a holiday around this where Elaine, Charlie and I will fly to Venice and spend 10 days to 2 weeks in northern Italy and southern France taking in some beautiful cities, lake regions, wine regions and the Tour de France. The HuRTS boys are planning an inaugural trip abroad for the Berlin marathon (http://www.bmw-berlin-marathon.com/en) so I will make sure to be at that. It's the 40th anniversary of the race and probably the fastest course in the world so ideal for a PB. We may even sneak in a few steins at Oktoberfest afterward to celebrate.

Six Foot track is also on the cards for March. http://www.sixfoot.com/. I've some unfinished business at this race. I missed out in 2012 with the cancellation and my debut in 2011 was a disaster with my worst blow up in a run for a long time. I'll be gunning for a sub 4:15 this time, a shot at the team title with HuRTS and the famous Beer Bet Golden Stubbie. I'm also in for the Western State 100 mile lottery. I've a one in six chance of getting in so I'm not holding out hope but if I do, that will change my Italy plans as it's in June. Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc is also on my to do list but will probably leave this one until 2014. So here's how things are shaping up:

2013 Race Plan
January - Tom Brennan New Year's Day 5k, Dublin
February - a Striders 10k and possibly the Equaliser, Sydney
March - Six Foot Track, Blue Mountains
April - Great Ireland run 10k, Dublin
June - The North Face Lavaredo Ultra Trail, Italy
June to August - Dublin marathon race series - 5 mile, 10 mile, half marathon
September - Berlin marathon, Germany
October - Dublin marathon, Ireland

Monday HuRTS

I've been running with the Hickson Road Training Squad (HuRTS) for three years now. It's a motley crew of road runners, track runners, trail/ultra runners and triathletes. I guess I fit into most of them, except triathlon, although I have done a half Ironman, sort of. Anyway, it's a bloody fast group, especially at the pointy end, and most of my training posts will involve runs with this crew.

Today was a 16km easy run around the harbour. A relatively flat route from the Domain through to the end of Barangaroo and back. It was a rainy one so it suited the Irish when compared to the stinking hot days we've been having lately. Felt good and was able to push out some fast kms. Low turnout today with Conway away and people shying away from the rain, or maybe it was the weekend of energy sapping heat? Ran with Craig W, Scottish Richie, Jonathan W, Indrajeet and a few others. Only JW and myself covered the full 16kms and he kept me honest, surging for the last 3-4kms. 4:25 per km. Felt solid.

It's back

I've decided to resurrect this old blog to keep track of my running training and maybe provide insights or a bit of a laugh for those interested in reading it. Well, it's been almost five years since I last blogged here and a lot has happened since then. I now have a wonderful wife, a beautiful baby boy, I live in Sydney, Australia and I still run, a little faster than before. So enjoy my ramblings and feel free to post comments/remarks/abuse.