Week ending 6/5

A big one in the countdown to the 10/6 with the penultimate mileage week. Also striders 10km on saturday throws another spanner in the works whether to race hard or just back off a little. Will see how I feel on the day, but I am planning a mini taper(ie an easy day on friday!). I am not sure if the effects of running the hard half are fully out of my legs yet but I reckon by the weekend I should be right. I am also mindful that a good run on saturday cannot greatly impact on the quality of the long run on sunday which is the most important out of the 2.

Mon 30/4 - recovery 12kms. I didnt feel too bad tonight but just took it easy. I ran over to Alan Davo to run some laps of the oval and just cruised pretty happily around for 14 laps then turned around and came home. I tried to throw a couple of efforts in but the legs didnt really agree and I knew tonight wasnt the night to be doing superman impressions.

Tue 1/5 - 17kms - Had to go over to Earlwood tonight to get a quote from a tiler so ran from home and then in and around Earlwood, along the Cooks River and home via Tempe and Marrickville. 72 Minutes - had to keep prodding myself to keep up the pace, but not a bad run. Unfortunately long run will have to be tmrw night now which kind of throws out my plan of getting my harder runs done early in the week. Also means no intervals as I have not been able to manage the day after the mid week long run and I cant see that changing this week.

Wed 2/5 - 21.5kms - 91 minutes. A really pleasing effort. Did my big bay loop(19kms) and added an out and back over the Anzac Bridge from the new cycle overpass at the start of Victoria Road.(2.5kms) A solid effort as I really didnt know what to expect tonight, so it was a suck and see type run. If I felt ordinary I was going to back off a bit but I felt 'okay', not fantastic but good enough to push out of the comfort level a little. It was pleasing to know that I could hold a reasonable pace when a bit fatigued. I was doing some mental arithmatic while out tonight and I have come damn close to clocking 100kms since last saturday and for me thats serious kms. It may just buy me a couple of easy days however if I am up to it tmrw I am going to try and stick to the scheduled run. If I feel shagged it will get the heave for something more humane.

Thu 3/5 - 7.5km 35 minutes easy around the uni on the grass as much as possible. Have avoided running on the number 1 oval for fear of looking a twat but today I was going slow enough to get away with it!

Fri 4/5 - 11km Tempo 42minutes. A really good run today - 2 big uni loops including St Johns at lunch. This is a perfect place to do this type of run because it has a bit of everything, grass, hills, flats, it is at you the whole way but not still allows you to maintain rythym. Quite warm, about 27. There was a small amount of frustration involved also as I have to be at Earlwood at 7.30 tmrw. The f*#king chippy who installed the cabinet in our kitchen above the pipes sticking out from the floor and next to a brand spanking new sink(still in its packaging) we had to buy to fit said cabinet didnt cut a hole for sink(as per major requirement to have a new cabinet made in the first place!!!). I am sorry, but what a moron. Upshot is that I have to be at the house so he can do what he should have done in the first instance. Upshot, no striders tmrw...

Sat 5/5 - 10km 44mins. Did a bit of a recon run along the cooks river and surrounds from Earlwood between tradies. This will be where I will be doing a lot of running as it is only a stones throw from where we are moving. I have to say in similar style to Kath when she met Kel,"I loike what I see"!

Running along the southern bank reminded me of the central coast half track around the lake, lots of shade, a concrete path but plenty of grass including trails made most probably already by concrete weary runners.

Pros:
- Miles and miles of traffic free running in peaceful surrounds.
- Pancake flat
- Lots of offshoot paths following old canals and creeks to explore further possibilities
Cons:
- Concrete footpath mostly
- Pancake flat!

Sun 6/5 - 34km 2h31m A really pleasing run this morning, I made a conscious effort not to push too hard early but to build into the run. Mission accomplished. Route for run is here: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=927255

4 short laps and 3 long laps of Centennial Park gives me just over 34kms. I took lap splits and ran this perfectly, gradually picking up the pace without bashing myself up and left me in a position to really wind up home(as much as you can wind up after 30kms anyway!)

Short/Long
16.08/29.58
15.59/29.35
15.34/29.14
14.33

Getting very sick of running in Cent Park but it seems to be paying off with less issues with my heel. Really pleasnt morning to run - almost perfect conditions I would say.

KMS for thw week: 113. Quite pleased as early in the week I was struggling with tiredness and motivation. Next week is last big km week before I start backing off the kms gradually. Anyway thank god that week is over.