Quality Street

Tuesday at Nudgee I ran 20 X 400m with 100m jog recovery
Average was 71.7 secs and the recovery was also 71 secs.
Pleased with session. I  had Peter Bracken for company first 10 and remained strong working next 10 alone. Windy evening again!
Ran in flats which preserves the calf's.

Ave 157bpm Max 172bpm

Saturday I did a hill sprint session on a hill I scouted last weekend. Maryvale St corner Tattler St ( I'm sure there was a gentleman's magazine called The  Tatler back in the UK). When houses eventually get built there, will the new residents  take objection to their near porno notoriety!

Anyhow a nice 200m hill on new bitumen, no residents, no cars. Running nirvana! 
Worked hard running about 40sec splits 21m climb with a kicker in the last 50m.
I felt strong and ran a good set and felt real great on my warm down run home.
My gluts paid the price today = Sunday = sore ar$e but I was only going for a long run today.

Started just around the bend (bottom left and finished lamppost up past red road section with Bottle Tree Cres. on right.

Here's how my heart coped with the hill sprints; Ave 141bpm Max 164bpm.

Drove to Newport and ran the coastal pathway 15km to Hornnybrook bridge then instead of turning round and running back the same way, I decided to cut across the peninsula by road to finish a solid peninsula loop 24km in 4:10 ks  my heart rate was a pretty comfortable average 133bpm.

With the Bridge to Brisbane next Sunday I will gently taper next week after Tuesday.

career highlights

I got the trophy for the Gold Coast 10km today. Its worth the wait.

And with it I got a career highlight, getting onto the record book with my mate (the Robot) Peter Reeves.
As well as the legend Ronnie and someone called Moneghetti.

North Lakes parkrun 1st 15:53

I was woken at 5:00am by the rain and contemplated giving it a miss but then I'd get wet somehow later so may as well proceed as planned.
Its been raining for two days and though the rain might affect my performance I also thought that the lower numbers running would be beneficial in reducing the overtaking maneuvers I constantly moan about!
2.5km warm up some strides and we are off!
My Garmin goes into power saving countdown just as we start so so hitting start the button  only stopped the power save cycle and I had to hit start again to get it going hence my Garmin time was two seconds slower than my actual official time!
I had in mind that I had never run sub 16 on this course and as I'm running as well as ever I should really try for a strong PB on my home course. You never know when the next injury will strike or what the future holds, so make the best of here and now.
I ran a strong first K glanced at the watch for 3:07.
I wanted to maintain that momentum and not slow too much on the 2nd K and was happy to see a 3:11.
I was thinking I was about 10 seconds ahead of Garmin Lama Day. The teeming rain and blustery conditions began taking the edge off my pace. Saturated timber boardwalk sections could become dangerously slippery but I was staying upright. The rain managed to nudge my Garmin on from displaying the time to displaying the average pace and I was happy seeing 3:11 which would bring me home in 15:55.
The cooler temperatures today also kicked in on the positive side to keep me on track for my course PB.
My Official time got rounded up from 15:52 to 15:53
Alan Bradfords M50 5000m Qld record 15:51 and the Australian M50 Record 5000m 15:49 had both disappeared from my sight but now I'm beginning to believe that New Gold Dream is perhaps that glint I spy up ahead in the distance!

I put the hammer down from the start.

Overtaking/lapping

This was a pretty full on effort but nothing like the all out, empty the tanks effort of track.

I thought this was funny, Garmin Lama followed by Braveheart followed by The Pelican!

Toohey's Tuesday 5 X 1200m off rolling 5mins : 18;45 - 3;08km pace

I'm enjoying the track sessions we are doing on Tuesday evenings at Nudgee though I  can't wait for summer for some languid evenings with warmer temperatures but for now, the cool dark windy nights are providing a good grounding. 
Nick's session tonight 5 X 1200m off his rolling 5;00 mins had me 'quaking in my boots', how was I going to cope with Nick running 3;30's and me aiming for 3;42's but with only 78 secs recovery? 
Battling against the wind was not going to help matters. 
I decided to switch off the GPS on the Garmin because of its inherent oval track issue. 
I thought 74's would be a good pace to aim for - 3000m pace I hope!
Nick and Shane Ward were tearing off 10/15 seconds ahead of me, but I was comfortable with my effort. My first 1200m was 3;42 and my last 1200m was 3;45 (with the GPS switched off there was no record of the actual splits). I ran 18;45 for the 6000m effort which is 3;08 km pace which is more than adequate effort = Ave 154bpm Max 177bpm.
This is my heart rate;

Nick finished after 4 so I had Shane help me out for 800m of the last interval, we ran through exactly even paced 75, 2;30 and 3;45. It felt like I was running very easy with Shane doing the lead work, I was near tripping over his heels thinking we are not running hard enough! It is another story, running alone for the 3rd lap.
At the moment I'm using parkruns/races for a second session in the week and just steady runs in between. Only race goal left is 10km at Bridge to Brisbane on 7th September then track.
Still hovering (?) around the 60kg mark (I have seen the scales say 58.x !).

Botanic to Bridge 2014 8km 4th / 1st M45+ 26:18

Flew to a raining Gladstone Saturday evening , leaving a similarly wet Brissie. Was wondering how id cope with the logistics of this 8km point to point race! Fortunately woke up to clear cloudless skies and warm enough to leave the gloves behind! Backpackers is only half a K to the finish precinct to catch a bus to the botanic gardens for the start. Warmed up with Jackon Elliot who is such a top top bloke. He had word that Ben Ashkettle from Melbourne was going to be running but knowing he'd just run the Townsville Marra in 2:22 was probably still going to have it in his legs (along with the $4000 cash he won in his back pocket. Jacko had won this race 3 x without competition  so it was interesting to see what this threat would do. Other Gladstone regulars Chris Bracken and Clare Gerahty and her partner Scott Imhoff, lined up on the start line.
We took off slightly more reserved than I recall up the 400m hill!
I had 5 guys in front of me and became detached pretty quickly .
I felt I was moving ok at my limit, I held it together up and down the next few km's. Around 5km I could see I was catching 5th and 6th and swept past them running strongly. Forgot to mention in the first K Jacko had gapped the others and was charging off imperiously to his 4th victory in this event!
Pretty soon he'd disappeared out of sight.
For me I was looking forward (!) to the last big hill @  Goondoon  St through Gladstone CBD. I survived it by slowing down and shortening my stride , over the crest and it's a steep downhill before things level off and then over the bridge to finish @ Central Queensland Uni.
I did have a point along this 'run in ' where I felt pretty uncomfortable but on checking my heart rate after I was holding steady but max 172/173bpm so not sure why the discomfort, I was in clear space and ran  through the finish without raising the effort. I was pleased to run  40 (edit) seconds faster than last year on what seemed the exact same course. Jacko ran 40 seconds quicker suffering a cold but finding the threat of competition to his benefit.

I Decided not to give the 3km a go this year a, jogged back to the backpackers for a shower.
Flight back to Brissy at 2:00pm job done.
Will post a performance comparison of my runs here in 2011, 2013, & 2014

2011 course was shorter last km was different but first 7 comparable.

Garmin Lama Day - North Lakes parkrun 1st 16;03

A 2.5km warm up = run from home to start, a few strides and some hellos to the Masters. 
I haven't run North Lakes parkrun for a few months so it was nice to get back to familiar territory. 
'Race' plan was always going to be to work hard/run hard but it was never going to be an all out effort. 
I rarely manage to hold myself back over the first KM but succeeded today with a 3;16. Soon enough we complete the first lap and head into the second and I managed a rare glance at the Garmin for another 3;16. You have to concentrate on what line your going to be running trying to take the tangents when you can but deep into lap 2 that is never possible and your concentrating on just avoiding collisions. I noted the 4th KM was a 3;10 which is pretty much as fast as I can run a mid race KM. I held form OK to the finish (may have tied up a little judging by arm carriage on Shardys video). Happy to cross the line in 16;03 official time.
It was an open invitation for breakfast at ours after and I managed to cope with simultaneous BBQ'ing sausages/bacon/eggs whilst juggling condiments and cutlery, cereal and bowls: without question for me this was the performance of the day!
My thanks to Shardy for video and photos and to Garmin for their incredible generosity for providing the tee shirts.

Happy Birthday Kate.

Tuesday's session at Nudgee was 16 X 400 with 100m jog recovery. 
I averaged 72's.
Not bad by myself on a chilly Winters night.
Sunday's 22km counted as a tempo run (3;40's) (a  hilly half), yesterday's 15km was a half tempo at 3m53 K's and just steady miles in between.

Kate is 18 today! 
Not sure if that makes me feel old but a run in the morning is enough to let me know 
I am old!
Kate took these photos 'Selfie' style this morning.

This may be of some interest to my parkrun buddies.
The UK parkrun results had disappeared from Power of 10 website and Runbritain website but they are now back on runbritain so if your interested in seeing how you compare to those in the UK it is well worth a look. 
Power of 10 is worth a look to see how you shape up all things track. You can filter to your own age group and a particular year or go 'all time'.
I need to run 4 seconds quicker if I'm to match the top Brit at parkrun 'all time' M50 ;

You need to register to get the extended rankings section;

http://www.thepowerof10.info/

The parkrun results are back on the runbritain website; 

http://www.runbritainrankings.com/

http://www.runbritainrankings.com/rankings/rankinglist.aspx?event=parkrun&agegroup=V50&sex=M&alltime=y

Maleny Lions Mountain View Challenge Half Marathon 1st

I was up early this morning to get to Maleny for the Maleny Lions Mountain View Challenge which started at 7;00am. Unfortunately the early hour caused me to forget my Garmin so I have no record of the performance.
It was my intention (hope) to treat this Half Marathon as a training run hoping that a rural country town and other events (QA Long Course XC Champ yesterday and Brisbane Mara Festival today, as well as the Cane to Coral in Bundy might dilute the opposition to manageable proportions. 
Maleny is out beyond the Glasshouse Mountains an hours drive from my home and situated 400m AHD. It must get a lot of rain as milking cows are the predominant agriculture and the Maleny Dairies are famous for their dairy produce.
At the start line Bryan McManus (see Caloundra Foreshore 10km) introduced himself and like a dumbkopf  I didn't recognise him (hair cut/no backward placed cap on head). 
'$hite' I thought, I was going to have to work for a win!
The course basically  heads out of Maleny Uphill to Mary Cairncross Country Park , does a loop and then return same way we headed out. 
At the start we were to run two laps of the showgrounds however we got misdirected to run around for a 3rd lap which was to add another 1km to the total!
For the first 5 or 6 km Bryan and I ran together enduring what Stava says was 450m elevation (total).
We were pretty honest in the effort. After 6km Bryan dropped back a bit and I opened up a little and gapped him to a comfortable distance. At the turnaround I'd guess he was 30 secs behind. I never saw him again till the finish but he said I was yoyoing between 35 and 40 secs ahead. I ran the 'descents' back to Maleny easy trying to find grass where possible and look after my calves and knees. I ran about 81;30 for 22.1km about 3;40 K's - a good hit out.
After the presentations the lady from Clif Bar gave me a stack of their products which I was very grateful for and shared with young Bryan. 
Oh the celebrity of it all!

If anyone is thinking of doing this race next year I'd thoroughly recommend it but 
remember you'll have Bryan and me for competition and I wont be taking it easy and you'll have to be good at running up and down mountains!
I found today's course and course profile on Stava from the 3rd place finisher Brad.

Today's course (lucky we turned around before Bald Knob!)

The Course profile - 22km!

Lucy I have nothing further to declare!

Not exactly the City to Surf start line but I will be back next year!

22.2 km !