16 x 400m (44.1) 73.99

School holidays are over and the track at Nudgee is back open. 

I did the same session as 'Wonder Vet' Andy Green in Manchester UK. 

Conditions for me were cool ! real cool for Queensland!

I ran in gloves, beaney and a hoody. 

In the past I used to always run sessions giving myself plenty of recovery - traditionally my 400 reps would have 75 secs recovery. However I now believe that short recovery is the much smarter option and even the 45 secs I gave myself seemed plenty though obviously it affects performance. 

I chose to do the session on Wednesday in the hope of finding an empty track but it seems even through the winter there are a few groups of kids doing sprint work and even a middle distance group doing a sesh. 

Its funny the 2nd and 3rd reps were 75 but the effort felt like sub 70 - must be getting old or the short recovery impact.

M52 Andy Green (2015 ROAD 5KM 15;30, 10KM 31;33, HM 71;10)

had run this session in 70.6 sec average ,the day before , which was somewhat sobering as I worked real hard to get to 74 and some 73's. Mind you, Andy is just getting back from injury and had been in sub 8;50 and sub 15 form which is clearly way above my level. I was happy to squeeze my 16 average under 74 secs and get around with little sciatic issue affecting me.
https://connect.garmin.com/activity/833844936

The weather has turned unbelievably cold in Brissy this week. The media are referring to it as an Antarctic Vortex !

It affects my performance so decided to swap my morning run for a lunchtime run twice this week. Lunchtime in Brissy very rarely fails to get above 20 C at lunchtime  but we've been close to highs around just 15 C and with wind chill less than 10 O C ! 

Needless to say the gloves, long sleeves and hoodies are being maxed. Lunchtime training has also enabled me to stay up and watch the critical mountain stages of the TDF. 

Froome seems unbeatable but I love how the other GC guys have at least tried to attack.

Porte and Thomas have been fantastic in the work they have done put in. 

Natalie gets up at 5;50 am so I'm not getting much of a 'lie in' as I'm getting to bed at 2.00am!

I will be running the Jetty to Jetty 'Half' at Redcliffe on Sunday. 

Prize money has attracted some top class runners this year, Jackson Elliot will be travelling up from the GC and  I can expect to be chicked again by Cassie Fien. 

Courtney Atkinson will be lining up for the 10KM. 

The course is not conducive to fast times and my intention is to tempo run it rather than a flat out effort.

Split	Time	Moving Time	Distance	Elevation Gain	Elevation Loss	Avg Pace	Avg Moving Pace	Best Pace	Avg HR	Max HR	Calories
Summary	30:47.0	30:40.0	8.23	26	32	3:45	3:44	2:11	156	174	502
1	1:13.8	1:12	0.42	--	--	2:57	2:53	2:41	143	160	17
2	:45.2	:46	0.10	--	--	7:49	7:57	3:01	136	160	11
3	1:15.9	1:16	0.42	--	4	3:01	3:01	2:52	148	160	19
4	:44.1	:44	0.10	4	--	7:37	7:36	3:02	138	162	11
5	1:15.7	1:15	0.42	--	--	3:02	3:01	2:47	150	164	20
6	:43.2	:44	0.09	--	--	7:35	7:44	3:00	142	165	10
7	1:15.0	1:14	0.42	--	--	2:58	2:56	2:48	153	165	20
8	:45.6	:46	0.10	--	--	7:46	7:50	3:00	143	165	11
9	1:14.9	1:15	0.42	--	6	2:58	2:58	2:45	156	166	20
10	:40.3	:41	0.09	7	--	7:18	7:25	2:59	149	166	11
11	1:14.1	1:14	0.42	--	2	2:57	2:56	2:42	160	169	20
12	:39.7	:39	0.10	--	--	6:49	6:41	3:00	152	169	11
13	1:12.2	1:13	0.42	--	--	2:52	2:54	2:39	164	172	21
14	:44.1	:43	0.10	--	--	7:11	7:00	2:55	153	172	12
15	1:14.6	1:15	0.42	--	--	2:55	2:56	2:44	161	171	21
16	:44.1	:45	0.09	--	--	7:51	8:01	3:05	151	171	11
17	1:14.0	1:13	0.41	--	--	2:59	2:56	2:40	160	172	21
18	:44.2	:45	0.10	--	--	7:08	7:16	3:04	154	172	12
19	1:14.0	1:14	0.42	--	4	2:57	2:57	2:43	162	171	21
20	:43.8	:44	0.10	4	--	7:13	7:15	3:05	155	171	12
21	1:13.3	1:12	0.43	--	--	2:52	2:49	2:39	163	172	21
22	:45.2	:46	0.10	--	--	7:12	7:19	2:58	155	172	12
23	1:13.7	1:13	0.43	--	5	2:53	2:51	2:39	164	173	21
24	:45.9	:47	0.11	6	--	7:16	7:26	2:59	156	173	13
25	1:14.2	1:13	0.43	--	6	2:54	2:52	2:40	163	172	21
26	:44.5	:45	0.11	4	--	6:53	6:58	3:01	157	172	13
27	1:12.6	1:13	0.42	--	--	2:55	2:56	2:43	164	173	21
28	:47.7	:47	0.11	--	--	7:21	7:15	3:05	157	173	13
29	1:14.6	1:15	0.42	--	--	2:56	2:57	2:38	164	173	22
30	:44.6	:45	0.10	--	--	7:22	7:27	3:06	159	173	12
31	1:12.5	1:06	0.42	--	6	2:53	2:38	2:39	164	174	21

29	1:14.6	1:15	0.42	--	--	2:56	2:57	2:38	164	173	22
30	:44.6	:45	0.10	--	--	7:22	7:27	3:06	159	173	12
31	1:12.5	1:06	0.42	--	6	2:53	2:38	2:39	164	174	21

Gold Coast Half Marathon 37th 73;20

Conditions on the start line were good, probably about 12 O C and still!
I didn't wear gloves or cap or long sleeves.
I wanted to go out easy rather than the standard blast from the start. I got away from the line OK and settled down. I thought running with the leading ladies would be a good way to pace myself. Pretty soon I was running with the four leading ladies ,Sara Hall, Eloise Wellings, Cassie Fien and Jessica Trengrove. Blimey some class in this field!
We joined onto the back of a large group of guys headed by John Bartlett from Sydney Striders. Barts appeared to be having trouble running in a straight line as he seemed to knock into the guy beside him at least twice if not three times. The entertainment was short lived as I found the pace not too comfortable and somewhere after 7km the elastic broke from that huge group and I was spat out the back. 
So I ran pretty much alone save for a spell running with Chris Truscott who came past me having been dropped from the group before me. I was running low 3;20's which was plenty fast for me. At the 10km mark I was surprised to clock 33;44 I was happy running that. 
Up to the turnaround at 11km and head back to Southport surprisingly I started to feel better. However, looking at my stats post race I see I was running 3;30's. Chris Truscott was pretty much fixed about 10secs in front. I thought I ran well and felt good 10km to 15km then had a slight wobble with a dicky tummy feeling for a few K's but I managed to survive and push on to the section where the road separates and we take the ocean road. I thought a head wind picked up a little here so though I was slightly surprised to get caught by two guys (Josh Faulkner and Mark Hinder) at this point, it did provided some welcome relief (wind break) and I positioned in behind them hoping that I could piggy back a ride up to Truscott. 
The cruel, indeterminable 'run for home' on this course is unforgiving, stealing those vital seconds off you but, by way of compensation, the crowd was immense and hugely uplifting. Perhaps having your name on the bib was a key factor to believing you have a fan club along the whole course and I even got a 'Garmin Lama' close to the turn into the swimming pool section. Here another youngster caught and flew past me (thanks Hamish Hamilton). I tried to lift for a sprint to the line but I'd pretty much given it everything. Over the line and I reached for the railings and wretched. I was as close to vomiting as I can recall. 
My preparation was not ideal and I said I'd be happy if I ran 72 minutes but I wasn't unhappy with 73 minutes.I won the age cat by 8 minutes, and  was 10 minutes in front of 3rd place. 
My previous Half Marathon experience;

17/6/1990 Borehamwood Half Mara 71;17.0 1st Age 29
2/9/1990 WMUH Half Mara 71;35.0 1st Age 29
1/6/2008 Queensland Half Mara Doomben 72;12 3rd 1st Age 46
6/7/2008 Gold Coast Half Mara 72;26 27th 1st Age 46
5/7/2015 Gold Coast Half Mara 73;20 37th 1st Age 53

The GC

The GC is nearly here!
It's the time of year when I'm holding my breath at the sound of a cough or a sneeze. I'm getting grumpy at my work colleagues for coming into the office with a virus. Tissues for toilet door handles, knuckles for pedestrian crossing signals, wash hands at every opportunity....
The GC is 'The' running festival as far as I'm concerned. 
The camaraderie and spirit, the quality of the fields , the fast flat course. Its so much more enjoyable celebrating after, if you feel you have given a good performance.
Last year I was in good shape for the 10km, this year my form has been patchy at best over the last couple of months. 
This will be my first go at racing a Half for 5 or 6 years, I'll go out hard and try to hang on as long as possible (which is really what I do in every race these days).
Tempo 10km on Saturday, 24km LSD on Sunday, recovery /rest day Monday, 10km this morning. Track closed with half term so will have to work an alternative interval session into this week, but really going to take it easy.

10 x 800 with 55 in 2;36

I think I got back to doing Nudgee track sessions at the back end of last winter so nearly a years worth of track in the bank.
It was 16 C according to my car at 6.00pm, so quite cool for a change and thankfully little or no wind. 
Trying to concentrate on 10K pace with short recoveries. 
Lost concentration on my third rep and couldn't remember for sure if I'd already run one lap or two! What was I thinking? Had to run another lap to be sure I'd covered the distance and sure enough ended up with a 1200m rep!
Had ongoing hip/pelvis issues through the session , a shooting pain from hip through to knee. Quite painful and feels as though my leg is going to give way/collapse which of course it never does. Maybe it is sciatica i'm thinking some acupuncture might be beneficial so will check it out.
In the meantime I managed to plough through my session alone again naturally. 
Average rep was 2;36 and average recovery was 55. Reasonable session considering had run 10km in the morning.

Ignore the distance column, it was 800 on the track followed by approx 100m jog recovery. Max heart rate seems to be diminishing from the days when I'd regularly get 180bpm but I suppose I am getting older.

David Heath M50 WR 1500m 3;58.26

David Heath set another M50 WR 3;58.26
He commented
"16 in the race. I started off near the back and had to speed up and slow down and run wide for the first couple of laps. 64, 2:09 and then I kicked in a 62 and hung on. Finished 5th - regional champs. Felt really good"

I bet it felt really good! 
A sensational time for a 50 year old. 62 for the third lap!! He has the 3000m M50 WR on his radar (he has already run the equivalent of 8;42 this Northern summer).

Caloundra Foreshore 10km 6th 34;50

I attended a 50th birthday party last night and had a few drinks, it was never going to be good preparation for racing the next morning!
I'd seriously considered not getting up at 5;00am and in fact did not set the alarm however I woke up at 5;15am and didn't feel too bad, no hangover and all my aches and pains in abeyance and what was the alternative - run 24km by myself around Narangba! 
I decided I'd give it a go. I knew Jackson Elliot was running and saw Cassie Fien and Tim Toner on the start line. I started off in second and Jackson rapidly disappeared off into the distance.
I was surprised to be leading a large group of runners through the first 3K's which was windy foreshore pathway lots of twists and turns which impacted upon my hip issue.
The group moved up past me and included Cassie, Tim and two others.
I just didn't have it today by 5km I was detached out the back of the group running by myself. The tough hills towards the finish provided extra hurt.
I jogged back to the start for 20km for the day.
Results are here;
http://www.racetecresults.com/Results.aspx?CId=7&RId=438&EId=2
Cassie is running fantastically at the moment and I suspect she'll be wearing green and gold again pretty soon.
We have to participate in the other parts of our lives than just running, I'd have rather stayed home and gone to bed early but that wouldn't be much fun for my wife. 
There is always another race.

Dehydration showing in the muscles

My homage to Robbo 13:22 (I really must have been still drunk!)

Masters 10km Road Race Record

14/4/06 Easter Orleigh Park 35;07
13/5/06 Corporate Games St.Lucia 35;54 1st
28/5/06 Caloundra Foreshore 34;49 2nd 1st
27/7/06 Jetty to Jetty 33;37 10th 1st
20/8/06 Noosa 34;02 5th 1st
8/10/06 Kingscliffe 34;35 3rd 1st
29/4/07 Mount Mee Hilly 37;22 2nd 1st
19/5/07 Corporate Games St.Lucia 34;48 1st
26/5/07 Caloundra Foreshore 34;22 1st
1/7/07 Gold Coast 33;16 18th 1st
22/7/07 Jetty to Jetty 34;02 7th 1st
19/8/07 Noosa 33;59 10th 1st
18/5/08 Corporate Games St.Lucia 34;16 1st
25/5/08 Caloundra Foreshore 32;58 3rd 1st
20/6/08 Jetty to Jetty 32;36 5th 1st
15/5/10 Corporate Games St.Lucia 37;18 1st
3/7/10 Gold Coast 34;32 41st 1st
18/7/10 Jetty to Jetty 34;48 8th 2nd
15/8/10 Lakes College 34;18 2nd
29/8/10 Bridge to Brisbane 34;27 21st 1st
14/5/11 Corporate Games St.Lucia (9.54km ?) 32;49 1st
22/5/11Noosa 33;45 8th 1st
2/7/11 Gold Coast 33;24 26th 1st
17/7/11 Jetty to Jetty 34;11 3rd 1st
11/9/11 Bridge to Brisbane 34;07 13th 1st
22/6/14 Caloundra Foreshore 33;36 1st
5/7/14 Gold Coast 32;58 25th 1st
7/9/14 Bridge to Brisbane 33;17 8th 1st
24/5/15 Noosa 34;02 4th 1st
14/6/15 Launceston 33;19 26th 
21/6/15 Caloundra Foreshore 34;50 6th 2nd
23/11/15 Otawara Japan 34:57 

Launceston 10km 26th 33;19

I jogged up to the Town Hall from the Hotel to pick up my number at 8.00am and 
it was -1 O C !
It was eyeball freezing cold and no, I am not used to it, having grown up in England because 11 years in Queensland has softened me. 
What to wear? 
I'd miss placed my running gloves and only had my everyday cold weather gloves (from the UK), better them than nothing! a full long sleeved top and a beaney! 
Even with all that the temperature was a real shock to the system.
Line up a row back (respectful distance considering the quality of this race), off hard to beat the hordes to the first left turn and hang on. 
I dont check my watch, as I cant read it any more, but go through 1km in 3;00 ! 
That of course made me suffer and I followed it with a few 3;16's.
Tom Highnam and John Bartlett cruise past me at 2km. I thought they were up ahead and realized I must be going ok as these guys would be running 32 pace. They went off into the distance but another group caught me at 4km including first female Eloise Wellings, Quentin Reeves and my team mate Dennis Fitzgerald. 
I was able to hang with these guys for a few K's, passing 5km on my Garmin in 16;06 (which impresses me). 
The course is pretty much straight out and back. 
Not much protection on the way back from a slight headwind that seemed to slow everyone up. I dropped to 3;26's and was gapped by Eloise (an Olympian) and Quentin. I still had two boys to run home with. 
Up the final stretch I was caught by Jess Trengove and was determined not to be 'double chicked' so put the effort in to keep her behind at the finish.
33;19 official time which I was happy with. 
My hip/pelvis pain was 'apparent' over the first half but less so over the second half. 
The results initially excluded me but I reckon our team Garmin Lama (Jackson Ashkettle Sweeney Fitzgerald) triumphed over Tommy Highnam's HuRTS squad by a second! 
128;30 us 128;31 them!
Later on Sunday I toured the James Boag Brewery (my absolute favorite beer is Boag's Premium - so I was in heaven!) I bumped into the HuRTS squad on the tour and completed a pub crawl with them after. Monday I spent the day with Dennis and Janine touring vineyards and waterfalls in North East Tasmania - truly  beautiful countryside
before heading home that evening.

The Launie 10 is a bucket list race you must do. 
7 guys 30.00 and under makes it one of the fastest in Australia.

First team - Garmin Lama

Yellow shoes white long sleeve with black gloves and hat - freezing cold

Tom and Barts group heading back at the 6km mark, those at 4km check them out

I couldn't hang on to her!

I ran 5km with these two lads but they got away at the finish 

Like this shot of the HuRTS boys having given their all . I hung on the funnel fencing for a good minute at the end.

Organising a piss up in a brewery with Tommy

HuRTS Squad guys forced me to drink James Boags Premium (Barts, Criniti, Jeet [crouching],Chairman, Pommie and LJ

M50 World Record 1500m David Heath 4:02

Tom Roberts an Aussie ran 4:05 in 1984 to set the previous mark that has stood the test of time. 35 years hugely impressive record.
Now David Heath has run 4:02 an incredible feat!
Anyone know what Tom Roberts is up to these days?
Appreciate he'd be 85 but someone needs to ho shake his hand and tell him what a terrific achievement his record was.

B.F.G.

On Sunday I went to bed at 10.30pm and got back up at 2;30am to watch Arsenal win the FA Cup for the 12th time in a match that had none of the usual angst I suffer thinking 'we might get beaten!' it was just so comfortable and 4 - 0 probably flattered Villa. Of course Alexis screamer of a goal was the highlight but I also enjoyed the moment when Per Mertsacker made it 3 - 0 to Arsenal and Laurent Koschelny (The Chairman) had his shirt turned into a hoody by the Villa defender, Laurent had his arms outstretched appealing for the pen while the rest of the boys were celebrating the goal.
So I got to bed again at 4;40am and then got up again at 6;00am to get up to the Sunshine Coast for the 5th in the series XC 12km at Ben Bennett Botanical Gardens.
The conditions were unseasonally warm even with much of the course was in the shade of the forest, some muddy sections, some inclines, but much kinder than a fortnight ago at Mooloolah. 
Like last time I had Satoshi Ashida for company till halfway. 
Satoshi ran well at Noosa doing the Half in 74mins . So he certainly kept me honest. 
He just dropped off enough for me not to hear him and feel comfortable however on the last lap , ever diligent, I did take a look over my shoulder with half a KM to go and saw he was a lot closer than I expected so more hard work up the final incline to finish just 12 seconds in front.

I went to see my consultant on Thursday last week as I had been suffering pain/ache in the hip/pelvis and decided to have it checked out. 
Had an MRI and the result was all good!, remarkably good looking pelvis for a 53 year old which gives me a lot of comfort to plough on but perhaps be careful about any off road deviation in my training. Also talked about the benefits of some alternative cross training like cycling and aqua running. I will no doubt get coached in the drills for aqua running when Mike Trees Mike Trees  Mike Trees  gets to Brisbane in October.
Mike was kind enough to send me two pairs of his Newton Shoes which I have been testing over roo+lake.







So look out for Laurent getting his top pulled over his head and the German commentator explaining what  B.F.G. stands for!

The David Heath phenomenon

David Heath is another of the  Loughborough Uni production line of top runners in their youth to Masters Greats (Andrew Green  Mike Trees Dave Buzza)

David however is phenomenal, he's retained his sub 4 minute mile speed and is going to knock the M50 World Records for six this northern summer.

He's one of the lucky eight runners who have been selected to run in Bejing at the IAAF World Championships in a Masters Showcase 800m - expect him to win sub 2;00 !

Can you believe the guy had heart issues at age 37! 

Noosa 10km 4th 34;02

20/8/06 Noosa 34;02 5th 1st
19/8/07 Noosa 33;59 10th 1st
22/5/11 Noosa 33;45 8th 1st
24/5/15 Noosa 34;02 4th 1st

When I look at my record for racing at Noosa I should be pretty happy to be running times I ran in 2006 and 2007 but actually I think I'm a minute off pace from earlier this year. Aerobic fitness is fine but something else is limiting my running at the moment and wont speculate (like I have been doing!) until I get a consultant opinion.
Noosa is one of the big race festivals here in SE Queensland. I arrived just in time to see Jacko majestically finish the Half Mara by himself 5 mins ahead of the field in 67mins on a windy course worth at least 66mins.
Cassie Fien was equally impressive in the ladies running 73mins! about 3 mins in front of Clare - a huge margin.

So with Jacko out of the 10k field who was going to be favorite?
Johnny Peters is about on a par with Jacko so we did have a sub 30 capable leader to follow for 100m of so before he disappeared. I felt OK and ran to my maximum eventually hauling in a few guys ahead to finish 4th but having Mick O'Shea 20 secs up the road in 3rd place made me feel things weren't quite on song (Mick was 2nd in my Queensland 10,000 Champs triumph).
Forgot to mention Ronnie ran superbly for 36;33 ! a cracking performance.

Noosa

Sundays XC smashed my calves! I did get back out for 10km in the afternoon but pain was still too great for me to contemplate track on Tuesday night. In the end I decided to just run easy all week with a double on Wednesday (10.6+11km). I'm going to race 10km at Noosa on Sunday, I actually thought it was going to be Saturday but found out today its Sunday. Its a good fast course, pretty flat (couple of humps - bridges over the canals), out and back. Jacko is running so he'll be taking it out at 3 minute pace. As for me, I'll be interested to see where I am at. Had 4 weeks averaging 100km a week. Had two poor parkruns, got a niggle I'm hoping isn't affecting performance. We'll see. 

SSCXC Mooloola 12km 1st 45;07

A tough hilly twisting course beside the reservoir. It took me a while getting into my stride and on the first of three laps I settled in behind Satoshi Ashioa who at times dropped me!
I was poor on the tough uphills which came at us four in a row and I was also poor on the downhill as I tried to prevent the momentum from crucifying my knees and hips! I have been suffering some sciatic pain (self diagnosis) through my right leg for the last 6 weeks but running has not been affected until today where for the first time I could feel the issue at the top of the hills or on the tight twisting forest sections.
I sensed Satoshi was struggling after the hills section the second time around so I passed and kicked along the dam causeway section gapping him after about 500m.
It is a single track through the woods with a number of metal pole chicanes designed to stop trail bike riders from using the paths but these do a very good job of stemming your stride and rhythm. I wished I had worn my heart rate monitor as my heart rate felt like it had gone through the roof as I went over the hills.
A comfortable victory in the end to add to my two runners up and one third place in the series. Johnny Peters was away this morning at an engagement party.
I think I'm a crap cross country runner but 12km of running through the woods beats 20km on the road, and is excellent conditioning. Will try and run this arvo to see if I can loosen up any knots.

100km plus per week club

With some Half's coming up over the last few weeks I have raised the mileage by doubling on Tuesday and also either Sat or Sun depending on XC /parkrun running. It has just pushed me over the 100km a week mark for about the first time in my masters career. I feel the need to recover from my Tuesday track session and my weekend long run so nothing much in-between though ideally if I could I'd like to be able to put in a second session on Thurs/Fri but the risk of injury may increase exponentially so I'm unlikely to add further quality.
Following my average run at Wynnum parkrun on; 

Sunday 3rd May 24km 4;24 K's

Tuesday 5th May a.m 10.6km Roo+Lake 4;04 K's
p.m. Nudgee 4 x 1500 with 94/80/82 secs jog recovery in 4;54, 4;51, 4;52, 4;46

Saturday 9th May 20km 4;18 K's
Sunday 10th May a.m. 10.6km 4;18 K's  p.m. 8.4km 4;14km

Tuesday 12th May a.m. 10.6km 4;17 K's 
p.m. 400/4x800/400 73 secs recovery 69, 2;27, 2;28, 2;27, 2;26, 67

Was happy with that last set, it only put me a few seconds behind Andrew Green (running in the UK in windy conditions the night before [same Phil Hicken session]) who is currently blitzing world age bests for M52 , he has just run 15;30 5km road, 31;32 10km road and 71;11 Half !! 

Barely imaginable times. 
He's running a 5000m tonight in Manchester UK, could run something very special!

Wynnum parkrun 1st 16;27

On Friday our neighboring suburb Caboolture received 333 mm of rain (277 mm fell in 3 hours alone on Friday afternoon).
At work in the arvo  I had a call from my son at home saying the water was backing up on our patio lapping at the door! the water was a combination of just heavy rain not getting away (through the drains) and overland flows coming in from neighbours at side and rear over timber retaining walls.

I explained how to conduct a 'backwash' and this thankfully brought the level back down to just an infinity pool once again! 
Not that you'd swim in the brown green goo that was left!
I left work straight away but got stranded on a train unable to move due to flood water over the tracks. 3 hours later we eventually got to Petrie but were told we'd not get any further north. My car was at the next station Dakabin 5km up the road so I tried to get Natalie to come pick me up. No luck there as the roads were all closed, nothing else to do but run it in my civvies! It was dark and running along a flooded country road (Narangba Rd) with cars high beams blinding me , bag under my arm, black shoes black trousers black jacket it would have made a fantastic photo/video. The rain had stopped me from doing my morning run so this was a belated run not recorded on the Garmin (thought about putting it on the phone Strava app - but battery was low and might have needed it once I got to the car).I thought the parkrun would be cancelled we'd arranged at Minnippi due to it being very low lying ground and indeed it was cancelled - when I drove past half the course was under flood water. We transferred our Masters event to Wynnum which fared remarkably well other than tonnes of seaweed quite thick and slippery in places washed up onto the esplanade pathway. This course is a bit like Sandgate except you run south  1.6km 180 O turn run back past the start finish and run another 900m and do another 180 O turnaround and back to the finish.
Like at Sandgate I went 'all out' but again suffered a similar form reversal finishing in 16;27. Somehow I  have dropped 30secs and cant fathom where. Aerobically I feel fine and physically OK other than the standard niggles and aches. The latest is a sciatic type pain Im experiencing in the right leg for the last 4 weeks. Maybe that is impacting my pace will get some iron down me just in case its anemia.  
Bazza put on breakfast back at his place hosted by the lovely Olga. They did a magnificent job once again coping without electricity (due to the storms). 
Anne Ryan once again smashed it on the age grading and The Robot, Peter J. Reeves finally managed to wallop his beloved Garmin Lama (me!). Special guest at breakfast Pat Clohessey - coach to Deek and many many Australian Running Royalty gave a talk on the influence of John Landy.
Special mention to Paul Shard (Shardy) who following on from a major back operation last year is managing to continue to chip away at his time.
Here are some photos (thanks Barry and Olga) I'm hoping google will turn them into a GIF for me so you get more of an animated clip than a zillion photos.

Olga and Pat Clohessy

I was so weak Pat had to hold my arm up whilst Olga held me upright!

10x800with 60secs recovery ave 2;37.1

Nudgee again for another 10 x 800m. Managed to average 2;37.1 compared to 2;33 last time out a few weeks back don't know if a 7 second less (ave) recovery had an effect or the 10.6km roo+lake in the morning contributed to the 4 second per 800 deficit.