Training with Tucks

Had the pleasure of training with World Champs marathon rep Mark Tucker yesterday. The big guy was in town for the launch of this years Launceston 10 and given that he was here for the day an opportunity arose for us to train with him.

Mark and I actually went to the same school in Geelong, Newcomb High. He was 4 years below me so I didnt expect him to remember me and was very surprised when he said "I thought it was you" when we were introduced. We spent most of the day then reminiscing about all our old teachers etc. Some laughs were had, very funny stories told, and some VERY juicy gossip passed on. Its amazing what some teachers get up to at times........... I will say no more.

He also gave me some tips on the Coliban relay course. Most importantly he told me which legs to avoid running if I can help it ;-)

I dropped Mark off at the airport for his flight home and he invited me to train with him when next in Melbourne. It will need to be an easy run cos I got no hope of keeping up if hes doing a session!!

In a big announcement at yesterdays launch, Kim Gillard has secured a World Record attempt in the race. Steve Moneghetti will be having a crack at the WR for his Age Group. Cant wait for that one.

Training this week has been good. 2 long runs completed and a solid hit out yesterday with Tucks. Focus now is on picking up the mileage heading into the 2nd half of the year which will include at least one half marathon, possibly 2.

City to Casino

Spent the weekend down south in Hobart for the City to Casino. This is Hobart's biggest Fun Run with just over 2000 competitors. Last year I ran the 7km but this year I stepped up for the 11km event.

Unfortunately things didnt go to plan. I was hoping to run around 37 minutes and place top 5 or 6. I crossed the line in 38:30 and was about 14th. This along with last weeks ordinary 5km means my last 2 races have been shockers. The worst part is I cant explain why.

Its about 6 weeks until my next race so I have time to go back and fix some things. No doubt tomorrows easy run with Kim will be somewhat of a debrief and planning session.

The 2009 Launceston Ten will be launched next Saturday and both Peter Brett and Dave Evans will be in attendance. I might even pick their brains a little. Why wouldnt you??

We have a winner!!

Headed off to Beaconsfield yesterday for the Anzac Day Fun Run over 8k.

I was hoping a few more "hitters" would be there but unfortunately all the pre race talk was just that, talk.

There was only myself and John Claridge toeing the line with about 100 others of varying abilities. Johnno is no slouch and I knew that it would be a tough day out. Having run a 73min Half Marathon last year I figured that he would be tough over the last few km, having said that an 8k is a lot different to 21.1km.

Not knowing how much speed Johnno has I decided that I needed to get rid of him before half way is possible. Just before the 2km mark I could no longer hear his breathing or footsteps. Shortly after that the road went up hill and I decided that I had to work extra hard just to be sure he had gone and wasnt coming back.

At the 4km turn around I had 20s but was starting to hurt. I tried to shout out some encouragement as he went past but I was breathing way too hard for anything remotely sounding like English. Johnno on the other hand had plenty to say. Shit, hes feeling better than me. Luckily I had enough of a break to hang on and take a win.

The finish chute was about 2 metres wide and there was a photographer from the local paper standing smack bang in the middle about 2ft past the line. Given that I didnt see her amongst the officials I nearly gave her a VERY close up!!!! Hopefully it makes for a good shot!!!!!!

Nice cruisy 2 hours this morning in the rain with the boys to finish off a good week.

Flying Mona

Had the pleasure of doing Mona Fartlek tonight. I used to look forward to doing this one but for some reason it has become one of my least favourites. The one I hate the most is Km reps but thats another story.

When we do Mona we travel out and back, turning at the 10 minute mark and then trying to make it back to the start point prior to the 20 minutes finishing. Each time we aim to go further out and still make it back. Its not a PB unless you actually make it back so theres no point going all out in the first 10 minutes and then blowing up.

Tonight I got further out than ever before, just short of the 3km mark. I think the fact I ran the first 500m in 94s had something to do with that!!! On the way back I was seriously hurting and thinking I wasnt going to make it back. I didnt. However I only missed it by about 5m. All up about 5.9kms in 20:01. Pretty happy with that one!!

WOW Long time no post!

Well its official, I have now registered with Western Athletics once again. Hopefully I can get in a few races and help the boys head toward Division 1.

I cant believe its been almost a month since my last post. Time has flown and not much has happened. Training is going well and I am looking forward to the City to Casino in Hobart on May 17. Last year I ran the 7km event but this year I will have a crack at the 11km.

I headed to Heritage Forest this arvo to run the LAC 7km Handicap but left somewhat peeved. The races are due to start at 1pm every Saturday. Today they were to hold the AGM at 12:45, prior to the 1pm start. I headed off for my warm up at 12:45, thinking that with my handicap I would be off and running at about 1:20. When I got back at 1:15 and saw that the AGM had not yet started I was rather pissed off. I knew that this meant the race would not begin for at least half an hour and I would need to either keep moving or warm up once again. Upon speaking to the club President as to why there was a delay and getting an answer that in my opinion wasnt satisfactory, I decided I would pull the pin and run home instead. So all up, 70 minutes easy and no workout.

If a race is advertised to start at a certain time then lets get it going. If people cant register before the advertised start time then stiff shit. A 10 or 15 minute delay isnt so bad but 40 minutes is not good enough. Of the 3 LAC races this year, 2 have started late. The first one was an hour late!!! Im not the only one who was disappointed today as a few people were vocal in their thoughts.

An easy 2 hours tomorrow (can a 2hr run be easy?????) and hopefully it wont be a chilly morning. We have had a few of those recently and I cant say Im liking it too much.

Is it just me or has this post been one big whinge????

Handicap Season

Launceston Athletic Clubs winter season starts on Saturday at Riverside pool. Given that I don't want to venture too far from what our program says, I plan to incorporate the 5km into my tempo run. So, I will run from home and then race the 5k. The trip from home should take about 45 minutes so no doubt the 5k will hurt a little ;-)

On top of that, not only is it a Handicap event but its 4 laps of a 1.25km loop. By the time I get going, the front markers will have already completed their 1st lap. So not only do I have to catch them, I then have to gain another lap as well.

Ran some 1k reps last night with young Patty. Patty is running a 5000m on Friday night out at the track and is aiming to run around 15:40ish solo. Therefore his aim last night was to run 3 x 1k @ 3:08 with 90s recovery. Unfortunately, I had to do 6. Pretty easy session for Patty considering he normally reps in around 3min. His times were 3:07, 3:08 & 3:06. Now he just needs to put it into a race. He is capable but is yet to discover it for himself. He can comfortably run reps at 3min pace (2:40 flat out) but struggles to run to that standard in a race situation. At the moment he is more of a time trialler than racer but his time will come.

The new Saucony kit arrived recently and looks very good. I thought last years was hot but its get better in '09.

Consolidating

A solid week this week with the only hiccup being yesterdays session being skipped in favour of an easy run. I made the mistake of not taking my Ventolin inhaler with me and as a result couldnt manage much more than a jog without difficulty breathing. Silly mistake but what can you do?

I have started back in the gym trying to get a bit of upper body strength happening. Hopefully it will help towards the end of races to maintain form a little more. I plan on running some more XC races this year than in the past year or so and this can only help.

The next 8 weeks will be just sticking to the program and building up a solid base before running the City to Casino on May 17 in Hobart. Last year I ran the 7k event but this year I think I will step up and run the 11km.

I spent some time earlier today looking at the AV calendar and airfares trying to tee up some races in Vic over Winter. Things look promising in this department. Would love to come back and run some relays. Running isnt much of a team sport but I have always found the relays to be a bit of fun.

Will definitely be running the Half at Burnley. A group of us will be coming over and using it as a hitout prior to the Melbourne Marathon in October. Should be a good day out.

Robyn ran a Womens 5k race this morning and pushed jacko the whole way in his pram. The event was to raise money for breast cancer and all competitors wore a pink t-shirt. It was an awesome sight to see just over 2000 ladies cruising the streets of Launceston in pink. The only problem was trying to find Robbie after the race. Its not easy looking for a blonde in a pink t-shirt amongst that crowd!!!!