Melbourne City2Sea Fun Run

This race was held last Sunday. It's a sister event of the Sydney City to Surf — same distance of 14k, but NOT the same crowd or hills. The field is limited to a very manageable 13,000 and the course is pretty much dead flat. My mate Jim encouraged me to enter after the City to Surf — he was going to 'do the double' of City 2 Sea followed by the Eureka Tower Run-Up. Mad bastard! Anyway, I'd entered and paid for everything prior to the hamstring injury so was committed to go, even though it looked like I may be a spectator.

In the end I was able to run (if in some discomfort) for part of the race. I decided early on to stop at 5k and walk the remaining 9k to the finish at St Kilda. It was a beautiful run — quite low-key compared to the City to Surf, but equally well organised. I started about 100 metres back in the 'Red Group' (for sub-75-minute runners). I would take a slightly embarrassing 1:52:10 to complete the 14k. I was pretty happy with my first 5k, keeping up with the people I was running with, clicking off ks of just over 5 minutes. Stopped at 5k in 25:42 (average HR was 144, the same that I recorded for the City to Surf!). Not fit!

Afterwards I easily met up with Jim (who'd run 71:08) and we caught a crowded tram back to the Arts Centre. We walked back to our hotel, then returned to the Eureka Tower. Jim then ran up the stairs, taking 14 minutes or so, exactly twice the time of the winner. Pretty impressive if you ask me!

Since then I've been doing short runs and the hamstring is responding well (to that, and stretching exercises). I think it's hamstring tendinitis. Anyway, yesterday I raced the Tuggers 5k Parkrun, finishing 53rd out of 161 in a time of 25:32. Average HR was 149, and more interestingly, maximum was 162 as I sprinted to the finish, successfully holding off an older lady. It's easy to get high maximum heart-rates when you're not fit!

Going fast, backwards

Over the last four weeks I ran 122 kilometres (30 and a bit ks per week); the four previous to that, 255. I'm injured, and rapidly losing fitness. I've done something to my left hamstring — I think probably related to the aftermath of the mountain race. I feel like the 23:10 5k, which at the time indicated a return to the 22-somethings (good for me at 56), was a dead-cat-bounce of a run. Now (if I could race) I wouldn't be confident of breaking 25. This injury has come at a bad time as I'm flying to Melbourne on the 16th with my mate Jim to race the 14k City2Sea fun run. I think I could be a spectator — hope it's a warm, sunny day!

I'm susceptible to hamstring niggles/injuries. A search back through my diaries since '04 reveals over 70 mentions of 'left hamstring', so there's something sinister going on there. I think the main cause is asymmetry. Few runners are perfectly symmetrical left to right — run blindfolded on a large flat field and you won't run in a straight line. We use our sight to keep running straight and make automatic adjustments to the stride to do this. Run on a flat sandy beach at low tide and measure your strides — one will be longer than the other, if only slightly. I'm right-handed (legged too — can't high-jump off my left leg) so I have a left hamstring weakness.

I think this hamstring strain is minor in nature. It's responding to rest. In the past I've been able to run through it, or at the most had a week or so off before resuming normal training. I had five days off last week but ran on Thursday and Saturday. Thursday I jogged 3k on the grass track and the hamstring was bearable. On Saturday I raced the Parkrun and the leg felt okay through the first kilometre. I actually ran my fastest first k split (4:43) and was gaining on Jim who ended up running a PB of 23:46. Running up the slight incline onto the bridge my leg started feeling sore and a few hundred metres later it was getting worse so I stopped running. A DNF! Well, after running 1.5k I walked the rest of the course so strictly not a DNF. I've run over 1000 races and had to DNF only five or six times. DNS is definitely preferable to DNF.

Running to a 23:25 in the Tuggeranong Parkrun on October 5 in my Brooks Racer STs

I'm no Anton Krupicka

I've raced four times since the Sydney Half: two 5ks, a mountain race and another 5k. In the second of the Parkrun 5k races I ran a fairly pleasing 23:25 (similar to my form early in the year). There's a rather long Youtube video (26 minutes) of the first Parkrun in which I can be seen in a yellow shirt after the turn.

I entered the AMRA One Peak Challenge race as a substitute for my weekly long run. The course was 12k and included some lovely familiar trails and an early climb to the summit of Mt Majura. My mate Jim was running so I thought I'd run along with him for a while and see how the race unfolded. Jim bolted at the start so I let him go and settled in for the hike up Majura. I caught him fairly easily once we turned onto the bitumen service road. My undoing after that was catching a glimpse of Leonie's alluring blue and lemon striped shorts in the far distance. She reached the downhill trail with about a 45-second lead. I charged after her like the man from Snowy River, "down the hillside at a racing pace, striking firelight from flying flint stones and never drawing the bridle till I landed at the bottom of that terrible descent."

After another 4k of desperate pursuit I finally drew abreast of Leonie on the 'easy' climb to the drink station (around 9k) and ran scared down the next steep descent. Especially fearful when I glanced back at an uphill turn and spotted her less than 100 metres behind. "Bloody hell — I'm going to have to keep running hard!" And I did, all the way to the finish at Mount Majura Vineyard. Victory (11th place actually) by a mere 31 seconds. A costly victory though — for the next four days my quads were too sore to run. I'm no Anton Krupicka when it comes to racing up and down mountains. Training on relatively flat trails isn't good preparation for mountain racing.

Funnily enough, after a week of no running I raced the Tuggers Parkrun yesterday and ran just outside my year's best (23:07 on the track back in March), recording 23:10 for the 5k course. I wore the Brooks Racer STs and ran pretty even 5k splits: 4:51, 4:38, 4:32, 4:38 and 4:31. Had a good race with Adam early on and was closing on a young girl until 500m to go — gee kids can sprint at the end of races!

Sending flint stones flying on the descent of Mount Majura [John Harding photo]

Blackmores Sydney Half Marathon

Another good race! I last ran the 'Blackmores Half' in 2009 as a preparatory run for the Melbourne Half. I ran 1:46:10 back then and three weeks later in Melbourne, 1:43:00. Sydney is a great course — all the races (including the marathon) start at Milsons Point, run over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, then meander through the city before finishing at the Opera House. This year I was also planning to run Melbourne as a goal race but unfortunately failed to get my entry in on time. Melbourne was to be a 'time challenge' against Canute, who is running the Robin Hood Half this weekend with the challenging goal of sub-1:40.

My preparation was less than ideal. A week after the Wagga Trail Half I came down with a bad case of flu — I was off work (and running) for five days. Jogged 45k the following week, culminating in a quite satisfying 'run by feel' Canberra Times 5k — 23:56 and 4th M50-59. The next week totalled 59k with a 13k 'long' run which ended up being quite a struggle. My goal for the Blackmores Half was to run with a similar strategy used for the Wagga Trail Half: start easy and finish strongly. I wanted the race to be an enjoyable hard training run rather than a desperate all-out effort that left me with a 3-week recovery period.

After catching the bus to Sydney I checked in at the Vibe, picked up my race pack and caught up with Fiona (Half) and Jarrod (Marathon) for a late lunch/coffee at the Metro Cafe in Hyde Park. It was a lovely afternoon! I wandered down to Chinatown in the early evening for a feed of rice and vegetables. Watched a little footy back at the hotel and set the alarms for the ungodly hour of 4:00 A.M. (the race start was 6:15). Caught a very crowded train from Town Hall and arrived at Milsons Point just before six. I queued up at the porta-loos, not too worried if I missed the start. I didn't think I'd miss it by 13 minutes! I was caught up in the 'C-corral' group so the first 600 metres before we turned onto the bridge were quite crowded.

I was running by feel and once over the 'hill' of the bridge was actually feeling quite smooth. Passing lots of slower runners is good fun! The course was crowded but I was never badly impeded and happy to run wide on some of the turns to find some vacant pavement. It was a beautiful cool, sunny Sydney morning — superb views in all directions. At 9k near the NSW Art Gallery I caught up to the 2:10 pacing group. I was wearing the cushioned Hokas and they felt great — especially on the downhills where I slipped it into the angel gear and let the shoes cushion the impact. I kept telling myself to hold back until 15k. Running a half marathon off insufficient long runs is rather daunting! There was a testing little hill running back onto the freeway following the turn in Ultimo but after that the last 5k was nice and flat. I actually felt a little stronger in the last 3k than I did at Wagga (no doubt due to the easier course). It was a fantastic sight running beneath the bridge, looking across Circular Quay to the Opera House. Finally a little ramp up to the forecourt and a modest sprint to the finish arch. 1:52:23. Fun race! My 5k splits were quite even (26:18, 26:41, 26:38, 26:51, 5:23 + 32) and after a week I've recovered well. If you get a chance, run this race — it's a good one.

Under the Sydney Harbour Bridge with 1k to go!

Sprinting to the Opera House. I may have lost in a photo to #4267

Wagga Wagga Trail Half Marathon

 My new favourite trail race!

A week after the City to Surf I drove down to Wagga for a small family gathering. As luck would have it, the Wagga Wagga Trail Half Marathon was being held on the Sunday so I entered with the thought of using the race as my weekly long run. This turned out to be one of my best ideas ever! What a fantastic race. Loved it!

In my early running days (1980s) I ran during the week with a small Sydney group in the Lane Cove River Park. On Tuesdays we ran the road, out and back to the top gate from Fullers Bridge. Friday afternoons in summer we'd run 'both sides of the river' using an old timber footbridge to cross it at the northern end of the park. The trail was mostly single-tracks, broken by occasional grassy picnic areas (BBQ smells in the air as we ran past, with calls of "want a beer or snag?" from friendly locals). Al would manoeuvre himself to lead on the narrow rocky section, slowing things down before Steve would push ahead down by the river. Jenny would then scamper ahead over the sandstone outcrops. After an hour or so we were back at the bottom carpark. It was fun running!

The course at Wagga (from 4.5k to 9k) brought back vivid memories of Lane Cove. We were on well formed single-track mountain bike trails, zig-zagging through the woodland, up and down gullies, along contour banks, having a great time. All the runners were courteous, stepping aside momentarily to let us overtake (if we were faster). I was generally catching people and eventually fell in behind a group of two ladies and one bloke who encouraged each other along the tricky course. I followed them over the top of the hill, down along the edge of the golf course to the flat dirt roads on the outskirts of town. My steady pace took me ahead of this group (the bloke came flying back past at 17k) and up to other single runners. I was enjoying the flatter going, which at 13k switched from roads back to single-tracks beside the river. There were about five fence stiles to negotiate and one memorable section of soft sand (thankfully only 100 metres or so). My Hoka Bondis were performing brilliantly — legs were feeling good! I can only recall being passed by one runner in the last 5k — a young woman in black who said from behind "sorry, I'm a slow overtaker."

The half marathon distance is a slight stretch for me (especially on a hilly trail course), so I was happy to be back near the familiar part of the river, not far from the finish at the Wagga Beach. I heard a cheery "Go Ewen!" from Speedygoose Sarah-Jayne, who'd won the half in an incredible 1:32:38 (8th overall) as I 'sprinted' up the final bank to the finish arch. My time was 2:00:16 for 50th place in the field of 120. I'll be back next year for sure — see you there!

 Sarah-Jayne: all smiles before the start

 Half course is the second half of the marathon. Start bottom left, finish top right. My friend Rachel's full marathon report is a good read.

 Top of the hill, with most of the single-track running nearly over. What a beautiful day!

Desperate measures at the City to Surf

I raced my 29th Sydney City to Surf on 11 August. My goal was to break 70 minutes — the time required to start in the 'Red' first group of about 9,000 runners. My training indicated I could do this, especially after my good race at Dunrossil Drive. I decided beforehand to run using effort as a guide (usually the best method on such an undulating course) and hope that would produce sufficient speed. From previous experience (especially last year's race), I knew the split times I'd need at 5, 7 and 10k in order to break 70. I could be 50:30 at 10k.

Race morning was sunny and calm — perfect I thought, until I started to warm up. I was sweating! Training in a Canberra winter doesn't prepare one well for a warm Sydney day. I started in my usual spot on the left side of William Street, about half way back in the 'Red' group. I only took about 40 seconds to reach the start mats, then it was the usual scary rush, trying to avoid zig-zagging runners up to the Kings Cross tunnel. The crowd never thins out in the City to Surf (unless you're running 3:45 ks or better). By the other side of Edgecliffe (3k) I was no longer worried about getting carved up by anxious speedsters. Running along the flat section approaching 5k I was feeling okay (if warm) and moving well. Glanced at my watch and saw 24:22. A little slow! Didn't panic though as I was maintaining position and continued to do so on the run up Heartbreak Hill. The clock at 7k was showing high 35s (which I thought to be on schedule as the second half of C2S is at least a minute quicker than the first).

Along Old South Head Rd and into Military Road I was feeling the strain, but still moving with the crowd — keeping an eye on unusual runners: Spiderman, a young girl in Little A's uniform, grey-haired blokes and ladies in tights (way over-dressed). 10k was passed in 50:28 — hmm, should be able to run 19 for the last 4k, with the 13th being downhill. I was starting to tire, so used the downs to recover, saving something for the last kilometre. Got a bit of a shock at 13, with the watch showing 64:46. Geez, 5 minutes to get to the finish and it's a long drag along Campbell Parade! I increased the effort, tried to follow people who were moving fast and avoid those who were slowing. Not easy! Finally around the U-turn, space opened a bit left side near the crowd and I sprinted for all I was worth. Under the clock, stopped the Garmin and saw 69:45. Yes! That was close — I hate having to sprint like that! Official time was 69:39 for 7,908th place.

This year's City to Surf was one of my most satisfying. Back in May when I had the DVT problem I wondered if I'd make the start this year, let alone break 70 and maintain that Red-group status. Interestingly, my average heart-rate for this year was the same as last (144). I ran 67:54 last year on a much cooler day and wearing the lighter Kinvaras. This year I was training with a slight achilles niggle so wore the Brooks Racer STs as they have a more substantial heel. I've pulled up well from the race and actually ran (not raced) a trail half marathon in Wagga Wagga on Sunday — 2:00:16 on one of the best trail courses I've ever run. I'll tell you about it next post...

In the Domain with 'Legend' Keith Mayhew, who has run all 43 City to Surfs (first 20 in under 50 minutes)

A surprisingly good race

I had a good race yesterday — the Dunrossil Drive 4.2k cross country event (one of the rare local courses which dates back to the '80s). On a sunny day (cool headwind for the 200 metres prior to the far turn), I finished 16th in 18:48. That's an average of 4:29 per kilometre for a course that has its fair share of soft going, exposed tree roots, turns and undulations. There were 31 finishers.

I wore the Saucony Kinvaras for this race and was pretty psyched up to run hard after a poor result last Saturday (49:53 for 10k on a flat road course). My warm-up was a 2k jog followed by a good number of strides on the gentle grass downhill near the start. After 300 metres or so I found myself in a group of runners I knew well: Hugh (48 sec 400m in the day, fast finisher!), Charlie (first 30 Canberra Times 10k races under 40 minutes), Brian (barefoot runner and 75-minute half in the old days), Jim (broke 40 for 10k once) and Thommo (closing in on 20 for 5k as a 50-54 runner). Robbie was about 40 metres ahead of our group.

Jim was setting the pace down the first hill and it took a while before Brian and I drew abreast. Thommo pushed on and made a gap of 10 metres,  then Brian loosely covered this move. I followed these two around the far turn near the Governor General's front gate. On the run back up to the hill I caught Brian and ran with him as Thommo pulled us both towards Robbie. Soon after, Brian dropped off my shoulder — I could see Thommo was gaining on Robbie, so I tried to keep the ocky-strap from stretching too far. Just prior to the half-way turn we passed Robbie. For the second half of the race I ran hard, in fear of being caught by Brian or Charlie. I knew I was slowing as Thommo gradually pulled away (my lap splits were 9:18 and 9:30). He finished 13 seconds ahead.

Although it was a cross country race, I think this course relates well to a flat 5k. Back in 1989 I ran 15:05 as a 32-year-old and was racing track 5000s in just under 18 minutes. Adding 18-19% to a Dunrossil Drive time would appear to show 5k flat potential. If so, I'm pretty happy to be in 22:11 to 22:22 form for 5k right now. The MAF training is working. One rather sad thing about yesterday's race was how few runners were competing in what was once a premier event on the calendar. In 1989 I was 63rd in a field of 195. Where are all the runners these days?

Dunrossil Drive cross country starts near the 'green balloon' and runs on the southern side of the drive towards the Governor General's residence. Two laps. Scrivener Dam and the National Arboretum in the background.