The Horrie and Belinda Show

15/11/05

Took Belinda out for a 6X1 minute fartlek session with a minute jog recovery between each effort. She handled it well and was surprised it was finished when I told her it was over. Belinda managed to do her fastest effort on the last one which was a good sign that her fitness is strong.

16/11/05

We headed out for 14km this morning and it was quite pleasant. Started off steadily before building it into a solid pace. It was a good hitout for Belinda who really enjoys the longer runs.

In the evening, I met up with the Striders MTG to do their toughest session which has been named a Super Set. It starts off with a 3km warmup. We then did a 1km interval in which Professor left me in his wake from about 250m into it. I finished in 3:41 which I was happy with but Professor pulled off a 3:34. Another couple of kms until we arrived at Lilyfield Rd hill where we do 2 hill reps. After managing a 76 for the first one, I slowed slightly in the second for a 79 second rep. Another couple of kms until we get to King George Oval where we do 2x400m reps. I managed an 85 for the first one before stepping on the gas to peel off an 83 for the second. We run for another km or so before we get to run up this monster hill at Shores. I didn't push it as hard as I could but kept a steady rhythm getting up on the toes and keeping Johnny Dark and Professor company. We then run another couple of kms to finish. Ended up covering 13.8km.

17/11/05

As Belinda was feeling a bit off with this stomach bug she's got, I did a gentle 10.5km on my own in a tick under 53 minutes. Legs were feeling a little heavy after the previous days double effort.

18/11/05

Belinda and I were able to head out together this morning for a 10.5km run. After 1km Belinda felt this strong spasm in her glutes which had us worried there for a while. Eventually it settled down and we got through the run with no further problems.

19/11/05

No run today as Belinda was feeling unwell again. I planned to head out for a twilight run but was feeling very flat and lethargic myself. I decided to have an early night hoping that I would feel better for SMC 10km the next day.

20/11/05

I woke up feeling better than I did last night and headed out to SMC hopeful of a decent run. After covering the first 2km in 8:25 it pretty much headed downhill from there. The first sign was Bobby Avery pulling away and opening up a large lead on me. Considering that I finished within 15 seconds behind him last month, I knew this wasn't a good sign. Then after telling me that he was feeling lousy and having nothing, Truckie then started to pull away from me. I did manage to catch him at 4.5km where he again told me that he had nothing. Having managed to reach half way in just over 22 minutes, I knew I was in for a slow one. Even though I was running a lot slower than usual, the HR was going higher than it usally does when running faster. When it started reaching my max at 6km, I knew I was in trouble. So fearing a repeat of the Lane Cove debacle in February, I walked for a 100m until it got down to a level I was comfortable with. This guy that spent a large part of the run running alongside Truckie passed me during this point. A little later Truckie passed me. Then at 9km Rock Doctor went past me. It was then that I realised I would not break 45 minutes for only the second time. I was put out of my misery when I finished in 45:15 which was a 6 second PW.

I then walked 500m with Truckie waiting for the Half Marathon finishers to come in whilst doing a few stretches. I then finished the day off running the last 500m with Aunty K.