So excited he slept in his running gear!

Yes, dear reader. Last night I slept in my running gear. However, it was not through excitement at the thought of my first longish run after 6ft. It was instead because of a very odd error on my part. The night commenced with me (attired as normal) setting my alarm for 5:20. At the appointed hour, I arose, dressed and had a slice of toast. Just as I was heading out the door to meet the other striders, I glanced at the clock on the microwave. 3:33. Odd. Must be a cooking time that hasn't been cleared. Check the oven. 3:33. Check the kitchen clock. 3:33. Still not believing this apparent conspiracy on the part of these normally reliable timekeepers, I headed back to the bedroom. Tiger angel's clock was also in on the charade, but there was my clock, bravely leading the way a full two hours ahead of the rest. Mutter, mutter. Adjust clock, climb into bed still fully clothed (at least I removed my shoes) and back to sleep...

After all that, the run went fine. It was on a (in parts) hilly course around Wahroonga and although it was mostly run between 5:45 & 6 minute pace, I was comfortable and happy with the hills. I pushed the last k at about 4:30 just to make sure that I could and it was no hassles either.

In the spirit of the reverse taper, last week I did a few 12ks to work and run club on Thursday night. It was 3k time trial night, and I can tell you now that there was no way that I was going to run it as a trial. Instead, I ran it as an upper aerobic workout, sitting on steady 4:15s so I came in exactly a minute over pb, but it felt really good just to stride out again.

Tiger angel talked to all the kids over the last week and asked if they would like to come down to Canberra to watch the marathon. I'm not sure exactly what combination of carrots and sticks she used, but all four of them decided that Canberra is the place to be. As their parents' athletic pursuits are generally just a source of wry amusement to them, it will be interesting to see whether the occasion and the atmosphere finally helps them to 'get it'.

Tiger angel's week was in most part fairly standard - cycling the local hills with her training partner, discovering that she's now "just one of" the swim squad rather than one of the "it's OK to sit this one out" group, and continuing her base building by running to a low heart rate. Like all the 'Haddites' I know, she's hating the super slow pace, but with a little patience it should start to speed up soonish.

TA took her bike back to cycling guru Graham Blackman this week for a re-fitting because she's been getting sore knees after riding. He was happy with the setup except that when the seat post was replaced after she was run into on a massed ride last year, it was put up too high. Hopefully, that'll be the end of the sore knees, but it was his other little bombshell that has left TA thinking. As well as giving lots of good advice about nutrition and training, etc, Graham believes that she shouldn't be competing in anything for the next 10-12 weeks and that she should be concentrating purely on base building instead. This of course cuts right into her plans for the up-coming Tri NSW club champs at Port Stephens. No decision made yet, but I'm sure it will be reasonably soon.

Gnome

p.s. I should have noted in last week's post that the Jimmy Barnes look-alike in the photo is none other than our number three son Micro.