1st July, 21km 1hr47m, Vomero

With a Sunday off, I took the chance to meet up with Tim Crosbie (Old Miler) and his HVT squad http://www.hvtraining.com/ at Sherbrooke. On the way I picked up JH & PJ.

After plenty of rain the trails were all very soft and muddy, so it was going to be a messy affair.

The early parts of the run were just teasers for what was to come later. After almost an hour we had done much more downhill and flat ground running that I thought was possible, but that only meant the uphill was yet to come.

I had never been up in that part of the Dandenongs so was a little surprised when we almost got to Belgrave. From here it was mostly uphill. The first one was good, felt pretty comfortable. But after that any long hill requiring sustained effort became too much to keep the running momentum going, so several walk breaks were in order. It seems that my endurance is still not quite aligned with my leg speed, since when I get moving I actually go OK.

I understand that I am really only just getting back into some longer work, but it is still frustrating when I think about how much I've lost in this area. I shudder to think what I would have done if I attempted to join these guys 3 or 4 weeks ago....

JH was clearly still in great shape after all his marathon work, and he made it look all too easy. PJ took advantage of having the super coach around and stuck with OM for most of the session.

Felt pretty good after the run, so lingering pains from the run. Not hard to guess what I'll be working on each weekend run that I get the chance.....longer longer longer.

Just remembered, I haven't rinsed my shoes yet - better do that before they set like rock with the mud covering.

Thanks to Tim & Kate and the crowd for having us along.