Out to Homebush this morning for the 9th race in the Striders series that also doubled up as the "Ballykissangel 10k' with every Irishman in town except "Father Ted' out to get there glory and pound a flesh against 'Young Timmy' who was returning after his recent injury.
Good crew out there with Enda, Conor, Ronan, Walker, Richie P, Eamo, Macca. 'The leech', Elvis Costello, John Bowe and top HuRTS girl Swedish Anna looking to give the girls race a good shake. No sign of Kanser mind you who it seems was running scared of Enda after making a $50 bet that he would beat him giving him 40 seconds start ? Good banter before the start and even got on for a few bets with the Irish contingent, Enda giving me 3 mins start, Palmer +3 mins, and Conor/ Ronan of scratch
To be honest i knew this was always going to be tough but as i always say you need to know where you are and these races are a great way to find out, that's why i am a regular at ALL these races.
Gun goes off and quickly settle behind Pete Walker , whom i know is in good form, stay on his shoulder for about 2.5ks before that was about the last i was to see of him for the morning, start to feel it around the 'Common area at 4ks and as i complete the first lap am surprised to see Anna join me - Jump on her for a k or two and get dragged along only to be dropped at the 7k mark, Next up was Robbie Costello (Elvis) having the run of his life to go past and spit out Lindop you English Pig as he flew by. Had loads of negative thoughts at 8ks and was just hanging in and was wondering who else would be next by, managed to hold out till the 9.4k mark coming back up on the road and nearly had a heart attack when i saw Conor about 5 metres behind and that was enough to spur me into action for one final kick for the last 500 metres to cross the line in 38.44
Bloody tough morning for me , but in truth delighted to get through it and hopefully in another 4 weeks (before Noosa) and 7 (for Thailand) i can hopefully get some sharpness and ks back into the legs.
Had the customary abuse as i was dying on the finish line with Elvis jumping around after getting a PB (huge Congrats) - not seen him that excited since the late "Mr Fixit' Jimmy Saville announced on "Top of the Pops' that "Oliver's Army' had hit the number one spot on the charts back in 1979.
Despite my ordinary run i managed to win some dosh from Enda who run poorly and only beat me by 2mins.59, and i collect from Conor, Didn't get a cash bet on with Ronan, but he left saying "Timmy, you may have won the battle today , but you haven't won the war" ( In relation to Noosa i think he was referring to)
Some indifferent runs out there from the HuRTS crew, as mentioned Elvis with his PB, and winning girl Anna were the standouts, average runs from Eoin (melb next week) and Pete Walker ( world tris) who should be firing at this stage, Flop of the Day would go to our mate Enda, after talking the talk all week and been flying in training, mixing it with Kanser could only come up with a Mikey Conway like 35.45 for the morning ( at least he got something out the wreck by getting a collect from Kanser's no show)
Race results from this morning;
http://www.sydneystriders.org.au/10k/12/TK12R09OR.shtml
Will be out in the morning for a few miles around the park, hopefully i will have pulled up OK from this morning
Congrats to Tom and Tucks who both took out 2nd spots in the Fitzroy Falls 10k and Marathon respectively, not sure on Tom's time, but heard Tucks knocked out a 2.48 - wont be enough to get him the Performer of the Year, but solid effort all the same.
Note. Upon returning to my car in the car park, i see a now delirious Elvis atop of my car on the roof doing an Irish Jig blasting out the words to 'Fields of Athenry' ..............My God when will it end? ....I can tell you, It will be at the J.P Morgan 5.6k at Centennial Park when the English team will be back to full strength and firing on all cylinders, so LOOK OUT :)
Have a great weekend
Cheers
Well done YT for putting yourself on the line when not 100%, no shame in being checked at your age.
ReplyDeleteWhy the long face? (In photo next to Anna) :-)
You should have given yourself Flop of the Day Timmy....you've been back running 2 weeks now and were cycling and swimming everyday before that. And you offered me 2 mins before the start and I have the witnesses to prove it. Despite that being a rort I still won so $50 please.... $100 today a lucrative race...
ReplyDeleteGood run Timmy. Don't worry about Enda you'll be back smashing him in a month.
ReplyDeleteThanks Master, the only reason for the long face is that Elvis was in it and spoilt an otherwise perfect photo :)
ReplyDeleteTrue Flake, although i don't suspect it will take that long.
Enda, C'mon you know you wrangled me down to 3, i was looking for 5 to be honest as i thought you would do 34.xx and i was hoping for 39.xx. Were your witnesses Irish by any chance?....Say no more :)