Secret Blog for Killing Track and Parkrun PBs

Big moon to light the beach for a 14km run at low tide. Weather perfect, cool to warm, light breeze. When the sun rose a procession of humpback whale pods drifting slowly south, close to shore, slapping fins and tails, big noise. Up on the Gold Coast Steve ran a Parkrun in warm conditions, 2nd across the line.

Low Tide this morning for a 17km run at first light on a cool morning. I had the beach all to myself. In the afternoon a short recovery run, 20km for the day. I reached a small milestone with my weekly volume the highest since February, just before the World cross country championships which were held in Bathurst NSW. It's still six months until my next championships competitions. For the remainder of 2023 I'll keep the weekly training volume high, building my base without getting injured. In early 2024 I'll resume structured training again.

Perfect weather for running 18km on the beach, mostly in the dark. This morning I was treated to a new experience for me, whales calling to each other above water (sounds like an elephant, more than one type of call). The calls lasted around 15 minutes as they made their way through the waters between Surf Beach and Barunguba Island. Being pitch black I couldn't see the whales. I did record some calls on my smart phone and posted below. I had to get above the sound of the crashing waves to hear and record the whale calls which were reflected back from the surf clubhouse on a very still night. Late morning the whales put on another show at Surf Beach, this time breaching not far off shore while I sipped a coffee.

Perfect running weather for an 20km run on the beach before dawn. Cool, no wind, a sea mist early becoming drizzle at the end of run. No sun until the afternoon when I went on a 6km recovery jog. I was lucky to see three pods of humpback whales breaching and smashing tails across the road from my home. Whale migration south usually ends in October, I was surprised to see them still on the move.

Pre-dawn long beach run of 17km. Cool with a stiff breeze from the south today.

Cool, no wind for a pre-dawn threshold run of 11km on Surf Beach, firm sand at low tide with some blue bottle stingers washed ashore. Solo this morning, a warm down run at lunch, 17km for the day.

Early morning 7.5km Tempo run chasing Milli the Border Collie. We drove to the beach for the run to enable a trip to the monthly market for shopping. Running weather was great with light winds and firm packed sands making the pace very snappy.

Morning run chasing Milli the Border Collie through the golf course and along the beaches. Great morning for running, cool, no wind.

A glorious morning for a fast paced run, cool, full sun, no wind. I had Milli the Border Collie for company and to chase. Today down through the golf course and return visiting all the local beaches, mostly deserted.

Cooler weather this morning at Surf Beach. Overnight rain, the wind completely switched to from the south. Much cooler for running with Milli The Border Collie back in action, especially in the morning. We ran through the golf course to Surf Beach, then onto Cemetery Beach and back home through the golf course again. It was nice to have Milli out there again to chase, the pace was always quick, 17km for the day, 124km this week. We'll have the whole weekend to get more running in. Morning running helps avoid the snakes. She met her first carpet snake (python) earlier this week (I wasn't there to see).

Another pre-dawn run of 2 hours 8 minutes on the beach at low tide. Strong winds made it easy when running from the north, no so easy the other direction. All the running done by 6am.

Another very hot day ahead, many schools closed as a precaution against bushfires and heat stress. I started running in pitch black again at 4am running 15 x 1km intervals on the beach, starting slow and building up to a strong pace. My body started to cramp a little towards the end of the set, a slow warm down then called it quits at 5:30am, 17km for the day.

Another hot day, I got all my tempo run of 85 Minutes done at the beach before dawn. I had company out there with a boot camp starting at 5 am.

Another hot day, I was up at 4am on Surf Beach getting most of the running done in the dark. I took the dog out and continued the run and swim for her followed by coffee.