2 hours (inc Striders Internal Half)

Date: Sun, Oct 9 (6:30am)
Conditions: Cool with fresh wind
Location: Lane Cove National Park
Session: 2 hours, including a 24 minute pre-race run and the Striders Internal Half Marathon. Ended up with 26.53km in 1:58:10, ave HR 142.
Sleep: 7 hours, good quality.
Feeling: Fairly tired, with dead legs.

SW indicated post-session yesterday that he was cool with my running the internal Half Marathon, provided I didn't race it. Johnny Dark and I got there fairly early, and I managed to get 25 minutes of running in before my 7:06am start (the internal half is a handicap event) where it was apparent I wasn't capable of racing it anyway, with yesterday's sandhill session well and truly apparent in the legs. From the start of the half I fell straight off the back of my starting group and had all of the fast guys go past me, with Darren Benson and Chris Truscott going past, with Guz on his bike, with just on 10k to go. Highlights included a toilet stop during the internal half the first time up Scribbly's, a duck taking a shot at me coming back to the turnaround, and Tiger Angel and Sfgnome's immaculate water service at the top of the climb at Lane Cove Road. Managed to ease past half a dozen runners in the last four km, so didn't finish dead last.

Made for a different long run, and quite enjoyable.