Music List...

The alarm did not go off this morning so hey presto I get an extra rest day... I have a massage this afternoon and then out for dinner, so no time for a run. Never mind will help recharge the batteries. As promised my i-pod list. I have a pre race list and a race list. The race list has 4.5 hours of music just in case.... if I need more I will just stop and cry ;-)

PRE RACE
Lose yourself 5:26 Eminem Eminem Rap
Hallelujah 5:01 k.d. lang Hymns of the 49th Parallel Pop
throw your arms around me 5:16 Hunters and collecters hunters and collecters Australian
holy grail 3:52 Hunters and collecters hunters and collecters Australian
Evenstar 3:15 Orchestral Lord of the rings Soundtrack
Angel 4:31 Sarah Mclachlan Love songs Pop eye of the tiger 3:47 Various one hit Singles
Wish you were here 6:34 Pink Floyd pulse Rock
Uninvited (From- City of Angels) 4:37 Alanis Morissette Simply The Best Movie Album
The Special Two 4:29 Missy Higgins The Sound White
Turandot: Nessun dorma ! 3:05 Luciano PavarottiForrest Gump Suite 8:50
Forrest Gump Soundtrack
Crabbuckit 3:48 K-Os Joyful Rebellion Hip-Hop/Rap

MARATHON LIST

Kashmir 8:32 Led Zeppelin Remasters Rock
Dock of the bay 2:41 Various Legends Compilation
Angie 4:31 Rolling stones Forty licks Rock
The Sound of White 4:51 Missy Higgins The Sound of White Australian
True colours 3:46 Cindi lauper Best singles of all time Pop
Holy grail 3:52 Hunters and collecters hunters and collecters Australian
Pray 3:55 Tina cousins pray Pop
Crabbuckit 3:48 K-Os Joyful Rebellion Hip-Hop/Rap
Black betty 3:56 RAm jam Tripple m unleashed Rock
Fool to cry 4:07 Rolling stones Forty licks Rock
Sing hallelujia 3:51 Various party Singles
Dont stop me now 3:31 Queen Queen Rock
Gangsta's Paradise (From- Dangerous Minds) 4:02 Coolio
Ten Days 3:48 Missy Higgins The Sound of White Australian
Shake a tail feather 2:52 The Blues Brothers Blues brothers1 Blues/R&B
sweet home alabama 4:42 Various Legends Compilation
My way 4:37 Frank Sinatra Frank Easy Listening
Tainted Love 2:40 Various one hit Singles
Bust a move 4:25 Various one hit Singles
Paint it black 3:45 Rolling stones Forty licks Rock
The rockafeller skank 6:53 Fatboyslim Q1998 Compilation
Lose yourself 5:26 Eminem Eminem Rap
Think 3:16 The Blues Brothers Blues brothers1 Blues/R&B
Katie 3:37 Missy Higgins The Sound of White Australian
Uninvited (From- City of Angels) 4:37 Alanis Morissette Simply The Best Movie Albu
Goodbye my lover 4:18 James blunt Back to bedlam Pop
Crabbuckit 3:48 K-Os Joyful Rebellion Hip-Hop/Rap
Evenstar 3:15 Orchestral Lord of the rings Soundtrack
Tainted Love 2:40 Various one hit Singles
Mickey 3:26 Various party Singles
Staying Alive 4:02 Various party Singles
Everybody Needs Somebody To Love 3:25 The Blues Brothers
Angel 4:31 Sarah Mclachlan Love songs Pop
wake me up when september ends 5:03 Green day Bullet in a bible Alternative
I Like the Way (Radio Edit) 3:21 Bodyrockers I Like the Way - EP Dance
Adagio for Strings (Fred Baker Remix) 7:11 DJ Tiesto
symphony for the devil 6:18 Rolling stones Forty licks Rock
Blister in hte sun 2:24 Violent femmes Schoolies 2000 Alternative
Right here right now 6:27 Fat boy slim youve come along way baby
Dancing Queen (Muriel's Wedding) 3:52 ABBA Simply The Best Movie Album (Disc 2)
Come on Eileen 4:08 Various one hit Singles
Eye of the tiger 3:47 Various one hit Singles
El Tango Roxanne 4:42 Various Moulin Rouge Soundtrack
Ten Days 3:48 Missy Higgins The Sound of White Australian
Its like that 4:06 Run dmc hip hop 2 Hip-Hop/Rap
Praise you 5:23 Fatboyslim Schoolies 2000 Alternative
Hello 3:40 Evanesence Evanesence Rock
Mickey 3:26 Various party Singles
Forrest Gump Suite 8:50 Forrest Gump Soundtrack
Anthem for the year 2000 4:08 Silverchair neon ballroom Australian
Turandot: Nessun dorma ! 3:05 Luciano Pavarotti
Crabbuckit 3:48 K-Os Joyful Rebellion Hip-Hop/Rap
Hallelujah 5:01 k.d. lang Hymns of the 49th Parallel Pop
Unwritten 4:15 Natasha Bedingfield Unwritten Pop
Good riddance 3:25 Green day Bullet in a bible Alternative
4 Hour mark
We are the champions 3:01 Queen Queen Rock
Funky Town 3:57 Various one hit Singles
Lets get retarded 3:35 The black eyed peas The black eyed peas Hip-Hop/Rap
dance with me 3:42 Debelah Morgan Single Singles
right here right now 6:27 Fat boy slim youve come along way baby Alternative
shakles 3:21 Marymary Shackles Singles
Bitter Sweet Symphony 5:58 The Verve Urban Hyms Pop

So there it is.... should get me to the end it one peice!

Felt like a slug...

Today:10km
Week: 39km
Month: 368km
Year: 1028km
This morning was Fartlek around the park. It was still dark at 6:30 so we did an adjusted version and started with a loop around the lake.... this was great as we have not done the lake loop since the upgrades started months and months ago. I felt like a slug this morning and was planning on taking it easy... but the group were all chomping at the bit and even sitting at the back of the group we were doing a good pace. I put in a really good surge on one of the dowhill sections.... felt like I was flying! It was such a nice feeling.... then the last few km's I cruised home. I have a nice easy run tommorow :-) I have my program for next week and it will just be very short easy runs to keep the legs turning over. Then the big day! I can not believe it is sooo close. Race numbers were up on the internet which made it all seem real.... yes I have to race this thing. This week and next week I am just concentrating on eating well and mental stuff. I don't feel nervous and am hoping that is because I feel prepared and ready to go......hopefully it doesn't sneak up on me next week. I have my A and B plan worked out and am visualising running a good race. I really don't think there is anything more I can do.... except say a prayer to the running Gods

Distance: 10km
Time: 52:10
Average pace: 5:20

A shorter long one

Today: 13km
Week:29km
Month: 358km
Year: 1018km

We met this morning and did out shorter version of our midweek long run. We did a nice relaxed 13km around Centenial Park. Thank goodness for David who loaned me $10 to put some peterol in the car after driving on empty and forgeting my wallet at home....life saver! It rained quite heavily towards the end of the run, so I was happy to dry off and get back in the car and warm up. I will do an easy run tommorow and Friday and the a lovely rest day on Saturday. This week the kms have dropped to 60km which feels like a breeze compared to the 95km I was getting used to. I am amazingly not feeling nervous at the moment.... doesn't feel like it is only 10 days away. I think on Sunday when I realise it is only a week to go I might get nervous..... at the moment just looking forward to it.

Time: 69min
Distance: 13km
Average pace: 5:20/km

400's

Today: 9km
Week: 16km
Month: 345km
Year: 1005km

Another big group this morning for track... and it was still really dark and misty in the park at 6:30am. We had 400's this morning... the group had 10 to do but we only had 8 woo hoo! I did my usual early warm up, drills and strides. Mark and Ewan were back doing a reverse taper... they had 6 to do (something to look froward to!) I had heaps of fun this morning... we were taking turns in making the two Allisons and Kulinda run ahead to be the rabbit for us to chase. The legs felt really good this morning and my times were quicker and I still felt I had some left. I was conscious to not try to run too hard " 80%" only as sean kept telling us :-) Sean was pretty quick with the recoveries and kept us running in between reps. Today I clocked up my 1000 km... woo hoo! I actually forgot and did not take any notice at the time. My guess would be I was doing a warm up 100m stride before the 400's. Not the most exciting moment but I had a really fun morning which basically sums up my Canberra expereince so far.
I will put up my i-pod list soon for you all to have a look... pretty corny! Then you will all know what I am listening to when :-) So you will have to cheer loudly!!

400's: 1:43, 1:40, 1:40, 1:39, 1:37, 1:36, 1:34, 1:37

EDIT: My hubbie has added a link to his newly created blog " confessions of a running widow" Go and have a sticky beak and you will see what I live with ;-) or what he has to live with ;-)
The i-pod list will go up tommorow!!

Smart Kit 1~Stupid Kit 0

Today: 7km
Week:7km
Month: 336km
Year: 996km

For those of you who know me or have been following my marathon journey, you may have picked up on some of my personality traits. I am acutely aware of these and sometimes have to keep tabs on myself. For one I can get very enthusiastic and excited by something I am doing. I tend to want to do all or nothing and usually committ 100%. Sometimes because of my excitment I can get a little carried away. Now seeing I know myself quiote well I had put contingency plans in about 2 months ago.... not making sense?? I will explain. Two months ago I said to Ray.... If my training is going well you can guaruntee I will get too excited and want to do something stupid like ace 10km the week before! I gave him strict instructions to under no circumstances let me do this and told him to remind me how devestated I was when I got injured before Canberra 2005. So on Sunday afternoon when he overheard me chattering away excitedly to my mum about Striders and racing he swooped in and said NO WAY!!! I then also got an email from Sean saying...NO WAY. I then got an email form easy tiger asking "are you nuts?". All I can say is thank god I have surrounded myself with sensible people! So chalk one up for smart Kit :-)

Today I had 7km on the program so headed out on my loop from home. I did not look at the garmin just ran nice and relaxed. I really enjoyed this run.... felt great and it was all clicking. Today I was just focusing on my form and running with realxed upper body~ amazing how much easier it all feels when you are not tensing your shoulders. Any way covered 7km in 34:55.... first km was 5:30 and the rest hovered under 5 min pace. I have to keep pinching myself. Not that long ago that pace would have been hard going, but tonight flet great!

I ran with my marathon play list tonight. My sister and I finished the final touches yesterday and since then I have been listening to it to give it the final check.... so far it is great, all my favourite songs in the right places! I also had my name and little Kitty Kat put on the back of my CR hat... hehe can't wait!!

So all is well in Camp Kit at the moment... touch wood! Bubble wrap and cotton wool is now back in place and I am off to EAT!!!!

Bondi to Maroubra

Today:23km
Week:80km
Month: 329km
Year:989km

Due to committments I could not fit the Cherrybrook run int his morning so we met at Queens Park and did the coastal run. We ran through Centenial Park, Ocean rd, along old south head rd, then onto the city to surf cours down to Bondi and then along the coastal path all the way along turning back at maroubra rd, then back through Randwick to Queens park. We bumped into Ellie coming into the park as we were heading out :-) It was a spectacular run.... blue skies but a big storm on the horizan. Lots of hills and steps but the view more than compensates. I started feeling really heavy in the legs but after about 3km I felt great. It felt so nice to be doing 23km this mornig and we all finished with lots of energy left..... although the legs were feeling quite tired from yesterdays efforts and this mornings hills and were happy to stop. We finished off with some home made banana and date cake that Allison baked yesterday....YUM!!!! So two weeks to go.... next week the total kms drop another 18kms and we only have an hour easy run on Sunday. Haha it will be the first sunday in a while that I won't be a complete Zombie :-)

Distance: 23km
TIme: 2hr 8min
Average Pace: 5:35/km

CR 5km challenge.

Today: 12km
Week: 57km
Month: 306km
Year: 956km

It was the CR 5km challenge this morning and I was undecided about what I wanted to do. I was swinging between having an easy run or putting in some effort. I was still undecided when the first groups headed out so thought I would start with the 23min group and back off if I wanted to. I felt pretty good in my 2km warm up, but unsure if my legs felt tired from last nights effort. There was a good little group for 23mins...including our wonderful team J 6ft hero 2P! We started and I decided I would just take it out hard and try to hang on. The forst km felt too fast but my legs and breathing felt ok. At about the 2.5km mark I remembered last month it felt tougher... but today I was feeling really good. My breathing was fine and I felt like I was running with good form. I just kep telling myself to relax.... ray says it feels easier if you relax. I started to fade in the last km and the final 500m felt tough. The fasties didn't catch me until about 600m to go so that spurred me on a bit. So I finished in 22:35 which is a 38sec pb! I was sooo happy with my time and even better it felt realxed and not too uncomfortable. The other great thing was the 5km run back felt ok as well.... seemed to still have a bit left. We finished up having breakfast at Bowen Island and there was a big group of us... lots of excited running chatter~ a great start to the day :-) Bec and Bernie G ran really well this morning obviously recovering well from 6ft!! Now the big question for me is whether I should run the 10km striders next saturday. I have had various advice and feel undecided. I would really like to have a good hit out on fresher legs but am also wanting to be cautious about injury. Touch wood I am injury free and am feleing really good at the moment.... what do others think? Ray (Eagle) said it would be a good opportunity to have a good hit out and get a current 10km time and that would give me a better indication of my pace for marathon day.... food for thought. I will run this by Sean... he will probably say no~ he has me down to do a 4km cross country race. Now I will have to get ray to update my PB box.... or maby wait til next week ;-)

Splits:
4:27, 4:26, 4:31, 4:18, 4:52

Woo Hoo its Friday!!!!

Today: 10km
Week: 45km
Month: 294km
Year: 944km

Well it is my favourite time of the week... friday evening! The longest amount of time til I have to go back to work :-) I headed out today for a 10km run and decided to do a hilly loop from home and put in a bit of effort to make up for missing big bertha yesterday.... haha my hilly loop was by far the easier option :-) I felt a bit stiff to start off with but got into a nice rhythm quickly and lapped up the nice cool temp. I just love that the humidity had gone! this run felt really comfortable. I stared a bit slower and practiced winding the pace up and then maintaining a faster pace at the end of the run. At about the 5km mark it all just felt really good and again I was having fun.... which lets face it this is what it is all about! So I finished my 10km in 49:56...... averaged 5:00min pace. I am really pleased with that effort.... I was not plodding but certainly not busting a poofal valve :-) It is all just starting to feel a little easier... gotta love that!
splits:
5,40, 5:03, 5:11, 4:55, 4:53, 5:15, 4:39, 4:39, 4:50, 4:47

Yesterday I was feeling a bit edgy.... I think it was just nervous excitment! It is starting to sink in that I have to actually run this thing in two weeks **gulp** Iam feeling really confident and happy with all my training...but it is a bit daunting at the same time. As wise DJ says Keep the faith :-) Ohh stuff it forget about nerves... bring it on!!

***REST DAY***

Today I had work committments which meant I had to miss Seans group this morning and so I thought I would head out for a run tonight. Then today I looked at my program and realised if I run the CR challenge on Saturday that would put me over the km's that Sean has me down for this week. Now I already thought that the week did not really look like the start of my taper.... 3km less mid week and 7km less on Sunday~ but still total of 80km. The last 3 or 4 weeks have hovered around 95-98km mark so it is definately less. So I decided to make today a rest day! This is the first non-running day in about 6 weeks I think.... needless to say I felt a bit edgy tonight. It is a lovely night and I really felt like a run.... but there are 16 days to go and now is the time to pay attention to my program and do am I am told (first time for evrything!). I am going to be terrible to live with for the next two weeks... do others get that same edgy, figity I want to go for a run feeling??? Next week the kms drop to 60 something and much less the week prior to the race... just all easy running the week before. I have been counting down the days til taper time... now I think it will drive me crazy or crazier :-)

Thanks for all the Birthday wishes!

Raindrops keep falling on my head...

Today:14km
Week: 35km
Month: 284km
Year: 934km

It was cold and wet this morning and we were huddled under a tree at Centenial Park thinking that the doona was a much nicer option. But as we do not melt in the rain we headed off hoping it would ease up... which it did :-) It drizzeled for most of the run but it was really quite nice. We went from 17km to 14km this morning, which was also very nice :-) We ran the big outside loop of the park, moore park and then an inside loop of the park. We ran at a good pace this morning and really picked up the pace for the last two km's. It felt really nice to stride out at the end of the run. I must admit that the hot shower was much appreciated! Oh and the cup cake Allison made was very yummy! Overall 14kms cevered in 74mins~ average pace 5:16/km.

Happy Birthday to me....

Today: 10km
Week: 21km
Month: 270km
Year: 920km

Well I dragged my old bones out of bed this morning...... lamenting another year gone (cue violins). Just kidding... I love birthdays, so I bounced out of bed and headed to Centenial Park for training. On arrival I was presented with a yummy little mud cake form Deanne and Allison had baked some cupcakes with choc icing and sprinkles :-) So feeling very spoilt and aware of the yummy extra calories I decided today I would put in a good effort. It was great to see Kerry return after 12month battle with her achilles! Did the usual warm up, drills and strides and then into the reps. My program had 5 x 1200m reps and then Sean announced that he had made a mistake and meant 4... woo hoo! So we did 4 x1200m reps with an active 2 min recovery. The gilrs let me lead this one out as a birthday honour and not having any one to pace me I thought I may have gone a little quick, but I was determined to at least maintain that pace if not improve. The first 3 were going to plan but I was doubting that I could improve on this time... it was already under my best 1200m reps time. Sean said to take it slower on the first two laps and then put in a good final 400m with a good kick at the end. My first two laps were about on pace for a sub 5:25 and I as I hit the final 200m I decided to chase the person in front down. I worked really hard and managed to catch her right on the line... 5:19min! Woo Hoo! I was so happy... my previous best 1200m rep time was about 5:30. So now I am going to eat my cupcake as reward at morning tea :-)

1200m Reps:
5:35, 5:29, 5:22, 5:19

All wound up.....

Today: 11km
Week: 11km
Month: 260km
Year: 910km

Well today I spent all day in battle with the NRMA who had decided they were going to play games with me because they were all not wanting to claim responsibility for my battery catching on fire. I kept telling them I didn't care who was responsible I just wanted it towed to my mechanic. Any way a few grey hairs later and a lot of swearing my poor little jelly bean made it to the mechanic. So depsite having the day of from work and all good intentions to get my run done early I finally made it out of the door at 5pm. Needles to say I was so wound up this run was much needed. I ran this a bit too quick, but evry time my mind wandered to the car I felt frustrated and my pace picked up. Anyway I got home much more relaxed and happier (thank you running gods I hear Ray saying). My legs feel great tonight... no niggles, no soreness although I did start to fatigue at the 9km mark.

Distance: 11km
Time: 56:30
Average pace: 5:08/km

Final fling....

Today: 29km
Week: 94km
Month: 249km
Year: 899km

Woo Hoo! Final 30km out of the way.... I can not believe it! Today was a dress rehersal for M day. I had my new asics ( B'day pressent), socks, undies, tights and I-pod for M day. We headed out in the pouring rain, starting from Centenial Park, running through Randwick and out to La Peruse back via Bunnarong road and some other back streets before heading back onto Anzac Pd, through Moore Park, into Centenial Park finishing in Queens Park. We coved 29km in 2hrs 39min 30secs.... average pace 5:30/km. I was extremely happy with our pace as we felt comfortable most of the way. I was happy to finish but did not feel shattered. I have also recovered really well..... no where near as tired or achy this afternoon. So today marks the end of the tough stuff and now we gradually decrease the kms and intensity. Sean still has us working pretty hard but he said the focus is to now keep the momentum and base built~ no heroics! It is definately feeling a bit sureal.... 3 weeks today and it will all be over and we will be either celebrating or comiserating. Either way I know I have put in the hard weork so whaterver happens happens :-)

On a crappy note... my car battery expolded yesterday on the way home from shopping... smoke fire and evrything! The poor car is still sitting 2 blocks away waiting to be towed tommorow.... and await the outcome of the NRMA insepection as they only put the new battery in a two months ago. So watch this space.... I might have a new set of wheels :-)

Today: 29km
Time: 2:39:30
Average Pace: 5:30/km

7km relaxed

Today: 7km
Week: 65km
Month: 220km
Year: 870km

Headed around the bay this morning for a nice relaxed 7km. Ran with Lorraine and caught up on all the goings on. It was perfect weather again this morning.... hopefully the humdity has packed its bags :-) Nothing exciting to report this morning... except I am off to buy some new shoes for my birthday -My current ones will not quite make it to the marathon. It is my bithday on tuesday so we are having a get together tommorow so I have decided to give Smithfield a miss, so I can fit it all in. I will just use my 30km tommorow as a bit of a dress rehersal ie breakfas, clothes, socks etc.

Feels so bloody good......

Today: 11km
Week: 58km
Month: 213km
Year: 843km

Headed out this evening for my run... it was clear blue sky and really nice and cool with no humidity. I had gone to the gym first because it was closing early so was unsure how I would feel for this run. Now warning to all who are sick of reading my excited garble but today is no exception. Now if you asked me today why I run.... Easy, because it feel sooooo bloody good. I started out and was surprised how great my legs felt and how much spring I had. So I just ran with my music on and was in that zone. I suddenly became aware that I had the biggest most ridiculous smile on my face... haha the drivers would have been wondering what drugs I was on. If I could bottle how great I felt tonight I would be able to retire tommorow! So I just ran the rest of my loop visualising the marathon. Now there are 3 weeks to go on Sunday, I have one more 30km run to do and I just want to keep this momentum going. It is all starting to click and come together.... DJ had said to me a while ago that he just had to have faith in Seans program and I so know where he is coming from. For a few weeks I just felt tired all the time and could not possibly imagine how I would be able to do this massive mountain of a task I have set my self. Some one asked me today if I felt nervous.... and I could honestly say no! Excited~ definately but scared..... not yet :-) Ask me again in a few weeks haha. So from now on ( as my other beloved bloggers would say) nothin' stoopid! I have another massage in 2 weeks.... easy tiger said all was well- woo hoo! I am sooo happy I went along to see him and his magic hands :-)

Today: 11km
Time: 54:30
Average pace: 4:55/km

A long one and a battle with Wild Wally

WEDNESDAY 15TH

Today:17km
Week: 37km
Month: 202km
Year:832km

Lovely long run this morning. Very dark when we set out, with a huge moon to guide us. We again stuck to the usual run around Centenial and Queens Park. The legs felt so much better today... soreness all gone. We started out nice and slowly and gradually picked up the pace as we progressed. We finished 17km in !he 35mins average pace about 5:36/km. My throat was still really sore and a bit chesty..... hopefully this does not get any worse. Off for another massage tonight with the wonderful Easy Tiger! All the training really feels to be coming together nicely. I am feeling stonger and recovering much quicker..... also getting used to the early mornings.

THURSDAY 16th MARCH

Today:10km
Week: 47km
Month: 212km
Year: 842km

I woke up this morning still feeling snuffly and a bit chesty. We had wild wally on the program, which is basically a 700m hill rep (steep up and gradual down). We do 5 reps with about 2min active recovery. I did my usual warm up and then we ran over to the hill. We did our drills and strides. I felt really good doing the strides and felt like I had some speed in my legs.... feels sooo nice :-)

There was a big group this morning so a bit hairy on the start. My plan today was to try and really attack the uphill for all 5 reps. sean announced to evry one that I was a "ledgend" at taking time off each rep.... THANKS nothing like a bit of pressure. So we did the first one and I worked hard on the uphill hoping this would not back fire now that Sean was expecting my times to all come down :-) I was really surprised how today that hill did not feel to bad. I was able to stick with Allison for most which was great. Now my best rep on WW is 3:09... so on my third I did a 3:05 and thought I could sniff a sub 3:00. So I said to my wonderful pacer Allison thats what my plan was.... 4th rep 3:00 on the dot. Ok time to dig deep.... I came hooning down the hill too scared to look at the watch and crossed the line and D'oh 3:00 on the nose again :-) At least I am consistant!! So next time :-)

Reps: 3:20, 3:14, 3:05, 3:00, 3:00

Track

Today: 10km
Week: 20km
Month: 185km
Year: 815km

This morning my legs were still feeling tired form Sundays long run, although no where near as stiff. I arrived at the park early and did my usual warm up before the session. Even after my stretches, drills and strides the legs still felt heavy. There was a huge gorup at the session this morning even with the 6ft'ers recovering. We had 1x 1600m rep with 3 min active recovery, followed by 3 x 600m reps with 1min30 active recovery. I ran this session pretty evenly and was just conscious of how tired my legs felt. Overall felt pretty good and times were ok... not my fastest but not my slowest either. The legs actually felt really good by the end of the session. My final 600m rep they felt like they had a bit of bounce in them. The 600 m were fun as the faster group had 800m. So we all started at the same time but we were 200m in front. So we were the rabits being chased by the grey hounds- they didn't catch us which was nice ( I am sure DJ and Royworlds would not have let us get away with that caper!).

1600m - 7:30
600m - 2:44
600m - 2:42
600m - 2:36

1800-kitkat

Today: 10km
Week: 10km
Month: 185km
Year: 815km

Well I still have my throaty, husky voice better suited to a 1800 number! I woke up this morning feeling like a bus had hit me. I was sore and stiff and there was no way I was going for a run, but as the day progressed my legs loosened up and I headed out this afternoon after work. It had clouded over and there was a nice breeze... so depite it being in the 30's today it was quite pleasant to run. I had 10km on the program and decided to again practice 5:30/min pace. I plodded along listening to my music, explored a few new streets and clocke up 10km in 53:30. Surprisingly I did not feel as fragile as last weeks monday run, but my left quad was a little niggly by the time I had finished. So I will get the golf ball into it tonight and keep an eye on it. My quads are quite developed and tend to get a bit tight and stick to my ITB.... just needs to be massaged and loosened. So I finished feeling really happy... I thought this run would be really uncomfortable and was ready to pull the pin early, but overall felt pretty good.

Time:53:30
Average Pace: 5:20/km

What a weekend!!!

SATURDAY 11TH MARCH

Today: 7km
Week:63km
Month:140km
Year:770km

I met up with Kerry and deanne this morning at 6am and headed up to the Blue Mountains for the 6ft track. Ray was taking photos for the event and I wanted to cheer evryone home. We arived in plenty of time for run. Now Deanne wanted a flat run... haha no such thing. We did two loops around the lake and up a 1.5km steep hill to the road. It was spectacular running through the bush.... so we did a micro version of the track complete with big hill, creek crossing and a bridge :-) So we got back, changed and settled in for aday of cheering. Now I will not bore you with all the minute details but lets just say I have no voice this morning. There were so many inspirational runs and I found it very exciting and motivating to watch.

My highlights:
* Emma Murray coming outright 3rd, 1st female home, taking another 7mins off the record (over 31 minutes in total)- finished looking fantastic and very strong.
* Suzanne Kelly (another Supermum)- 2nd female, first strider female- broke her age group record by 7 mins.
* Dave Criniti finishing in an awesome time after spending many months in a leg brace and being told he would probably never run.
* Mark Russel taking over 40 mins off his previous time finishing in 4:13 (??) Looking very strong and as always humble. This is a fantastic effort from someone who has put in the hard work and now has achieved an awesome goal.
* The very tough and hardworking scott (2p) who almost did not make the startline... and finished running and looking strong.... what an effort.
* Ewan the little pocket rocket debuting on the track with an awesome 4:40 (??)
* Rebecca Deane (Supermum) who has managed to work, look after her son and hubbie, battle with motivation finished looking strong, beautiful AND smiling! Bec is one of the most determined people I know.
* The beautiful Miss Bernie who has put in %100 effort and finished sub six and half hours...blood and all to prove how tough she is!
* Russel (Professor) crossing the line achieving his goals and smiling like a cheshire cat!
* All the females finished looking really strong and ran really well!
* spending the day with a bunch of awesome people and loosing my voice in all the excitment.

Now am I tempted.... YES!!

SUNDAY 12TH MARCH

Today: 35km
Week: 98km
Month:175km
Year:805km
This morning is 4 weeks to go!!! I can not believe it... how fast the past 6months have gone!
This morning we all met at Queens park, with the idea that we would try and do the majority of the run on grass... much less brutal on the legs! We tried to maintian 6min pace and just take it easy as it was going to get really hot. We did a really big loop right around the outside of the park, up along the football staduim and then down into Queens Park. We did three big laps of Queens park which took us to 14 kms. The outside loop of the park is 7km so we decided we would do three loops and finish back at the car. Todays run was also good practice race day as Canberra is a three loop course. It was pretty much smooth running this morning, although the last 7km was really hot and I started to struggle... felt very thirsty and my shoes felt a kg heavier with all the sweat! We had bumped into Steve along the way and it was really great to have someone running with us with fresh legs and a bit more spark than the rest of us. So 3 hrs 25mins later we finished out first 35km run... my longest ever, off the biggest training week ever! The brilliant news is I felt I could have run another 7km!!! I felt really tired but could have kept running. So in my head I know I can do the distance.... now it will just be how fast (or slow!). I am so happy... I was a little nervous about this run! I was dreading getting to 35km and think there is no way I could keep going. Now I feel very pooped and the legs are feeling sorry for themselves. One more tough week to go! Next Sunday I am going to use it as a dress rehersal for race day. The the mid week and sunday run all decrease in kms... woo hoo! Sean still has us working pretty hard but the legs are looking forward to less km's. I will be using all the inspirational runs from yesterday for the final hit of motivation for the home stretch.

Today: 35km
Time: 3hrs 25mins
Average pace: 5:55/km

Easy Eight

Today:8km
Week: 56km
Month: 133km
Year: 763km

I had an easy run on the program... which suited me! I could not face an early rise this morning... my throat was still sore and achy all over. By this afternoon I felt heaps better and headed out for a run at about 5:30pm. Still a bit warm but some cloud came over and kept the sun away. I decided to practice 5:30min pace. I find it really hard to judge my speed... but did not do too badly today. I ran with out my i-pod as my headphones died.... boo hoo! I did not feel as tight in the hip flexors today which was good..... all that stretching is working. Nothing exciting to report... I just enjoyed my run :-) Overall I averaged 5:20min/pace- so I was close but this felt nice and relaxed. I am looking forward to my run tomorrow at the finish of 6ft.... while we wait for them to all arrive. Then Sunday is my 35km run **gulp**

Time: 42:40
Distance: 8km
Average Pace: 5:20/km

Hills

Today: 10km
Week: 48km
Month: 125km
Year: 755km

I felt like crap this morning- sore throat, upset tummy and tired. Dragged myself out of bed because I wanted to see Ewn and Mark before the big race. I got to the park and did my warm up and while waiting for the others to arrive I was stretching and thought "I will just close my eyes for a minute".... I could have gone to sleep on my feet. I was feeling worried about doing big bertha... I seriously doubted that I could do the 10 laps- as demonstrated by my sighing. Allison and I decided we would just do it slowly. So with that in mind we set off... my plan to just keep Allison in front. We went through the first lap in 2:09 which was not slow for me.... but felt ok so thought I would just keep going and see what happens. This was a tough session.... felt really crapy and like a mack truck- both on the ups and downs. Then at about the 7th lap Allison stopped because of her sore ankle and I SOOOOO wanted to stop, but with Sean, Ewan and Mark standing there and no good excuse I just kept plodding. I kept looking at my watch and thought " great not only am I running crap I have stuffed up my watch"... then I was pleasantly surprised when Sean yelled the same split too me and said I was on pace for a pb for big bertha. Then the last lap I just dug in and finished in 22:22.... just under 30 secs quicker than my best time in bertha! I was over the moon... and happy to have made the effort to get out of bed. Mark and Ewan were very relaxed... cruising up and down the hill chatting away.... ohhh to be that fit :-)

Good Luck to all the 6ft'ers! Enjoy the race and run safely... we want you back in one peice.

Splits: 2:09, 2:20, 2:14, 2:16, 2:15, 2:18, 2:13, 2:16, 2:14, 2:04

Wednesday long run and a long mushy post to boot!!

Today: 17.5km
Week: 38km
Month: 115km
Year: 745km

This morning was another ealy 4:30am rise to meet the girls at Centenial Park for 17kms. It was very dark and nice and cool. Again it took me a while to warm up... especially after yesterdays massage. We just did a really big loop of the park/football stadium, about 3 laps of queens park and then into the par for the last 5km or so. It was soooo nice to mostly grass running and the legs were thankful. We maintained 5:30min/ pace for the run ( a few quicker and a few slower) and it felt really comfortable. Scary how easily you get used to the distance... yes we did just get up ridiculously early to run 17kms- are we MAD??? So the skins are on under the jeans and I tonight will be lots of stretching!! Tommorow is hills ** groans ** my legs do not really feel like doing big bertha.... maby I will take it easy with the 6ft'ers :-)

Now Wobbly asked me about my weight loss and what was the turning point. Basically I was 23years old. 110kg and could not walk up the stairs at work without gasping for air- and used food to cope with stress. I just made a decision that I either lost weight or Ray had better learn how to look after someone with diabetes, stroke, heart trouble etc! I also overheard some not so flattering comments about my size and was mortified that other people saw me as obese. So I just cut out the junk food and started to swim laps. I did not weigh myself for 2 months... just changed a few habits. Then after 8 weeks I needed to buy as size smaller... got on the scales and had lost 11kgs! I was shocked because I had not had any success previously and suddenly it seemed achievable and I WANTED it! I then joined the gym and the rest is history. It was easy to stay motivated because the weight just kept coming off which was really self motivating. I think that I had just made my own decision to loose weight and decided I was worth the effort. The other key ingredient to success was the never ending, never failing wonderful support from my awesome husband!! He just cheered me on evry step of the way. He was there when I wanted chocolate sooo badly, he was there when I felt self conscious by all the sudden focus on my body, he was there to just keep me normal and for that I am eternally grateful and will never forget the endless support he gives me. ** God that got a bit mushy** So Wobbly the answer to that question was I just decided I wanted to live and suck evry drop out of life... we only have one. As you all know my mum has LOTS of problems and I also appreciate how lucky I am to be well physically and mentally..... (depending on the day of the week, weather, mood. time of the month and how many bloody km's I have run!)
So my mantra is now "NEVER AGAIN!!!" and I just look back at that point as a time in my life where I shed my coocon and set free the butterfly! It was also the poin in my life where I started running.... and have not stopped :-) I have met sooo many wonderful people and love the support, heckling, good humor and friendships that have resulted!!

As promised over lunch on the weekend a before and after of Katie the amazing shrinking woman!
Now I told you I knew her pass word.
Have fun and yes for the last time this is the same person.
Raymond.

Track

Today: 10km
Week: 21km
Month: 98km
Year: 728km

I can highly recommend Ice cream as 'fuel' for your next run... it was Vanilla by the way! I was still feeling stiff and as wobbly so nicely described it "dead legged". I headed out the door with the stars shining and got to the park and it was still black. I did my 3km warm up and it felt really nice and cool. Thankfully by the end of the 3km I was feeling a lot less stiff and sore and did a good stretch before the session. I had 2x 1600m reps with a 3min active recovery and then a 1000m rep. It was a smaller group today.... but the usual suspects were there all looking fit and rearing to go for 6ft! Mental note to self- do not stir up the 6ft'ers who are only doing 2 reps and will then have time to heckle from the side line :-) Although good mental training..... tune out that evil DJ :-) There was not a lot of oomph in my drills and strides and thought I will just take the reps easy. Steve was looking very fit and strong today.... even his strides/drills were great! Once we got started I felt suprisingly ok and decided to try and hang onto Allison and Gill. We got into a good rhythm and I was able to keep them not too far in front- although Allison did hurt her ankle on the weekend. I found the 1000m tough ... needed to dig in to maintain my pace. The last 200ms I really wanted to stop... had my ugly run face on and just pumped the arms determined to get under 4:30min. Looking at my times from last month I have taken 30 secs off my 1600m reps... so very happy with that! Now off for my massage.... BLISS!

1600m- 7:38 (1km split 4:42)
1600m- 7:17 (1km split 4:35)
1000m- 4:25

"Running on the smell of an oily rag...."

Today: 11km
Week:11km
Month: 88km
Year: 718km

You know how the saying goes.... "it runs on the smell of an oily rag". When I put my shoes on and turned on the engine and my energy level did not even move off the red line. It took me about 4kms before I felt warmed up and felt ready to run. All my muscles were letting me know I had put in a big weekend of running... I needed some of DJ's bubble wrap! Anyway once I warmed up I just plodded along listening to the music. I just kept exploring the local streets and did not venture too far... the plan was to pull the plug if I felt too tired. So I finished my 1 hour with out too much excitment and am happy to report I have refuelled and am about to relax on the bed with some ice cream! I was pretty happy with todays run.... apart from taking a while to warm up I felt relaxed and enjoyed just being outside doing what I love. I am sooooo looking forward to my massage tommorow.... I have a list of spots for him to attack :-)

Today: 11km
Time: 59:30
Average Pace: 5:25/km

A city with hang over and legs to match.

Today: 29km
Week: 93km
Month: 77km
Year: 707km

Well Sydney awoke with a hang over this morning.... aka Mardigras- and I awoke with legs to match. We headed straight up the Freeway to Newcastle yesterday for my Aunt's 50th birthday. In my committment to doing my long run and luch with some fellow mad runners we also did the drive home and I crawled into bed at 1am this morning. So the alarm and I were not friends this morning when it woke me at 5am! So I headed to Vaucluse for what turned out to be a spectacular run! We did 29km in 2hrs 55min and finished feeling pooped but ok. The views from the Gap and along the cliffs were beautiful! I wish I had a tiny camera!!

Unfortunately this week I have done a lot more km's on the road and this morning my legs felt it. Not sore.... just sick of being pounded into the cement! The few little patchs of grass were bliss! So this week I am in search for GRASS... nice soft spongy grass! Sp apart form achy glutes I felt good this morning! Surprisingly the hills were not too much of a struggle and I was not feeling the effects of yesterday or the late night! I was very happy though to collapse in bed for my nana nap before lunch! So this week is week 2 of my 4 tough weeks.... only 2 to go! So the next two weeks are lots of kms and two 34km runs before starting to decrease my kms for the big day! I am sooo excited.... only 2 more tough weeks to go! Can you smell it... I can :-)

Striders Homebush 10km

Today:14km
Week: 64km
Month: 48km
Year: 678km

I woke up this morning and was feeling really nervous about todays run..... Despite my plans from yesterday to ignore my nerves. Once I started chatting with evryone I settled down and felt better. I did a 2km warm up with Kulinda and felt pretty good- unusuall as I usually feel crap in my warm up. Gutes and quads were not feeling as tight. There was a big crowd this morning and the first few 500m are around the car park and onto a narrow path...so it was a bit hairy. After the first km I got into a nice rhythm and felt really comfortable. I ignored the 50min pacer who was doing 4:30 pace.... confident I would catch them later. Got to 5km in 23:45 and felt pretty good- but doubtful I could maintian the pace. The good thing I like about this course is it easy for me to break into chunks and just concentrate on each little bit. I was trying to keep my form nice and relaxed and maintina my pace. At the 8km mar heading into the second loop around the gravely common I really lost my concentration. I felt all over the place and had to really pull myself together to just keep going for 1 more km. I started to feel tired but practiced Eagles advice to relax and pick it up for 6 steps and try to keep the momentum. The little short sharp turn back onto the bridge took a bit of oomph out of me and I dug deep to try and sprint home the last 400ms. Anyway crossed the lin 48:41... a 8 sec PB.

I really enjoyed todays run. I felt I was pretty consistant- although there were a few yuck patches. I also finished feeling pretty good and felt like I had recovered quickly- after initiall sucking in big ones! Certainly not wrecked. I am having a great time at the moment running. there was a few times through out the race where it all just clicked and felt fantastic... now Ijust have to string 42 more of those together.

There was some great running this morning... Royworlds and DJ were looking fit and fast. JD is also looking really fit and I can not wait to see him blitz Canberra- a fine example of quitely working away putting in the hard yards! Mohammed had a great run.. 37:15 with a vomit stop!!

Splits:
1 4:37 4:37
2 4:49 9:26
3 4:49 14:15
4 4:26 18:48
5 4:52 23:36
6 4:42 28:19
7 4:51 33:10
8 4:54 38:04
9 4:41 42:46
10 5:00 47:46
57 sec 48:41

5km relaxed... but badly paced :-)

Today:5km
Week: 50km
Month:34km
Year:664km

I had 30 mins easy on my program... meaning 5km at 6min pace. I headed out on a 5km loop from home which is nice and flat. I started out at what I thought was definately 6min pace and tried to just maintain that for the rest of the run. It was actually really hard- my speed kept creeping up and so I would consciously back off. I got sick of that after about 10mins so decided to just finish my run at what felt like a relaxed effort. I ran 5km in just over 26mins- which was 5:15 pace- d'oh! I promise this did not feel hard, I was even singing along to my i-pod- yes I know looking like a crazy woman (blending in beautifully in my area though!).... in fact I was smugly congratulating myself on running what I thought was just under 6mins pace. I am definately feeling all this training is coming together. Now I just have to keep relaxed in races... rather than freak out and run like crap :-) So tommorow when I wake up and tell myself I feel tired and sluggish I am going to tell my brain I am one step ahead and know what it is up too!

BIG weekend planned.... between running and socialising I will need the rest of next week off work to recover!!

Today: 5km, 26:15 (5:21, 5:14,5:16,5:07,5:16)

When fartlek is not fartlek...

Today: 13km
Week: 45km
Month: 29km
Year: 659km

This morning was fartlek around the park. I decided to just run this at a consistant pace rather than surge and float... just do it at a fairly comfortable pace. It was nice and cool and a good group turned up. The boys were looking fresh... ready for 6ft! I did my usual 3km warm up and then we covered about 10km in 54mins. I averaged about 5:20 pace for the run... a few kms quicker and a few slower. I felt really good, nice and relaxed and enjoyed this run. It was nice to just cruise around the park.... with regular fly bys when the quicker guys surged. So another week almost over.... the weeks are flying by! We will be lining up for the start in a blink of an eye :-) So another easier run tommorow then Striders on Saturday. I am really looking forward to cheering evryone home in a week at 6ft :-)
I

Pinch and a punch...

Today: 16km
Week: 32km
Month: 16km
Year: 646km

I can not believe it is March already... where is the year going??? I met up with Gill nice and early 5:30am. We did a lovely 16km run around Centenial Park and Queens Park. We chatted the whole way.... solved the problems of the world and probably woke a few people up :-) We kept a nice even pace, hovering around 5:30 pace the whole run. It took a few km to warm up, but before I knew it we had clocked up 16km and called it a morning. My glutes felt a bit achy this morning... need to roll on the ball. I plan to take the rest of my runs nice and easy... prepare for striders 10km

Time: 1hr 30mins
Distance: 16.5km
Average: 5:30min/km