A running free weekend.

Yesterday I headed to the gym and did 'a long run' on the spin bike. It was basically two spin classes back to back, which amounted to a 90min tough work out. I can recommend toanyone if you are not able to run and you get the thumbs up to ride, spin is the next best thing. This is my first running free weekend in a while so I avoided the urge to go to Scarborough park to watch all the sweat troop and striders race the novice cross country. Instead we went into the city and had a hot chocolate at the Lindt cafe and then walked through the Domain and right around through the botanical Gardens to the opera house. It was a perfect afternoona nd the hot choc was to die for!!! This morning Pillates is on the agenda followed by a nice lunch with the awesome foursome.... not the rowers just us marathon girls :-) A bit of a celebratory lunch.... and maby some running talk, so not totally running free ;-)

The award goes to....

Because I have nothing else exciting to blog I am awarding my previous post as "the blog with the most typos". I counted 7....... there could be more? Can any one beat that? I stop running for three days and it all goes down hill! Now Gronk asked how do you stretch nerves.... with difficulty. I am doing two- one is too hard to describe, but the other involves sitting on the edge of a chair, slumping your back raising one leg and then lowering your head. When your head is lowered you can reproduce the nerve pain. When you lift your head it goes away. So you basically do that 10 times. It all sounds weird to me, maby it is something to do to make me feel better for having to spend $70. No he is a really great physio with a rehab focus.... so I trust him. Hey he's fixed me before :-) and got my glutes strong enough to run a marathon!

Nothing else to report, just keeping sane on the spin bike. In all seriousness a spin class is as close as you can get to the buzz of running and certainly gives you a good cardio.

Flakey... we will see about the half! I might hold you to the "I'm with stupid shirt" :-)

Good News

I saw the physio yesterday because my ight leg was still really sore and was affecting my walking. He put me through my paces and checked all my muscles/joints. Verdict: no damage to any muscle or joints, NOT my ITB, simply it is nerve pain. I have had this problem lots of times before, but usually I get a dead spot in my heal and pins and needles. It is easily fixed with nerve stretches. This time the sore spots are in my hamstring, behind my knee and the outer bit of the calf where the nerve runs through. It feels heaps better today after doing the nevrve stretches.... so all is good. ALl it needs is some time off running and stretching. Woo Hoo!!! He gave me thumbs up to do any cross training... so I can do the spin bike yeah! That will keep me sane :-) So I have instreuctions for 8 days of no running and then I can see how I go. As I said.... WOO HOO! I am so happy as this is not too hard to fix and the rest will do he world of good. S if I keep the spinning up my fitness will be fine and I will be unstopable ( sort of hehe). Theonly thing is I would say I will be giving the half a miss.... might be a bit stupid to run a half on not much training.... but sillier things have been known to happen!

Benched.....

Today: 8km
Week:8km
Month: 156km
Year: 1164km

I went to training this morning and continuing in my wusiness had my long skins on and a jumper to initially warm up. The leg felt good after my initial warm up so decided to continue with the session. I had two 1200m reps onm my program and decided to not push very hard given how my leg has felt. My energy level felt back to normal and am itching to run and get right back into training. .... which is great all I need now is to get this leg feeling 100%. Unfortunately by the end of the 2nd rep it was tight and uncomfortable. It was not painful, but definately not right. On a plus side I could pin point it a bit better..... it is feeling really tight behind the knee where the hamstring and calf attach to the knee. The calf and hamstring have both been feeling really tight so it makes sense. So more rest for me, more stretching and I will try and book in to see Easy Tiger again. I think I will have to stop being a baby and get into the pool!!! I am going to ask the physios at work if it is ok to ride the bike or if that is just adding to the problem. Any way, no dramas a few more days of rest from running and I will see how it is at the end of the week. I can tell you I will be soooo ready to get back into it once this sorts itself out. I am resisting running off to the physio... trying the rest option first as it starts to cost an absolute fortune paying $70 a pop! So stay tuned.....

1200m: 5:48, 5:38

Brrr.... turn on the heat!

Back to work today.... Boo Hoo. On the bright side it is a short week :-) The plan was to swim today.... but I have obviously gone soft while recovering because I could not bring myself to go in this cold. The pool is heated, but outdoor so in winter it takes a hardy soul to get in. Now I know it is still Autum but as I said I have gone soft! So I headed to the gym and did my weights and then a spin class. The leg is feeling fine so I will give it a test tommorow and if I get pain I will stop.

Anzac day tommorow..... time to stop and reflect on the sacrafices made by the diggers. No one in my family went to war thankfully, but I have a real spot in my heart for those who did. Sometimes the Anzacs seem to be portrayed as fearless and have a ledgend status..... but I always think how absolutely shit scared those young men would have been. I have lots of veterans as clients through work and the they have endured a life mared by the taumas they experienced on the front. Whatever side I think violence and war is abhorrent and it is these young guys (on all sides) and their families who suffer the consequences. So tomorrow we should all stop and remember at least for a minute.

A contented Kitty Kat.

They say change is as good as a holiday... and I have to agree. In the lead up to the marathon I stopped going to the gym, stopped spin classes, stoped the pilates and swimming. Partly I just did not have the energy to maintain 90+ kms a week but also I was so focused on that one goal I just cut the rest out to avoid any distractions or problems in the lead up. So last week I started to get back into the gym and classes and have been loving it. Yesterday I did a boxing class and for any competitive Arians out there I highly recommend it. It (along with spin classes) come a close second to the buzz of running..... nothing like feeling like a strong, kick ass woman! Today was a little more gentle.... Pillates. BUT I had forgotten how much burn such small movements can cause haha I will be sore in the abs tommorow that is for sure. So like a kid in a candy shop I have too much to chose from.... hmm a swim, a spin class, boxing??? My legs are feeling great today..... I have no pain or discomfort so had to really resist the urge to go for a run. It was such a perfect autum morning and would have been spectacular to just get out there.... but I remember a so called sensible Kit saying I would not run for a few days to try and avoid my niggles turning into a bigger problem. It is a great feeling at the moment.... I feel really content after the Canberra. It was such a great feeling to achieve my goal and to be more than 100% happy with the result and my effort. I feel like the self doubt has lessened a little. I am not thinking maby I can acheive things.... I know I can. So with a sping in my step I am looking forward to Autum and Winter and getting back into some consistant training and knocking off a few more goals. So tommorow is a no run day, but if I am feeling good I will go to training on Tuesday and see how the legs feel.

Ypu ordered swimming, with a side order of bludging :-)

Today:7km
Week: 37km
Month: 148km
Year: 1156km

Met up with Ali this morning and went for a run around the bay. It was really cool and clear and a spectacular morning. I was feeling really good, energy levels returning BUT unfortunately again towards the 6km mark my right leg felt really tight and around my knee started to hurt. Now it is certainly not pain that would stop me running but having learnt the hard way any pain is usually telling you something is not quite right. At first I thought it was the ITB, but it feels sore lower where the muscle on the shin and outer calf joins the knee. I saw Easy Tiger yesterday who gave the leg a good working over and said that my quad, ITB and shin had been quite tight. I can dig around the ITB and there is no discomfort and when he was massaging yesterday there was not any pain or discomfort in the ITB, but it was sore where the shin/outer calf joins the knee. Any way no big deal, sounds like a good reason to extend my current bludger status and have a week of no running and let it all settle down. I have learnt the hard way that running with pain only leads to more pain and eventually a large amount of time off. So a week of swanning around sounds better than months of no running and nursing an injury. Now being the endorphin junkie that I am I will don the cap and goggles and jump in the pool..... unfortunaltely I need to swim harder to get the same joy as running :-) The interesting thing is I have been doing spin classes on the bike at the gym with no discomfort at all (except the sky rocketing heart rate and loads of sweat) which also makes me think it is not the ITB.... the bike used to upset it last time. What do all you bike riders out there think.... does the bike use different muscles to running and therefore is a good cross training thing to do when sore form running?

So we will see what some down time from running and lots of stretching achieves and I will go for a run on Friday to see how it all feels..... I really would like to do the 4km cross country next week, but only if it all feels ok. It is a good time to take a rest and gear up for a great winter.... lots of good races coming up thats for sure!!! I am off to watch the cross country this afternnon.... lots of good runners having a go.... should make for a good race. I love watching these fast guys race, very impressive!

Wild Wally

Today: 9km
Week:30km
Month: 141km
Year: 1149km

Perfect morning for a run this morning! Arrived at the park and did my warm up and then we headed over to Wild Wally. We did our usual strides and drills and then into the hill. We only had two reps on the program, while the rest had five. We are starting to feel like bludgers :-) This morning I definately felt more energetic, but was happy to stop after two. I did a 3:17 and 3:10.... which was not too shabby as my best time on Wild Wally before the marathon was 3:00. So give me a few more weeks and sub 3mins here I come. It was so nice to have Bernie back with us.... it is getting a really big group which is fun! So Alison and I just ran slowly around the park while the rest finished there reps. Ali ran really well today.... lots of speed in those legs, her last rep was 2:44!!! I have some stiffness and soreness in my right leg, can't quite pin point where it is. It feels like the whole outside part of the leg is tight~ glute, itb, hamstring and calf.... so off to see Easy Tiger tommorow. So I might go for a swim to play it safe. I guess it was too much to expect to come off totally unscathed :-)

Nice and early...

Today: 7km
Week: 21km
Month: 132km
Year: 1140km

Nothing really exciting to report, I met up at 6am at Centenial park with Ali, Dave and Deanne..... which is a bit crazy seeing I am on holidays and do not need to get up early haha but I can crawl back into bed :-) Dave and ALi had 90mins on the program but we were only wanting about 35mins. So we did an outside loop (inside)of the park and got back to the car in 37mins. We covered about 7kms. It was a beautiful morning and well worth the early rise. I didn't feel as pooped today and could have kept going for longer..... but sensible kit reminded me of my program. Hopefully next week I will have my zing for a bit longer than 40mins :-)

Today: 7km
Average Pace: 5:20/km

Breeding like rabbits!!!

Today: 7km
Week: 14km
Month: 125km
Year: 1133km

Breeding like rabits...... not me, the speedies at training! You go away for one week and bang there is a heap more speedsters in the squad, and I am not just talking your run of the mill fast I am talking training for decatholons and 10000m state champs :-) :-) :-) Don Juan and Roysworld can obviously not be trusted for 1 week ;-) Seriously it was great to see some new faces at training... definately keep us honest! Great to see the lovely Ellie and WildThing there.... hopefully they will keep coming~ go the girls!
I arrived at the park a little early to do my 2.6km warm up and stretches. This morning we had windsprints.... which were not as I had pictured, but I have a childish mind. We had to run 400m laps sprinting the straights and floating the corner. The straights are meant to be a bit quicker than your 5km race pace and the floats a bit slower. Usual drills and strides and straight into it. Thankfully us marathoners ( I like that) had only 6 laps (2.4km) to do and we were instructed to take it easy. We did the first lap in 1:50 and Sean said NO we had to stay above 2mins.... No Problemos! So Allison and I got to chat around the 2.4km while the others were working hard. It is great to see that Setve has improved heaps and was nipping at some heals this morning! So overall a great morning... I was glad to be back with the guys having a laugh.

splits: 1.51, 2.00, 1.59, 2.01, 2.01, 1.56
2.4km widsprints: 11:51

More recovery....

Today: 7km
Week: 7km
Month: 118km
Year: 1126km

Met up with Ali this morning and did an easy loop of the bay. It was really quiet around the bay this morning, hardly any walkers to get in the way. As Ali is training for GC marathon I was able to bore her the whole way around with marathon talk. Its sooo nice to talk to people who don't glaze over after a minute of running talk..... we are so boring :-) I managed to clock up 7km in about 37:30.... and lots of chatting so we were not working too hard ;-) (although I could probably talk under wet cement!). The legs are feeling really good.... all sign of soreness completely gone..... not a lot of ooomph though. Hopefully that will come back soon.... I was getting used to that nice fit feeling :-)

EDIT: This evening I became very bored and Ray suggested I take out my very neglected bike for a spin. So I dusted it off (literally) and headed out along the m-5 bike path. I forgot the Garmin works for bikes and have no idea how far I rode but I was out for about 50mins checking out the area. Apart from the very uncomfortable seat it was quite fun. I think it would be VERY hot in summer but really nice this afternoon. 2P you would be happy to know she is RED.... quite old but still red. Rays dad loves bikes and put it together for me a few years ago from other old bikes..... so its pretty cool I think. I also spied out some new spots to run :-) All good!

A few photos!

"The Girls" Allison, Katie, Gil and Kulinda. We all trained together with Sean

Allison and I.....where is my cupcake!!!

Woo Hoo!!

Kulinda... looking very good!

At 10km
















Waving at my fans ;-)




















Nearly finished.... Thank God!!!

Fuelled by Easter Eggs!!!

Today: 6km
Week: 25km
Month: 111km
Year: 1119km

After a few too many little easter eggs last night I was happy to get out for a run this morning. I think the " I can eat that I ran a marathon" excuse is just about worn out!!! Now I might be biased but Sydney certainly knows how to put on a perfect Autum morning. I arrived at Centenial park about 7:30am and the sky was blue, it was very cool and all the birds were going crazy. I decided to run in the opposite direction to Sean and the greayhounds so I could give them a wave as they whizzed by. Sean yelled at me to take it easy and they were off. I felt great this morning..... there is really nothing quite like a run in the warm sun around the park. Now I will admit to running with my marathon playlist and yes smiled my way atround the park. I am not sure how long I can drag this out but damm it is a good feeling..... so I am making hay while the sun shines :-) I ran for 6km this morning and enjoyed evry minute.... the grass is much more forgiving on the feet! I could feel a bit more energy in the legs this morning and probably ran faster than Sean had intended.... but I was relaxed! I could feel the heart rate was lower this morning even though I was going a bit quicker.... all good.

Today:6km
Time: 30:40
Average Pace: 5:07/km

Plod around the bay.

Today: 5km
Week: 19km
Month: 105km
Year: 1113km

I headed to the bay this morning and did a nice easy 30mins. It was sooo windy around the bay and cold... but I am not complaining. I ran with out my garmin this morning and enjoyed just being out and about on a perfect morning. I made sure I ran really slowly this morning.... aiming to keep the heart rate really nice and realxed. I caught up with Steve this morning who is still grinning from his 3:12 debut marathon! I am looking forward to going back to training next week, hehe and still having a good excuse to take it easy! Ohh and Tess..... still smiling :-)

Good Friday

Today: 6km
Week: 14km
Month: 100km
Year: 1113km

Nothing exciting to report.... nice easy 6kms this morning. Feeling better as each day passes although not up to much more than 30mins. Covered 6km in 31:30, averaged about 5:12/km pace. There was a sneaky sub 5 min km.....ooops! My program has me doing another week of easy runs... woo hoo! I have entered for the Sydney Half and would love to give the PB a shake...... good to have something post marathon to aim for.

Have a happy and safe Easter weekend!

Keep Moving....

Today: 4km
Week: 8km
Month: 94km
Year: 1107km

Another nice easy 4km this morning. The plan is for this week and next week all my runs are to be at a realaxed pace to allow my body to recover. Sean said to play it by ear and let my body dictate how it was feeling. It was nice and cool this morning and the cockatoos were going crazy! I had a few little niggles in my feet this morning but other than that so far so good. Again today I was happy to be only running 4kms. I was feeling great and then at 4kms I felt tired~ finished off with a nice walk and stretch. Now in the spirit of spending time with my mum this week I have agreed to take her to the Easter show today **gulp** so for someone who does not like crowds it could be an interesting day :-) A few people asked if Sean was happy with our results.... he was ecstatic also! It felt nice to think we had made hime a little proud :-)

Still smiling!

Today: 4km
Week: 4km
Month: 90km
Year: 1103km

I am still on the biggest high! I have re-run the marathon about a million times in my head and each time I can not help but grin. Happy to report that today I felt back to normal. I had my lovely massage today from Easy Tiger (nothing like winning a bet!) and he gave me the thumbs up.... muscles all good :-) I managed a short hobble on monday and a nice easy walk yesterday. Today I headed out for a nice leisurely 4kms. Started off very gingerly a bit scared of what I might feel.... Hello they still work! Woo Hoo! So I plodded around the neighbourhood and stumbled upon a huge patch of grass with some ups and downs and rough patchs.... perfect cross country practice. I just stuck to the grass mostly to give the feet a rest and then lots of stretching. Felt nice to have a little run.... but happy it was only 20mins. I also was not as slow as I thought.... bonus :-)

On the funny side I had a job interview today, which I think went well. I am usually really nervous but thanks to my Marathon high I was so relaxed and confident! I kept wanting to answer all questions with " well I ran a marathon on Sunday"..... somehow maby not what they were wanting, so stuck with work related answers. SO fingers crossed!

Today: 4km
Time: 21:20
Average Pace: 5:20/km

We hunted in a pack........

*** VERY LONG POST ALERT***

Where to begin.......

We arrived in Canberra on Saturday lunch time and checked into our accommodation, which was really nice and very close to the start- so far so good. I did not think about the set of internal stairs at the time... haha I certainly did later on. After a big lunch of pancakes we headed to the 10km race to cheer all the other CR's and Striders doing the 5km and 10km run. We had heaps of fun and I have never felt so nervous in my life. Not bad nerves, just pure heart beating fast, butterflies in the tummy, bring it on nerves!

Now the next little hiccup I have no idea what happened??? As we were walking home I felt a funny twinge in my left lower leg. By the time I got home it was quite painful and there was a big lump on the front of my shin. Walking up the stairs was quite painful and needless to say I was " what the hell is this???". I have had minimal problems in the lead up so had no idea why suddenly my leg was painful. Anyway we went to the MTG pasta party dinner... still sore. I had a hot a shower and Ray gave it a massage, put me to bed and said it would be fine in the morning. Nothing else I could do, so said a little prayer and went to sleep.

The alarm went off and I got up out of bed. Excitment and nerves now in overdrive!!! Left leg still felt a bit weird but a million times better than last night and there was NO way that was getting in the way. So I ate, dressed, body glided, wired up the i-pod and headed off to the start. Now as soon as the music started I felt calm and ready to go. Very nervous and excited... but ok! I kept my music on and talked to a few people but I wanted to keep as calm as possible. Suddenly it was 6:55 and we were lining up. HOLY SHIT.... this is it!!!
Myself, Allison, Gil and Kulinda had a goal of 3:55. We had written down splits for 3:52 and had an agreement we would run together for as long as we could and then whatever happened happend. Running with the girls was an unbelievable experience. We hardly spoke, but worked together as a team. I can only describe it as we hunted in a pack. We stuck together right up until the 36km mark. I will not forget this experience with them for a long time.

So the gun went off and I let out an obligatory "WOO HOO here we go" and we were off. Now it took me about 5km to get the butterflies and excitment to settle down and then we were in a great rhythm. We ran side by side for most of the way and in the first 10km I was soaking up the atmosphere. The hot air balloons were amazing and running around parliment was a real buzz. Now by about 10km two things were happening. Firstly we were ahead of out times by about 3 mins- Allison and I had a quick chat and decided we felt very relaxed and it was worth the risk. So we decided to just try and maintian our pace. Secondly I had pain in my left foot and glute. Now I was prepared for pain in the marathon and had worked out a mental strategy.... I just did not think I would need it at 10km. I did not panic just reminded myself that I have worked really hard to hurt this much so suck it up. It was not interfering with my running style so decided I would make friends with it and then just keep an eye on it. I crosse my fingers and hoped it would not get any worse.

At about the 10km mark we were turning around at Bowen Park and were getting heaps of cheers from the cheer squad and my family! It was sooo nice knowing they were there... something to look forward to. We headed out over the bridge and out towards Black Mountain. Now this is the section I was told was sooo awful and horrible and I can't tell you what I was expecting to find. Instead it was a nice stretch of road with heaps of support cheering us along. The best bit was we got to see evry one coming back the other way. So I was waving and calling out... having a ball. At about 15 km I had a really painful stab in my left knee and glute... then it just stayed at a constant bearable pain for the rest of the run... which became really easy to ignore as all the rest of me got sorer :-)

We crossed the half marathon point at 1:52, still 3 mins ahead of schedule and we were all running strongly and feeling relaxed. My music was great, although a bit loud- the girls could hear it just as clearly as I could!! I made sure I drank at every opportunity and was having my gu's as planned. As we were heading over the brindge back towards Bowen Park I thought "shit thats a long way and we have to do it again". It was a real buzz running past Mum, Bec and Ray.... who were sreaming like Crazy people!!! The CR cheer squad gave us a cheer and we were heading back out again!

Now I had written down a few things for me to read when things got tough.... but I did not need to get it out once. I felt really realxed the whole way and found it hard to stop smiling. I had a brief "oh my god the winners are finished and we are still going" moment but pushed it out of my mind quickly. We got to 30km and we were still together and still running strongly side by side. We all took turns going out in front a little to make sure we were keeping to the pace.... Sean would have been proud ("work together girls").

Now as we passed the 32km mark I got quite excited. This is it.... this is where the race begins. Call me a sadist, but I was looking forward to seeing what I was made of. How would I handle the distance, when would the gremlins get me, was the training enough, would we hit the wall, did we go out too fast???? I was just excited to see how this would unfold. I gave my self a little talking to .... along the lines of "This is what all that training was for, no crap, just keep running, you can't do this again next week, be the best you can be (thanks 2P)". I also thought about what Mark had said to me that it was at this point Seans training would kick in and as people started to fade and fall apart we would be ok. It was a strange feeling to be running and feeling good, when others were falling apart around you. We reeled in sooo many people in the last 10kms! Once again patience pays off!!!

It was such a good feeling to be running with three great woman, feeling really strong and enjoying the run. I just kept smiling and waiting in anticiapation. 33km, 34km, 35km, 36km, 37km...... still feeling good and maintinaing our pace. It was at this point Gil made her move and I though "ok try and stick with her". She slowly pulled away and I picked up my pace slightly and aimed to keep her just in front. We popped back up onto the bridge and then I started to get excited. At 39km I was thinking.... this is nearly over, I am going to make this. I also realised I just had to maintain my pace and 3:48 was a doable target. It was also comforting to know I could slow down and still come in under 4 hours. With 2 km to go I had a brief tug of war with myself about whether a walk break was a good idea..... "MOVE YOUR ASS.... you have just run 40kms you will NOT stop now". At the 41km mark I was grabing a another drink and the volunteers were egging me on... "looking good Katie" and I spent the next few hundred meters trying to work out how they knew my name haha I was a bit tired by now and forgot they had the little book with out names in it!

Suddenly it was the corner to turn into the Telopia Park and I started to get a bit overwhelmed....1 km to go!!! Then I saw Ray and my mum and sister going crazy. Ray started to run with me, but he was making me cry so I told him to bugger off ( lucky he loves me) and kept going. At this point Green Days "Good Riddance" came on the i-pod and I almost cried again.... I love that song!

It was quite sureal running the final few hundred meters. I felt so overwhelmed, so bloody happy to see the finish line, shocked I had done it and not quite sure what do to do.... laugh, cry. I spied the CR cheer squad gave them a smile and tried to put in a bit of a surge. Felt like a sprint but I do not think it looked that way :-)
Once over the line I just felt so suddenly happy and tired I just stood there. All I could here was someone asking me if I was ok.... I was thinking thats a stupid question to ask me. I just looked at her and she smiled and gave me a little shove in the right direction. Then I saw Gnome and we had a big hug and blabbed on about how great we were....haha like no one else has ever done this!!! Then I saw Ray and My mum and just stood there and cried. I don't think they knew what to do.... Ray god love him just kept telling me how great I was and how proud he was.

Then we waited for Alison and Kulinda to finish and we stood around hugging and taking photos and lapping it all up! We were all ecastatic with our time and just stood around smiling!!! (Still am smiling). The rest of the day was a bit of a blur.... hot shower, food, lots of marathon talk! We met up with striders and CR's at the Rydges and most people seemed really happy with there time. I collapsed into bed that night and slept like a log!!! Now I have never had so much trouble with stairs in my life and needed a lot of help up and down..... mental note steps are not a good idea after a marathon.

Monday I woke up and felt like a train had hit me! I had sore abs, quads, calfs, feet and shoulders!!! I went for a walk to try and loosen up and just managed to hobble really slowly! I am still quite sore today, but at least I look like I can walk like a normal person. I am currently on a high and planning a million things.... need time for the dust to settle.

I am still processing this acheivement! I am in disbelief that I did it! What a rush!!! I loved every minute of that and will definately be back for more!!! That was a fantastic atmosphere and it was great to meet so many bloggers... CJ, Clairie, Speedy Geoff, Ewan, LL, Strewth, Wobbly!

Splits:

5:41
5:09
5:08
5:21
5:28 (26:50 5km)
5:26
5:17
4:46
5:14
5:09 (52:45 10km)
5:14
5:20
5:19
5:29
5:16 (1:19:25 15km)
5:24
5:19
5:22
5:14
5:21 (1:46:08 20km)
5:18
5:17
5:13
4:58
5:18 (2:12:14 25km)
5:18
5:31
5:20
5:23
5:17 (2:39:07 30km)
5:26
5:21
5:19
5:23
5:16 (3:05:54 35km)
5:20
5:23
5:24
5:25
5:25 (3:32:53 40km)
5:22
5:34 (3:43:50 42km)
4:32 (3:48:23 42.8km)


I will post some photos later. Thats all from me for today.... I feel like I need another rest :-)

Thanks a million times for all the support and good thoughts and good humour! I have LOVED this expereince and am looking forward to the next challenge. The next few weeks are all about recovery and easy runs and I will ease slowly back into it. I feel like I will need to give the old blog a make over!

Hmmmm.... what next???????

Mission accomplished!

Just a really quick update.... I will bog my race report later! I am very happy to report that I did it!!!! I finished the Canberra Marathon in 3:48:23!!!! I had set my ultimate goal at sub 4hrs, my I will be happy goal at 3:55, qrote splits out for 3:52 and finished in 3:48:23! I had such a great day and managed to smile almost the whole way :-) I will take my time to process it all and post a longer post soon!

WOO HOO!!!!!

Still smiling......

Please Stand by

Well this is it. This is my last post before heading to the Capital tommorow morning. I had a visit with Easy Tiger this morning and the legs were in tip top condition. This week I have felt really calm and realxed....... and then this morning I woke with a full blown case of the nerves! Suddenly all those little self doubt thoughts were popping into my head and I was petrified of having to run. Then I read through all the other marathon blogs and the CR posts and felt reassured and more sane! Thankyou LL, Vat man, 2p and DonJuan for the much needed word of wisdom..... prevented a little meltdown and believe me with all the jelly beans I have eaten it would not have been pretty!!! Now I am just feeling excited!

This is it, time to boogie! 6 months of training and hard work is about to be put to the test. Thanks for all the support over the past 6 months. I have loved sharing all the training and ups and downs with you all. It has been great to follow along with all the other virgin marathoners and share worries and excitment. God I sound like I am accepting an award..... I would like to thank blah, blah!! So the bags are packed.... shoes, socks, undies all in! Support crew primed and ready to go! SO I am off the air for a few days but will be back to tell you in painful detail about my marathon debut!!!

Seat belts on.... we are ready for blast off! 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3........

Cold and Windy....

Today: 9km
Week: 24km
Month: 44km
Year: 1057km

It was cold and windy for our last session this morning..... and No not courtesy of DJ ;-) It was fartlek this morning but us marathon girls got to hang way at the back and plod along nice and comfy. Funny how when you have to work hard you want to cruise and when you can cruise you want to surge with the others. We maintained a nice and relaxed 5:40/km pace and chatted the about Sunday the whole way. Finished off with lots of stretching and more chatter about Sunday. I got a big hug from a sweaty DJ so I am not showering til sunday... lots of good luck in that sweat ;-) Seeing I am a lady of leisure now I came home ate my big bowl of high carb cereal (weetbix) and yes got back into bed to warm up :-) I crawled out after an hour of slothing to have a crumpet and jam and am now deciding what to do for the rest of the day..... I do still have a birthday gift voucher so a bit of shopping might be ok. Tonight I will get all my stuff together and check I havn't overlooked something vital. Then two days to go **gulp** almost here!!

Another easy one....

Today: 4km
Week: 15km
Month: 35km
Year: 1048km

Nothing exciting to report, just another easy 4km run. It was a bit hotter today which was a nice reminder that the cooler the better for Sunday! Only 4 sleeps to go.... speaking of sleep, a few people had said I would find it hard to sleep in the week before the run but it is the complete opposite! I have been sleeping like a baby, and I am talking 9 to 10 hours worth! I started to increase my carbs today... but I am not feeling as hungry with the less km's. I am going to feel like a pig over the next few days :-(

In terms of my time goal I have decided to aim at 3:55. I am flattered at the ridiculous estimates that some of you have offered up but I certainly do not think they are doable. I have certainly visualised them....haha but running them is whole new ball game. I have looked at my recent 5km time, 10km time and my best half and think that 3:55 is a better goal. I put them all into the McMillian calculator and for all the times it estimates a 3:49 marathon, so I figure 3:55 is a little more conservative for the first attempt. If I manage a better time on the day... well that will just be icing on the cake. To tell you the truth just making the starting line for me is going to be such a good feeling and then to finish.... I am going to be estatic. If three years ago you had told fat Kit she would run a marathon ... she would have had another bit of chocolate and laughed! For me I still get a bit spun out at the fact that this is me doing this.... no one else but me! This past 6 months I have really put a lot of effort into my training and feel I could not really do much more.... that in itself is a huge achievement. I have enjoyed the whole lot and it has pushed me further than I have gone before. So this Sunday means a lot to me. It is sort of the culmination of years of effort to loose weight and reinvent myself. Running has helped me to grow and develop through challenging myself, through the great people I have met and by getting rid of some of the demons. So I am looking forward to facing this next challenge and hopefully kicking its butt!!!! So there you go cards are on the table..... I would like the time to be more exciting than 3:55.... but hey plenty of marathons ;-)

Cruise Control....

TUESDAY 4TH APRIL

Today: 6km
Week: 11km
Month: 31km
Year: 1044km

This morning saw a return of the lake session to training. This has been impossible because of the construction in the park. Sean had us down to do 3 1km reps nice and realxed and that is just what we did. We cruised around the lake chatting about Sunday and comparing notes...... meanwhile the rest of the pack had to do 4 1600m reps and they were flying! I love the lake becuase it is easily broken up into sections which is more managable in my brain and you finish on a 200m straight and it feels great to put the foot down~ usually with Sean yelling encouragement from the finish. So I am looking forward to this one becoming a regualr again after the marathon.

Alison and I were trying to practice race pace, but it was quite hard to run that slowly when we felt ready to go..... nice reminder to be really careful in the early stages to take it easy and not start too fast!
So all that is left on the program is a few 20min easy runs and the session with Sean on thurday with strict instructions to stay in first gear.... sounds good :-) I will be getting final race instructions etc from Sean on thursday.... then I might show a card or two ;-)

On the 6th day til marathon my true love brought to me....

Today: 5km
Week: 5km
Month: 20km
Year: 1033km

On the sixth day til marathon my true love brought to me.....

This feels like waiting for Christmas!! The great thing is Seans program has us running regular, short and easy runs this week which is stopping me from getting too jumpy. Today was 5kms easy, so I headed out from home around a short loop listening to my i-pod. My heart rate hardly even moved and it felt really realxed. I just plodded along, day dreaming about the race. I have read that positive visualisation can help develop neural pathways and enhance performace..... watch out Liz Miller, at my rate I will win the thing :-) At least I am a positive thinker!! I have added my running gloves and long sleeve strider top to my "too be packed list"... 2 degrees in Canberra yesterday am, that is soooo cold!!! I have to say, that is much better than the heat of last year.... I will take the cool anytime!

So bear with me people... this week will not be particularly exciting! Just me clock watching..... waiting out the days :-) Patience is a virtue and good things come to those who wait.... blah blah, who am I kidding I'd do a deal with the devil to speed this week up :-)

Now watch this space.... there are some enquiries about my Strider St Henri time estimate~ haha I am trying to keep some Don Juan mystique to the affair ;-)

7 days to blast off!!

Today: 15km
Week: 55km
Month: 15km
Year: 1043km

This morning I headed out to the final Marathon Training Group run with Striders at Willoughby. It was a 7am run and with the extra hour in bed it was bliss! It was also cold this morning.... I ama bit of a wus when it comes to the cold :-) So I ran for 5kms with my long sleeve striders top til I warmed up. It was a really beautiful run this morning and we ran really relaxed, evryone chattering about next week. Sydney laid out a spectacular morning, blue sky, no humidity, cool and no wind. If it is like that next week you could not wish for a better morning. There was a 5km bush section which was really slow 8min/km pace.... but kept us all sensible and the scenary was sooo worth it! I am still always so surprised at how beautiful the bush trails are...... the bush is beautiful and always smells so good. This run was really hilly but did not really bother me at all this morning... all looking good. After two days off it was great just to have a run. Once we got back to the start finished off with a yummy hot cross bun :-) So 7 days to blast off........

True to my word....

Well I do like to keep a promise... so this mornining I volunteered and helped out at the Striders 10kms. It was a really beautiful morning, spectacular back drop and I would have loved a run BUT all good things come to those who wait! I had a ball with Kerry, Deanne and Lowana cheering all the runners on. Lots of great runs this morning... Gronk with a fraction of a PB and the smooth Don Juan who teased us at training about how slow he was and how he would treat the run as a bit of a Fartlek.... maby I should try that and get a PB!!! Seriously great running... look out for the rest of the year :-) I was glad for the rest day today... felt a bit achy after my massage last night and am now seriously itching for a run tommorow. Tommorow is 15kms with the MTG.... plan is to run nice and slow and just enjoy the build up and excitement. Next week is lots of really short and easy runs. I will go to training this week but Sean has adjusted it for us and we will just go through the motions and keep the legs ticking over. So BRING IT ON!!! This week will feel like I am waiting for Christmas..... but I plan on enjoying the anticipation. Nothing like the excitiment of the first one...that apprehension and uncertainty. The good thing is I feel preapred and ready to go. So seatbelts on ....... here we go :-)