Speed.... where art thou??

Today: 8km
Week: 8km
Month: 49km
Year: 1221km

It was track this morning and I was not expecting any speedy times..... but am happy to be just running at the moment! I had 1 x 2.2km rep, 1x 1600m rep and 1x 1km rep all with an active recovery. Quite a few people were there this morning with a Billy sighting. I really enjoyed this morning session. I felt like I ran consistantly and put in a good effort. I could certainly feel this was harder work this morning! I have a funny breathing thing when I am putting in a hard effort and you could definately hear me on the final 1km rep. I felt really focused this morning and did not struggle with concentrating for the multiple laps. I was busy chasing Bernie, who was running really well! I finished with a nice walk back to the car.
Times: 2200m- 10:37 (4:43 1km), 1600m- 7:47 (4:48 1km), 1000m- 4:40

Bizzaro world

Today: 13km
Week: 34km
Month: 41km
Year: 1213km

This morning I awoke in a bizzaro world (the Seinfield fans will know what I mean)....a world where Ray was getting out of bed at 6:30am to go for a run/walk and I wanted to stay in bed. Thankfully he prodded me out of bed and I headed into Centenial Park to run on my own. I had a feeling today was going to be a bit tough so did not want to run with Striders and try and keep up. Now I hate the cold and usually dress appropriatley, but for some reason this morning I just put on short tights and a t-shirt... no long sleeve, no beanie and no gloves. The first 30mins I was so cold I was tempted to pull the plug and go home. So this morning became a run where I negotiated with myself.... just two more mins, one more loop, just to the next tree. After a while I got into a bit of a rhythm and just ploodded along listening, and occaisionally singing to my i-pod :-) I covered 13km in 70mins and averaged about 5:26/km..... I felt soooo much slower than this! I saw Seans group running around the park quite a few times.... nice to see some friendly faces as they whiz by. A few little minor twinges in the lower back and glute/hip, but its feeling fine after a good stretch.

Today is 16 weeks til Sydney Marathon, which is exciting. This is going to be my big goal for the year if I can keep in one peice. I would love to train hard for this one and better my time from Canberra. Something to keep me occupied for the next little while anyway. Today also marks the end of the "post marathon, I am injured so I will eat what ever I like because I feel sorry for myself " stage.... time to cut out the crap and try and shed some extra baggage :-)

A perfect morning....

Today: 7km
Week: 21km
Month: 28km
Year: 1200km

I met up with Ali and Bernie this morning and we had pefect run around the Bay. We started in the dark and cruised around chatting while the sun came up.... could not start a Friday any better! It was great to just plod along taking it easy and just enjoying running. I felt a little bit stiff in the hamstring and calf, but that warmed up really quickly. Off to see Easy Tiger tonight so he will iron out all the bumps. Tommorow I will head into the CR 5km but I am going to just have a bit of a walk. I think 3 days in a row would be asking for trouble. It is a bit boring being this sensible...... I will have to create some havoc at home ;-) So so far so good :-)

Fartlek around the park

Today: 10km
Week: 14km
Month: 29km
Year: 1193km

I headed into sweat this morning and met Bernie at the park gates. We walked into the oval as a nice gentle warm up before the fartlek session with the group. I decided to just run the loop at a constant pace of about 5:30/km and forget about surging. We covered 10km in about 56mins, averaging about 5:33/km. It has been a month of no runing and it was Canberra Marathon the last time I ran longer than anout 5-6km. Well I felt slow and unfit this morning. Once we got to about 7km I felt tired and ready to stop. I had no pain at all and the pelvis/ leg felt fine.... woo hoo! It was just the rest of me that felt heavy and unfit :-) No worries though... just plenty to work on now. I am feeling hopeful that things might be heading in the right direction.... which means I can start to look at the rest of the year. My goals for the year are to run the half in Gold Coast, the City to surf and then the Marathon in Sydney. I AGAIN am going to try and get faster and stay injury free...... my ongoing battle with a slow dodgy body! I am hoping that in the process of training for these runs my 5km and 10km times will come down..... that is the plan, so now time for action. It was so nice to see all the group again.... all looking very fit, it will be an exciting winter!

Little steps....

Tuesday 23rd May

4km
22min
Average pace 5:28/km

After staying in bed in the morning I was determined to go for a run after I got the green light. By the time I had gotten home it was windy and rainy and I stood in the hall dithering about if I should go or not. See what happens... a bit of time off and you go soft :-) So with some firm encouragement off I went... all beanied up. It felt fantastic to get out for a run. I started off really slowly and a little bit nervous... all good. I slowly picked up the pace and was soon cruising around with a big smile :-) I kept it to 4km deciding to not get carried away with how fantastic it felt to be running. It was so cold out there last night that it was hurting my lungs to breath the cold air.... and by the time I had run 4km it was raining quite hard and I was very happy to put some warm clothes on. So I will run again on thursday and will hold off any celebrations until I have done a few more runs.... fingers crossed the pelvis stays where it should be :-)

Green for go!

The physio has given me the green light again :-) The pelvis has stayed in place nicely this week and I have no pain in the leg. I have been able to go up and down the stairs without any problems. So cameron increased my new core exercises and has said I can run and test things out. If all goes well I can get back into training again next week. So tommorow I am going to go for a nice easy short run and see how it goes. Oooh I may have lured ray to the dark side.... not only is he walking to and from work, he has added swimming into the mix and I do believe tonight he agreed to start running with a friend. You heard it here first :-) So watch this space.... the running widow might become a running convert yet!

update...

As there has not been a lot to report, I have been a little quiet. I have been taking it easy and swimming and not a lot else. I have not tried running again on isntruction from the physio. I had been back to see him Wed last week and my pelvis had moved out of place again, which was why it did not feel right. So he repositioned it and then gave me some new exercises to get the really deep core muscles that stabilise the pelvis working properly. He said that it is not uncommon when some one looses a large amount of weight that the deep core muscles do not work properly and that the brain needs to learn to get them to fire again. This seems to fit as since loosing my weight I have had a heap of problems and they have all been pelvis/hip related. So I have spent lots of time doing these exercises and it is all feeling really good. No pain, no timgles, no aching. So he said if I go back tomorrow and all is well I can run again :-) So fingers crossed! I am starting to feel like a big fat blob and am really itching to get out there.... not helped today by watching all the fantastic running by all at the SMH half this morning! There were some seriously great running this morning and it was an absolute pleasure to watch...... (I was girl in the beanie cheering, turning a lovely shade of green!!). I tried to cheer evry one but found I was missing people because there were soooo many runners... haha people were calling out to me instead ;-)

So fingers crossed this blimpy kitkat can go for a run soon..... swimming is just not making the gade :-)

More of the same...

Sunday was a rest day and a lovely sleep in, followed by mothers day stuff. My lovely sister lent me her bike as mine falls out of gear all the time which is really annoying! So today I rode to work as my boycott against peterol.... some how I don't think they will care. This evening was a spin class and the gym, which is becoming a routine. I am going to run again tommorow and see how it all feels. I ran on Thurs and Sat and had no pain running, but it is still achy and tight right down the right side, so not 100%. I am just playing it by ear and I will take more time off if it doesn't improve. So I will be on cheer duties on Sunday.... even if I feel a million times better by sunday 21km is stretching the friendship. So get ready guys... DJ, Flakey, 2p etc I am going to be loud and embarrassing~ I am getting good at cheering :-)

Err on the side of caution

Today: 5km
Week: 14.5km
Month: 14.5km
Year:1179km

I opted to not run the 5km cross country today.... mainly because I would be so cranky with myself if I could not run because I had done something stupid. I thought about it this morning and decided a race as my second run after 3 weeks off from an injury was not one of my smartest of ideas. Sorry Flakey.... next time :-) I will even do the three laps ;-) So I put the ipod on and ran from home at about 10am. It was clear and sunny but cold enough to not get too warm..... perfect! I ran a 5kms loop and felt good. No pain in my leg or back, but my right leg still feels a bit achy. I then went to the gym and did my core exercises and some spin bike. The leg and back feels fine this afternoon, which is great. I have spent the afternoon sitting in the sun finishing off Lance Armstrongs book.... what an amazing man and what a tough race!!! I have never watched the tour before but I will be having a sticky beak next time thats for sure. His determination and never give up attitude is inspirational.

5km- 26:20
Average Pace: 5:15/km

Resuming normal transmition (touch wood)

Today: 8km
Week: 9.5km
Month: 9.5km
Year: 1174km

I was umming about going to training this morning or wether I should run on my own.... training won out. I decided to just do what felt ok and stop if I needed to. Arrived at the park and did a warm up and ran over to the hill. So far so good, just feeling a little achy. I pretty much pretended to do the drills and strides not wanting to push my luck. Today was wild wally..... which I really enjoy. Sean very sensibly split us into two groups and started us 10secs apart to avoid a pile up going around the first tree :-) Seemed to work ok. I had 5 reps on the program and told Sean I would stop if I needed to. He instructed me to take it easy and aim at 3:40 for the first few. I managed the 5 without any problems. The hamstring felt achy but ok. The great thing was I actually felt stronger going up the hill than before the marathon. I felt like I had more strength in the legs or something.... it just was not as hard. I made sure I ran easily down the hill.... not sure how the pelvis/lower back would feel, but all good! So lots of stretching today and no running tomorow and if all is ok I am keen to run the 5km cross country on Saturday (not pushing it!!!). It was so nice to back with all the group again.... such a great bunch of people. Thanks to Bernie for a lift back to the car.... saved me tempting fate with an extra 1km back to the car :-)
Times were 3:29, 3:29, 3:25, 2:25, 3:18.

Green for go!!!

Today: 1.5km
Week: 1.5km
Month: 1.5km
Year: 1166km

I went to physio this afternoon and reported that all felt back to normal, no pain in the leg or behind the knee. He did some more loosening of the spine and hips and put me through my paces and YES I got the thumbs up to run. I did a 1.5km test run and all felt good, so I have the green light to go to training tommorow. I have strict instructions to stay at 70% for the rest of the week and to not go like a bat out of hell! So I am feeling pretty happy and am looking forward to running again. The break was really great... I feel recharged and ready to go. So I need to make sure I do lots of stretching after I run and just keep an eye on how the lower back/hip/pelvis is feeling. He was really pleased at how quickly it resolved itself once back in place. SO a big Yeahay and thankyou to superphsyio Cameron (I am sure the rest also helped a heap!!).

A big improvement!!!

I had a ball yesterday as 'catcher' in the Striders 10km race.... lots of sweat and a near vomiting made for an exciting morning. You do not realise how out of it runners are as they cross the finish line until you are trying to instruct people to stay in line :-) Lots of great running out there too.... finally got to say Hi to Miners (minus the pink blowse!). I then headed to the gym for a spin class and core work before a lovely day with Ray.

This morning I headed to the pool with my $2:50 radio to do an hours water running. With music and the lovely warm sun it was actually quite nice. I did 10 mins warm up then 8 mins of harder effort with 2 min easier.... did this until the hour clocked over. This afternoon Ray and I are heading out on the bike :-)

The great news is that following my pelvis being whacked back into place there is a MASSIVE improvement in the leg. It actually feels back to normal, no pins and needles and no discomfort at all. Yeah!!! So hopefully on Wednesday the physio lets me go for a run. All good!!! Unil then I will stick to the pool and bike!

A trip to the physio, a six year sentence and an extended benching!

Yesterday was some more water running, which was not too bad. I just made my way up and down amusing myself at the funny conversations the 14 year old swim squad were having in the next lane. A good way to plan holidays and how you might spend lotto winnings... mental not must enter!

I headed back to the physio this afternoon to see Cameron my superphysio. I was tempted this morning to go for a little test run to see how it all felt so I could report to Cameron BUT chickened out! The leg is much better but still not right. I get twinges during the day when sitting a lot and discomfort when walking down steps, but only after 5 or so. Needless to say I got a gold star for not running BUT also got benched for another week. Basically with a bit more prodding and twisiting he pin pointed the nervve problem to a twist in the lower back and a misaligned pelvis. So I had the pleasure of two very handsom physios pushing, twisting and cracking me back into shape (embarrasement factor 100%). So all is good and on the mend, but when I asked if I could run he said " You can either not run for a week, or not run for 10 weeks, you choose"..... Ummmm I choose the week :-) He is such a great physio and as he manages the prevention of injuries in the under 19 wallabies (union) that just won the world cup, he is very used to us crazy endorphin junkies! So I am alowed to keep up the spin, swimming and water running and see him on Wednesday.... hopefully with things back in line it will now improve quick smart. Now I am very proud of my patience and new found ability to cope with not running, but will admit to slightly itchy feet and a craving for runner company~ hence my volunteering at tommorows strider 10km!!

On another note tommorow is our 6 year wedding anniversay (12 together) and Ray gave me a wonderful present where he had written down 6 funny things that have happened to us, 6 things we have seen together, 6 things he has had to live with, 6 things he would miss etc.... he put them all in a jar for me to read. They are so funny and one the most thoughtful presents I have ever gotten :-) Now I will say it again, I have married the BEST nerdy, funny, sweet man there is!!! So tonight I am one happy Kitty Kat!!!!

So all do whatever it is you do for good luck and vibes and hope I can get out there in the next little while before the men in white coats arrive :-()

Thats a bit better...

Today was a nother Gym session and a spin class, which has become quite addictive! I just love the loud music and the fat you can work you butt off and get that same running buzz. God I sound like a endorphin junkie :-) The leg felt really good today, no niggles or twinges. It seems to get a bit yuck at wok after sitting for ages. Once I am moving about and stretched all ok. I am hoping that maby Saturday I can go for a run and woo hoo get back into things. Now as much as I have enjoyed doing other things, I am ready for a run. You know how they say when you are pregnant all you notice is babies..... well when you are injured suddenly eryone in your area takes up running :-) So more of the same today and tommorow and then I see the physio tommorow afternoon. I do not know why, I think this thing has just righted itself as I have been a bit slack with the nerve stretches, but have done all my other ones. I am dissapointed I can not run for striders this Saturday at the road champs... I liked this one last year :-( I might go and cheer :-)

A water run and an uppercut!

Well I finally got up the courage to get in the water.... and after all that build up it was fine. Told you, a complete wus! Sean said to follow my program so that what It ried to do. I put the belt on and got in and felt like a complete idiot! I did 15mins warm up running and then I had 2x 2km reps and 1 x 1600m reps on the program. So I did 2x 8:30mins and 1x 7min hard running. It was a bit akward and took a bit of concentrating but all up not too bad. I managed to last 45mins, which was better than I thought. I am sure the swim squad kids tough I was a strange one, but who cares. I have to say running was not meant for the water!!! I can not wait to get back on the land! Now I am off to boxing... now that is more fun!

Nothing to report....

Nothing exciting to report here.... yesterday was some more weights/core stuff at the gym and a spin class. I am feeling really good fitness wise at the moment, so hopefully that will transfer over when I start to run again. The bike really gets your hear rate up and is as close to speed work you can get. I have borrowed Seans water belt and he has given me instructions to do my program in the water. I told him he was dreaming if he thought I would do my long run in the water .... I might be mad but not that mad!!! So tonight I will head to the pool for some water running. Lunch on Sunday was sooo nice.... lots of good foos and better company and yes running chatter! It was so nice to catch up with the girls and relive the run.

Plu asked me if my injury came after the marathon or had I had niggles I was carrying. I can honestly say that I had no injury/niggles in the lead up to the marathon and even the week and a half after I felt good. It was towards the end of a run my right leg (which has always been the good leg) just did not feel right and then became quite painful behind the knee. In saying that I have been prone to nerve pain in my leg before. It is feeling better today, but I am still getting a few twiges and pins and needles. I am hoping I can try a run maby sunday or monday, but I see the physio on Friday and will do as I am told :-)