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.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Saturday, April 22, 2006
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!
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!
Thursday, April 20, 2006
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 :-)
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 :-)
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
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
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
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
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
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
Monday, April 17, 2006
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!
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!
Sunday, April 16, 2006
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!!!
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
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
Saturday, April 15, 2006
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 :-)
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 :-)
Friday, April 14, 2006
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!
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!
Thursday, April 13, 2006
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 :-)
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 :-)
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
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
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
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
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???????
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???????
Monday, April 10, 2006
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......
WOO HOO!!!!!
Still smiling......
Friday, April 07, 2006
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........
Thursday, April 06, 2006
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!!
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!!
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
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 ;-)
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 ;-)
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 ;-)
Monday, April 03, 2006
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 ;-)
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 ;-)
Sunday, April 02, 2006
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........
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........
Saturday, April 01, 2006
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 :-)
Friday, March 31, 2006
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!
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!
Thursday, March 30, 2006
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
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
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
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
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
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
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!!
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!!
Monday, March 27, 2006
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!!!!
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!!!!
Sunday, March 26, 2006
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
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
Saturday, March 25, 2006
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
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
Friday, March 24, 2006
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!!
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!!
Thursday, March 23, 2006
***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!
Thanks for all the Birthday wishes!
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
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.
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.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
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
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
Monday, March 20, 2006
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
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
Sunday, March 19, 2006
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
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
Saturday, March 18, 2006
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.
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.
Friday, March 17, 2006
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
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
Thursday, March 16, 2006
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
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
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
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
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
Monday, March 13, 2006
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
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
Sunday, March 12, 2006
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
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
Friday, March 10, 2006
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
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
Thursday, March 09, 2006
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
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, March 08, 2006
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!!
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!!
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
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
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
Monday, March 06, 2006
"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
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
Sunday, March 05, 2006
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 :-)
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 :-)
Saturday, March 04, 2006
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
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
Friday, March 03, 2006
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)
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)
Thursday, March 02, 2006
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
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
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
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
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
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
300's
Today: 10km
Week: 16km
Month: 322km
Year: 630km
I started out this morning in the dark doing my 3km warm up before the sweat session. It is such a spectacular time of the morning... watching the colours change as the sun gets up. It was really still and cool this morning- running to the music from Lord of the rings just agged to the nice morning :-)
We had 10 x 300m reps with 30 sec active recovery this morning. I have not done this session before and had no idea what pace I should aim for. I looked at my last 600m time and took a bit off and thought I would aim for 1:20 per rep. This was a pretty intense session as the 30 secs recovery whizzed by.... but at least it was over quickly. I was able to keep up with girls a bit better this morning... only a few secs behind each rep- but still last :-) I was pretty happy with my times and finished feeling pooped! You would think with my recently re-redded hair i would go faster ;-)
Splits: 1:19, 1:18, 1:17, 1:17, 1:16, 1:16, 1:15, 1:14, 1:13, 1:12
Week: 16km
Month: 322km
Year: 630km
I started out this morning in the dark doing my 3km warm up before the sweat session. It is such a spectacular time of the morning... watching the colours change as the sun gets up. It was really still and cool this morning- running to the music from Lord of the rings just agged to the nice morning :-)
We had 10 x 300m reps with 30 sec active recovery this morning. I have not done this session before and had no idea what pace I should aim for. I looked at my last 600m time and took a bit off and thought I would aim for 1:20 per rep. This was a pretty intense session as the 30 secs recovery whizzed by.... but at least it was over quickly. I was able to keep up with girls a bit better this morning... only a few secs behind each rep- but still last :-) I was pretty happy with my times and finished feeling pooped! You would think with my recently re-redded hair i would go faster ;-)
Splits: 1:19, 1:18, 1:17, 1:17, 1:16, 1:16, 1:15, 1:14, 1:13, 1:12
Monday, February 27, 2006
A new week.... a new outlook!
Today: 6km
Week: 6km
Month: 312km
Year: 620km
Some one gave me some great advice which I am going to share because I think it is a great way to look at things. Now maby evry one else already has this view but I did not and when I heard it, I liked it. This person said to me "The race IS the reward. It is the reward for all our hard work and so do yourself a favour and make sure you enjoy it!". Now that sounds simple but quite different to how I view things. I have often commented that I seem to get better results in my training than in my races and that is because I get quite stressed about the race and the result. Now the complete opposite way to look at it is... "well I have done the hard slog, now I DESERVE this run". Haha what a simple thought process.... just proves I can be a bit slow on the uptake. The other thought I had was what kind of a person rewards themself with a 42km run- hmmmm :-)
Now onto my run.... nothing exciting to report, except it was sooooo much cooler and really enjoyable to run this evening. I enjoyed my blissful sleep in and headed out on my 6km loop from home. It was really nice this morning to get up after 7am, my mum had stayed the night and we had breakfast together and a chat- I love when she is well!! I thought I would run at 5:30min pace.... first km was dead on 5:30 pace but then the next km was 5:05 pace.... which felt really comfortable so I decided to just maintian my form and see how it progressed. I pretty much sat on 5:05 pace for the rest of the run except the last km was 4:30min. I think the cooler whether really made a difference because I felt really good and just enjoyed being outside. So tonight was 6km in 30:30- averaged 5:05min/km.
Week: 6km
Month: 312km
Year: 620km
Some one gave me some great advice which I am going to share because I think it is a great way to look at things. Now maby evry one else already has this view but I did not and when I heard it, I liked it. This person said to me "The race IS the reward. It is the reward for all our hard work and so do yourself a favour and make sure you enjoy it!". Now that sounds simple but quite different to how I view things. I have often commented that I seem to get better results in my training than in my races and that is because I get quite stressed about the race and the result. Now the complete opposite way to look at it is... "well I have done the hard slog, now I DESERVE this run". Haha what a simple thought process.... just proves I can be a bit slow on the uptake. The other thought I had was what kind of a person rewards themself with a 42km run- hmmmm :-)
Now onto my run.... nothing exciting to report, except it was sooooo much cooler and really enjoyable to run this evening. I enjoyed my blissful sleep in and headed out on my 6km loop from home. It was really nice this morning to get up after 7am, my mum had stayed the night and we had breakfast together and a chat- I love when she is well!! I thought I would run at 5:30min pace.... first km was dead on 5:30 pace but then the next km was 5:05 pace.... which felt really comfortable so I decided to just maintian my form and see how it progressed. I pretty much sat on 5:05 pace for the rest of the run except the last km was 4:30min. I think the cooler whether really made a difference because I felt really good and just enjoyed being outside. So tonight was 6km in 30:30- averaged 5:05min/km.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Balmain Bungle.
Today: 30.5km
Week: 93km
Month: 306km
Year: 620km
This morning we started from Brett Park at Drummoyne and ran across the Iron Cove Bridge and through Balmain, around the water, back into Leichardt, across Paramatta rd, through Marrickville, along the Cooks river cycleway until the Canterbury race course and then back through Ashfield, Haberfield, the Canal and finished around the Bay. It was a pretty good course with a few good hills, but mostly pretty flat. It was again VERY humid, but I had drunk enough yesterday and drank heaps along the way so did not suffer this week. I felt strong most of the way, not feeling any ill effects from yesterdays efforts :-) No niggles or problems after a neavy week with lots of km's... so I am feeling pretty happy with that. 93km is the most I have ever run and am feeling pretty good. I am finding the relentless early mornings can get a drag, but I am definately coping with the distance. In two weeks I will do a couple of 34/35kms then not long til we can taper. Sean sent my program and the next month will be tough but definately doable and then TAPER :-)
I had a fantastic massage yesterday....any one in Sydney I would highly recommend a vist to Easy Tiger massage. He is a runner and brilliant with his hands. He was so knowledgable and made a huge difference having someone who knew about runner issues and how to manage them. He is very fast 800m specialist and a great runner all round.
Today: 30.5km
Time: 2hrs 54min (running), 3hrs 10min (including toilet/drink break)
Average Pace: 5:45/km
Week: 93km
Month: 306km
Year: 620km
This morning we started from Brett Park at Drummoyne and ran across the Iron Cove Bridge and through Balmain, around the water, back into Leichardt, across Paramatta rd, through Marrickville, along the Cooks river cycleway until the Canterbury race course and then back through Ashfield, Haberfield, the Canal and finished around the Bay. It was a pretty good course with a few good hills, but mostly pretty flat. It was again VERY humid, but I had drunk enough yesterday and drank heaps along the way so did not suffer this week. I felt strong most of the way, not feeling any ill effects from yesterdays efforts :-) No niggles or problems after a neavy week with lots of km's... so I am feeling pretty happy with that. 93km is the most I have ever run and am feeling pretty good. I am finding the relentless early mornings can get a drag, but I am definately coping with the distance. In two weeks I will do a couple of 34/35kms then not long til we can taper. Sean sent my program and the next month will be tough but definately doable and then TAPER :-)
I had a fantastic massage yesterday....any one in Sydney I would highly recommend a vist to Easy Tiger massage. He is a runner and brilliant with his hands. He was so knowledgable and made a huge difference having someone who knew about runner issues and how to manage them. He is very fast 800m specialist and a great runner all round.
Today: 30.5km
Time: 2hrs 54min (running), 3hrs 10min (including toilet/drink break)
Average Pace: 5:45/km
Saturday, February 25, 2006
5km CR Challenge.
Today:12km
Week: 62km
Month: 275km
Year: 589km
I peeled my eyes open this morning and dragged myself out of bed and headed to the bay for the 5kms. I felt sooo tired and when I got out of the car and said hi to Bernie and Blue Dog I still had my croaky bed voice :-) I started to rethink my goals and was contemplating running with the 27min group... big week, feeling tired etc. Suddenly Ray (eagle) and Bruce (Gnome) had bailed me up and geared me up for the 23min group. So I threw the i-pod at Bernie (a bit rude to not listen to your pacers) and we were off. One of the other girls took off at lightening speed and I freaked... I can't run that pace. Thankfully Ray and Bruce knew what they were doing. We did the first km in 4:30 and I was not confident that I could maintain that pace. We slowed a little and then I just concentrated on maintaining the pace as best I could. Bruce and Ray chatted to me along the way... lots of good advice about keeping relaxed and fixing my form. There was not a lot of conversation from me thats for sure... just tried to focus on not slowing down. Once we got to 3km I started to feel like I was in a rhythm and maby I could hold on. We got around under the bridge and Bruce told me I had great running style and that I was set for a good time I just had to hold on for the last km. That really gave me a lift and thought I can do this! Then I could n't help but look at the watch and try and work out what time I would do... haha my maths was not working :-) Ray gave me some good advice to pick up the pace for a few steps and then just try to keep the momentum... I liked that. I dug in and put the foot down for the last 150ms or so and gave it all I had and WOO HOO finished 23:13 a 32sec PB! I was one happy Kitty Kat!! I felt like I ran well today.... started out hard and worked really hard to keep a consistant pace. I was definately working really hard but doable! I am especially pleased to run 4:40 pace on a big training week. Then ran back to the start with Ray picking his brain about the marathon. The other pleasing thing was the run back was at an average of 5:20 pace and I did not feel too pooped.
Lots of good running this morning, but most appreciated was the support and pacing from the two boys. It means a lot that people are willing to be so generous with their skills and experience. Thankyou!!!
Today:
2km warm up
5km race
5km cool down
Splits: 4:30, 4:42, 4:39, 4:55, 4:24 ( average 4:40 pace)
Like my update, I have a hubby with too much time on his hands! But as my head cheer-girl he does a fantastic job!
Week: 62km
Month: 275km
Year: 589km
I peeled my eyes open this morning and dragged myself out of bed and headed to the bay for the 5kms. I felt sooo tired and when I got out of the car and said hi to Bernie and Blue Dog I still had my croaky bed voice :-) I started to rethink my goals and was contemplating running with the 27min group... big week, feeling tired etc. Suddenly Ray (eagle) and Bruce (Gnome) had bailed me up and geared me up for the 23min group. So I threw the i-pod at Bernie (a bit rude to not listen to your pacers) and we were off. One of the other girls took off at lightening speed and I freaked... I can't run that pace. Thankfully Ray and Bruce knew what they were doing. We did the first km in 4:30 and I was not confident that I could maintain that pace. We slowed a little and then I just concentrated on maintaining the pace as best I could. Bruce and Ray chatted to me along the way... lots of good advice about keeping relaxed and fixing my form. There was not a lot of conversation from me thats for sure... just tried to focus on not slowing down. Once we got to 3km I started to feel like I was in a rhythm and maby I could hold on. We got around under the bridge and Bruce told me I had great running style and that I was set for a good time I just had to hold on for the last km. That really gave me a lift and thought I can do this! Then I could n't help but look at the watch and try and work out what time I would do... haha my maths was not working :-) Ray gave me some good advice to pick up the pace for a few steps and then just try to keep the momentum... I liked that. I dug in and put the foot down for the last 150ms or so and gave it all I had and WOO HOO finished 23:13 a 32sec PB! I was one happy Kitty Kat!! I felt like I ran well today.... started out hard and worked really hard to keep a consistant pace. I was definately working really hard but doable! I am especially pleased to run 4:40 pace on a big training week. Then ran back to the start with Ray picking his brain about the marathon. The other pleasing thing was the run back was at an average of 5:20 pace and I did not feel too pooped.
Lots of good running this morning, but most appreciated was the support and pacing from the two boys. It means a lot that people are willing to be so generous with their skills and experience. Thankyou!!!
Today:
2km warm up
5km race
5km cool down
Splits: 4:30, 4:42, 4:39, 4:55, 4:24 ( average 4:40 pace)
Like my update, I have a hubby with too much time on his hands! But as my head cheer-girl he does a fantastic job!
Friday, February 24, 2006
Friday on my mind :-)
Today: 7.2km
Week:50km
Month:263km
Year:577km
I had a well deserved sleep in this morning, so had to do my easy run this afternoon. It was really hot in the sun, but ok in the shady bits. I only wanted to run for 30mins but forgot how long one of my usual loops from home is,so ended up doing 37mins instead. Not a lot to report.... just enjoyed the run. These runs on my own I have had the garmin on, but just run how the body feels. Today, despite initially feeling really tired when I got home from work, I felt pretty good. Just cruised along bopping to the music :-) 5km CR challenge tommorow... hopefully I am feleing good and do not wake up tired!
Time: 37min
Distance: 7.2km
Average pace: 5:10min/km
Week:50km
Month:263km
Year:577km
I had a well deserved sleep in this morning, so had to do my easy run this afternoon. It was really hot in the sun, but ok in the shady bits. I only wanted to run for 30mins but forgot how long one of my usual loops from home is,so ended up doing 37mins instead. Not a lot to report.... just enjoyed the run. These runs on my own I have had the garmin on, but just run how the body feels. Today, despite initially feeling really tired when I got home from work, I felt pretty good. Just cruised along bopping to the music :-) 5km CR challenge tommorow... hopefully I am feleing good and do not wake up tired!
Time: 37min
Distance: 7.2km
Average pace: 5:10min/km
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Big Bertha.
Today: 10km
Week: 43km
Month: 256km
Year: 570km
The alarm ripped me out of a deep sleep this morning and I felt really tired. I had big red puffy eyes and really could not fathom how I would mamnage this session. Thankfully after my 3km warm up I felt much more awake and ready to go. We did the usual strides and drills. We had Liz, Cindy, Ewan and Mark this morning who just fly up and down the hills.... so the pressure is on- how many times will I be lapped! It was reassuring to hear Liz was huffing and puffing as well... so I stopped feeling self conscious ( granted she was going a wee bit faster). I did my first lap a bit too quick but then settled into a consistant pace of about 2:17 a lap. I also managed to catch two of the girls who started a bit quicker than me :-) Sean made us start and finish half way up the hill so he could keep an eye on is at the top of the hill.... very cheeky! I felt pretty good for this session, but Sean kept wanting me to lengthen my stride, but the legs were too tired from yesterday to cope with that on the up hill. The wonderful DJ escorted me on my final lap.... and egged me on the whole way! It was quite exciting... he kept saying this is the last bit of Canberra, your on the final stretch, there is the finish line, 3:59... I have to say that really got me to dig in deep and I flew down the hill- quads went a bit jelly like. I couldn't help but smile even though my legs were protesting. THANKS Mr Marky Mark.... very much appreciated! Apologies for calling you Evil :-) Now can I borrow you for April the 9th???
Splits: 2:11, 2:20, 2:15, 2:16, 2:19, 2:18, 2:18, 2:17, 2:16, 2:05 (gotta love that last one!!)
Week: 43km
Month: 256km
Year: 570km
The alarm ripped me out of a deep sleep this morning and I felt really tired. I had big red puffy eyes and really could not fathom how I would mamnage this session. Thankfully after my 3km warm up I felt much more awake and ready to go. We did the usual strides and drills. We had Liz, Cindy, Ewan and Mark this morning who just fly up and down the hills.... so the pressure is on- how many times will I be lapped! It was reassuring to hear Liz was huffing and puffing as well... so I stopped feeling self conscious ( granted she was going a wee bit faster). I did my first lap a bit too quick but then settled into a consistant pace of about 2:17 a lap. I also managed to catch two of the girls who started a bit quicker than me :-) Sean made us start and finish half way up the hill so he could keep an eye on is at the top of the hill.... very cheeky! I felt pretty good for this session, but Sean kept wanting me to lengthen my stride, but the legs were too tired from yesterday to cope with that on the up hill. The wonderful DJ escorted me on my final lap.... and egged me on the whole way! It was quite exciting... he kept saying this is the last bit of Canberra, your on the final stretch, there is the finish line, 3:59... I have to say that really got me to dig in deep and I flew down the hill- quads went a bit jelly like. I couldn't help but smile even though my legs were protesting. THANKS Mr Marky Mark.... very much appreciated! Apologies for calling you Evil :-) Now can I borrow you for April the 9th???
Splits: 2:11, 2:20, 2:15, 2:16, 2:19, 2:18, 2:18, 2:17, 2:16, 2:05 (gotta love that last one!!)
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