Jen_races !

Sunday 11 September - Sydney Running Festival

I actually didn't want to run; didn't feel like it. But the entry fee was paid for so I was up at 5.30 for some toast and honey before Mr Jen kindly dropped me at North Sydney at 6am (what a nice fella!) so I could walk down to the start. Shortly after arriving I discovered a group of CRs (we are pretty easy to spot in a crowd!) and had a chat with a few people and cheered on the start of the Half and the full before going to the toilets and dropping off my bag. A few stretches and I headed over to the start (note to self: warm up next time!). On CR, I had said that my goal was sub-54 (when the race was originally 10km, my goal for the year was to run it in sub-60mins). However during the course of last week, I decided that it would be really, really cool to go under 50mins for the 9kms but given I just pulled that figure out of the air because it was a nice round number, I was too chicken to tell anyone :-)

I was at the back of the first wave in the 9kms and took a couple of minutes to cross the start. From the start, I felt like shite; my body was telling me to stop and walk the whole way. I really didn't enjoy the race at all. I don't know why. It really was a battle for me - a completely different experience to my C2S race. As I headed up Macquarie Street for the first time I was feeling terrible, getting about stressed about achieving my sub-50min goal and had to stop to stretch my left calf which was a bit tight so I decided to ignore my watch but I did notice the following:

1km: 6.18mins
2kms: 11.30 (5.12mins - shite!!)
5kms: 28.28 - at this point, I realised that my sub-50min goal was on so I just kept telling myself to keep going.

I stopped to stretch my left calf again on the return trip up Art Gallery road. On the return trip down Macquarie Street, I remembered that Paula Radcliffe mentioned that she counts her strides when it gets tough - that if she counts to 100 x 3 times, she will have covered a mile. So I tried that - and only got up to 20 before I found something else to focus on!!

Somehow I manage to find some speed in the last kms and felt like I was flying by the time I came down past the Toaster and stopped my watch at 49.42. As Lil Elf pointed out to me later, even with 2 pit stops to stretch my calves, it was approximately 5.40min/kms - no wonder it hurt! The time was a real surprise - I really didn't enjoy the run at all (until I checked my time at the finish of course!).

After collecting my medallion, I headed up to the recovery village which was pretty feral. Eventually I found my queue to collect my bag. 40mins later, I was still standing in the queue which had not moved. Grrrr. About this time the first marathoner came through to the finish so I decided I wasn't going to miss anymore cheering time so I left the queue with the idea of heading up to the Cahill to meet the cheersquad and to come back for my bag later. However when I walked past the back of the bag collection area, I noticed that people were climbing over the rope to get their bags and yes, I confess, I did the same *she blushes*. After ducking into the toilet to put on my new snazzy Skins, I headed up to the cheersquad to join in the fun. It was really hot up on the Cahill at that stage (it was only about 9.45am); I felt really sorry for the runners still out on the course. Seeing the reaction of the runners in response to our cheering is the most amazing and rewarding experience. The highlight of my day easily was seeing the smile on Belinda's face as she passed through the "guard of honour" created by the cheersquad. It is wonderful to be a part of such an amazing, supportive and positive community.

After Belinda and Horrie passed us, we decided to pack up and head down to the recovery centre to catch up with a few people before Benny, Vat, Don Juan, Owl, Tesso, JD and Mannerism headed over to the Rocks for some lunch and a great chat. Our Canberra girls Flash Duck and CJ (both of whom had sensational races) joined us later. By about 5pm I was fading so I headed home for some stretches, ice for my shins and a shower before heading out to meet Mr Jen and a friend for dinner. A great day!

The week ahead -
A recovery week before starting to build for the Half (which was 12 weeks away on Sunday):
Monday: Satan
Tuesday: walk to work (1 hr) + massage
Wednesday: dates with a witchdoctor + Satan
Thursday: run (40mins) with Lil Elf
Friday: 1 x spin class (30mins)
Saturday: rest
Sunday: run (45mins)

Monday 12 September 2005 - Satan

So how did my body pull up after yesterday - pretty well. My quads a bit sore, my shins are excellent, however the niggle in my knee has returned. I didn't notice it during the run yesterday but throughout the course of the afternoon I noticed it again particularly when walking down stairs. Hopefully my massage tomorrow and the WD can sort it out quickly so it doesn't get in the way of my Half preparation.

A few people asked me on Sunday about my Skins and whether I thought they aided recovery etc - I don't think it was the best circumstances under which to test them given that I had completely cooled down and had been standing still for 40mins (in the shade) while waiting for my bag before putting them on yesterday.

I had planned to walk to work this morning to get my legs moving - however I had to drop Mr Jen at the airport at some silly hour this morning so I ran out of time.

I managed to escape from work at 10.30am to meet Flash Duck and Owl at the Lindt cafe for a coffee and a chat. It was great to catch up with them both and to recap on Sunday. Then at 2pm I headed off to the gym to see Satan for an upper body session consisting of:
* dumbbell chest press
* tricep pushdowns
* bent-over row (barbell)
* bicep curls,
repeated twice and stretches for my hammies, quads and hips. I felt really good during the session - which was a surprise because I had eaten very little in the morning and I had had a terrible nights sleep.

Tuesday 13 September - walk + massage

Left the house at 6.30am to walk to work (1hr 12mins; approximately 8kms). A beautiful clear and still morning - another perfect morning to (this time) walk across the bridge. Legs are feeling good though my knee still isn't entirely happy - it's been 3 weeks now; it's really starting to annoy me. Grrr.

Off for a massage this afternoon *she winces at the thought*...