A very busy week for this pussycat.
You found me out Tesso ;-) Yes, Wednesday - Valentines Day - was my birthday. I turned 21. Again ;-) So after a long (and wonderful) dinner with my folks on Tuesday night, I gave myself a rest day ;-) I had a great day (days actually) which culminated in dinner on Wednesday night. Lorna & I had planned to have dinner at my fav spanish place in the city. Much to my surprise, we arrived at the restaurant to find Chonky, Lulu & Wine Trail Runner, Don Juan & Sparkie there as well - with Ellie arriving shortly afterwards! What a coincidence ;-) Thanks Owly & The Don for organising it and for everyone whose birthday wishes, hugs & kisses Owly passed on ;-)
Thursday morning, I almost didn't make it out of bed. I've been burning the candle not only at both ends but in the middle as well lately. Far too many late nights, early mornings & (unusually for me) not sleeping well, have combined to leave me a rather tired pussycat right now.
But I did. And I'm glad I did. I took largely the same route as Tuesday morning & my butt (my piriformis actually) continues to improve, albeit slowly. I ran 6k almost niggle-free this morning before making a strategic withdrawal at 6.72km in 42.54min (aver 6:22min/k).
Friday afternoon I had an appointment with Saint Andrew which meant another early start so I could drive into the city. Got into the city at about 6.30am & headed for the gym for an interval session on the bike. I think I had the bike seat a bit too high cause I really felt this in my VMOs.
5mins warm up
6 x 5mins efforts (L10, 105RPM)/2mins recovery (L5)
5mins cool down
Total: 52mins
followed by a quick stretch. Then I went back to the gym at lunch to work on my snowball (ie strengthening exercises & stretches)
MTD: 40.52kms
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
It's all about the bike...
Monday was not my best day. Woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a bus & was about to come down with a cold but I seemed to improve as the day wore on - nothing like a work-induced shot of adrenaline to get you through the day.
I ran away from the office at lunch & headed to the gym for a chest/shoulders/triceps weights session. Great session - despite feeling so blah-ish in the morning, I felt really strong & was able to increase the weights on almost every exercise. Noice.
And later in the day I ran away from the office again (me bad) & headed home for a date with my trusty steed Apollo. Torrential rain (is it wonderful!) ruled out heading out on the roads so I hoped on the trainer & watched the '05 TdF (thanks Miners!). Kept the effort at 75-80% MHR. Tough but enjoyable. Was exactly what I needed after not one of my finest days.
After another terrible nights sleep, I headed out for a run at 5am this morning which went pretty well. Again I pulled the pin at 6km. My glute was slightly more unhappy than it was on Sunday though I wasn't really surprised; the course I took this morning was a touch hilly compared to my pancake- flat run in Canberra & my glutes were feeling a bit fatigued after my session on the bike & strengthening exercises last night. It probably wasn't the wisest decision to do these sessions so close together but a busy social calender this week left me with little choice. Still, a pretty pleasing run on a clear, humid morning :-)
Finished with 5.85k in 37:07mins (aver 6:20min/k)
Spent an hour in the Tiger's torture chamber this afternoon...'nuff said.
MTD: 33.8kms
I ran away from the office at lunch & headed to the gym for a chest/shoulders/triceps weights session. Great session - despite feeling so blah-ish in the morning, I felt really strong & was able to increase the weights on almost every exercise. Noice.
And later in the day I ran away from the office again (me bad) & headed home for a date with my trusty steed Apollo. Torrential rain (is it wonderful!) ruled out heading out on the roads so I hoped on the trainer & watched the '05 TdF (thanks Miners!). Kept the effort at 75-80% MHR. Tough but enjoyable. Was exactly what I needed after not one of my finest days.
After another terrible nights sleep, I headed out for a run at 5am this morning which went pretty well. Again I pulled the pin at 6km. My glute was slightly more unhappy than it was on Sunday though I wasn't really surprised; the course I took this morning was a touch hilly compared to my pancake- flat run in Canberra & my glutes were feeling a bit fatigued after my session on the bike & strengthening exercises last night. It probably wasn't the wisest decision to do these sessions so close together but a busy social calender this week left me with little choice. Still, a pretty pleasing run on a clear, humid morning :-)
Finished with 5.85k in 37:07mins (aver 6:20min/k)
Spent an hour in the Tiger's torture chamber this afternoon...'nuff said.
MTD: 33.8kms
Sunday, February 11, 2007
The snowball effect
I'm feeling shattered tonight. In a good way. I think.
Friday was a weird day. An early start to drive into work, 2 x visits to the gym to do my stretching/strengthening regime, a bollocking via email, a really frustrating day at work, a trip out to Concord to see Saint Andrew after work, dinner in Leichardt & then driving home to Penriff left me feeling physically & mentally tired. Got home about 10.30pm I think. It was lovely to catch up with Mr & Mrs Miners , Gnomy, Go Girl & Owly over dinner but I'm sorry I wasn't the best company.
Saturday the alarm went off at 4.30am so I could do an interval session on the bike before leaving for Canberra at 7am. Fark.
5mins warm up
6 x 5mins efforts/2mins recovery
5 mint cool down
Total: 52mins
followed by another 30mins of stretching. I watched What It Takes (a doco on a couple of triathletes) while doing this which was fascinating. I actually felt really strong during the session but had an overwhelming urge to sleep the minute I got off the bike. I had asked Mum to drive to Canberra so I could get some sleep in the car. I even brought my pillow. But could I sleep? Nope. Not even a single 5mins doze. At least I got to sit on my arse & do nothing for 3 hours for the first time all week I suppose....
One of the highlights of my weekend was (unsurprisingly) when I met up with CJ, Strewth and Ewen for lunch (*waves*). Given that 3 of us are doing Six Foot, it was not hard to guess what the main topic of conversation was ;-) Oh that & the decoration on CJ's right knee ;-)
Today I had planned a reserve brick - a short run followed by a long ride. Alarm went off at the decadent time of 5.30am so that it would be light by the time I headed out on the bike.
After Thursday I decided this time I would do a 5k out & back from the hotel and then, if my glute was ok, to tack on an extra block or 2 to bring it up to 7k so (unlike Thursday) I wouldn't get stuck a long way from home with a grumpy glute. It was a beautiful run - the sky was relatively clear after a huge thunderstorm on Saturday night & the War Memorial & Parliament House were all lit up. Noice. I made a strategic withdrawal at 6km as my glute was just starting to niggle - which was a big improvement on Thursday's run. I was really pleased with this run. On Saturday afternoon I was bitching to mum about all the boring stretching I'm doing at the moment (3 x per day) but clearly its paying off. Reminds me of an article that Susie Power wrote in R4YL last year I think about snowball building. Finished with 6.07k in 39:49mins (aver 6:33min/k).
Back at the hotel & I had to make a decision about where to ride. The roads were still wet after a thunderstorm. Not being confident on wet roads (both of my own abilities & those of Canberra drivers), I decided to avoid the Federal Highway which was plan A and go for plan B - the bike path around Lake Burley Griffin. Ewen had kindly offered to come for a ride with me but my indecision about where to ride meant I was running out of time to ride, stretch, eat, shower, check out & get to the Art Gallery before the hoards. Thanks anyway Ewen - hopefully next time!
So I set out on the bike path and, let's just say, I took the road less travelled. It was certainly scenic (well, except for the industrial estate I rode through) but thanks to my natural sense of direction (good thing too cause I didn't have a map) I made it back to the War Memorial. Eventually. 3 hill reps near the War Memorial to finish off & I was back at the hotel 1:37 later. My scenic ride left me with a total of 2:17 for the day. I would have preferred a total of 3 hours for the day but ran out of time.
I had thought about getting back on the bike tonight for 40mins (to round out the day to 3 hours) - but that was until I spent 3+ hours on my feet at the Art Gallery & then drove home (largely) in torrential rain. But I can't sleep yet, I've got more snowball building to do...
Friday was a weird day. An early start to drive into work, 2 x visits to the gym to do my stretching/strengthening regime, a bollocking via email, a really frustrating day at work, a trip out to Concord to see Saint Andrew after work, dinner in Leichardt & then driving home to Penriff left me feeling physically & mentally tired. Got home about 10.30pm I think. It was lovely to catch up with Mr & Mrs Miners , Gnomy, Go Girl & Owly over dinner but I'm sorry I wasn't the best company.
Saturday the alarm went off at 4.30am so I could do an interval session on the bike before leaving for Canberra at 7am. Fark.
5mins warm up
6 x 5mins efforts/2mins recovery
5 mint cool down
Total: 52mins
followed by another 30mins of stretching. I watched What It Takes (a doco on a couple of triathletes) while doing this which was fascinating. I actually felt really strong during the session but had an overwhelming urge to sleep the minute I got off the bike. I had asked Mum to drive to Canberra so I could get some sleep in the car. I even brought my pillow. But could I sleep? Nope. Not even a single 5mins doze. At least I got to sit on my arse & do nothing for 3 hours for the first time all week I suppose....
One of the highlights of my weekend was (unsurprisingly) when I met up with CJ, Strewth and Ewen for lunch (*waves*). Given that 3 of us are doing Six Foot, it was not hard to guess what the main topic of conversation was ;-) Oh that & the decoration on CJ's right knee ;-)
Today I had planned a reserve brick - a short run followed by a long ride. Alarm went off at the decadent time of 5.30am so that it would be light by the time I headed out on the bike.
After Thursday I decided this time I would do a 5k out & back from the hotel and then, if my glute was ok, to tack on an extra block or 2 to bring it up to 7k so (unlike Thursday) I wouldn't get stuck a long way from home with a grumpy glute. It was a beautiful run - the sky was relatively clear after a huge thunderstorm on Saturday night & the War Memorial & Parliament House were all lit up. Noice. I made a strategic withdrawal at 6km as my glute was just starting to niggle - which was a big improvement on Thursday's run. I was really pleased with this run. On Saturday afternoon I was bitching to mum about all the boring stretching I'm doing at the moment (3 x per day) but clearly its paying off. Reminds me of an article that Susie Power wrote in R4YL last year I think about snowball building. Finished with 6.07k in 39:49mins (aver 6:33min/k).
Back at the hotel & I had to make a decision about where to ride. The roads were still wet after a thunderstorm. Not being confident on wet roads (both of my own abilities & those of Canberra drivers), I decided to avoid the Federal Highway which was plan A and go for plan B - the bike path around Lake Burley Griffin. Ewen had kindly offered to come for a ride with me but my indecision about where to ride meant I was running out of time to ride, stretch, eat, shower, check out & get to the Art Gallery before the hoards. Thanks anyway Ewen - hopefully next time!
So I set out on the bike path and, let's just say, I took the road less travelled. It was certainly scenic (well, except for the industrial estate I rode through) but thanks to my natural sense of direction (good thing too cause I didn't have a map) I made it back to the War Memorial. Eventually. 3 hill reps near the War Memorial to finish off & I was back at the hotel 1:37 later. My scenic ride left me with a total of 2:17 for the day. I would have preferred a total of 3 hours for the day but ran out of time.
I had thought about getting back on the bike tonight for 40mins (to round out the day to 3 hours) - but that was until I spent 3+ hours on my feet at the Art Gallery & then drove home (largely) in torrential rain. But I can't sleep yet, I've got more snowball building to do...
Thursday, February 08, 2007
A date with a passionate tart
Work is driving me batty at the moment. My job would be great if it weren't for the clients (geez, I hope none are reading this). I just get frustrated by clients who don't return emails or phone messages until 2 days before their deal is due to be finalised & then I have to drop everything cause they were too lazy to get back to me earlier.....arrrrrgggghhhh
Sorry. Rant over.
I've had a good day today. Lunch with some of my favourite girls - Go Girl, Lulu, Ellie & Owly - at the Lindt cafe before the IronBlouse dropped by just in time for dessert. 2 x (skim) mochas + a little bit of chocolate (+ lunch of course) meant I was a productive ball of sugar & caffeine all afternoon. Of course it might also explain why I am, um, kinda putting on a bit of weight at the moment.....
Anyhoo headed out this evening for a short (7km) flat run to test the progress of my hip/glute. The first 4kms were fantastic - though by the 5km mark my glute had had enough. Ideally I would or should have pulled the pin then but unfortunately I had no way of getting home other than under my own steam so I slowed right down & took it easy until I'd hit the last hill before home (which I stopped to walk). I've still got along way to go before my hip is anywhere near 100% but I'm feeling positive :-)
Finished with 6.52k in 40:26min (aver 6:12min/k)
MTD: 21.88km
Upper body weights session in the gym tomorrow morning (Friday) before heading to Canberra on Saturday morning for the weekend. Looking forward to catching up with a few fellow bloggers while I'm there (*waves*). And yes, Apollo is making the trip too ;-)
Sorry. Rant over.
I've had a good day today. Lunch with some of my favourite girls - Go Girl, Lulu, Ellie & Owly - at the Lindt cafe before the IronBlouse dropped by just in time for dessert. 2 x (skim) mochas + a little bit of chocolate (+ lunch of course) meant I was a productive ball of sugar & caffeine all afternoon. Of course it might also explain why I am, um, kinda putting on a bit of weight at the moment.....
Anyhoo headed out this evening for a short (7km) flat run to test the progress of my hip/glute. The first 4kms were fantastic - though by the 5km mark my glute had had enough. Ideally I would or should have pulled the pin then but unfortunately I had no way of getting home other than under my own steam so I slowed right down & took it easy until I'd hit the last hill before home (which I stopped to walk). I've still got along way to go before my hip is anywhere near 100% but I'm feeling positive :-)
Finished with 6.52k in 40:26min (aver 6:12min/k)
MTD: 21.88km
Upper body weights session in the gym tomorrow morning (Friday) before heading to Canberra on Saturday morning for the weekend. Looking forward to catching up with a few fellow bloggers while I'm there (*waves*). And yes, Apollo is making the trip too ;-)
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
The Power of One
Bryce Courtenay's book has always been a favourite of mine. It's been probably close to 10 years since I last read it - I've always been drawn to it & certain paragraphs from it often come to mind. A few weeks ago I decided that I was only going to read positive, strong, inspiring material in the lead up to Six Foot so this book was always going to make the grade. This paragraph seems particularly relevant for me (and perhaps all the Six Foot virgins) right now -
The power of one is above all things the power to believe in yourself often well beyond any latent ability you may have previously demonstrated. The mind is the athlete; the body is simply the means it uses to run faster or longer, jump higher, shoot straighter, kick better, swim harder, hit further or box better. Hoppie's dictum to me: 'First with the head and then with heart' was more than simply mixing brains with guts. It meant thinking well beyond the powers of normal concentration and then daring your courage to follow your thoughts.
The power of one is above all things the power to believe in yourself often well beyond any latent ability you may have previously demonstrated. The mind is the athlete; the body is simply the means it uses to run faster or longer, jump higher, shoot straighter, kick better, swim harder, hit further or box better. Hoppie's dictum to me: 'First with the head and then with heart' was more than simply mixing brains with guts. It meant thinking well beyond the powers of normal concentration and then daring your courage to follow your thoughts.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
HUCC me
Well I dusted off my trusty steed Apollo on Monday night -
(you can relax Miners, there were no cobwebs) & took him out for a quick spin (in fading light) to test if riding was going to further annoy my glute/hip. 35mins later after some hills (seated & standing) I decided the answer to that question is no :-) Of course, that's not to say that my butt has forgiven me - it's been a while since I rode ;-)
Today included another hour in the Tiger's lair (one my left ITB is not likely to forget soon...) & another 50mins on the bike after work tonight. I'd post my average speeds but they are really quite embarrassing (not to mention that Apollo has a flatish tyre....)
Rest day tomorrow thanks to a day full of appointments & meetings before an easy, short run on Thursday morning.
To answer Tesso's question from Sunday - there were sheep. Plural. About 5 or 6 on the road & another few still in the paddock - which had also managed to escape by the time I had knocked on a few doors & ran past the paddock again. Glad I didn't have to go & round 'em up. Never a dull moment in Penriff....
Suppose I should learn how to change a tyre on Apollo now that I'm actually riding him on the road & not just on the mag in front of the TV....
(you can relax Miners, there were no cobwebs) & took him out for a quick spin (in fading light) to test if riding was going to further annoy my glute/hip. 35mins later after some hills (seated & standing) I decided the answer to that question is no :-) Of course, that's not to say that my butt has forgiven me - it's been a while since I rode ;-)
Today included another hour in the Tiger's lair (one my left ITB is not likely to forget soon...) & another 50mins on the bike after work tonight. I'd post my average speeds but they are really quite embarrassing (not to mention that Apollo has a flatish tyre....)
Rest day tomorrow thanks to a day full of appointments & meetings before an easy, short run on Thursday morning.
To answer Tesso's question from Sunday - there were sheep. Plural. About 5 or 6 on the road & another few still in the paddock - which had also managed to escape by the time I had knocked on a few doors & ran past the paddock again. Glad I didn't have to go & round 'em up. Never a dull moment in Penriff....
Suppose I should learn how to change a tyre on Apollo now that I'm actually riding him on the road & not just on the mag in front of the TV....
Monday, February 05, 2007
Knockers & acceptance
Over the weekend I saw this quote from Serena Williams after she wiped the floor at the Australian Open last month -
"I could lose 20 pounds and I'm still going to have these knockers and I'm going to have this bum. That's just the way it is."
I love it. If only there were more women in the world who accepted & appreciated their bodies more for what they are capable of than simply for the way they look...
"I could lose 20 pounds and I'm still going to have these knockers and I'm going to have this bum. That's just the way it is."
I love it. If only there were more women in the world who accepted & appreciated their bodies more for what they are capable of than simply for the way they look...
Sunday, February 04, 2007
I'm still here :-)
Another one of those rollercoaster weeks. 2 months today until I fly out for Nepal :-)
Struggled mentally earlier in the week. I allowed myself to dwell on the negative thoughts that I was having about Six Foot & my recalcitrant hip, rather than accept them as part of the journey & let them wash over me (thanks Owly).
I did 3 x upper body weights sessions during the week and my shoulders haven't forgiven me yet. Let's just say that I'm still paying for not doing much weights over the last few weeks....
After a week off I set off to do my long run today. Saint Andrew & Easy Tiger want me to stay off hills for the time being (!) so I picked a reasonably flat 12k loop near home with the intention of running it twice. I really struggled today, mentally & physically. Unfortunately my hip hasn't improved during the week off. Not even doing a a door-knock at 7.44am to find out who owned the sheep that had escaped from a paddock & were now running down the road ahead of me did little to improve my mood. I pulled the pin after 15.36k in 1:48:44 (aver 7:04min/k) . More time off running is needed me thinks - might be time to dust the cobwebs off my bike...
MTD: 15.36k
Struggled mentally earlier in the week. I allowed myself to dwell on the negative thoughts that I was having about Six Foot & my recalcitrant hip, rather than accept them as part of the journey & let them wash over me (thanks Owly).
I did 3 x upper body weights sessions during the week and my shoulders haven't forgiven me yet. Let's just say that I'm still paying for not doing much weights over the last few weeks....
After a week off I set off to do my long run today. Saint Andrew & Easy Tiger want me to stay off hills for the time being (!) so I picked a reasonably flat 12k loop near home with the intention of running it twice. I really struggled today, mentally & physically. Unfortunately my hip hasn't improved during the week off. Not even doing a a door-knock at 7.44am to find out who owned the sheep that had escaped from a paddock & were now running down the road ahead of me did little to improve my mood. I pulled the pin after 15.36k in 1:48:44 (aver 7:04min/k) . More time off running is needed me thinks - might be time to dust the cobwebs off my bike...
MTD: 15.36k
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
The universe IS unfolding as it should
Back & biceps weights session at lunch in the gym today & I'll be back in there tomorrow (Wednesday) doing chest, shoulders & triceps.
Today I also booked myself a holiday in April (& yes, this departure is already confirmed) - a 25 day trip to Nepal including a 20 day trek! Woohooooo! This is something that I have wanted to do for probably 15+ years - not to mention a bloody great way to use (& build on) my Six Foot training and sets me up perfectly for a tilt at my running goals in the second half of the year. I'm excited :-))
Taking a break from running this week brings me to the end of January with a total of 160.43km! My biggest month ever! It's been a huge month physically & emotionally. I feel like I've been on an emotional rollercoaster actually - some lows, fear, uncertainty & tears but also a lot of highs. Needless to say the Black Stump run on NYD will be one of my highlights of the year. I can't believe it was only a month ago that I qualified for Six Foot - it seems like a lifetime. How things (or more correctly, how perceptions) change!
Today I also booked myself a holiday in April (& yes, this departure is already confirmed) - a 25 day trip to Nepal including a 20 day trek! Woohooooo! This is something that I have wanted to do for probably 15+ years - not to mention a bloody great way to use (& build on) my Six Foot training and sets me up perfectly for a tilt at my running goals in the second half of the year. I'm excited :-))
Taking a break from running this week brings me to the end of January with a total of 160.43km! My biggest month ever! It's been a huge month physically & emotionally. I feel like I've been on an emotional rollercoaster actually - some lows, fear, uncertainty & tears but also a lot of highs. Needless to say the Black Stump run on NYD will be one of my highlights of the year. I can't believe it was only a month ago that I qualified for Six Foot - it seems like a lifetime. How things (or more correctly, how perceptions) change!
Monday, January 29, 2007
I'm a safety girl....
Apologies for just spamming everyone using Bloglines :-)
Lulu asked yesterday about whether I carry ID when on a trail run in case I get bitten by a moving stick ;-) I've been taught by the master so I actually carry -
- drivers licence
- mobile
- triangular bandage
- roller/crepe/pressure bandage
- space blanket (small)
- glasses case with a second pair - either my sunnies or my normal glasses depending on what I'm wearing. If I fall & break a pair, I'll need a backup otherwise it would be a long & slow walk back to the car as I stop to check every stick to make sure its not a snake!
- toilet paper !
- maps (depending on which trail I'm running)
plus (of course) water & gels. Sounds like alot but it actually fits within 2 small ziplock bag & weighs almost nothing. In addition, I show my folks on the map the course that I'm planning to take & when to expect me back (ok, this should be in writing...smack....) & I SMS mum as I'm leaving the car & then again when I get back to it. What can I say - I'm such a girl scout ;-)
My hip is in need of some TLC this week so I've decided not to run at least until the Mastery of Megalong fat ass run on Sunday (at the earliest). Last weeks interval bike session didn't appear to aggravate it though I will talk to the experts before getting too stuck into the bike. Looks like its gunna be an easy week. 5 weeks & 4 sleeps to go - plenty of time ;-)
Lulu asked yesterday about whether I carry ID when on a trail run in case I get bitten by a moving stick ;-) I've been taught by the master so I actually carry -
- drivers licence
- mobile
- triangular bandage
- roller/crepe/pressure bandage
- space blanket (small)
- glasses case with a second pair - either my sunnies or my normal glasses depending on what I'm wearing. If I fall & break a pair, I'll need a backup otherwise it would be a long & slow walk back to the car as I stop to check every stick to make sure its not a snake!
- toilet paper !
- maps (depending on which trail I'm running)
plus (of course) water & gels. Sounds like alot but it actually fits within 2 small ziplock bag & weighs almost nothing. In addition, I show my folks on the map the course that I'm planning to take & when to expect me back (ok, this should be in writing...smack....) & I SMS mum as I'm leaving the car & then again when I get back to it. What can I say - I'm such a girl scout ;-)
My hip is in need of some TLC this week so I've decided not to run at least until the Mastery of Megalong fat ass run on Sunday (at the earliest). Last weeks interval bike session didn't appear to aggravate it though I will talk to the experts before getting too stuck into the bike. Looks like its gunna be an easy week. 5 weeks & 4 sleeps to go - plenty of time ;-)
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Heading for the hills (again)
I had thought about heading to Quarry Road or back to the Six Foot Track this weekend but decided I needed some time alone with my thoughts so I headed to the Glenbrook National Park (which is about 15mins from home) for part of a route that Mr G suggested. He described it as "seriously hilly". He wasn't kidding. I think I did more walking than running today...
I parked at the gate just after 7am. I had planned to go earlier but couldn't get out of bed this morning. It was beautiful & quiet with only the occasional MTBer & walker around. Ran down to the causeway, walked up the other side & then ran along the main road to the Ironbark picnic ground, where I turned down a trail to the Euroka Campground & was greeted by the resident kangaroos. After a stop to powder my nose, I walked back up the road out of the campground, turned right & headed to the Portal Lookout. This was a constant climb but the incredible view down the Nepean River was worth it. I can't believe that in all the time I spent at the Euroka campground as a kid that I've never been to the lookout before - it's stunning. Will take my camera next time...
I turned around & started heading back to the Euroka Campground. On the way, a car stopped to warn me that there was a red belly black snake was on the road a bit further down. Farkkk. Unfortunately I wasn't lucky enough to catch a glimpse of it - it had moved on by the time I got there. After another pitstop at Euroka, I decided to head back up Bennetts Ridge Road - better known as the last section of the Woodford to Glenbrook trail. Yikes. It certainly didn't feel particularly 'downhill' during the W2G race - it wasn't a big climb but it's constant.
Eventually I made it back to the Oaks Fire Trail. My hip had been complaining for a while by now & I had just about had enough - if a car had driven past I have have hitched a lift back to my car. But alas, no cars so I ran back down to the causeway & walked up the other side, managing to catch, overtake & leave for dust a poor dude trying to ride his MTB up the hill..
Energy wise I felt fine so in that regard it was a confidence boost that I need after last week. Easy Tiger & Saint Andrew have some work to do though...
Finished in 22.51kms in 2:47:47 (aver 7.27min/km). It was what I needed - some thinking time by myself on a trail with only kangaroos & snakes for company.
MTD: 160.43kms
I parked at the gate just after 7am. I had planned to go earlier but couldn't get out of bed this morning. It was beautiful & quiet with only the occasional MTBer & walker around. Ran down to the causeway, walked up the other side & then ran along the main road to the Ironbark picnic ground, where I turned down a trail to the Euroka Campground & was greeted by the resident kangaroos. After a stop to powder my nose, I walked back up the road out of the campground, turned right & headed to the Portal Lookout. This was a constant climb but the incredible view down the Nepean River was worth it. I can't believe that in all the time I spent at the Euroka campground as a kid that I've never been to the lookout before - it's stunning. Will take my camera next time...
I turned around & started heading back to the Euroka Campground. On the way, a car stopped to warn me that there was a red belly black snake was on the road a bit further down. Farkkk. Unfortunately I wasn't lucky enough to catch a glimpse of it - it had moved on by the time I got there. After another pitstop at Euroka, I decided to head back up Bennetts Ridge Road - better known as the last section of the Woodford to Glenbrook trail. Yikes. It certainly didn't feel particularly 'downhill' during the W2G race - it wasn't a big climb but it's constant.
Eventually I made it back to the Oaks Fire Trail. My hip had been complaining for a while by now & I had just about had enough - if a car had driven past I have have hitched a lift back to my car. But alas, no cars so I ran back down to the causeway & walked up the other side, managing to catch, overtake & leave for dust a poor dude trying to ride his MTB up the hill..
Energy wise I felt fine so in that regard it was a confidence boost that I need after last week. Easy Tiger & Saint Andrew have some work to do though...
Finished in 22.51kms in 2:47:47 (aver 7.27min/km). It was what I needed - some thinking time by myself on a trail with only kangaroos & snakes for company.
MTD: 160.43kms
Friday, January 26, 2007
You can't say we're satisfied...
It's been an interesting, intriguing & emotional week in more ways than one...
I haven't mentioned my glute recently - not because its been fine but because I don't want to dwell on it. After visits to Saint Andrew on both Monday and Tuesday and one of the most painful hours I've spent in the Tiger's lair yet, we have gotten to the bottom of the problem (pun intended). And it's not my glute - basically the structural/biomechnical problem relating to my pelvis that I was having last year (the cause of my old ITB problem) is starting to flare up again. At least now I know what's going on & the best way to manage it & minimise any damage over the next 6 weeks & 1 sleep
;-)
Wednesday morning I headed out for a run. I was feeling emotionally fragile after some 'stuff' on Tuesday & still physically beaten up after my run on Sunday so I decided to let me old bod decided what it wanted to do.
It was a rough start. After an incredible light show on Tuesday night during a storm, it was soooo humid out there. For the first 15mins I couldn't even get into 1st gear & was thinking of pulling the pin early. But after about 15mins (& a couple of stops to stretch my calves) my body not only found 1st gear but was threatening to move up to 2nd gear. And then one of my most favourite things in the word happened - it started raining. Heavily. There are few things I love more than running in summer rain - trail running, chocolate & red wine immediately come to mind but there are others ;-)
Although my hip complained for most of it, it was a bloody fantastic run :-)) It was THE perfect confidence boosting run - just what I needed after the last few days. Finished with 7.33k in 46:07mins (aver 6:17min/k).
Thursday started well. I stayed at Ellie's place on Wednesday night after dinner with a constellation of CoolRunners. So as Ellie headed off to join the SWEAT crew, I headed into the gym for an interval session on the bike -
5mins warm up
5 x 5mins efforts/2:30mins recovery
5 mins cool down
Total: 47:30mins
Finished off with 3 sets of single leg hamstring curls - part of the treatment for my eager pelvis (thanks Ellie!), ab/core stuff & lots of stretching. Great way to start the day :-)
Unfortunately I found out later in the day that my holiday to Central America has been cancelled by the tour operator for lack of numbers! Farkkkk. I know the universe is probably unfolding as it should but I don't like the universe today ;-) Back to the drawing board…
With the Australia Day fun run on at the Regatta Centre at Penriff, Owly & Ellie came to stay at Chez Penriff on Thursday night. While the prospect of being able to leave home 3mins before we wanted to arrive at the Regatta Centre had some appeal, I think (at least so far as Ellie was concerned) the fact that Mum had offered to cook a baked dinner was the major selling point ;-)
I had previously decided to do one of the races (5k or 10k) at my usual Friday run pace - ie slow. After Wednesday's run, the decision to do the 5k was easy. Owly decided to run a slow 5k too so to make sure we did, we decided our goal was to run a PW! It was great to run with Owly again (it's been far too long). We had great fun at the back of the pack, cheering, talking, laughing, solving the worlds - and our - problems. Thanks Owly! Finished with 4.98k in 32.07mins (aver 6.27min/k). No complaints from my hip today so the stretching/strengthing is paying off.
Afterwards Owly & I sat around catching up with Go Girl (waves!) while Ellie went off for a ride. It was great day - I don't know what I'd do without you gals :-)
MTD: 137.92kms !
To answer Tesso's question, my next visit to the Track is next weekend as part of the Megalong Mega fat ass run (hopefully not the Megalong Massacre as someone has nicknamed it!) unless I head up there again this weekend. Dunno yet. I'm still undecided where or for how long I'll run this weekend....
I haven't mentioned my glute recently - not because its been fine but because I don't want to dwell on it. After visits to Saint Andrew on both Monday and Tuesday and one of the most painful hours I've spent in the Tiger's lair yet, we have gotten to the bottom of the problem (pun intended). And it's not my glute - basically the structural/biomechnical problem relating to my pelvis that I was having last year (the cause of my old ITB problem) is starting to flare up again. At least now I know what's going on & the best way to manage it & minimise any damage over the next 6 weeks & 1 sleep
;-)
Wednesday morning I headed out for a run. I was feeling emotionally fragile after some 'stuff' on Tuesday & still physically beaten up after my run on Sunday so I decided to let me old bod decided what it wanted to do.
It was a rough start. After an incredible light show on Tuesday night during a storm, it was soooo humid out there. For the first 15mins I couldn't even get into 1st gear & was thinking of pulling the pin early. But after about 15mins (& a couple of stops to stretch my calves) my body not only found 1st gear but was threatening to move up to 2nd gear. And then one of my most favourite things in the word happened - it started raining. Heavily. There are few things I love more than running in summer rain - trail running, chocolate & red wine immediately come to mind but there are others ;-)
Although my hip complained for most of it, it was a bloody fantastic run :-)) It was THE perfect confidence boosting run - just what I needed after the last few days. Finished with 7.33k in 46:07mins (aver 6:17min/k).
Thursday started well. I stayed at Ellie's place on Wednesday night after dinner with a constellation of CoolRunners. So as Ellie headed off to join the SWEAT crew, I headed into the gym for an interval session on the bike -
5mins warm up
5 x 5mins efforts/2:30mins recovery
5 mins cool down
Total: 47:30mins
Finished off with 3 sets of single leg hamstring curls - part of the treatment for my eager pelvis (thanks Ellie!), ab/core stuff & lots of stretching. Great way to start the day :-)
Unfortunately I found out later in the day that my holiday to Central America has been cancelled by the tour operator for lack of numbers! Farkkkk. I know the universe is probably unfolding as it should but I don't like the universe today ;-) Back to the drawing board…
With the Australia Day fun run on at the Regatta Centre at Penriff, Owly & Ellie came to stay at Chez Penriff on Thursday night. While the prospect of being able to leave home 3mins before we wanted to arrive at the Regatta Centre had some appeal, I think (at least so far as Ellie was concerned) the fact that Mum had offered to cook a baked dinner was the major selling point ;-)
I had previously decided to do one of the races (5k or 10k) at my usual Friday run pace - ie slow. After Wednesday's run, the decision to do the 5k was easy. Owly decided to run a slow 5k too so to make sure we did, we decided our goal was to run a PW! It was great to run with Owly again (it's been far too long). We had great fun at the back of the pack, cheering, talking, laughing, solving the worlds - and our - problems. Thanks Owly! Finished with 4.98k in 32.07mins (aver 6.27min/k). No complaints from my hip today so the stretching/strengthing is paying off.
Afterwards Owly & I sat around catching up with Go Girl (waves!) while Ellie went off for a ride. It was great day - I don't know what I'd do without you gals :-)
MTD: 137.92kms !
To answer Tesso's question, my next visit to the Track is next weekend as part of the Megalong Mega fat ass run (hopefully not the Megalong Massacre as someone has nicknamed it!) unless I head up there again this weekend. Dunno yet. I'm still undecided where or for how long I'll run this weekend....
Sunday, January 21, 2007
One of those days....
Thankfully yesterday was a rest day. It got to 41*C (105*F) out here at Penriff & today (Sunday) is about the same. Thankfully there was plenty of sport on telly & we have ducted air-con.
Anyway, today was my first visit to the Six Foot Track. Apart from the fact that the company was great & I didn't see any snakes, it was pretty farked.
I woke up feeling flat, tired & unrested. I'm not sure why - I made sure that I was properly hydrated cause I knew it would be hot. Just one of those days I guess...
Got to the Explorer's Tree just before 7am after getting every red light between Penriff & Katoomba and within about 5mins, we were off. Moh, Ine, 2p & someone else whose name I didn't catch quickly took off leaving me at the back of the pack with Terry.
The steps down Nellies are a bitch - differing heights & widths. I'm sure there is a technique to running down them (quickly) but buggered if I know what it is. Having no fear & long legs perhaps. Unfortunately I was too busy trying not to bust an ankle to take in the view but the few glimpses I saw were pretty spectacular. The soaring sandstone escarpment which disappeared from view as we passed through the 'rainforest' section. Bewdiful.
By the time the course had started to flatten, 2p suddenly appeared - dropping back to check up on me. After dropping about 500m in the space of 2kms, my legs were (surprisingly) feeling pretty good at this stage.
At the first gate, we climbed through the fence which I didn't handle particularly well. It's been a few years since I climbed fences! Contrary to 2p's cheeky suggestion, it wasn't that I was too fat too squeeze through but that I over-rotated on the landing. You had to be there ;-)
Terry, 2p & I continued to run along the firetrail when 2p started to entertain us by telling 'snake encounter' stories. No doubt part of his campaign to desensitise me to snakes. His attempt to distract me worked too well - I almost went A over T thanks to a stick at about this time.
The rest of the run down to Megalong Rd was pleasant and different - from a wide firetrail, through a dry creek bed & then across a paddock. By this time it was starting to get bloody warm. The pace had been pretty comfortable for me but I was really pleased that I planned to turn around at the road rather than continue onto Cox's River as the rest had planned.
On hitting Megalong Road in 57mins, we stopped for a quick chat & I had a GU before we parted company & I set out for home by my lonesome.
Unfortunately I had absolutely nothing in the tank on the way back. The GU made no difference whatsoever. I couldn't catch my breathe no matter how much I slowed down, nor could I get my heartrate down. At about the 10k, I found that I wasn't absorbing any water - it was all sloshing around in my tummy & before I had made it to the Nellies Glen sign, I was feeling lightheaded & faint. About this point I had another GU which made bugger-all difference again. FYI - I had drunk just on 2ltrs of water by the time I made it back to the car.
Finished in 2:16 (splits of 57 & 1:19).
Positives to come out of it - I have strong quads which don't mind downhills. It was 'time on my feet' and (more) practice at moving forward (albeit slowly) when the tank is bone-motherless-dry.
'Nuff said. Time to rest, recover & refocus.
MTD: 125.61kms
Anyway, today was my first visit to the Six Foot Track. Apart from the fact that the company was great & I didn't see any snakes, it was pretty farked.
I woke up feeling flat, tired & unrested. I'm not sure why - I made sure that I was properly hydrated cause I knew it would be hot. Just one of those days I guess...
Got to the Explorer's Tree just before 7am after getting every red light between Penriff & Katoomba and within about 5mins, we were off. Moh, Ine, 2p & someone else whose name I didn't catch quickly took off leaving me at the back of the pack with Terry.
The steps down Nellies are a bitch - differing heights & widths. I'm sure there is a technique to running down them (quickly) but buggered if I know what it is. Having no fear & long legs perhaps. Unfortunately I was too busy trying not to bust an ankle to take in the view but the few glimpses I saw were pretty spectacular. The soaring sandstone escarpment which disappeared from view as we passed through the 'rainforest' section. Bewdiful.
By the time the course had started to flatten, 2p suddenly appeared - dropping back to check up on me. After dropping about 500m in the space of 2kms, my legs were (surprisingly) feeling pretty good at this stage.
At the first gate, we climbed through the fence which I didn't handle particularly well. It's been a few years since I climbed fences! Contrary to 2p's cheeky suggestion, it wasn't that I was too fat too squeeze through but that I over-rotated on the landing. You had to be there ;-)
Terry, 2p & I continued to run along the firetrail when 2p started to entertain us by telling 'snake encounter' stories. No doubt part of his campaign to desensitise me to snakes. His attempt to distract me worked too well - I almost went A over T thanks to a stick at about this time.
The rest of the run down to Megalong Rd was pleasant and different - from a wide firetrail, through a dry creek bed & then across a paddock. By this time it was starting to get bloody warm. The pace had been pretty comfortable for me but I was really pleased that I planned to turn around at the road rather than continue onto Cox's River as the rest had planned.
On hitting Megalong Road in 57mins, we stopped for a quick chat & I had a GU before we parted company & I set out for home by my lonesome.
Unfortunately I had absolutely nothing in the tank on the way back. The GU made no difference whatsoever. I couldn't catch my breathe no matter how much I slowed down, nor could I get my heartrate down. At about the 10k, I found that I wasn't absorbing any water - it was all sloshing around in my tummy & before I had made it to the Nellies Glen sign, I was feeling lightheaded & faint. About this point I had another GU which made bugger-all difference again. FYI - I had drunk just on 2ltrs of water by the time I made it back to the car.
Finished in 2:16 (splits of 57 & 1:19).
Positives to come out of it - I have strong quads which don't mind downhills. It was 'time on my feet' and (more) practice at moving forward (albeit slowly) when the tank is bone-motherless-dry.
'Nuff said. Time to rest, recover & refocus.
MTD: 125.61kms
Saturday, January 20, 2007
...7....
49 sleeps to go!
And it's a rest day :-) So once I sit down with my maps & check out tomorrow's route, it's back to the couch with the papers & to watch the tennis. Geez, this training thing is hard work ;-)
And it's a rest day :-) So once I sit down with my maps & check out tomorrow's route, it's back to the couch with the papers & to watch the tennis. Geez, this training thing is hard work ;-)
Friday, January 19, 2007
Accept the landing
I've been feeling really tired this week (*yawn*). Looking at my diary over the last 3 weeks - and now that I'm covering for both of my bosses who are currently on holidays - I'm not surprised. I've even been sleeping on the trip to AND from work - which I would normally consider to be a great waste of reading time. But for the next 7-odd weeks, I prefer to think of it as recovery time ;-) Thankfully I have a (much needed & long overdue) quiet & relaxing weekend ahead.
I chose to give pilates a miss this week after overdoing it a wee bit last week so instead I went to the gym yesterday (Thursday) for an upper body weights session. Today (Friday) I headed out for an easy 40mins run. I felt really flat & tired at first but after stopping to stretch my calves about 10min in, I started feeling (somewhat) relaxed & comfy. Finished with 6.55k in 40:14mins (aver 6:08min/k).
All systems are G-O for my maiden visit to the Track this weekend :-)
MTD: 109.65kms
I chose to give pilates a miss this week after overdoing it a wee bit last week so instead I went to the gym yesterday (Thursday) for an upper body weights session. Today (Friday) I headed out for an easy 40mins run. I felt really flat & tired at first but after stopping to stretch my calves about 10min in, I started feeling (somewhat) relaxed & comfy. Finished with 6.55k in 40:14mins (aver 6:08min/k).
All systems are G-O for my maiden visit to the Track this weekend :-)
MTD: 109.65kms
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Only forward
An easy 40mins this morning. I was planning to head out for a bit longer but my glutes & ITBs were feeling a bit beaten up after the massage yesterday. So in line with my 'slowly & wisely' approach, I decided the best thing I can do this week is to take it easy & make sure all my bits have recovered - happy, rested & recovered glutes are going to come in handy on my first trip to the Six Foot Track this weekend :-))
Gosh the moon was beautiful this morning. But I think I'll need to invest in a headlamp to do my midweek rural route soon - it's getting darker out on the backroads sans-streetlights & houses at 5am…
Finished with 6.63k in 42:59mins (aver 6:28min/k)
MTD: 103.1kms
Gosh the moon was beautiful this morning. But I think I'll need to invest in a headlamp to do my midweek rural route soon - it's getting darker out on the backroads sans-streetlights & houses at 5am…
Finished with 6.63k in 42:59mins (aver 6:28min/k)
MTD: 103.1kms
Monday, January 15, 2007
Double dipping
Well it's been a busy few days.
Thanks to Lulu & Wine Trail Runner for their hospitality (and coffee table) and Ellie for her couch on Friday night ;-)
Saturday & my glutes were so bloody sore from Friday's pilates class. It actually hurt to sit down. Thankfully it was a rest day so I could spend most of it horizontal.
Sunday morning I was picked up by Belinda & Horrie from our hotel at 5.15am for the trip to Quarry Road. BeckyO joined in the fun too. I had woken up at 4am & couldn't get back to sleep after my first Six Foot dreams. I have no idea what happened in my dream but I woke feeling anxious & then couldn't get back to sleep. Weird.
Anyway I had 2 laps on the plan today - the first time I've run 2 laps here. I knew I had to be conservative on the first lap so decided to aim for a 1:40 split (on my first visit on Christmas Eve I ran 1:31)
We set out just on 6am with Horrie & I quickly settling in ahead of Belinda & BeckyO. Just after crossing the bridge the first time we bumped into Spud coming in the opposite direction & stopped for a quick chat. After setting out again, Horrie & I ran/walked the climb back out. We actually ran a few of the hills that I walked the last time I ran Quarry Road so I was hoping that it wouldn't come back to bite me later. I felt pretty ordinary (mentally) for much of the first outward leg. I think the anxiety from my dream had rattled me a bit. But once we hit the flatter section near Quarry Rd, I felt myself settling into the run & I started picking Horrie's brain about all things Six Foot & Glasshouse related.
Not long after hitting the Quarry Road gate, Belinda & BeckyO passed us & Horrie turned back to keep the girls company & get some more distance. I wanted to run strongly yet conservatively (if that makes sense). Running the type/size of hills that Horrie & I had been running on the first outward lap - hills which I would probably otherwise have walked (whether due to laziness or a perception of what running it 'conservatively' was). It worked - I made it back to the start in 1:33, feeling really comfortable. After refilling my fuelbelt bottles & having a GU, I set out for my second lap.
Not long afterwards, Spud passed me. He was flying up a hill I was struggling to walk up. Amazing! Horrie caught me not long after the campground & stayed with me again until the final climb back up from the bridge to the finish. I felt really strong this section & was pleased how I was able to transition from walking to running (albeit slowly) at the top of hills.
I finished the second lap in 1:35 - 2mins slower but I did spend 2mins stuffing around with my fuelbelt bottles on a section that I would otherwise have been running near the Quarry Road gate so I'm really pleased that I ran the second lap pretty close to the same pace as the first.
Once Belinda & Becky had finished, we sat in the shade near the car for a rest & a few snacks before a rather quiet trip home. A great way to start a Sunday with great company, trails & hills :-) I was also rather pleased that we had all finished before the gunshots started ringing out from the rifle range!
So I finished my 2 laps (25.57k) in 3:08:25 (1.33/1.35 lap splits) feeling pretty comfortable - tired but not completely trashed :-) My second longest run in both distance/time as well :-)
I learnt a few lessons from this run:
* I transition well from walking up hills to running (albeit slowly) again
* the need to stay strong & positive when going through a 'bad' patch because you will come out of it probably just as quickly as you went into it.
* to do my strength work earlier in the week. My right hip/glute started complaining rather loudly on the last climb. I have no doubt that they were tired & still recovering/fatigued after a tough Pilates class on Friday. One day, when I'm stronger I'll be able to do these types of runs while fatigued. But for this assault on Six Foot, my focus needs to be on being fully recovered & rested for each long run.
An hour today in the Tiger's company this afternoon helped to iron out a few grumpy bits. I am really looking forward to my next long run - my first visit to the Track :-))
MTD: 96.47 (!)
Thanks to Lulu & Wine Trail Runner for their hospitality (and coffee table) and Ellie for her couch on Friday night ;-)
Saturday & my glutes were so bloody sore from Friday's pilates class. It actually hurt to sit down. Thankfully it was a rest day so I could spend most of it horizontal.
Sunday morning I was picked up by Belinda & Horrie from our hotel at 5.15am for the trip to Quarry Road. BeckyO joined in the fun too. I had woken up at 4am & couldn't get back to sleep after my first Six Foot dreams. I have no idea what happened in my dream but I woke feeling anxious & then couldn't get back to sleep. Weird.
Anyway I had 2 laps on the plan today - the first time I've run 2 laps here. I knew I had to be conservative on the first lap so decided to aim for a 1:40 split (on my first visit on Christmas Eve I ran 1:31)
We set out just on 6am with Horrie & I quickly settling in ahead of Belinda & BeckyO. Just after crossing the bridge the first time we bumped into Spud coming in the opposite direction & stopped for a quick chat. After setting out again, Horrie & I ran/walked the climb back out. We actually ran a few of the hills that I walked the last time I ran Quarry Road so I was hoping that it wouldn't come back to bite me later. I felt pretty ordinary (mentally) for much of the first outward leg. I think the anxiety from my dream had rattled me a bit. But once we hit the flatter section near Quarry Rd, I felt myself settling into the run & I started picking Horrie's brain about all things Six Foot & Glasshouse related.
Not long after hitting the Quarry Road gate, Belinda & BeckyO passed us & Horrie turned back to keep the girls company & get some more distance. I wanted to run strongly yet conservatively (if that makes sense). Running the type/size of hills that Horrie & I had been running on the first outward lap - hills which I would probably otherwise have walked (whether due to laziness or a perception of what running it 'conservatively' was). It worked - I made it back to the start in 1:33, feeling really comfortable. After refilling my fuelbelt bottles & having a GU, I set out for my second lap.
Not long afterwards, Spud passed me. He was flying up a hill I was struggling to walk up. Amazing! Horrie caught me not long after the campground & stayed with me again until the final climb back up from the bridge to the finish. I felt really strong this section & was pleased how I was able to transition from walking to running (albeit slowly) at the top of hills.
I finished the second lap in 1:35 - 2mins slower but I did spend 2mins stuffing around with my fuelbelt bottles on a section that I would otherwise have been running near the Quarry Road gate so I'm really pleased that I ran the second lap pretty close to the same pace as the first.
Once Belinda & Becky had finished, we sat in the shade near the car for a rest & a few snacks before a rather quiet trip home. A great way to start a Sunday with great company, trails & hills :-) I was also rather pleased that we had all finished before the gunshots started ringing out from the rifle range!
So I finished my 2 laps (25.57k) in 3:08:25 (1.33/1.35 lap splits) feeling pretty comfortable - tired but not completely trashed :-) My second longest run in both distance/time as well :-)
I learnt a few lessons from this run:
* I transition well from walking up hills to running (albeit slowly) again
* the need to stay strong & positive when going through a 'bad' patch because you will come out of it probably just as quickly as you went into it.
* to do my strength work earlier in the week. My right hip/glute started complaining rather loudly on the last climb. I have no doubt that they were tired & still recovering/fatigued after a tough Pilates class on Friday. One day, when I'm stronger I'll be able to do these types of runs while fatigued. But for this assault on Six Foot, my focus needs to be on being fully recovered & rested for each long run.
An hour today in the Tiger's company this afternoon helped to iron out a few grumpy bits. I am really looking forward to my next long run - my first visit to the Track :-))
MTD: 96.47 (!)
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Relativity
At the moment I'm reading a new book called Holding On by Jo Gambi. Jo & her husband Rob abandoned their jobs & set out to climb the Seven Summits (the highest mountain on each of the continents) after Rob overcame his second battle with cancer. What I'm enjoying most is her exploration of the 'mental' side of mountain climbing - how the mind can keep pushing the body long after the body wants to shut down.
Only by going to our physical limits could we discover the possibilities that lay beyond them
I need to remember that as I power my way up Black Range Road in 8 weeks & 2 sleeps time :-)
Well I went out for a run this morning with the intention of going for a 40mins cruise around the 'hood ahead of 3 + hours at Quarry Road on Sunday. But sometimes ya just gotta listen to your body - and today, it wanted to go fast(ish) :-) Fast of course is a relative term. Despite not having run a single km faster than 6min/km since I-don't-know-when, I finished my run this morning with 6.92k (aver 5:48min/k). I didn't think my legs could go that fast after so much long sloooow stuff lately! So this is happens when you train consistently? I like it :-)
..though I have to say that I'm looking forward to getting back on a trail this weekend - it's been 11 days now - I think I'm getting withdrawal symptoms ;-)
Tomorrow promises a GRC Int/Adv Pilates class at lunch before dinner with a gaggle of CoolRunners at Lulu & Wine Trail Runner's lovely abode tomorrow night - Cirque's in town - yippee :-)
MTD: 70.9k
Only by going to our physical limits could we discover the possibilities that lay beyond them
I need to remember that as I power my way up Black Range Road in 8 weeks & 2 sleeps time :-)
Well I went out for a run this morning with the intention of going for a 40mins cruise around the 'hood ahead of 3 + hours at Quarry Road on Sunday. But sometimes ya just gotta listen to your body - and today, it wanted to go fast(ish) :-) Fast of course is a relative term. Despite not having run a single km faster than 6min/km since I-don't-know-when, I finished my run this morning with 6.92k (aver 5:48min/k). I didn't think my legs could go that fast after so much long sloooow stuff lately! So this is happens when you train consistently? I like it :-)
..though I have to say that I'm looking forward to getting back on a trail this weekend - it's been 11 days now - I think I'm getting withdrawal symptoms ;-)
Tomorrow promises a GRC Int/Adv Pilates class at lunch before dinner with a gaggle of CoolRunners at Lulu & Wine Trail Runner's lovely abode tomorrow night - Cirque's in town - yippee :-)
MTD: 70.9k
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
On with the show, this is it...
Firstly, to answer the question - no, I'm not planning to do the 12 hour event next year. Someone suggested to me that because I lap scored this year I HAD to do it next year. I'm sorry but that wasn't in the fine print when I signed up for the job ;-) Besides, it's a fantastic event which is only going to continue to grow so qualified & experienced lap scorers/crew will be in high demand :-)
I had an easy recovery run planned for Monday morning but decided that catching up on some sleep after the weekend was a much better idea. So I headed to the gym at lunch for a tough GRC Pilates class. For an ordinary class (ie not the Int/Adv class), it was tough. I don't think my abs have ever been sorer. Even my shoulders are sore - and they never get sore.
This morning (Tuesday) I had a FANTASTIC run. I headed out for 50mins first following my usual mid-week 'rural' loop around the 'hood before spending the last 15mins running up (well, walk/running) & down a couple of short sharp hills near home. I felt great today - really strong & comfortable. Finished with 8.06k in 50:30mins (aver 6.16min/k). Went to visit the Tiger at lunch - happy to report that there are no real trouble spots. My tib-posts are (still) tight but they aren't causing me any grief nor getting any worse - happy days :-)
Rest day tomorrow - alas, no sleep-in :-(
MTD: 63.98k
I had an easy recovery run planned for Monday morning but decided that catching up on some sleep after the weekend was a much better idea. So I headed to the gym at lunch for a tough GRC Pilates class. For an ordinary class (ie not the Int/Adv class), it was tough. I don't think my abs have ever been sorer. Even my shoulders are sore - and they never get sore.
This morning (Tuesday) I had a FANTASTIC run. I headed out for 50mins first following my usual mid-week 'rural' loop around the 'hood before spending the last 15mins running up (well, walk/running) & down a couple of short sharp hills near home. I felt great today - really strong & comfortable. Finished with 8.06k in 50:30mins (aver 6.16min/k). Went to visit the Tiger at lunch - happy to report that there are no real trouble spots. My tib-posts are (still) tight but they aren't causing me any grief nor getting any worse - happy days :-)
Rest day tomorrow - alas, no sleep-in :-(
MTD: 63.98k
Sunday, January 07, 2007
All night long*
Well - what a weekend.
It's 6pm Sunday afternoon & I've had 3 hours sleep since 7am Saturday morning - but gosh it was worth it!
Saturday morning I headed out for my long run. With only 5 days between long runs & a back/pelvis in need of a realignment (bring on Saint Andrew's return from holidays), I decided an easy (flat) 2 hours was the best idea. Good decision. It was the hardest easy run I've done in a long time. Funny, after walk/running my way through my last 4 long runs, I found myself missing my walk breaks today! It was about 8am when I left home & it was already hot. I felt really flat physically & mentally - probably not enough water in the last 24 hours - and it was a bloody struggle. Think I'll chalk this one up as an experience of staying on my feet & moving in a forward direction while completely stuffed. Finished with 17.6k in 1:56:07 (aver 6:35min/k).
Saturday afternoon I headed up to Gosford to lap score for Belinda & Horrie at the 12 hour Coastal Classic. I got to Gosford just before 6pm (kick off was at 7.30pm) to catch up with everyone. I helped Belinda organise their drink table before settling in next to Will at the lap scorers table on a rather uncomfortable plastic chair - I think my butt got numb during the course of the night 'cause I didn't notice it after a while! The only problem with staying up all night (sans the influence of dancing & alcohol) is the amount of food I ate - I got hungry at 11pm, and then 3am and then 6am and...
As I was feeling exhausted on Saturday afternoon, I was a tad worried how I would go staying awake all night but I need not have worried. Horrie, Belinda and HRH Eagle flew past at regular intervals & the concentration required (when bloody sugar levels are low at 3am) to answer questions like "how many laps til # kms" was more than enough to keep me awake! Not to mention trying to think of something new to say to them each time they passed us - Horrie, for example, ultimately did 275 laps! The universe unfolded as it should have when Belinda & Horrie were at the same point on the track when Horrie passed through the 100k mark :-)
7.30am rolled around surprisingly quickly (I can say that, I was sitting on my butt all night!) leaving Horrie in 3rd place at 115k, the soaring Eagle at 100k and Belinda with a sensational total of 80k (the magic 50m mark) in her first ultra. I am so pleased that I was able to help them in some small way - each of them have given me sooo much support, encouragement & advice over the years.
By the time the presentation had finished it was almost 9.30am before I started the drive home. I was hoping to get to the Regatta Centre to meet up with Ellie after her sensational triathlon debut but it was not meant to be. Up until I started the drive home, I wasn't tired. Luckily I made it home in one piece & after some (more) food, I was in bed within 20mins of walking in the front door :-)
A wonderful way to round out what has been an amazing first week of 2007!
MTD: 55.92km (my biggest week ever!)
* apologies to anyone who now has that appalling Lionel Richie sound stuck in their head
It's 6pm Sunday afternoon & I've had 3 hours sleep since 7am Saturday morning - but gosh it was worth it!
Saturday morning I headed out for my long run. With only 5 days between long runs & a back/pelvis in need of a realignment (bring on Saint Andrew's return from holidays), I decided an easy (flat) 2 hours was the best idea. Good decision. It was the hardest easy run I've done in a long time. Funny, after walk/running my way through my last 4 long runs, I found myself missing my walk breaks today! It was about 8am when I left home & it was already hot. I felt really flat physically & mentally - probably not enough water in the last 24 hours - and it was a bloody struggle. Think I'll chalk this one up as an experience of staying on my feet & moving in a forward direction while completely stuffed. Finished with 17.6k in 1:56:07 (aver 6:35min/k).
Saturday afternoon I headed up to Gosford to lap score for Belinda & Horrie at the 12 hour Coastal Classic. I got to Gosford just before 6pm (kick off was at 7.30pm) to catch up with everyone. I helped Belinda organise their drink table before settling in next to Will at the lap scorers table on a rather uncomfortable plastic chair - I think my butt got numb during the course of the night 'cause I didn't notice it after a while! The only problem with staying up all night (sans the influence of dancing & alcohol) is the amount of food I ate - I got hungry at 11pm, and then 3am and then 6am and...
As I was feeling exhausted on Saturday afternoon, I was a tad worried how I would go staying awake all night but I need not have worried. Horrie, Belinda and HRH Eagle flew past at regular intervals & the concentration required (when bloody sugar levels are low at 3am) to answer questions like "how many laps til # kms" was more than enough to keep me awake! Not to mention trying to think of something new to say to them each time they passed us - Horrie, for example, ultimately did 275 laps! The universe unfolded as it should have when Belinda & Horrie were at the same point on the track when Horrie passed through the 100k mark :-)
7.30am rolled around surprisingly quickly (I can say that, I was sitting on my butt all night!) leaving Horrie in 3rd place at 115k, the soaring Eagle at 100k and Belinda with a sensational total of 80k (the magic 50m mark) in her first ultra. I am so pleased that I was able to help them in some small way - each of them have given me sooo much support, encouragement & advice over the years.
By the time the presentation had finished it was almost 9.30am before I started the drive home. I was hoping to get to the Regatta Centre to meet up with Ellie after her sensational triathlon debut but it was not meant to be. Up until I started the drive home, I wasn't tired. Luckily I made it home in one piece & after some (more) food, I was in bed within 20mins of walking in the front door :-)
A wonderful way to round out what has been an amazing first week of 2007!
MTD: 55.92km (my biggest week ever!)
* apologies to anyone who now has that appalling Lionel Richie sound stuck in their head
Thursday, January 04, 2007
We have lift-off....
Day 1 of my Six Foot campaign & it's off to a slow start - still, better a slow start than none at all! I submitted my entry last night - a copy of the course profile is now stuck on my wall in my office both at work & home & in consultation with a friend, I have developed a plan. It's 9 weeks on Saturday until the race so my focus is on spending time on my feet (not covering specific distances) during my long runs. The plan also includes 3 trips up to various parts of the Track - stay tuned :-)
I need to do my long run on Saturday this weekend - leaving only 5 days between long runs - so this morning I thought I'd let my body decide how far & how fast it wanted to go.
Not very was the answer.
I just couldn't get out of first gear. Hardly surprising I suppose given I've never been on my feet for 5 hours before. So I (somewhat) cruised around the 'hood for 5kms before heading home. Finished with 5.13k in 32.59mins (aver 6.25min/k).
I'm feeling pretty tired today - I haven't slept well for the last few days - but the old bod is feeling good & I'm looking forward to getting back into my normal routine next week.
WTD: 38.32k
MTD: 38.32k
I need to do my long run on Saturday this weekend - leaving only 5 days between long runs - so this morning I thought I'd let my body decide how far & how fast it wanted to go.
Not very was the answer.
I just couldn't get out of first gear. Hardly surprising I suppose given I've never been on my feet for 5 hours before. So I (somewhat) cruised around the 'hood for 5kms before heading home. Finished with 5.13k in 32.59mins (aver 6.25min/k).
I'm feeling pretty tired today - I haven't slept well for the last few days - but the old bod is feeling good & I'm looking forward to getting back into my normal routine next week.
WTD: 38.32k
MTD: 38.32k
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Wise words
I was cleaning out my 2006 diary today & discovered this quote which I'd written onto a post-it note & stuck in the back of my diary - it seems rather appropriate right now-
The finish line is not the end. The finish line is the beginning. Standing at the starting line gives you permission to hope. Taking the time to train, putting in the mileage, making changes in your life and taking the risks has given you consent to hope for the best in yourself.
The miracle is not that you finished, but that you had the courage to start.
I am excited but also (excuse the language) absolutely shit scared by the prospect of running Six Foot in 65 days time. But I have qualified & Horrie's wise words keep coming back to me-
Don’t let fear hold you back.
So I won't.
I'm in. Bring. It. On. :-)
As the late Big Kev would have said, I'm excited!
The finish line is not the end. The finish line is the beginning. Standing at the starting line gives you permission to hope. Taking the time to train, putting in the mileage, making changes in your life and taking the risks has given you consent to hope for the best in yourself.
The miracle is not that you finished, but that you had the courage to start.
I am excited but also (excuse the language) absolutely shit scared by the prospect of running Six Foot in 65 days time. But I have qualified & Horrie's wise words keep coming back to me-
Don’t let fear hold you back.
So I won't.
I'm in. Bring. It. On. :-)
As the late Big Kev would have said, I'm excited!
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Going the full monty, fat ass style - Beyond the Black Stump, 33kms NYD 2007
I’d apologise for the length of this report but it’s my blog ;-) Ready Tesso? You asked for it ;-)
What an amazing way to start the new year with a physical, mental & emotional rollercoaster! I have no idea where to start. I’m actually lost for words. It doesn’t happen very often. I don’t normally write long, lengthy race reports but this one was very special for me.
I have always wanted to run the Six Foot Track marathon. Since 2005 when I went up there to cheer & help out the organisers, I knew it was a special event. Qualifying for the 2007 race was my one & only goal in 2006. And so when I decided not to run W2B in August, I put away any thoughts of running it this year.
When this ‘race’ first was mentioned, there was no indecision on my part about which option to go for – I didn’t even contemplate the possibility of doing the 33k option. I just wasn’t fit enough (so I thought) to even contemplate it. My longest run leading into it was 14kms on my sekrit hilly trail 2 weeks ago.
And then after our run at Quarry Road on Christmas Eve, Spud suggested that I run the full course at Black Stump as a way of getting my qualifying time. I thought about it for about 5sec & then dismissed it, thinking I couldn’t – that I wasn’t fit enough – but the idea was planted. 2P suggested the same thing on Wednesday. It took me about 24 hours to get my head around the idea & on Thursday I decided to do the full monty today. At this stage, I'm getting really nervous about my lack of training so I decided to focus only on the things I could control – my mind (primarily) & my body – I don’t normally eat a lot of carbs but I increased the simple carbs I ate over the few days before the run & made sure that I was fully hydrated. I told everyone my only goal was to finish intact & smiling. While I tried not to focus on it because I didn't want to put pressure on myself, my secondary (sekrit) goal was a Six Foot qualifying time (5.45 or better).
To finish in 5:05 has completely blown me away.
To qualify for Six Foot – well, I don’t have the words for that…I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as I finished. I did both. At the same time. A day later I’m still doing a bit of both.
I got to bed early on NYE – sans alcohol – at about 10.30pm but couldn’t sleep. And that was before the SMS’ & fireworks started. I think I eventually drifted off about 1am so I wasn’t feeling particularly refreshed when the alarm went off at 4.45am.
The trip to the start took me just under an hour & the minute I arrived I got really nervous – primarily because of the distance. This would be both my longest run in time & distance by far - W2G’s 25k in 2:44 in June was as far & long as I’d gone before. Not the ideal preparation for what I’ve heard was one of the toughest runs around.
I had 2 golden rules for today – firstly to walk every hill, no matter how small and secondly, to take a 1min walk break every 20mins – regardless of whether I was on the flat or even downhill - to drink, rest, get myself together mentally, to take in the view, whatever. Obeying both of them was crucial I think to how the day turned out.
Ellie kindly decided to run the first bit down to the ferry with me so we quickly got into our rhythm. This section was predominately firetrail with a few technical bits & rock climbing thrown in to shake things up. We actually used one of our first walk breaks to stop & check out the view from one of the lookouts. Ellie was a great spotter of what we called sneaky hills – the kind that you look at & think “I can run that” and then half way up you starting thinking “shite, shoulda walked this one” ;-)
At the top of the first rock climb we caught up with Horrie, Belinda, Beki & Blkbox so I decided that if I could stick with Belinda & Horrie I would be a happy chicky. Arriving at the wharf (approx. 8.7km), we just missed the ferry so we had time to stop for a chat with Superflake & grab a coke which saved me later in the day. Thanks Paul! I also grabbed some ice & stuffed it down the back of my shirt (so it sat trapped between my shirt & the top of the camelbak until it melted) – a very effective cooling technique I discovered.
Off the ferry & we were off & running up Bay Road. Ok so I ran/walked my way up this hill (about 2k) which very much reminded me of the 10kms mountain ascent at Warwick. One of those long winding roads that just seems to go on forever. With Horrie ahead & Belinda behind me, I kept a steady pace. Once I’d reached the turn off at the top of the hill, Horrie stopped to wait for Belinda so I set off to do the out & back section towards the castle on my lonesome.
This section starts out as a garden variety firetrail but slowly descends (literally) into a technical, rocky run. It was at this point that the majority of the field started coming back past us. This is such an amazing sport – the support & sense of camaraderie is amazing. I got to the ‘castle’ (approx 17.6k), touched the wall & headed back. While I wanted to stay & poke around, I figured I would be on my feet long enough without extending my day unnecessarily. The climb back up from the castle was tough but I felt really strong & had a good chat to someone whose name I didn’t catch which was a helpful distraction. Back on the road & I started to pick up the pace & then turned for the 2km descent back down Bay Road to the wharf. Just before I turned the corner at the Marina, a few cars started coming past me so I thought that I’d missed the ferry. But with a sprint & the lovely guys working the ferry holding it up for me, I was able to get straight on & we were off. While it was good that I didn’t have to hang around for 10mins til the next ferry, it meant my recovery time was limited. I didn’t dare open the can of coke that I’d been carrying since my first trip on the ferry for fear of it exploding everywhere so I ate a few pretzels before disembarking.
A lil bitty flat bit once we came off the ferry allowed me to drink about half the can of coke before I started to pick up the pace. At this stage, I was about 3:30mins into the run but with only 8kms to go, I knew I could get the qualifying time if I didn't blow up. I had also been warned that the last 8kms weren't particularly easy. Talk about an understatement. It’s a good thing that I like rock climbing. The 28th & 29th kms took me a combined total of 37mins! By now I was thinking that I need to thank Satan for every single lunge, step up etc that I’ve done over the last 3 years of training with her. My legs felt really strong though the cardio system was suffering a bit.
With about 3k to go, the course flattened out to a firetrail and then joined up with a road for what felt like 3 very long kms. I was actually pretty surprised with my pace at this point - I was somehow still managing to maintain my LSD pace, if not a bit quicker. I confess that I almost rolled 2 men standing on Berowa Waters Rd – one was a Home Ice Cream delivery man, the other appeared to be a resident and both of whom had boxes of ice cream in hand!
Arriving at the finish surrounded by Gnome, Sparkie & my gals Go Girl & Ellie was amazing. I couldn’t – still can’t – believe my time. I don’t know why I doubt myself so much – I was right the other day when I said that I AM stronger, mentally & physically, than I ever imagined…
I have to say that despite having the qualifier, I’m still undecided as to whether or not to do Six Foot – I suspect the Track demands more respect than any amount of training I’d be able to pull together between now & then. Still, it’s bloody nice to have the choice :-)
I've pulled up remarkably well. No DOMS at all though my right hip is a bit funky – I think it’s just jammed – nothing that a visit to Saint Andrew next week won’t fix.
My thanks to Spud & 2P for the initial push (shove) in the back & to Ellie, Go Girl, 2P & Horrie whose words of advice & support I kept drawing on during my not-so-little adventure :-)
MTD: 33.19k
What an amazing way to start the new year with a physical, mental & emotional rollercoaster! I have no idea where to start. I’m actually lost for words. It doesn’t happen very often. I don’t normally write long, lengthy race reports but this one was very special for me.
I have always wanted to run the Six Foot Track marathon. Since 2005 when I went up there to cheer & help out the organisers, I knew it was a special event. Qualifying for the 2007 race was my one & only goal in 2006. And so when I decided not to run W2B in August, I put away any thoughts of running it this year.
When this ‘race’ first was mentioned, there was no indecision on my part about which option to go for – I didn’t even contemplate the possibility of doing the 33k option. I just wasn’t fit enough (so I thought) to even contemplate it. My longest run leading into it was 14kms on my sekrit hilly trail 2 weeks ago.
And then after our run at Quarry Road on Christmas Eve, Spud suggested that I run the full course at Black Stump as a way of getting my qualifying time. I thought about it for about 5sec & then dismissed it, thinking I couldn’t – that I wasn’t fit enough – but the idea was planted. 2P suggested the same thing on Wednesday. It took me about 24 hours to get my head around the idea & on Thursday I decided to do the full monty today. At this stage, I'm getting really nervous about my lack of training so I decided to focus only on the things I could control – my mind (primarily) & my body – I don’t normally eat a lot of carbs but I increased the simple carbs I ate over the few days before the run & made sure that I was fully hydrated. I told everyone my only goal was to finish intact & smiling. While I tried not to focus on it because I didn't want to put pressure on myself, my secondary (sekrit) goal was a Six Foot qualifying time (5.45 or better).
To finish in 5:05 has completely blown me away.
To qualify for Six Foot – well, I don’t have the words for that…I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as I finished. I did both. At the same time. A day later I’m still doing a bit of both.
I got to bed early on NYE – sans alcohol – at about 10.30pm but couldn’t sleep. And that was before the SMS’ & fireworks started. I think I eventually drifted off about 1am so I wasn’t feeling particularly refreshed when the alarm went off at 4.45am.
The trip to the start took me just under an hour & the minute I arrived I got really nervous – primarily because of the distance. This would be both my longest run in time & distance by far - W2G’s 25k in 2:44 in June was as far & long as I’d gone before. Not the ideal preparation for what I’ve heard was one of the toughest runs around.
I had 2 golden rules for today – firstly to walk every hill, no matter how small and secondly, to take a 1min walk break every 20mins – regardless of whether I was on the flat or even downhill - to drink, rest, get myself together mentally, to take in the view, whatever. Obeying both of them was crucial I think to how the day turned out.
Ellie kindly decided to run the first bit down to the ferry with me so we quickly got into our rhythm. This section was predominately firetrail with a few technical bits & rock climbing thrown in to shake things up. We actually used one of our first walk breaks to stop & check out the view from one of the lookouts. Ellie was a great spotter of what we called sneaky hills – the kind that you look at & think “I can run that” and then half way up you starting thinking “shite, shoulda walked this one” ;-)
At the top of the first rock climb we caught up with Horrie, Belinda, Beki & Blkbox so I decided that if I could stick with Belinda & Horrie I would be a happy chicky. Arriving at the wharf (approx. 8.7km), we just missed the ferry so we had time to stop for a chat with Superflake & grab a coke which saved me later in the day. Thanks Paul! I also grabbed some ice & stuffed it down the back of my shirt (so it sat trapped between my shirt & the top of the camelbak until it melted) – a very effective cooling technique I discovered.
Off the ferry & we were off & running up Bay Road. Ok so I ran/walked my way up this hill (about 2k) which very much reminded me of the 10kms mountain ascent at Warwick. One of those long winding roads that just seems to go on forever. With Horrie ahead & Belinda behind me, I kept a steady pace. Once I’d reached the turn off at the top of the hill, Horrie stopped to wait for Belinda so I set off to do the out & back section towards the castle on my lonesome.
This section starts out as a garden variety firetrail but slowly descends (literally) into a technical, rocky run. It was at this point that the majority of the field started coming back past us. This is such an amazing sport – the support & sense of camaraderie is amazing. I got to the ‘castle’ (approx 17.6k), touched the wall & headed back. While I wanted to stay & poke around, I figured I would be on my feet long enough without extending my day unnecessarily. The climb back up from the castle was tough but I felt really strong & had a good chat to someone whose name I didn’t catch which was a helpful distraction. Back on the road & I started to pick up the pace & then turned for the 2km descent back down Bay Road to the wharf. Just before I turned the corner at the Marina, a few cars started coming past me so I thought that I’d missed the ferry. But with a sprint & the lovely guys working the ferry holding it up for me, I was able to get straight on & we were off. While it was good that I didn’t have to hang around for 10mins til the next ferry, it meant my recovery time was limited. I didn’t dare open the can of coke that I’d been carrying since my first trip on the ferry for fear of it exploding everywhere so I ate a few pretzels before disembarking.
A lil bitty flat bit once we came off the ferry allowed me to drink about half the can of coke before I started to pick up the pace. At this stage, I was about 3:30mins into the run but with only 8kms to go, I knew I could get the qualifying time if I didn't blow up. I had also been warned that the last 8kms weren't particularly easy. Talk about an understatement. It’s a good thing that I like rock climbing. The 28th & 29th kms took me a combined total of 37mins! By now I was thinking that I need to thank Satan for every single lunge, step up etc that I’ve done over the last 3 years of training with her. My legs felt really strong though the cardio system was suffering a bit.
With about 3k to go, the course flattened out to a firetrail and then joined up with a road for what felt like 3 very long kms. I was actually pretty surprised with my pace at this point - I was somehow still managing to maintain my LSD pace, if not a bit quicker. I confess that I almost rolled 2 men standing on Berowa Waters Rd – one was a Home Ice Cream delivery man, the other appeared to be a resident and both of whom had boxes of ice cream in hand!
Arriving at the finish surrounded by Gnome, Sparkie & my gals Go Girl & Ellie was amazing. I couldn’t – still can’t – believe my time. I don’t know why I doubt myself so much – I was right the other day when I said that I AM stronger, mentally & physically, than I ever imagined…
I have to say that despite having the qualifier, I’m still undecided as to whether or not to do Six Foot – I suspect the Track demands more respect than any amount of training I’d be able to pull together between now & then. Still, it’s bloody nice to have the choice :-)
I've pulled up remarkably well. No DOMS at all though my right hip is a bit funky – I think it’s just jammed – nothing that a visit to Saint Andrew next week won’t fix.
My thanks to Spud & 2P for the initial push (shove) in the back & to Ellie, Go Girl, 2P & Horrie whose words of advice & support I kept drawing on during my not-so-little adventure :-)
MTD: 33.19k
Sunday, December 31, 2006
On with the show...
Righto, enough of the personal stuff - back to work ;-)
After a nice lil sleep-in on Saturday morning, I headed back to the Regatta Centre for a very easy 30mins run. Finished with 4.77k in 30:16min (aver 6.20min/k). Tib-posts/soleous (sp?) are still feeling tight but much improved after Thursday's massage.
So that’s it for the month & the year. My total for December is 97.83k - my biggest month since July! Since 1 May (when Garmin Elektra came into my life) I have done 656kms. While a minute total when compared to some, it is my biggest year to date. I didn’t achieve my main goal for the year (to qualify for Six Foot ’07) and it has been somewhat injury-plagued, but I’ve come along way baby – I can’t believe that this time last year I was only 2mths into what turned out to be 4mths off running thanks to my (then) recalcitrant ITB – it seems like a lifetime ago now :-)
The run that I am probably most proud of this year was Woodford to Glenbrook (25k). When I started running again in March, I honestly didn’t think I would be ready for it. I confess that it was only because 2P & Go Girl told me that I could do it did I even try. Turns out they were right (again) ;-) And I was lucky enough to have Horrie along for the ride –
2007 will bring a whole new set of challenges and adventures – starting tomorrow with the Black Stump run (the full 33k..gulp..). From my long awaited trip to Mexico/Guatemala/Belize/Honduras in April-May, a secret BHAG* which will be the focus of my training this year & (last but not least), my sea change - it’s going to be HUGE. Let the journey continue :-)
* Big Hairy Audacious Goal to be revealed in due course :-)
After a nice lil sleep-in on Saturday morning, I headed back to the Regatta Centre for a very easy 30mins run. Finished with 4.77k in 30:16min (aver 6.20min/k). Tib-posts/soleous (sp?) are still feeling tight but much improved after Thursday's massage.
So that’s it for the month & the year. My total for December is 97.83k - my biggest month since July! Since 1 May (when Garmin Elektra came into my life) I have done 656kms. While a minute total when compared to some, it is my biggest year to date. I didn’t achieve my main goal for the year (to qualify for Six Foot ’07) and it has been somewhat injury-plagued, but I’ve come along way baby – I can’t believe that this time last year I was only 2mths into what turned out to be 4mths off running thanks to my (then) recalcitrant ITB – it seems like a lifetime ago now :-)
The run that I am probably most proud of this year was Woodford to Glenbrook (25k). When I started running again in March, I honestly didn’t think I would be ready for it. I confess that it was only because 2P & Go Girl told me that I could do it did I even try. Turns out they were right (again) ;-) And I was lucky enough to have Horrie along for the ride –
2007 will bring a whole new set of challenges and adventures – starting tomorrow with the Black Stump run (the full 33k..gulp..). From my long awaited trip to Mexico/Guatemala/Belize/Honduras in April-May, a secret BHAG* which will be the focus of my training this year & (last but not least), my sea change - it’s going to be HUGE. Let the journey continue :-)
* Big Hairy Audacious Goal to be revealed in due course :-)
Friday, December 29, 2006
I know this much is true
I have a 'no personal stuff in the blog' rule. While I recognise that what goes on in my 'real' life influences my running - physically & mentally - I am a very private person and play my cards close to my chest - those who know me well would agree. But I'm going to break my rule today (yikes!) but don't get used to it - it's going back to a training diary tomorrow ;-)
I re-read one of my favourite books during the course of the year. I have always been drawn to the final paragraphs in it but they took on a special significance for me this year -
I am not a smart man, particularly, but one day, at long last, I stumbled from the dark woods of my own, and my family's, and my country's past, holding in my hands these truths: that love grows from the rich loam of forgiveness; that mongrels make good dogs; that the evidence of God exists in the roundness of things.
This much, at least, I've figured out. I know this much is true.
I believe that if you have decided to make a change in your life (whether it is lose weight, change jobs/careers, end a relationship that doesn't give you what you need or get a tattoo), you make the change when you make the decision - that you don't wait for an arbitrary date (like NYD) & hope that you wake up a different person. For this reason, I've never been one for contemplation, reflection or even celebration at new years.
But this has been an 'unusual' year for me. It has been filled with challenges & difficult times - professionally & personally - but also with incredible growth. I am a very different person from the one I was at the start of the year - so much so that I am only now beginning to realise just how different I am. From a new job, planning a wedding, relationship breakdown, moving house & (most recently) death, 2006 has been a rollercoaster physically, mentally & emotionally. I have learnt a great deal - about myself & other people. I am grateful (& dare I say it, proud) of the fact that I took most, if not all, of the opportunities that were presented to me (both personally & professionally) and learnt from them-
...one day, at long last, I stumbled from the dark woods of my own...past, holding in my hands these truths...
1. The greatest gift you can receive - or give - is no-questions-asked, absolute & unconditional love & support.
2. When the proverbial shite is about to hit the fan, your true friends will be standing right beside you. Concern yourself only with those people - everyone else is an acquaintance or 'fairweather' friend.
3. Never be afraid to admit you made a mistake - no matter what the cost - be it emotional, mental, physical or financial. Life is too short to stuff around living a false life or one which does not enrich your soul.
4. I love rock climbing ;-)
5. Goethe was right - Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it now. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it NOW. Be bold & take a risk. It is a cliche but life really is too short to waste.
6. A mistake is just that. It doesn't make you a bad person (thanks Owly). And once it is made, there is nothing you can do to change its consequences - all you can do is learn from it and move forward living with integrity.
7. I love running long, flat roads - the kind that make mere mortals ask "Are we there yet?" ;-)
8. But trail running is my one true love :-)
9. The only thing you have control over is your own actions & thoughts. It is a waste of time & energy to worry about things over which you have no control. Letting go of concerns about what other people say (gossip) or do or even whether you will come last (or first) in a race frees you mentally & emotionally from a great deal of (self-imposed) tension & stress.
10. Tough situations don't last but tough people do (thanks Gnome).
11. Always listen to your gut instinct. It knows best. Ignore your gut instinct at your own risk. And once you've ignored it & stuffed up, your gut instinct will still be there saying "I told ya so. NOW will you listen to me?"
12. Red shoes & pig tails make you run faster ;-)
13. Max Erhmann & 2P are right - the universe IS unfolding as it should. You may not understand the reasons why it is unfolding in such a shitty manner. You may never understand it. In fact, it may not even be about you - it might be somebody's lesson to learn. But there can be no doubt that it is unfolding as it should.
14. I am stronger - emotionally, mentally & physically - than I ever imagined. And I become stronger each & every day that I am true to, and back, myself.
This much, at least, I've figured out. I know this much is true.
I re-read one of my favourite books during the course of the year. I have always been drawn to the final paragraphs in it but they took on a special significance for me this year -
I am not a smart man, particularly, but one day, at long last, I stumbled from the dark woods of my own, and my family's, and my country's past, holding in my hands these truths: that love grows from the rich loam of forgiveness; that mongrels make good dogs; that the evidence of God exists in the roundness of things.
This much, at least, I've figured out. I know this much is true.
I believe that if you have decided to make a change in your life (whether it is lose weight, change jobs/careers, end a relationship that doesn't give you what you need or get a tattoo), you make the change when you make the decision - that you don't wait for an arbitrary date (like NYD) & hope that you wake up a different person. For this reason, I've never been one for contemplation, reflection or even celebration at new years.
But this has been an 'unusual' year for me. It has been filled with challenges & difficult times - professionally & personally - but also with incredible growth. I am a very different person from the one I was at the start of the year - so much so that I am only now beginning to realise just how different I am. From a new job, planning a wedding, relationship breakdown, moving house & (most recently) death, 2006 has been a rollercoaster physically, mentally & emotionally. I have learnt a great deal - about myself & other people. I am grateful (& dare I say it, proud) of the fact that I took most, if not all, of the opportunities that were presented to me (both personally & professionally) and learnt from them-
...one day, at long last, I stumbled from the dark woods of my own...past, holding in my hands these truths...
1. The greatest gift you can receive - or give - is no-questions-asked, absolute & unconditional love & support.
2. When the proverbial shite is about to hit the fan, your true friends will be standing right beside you. Concern yourself only with those people - everyone else is an acquaintance or 'fairweather' friend.
3. Never be afraid to admit you made a mistake - no matter what the cost - be it emotional, mental, physical or financial. Life is too short to stuff around living a false life or one which does not enrich your soul.
4. I love rock climbing ;-)
5. Goethe was right - Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it now. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it NOW. Be bold & take a risk. It is a cliche but life really is too short to waste.
6. A mistake is just that. It doesn't make you a bad person (thanks Owly). And once it is made, there is nothing you can do to change its consequences - all you can do is learn from it and move forward living with integrity.
7. I love running long, flat roads - the kind that make mere mortals ask "Are we there yet?" ;-)
8. But trail running is my one true love :-)
9. The only thing you have control over is your own actions & thoughts. It is a waste of time & energy to worry about things over which you have no control. Letting go of concerns about what other people say (gossip) or do or even whether you will come last (or first) in a race frees you mentally & emotionally from a great deal of (self-imposed) tension & stress.
10. Tough situations don't last but tough people do (thanks Gnome).
11. Always listen to your gut instinct. It knows best. Ignore your gut instinct at your own risk. And once you've ignored it & stuffed up, your gut instinct will still be there saying "I told ya so. NOW will you listen to me?"
12. Red shoes & pig tails make you run faster ;-)
13. Max Erhmann & 2P are right - the universe IS unfolding as it should. You may not understand the reasons why it is unfolding in such a shitty manner. You may never understand it. In fact, it may not even be about you - it might be somebody's lesson to learn. But there can be no doubt that it is unfolding as it should.
14. I am stronger - emotionally, mentally & physically - than I ever imagined. And I become stronger each & every day that I am true to, and back, myself.
This much, at least, I've figured out. I know this much is true.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Walkers & wabbits...
Edit: Australia 4 - England 0. Noice.
Neither were to be seen when I headed out on my 'rural' loop again this morning. It was very quiet & lonely (in a good way) out there today. The first 2kms were rusty - as always - but once I woke & warmed up, I felt pretty good. Finished with 7.16kms in 45:07mins (aver 6.17km/m). My tib-posts/soleous (sp?) have been pretty tight the last 2 days & given my next not-so-little adventure, I took myself off at lunch for an hour of torture (in Tiger's absence) at Jackie's Sports Massage. Fingers crossed they will be ready to rock & roll on Monday ;-) I'm looking forward to - and somewhat nervous about - the Black Stump run on NYD.
MTD: 93.06kms
A rest day tomorrow before a short run on Saturday which will be my last for the year! Roll on 2007 - I'm ready :-)
Neither were to be seen when I headed out on my 'rural' loop again this morning. It was very quiet & lonely (in a good way) out there today. The first 2kms were rusty - as always - but once I woke & warmed up, I felt pretty good. Finished with 7.16kms in 45:07mins (aver 6.17km/m). My tib-posts/soleous (sp?) have been pretty tight the last 2 days & given my next not-so-little adventure, I took myself off at lunch for an hour of torture (in Tiger's absence) at Jackie's Sports Massage. Fingers crossed they will be ready to rock & roll on Monday ;-) I'm looking forward to - and somewhat nervous about - the Black Stump run on NYD.
MTD: 93.06kms
A rest day tomorrow before a short run on Saturday which will be my last for the year! Roll on 2007 - I'm ready :-)
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
While the cat's away....
My folks left this morning for a week or so at my Nan's place in Qld so I have the house to myself :-) Unfortunately this mouse has little time to play cause I had to go back to work today :-(
To kick off my working week, I started the day with an hour long session with Satan in Hyde Park at 7am. Thankfully my hammies have finally forgiven me after last Friday's session & should have again forgiven me before the Black Stump run on NYD…I hope…
And then just to make sure that I wasn't working too hard today, I had a lovely lunch with Ellie (*waves*) while planning our assault on the Black Stump run & watching the sights, um, I mean the cricket in the city... ;-)
To kick off my working week, I started the day with an hour long session with Satan in Hyde Park at 7am. Thankfully my hammies have finally forgiven me after last Friday's session & should have again forgiven me before the Black Stump run on NYD…I hope…
And then just to make sure that I wasn't working too hard today, I had a lovely lunch with Ellie (*waves*) while planning our assault on the Black Stump run & watching the sights, um, I mean the cricket in the city... ;-)
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Christmas cheer !
Well after a fantabulous Christmas Day, this morning I had a lil sleep-in and then headed down to the Regatta Centre to work off some of the Christmas cheer I am now carrying around ;-)
Did an easy 5kms run (31:25min/aver 6:15m/k) in my new shoes that Santa kindly delivered followed by an even easier 40mins on the bike. I've pulled up extremely well after Quarry Road on Sunday - no niggles - no DOMS. Happy days :-)
MTD: 85.9kms
Back to the couch - gotta love the Boxing Day test!
Did an easy 5kms run (31:25min/aver 6:15m/k) in my new shoes that Santa kindly delivered followed by an even easier 40mins on the bike. I've pulled up extremely well after Quarry Road on Sunday - no niggles - no DOMS. Happy days :-)
MTD: 85.9kms
Back to the couch - gotta love the Boxing Day test!
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Quarry Road - finally!
Almost a year after we first started talking about it, I finally joined my good friends 2P and Go Girl at Quarry Road today. For those that don't know, Quarry Road is a firetrail that runs from Quarry Road at Dural to Stewart Ave, in Hornsby - to run it out & back is just under 13km - damn hilly -
but gawd, it was fun!
Having consulted the street directory, I decided to start from the Dural end. It was wet & misty when I arrived just before 7.30am - my favourite running conditions. Go Girl was running 2 laps so I decided to meet her for the second. It was a very 'social' run - Gnome joined us for most of the outward lap, Martin Dugdale the inward lap and exchanging "hello's" and "Merry Christmases'' with those who started either at the Hornsby end (including 2P, Flakey & Belinda) or earlier from the Dural end (Spud).
Some of the hills on my sekrit hills course are actually steeper than anything found on Quarry Road but they certainly aren't as long - the climb up from the bridge (in either direction) just goes on & on & on - particularly given my hammies are still complaining (loudly) after my session with Satan on Friday!
Finished in 1:31:54 (an even split no less!) - 12.71kms according to Garmin Elektra - aver 7.13mins/kms. Some warm clothes, a chat with Martin, Go Girl & Spud over a yummy fruit platter (thanks GG!) and it was time to head for home.
My legs are fine - no niggles - I am one tired but happy & content gal :-)
MTD: 80.88kms
Hope everyone has a fab Christmas. A friend of mine died suddenly 3 weeks ago. His birthday is Christmas Day. I can't begin to imagine how his family are feeling at this time - so make sure you hug your loved ones & tell 'em you love 'em this Christmas. Stay safe & drive carefully!
but gawd, it was fun!
Having consulted the street directory, I decided to start from the Dural end. It was wet & misty when I arrived just before 7.30am - my favourite running conditions. Go Girl was running 2 laps so I decided to meet her for the second. It was a very 'social' run - Gnome joined us for most of the outward lap, Martin Dugdale the inward lap and exchanging "hello's" and "Merry Christmases'' with those who started either at the Hornsby end (including 2P, Flakey & Belinda) or earlier from the Dural end (Spud).
Some of the hills on my sekrit hills course are actually steeper than anything found on Quarry Road but they certainly aren't as long - the climb up from the bridge (in either direction) just goes on & on & on - particularly given my hammies are still complaining (loudly) after my session with Satan on Friday!
Finished in 1:31:54 (an even split no less!) - 12.71kms according to Garmin Elektra - aver 7.13mins/kms. Some warm clothes, a chat with Martin, Go Girl & Spud over a yummy fruit platter (thanks GG!) and it was time to head for home.
My legs are fine - no niggles - I am one tired but happy & content gal :-)
MTD: 80.88kms
Hope everyone has a fab Christmas. A friend of mine died suddenly 3 weeks ago. His birthday is Christmas Day. I can't begin to imagine how his family are feeling at this time - so make sure you hug your loved ones & tell 'em you love 'em this Christmas. Stay safe & drive carefully!
Friday, December 22, 2006
Holidays!
Woohoo - Christmas has arrived & I have 4 days off! Nice.
I was on the train at 5.40am this morning (positively a sleep-in compared to yesterday) in order to meet Satan in the Park for an hour of torture at 7am today. I'm sure my glutes, quads & hammies will have forgiven me by Sunday morning - at least I hope so!
Luckily all my Christmas shopping is done & I have nothing to do tomorrow but 'relax' (ie lie around & read all day) & before heading out to Quarry Road on Sunday :-) I should think dusting off my bike & taking it for a spin at some stage. Might think about that for a while longer though ;-)
I was on the train at 5.40am this morning (positively a sleep-in compared to yesterday) in order to meet Satan in the Park for an hour of torture at 7am today. I'm sure my glutes, quads & hammies will have forgiven me by Sunday morning - at least I hope so!
Luckily all my Christmas shopping is done & I have nothing to do tomorrow but 'relax' (ie lie around & read all day) & before heading out to Quarry Road on Sunday :-) I should think dusting off my bike & taking it for a spin at some stage. Might think about that for a while longer though ;-)
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Mistakes & discoveries
...[s]he who never made a mistake never made a discovery - Samuel Smiles
This quote, which is on my desk calender today, made me smile. It seemed rather appropriate today after I sat down last night to start to write an end-of-year reflection about the interesting year that was…
This morning I headed out just before 5am for a 45mins run. Another loverly morning for a run - there was mist over the river and cascading down through the valleys in the Mountains - bewdiful. My folks live on the edge of surburbia so 5mins sees me on the backroads where there are more animals - rabbits, goats& horses - than McMansions, utes or people. In fact, I ran straight down the white line in the middle of the road for 15mins today without seeing anyone (& needless to say, any cars!) And no, I wasn't wearing my iPod so I could hear if there were any cars approaching…it was 5am - only crazy people are out that time of day ;-)
The first 5mins were pretty rusty - as always - but I settled down quickly & felt really comfortable & strong for the whole run. The pace was probably a bit quick but hey, I was having a great time! Finished with 7.24kms in 44:58mins (aver 6:12min/km). A bloody great way to start the day.
MTD: 68.17kms
Bring on Quarry Road - I'm excited :-))
This quote, which is on my desk calender today, made me smile. It seemed rather appropriate today after I sat down last night to start to write an end-of-year reflection about the interesting year that was…
This morning I headed out just before 5am for a 45mins run. Another loverly morning for a run - there was mist over the river and cascading down through the valleys in the Mountains - bewdiful. My folks live on the edge of surburbia so 5mins sees me on the backroads where there are more animals - rabbits, goats& horses - than McMansions, utes or people. In fact, I ran straight down the white line in the middle of the road for 15mins today without seeing anyone (& needless to say, any cars!) And no, I wasn't wearing my iPod so I could hear if there were any cars approaching…it was 5am - only crazy people are out that time of day ;-)
The first 5mins were pretty rusty - as always - but I settled down quickly & felt really comfortable & strong for the whole run. The pace was probably a bit quick but hey, I was having a great time! Finished with 7.24kms in 44:58mins (aver 6:12min/km). A bloody great way to start the day.
MTD: 68.17kms
Bring on Quarry Road - I'm excited :-))
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
...the boy's no good...
Tuesday morning I headed out the door at about 5am for an easy 35mins run. The first 10mins were pretty rusty and slow but after a stop or two to stretch my calves, I settled into a comfortable pace. I've pulled up really well after Sunday's lil adventure - even better than the week before - none of the ankle soreness or DOMS that I experienced last week :-)
It was a loverly morning for a run - quiet, cool & still. I arrived home at 5.40am which gave me a whole 30mins to stretch before I needed to get ready for work - what a luxury these days! Finished with 5.57kms in 35:06mins (aver 6.18mins/km). Tuesday ended with dinner in the Rocks with Owly, Ellie, Go Girl, Wobbly Man & family - was lovely to see Wobs again & meet his lovely girls (*waves*). Not to mention, to learn a few things about our friend Wobbly Man - including his nickname when he was living in Canberra in his late 20's
;-)
The rain over Tuesday night & Wednesday morning meant that my session with Satan in the park was cancelled & instead I got some extra recovery time (ie sleep). Thanks Owly! Rather than be completely lazy (which I felt like doing after a bit of a head cold set in yesterday), I headed to the gym at lunch for an Int/Adv GRC Pilates class - I haven't done one in a while but felt surprisingly strong. Noice.
4 sleeps til Quarry Road!
MTD: 60.93kms
It was a loverly morning for a run - quiet, cool & still. I arrived home at 5.40am which gave me a whole 30mins to stretch before I needed to get ready for work - what a luxury these days! Finished with 5.57kms in 35:06mins (aver 6.18mins/km). Tuesday ended with dinner in the Rocks with Owly, Ellie, Go Girl, Wobbly Man & family - was lovely to see Wobs again & meet his lovely girls (*waves*). Not to mention, to learn a few things about our friend Wobbly Man - including his nickname when he was living in Canberra in his late 20's
;-)
The rain over Tuesday night & Wednesday morning meant that my session with Satan in the park was cancelled & instead I got some extra recovery time (ie sleep). Thanks Owly! Rather than be completely lazy (which I felt like doing after a bit of a head cold set in yesterday), I headed to the gym at lunch for an Int/Adv GRC Pilates class - I haven't done one in a while but felt surprisingly strong. Noice.
4 sleeps til Quarry Road!
MTD: 60.93kms
Sunday, December 17, 2006
More sekrit hills...
Well, aren't I glad that I retired to the couch yesterday afternoon. Say goodbye to the Ashes England ;-)
Today's run was a bonus. After my run on Friday morning, I honestly did not think that my legs would be up for a return trip to my sekrit hilly trail. They felt really good during the run today - or maybe I was just too busy watching for snakes to even think about them ;-)
It was bloody hot by the time I set out at 9am. I should have gone earlier but just couldn't get my act together. The trail had been visited by a couple of motorbikes since I ran it last weekend which churned up the surface - making some of the steep downhills even trickier, not to mention creating lots of soft surfaces which my lower legs traditionally don't like very much.
Still I felt really comfortable & enjoyed the run. Finished it (14.60kms) in 1:55:22mins (splits of 58:51/56:31) - overall 4:30mins faster than last week. Happy days :-)
Came home & had an ice bath - yikes - to make sure my legs are ready to play next weekend when I head out to visit Quarry Road for the first time :-))
Here's the full course profile - it's a good thing I like hills !
MTD: 55.36kms
Righto, back to the couch - gotta love summer!
Today's run was a bonus. After my run on Friday morning, I honestly did not think that my legs would be up for a return trip to my sekrit hilly trail. They felt really good during the run today - or maybe I was just too busy watching for snakes to even think about them ;-)
It was bloody hot by the time I set out at 9am. I should have gone earlier but just couldn't get my act together. The trail had been visited by a couple of motorbikes since I ran it last weekend which churned up the surface - making some of the steep downhills even trickier, not to mention creating lots of soft surfaces which my lower legs traditionally don't like very much.
Still I felt really comfortable & enjoyed the run. Finished it (14.60kms) in 1:55:22mins (splits of 58:51/56:31) - overall 4:30mins faster than last week. Happy days :-)
Came home & had an ice bath - yikes - to make sure my legs are ready to play next weekend when I head out to visit Quarry Road for the first time :-))
Here's the full course profile - it's a good thing I like hills !
MTD: 55.36kms
Righto, back to the couch - gotta love summer!
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Cross training on the dancefloor
Friday morning I headed out in the light drizzle just after 5am for an easy 40mins around the hood. My tib-posts (both) were pretty tight today - stoopid things. It felt like really hard work but it's been a tough week - emotionally in particular- so it has no doubt taken a toll.
Finished with 6.34kms in 41:04mins (aver 6.28mins/km). Shite that's my long run pace. What can I say - its been a tough week.
A couple of hours of dancing - first at our work Christmas party & then later in the pub when I caught up with Ellie, Owly, Sparkie, Chonky, Rags & Rags Jnr - rounded out a tough week nicely.
Not sure what to do about my long run tomorrow given how my tib-posts were feeling yesterday - might go & lie on the couch in front of the cricket & contemplate it ;-)
MTD: 40.76kms
Finished with 6.34kms in 41:04mins (aver 6.28mins/km). Shite that's my long run pace. What can I say - its been a tough week.
A couple of hours of dancing - first at our work Christmas party & then later in the pub when I caught up with Ellie, Owly, Sparkie, Chonky, Rags & Rags Jnr - rounded out a tough week nicely.
Not sure what to do about my long run tomorrow given how my tib-posts were feeling yesterday - might go & lie on the couch in front of the cricket & contemplate it ;-)
MTD: 40.76kms
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
*Yawn*
I had a weights session with Satan at lunch today in the gym today (for the last time). The same glute/hamstring/core/balanced focus as last time. I was/am clearly tired - I just couldn't balance properly or consistently today. My gym membership actually expired today so in future I'll be doing hour long sessions with Satan in a park not far from my office on Wednesday mornings. I'm looking forward to getting out of the gym - but given my sessions with Satan are normally only 30mins, it's going to be, um, challenging to say the least!
A late night working (at home) last night meant that I was no chance of getting out for a run this morning. So I left the office a bit early today (taking more work home) in order to head out for a run before (Baked) dinner (Wednesday). An easy 30mins to stretch the legs out after my lil adventure on Sunday & yesterday's massage. Legs are feeling a bit beaten up and tired tonight - mind you, I've had very little sleep the last few days & have never gone for a run after doing a session with Satan... Finished with 4.99kms (WTF!) in 30.22mins (aver 6.04mins/km). I'll wait another day or two before deciding what adventure this weekend will bring.
And Tesso, Robbie was looking good, albeit tired, the last time I saw him. Though I'm sure he's not too worn out for you ;-)
MTD: 34.42kms
A late night working (at home) last night meant that I was no chance of getting out for a run this morning. So I left the office a bit early today (taking more work home) in order to head out for a run before (Baked) dinner (Wednesday). An easy 30mins to stretch the legs out after my lil adventure on Sunday & yesterday's massage. Legs are feeling a bit beaten up and tired tonight - mind you, I've had very little sleep the last few days & have never gone for a run after doing a session with Satan... Finished with 4.99kms (WTF!) in 30.22mins (aver 6.04mins/km). I'll wait another day or two before deciding what adventure this weekend will bring.
And Tesso, Robbie was looking good, albeit tired, the last time I saw him. Though I'm sure he's not too worn out for you ;-)
MTD: 34.42kms
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Carpe diem kids...
I pulled up very well after Sunday's adventure. Very little DOMS - only the ligaments/tendons/bits around my ankles are a bit sore (the right in particular). Not surprisingly given it was my first - and longest - trail run since, dunno, maybe W2G...
This morning it was back on the bike for an interval session while watching the Monaco HIM (thanks Miners) -
5mins warm up
7 x 3mins effort/1.30mins recovery
5mins cool down
Total: 41.30mins
RIP B.
This morning it was back on the bike for an interval session while watching the Monaco HIM (thanks Miners) -
5mins warm up
7 x 3mins effort/1.30mins recovery
5mins cool down
Total: 41.30mins
RIP B.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
What goes up.....
Well I wanted hills - and I got 'em.
Today I headed to a trail not far from home - location undisclosed - it is sekrit training after all ;-) which Mr G had described to me as "damn hilly" - he wasn't kidding...
Note that it was an out & back course - and this graph is only the 'out' part !
It was a lovely run - scenic with views of the river & the occasional MTBer. I took the 'out' part slowly, walking most of the uphills & then running the flats and most of the downhills, some were too steep even for me (who lurves running really scarily fast downhill!)
My legs felt good - I was getting a bit tired by the end but was able to push a bit harder on the return trip (with a nice negative split 1:02:15/57:52) which was really pleasing given it was my longest run since August!
Finished with 14.77kms in 2:00:07.
MTD: 29.43kms
Not much time to lie on the couch today - I gotta get ready for a hot date tonight :-)
Today I headed to a trail not far from home - location undisclosed - it is sekrit training after all ;-) which Mr G had described to me as "damn hilly" - he wasn't kidding...
Note that it was an out & back course - and this graph is only the 'out' part !
It was a lovely run - scenic with views of the river & the occasional MTBer. I took the 'out' part slowly, walking most of the uphills & then running the flats and most of the downhills, some were too steep even for me (who lurves running really scarily fast downhill!)
My legs felt good - I was getting a bit tired by the end but was able to push a bit harder on the return trip (with a nice negative split 1:02:15/57:52) which was really pleasing given it was my longest run since August!
Finished with 14.77kms in 2:00:07.
MTD: 29.43kms
Not much time to lie on the couch today - I gotta get ready for a hot date tonight :-)
Friday, December 08, 2006
Bubble, bubble, toil & trouble...
Hehe. Miners, I have no idea where all this bubbly happiness is coming from - but it's starting to scare me too ;-)
On Thursday morning, I headed out for a run just after 5am on a rather cool & overcast morning. My energy levels were a wee bit lacking so I ignored Garmin Elektra & decided just to see how I felt. Pretty flat but moving pretty comfortably on the downhills ;-) was the answer. Finished with 5.66kms in 35mins (aver 6.11min/k).
MTD: 14.66km
Friday became an unplanned rest day after a, um, rather big night on Thursday night. Twisting & turning & bending & stretching on a Pilates reformer machine held little appeal today ;-)
Now that I'm doing a lap of Quarry Road on Christmas Eve & the Black Stump party pooper 16km run on NYD, it's about time I found some hills - now where did I put that map… ;-)
On Thursday morning, I headed out for a run just after 5am on a rather cool & overcast morning. My energy levels were a wee bit lacking so I ignored Garmin Elektra & decided just to see how I felt. Pretty flat but moving pretty comfortably on the downhills ;-) was the answer. Finished with 5.66kms in 35mins (aver 6.11min/k).
MTD: 14.66km
Friday became an unplanned rest day after a, um, rather big night on Thursday night. Twisting & turning & bending & stretching on a Pilates reformer machine held little appeal today ;-)
Now that I'm doing a lap of Quarry Road on Christmas Eve & the Black Stump party pooper 16km run on NYD, it's about time I found some hills - now where did I put that map… ;-)
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Baked dinner Wednesday...
Ustraya 2 - England 0 :))
A number of people asked me on the weekend how life at Penriff was going. I am absolutely LOVING it. Despite being away for 13 odd years, I have somehow slotted back seamlessly into the fold. I am even loving the commute! And that's not even taking into account the fact it's Baked Dinner Wednesday ! Happy days ;-)
Anyhoo, my legs pulled up fine after Sunday's little adventure. No DOMs which was good - it was just my cardio fitness (& a stitch) which stopped me from going any faster.
I have been pretty tired since the weekend. So in an effort to look after myself (not to mention trying to avoid going back down the exhaustion path again), I made Monday & Tuesday rest days & slept in until - wait for it - 6am! LOL. But I was back at the gym at lunch today for a weights session with Satan. The same session as last week with a focus on glutes, hammies & core strength/balance.
Heading out for a run tomorrow morning. Did I mention that I am one happy gal?
A number of people asked me on the weekend how life at Penriff was going. I am absolutely LOVING it. Despite being away for 13 odd years, I have somehow slotted back seamlessly into the fold. I am even loving the commute! And that's not even taking into account the fact it's Baked Dinner Wednesday ! Happy days ;-)
Anyhoo, my legs pulled up fine after Sunday's little adventure. No DOMs which was good - it was just my cardio fitness (& a stitch) which stopped me from going any faster.
I have been pretty tired since the weekend. So in an effort to look after myself (not to mention trying to avoid going back down the exhaustion path again), I made Monday & Tuesday rest days & slept in until - wait for it - 6am! LOL. But I was back at the gym at lunch today for a weights session with Satan. The same session as last week with a focus on glutes, hammies & core strength/balance.
Heading out for a run tomorrow morning. Did I mention that I am one happy gal?
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Tuggerah Lakes Mardi Gras 9kms race report!
Wow. What a weekend. Man oh man I am going to sleep well tonight. I said to Owly in the car on the way home - I have not felt better - physically, emotionally, mentally - in a very long time. It seems the Phoenix was rather appropriate...
This is going to be a long post - I'd apologise but it's my blog ;-)
Anyhoo, to backtrack a bit - Friday proved to be an intriguing & interesting day. In the morning I left the gym with jelly legs after doing 20mins of leg work before the pilates class. Another tough class too - my lack of training in the last few weeks was showing but I know my strength will return quickly.
Work was crap - so crap infact that I got stuck in the office finalising an urgent deal (aren't they all!) & missed lunch entirely! Yes, that's right. I missed a long boozy client lunch & instead was reduced to eating sushi rolls at my desk at 3pm! Not happy Jan. My day however took a very surprising turn with an interesting offer which came completely out of the blue. I won't take it up but it proved to me (once more) that the planets are moving into alignment for me.
After meeting Ellie at 3.45pm, we headed to Leichhardt to meet Owly for the girl's road trip to The Entrance. Thanks girls for keeping me so entertained on the drive (skinny girls, skinny girls, skinny girls, I love 'em, I love 'em, I love 'em, I love 'em).... Friday night was fun - great food, company, bubbly, girl talk & gelato.
Saturday was overcast. At this time I was somewhat concerned by the weather - I hadn't checked the weather forecast when I packed on Thursday night & so had brought absolutely no warm clothes - a decision I was too regret on Sunday. We spent the day eating & shopping & later in the day caught up with Portrunr. Dinner on Saturday night was fun - I hope everyone enjoyed the flood which I had arranged especially to add some atmosphere to the night ;-)
I can't say that I was particularly looking forward to running when I looked out the window on Sunday morning & saw rain & lots of wind. But this day last year was probably my lowest point in my ITB battle - not because I wasn't able to race but because when I walked up the hill to my B&B after cheering at the race, the pain in my knee - simply from walking up the hill - was excruciating. I cried from frustration more than once during that period of my life but that was the only time I cried due to the pain. By far, my lowest point. So that might explain why I may have been spotted this morning skipping across the oval yelling words to the effect "woohoo, I'm running!"... :-))
I have to thank TigerAngel for giving Owly & I a cuddle to try & keep us warm as we huddled under the bridge waiting for the start of the race - thank you :-)
I had decided to treat the "race" simply as a training run. Due to illness I hadn't run for more than 40mins in over a month so I decided to go out with Ellie, Owly & Lulu at their HM pace & then see how I felt at the turnaround. Shortly after the start, Ellie had disappeared into the distance, Owly had teamed up with Caro so I ran to the turnaround with Lulu averaging around 6.10min/km. I actually felt terrible the first few kms - my legs felt fine but I couldn't breathe. Once we'd started running I actually enjoyed the conditions - you (well, I) can't help but smile when running through puddles! By the turnaround, I was feeling better so I decided to pick up the pace & pick off a few people in front - I lurve chasing people down ;-)
The last 3kms were a bit of a struggle as my lack of fitness took a toll - as did a stitch. But my legs felt - feel - great! According to Garmin Elektra I finished in 50.42mins (aver 5.43kms) - my splits tell the tale:
6.05
6.09
6.06
6.14
5.48
5.10
5.29
5.22
4.19 (.885km)
How is that for inconsistent? ;-) About 1min off my PB but in the circumstances, a result I am really happy with :-))
Edit: results are in - 50.59mins!
I had planned to run back down the course to meet the girls but I got cold really quickly once I had stopped to stretch. So I ran back to the hotel for a quick (hot) shower & was back at the finish line in order to watch the girls come through - Ellie, Owly, Lulu & Go Girl - tough chicks (mentally & physically) & I'm very proud of you :-))
After checking out of our hotel & a lovely - leisurely - breakfast with a stack of CRs, it was time to head for home. Right now, my legs are feeling great - no niggles & I am one content (albeit tired) Phoenix ;-)
I'm planning on taking it a bit easy for a next day or two & then it might be time to dig out one of those maps next weekend...
This is going to be a long post - I'd apologise but it's my blog ;-)
Anyhoo, to backtrack a bit - Friday proved to be an intriguing & interesting day. In the morning I left the gym with jelly legs after doing 20mins of leg work before the pilates class. Another tough class too - my lack of training in the last few weeks was showing but I know my strength will return quickly.
Work was crap - so crap infact that I got stuck in the office finalising an urgent deal (aren't they all!) & missed lunch entirely! Yes, that's right. I missed a long boozy client lunch & instead was reduced to eating sushi rolls at my desk at 3pm! Not happy Jan. My day however took a very surprising turn with an interesting offer which came completely out of the blue. I won't take it up but it proved to me (once more) that the planets are moving into alignment for me.
After meeting Ellie at 3.45pm, we headed to Leichhardt to meet Owly for the girl's road trip to The Entrance. Thanks girls for keeping me so entertained on the drive (skinny girls, skinny girls, skinny girls, I love 'em, I love 'em, I love 'em, I love 'em).... Friday night was fun - great food, company, bubbly, girl talk & gelato.
Saturday was overcast. At this time I was somewhat concerned by the weather - I hadn't checked the weather forecast when I packed on Thursday night & so had brought absolutely no warm clothes - a decision I was too regret on Sunday. We spent the day eating & shopping & later in the day caught up with Portrunr. Dinner on Saturday night was fun - I hope everyone enjoyed the flood which I had arranged especially to add some atmosphere to the night ;-)
I can't say that I was particularly looking forward to running when I looked out the window on Sunday morning & saw rain & lots of wind. But this day last year was probably my lowest point in my ITB battle - not because I wasn't able to race but because when I walked up the hill to my B&B after cheering at the race, the pain in my knee - simply from walking up the hill - was excruciating. I cried from frustration more than once during that period of my life but that was the only time I cried due to the pain. By far, my lowest point. So that might explain why I may have been spotted this morning skipping across the oval yelling words to the effect "woohoo, I'm running!"... :-))
I have to thank TigerAngel for giving Owly & I a cuddle to try & keep us warm as we huddled under the bridge waiting for the start of the race - thank you :-)
I had decided to treat the "race" simply as a training run. Due to illness I hadn't run for more than 40mins in over a month so I decided to go out with Ellie, Owly & Lulu at their HM pace & then see how I felt at the turnaround. Shortly after the start, Ellie had disappeared into the distance, Owly had teamed up with Caro so I ran to the turnaround with Lulu averaging around 6.10min/km. I actually felt terrible the first few kms - my legs felt fine but I couldn't breathe. Once we'd started running I actually enjoyed the conditions - you (well, I) can't help but smile when running through puddles! By the turnaround, I was feeling better so I decided to pick up the pace & pick off a few people in front - I lurve chasing people down ;-)
The last 3kms were a bit of a struggle as my lack of fitness took a toll - as did a stitch. But my legs felt - feel - great! According to Garmin Elektra I finished in 50.42mins (aver 5.43kms) - my splits tell the tale:
6.05
6.09
6.06
6.14
5.48
5.10
5.29
5.22
4.19 (.885km)
How is that for inconsistent? ;-) About 1min off my PB but in the circumstances, a result I am really happy with :-))
Edit: results are in - 50.59mins!
I had planned to run back down the course to meet the girls but I got cold really quickly once I had stopped to stretch. So I ran back to the hotel for a quick (hot) shower & was back at the finish line in order to watch the girls come through - Ellie, Owly, Lulu & Go Girl - tough chicks (mentally & physically) & I'm very proud of you :-))
After checking out of our hotel & a lovely - leisurely - breakfast with a stack of CRs, it was time to head for home. Right now, my legs are feeling great - no niggles & I am one content (albeit tired) Phoenix ;-)
I'm planning on taking it a bit easy for a next day or two & then it might be time to dig out one of those maps next weekend...
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Is nude really a colour ?
Wednesday, I headed to the gym for a GRC Pilates class at lunch. I'm glad I didn't do the Int/Adv class - I may not have noticed much of a decrease in strength during my session with Satan on Monday but I certainly did during this class. At least I know it will come back quickly :-))
This morning (Thursday) I headed out for an easy 30mins run this morning. Garmin Elektra suffered a mild stroke this morning & actually refused to turn on (& yes, she was fully charged) so I set out sans-watch. It was absolutely beautiful out there this morning - still & quite chilly actually. Despite taking a new route, I somehow managed to arrive home exactly on 6am as planned (mind you I did stop to ask someone the time at one stage…)
Despite a bit of a cough setting in over the last 48 hours, I felt soooo much better today. After Tuesday's run I was actually contemplating not doing the 9kms on Sunday. But today felt good. The spring hasn't quite returned to my step but I certainly didn't feel as flat as I did on Tuesday. According to gMaps it was about 4.9kms. I have no idea how long it took as I didn't check the time as I left the house.
Tomorrow (Friday) is going to be a big day. Up early (4.45am) to drive into the city and then another GRC Pilates class before work (!). A long client lunch (non-boozy for me 'cause I'm driving) then its the start of our next road trip. Ellie, Owly & I are heading up to The Entrance on Friday night for a weekend out of Sydney before the race on Sunday. Looking forward to a relaxing - and social - weekend !
Total for November - 43.87kms. I'm actually very pleased with that given I missed 14 days of training (due to sickness for once and not injury, LOL!)...
This morning (Thursday) I headed out for an easy 30mins run this morning. Garmin Elektra suffered a mild stroke this morning & actually refused to turn on (& yes, she was fully charged) so I set out sans-watch. It was absolutely beautiful out there this morning - still & quite chilly actually. Despite taking a new route, I somehow managed to arrive home exactly on 6am as planned (mind you I did stop to ask someone the time at one stage…)
Despite a bit of a cough setting in over the last 48 hours, I felt soooo much better today. After Tuesday's run I was actually contemplating not doing the 9kms on Sunday. But today felt good. The spring hasn't quite returned to my step but I certainly didn't feel as flat as I did on Tuesday. According to gMaps it was about 4.9kms. I have no idea how long it took as I didn't check the time as I left the house.
Tomorrow (Friday) is going to be a big day. Up early (4.45am) to drive into the city and then another GRC Pilates class before work (!). A long client lunch (non-boozy for me 'cause I'm driving) then its the start of our next road trip. Ellie, Owly & I are heading up to The Entrance on Friday night for a weekend out of Sydney before the race on Sunday. Looking forward to a relaxing - and social - weekend !
Total for November - 43.87kms. I'm actually very pleased with that given I missed 14 days of training (due to sickness for once and not injury, LOL!)...
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Today's episode is brought to you by the letter 'g'...
Monday 27 November
Austraya 1 - England 0 :)
Feeling very tired today despite 8 hours sleep last night. Still nowhere 100%. Anyhoo the body held up well after yesterday's lil adventure. No niggles, just some DOMS particularly in my adductors.
I headed to the gym for a weights session with Satan after work tonight. My first weights session in 3 weeks (yikes) but surprisingly I felt much stronger than I had anticipated. A new circuit was on the cards tonight with a focus on glutes, hammies & core strength/balance. The glute & hammy work identified a bit of a muscle imbalance that has snuck up while I wasn't paying attention. A really tough but fun session - gosh, it's nice to be moving again :)
Tuesday 28 November
After an interrupted nights sleep, I was very tempted to roll over & go back to sleep when the alarm went off at 5am. But I didn't. Got up & was running by 5.15am.
Despite the temp out here being forecasted to reach 40 degrees today (and it did!), it was actually quite mild this morning - beautiful running weather. The run itself however was fugly - bloody hard work but ya get that. After this mornings effort, I'm certain my "race" plan for Sunday is the right one - there is no way I could go any faster right now. In fact, I may even have trouble keeping up with Owly's HM pace over the first 4.5kms.….Finished with 5.61kms in 35mins (aver 6:14min/kms).
And then I read for 20mins & slept for 40 on the train on the way to work. Nice.
And later in the day spent an hour in the Tiger's den having my ITBs tortured. Not so nice ;)
MTD: 38.97kms
Austraya 1 - England 0 :)
Feeling very tired today despite 8 hours sleep last night. Still nowhere 100%. Anyhoo the body held up well after yesterday's lil adventure. No niggles, just some DOMS particularly in my adductors.
I headed to the gym for a weights session with Satan after work tonight. My first weights session in 3 weeks (yikes) but surprisingly I felt much stronger than I had anticipated. A new circuit was on the cards tonight with a focus on glutes, hammies & core strength/balance. The glute & hammy work identified a bit of a muscle imbalance that has snuck up while I wasn't paying attention. A really tough but fun session - gosh, it's nice to be moving again :)
Tuesday 28 November
After an interrupted nights sleep, I was very tempted to roll over & go back to sleep when the alarm went off at 5am. But I didn't. Got up & was running by 5.15am.
Despite the temp out here being forecasted to reach 40 degrees today (and it did!), it was actually quite mild this morning - beautiful running weather. The run itself however was fugly - bloody hard work but ya get that. After this mornings effort, I'm certain my "race" plan for Sunday is the right one - there is no way I could go any faster right now. In fact, I may even have trouble keeping up with Owly's HM pace over the first 4.5kms.….Finished with 5.61kms in 35mins (aver 6:14min/kms).
And then I read for 20mins & slept for 40 on the train on the way to work. Nice.
And later in the day spent an hour in the Tiger's den having my ITBs tortured. Not so nice ;)
MTD: 38.97kms
Sunday, November 26, 2006
I'd rather be a convict than a pom....
Hehehe
Thanks to everyone for your well wishes & concern. I am taking good care of myself - many moons ago I had a similiar viral thingy which floored me for 6 weeks & took me 3 months to recover so needless to say, i'm not particularly keen to go down that path again...
I've had a lovely few days. A great night on Friday at CR drinks. It was great to catch up with so many friends - and thanks to Owly for the company ;-) At some stage on Friday night I came up with the great idea of Owly & I heading over to meet the CRs doing the 5kms challenge for breakfast. It didn't seem like such a great idea when I crawled into bed at Owly's at 2am and even less when Owly & co came home an hour later...Still we somehow managed to drag our butt's out of bed in time so we (Chonky, Unc, Owly & myself) made it to the new cafe at the pool just as the challenge was finishing...perfect timing!
After 2 weeks of absolutely no exercise, I finally headed out for a run this morning. The plan was 30mins easy at LSD pace (6:30min/kms). It didn't seem particularly easy - in fact it felt like bloody hard work. Still, 4.59kms later & it's done - and I have nothing else to do today except lie on the couch watching the cricket - assuming there is a full days play ;-)
Hopefully with an easy week this week, I can get back into a full training workload next week. I've got plans....
Mon - weights with Satan
Tues - run (35mins)
Wed - Pilates
Thur - run (30mins)
Fri - Pilates & road trip !
Sat - rest
Sun - Central Coast 9kms race - judging by how I felt this morning, I'll be treating this as a training run & doing it at LSD pace..
Thanks to everyone for your well wishes & concern. I am taking good care of myself - many moons ago I had a similiar viral thingy which floored me for 6 weeks & took me 3 months to recover so needless to say, i'm not particularly keen to go down that path again...
I've had a lovely few days. A great night on Friday at CR drinks. It was great to catch up with so many friends - and thanks to Owly for the company ;-) At some stage on Friday night I came up with the great idea of Owly & I heading over to meet the CRs doing the 5kms challenge for breakfast. It didn't seem like such a great idea when I crawled into bed at Owly's at 2am and even less when Owly & co came home an hour later...Still we somehow managed to drag our butt's out of bed in time so we (Chonky, Unc, Owly & myself) made it to the new cafe at the pool just as the challenge was finishing...perfect timing!
After 2 weeks of absolutely no exercise, I finally headed out for a run this morning. The plan was 30mins easy at LSD pace (6:30min/kms). It didn't seem particularly easy - in fact it felt like bloody hard work. Still, 4.59kms later & it's done - and I have nothing else to do today except lie on the couch watching the cricket - assuming there is a full days play ;-)
Hopefully with an easy week this week, I can get back into a full training workload next week. I've got plans....
Mon - weights with Satan
Tues - run (35mins)
Wed - Pilates
Thur - run (30mins)
Fri - Pilates & road trip !
Sat - rest
Sun - Central Coast 9kms race - judging by how I felt this morning, I'll be treating this as a training run & doing it at LSD pace..
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Attitude & circumstance
Your attitude is not determined by circumstances, but by how you respond to your circumstances.
You can respond positively or negatively to any situation.
It's how you react to events, not the events themselves, that determines your attitude.
Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.
Any challenge facing you is not as important as your attitude towards it, for that will determine your success or failure.
You can respond positively or negatively to any situation.
It's how you react to events, not the events themselves, that determines your attitude.
Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.
Any challenge facing you is not as important as your attitude towards it, for that will determine your success or failure.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Bad boys & inappropriate jokes....
It was 31.6 degrees (89F) at 5am here yesterday (Wednesday). God I love ducted air-conditioning...
Thanks for your well wishes. I'm still sick I'm afraid. Had a bit of a relapse of the viral thingy this week & so am having today off work in the hope I can shake it. The fact that the Ashes starts today played absolutely no part in my decision to have today off - it's just an added benefit ;-) I've done absolutely no exercise in 11 days now so I feel like a big, sick blob. But hopefully with some rest today I'll be right to head out for a run over the weekend...fingers crossed.
Thanks for your well wishes. I'm still sick I'm afraid. Had a bit of a relapse of the viral thingy this week & so am having today off work in the hope I can shake it. The fact that the Ashes starts today played absolutely no part in my decision to have today off - it's just an added benefit ;-) I've done absolutely no exercise in 11 days now so I feel like a big, sick blob. But hopefully with some rest today I'll be right to head out for a run over the weekend...fingers crossed.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
And so, the next chapter begins...
I'm ready. Bring it on.
________________________
Still sick. Have done zero, zip, nada for a week now. Walking up a flight of stairs still leaves me feeling like I need to sit down to recover, so it's going to be a few more days. On top of the virus I had/have (which has given me an overwhelming sense of fatigue), I now have a head cold. I feel positively delightful. Not ;-)
________________________
Still sick. Have done zero, zip, nada for a week now. Walking up a flight of stairs still leaves me feeling like I need to sit down to recover, so it's going to be a few more days. On top of the virus I had/have (which has given me an overwhelming sense of fatigue), I now have a head cold. I feel positively delightful. Not ;-)
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
It's no longer about my lesson...
No wonder Sunday's long run felt so difficult.
I've been absolutely floored this week by some viral thing - something different from the flu that's going around the office at the moment - that has left my throat feeling like I've been swallowing razor blades (don't try this at home kids) & as though I could sleep for 30 hours a day & it still wouldn't be enough.
Today (Wednesday) my throat has improved but I'm actually feeling even more exhausted & tired. It was a struggle to walk up a flight of stairs this morning. A few more days rest & hopefully I'll be right to head out for a run on Saturday..
And yes, my chin is fine - thanks for asking ;-)
I've been absolutely floored this week by some viral thing - something different from the flu that's going around the office at the moment - that has left my throat feeling like I've been swallowing razor blades (don't try this at home kids) & as though I could sleep for 30 hours a day & it still wouldn't be enough.
Today (Wednesday) my throat has improved but I'm actually feeling even more exhausted & tired. It was a struggle to walk up a flight of stairs this morning. A few more days rest & hopefully I'll be right to head out for a run on Saturday..
And yes, my chin is fine - thanks for asking ;-)
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Lap it up
Given its an easy/recovery week, I left my new acquisitions at home & went for an easy 50mins around the block. My first humid run of the summer (hardly surprising given my mid-week sessions take place at 5am). Throw in a bit of dehydration & a bit of a headcold which seemed to have arrived this morning & a flatish, easy run around the block felt a bit harder than it should have.
Anyhoo, it's done. Nothing exciting to report I'm afraid. Today's 'locals' sightings did not consist of idjits in utes but instead a rabbit & a couple of ducks :-)
Finished with 7.79kms in 50:03min (aver 6:25min/kms)
This is going to be an interesting & perhaps difficult week for personal reasons. But ya get that...and I know the PG is with me :-)
Mon: bike interval session & weights with Satan
Tue: run (45mins)
Wed: Pilates (Int/Adv)
Thu: run (40mins)
Fri: rest
Sat: run (70mins)
Sun: rest
MTD: 28.77kms
BTW, U2 were amazing!
Anyhoo, it's done. Nothing exciting to report I'm afraid. Today's 'locals' sightings did not consist of idjits in utes but instead a rabbit & a couple of ducks :-)
Finished with 7.79kms in 50:03min (aver 6:25min/kms)
This is going to be an interesting & perhaps difficult week for personal reasons. But ya get that...and I know the PG is with me :-)
Mon: bike interval session & weights with Satan
Tue: run (45mins)
Wed: Pilates (Int/Adv)
Thu: run (40mins)
Fri: rest
Sat: run (70mins)
Sun: rest
MTD: 28.77kms
BTW, U2 were amazing!
Saturday, November 11, 2006
A turning point...
There comes a turning point in every girls life.
It is not when she gets her first bra. Nor when she kisses a boy for the first time. Or buys her first car. Or diamond.
Nope.
It's the day she buys her first topographic map.
Yes, it's true. Yours truly - who doesn't own a street directory & instead relies on her own innate sense of direction - is now the proud owner of not 1 but 2 topo maps (Springwood & Katoomba if you must know).
I'm sure the PG girls are shaking their heads at me right now - but I know others out there understand…. ;-)
Let the adventures begin!
It is not when she gets her first bra. Nor when she kisses a boy for the first time. Or buys her first car. Or diamond.
Nope.
It's the day she buys her first topographic map.
Yes, it's true. Yours truly - who doesn't own a street directory & instead relies on her own innate sense of direction - is now the proud owner of not 1 but 2 topo maps (Springwood & Katoomba if you must know).
I'm sure the PG girls are shaking their heads at me right now - but I know others out there understand…. ;-)
Let the adventures begin!
Friday, November 10, 2006
Locked & loaded
Well my leave has been approved and I booked & paid the deposit on my holiday to Mexico/Guatemala et al yesterday. Woohoo!!
Wednesday 8 November
Why is it that after 8 hours sleep I feel even more tired??
Headed to the gym for a GRC Pilates (Int/Adv) class at lunch today. Really tough class with a particular focus on glutes. Geez. It still hurts to sit down...
Thursday 9 November
I had an easy 30mins on the program for this morning & a date with Saint Andrew tonight (thankfully) so I combined the two.
Got up at 4.45am - left home just after 5am after eating some breakfast - arrived at Rozelle (where I park my car so I can make a quick getaway from the city & get to the Saint's office) just after 6am - and then ran to work: from the parking spot onto Victoria Road, then over the Anzac Bridge (my first time!), through Pyrmont, over Pyrmont Bridge, up King Street and around Hyde Park before arriving at the office. It was a nice - new - course for me which I enjoyed (despite the traffic & the hills). I felt pretty comfortable which was pleasing given it's a bit hillier than I am used to & I was running with my Camelbak for the first time in ages.
Garmin Elektra fell into a coma as I passed through the city so I have no idea exactly how far it was so I'll guess 4.5kms in 30mins.
Caught up with Ellie over lunch at the Lindt Café today (*waves*). One thing I miss about being out west is not seeing the girls as much as I would like. Ellie however seems to think that my mum isn't feeding me enough because she held me down & force fed me some chocolate hazelnut concoction ;-)
And yes Gronk. I think you are right - the mountain air - not to mention mum's cooking & lots of reading time (which is soul food for me) is really agreeing with me…and I haven't even hit the trails yet ! :-))))
MTD: 20.98kms
What is it about seeing men cry that floors me. My (baby) brother & his g/f are flying out this morning to start their new lives together in Canada & I've just said goodbye to them. There have been tears. My brother started it. I will miss him - we are a really close family. But I am happy & excited for him. I'm sure he will enjoy the minus 45 degree winters ;-) Hopefully we will be able to meet up in Mexico when I'm there in April or May…besides it's about time I was the centre of attention at home ;-) Hehehe.
Wednesday 8 November
Why is it that after 8 hours sleep I feel even more tired??
Headed to the gym for a GRC Pilates (Int/Adv) class at lunch today. Really tough class with a particular focus on glutes. Geez. It still hurts to sit down...
Thursday 9 November
I had an easy 30mins on the program for this morning & a date with Saint Andrew tonight (thankfully) so I combined the two.
Got up at 4.45am - left home just after 5am after eating some breakfast - arrived at Rozelle (where I park my car so I can make a quick getaway from the city & get to the Saint's office) just after 6am - and then ran to work: from the parking spot onto Victoria Road, then over the Anzac Bridge (my first time!), through Pyrmont, over Pyrmont Bridge, up King Street and around Hyde Park before arriving at the office. It was a nice - new - course for me which I enjoyed (despite the traffic & the hills). I felt pretty comfortable which was pleasing given it's a bit hillier than I am used to & I was running with my Camelbak for the first time in ages.
Garmin Elektra fell into a coma as I passed through the city so I have no idea exactly how far it was so I'll guess 4.5kms in 30mins.
Caught up with Ellie over lunch at the Lindt Café today (*waves*). One thing I miss about being out west is not seeing the girls as much as I would like. Ellie however seems to think that my mum isn't feeding me enough because she held me down & force fed me some chocolate hazelnut concoction ;-)
And yes Gronk. I think you are right - the mountain air - not to mention mum's cooking & lots of reading time (which is soul food for me) is really agreeing with me…and I haven't even hit the trails yet ! :-))))
MTD: 20.98kms
What is it about seeing men cry that floors me. My (baby) brother & his g/f are flying out this morning to start their new lives together in Canada & I've just said goodbye to them. There have been tears. My brother started it. I will miss him - we are a really close family. But I am happy & excited for him. I'm sure he will enjoy the minus 45 degree winters ;-) Hopefully we will be able to meet up in Mexico when I'm there in April or May…besides it's about time I was the centre of attention at home ;-) Hehehe.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
We have lift-off...
I am reminded today of JFK's quote - 'we do it not because it is easy, but because it is hard'.
Monday 6 November - the birth of Apollo...
A big day to start the week. And a good thing too given how much I ate (& drank) this weekend….
Started the day with my first interval session on the bike (who by the way I have named Apollo) in about 2 or 3 weeks I think. It was a tough session - I was 'glowing' a lot ;-) but it passed very quickly as I was watching the 2006 Port Mac IM DVD (thanks A!). Gee, between following yesterday's events at the HIM & watching this, it's almost enough to give a girl ideas - almost but not quite ;-)
5mins warm up
4min efforts/2min recovery x 6
5 mins cool down
Total: 46mins.
And then I slept on the train on the way to work. LOL. Given that my morning sessions (including stretching) need to be finished by 6.15am (!), the extra sleep time afforded by the commute is going to come in v. handy ;-)
After work I headed to the gym for a weights session with Satan. Same session as last week with the primary focus on my core. Nasty. But gee it was fun :-)
Tuesday 7 November - lost in suburbia…
Well, that was interesting. Today was supposed to be a designated hills session. My first since, oh, July. Instead I got lost in suburbia during my warm up & ran out of time to head for the hills. Doh. In my defence, when I last lived here, the area in question was vacant land - besides it's easy to get confused by streets lined with McMansions with utes or Holden Commodores parked out of the front….
Anyhoo, I made it out of suburbia eventually and 35mins into the run I found a mini-hill (an incline really) on which I did 2 reps. Better than nothing I suppose. Still no sign of any camber-free roads or footpaths around here which is a proving to be a real pain in the tib-post..…
The run felt pretty comfortable though I need to see Saint Andrew. My lower back & pelvis are out of whack but (fortunately) it didn't seem to affect me today. Finished with 6.48kms in 39:55mins (aver 6:09min/km). My legs are feeling very beaten up now after an hour in Tiger's Discothèque this afternoon.
BTW there will be no more references to being 'niggle free' in this blog. I need to shift my thinking & the best way for me to do that is not to focus on being niggle free but just to accept the new reality :-)
MTD: 16.48kms
Monday 6 November - the birth of Apollo...
A big day to start the week. And a good thing too given how much I ate (& drank) this weekend….
Started the day with my first interval session on the bike (who by the way I have named Apollo) in about 2 or 3 weeks I think. It was a tough session - I was 'glowing' a lot ;-) but it passed very quickly as I was watching the 2006 Port Mac IM DVD (thanks A!). Gee, between following yesterday's events at the HIM & watching this, it's almost enough to give a girl ideas - almost but not quite ;-)
5mins warm up
4min efforts/2min recovery x 6
5 mins cool down
Total: 46mins.
And then I slept on the train on the way to work. LOL. Given that my morning sessions (including stretching) need to be finished by 6.15am (!), the extra sleep time afforded by the commute is going to come in v. handy ;-)
After work I headed to the gym for a weights session with Satan. Same session as last week with the primary focus on my core. Nasty. But gee it was fun :-)
Tuesday 7 November - lost in suburbia…
Well, that was interesting. Today was supposed to be a designated hills session. My first since, oh, July. Instead I got lost in suburbia during my warm up & ran out of time to head for the hills. Doh. In my defence, when I last lived here, the area in question was vacant land - besides it's easy to get confused by streets lined with McMansions with utes or Holden Commodores parked out of the front….
Anyhoo, I made it out of suburbia eventually and 35mins into the run I found a mini-hill (an incline really) on which I did 2 reps. Better than nothing I suppose. Still no sign of any camber-free roads or footpaths around here which is a proving to be a real pain in the tib-post..…
The run felt pretty comfortable though I need to see Saint Andrew. My lower back & pelvis are out of whack but (fortunately) it didn't seem to affect me today. Finished with 6.48kms in 39:55mins (aver 6:09min/km). My legs are feeling very beaten up now after an hour in Tiger's Discothèque this afternoon.
BTW there will be no more references to being 'niggle free' in this blog. I need to shift my thinking & the best way for me to do that is not to focus on being niggle free but just to accept the new reality :-)
MTD: 16.48kms
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Memoirs of a boudoir...
Garmin Elektra's boudoir (aka cradle) was 'misplaced' during the move. I put it in a safe place, so safe in fact that I only found it a week after I moved. Don't ask me where it was...So it's back to a normal watch (god forbid) and Gmaps pedometer (sp) for the last two outings.
Thursday 2 November - meeting the locals...
I was out the door & running by 5.15am this morning in order to get some (recently neglected) stretching done before getting ready for work. Yawn. It was actually a lovely run. Very quiet - it seems 5.15am is too early for the walkers in the neighbourhood. Having a rest day on Wednesday had done wonders for my legs - they felt normal again; none of the dead-leggedness of the last few days. I ran past the ADI site at one stage looking at the mist in the trees, the grazing kangaroos & the beautiful pink sunrise in the background. Bewdiful. Fortunately the site wont' be turned into a housing estate accommodating a 6k adults, 10k utes & 24k rug rats until long after I've moved away again.
At some stage I need to think about the pace at which I run my midweek sessions - rather than my current plod-along-at-whatever-pace-I-feel-like-running-at-the-time approach. But for this month & perhaps next, I am going to continue to build the mileage (sensibly) and enjoy this new injury/niggle free reality :-)
Finished with about 5kms in 30mins. Long run on Saturday which will be an interesting experiment in listening to my body & trying to pace myself sans Garmin Elektra's calming influence…
At lunch, it was off to the gym for a weights session with Satan. A brand new program full of all sorts of nasty new surprises, most of which I'm too tired to try & invent names for. Must say the lunges with the front foot on a wobble cushion was pretty interesting after my run in the morning...
Saturday 4 November - long run Saturday
With the big party at home on Saturday night, I made the v. wise decision to do my long run on Saturday so I could veg (ie recover from the party) on Sunday.
And for the first time in over 2 months, I ran for an hour!! (*she cartwheels*). No injuries. No niggles. One happy gal :-)
The camber on the roads around, I'm discovering, is a real problem. I even broke my cardinal rule of running towards the oncoming traffic at one stage. Yes, I know I broke the rules 2p. But it was a v. quiet road & I turned my iPod off & I was paying attention & I'd rather get hit by a car then upset my ITB again (ok, so maybe that's an exaggeration)....
Finished with 10kms in 62:49min. Ok, so it was a bit faster than my normal long run pace but I was having fun!!
MTD: 15kms
This week, I'm going to ease my runs back a touch. I've been building for 4 weeks now. Besides, in a fortnight I'll be staying in Lilianfels in Katoomba for the weekend and part from drinking cocktails & laying by the pool (either the indoor or outdoor one) it would be a crime not to find a trail while I'm there....
Monday: weights with Satan
Tuesday: run (40mins)
Wednesday: GRC Pilates (Adv/Int)
Thursday: run (30) mins
Friday: ride (interval session) & GRC Pilates (Adv/Int) & U2 concert!!!
Saturday: rest
Sunday: run (45 mins)
Edit: congrats to PGer Miners & my uncle (*waves*) for finishing the Port Mac HIM today in horrendous conditions. My uncle finished second in his age group - not bad for an old fella ;-)
Thursday 2 November - meeting the locals...
I was out the door & running by 5.15am this morning in order to get some (recently neglected) stretching done before getting ready for work. Yawn. It was actually a lovely run. Very quiet - it seems 5.15am is too early for the walkers in the neighbourhood. Having a rest day on Wednesday had done wonders for my legs - they felt normal again; none of the dead-leggedness of the last few days. I ran past the ADI site at one stage looking at the mist in the trees, the grazing kangaroos & the beautiful pink sunrise in the background. Bewdiful. Fortunately the site wont' be turned into a housing estate accommodating a 6k adults, 10k utes & 24k rug rats until long after I've moved away again.
At some stage I need to think about the pace at which I run my midweek sessions - rather than my current plod-along-at-whatever-pace-I-feel-like-running-at-the-time approach. But for this month & perhaps next, I am going to continue to build the mileage (sensibly) and enjoy this new injury/niggle free reality :-)
Finished with about 5kms in 30mins. Long run on Saturday which will be an interesting experiment in listening to my body & trying to pace myself sans Garmin Elektra's calming influence…
At lunch, it was off to the gym for a weights session with Satan. A brand new program full of all sorts of nasty new surprises, most of which I'm too tired to try & invent names for. Must say the lunges with the front foot on a wobble cushion was pretty interesting after my run in the morning...
Saturday 4 November - long run Saturday
With the big party at home on Saturday night, I made the v. wise decision to do my long run on Saturday so I could veg (ie recover from the party) on Sunday.
And for the first time in over 2 months, I ran for an hour!! (*she cartwheels*). No injuries. No niggles. One happy gal :-)
The camber on the roads around, I'm discovering, is a real problem. I even broke my cardinal rule of running towards the oncoming traffic at one stage. Yes, I know I broke the rules 2p. But it was a v. quiet road & I turned my iPod off & I was paying attention & I'd rather get hit by a car then upset my ITB again (ok, so maybe that's an exaggeration)....
Finished with 10kms in 62:49min. Ok, so it was a bit faster than my normal long run pace but I was having fun!!
MTD: 15kms
This week, I'm going to ease my runs back a touch. I've been building for 4 weeks now. Besides, in a fortnight I'll be staying in Lilianfels in Katoomba for the weekend and part from drinking cocktails & laying by the pool (either the indoor or outdoor one) it would be a crime not to find a trail while I'm there....
Monday: weights with Satan
Tuesday: run (40mins)
Wednesday: GRC Pilates (Adv/Int)
Thursday: run (30) mins
Friday: ride (interval session) & GRC Pilates (Adv/Int) & U2 concert!!!
Saturday: rest
Sunday: run (45 mins)
Edit: congrats to PGer Miners & my uncle (*waves*) for finishing the Port Mac HIM today in horrendous conditions. My uncle finished second in his age group - not bad for an old fella ;-)
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