AM: Back to the oval which is slowly drying out for an easy 20mins - 2.96kms in 20:02mins (aver 6:45min/kms). Tried to focus on changing my technique as suggested by ET to land on my forefoot rather than my heel as I currently do. A few niggles here & there despite the week off. The arch of my left foot in particular was pretty tight during the course of the day.
PM: Back to the gym for a quick upper body weights session - circuit of:
* reverse dumbell flyes
* single arm cable rows
* barbell bicep curls
* single arm supine tricep extensions
* lat pulldowns,
repeated twice followed by 20mins stretching by lower body.
Total for July is 123.87kms. Off to see ET for a massage tomorrow. I've still got some "discomfort" in my lower legs. This is supposed to be my last week of building before slowly tapering for W2B but we'll see....
BTW, I forgot to mention yesterday. I cut most of my hair off on Saturday. Well, I didn't. My hairdresser did. I had been growing it for the big "W". So instead I decided to cut it off. Glad I did. Let's just say the back of my neck is seeing the light of day for the first time in about 20 years...Happy days.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Sunday, July 30, 2006
But why is the rum gone?
Thanks to the PG for checking up on me :-) I've just been feeling sick, tired & rundown this week...
Gronk asked about my "tib-ants" the other day. For anyone interested, this is what I'm referring to. It's primarily responsible (as I understand it) for dorsal flexion - flexing your foot (toes) up towards your body.
Friday morning I went to a breakfast where the speaker was Dr Fiona Wood. An incredible, passionate & inspiring woman.
Today (Sunday) in lieu of my long run, I spent 3 hours sitting on my windtrainer in my loungeroom at 65%-75% of my max HR for the first 2.5 hours, before increasing the workload up to 80% for the last 30mins. Distracted myself from my ever increasing sore butt by watching the first Pirates movie & then a DVD on the 99 TdF. Someone remind me to get a women's seat for my bike before doing that again...
Fingers crossed, the week ahead should look like this:
Mon: run (20mins easy on the oval) & upper body weights
Tues: rest (massage)
Wed: run
Thur: pilates & spin
Fri: run
Sat: yoga
Sun: run - hopefully if my tib-ants come to the party - 27kms at the Royal National Park with Nando, Rags, Go Girl, Owly et al...
Gronk asked about my "tib-ants" the other day. For anyone interested, this is what I'm referring to. It's primarily responsible (as I understand it) for dorsal flexion - flexing your foot (toes) up towards your body.
Friday morning I went to a breakfast where the speaker was Dr Fiona Wood. An incredible, passionate & inspiring woman.
Today (Sunday) in lieu of my long run, I spent 3 hours sitting on my windtrainer in my loungeroom at 65%-75% of my max HR for the first 2.5 hours, before increasing the workload up to 80% for the last 30mins. Distracted myself from my ever increasing sore butt by watching the first Pirates movie & then a DVD on the 99 TdF. Someone remind me to get a women's seat for my bike before doing that again...
Fingers crossed, the week ahead should look like this:
Mon: run (20mins easy on the oval) & upper body weights
Tues: rest (massage)
Wed: run
Thur: pilates & spin
Fri: run
Sat: yoga
Sun: run - hopefully if my tib-ants come to the party - 27kms at the Royal National Park with Nando, Rags, Go Girl, Owly et al...
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Blah
Feeling tired & flat at the moment - fighting off a cold. Another 60mins on the bike this morning in the gym - 25.46kms. Resting before Sunday's long freaking ride...
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Ring my bell
Monday 23 July
Rest day – 30mins stretching.
Tuesday 24 July
Spent a delightful hour with ET at lunch today. I’m sure he is as sick of my freaking tib-ants as I am.
After work, I headed to the gym for 60mins on the bike (25.64kms) watching, of all things, Max’s “Loving the 80’s” music clips – including Collette’s "Ring my Bell" and the Stone’s video clip for “Start Me Up” featuring Keith R actually looking human and bad lip synching from Mick wearing bad tight white pants. Oh dear. I think I need therapy now.... Finished with 30mins of stretching.
Another session on the bike in the gym on Thursday before spending 3 freaking hours on the windtrainer in lieu of an LSD run on Sunday.
I have more news - this time it's good!
1. I have (finally) entered City 2 Surf. Looking forward to running my C2S no.2 with Owly again.
2. I have booked myself a not-so-little holiday! It's not until April next year (so I will miss Warwick next year - my re-match with that little “hill” will have to wait until 2008). Where am I off to I hear you ask? Oh I’m just ducking over to Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras :-) :-)
Rest day – 30mins stretching.
Tuesday 24 July
Spent a delightful hour with ET at lunch today. I’m sure he is as sick of my freaking tib-ants as I am.
After work, I headed to the gym for 60mins on the bike (25.64kms) watching, of all things, Max’s “Loving the 80’s” music clips – including Collette’s "Ring my Bell" and the Stone’s video clip for “Start Me Up” featuring Keith R actually looking human and bad lip synching from Mick wearing bad tight white pants. Oh dear. I think I need therapy now.... Finished with 30mins of stretching.
Another session on the bike in the gym on Thursday before spending 3 freaking hours on the windtrainer in lieu of an LSD run on Sunday.
I have more news - this time it's good!
1. I have (finally) entered City 2 Surf. Looking forward to running my C2S no.2 with Owly again.
2. I have booked myself a not-so-little holiday! It's not until April next year (so I will miss Warwick next year - my re-match with that little “hill” will have to wait until 2008). Where am I off to I hear you ask? Oh I’m just ducking over to Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras :-) :-)
Red red wine...
Sunday 23 July
After toast at 6am I crawled back into bed & Go Girl and I chatted for another 45mins before it was time to get up & get ready before meeting Rags to walk down to the start. There were 2 hot air balloons firing up in the paddock not far from our front door which had just taken off & were floating overhead as we walked down to the start. I had expected the weather to be rather chilly but Sunday morning was beautiful and mild.
It was about this time that the ‘disorder’ of the day started. Much has been written on CR about this race so I won’t repeat it here – suffice to say that for a maiden event, problems were to be expected but some of the problems (for example, the Half being 2kms short & the full marathon 4kms short) were simply unacceptable. This race has great potential – the HV Gardens is a perfect venue for race HQ and the start/finish; the course was beautiful but tough and then there are the wineries in the area! I felt very sorry for anyone who had picked this race as a target event. Luckily for GG and I, we had decided to relax, cruise & enjoy the marathon relay.
I took the first leg while GG was on child sitting duties. The plan for me was to treat it as a LSD run, meaning my usual LSD pace – 7min/kms. Of course, everyone took off and soon I was at the back of the pack (read: last) and that was even before my tib-ants started to complain. I had to stop and stretch them several times in the first 3kms. At about the 5kms mark, I stopped to walk and found that I actually had no control over my foot. I couldn’t flex it. Mmmm. At this point I started to contemplate a Strategic Withdrawal (read: Doing Nothing Fatal) but with GG relying on me, there was no choice but to continue. Ultimately I decided that I was going to finish the freaking race if I had to walk the whole freaking way.
Thankfully my tib-ants started to shut-up (or they became so numb I couldn’t feel them anymore….) at about the 8kms mark, just before the climb up the “hill” to the Audrey Willkinson vineyard. That was one nasty hill. Check out the spike in the elevation thingy below. The signs “We’re really sorry” and (closer to the top) “See, it wasn’t really that bad” lightened the mood a touch. Up until this point, there was a woman in front of me who I had been keeping an eye on – at each turn around we gave each other a cheer as we went past each other. My hill sessions on L'alpe d'Huez are clearly paying off – she had a good lead on me as I reached the bottom of the hill but I managed to overtake her powerwalking up the hill! Unfortunately I had to stop at the top of the hill for a toilet break so she took the lead again. Thanks to the Audrey Willkinson winery who let me use their facilities inside the cellardoor. And no, I didn’t stop to sample any vino while I was there.
From there on, I was able to run quite comfortably – well, apart from the short, sharp hills which I walked. It really was a beautiful & tough course which I enjoyed once my legs decided to co-operate. I finally caught my "prey" & passed her for the final time at about the 14kms mark. As I came down towards the finishline I was directed towards the finishline, despite the fact that Garmin Elektra was only showing 19kms. I was a bit worried as I’d got caught up with people in the walk but after checking with every official I came across, I was directed towards the finishline where Rags was waiting for me. I found GG, gave her a cuddle, warned her about the hills in the second half of the run & she was off. GG had her own troubles with the course it seems but notwithstanding that, the hills & running her maiden marathon only 3 weeks ago, GG ran a blistering 1:45 – given us a team total of 3:58mins for the marathon. My first sub-4 marathon finish ;-)
What I love about running is the camaraderie. My "prey" during the race tracked me down afterwards; we had a cuddle & thanked each other for the company & support out there during the race (we were a long way behind anyone else).
Accordingly to Garmin Elektra I did 19.25kms in 2:13:13 – average pace of 6:55min/kms. Given I stopped to stretch my tib-ants about 6 or 7 times, walked all of the steeper hills & made not 1 but 2 toilet stops, that average pace isn’t quite accurate…
Here is the elevation thingy for the run:
Told you there were some short sharp hills!
After heading back to our hotel to shower & pack (thank you late check out), GG & I met Rags & M again for lunch – not to mention a glass of a very nice 2000 Shiraz that GG & I won (thankfully we stuck around for the v. disorganised presentation ceremony) before moving onto another café for afternoon tea (yes, food was up there with running as the theme of the weekend) before heading home (via Tempus Two….) ;-)
I pulled up very well from my run. No muscle soreness whatsoever; my tib-ants however are a problem. Notwithstanding that I’ve only got 2 weeks of base work before I start tapering for W2B, I’m taking a week off running. Yes, they are that bad. I haven’t been enjoying my running for weeks because of them. I’ll do all my cardio sessions this week on the bike instead before (hopefully) getting back into the running next week. Fingers crossed….
Total for July: 120.91kms
Edit: the results are in. Go Girl & I won the 2 person women's marathon relay in 3:59:33. My first bling!
After toast at 6am I crawled back into bed & Go Girl and I chatted for another 45mins before it was time to get up & get ready before meeting Rags to walk down to the start. There were 2 hot air balloons firing up in the paddock not far from our front door which had just taken off & were floating overhead as we walked down to the start. I had expected the weather to be rather chilly but Sunday morning was beautiful and mild.
It was about this time that the ‘disorder’ of the day started. Much has been written on CR about this race so I won’t repeat it here – suffice to say that for a maiden event, problems were to be expected but some of the problems (for example, the Half being 2kms short & the full marathon 4kms short) were simply unacceptable. This race has great potential – the HV Gardens is a perfect venue for race HQ and the start/finish; the course was beautiful but tough and then there are the wineries in the area! I felt very sorry for anyone who had picked this race as a target event. Luckily for GG and I, we had decided to relax, cruise & enjoy the marathon relay.
I took the first leg while GG was on child sitting duties. The plan for me was to treat it as a LSD run, meaning my usual LSD pace – 7min/kms. Of course, everyone took off and soon I was at the back of the pack (read: last) and that was even before my tib-ants started to complain. I had to stop and stretch them several times in the first 3kms. At about the 5kms mark, I stopped to walk and found that I actually had no control over my foot. I couldn’t flex it. Mmmm. At this point I started to contemplate a Strategic Withdrawal (read: Doing Nothing Fatal) but with GG relying on me, there was no choice but to continue. Ultimately I decided that I was going to finish the freaking race if I had to walk the whole freaking way.
Thankfully my tib-ants started to shut-up (or they became so numb I couldn’t feel them anymore….) at about the 8kms mark, just before the climb up the “hill” to the Audrey Willkinson vineyard. That was one nasty hill. Check out the spike in the elevation thingy below. The signs “We’re really sorry” and (closer to the top) “See, it wasn’t really that bad” lightened the mood a touch. Up until this point, there was a woman in front of me who I had been keeping an eye on – at each turn around we gave each other a cheer as we went past each other. My hill sessions on L'alpe d'Huez are clearly paying off – she had a good lead on me as I reached the bottom of the hill but I managed to overtake her powerwalking up the hill! Unfortunately I had to stop at the top of the hill for a toilet break so she took the lead again. Thanks to the Audrey Willkinson winery who let me use their facilities inside the cellardoor. And no, I didn’t stop to sample any vino while I was there.
From there on, I was able to run quite comfortably – well, apart from the short, sharp hills which I walked. It really was a beautiful & tough course which I enjoyed once my legs decided to co-operate. I finally caught my "prey" & passed her for the final time at about the 14kms mark. As I came down towards the finishline I was directed towards the finishline, despite the fact that Garmin Elektra was only showing 19kms. I was a bit worried as I’d got caught up with people in the walk but after checking with every official I came across, I was directed towards the finishline where Rags was waiting for me. I found GG, gave her a cuddle, warned her about the hills in the second half of the run & she was off. GG had her own troubles with the course it seems but notwithstanding that, the hills & running her maiden marathon only 3 weeks ago, GG ran a blistering 1:45 – given us a team total of 3:58mins for the marathon. My first sub-4 marathon finish ;-)
What I love about running is the camaraderie. My "prey" during the race tracked me down afterwards; we had a cuddle & thanked each other for the company & support out there during the race (we were a long way behind anyone else).
Accordingly to Garmin Elektra I did 19.25kms in 2:13:13 – average pace of 6:55min/kms. Given I stopped to stretch my tib-ants about 6 or 7 times, walked all of the steeper hills & made not 1 but 2 toilet stops, that average pace isn’t quite accurate…
Here is the elevation thingy for the run:
Told you there were some short sharp hills!
After heading back to our hotel to shower & pack (thank you late check out), GG & I met Rags & M again for lunch – not to mention a glass of a very nice 2000 Shiraz that GG & I won (thankfully we stuck around for the v. disorganised presentation ceremony) before moving onto another café for afternoon tea (yes, food was up there with running as the theme of the weekend) before heading home (via Tempus Two….) ;-)
I pulled up very well from my run. No muscle soreness whatsoever; my tib-ants however are a problem. Notwithstanding that I’ve only got 2 weeks of base work before I start tapering for W2B, I’m taking a week off running. Yes, they are that bad. I haven’t been enjoying my running for weeks because of them. I’ll do all my cardio sessions this week on the bike instead before (hopefully) getting back into the running next week. Fingers crossed….
Total for July: 120.91kms
Edit: the results are in. Go Girl & I won the 2 person women's marathon relay in 3:59:33. My first bling!
Monday, July 24, 2006
But it's the best I can do...
Friday 21 July
Ran to work again this morning, this time taking a slightly longer route through North Sydney. My tibs-ants continue to complain loudly - so much so that at one point early in the run I was stopping almost every 500m to stretch them. Not happy Jan. Once the numbness set in, I continued on my not-so-merry way; my legs felt really heavy & unco today. Finished with 9.45kms in 58:49mins (aver pace 6:13min/kms).
MTD: 101.66kms - my biggest month ever!
Saturday 22 July
After a rather long Friday afternoon - I had a client lunch until 7pm and then headed off to dinner for my best friend's birthday - I woke up Saturday morning feeling rather, um, dehydrated, tired, emotional and disorganised given that I had to be at Pennant Hills to meet Go Girl for our road trip to the Hunter Valley at 12.30 & hadn't even thought about what I needed for the weekend. Somehow I got my butt organised and to Pennant Hills just before Go Girl arrived.
After a stop or two on the drive up, we arrived at the Hunter Valley Gardens, race HQ, just before 3.30pm to pick up our race kit. We bumped briefly into Miners for a quick chat before joining Rags and his lovely wife M for afternoon tea. After a wander around & checking in to our hotel, GG and I joined Rags and M again for dinner at the pub and a glass (yes Miners, just one) of wine before an early night.
Ran to work again this morning, this time taking a slightly longer route through North Sydney. My tibs-ants continue to complain loudly - so much so that at one point early in the run I was stopping almost every 500m to stretch them. Not happy Jan. Once the numbness set in, I continued on my not-so-merry way; my legs felt really heavy & unco today. Finished with 9.45kms in 58:49mins (aver pace 6:13min/kms).
MTD: 101.66kms - my biggest month ever!
Saturday 22 July
After a rather long Friday afternoon - I had a client lunch until 7pm and then headed off to dinner for my best friend's birthday - I woke up Saturday morning feeling rather, um, dehydrated, tired, emotional and disorganised given that I had to be at Pennant Hills to meet Go Girl for our road trip to the Hunter Valley at 12.30 & hadn't even thought about what I needed for the weekend. Somehow I got my butt organised and to Pennant Hills just before Go Girl arrived.
After a stop or two on the drive up, we arrived at the Hunter Valley Gardens, race HQ, just before 3.30pm to pick up our race kit. We bumped briefly into Miners for a quick chat before joining Rags and his lovely wife M for afternoon tea. After a wander around & checking in to our hotel, GG and I joined Rags and M again for dinner at the pub and a glass (yes Miners, just one) of wine before an early night.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Non-taper club
No taper for me either (following on from Miner's lead). I'm treating Sunday's marathon relay - and my first Half - as an LSD run (with an emphasis on the "S"). I just hope Go Girl has a blinder to make up for my v-e-r-y s-l-o-w contribution to our team. It's funny how things change - late last year I was building up for my first Half. That didn't happen - it will on Sunday - but I won't be tapering for it because I have bigger fish to fry...
AM: My body is starting to complain about the increase in mileage. My tibs ants in particular are not enjoying my sessions at the moment. But I've only got 3 (4 max) long runs before I start tapering for W2B so I'm going to continue to (try &) ignore it and pay for Easy Tiger's children's private school education in the meantime...
If it's Wednesday, it's hills day - Alpe d'Huez to be precise. A 20mins warm-up followed by 3 reps up & down Alpe d'Huez and then a few more local hills before heading home. I haven't gotten around to timing my reps on Alpe d'Huez yet but it's about 6 mins uphill & 4mins-ish coming back down. Finished with 10.64kms in 69:33mins (6:32mins/kms).
MTD: 92.21kms
PM: Headed to the gym tonight for a weights session with Satan. I'm shifting these sessions to Monday - I think the quality of these session is starting to suffer as my Wed run gets tougher & longer. Tonight an unusual combination:
* superset of bent-over rows, bicep curls & squats, all with a 15kms barbell - 3 x sets with 30 star jumps in between each (*phew*);
* superset of push-ups, oblique exercise & crunches - 2 sets.
Off to see Saint Andrew tomorrow - hopefully he can work some magic on my tib ants before Friday's run...
AM: My body is starting to complain about the increase in mileage. My tibs ants in particular are not enjoying my sessions at the moment. But I've only got 3 (4 max) long runs before I start tapering for W2B so I'm going to continue to (try &) ignore it and pay for Easy Tiger's children's private school education in the meantime...
If it's Wednesday, it's hills day - Alpe d'Huez to be precise. A 20mins warm-up followed by 3 reps up & down Alpe d'Huez and then a few more local hills before heading home. I haven't gotten around to timing my reps on Alpe d'Huez yet but it's about 6 mins uphill & 4mins-ish coming back down. Finished with 10.64kms in 69:33mins (6:32mins/kms).
MTD: 92.21kms
PM: Headed to the gym tonight for a weights session with Satan. I'm shifting these sessions to Monday - I think the quality of these session is starting to suffer as my Wed run gets tougher & longer. Tonight an unusual combination:
* superset of bent-over rows, bicep curls & squats, all with a 15kms barbell - 3 x sets with 30 star jumps in between each (*phew*);
* superset of push-ups, oblique exercise & crunches - 2 sets.
Off to see Saint Andrew tomorrow - hopefully he can work some magic on my tib ants before Friday's run...
Monday, July 17, 2006
Easy does it
Feeling pretty beaten up after yesterday's run. A v. rusty 20mins (2.73kms) around the swamp that is my local oval at the moment, followed by an extra 10mins stretches (ie 40mins in total).
MTD: 81.57kms
Didn't make it out of the office in time for yoga :-(
MTD: 81.57kms
Didn't make it out of the office in time for yoga :-(
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Buns of steel
Saturday 15 July
A sleep-in this morning followed by probably the toughest GRC Pilates class I've ever done (using the Reformer machines). Bloody hell, my glutes continued to complain about it hours after the event. Luckily the rest of my day was spent seated at a l-o-n-g & slightly boozy lunch with 2 of my favourite (female) clients who I have known & lunched with for years.
Sunday 16 July
I have never had glutes as sore as they are this morning. After another sleep-in, I finally set out for my long run at about 9.30am. The plan was to do 21kms incorporating heading out & back along the trail from Middle Head to Sirius Cove (including running up & back down Athol Wharf Rd to the zoo car park not once but twice just for fun - elevation gain of something like 50mins in just over a km).
Well that was the plan. The first 35mins were quite simply hell with both of my tib-ants & my left arch complaining loudly. Once they settled down, 2 sections of the trail were closed. And then Garmin Elektra starting having a tantie (she is a redhead after all) or maybe it was PMS. The signal dropped out and then started producing km splits like 17mins, then 30mins then (wait for it) 48sec! In the end I decided to ignore her & just run for 2hr 30mins.
According to SportsTracks, I did 20.36kms but looking at it in Gmaps, it was probably closer to 22.79kms so I'm going to take that (in 2:33:16).
Still got some lower leg "issues" to sort out but there was no sign of my piriformis (which I've been ignoring lately). Or maybe it was just masked by the pain coming from my glutes...
WTD: 43.94kms (my biggest so far!)
MTD: 78.84kms
Week ahead:
Mon: easy/recovery 30mins around the oval + Yoga
Tues: massage
Wed: 70mins run (hills) + weights session with Satan
Thur: Saint Andrew
Fri: 60mins run
Sat: GRC Pilates class then a road trip to the Hunter Valley with Go Girl!
Sun: my first kind-of-official Half as part of a marathon relay with Go Girl at the Hunter Valley running festival!
A sleep-in this morning followed by probably the toughest GRC Pilates class I've ever done (using the Reformer machines). Bloody hell, my glutes continued to complain about it hours after the event. Luckily the rest of my day was spent seated at a l-o-n-g & slightly boozy lunch with 2 of my favourite (female) clients who I have known & lunched with for years.
Sunday 16 July
I have never had glutes as sore as they are this morning. After another sleep-in, I finally set out for my long run at about 9.30am. The plan was to do 21kms incorporating heading out & back along the trail from Middle Head to Sirius Cove (including running up & back down Athol Wharf Rd to the zoo car park not once but twice just for fun - elevation gain of something like 50mins in just over a km).
Well that was the plan. The first 35mins were quite simply hell with both of my tib-ants & my left arch complaining loudly. Once they settled down, 2 sections of the trail were closed. And then Garmin Elektra starting having a tantie (she is a redhead after all) or maybe it was PMS. The signal dropped out and then started producing km splits like 17mins, then 30mins then (wait for it) 48sec! In the end I decided to ignore her & just run for 2hr 30mins.
According to SportsTracks, I did 20.36kms but looking at it in Gmaps, it was probably closer to 22.79kms so I'm going to take that (in 2:33:16).
Still got some lower leg "issues" to sort out but there was no sign of my piriformis (which I've been ignoring lately). Or maybe it was just masked by the pain coming from my glutes...
WTD: 43.94kms (my biggest so far!)
MTD: 78.84kms
Week ahead:
Mon: easy/recovery 30mins around the oval + Yoga
Tues: massage
Wed: 70mins run (hills) + weights session with Satan
Thur: Saint Andrew
Fri: 60mins run
Sat: GRC Pilates class then a road trip to the Hunter Valley with Go Girl!
Sun: my first kind-of-official Half as part of a marathon relay with Go Girl at the Hunter Valley running festival!
Friday, July 14, 2006
TdM
Thanks guys :-)
Wednesday 12 July - a date with L'alpe d'Huez...
AM: I have never not wanted to run as much as I did this morning. Long days, late nights & a stressful couple of weeks has left me feeling very tired at the moment. Crawling into bed at midnight after dinner & movies with my girlfriends did not help either. But a recent email from a friend came to mind & while I did think "damn W2B" at some point in time, I still dragged my tired arse out of bed. I'm glad I did. Finished with 9.2kms in 61mins (aver pace: 6:37mins/km) including 2 reps up & down Jen's Hill or L'alpe d'Huez as I decided to call it this morning. It felt like a carnival with the bootcamp group & cyclists I had to share "my" hill with this morning. I only had to ignore my hip for the last few minutes; otherwise no niggles. It was a stunning morning and so mild that I ended up taking off my long sleeve t-shirt off within about 10mins. First time I've ever run in July in a crop top. Bring on spring. I'm so sick of being cold.
PM - back to see Satan for a glute/hammies + upper body weights session with Satan at 7.30. She (thankfully) has decided to minimise the amount of work we do on my legs over the next few weeks as the mileage jumps ahead of W2B and FF. Lack of sleep & recent stresses were really starting to take their toll today. I probably didn't eat enough this afternoon which didn't help.
Thursday 13 July - rest
A bit of a sleep-in (I love it when 6am is considered a sleep-in) & a session with Saint Andrew after work but otherwise a rest day.
Friday 14 July - another sleep-in
I have been so bloody tired this week so on Wednesday night I decided to run to work this morning (as it would give me a bit more sleep). It turned out that I had an extra hours sleep & didn't end up leaving the house to head to work until 6.40am. Nice, not to mention much needed. I felt really flat & beaten up today but felt better as the session went on. The run to work is largely downhill with 3 short climbs. I finished with 8.45kms in 52:01mins (aver pace: 6:09min/km).
Massage later this afternoon with Easy Tiger to iron out a few issues in my lower legs. Still I've done more kms in the last 6 days than I ever have in a week so it's to be expected I suppose.
MTD: 56.05kms
Pilates class & long boozy lunch with clients tomorrow (yes, on a Saturday!) before my long run (21kms) run on Sunday
Wednesday 12 July - a date with L'alpe d'Huez...
AM: I have never not wanted to run as much as I did this morning. Long days, late nights & a stressful couple of weeks has left me feeling very tired at the moment. Crawling into bed at midnight after dinner & movies with my girlfriends did not help either. But a recent email from a friend came to mind & while I did think "damn W2B" at some point in time, I still dragged my tired arse out of bed. I'm glad I did. Finished with 9.2kms in 61mins (aver pace: 6:37mins/km) including 2 reps up & down Jen's Hill or L'alpe d'Huez as I decided to call it this morning. It felt like a carnival with the bootcamp group & cyclists I had to share "my" hill with this morning. I only had to ignore my hip for the last few minutes; otherwise no niggles. It was a stunning morning and so mild that I ended up taking off my long sleeve t-shirt off within about 10mins. First time I've ever run in July in a crop top. Bring on spring. I'm so sick of being cold.
PM - back to see Satan for a glute/hammies + upper body weights session with Satan at 7.30. She (thankfully) has decided to minimise the amount of work we do on my legs over the next few weeks as the mileage jumps ahead of W2B and FF. Lack of sleep & recent stresses were really starting to take their toll today. I probably didn't eat enough this afternoon which didn't help.
Thursday 13 July - rest
A bit of a sleep-in (I love it when 6am is considered a sleep-in) & a session with Saint Andrew after work but otherwise a rest day.
Friday 14 July - another sleep-in
I have been so bloody tired this week so on Wednesday night I decided to run to work this morning (as it would give me a bit more sleep). It turned out that I had an extra hours sleep & didn't end up leaving the house to head to work until 6.40am. Nice, not to mention much needed. I felt really flat & beaten up today but felt better as the session went on. The run to work is largely downhill with 3 short climbs. I finished with 8.45kms in 52:01mins (aver pace: 6:09min/km).
Massage later this afternoon with Easy Tiger to iron out a few issues in my lower legs. Still I've done more kms in the last 6 days than I ever have in a week so it's to be expected I suppose.
MTD: 56.05kms
Pilates class & long boozy lunch with clients tomorrow (yes, on a Saturday!) before my long run (21kms) run on Sunday
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Livestrong
Life has been a rollercoaster, both personally and professionally, over the last week or so.
My trip to the Gold Coast for the GCM was fantastic. Was that really only 10 days ago? Thanks so much to Cirque for her company, advice, transportation to and from the airport & alcohol. Someone remind me to drink less wine & get more sleep next year ;-) It was lovely to catch up with so many people and cheer on all my friends. Congrats to Go Girl in particular for running a sensational debut marathon in 3.44 I think. Must have been the hat ;-) I will write a "cheering" report at some stage but today is not the day.
Professionally work is horrendous with several partners in our team on leave at the moment. Even my usually unflappable, calm & relaxed boss asked me the day if I realised just how bad work was going to be over the next few weeks ("murder" was actually the word he used). Looking forward to it. Not.
My training has been going well – let’s see:
Saturday 1 July
An easy 3.66kms (aver pace 6:35min/km) up & down the beach near our hotel at the Gold Coast. My tib-ants were still rather unhappy after W2G the week before
Wednesday 5 July
AM: 5.98kms near home in 37:24mins (aver pace 6:15mins/km). Let’s see – I rolled my ankle, broke the zipper on my jacket & pulled up earlier than the 40mins I had planned because I felt like I was about to throw my non-existent stomach contents up. Apart from that, my tib-ants were fine & there were no niggles.
PM: a (largely) upper body session with Satan. Really bloody tough.
Friday 7 July
I decided I pull my finger out & spend some quality time on the hills near home. Did 5.61kms near home in 37:23mins (aver pace 6:39min/km). Included one rep up & down what is now called “Jen’s Hill” which has a nasty elevation gain of close to 100m in just under a km. A surprising session given how little I’d eaten this week & how little hill work I’ve done, I felt pretty good – but needless to say, I’ve got lots of work to do before W2B
Sunday 9 July
Home to my folks place at Penriff for some TLC. Headed out Sunday morning with the plan of doing 18kms but ended up doing 19.63kms in 2:15:12 (aver pace 6:53min/kms). My longest run by myself to date. A pretty good run; very easy from a cardio perspective. Unfortunately my hip right started playing up at the 11kms mark. But I managed to ignore it for the last 15kms of W2G so I’m sure I can ignore it for another 7 weeks ;-)
Monday 10 July
An easy/recovery 3.5kms in 25mins (aver pace 7:11min/kms) around the very soggy oval near home this morning. Still ignoring my hip.
MTD: 38.40kms
In other (personal) news, Mr Jen_runs & I broke up last week. Thanks to the PG for their unconditional love & support - you guys rock. And yes 2P, my chin is fine ;-)
My trip to the Gold Coast for the GCM was fantastic. Was that really only 10 days ago? Thanks so much to Cirque for her company, advice, transportation to and from the airport & alcohol. Someone remind me to drink less wine & get more sleep next year ;-) It was lovely to catch up with so many people and cheer on all my friends. Congrats to Go Girl in particular for running a sensational debut marathon in 3.44 I think. Must have been the hat ;-) I will write a "cheering" report at some stage but today is not the day.
Professionally work is horrendous with several partners in our team on leave at the moment. Even my usually unflappable, calm & relaxed boss asked me the day if I realised just how bad work was going to be over the next few weeks ("murder" was actually the word he used). Looking forward to it. Not.
My training has been going well – let’s see:
Saturday 1 July
An easy 3.66kms (aver pace 6:35min/km) up & down the beach near our hotel at the Gold Coast. My tib-ants were still rather unhappy after W2G the week before
Wednesday 5 July
AM: 5.98kms near home in 37:24mins (aver pace 6:15mins/km). Let’s see – I rolled my ankle, broke the zipper on my jacket & pulled up earlier than the 40mins I had planned because I felt like I was about to throw my non-existent stomach contents up. Apart from that, my tib-ants were fine & there were no niggles.
PM: a (largely) upper body session with Satan. Really bloody tough.
Friday 7 July
I decided I pull my finger out & spend some quality time on the hills near home. Did 5.61kms near home in 37:23mins (aver pace 6:39min/km). Included one rep up & down what is now called “Jen’s Hill” which has a nasty elevation gain of close to 100m in just under a km. A surprising session given how little I’d eaten this week & how little hill work I’ve done, I felt pretty good – but needless to say, I’ve got lots of work to do before W2B
Sunday 9 July
Home to my folks place at Penriff for some TLC. Headed out Sunday morning with the plan of doing 18kms but ended up doing 19.63kms in 2:15:12 (aver pace 6:53min/kms). My longest run by myself to date. A pretty good run; very easy from a cardio perspective. Unfortunately my hip right started playing up at the 11kms mark. But I managed to ignore it for the last 15kms of W2G so I’m sure I can ignore it for another 7 weeks ;-)
Monday 10 July
An easy/recovery 3.5kms in 25mins (aver pace 7:11min/kms) around the very soggy oval near home this morning. Still ignoring my hip.
MTD: 38.40kms
In other (personal) news, Mr Jen_runs & I broke up last week. Thanks to the PG for their unconditional love & support - you guys rock. And yes 2P, my chin is fine ;-)
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Sleep at long last...
Ha. Well this pretty much sums up my week. I started writing this on Wednesday - it's now Friday night & I'm finally getting around to finishing it. Work is feral at the moment & (as my boss acknowledged today) it's actually going to get worse over the next few weeks. Oh joy. Actually life is pretty good. I'm typing this at Cirque's place, having flown up to Brisbane this afternoon (Friday) (*waves). We have been catching up over a glass of vino or 3 for the last few hours.
As for the weekend's lil adventure, by Tuesday night the muscle soreness started to fade & the realisation (& associated confidence boost) started to kick in. Between an easy 30mins on the bike (L5 @ 85PRMs) trying to get the blood flowing through my legs again, 30mins spent stretching & (later in the day) a massage with Easy Tiger, I was feeling almost 100% again by Wednesday night.
Thursday morning, I had decided to do an easy 30mins around the oval. But given my usual oval isn't lit at night, I decided to get up at 5.30am and do an hour of work (end of month bills no less) before heading out for my run at 6.30am - yep, it's that busy at the moment. My run went well - I took it very slowly, doing 4.21kms in 30:02mins (aver pace 7.07mins/kms). My legs were still a bit heavy but I felt good & there were no sign of any niggles. Happy days.
I actually woke up on Thursday morning with a very sore collarbone/shoulder. I can't actually lie on my right hand side at the moment. Saint Andrew thinks that a few of my ribs are jammed (near the collarbone). Ouch is right. I could hardly lift my coffee with my right hand on Thursday morning. Tonight (Friday) it is still very tender. It might be a few days before it settles down which might impact on my ability to ride Clairie's bike while cheering at the GCM on Sunday but we shall see. At least I can still run :-)
Today (Friday) I flew up to Brisbane just after 4pm & am staying at Cirque's tonight. For someone who is away for 3 nights, I've packed running gear, cheering gear (including my nix & helmet!) , partying clothes & playing clothes. Never let it be said that I'm capable of travelling lightly ;-) I'm planning on heading out for an easy 30mins in the morning before we jump in the car and head down to the Gold Coast just before lunch. I'm really looking forward to Sunday - the pompoms & hooters are ready ;-)
My total for June is 80.75kms - a bit down on last month but hopefully I've recovered from W2G a little better than I did the Nosh.
As for the weekend's lil adventure, by Tuesday night the muscle soreness started to fade & the realisation (& associated confidence boost) started to kick in. Between an easy 30mins on the bike (L5 @ 85PRMs) trying to get the blood flowing through my legs again, 30mins spent stretching & (later in the day) a massage with Easy Tiger, I was feeling almost 100% again by Wednesday night.
Thursday morning, I had decided to do an easy 30mins around the oval. But given my usual oval isn't lit at night, I decided to get up at 5.30am and do an hour of work (end of month bills no less) before heading out for my run at 6.30am - yep, it's that busy at the moment. My run went well - I took it very slowly, doing 4.21kms in 30:02mins (aver pace 7.07mins/kms). My legs were still a bit heavy but I felt good & there were no sign of any niggles. Happy days.
I actually woke up on Thursday morning with a very sore collarbone/shoulder. I can't actually lie on my right hand side at the moment. Saint Andrew thinks that a few of my ribs are jammed (near the collarbone). Ouch is right. I could hardly lift my coffee with my right hand on Thursday morning. Tonight (Friday) it is still very tender. It might be a few days before it settles down which might impact on my ability to ride Clairie's bike while cheering at the GCM on Sunday but we shall see. At least I can still run :-)
Today (Friday) I flew up to Brisbane just after 4pm & am staying at Cirque's tonight. For someone who is away for 3 nights, I've packed running gear, cheering gear (including my nix & helmet!) , partying clothes & playing clothes. Never let it be said that I'm capable of travelling lightly ;-) I'm planning on heading out for an easy 30mins in the morning before we jump in the car and head down to the Gold Coast just before lunch. I'm really looking forward to Sunday - the pompoms & hooters are ready ;-)
My total for June is 80.75kms - a bit down on last month but hopefully I've recovered from W2G a little better than I did the Nosh.
Monday, June 26, 2006
The morning after...
Wow. I still can't believe how yesterday unfolded, nor how much it meant to me. Out of all the races that I've got lined up this year, W2G was the one that I truly did not think I would be ready for. After all it's only just over 3 months since I started running again after having 16 weeks off. I've found myself thinking to myself during the course of today "I can't believe I ran 25kms yesterday?". Fortunately I only have to move to be reminded ;-) Let's just say my 81 year old grandmother with her arthritic hips is probably moving more freely than I am right now, LOL. But gosh, it was worth it...
A few lessons from the day:
1. Always have a stash of safety pins in my bag.
2. (with apologies to Eminem), pace yourself properly & you can do anything.
3. I am (much) fitter & stronger, both physically & mentally, than I imagined.
I have got lots of work to do if I am going to achieve my goals for the year. But I'll just recover from this lil adventure & enjoy the moment a bit longer before I start thinking about that ;-)
I'm now home after spending the weekend in Penriff. Here are the stats according to Sportstracks:
Distance: 25.28kms
Time: 2:44:11mins (official time 2:44:07)
Aver pace: 6:29mins
MTD: 76.54kms
Horrie & I did the last 10kms were 55:37mins. Given that I haven't run a 10km race yet, I'll take that as my PB thanks ;-)
After 2 hours sleep, I'm now watching the soccer. Mr Jen_runs is currently on his way home to me :-) I find it quite funny that after 3 weeks in Germany attending all 3 of the Socceroo's first round matches, he will actually miss the second round match because he'll be mid-flight somewhere between here & Singapore. Hehe. At least the early morning text messages will stop now (Monday's message arrived at 4.30am asking me what I wanted for a present - how about some sleep dude...) & I can get some sleep. Or maybe not ;-)
A few lessons from the day:
1. Always have a stash of safety pins in my bag.
2. (with apologies to Eminem), pace yourself properly & you can do anything.
3. I am (much) fitter & stronger, both physically & mentally, than I imagined.
I have got lots of work to do if I am going to achieve my goals for the year. But I'll just recover from this lil adventure & enjoy the moment a bit longer before I start thinking about that ;-)
I'm now home after spending the weekend in Penriff. Here are the stats according to Sportstracks:
Distance: 25.28kms
Time: 2:44:11mins (official time 2:44:07)
Aver pace: 6:29mins
MTD: 76.54kms
Horrie & I did the last 10kms were 55:37mins. Given that I haven't run a 10km race yet, I'll take that as my PB thanks ;-)
After 2 hours sleep, I'm now watching the soccer. Mr Jen_runs is currently on his way home to me :-) I find it quite funny that after 3 weeks in Germany attending all 3 of the Socceroo's first round matches, he will actually miss the second round match because he'll be mid-flight somewhere between here & Singapore. Hehe. At least the early morning text messages will stop now (Monday's message arrived at 4.30am asking me what I wanted for a present - how about some sleep dude...) & I can get some sleep. Or maybe not ;-)
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Woodford to Glenbrook
Wow. What a big day. It's 6.43pm now, I've had a glass of wine & am ready for a sleep ;-)
Friday night after work I came out to my parent's place at Penriff for some R&R. Unfortunately I still wasn't feeling very rested on Saturday - I felt exhausted; I even had a nana nap - and I never nap. My right hip flexor was also niggling while walking around the house on Saturday so I was rather nervous about how it would go today. I shouldn't have been.
I left the house for the short drive up to Glenbrook to meet O Runner & CR lurker Wazza for the drive to Woodford. On arriving at Woodford station, we headed up to the Rural Fire Station headquarters to pick up our numbers. Lesson for the day - always keep a stash of safety pins in your bag just in case. They had run out by the time we arrived (just under an hour before the start). I had one safety pin before Wazza came to the rescue with a second. The next hour was spent chatting & catching up with friends. I was really nervous in the week leading up to this race but (as always) I woke up pretty calm & relaxed this morning.
This was a really big day for me:
*longest run in time (50mins) & distance(by 8kms)
* longest race (by 10kms) and
* even my first Half marathon!
Once we were off, my secret weapon Horrie & I let the greyhounds take off and slowly settled into our pace; walking some of the earlier short/sharp hills before settling into a good rhythm once the road flattened out around the 12kms mark. I had (previously) decided to ride the course next year but after seeing the appropriately named "Suicide Hill", let's just say that I'm re-thinking that plan.
I really enjoyed everything about the run - the course, the scenery & the company. People who don't run trails have no idea on what they are missing out on. The kms slowly ticked by & suddenly we were passing through the 21km mark - my first Half marathon! The last 4km however were really tough - I was getting v tired but with Horrie's company, I was able to maintain our pace all the way to the finish.
As we rounded the last corner before the finish, I heard a loud shout only to look up to find Go Girl & Go Baby cheering for me & a few metres further on, my sister-in-law-to-be. I looked up towards the finish & there were my parents & brother with "Go Jen" signs cheering loudly. Their attendance at the finish was supposed to be a "surprise" for me. However I had lunch with Mum on Thursday when she was asking all sorts of questions about the race, rather indiscreetly. It was pretty easy to work out what the plan was ;-)
I of course forgot to stop my watch at the finish but the results are out already - 2:44:07. Happy days! I really had no expectations about today other than to finish in one piece (which I did).
Got home not long after 3 after dropping Gnome, O Runner, Uncle Dave & Papa back to Woodford - & picking their brains about a few upcoming events
;-)
Thanks to Horrie for his company today - I can't begin to describe how much it meant to me. And to Twopennys & Go Girl whose immense faith in me more than made up for my own lack of it :-)
I am one tired & happy gal tonight. I still can't believe that I've done it. I'm sure I know that I have when I try & roll out of bed in the morning, LOL!
The week ahead - well that will largely depend on how well I feel when I roll out of bed in the morning but let's just say it will be pretty cruisy (so far as training is concerned). Work is crazy - there will be lots of late nights & early mornings this week; Mr Jen_runs is back from his trip to Germany on Tuesday morning (*yippee) and then I fly up to Brisbane on Friday afternoon for the GCM weekend. Woohoo :-)
Friday night after work I came out to my parent's place at Penriff for some R&R. Unfortunately I still wasn't feeling very rested on Saturday - I felt exhausted; I even had a nana nap - and I never nap. My right hip flexor was also niggling while walking around the house on Saturday so I was rather nervous about how it would go today. I shouldn't have been.
I left the house for the short drive up to Glenbrook to meet O Runner & CR lurker Wazza for the drive to Woodford. On arriving at Woodford station, we headed up to the Rural Fire Station headquarters to pick up our numbers. Lesson for the day - always keep a stash of safety pins in your bag just in case. They had run out by the time we arrived (just under an hour before the start). I had one safety pin before Wazza came to the rescue with a second. The next hour was spent chatting & catching up with friends. I was really nervous in the week leading up to this race but (as always) I woke up pretty calm & relaxed this morning.
This was a really big day for me:
*longest run in time (50mins) & distance(by 8kms)
* longest race (by 10kms) and
* even my first Half marathon!
Once we were off, my secret weapon Horrie & I let the greyhounds take off and slowly settled into our pace; walking some of the earlier short/sharp hills before settling into a good rhythm once the road flattened out around the 12kms mark. I had (previously) decided to ride the course next year but after seeing the appropriately named "Suicide Hill", let's just say that I'm re-thinking that plan.
I really enjoyed everything about the run - the course, the scenery & the company. People who don't run trails have no idea on what they are missing out on. The kms slowly ticked by & suddenly we were passing through the 21km mark - my first Half marathon! The last 4km however were really tough - I was getting v tired but with Horrie's company, I was able to maintain our pace all the way to the finish.
As we rounded the last corner before the finish, I heard a loud shout only to look up to find Go Girl & Go Baby cheering for me & a few metres further on, my sister-in-law-to-be. I looked up towards the finish & there were my parents & brother with "Go Jen" signs cheering loudly. Their attendance at the finish was supposed to be a "surprise" for me. However I had lunch with Mum on Thursday when she was asking all sorts of questions about the race, rather indiscreetly. It was pretty easy to work out what the plan was ;-)
I of course forgot to stop my watch at the finish but the results are out already - 2:44:07. Happy days! I really had no expectations about today other than to finish in one piece (which I did).
Got home not long after 3 after dropping Gnome, O Runner, Uncle Dave & Papa back to Woodford - & picking their brains about a few upcoming events
;-)
Thanks to Horrie for his company today - I can't begin to describe how much it meant to me. And to Twopennys & Go Girl whose immense faith in me more than made up for my own lack of it :-)
I am one tired & happy gal tonight. I still can't believe that I've done it. I'm sure I know that I have when I try & roll out of bed in the morning, LOL!
The week ahead - well that will largely depend on how well I feel when I roll out of bed in the morning but let's just say it will be pretty cruisy (so far as training is concerned). Work is crazy - there will be lots of late nights & early mornings this week; Mr Jen_runs is back from his trip to Germany on Tuesday morning (*yippee) and then I fly up to Brisbane on Friday afternoon for the GCM weekend. Woohoo :-)
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Guus for PM
What an busy, interesting & surprising week....
Tuesday saw the return of "Zen Jen" when I headed to the gym for my weekly Iyengar yoga class. Despite all that is going on at the moment both at work & personally, I didn't think I'd be able to turn my brain off during the class - but I did. That is, up until we were doing the splits (whatever they are called) - all I could think to myself was "don't tear a hammie, don't tear a hammie......" LOL.
Wednesday morning I pulled up much better after yesterday's yoga class than I did last week. Up at 5.15 for a run. It seems so long ago now I can hardly remember it. According to Garmin Elektra, it was 5.4km in 35:19mins - aver pace 6:32; MTD 51.26kms. I was really pleased with this run. My glutes, hammies & core were very fatigued after yesterday's yoga class, but there were no niggles. Happy days! Spent a delightful hour later in the day with Easy Tiger where he kindly suggested a race plan for me for Sunday. Let's just say if you see me crawl (literally) across the line and then lay there in foetal position, I've probably followed it ;-)
I've been "resting" since Wednesday but strangely, I don't feel v. rested. Work is mad (but I had a lovely reprieve from the madness on Friday when I had lunch with Go Girl *waves*) & I haven't had much sleep this week. Thursday night I had just over 4 hours sleep after crawling into bed about midnight and then being woken just after 4am by an SMS for Mr Jen_runs reminding me that the Socceroos match started in an hour (he was at the game) . Thanks dude. Anyhoo my latest big adventure is tomorrow. My right hip flexor is a bit wonky today & I haven't stretched in days (will go & remedy that now). But tomorrow I will have the company of an ultra runner& fellow blogger (stay tuned to find out who) and as Helen Kellar once said...
"Life is a daring adventure or it is nothing".
Tuesday saw the return of "Zen Jen" when I headed to the gym for my weekly Iyengar yoga class. Despite all that is going on at the moment both at work & personally, I didn't think I'd be able to turn my brain off during the class - but I did. That is, up until we were doing the splits (whatever they are called) - all I could think to myself was "don't tear a hammie, don't tear a hammie......" LOL.
Wednesday morning I pulled up much better after yesterday's yoga class than I did last week. Up at 5.15 for a run. It seems so long ago now I can hardly remember it. According to Garmin Elektra, it was 5.4km in 35:19mins - aver pace 6:32; MTD 51.26kms. I was really pleased with this run. My glutes, hammies & core were very fatigued after yesterday's yoga class, but there were no niggles. Happy days! Spent a delightful hour later in the day with Easy Tiger where he kindly suggested a race plan for me for Sunday. Let's just say if you see me crawl (literally) across the line and then lay there in foetal position, I've probably followed it ;-)
I've been "resting" since Wednesday but strangely, I don't feel v. rested. Work is mad (but I had a lovely reprieve from the madness on Friday when I had lunch with Go Girl *waves*) & I haven't had much sleep this week. Thursday night I had just over 4 hours sleep after crawling into bed about midnight and then being woken just after 4am by an SMS for Mr Jen_runs reminding me that the Socceroos match started in an hour (he was at the game) . Thanks dude. Anyhoo my latest big adventure is tomorrow. My right hip flexor is a bit wonky today & I haven't stretched in days (will go & remedy that now). But tomorrow I will have the company of an ultra runner& fellow blogger (stay tuned to find out who) and as Helen Kellar once said...
"Life is a daring adventure or it is nothing".
Monday, June 19, 2006
Let's get it on....
Tesso, the GU was called "Espresso Love". Such a great name - though I'm more a skim cap kind of gal ;-)
And yes, I crawled out of bed just before 2am to watch the soccer. Sat on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, freezing my butt off & then proceeded to spill my coffee all over the carpet. Oh dear. I did however sleep-in until (wait for it) 7am! That's a huge sleep-in for me. If I'm not exercising, I'm normally buying my coffee on my way into the office at that time of day. Nice. Shame I don't have an excuse to stay in bed tomorrow morning....
Work is crazy at the moment. All of my clients want all of their transactions finalised & arrangements in place before the end of the FY. My in-tray looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa before the restoration work that's been carried out in recent years. Blah. Actually I take the blah back - I'm not really in a blah-ish mood after an interesting weekend...
I had planned to go for an easy run at lunch but worked through lunch instead so I headed to the gym tonight for an easy 25mins (6kms) on the stationary bike (L6 @ 90RPMs) followed by 30mins stretching. Yoga tomorrow.
I think my iPod needs a shake up before my next big adventure on Sunday. Any song recommendations or requests people? I'm going to be out there for a while ;-)
....no Wobbly Man, I'm not putting Postman Pat on it...
...and yes Kit, Dancing Queen is already on there ;-)
And yes, I crawled out of bed just before 2am to watch the soccer. Sat on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, freezing my butt off & then proceeded to spill my coffee all over the carpet. Oh dear. I did however sleep-in until (wait for it) 7am! That's a huge sleep-in for me. If I'm not exercising, I'm normally buying my coffee on my way into the office at that time of day. Nice. Shame I don't have an excuse to stay in bed tomorrow morning....
Work is crazy at the moment. All of my clients want all of their transactions finalised & arrangements in place before the end of the FY. My in-tray looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa before the restoration work that's been carried out in recent years. Blah. Actually I take the blah back - I'm not really in a blah-ish mood after an interesting weekend...
I had planned to go for an easy run at lunch but worked through lunch instead so I headed to the gym tonight for an easy 25mins (6kms) on the stationary bike (L6 @ 90RPMs) followed by 30mins stretching. Yoga tomorrow.
I think my iPod needs a shake up before my next big adventure on Sunday. Any song recommendations or requests people? I'm going to be out there for a while ;-)
....no Wobbly Man, I'm not putting Postman Pat on it...
...and yes Kit, Dancing Queen is already on there ;-)
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Sleep? Who needs it....
The Mini-Mos fun run was on this morning. I didn’t enter because I run at least part of the course every time I got from a run from home & decided I didn't need or want to pay for the pleasure of doing so this morning. But given I drove all the way to Gosford yesterday, I could hardly miss cheering a race that starts a (literal) a stone’s throw away from my front door. An added benefit was a sleep-in :-)
So yes, I spent my Sunday morning cheering. I saw the 10km runners less than a 1km into the run – including, much to my surprise, my hero Kerryn McCann. Oh yeah, and I gave Superflake a cheer ;-)
Once they had gone past, I walked up to the shop & grabbed a coffee before heading down to Noble Street & giving the runners (including the 5km runners this time) a cheer up the final (nasty) hill.
After all the cheering that I’ve done this weekend, I decided it was about time that I went out for a run. I wanted to run mainly on grass to give my shins a break so I headed over to what has recently become my third home (after my office), Centennial Park. 1 ½ laps outside the fence line and my first GU. Now I feel like a real runner, LOL. I haven’t used one before but wanted to give it a test drive before next weekend. Thankfully it worked well (thanks for the recommendation Go Girl).
Distance: 12.16kms
Time: 1:21:41mins
Aver pace: 6:43mins
MTD: 45.86kms
A bit quicker than my usual LSD run pace (opps) but the pace combined with the lack of niggles was a much needed confidence boost. There was also no sign of the knee pain I was experiencing last night. Happy days :-)
I am feeling very tired tonight. No wonder I’m fading away – I haven’t eaten (or drunk) enough this weekend. But this is not a time for sleep – my country needs me - go the Socceroos. Yes, this self-confessed soccer (sorry, football) non-fan…..well, except for when Beckham is playing (*swoon) will be watching the football at 2am in the morning (*yawn*).
This week has been a bit unusual – I’ve only run 17kms but have done 60kms(!) on the bike.
The week ahead will be easy – gotta love tapering:
Monday: 20mins easy on grass
Tuesday: Yoga
Wednesday: run 35mins & massage
Thursday: wheel alignment with Saint Andrew but otherwise rest.
Friday: rest
Saturday: more rest
Sunday: Woodford to Glenbrook!!!!!!
So yes, I spent my Sunday morning cheering. I saw the 10km runners less than a 1km into the run – including, much to my surprise, my hero Kerryn McCann. Oh yeah, and I gave Superflake a cheer ;-)
Once they had gone past, I walked up to the shop & grabbed a coffee before heading down to Noble Street & giving the runners (including the 5km runners this time) a cheer up the final (nasty) hill.
After all the cheering that I’ve done this weekend, I decided it was about time that I went out for a run. I wanted to run mainly on grass to give my shins a break so I headed over to what has recently become my third home (after my office), Centennial Park. 1 ½ laps outside the fence line and my first GU. Now I feel like a real runner, LOL. I haven’t used one before but wanted to give it a test drive before next weekend. Thankfully it worked well (thanks for the recommendation Go Girl).
Distance: 12.16kms
Time: 1:21:41mins
Aver pace: 6:43mins
MTD: 45.86kms
A bit quicker than my usual LSD run pace (opps) but the pace combined with the lack of niggles was a much needed confidence boost. There was also no sign of the knee pain I was experiencing last night. Happy days :-)
I am feeling very tired tonight. No wonder I’m fading away – I haven’t eaten (or drunk) enough this weekend. But this is not a time for sleep – my country needs me - go the Socceroos. Yes, this self-confessed soccer (sorry, football) non-fan…..well, except for when Beckham is playing (*swoon) will be watching the football at 2am in the morning (*yawn*).
This week has been a bit unusual – I’ve only run 17kms but have done 60kms(!) on the bike.
The week ahead will be easy – gotta love tapering:
Monday: 20mins easy on grass
Tuesday: Yoga
Wednesday: run 35mins & massage
Thursday: wheel alignment with Saint Andrew but otherwise rest.
Friday: rest
Saturday: more rest
Sunday: Woodford to Glenbrook!!!!!!
Undamaged goods
….isn’t that right Easy Tiger? ;-)
Apologies in advance for a long post – I’ve been busy :-)
Friday – on the road again..
Distance: 4.68kms
Time: 30:03mins
Aver pace: 6:25mins
MTD: 33.7kms
Given that I hadn’t run in over a week, I decided to do a very easy (and tentative) 30mins around the oval again. Very pleased to say that there were no complaints out of my shins/calves. Phew.
It’s been so long since I last ran at the oval – at least before the CR 5km Challenge in April. This is the oval where I took my first tentative (running) steps in March after my ITB battle & made me remember the early days & how far I have come since then. I certainly wouldn’t have believed that in such a short period of time I would be “ready” (she says adopting a broad definition of the word) to line up for a 25kms race next weekend.
Later I spent my lunch hour in Easy Tiger’s company with my tib-ants getting lots of his attention. Typing this 2 days later (Sunday), there are still a bit tender…
How ‘bout a wedding update – there hasn’t been one for a while – I had dinner with my bridesmaids on Friday night. One of them – my maid of honour (or “Head Maid” as I call her) announced that she is pregnant. 2 months pregnant. Meaning she will be 7mths pregnant at the wedding. Clearly she isn’t a maid anymore – at least it will be bridesmaid & not the bride who is barefoot & pregnant at this wedding ;-)
Saturday – Poor Man’s Comrades
Wow. What a huge day.
PMC for those who don’t know is the “Fat Ass” version of the 96kms Comrades ultra held in Sth Africa each year with an “up” course (Sydney to Gosford) and “down” (Gosford to Sydney) being held in alternate years. Sorry, I don’t have any photos for you – my camera is with Mr Jen_runs in Germany.
Suspecting that my good friend Twopennys was likely to put in an appearance I had planned to make it to the start – 7am on the steps of Sydney Opera House. A glorious morning in Sydney – chilly but clear. After dinner late night, I somehow made it out of bed in time. When I actually arrived at the start there was no-one there so I walked a lap of the Opera House to keep warm, bumping into Truckie amongst others on the way.
Just after 7am there were off so Kevin T, Blkbox & I headed to City Extra for a coffee. I had planned to head up to the gym for the 8am pilates class (as a way to justify heading into the city at such a silly hour on a Saturday morning). I didn’t make it – KT ended up chatting for about an hour. So then I headed home, picked up my bike & headed to Centennial Park for a ride.
The plan was to do about 20kms given my plans to run tomorrow. A good ride – I ended up doing 22.68kms at an average pace of 20.8km/hr (again). I do have a problem with my front gears – they are stuck. I can’t change up. Grrr. My mood didn’t improve much when I had an “encounter” with a car thanks to a woman who failed to give way on the driveway into the park & then had the nerve to give ME a glare. Grrr.
From Centennial Park, I ducked home to grab some food before setting out to chase the runners up the Pacific Highway. While it would have been quicker to head up the freeway, I decided to drive through Bobbin Head as I’ve never been that way before. What a beautiful drive but a bloody tough road to run.
Soon after Cowan, I found Twopennys and stopped for a quick chat. Not far out of Mt White I stopped to chat first to Truckie and just ahead of him, a group of 4 runners including Horrie & Virtual. At Mt White, I found Belinda & Tim at the Bikers Café. Once again, I think I made a couple of biker’s days by getting out of the car & walking the café in my long tights. Why didn’t I learn my lesson after I did the same thing coming home from Warwick? ;-)
By now it was about 2.30 (I think). I certainly didn’t plan to follow the runners all the way to finish but given I’d gone 60kms already, there didn’t seem much point in turning back now – so I joined a car convoy with Belinda & Tim by driving 3-5kms up the road & stopping to offer the boys encouragement, water & food as they ran past us. Our first stop was the other side of Mt White where Aunty K & Uncle Dave joined us briefly & Plu rode past (stopping for a photo opp) before following Virtual up the road. This leap-frogging continued for the next 20kms or so. About 10kms out of Gosford, Virtual & 2 other fellas had broken away from Horrie so I left Belinda & Tim and tried to catch up with Virtual who I knew would need a lift back to Sydney. I caught him – about 100m before the finish. Horrie came shortly afterwards.
An incredible event. 96kms sounds like a long way (it IS a long way) but it’s not until you drive the course – not to mention the mountains along the way – that you truly appreciate what an incredible effort it was – and how mad they are (haha).
After dropping Ken at Chatswood, I got home about 8.45. It was one very long day - I was exhausted & the only running I had done was about 40m to catch up to Virtual to hand him a coke :-)
One concern for me personally was that later into the afternoon I was experiencing a bit of knee pain in my right knee (yes, the knee formerly known as TPC). Quite short, sharp, stabbing, ITB kind of pain. Yikes. Came home & basically pulverised by ITB with the rolling pin. It was a bit tight but not too bad. Will keep an eye on it over the coming days…
Apologies in advance for a long post – I’ve been busy :-)
Friday – on the road again..
Distance: 4.68kms
Time: 30:03mins
Aver pace: 6:25mins
MTD: 33.7kms
Given that I hadn’t run in over a week, I decided to do a very easy (and tentative) 30mins around the oval again. Very pleased to say that there were no complaints out of my shins/calves. Phew.
It’s been so long since I last ran at the oval – at least before the CR 5km Challenge in April. This is the oval where I took my first tentative (running) steps in March after my ITB battle & made me remember the early days & how far I have come since then. I certainly wouldn’t have believed that in such a short period of time I would be “ready” (she says adopting a broad definition of the word) to line up for a 25kms race next weekend.
Later I spent my lunch hour in Easy Tiger’s company with my tib-ants getting lots of his attention. Typing this 2 days later (Sunday), there are still a bit tender…
How ‘bout a wedding update – there hasn’t been one for a while – I had dinner with my bridesmaids on Friday night. One of them – my maid of honour (or “Head Maid” as I call her) announced that she is pregnant. 2 months pregnant. Meaning she will be 7mths pregnant at the wedding. Clearly she isn’t a maid anymore – at least it will be bridesmaid & not the bride who is barefoot & pregnant at this wedding ;-)
Saturday – Poor Man’s Comrades
Wow. What a huge day.
PMC for those who don’t know is the “Fat Ass” version of the 96kms Comrades ultra held in Sth Africa each year with an “up” course (Sydney to Gosford) and “down” (Gosford to Sydney) being held in alternate years. Sorry, I don’t have any photos for you – my camera is with Mr Jen_runs in Germany.
Suspecting that my good friend Twopennys was likely to put in an appearance I had planned to make it to the start – 7am on the steps of Sydney Opera House. A glorious morning in Sydney – chilly but clear. After dinner late night, I somehow made it out of bed in time. When I actually arrived at the start there was no-one there so I walked a lap of the Opera House to keep warm, bumping into Truckie amongst others on the way.
Just after 7am there were off so Kevin T, Blkbox & I headed to City Extra for a coffee. I had planned to head up to the gym for the 8am pilates class (as a way to justify heading into the city at such a silly hour on a Saturday morning). I didn’t make it – KT ended up chatting for about an hour. So then I headed home, picked up my bike & headed to Centennial Park for a ride.
The plan was to do about 20kms given my plans to run tomorrow. A good ride – I ended up doing 22.68kms at an average pace of 20.8km/hr (again). I do have a problem with my front gears – they are stuck. I can’t change up. Grrr. My mood didn’t improve much when I had an “encounter” with a car thanks to a woman who failed to give way on the driveway into the park & then had the nerve to give ME a glare. Grrr.
From Centennial Park, I ducked home to grab some food before setting out to chase the runners up the Pacific Highway. While it would have been quicker to head up the freeway, I decided to drive through Bobbin Head as I’ve never been that way before. What a beautiful drive but a bloody tough road to run.
Soon after Cowan, I found Twopennys and stopped for a quick chat. Not far out of Mt White I stopped to chat first to Truckie and just ahead of him, a group of 4 runners including Horrie & Virtual. At Mt White, I found Belinda & Tim at the Bikers Café. Once again, I think I made a couple of biker’s days by getting out of the car & walking the café in my long tights. Why didn’t I learn my lesson after I did the same thing coming home from Warwick? ;-)
By now it was about 2.30 (I think). I certainly didn’t plan to follow the runners all the way to finish but given I’d gone 60kms already, there didn’t seem much point in turning back now – so I joined a car convoy with Belinda & Tim by driving 3-5kms up the road & stopping to offer the boys encouragement, water & food as they ran past us. Our first stop was the other side of Mt White where Aunty K & Uncle Dave joined us briefly & Plu rode past (stopping for a photo opp) before following Virtual up the road. This leap-frogging continued for the next 20kms or so. About 10kms out of Gosford, Virtual & 2 other fellas had broken away from Horrie so I left Belinda & Tim and tried to catch up with Virtual who I knew would need a lift back to Sydney. I caught him – about 100m before the finish. Horrie came shortly afterwards.
An incredible event. 96kms sounds like a long way (it IS a long way) but it’s not until you drive the course – not to mention the mountains along the way – that you truly appreciate what an incredible effort it was – and how mad they are (haha).
After dropping Ken at Chatswood, I got home about 8.45. It was one very long day - I was exhausted & the only running I had done was about 40m to catch up to Virtual to hand him a coke :-)
One concern for me personally was that later into the afternoon I was experiencing a bit of knee pain in my right knee (yes, the knee formerly known as TPC). Quite short, sharp, stabbing, ITB kind of pain. Yikes. Came home & basically pulverised by ITB with the rolling pin. It was a bit tight but not too bad. Will keep an eye on it over the coming days…
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Buns of steel...
Tuesday 13 June - oh my poor butt part 2
Iyvengar yoga class at lunch. Really enjoyed it – so did my glutes ;-)
I booked my flights for the GCM tonight. I’m hoping to get my bike to Qld so I can ride up and down the course cheering - oh, and so I get my exercise in for the day ;-) I had thought about taking it on the plane with me (and no, not in my carry on luggage) but I've just realised that I'll be heading straight to the airport on Friday from the office & then heading straight into the office on Monday morning....Mmm, will have to think about it. Oh yeah, and I’ve entered W2G….
Wednesday 14 June - oh my poor butt part 3
My upper body - and butt - are sooo sore from yoga yesterday. Excellent - definitely going back to that class next week :-)
It’s now been a week since I ran. Yikes. 10 days to W2G to go. Yikes. I’m sure all the time I’ve spent on my bike will help to maintain my fitness. I guess my real concern is that I’ll get my tib-ants & calves to behave just in time to run W2G – and then trash them all over again. Oh well, I’ll deal with that later ;-)
To give my legs another few days off, I decided to head into the gym this morning for a cardio session on the bike today (I gotta get me a windtrainer...). A CJ-inspired session for 40mins on the bike:
5min WU
5 x 1mins intervals (L7 @ 110RPMs) with 1min recovery
5mins @ L7 @ 90RPMs
repeated twice
5mins CD
Geez CJ, that was nasty – but fun. 17.48kms in total & 30mins stretching to finish. Phew.
A rest day tomorrow with a visit to Saint Andrew before heading out for an easy run on Friday morning...
Iyvengar yoga class at lunch. Really enjoyed it – so did my glutes ;-)
I booked my flights for the GCM tonight. I’m hoping to get my bike to Qld so I can ride up and down the course cheering - oh, and so I get my exercise in for the day ;-) I had thought about taking it on the plane with me (and no, not in my carry on luggage) but I've just realised that I'll be heading straight to the airport on Friday from the office & then heading straight into the office on Monday morning....Mmm, will have to think about it. Oh yeah, and I’ve entered W2G….
Wednesday 14 June - oh my poor butt part 3
My upper body - and butt - are sooo sore from yoga yesterday. Excellent - definitely going back to that class next week :-)
It’s now been a week since I ran. Yikes. 10 days to W2G to go. Yikes. I’m sure all the time I’ve spent on my bike will help to maintain my fitness. I guess my real concern is that I’ll get my tib-ants & calves to behave just in time to run W2G – and then trash them all over again. Oh well, I’ll deal with that later ;-)
To give my legs another few days off, I decided to head into the gym this morning for a cardio session on the bike today (I gotta get me a windtrainer...). A CJ-inspired session for 40mins on the bike:
5min WU
5 x 1mins intervals (L7 @ 110RPMs) with 1min recovery
5mins @ L7 @ 90RPMs
repeated twice
5mins CD
Geez CJ, that was nasty – but fun. 17.48kms in total & 30mins stretching to finish. Phew.
A rest day tomorrow with a visit to Saint Andrew before heading out for an easy run on Friday morning...
Monday, June 12, 2006
My poor butt...
It’s a beautiful clear sunny winters day in Sydney & my house is freezing. The warmest place is my bed. Ah, don’t you just love public holidays!
If you can't run, ride I say. After yesterday's aborted LSD run, I decided to take my bike out for a spin today. I do have to thank Wobbly Man. I love cleats! After reading about his 'adventures' with his new bike - and cleats in particular - I decided it was about time I used mine. However unlike Wobbly Man, I didn't fall off today *yippee* (yes, I know I will eventually).
After a sleep-in and a lazy breakfast, I headed off to Centennial Park. The plan was to do 10 laps of the Park & basically to trash my legs after yesterday’s aborted LSD run. 37.5kms, 1hr 48mins & 10 laps later, my quads felt like jelly. Hehehe – love it! No ankle flexion (to protect my dodgy tib-ants) so my hammies had an easy day. Average speed of 20.8kms/hr. Given it is my first real session on the bike, I’m really pleased. My butt is also pleased to be off the bike – I need more padding on my arse I think…Any excuse to eat more ;-)
If you can't run, ride I say. After yesterday's aborted LSD run, I decided to take my bike out for a spin today. I do have to thank Wobbly Man. I love cleats! After reading about his 'adventures' with his new bike - and cleats in particular - I decided it was about time I used mine. However unlike Wobbly Man, I didn't fall off today *yippee* (yes, I know I will eventually).
After a sleep-in and a lazy breakfast, I headed off to Centennial Park. The plan was to do 10 laps of the Park & basically to trash my legs after yesterday’s aborted LSD run. 37.5kms, 1hr 48mins & 10 laps later, my quads felt like jelly. Hehehe – love it! No ankle flexion (to protect my dodgy tib-ants) so my hammies had an easy day. Average speed of 20.8kms/hr. Given it is my first real session on the bike, I’m really pleased. My butt is also pleased to be off the bike – I need more padding on my arse I think…Any excuse to eat more ;-)
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