40 Mins easy

Although I had planned to go to Striders this Saturday I decided to stick to my new program and just do the Friday easy 40mins.

Today was rest day. So I took the kids for a 6k walk to the park which helped to stretch out some residual soreness in the calves.

Beautiful day here today!

Go Girl makes a come back!!!

Good news! I have started running again. I have treated myself to a new training program, a new focus and a new nutritional plan. So this is the beginning of the new go girl summer program.

I took it really easy, ran for 40mins, felt great! My breathing was little laboured in the beginning however once I found a rhythm I was fine. I must have looked like a happy runner because so many people were saying hello to me. I decided to put my Mp3 player on and rocked on to U2, Prince and Hot Chocolate! I was even singing at one stage (scary!)

I made it through the run in pretty casual pace. Just getting the feel for it again. Nice to be back pounding the pavement round the old boot run.

A big Hello to my friend Martin who is currently in Kiwi land! Hope those hills don't give you too much trouble Martin..I should be able to join you for a Sunday run with the Joggers when you get back.

I'm a very happy go girl! : ) I can't wipe the smile off my face at the moment.

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Betrayed by Gary????

I have been wondering about my friend Gary since I haven't been able to run lately. What will he think of me when we start training again? Will he remember me? Will our relationship be the same?

Then I find out that Gary has been popping up all over the place! He has committed the ultimate Garmin sin. Like here in vat_man's Blog! And also spotted here in Japan. I was shattered. He has probably made an appearance else where and I am not even aware of it yet.

Well I'm glad that he finally had a good run on Sunday, cos he aint doing that when I get hold of him!!! Two timing, time keeping, heart rate monitoring, piece of global positioning system, wrist monitor. Hopefully we can make up and start a fresh somtime later this week! I just need to think of a suitable punishment for him and some remedial training.

Yes, the old Go Girl is slowly getting better! Antibiotics lot no:3

Not the answer I wanted to hear...

My visit to the Doctor yesterday found me buying a new round of Antibiotics and a new diagnosis of Bronchitis and a viral infection in the sinuses. When the Doctor pulled out the stethescope and asked me to take a deep breath in, I don't know if I was more alarmed by the fact that she said "oooh, ahhhh" or the fact that I nearly passed out taking the deep breaths.

Anyway, she told me the verdict and then when I asked about running again and how long, she just looked at me and sternly said, "No running for at least 10 days!" : ( That was not the answer that I wanted but I know I need to follow this advice because I will just keep on getting sick if I don't. I also scammed a week off work, but the next two days with the weekend should be enough.

Then, on my way out of the doctors heading back to work, I had stopped at a set of traffic lights. There seemed to be some sort of confusion going on and cars becoming impatient and beeping. Some of the cars were moving into the next lane and abusing a little white Barina which had stopped and put it's hazard lights on. I slowly moved up until I was behind the car and an old lady hopped out an started to be sick on the side of the road. I jumped out of my car and went up to help her as did another lady behind me.

She was very wobbly and shaken up. I laid her down for a while until she stopped shaking and asked her if she was a diabetic or did she need any medication. She said no but she had felt sick all morning. I helped her back into the front seat of her car and turned on the aircon and laid the seat down so she could rest. I managed to get her husbands phone number from her and called him to come and get her.

By this stage some road workmen came over and put out some cones to divert the traffic around our cars. The husband turned up and said to her "What have you done you silly old thing?" In a loving way. She started laughing and said" i don't know I'm just sick and this lady has taken care of me. " They both thanked me and I continued on to work.

So I had a pretty eventful day yesterday. My blog may become a little boring in the next week or so as I won't be reporting on any running activity while I am trying to recover. I am looking at some nutritional programs to help build the immune system and also to lose a couple of those lagging kilos.

Greenday.........

Blahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Still sick. Going to visit the quack lady again soon and hopefully get something that works this time.

I'm hoping to recover in time to go to the CR drinks on Friday night. Although it will be an Alcohol free night for me, I'm looking forward to meeting some more CR's.

The original Hijackers....

As today is talk like a Pirate Day, Ahoy there me hearties! Gotta love those Pirates, the original hijackers from way back.

Anyway as you might have noticed, no fancy maps, no mention of Gary (He has been shoved in the cupboard for safekeeping) no running at all. I'm still recovering and too slowly for my liking. I had even set the alarm this morning in hope that I might miraculously wake up and be better. But no, still sick and sick of it! So in true Pirate form I might go and down a flaggon of Scotch and see if that helps!

Seriously wanting to do something this week but at this stage even going for a walk is out! Hopefully I can get back to it soon. I'm really missing running with my Saturday morning Joggers group too. Probably more for the socialising than anything else. Blahhhhhhh!

The Cheer goes up......

Because I can't run at the moment I thought that I would just post about how I felt on Sunday while cheering on the Marathon runners. I can honestly say that I have never felt anything like it! I can only relate the experience to the same feeling of patriotism that I had felt when I returned from Iraq. The feeling of flying back into Australia was absolutely fantastic. Great to be an Aussie!
Just standing there with a group of strangers cheering the runners on was such an emotional experience. We had formed a kind of barrocade/ tunnel like path for the runners and the high fives were happening and the cheers were loud. One of the Marathon runners (a young guy) came over, took his shoes off (just after he had finished running) and stood there for at least half an hour and cheered along with us. He commented on how it was so "elating" running down the street and hearing the cheers from the crowd.

There was one coolrunner in particular and i don't know his name but, he was at about the 4hr mark with a CR cap on and a white shirt. I yelled out "Go Coolrunner!" and gave him the double thumbs up and he gave me the biggest smile and then sprinted off to the finish line! That to me was awesome!

I know I have said it before in my blog and elsewhere but the CR community are really a great bunch of people and are genuine in encouraging all runners at all levels.

Official results not out yet.....

I'm not really hanging out for the official results to be posted for this event but it looks (from this photo) like my gun time was 2:00:43.

I'm actually feeling slightly better today and I have made it back to work today. Yesterday was good having a day off and just resting and relaxing. I really can't see myself getting out and running at least until next week now. My chest is really raspy and I have taken the good advice from my fellow CR's and I will make sure that I am fully recovered before I attempt any form of exercise again.

I had suffered a very bad bout of pnemonia two years ago and was hospitalised for a week. I realise how important it is to recover properly when an illness strikes. So I am lapping it up at the moment. (No peppermint magnums though!) I am considering challenging Gronks suggestion of PBing a Family Block of Cadbury's in 10min's! Funny thing is my appetite really hasn't returned after Sunday.

Recovery

No, I'm not running! Thankyou to everyone for all of your lovely comments. I am feeling slightly better however, I am having a day off work today to rest, have a spa and sleep for a while.

Go Dad took this picture if me at the finish line. The picture doesn't really show how I was feeling at this stage but I do look happy to see the end.



I have sent a couple of photo's off to a few CR's that Go Dad had taken at the finish line. My favourite being the one of TA and the Gnome. They were holding hands when they crossed the finish line. Just a great shot!

I think the drugs are starting to kick in now and I will probably rest until given the all clear from the Doc at the end of the week. I'm going to go to the Aquatic centre later today to have a look and I might start some swimming next week.

Blackmores Blowout!

Well, not a good result! However I did have a nice day and I met some CR's that I hadn't met before. (Wombatface, Tesso, Johnny Dark and I think Flashduck) I felt pretty ordinary before the race on the way into the city. We had arranged to stop and pick up Martin and had a relaxing drive in. It was almost like a ghost town with nobody else around at this time of the morning.

Once we had made it to the start area I lined up for my free singlet then the toilet. I just made it with 1 min to spare before the starters gun went off. I managed to stay with the red balloon guy (1:50 pacer) Until they took off through the crowd. At about the 2k mark I could feel myself getting extremely hot and found it very difficult to breathe. This is about the time when I started to get blurred vision and felt really dizzy. I can remember catching up to TA and the Gnome and as I ran past them I could hear the Gnome saying something about taking it easy, it's only early in the race! (I had this sort of surreal thing happening, like I really wasn't there but I felt like I was running so slow) I caught up to the 1:50 pace guy and stuck with him for a while. I checked the Garmin after a couple of k's and it said pace 6.05. I'm not really sure what happened after that for about 6-7k. I can't remember seeing PLU the first time around but he did take this photo of me, so I was there! I even had a smile on my face??

I can remember seeing the lead group starting to head back on the other side of the road and I saw Sparkie run past followed by a heap of other CR's. At the turnaround i had lapses of feeling ok one minute and totally s*#t the next. My vision had somewhat returned for a while and a few moew CR'S ran on past me. (Kevin Tiller and another CR male who said"Go Girl"?) It was at about this stage where I felt a real burning feeling in my throat and stomach. I headed over to the left side of the road as I had this uncontrollable urge to throw up! Yep, couldn't hold it anymore and over the side it all went. Apoligies if anyone had to witness that! Anyway I pressed on feeling really average at this stage.

The rest is pretty much a blur until I had reached some Hill near the end and I felt like I was going to pass out. I heard TA and the Gnome yell out "hey Nat, you ok?" I'm not even sure what I said, but at some point I did start running again. I kept on going and I saw Gronk go past me on the Cahill followed by allrounder. Very close to having another talk with nature, I decided that I would keep going until I could go no more. Just after that I saw Bennyr walking just ahead of me. I stopped and he said "how are you going?"
to which I said, "Mate I'm F*$#!d." Then I looked at Benny and he didn't look too flash himself. I was prepared to walk the rest of the way with him if he needed the support. benny assured me he was ok so I decided to put in a last minute (very slow) jog in to the finish line. I ended up making it back in approx 2:01:xx.

I found Martin and Go Dad waiting for me on the Opera house steps. Go Dad knew straight away that I was struggling and said to me"You silly duffer!" To which I just laughed! Did a few stretches and surprisingly recovered pretty quickly. Wandered over to get changed then hung around in the recovery village for while. I couldn't find the CR cheer squad so I decided to just hang around Maquarie St and cheer the Marathoners in. It was a really great atmosphere and a great bunch of people had gathered with clappers, bells and other cheering devices. I was absolutely amazed at the huge response from the runners as we formed a barrocade giving high fives and cheering as loud as we could. I saw a few CR's come through and Yelled "Go Coolrunner" to as many as I could.

Go Dad and I wandered over to have some lunch by the water but I still could not eat at this stage. While sitting down I had that burning feeling in my stomach again and just made it to the toilet in time.

Went to the doctors this morning about my vision as it has not fully returned to normal yet. I have been told that I have an infection in my chest and sinuses. I will be taking it pretty easy this week just focusing on recovery and getting healthy again.

I was absolutely astounded by the stats on my Garmin. Apparently I ran the first 1k in 4:59mins and the second in 3:40mins? What the... My pace was all over the place so was my heart rate. I don't know why I didn't use the pacing program on the Garmin. But it's all over and now I need a new goal to work towards. What's next????

The sun is out and it is hot......

1 DAY TO GO!


WOW! It is really warm here today. I was just thinking about the Marathon group for tomorrow's run! The Half shouldn't be too bad as we start nice and early, but the Marathon runners, boy! I hope it cools down a little for them. And what about the poor cheersquad, they will need extra hydration!

Well I'm feeling better today. Not 100% and I still have the sniffles. I am beginning to wonder if it might be hayfever. I used to suffer badly when I lived in Canberra around this time of the year. Anyway what ever it is it's not going to stop me lining up tomorrow because I am ready. Go Dad and I wil be picking up Martin tomorrow morning nice and early. I'm looking forward to the festivities afterwards and not having to rush home this time!

Lurking lurgy strikes..........

That's how my head feels right now!!!!!!! Grose. Disgusting. Horrible. Yucky.


I woke up this morning with a head full of the cold! I have been trying so hard to avoid catching the lurgy from the kids, but today it has hit me. Not too bad though thankfully, it's just in the head at the moment. I have straight away started to take some codral cold and flu tabs and been pouring down the water. Luckily I had an early night last night and will do so again tonight.

At this stage I think I'm ok to still run on Sunday however, if it moves to my chest then I will have to have a big think about whether or not I will be running on Sunday. Go Dad had also surprised me by arranging to have the kids looked after on Saturday night so he could come in and be my support crew on Sunday.

Hopefully things will pick up by tomorrow. Definately no running for me between now and Sunday. Resting up. Hopefully I will see everyone on Sunday.

Even Paced Run.

Went out early this morning for an even paced run. I really wanted to try and keep to an even pace, especially with the Hills. I managed to do this quiet well this morning. I was really happy with the pace and felt comfortable. It is really hard to resist going faster, but Gary was great this morning, kept me in line all the way. Go Gary!

Average Pace: 5:11k
Average H/R: 154bpm
Time: 33:48 mins
Distance: 6.51km

The residual pain from those lunges has gone, thankfully! The foot is all good. I feel kind of slack this week, almost guilty for not doing any speedwork or longer runs. I guess I can save it all up and just let it all out on Sunday. Not long now!

I love to taper

Just resting today! LazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzyDay!

Foot Test.

Took the foot test this morning and everything is fine! I only ran about 6.5k at an easy pace (5.1k pace) just to give the foot a chance to complain. I ran the usual route which includes some Hills in parts and a really good flat part at about the 3k mark. I tried to pick up the pace a bit and see how the foot felt. (4.5k pace) Everything was fine. I'm glad that I gave it time to heal and just opted for the walk on Sunday intead of going for a long run. I really don't think that my training has suffered as a result.

I have been playing around with the Google maps this morning and have worked out how to save it to my C: drive and then edit the picture. I have made the line a lot thicker and a different colour. I could also highlight other areas on the map, but it looked a bit scrappy.

I had a very strange feeling in my legs this morning when I first started running and then I remembered that I had done two sets of lunges last night along with some push ups, situps and some weights. I didn't think about the lunges affecting my running at all, but I really felt them this morning.

Note to self: Do not embark on any new exercise regimes with only 5 days to go before an event! (Naughty go girl!) Big smack. Grounded....

Tell me why I don't like Monday's?

This map is from yesterday's walk. Yes, walk! I have some persistant niggles on my right foot and I am trying to make sure that everything is going to be ok for Sunday. So, I went for a walk yesterday, about 6.5k all up. Not too far, just far enough to let me know that my foot was still pretty sore.


Today, it's feeling much better and I resisted the temptation to go out for a run this afternoon. So instead I'm staying in and doing some, abs and weights. I will go for an easy jog in the morning and hopefully everything will be ok! Fingers crossed.

Had a crappy day at work, everyone wants everything done yesterday! But yesterday was Sunday, so they can all just wait. I actually said a few words more than that but not for publication.

Still not long to go now until the Big Day!!!! I'm getting very nervous....

Joggers morning and new shoes!

I decided that I needed some new shoes so I went out to the Pauls warehouse where they had the new range of asics. I chose the Nimbus vll this time. They are a bit heavier than my last shoe (DS Trainer) but I found them to be very comfortable and ohhhh, they are shiny!!!

I had my first run in them this morning and they went really well. I met up with Martin again this morning who surprised me because he had told me he wasn't going this week. So we set off on H Course! H for Hills and H for Hard! No bush, all road. I managed to stay with the pack that Martin usually runs with this week. Although he was taking it easy, I was doing it tough! Especially up one of the hills, I had huge lactic acid build up and my legs did not want to go. Martin yelled out some words of encouragement at one stage so I kept on chipping away, little by little. Those hills don't get any easier, I tell you.

Made it back to the club in 38:16mins which was a clear 3 mins faster than my last attempt of this Course, two weeks before the C2S. I was pretty happy with the pace and managed to average 4:55 pace for the 7.78km. Martin and I put in a big effort to bring it on home at the end. I love it when we finish on the flat or a down hill!

It's a beautiful day here again and the Go Boy's are off to the cricket trial match this morning. So I will be having a lovely morning with Go Baby!

ONLY 8 DAYS TO GO!!!!

Lapping it up in paradise........(Not)

Thankyou to to my fellow blogging friends who have helped me out with my map problems over the last few days. (Miners and Allrounder) I have worked it all out now! I had a few issues with the PC at home not being able to load Google earth. I had actually loaded Google earth pro instead and all sorts of things were going on. Anyway now I'm just sorting out getting my Motionbased agent put on my work PC and I will be good to go!

My co-workers sent me this picture today. They are at Mission Beach doing some Investment Seminars....All I get is Melbourne.

RUNNING!
Planned easy jog this afternoon, then Joggers tomorrow. I can't make it to the Striders 10k as Go Boy has a trial cricket match on tomorrow morning starting at 8:30am.