Who is the daggiest one of all?....

Wednesday 31st

Yes, It's mid week long run time again and this morning I was dressed well for the conditions (cold) although I felt a little daggy. I had my long skins with my long sleeve shirt tucked in, shorts over the top of the skins and my CR cap. Luckily I had the green shoes on otherwise I would have been carted off quick smart by the fashion police ; )

I didn't feel too good this morning waking up at just before 5:30am. The head cold is slightly worse today making it difficult on the breathing and my throat is really sore : ( So I stuffed some tissues down the crop top (just in case) and headed off.

I soon picked up some pace and got into a nice rhythm trotting along the streets of the Ridge. I scared one girl this morning who was walking along the road and found out later that it was one of the teachers from my son's day care. He he...

It didn't take long before I found myself back to the street near home but looked at "Gabby" and I still had another 20mins to go. So up the hill I went. I always find that the day after doing hill reps, the hills seem so much easier?? Well they did for me today anyway : )

Pounded out another 20mins happily singing along to Kate Bush -Wuthering Heights. Then back home for some stretching. Checked "Gabby" to see that I had completed my programmed 1hr 20mins - done!

Time - 1hr 20mins
Distance - 16.1km
Avg Pace - 4:58/km (oops)

Ok, a little too fast I know but it honestly didn't feel that fast at the time. *Cringes* Please be nice 2P!

When I went inside after stretching my 9yr old son commented on how cool I looked today?? Just goes to show that what I think is daggy is actually cool by today's standards. Must be getting old.

In other news - I pick up my bike tomorrow **Yay** - So Jen, when was that Sydney to Wollongong ride again?

You can't always get what you want...

Monday 29th

Ahhh..rest day. A very welcomed one too.

Tuesday 30th

What? 30th already,where does the time go? Up early for what was a cold crisp morning. I wasn't too keen on the Hill Reps that showed up on the schedule this morning. But it ended up being a blessing in disguise. I did the usual 20 mins warm up run with a few stretches after.

Bounced into the Hill Reps for a total of 15 x 30sec's with jog back down for recovery. Supposed to rest between 11 and 12th rep but I didn't feel like I needed it and it was starting to sprinkle so I pressed on and finished all 15.

Another good session where I felt great. Jogged back home and stretched for 15 mins. My achilles felt better afterwards and just a little tight now. I think they will be fine by the time I go and see Tiger later in the week, otherwise he can fix them up for me ; )

Looking forward to a change of pace this weekend and catching up with my CR friends.

Done..

Saturday 27th

Rest day. Went cropping all day, got heaps done. Tried to load up with some carbs and drink heaps of water.

Sunday 28th

Did't set the alarm I just wanted to have a bit of a sleep in. Yesterday I started to feel like I was getting a cold with a sore throat and a sniffly nose. Woke up at 7am feeling a little average but there was no way that a little sniffle was going to stop me from running today.

I drove out to the M7 did a few stretches and started the Mp3 with my new playlist loaded, I was rockin along. Felt pretty good, the first 5 km were really uneventful and I didn't see any bike riders at all? The aim was to have a comfortable run not to push it, especially up and down the hills.

Went through 10 feeling great. I had packed two Gu's today and I took the first one at the 15 km mark. Banana Blitz. About the closest thing I've had to a banana in months. Just made it past the dynamite sticks and I was then in new territory. Another runner (male) came speeding past me just before I turned around at the 18km mark. He was flying! Alot of the cycling groups started to come through at this stage and I saw alot of the familiar riders that I usually see out there every Sunday.

Felt great at the 20km mark and really hadn't extended myself, just cruising. Breathing felt good, legs felt good (thanks to Easy Tiger) and basically I was having a ball. I even started singing along to Neil Diamond; Cherry, Cherry..Took another Gu at the 27km mark , chocolate this time, not bad. I knew that the last part of this course is always the hardest and if you give in mentally for one second it's all over, the hills just do you in.

Luckily I had something really amusing happen to me, it was so funny. Trudging along up one of thie hills I noticed this couple ride past me, in the same direction that I was going. The hill became particularly steep before breaking off to the left and into another hill again. The female rider got off her bike, threw it to the ground and crossed her arms refusing to ride any further. I could see a bit of an argument going on between the couple so I just ran past and smiled dodging the discarded bike.

A few minutes later they came past again going ever so slowly this time the female just behind the male rider. As I approached another hill I could see them both slowing down again but what then happened was the female rider stopped right when I had reached her and the male rider kept on going. He was just ahead of me so I slipped in behind him and stayed there until the top of the hill. (Approx 600m) When we had reached the top he turned around and much to his surprise it was me behind him not the girl. The look on his face was so funny and he said a few choice words after looking back at the girl standing with her arms folded at the bottom of the hill.

How funny is that, I just laughed my head off. By this stage I had reached the 33km mark and still felt ok. The achilles were a little tight but everything else felt great. Now I was totally in new territory 33km's had been my previous longest run ever but today I comfortably ran 3km's more than that, without one stop.

Distance: 36.08km
Time: 3:15
Avg Pace: 5:25/km
Feeling: Unreal (A little sore in the achilles)

I went down to the soccer field behind the KL shops to do a warm down run and some stretches before heading home. I'm pretty confident now that my preparations will get me through this Marathon. So, bring it on I say.

Back to speedwork.

Thursday 25th
Was supposed to be a 40 mins easy. Gave in to the doona demon instead.

Unscheduled rest day **Grrr**

Friday 26th

That doona demon tried real hard to keep me in again this morning. I knew that I would hate myself all day if I did that again and two days in a row is a big no no. So I dragged myself out of bed and trotted off down the street for:

20 mins warm up run
3 x 2 mins out and 2 mins back with 45 sec SR between each one.
20 mins warm down run
Stretching - 15 mins

Felt great this morning. I'm feeling much lighter on my feet and I guess that has something to do with loosing another 1.5kg in the last 2 weeks. This Marathon training really does rip it out of you. Just starting to get used to the extra long distances each week and then it's time to start tapering. I don't think that I'm going to like this taper business.

Plans for this weekend are:

Saturday
Rest day - As much as I would love to go to the CR 5km Challenge, I really need to put all of my effort into my last big Sunday run.

Sunday
Last looooong run. Yes Tesso, I'm running on my lonesome again. Just me and Mr Mp3. All together *Aww, poor GG*

Results are in

Official results for the SMH Half are in and my net time was: 101:34!

Still smiling : ) Thanks everyone for your support and lovely comments. I will get around to thanking you all eventually.

How it all panned out:

Woke up feeling great. Turned up and caught up with a heap of CR's before the big shuffle to the start. Even scored a random kiss from the Prof : O I lined up with female CR Linno and had a nice little chat before the gun went off. Felt great from the start and ran alot of the way with CR cassig and his homemade CR cap. (It's amazing what a highlighter can do to brighten up a boring white piece of material) Apparantly this works well on shoes too ; )

I was a little frustrated at the start as I felt like I was sort of stop starting a bit and it threw the pacing out a little. Basically had a great run up to the 10k mark where I was feeling really good. Went through 10k in about 47:30 then suddenly realised that my gel had fallen out of my crop top? Damn, but it didn't really concern me. I thought it was funny how I saw it on the ground on the second lap though.

I saw a heap of CR's during the race including fats, Uncle Dave powering along, Don Juan and some other CR capped females?? Ran alot of the way close to the Rock Doctor and Physio Larry was nearby at one stage. The only part that I found really difficult was the last lap up the hill going under the bridge. After that I knew it wasn't too far to go.

I hadn't relied on the Garmin much because I knew that it played up in the city anyway. I really just had fun out there and ran within my limits and fitness. I was really pleased when I heard Kit yell out to me and even more pleased when I saw the finish line. I put in a big sprint to the end and crossed with a huge grin on my face.

I must have looked happy because Pat (my coach) e-mailed me and said that he saw me finish and I looked really pleased with myself. I grabbed an apple and a drink then went to get my bag and tried to find 2P and the DSA group to no avail. I ran into Sarge, Plu and Horrie before making my way to the Palisades for a race debrief.

Luckily I had packed some clothes to change into because I was starting to shiver. It was really nice to catch up with CR's and hear all about the amazing runs that they had. Finally got to meet MPH, $100 for the photo is a bit rich, but good try ; ) What is that accent btw? Didn't get to chat for long enough to pick it up. It was lovely chatting to Papa Luigi, Uncle Dave, Plu, Horrie, Truckie, AuntyK, BernieG, Blue Dog , Gnomey, Vat, Orunner, Mr and Mrs Colin and the very inspiring 26miles. (Plus others, sorry if I missed anyone)

Monday 22nd

Ahhh... Rest Day

Tuesday 23rd

Easy 40 mins- Surprisingly felt good. No DOMS and felt fresh.

Distance: 6.1km
Time: 40mins

Wednesday 24th

1 hr - Still feeling good and still smiling. Did 12kms with the Mp3 player. Felt like I was just cruising along this morning. Happy, happy run...

Distance: 12kms
Time: 60mins

Getting geared up for my longest big run EVER this weekend. This will be the last big run on the program then it's taper time.....

SMH Half

Sunday 21st

Wooohooo!! I am extremely happy!

The Short version: I ended up with a 1hr 42 mins gun time. I estimate it took approx 1min 30sec's to cross the start mat. Waiting for the official results to be put up. Got heaps going on at the moment, but more on that later.


Long version: Later : ))



10 min PB !! Happy, Happy Go Girl : )

PS: Thanks to all of my friends for your support, you guys rock!

Edit: I have just added the photo, I think Marty Harris took it??

Holy Green shoes Batman....

Yes I love my new GREEN shoes. Just in case you hadn't already picked up on that one ; )

Monday 15th

Rest.

Tuesday 16th

20mins warm up then 3ktt. This was my first time on the newly mapped out course. The slight up hill in the middle at about the 1.5km mark had me wondering why I had chosen that route but it was short lived as I then turned around and had a slight down hill for about 500m. I definately felt like I went out too hard (as I do) and struggled with the last km. Splits went like this:

3:59 (yay first sub 4 min/km)
4:15
4:15

Total: 12.29. That's a 20 second PB : )

20 mins warm down run then a nice warm shower. Pretty happy with that.

Total distance: 9.1km

Wednesday 17th

Easy 50 mins. Took a different route this morning and ran at a steady pace with the Mp3 player. I definately wont run with the Mp3 on Sunday because I want to be able to soak up the atmosphere. I did load some of my fav songs last night and here are a few that are a bit sentimental to me, including :

Word Up - Cameo - I used to play this song when I did my warm up before dancing and it got me all hyped up before I had to deal with my cranky ballet teacher.

Kiss you all over - Exile - Those sly old dogs. I just love this song and it reminds me of a very special friend back in Perth.

Seventeen- Stevie Nicks - Just because it has a great beat and has a great little story to it.

So my questionable taste in music continues and I have no excuses for these one's making it to the playlist this time. I did find out that the Spice girls slipped in under the movie title of Small Soldiers. It's a great movie and the song is in relation to when the toy soliders impound the humans and played really loud music (Just like they did to Noriega in the Panama) Very funny.

The Rest is over

Friday 12th

Rest Day - 3rd one for the week.

Saturday 13th

40 mins easy

Sunday 14th

Took off a bit later today and it felt good to be back running in shorts and short sleeve shirt again for a change. I decided not to run on the M7 today as I had a 2hr run on the program and just couldn't be bothered driving over.

I ran again with my Mp3 player and pretty much kept the pace down just to ensure that I didn't undo all of the good rest that I had soaked up throughout the week. I'm not really sure if it has made me feel any better though. I'm really tired tonight.

Most of the way I was thinking about my fellow Bloggers who were running the Canberra Half today and also the SMH Half next weekend. I'm really looking forward to this one.

Pretty uneventful today really, I managed to finish up with:

Time:2hrs
Distance: 22.1km

What you don't know won't hurt you...

Well maybe however, here a few things that I didn't know:

My legs were in such bad shape
I wasn't stretching enough
The Spice Girls were on my Mp3 player

After a visit to the Physio on Tuesday I had an appointment to see Easy Tiger in town to have my first massage. Ok, to be fair to Gary he did a fantastic job and he's a really nice guy ; ) BUT.. Ouchy... I think I had plenty of areas to work on. 2hrs later... I emerged from the tomb of hell. I think at one stage I said something along the lines of "This is worse than childbirth" But I believe it is worth putting up with the pain if your legs feel 100% better. I really can't believe the range of motion that I have back in my legs now, they feel unreal.

I had always planned for this week (recovery week) to be the one that I go and have a tune up. So I have totally enjoyed the slower runs, no speed work, sleeping in, rest days, long spa baths, physio and massage treatments.

Wednesday 10th

Rest day

Thursday 11th

50mins easy. I took the opportunity this morning to map out a new 3ktt course. I really like the new track and it is relatively flatish with just enough gradient to keep it interesting. Felt great this morning and I kept things very slow. I don't even think I managed to get past 70% percieved effort except for this last little bit near home that has a slight down hill approx 400m. I couldn't resist giving my new legs a try out so I had a bit of a sprint along this stretch of road. All I can say is : ))

Go Go Green shoes...

Tuesday 9th
Do these shoes look familiar??? Yes they are the same one's that I have in my Blog header but now I own a pair exactly the same. I purchased them off E-bay for $80 less than I was going to pay for them from the shop or off the Internet. The fact is you can not purchase these (colour) shoes from any retail store in Australia.

I was a little bit cagey with who I had spoken to about my bid on e-bay. Firstly asking people what their shoe size was before giving up the information that I had bid on some shoes in the colour and size that I wanted.

So now I'm very happy and I was really needed these new shoes as I have noticed some flat spots in my older one's and the really old one's have a funny squeaking noise going on which is totally off putting when running.

Now, today's run was a 40 mins easy recovery run. Very pleasant nice and chilli this morning but great to get the legs moving. Kept it very slow this morning and enjoyed the scenery. My neighbour yells out to me most mornings from Windsor Rd and always gives me a laugh. Today it was something like "Go back to bed you crazy b&%#h" Ha ha.. He is a very funny guy.

I'm feeling 100% better compared to yesterday. Thankyou to my wonderful PG friends, you really did brighten up my day when I was feeling a little less than ordinary. Thanks to everyone for your supportive comments as well, it really is a bit of a rollercoaster ride this Marathon business. For my efforts today I get another rest day tomorrow. How good is that? 3 rest days this week!!

Just another thing I forgot to mention yesterday as well, I actually passed the 1000km mark for the year during my run on Sunday. I now have a grand total of : 1016km for the year.

Wacky Weekend....

Saturday 7th
After attending a lovely dinner in town with a large contingent of CR's I managed to crawl out of bed after about 4 and a half hrs sleep and made my way to cheer (not run) the Striders 10km at North Head. It was a very chilly morning and I didn't really seem to thaw out until the afternoon. I met up with the other cheer girls, Tesso and Jen_runs and we were joined by Kit who was on catching duties.

It was fun cheering and watching everyone run past us a few times but I don't think that I was in full cheering mode because all that we seemed to talk about was food and coffee. Once again I actually enjoyed watching rather than running because you get to see the really fast runners come through and boy were they flying. It was great to see that so many had run PB's too. Congratulations to all of you.

We then headed off for some breakfast in Manly which was lovely. I returned home feeling a little tired and weary after the late night and heavy cheering schedule ; )

Sunday 8th
I woke not too early this Sunday but managed to get ready in record time to head off for my planned long run. I felt strangely tired but I was happy in the knowledge that next week is a recovery week so not quiet the last of the long runs yet but certainly a lower impact week coming up.

I had purchased an MP3 Player on Friday to keep me company during my 3hr run. I spent most of Saturday afternoon downloading some of my favourite songs which featured heavily with bands like U2- "With or without you" etc..., The Oils- "Power and the Passion" etc.... and a mixture of other favourites to get me through.

The run started off well and no niggles to be felt anywhere at least for the first part of the run. Then at about the 10km mark my (old injury) ab muscles in the right side started give me some trouble. This is a recurring injury that only appears every now and then but it was funny that it showed up today considering I had only been talking about it the day before with Darren one of Miners friends who suffered from a simular thing during the Striders run.

Not so many cyclists out on the M7 and only one other runner spotted all morning. The music certainly did help to make the time go by and before I knew it I was at the 1hr 30 min mark and spun around to make my way back. As soon as I turned around this fierce wind was blasting me in the face and I knew that it was going to be a tough slog back.

I have begun to see regular riders out there each Sunday and it's nice to wave and say hello as they are riding along. One elderly fellow actually rode up behind me and scared the living daylights out of me by ringing the bell on his bike and then pulling up next to me. He was asking me all sorts of questions like" how far do you run?" and "what are you training for?" etc... etc....

He rode along side me for about 2km as we chatted about various things to do with running and bike riding, he was very pleasant. Then it was back to the music and back into the hills. The hills were especially tough as the wind had really picked up. My knee which had given me some grief last Sunday had been ok up until the 24km mark where it decided to start annoying me again : ( Exactly the same problem as last week unfortunately. At least I know what I have to do to help it heal quickly.

I also ended up with a very black second toe nail and a huge blood blister on the end of the toe. It looks totally grose and I think I will loose the nail again for the third time. I have also a 5cm cut along my belly where the fuel belt had cut into me, (forgot to Bodyglide there) it doesn't hurt and I didn't even feel it during the run.


I managed to make it another full run with no stopping for a total of:
Distance: 33.2km (my longest run ever!!)
Time: 3hrs 6mins
Avg Pace: 5:31/km

Overall I'm really happy with how the long runs have been going but I'm sooo looking forward to the recovery week as I'm feeling a little fragile today. I just need a hug!

No means "No"

Thurdsay 4th
Easy 40 mins. Felt pretty flat, ran pretty slow, stretched and that's about it really.

Time: 40 mins
Distance: 7.5km




Friday 5th
Same as last Friday. 2 X 5 min efforts with 8 x 30 sec Hills. I felt a little tired today and just didn't have that full of energy feeling that I did last week. I guess my program has been pretty full on and I am glad to see that next week is a slower week (recovery week) with no fast running at all. Which gets me to the point of: listen to the coach!

I was going to attempt to have a go at the 10km Striders this Saturday morning but when I asked the coach he said " NO!." It would not be a good idea at this stage of my Marathon training and the 3hr training run on Sunday will be the one that stands by me at the 32km mark on July 2nd.

He has all of the knowledge so who am I to argue? Besides I get to keep Jen, Kit and Tesso company cheering : )

Injury Report

Injury?.... What injury? Well as you have probably figured out my injured knee is just fine. I went to visit the Magical Meagan at this place and she worked wonders on my knee. She told me it was very tight under the knee cap and she also gave me a calf massage which absolutely killed. The problem was that my knee cap wasn't tracking properly and causing the pain. (Shane, you were right) It's amazing what some ice, voltaren a days rest and a good physio can do.

Tuesday 2nd
Rested up and visit to the Physio

Wednesday 3rd
The Physio said that I could do some light running and possibly ride the bike instead. Hmm, what does that all mean? Anyway, I woke up early and headed out took the usual route and plodded along the streets for a lovely refreshing 1hr 20mins. I felt great this morning and even better for the day extra rest.

No pain in the knee at all which was unreal. I was very happy when I made it back home totally pain free this morning : ) So, I didn't really follow the Physio's advice but I'm sure they are being over cautious sometimes besides what's a light run anyway??

Time: 1hr 21mins
Distance:16.1km
Avg pace:5:06/km