Go Girl

Australia Day Fun!

2007-01-26T19:45:00.000-08:00

I had a pretty slack week running wise due to a stomach virus that hit me during the week. After last Sundays 25k at Quarry Rd I swam for an hour on Monday for recovery but suspect I was starting to get the virus because I felt very average indeed.

Tuesday I was starting to feel really crappy and I had a constant nauseous feeling, which I thought was dehydration. I didn't run because of all the smoke from the bush fires so I rode on the trainer instead for an hour and a half. This left me totally wasted but I managed to drag my sorry self out for an 18k in the rain on Wednesday afternoon. This was made easier after a phone call from a friend who's enthusiasm towards his training for 6ft totally inspired me - easy!

Thursday was an easy 6k but the legs complained after running the night before. Friday was the 10k at Penrith for Australia Day. I caught up with the girls (Owly, Jen_runs and Ellie80) before hand and set off with the 10k slog around the lake x 2. Ended up with 2 sec PB of 45:56. Still that sub 45min 10km eludes me. One day!

Hot, Hot, Hot!!

2007-01-20T18:09:00.000-08:00

Another week of training done.

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 10km recovery run / 1hr swim

Wednesday: 19km Kellyville Ridge - M7 - return

Thursday: 10km including 10mins 100m sprints with 50m floats

Friday - Cycle - 1hr

Saturday: 8km Hilly run with Joggers group

83km for the week

Sunday: Quarry Rd with 11km Hornsby extension. 25km all up and totally, ridiculously hot!! Had a very cool runner join us this morning too : )

Weekend Review

2007-01-15T15:45:00.000-08:00

"The Team" Don, Me, Peter, Martin, Graham and Rob after our 6ft training run on Sunday.

Sunday was my first trip to the 6ft track. I absolutely looooved it! We ran approx 36km from Megalong down to Cox's River then up to the Pluviometer and return. An encounter with a red belly black snake made things a little interesting. Saw Kit and BernieG on the track and later on ran into Blue Dog, Razor, Deanne, Sarge and a few others.

Great training run and I have recovered really well. I'm pretty happy with how the build up has been going so far and look forward to the 10th March.

Pumped out an easy 10k recovery run this morning. Felt great! Cycle to the pool for a swim this afternoon.

Still here..sort of!

2007-01-12T20:49:00.000-08:00

Yes I am still alive. What has been happening?

Well I have been really busy and haven't had time to Blog or to read Blogs but here's a brief summary of where I am up to and what I have planned for 2007.

Lots of training for 6ft track and going out running most Sundays with a lovely group of guys that I have become very good friends with. All of the runners are from the Hills District Joggers and we have so much fun, you could hardly call it training.

Did the Black Stump run on New Years Day - That was a tough one but a great run.

Lots of training ahead still for 6ft and I am looking at doing my first Triathlon early in February. I have been swimming and cycling a fair bit but mostly concentrating on running and lots of hills.

Some target events for this year are: (Subject to change)

6ft Track
Warwick
PMC !!
C2S
Rottnest Is. Marathon
W2B
FFFTM

Phew!

A solid week of training...

2006-11-25T21:28:00.000-08:00

Monday - Swim for 35mins

Tuesday - Run 5km (Doms had me slow down a bit)

Wednesday - Swim and cycle 1.5hrs (not km's miners!!)

Thursday - Run - 12km Quarry RD

Friday - Rest

Saturday - Cycle - Hills 1.5hrs

Sunday - Run 16 -18km? The garmin dropped out for a bit in the bush. Ran with the HDJ's. A great run through Baulko and into the Cumberland State Forrest trail then back out again. Silly me tries to keep up with Grahame, who has ran 35 sub 3hr Marathons, on the downhill back to the finish. Won't do that again!

Next week won't be anything too flash in preparation for the CC Half.

Missing In Action...

2006-11-18T16:50:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know I did say that I was going to go to SMC today but basically I had a better offer. Sorry to those that I said I would catch up with but I really need to concentrate on trails and longer distances right now. After a late night phone call I managed to get out to Quarry Rd this morning for a 6am start with some of the guys from Joggers. There was about 8 of us all up who are planning on doing the 6ft track and these regular training runs will now become part of my training regime.

I felt great this morning. Using the walk the big hills strategy and run the flat and downhills seemed to work really well. There was a group that started at Hornsby Heights and there was us who entered the track from Quarry Rd. Gee it felt great to back running trails again and pain free was even better.

The guys are all a lovely bunch and we chatted and laughed most of the way around. The run was a mixed bag of trail, steep climbs including alot of rock jumping, downhill, roadrunning and some walking : ) I loaded up my fuel belt for the trip and had 2 gels and 2 glucodin tablets along the way. It was great having the opportunity to refill the water bottles before the long steep 6k back to the car.

I had decided that this run will be a great base builder for the upcoming 6ft training and will give me something solid to work on. I was totally shattered at the end but recovered surprisingly well especially after 2 bowls of porridge and a strong coffee. I was ok up until the 25km point where we bid farewell to the Hornsby Heights guys then the last 6k just stripped me of anything that I had left. I was absolutely fried.

All up we completed about 30km in approx 3hrs 40mins. I am really glad I went along and I'm looking forward to the next one in two weeks time. Apparantly the guys mix things up a bit so it's not always that distance or the same track that we took today. I joined them on the hard day.

The rest and recovery plan is now in progress and I will venture out for a few slow run this week along with a couple of swims and maybe jump on the bike. I forgot to mention - I did 1.5hrs on the bike yesterday - HILLS!

Edit: I have just realised that I was in the company of an absolute running legend today - Awesome!

The Week

2006-11-16T22:21:00.000-08:00

The week so far....

Monday - Run 45mins - slowly
I felt ok after the Sunday 18k run and I have noticed that the legs feel much better when you run slower : )

Tuesday - Run 20mins warm up then 4 hill reps at a slow pace and a sort of tempo run on the way home. Nothing too flash to report here. Swimming for 35mins in the evening.

Wednesday - Run 1hr, slow pace.

Thursday - Rest

Friday - Cycle - 1hr and swim 35mins and a visit to the Chiro.

The plan is to run some hills tomorrow and to do the SMC Half at a slow pace on Sunday.

Breakfast Buffett

2006-11-11T17:33:00.000-08:00

Another update...

My training went really well last week. I had 4 runs in total and 3 swims but backed off on the cycling and only managed to get out for 2 rides this week.

Up until this morning I had only built up to running 10k and was rather pleased with my progress so far. A few things that I have noticed since returning to running:

1. How nice it is to run pain free : )
2. How much my cardio fitness is lacking
3. How much my hill fitness is lacking
4. How much longer my piggy tails have grown

So after a call from Blues Buffett yesterday we had arranged to meet up at 7am for the Quakers Hill loop. All up about 18k and not much to complain about at all really. I was pretty surprised that I didn't need to stop at all. However, I suspect that I was running a tad slower than BB would have if he was out on his own. Still going for his all time PB for the month, I don't think he needed much encouragement or excuses to get out for a longish run today.

It was great to have some company and the time just flew by without really realising just how far we had run. It's great to have someone to chat to as well rather than just listening to the sound of myself trying to breathe.

Feel ok now and will do some more stretches later on today. Looking forward to next week and getting into some more training.

What is going on???

2006-11-08T23:45:00.000-08:00

I hear you all say......

Well if you still have me on your Bloglines, then thanks for hanging in there.

Here is a brief run down of what has happened since injury.

What started out as knee and Itb pain and after many visits to physio, podiatrists, gait analysist, back to sports physician and then finally a visit to the chiro. I was diagnosed with a blocked right S1 joint. Basically my right hip was locked into a forward position causing all of the issues.

So now I have 3 sessions with the Chiro and I have been running again for 2 weeks. I am slowly building up the mileage and I am currently up to 10k. I plan on doing a longish run this Sunday and have tenative plans to run the Central Coast Half, if not the 9k. Either way I will not be racing, just socialising more than anything : )

I have been cycling as well on the odd occasion and have really taken to swimming. So I am back in the game and ready for the long hot Summer of 6ft training. But the sweetest thing of all is I am running pain free and it feels great.

I promise I will get around to all of the Blogs very soon.

Luv ya's! x x

Getting there slowly...

2006-09-29T21:49:00.000-07:00

Well this week was a little better. Just about all of the swelling has gone down in the knee. I have been applying voltaren before bed and wrapping it in glad wrap.

Continuing with the VMO strengthening exercises and I have been taping the knee over but I had a reaction to the tape which left redness and itchy lumps all over my knee. I have changed my work shoes to something flatter and more supportive which is good considering all of the walking that I am doing now with the new job.

I think one more week should do it. I will see how I go in a weeks time and possibly go for a run next Sunday. I'm starting to really miss it now. Off to Owly and Tesso's party tonight! Yay!

Going nowhere fast..

2006-09-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

Injury Report:

I thought it was time to check in with a report on how my injury is going after 2 weeks now of no running. I haven't really had much improvement at all and I know this injury can take along time to get better so I'm trying to remain positive.

I did all of the stretches etc... in the first week and didn't do much at all in the second week . The outcome was the same.

New Job Report:

Great, I love it. Extremely busy though. Sorry for not checking on Blogs, will try to this week.

I'm out!

2006-09-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 13th

I have decided not to run the Half this Sunday. After some advice and suggestions from several runners including: Easy Tiger, Eagle, Tesso, Clairie, Ellie, Ewen and my Physio. I had to face the fact that It would be best for me not to run at all.

The hardest thing was telling Ellie because I was so looking forward to running with her and I know how excited she was. At least I know she will have others around her during the race and Gnomey doing the pacing. So I will be cheering instead!

I went to the Physio and had some intense treatment along with a video of me running on the treadmill to try to diagnose the problem and see if there was anything that really stood out. The exercise therapist took footage of me walking firstly and then running (even that hurt) The most obvious thing was I flick my right leg out when I run and somehow twist it back in again but land on the outside of my right foot. This constant flicking has aggrevated the itb, adductors, sartorius and hamstrings and has created a tightness in the entire right side. I also have a lot of movement in my hips suggesting more core strengthening is required.

So I walked away with 20 million exercises and stretches to do and was told by the Physio not to run until all of the pain has gone. I didn't realise just how long I had been running with the pain until I really thought about it - a long time. I think I even got used to running with the pain (as Clairie suggested) but I know my training has really suffered and with much bigger things on the horizon (6ft - main goal) I need to get rid of these injuries so that I can do some serious training over Summer.

So I have basically wiped my calendar clean for the next few months. FF Marathon is definately out : ( I can't complain though, I have had a pretty good year and I'm really happy with what I have achieved so far. I would like to be fit enough to do the Central Coast Half in December but I will keep it there as a "maybe" at this stage.

The Blog may become a little boring and with starting my new job next week, I may not have much time to Blog for the first few weeks until things settle down anyway. Looking forward to cheering and repaying all of those that have cheered for me! : )

Nothing....

2006-09-12T18:18:00.000-07:00

That's what I have done running wise since Saturday...Nothing! A bit frustrating but I know that my leg will be better off for the rest. (Hopefully)

Sunday 10th

Nothing

Monday 11th

ET Massage and coffee with ET and Lulu : )

Tuesday 12th

I took myself off to the Doctor because I woke up in so much pain. My leg felt so so so sore. I could hardly walk and I was nearly in tears because of the pain. He prescribed me some sort of strong pain killer that made me feel very relaxed and it numbed the pain.

Swim for 45mins - I can still swim : ) Yay! I actually felt pretty good once I got into it. Not sure how far I went, I really should take more notice of that instead of just going up and back happily not even thinking about how far I'm going. 4 laps of water running - geez that's frustrating!

The plan for the rest of the week is to rest the leg and get rid of the pain, keep stretching heaps and hopefully I can keep up with Ellie on Sunday. That will be a full weeks rest on the leg - no running. I would like to do some more swimming just to stay active.

When I was eating dinner last night (9pm!) I was thinking about Clairies new regime and perhaps need to take a leaf out of her book with trying not to eat dinner so late.

Raindrops keep falling on my head..

2006-09-10T23:57:00.000-07:00

Saturday 9th

I ventured out to Joggers for the 7am run. I picked a nice rainy day to make a comeback. It was actually not that bad during the run and I felt really good out there. The E course was rather hilly but I felt reasonably strong on the hills. Pity I didn't take much notice of the map because I had to stop and make sure I was going the correct way a few times which made the run a little slower.

The leg felt ok but I could feel the hamstrings working on the downhills and I had some PF pain afterwards resulting in having to ice most of Saturday afternoon.

Sunday 10th

No run - Leg too sore. (I ate way too much junk food)

Plenty of stretching and icing.

Downhill girl returns...

2006-09-08T02:06:00.000-07:00

Thursday 7th

Rest Day - Weights and core abs

Not allowed to cycle : (

Friday 8th

Well after much procastinating I made it out to the local trail for an 8km run. I hadn't done this one before but I had always wondered what it was like. Still trying to be nice to my legs, the ground was slightly damp and I found the trail to be nice and spongey.

In fact in some parts it was a bit slippery and I had a bit of a tumble as I was negotiating a corner. I fell on my sore knee but it didn't hurt. I landed in some nice soft mud : ) All up the run took about an hour. I crossed the same river 4 times and made 3 wrong turns but it was fun. I will know where to go next time. Really nice way to end the working week.

Approx 8km with a few deviations (I forgot to turn the Garmin on)

One step closer.

2006-09-06T04:14:00.000-07:00

Firstly, thank you all so much for your advice. I really appreciate it and I have taken on board the comments that you all have left for me here. Thanks!

Wednesday 6th

In my attempt to start on option 1, I continued with my training program and did 15km but all on grass. I ran at the Bernie Mullane Sports complex and each lap was approx 1km. So 16 boring laps later I was finished.

My leg was not any better at all in fact the pain became quite intense at one point and I was pulling one of those "Granny" faces as ET calls it. Aerobically I felt great and I was running easy with not much effort at all really.

Later in the day I went to the Physio. We have pinpointed the Sartorius muscle as one of the major causes for concern. I recieved some treatment, exercises, icing and will follow up with some more ET massages over the next couple of weeks. As most of you suggested, the bike is out for now.

I have made the decision not to race the Half in just over a weeks time. Even if I do get the leg sorted out before then i haven't done enough speedwork and I would only end up being disappointed with my run. I had a chat to Gnomey last night who is going to be the 2hr pacer at the Half. So I asked Ellie if I could run with her instead : ) I am really excited to able to share in her first Half Marathon experience. Another reason is I will be starting my new job the very next day and I don't want to turn up cranky and tired for my first day.

I have set the Central Coast Half in December as my target Half Marathon before the end of the year. Besides, I will be doing all of the long runs at SMC this Summer to build up for 6ft so plenty of opportunities to record some decent 21km times.

Time: 1hr 19mins
Distance: 15.13km
Avg Pace: 5:15/km

Decisions??

2006-09-04T04:01:00.000-07:00

Monday 4th

After missing out on one of my crucial long runs yesterday I was really lacking in motivation today despite feeling a whole lot better as far as the cold was concerned. With a "Rest" day scheduled on the program I decided to stick to my usual Monday routine and did some weights and cycling.

We all know that you can never catch up on lost or missed training so I wasn't even going to try to make up for that and I was hoping the rest would help my leg to settle down a bit.

Cycle - 1hr - fluid trainer

Weights and core abs - 25mins

Tuesday 5th

Today was one of the most horrible runs ever! I had 3ktt down on the program and I thought it would be a good gauge for me to see exactly where I am at for upcoming events like the Half in a few weeks time and the FFM in October.

At the start and for the entire warmup my leg felt ok..but, just ok though. I did heaps of stretching yesterday and plenty of poking and proding on the sore spots to try to loosen them up a bit. It then came to the time for me to do the 3ktt and it all went down hill from there. I was running fine for the first 600m then the crippling pain started in my leg/knee and I abandoned the time trial all together opting to slow jog home - even that hurt!

So I have come to the realisation that I need to make a decision on how to fix up this pesky leg injury. I haven't been able to really do any quality training since the GCM. I have only done two painfree speedwork sessions since the GCM and the rest has just been going from day to day trying to get my leg to a point where it doesn't ache. This usually only lasts for a short period of time then it's sore again. I have a few options but I'm not entirely sure what I will do just yet. So here's what I have been thinking:

1. Continue to train but with less intensity (not fast, no speedwork). Keep up the ET massages and heaps of stretching. Do some faster sessions on the bike (not sure if this is contributing to my problems?)

2. Stop running until the injury is better. Keep up the ET massages and just cycle. (Which would mean no Half Marathon in two weeks time and possibly no FF Marathon)

3. Just do nothing at all and become a couch potato and work really hard on my Cadbury's Family Block PB.

No prizes for guessing that the number one option is the one that I want. The fact is, I really need to let this leg heal properly because I'm not getting to where I want to be right now and things won't improve if I don't take action, now! I want to run faster and I want to run another Marathon but I can't carry this injury any longer, it's starting to get me down.

So I guess I could start out with number one and if that doesn't work then review and move on down the list. Who knows, I could be the first female to represent Australia in eating chocolate ; )

Striders 10k-North Head

2006-09-02T17:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday 2nd

Woke up feeling very average and almost abandoned going to the Striders 10k. But I made the effort and drove over to North Head. I wasn't expecting too much from the run after backing up from W2B last week, a cold which has taken a turn for the worse and total lack of speedwork.

One of my goals for this year is to go sub 45min 10k and just before I ran the Gold Coast I think I was capable of doing it but never had the opportunity to run that distance. I have since been training for the longer stuff again and I have been very slack with the speed sessions which I intend to make sure I add more of these to the program.

Caught up with the usual Cr's and other runners before hand. Once we were off I managed to get into pace reasonably well but I always hate those first few km's they seem to really hurt. I sat just behind the 45min pacer which is more than I had done at Lane Cove last month. At the 3km mark I felt reasonably good and realised that if I could keep up the pace I could possibly duck under the 45min mark.

After the first loop around and coming back to the drink station I felt a sharp pain in my chest and started to have some problems breathing. This is where I backed it off a little bit and tried to breath as best I could. I had even tossed up on wether or not to pull out at the 5k mark but I pressed on hoping things would improve. I still managed to have the pacer in my sights but I knew they were pulling away from me as I slowed a bit more. Funnily enough my leg and knee wasn't too bad. I had spent several hours stretching the night before so that obviously helped.

At about the 8km stage I didn't feel much better and I found it hard to clear the "yuckies" in my chest so I could get some air in. Only 2 km to go I told myself and at this stage I knew that I was too far from the 45min pacer to even worry about that time. The last 2 km were pretty crappy and I managed to finish in a time of 45:58 - Which ended up being a 15sec PB for me anyway.

Breakky was great afterwards with TA and the Gnome (great to see him back running) Ellie, Will, Papa Luigi and Uncle Dave.

Sunday 3rd

Woke up for my long run and in short I had to go back home after 3km. My knee was unbearably sore and my adductors were aching and to top it off I couldn't breath : (

Time for a rest! Happy Fathers Day to all the Dad's out there.

The week so far

2006-08-30T21:46:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your lovely comments after W2B. It's great to have the support of my fellow Bloggers and CR's. You guys rock! I'm still on a high form the run so I filled in my FFFTM entry form today. I'm sooo looking forward to that one.

Tuesday 29th

I decided to go out for a slow 40min recovery run. The legs complained bitterly and my throat was burning the whole way. I woke up with a very sore throat so I knew that something was definately lurking as it is usually the first sign of a cold or flu. Popped a few Anticol and toughed it out which I'm glad I did because I felt great afterwards.

My legs definately needed the slow run just to loosen them up a bit. I'm not saying that they didn't hurt the entire way because they did.

Distance: 8.1km
Time: 45mins

Wednesday 30th

Something did eventuate - A cold : (

Rest - Massage with Easy Tiger was great. Just what my legs needed although I didn't think so at the time as I was in pain. I always leave there with my legs feeling nice and floppy! Yes, that can be a good thing. I had a lovely chat to Orunner who was lining up for a massage just after me. Now that I have the official "Presidential" invitation to join Striders, how could I say no to that?

I had planned to do some static cycling in the evening however, my legs just weren't up to it and I had really lost motivation by about 8:30pm. A heap of things that I had to catch up on at home were draining my energy levels and I just didn't feel like exercising at all.

Thursday 31st

20mins warmup run
12 x 30sec on x 30secs off
20mins warm down - ended up being about 16mins.

The legs felt great when I woke up this morning and I was ready to give them some more pain : ) I decided that I needed to do just a little sharpener before Saturday because I have really been slack with the speedwork lately. Something I need to work on and become consistent again by adding more to my training program.

Did the whole session on grass : ) Legs felt great, energy levels were good. What more can you ask for?

Distance : 9.1km
Time: 47mins

Recovery

2006-08-28T04:36:00.000-07:00

Sunday 27th

Rest day and recovery. I spent most of the day just trying to keep the legs moving although it was little hard at times because they were sooo sore. I tried to do some stretches but simply found that just walking up/down the stairs was a challenge. I was certainly paying for my downhill exploits now!!

Monday 28th

30mins slow cycle - core abs and weights.

The quads were definately feeling the effects today so some stretching was in order after warming the legs up on the fluid trainer. Felt alright afterwards and I might even venture out tomorrow morning for jog around the Ridge.

Official Results from W2B : 3:15:05 14TH Female and 85th overall placing : ) Still smiling!

Mt Wilson to Mt Bilpin

2006-08-27T04:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday 26th

I woke up early and had some breakky before Martin turned up to pick me up. In true Go Girl style I left "Gabby" at home : ( but I wasn't too phased because I was just out for a nice fun trail run anyway. I was relly looking forward to it but was somewhat apprehensive because of my lack of consistent training lately and my recent knee/hip injury. So it was really just going to be a "let's see what happens" type run.

The trip up was great, not too far from home. We arrived in enough time to park and catch the first bus up to Mt Wilson and I had a lovely chat to Tuttle on the way. After collecting my race bib I had a nice scone and coffee and chatted to a heap of CR's including :Horrie, Blue Dog, Amjan, Fats, Orunner, Will, Valium, Martin, Sawdust and a few others. It was a real Strider fest out there and Blue Dog trying his hardest to recruit more ; ) Hasn't asked me yet!

The start was pretty cold and I found myself shivering before the gun went off. Once we were away I ran for a little while with Horrie but he soon left me on one of the hills. I really stuck to my stratedgy of "run as much as the hill as I can and walk as soon as I feel the burn" This worked really well for me as I never let my legs go lactic and I maintained a reasonable pace even when walking.

It soon became evident that I was stronger on the flat and the down hill and not so good on the up hill, even to those around me. One runner even calling me "downhill girl" as he passed me on just about every uphill and I then passed him on the downhills.

Another advantage was having my fuel belt. I had 4 bottles all with water and I only stopped at 2 drink stations. The advantage of having my own water meant that I could continue on when others had stopped. I also got to have water when I wanted to which was mostly on or just after some of the hills. I managed to run with Tuttle a lot of the way until we reached the bitumen just before the long down hill. This is where I started to really feel good and picked up the pace a bit. Soon I started over taking people and caught at least 8 - 10 other runners once the terrain levelled out.

The downhill just didn't stop and I loved every bit of it. I was running so well, I was almost laughing to myself.. I soon caught up to another group of runners and eventually over took them as well. I found that I was running very economically not expending too much energy at all and feeling very strong. Then, the fairytale was over.. I reached the bridge and soon realised that it was mostly all up hill from there.

Despite what I had previously been told, I didn't find this part too hard. What I did find hard was trying to forget about the pain in my hip/knee and just press on to make it to the finish. I ended up running with another female most of the way up the hill. Although I did maintain my run / walk stratedgy, I mostly ran this part and managed to catch back up to her even after taking short walk breaks. Once we made it to the flat she pulled away from me but I held on sitting about 20m behind her. Once I could see we were getting closer to the finish line and with about 400m to go I managed to over take her and another female just ahead of me. It hurt like hell but it was fun!

I looked at the clock when I ran over the finish line and I think it said 3:15 something. Close enough anyway. I was so, so happy with how everything went, I just had a great time. It has given me a huge confidence booster now for the FitzroyFalls Marathon even though I know I still have some "Hill" work to do.

Doing some quick calculations (thanks to Gabby) once I returned home. I averaged a pace of:5:34/km. I will be waiting for the Official results to come out before I record anything though.

Preparations

2006-08-24T19:21:00.000-07:00

Friday 25th

30 mins slow cycle - Just to get the blood flowing in the legs. Not wanting to do too much before W2B so a nice relaxing cycle was all that I was attempting this morning. I have been trying to carb up and drink plenty of fluids in preparation for the run tomorrow. Still stretching heaps too.

I have arranged to get a lift up with Martin in the morning and the family will be cruising up to Bilpin later in the day and meeting me at the finish. Really looking forward to this run now : ) apparantly they have some yummy steak sandwiches at the end too.

I will be desperately waiting for word from fellow CR nando on Sunday to see how he went in the Adelaide Marathon. Good luck to all runners!

In other news - I went for a job interview on Tuesday and just found ou that I got the job! Really excited about this but it will require alot more dedication to actually getting out of bed early in the mornings to do my training. Very happy : )

Big catch up...

2006-08-23T22:03:00.000-07:00

Monday 21st

Rest day - Weights and core abs

Tuesday 22nd

am: 40mins easy run - 8.1km

pm: cycle 30mins slowly

Visited Easy Tiger in the afternoon. He worked his magic again. The leg, knee, itb, adductors etc...feel alot better - still not 100% though, so heaps of stretching to do.

Wednesday 23rd

Nothing?? Too scared to run because the legs feel really good. Had a lovely lunch with Jen_runs.

Thursday 24th

45mins easy run - 8.6km. A slight niggle in the adductors and some slight knee pain. Ordered some new shoes today. "Orange" Nimbus 8.

Soaking it up

2006-08-20T17:06:00.000-07:00

Saturday 19th

I ususally have a rest day on Saturdays but I felt like I needed a recovery run after the return to speedwork on Friday. So I ventured out for an easy 10k around the Ridge. It was really nice running in the fresh cool air, a great start to the weekend.

Time: 50mins
Distance: 10.1km

Sunday 20th

As hard as I tried I couldn't get anyone to run with me this Sunday : ( I had spoken to Blues Buffett just before I took off for my run and he suggested that I take the Parkway for a change and head out towards the M7 from home. So I did.

Although a little warmer at 1:00pm I found that I was running mostly in the shade along the Parkway and the weather was just georgeous. I also really liked the little grass strip that runs the entire length of the pathway which I ran on most of the way. Remembering the promise I have made to my legs to treat them with a little more respect, I think they were greatful that I ran on the grass and not the concrete.

Before long I had made it to the M7 cycleway and ran along there for 10mins or so then turned around and made my way back. Taking a slightly different route on the way back I finished up feeling great. The whole idea of the run was to not trash myself, but to get a decent long run in and to taper for W2B. Does that make sense??? I still have some knee, itb, hamstring issues and that was one of the other reasons why I took it easy. I have another appt with Easy Tiger this week to hopefully sort out the rest of my leg/hip issues.

Did a heap of stretches and put the skins on after a lovely loooong shower, nice!

Time: 2hrs 01min
Distance: 22.3km
Avg Pace: 5:26/km

A special day...

2006-08-17T04:55:00.000-07:00

Thursday 17th

Rest day - Finally made a mercy dash into the city for a much needed appt with Easy Tiger. He managed to iron out some crackley bits around my hips and helped to relieve some pain in the hamstrings, quads and itb. Felt 100 times better for it and I have another appt next week.

Friday 18th

20 mins warmup run
6 x 2min efforts with 1min sr
20mins warmdown run

Felt great this morning. (yes it was the morning!) Yay me, I made it out of bed for once. I have decided to be nice to my legs after the massage yesterday and I ran on grass (Yes grass Gary!) for the 6 x 2min efforts. I'm really trying to minimise the amount of stress that I put my legs through which is obviously no good for them given the recent injuries I have had.

Had some nice burning lungs at the end of the session, love it : )

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan. I have been watching the Vietnam stories all week on the History channel and in particular the doco on the Battle of Long Tan.

I have never seen such courage, determination and bravery like these young Aussies displayed in this battle. 108 soldiers from D Company 6RAR fought off approx 2,500 Viet Cong. A truely incredible story and sadly an almost unrecognised part of Australian history. "To the Diggers of Long Tan, I salute you"
18 Australian soldiers lost their lives in the Battle of Long Tan.

Back to training..

2006-08-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

Monday 14th

Rest Day! Felt pretty good post C2S. The knee actually felt alright. Did some stretches.

40mins - Core abs and weights

Tuesday 15th

40mins run - This was a terrible run! My knee played up the whole run. I was glad it was over after the 40mins. Did heaps of stretches and massaged the itb. I now have some lovely self inflicted bruises on my legs.

Wednesday 16th

My Official time for the C2S was 66:46 and placing was 3077th. Pretty happy with that : )

Today's run was a little better than yesterday's. I only had to stop 4 times in the first 5k to stretch and re-adjust my knee ; ) Once I got that out of the way I actually managed to run ther rest of the way in little pain at all and I didn't have to stop again. That aside I felt terrible today. I just wanted to get back and have a drink. I need to start bringing my fuel belt on the longer runs in the middle of the day.

Distance: 13.51km
Time: 1hr 8mins
Avg Pace: 5:05/km

On another note: My eldest son (Go Boy) was asking me all about W2B this morning and kept on probing with questions like: "How far is it that you will run?" and "where is it that you will be running?" , "will it be hot out there?", "what if you get lonely?, "what if you get lost?""is it really a mountain?" etc.... All to which I answered the best I could. He then paused a little bit and said to me with a very straight face: "I think I have the craziest Mum in the World!"
I think that was a compliment? We both laughed about it anyway.

C2S 2006

2006-08-13T20:58:00.000-07:00

Blurred vision? CR's.....The Owl, jen_runs, miners Uncle Dave (in front) Lulu, DJ and me.

I had a blast at this years C2S. Met up with the PG crowd at Owly's place to catch the bus in to the city with miners. The girls were catching the bus later. After dropping our bags off we made our way to the start to join the rest of the crew for the pre race party at the start line. It was great to catch up with so many familiar faces and it was nice to meet some new CR's and some other interstate runners as well. Digger's group provided some light entertainment free of charge : )

I wasn't sure how I was going to go this year and I wasn't sure if the knee would even hold up but I was soon to find out when the gun went off. I went out a little fast and I found myself gasping for air at the 2km mark where I slowed things down a little bit. As soon as we hit the first hill I could feel the knee twinging ever so slightly but kept up the pace and thought to myself, what the heck, just go for it..

I really struggled on HB Hill this year which was surprising considering all of the hill work that I had done in the lead up to this event. I did walk for bit and managed to stretch the knee (itb) out and then continued on, feeling much better for it. The other hills didn't seem too bad after that and the twinges in the knee had gone. I had reached the 10k mark feeling a whole lot better than I had in the first 5k and decided to really push it all the way to the finish.

The last 4k, I felt great. Can you tell I like the down hill? I ran the last 4 k at almost even 4:15/k splits. It was great to hear the "Go Coolrunner" from the lovely Jen_runs, Rags and Johnny Dark as we ran past. "Go Cheersquad!" Thanks guys, you are the greatest! This run tells me I really need to focus on MORE uphills and some strength work. I guess W2B in a couple of weeks will fix that up!

I ended up finishing with a 66:46 card which I am very pleased with. That's an 11min C2S PB from last year. Woohoo!! Tesso and I wandered over to the Pavillion and took a nice cool shower. (Refreshing!) Met up with the crowd on the Hill and had some of the Owl's apricot loaf. The celebrations at the pub afterwards were fun and overall I had a great day. I said I would say "Hi" in my Blog to the crowd from Brisbane (Diggers group) I hope you guys had a fun trip. When are you releasing your book Digger? "101 Marathon survival tips by Digger" ha ha...

It was great to hear about everyone's experiences of the day. I have pulled up pretty well today and I'm looking forward to going for a bit of a swim this afternnoon. Now, I must go and climb some hills.....

Possibilties...

2006-08-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

Just a very quick update...

I have only run once since last Sunday and that was yesterday (Thursday) I ran a slow 10k and my knee hurt like hell! I know it is the itb playing up again so I went ot see the Physio last night. Previously when I had itb it was different to this pain. This itb is a lot more painful and basically stops me in my tracks.

She said I may be able to run on Sunday but I need to continue to self massage the itb for the next two days and do a heap of stretches. I would really like to run on Sunday even if it's just to do a decent enough time to get back into the red group again next year.

So the goal is now to just finish and have fun and hopefully have an "itb" free run. There was no doubt that I was going to have fun anyway ; )

Sorry for not visiting Blogs too, I have had Go Baby at home sick for the last two days with a stomach virus.

RNP Run

2006-08-06T20:53:00.000-07:00

Turned up nice and early in the cold on Sunday morning. It was great to see that so many CR's had decided to come out for the run. I was really looking forward to having a decent long run.

I started off running with Nando and Valium with Mr Wildthing and another CR just ahead of us. I firstly noticed my right leg itb starting to complian about the down hill when we reached the Honeymoon steps (Grrr...)

We continued along the track until we reached the turn around gate which was at the 14km point. The knee became porgressively worse but I tried to hold on for as long as I could without having to stop and stretch. Soon thew pain became too much so I had to stop. Valium kindly stopped with me for a while but I didn't want to hold her up so I told her to go on ahead as I knew that Rags and Will were not far behind me and I could just continue on with them.

Pretty soon the guys caught up to me and scooped me up and dragged me along. Nando made an appearance about 4 times running back and forward to check on everyone (he must have run about 50k??) Rags and I made a nice slow climb up the honeymoon stairs back to the spot that we had started from.

Besides the knee trouble it was great to get out in such a lovely part of Sydney. We had a nice Brunch close by via a tour of a few local streets (Blue Dog) It was lovely chatting to the group about all things running.

Distance: 28km
Time: 2hrs 40mins?

(Lost signal a few times)

What a Barry...

2006-08-05T03:37:00.000-07:00

Friday 4th

Rest Day (My Birthday)

Saturday 5th

I had an absolute shocker today. Felt like crap from the start, couldn't run the hills and the splits were so inconistant it was ridiculous.
4:29, 4:37 , 5:00, 4:40, 5:19, 4:47, 4:15, 4:15, 4:39, 4:16 = TOO SLOW

Can you guess where the hills were?

Lane Cove, I will be back.

Distance: 10.15km
Time:46:56mins
Avg Pace: 4:37/km

Congrat's to Gronk who had a fantastic run today, he's on fire! I might need to catch another bus for the C2S - A slower one...

The week so far....

2006-08-02T16:38:00.000-07:00

Monday 31st

Cycle 1hr 30mins - Fluid trainer - Went flat out - Hills and speed session!
Core abs and weights - 30mins

Tuesday 1st

Rest

Wednesday 2nd

50 mins easy - Followed by some Hills around the Kellyville, Beaumont Hills area. I have found the mother of all hills.. Wilson Rd, Beaumont Hills *Yikes*

I had some problems with my right knee on this run and I had to stop 3 times to stretch it out. It was a really painful stabbing feeling just under the knee cap - strange.

Distance: 10.1km
Time:49mins
Avg Pace:4:55

Thursday 3rd

Another easy run. Just took it really easy in the beginning, testing out that knee. All seemed to be ok so I ramped it up a bit on the return 5k. I even threw in 2 laps of the Wilson Rd Hill for good measure. Nice! (Not)

Distance:10.5km
Time:53mins
Avg Pace: 5:08

Weekend happenings...

2006-07-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

Saturday 29th

Rest day

Sunday 30th

I actually made it out of bed before 7am for a planned 1hr 30mins run. I started off at reasonable pace, just enjoying the surroundings and happy to be out running early in the morning again.

No niggles or anything to report for the entire run and it was all pretty uneventful really. Completed the run and went home for some stretches and a yummy breakfast.

The weather was great and I took the opportunity of such a great day and walked to the Park with the kids. We have one of those unreal spiderweb playgrounds near home. Go Boy and I had fun racing each other to the top. Later I overheard one of the other kids asking his mum to race him to the top too. Ooops, I don't think I was very popular with the other Mum's.

Time: 1hr 26mins
Distance: 17.3km
Avg Pace: 5:01/km

My little adventure

2006-07-27T17:12:00.000-07:00

More Hunter Valley pics..Miners and Digger after their fantastic Marathon run.
Well done! (Picture courtesy of Rags) - Just for you Andrew!

Thursday 28th

50 mins easy on a hilly course followed by 4 hard hill reps. A total of 60 mins all up. I felt great during this run, it was one of those runs that just wish you could bottle it and keep it for the days you are having a shocker.

I made it back to the work to discover that I had locked myself out.(!) So I then ran 10k home to get the spare key and then cycled the 10k back to work. Not really what I had in mind for the day but I ended up with a total of:

Run: 21km
Cycle:10km

I was pretty tired after all of that and I realised that I had no hydration at all until I made it home. 21km on no fluid intake is very naughty**Big smack** Needless to say I spent all afternoon rehydrating. Slept pretty well too.

Friday 29th

I'm beginning to like this midday running. I get to sleep in and it's a lot warmer when I get out at lunch time. I wasn't expecting anything too flash out of todays session after yesterdays little adventure but I was looking forward to it anyway.

20mins warm up run - It was really warm out there.

5 x 1km reps with 1min 30secs sr:

3:58

3:55

4:01

4:03

3:56

20mins run back.

I was really surprised with the times which are the best 1km reps that I have ever done. I'm guessing that now the fatigue of the Marathon is over I am riding on the back of the fitness that I had built up just before that. I'm really happy with the session overall and I finished off with some 20mins of weights and core ab exercises : ))

Total: 12km

Time: 58 mins

Unfortunately I won't make it to the CR 5km Challenge tomorrow or even to Joggers now. Because of all of the rain we have had the slab to our house is being poured tomorrow so I am on Football and Kids Birthday Party duties all day!

Cruisey Lunch run..

2006-07-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

Mmmm the finish line....

Mmmm Oranges.....Oh, that's Mrs Tuttle in the middle.

Mmmmm Wine......

Edit: pictures of the Hunter Valley and the winning team 1st place in the Female Marathon Relay category : ) Yay Jen and Nat!

Tuesday 25th

Rest

Wednesday 26th

I took off for a lunch run and headed down to the Caddies Creek Cycle path. This is a great little run going through the back of Kellyville and Beaumont Hills. A bit of a hilly run combined with some flat pathways stretching for approx 5km. Very nice for a midday session. Feeling pretty good.

Time: 1hr 17mins
Distance: 15.1km
Avg Pace: 5:08

A red one for me too.

2006-07-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

Monday 24th

Yay! I got a red one. #3160

City 2 Surf Bib that is. I wasn't sure if I would make it into this group this year but I was very pleased when I opened my mail yesterday and I had made it into the "Red Bib" brigade for the C2S.

I'm a bit like Gronk...I'm starting to feel like a real runner now : ) Last year I stood at the start of the Blue pack (not that there's anything wrong with being in the Blue group) wondering if I would ever make it to the Red group. And...I did. Now I can seriously start thinking about this run and I had better do some preparations. Luckily I was planning on returing to Joggers this Saturday morning anyway, they always do some good hill runs.

Cycle - 50mins - windtrainer. Did this last night just to get the legs moving again and I find that it really helps my knee's. I don't have any pain when I cycle regularly. So I guess it will now become a permanent part of my training. It was just a slow session I don't even think I raised a sweat.

Wine tasting tour with a twist...

2006-07-23T21:16:00.000-07:00

Sunday 23rd

What a great weekend! (I have cut and pasted most of this from my CR post btw) Started off the weekend with picking up Jen and driving to the Hunter via a few other places ; ) Once we finally arrived we went to pick up our race pack and met up with Miners briefly before heading off for coffee with Rags and Mrs R. Very nice!

One notable thing missing from the race pack was the lack of instructions on timings for race starts and instructions for relay runners etc... Nice shirts and drink bottles in the pack though. Rags did the recon for dinner and we soon made our way down to the Irish pub for some yummy pizza and a glass of wine.

We woke up early the next morning and had some toast and I had a cup of tea before heading down to the start. I don't think things quite went to plan for the race organisers. As I was running the second leg of the Marathon Relay and I remained in the start / finish area, I got to see the whole mess unfold. I feel that the organisers had tried to take on too much for a first time event and having so many things going on at once was really confusing to everyone.

Firstly the Marathon start was delayed by about 15mins and most competitiors were unsure of which event was going first. After cheering off Miners, Tuttle, Digger and Plu in the Marathon, I had the pleasure of babysitting "Mini Tuttle" who was very well behaved and we watched his Mum power on home in the 10k. Also saw MPH who was obviously disappointed and ended up with a dnf which was a shame as he was running so well.

Being the second runner in the Marathon Relay with Jen_runs I had no idea where to stand to do the change over and Jen had no idea where to run to tag me for the second half. When I did start running (we just did our own thing) it soon became very clear that I was going to be running alone as all of the marathoners that were on their second lap had already gone through.

Unfortunately I became lost in the first 1km and ran approximately 2km in the wrong direction because I didn't have anyone to follow and there were no signs or marshalls directing me out side the gate to the road?? I then found that when I did come up to a marshall or a drink station they were assuming that I was on my second lap of the Marathon and already knew where to go.
So directions like "just go the same way you went before" were not really helpful. I didn't see any km markings on the course at all either.

Word soon got around to the Marshalls that I was the last runner which was the case until I caught up to about half a dozen of the Marathon tailenders. It was funny because every Marshall knew my name and cheered me on when I ran past them. Obviously the one guy that I stopped to talk to had radioed ahead and told them all, so that was pretty cool : ) I will be interested to see the data from Rags's Garmin (I left mine at home) just to see what the splits were when I was running (not asking for directions)

I felt strong right to the end and came in with a 1:45 which is not too disappointing considering all of the stop/starts and wrong turns. All other things aside I had a great run. I felt like I was running without any sign of fatigue for the first time since the GCM. In fact I felt fantastic out there on the trails : ) If I hadn't just been out for a fun weekend with friends then I probably would have been a bit more disappointed about the lack of directions and markings on the course.

Overall though it was a great weekend. I had a lovely dinner with Jen_runs, Rags and Mrs R the night before the run and enjoyed their company for lunch again after the run where we polished off our spot prize of a nice bottle of Red. A huge thanks to my wonderful Relay partner - Jen_runs. You did a great job!

I did it!

2006-07-20T20:52:00.000-07:00

Friday 21st

Not so amazing but...I went for a run.

Firstly, you will notice that there was no report of running for yesterday that's because I didn't run at all yesterday, so 2 days off in a row. Ho Hum...

However, I did get out of bed this morning for an easy trot around the Ridge : ) What looked like rain at first was really only just wet ground and fog...lots of it. I decided to leave "Gabby" at home today and just really take it easy. I was running pretty smoothly and even had a smile on my face at one stage until...my leg started aching.

It's exactly the same leg and spot that bothered me during the GCM. I really thought that the couple of days rest would fix all of these silly little niggles. (Grrr) I managed to finish the run which was 8km all up. I'm stretching and icing at the moment but I'm sure I will be ok for the weekend. I'm not going to do anything silly at the Hunter Valley so like my Relay Partner , I will just be taking it easy.

I'm really looking forward to the social aspect of this weekend more than anything, just keep me away from the Red Wine ; )

That's not the spirit....

2006-07-19T16:40:00.000-07:00

Monday 17th

Cycle 1hr 30mins windtrainer - Felt great. Did a really hard hill session and I watched the A1 channel which had a Nepal Mountain bike race program on. I felt like I was riding those hills with them. Except it took them 6 days and their hills were bigger than mine and they were on a real mountain. : ( Oh well, one day I will get to take my bike to a real mountain.

Tuesday 18th

50mins easy - This was the first run since the Marathon that I almost felt normal again. Still having some issues with energy levels despite eating heaps of carbs during the day and drinking plenty of water. Not sure what is going on there?

Wednesday 20th

I had planned to get up early - didn't happen.
I was going to cycle in the afternoon - didn't happen.
I could have run in the afternoon - didn't happen.

I'm really struggling with getting back into the early mornings again. Even though I have put together a new porgram to get me past W2B I just don't seem to have the determination and motivation to get into it. I need a good kick in the pants I think!

Ok, so it was only 1 day off training that I missed and I was suffering from some DOMS after the big hill session on Monday night so it was probably better that I had a rest day anyway. That's not the issue here. Where has my motivation gone???

Thursday 20th

Big plans to get up and run this morning but you guessed it, I slept in, again : ( So now I plan on getting out this afternoon - we'll see about that!

Weekend update

2006-07-16T03:39:00.000-07:00

Thursday 13th

Return to speedwork and I felt really good during this session. Thought that I would just do 12 x 30sec's fast x 30secs jog recovery. Unfortunately it aggravated my knee again so probably wasn't a wise move.

Distance: 9.5km

Friday 14th

Cycle : 1hr 15mins

Saturday 15th

Rest

Sunday 16th

Cherrybrook Chase. I headed over to Cherrybrook for the 5km event. It was great to catch up with some familiar faces from the Hills area that I hadn't seen for a while. Also to catch up with a host of CR's including Pipe, Plu, Sailaway, Superflake, 2b, Bert, Dash Incredible and a few others.

I knew that the recovery from the Marathon was holding me back a bit so there was never going to be any PB's especially since this was supposedly a hilly course as well. The start went well and I soon realised that I had run out way too quickly as I struggled up the first series of hills. Things levelled out a little after that and I settled into a rhythm with another female who seemed a little agitated to have me breathing down her neck.

I saw Sparkie first coming back in the opposite direction and he was looking very strong in first place. I could only count one female that was infront of me at the turn so I had a quick look back and the 3rd placing female was a fair way behind me so second place was pretty much in the bag. It's a pity that I had run almost a PW and still managed a placing. (23:32) A long way off the great time that I ran just before the Marathon for this distance but that was on a totally flat course under different conditions and on much fresher legs. Still, I'm pretty happy with my Bling : )

My leg feels alright after the run today and with some stretching during the week I think everything should be good for the HV - Relay on the weekend.

Running again

2006-07-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 11th

40mins run - Knee feeling heaps better on this run and I ran through some pretty decent hills. Although my energy level was a little down during this run, I still felt good at the end of it. Ran at lunch time from work which was different for a change.

Wednesday 12th

1hr 20 mins cycle - windtrainer

Weights and core abs - 30mins

I sweated a bucket load but it was fun. I have started to follow a speed / hills program that I found on the Internet. Good workout! I watched a cricket dvd from the 80's. What a classic! I never tire of watching Dennis Lillie and the boys from back then strutting their stuff on the field. But what about those clothes???

I think I'm starting to like this bike thingy. It would be good if I could get myself out on the road again sometime ; )

New Inspiration

2006-07-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 5th

After packing up the kids and making our way to the GC airport we sat in the gate lounge waiting for our flight. There was a heap of other families and kids playing around waiting for the same flight back to Sydney. I noticed one mother chatting away to her kids but then when I looked a little closer I realised that it was Kerryn McCann. Oooh..how exciting. Well for me it was anyway. I told my eldest son who she was and he was really excited too. He sat with me and watched her amazing Commonwealth Games win, so he knew exactly who she was.

Once we were on the flight I realised that I just so happened to have a copy of the Runners World in my bag with Kerryn on the cover. She was just sitting two seats ahead of us, so Go Boy and I went and got her autograph. She signed it on the page of with her in full flight with the words "Never say Never" in the background.

I think this made up for missing out on getting Brooke Hanson's autograph the day before : (

Thursday 6th

Rest - Knee still sore

Friday 7th

Rest - Easy Tiger massage

Saturday 8th

Walk - 5km

Sunday 9th

Run slowly- 40mins - Felt good during the run but the knee complained bitterly afterwards : (

Ice, voltaren and stretching

Monday 10th

Does my bum look big in this??

I look like a duck on steroids with those Nicks on. Talk about bubble butt.

Cycle - Windtrainer - 1hr15mins.

Weights and core abs - 30mins

I didn't want to stop! Felt great bopping away to my music in the lounge. Luckily no one was home to see me or to hear my horribly out of tune singing.

Gold Coast Marathon Report Part 2.....

2006-07-09T17:01:00.000-07:00

Post Race...Still on Sunday.... Photo thanks to PLU!

I managed to hobble over to the Pat Carroll tent after I had finished and did a few stretches and caught up with Tesso and JD and found out about all of the other runners in the Half and some of the other Marathoners as well. It was like stories from the battlefield, a great atmosphere.

I knew that I had done some damage to my knee and calf muscle but I really didn't care too much because I had finished my first Marathon. There were so many great stories out there. I went down to the finishing chute to cheer on some of the other runners coming through.

Desperate for a shower I made my way back to the hotel and then hobbled on down to the Northcliff SLSC. That was great fun! After the first half of my beer I was feeling pretty happy but the pain in my knee didn't seem to go away..I think it got worse by all of the sitting around.

A few beers later and lots of chatting and socialising...We made our way into Caville Mall for dinner. It was really great to catch up with all of the CR's over the weekend and had some laughs with Nando, Rags and Allrounder at dinner. The walk back to the Hotel was just sooo painful. My hotel was only two streets away but it felt like my leg was being stabbed by a thousand knives..ok slight exaggeration 999 knives. Ouch!..It was a very restless nights sleep. The next day (Monday) was just spent resting and walking around the shops. I think the walking around did me some good.

Some thoughts:

I will not.....

Forget my CR cap for a race again
Forget to pack Bodyglide
Wear the wrong shorts
Run on the left side of the road in any race.... : ( Tank Girl has suffered a a very simular injury to mine and I think that the road had something to do with it. Both felt the same pain after about 16km..
Cry in Caville Mall again after saying goodbye to my friends : (

I will.....

Learn to adjust my race plan mid race and accept that "anything" can happen
Run another Marathon
Continue to have fun and enjoy running

The best part is......I have now qualified for 6ft. Yeah! **jumps in the air, cartwheels and Hi fives allround**

Tuesday 4th

Some one thought it was my Birthday! Thanks for the messages but no, it's not until August : )

Went to Movie World with the kids and Go Hubby. It was goos to keep moving and walk around most of the day. I was pretty tired at the end of the day though.

Wednesday 5th

Met up with the miner for an early morning jog along the beach. First run after the Marathon! My leg felt a little bit sore in the beginning and then the pain got worse as I went along. Luckily I had one of my favourite CR's to keep me company because I probably would have just turned around and gone back to my hotel room otherwise. So it was a bit of a slow jog/walk/talk session.

I tried running again once we hit the harder road but it was still really painful so I had to stop and walk again. Not sure exactly how far we ran, but it wasn't very far. I was grateful for the opportunity to get out and get moving again and I couldn't resist the invitation to go running with the lovely miner ; ) Thanks for getting me back into it.

One last special thanks to Jen_runs. Jen - Thankyou so, so much for your support. You are an amazing supporter and a great cheerleader. I can't wait to cheer you along in your first Marathon : )

GC Marathon Report Pt 1....

2006-07-05T17:21:00.000-07:00

Pre race - I flew up to Queensland with the kids on Friday afternoon. This was a little stressfull but we managed to all get there in one piece. Trying to hydrate and eat all of the right things was almost impossible but I did manage a pasta dish for dinner.

Saturday morning I went into the Expo to pick up my race kit and also went to check into my Hotel. I had Go Baby with me so we had a little diversion to the park along the way to keep him occupied. Caught up with heaps of CR's at the Expo but I still wasn't feeling nervous just excited more than anything. I love how this event is so well run and very organised. Many other events could learn a thing or two from the way that the Gold Coast do things, it's really impressive.

I had pre arranged for my mother- in- law to have the kids Saturday night so I waited until she came and picked up Go Baby (Go Boy was already with her) and went out for dinner with the Crew. No surprises with the pasta dinner choice but Rags had the best dinner by far...he .. he..

With all of the rushing around with the kids I had managed to lose my CR cap and forgot to pack my Bodyglide... Luckily Jen runs lent me her cap (Thanks Jen!) and I bought some Bodyglide from the Expo..

Race Morning - I had a great nights sleep and woke up feeling refreshed and ready for action. I think that truthfully I really hadn't had time to think that much about the race but as I was getting dressed I really started to get nervous. I had a bowl of Nutri-Grain and some sports drink for breakfast. Then headed on down to the Hotel foyer where I shared a taxi with some other runners who were doing the Half.

I had arranged to meet up with some CR's at the Pat Carroll tent and I left my bag there as well. I watched the start of the Half on the big screen, seemed like a big crowd. I moseyed on up to the start and soon met up with other CR's and lined up with cassig as we had simular goals in mind. I put my Mp3 player on and waited for the gun to go off , I couldn't believe I was finally running my first Marathon.

The first part was a bit of a dodge game but I slipped in behind the 3:30 pacers. I quickly realised that they were running way too fast (4:40's) and I dropped off the back of the group at about 5k. I managed to sit behind a group of 3 guys who were just running at the perfect pace (5min km's) and they didn't seem mind me tagging along. I made it to the 10km mark (48mins) feeling really good and was happy with the pace and effort so far.

I managed to stay with the same guys for quite a way and at the 15km mark I took a gel and somehow lost them at the drinks station. At around the 16km mark I felt a twinge in my left calf, almost like a cramping feeling. The pain started to get progressively worse with each km and it felt like a pulling sort of tightness feeling in the calf. This was starting to worry me and as I passed through the next aid station I stopped off to the side to stretch it out for a few seconds. This helped a little but it was only temporary. I was soon at the 21km mark and I passed through there in 1:43 which was still on track but I was worried about my leg and how it would hold up for the rest of the race.

I started to think about possibly pulling out of the race at the 25km mark I didn't want to really injure myself but I really didn't want to have a "dnf" for my first Marathon either. I then reasoned with myself deciding that if I made it to each aid station and stretched for a bit then I could continue until the pain became too bad or unbearable. Just after making that decision my left knee started aching and pulling under my knee cap. From here I had to change my goal to just finishing in one piece. My pace dropped off to 5:30 for a couple of km's and I just pressed on still stopping and stretching at each aid station.

It was sore/lonely run out the back to Runaway Bay before the final turn for home. When I had reached the 36km mark I knew that I didn't have that long to go so I told myself that I could either put up with the pain and finish this race sooner or put up with the pain and take a lot longer by walking the rest of the way. I chose to keep running but still had to stop regularly to stretch. At the 38km mark I knew that I had plenty left in the tank and the only thing stopping me was the knee pain. I really dug deep and the cheer from the cheersquad (thanks guys) was enough to get me through the last few km's. If anyone had seen me in the finishing chute, I was grimacing as I ran in the final 300m. The grimace wasn't from exhaustion but from the pain in my leg.

I didn't feel sad that I hadn't met my goal, I was just elated to have finished and I was happy with my result all factors aside. A huge thanks to all of the cheerers and especially Jen_runs, Cirque, Miners, Tesso, JD, Plu and everyone else who cheered me along, I really appreciate the support.

Some special mentions:
Easy Tiger - Couldn't have made it to the start without your magical massages.
Eagle and 26miles - Thanks for your words of wisdom and advice.
PG - You guys are the best. You all have helped me to get to this point and I cherish your support and friendship. Big hugs and kisses to you all.
Pat Carroll - Fantastic program and coaching.
My family - For supporting me.

To be continued.......

Official Result - GC Marathon..

2006-07-05T03:47:00.000-07:00

3:46:05

Full details later.

Not long to go...

2006-06-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 28th (pm)

I may have to change my attire for Sunday after some of those comments. Although it may be a strange coincidence that I can't find my CR cap anywhere? Must look in the toy box, I think Go Baby had it on last....Could be anywhere...

Went to the Gym last night to do my planned 50 mins easy run. I wore my long skins mainly because I had been for a massage with ET earlier on in the day and because it was so cold outside. I didn't realise how bloody hot it was going to be in the Gym. As if that wasn't hot enough, who do I run into...MPH! Strutting his stuff on the tready.

After finally working out how to "quick start" the machine I didn't set it at any particular time, just did a 2k warm up then set it to 5 min/k and planned to run for 50 mins. The silly thing cut out after 25mins?!? Gee I was angry.. One of the reasons I had joined that Gym was because they reassured me that the treadmills didn't have a limit on them...Liars! It was almost a case of Treadmill Rage. Well not really, but I was pretty annoyed. Luckily Martin came over to talk to me which gave me a good excuse to stop the machine and start again for another 25mins..

I'd had enough by the end of it, although it was good to have all of the different TV screens to look at while running. All up I did 12 km. 10k @5min/k pace and 2k @ some other speed? With a break somewhere in the middle.

This afternoon will be 12 x 30 x 30...easy! Then just a slow 30 mins tomorrow morning-cool!That's it all done! Not sure about how much Internet access I will have after tomorrow as I fly out tomorrow afternoon. I'm guessing the Hotel will have the Internet so I may be able to post something after the race.

The final week..

2006-06-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

Monday 26th

Rest Day - I did completely rest. I haven't mentioned before but I have been battling a bit of a cold in the last week and just over the weekend I could feel it moving to my chest. I have been like a frantic medicine woman trying to get rid of it.

I have taken a bucket load of lotions and potions trying to clear it up and just today I actually woke up not feeling too bad. So I am avoiding the early morning running in the cold and I have been going out in the afternoon instead.

I'm trying to do all of the right things like drinking heaps of water and getting plenty of rest. I am confident that I will be ok for Sunday, the worst of it has passed.

Tuesday 27th

Complete dress rehearsal and 4k @ race pace. I set off in the afternoon did the usual 20mins warmup run then the 4k @ race pace. I found this to be so painfully slow but it was good to have the Garmin there to keep me on track and I kept on monitoring my pace for about the first 1.5km's then the rhythm of the required pace set in and I was right. Tested out the new gear as well and it was all good : )

For Tesso and the Cheersquad, this is the top that I will be wearing with black Sogoi shorts. This top is great. It's a Sugoi top and it has a little pocket on the back just perfect for my gels, tissues etc.... I will be wearing my CR cap as well and of course my precious green shoes ; ) Now I'm just downloading a few more songs for the playlist and I will have that finalised by tomorrow. Geez, so much to do!

Wednesday 28th

Off into town to catch up with a friend who is in a Barrista competition in Martin Place this morning..Oooh...free coffee!! Then It's an hour of massage with Easy Tiger. I will be running at the Gym tonight instead of out in the cold, I just don't want to push my luck. Easy 50mins on the program. I might even go into the steam room and see if that helps.

A strange week...

2006-06-25T02:58:00.000-07:00

Saturday 24th

After a mix up in times for football I ended up not being able to make it to the CR 5K Challenge. At 7:30am the team manager rang up and said that the football was off.. Great! It has been one of those weeks for me this week.

Sunday 25th

Determined to get out and at least do my scheduled 5ktt I set off at 7:30 am for the local baseball field. I felt very fresh after the few days rest and completed the normal warmup routine with some stretches just before the 5k. The run went really well overall and I felt like I had pretty much pushed it all the way. I ended up with a new PB of 20:50!! A 1 minute PB. It's a shame that no-one was around to share it with me : ( I guess I will have to validate my new time at the next CR 5K Challenge.

Finished off with a nice slow 10km afterwards and I was feeling pretty happy with myself. I soon made it back home and then headed off to watch the finish of W 2 G. That looks like a great run and I would love to give it a go next year. Gave a big cheer to Jen_runs and Horrie as they came in and chatted to Orunner and Gnomey at the end. Also saw Easy Tiger who had had a pretty bad stack but came away with a course PB.

Just to add to everything else that has happened to me this week (believe me there is more than I have told here) On the way to Glenbrook I witnessed a very sickening accident. A cyclist was knocked off his bike and was pushed into a fence, after cartwheeling a few times over the handlebars. I just couldn't believe it! This was actually on the opposite side of the road to me so there was not much that I could do from where I was. A heap of cars had already stopped so that was ok.

Then a woman was driving in front of me down Windsor Rd and for some reason went into the right hand lane straight into on coming traffic?? So I sped up and beeped the horn at her to get over before she had a head on collision with the on coming traffic. I then looked at her number plate and the last 3 numbers were 666. What is going on? I hope next week improves.

Stacked it!

2006-06-22T16:27:00.000-07:00

Thursday 22nd

40 mins run
30mins cycle

I decided that I would take the bike out for a spin. I should have realised from the start that it was a bad idea. Firstly it was dark. Secondly it was slightly raining and thirdly I'm still getting used to the new bike this being only my second outing on the road.

Everything was going fine and I didn't travel too far from home and I managed to do 4 x 3km loops with no problems. When I returned home I forgot to release the cleats and yep...over I went. I managed to miss the nice soft grass completely and took the full impact on my left knee and left buttock, ouch!

Luckily it was dark and no-one else was around. What a TERRY! ( Had to steal your word there MPH) I was just lying there for a while taking stock of what injuries I had sustained. Thankfully the only thing that really hurt was my ego... After I finally released my other foot I got up and picked my bike up and went inside for some chocolate therapy : )

I have a little bruise on my leg and my butt, but I'm ok. The bike is off limits now until after the Marathon.

Little Millie

2006-06-20T16:29:00.000-07:00

Millie is a beautiful14 month old little girl at my son's day care. Yesterday afternoon when I walked into the day care centre, Millie had just hit her head on one of the cabinets. I heard the bang from around the corner and went in to the room to have a look at what had happened.

Millie was lying on the ground convulsing. One of the child care workers was sitting with her and promptly rolled Millie on to her side. Millies eyes were rolling back and she was gasping for air. I straight away clicked into emergency mode. I noticed that Millie was turning blue and was having difficulties breathing so I put my fingers under her chin and pushed her head back to open up her airway which instantly helped her breathing and a normal colour returned to her face. The Mother was in the room and was obviously really distraught so I asked one of the child care workers to take her into the office until the ambulance had arrived.

Millie was very weak but we tried to keep her awake by talking to her about her pets and friends but we just couldn't, her little body was so exhausted she went off to sleep. I grabbed one of the child care workers and asked her to write all of the information down for the Ambo's including the length of time of the seizure. I stayed with Millie monitoring her breathing and pulse. The Ambo's took about 15mins to get to the Child Care Centre (after they worked out we were in NSW not VIC! ) As soon as the Ambo's arrived I just got out of the way and took my two boys home.

As soon as we walked inside the door at home my eldest son (9yrs) started crying and was very upset over what he had just seen. I had completely forgotten about him during all of this but he was right there with me and had witnessed the whole incident. He soon calmed down when I explained that Millie would be alright and she was in good care now.

I called the day care centre later on in the evening to see how Millie was and apparantly she woke up in the Ambulance after they had administered oxygen. Millie is ok now and was released from hospital late last night.

The whole experience has just made me realise how fragile life can be. I gave my little treasures extra hugs and kisses before bed and appreciating the fact that I have two happy, healthy children that are loved very much.

Wednesday 21st

Ran the usual Wednesday long run. I left my watch at home today but ran for the desired time and distance so the box was ticked.

Time: 1hr 23mins
Distance: 16km

Dog of a day!

2006-06-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

Monday 19th

Rest - Real rest day ; )

Tuesday 20th

I loved doing this session. I trotted off in the fog this morning to the nice soft baseball field to do my scheduled 15 mins of 100m sprints with 50m floats followed by 1min sr then 5 more mins of the same thing.

As I was doing the usual warm up run I was thinking to myself what an intersting session it is going to be in the dark and the fog. I have always had pretty good night vision so once I was down there it was just a matter of listening to the beeps on the garmin and running flat out hoping that I didn't hit the wire fence before the beeps stopped me first.

Everything was going so well until about 10 mins into the first set when this huge Labrador came out of nowhere and knocked me down. After I had said a few choice words and got up and dusted myself off, the silly mutt was still bouncing around me like I was it's owner. Soon after the owner came over and called the dog off me. I couldn't resist telling him of his responsibilty to have his dog on the lead!!!!! He seemed disappointed that he actually had to walk his dog now and not just let it off the lead and let it run while he watched. It wasn't the dogs fault, he was a nice dog.

After the dog incident I was a little shaken but managed to get back into it and finished the session off pretty well. The jog back home was fun in the fog.

Everything in reverse

2006-06-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday 17th

Rest day - 1hr cycle (windtrainer) while watching the Alice in Wonderland movie. What a strange show that was!

Sunday 18th

After much deliberating (will I go toinight? No maybe I will go in the morning? etc.....) I finally made it out for a chilly 8:30pm 1hr run. I don't normally run at this time of the day and I don't really like running at this time of the day either. It was supposed to be 2hr easy run but I was a little spooked being out on the roads by myself so late at night. So after the first loop I had decided that was enough and trotted off home. I promptly got changed and hopped on the windtrainer for 1hr. So I did the block thingy, but in reverse. Or is it brick?

I don't think that missing out on that last 1hr of my run is really going to effect my marathon preparation at all especially now that I'm in taper mode anyway. I have been pretty good with sticking to the program and little diversions are to be expected along the way. I'm sure no training program is ever completed without some sort of sabotage happening along the way.

Run
Time: 58mins
Distance :11.25km
Avg Pace: 4:58/km

Cycle
1hr

2006-06-16T05:53:00.000-07:00

Thursday 15th

40 mins cycle (windtrainer) 40 mins run

Friday 16th

Too cold to get out of bed. Besides I had decided to take 26miles advice and run when it is warmer to condition myself for the GC ; ) Good excuse hey.

Ok, the run was delayed until the afternoon so at approx 3:31:25 I set off for what was going to be tough session. I don't know why I get all stressed about these 3km runs in training but I just freak about them every time? Probably more even than when I am racing. So today it was:

20mins warm up
3 x 3km @ sub 13:15 with 45 sec sr.

13:01 = 4:21 avg pace
13:22 = 4:27 avg pace
13.11 = 4:24 avg pace

a shorter warmdown because I had to get home but the run ended up being:

Time: 1hr08mins
Distance: 14.3km
Avg Pace: 4:46/km

I was really happy to be able to keep the pace reasonably controlled. Rather than my last lot of runs like this where I went out too fast and died in the last 2 km. I think I am starting to get the hang of this pacing thing (sort of) I deliberately didn't look at my watch to check the pace after the first 1km for each 3km set. I set the pace and tried to hold it and it seemed to work pretty well.

Feeling pretty good right now and really happy with how the training is going. Not sure how much training I will get done this weekend though with Go Hubby away on his Annual Watagans bush bike bash. I think the windtrainer is going to be my new best friend.

Hey ya!

2006-06-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

Alright, Alright, Alright...So I had the Lyrics mixed up a bit. But yes it was Outkast. Well done to those that knew the answer. Yeah good one Shane, very clever. Just one of the many songs that feature regularly on my midweek running playlist. Hello to new reader Carmen.

Monday 12th

Rest day - Cycle 45mins (Wind trainer) Stretching - 45mins

Upper body weights, core and push ups - 40mins

Tuesday 13th

20 mins warmup run and 8x 1min efforts with 45 secs sr. I headed out the door late in the afternoon after getting up early and taking a little peek outside. I saw the frost and decided that I wasn't going to run in the freezing cold. I know, toughen up Go Girl! But I just wimped out.

Felt pretty good doing this session, even felt a bit faster than normal. It was just one of those sessions where you come away feeling really good. The 20mins run back home was pretty uneventful and I followed it up with some stretching.

Time: 50 mins
Distance: 9.1km

Wednesday 14th

Mid week long run again. The weeks are just flying by. I felt a little residual soreness when I jumped out of bed this morning. Mainly in the back of the legs. I suspect from the weekend's run but more so from yesterdays speedwork.

How cold was it this morning? Woke up to fog, darkness and very cold conditions. If I wasn't training for this Marathon I think I would have been tempted to just roll over and go back to sleep today. But I strapped on the shoes instead and took off down the road.

Feeling good again today for most of the run until about the 12km mark where I started to get some really bad stomach cramps. I had to stop for a few minutes because I felt like I was going to be sick at one stage. Luckily I was right near a bubbler and I had a little sip of water and then kept on going. Ended up with:

Time: 1hr 21mins
Distance: 16km
Avg Pace: 5:05/km

Another one in the bank. A few of you have been asking about predicted times etc.. for the GC. I have started to think about this a little more now as the event draws nearer. However, I still have bit of training left to do yet and I will just be happy to enjoy my first Marathon, whatever time I end up with.

What is cooler than cold?

2006-06-11T04:15:00.000-07:00

Ice cold! Anyone know what song that is from?

This picture is of one of the many bridges that I run over on the M7.

Sunday 11th
I resisted today's long for most of the day however I knew that any amount of delaying it would just result in not doing it at all so I headed out at about 1:30pm.

All of my long tights were in the wash so it was shorts and long sleeve shirt for today's 2hr 40mins. Slight drizzle as I started but that soon went away. It wasn't too cold to start with but that soon changed. Not long into the run a very cold breeze hit me head on and it was tough going.

Feeling pretty fresh today and was just glad that I had made out the door so I didn't really take any notice of the pace until I had reached the 10km mark where I had just passed the 50 min mark. A little quick but I felt good so no biggie really. I had a Gu that was recommended by one of my fellow Bloggers (Portrunnr) Espresso Love.. Let me tell you, I needed all the Love that I could get out there today because no-one else was as stupid as me not even the cyclists were to be seen today.

I reached the turnaround and it felt great because now the wind was at my back instead of in my face, nice. The Espresso Love must have kicked in because i found myself turning over 4:40's and 4:50's for a few km's leading up to the 21km mark. The hills just didn't worry me today and I was really happy with my breathing considering I had felt so tragically out of breath during the week after some of the speed sessions.

I started to think about the GC Marathon in a weeks time and letting myself know that I need to just relax now and not worry too much about it. I'm not nervous yet, just getting excited really. Staring to think about playlists for the Mp3 and what to wear etc.. At least I have the shoes all sorted, and what nice shoes they are too ; )

Felt great in the last half and the usually tough hills at the end didn't bother me today. I found that I had done a huge negative split (5mins) and when I returned to the car park I had to keep on going because I was supposed to run for 2hrs 40mins, not 2hrs 35mins.

I managed to make it back after hunting down some more road on:

Time: 2:40 mins
Distance: 31.69km
Avg Pace: 5:03/km

Really happy with today's run and is a really big confidence booster a few weeks out from the Marathon. Did heaps of stretching at the oval afterwards and spending time now rehydrating while I watch the Aussies thump the Poms in the Rugby Union.

I did the Block

2006-06-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

Thursday 8th

AM -40mins cycle and 40mins run. This was interesting! I rode down to the entrance of the M7 cycleway where I normally do my Sunday long runs. It took me about 20mins and then I turned around and rode back home.

It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be being out there on the road with the big bad traffic. So after a quick strip off of the cycle gear I then went for a 40 min run. It felt a little weird at first after just jumping off the bike but it was fun.

PM - 1hr wind trainer (Knicks are good)

Today
Distance: 8.1km run
Cycle: 1hr40mins

Friday 9th

15 min effort at 80%

Weather= Slight drizzle

This is the same training session that I did back in April. Last time I started at point A and ran for 15 minutes to point B (As you do) However this time I had the goal of running past the previous point B mark. Snow worries! Easy, did it, Next...

I'm off for a massage this afternoon and I'm sort of looking forward to it. Hopefully my legs will not need the same torture that was endured upon them last week. I know Easy Tiger, it had to be done.

My eldest son turns 9 tomorrow! I can't believe that he is so big and is 9 already. He wanted to go indoor rock climbing with his friends for his Birthday so that's what we are doing tomorrow after the movies.

Today:
Distance: 9.7km

It's raining again...

2006-06-06T17:26:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention in my last post so just for Jeff the NOSH was a 15km trail run with some very steep sections.

Monday 5th

Rest day - Lots of stretching

Tuesday 6th

Missed getting up early (lazy bum slept in) so I did my 8 x 500m in the afternoon. I really hate running this time of the day, it just doesn't feel right. I got down to the baseball field and the patway was full of water. Great, now what? Plan B: run on the track behind the baseball field but not my favourite course because it has an uphill for the return. Oh well, can't be fussy i suppose. Did the usual 20mins warmup run followed by some stretches then launched into the 500's.

1:52
1:50
1:52
1:50
1:48
1:53
1:49
1:48

Surprisingly I did ok. Still didn't feel that good though and I really had problems with my breathing between reps. At one point I thought that I was going to have to call for the oxyviva to come and revive me. Not happy to stop at just that, I jogged home and hopped on the fluid trainer for 45mins and absolutely hammered myself. Why? Just felt like it.. Then still not satisfied I did 40mins of upper body weights followed by some core strengthening and push ups. Ok, that's enough for one day.

Wednesday 7th

Mid week long run time again. Managed to drag myself out of bed and trot off down the road. I was feeling a little tired but not too bad. No residual soreness from the day before at least in the beginning anyway...Until I hit the first hill and ooohh, my butt was hell sore. Silly bike! Actually I felt pretty good most of the way. Skipped along to Elvis Costello - watching the detectives and an old favourite 10CC - I don't like cricket - I love it! Which reminds me, since we missed out on the Cricket tickets for the Ashes in Sydney, looks like we might be heading up to Queensland to watch the Aussies do in the Poms.

Time: 1hr 22mins
Distance: 16km
Avg Pace: 5:08/km

Edit: Nice pick up Chelle. I was avoiding that number ; )

NOSH so squeezy

2006-06-04T04:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday 4th
I was really looking forward to this run and what great fun it turned out to be.

Arrived early and picked up my pre entry bib and chatted for a while witha host of CR's including, Wild Thing, Mr Wild Thing, Don Juan, Lonewolf, jen_runs, Owly, MPH, Ellie, Bristol? (Tim) and finally got to meet SteveL from Japan who would have to win the most unusual race preparation prize - jumping straight off a Boeing and coming down to the race. Now that's dedication.

All plans for a warm up run went right out the window but the warm up chat with MPH on the way to the start line was enough to get the blood pumping.

We had sort of pushed our way near the front but then others soon pushed in front of us too. Then the gun went off and it was a civilised scramble along the track. I managed to stick with Martin for about 2-3km before he took off at which point I followed another female runner for almost the rest of the way.

Chatted to a few people along the course but most were like me - huffing and puffing trying to get up those hills. It was pretty tough and I was soon walking most of the up hills but jogging the flat and down hill sections. I was passed by about 5 runners at the 12km mark where I stopped for 2 drinks. When we hit the bitumen it felt very spongey and I managed to catch up at least 2 other runners and caught 2 more further down the trail.

On the last 200meters I caught up to a runner that I had been joking with and chatting to earlier on and we spured each other along. We poped out of the bush into the field and I urged him to run it with me and we both sprinted to the finish. Finished in 91:04 and more importantly with no injuries : )

I picked up my bag and promptly went to get changed after seeing Jen finish and was surprised to see 2P there at the end too. Gee it was cold afterwards and I had to feel sorry for Martin who had left his bag at the start, so he had no warm clothes to change into. Brrr..I had a nice Bacon and Egg Roll, coffee and a Powerade. The organisers did a great job on this event.

After the formalities were over it was back to the start and then on home for a nice warm, loooong shower. Still not feeling 100% and missed a days training last week just because I felt so crappy. Thankfully It's not getting any worse and hopefully I can train to full capacity this week. That's it now, nothing until the Gold Coast.

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

2006-05-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

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...

2006-05-29T16:47:00.000-07:00

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..

2006-05-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-05-25T18:31:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

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....

2006-05-16T16:25:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-14T04:01:00.000-07:00

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...

2006-05-10T16:53:00.000-07:00

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...

2006-05-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

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....

2006-05-07T18:01:00.000-07:00

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"

2006-05-04T18:34:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-02T18:02:00.000-07:00

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

Sunday stroll

2006-04-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

Monday 1st
Rest Day.

Sunday 30th
I think that I am automatically programmed to wake at 5:30am now. I manage to do this every morning which is good in a way but it would be nice to sleep past 5:30 on the weekends when I don't really need to get up so early. So I layed in bed for a little while longer then jumped out and got dressed ready for my programmed long run.

Today was to be a 3hr run, my longest yet. For some reason I wasn't feeling the best, not physically just felt in a bit of an off mood. I didn't have the enthusiasm as I did the week before and felt like I was doing a chore rather than something that I really enjoy. I started off from the KL shops again and told myself to get in the mood otherwise this was going to be a long painful experience.

After the first 1km I could feel my calves really pulling and felt some tightness around my right knee cap. I stopped the watch and did a few stretches which revealed very tight calves and a niggle on the knee. Not a good start. So I continued on wondering how far I could go today without stopping. I think I'm going to need some music to keep me company from now on it is becoming very boring out there by myself. Sure I can look at the trees and all but you know things are getting really boring when you start noticing the same trees and thinking to yourself "Gee that tree looks good since they have pruned it back" Talk about long distance running making you brain dead!

Anyhoo, back to the run itself: Still had the tightness in the calves and the knee niggle at the halfway point which was really slowing me down. I did manage to make it to the end of the dynamite sticks on the M7 (Those who travel the M7 will know what I mean) I had a lovely Banana flavoured GU some water and turned around at 1hr 27mins and 16.1km. Knowing full well that it was going to be a hard slog back becuase I felt pretty ratso and the niggles were worrying me.

I passed through the 21km mark in 1:52 which really wasn't too much slower than last weekend, I think only 3 mins slower. I saw a few of the Hills triathlon club members out on the bike and the three guys from joggers that I see in the same spot each Sunday looked to be doing it really tough this week. (Probably just as bad as I looked) But the worst was still to come and with my knee feeling the way it was I was really not looking forward to meeting those last lot of hills towards the end where I knew it was going to be tough.

Managed to saunter up the hills slowly, my fitness was fine it was just the legs that were giving me grief. I was pretty happy that I didn't need to stop at all again after the 1st km and I managed to fight the urge off at the 30km mark knowing I only had about 2kms to go.

Stats:
Time: 3:00:45
Distance: 32.6km
Avg pace:5:37

Month total: 289.9km
Year total: 940.9km

My knee is very sore today and I have booked in for a few Physio appts this week. May not be running the Striders 10km as I had so wanted to this Saturday morning. But I might come along to cheer and socialise anyway. I will wait to see how the knee is later on in the week before making any decisions on that.

CR 5K

2006-04-28T23:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday 29th
Well, today was supposed to be a rest day however, I had arranged with the lovely Jen_runs to run with her for her first CR 5K. I arrived nice and early and Jen and I did a little warm up and a few stretches before we were called up for the 28 min group. Jen and I headed off with BernieG, Psychoma and baby Psychoma. After running the first 1km, I checked the Garmin and it said 4:49 (What the...) Well that's what I said to myself anyway. Jen was doing great but I didn't want to be responsible for breaking her on her first CR 5K.

Needless to say we slowed things down a little and managed to keep a nice even pace after that. Jen was really running very strong and kept good form right to the end, even finishing with a fast burst to bring it on home for a fantastic 26:56!! This is fantastic considering Jen has done no speedwork since returning to running just a short while ago. Bigger things to come from this young lady I think. While I need to do some work on my pacing skills before taking on any such responsibility again.

Splits were:
4:46
5:19
5:28
5:24
5:25

It was actually great to see all of the other runners come in for once rather than being overtaken by them all before the finish. Some great runs out there this morning and a big congrat's to those who ran PB's including WT and Jen : )

I had a lovely leisurely run back with Eagle and we chatted all things Marathon with his Brisbane run on tomorrow and my Marathon training now in full swing the conversation was great.

Unfortunately I couldn't stay for Breakfast today but apparantly Prof has offered to do a cook up at the next 5k Challenge. Mmm, nice.

Leapin' Lizards

2006-04-27T16:36:00.000-07:00

Thursday 27th
A slow 40 mins recovery run this morning and I definately needed a slow one after yesterday's effort. The hills seemed like they were never ending today but I felt all the better for it towards the end today because all of my achillies pain had subsided : )

Distance:8.2km
Time: 43mins

Friday 28th
This was a tough one!
The usual 20mins warm up run then straight into:
Run for 2mins 30secs hard, then turn around and run hard back for 2mins 30secs. 1min standing recovery then the same again. I actually felt better on the second one and ran further and faster on the second one too.
Avg pace for the first effort: 4:10
Avg pace for the second effort:4:05

Then

8 x 30 sec Hill Reps jog back for recovery.

These weren't as hard as I had thought they would be. Had some pretty good speed and stayed pretty consistant for the first 4. I decided to try to beat my mark for the last 4 which I did each time : ) 20 mins warmdown run.

Distance:11km
Time:56mins

Chilli morning...

2006-04-25T18:31:00.000-07:00

25th April
Woke up for a planned Fartlek session but I decided to change that to an easy 50 mins instead. My achillies were still sore and I didn't want to further inflame them by doing a series of short fast bursts especially on the hills around here. I was a bit disappointed but in hind sight it was the best thing to do.

Distance:9.1km
Time:50 mins

26th April
Rose early to a chilli but not too cold morning. I ran in my long sleeve top and long skins this morning. I started off with gloves on but they became too hot so I just hung on to them for the rest of the way. They came in handy when my friend who drives a truck for the local landscaping company tooted his horn at me. I used them as a waving device ; )

The program called for a 1hr 20mins mid week long run. Rather uneventful really, everything felt great this morning. I did ice and voltaren my achillies last night before bed so I think this helped to settle them down before this mornings run. I could still feel a little pain but that soon went away after the warm up (about 20mins). I am feeling fine now with only some slight pain in both achillies at the moment.

Again, very happy with my run this morning. I think I have jumped up to a new training level now. It seems my average pace has picked up for these training runs which I am not complaining about at all. I just don't know where it has come from, that's all. It can only be a good thing I guess : )

Distance: 15.2km
Time:1hr:19mins
Avg pace:5:13/km

Warning Crazy Mountain Woman

2006-04-23T03:05:00.000-07:00

Saturday 22nd
Rest day running. However, a very busy day for me with lots of fun purchases and socialising. We (The whole GO clan) met up with Owly and Jen_runs for morning tea which sort of turned out to be brunch. We finished up our coffee's and headed over to the bike store to have a look at some bikes for some possible purchases later down the track.

Anyway and as Jen has already noted on her Blog - 2hrs later we emerged having purchased 2 new bikes and most of the accessories to go with them. I was a very happy girl and Go Hubby was extremly happy with his new purchase too. I ended up with the Trek 8000 (the same bike as Jen) and Go Hubby purchased a Gary Fisher Mountain bike as well. Both bikes can be used for road or off road riding. Jen and I have some plans to do some trail run combined bike type events a bit later on as we need to get used to the bikes first before attempting anything like that.

Sunday 23rd
I woke up really early this morning for some strange reason. I lay there for a while trying to figure out why I had woken up so early? Then about two minutes later I heard my youngest son start crying downstairs. Good to know that motherly instinct is still working : ) After settling him down and putting him back to sleep I decided, well I'm awake now so I might as well get out early for my Sunday long run. So I kitted myself up long sleeves, long skins and fuel belt along with a new flavour of Gu.

The air was cool this morning and I felt very refreshed. I love running in these conditions. After some light stretching I set out from the KL shops out and along the M7 cycleway. The program had me down for 2hr 40mins and once again I was trying to avoid any stopping at all. The goal that I had set myself for todays run was firstly to just get through it and secondly was to try to maintain just under 5:30 pace.

Started out really well and only checked my watch at the 5km mark for the first time. I had thought that I was going a little too slow so I had a peek at the pace and found out that in fact I was just a tad under 5:00 pace. I felt like I was going so slow though. It was difficult to try to slow myself down however I knew that if I didn't a large brick would fall out of the sky and be sure to knock me in the head at around the 20km mark.

Somehow I managed to get lost in the scenery, the other bike riders, kids on scooters and just the beauty of the morning. Before I knew it I was at the M4 turnoff so that mean't that I had run 15km in 1hr 20 mins. Took the gu, had a drink and some how managed to still keep up the consistant pace. It was at about this stage where I had a silly grin on my face thinking to myself "You silly GG, that brick is going to come and get you and then you won't be grinning"

I had reached the 20km point and very quickly realised that I was going to run a 21.1km PB. So of course I started to speed up even more. I did it! 21.1km in 1:49:12.....I guess I can pencil that one in until I offically run a sub 1:50at an event. I then realised that I had to keep going but my silly grin was even bigger now : )) Still grinning I kept on my merry way, still managing to maintain pace with little difficulty, until I had reached the end.

Time: 2hrs 40mins
Distance: 30.2km
Avg pace: 5:17/km

I was extremly happy with my effort today but now I'm sort of thinking that I might have gone a bit too fast for a training run. This is my longest road run to date so I'm pretty happy with how I felt out there today. Anyway, I have no real after effects except for some slightly sore achillies on both legs which I am working on stretching out tonight. I didn't get to see the brick : ) I also managed to walk 4hrs around the camping and caravan show this afternoon. It will be interesting to see how I feel tomorrow???

12 months on..

2006-04-20T21:58:00.000-07:00

Friday 21st
Today's session was simply a 20min warm up followed by run at 80% effort for 15mins then a 20 min warm down. I felt really good this morning. Although slightly resisting the Alarm clock I regained some enthusiasm by the time I had put my shoes on.

I ran the 15mins at 4:30 pace. Felt great afterwards.

12 months ago
This time last year I met up with a friend (Martini) from Queensland who was visiting for a work conference that we had both attended. I became inspired by her stories of running Marathons and all of the training that she was doing. At this stage I was running about 5km 3 - 4 times a week with no program or any speedwork just basically to loose weight and gain some fitness and to have a sanity break after work.

Martini had convinced me to start training for the Gold Coast Half Marathon and she also recommended that I enter the Mothers Day classic to get a feel for what it was like to be running amongst a crowd of people etc....So, the training began. I sort of stumbled across the Coolrunning website in my quest to find out some more info on running groups in my area and I also found the Hills District Joggers from this site too.

Alot of people since I have been involved with running events and with coolrunning have asked me "When did you start running?" That for me is a hard question to answer simply because I feel that running has always been a part of my life. I started with little Ath's as a kid then continued running for fitness during my A grade netball days in WA. Plus I was heavily into Dancing (Jazz, tap, classical and modern) I then joined the Air Force where a required level of fitness is expected so I continued to try to maintain my fitness through some rather sporadic running efforts due to the nature of my job it was difficult to stick to organising a Sunday BBQ let alone getting out for a run.

Possibly one of the best things that I have done (even though I didn't think so at the time) during my time in the Airforce was a 3 week Combat survival course. This course was mentally and physically the toughest thing that I have ever done. Without going into too much detail it involved alot of time with out food and a lot of time walking mountains and running through jungle, dessert and sea coast terrain. The longest part was 7 days unsupported (no food, no shelter, no fire) directly followed by 48hrs solo. (Sort of like a Survivor scenario but worse) I believe that this course taught me that you can do so much more than you think you are capable of and that has definately helped me with my running.

By comparison, in 12 months I have:
Lost 13kgs
taken 9 mins off my 5km time
taken 16 mins off my 10km time
ran my first Half Marathon
C2S

Various other events as well. Now I am training for my very first Marathon on the Gold Coast this year. Wow, that is a scary thought given where I was at just last year. Largely I owe alot of my dedication to my fellow Bloggers and especially my Playgroup friends (you know who you are) who have each in thier own way inspired me to keep at this silly thing that I do called "running"

Hugs and kisses to you all!

Northern Adventure

2006-04-19T22:24:00.000-07:00

Monday 17th
Rest Day and return from holiday.

Tuesday 18th
50 mins Easy. Then headed up to the GC for work.

Wednesday 19th
1hr 20 mins around the Helensvale / Monterey Keys area. The weather was rather warm.
Distance: 15.5km
Avg pace:5:21
What's up with the hills around here?

Thursday 20th
45mins easy. I started off really slow this morning and I felt like every bone in my body was creaking. Starting with my knee, Ouch..that's sore, followed by the hip, Ouch..that's sore too. Then it was the right achillies, Ouch..that hurts, then the right knee started, Ouch..Not nice.
When all of the ouches were out of the way I actually had a really enjoyable run. I think it was just taking me a while longer to warm up because I have no Ouchy bits now.

Easter Eggstravaganza

2006-04-17T03:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday's run

We went camping over Easter to Gerroa which is not far from Kiama. One of the major attractions for me was the opportunity to go for a run on 7 mile beach. What a beautiful spot!

I woke early (6am) on Saturday morning and headed off down to the beach which was just glorious. While running along I noticed another set of footprints and I also noticed that the shoe brand was asics. I couldn't see anyone at this stage but someone else had been out there even earlier than me.

The run was going along nicely and the tide was pretty much out so it made it easier to run as the sand was quiet firm. Before long I spotted the other runner on the beach and he was running back towards me. I still had 1km to go before I turned around and headed back. On the way back I had noticed that the other runner had stopped for a drink at a tap and I had nearly caught up to him.

I decided to up the pace and catch up for a chat. Once I finally reached him I found out that it was Peter from Cronulla and he was recovering from the recent Ironman. As it turns out there was 3 Ironmen staying in the same camping grounds. Peter and I chatted all the way back to the camp site and discovered that he is doing the SMH Half and the GC Marathon as well.

Throughout the course of the weekend I managed to meet 3 other runners and 2 of the other Ironman guys as well.

Total: 12.1km
Avg Pace: 5:34
Time: 1:07

Sunday's Long run

I didn't quiet make it out as early because I wanted to see the kids get there Easter Eggs and have a spot of breakky with them first. So with the Egg fest out of the way I headed off down to 7 mile beach again at about 10:30am. This time the conditions were not so good. The tide had come right in and the sand was very difficult to run on. I made it to the 50min mark and was totally exhausted from dodging the waves and trying to keep my shoes dry.

The sand was very difficult to run in because it was very soft underneath and every now and then the sand just gave way and I sunk right in. On the way back I was running along and the waves came up really close. I had to almost sprint up to a ledge where I ran and jumped liked a cat. I was just hanging on to the side of this sand cliff trying to not get my feet wet. It must have looked so funny.

I made it back to the campsite very exhausted. I felt like I had run for 3 hrs plus and discovered that in fact I had only done 1hr 25mins. My legs were aching in places they don't normally ache. I felt trashed. I hadn't really run much further than the day before and It took me nearly 20 mins longer to do it. I can really feel the effects of the sand running today.

Total12.8km
Avg pace:6:42
Time:1hr 25mins.

Canberra and the rest...

2006-04-12T04:14:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy this week since returning from Canberra that I haven't had any time at all to check Blogs or do any updating. So I apologise. I have been running but not to my normal program as I have been by myself with the kids this week. So trying to fit runs in where ever possible has been a little difficult. Hopefully back to normal after Easter.

Canberra Marathon Eve 10km 8th April
The trip to Canberra was interesting. We arrived just in time for a spot of lunch then we checked in before heading off for the 10km Marathon eve run. I ran into "The Colin" at the hotel and we chatted on the way to the start. I also managed to meet up with Cato and Greybeard. There was a large gathering of CR's and it was difficult to get around to say hi to everyone.

I managed to line up for the start and briefly chatted to Bec and BernieG. The gun went off and I had absolutely no idea of the layout of the course, I just followed the crowd. It seemed like we did 2 little loops around the school and then it was 3 big loops of the surrounding streets. (Something like that anyway??) I could hear the cheers from the crowd and especially the CR's out there saying something like"Go, Go, Go Go Girl" Yes, that was you Uncle Dave!! Most of the way along I could see another CR just ahead of me and managed to slowly get closer and closer. The first few km's were a bit slower than I would have liked and from 5-7km I felt like crap.

Once I had reached the 8km mark I knew that the sub 45min goal was way out of reach so I just pushed on and started to reel a few runners in ahead of me. This actually worked well and I went through the 8th km in 4:05. I finally caught up with the unknown CR and realised once I got close enough that it was Allrounder. I turned the final straight for the last time where Allrounder came whizzing past me and sprinted to the finish. She urged me on to go with her but she was much faster and obviously had a little bit left. I crossed the finish line in 46:11 by my watch but the official time on the website was 46:13. A new PB!!

Marathon Day 9th April

I woke up early and left the boys in bed and wandered on down to the start of the Marathon. There were heaps of CR's there and I got to take a picture of Tesso, Gnomey, Greybeard, Cato, Clairie and Pat Carroll before the race.

I met up with the cheersquad and we cheered them all off at the start. I then wandered back to go and have breakky with the boys and then we drove into town where we had a good cheering spot. We stayed there for a while then headed back to the finish line because I really wanted to see the CR's running finish. It was a great afternoon and there were some very inspiring performances out there. Especially Clairie, Kit, Gnomey, Uncle Dave, Omni and Wobblyman. So many others too but too many to mention. Well done to everyone!

2 X 2 and 30 X 30

2006-04-05T04:44:00.001-07:00

Who is this?? No it's not a model from a magazine but it could be.

Go Girl, Lulu, WTR, Jen_runs and The Owl

Some more pic's from the weekend! Some more of the Cheersquad later....

Monday 3rd
Rest day. (I really needed it oo after that big weekend)

Tuesday 4th
2 X 2 KM . I felt rather refreshed and was running pretty well.
2km - 8:27
2km -8:19

Wednesday 5th
50 mins easy pace

Thursday 6th
12 x 30 x30

I was very cautious this morning because last time I did this session before a race I felt like crap and ran like crap. So I completed the 12 x 30 sec sprints and 30 second walk recovery. I managed to run the whole lot on the grass too so that I could preserve my legs and aviod any injury.

I actually felt like I hadn't done too much at all by the time that I returned home but I am definately saving all of my energy for Saturday afternoon. It will be good to get this event out of the way so that I can really concentrate on the longer runs. Although I am really looking forward to catching up with everyone.

Cheer hard or don't cheer at all!

2006-04-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

Well, the cheersquad made it home safely from Port Macquarie but what a weekend!

Saturday 01 April
I headed off on Saturday morning after picking up The Owl and Jen_runs. We had a great (fun) trip up with lots of talking and too many food stops. Once we worked out out accomodation we met up with Miners for lunch (more food) and then had the Royal tour around town. What a beautiful spot.

We all headed over to the Expo where there was a huge line up for the competitiors checking in all of their gear. So while Miners did that we wandered around the Expo and the girls made few purchases while I just checked out the scenery....if you know what I mean ; )

We made our way back to the accomodation after more touring of the town and had a group Magnum moment at lovers leap where we also witnessed an Engagement.

Later on Lulu and WTR turned up and we carefully planned our dinner excursion which on recommendation from the Ironman himself, turned out to be just across the road and had very lovely food. After a few wines and way too much eating including Vanilla Bean Brulee for Dessert we decided to retire for the evening and have just one pillow fight before bed.

Sunday 02 April
Race Day! We managed to just make it to the transition area just as the swim had started. All that we could see was a huge mass of arms and legs splashing their way through the water, pretty impressive really. We took up our positions at cheering central and had discussions over where we might best get to see Miners coming through and positioned ourselves, with pom poms ready and waiting. We met Portrunr while we were waiting here and took the opportunity to have a kodak moment cheersquad style.

Once all of the competitors started coming through it was very hard to make any of them out but we just managed to get a little cheer in for Miners before he took off on the bike leg. From here we knew that we had at least 5 hours before they would start coming back in for the run leg so we decided to go for our respective runs, shower, lunch and change before taking up the pom poms again.

My Run
I was very lucky to be tagging along with Wine Trail runner as the girls headed off in their own direction, we set off for a 2hr run. Luckily WTR has a good sense of direction so I just followed him all the way. We managed to meet up with the bike leg and we were travelling pretty much along the same route for most of the way. (I will put the map up later) We did get to see the lead group which was absolutely flying and the distraction fo the race actually took my mind off my own run.

We ran along for quiet a way until we came across a fire trail and we decided to duck in through the bushes and check it out. It turned out to be a great track, flat, soft and flat. It was a bit of a swamp ground and some areas were a little squishy under foot but all up it was fun. This is where WTR took off or I became slower? He managed to stay ahead of me all of the way and we turned around after about 2.5km and headed back to the road.

Once back on the road we actually got to see Miners riding past who yelled out"Go Coolrunner" to WTR who was wearing his CR singlet. We then made our way back to the accomodation. I did have 2hrs 30 mins on the program however, I think the hills that we tackled and the heat more than made up for the extra 30 mins. (I was sympathising with those out there racing) It was rather warm.

Back to the race.
As our accomodation was right near the bike leg we all made our way across the street and started cheering. It was great to see the reaction from the riders and most of them had a smile on their faces after we cheered them on. It was really funny some of the comments that the cheersquad were coming up with, but that is a whole story in itself...later maybe.

We saw Miners ride past after he spotted us then we headed into town for some lunch. A quick refuel for the cheersquad then it was off to Flynns Beach where we decided was one of the better spots to cheer from.

We could see the runners coming down the hill and we managed to call out just about every competitors number and cheer for them all on the run leg. The reaction was amazing and being a runner it's great to know how good it is to get that little bit of a lift especially after the long bike and swim that they had already done. Collectively we (the cheersquad) decided that they were all crazy and we have made a pact to slap each other if we ever think of entering such an event.

Armed with empty plastic bottles, pom poms and our voices we cheered for the rest of the afternoon. It was great fun. Miners soon came past and was looking good however, slightly fatigued. We urged him to keep on going and he took off up the hill and before we knew it he was coming back the other way but looking a bit stronger this time.

We waited and cheered some more before Miners came thgrough on his second lap still going strong. The sun had almost gone down at this stage and it was becoming quite cool out there. The cheer squad then packed up and moved on down near the finish for one last final cheer. The atmosphere was great down there and the emotion on the runners faces as they were nearing the finish was just priceless.

After dinner we set off back to Sydney and I finally crawled into bed at around 2:30am.

Wednesday washout.

2006-03-28T20:29:00.000-08:00

It wasn't really a washout it just sounded like a good title. I woke up early this morning and headed out for my Wednesday 1hr10mins at easy pace. Had no dramas at all this morning just running along minding my own business. I did get a beep from a local who I knew on his way to work who gave me a "what the hell are you doing?" look. I just waved and kept on running.

It seemed to take ages for the sun to show itself this morning and I had planned to get out earlier so that I had plenty of time to get home and get the kids organised before school etc..Then just as I was coming to the end of my run with about 1km to go I was stopped by an elderly gentleman who wanted to chat. Great!

I see this couple walking every day and we always smile and say Hi to each other, but today he wanted to chat. He actually diverted across the footpath in front of me and just stood there waving his hands so I couldn't get past. Very funny really. So after finding out where they live and how many friends they have made in the area the old bloke tells me that he used to be a runner back in Kenya. Then I got the full story on the the running history of Albert. Lovely couple and nice to chat but when I finally got away I realised that I was really running late.

So the run was a total of 13.1km, 1hr 10mins, Avg pace: 5:21

Hill reps

2006-03-27T15:32:00.000-08:00

It was just lovely out there this morning. Crisp but not too cold. I did the usual 20 mins warm up run with some strides at the end followed by some light stretching before launching into the hill reps.

15 all up running fast up the hill and using the downhill as the recovery. I was supposed to have a 45 sec break in between rep 10 and 11 but I didn't feel that I needed it so I pushed on. Ended up feeling very worked and satisfied that I had put in a good effort. 20 mins run back home for a total of 10.2km today.

I have just finished reading the book "Hotel Babylon." Which to my surprise is now a TV series starting this week. I initially picked up this book because I have lived half of my life in Hotels throughout the world and I could really relate to the "goings on" in this book. Not a bad read.

Getting Longer....

2006-03-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

Well the long runs are starting to to get just that bit longer. After the fast run on Saturday morning (fast for me anyway) I really had no intention at all of doing anything but taking it easy for Sunday's long run. The program said 2hrs 30mins and I had planned to try to run the entire distance without any stops at all even if it was at a very slow pace.

It was very quiet on the M7 ped/cycleway but a few regulars were there. I set off from the KL shops as usual and settled into a nice even pace. Still basking in the PB glory form the CR 5k challenge the day before I found the pace very comfortable at 5:30/km.

I ran for 1hr 15mins and turned around and headed back. After the last time using my own sports drink horror, I decided to just go with the 3 x water and 1 x gatorade in the fuel belt. I drank 1 water before the turnaround and had a few sips of the gatorade at the halfway point. Feeling very fresh here, I managed to get into a really good rhythm and my breathing was very easy. In fact I really couldn't believe how easy it felt even at the 20km mark. This is usually the time when I start to really struggle and the hills feel like mountains.

I didn't find that at all this week and the hills were no problem at all. I had some more of the gatorade at the 22km point and decided to up the pace a little. The CR 5km Challenge didn't seem to affect my long run at all and I finished in:

26.8km
2hrs 30mins
Avg pace:5:35

With no stoppages at all I was really, really happy with my run and had no dizzy feelings or nausea. I made it the entire way without even feeling like I wanted to stop at all. I seemed to have heaps of energy for the rest of the afternoon and I didn't even need a nana nap. I think that I am finally getting on top of the nutrition and hydration problems from previous weeks. Now the big lead up to the 10km Canberra Event.

Running for Breakfast

2006-03-25T02:36:00.000-08:00

I went out to the CR 5km Challenge this morning. I hadn't done one of these for a while and I thought that it would be good to have a look at my 5km time as I have the Canberra 10km coming up in a few weeks.

I decided to take off with the 22 min group which consisted of Rags, Tippytoes and JD leading the bus. His pacing was perfect and he is such a smooth runner to follow. My previous PB for this distance was 23:15 which was run about 6 months ago. So, I was really happy to finish in a time of 21:49.**Yeah** Congrat's to all of the other wonderful PB's out there today too. So with this time in mind my Canberra Goal time is looking pretty good at this stage.

It was great to catch up with the crowd at the end and I had a nice run back with 2P, Gnome, Rags, Kit and Prof. I chatted with Uncle Dave and Papa Luigi afterwards. It's a shame that Uncle Dave has passed up the opportunity to share a room with Myself, Jen and The Owl next weekend in Port Macquarie. Looks like the cheersquad get to have pillow fights in our underwear without him ; )

Breakfast was lovely afterwards. Although I think the cafe was a little overwhelmed with us invading them and some of the coffee's were a little slow, but very nice food and great company, a lovely morning really.

Wet weather running

2006-03-21T14:16:00.000-08:00

Monday 20th
Rest day

Tuesday 21st
40 mins easy recovery run. Ran in the rain and ended up pretty wet by the time I made it home. I didn't have any soreness at all after Sunday's run. It's still so dark now at 6.00am.

Wednesday 22nd
1hr 10mins. Starting to build up the mid week long runs now and I felt really good this morning. Checked with Gabby and I managed to get progressively faster as I went along. The first km, which I always treat as a warm up anyway was 5:39 pace and finished it off with the last two averaging 4:50 pace. A total of 13.10km 's Average pace 5:21

Sunday SMC 10km

2006-03-19T19:27:00.000-08:00

I woke up to the alarm going off at 6am, not really sure why it was set at all?? Then I realised it was SMC day. After wandering around taking ages to get ready I finally made it out the door. I was almost there before I realised that I had left Gabby at home. Oh no!

I spotted SteveW straight away when I turned up to register. He was there doing some coaching. I chatted to Horrie, Plu, BenieG and Psychoma before hand and met CR Gary. (Waterbags I think)??

I felt ok during the run despite the slight fast start but then again I didn't really know how fast I was going because I didn't have my trusty friend with me. I could gauge from the other usual runners approximately where I was and I knew that I was pretty much on track for around the 46 min mark. I probably could have pushed it a little more on the flat but went for the conservative approach instead. I was surprised by JD who was doing the 30k run with a chirpy "Hi Nat" from him. JD makes running 30km's look so easy. I also spotted the Dog out there too in his shiny new 6ft shirt, nice!

I had a nice little tussle with another runner at the end but he managed to outsprint me in the last 100m. It was like having a virtual Lulu there. I managed to come in for a 46:31. About 15sec's off my 10km PB. I'm not too unhappy with that as I realise that I have lost some form lately but I will be working hard to rectify that before Canberra.

I really, really missed my long run this weekend, I felt like I hadn't really done anything because I'm so used to being tired on Sunday nights now. Rest days suck, I'm going to do something today, I feel really blah not doing anything at all.

Catch up time

2006-03-15T22:03:00.000-08:00

Monday 13th
Rest Day

Tuesday 14th
3ktt. Felt a bit average in the morning but still managed a 12:47. Pretty happy with that although thought I could manage a bit faster. Still a 3ktt PB : ))

Wednesday 15th
50mins easy run. Nothing major to report here!

Thursday 16th
6 x 500m with as much recovery as I like...

1:58
1:58
1:47
1:51
1:52
1:54

I didn't even go close to my previous 1:38 from the 500's in January. I wasn't too un happy with the run and they were relatively consistant. I've still got a bit of work to do before Canberra 10km though.

A Great Weekend!

2006-03-12T16:06:00.000-08:00

Sunday 12th

I had organised to go for a run down the M7 with Blues Buffet. After a few glitches in the plan and some diversions due to the roadworks happening around Kings Langley we finally made it to the KL shops but only with thanks to BB's knowledge of the area.

Both well equipped with our fuel belts we set off for our 2hr 20mins run. Everything was going well and the pace was perfect. I really wanted to take it easy because I have a 3ktt on the schedule this Tuesday. We reached the turnaround in 1hr 10 mins and about 12.5kms. I had put at gel in my crop top pocket and I normally take a gel at the turnaround but I felt really good so I didn't bother.

BB and I chatted and he pointed out all of the local attractions as we ran along, which I had absolutely no idea about. I'm usually oblivious to what is around me except for my immediate surroundings when I'm running. Not so many cyclists out there either and there was a few more runners than usual. I think the M7 is becoming more popular for the runners who have discovered it's existance because there are now a few regular Sunday morning runners out there.

Things were going really for both of us up until the 22.5km mark which was the longest run ever for BB. (Well done Ray) It was me that that the problem and I had to start walking at this point. I felt very dizzy and nauseaus and my stomach was really cramping up. I wasn't sure if it was from my homemade sports drink or if I was just a bit of dehydration from not enough fluids the day before. BB ran on ahead and was still looking strong as he powered ahead up the final stretch and out of sight.

I ended up walking for about 600m, then ran the last 1km back to the car park. A total of 25km in 2hrs 26mins including the walk break. Once again my diet and eating habits need to looked at before I attempt these longer runs. I have proven that I do have so much more energy and endurance If I am nutritionally prepared. I didn't have my gel and I normally have some glucodin tablets too. It's all part of the learning process...

After I had dropped BB back home I had a nice long shower did a few stretches then vegged out for the rest of the day.

Saturday 11th
What an awesome day!!! Go Baby, the Owl and I set off really early (5am) to head up to the start of the 6ft track. After Go Baby so kindly pointed out every single truck that was on the road we had a pleasant drive up the mountain.

We arrived at the bus departure point and said a quick hello to 2p and a few other CR's before catching the bus to the start. I didn't realise that Go Baby hadn't been on a bus before and he was absolutely frightened and proceeded to protest before I finally calmed him down.

There was a great buzz of anxiousness and excitment at the start and we caught up with 2p who was looking very nervous but very colour coordinated in his new 6ft shirt. Go Baby decided that he wanted to pick up some sticks that were at least 3 times his size and was determined to take out some of the runners by waving the stick around and whacking some poor unsuspecting entrants in the legs.

With the formalities over the first wave took off and it was all very exciting. We walked down the track a bit and waited for the second wave to come along. Yelling and cheering as they all went past some were really flying down that first part. Go baby decided that he wanted to join in a sneakily took off down the track after them. The final wave went through then we made our way back to the car. Thanks for the lift Jen! We (Jen, Lulu, The Owl and Go Baby) then went for brunch just down the road.

The cheersquad road train then made their way up to Janolan Caves to settle into a position for the finish and to cheer all of the entrants home. It was great to see all of the leaders come through, all looking so strong at the finish. The funniest thing of the day was the announcer? I'm not sure who she was but she definately made some funny comments. One comment as a runner was running his heart out to the finish line was"Oh look, you have missed out on the sub 5hr, bad luck!) I think I would jump the barrier and choke her if it was me. Besides that, she did a great job.

One of the biggest surprises of the day was when Don Juan came through. He looked so happy and I don't think that he wiped that smile off his face all day. He looked very strong right to the end. It was inspiring to see the runners come through in a constant stream most of them just pumped up to be at the finish line. A few stand out performances of the day for me are: Uncle Dave, Don Juan, Amjan, MPH, Colin who had a nasty fall and last but by no means the least the amazing 2P's who's journey we have followed for months. He had been through so much just to get to the start and finished in such amazing form, just awesome!

So after all of the cheering do I want to do this event next year? Hell Yeah, just try to stop me!!!!!!!!!

FFFFF Friday

2006-03-09T16:51:00.000-08:00

Friday 10th
When I saw the 2 x 3km on the program I knew that today was really going to be a tough one. I set off really early and found that the fog had settled on the baseball field this morning. It looked very cool...

After the 20mins warm up and a few 80m sprints I started on the first 3km. I felt pretty good after the first km and managed to keep the pace within the required zone (Goal: 4:30/km) . I finished that one and had a 1min 30secs recovery then straight into the next one.

Definately felt the legs starting to tire in the second 3km and towards the end Gabby was telling me to get a move on! I pushed really hard to finish it off and ended up with:

13:07 = 4:23/km
13:20 = 4:27/km

The hardest part was definately the 20 mins run back home. I was pretty happy with my pacing and managed to just stay under the 4:30/km.

Thursday 9th

40 mins easy run. I also saw a few of the members from Blues Buffett's training group.

Play time.

2006-03-07T17:55:00.000-08:00

Monday:
Rest Day

Tuesday:
Back on the program so it was a 10 minute session of 100m sprints x 50m jog recovery. Followed by 1 min SR then another 5mins of the same. This was a tough session and I definately felt the return to speedwork especially on the 20 mins run back home.

I am taking it very cautious with the running surfaces that I choose and I ran the entire speed session on the grass oval.

Wednesday:
1hr easy run.

Who is this man??

2006-03-05T16:17:00.000-08:00

Thanks for your suggestions on the naming of my new Garmin. I have decided on the name "Gabby" Partially because I was a huge fan of Xena as suggested by Steve. Gabby is simular to me old mate Gary as suggested by Chelle and Shane. I have had a few issues with the software for Training Centre. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong but I only get a total of the speed over certain % of each lap. It is not giving me a lap (km) breakdown like TC v2.6 did. Any suggestions.

Something else that I did and I'm really cranky about is I deleted the old Training Centre that had all of my recorded runs in it. : ( I'm soooo cranky about it. I have tried to recover it but with no joy so far. Suddenly my Blog has become a little more precious than before. Thankfully Miners talked me out of deleting my Blog a few weeks back.

Running: During the week I just pretty much took it easy and did a few 40 - 50 min runs at a slow pace. I completed a 2k speed session in 8:20 just to see how I that I can continue with some more speedwork and still have a crack at the Canberra 10km sub 45min goal.

Sunday 5th March - I went out for a longish run but I didn't want to overdo it after last weekend. I planned to do a 20km run along the M7. It was much cooler this week which was a welcomed change. The run went well and I reached the 10.5km turnaround in 55 mins and felt really good.

On the way back a group of cyclists came up slowly beside me, which was a bit unnerving. One of them said to me "I detect some serious 6ft training going on here" I laughed at him and said "no not me mate." He asked me about coolrunning but I sort of felt like he already knew about coolrunning anyway just from the questions he was asking me. As I was chatting away, my pace stared to pick up a bit and when I glanced down at Gabby she told me I was running at 4:39/km. The bike man introduced himself as Michael and I soon realised that Michael was the same Michael that ran up beside me and started chatting one day at SMC.

Once the bike group had moved on I slowed my pace back down again, It would have been difficult to continue that pace for another 5km and I didn't want to trash myself. I ended up making it back to the KL shops in 1hr 52mins for 21.2km. Which I didn't even realise at the time was only 1 min off my HM pb and I did it easy in most parts without pushing too much.

I had a beautiful lunch yesterday at Lulu's. It was great to meet Mr & Mrs WT and catch up with Mr and Mrs Kit, Jen, The Owl, Don Juan and the lovely hosts with the most Lulu and WTR.

Looking forward to getting back on track with the program this week but I do have lingering feeling that I am about to get sick. The deaded lurgy is lurking......A few tall tale signs are appearing but I am doing my best ot fend it off.

Recovery and a new arrival!

2006-03-01T19:10:00.000-08:00

Has it been that long since I last posted? Must be a record for me. Anyhoo, I'm happy to report that I'm not injured after the Orchard run on the weekend, I have just had a few days rest and have done a couple of 40min and 50 min runs during the week. Nothing too exhausting especially considering the quads were really complaining during my first run on Wednesday morning.

I had a few little snags after the run but nothing too bad:
3 x blisters on toes
sore quads
small amount of chaffing due to camelback leak

Not a bad tally really. Could have been much worse of course. I have been planning my next trail running adventure. I have also been promised a tour of Quarry Road with 2p after the 6ft track. I think this trail running is going to become a passion of mine.

In other news, my good old friend Gary Garmin was unfortunately unrepairable : ( I have however been compensated with a brand new Garmin Forerunner 301 along with the version 3 software for Training Centre. I was rather surprised to receive the new addition to the family. I think this one is a female. So now I need a name for my new friend. Any suggestions??? She looks like this:

Oranges anyone???

2006-02-25T19:02:00.000-08:00

**WARNING LONG POST TO FOLLOW**

A few weeks ago I noticed the thread on Coolrunning for a run called the "Orchard Run." For some reason this run really appealed to me. It was run by mostly other runners that are entering the 6ft track, but I thought that I would give it a go anyway as an introduction to trail running.

I have run on trails before and I used to really enjoy the trails around Canberra when I lived there. I also ran a few trails while in Perth at Christmas time so I'm not entirely a Trail virgin. However I have never ran with a group or in an event on a trail and to tell you the truth I was a little scared of the fact that I would be totally out of my depth even attempting anything of this calibre.

Over the past few weeks I have been getting some advice from the lovely 2P on all things trail including nutition and hydration before during and after the run.I have also had some really good advice from Minersrun on the importance of sleep, rest and hydration pre run. Armed with an abundance of information and good advice I thought what the heck, have a go!

I set the alarm for 3:30am (that's criminal for a Sunday) and sprung out of bed with excitment and mostly nervousness for the day ahead. I packed my camelback, some extra drink bottles, 2 x gu, 2 x glucodin tablets and some snacks for on the way home. I ate a banana in the car on the way and drank half a bottle of gatorade. Being so early in the morning the road was very quiet and I found I had made it to Palmdale in plenty of time, so I doubled back to the service station in Ourimbah to have a toilet stop and buy another bottle of water for afterwards.

Once I arrived I parked out side the Crematorium as per instructions on coolrunning, not to park in the car park. I was the first one there and after a few minutes I became acutely aware that I was all alone in the middle of nowhere at 5:30am, in the dark, outside a Crematorium!

Before I even had time to get scared another car came along and I got out and started chatting . Before I knew it most of the runners had assembled and we took off at about 6:05am. I didn't have any watch at all on me today and it actually felt really good to not be monitoring pace, time etc..

The first stretch is along a pathed road and then swiftly turned up to what must have a been at least a 1.5 - 2.0km hill. I was chatting with CR Bandanna to begin with and he soon left me on one of those hills early in the run. My plan was to run the flat and downhill and to walk the hills. This worked really well for me and I managed to drink on most of the uphills, but trying to maintain a decent sort of pace at the same time. At the 6.5km mark (Marked out by Blue Dog and the King) Thanks guys, great job.) I noticed that the back of my shorts were really wet. Not just sweat wet but soaking wet. Then I remembered that the camelback that I had, had a leak in it. Great! Oh well, at least I had water handy and there was some water drops on the trail as well.

I made it to the 10.5km marker with no ill effects and still feeling pretty good. I maintained my walk the hills etc.. routine and it was still going well. By this stage all of the other runners were way ahead of me except for two that I had overtaken earlier on. There was some lovely scenery and before I knew it two of the lead runners were running past me in the other direction. They assured me not far to go till the turnaround. How far is not far??

A sign on a tree told me 800m to turnaround at which stage I had a GU and some more water and reached the turnaround feeling ok. (16km) I noticed an elderly gentleman just ahead of me and thought to myself, I can easily catch up to him and I did. I ran with him for a little while and chatted for a bit. Part of the conversation went like this:
Me: So, Leon, are you doing the 6ft track then?
Leon: Who in their right mind would be out running this bloddy track if they weren't doing 6ft?
Me: Umm..I would be.

Anyhoo, we chatted for a bit more and I wished him a good morning and proceeded to power on down one of the hills. I was great to have some down hill after all the up hill on the way there. Before long some of the other runners started to filter through in the opposite direction including Blue Dog, The King, Sailaway,Uncle Dave, BernieG, PapaL and a female CR riding a bike.

Before long I had reached the 10.5 km to go mark and I still felt relatively good. I was in desperate need to go to the tiolet after all of the water consumption but somehow managed to hold on. I came across another female runner who I had my eye on for a few km's and managed to slowly reel her in and eventually over take her with about 5km to go. I maintained a pretty even pace for the last 5km but the extreme down hill towards the end did slightly play havoc on my knees.

Once back on the road I knew I didn't have long to go but it seemed so much more further that I had remembered. A final burst of energy at the end saw me make it in a total of: 3hrs and 15mins (close enough to that) for the 32kms!! Although I didn't have my watch I ran straight back to my car and the time was 9:21am and we started at 6:05am. The female runner that came in behind me confirmed the time and I was absolutely wrapped. I just could not believe how good I felt out there today and now I am totally hooked on trail running, I love it!!!!!!

50mins morning run.

2006-02-20T17:55:00.000-08:00

While my work colluges are all on holidays here.

It was great to actually get out in the morning for a change. I didn't run in the morning at all last week except for Saturday. My goal is to get my runs done in the morning this week because I think that the lethargy is much worse if I run in the afternoon.

The energy levels are returning and I actually had a bit of speed this morning too. I felt lighter on my feet and my legs were feeling much better now that they have adjusted to the exercises. It is interesting that the 3 phase vmo exercises have really fixed up the ITB problems. I have been ITB pain free for a week now. If I could just get the hip fixed up then I would be very happy.

Activity: Run
Time:50mins

Even paced, red faced!

2006-02-18T19:31:00.000-08:00

This mornings run was a planned long run from Kings Langley along the M7. I'm not entirely sure of the exact distance but the time was 2hrs 10mins and a further 20mins walking at the end.

I felt that I was pretty even in my pacing this morning. Feeling pretty good most of the run until my right hip started to play up again. This happened at about the 1hr 10 min mark where I hadn't taken a break yet. I decided to stop and stretch out the hip, have a drink and turn around and run back. I had mixed up some home made high carbohydrate mix with a little honey and lemon. The drink sat really well in my stomach and gave me just the lift I needed.

Not so many bike groups out this morning, mostly casual Sunday riders with the family in tow. I was feeling much better than last weeks run especially at the 2 hr mark. I just had one last big hill to run up to make it to the 2hr 10mins and I rewarded myself with a nice big drink when I made it to the top. I also ran into Blues Buffett here and had a quick chat. He was looking very fresh and I was probably looking very tired.

I walked the last 2km back to the car after some stretching. I went and bought a gatorade as I had finished all of my water in the fuel belt. Recovery wise, I feel much better this week as well. I did notice a large amount of salt on my skin today after the run, especially on my knees, yuck!!

I think the body is back willing and able I just have to convince myself to get back into the swing of things again. I don't think that I have really felt this negative about running before. I'm usually such a positive person, no matter what. Time to work on that too I think!!

Fresh run...

2006-02-16T17:04:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone for all of your comments. I really appreciate it. I have rested up refuelled and I feel heaps better now. Yesterday afternoon I returned home after a shocker at the office and my first assignment results were in the mail waiting for me. I was thinking before I opened the package that this could either make my day a whole lot better or it could make my day a whole lot worse. When I opened the package I screamed "literally" because I had been given a 100% mark for my first assignment. I was so happy!

I was in such a good mood after the news, I decided to go for a run last night at about 7:30pm. It had been raining and the ground was still a little wet but it smelt very fresh and invigorating. I had finally sent Gary off on Tuesday to the US to be repaired so I will be Garmin less for the next couple of weeks at least. My first run without Gary was a little weird but in a way it was good to not know my pace for a change and just run by feel. I started off slowly and took a while to warm up. Once the muscles in the legs were loosened up I stretched it out for about 2k then eased off for the remaining 20 mins.

Completed 50 mins all up and I have decided that I wil give the SMC 10km a miss this Sunday and I will do another M7 run on Sunday morning instead. My new favourite carb snack is: Le Rice sport Apricot flavour. Yum!!

Out of fuel....

2006-02-15T02:29:00.000-08:00

I have found out first hand exactly what happens when you don't give yourself the right fuel. I have always been borderline with my blood sugar levels and Iwent through a whole series of tests a few years ago only to determine that everything can be controlled by diet. Which was great news, no medication. But of course that doesn't work if you don't eat correctly.

Tuesday afternoon I set out for my 3 x 2km session. I felt average during the warmup 20 min run and I felt slightly less than average during the first 2km rep. I did this in 10mins 17sec's which is way off the pace that I should be at. I was really dirty with myself, I just couldn't believe that, that was my time. I kept on checking my watch just to make sure. Yep, it was right.

I was just about to start the next rep when I became very dizzy so I took a few deep breaths and started running again. About 500m into the run I felt like I was running in mud. My legs wouldn't move and I was feeling very nauseous. I stopped and walked back to the drink fountain and sat on the ground and had a rest. After about 15mins I managed to get myself up off the ground and I stumbled back home.

After chatting to a few friends last night I realised that I had not had any Carbs before my run. In fact when I really thought about it I hadn't really had any carbs for days! My diet had not contained enough carbs to cope with my increased mileage and the current speedwork sessions. I have also been doing a lot of ITB exercises including squats to strengthen the muscles around the knee. So the lack of fuel and the fatigued legs and the lack of good quality sleep has finally caught up with me.

I have taken a few days off running and I am busy refueling and resting. I am also reassessing a few of my current goals including the Canberra 10km sub 45min goal. I might just concentrate on my longer runs for now and leave the sub 45min 10k until after July. Not really sure just now.

I could just toughen up and stop acting like a sooky baby too!

A Party and a long run....

2006-02-12T15:56:00.000-08:00

Go Girl, Jen_runs and The Owl

Party Night!
I went to Jen's Engagement Party on Saturday night. We had a great time. It was great to catch up with the girls and DJ and chat about all things running and sport. You will be happy to know that Naughty Go Girl stayed at home and Good Go Girl was driving, so I behaved myself.

The food was great the company was entertaining. I think Jen's Uncle almost convinced Go Dad to move back to Kyogle!! I don't think so......

The night wasn't too late for us leaving at about 11:30pm. I did find that the one glass of wine had really given me a headache though, and I gulped down some water before bed. I woke really early in the morning with the intention of going for a long run just around home. Go Baby decided that he wanted to get up really early too and Go Boy had a double wicket match on. So that was the end of that plan.

The gang! (Go Girl, The Owl, Jen_runs and Don Juan)

After the boys came home from the cricket match I decided that I wouldn't go for a run until after the kids had gone to bed because it was too hot. I had some DOMS in my quads from the exercises that the physio had given me. I couldn't believe how sore they were. I was not happy about starting a long run with already fatigued legs.

After running out of excuses I decided to get out at around 7:30pm. The start of the run was pretty slow until the legs warmed up a bit but the fatigue was still there. I covered the first 5km in 26 mins which wasn't too bad. I followed my usual track and decided to then go to the baseball field where it was flat. My legs were really complaining at this stage and I was cursing that Physio. After 16km my legs were in go slow mode and my right hip started aching especially on the hills. I decided to pull the pin and head on home.

I ended up doing 20km in 1hr 53mins. My legs were absolutely trashed. I stretched and went for a shower and followed it up with a cold bath. **Yowser** That is cooold. It seemed to settle the pain down in my legs though and I didn't have a restless night sleep like I normally do after Long runs.

This morning the hip is a little tender, the quads are still sore and I have a headache to go with it. I'm just going to do an easy 40min run this afternoon.

I'm getting there.....

2006-02-10T18:40:00.000-08:00

I couldn't do my normal Friday morning run yesterday so It had be in the afternoon. It ended up being about 7:30pm before I could manage to get out the door.

A 4 x 1km with 1:30 SR followed by 2 x 500m with the usual 20 mins warm up and 20 mind cool down before and after. I started out feeling pretty good having just visited the stretching chick at the Physio. I felt a lot lighter in the legs and hips where I had been having trouble previously.

I turned up to the baseball field where there was about 10,000 kids and adults (slight exaggeration) all playing baseball. I decided to give that the flick and find somewhere else to run. The only problem is, finding somewhere as flat for consistency. It was not to be however, it was reasonalbly flat. I just had to work harder on the way back due to a slight hill and a headwind . The reps went like this:

4 x 1km
4:06
4:20
4:06
4:18

2 x 500m
2:15 (shocker)
2:01

I feel that I have slipped a bit in the speed department due to the recent few injuries but some more hard work and I will back to normal in no time. I wasn't overly happy with my effort but I did get a good workout physically and I really pushed those last 500's even though the times are a bit average.

Just a note on the injuries. The Physio did a test on my muscles that were weaker than my ITB last time and this time they are actually stronger. So now one leg has the opposite strength to the other leg. A bit weird, they all seemed to be very amused by it. So now I need to do the exercises on both legs. Another long run planned for tomorrow but I'm not sure where I will run just yet. Tonight I'm off to a very cool runner's Engagement party. So, naughty Go Girl will have to stay at home so good Go Girl can make it home in a decent state to run tomorrow.