owwwww (take 2)

sitting here googling arch pain and plantar fasciitis (still not convinced although every answer for arch pain seems to point in that direction.....) and i am hurting myself with a golf ball. it really hurts!!!!

seeing all the same suggestions - that is related to calf tightness (check) and i need to stretch more. that icing, rest etc are the way to go. my shoes are fine (probably at about 4-500km at the moment - maybe even less), i have orthotics already. but its true that i have had tight arches for a long time. easy tiger usually has a bit of a 'play' with them - perhaps its just flaring up to remind me to pay it some more attention. i tend not to do any golf ball massaging unless its really hurting.

one page that i am reading that was recommended on CR pretty much says that excess weight is the major cause and that stopping overeating would really help. i agree. but not exactly the quick solution before saturday that i was hoping for.

anyway - back to the pain...

*insert appropriate whinge here*

owwwwwww.

so yesterday i throw in a seemingly unimportant one liner about how my foot hurts. yeah well. now my foot REALLY hurts. i had thought yesterday that it was just that i was wearing uncomfortable shoes or something. but this morning it was feeling pretty tight and sore - enough for me to stretch it, give it a go with the golf ball and google 'foot pain running'. anyway i still jogged down to training, was there but bearable.

i told sean and he thought we should see how it went with one wild wally (5 on the program). i started to get worried when it started to protest a little more during the drills and strides, particularly the hopping ones. anyway still thought i'd do one lap and i did. it was ok so i started to go a bit harder, but that was mostly on the flat and downhill - it started to hurt a bit on the uphill. i thought that i would let the next one go and as i stood there it got progressively tighter and sorer. so the hill was a baaadddd thing.

walking home hurt too :(

sean has suggested that i go to the physio. he started bandying around terms like plantar fasciitis (weird cause i was talking to someone about that yesterday!) which freaked me out a bit.

i am going to give gary a call as well. i'm hoping for another miracle recovery cause i don't like it one bit! especially cause i have a hot date with a 55 min 10k on saturday....

1hr 9.43 km avg pace 6.22/km

splits were: 6.41, 6.33, 6.17, 6.02, 6.12, 6.04, 6.17, 6.34, 6.28

i really want to work out how i can make Freddy show me the average pace not the exactly at that second pace. any one have any brainy ideas?

i need to harness a bit of willpower as well. last night i ended up having about 4 spoons of milo. not in a drink, just pretending it was chocolate... doh.

my foot hurts a bit today. and i also noticed something curious. its such a common thing for people who feel unfit to talk about how they get puffed running for the bus. i discovered today that now i'm running pretty regularly i'm much LESS likely to run for the bus. because as soon as i start running for the bus (usually in heels) i start to feel it in my ankles and knees and other miscellaneous bits and decide that it is definitely not worth injuring myself. weird huh?

800's - ish

today's program had 5 x 800's on it. i was (kind of) looking forward to it and set myself the goal of doing them all under 4 mins (which would translate to 5 minute/km pace.

so i knocked back some powerade cruised down to the oval and including drills and strides the warm up was 3.32km. my friend mel was there again (hurray!).

then we started the reps. i surprised myself by sticking with Mel for the first 800m which I did in 3.39 (yikes!). Gone out too hard again I thought... Then Sean decided to bump a bunch of us up into the 1km group (with the big kids, bernie, deanne, kit...). I started getting nervous at that point (and thought - finally - payback for that time when i did shorter than i was programmed...).

First 1k rep i managed to keep up pretty good and did 4.32 (woah!!!). i started really feeling it after that but managed to keep them quite consistent with 4.49, 4.47, 4.50. All under 5 min pace!!!! (admittedly Freddy informs me it wasn't quite a 1km loop today... woteva... :)

1.46km cool down for a total of 9.46km. I'm pretty bloody happy with that and am really pleased that i kept those last 3 reps at a similar pace when i wanted to take it easy, answer the call of nature or do anything to ease the pain that was hitting on the last 300m of each rep.

its all good - but man i am sweating (nearly typed swearing - that too!) more than i ever used to. ew! but that said - i think it means i'm getting fitter - so i'll go with that :)

Rest day

Well yesterday i was curious how i would go energy wise staying awake all day. In the end I had absolutely no problem with concentration or alertness. being fitter has definitely done wonders for my energy levels throughout the day. that said - i do need my sleep! i was also groaning out loud every time i walked up and down the stairs (especially down), but maybe i was just trying to get everyone to pay me some attention for running such a long way :)

Spark Driver asked when i was going to do a 1/2 - that is on the 17th of September! One more long run next Sunday which is 2hr 15mins and 20k and then its a bit of a mini taper. yay!

Rest day today so I just did my pilates dvd which i am loving - f**k it hurts though!!! but that is all good i figure. even having just done it a few times i feel like i recovered really well after yesterday's run.

the wrong side of 5am

that is - getting up at 5am on a sunday morning, not getting home at 5am...

up bright and early to knock off 2hrs10mins and 19k before my course. its going to be interesting how my energy levels go having to concentrate all day...

was very well prepared with my ipod (although that didn't go on until it got light) and fuel belt. did 2 outside loops around the park and then one inside and then back up the hill to home (nearly killed me) and up and down some streets to make up the time!

to do the 19k in the time i would have had to average 6.48 pace which is quite fast for a long run for me. i was behind schedule at the 5k mark and picked it up to finish with 19.44k in 6.41 pace.

norganic crunchola cereal (the one with blueberry) is now my official favourite food :) pricey though.

(splits were 7.21, 7.20, 7.13, 7.06, 6.53, 6.29, 6.36, 6.41, 6.43, 6.11, 6.08, 6.14, 6.20, 6.39, 6.27, 6.15, 6.19, 6.39, 7.04)

(consistency is obviously not my 'thing' :)

saturday

imaginative title huh?

decided not to do the CR challege today because with my course and driving etc it just felt too much like hard work. i did feel like a bit of a cop out though.

So instead i stuck to the program which was 1hr 9km. I ended up doing 9.35k at 6.25 pace. i stopped for a stretch at 1.8 and at about 4k i had a new lesson. if i have sustagen before a run - I STILL NEED TO DRINK WATER AS WELL. I felt dizzy and light headed and really weak. It was awful. Similar to Thursday so i don't know what that is about. Anyway i ran into the park where i knew there were taps, had some water and then felt right as rain. I was pleased because i thought i was going to have to call it quits.

came home, did a pilates dvd, some stretching now having porridge (traditional oats not quick oats as I was told by the dietitian!!) and about to hit the showers and back for more group therapy. last night was v interesting..

good luck to all at W2B today!

rest day and interpretive pilates

day off running today which i think my body is quite grateful for. as i did a massive clean of my house last night i decided that it was a perfect opportunity to try the new pilates dvd that i had bought because there was in fact space for a person in the lounge room.

the dvd is called pilates for running and cycling and it isn't too long but the exercises are really good! i have always had strong (albeit hidden...) abs but some of these moves pushed me to the edge of their strength. which is great. also some leg stuff that i think will be good for balancing the muscles. 40 minutes felt like virtually nothing though. how my frame of reference has changed :)

would like to do the 5k challenge tomorrow morning but it is starting to feel too hard. i have my course on all weekend. it actually starts at 6.30 tonight and is a group process weekend so is intended to be fairly intense the whole time. my program has 9k down for tomorrow so i would need to drive to the bay, walk/jog to the start and then do the race then get back in time. it feels a bit too much like hard work. i could just do a nice hour around home. but i'll see how i go... would be nice to knock another few seconds off the pb!!! (hmmm.... not sure how that is shaping up though...)

sunday is going to be really tough. 2 hours 10 mins on the program that i need to get done and to my course by 9. this is going to be a 5am wake up call which seems obscene for a sunday. still - there is no question in my mind about whether or not to do it - i love my long runs! the people in my group may just have to put up with me groaning and stretching throughout the day. need to make sure i eat properly too and don't just shovel in the biscuits and crap that they have there.

wow - sometimes i even surprise myself with the amount of crap i can write about a rest day :) i wonder if womans weekly/new idea would give me a job?

PS - no photos were taken of the creative wearing of the blackmores singlet... however, i did get lots of laughs here and a love an audience so i wouldn't rule out a repeat performance - i'm not above milking a gag for all its worth...

rainy day friends

went to training this morning (one point), it was raining and i still went (two points). i was very glad i did because my lovely friend Mel decided to come along, and i am hoping that she will become a regular attendee because she is so nice (and is a great target for me to aspire to!!).

when i got up, as part of my eating before running thing i tried a bit of the vanilla sustagen that ali gave me which was not the best - so i'll be sticking to chocolate. so instead i had about 250ml of powerade. in retrospect, possibly not the best combo.

ran in, did a couple of laps plus the strides and drills for 3.25k warm up. i felt a bit light headed and weird in parts of it and sort of clammy - so i stopped during two of the accelerations and had a drink.

then the guts of the session - 5 x 1k fartlek loops. the splits tell the story:
4.49 (holy crap)
5.09
5.51 - yes - after lap two i had to stop because i was feeling terrible again. not sick but clammy and awful - like my heartrate was too high
5.26 (starting to feel better)
5.28 (obviously this was the pace i should have been going to start with!!!)

anyway - the same lesson learned again (and Horrie even told me right at the start!! i've never liked to do what i'm told...) - don't go out too hard.

1.73k cool down for a total of 9.98k. noice.

EDIT - just got my 'early bird singlet' for the sydney running festival. i ordered a small but was worried it would be too small. it isn't. i would need GGG norks to fit in this baby. of course it fits just fine on the hips!! anyway - i look like a freak - and not just cause i'm sitting at my desk with it over my suit.

sore leg and miracle cure

(sorry - bit of a long one...)

i discovered Monday that i had a fair bit of discomfort (not tooooo painful) on the inside of my lower leg just above my ankle. this was still feeling tight this morning and i could feel that i was sort of limping when i walked. so rather than running down to training i thought i'd drive down and check with sean what he thought.

he pushed it very hard (it hurt! i have a little point bruise - but that might have already been there :) and decided that i should warm up gently and do the drills slowly to see how it went. how it went was that i was running really gingerly which isn't good for all my other bits. so i just did a couple of k's slowly around the outside of the fence (3k all up).

was fantastic to see the lovely lulu back into training - she looked like she had never left - although there was an amusing episode where she and mister lulu must have been whispering sweet nothings into each others ears and got distracted thinking that they were starting from the other side of the track (oblivious to the 30-odd people around at the other start...) so they had a hasty restart after a quick shuffle back over to the right side of the track(s)... :)

also great to see Belinda down there for her first session with the squad - she looked very comfortable and i am v pleased to see someone else coming who will be around my speed. not to mention lovely company :)

today i had an hour/9k on my program and i was a bit ginger on my leg to start with, but thanks to some easy tiger magic (and i use magic in the loosest sense - magic implies something pleasant) i was right as rain. still need to do some stretching but for now it is fine. all up 9.37k in 60 mins, avg pace 6.24. (7.03, 6.38, 6.20, 6.10, 6.18, 6.13, 6.10, 6.13, 6.32) i think that the hilight was getting swooped by a tiny little bird who didn't like my proximity to a particular tree.

i went to a dietitian for the first time as well. I saw Ali (from the Sweat squad - fantastic and can't recommend her highly enough) and we are just doing a few things to start with like trying to get me eating something before long runs/races. sustagen to start with. was fine today - i got a stitch in the first k but it went away fairly early. also need to eat something straight after rather than waiting till i get to work for breakfast. feeling good so far!

over and out.

lovely long run

what a fabulous morning. 8am rendezvous at the lulu household saw lulu, mr lulu, the owl and caro meeting for a convoy drive down to brighton for an abridged version of the striders airport STaR.

I had never met caro other than a quick hello on the way up heartbreak hill in the City to Surf when Lorna had said - there is Caro - go catch her! So it was great to have a proper chat. We all took off together with Mr Lulu racing off and periodically coming back to check that we were all still going the right way. Lulu and Caro left the Owl and I at around the 45 minute mark as they had closer to an hour on their program. We didn't argue with them as they were heading home to prepare the brunch for later!

In the end we did 18.5km in about 2 hours and 7 mins. i had 2 hours for 16km on my program so it was roughly right. Average pace was 6.55 - after Caro and Lulu left we really slowed (consciously!) because we had been at 6.30ish pace which was fine but would have made us a bit sore and sorry afterwards. a real highlight (other than the DELICIOUS breakfast) was the bit where we suddenly running on the archery field - only the warning signs weren't on our side of the park - i think that we sped up a bit then...).

lorna did a very good job of giving me reality checks every time i started talking about how i was worried about the 1/2 marathon or was talking about how fast (slow) i thought i would go - thanks owly :)

beautiful day, perfect weather, fabulous company, exceptional food and a sense of achievement (30km in one weekend!!! holy bejeezus) - what a top feeling.

(just for my own benefit later the splits were 6.38, 6.38, 6.29, 6.32, 6.35, 6.44, 6.45, 6.54, 7.03, 7.03, 7.01, 7.20, 7.08, 7.02, 6.59, 7.03, 7.01, 7.10)

12 km

i was programmed to do some race thing today but I decided pretty early in the week that that was not going to happen. consequently i had 12k to knock off in a way that wasn't just like doing another long slow run. this was complicated by the fact that i didn't get home until 2.30am. i got out of the house at 7am and did a 3k "warm up" before settling in a set of 4 x 1k hard followed by 1k recoveries. i did this till 10k and then just did 2 k cool down bring up 12k.

I felt surprisingly good and finished the 10k in 60 mins on the dot which I was stoked with! then the last 2 k in 13 mins for an overall average pace of 6.07. My splits were 6.47, 6.03, 6.20, 5.49, 6.02, 5.24, 6.14, 5.47, 5.52, 5.39, 6.23, 6.58

so no great consistency but it felt good. I ran into Kit as well for a quick chat which was nice. now feeling very glad that i got out on minimal sleep and actually felt ok!! 16k tomorrow should be interesting...

2 songs in my head at the moment - Bob Evans - Don't you think its time? and Dave Matthews Band - Say Goodbye. Neither of which are good running songs!

time to hit the shower and then i am going on a mission to buy a fuel belt before i head into the city for the last day of my big sister mentoring volunteering program. will have to find another good cause! or just run more ;)

weird...

i must be having the blahhhhs because i went for a few drinks last night, had 2 and went - nah - home time... what a nanna! but it is good hearing that i'm not alone feeling a bit unmotivated. thanks everyone :)

still i got up this morning for my 30 mins. did around 4.5km at 6.43 pace. my legs felt particularly heavy this morning but it wasn't a bad run. it is still a bit creepy in the park at 5.30 - until i start seeing a few other people around 5.40/5.45 and the cyclists start. can't wait for early sunlight!

blahhhh

that's how i feel this morning. i got up to go to training but then just didn't. i feel shit which is why I didn't go, but because I didn't go - i still feel crap. Should have gone. i know that when i am down in the dumps running makes me feel better, but then - i've never been one to do what i know is good for me.

anyways i walked in to work and will do a spin class after work to make up for it.

EDIT - stuff it - no I'm not - I'm going to go to the pub instead. Anyone wanna come?

wednesdays are back!

now for some reason i have always loved my wednesday runs and i was very pleased to have 40 mins on the program today. was programmed for 6km and i did pretty much exactly that in the 40. didn't feel too easy but didn't feel too hard either. Avg pace 6.39.

thinking about how i am going to approach my cross training prior to the 1/2 in September. i want to add some weight training and would also like to fit in a yoga class and a spin class here and there - needs some thought :)

Fundraising update

meant to say that following successful completion of the C2S within a couple of arbitrary time goals that people set I managed to raise $444 for Bear Cottages and the Childrens Hospital at Westmead.

Yay! Thanks to those lovely people :)

12560th! (equal...)

just got my SMH to check my official time. unfortunately i was wrong about the time deduction (and yes... i read 1.24 not at 84 mins, but as 82m40s...) doh!!!

official time is now 84m32s. which really is still fine - but i missed the 84 minute mark! bummer. but doesn't change the fact that i had a great day. and i have every intention of smashing that time next year :)

Back to sweat for training today, just an easy one - we did strides/drills and then had the choice of an easy loop around the park or doing 800m reps. although i was seriously thinking about it for a minute (nah not really) i chose not to do the 800's! think i needed an easy get-back-into-it day anyway. finished with around 7km but not sure cause freddy's battery ran out.

i had a great run chatting with sweat buddy Deanne who is a top runner and told me her running story. i'm inspired! what a lady!

City to Surf

Well what a day!

Kicked off proceedings on Saturday night with a big pasta night kindly organised by everyone's favourite Owl :) Met Tesso and Miners for the first time which was unreal even though I felt like we were all buddies from way back! Also great to catch up with some other cool-buddies :)

I slept like a baby saturday and got up pretty early sunday to get to the start in time etc etc. In the end I was there WAY too early and I could literally have been the front of the HSBC pack - only I didn't want to stand up for that long so I wandered around for a bit. I ended up finding my friend Claire from work and her mate and the plan was that we run together. That didn't end up happening as I couldn't really keep up with them! (they ended up finishing about 3 minutes in front of me and also took a bathroom stop!).

The run itself was pretty ok. I really felt the hills - but didn't ever feel like i was completely flogging myself. i walked through 3 of the drink stations because i am completely incapable of running and drinking! i tried once and inhaled - you get the picture :) the crowd was fantastic - i never get sick of people watching. and it is a real reality check - i am actually not one of the slowest runners in all of sydney!!!

I did have a bit of a panic at 7km when it said my time was 52 miniutes because i felt slow but now that slow!! i managed to rationalise though that it didn't really matter. i think i just had a case of runners brain though because that was the time for the front people and for me it was only 42...

My card time was 93.16 which means an inaugural PB of 83m16s!! my watch said 82.40 - but I am absolutely 100% happy with that time. It was a lot faster than I expected and even my secret target time was only 84 so its all bloody good :)

the hilight of the day though was probably hanging out with my new running buddies all day. on the grass where i managed to get a slightly sunburnt nose, and then at the pub(s) that we visited over the day. it is actually amazing that i am up and conscious because i literally ate nothing except for a piece of lorna's apricot loaf (delicious!!!) and 1/4 of a sausage in a roll (this was a good idea and then my stomach decided that it wasn't too keen...). i might also consumed a few beverages... (but don't tell anyone...)

also - a massive thank you to the lovely cheersquad at the 13km mark! it was a huge lift that i needed and i really picked up my pace for that last km. i am a bit worried by everyone telling me that i look 'comfortable' when i run - i can truly say that there was probably only about 30seconds in the whole run that felt comfortable!!!!

anyways i'm a happy camper today - but v grateful for my rest day :)

e

30 min primer

i was a bit unsure whether i was going to do the 30 mins on the program for today. for starters i was hungover and tired especially because i had to go to 2 hours of supervision for my course at 9am. still i felt fine after that so put the shoes on and headed out for a lap of the park. I ended up doing 4.45km in 29.05 with avg pace of 6.30. i actually thought i was going a lot slower which is why i stopped.

i'm pleased that i did go out though because it was good to turn the legs over and hopefully get all the cobwebs out ready for tomorrow!! i'm very excited and only a bit nervous! will hopefully see a bunch of you there!

e

:)

cross training

well that is what i'm calling it.

had a rest day today which i took. however, just got home after a *reasonably* large evening and have decided that 9.5 hours of drinking and dancing is worth some cross training points. probably i'll regret it tomorrow but for now i am feeling quite cheerful :)

1km fartlek loops

on the program was 4 x 1km fartlek loops that i thought were intended to be a little easier than usual due to the C2S. i was WRONG! we were supposed to go just as hard, there were just less of them. i felt a bit slow amd sluggish today. had trouble keeping up with my partner in crime Kerry, and when sean told me that i should try and take her on the 3rd loop it completely threw me and i started drifting even further back. say something for my competitive spirit?

i am thinking that it could be that my legs are tired from adding a lot of walking this week. to and from work yesterday which adds 90 mins to the 30 min run that i had programmed. so i am walking today but won't tomorrow so that my legs are dead set fresh for sunday! i just prefer walking to work to catching the bus.

mildly nervous about sunday... not too bad though because at the end of the day i will be happy just to finish and qualify for an A2 start next year. i want to enjoy it and not be hating every step of it, especially as its quite likely i'll be on my own most of the way.

anyway, mostly i want to have fun! and even if i have a shit run i am pretty good at cheering up, particularly if there is some good company at the finish line!

e

EDIT - forgot the whole bloody point of the post: warm up 3.45 km, 4 1k loops (actually ended up 3.9) in 5.08, 5.20, 5.16, 5.16 and 1.12 km cool down. Total 8.45 km.

cruisin and making new friends

30 mins easy on the program today which was fine by me. headed down to the park for a clockwise inner loop. i am trying to go clockwise and unwind all the months of going anticlockwise. i think that my knees appreciate it :) All up 4.68 km at 6.25 pace.

i then walked in to work and met a very nice gentleman on oxford st who came up (very close) to me and told me that his real name was motherf****r. just between you and me i think that he may not have been telling me the truth...

i had a session at the house of tears (the therapist) last night. honestly i am starting to think that it is a bad fit for me. I have given it 4 or so months but I think its time to admit defeat. i know that i am doing it as a requirement for my course but I also want to get as much out of it as I can so i think that a change is on the cards. not looking forward to it though...

sneaky

kerry and i were a bit sneaky this morning. sean had programmed us for 3 x 1600's which would be 4 laps. no worries. we were all set. then after 2 laps of the first rep he told us 'good work, one lap to go'. the moral dilemna of whether to do just one more or two more kept us occupied for a millisecond before we went 'sweet - 3 laps it is'!!! in our defence i did confirm with sean in the first recovery that he was happy for us to do 1200's...

in any event i don't think that it was meant to be a hardcore session. Sean even told us to keep it pretty easy at one point. sweet!

warm up including run to and from the oval, some laps of the oval and strides/drills was 3.2km, cool down was 1.2km. The reps were 5.59, 5.46 and 5.51 which I was pretty happy with. All up 8km.

Lulu is back!

Yay! I had 90 mins on the program today and had the pleasure of a healthy and unbroken Lulu for the last hour of that.

I arrived at the park and knocked off the first 30 mins on my own. Then back to the car where i met Lulu and we took off for an outside lap of the park and then a lap around one of the lakes. This took us perfectly back to the car for 90 minutes. Total distance was 13.3km at avg pace of 6.47. Sean only had 12 km down but close enough! (especially given that yesterday i was supposed to do 14... and i actually did 10 exactly plus whatever the run to the toilet at the start was! and back of course - prob less than 1km).

Fortunately the last hour of the run flew due to the terrific company as Lulu was setting a cracking pace that I struggled to keep up. My legs were protesting very strongly! no pain but man they were tired. talk about feeling heavy - i don't think i've ever felt that sluggish before. Guess that is to be expected after a race (and a few weeks of consecutive racing now actually).

But everything felt better after a delicious breakfast with Lulu and Mr Lulu down at Potts Point :) could be time for a nap actually...

i love hills

at least that is what my new book "Running Within" (Lynch & Scott) tells me i should be thinking as i run up said hills.

Got up at the crack of dawn to pick up the owl for our trip to the Striders 10k at Lane Cove. This was the Owl's second 10k and second trip to Lane Cove. My first trip to that course and I really do love running with trees rather than cars :)

I had a bit of a bad attitude because of the rain and all the tales of the nasty hills. Fortunately the rain was not torrential at any point although I was lucky that i chose to wear my 'rain' shoes because they got completely soaked. the hills were tough but a combination of my new positive hill thinking (i love hills... i love hills...) and imagining myself being carried up by helium balloons (ok - i'm new at this visualisation business...) really helped and although i found it ridiculously hard I didn't have that same conversation in my head about how there was no way I could make this and my time would be terrible and what was i thinking pretending i was a runner... etc. you get the picture.

in the end i was really happy to finish in a PB time of 55.43 which was a pb of 53 seconds :) avg pace was 5.36 which i was really happy with and I am inching closer to that 55 minute mark! maybe north head.... hehe.

EDIT: official time of 55.50 so only a pb of 46 secs ;)

splits were: 5.19,5.23,5.48,5.31,5.58,5.47,5.46,5.26,5.46,4.54 (this is a bit deceptive as my garmin was a bit out and said 9.94 at the end so that was shorter than the rest of the splits). not sure if that is a negative split or not - i think it was pretty consistent and i was pleased that i didn't even go over 6 mins in the hard hilly kms.

was great to catch up with everyone again and i really appreciate it all the fast people smiling or waving or even cheering me on - if i didn't reply it was cause i couldn't breathe! loads of great runs, but especially Will who stuck to the 40min Guz train with ease and also Gronk I think smashed his. noice.

had a great breakfast and chat with the Owl after, and had the most delicious pancakes which would have been great, except that it was the smallest meal i've ever had - i've had pikelets bigger than these pancakes! still portion control is a beautiful thing hey?? plus its nearly lunch time now...

ok - so i didn't last long with my plan to keep it short and sweet did it? ah well - can only fight nature for so long... i'm a writer at heart :)

30 mins easy

4.5km, about 6.43 pace.

Yes - trying to keep it short and sweet for a while - i'm getting bored of myself :) as i imagine you must all be! unfortunately i don't have the luxury of ignoring myself if i feel like it... don't know how long it will last - i keep thinking of things i want to write...

10km

69 mins, avg pace 6.55.

+ 45 min walk

Wednesday (Rest): 90 mins walk

a step forward?

SWEAT training this morning and I woke feeling surprisingly well given that i was force fed a lot of exceedingly delicious food and intravenously forced to consume copious quantities of top notch wine...

Headed down to the park and then things started to go downhill. i felt during our strides/drills like every gram of that creme brulee that i inhaled was like a kilogram weight dragging me down.

But miraculously i picked up when we started our intervals. i had 5 x 800's on the program which i was grateful for as others had 1200's or 1600's and it meant that i got really good recoveries. i really felt today like i pushed past some sort of barrier and felt stuffed, but fantastic. i tried to stick to someone that i knew i couldn't keep up with, and i didn't - but i held on for a lot longer than usual.

My reps were 3.47, 3.42, 3.41, 3.54 (i had to race into this one after an emergency toilet stop!) and 3.46 so it was mostly quite consistent. and i consistently thought my lungs would explode after each rep so i definitely managed to push myself that bit harder and i am really pleased with it.

Average pace for those reps was 4.43 - although that is a bit misleading because of the recoveries!!

Total km's for the day around 8.4. still need to increase my cool down but i was completely and utterly stuffed.

Happy Ellie today :)