slow-but-enthusiastic

I've moved!

2009-05-05T08:36:00.001+10:00

Again...

ellieboyd.wordpress.com

I like writing. I like my computer. Blogging seems like a good forum for such things :)

i feel like I've left some people behind!

2007-06-11T20:49:00.000+10:00

If you haven't come to visit at the new blog please do!

here: http://ellieboyd.typepad.com

we are very hospitable over there :)

my bloglines seems to be a bit stuffed too - sorry if I haven't commented lately!

it is time...

2007-05-27T07:44:00.000+10:00

we have lift off!

The new blog is up and running so please come and visit and update your bloglines etc. The first post is a bit wordy... :) But don't worry - there will be a running related post just as soon as I go for my run today! Please come along for the ride!

Thanks old blog for the good times xxxx

(Must work out how to back it up - I don't have to cut and paste into word do I???)

running as panacaea?

2007-05-26T10:25:00.000+10:00

I had a lovely night last night at the Striders awards dinner where there were some excellent awards for some well know coolrunner/striders. Good work to everyone who won and it was nice to see so many familiar faces. It was also really cool to hear Kerryn McCann speak and also to give a commentary on the last kilometre or so the Commonwealth Games 2006 marathon in Melbourne which many of us remember. I remember it as the first time I had watched a running race with the interest of a runner. I had tears in my eyes that day and was jumping around like a lunatic. So it was very cool to hear from kerryn's perspective!

Then I thought that it was a great idea to head out for some drinking and dancing. It definitely was, but when the alarm went off at an obscene hour of the morning, and in fact 2 hrs and 45 mins after I went to bed, it was not very pleasant. I nearly stayed in bed and I could have but something just dragged me out. I think it was catching up with Lulu and the fact that it is always a really enjoyable morning of running. Lulu didn't end up coming but it was still gorgeous out there.

I really surprised myself with my run. I went out at the 32 minute mark as I wasn't sure how I'd hold up or whether I would need a pit stop. In the end I felt pretty comfortable and stuck at 5.20ish pace which bought me home in 26.57. If you'd told me that I could (reasonably) comfortably do 5 k in that time a year ago I would have thought you were nuts. Now it turns out that is simply the case.

A few highlights of the day included seeing Gnome looking so strong in his first hard hit out back from injury, meeting MissZ and having a good chat on the run back, breakfast with the crew and delicious avocado and mushroom on toast. Mmmm.

All up 10k with first 5k in 26.57 and second just under 5k in 30.13.

Any I think that running is now officially a good hangover cure because I feel great now! Although I suspect that it is all a matter of degree...

EDIT - thanks to Lulu the list of performance related fundraising measures is increasing! Like I don't have enough KPI's at work!!!! The latest is a km related donation for Gold Coast with a double-up if I do sub 2hrs....

Sweat and bribery

2007-05-24T09:11:00.000+10:00

So people (you know who you are :) )are coming up with some very creative ways of donating to my NY fundraising drive. In particular, one lovely coolrunner has committed to donating $10 for each Sweat session that I attend between now and then (40ish I think) and $100 when I break 2 hours for the 1/2 marathon.

All very good incentives (although as I believe someone may have said - surely having to run a marathon is enough incentive to go to training!!!!).

And having attended the first Sweat since that deal, $10 is in the bank :)

Actually I had a great session this morning. I was feeling good. I had 5 x 400's on the program, and for once Sean didn't increase my reps or distances! not everyone fared so well though, I think it was because of the 1/2 on Sunday.

The garmin measured the courses slightly long at 420m but I trust Sean's roller and I was happy with the times anyway. Its practically cross country so I am always interested in how much difference it would make to run on the track. Up at Jindabyne I was running them (at least one!) 10 seconds quicker on the measured track.

Anyway - my times were: 1.49, 1.48, 1.49, 1.53, 1.48. I was really happy with that effort. When I add my 3.85k warm up and 2.3k cooldown it was a good day and 8.2ish km.

Sweet!

All recovered

2007-05-23T08:30:00.000+10:00

After the half I was feeling a bit of DOMS - but not too much so I can't complain. Monday was a rest day and I just walked in to work which was a good stretch of the legs (4k). Yesterday I had a massage with Easy Tiger which was great. my quads feel heaps better now. I was supposed to run for 29 mins but instead I walked to and from work which is about 8k for the day.

This morning I was keen to get out again and do my 28 minutes as scheduled. I did so - the garmin was playing up though. It wouldn't lock to a satellite and was having me at 15min k's for a while. Then suddenly it clicked through 4k and I was doing 4.47. Doesn't really matter but it felt like 6.20's...ish :)

I am looking out my window and there is a little white cockatoo have an absolute ball. We are at about 10 stories here and he has found a little light fitting attached to a building that he can perch on. He sits there and every now and then jumps off and freefalls and then comes up and does it again. Having a grand old time I think!

Sub 2 hour goal lives to see another half marathon...

2007-05-20T12:48:00.001+10:00

ok - no sub 2 hour today - but I have never been this happy to get a personal worst!!

My time was 2.06.xx - definitely no land speed record - but I have to say that I am pretty happy. It is a very solid long run and I think I have only run for 2 hours about twice this year so it was also a good lesson in 'why long runs are important if you want to run half or full marathons'. Lesson learned :)

I started out too slow today which is a new place for me to be!! I never felt like I got in a rhythm either. I started right at the back. It took 4 1/2 mins to get across the starting mats which is fine in terms of time but worked out badly because the crowd was a little slower than I wanted to be and it was only after a couple of k of cruising that I realised this and made an effort to speed up. By that time I was well down on my goal splits and no matter how hard I pushed (and it felt like I was pushing hard!!!!) I kept slipping back on those splits.

But i still took a lot out of the run. I can run a half marathon! Just as there is too fast there is also too slow. Make sure I think about how I am going to anchor the gels I am carrying before I leave the house. I think with the longer runs I run better with no music... (doh!!). I have lots of lovely friends such as Sam who ran up the footpath on hunter st on my second lap just to keep me company despite a near stress fracture, and Lulu and WTR who ferried me to and from the venue and ensured I was fed and watered :)

I also got to meet some other people who will be running in New York with me - and I proudly ran in my new Heart Foundation top!

shameless plug below :)

heartchallengesny.kintera.org/ellieboyd

Awwwwwwww...

2007-05-19T16:23:00.000+10:00

I love you guys!! Thank you for all your lovely supportive comments and thank you to the people have already made donations. I am very humbled and grateful - especially for a very large one that just snuck in this afternoon... you know who you are :)

Training this week has been pretty low key - Thursday morning was 3k fartlek. It was a bit like a reunion for me - my downstairs next door neighbour came, lovely sam was back, CR will came along - all and sundry - I love it!! I actually had a really good morning running wise too. We were aiming for fartlek at just faster than or just slower than 1/2 marathon pace. I think I worked on closer to 10k pace so I am feeling good for tomorrow.

This morning was 18 minutes on the program :) 2.7k - why is it that short pre race runs are always a struggle??? Getting it out of the system I like to think!

I have spent a good bit of this afternoon upgrading my internet plan and downloading music, and have composed a playlist for tomorrow - it is 2 hours precisely - I'm confident hey???

Don't judge me for my taste :) I just want upbeat things that make me want to run fast!!!!!!

Fall Behind Me The Donnas
The Others (Radio Edit) TV Rock vs Dukes Of Windsor
Be Together (Original Radio Edit) T-Funk featuring Katie Underwood
Family Affair Mary J. Blige
Never Again Kelly Clarkson
Bleed American Jimmy Eat World
You Can Do It Ice Cube
Lose Yourself Eminem
1 Thing Amerie
I Write Sins Not Tragedies Panic! At the Disco
You Oughta Know Alanis Morissette
Fast Girl Gyroscope
In Love With You Freestylers
Put Your Hands Up for Detroit (Original Mix) Fedde Le Grand
Rock This Party (Original Mix) Bob Sinclar
This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race Fall Out Boy
Hands Open Snow Patrol
Girlfriend Avril Lavigne
Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle) Limp Bizkit
Keep Your Hands Off My Girl (Album Version) Good Charlotte
Du hast Rammstein
I Predict A Riot Kaiser Chiefs
Something About You (Single Edit) Jamelia
Pictures (Tonite Only Remix) Sneaky Sound System
Oh My Gosh Basement Jaxx
anxiety Black Eyed Peas
Get A Life Freestylers
Breathe The prodigy
Not Many (The Remix) - Scribe Featuring Savage Of Deceptikonz & Con Psy Of Frontline Scribe Feat. Savage Of Deceptikonz & Con Psy Of Frontline
Don't stop Timo di Roy

Some photos from my quick trip back to Perth - me and my cousin and one with my mum :)

OK - finally the big exciting news :)

2007-05-16T20:24:00.000+10:00

Is that a good hint? (I'm hoping my remedial cutting and pasting of html source has worked here!!)

Yep - the big apple - New York! I am going to New York and in particular I am going to New York in November this year. Not entirely coincidentally that is when the NY marathon is on... and I'm running it!

I have managed to secure a place to run the 2007 New York Marathon as a fundraiser for the Heart Foundation. I am part of a group of people who have each committed to raising $10,000 for the Heart Foundation.

The Heart Foundation is a cause that is close to the hearts of lots of Australians. I didn't know this - but 48,000 Australians die each year of heart disease. This is one of the reasons why 6 years ago I decided to change my lifestyle and a year and a half ago I decided to be a runner. I am so grateful to be healthy and fit and what better way to celebrate this and give something back to an organisation that is doing so much.

And this is where I need your help :)

$10,000 is a lot! You can help by making donations here:
http://heartchallengesny.kintera.org/ellieboyd

In addition I am looking for any fundraising suggestions that anyone has. I would also really appreciate it if you would ask any friends or family or workmates that you think might be willing to help or donate. Any suggestions of companies that you think might be open to sponsoring me would also be great!

One other thing that should help is that R4YL has agreed to my writing a series of 3 articles on the program (through Inspired Adventures), my training progress and a race report. That is pretty cool too I reckon :) - although I shouldn't say anything until it is finalised!

I am moving to a typepad blog once I get it all fancied up - but for now there was no way I could hold off on telling everyone any longer!!!!

I'm so excited I could practically explode!

E

x

update

2007-05-16T13:37:00.000+10:00

toe seems to be fine - i ran with it yesterday and although I felt it, it didn't stop me (despite wanting it to when I was on the 3rd rep...).

the big news is coming - I promise!!! and it may come with a new blog...

owls sweat too :)

2007-05-15T09:25:00.000+10:00

Lovely Lorna came along to Sweat this morning which enticed me to definitely go. It was good to have her there but alas it will not be continuing (at least until she comes to her senses and moves east with all the cool kids).

600's were on the program for this morning. Of course I made the tactical error of going out fairly hard and he bumped the first 4 girls in the 600 group up to 800's. Allegedly we were to alternate 800s with 600s but he let us do one more 600 and then made us finish with an 800.

So - the times were:
2.44 (600)
3.40 (800)
2.44 (600)
3.44 (800)
3.47 (800)

3.4k warm up and cool down :)

so ridiculous its almost heartbreaking

2007-05-13T11:16:00.000+10:00

still in Perth but heading home today - it was my grandmothers 80th last night which was the cause for celebration and homecoming. Just beforehand though I was in the hotel room that my aunt and two cousins (2yrs and 6 weeks) were staying and I was trying to get the baby to sleep.

With baby in my arms I managed to stub my toe (middle right foot) on a chair leg. Now these are hard sharp metal chairs... it hurt and all I wanted to do was swear and jump around. I couldn't jump because of the baby but I did swear loudly. But I thought it was alright and was over it in 10 seconds. Then I sat down for a while and eventually looked down and saw the blood pooling under the toe nail. Eeeeek!!!

So it turns out that I have lifted 2/3 of the nail off the nail bed. It hurts more with a bandaid on and is actually ok so long as I am barefoot. However, running shoes are not an option. Today anyway. I am hoping for miracle cure before tomorrow and definitely before Sunday - BIG RACE!!!!

Any toenail tips greatly appreciated :)

jeez you lot have a good imagination!

2007-05-12T09:31:00.000+10:00

no I am not pregnant or engaged or anything like that!

I am however awaiting a few more details before I do a big long post on the matter.

I am also in Perth and have been since Wednesday so there has been some disruption to training. Truthfully the disruption has been more due to my sore leg than the trip though.

Nonetheless yesterday saw me haul my sorry self back on that wagon and get out of the house for a surprisingly spritely run :) actually it felt pretty tough but it was a lot faster than I would have thought!

I decided to run from home (East Perth) to the bottom of Jacobs ladder - a nasty set of stairs equilvalent to maybe 8 or 10 flights I guess? (I turned the garmin off for the actual climb) and then home.

It was 3.8k each way. Trip there was 22.54 at 5.59 pace. Trip home was 21.42 at 5.41 pace! I was pretty stoked with that negative split given how shattered my legs were at the top of the steps.

All up 7.6k and I was glad to get back into it. Next run will be Sunday and it is officially taper time for the SMH half!

x

bugger...

2007-05-08T07:40:00.000+10:00

just when I really wanted to go to training I have a fair bit of pain in the right tib post. doh. So i didn't. I don't want to bust anything. I did a fair bit of stretching and some icing last night and it will be fine tomorrow I'm sure.

I also have some awesome news that I will post about properly when I have some more info!!!! can't wipe the grin off my face :)

nice easy run

2007-05-07T09:33:00.000+10:00

that is the only way to describe this mornings run - nice and easy! Had 40 mins on the program and 40 mins I did. 6.12k and 6.32 avg pace. Very enjoyable.

Except - the blister from yesterday is a bit annoying, and my right tib post is aching and stretching isn't helping. need a massage but don't think it'll happen! argh!

National Park

2007-05-06T12:33:00.000+10:00

Bit of a jaunt down to the national park today. i was kindly chauffeured by mr lulu (who sped off on his merry way when we got there) and accompanied by lulu and RA. The weather is absolutely perfect today (albeit a bit bloody cold when we got there...) and it is such a gorgeous place to run.

I had 2hr 10 on the program, but I was feeling a teeny bit drained from yesterday I think and I struggled. I probably should have just paced myself and let the speed demons go on their way - but I hung in there :) The tiredness combined with a blister developing on my left foot made me decide to pull the pin when Lulu was finished at 1hr30. I am not too worried about the decision. I have a longish run due Wednesday which I will try and do Tuesday because I fly to Perth Wed night and have a training course from 8 till 6pm Wednesday and I couldn't work out how I was going to run and get to work in time short of getting up and running at 4am...

anyway it was still a great run and I mentioned to Lulu that I don't have that same freak out thing about running the full distance of a 1/2 in my training. I feel good and I feel pretty well prepared. Plus I think I am still pretty positive after yesterdays run :)

All up we did 13.6k in 1hr30 - avg pace of 6.37 which is pretty respectable I think! I may go out for the remaining 40 this arvo depending on the blister status or I might even get the bike on the indoor trainer for an hour or so. maybe... :)

spring cleaning afternoon in the ellie house today. I'm in the mood so I reckon I should go with it!! but first lunch...

Yahoo!

2007-05-05T09:36:00.000+10:00

Sub 55 10k - check.

In fact - pending official results - 54.27 - I am officially stoked!!

I was super anxious/nervous when I woke up this morning. I'm not sure why - but there you have it. I kindly had a lift up to North Head this morning which was great because somehow his way took half as long as my way did last time. hmmm...

I decided to leave my ipod with uncle dave but after the first mini loop I realised I needed it! So he kindly handed it over as I ran past. Lucky this is not triathlon - talk about outside assistance! From there there was no magic to it - I just had to stick to my pace for the first big lap and try and hold on for dear life on the second lap. And actually my pace picked up the second lap which is even better.

My Garmin measured the course long which I realised meant that I needed to pick the pace up because I couldn't rely on it. I thought I was well ahead of schedule but then the 55min pacer came past! He kindly dropped back to check up on me and pointed out that we could pick it up on the downhill ahead. I did and after about a k I got in front and managed to stay there till the end.

Some unreal runs this morning - Tigerangel was in amazing form. She took off immediately and Gnome said that she was scaring herself, but she is one lady who you know will hang on!! I have enjoyed running around the same pace as her for the last little while - but now she is off there is no stopping her! Go TA!!!

Also a couple of sub 40's - Horrie and Hamburglar - very nice work!!!

Was so nice to be back into it, and I just love catching up with everyone at the end. Makes the pain worth it :)

Yayyyyy!!!!!

(edit - splits were - 5.26, 5.27, 5.31, 5.20, 5.30, 5.30, 5.19, 5.08, 5.22, 5.10, 37s (the 138 m over that the garmin measured - apparently its probably that it gets confused in the little loop at the end and tries to make it a circle...)

honeymoon is over baby

2007-05-03T09:44:00.000+10:00

well not really - but i definitely didn't feel as good this morning as I have for the last few weeks. There are a few reasons I think - yesterday I was in melbourne and I ate highly un-nutritious food and dinner was a carrot and some toast.

still I got up and did it which is a-ok in my book.

Firstly did a good warm up - including strides and drills it was about 3k

Then it was 400's - because of the 10k on Saturday I only had 5 and I wasn't going too hard. Still I went out hard because I wanted to see what my 1.38 up at Jindabyne converted to down on the track. The answer? 1.50!!! What the?? The garmin says that it was actually 430 not 400 and it didn't feel that slow, but Sean reckons his wheel is more accurate than the garmin. hmmm... Ah well. Maybe I'll go by the garmin this time :)

Times were: 1.50, 1.56, 1.55, 1.55, 1.58 and 2.15k overall avg pace of 4.28/k.

560m cool down (I know!!) and about 5.6k all up for the day.

I'm still feeling good for a big run on saturday!

4 lap time trial

2007-05-01T09:19:00.000+10:00

It was that time of the month again this morning - time trial day. I can't say that this is a favourite session of mine. Still I had a very definite goal for this morning. Do it at the pace I intend to run my 10k on Saturday - which is 5.30/km. Given that today was 5.7k and not 10 it was meant to be reasonably comfortable. Sean didn't know that was my plan. But it was the plan nonetheless.

I started out and consciously made myself slow down and not go out too hard and think I did that pretty successfully. I felt great at the end of the first lap and like I wasn't really puffing at all. The second lap felt pretty good too. Third lap was a bit harder, and the fourth was harder still, but that was because I decided that I was doing ok so I'd pick up the pace. I ended up home in 30.49 with 5.25 average pace. A good confidence booster, especially as Sean thought I looked like I was running a lot lighter and easier than I have before. Cool!

I just did a quick look back and my last 4 lap time trial in March (pre-camp) was 32.14 - so that is pretty good improvement I think! Especially as I was kind of deliberately holding back.

Noice.

all up 9.7 k for the day

practice makes perfect

2007-04-29T11:23:00.000+10:00

firstly... no. i didn't do the 5k challenge yesterday as planned. I was hungover. but it was alright because so was Lorna :)

Today though was a whole new day and after an early night I felt spritely :) but nowhere near as spritely as on Wednesday... We went down to the city to have a run over the SMH course. I was surprised that I didn't think it was quite as bad as everyone makes out. Although I reckon that Hunter St will be painful on lap 2... We started at the Art Gallery and ran the Mrs Macquaries chair part before heading into the city. We did the loop around Argyle and Hickson Rd twice for good measure then headed back to the Gardens. All up I did 2hrs and we don't really know how far because the garmins kept losing reception. I forgot mine altogether. It was a nice easy pace, i reckon 18k? bit less maybe.

On the plus side I felt (and still feel) great after. I drank High5 the whole way round and didn't have any food for after but didnt get that awful feeling of suddenly having nothing left. Good news! And the knees had their moments during the run but the hip was fine and I feel better now than I have after a long run in ages!!!

PS - for the sydneysiders out there - how stunning is the weather today? my perfect running weather - cool, bright and sunny and a nice crisp breeze...

phwoar...

2007-04-26T08:49:00.000+10:00

we had big bertha on the program at sweat this morning, and looking back last night while the lovely lulu and wtr fed me :) I couldn't recall actually ever completing a full session which is 10 laps. I maybe have done but it has been well and truly erased from the memory banks.

But there was no escaping it today - I even pledged to myself not to amplify some minor niggle into a lap-stopping injury :) In the words of a friend - today I just had to 'suck it up princess'.

I started pretty gently but this course is a killer and of course I was hurting straight away. I was really surprised when at the end of Lap 2 or 3 Sean told me that he had never seen me running this well and that I had stepped up a level. That definitely perked me up, but unfortunately didn't make the hill any flatter. He told me again a couple of laps later that I was going to smash my pb (hmmm what pb I thought... he was just psychologising me i suspect...). Anyway - I did finish. 10 laps in 25.31. That can be my benchmark from now on!

The laps were 2.24, 2.29, 2.29, 2.29, 2.35, 2.36, 2.40, 2.38 (end in sight!!), 2.36, 2.30. I wasn't watching the splits during the run as it is a continuous no recovery one, but now looking at them I am quite happy that I dropped off a bit in the middle but I did pick it up again at the end. (I think Sean was a bit optmistic with his call to do a sub 2 min lap for my last one though!!!)

6.8k all up for the morning.

i feel good

2007-04-25T10:54:00.000+10:00

Lorna, Lulu and I met up this morning for a public holiday run this morning and can I just say - I felt unreal. It was one of those runs where everything seems to work together nicely. Even on the hills I felt spritely and energetic. And yes - you can slap me for using the word 'spritely' - but still - that is how I felt. Weird... but good!

We stuck around the park, stopped to stretch a few times and finished with 9.4ish km in 1hr with an avg pace of 6.24.

Then we went back to my place and got stuck in to the main event... breakfast. I maintain that I have a pathological inability to cater for less than 7 - which makes it extra funny that I choose to live alone. Toast is a beautiful thing :)

It feels like Saturday :) but I am sure it won't tomorrow!!

sunshine on a rainy day

2007-04-24T08:49:00.000+10:00

it was pouring when I went to sleep and pouring when I got up this morning - but for some reason the idea of staying in bed didn't really compute. this is a good thing!

My program this morning had me down for 3 x 1k loops. I was looking forward to it as 1k is that nice point where it is long, but not so long that you want to die but realise you aren't even half way yet.

But the rain (grumble grumble) put paid to that plan as the ground on the usual 1k loop was too boggy. So instead we had to run around the paved inside loop of the Park. Now there were plenty of flooded sections, but it was probably better. The fast people did the whole loop (3.7k) and the rest of us did an abridged version that was 2.5k. We had to do it twice with a good length recovery in between (about 6 and a half minutes it ended up being).

So after I moved past my indignation at having another 2k added willy nilly to the program (ok not so much indignation as shock and fear...) I stepped up to the plate. So to speak.

And my first lap was a blinder! Sean had said to go hard first off because we had a really good recovery. I did the 2.5k in 12.25 which was 4.55 pace. That is PB pace for sure! (not that I have a 2.5k pb - but I sure do now!). Gave me some hope also that I might be in 5k PB shape on the weekend. But I shouldn't get ahead of myself because lap 2 was somewhat less stellar, namely 13.07 and 5.10 pace. Still nothing to sniff at I think.

I was pretty shattered after the first lap, and I lost the mental edge for the second one. In the first lap I stuck onto a couple of the fast girls for a good bit of it, but the second lap I didn't/couldn't.

All up 7.3k and extra brownie points for running in the rain. 3 and a half stars Margaret.

long run sunday

2007-04-22T10:23:00.000+10:00

it has been over 3 and a half months since I did my last 2 hour long run, but if ever there was a time to get back into it, it is now! I was a bit wary because I wasn't sure how I'd feel and my knee is still giving me some grief. I even had a dream about my knee hurting and deciding not to train. Now do you see how resistant my subconscious is??? :)

I wanted to stick close to Centennial Park in case it played up so I was close to home, also cause there are lots of water fountains there.

I ended up feeling ok and doing my 2 hours. I tried to keep up a reasonable pace (for me!) and finished in 2hrs with 18.5x km and average pace of 6.29. I took quite a few breaks to stretch everything out and drink, but I'm still happy with that pace.

Until the last 5 minutes I also felt reasonably fresh which is great. The problem is that I finished running and started to walk home and I felt like I hit a brick wall. I suspect it was lack of water and lack of breakfast and lack of sports drink or anything. I started to feel like I did after the central coast half, nauseous and dizzy and shivery. horrid. Got some water in when I got home and just lay down for a few minutes. I have managed to eat some toast now and I feel heaps better already. Guess its just a blood sugar thing. I suppose it could be a delayed toxin release from Friday night too. Next time I will go back to the fuel belt/camelbak option and take some powerade (well - actually orange flavour High5 these days because I won a tin of it at the last tri I did!).

anyway - must be shower time. then maybe a nap

ouch

2007-04-20T11:39:00.000+10:00

can i just say that I don't like the word niggle? i don't know why. it just sounds funny.

Anyway... yesterday at lunch I hit the gym again for my strength session. I realised soon that my knee hurt. It hurt when I lunged, so I changed it and did lunges where you just stay in the same position rather than stepping out into each lunge which is when it would hurt. It hurt when I did full squats so I paralysed myself by just doing deep pulses with the ball against the wall. It hurt when I did knee raises on a step but I just did them anyway cause it was quick.

So I didn't run this morning out of an abundance of caution. I will try and get in to see Gary the massage man but I am not holding my breath! I did do 100 push ups and 100 sit ups/ crunches etc. My arms are going to kill tomorrow. Not sure why I did that - just felt like it!

third gear

2007-04-19T11:17:00.000+10:00

i discovered an extra little something in me this morning. not sure whether it was cause of the hills or whatever - but it was very welcome!

3k warm up and then we were into the main event. hills. Wild Wally's to be precise which is a 600ish metre loop with a large part of uphill but also a fair bit of flat and down. its a killer! I was scheduled to do 2, rest one, 2, rest one and then a final one. Sean changed his mind then and it was 2, rest one, 3.

Times were: 3.29, 3.28, REST, 3.27, 3.30 and (wait for it) 3.20!! I was so proud of how I busted that last one. I thought I was going to break my lungs at the end - but I felt good! I'm very proud of that given that I almost always die a slow faltering death in my last rep of anything!!

All up about 7.5k for the day.

wednesday runs

2007-04-18T08:45:00.000+10:00

have always been my favourites.

I made the decision a few days ago that running was going to be my main focus again and I have asked Sean to bump me back up to 6 days a week as of my next program. I feel good about that decision! I am going to try and ride and swim each once a week at least because I enjoy doing the shorter distance tris. Plus I have a bike that cost me a fortune :)

I have also decided to voluntarily seek out hills in all of my runs so as not to lose all the hill fitness I developed on camp.

I had a funny run this morning. I felt pretty good, and strong on the hills. The problem was, objectively I was running slowly. Slower possibly than before the camp! Now I know my legs are killing me cause of my strength session yesterday and there were a lot of hills in this run and the garmin didn't kick in for a few hundred metres... but still! i wanna go fast!

but other than that it felt ace :) 1hr and 8.6k.

The route I took was up the hill from home to the oxford st side of Centennial park. around the park and down York Rd till I hit Birrell St. Then I just followed Birrell st which has a big hill. So I went up it, and then down and down and down... which meant up and up and up... then down again and then up the last half of the York Rd hill then home. (hehe - that doesn't really add a lot to 'it was a hilly run' :)

Camp Summary

2007-04-17T19:57:00.000+10:00

(just for my records...)

Friday 6 April:

Run 1: Jindabyne Trails: 32.21, 4.7k
Strength
Run 2: Smiggin Holes: 43.21, 5.81k

Daily total: 1hr 15m 42s, 10.5k

Saturday 7 April:

Run 1: Track session: 56ish, 7.9k
(w/u – 2.5k, 4 x 800m intervals – 4.03, 3.54, 3.52, 4.06, c/d – 2.2k)
Swim – 1k
Run 2: Rennix trail: 30min, 3.72k

Daily total: 1hr 26 min, 10.6k
Total for week: 2hr41m, 21.1k

Sunday 8 April

Run 1: Charlottes Pass to Mt Koscuisko (not to the top, turn back at Seamans Hut, 1hr 31, 12k
Stretch
Run 2: Jindabyne trails: 29 mins, 4.2k

Daily total: 2 hrs, 16.2k
Total for week: 4hr41m, 37.3k

Monday 9 April

Run 1: Tigers Hill: 27 min, 4.17k
Strength
Run 2: Guthega/Smiggins: 40 mins, 5.9k

Daily total: 1 hr 7 mins, 10.07k
Total for week: 5hr48m, 47.3k

Tuesday 10 April

Run 1: Mt Blue Cow Hill reps (after we got lost!) 50 mins, 3.5k (seriously!)
Stretch
Run 2: Jindabyne trails, 37m, 5.36k

Daily total: 1hr27m, 8.8k
Total for week: 7hr15m, 56.1k

Wednesday 11 April

Run 1: Tigers Hill: 1 hr, 8.36k
Swim: 1k
Run 2: Easy oval run, 30 min, 4k

Daily total: 1hr30m, 12.3k
Total for week: 8hr45m, 68.1k

Thursday 12 April:

Run 1: Track session – 43m, 6.2k
(w/u – 2.2k, 5 x 400’s: 1.38, 1.43, 1.46, 1.47, 1.47 c/d – 2k)
Strength
Run 2: 28 min, 4k

Daily total: 1hr 11m, 10.2k

TOTAL FOR WEEK: 9hr 56m, 78.3k

ummm...

2007-04-17T08:47:00.000+10:00

back at Sweat this morning and had no idea what to expect. Would I be slower because of the unprecedented miles in the legs, or would I discover new found strength and fitness to propel me effortlessly around the lake?

Becky O seemed to be of the latter persuasion - she was on fire! Go girl!

As it turned out, I was somewhere in the middle.

I had been programmed 2 laps, long recovery, the 1 lap. After the first set Sean bumped the second set up to 2 laps too. grumble grumble... but actually i didn't really mind!

My first 2 laps of the lake started really well. I felt light and my legs felt strong, and I noticed that I was sitting on 4.56 pace. So then I slowed down. Good job too! I ended up doing the 2 laps in 14.52 which was an average pace of 5.14. Not too bad given that we were supposed to be targeting our 10k race pace. Mine is something over 5.30...

I did slow down considerably in the second set of 2 laps - mostly cause I wanted to survive! I was sitting on around 5.26 pace for the first lap and then decided to pick it up a bit. I saw ewen running his cool down lap (!) and decided that he was my target. This was good as he remained just tantalisingly out of reach for most of the lap. But then my super mate Horrie ran by and turned around to push me all the way home. I needed it! Thanks Horrie! So we caught Ewen and then ended up crossing in 15.15 for avg pace of 5.22.

So no super new speed but I am pretty happy with that. I should have a look at what times I've done before - but I probably won't.

All up around 8k.

EDIT - Lunch time strength session.

A new addition to the program. Tues and Thurs lunch strength training. Maybe once on the weekend too if I feel like it. A bit hotch potch at this stage but includes: push ups, tricep dips, lunges, squats, hamstring curls, one leg side step ups, and one leg dip/squat things, regular bridge hold, bridge hold raising each leg, backwards bridge hold, backwards bridge hold with one leg up in the air, funny ab crunch things that i can't describe, leg raises (a few sorts), superman back exercises, and medicine ball oblique crunches where you keep your feet of the ground and twist the ball from side to side (sean called them 'gutbusters' - i like it!).

5 mins on the cross trainer to warm up and afterwards a bit of a stretch. noice.

BRW triathlon

2007-04-15T13:14:00.000+10:00

I have had a bit of a patchy lead up to this one. The running training was perhaps a little too much and the cycling and swimming practically non existent. But its just a short one so I wasn't too fussed.

Started on a bit of an anxious note. You all know I am not the most confident rider so I was planning to walk the bike to transition. The problem was meeting all my teammates in the work car park and we very nearly missed the bike check in. Now I have a bit of a problem in the punctuality department (ie - I am tooo punctual) and would have preferred to get there about half an hour earlier - but had to go with the team as they had all my numbers and stuff. Once bike was checked in the anxiety subsided - especially cause we had 1hr55 from the first wave until it was our turn!! Luckily they firm had a little marquee so we hung out there and eventually we jumped in the water.

Now I was a bit suss about swimming in the harbour and was visualising oil spills and turds, but actually it was ok. The temperature was fine too! It was a slow swim but I just plugged along and was pleased to beat some people, although I was a bit dismayed by how close some of the breastrokers were... As I was running up to the transition area I heard a shout and realised I had a little cheer squad of Owly, Caro and Sparkie - aw - made my day - especially seeing them along the ride and run course.

Speaking of the ride, I was pretty nervy - lots of people, a really really tight corner - but all went well. It was pretty confusing and there was no way I could really get up any pace on most of it. I am fairly sure it wasn't 8k! Lets just say it went realllll quick. The run was great. I always love getting off the bike (hmmm does this say something) and although my legs were tired I felt pretty good and started picking people off. My favourite overtake was on the last hill up to the finishing chute and my mind went 'i'll be damned if I'm not going to get some benefit out of the gazillion hills I ran last week' and cruised past a couple of guys who were in front of me. Noice.

I am not sure of my time but the clock said 2.38.17. Now by my calculations, if I left at 1.55, that makes my time 43.17. However I am sure it must be more than that. Either way I am happy cause my goal was under the hour!

I am feeling remarkably unscathed by the training camp so I guess that means I'm back into it! yay!

EDIT: times through:

Person 3
Swim Time 0:08:37
Bike Time 0:20:45
Run Time 0:14:05

Anyone reckon the run was more like 2k than 4k?????

home-sweet-home :)

2007-04-13T19:23:00.000+10:00

I woke up this morning for the first time not feeling like bounding out of bed and actually not feeling like getting out of bed at all. Rather than push it, (the funny almost-dizziness of last years 'iron-wars' was starting to come back) I thought I would walk this mornings session. This was a teeny bit disappointing because it was the flattest course we had run on (we tried it out last night). Nonetheless I had a really enjoyable 50 min walk in the sunshine with some tunes and a general feeling of well being and satisfaction with my efforts over the last 7 days.

I decided after that that it would be a good time to call it quits and have some down time (2 days) before the BRW triathlon. So after a long drive (including getting lost in Canberra... that place is a maze!!). I am quite happy with that decision. 7 days and 21 sessions is more than I could ever have hoped. And those hills!

I got a huge amount out of the camp.

- The obvious ones - I feel fitter and better equipped for hills! and more hills! (for now anyways...)

- I met some lovely lovely people and got to know some that I knew a little a whole lot better. For those of you that read this, it was great :)

- One thing that was really confronting was the whole - being significantly slower than the bulk of the group - thing. It is hard to put yourself completely out of your comfort zone like that, but I am incredibly glad that I did, and triumph through adversity and all that, blah blah :)

- Lots of time to think about goals and things. I am still not 100% - at this stage I am torn between wanting to set a big scary triathlon goal, but not being sure whether it is really what I love and whether perhaps I should just run and run and run with some cycling and swimming as cross training. Or hedge my bets over winter, keep my hand in the bike and swim and decide later on... (this one is currently winning!).

- Lots of time to think about myself and what I want, and don't want in my life. Don't get to do that too often. I really loved the space to just be and not be stressing about work or anyone or anything. And there is nothing like hitting the crest of a massive hill before coasting down the other side to give you a beautiful sense of perspective and contentment (and sheer bloody relief!!!)

Of course, life starts crashing back in and I felt the stress coming last night when I spoke with my dad and found out that my baby brother had an accident and hurt his arm quite badly (looks like a few surgeries will be involved) in a bull riding accident and that my grandfather is in hospital again. But in a current status check I'm feeling good and I'm energised and excited about training again. I found myself running up the stairs to my apartment tonight - things must be good!! (but I'll confirm when I notice myself singing loudly in the shower - that is a sure sign that all is right with the world)

x

ah sweet flat running...

2007-04-12T12:47:00.000+10:00

after that little whinge about all the hills (der yeah I know...) yesterday afternoon we had a really nice flat session running circles around the oval for 20 minutes. Sounds mind numbing but with some tunes on the ipod I was quite happy plodding along getting lapped by all and sundry. running with this mob certainly helps you work on your humility and humble-ness :)

this morning was a killer for me. It was a track session - 400's which I normally love. The speedsters had 10-12 reps, we got to just do every second one. Stupidly (but this is hardly a revelation...) I flogged myself on the first one and did it in 1.38 - which I was quite proud of on these tired legs! Then it went downhill and the last one was 1.48. Still all faster than I used to do - but I would have preferred to peak later and have some consistency. I know better than that now!!!

10.30am we had a strength session which was a bit of a killer. Now a rest until the afternoon session which was allegedly going to be a nice flat run - but now I hear its going to be ...hills...

actually - and i hate to say this - i think hills are becoming my friends...

x

would you believe more hills?

2007-04-11T13:34:00.000+10:00

the hills are all starting to blur into one another... i get confused with all the tracks. There has been Smiggin Holes, Guthega, Charlottes Pass, Mt Crackenback, Rennix Trail and the good old fashioned local trails (all of which come complete with bigger hills than I've ever run in my life!).

When I get back I will go through the garmin and update!

This morning was a longish run on Crackenback. I only had an hour because we don't do too much long stuff when we are doubling up. Was hard - but I reckon I am getting stronger still. 1k swim at lunch and some tries at going underwater as long as poss. not very...

anyway bout to run out of credit! :)

still alive!

2007-04-08T14:17:00.000+10:00

So Saturday afternoon was a 30 min run on the Rennix trail. Some people hated it because it was very uneven and ankles were twisting left right and centre. Amazingly I wasn't one of those people and I loved it cause there were no hills!!

Sunday - first thing this morning was a run up Mt Kosciusko!! Literally! From Charlotte's pass to the top is 9k. Sean told me to run to the Seaman's Hut which is only 6k - so I didn't make the top. Disappointing but I made the decision in the interests of longevity and wellbeing for the rest of the camp! It was pretty tough - 6k up, and up and up and up... but the downwards trip was joy! Serious negative split!

Then we had a glorious stretching session. Another run late this arvo - but now - lunch!!

HAPPY EASTER!

super quick update!!

2007-04-07T12:43:00.000+10:00

i will post some photos of the magnificent ironman weekend that we spent up in Port Macquaries supporting our very lovely friend Andrew and camping with out other super mate Portrunr!!

But in the meantime I want to record this so I don't forget!!

Tuesday I did 10k - didn't go to sweat... Spent thursday night down in huskisson, friday AM drove to Jindabyne for running camp!!

Friday entailed:

1. 30 min out and back run on trails near the unit. Begins with a big uphill battle... but then it was gorgeous!
2. Strength session at the oval. various torments.
3. Trip up to Smiggin Holes (alt 1780) for 40 mins out and back. unfortunately the 'out' is down a big hill rendering the 'back' very unpleasant... no negative splits...

Saturday thus far:

1. Track session - 5k warm aup and cool down, some drills. Main set was 4 x 800's. Really felt slow and the first rep was 4.03. Was determined to improve and did, next two 3.53 and 3.53, last one was a shambles - 4.05...
2. Swim recovery session - just 1k.

phew. really feeling the cold and the thinner air when at the higher spots. locally its fine its just that everything has a bloody hill or 10!!

ok - more later!

i really wanted to...

2007-03-30T11:07:00.000+10:00

i really wanted to be like all those other virtuous souls out there and go for a run when I got up this morning after 3 hours sleep. but that was never going to happen. It was CR drinks last night and I had an absolute blast, culminating with some excellent dancing at Loft. why can't I do moderation like normal people????

anyways - off to Port tomorrow AM to cheer along our special buddy miners in the ironman on Sunday. Plus there will be lots of catching up and eating and perving ...i mean appreciating the athletic talent out there :)

the devil's number

2007-03-29T09:17:00.000+10:00

almost :) 600's were on my program for this morning.

I had a lovely night in with pizza and red wine and resume drafting last night with jen, the owl and lulu. very pleasant indeed. however, waking up this morning was less exciting.

still I managed to drag myself down to the park the usual 3k of warm up including drills and strides and accelerations (will these ever feel enjoyable??). Then down to business. 3 of us decided that we were consciously going to take our first rep (of 5) easy and aim to improve through the session. That worked a treat! First rep 2.55. Noice. Second 2.48 (!) and then they went 2.46, 2.47, 2.46 - gotta love a bit of consistency! Unusual - but I like it!

Only 2 days left at work till I go on holidays! I am looking forward to spending this weekend cheering on the Ironmans up at Port Macquarie. Then I have a few days in Sydney mucking around before heading up to Jindabyne for running camp. We got an email about that this morning saying that 70 people will be attending! It is going to be huge!! I figure that there will be less people after the weekend staying for the whole week though.

Coolrunning drinks tonight also so the chances of any exercise being done tomorrow am is slim to none :)

hills hills and more hills.

2007-03-27T09:13:00.000+10:00

course it was hill day do perhaps not surprising!

I woke up at 4 this morning and hearing the rain I thought I could be in for a sleep in. But come 5am it was fine and I trundled down to the park for a hills session. This one was Wild Wally - personally my least favourite - although it is a very close call...

Whether or not it was the sand running yesterday, my legs were feeling ok, but when I was trying to push up the hill I just had nothing. I was so slow!! Times for my 5 laps (each one about 680m) were 3.37, 3.40, 3.37 (had a longer recovery after this one) 3.33 and then 3.48 (eek!). Warm up 3k, cool down 800 ish m... All up about 7k for my morning... not too bad.

bondi rescue

2007-03-26T08:49:00.000+10:00

i can't go down to bondi anymore without worrying that I will fall over or do something otherwise fairly stupid and end up on some silly tv show as a cautionary tale of 'what not to do'.

but at 5.30 there were no lifeguards or cameras and i think the whole season is over anyway!

i had a lovely morning's exercise actually. the goal was 40 mins on the coastal path between bondi and bronte (not all the way...) and then 2 laps of bondi on the soft sand. Sort of happened. In my 40 mins I only ended up doing 3.5 km because just before tamarama, a lady out walking with her two daughters slipped on some really steep stairs and really twisted her ankle. We got her down and it was already like a tennis ball by the time we looked at it. Luckily another passer by had a phone and another one was a bloke and helped her right up to the top where her husband drove down to get her. Ow!! She actually looked like she might pass out or vomit...
My skills were best utilised in distracting the two little girls. Never nice to see your mum hurt.

Anyway - got back to the beach and hit the soft sand. Cripes its hard!! Just under 2k in just under 15 mins! ish.

So then to round out my hour I did some pushups and various core exercises and some good stretching. Noice. It was a beautiful morning at the beach, and I was reminded that I was in sydney by the 20 bazillion (no exaggeration) other people down there...

skinny dip

2007-03-25T12:00:00.000+10:00

is the name of the lovely cafe that Lulu took us to (RA and WTR) after our long run this morning. Its in Bondi and highly recommended if you are after extremely large delicious meals (albeit slightly luke warm coffees...). yum!

but the run was good too! Lulu and I started at my place and ran down Oxford st (one drunk punter telling us that 'ladies, you are truly inspirational'... and without sarcasm too!!! but she was pretty hammered). then we headed into the domain, down via farm cove, around the opera house and the quay to Pitt St and left onto the nasty Hunter St hill. Lulu's theory was that she was toughening me up for the SMH half mara in May...

after that it was just a slog home up oxford st, down flinders, moore park road and then we ran up and down my st (all of 30m of it) a few times to get the garmin to click over to a nice round 12k for the morning! lovely!!

so now that I have done breakfast, I am out for lunch :)

I had a haircut yesterday so if anyone sees me they have to tell me that it looks good. its a bit shorter and blonder than I imagined, but we shall see how it goes when I wash and style it myself. for now it still has that sleek 'hairdresser' look to it. even after the run amanzingly!!

crime and punishment

2007-03-22T14:00:00.000+11:00

THE CRIME: consistent resetting of alarm clock so as to avoid sweat session of 10 x wild walter... a reasonable thing to do - but counter to my current goals :)
(weirdly i was awake at 4.45, but decided that was too early, then i couldn't get up before 7.15...)

THE PUNISHMENT: lunch time - run to Mrs Macquaries chair (12.5 mins) and then 10 reps of the Fleet Stairs. OHMIGOD. it nearly killed me. I was mostly walking, sometimes jogging but it was so hot my heart rate was through the roof. actually I was a bit worried because it wouldn't come down again. I ended up walking most of the way back because every time I would run I would overheat and feel nauseous again. still a good session for testing my boundaries :) the stair bit took me about 17 mins.

Just for anyone who hasn't seen it... i recommend you look at miners blog...

eek!!!

I got the perfect steal, a cleaner love, with a dirty feel all right.

2007-03-21T09:10:00.000+11:00

that song got me going this morning - something needed to! Alarm went off at 5, was promptly reset for 5.30, then 6 and then 6.30. Reset for 7am but got up at 6.40 and dragged myself out for 30 minutes (on the better than nothing theory) :)

no garmin, just a lap of the park. felt like a reasonable effort. then a walk in to work. the knee was fine, but it doesn't like bending so the quad hasn't been stretched very well...

owwwww!!!

2007-03-19T15:46:00.000+11:00

well the knee didn't hurt yesterday - but it is starting to kick in today! I am trying to tell myself it tight and painful cause it is already healing (which I am sure is true) but it also hurts a teeny bit to walk on which is less encouraging.

it has developed a good bruise from about half way down my knee cap to about 10cm down my shin. yuck-o. I just tried a mini run (down the hallway at work in heels - so hardly a real indication) and it actually felt pretty uncomfortable. So I'm not sure whether i should train tomorrow. Think I'll still go and just see. Probably no point aggravating it at this stage.

Just got my lovely uniform for the BRW triathlon (which unfortunately is the last day of run camp so i will have to come back a day earlier than planned and will be bloody exhausted!!!) and let me just say it is absolutely horrific. A very nice 80's style high cut bikini style costume that we are allegedly compelled to wear. I don't think so. Even worse is that they made us pay for it!!! Needless to say I will not be doing a triathlon in a bikini in this lifetime.

:)

so close...

2007-03-18T13:24:00.000+11:00

i decided today that even though i wasn't doing the tri, i would do all the distances in training.

So I started with 1500m at Cook & Phillip park in the City. No worries - that was fine albeit slow (round 42 mins). after 2 laps I knew I'd made the right decision :)

THen it was home and getting the bike for 40k at the park. Actually I did 11 laps which would be 41 or 42k. So I can categorically do 40k on my bike. It did hurt though - my butt isn't used to it and neither is my back/neck/hands/elbows... Actually it was more eventful than you would think. 2 pedestrians walked out in front of me and decided to stop in the middle of the road. I go around, but not until after the lady had moved back and forwards before deciding to actually get off the road! I'm all for giving way to pedestrians but they should pick someone more skilful in bike handling to stop in front of!!!

Then there was the mountain bike rider who hooned down a hill and looked certain to smash into me, but who turned at the last second and said 'sorry' before he dropped off the back. eek!!! but the (?) highlight was the horse bolting. I heard a noise and it sounded like birds taking off but then I realised that it was a petrified horse absolutely galloping down the path and then straight across the road and out the gate. Luckily it stopped before the external road and even luckier that no one seemed to get hurt. There is a case of someone getting actually killed in Centennial Park in that situation so it was very lucky. Poor horse, I'm not sure what scared it but it was near the cricket pitch so maybe a ball. Everyone moved away pretty darn quick!!!

So all that was left then was 10k run and I was feeling great surprisingly. But then, less than a km in, I stacked it. Massively and embarassingly on the trail around the park that is right on Oxford St so there were plenty of onlookers. Eek! I didn't care though because goddamn it hurt!!!! I went down right knee first, then the left knee and my hands hit at the same time. Only the right knee has lost its skin. I decided to pull up stumps even though I probably could have kept going. I didn't really have anything to prove and although most likely it would have been fine i didn't want to risk aggravating any swelling or anything for no good reason.

So still not a bad day's exercise.

And of course there was no wind at all today!!! Although my friend who did the race said that the surf was pretty big. So I'm happy (albeit disappointed) with my decision.

abort mission

2007-03-17T15:41:00.000+11:00

well I went for a swim down on the course and I have decided not to race tomorrow. even though it will be different in the morning (its low tide now and will be high tide then) I don't have enough surf practice for that sort of swell.

never mind. might see what I can do training wise tomorrow - maybe the same distances but in a nice pool and around the park :)

i'm disappointed and a bit grumpy but i think its the best decision. i knew i was underdone in the swim and although i'd be fine if it was flat, i don't have enough practice for if its not flat.

getting there...

2007-03-17T10:10:00.000+11:00

quick spin on the bike this morning has confirmed that I haven't forgotten how. actually my legs did feel a bit stronger than previously so maybe all those spin classes and indoor trainer workouts haven't been for nothing after all. still i only did about 10k because i thought going top hard or long today would probably defeat the purpose of the exercise...

so as at 10am saturday I am in. Later this arvo I will go down to register and have a swim to see what its like. Then, if that is ok, the only thing that will make me pull out is if it is raining on the course on sunday. probably. maybe.

eeeeeeekkkkk

alllmost there...

2007-03-16T13:44:00.000+11:00

I'm kinda decided. I think I will do it. but firstly I am going to go for a swim there tomorrow when I go down to register. And I am going to ride my bike tomorrow morning to make sure I still can...

and then I will decide for sure....

(did I mention that I'm sh*tting myself?? and i haven't even decided!!!)

i'm like a broken record!! luckily its-my-blog-and-i-can-whinge-if-i-want-to :)

Fark-let

2007-03-15T09:10:00.000+11:00

(thanks Lulu for coining that phrase - i think it really adds a sense of pain to the word Fartlek nicely :)

I have been a bit lazy on my warm up and cool downs lately. About 2k warm up including all the drills and strides and all of 200m cool down. oops. I did walk in to work though so got to stretch everything out nicely.

Everyone had between 3-6k of 1k fartlek loops. I had 4. I went out quick (is everyone shocked??) but soon settled in and kerry and I passed some people who had gone out even quicker. First 1k loop was 5.18 which I was pretty happy with. I forget the others but I averaged 5.29 and that was 21.46 for the 4k. Not setting any land speed records but a solid effort. I was really conscious of making sure I had a different speed between my surges and my floats. Not a huge difference - but some difference for sure!

Still undecided about Sunday. I go through moments when I feel like of course I should just give it a go - that it would be fine and even though it'll be hard I will tough it out. But then I go - but its sooo hard. I haven't ridden my bike or swum in quite some time! And am I only doing it because I feel like I have something to prove to myself or everyone else, when actually if I don't feel ready for it that is ok too?

anyway - don't have to decide until saturday lunchtime...

?

a quandary... of sorts...

2007-03-14T13:26:00.000+11:00

so there is still a teeny tiny little bit of me that would like to give the big triathlon this weekend a go - in spite of my lack of training.

i am very much undecided and have moments of thinking - well why not - I can always dnf if the swim or the ride is too hard and walk on the run course... and then I go - yeah but its all very well to say that now and a completely different thing to say when I'm actually out there doing it.

for one thing, except on my indoor trainer I have never ridden 40k!! I think I could probably do it, but I haven't. I also haven't swum in a few weeks. But to be honest I doubt that makes much difference because I am already ridiculously slow! I've run 10k recently - but it was bloody hard!

anyway - just a bit of a brain dump. i probably won't do it... but then again - maybe I will :)

EDIT - ha! what do you think it means that i wrote this and then didn't go to the gym as planned at lunch and I am probably not going to do anything tonight??? I think maybe the answer is 'don't do it'!!!!

Finally!!!

2007-03-13T09:09:00.000+11:00

Back to sweat training with sean this morning. I was a bit nervous but gave my self permission to take this session a teeny bit easy. I had also promised to give Lulu/WTR a dvd so I was struggling for excuses not to go. It didn't even rain until we were on the track. And then its never too bad.

The group was a bit low on numbers and definitely low on blokes (3 at the start!!)- mostly because of the (well deserved) post 6 foot recovery I think. Horrie was there as always. The man is a machine!!!

I had chosen a particularly poor day to get back into it. 4 laps of the lake (5.8k) time trial. Argh!!!! We did the usual warm up, drills, strides and I felt reasonably good on the accelerations which is a sure sign that something is wrong!!

The first lap I predictably went out too fast - but felt good. I knew it was dumb when I looked at my watch at the end of the first km and was on 5.11 pace. So from there it deteriorated. Slower and slower and harder and harder. Becky went past in the second lap and the girls I'd been trying to stick with took off. At the end of 3 laps I decided to stop and I did and then Sean said no way was I stopping. So back I went for another lap. Argh!!!

All up I finished 5.8k in 32.14 - which isn't horrendous. But it sure aint PB time trial pace. Never mind. I got there (number one big win) and I did it. All of it. It wasn't pretty but now I feel pretty good. Walked in to work and managed to get soaked. Ah well. Good times :)

EDIT - lunch - spin class - really worked hard. Have never actually sweated this much. Literally dripping sweat. I hope that means I'm fitter and not that I have some strange late onset sweat producing disease :)

6 Foot Race Report - and a run of my own

2007-03-12T10:12:00.000+11:00

Wow - what an unreal weekend.

Left work early on Friday afternoon to pick up Sparkie, the Owl and WTR for a drive up to the Blue Mountains. Our special buddies Go Girl, 2P and Jen_Runs among MANY others were running 6 Foot Track on Saturday and we were official cheer squad and I was also a medal hander-outer-erer at the finish line.

We had a great dinner on Friday in Mount Victoria (where we were staying) and an early night so we could get up at the crack of dawn to get the girls to the start line. Which we did! I loved the atmosphere - every one was excited/nervous/happy. The weather was well behaved which was a big plus. Was great to catch up with so many people and meet a bunch of new runners.

After the start we had a lovely breakfast in Blackheath and a race to the start got us there just in time to see CR Fats win in a record time. Amazing!!!! So many people had great races and I got to be involved in a tiny way by giving all my mates their medals (not that half the people we medalled noticed - most were in a world of pain). I had a bit of a cry when I got a big hug from Jen as she crossed the line. What a brilliant run. Go Girl had a fall which meant she couldn't finish - but there is probably no one I would feel more confident of coming back even stronger next year.

Lovely dinner back at Mt Victoria with the usual suspects and some special guest appearances. I decided not to have tooo many beers in the interests on a run on Sunday morning. Nonetheless it was a great night and awesome to spend it with some very successful 6 footers and some extremely good looking cheer squad members...

Which leads me to Sunday morning - I did it! 10k! Not fast and I kept lagging behind Lulu and Lorna (but luckily they would run back for me sometimes :). It was a slog and there were some long hills but I did it. And glad I did. Thanks Lulu for pushing me for the extra ten mins. Back to SWEAT on Tuesday... eekk... 5.8k time trial...

oops (mark 2)

2007-03-09T10:24:00.000+11:00

didn't go to the gym cause i forgot a t-shirt...

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

here is a comic instead.

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

and another one.

Good luck everyone for 6 Foot!!!! i'm heading up to cheer and award medals. can't wait.

oops

2007-03-08T11:07:00.000+11:00

i woke up this morning at 5am and it was pissing down with rain, so no sweat training. next week for sure :)

but - i did go to the gym last night and do a quick 10 mins on the treadmill (and it was quick for me!! 1 degree incline and between 10 and 11kph). Then I did a loooonnnngggg core strength session based on a program I downloaded from Transitions. Was good - but painful. How hard is it to do one of those plank hold things and then lift your legs up and down one at a time?!?!?!! very!!

planning on going back at lunch today - not sure what for... but I'd better decide soon!

what now??

2007-03-07T11:08:00.000+11:00

my head is all over the shop at the moment which seems to be a bit symptomatic of my life. I feel very disorganised and unsettled. which i am I guess.

a few reasons for it - one being that I have a new job!!! (just call me the poster child for Gen Y...) However, it is at the same firm, but in the Learning & Development team which is something I've wanted to do for ages. So I am completely excited about that. However, there is a bit of resistance about me leaving my current role so I am dealing with a bit of hostility around that.

also my training is all over the shop. actually that is a lie. all over the shop implies that some is occurring. it isn't. Since I went to Perth, which was a bit traumatic in itself, and I decided not to do the big race in Cronulla I just haven't been able to see any reason to train very hard (or at all...). And I have been going out like I haven't done for quite some time...

[speaking of which - I had an amazing birthday with some amazing people. I feel very spoiled and had such a blast. You know who you are :) ]

anyway so part of me thinks maybe I should just do the tri and see if I survive. the other part thinks - nah - better to do it when I am well prepared and can do it properly and now is the ideal time to get stuck into my base training for next season! (did someone say half IM?? just kidding!!).

this is turning very stream-of-consciousness so might as well continue...

I have also booked 2 weeks holiday at the start of April which will be my first real holiday in over 2 years. I am dying for one!!

I am going to go to Port to watch the Ironman, then a few days in Sydney, then I am heading to Jindabyne for 9 days to go on one of Sean Williams running camps. It will be hard, but there will be people around my standard and I am busting to get out of the city. I need some space and some down time and why not get a good dose of altitude training while I'm at it??

Fun! x

happy birthday to me :)

2007-03-05T09:01:00.000+11:00

its my birthday today so i thought i should get my act together and update the blog.

unfortunately training wise there is almost nothing to say. Last night I got back on the wagon and went for a run in the sticky heat with Lorna and Caro to the tune of 8.3k and 57ish mins. I'm glad to be back but it was a struggle.

things have come off the rails a bit following my last post. I had to go home to perth for a week for family reasons which was pretty stressful and I didn't run/ride/swim once while I was back.

I am a bit philosophical about it now but the big triathlon is off the agenda. I really needed that week to get the confidence to do it and now, while I feel I could probably do the distance I just don't have any desire to force myself to do it off this training.

So motivation is low at present but I am just going to try and get back to doing it cause I like it and I like how I feel when I am running/riding/swimming regularly.

27 hey... this is definitely going to be a good year :)

short break

2007-02-22T12:02:00.000+11:00

in blogging and possibly training for some personal reasons but will be back in Sydney next week. not just slacking - i promise!

I will only complicate you, trust in me and fall as well

2007-02-21T08:50:00.000+11:00

well that sounds like a depressing heading but actually it was just what I was listening to on the bus and is stuck in my head :)

Last night I planned out my training until the 18th of the March. There are a couple of points where I will do a Go/No Go analysis along the way :) One of those will be this Sunday where I have decided to do all the distances in the one day to mainly give myself some much needed confidence that I can do it. I don't intend to do any of it hard or fast or even right after each other. But I will swim 1.5k, cycle 40k and run 10k. And then I will see how I feel :)

I had a good session this morning. Up bright and early for 1hr on the trainer followed by 30 min run from home, around the park and back. One other thing that I did on the weekend just past was buy a bike computer and my friend at the bike shop kindly installed it for me (who knew it had to be installed?!). Talk about keeping me honest. I realised that on the trainer I have been B-L-U-D-G-I-N-G in a serious way!!! Now I aim for a cadence of 80-90 and will just sit on what ever gear I can do that comfortably in for now. Not that it was particularly comfortable - I was in struggle town. But that could have also been because my stomach wasn't that keen on the endura Opti that I tried a bit of. But I am going to persevere for a bit because it is dairy free which I like.

Oh - and I also bought one of the bottles that sits between your tri bars on your bike. So it should be good for drinking. Not so good for my street cred :) but who cares!

Catch up

2007-02-20T08:57:00.000+11:00

Have had my mum over to visit for the weekend so training and blogger-updating time has been minimal. Shopping and eating time has been high though!

So, training wise the weekend looked like this:

SATURDAY: 2 hours on the home trainer. I really didn't feel like it. And the first hour was agony. But after I got through the hour it wasn't so bad. I suspect I was bludging a bit... but still it was time on my butt on the trainer. All good.

SUNDAY: Met Lorna and Caro at the bay and we did a lap of the Bay plus canal with just a little bit of walking in the middle. I was not feeling good at all. 55ish minutes and about 8.5k. Not much encouragement coming out of that one...

That was it. Nothing yesterday (plenty of 'time on my feet' at the shops though...).

Now is the time to ramp it up before the 18th. I need to work hard. No excuses now.

In particular, I spoke to the haematologist on Monday and she reckons that even though my iron (ferritin) is still low, it is improving and so i should keep going as I am. My haemoglobin is ok, the only thing that is weird is that my other indicators (transferrin, something else and something else...) are still elevated which they shouldn't be. So who knows.

I still feel pretty tired and blahhhhh. But maybe that is just over or under training or over or under sleeping or who knows. Its not the end of the world if I can't do this triathlon. But I would prefer to do it than not!!!

well look what we have here... one year down, hopefully lots more to go!

2007-02-16T12:27:00.000+11:00

As I put that last post up I started to think that it was about this time last year that I entered the blog-o-sphere with some modest hopes that this running caper wouldn't be a flash in the pan burst of motivation followed by my usual motivational slump and lack of follow through.

Well by golly I think I did it. A whole year. I reckon I can now call myself a runner.

Looking back over that first post is interesting. I am still broke, but mostly because of my triathlon habit not my drinking habit :) I was doing a bootcamp which was a great 'in the deep end' intro to running for me. I was truly slow-but-enthusiastic and was spending lots of hours grinding around Centennial Park. Nothing has changed there!!

My goals were these:

- Run 10K
- Run 10K in 60 minutes
- Run in the Mothers day fun run
- Run the City to Surf
- Run the Blackmores half marathon (hmm maybe that can be a 2007 goal...)
I did every single one of those things and a few more.

But the biggest thing was the huge amounts of encouragement I got from everyone who reads this, and particularly from some people that I now call my good friends. And I can't believe that so many of you are still here putting up with my whingeing about iron levels, triathlon training, scary bikes, lycra, the ups and downs in my job, my love life (or lack thereof :), my homesickness and all the rest. But more than that, how much fun has this year been??? Road trips with the girls for races, breakfasts after long runs (can't beat that feeling of satisfaction!), piss ups with many and varied running buddies, heaps of races - running and cheering. The list goes on.

What a huge year. As much as I go on a bit about how hard things get sometimes (i'm not one to self censor...) I wouldn't change it for anything and I have absolutely zero intention of giving it up :)

Gee - now I feel great. Perspective is a beautiful thing :) doesn't help you remember your shoes though...

moron alert

2007-02-16T12:08:00.000+11:00

yep that's me :)

planned a spin class at lunch cause I slept in this morning (I am really starting to enjoy the sleeping business - i feel quite refreshed!) but as soon as I got changed it became very clear that something was missing.

Shoes.

call me a princess but they are critical to the equation. shorts I could give or take (hehe just kidding)... but shoes are a deal breaker.

will see if there is a yoga or pilates class or something that i could do. Or else I will just go and get lunch :)

what a dag :)

my bleeding heart

2007-02-15T15:58:00.000+11:00

well my arm anyway. went to the haematologist today but haven't come back with any real answers or plans going forward.

She isn't sure what the reason for the low iron is, and because it is improving at a slow rate she isn't sure that she wants to do an infusion. But the results she saw were a bit old so I had another set of tests (5 vials of blood!!) and I'll give her a call.

So at this stage it looks like we are going to head down the 'toughen up' route rather than the 'miracle cure' one. Bugger!! Doesn't she know I have a big race in a month??? I can't wait for my slow-motion iron levels to increase!

Happy Valentines Day!

2007-02-14T22:17:00.000+11:00

decided this morning to sleep in after a night out at Little Britain Live. Ohmigod it was f*cking hilarious. I loved it. But I have fairly low brow humour so it doesn't take much to keep me amused. eh eh ehhhhh....

anyway so that meant no ride or run in the AM. So decided I would do something after worth in the time between work and a surprise birthday dinner for jen_runs (happy birthday lovely lady!) that the owl and don juan had organised at a tapas restaurant on Pitt St.

It was a last minute decision, but in the end I did a couple of spin classes (maybe 85% effort?) and then 10 mins on the treadmill in light of my current brick-obsession. i must say that the cycle-run thing is getting easier! that is cool!

So I'm pretty happy with that. 1 hr 40 mins (mostly) aerobic for the day. I had forgotten how boring treadmills are. I put a bit of an incline on to make it more lifelike but I am glad it was just 10 minutes!!!

happy valentines day everyone :) hope there is lots of love going around :)

And while I spend these hours, 5 senses reeling, I laugh about the weatherman's satellite eyes

2007-02-13T08:53:00.000+11:00

I've run out of interesting titles so jumping on the lyric bandwagon. But just this once :) The darn song is in my head and won't come out.

Anyway - I have successfully regained a little perspective after yesterday. Lots of things were getting to me and I just needed to chill the f*ck out. And I got some very good advice from a very good friend about some of my training and some of my 'other' habits... :)

so the plan for the next month to get me across the line at Cronulla is to focus mostly on aerobic training, not too much speed work. I am also going to (try to) use the bike as my primary aerobic training activity with some running and of course some swimming. Surf swimming in particular.

So with that in mind this morning was a no-sweat day and I did a brick session. 60 mins on the indoor trainer while watching some Little Britain in advance of the show that I am going to tonight, and then 30 min run from home out around the inside loop of Centennial Park. Noice. I feel good! A little tired, but good!

let's hope the work gods pick up on the good mood and respond accordingly!

Kurnell Race 3

2007-02-12T08:33:00.000+11:00

hmm don't know where to start with this one. lots of things going round my head. number one is a bit of a groundhog day moment that I am sick of getting sick and feeling a bit lethargic and tired all the time. I have a hot date with the haematologist on Thursday so I am hoping for a bit of iron-magic in my very near future.

anyway I was incredibly nervous about this race. There were a lot of firsts for me. First ocean swim (yeah none of those training sessions happened...), first swim in a wetsuit (no it didn't make me fast like I was hoping...), first ride out in the real world (even though there were hardly any cars, there were some, and there were also tight turns and speed humps!!). you get the drift.

So in some aspects I have gotten a lot of confidence from the race. It took me ages to settle into the swim, but I did eventually. I also didn't fall off my bike. I improved my run time even though my swim and bike were slower so that I was 3 mins slower overall. I could definitely have pushed harder on the swim and the ride. Especially the ride...

But I also feel a bit overwhelmed (could just be my already horrendous morning at work) and wonder why I am doing all this, whether I have wasted all this time and money and whether I have any chance in hell of finishing an OD race without completely embarassing myself. I also saw a photo of myself riding the bike and was completely horrified and may in fact have to ban myself from all forms of lycra for the rest of my life...

anyway - perhaps I just need to toughen up. ah well.

EDIT - thanks for the encouragement everyone - its much appreciated. Its funny - I do really enjoy this triathlon business for the main reason that it is such a challenge. its only when I start to dwell on my crap-ness and giving myself shit for not being good enough that I get down about it. So i'll try not to do that so much.

Here is a photo gnome took of me at the first triathlon - i was absolutely petrified at that stage!! I should remember that I will never be *quite* that nervous... well maybe on 18 March...

long slow ride...

2007-02-09T14:51:00.000+11:00

actually it wasn't very slow at all.

because I was not sure whether I was going to get a ride in on the weekend (i know... i'm a very bad girl) I decided to come to work super early, take a very long lunch and do 3 spin classes in a row.

I know that sounds a little OTT but the theory was that it would keep me interested, provide a bit of variation, push me and give me 2hrs 15m of riding.

anyway it was great! my mate from work came for the first two and the last one I pushed a little harder because I could see the end in sight. It HURT though!!!

I feel pretty good now though luckily and even just ate some beef in a roll (all they had left) so that has to be good for the ole iron levels.

yay!

catching up

2007-02-08T08:46:00.000+11:00

I've been in Melbourne this week since Monday so will update the very small amount of training I have been doing :)

Tuesday morning I was lucky enough to have tour guide Wobbly man to escort me for an early run from the city up around the Tan. It was great to have the company although I feel for him having to listen to me cough and splutter and whinge about a blister that developed... Thanks mate :) All up we did 65 mins and despite the garmin malfunction telling me that we had done 26kms I think it was more like 9 or 10!

No training Wednesday and this morning my plan was 30 mins indoor trainer followed by 30 mins run (a brick session of sorts). The plan was great until the run when the blister decided that cycling was one thing - but it wasn't happy with the running. So will give it some time so it is good for Sunday which is the Kurnell triathlon.

Plan is to ride tomorrow am. Swim Sat am and the tri (its a sprint) on Sunday. I am getting better cold wise but I'm def still not 100% so will ease back into it... i'm tapering :)

following the week's theme

2007-02-04T11:13:00.000+11:00

I'm a non-starter for this morning's swim. All night I was tossing and turning and willing myself to sleep soundly and wake up refreshed and 100% healthy. Of course that never works and at around 6am when I had my first coughing fit I decided that the swim would be silly and that I didn't need to prove anything.

I did decide to try a run with Lorna and Lulu and I last for 3.5k and 25 mins before admitting defeat (again) and walking back to the car. Its very disheartening and I really am trying very hard not to give myself too much of a hard time for (a) not doing the swim, (b) not running very far or fast, (c) both of the above. I am also trying not to catastrophise into having lost all my fitness and there being no chance of doing an olympic distance triathlon. Trying. Mildly successful.

Combined with just feeling a bit anxious over all that and some family stuff that is really upsetting me I am feeling pretty edgy. Fortunately the lovely lulu and mr lulu have invited me to dinner which is always a sure fire cheer-er-upper-er :)

thanks everyone for your good luck wishes for the swim and lulu/lorna/wtr for their intention to come and watch. sorry it was such a non event, maybe next year...

1800-still-sick

2007-02-03T09:40:00.000+11:00

well my voice has moved on past phone-sex-husky to adolescent-boy-unpredictable to inaudible at times. Made cheering this morning at the Striders 10k a very interesting affair!

I was still planning to run this morning right up until collecting my number and standing around for a while. I was actually really excited to run today but everyone I spoke to kind of did a double take and I was reminded that it was probably not the best idea. So instead I had the pleasure of talking travel to Rags who was on timekeeping duties (he even let me hold the stopwatch for a few minutes :) I also got to cheer everyone in and watch some awesome PB's being set! (katie and ray... i'm talking about you!!!).

Anyway I am a bit resigned to it all now. If i can't swim tomorrow its not the end of the world. But everyone cross their fingers that somehow i heal miraculously by tomorrow! don't care if I can't talk, so long as I can breathe through my nose and my mouth and not cough every third breath (could cause trouble in the water...).

I think the week off also means that I will be a bit more focused at training. I might drop a session or two and really just keep the critical ones because I want to get to the start line on March 18 more than anything. I am also resigned to having to stop and get off the bike to have a drink :)

no training since monday...

2007-02-01T11:58:00.000+11:00

still feeling sick and home from work today. that makes 3 days no training... i know its best not to push it but I have that awful guilty feeling like I should be pushing through. ah well - if standing up for too long makes me dizzy I don't think getting on the bike would help too much.

fingers crossed for full recovery by tomorrow.

yeah but no but yeah

2007-01-30T12:01:00.000+11:00

I got a kind email from a friend that said

"suck it up princess and do the 2km..."

So I am. 2k it is. She'll be right. And at the end of the day I am more than willing to float on my back and put my hand up and call for a lifesaver to rescue me :)

plus I have absolutely no time expectations! I'll go to ocean swimming squad on Friday night just to get a bit more of a feel.

I woke up last night with a really sore throat which is a cold-precursor for me so I am resting today and inhaling vitamins C, B and zinc (and the odd iron supplement!). tomorrow will be a picture of health and wellbeing.

the Monday special

2007-01-29T19:42:00.000+11:00

rough day at work today.

luckily one of my work friends bullied me into going to the pool with her (in the nicest, not really pushy at all kind of way :) so I wasn't forced to fail my weeks swimming goal already. all i wanted to do was go home and turn my head off in front of the tv with some chocolate. Compromised with a swim and a chocolate flavoured protein bar. Really - those things are just chocolate bars under the guise of recovery food. This one was particularly chocolatey-fudgey-delicious.

2k again (the Monday special) but 300m of it was with a kickboard so I finished in 55 mins. Would have done more kickboard laps but when I felt the strain in my quads I decided that it was not the best choice for my 'rest' day :)

trying to decide whether to do the 1k or 2k in the Cole Classic on Sunday... will probably go for a run beforehand too. So maybe the 1k... or am I just being a pussy??

four days of fun

2007-01-28T09:52:00.000+11:00

i have to say that I am pretty happy with how I have trained for the last four days. it hasn't been precisely what I would have liked or should have done but I still did it and i feel good.

Today I hit the trainer again for 60 mins (and even though I have it on the easiest gear I still don't find it easy!!) and then I ran down to the park to meet Lulu who wanted to just do an hour (fine by me!!). I ended up doing 1hr 12 mins and 10.87 k at 6.40 pace. It wasn't pretty in parts but I did it! The company made things easier :)

because I pissed about for about 5-10 mins after getting off the bike I don't think I got the full brick effect and interestingly I found that my legs felt good on the first bit - must be that I am used to starting my runs cold and tired and I was actually warmed up this time! however that didn't last too long and I felt quite sluggish.

We made it though and a nice coffee at the end with S was ace.

Even though I haven't been on the road each time I have still been on the bike for at least three hours in the last 3 days. won't teach me to drink while I ride, but it will get my legs conditioned a bit more!

EDIT - bit of a weekly summary:

Swim: 1 session - 2k - 52ish mins
Ride (this is a conservative estimate given that I have no idea of actual distance): 3 sessions - 70ish km - 3hrs15mins
Run: 4 sessions - 37k - 4hrs40mins

8hrs 47mins training this week! Not bad I reckon :) Still there was a conspicuous shortage of swim sessions. Next week the goal is to do a minimum of 3 swim sessions including at least 1 surf swim plus 3 rides and 3 runs (minimum).

trying out the home trainer...

2007-01-27T18:30:00.000+11:00

after not doing my long ride this morning (i needed the sleep - really!!) I decided to go into work and pick up the trainer and try and set it up. despite being an expert ikea instruction reader I still struggled with this one. after a few false starts I think I got it sorted and I was good to go.

I bought the dvd series of Love My Way (a foxtel only aussie series filmed around the eastern suburbs of Sydney) so I watched a few episodes. Unfortunately they were the very sad ones - so I hope I haven't subconsciously made an association with riding the bike :)

I found it pretty comfortable, and although its not as good as getting on the road it is still time on the bike which is good news. All up this afternoon I did 75 mins. No idea what that would equate to in distance! might get one of those bike computers one day!

penrith 10k fun run

2007-01-26T15:28:00.000+11:00

This morning was a 10k and 5k fun run out at Penrith which I was attending with Jen and the Owl - fun!! Not so fun was the traffic last night from the city out to the 'riff. 2 hours later though I was massively compensated for the exercise with Jen's mum's roast dinner (omg... heavenly...) followed by waffles and ice cream.

Despite some resistance this morning (not wanting to get up etc) and some vacillating at the registration (10k, 5k, 10k, 5k...) I registered for the 10k (it was free too - how cool is that????) but decided not to go too hard because this weekend has a lot of training involved!

I ended up crossing the line in 58.16 which was a comfortable 5.50 pace (my half marathon pace). it was a bit tough at the end and was starting to get pretty hot but I made it :)

I was also lucky enough to have some company in the form of uncle dave for a bit of a ride around the regatta centre afterwards. we rode around for just under an hour I think and dave was full of useful hints for riding and clipping in and out and I even got to the point where I can indicate left!! unfortunately we discovered I am not an ambi-indicator so for now its only left :) I reckon I'll even be able to drink while riding one day!! perhaps not tomorrow :)

then a lovely lunch with the girls rounded out the Australia Day trip to Penrith. A nice day all round!

i got nuthin'

2007-01-25T08:55:00.000+11:00

out for dinner last night at tandoori palace with a bunch of lovely running sorts to catch up with portrunr who was down from Port for the Big Day Out. OMG i ate so much food. and i left my wallet on my desk so sparkie had to sponsor me :) oops.

after a bit of gasbagging with jen who was staying at my house I was rudely woken at 5.00 to get up and go to sweat. At 5.30 miraculously i did get up and get dressed and even get out of the house.

even though I didn't do anything yesterday I was feeling reaaaallll bad today. 3.7k warm up and then wild wally hill reps. Sean had programmed me for 6 but I was sceptical. Also running the 10k out at Penrith tomorrow so I had that saved up as an excuse...

did the first rep in 3.36 and promptly decided that was probably it. i was cactus. my legs had absolutely nothing left to give and i wasn't even pushing hard. (i did feel like i was a bit free-er on the downhills though).

So i took a rest and decided to do every second one which would make 4 for the session. However, after 2 rests i decided i was being pissweak and should toughen up and do the last 3 in a row. So i did. 5 reps all up: 3.36, 3.39, 3.35, 3.44, 3.37 (3.37k, average pace 5.25).

604m cool down :) and 7.6k for the day. Brightshoes set the course record in a blistering 2.00m flat this morning.

baked dinner at jen's tonight and aus day 10k at penrith tomorrow followed by a ride with uncle dave - noice.

EDIT - just got this little email...

2007 Cronulla Triathlon Registration Confirmation

Dear Ellie

Thankyou for entering the 2007 Cronulla Triathlon

Below is an itemised receipt for your recent online credit card payment.

And wait! Just got a delivery... cool...

sweatin' up a storm

2007-01-23T08:59:00.000+11:00

well this morning was my first sweat session in over a week. and MAN did it hurt.

However, obviously my down week has served me well because honestly I even surprised myself. On the program was a 2k loop, 5 mins recovery and then 1k.

Did a warm up of 3.5k and then got into it. Then I decided to give the 2k everything and as sparkie would say - crash or crash through. I thought that something was up when I was still pretty close to Bernie G at the 1k point, and yes, that k was 4.48. (what the???). I figured I was going to crash then and that 2nd k was agony!!! But I did it in 4.55 for 2k in 9.43!! How cool is that????

The next 1k loop was like dragging two lumps of lead around the oval. Still I was pleased to keep it under 5.00 pace - 4.58 to be precise :)

2.2k cool down for 8.7k. I suppose a week off training does make you fresh after all! maybe i should rethink the training plan to incorporate more doing nothing...

Monday Swim 2k

2007-01-23T05:28:00.000+11:00

Quick trip to the pool after work with my workmate who is hopefully getting the green light on her stress fracture today!

2k in about 52.30 (although I stuffed up the stop watch yet again). Getting a little quicker! Was pretty packed at Cook & Phillip this evening. I usually go a bit later which is good because when the squad there starts everyone jumps into the remaining 4 lanes. I used to hate the busy lanes but now I think of it as good practice!

next steps

2007-01-22T10:36:00.000+11:00

went for the iron results this AM. they have again improved, but not as much as they should have, and bearing in mind that I have now been on double supplements for 3 months it is taking too long. so now i have a referral to a haematologist to talk about iron infusions. The appointment is not for a few weeks unfortunately, but better than nothing! on the plus side my cholesterol has improved a lot!

i take it back!

2007-01-21T22:01:00.000+11:00

all my moaning about how summer hasn't arrived and its practically winter etc etc.

this morning I slept in despite going to be before 9 and planning to be up at 5 to beat the heat. so there would be no running in the AM. Fortunately that meant I could join Owly and Caro for their run this evening at the bay. I had 2 hours on the schedule but had decided that 1.45 with the girls would be more than enough.

turns out that was really optimistic. We didn't get out until about 7.15 and jeez we were suffering right from the start. We would splash ourselves down and make wet t-shirt gags at the water fountains only to be dry in a matter of metres. none of us were on our game at all. we ended up dragging out 9.2k in just over an hour and it was a huge struggle. eventually after one lap plus a canal loop we decided to just walk for another 20 mins or so.

Ah well. Sometimes you got it, sometimes you don't. tonight - i don't. I am also going to the doctor tomorrow AM to get the latest blood results which will be very interesting. some things lately have made me think that it isn't improving but the results will let me know for sure.

ah... bed time....

stroke correction #3

2007-01-20T16:11:00.000+11:00

had a largeish night last night culminating with some dancing at Slide and someone deciding it would be a good idea to buy me (and us all) a jaegerbomb (sp??). ugh. red bull 5 mins before I wanted to go home... ah well. I still slept ok and got at least a few hours sleep. Still I wasn't feeling up to riding in between the Chiro and stroke correction. Still harbouring some half arsed plans to ride later this afternoon/evening.

i really felt my stroke change today. i have to concentrate on keeping my arms shoulder width apart, my hands tend to point in so i need to concentrate on keeping them out. I also need to focus on the 'catch' of the stroke and include a bit of a pre catch glide to really take advantage of it. The biggest thing came right at the end when one of the coaches told me I needed to shorten my stroke. I felt that right through the big muscles in my shoulders and back which is exactly what should happen. So that is pretty good.

Still time will tell! I need to get some good ocean swims in too before Cronulla. Some thought at this stage of not doing the all womens tri (as there is one at kurnell the weekend after) and instead doing the striders 10k and the cole classic ocean swim on sunday. (and then my long ride one afternoon.

thank god summer has arrived :)

Chiropractor visit

2007-01-20T11:42:00.000+11:00

First trip to a chiropractor this morning and I have to say I have come out of it completely untraumatised. Admittedly this is just the intro session so there was no cracking, but I did feel like I was in very safe hands. This guy came recommended by Owly, Jen and 2P so I thought he must be alright...

Lots of tests to see what was good/bad about my spine and he tested the strength and flexibility of all my muscles and joints. There are lots of imbalances, some of which make a lot of sense about my right knee playing up at the moment. I don't get much back pain but there is some stuff going on around my neck and apparently it could be related to tightness across my chest which also has an effect on breathing and even circulation to my hands!

anyway - off for some stroke correction!

yeah...

2007-01-19T14:02:00.000+11:00

after a few down days trying to let my knee behave (subtext - also being a bit lazy) I went to spin class at lunch and absolutely smashed it. I LOVED it. My heartrate must have been through the roof and I was breathing very heavy but it felt great. Bit of a relief actually - i keep thinking that I've lost it every time I don't do anything hard in a couple of days. But no - I can still work hard. If only I could do that on the real bike!!!

definitely anaerobic training...

yeeha!

a brief interruption in transmission

2007-01-18T08:18:00.000+11:00

knee is still bothering me even when I am just walking to i elected not to go to sweat. it was a terribly hard decision at 5am when my alarm went off and I was so comfortable in bed... :P

still last night I went to the pool after work. actually had to work late so had one of the lovely work meals around 7 and I think that i felt heaps better swimming after I'd eaten. The pool is packed at 8pm it turns out - but dead by 8.30. Definitely the way to go though.

All up I did 2k. Ok - time to face the hard truths about how slow I am...
VERY - 2k in around 54 mins. On the plus side I didn't stop at all and I was feeling great - never got puffed or anything and was trying out all my new techniques. At least I know I can swim the 1.5k. Fast is a whole other story...

big scary goals!

2007-01-17T16:17:00.000+11:00

well today started off on a very pleasant note with some more blood letting. all in a good cause though :) getting the iron under control. Will check back in with the doc on monday for the low (hopefully not) down.

knee is still niggling a bit today - seems to be connected to the high heels. I decided not to do spin class at lunch but will swim after work.

so - depending on those two things (the knee and the iron, not the high heels and the swim) I am going to give myself a REALLY SCARY challenge and do this:

Is a bit nuts but I reckon I can do it. 8 weeks to go. I am resigned to coming last. But just finishing a race like that would be something. The rough program has been approved by miners (my on-call guru) and i have enlisted the help of a few other fabbo people so its all stations go.

Any and all motivation/suggestion/ass-kicking/positive reinforcement from anyone who reads this will be very much appreciated :)

you can tell me you think i'm a fool too - but most likely i'll take it on board and then ignore you :) in a nice way :)

what a lovely way to spend a morning

2007-01-16T10:54:00.000+11:00

getting pummelled by tiger at the crack-o-dawn.

actually it was good, looks like we might have found what has been causing my knee issues. I am not going to go into it - but lets just say it went something like this:

"you have groin/inner thigh muscles like arnold schwarzenegger, and all the rest are weak as piss"

Charming :)

Still its nice to know I do actually have some muscles...

been a lazy girl - struggling with motivation and also energy levels. going to get the ole iron checked out (think its been around 6 weeks) and if it hasn't improved look at what the next step is.

might go to spin class at lunch. might not. all depends...

[EDIT - ummm... just to put some context around that - if anyone doesn't know *'hi mum!'* 'Tiger' is Gary the massage therapist... and by 'pummel' i mean 'massage'... :) ]

Lady Carrington Drive - Royal National Park

2007-01-14T11:42:00.000+11:00

Wow! I had heard people talking about the National Park but hadn't managed to get there myself so I was really pleased to be heading down there this morning with Sara and the Owl to meet up with blkbx, beki, gronk and georgie. I had 2 hours on the program but wasn't particularly committed to a time/distance.

The National Park is just gorgeous. I think I might have to get a year pass and go down every weekend! The weather today was particularly gorgeous and it was reasonably cool and on a shady track there was no issues in that regards. Not to imply of course that I didn't get a good sweat up!

But the run wasn't all peace and tranquility and good company. oh no... firstly poor owly stacked it mottram style when a rogue stick caught her foot from behind bringing her crashing down. Fortunately she didn't take any of the rest of the pack down and was able to keep on running - but not without an impressive bloody wound on her knee.

Then it was my turn to bring the crew to a halt at about 6km. My right knee was starting to hurt and I stopped and stretched and kept going but it got beyond a niggle into actual pain and i couldn't keep running. BUGGER!!!! I was quite worried and owly kindly started walking with me. The temptation was to try running every minute or so to see if the pain had gone but she made me give it a good shot. After about 10 mins of walking we were mucking around and i was trying a funny running style as a joke and it didn't hurt so I suggested we keep going. Then I seemed to be right as rain and we ran back to the start. That was about 12 or so km, 1 hr 23ish (I forgot my garmin!) and I was actually doing OK and the Owl was looking very fit and strong so I suggested we head up the path again to re-meet up with the guys doing the whole length. About a k in we hit Beki and Sara so turned back with them. All up I think we did 14ish km in 1hr 43.

Another highlight of the run was a bit of a celeb spotting! When Lorna and I were walking a massive pack of triathlon-y looking boys zoomed past and at the front - no less than Chris McCormack - Maccccaaaaaa!!!! Cool!!! Lorna didn't quite understand my adulation and I think was a bit embarassed when we saw him coming the other way and he said to her 'how you doing?' and as soon as he passed i was like "oh my god chris mccormack asked how you were!!!!!!!"

Anyway so the scenery was good, and so was the view :) We even saw a lyre bird - I've never seen one of them before!

Finished up with breakfast in kirawee (? i think) and no shit, my meal cost $2.50. noice.

EDIT - an action photo and a close up of Owly's bleeding knee on gronk's blog:
http://gronkblog.blogspot.com

also check out beki's blog:
http://dailywafflings.wordpress.com/2007/01/14/a-gaggle-of-cool-runners/

stroke correction #2

2007-01-13T15:39:00.000+11:00

two late nights in a row has meant that yesterday was a rest day and today I didn't do anything until stroke correction this afternoon. I do have good reason for the late nights - thursday i NEEDED a drink (or 15) and last night we were celebrating the lovely brisvegan coolrunner Cirque being in town. Lulu's coffee table was up to the job and don juan provided some 'special' entertainment and a lovely night was had by all.

After a couple of 2am closes I didn't much feel like a brick session this morning though!

But stroke correction was a nice way to ease myself back into it. 2 hours is a long time and I was thoroughly prune-y and chlorinated by the end. Just to remind myself - this week I need to practice 3 drills... 1 arm breathing drill with no stroke, 1 arm breathing drill with stroke, 4 stroke drill.

I feel like I am improving - but don't really have much of a benchmark unfortunately. still - time in the pool has to help!

fartlek schmartlek

2007-01-11T08:47:00.000+11:00

that was how i felt about training this morning. but i did have a giggle at coach Sean's t-shirt. On the front it said "FARTLEK" and the back said "its a running thing.. you wouldn't understand".

warmed up to the tune of 2.9k then I was programmed to do 5 x 1k fartlek loops. it just seemed like a hard slog, even before it started. Still somehow I was at the start line and the first 3 went by ok, was puffed but not about to collapse. Then lap 4 my knee started hurting. Woah - my brain started to go 'is this psychosomatic? did generate myself an injury cause i can't be bothered? is this karma for being a COMPLETE AND UTTER WHINGER this morning?'.

Either way I decided to stop just in case it was a real injury. I am also a little cautious after the run on sunday with no orthotics and no inner soles in my shoes. I have a massage with Gary next week which will hopefully iron out the kinks. Sean things from where the pain is - and he poked it nice and hard to be sure - that its not my knee but a hamstring tendon and stretching gently is ok but too much stretching is bad. So i walked and jogged home - another 4.3km and 7.2k all up for the morning.

woteva

and thanks flake for pointing out my position relative to the male athletes on sunday - nothing like a bit of a confidence boost from your mates :)

spin class

2007-01-10T13:52:00.000+11:00

didn't go out for a ride in the real world this morning so racked up a lunchtime spin class. always a good workout! although i was not beetroot red afterwards this time which makes me feel like maybe I didn't try hard enough :)

official results

2007-01-10T11:45:00.000+11:00

are in! from Sunday.

Overall time 1.36.57, swim: 20.32, ride: 46.31, run: 29.55.

2nd last girl (35 of 36):) but i beat a bunch (ok 4) of boys too!

By way of comparison, 1st chick was 1.05.34, first bloke was 56.07.

reality check

2007-01-09T08:53:00.000+11:00

there is nothing like a return to Sweat and squad running to bring my ego back down to size :)

I exchanged some emails with coach Sean last night, mostly because I hadn't told him what my goal races for the year were and he wanted that before he did this month's program. As I have identified a beginners cycle squad (cheeky monkey one, apparently for beginners... i remain suspicious...) on Wednesdays I am going to go back to two sweat sessions per week. Things have changed though and now Tuesdays seem to be hills and fartlek and time trials and thursdays tempo or track or something.

Anyway - looks like I am going to leave the marathon off the calendar this year and look at it for 2008. I am happy with that! Triathlons and half marathons for 2007!

Back to todays session... good warm up 4.17k including strides and accelerations. The I was programmed 12 reps of a new instrument of torture 'wild walter'. This is a shorter version of wild wally - about 400m with 100m uphill, and the rest flat and downhill. I ended up doing 10. I did 5, took a break, 3, then a break and then finished the last two. My legs were really heavy, but i wasn't breathing too hard - just couldn't go any faster!

Times were: 2.04, 2.01, 2.02, 2.03, 2.07, 2.09, 2.09, 2.08, 2.05, 2.12 - all up 4.06km

Including cool down about 8.8km.

EDIT:

Ok - there seems to be some curiosity about which particular half maras I am going to do. sadly nothing exciting there - what I told Sean was this (amongst other blabbering on). Always open to more suggestions!!!

In terms of goal events:

- 4 Feb - Sprint Distance Triathlon (Nepean - All Womens - more of a casual one)
- 11 Feb - Sprint Tri (Kurnell)
- 3 March - Sprint Tri (Nepean Summer Sprint Series) (might drop this
one actually but not sure)
- 11 March - Sprint Tri (Kurnell)

Striders 10k series where possible
May - SMH 1/2 marathon
August - City to Surf
Sept - Sydney running festival 1/2 Marathon
December - Central Coast 1/2 Marathon

I did it!!!

2007-01-07T13:03:00.000+11:00

hehe - all my cool 'i've just done something i thought i couldn't do' posts are called 'i did it!'.

i had to wake up at the ungodly hour of 4.30 this morning, which was surprisingly easy and I got a surprising amount of sleep given the nerves. I also spared a thought for the guys up at the Coastal Classic 12 hour track race who would have been in the really hard part, 9 odd hours in... congrats to horrie and belinda who I hear had fantastic runs and jen and will who were up there counting laps!

anyway - got on the road at 5am to make the trek out to jen's homeland, penrith. I have never been there before, except on my way through to the blue mountains and can't say I saw much of it today. I really enjoyed the drive. I had the radio up very loud and sang even louder the whole way. talk about relieving anxiety - i'm amazed i had any energy left!

i saw TA & the Gnome, Wildthing and Mr Wildthing, nitetimerunner and mouse and my new coolrunning friend Nihao and her husband almost immediately which was great. I took my bike up to registration which seemed to have a bit of a line but I was soon directed to the ladies line which was, predictably, empty :) The fear inched up a notch when I saw that the list of women doing the sprint (as opposed to the shorter enticer distance) was very short... coming last was a REAL possibility... i cheered up though when the man wrote my number on my arm and leg, obviously I am actually a serious athlete :)

i pottered around, set my bike up in the transition area and generally distracted myself perving at cute boys for a while and then after the race briefing we headed up the lake. For those not from sydney, this race was at the regatta centre which was built for the sydney olympics. It is a 2k straight lake meant for rowing (obviously) but lends itself nicely to triathlon! We jsut walked 750m down and jumped in!

The swim was ok, i decided not to bust a lung trying to keep up with anyone and I ended up doing 19.05 which was faster than I anticipated. I was definitely in the back few but I did overtake a few blokes who started 2 mins earlier so that was nice!

I ran out and into transition which I have to say was very smooth! Given that I can't drink on the bike yet I gulped down some powerade too. I lost a bit of time when I had to stop and carefully clip in etc, but better that than a stack at the very start! this was a 4 loop course with each loop being 5k. Including both transitions (poor stop watch management :) the time for this leg was 47.48. Definitely room to improve. The course was dead flat which was good for me. I overtook a couple of people but was being constantly lapped by the speedy dudes as it was a multi lap course. The last lap was the best, not just cause it was the last one, also cause I could watch all the runners and distract myself from my own pain for a bit. Plus the view was again very nice :)

The ride/run transition was a DISASTER! It was all fine until shoe time. I had my orthotics in my shoes and the stretchy laces, unfortunately the orthotic covers have seen (much) better days and as i was pushing my foot in they kept bunching up and moving around and there was no way i could have run like that. 3 tries later i gave up, ripped them out and ran in my shoes with no inner sole or orthotic at all. The knees were groaning before I even started the run. Actually apart from some blisters and a bit of a knee creak it looks like that is all ok.

But the run! my god - I felt like a little old lady and like i was stationary! I didn't get my legs until 3k but it was a sweet relief when I did and made those last 2k much more pleasant. I could have sworn I was doing about 7 min k's but in reality I did the 5k in 30.05, so nice neat 6 min ks. Damn it hurt though. TA gave me a cheer about 400m out and it really lifted me across the line, as did all the coolrunner cheers - so much appreciated guys :)

I collapsed on the grass with a sense of satisfaction and mild nausea and overwhelming relief that it was over for today. I crossed the line in 1 hour, 36 mins and 58 seconds. Heaps faster than I thought. And I have learnt a lot of things that I think will help me improve for the next one in Feb (on the same course which is great!).

anyway - now I am a little less smelly and have cooled down and hydrated I am pretty darn pleased and a little bit proud of myself. I never thought I could do anything like that. But apparently I can/have. :)

Had a lovely breakfast also with TA & Gnome and n.t.r and mouse. We went to the whitewater centre which is ace! I am definitely heading back for a try - it is an artificial whitewater rafting course that we saw fill up with water. So cool!

Thanks to everyone also for all the good luck wishes - I remembered every single one, particularly between kms 0 - 3 on that run!!!

EDIT - what I also meant to say was a HHHHUUUUGGGGEEEE congrats to wildthing and tigerangel on their runs. pretty inspiring women i reckon :)

stroke correction

2007-01-06T16:08:00.000+11:00

to distract myself from the increasing hysteria re tomorrow I had a 2 hour stroke correction session this arvo which is part of a 3 week course. it was really great actually and I think that it will really improve my swimming.

the first pleasant surprise was when I got immediately in the slowest lane and they put me into the middle lane! and that is without flippers! cool :)

second pleasant surprise was realising that my lane buddy was fellow coolrunner nihao who is also doing nepean tomorrow - so i have a buddy in my event!

the 2 hours went by really quick, firstly we just swam for a bit to let them have a look at our stroke. then we started a series of drills which were videotaped. they had to do with body position, which i really struggled with. I need to work on some core stability... then we started on breathing right - mostly when you breathe out and when you breathe in. It was interesting to watch that stuff close up on the video. I didn't seem to be doing anything horrendously wrong, which is almost annoying cause something really bad I could fix and go super fast straight away!

still, improving my breathing did help because at the end we did about 10 or 12 laps breathing only every 4 strokes (slowly of course!) and i was nowhere near as puffed as I would otherwise have been. Cool...

now heres hoping I didn't tire my arms or legs out for tomorrow - i didn't ever feel like I was struggling or pushing so i think i should be ok. i do reek of chlorine even after a long shower though. 2 hours is a long time!

OMG

2007-01-06T11:26:00.000+11:00

I am VERY VERY VERY VERY nervous about tomorrow...

hehe just heard the song 'over my head' by the fray... strangely appropriate...

recovery 4k

2007-01-04T17:17:00.000+11:00

i was a bit apprehensive about going for a run today. i know it was only 15k on monday but give the course it was actually the longest i've ever run and suspect that my legs were a bit shocked. Decided to take the legs out for a gentle lap of the park and a bit. 4k in roughly 25 mins something. Just under 6.30 pace. This is approximate as the garmin completely cracked up and was telling me for a long time that i had run 1 or 8m and then it would get up to 15, and then start counting down again. hmmm...

anyway - felt a bit of a struggle but glad i got it out of the way. didn't feel the need to do much more - good to be fresh for sunday after all!

the plan for the rest of the week: tomorrow AM do a gentle 3 lap ride of the park, and then run one lap. saturday stroke correction. Then it is sunday. holy bejeezus.

tesso - the distances are: 750m swim, 20k ride, 5k run.

I am guessing that I will do about 20 mins for the swim (maybe more...), anywhere between 45 mins and an hour for the ride and between 27 and 30 mins for the run (that is optimistic too!). I will be happy to finish under 2 hours!

on yer bike

2007-01-03T07:08:00.000+11:00

this mornings ride had a sole purpose - find out whether I can do the 20k required in the sprint triathlon at nepean on sunday.

The answer - yes. THANK GOD!! I did 6 laps of Centennial Park which is roughly 23.4 km. Not sure how long it took me because i left the watch behind (again...) but it was not too far short of an hour I think. I don't care how slow it was - I finished it, intact. Actually I think it has done wonders to work the tightness out of my quads. If only the calves were as happy.

I still find it hard, but I am counting on the nepean course being as 'flat as a pancake' as everyone tells me. That I can handle. Hills not so much :)

Had a near miss at the end when I unclipped but my weight was leaning towards my clipped in shoe. That would have been messy. Fortunately instint kicked in and the right foot unclipped itself with nanoseconds to spare. Would have hurt! But would have evened up my scrape from the Black Stump nicely!

Interesting note also, I find wearing plain bike shorts (rather than padded ones) more comfortable. Very unusuallll... perhaps I bought boys ones or something :)

roll on sunday...

ouch!

2007-01-02T19:31:00.000+11:00

woke up a *little* sore in my calves and quads. I also discovered that my left shoulder was killing me - and i had no idea why. Shortly thereafter I remembered that I fell over yesterday and grazed my leg but also broke the fall with my arm!

anyways - i was not in any shape for a run although it probably would have done me so good. I had a huge sleep also and wasn't up in time. All was not lost though! Hit the pool after work for 1600m. Didn't remember my lovely new waterproof watch so have no clue how long - but I felt good.

As well as the triathlon this weekend I also start my 3 week stroke correction course that is 2hrs each saturday. Hoping for a miraculous swim style improvement that takes hours off my times... but i suspect for me i just need practice and to build up arm strength. but who knows!

i'm struggling to keep focussed at work at the moment. how long has it been... 6 months? 7? could be time to trade up :)

F.O.H.R. - Black Stump - 15k

2007-01-01T14:42:00.000+11:00

Wow - New Years Day! 2007! Of course it would be a great idea to torture myself over 15k of 'technical trail' and sheer rock face ascents.

Actually it was absolutely great. I had the perfect lead in with dinner at Lulu's last night where I was treated to a sumptuous feast of baked Fig with blue cheese and proscuitto (entree), pork loin with orange gremolata and baby carrots and delicious little cubed potato thing - i'm sure there is a more gourmet name for them than that (main) and a cherry and raspberry tart (dessert) and a bunch of cheese (the next course...). Not to mention all the gorgeous wines and the campari with blood orange juice which was bloody amazing.

I very rudely left before midnight (under the 'crazy running expedition' clause) but proceeded to toss and turn and listen to drunks in the street (ah those were the good ole days...) till it was time to get up. The trip up to Berowra was a lot quicker than I had imagined thanks to sparkies navigation.

In the end I had a few people to run with. Jen had decided to do the full 33k version but we ran the first 8k together quite conservatively walking the hills and then Jen showing me up with her excellent downhill running skills. She went on to have a blinder finishing way quicker than she had expected. What a star :)

I ran the rest of the way with beki and blkbox and the keg and thomo for bits and pieces. The return journey from the ferry (the 8k point where the longer distance runners crossed the river) was a nightmare! But was strangely great too. A bit of a run along the water and then we started going up. 2k that took about an hour (well I have no idea how long but definitely half an hour at least!) that was predominantly up. We were mostly climbing up rocks and stairs and in some parts clambering over the rocks any way we could. Just when we would think we were at the top and start jogging again we would look up and see more rocks and groan. Eventually we hit the top and ran along some trail before we hit the road. Those last 4k of road were possibly even harder than the rocky stuff! Andy and Beki pulled away a bit here but I had to keep them in my sights because they had my map!

Finally made it in 2hr43mins- only about 15 mins faster than the fastest people doing the full version... eek!

Never mind - I think that running today is a very symbolic gesture of how I mean for the year to continue - bring it on!!!!

Key:
F.O.H.R. - "F*ck Off Hard Run" :)

roll on '07!

2006-12-31T15:32:00.000+11:00

this is a photo of my texta-d arm after the biathlon that I did a few weeks back - some proof! And hopefully an indication of things to come. (check out the beautiful bike in the background... and the pull bouy... and the messy bookshelf :)

I am very excited about 2007, personally and in relation to my training. This is the first year I have started out being a fit active person and I think that is very cool.

I am starting the new year with the 16 k black stump "party pooper" option tomorrow. Yay! Can't think of a better way to start the year. Especially as it is NOT going to be 40+ degrees!

(oh and in training news for today - I did get out on the bike! unfortunately it was an aborted mission after 8k cause of some leg issues that I didn't want to aggravate for tomorrow - but i did it! and didn't fall off!)

mind games

2006-12-30T08:58:00.000+11:00

CR 5k challenge this morning. I was not sure what my strategy would be or even really why I was going - but for some reason I got out of bed and there I was. Nearly turned around after i got out of bed, in the middle of the drive there and after my warm up. But no... mind game one - victory!

I was fortunate to have Tiger Angel to run with who was back for her first 5k in quite some time after injury/illness lay off. I quite cruelly grilled her on triathlons and transitions and she talked me through the process - which was invaluable for me - but perhaps less fun for her :) (*thanks TA :) *) In the end I crossed the line in 28.59 after TA took off with a sprint finish! Yay!!

I actually felt quite comfortable for that part of the run (avg pace 5.45) but the run back was a different story. I just felt quite bleughghhh (aside from the great company which was the only thing that kept me running!). We were going slower (6.20 pace) but it really bought home to me how much it is all in my head. No matter what speed I do - it feels like that is as fast as I can go and I can't imagine ever going faster. Of course I do and have - but there is still the little thought that 'maybe it was just a fluke and i'm never going to do that again'. So knowing that it is all in my head should mean that I can change it easily when I like - but that is a quantum leap I haven't quite made yet :)