A big day out.....

I had two choices today the CR 5K Challenge or the NSW Novice Cross Country, so I did both.

Part 1: 5K Challenge

This was just a social run and a good excuse for breakfast. I took the run very casual, with no concern for time, just an easy 10k in total.

Part 2: NSW Novice Cross Country

My first event a "Registered Athlete" (that's sounds impressive). The course was a local course for me which I am very familiar with, so I knew it's not fast but very sandy. I didn't know what to expect, thinking I would be racing against people way out of my league, but I recongised a few faces from other races and knew I was in familar territory.

The female novice event was 4km, a two loop course. I finished in 19:28 (my watch, not official). I was happy with that.

Big Bertha

Again out of bed this morning and headed to SWEAT. Today's session was hills, Big Bertha. I had done this session about 12 months ago, so it had been a while. Hills are my weakness, so the best way to resolve this, is attack (as best I can). Although everybody was waiting for me to finish, I was happy to complete the 10 with evens fairly splits (almost) 2:19. 2:31, 2:31, 2:33, 2:33, 2:36, 2:33, 2:32, 2:30, 2:22 total time for the session was 25:05.

Total session for today was 9.5km.

On another note, I lost my first toe nail. Maybe my pedicures will be cheaper with one less nail to buff and paint ;-).

When a bargain is not a bargain.....

I decided to revisit one of my favourite training locations today, Sydney Park. Last night I got all my gear ready so there was no excuse and no waiting time.

Arrived at work and which is approximately 2km from Sydney Park. Started off nicely felt good, except for one problem, my tights kept slipping down. I am a regular visitor of the Nike warehouse and picked up a pair of running tights for $40.00, I later realised there was no draw string in them. Anyway a put the tights on this morning thinking they would be okay, but no they kept heading south. I apologise to anyone who may have witnessed this. As I starting to warm up...sweat.... the tights stayed in a reasonably modest position.

Now back to the run. I always enjoy running around Sydney Park (except for the dogs), it has some good hills to keep you honest. My average pace was 5.48/km. I actually arrived back at work 200m short of 12km (garmin) so I ran a couple of laps of the car park to make up the difference.

24 April 2006

I headed down to the gym this afternoon and completed an hour on the elliptical trainer. The goal of the session was to keep the workout on the border line of a weight loss/cardio workout. This was followed by a weight session. I had not done any resistance training in the past 6 weeks. I forgot how good it is, and how much it can hurt. My arms were feeling it all afternoon. Finished the session with some streching.

25 April 2006

SWEAT. Today's session was either 1600m or 1200m, I was instructed to complete 3 x 1200m. Did the usual warm, strides and then got stuck into it. The plan was to finish each one faster. My times were: 5:47, 5:38, and 5:33 so I was very pleased.

Total distance for the session was 8.2km.

A good start to the day.

It's starting to feel good again.....

21 April 2006

Due to social commitments (tough life), I decided to you use the treadmill at work today. Decided to run for 45 minutes and just fiddle with the speed. I managed 8.23km, felt pretty comfortable and pushed the last couple of kms. Then some strectching.

22 April 2006

Headed to the gym (Fitness First) for any easy session. Ran for 25 minutes on the treadmill, distance of 4.91km, followed by 25 minutes on the elliptical trainer, abs and streching.

23 April 2006

SMC 21km. I decided to treat this run as my LSD. I have only done one long run since six foot, and I was in no shape for racing. Bec has also treating the run as a LSD so we ran together, felt pretty comfortable, but was happy to finish.

I am still undecided of what my goals are and key races. However, I have decided I love 6 Foot, and this will be big one for my annual race calendar. I am also planning on some interesting runs (actually races) with Kit.

Do I still run?

Well I have to admit I had not run for a complete week. I have been so busy at work and settling in at the new house, all my energy had been exhausted. Even with the Easter break, I did not get out the door to exercise once. The closest I got was hosting the Striders STaR.

So what's the plan now? I have not ruled the Gold Coast Marathon out, but I really need to get back on track. Sitting outside with Blue Dog on Tuesday evening looking at the stars, I decided to go back to SWEAT. This is something I have been thinking about for a while now.

I have also decided to go back to Weight Watchers. I have been carring extra weight for a couple of years now, and it's creeping up slowly, even with all the running (exclude the past couple of weeks). I will start on Monday, 24 April 2006.

19 April 2006

I ran 9.16km at an average pace of 5:25km/hr. I it was quite windy, and the new training area has a couple of slight hills in comparison to my old training routes. Came home and did some streching.

I enjoyed that post-run feeling again.

20 April 2006

Return to SWEAT. I was really looking forward to going back to SWEAT, I actually woke up a couple of times looking at the clock, I did not want to sleep in ;-). Did the usual warm-up, strides and got stuck into. Today was "Wild Wally" x 5 reps. My reps were: 3:33, 3:39, 3:37;3:43,3:37. Not the fastest, but now I have a target.

Hello neighbourhood

Well I finally got of and went for a new run at the new residence, which I should state is still within the same area I have lived for the past few years. I ran a total of 9.2km with an average pace of 5.24km/hr. It was nice to run a different route, and even experience the smallest hills.

Came home and finished off with some stretching, which I must admit I have been neglecting.

8 April 2006

Arrived in Canberra with just enough time to register, book into our accommodation, quickly get changed and return to the start! Saw the usual familiar faces and walked over to the start, which I nearly missed as I was chatting. It was a pretty good course, but there was one small section which encountered a pretty strong head wind. My time was 51:19 (not official), which is still a two minutes off my PB, but getting there.

9 April 2006

No exercise except walking to the best locations to cheer people on. I must admit I did not suffer "runner's envy" I was quite happy to encourage people and witness other's achieve their goals.

Headed off to post run dinner, and set a date to meet Bec at 7.30am at the Marathon start for a run.

10 April 2006

Met Bec at the agreed time and headed off for a run around the lake. The battery in my garmin was dead, but Bec recorded it as 10km, it was a nice comfortable pace.

11 April 2006

I head over to the track this morning for some reps. After a 2.25km warm up, I did 5 x 800m reps with a 400m recovery. My times were; 3:24, 3:32, 3:34, 3:33, 3:32. This was followed with a 1.5 km warm down. Total Session 9.75km.

I'm Still Alive......

29 March 2006

Given that Blue Dog and I were starting our move on 31 March 2006, we headed over to my parents place to take them out for dinner. As some would know my father had a nastly accident, so it's definitely a case of family first.

30 March 2006

Headed over to the track for the 3000m. I had a huge PB of 26 seconds 13:48. I was very happy. I ran a fairly even paced run and felt quite comfortable.

31 March 2006

Started the endless process of moving. No running, just hard labour.

1 April 2006

Striders 10K - Domain. This was the first time I had ran this course. Very scenic but hard to find your rhythm.

2 - 7 April 2006

No exercise. We'll actually we moved house, therefore the week was spent moving, moving, and moving. How can two people collect so much crap?