A Tough Day

I had the day off work today, as I had to take my mother to hospital for day surgery. I woke up nice and early with a cold that seems to have got worse overnigh and stomach cramps. I got out bed saw Blue Dog off to work and went for my run otherwise I knew I would not have time later in the day. It was a real struggle this morning after yesterday's long run and generally feeling like crap. I was just happy to get through the session. I tried to stick the scheduled "recovery speed" but was still a little too quick I ran a total of 12km with average pace of 5:57/km. I was very happy to see my front door.

On a personal note, I spent the day with my father whilst my mother underwent day surgery. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with bowel cancer. Just another reminder that we shouldn't take things for granted.

City to Surf Research

There was a group of about 10 of us who meet this morning at Centennial Park for our Sunday LSD. We had decided to run in towards the city and run the City to Sur course and then back up into Queens Park and then Centennial Park. There were a few running people who wanted to run between 2hrs and 3hrs so it worked well. I woke up feeling like crap with my cold but determined to get through the run. I was quite funny running past the nightclubs with people pouring out to go home and here comes this chatting group of runners. I am sure they think we are just as strange. Running up Heart Break Hill was nowhere near as heartbreaking as last year, in fact I was quite surprised when I realised I had reached the top. By the time we ran out of Bondi and back to Centennial Park I was stuffed. We stopped where the cars were parked and threw my fuel belt in the car and had a quick drink of Coke in a vain attempt to get some energy back into my tired body. The last 7ks were a struggle for me. Thankfully Katie and Helen were very patient. I ended up finishing my 30km run with an average pace of 5:43/km so I was pleased, my longest run since March. I know have an appointment with the couch……..

CR 5km Challenge

Due to my cold and tomorrow's 3hr run I have scheduled, I decided to just run the 5km Challenge at 10km tempo pace, but Blue Dog suggested I should take if really easy and conserve my energy, and I actually took his advice ;-). I went off a warm up and noticed a few runners had already started, so when I saw Bec I quickly threw Blue Dog my excess clothes and ran the Bec and Jackson. It was a good opportunity to catch up as we hadn't seen each other for a couple of weeks. My highlight of the morning: as we passed the rowers club were overtaken by most of the runners including The "Former" Running Widow, Ray who was making his debut with Blue Dog pacing. After jogging back to the start the CR herd then enjoyed a well deserved breakfast.

Friday at the Local

I know why I felt so tired and flat the last couple of days; I have woken up with a cold. Thankfully it's "easy Friday" so I just did a nice easy run locally. Everything felt great although I did sound a bit like a steam train. The 1km alert function on the Garmin kept alerting me to the fact that I was probably running too quick, but I felt like my legs were nearly still. Blue Dog had left for his run a few minutes before me and was taking slightly longer route. As I turned the last corner for the very slight climb home I noticed him running further down the street, so I decided to put in a bit of effort up he hill hoping he wouldn't catch me. When we finished he did question my surge. I ended up running just over 6km with average pace of 5:12/km.

Tomorrow is the CR 5K Challenge at this stage I may just run it as a tempo run depending on how I feel in the morning.

Survival Mode

I woke up this morning still exhausted from yesterday and with a sore throat. The thought of staying in bed quickly entered my mind but before such bad thoughts started to set in, I jumped out of bed and threw on my running gear. Although it wasn't raining the Park was very wet this morning. Horrie and I did a bit of warm-up and he bought me up to date with the Strategic Management of Team GBH, and his new program. We ran over the infamous hill and did our usual drills and strides. We were warned there was a bit of mud on the course today, towards the end of the course it was a bit of a mud pit. My goal of the day was to put in a good effort concentrating on my form and complete the 7 reps consistently; 3:26, 3:27, 3:23, 3:25, 3:21, 3:26, 3:26 ....all achieved. After reviewing splits from my last encounter with Wild Wally my times are pretty consistent, which is a bit of surprise as I thought I was bit slower today. Tonight I think I will rest my tired body in a nice hot bath.

Girl Power

This morning five us SWEAT girls met at 5.20am for our mid-week long run. Even though it was damp, dark and early we were all cheerful and chatty. We ran the usual outside loop of Centennial Park and then for a little variation on the second lap ran around the Golf Course and around the park again. Towards the end of the run, silence overtook us and we became aware that we were starting to feel it. As we ran past the gates, Katie and I said good bye and we continued for another couple of kilometres. We seemed to have found our second wind, or we just wanted to finish as we picked up the pace a little. As we got back towards the car, I advised Katie we had two options; run another minute as per our program or another 700 metres to round the run off to a nice 20km. You guessed it, we ran the extra 700m. Our average pace for the 20km was 5:23min/km so we were pretty happy with our effort and had big smiles on our face. Finished off with stretching, but I decided not to negotiate with the fence today and used the bonnet of my car.

When I arrived work this morning I was lucky enough to have a quick coffee with Blue Dog who had just finished night shift and was just about to go for his run. I got a few strange looks from my colleagues as they asked how far I had run this morning. Everyone seems to think we are that "weird running couple".

Totally spent

I heard the rain last night on my window, and mentally prepared myself for another session in the rain. When we got over the park I was pleasantly surprised to find, it was not raining, quite mild and there seemed to be more daylight. One of my SWEAT buddies was first female at the Sutherland to Surf so all congratulated her and gave her a bit of clap, and I was surprised that Sean announced by PB and I also received a few claps. After such I warm reception I decided I had better put in a decent effort in today's reps, which were 2.2km (10:05min), 1.6km (7:26min) and 1km (4:24). I finished very happy knowing I had run my best every 1km rep, and now that I have had a look at my times I have improved all round. Very happy :-).

I actually felt pretty good after S2S, although my quads are a little tender, but I am now finding my new arm technique is become my regular technique. Who says you cannot teach an old dog new tricks.

After looking at my new program and my recent laziness with my diet, I need to get my act together to ensure I maintain my energy levels and drop and bit of extra luggage.

Sutherland to Surf PB!!!!!!!!

After a pretty busy Saturday I missed my usual easy run, and decided to save myself for today's race. I had really been looking forward to the Sutherland to Surf, for two reasons; it's a local run for me and you don't have the crowds of some of the large city events. I followed Blue Dog over the finish so we could leave one car there, and drive the start. Sounds confusing but the event does creates a few transport issues. Just as I had arrived at the finish I noticed Kerry (CR Roses), Peter (CR Pedro) and Deanne, so they jumped in the car, we picked up Blue Dog and drove the start. A few of us set out for a bit of a warm up, and then I needed another quick trip to the loo (runner's nerves). I got back to the start and found myself and good starting position. As we got started I noticed the Garmin I was wearing (Blue Dog's old one) had switched off even after being fully charged, so I gave myself a quick less on how to operate the stopwatch function on watch. Got myself into a pretty good rhythm and just seem to keep it going. I actually felt okay on the last hill and then put in a big finish. I finished with a time of 51:45, so I am very happy a PB of nearly 2 minutes.

I then finished off the day with a BBQ out place with few other runners. We all seemed to have finished very well hydrated.

After a nice evening with Aunty K last night I was a little slow moving this morning, so decided to have a sleep in and go for my run after work. Got home a little later than usual so it was quite dark, I had the choice of driving to the gym and using the treadmil or running along a few business local streets. After assuring Blue Dog I would be safe, I took the road option. Settled into a nice pace and just enjoy the run. I ended up running 6.4km at 5.30/km pace.

In reply to Kit's tagging , here we go;

4 Jobs
Hairdressing Assistant
Cashier, Joe's Meat Market
Mail Sorting (holiday job)
HR Manager

4 Places I've lived
Yass
Lidcombe
Padstow
Dolls Point

4 TV shows I like
Big Brother (yes)
All Saints
The Wedge
The Simpsons

4 Holidays
Dunk Island
Great Ocean Road
Cairns
Red Rock

4 Web sits I look at Daily
Coolrunning
NSWFB

4 Places I'd rather be
Anywhere hot
running
retired or lady of leisure
with BD

4 Favourite Foods
Greek
Snakes Alive
Baked potato
Orange & Poppy Sead cake

4 Bands
Merle Haggard
Bob Dylan
Janice Joplin
Bucks Fizz (hehehe)

4 Bloggers I tag
any four that haven't been tagged ;-).

RIP Garmin 201

Today's session was hills, and were all guessing what Sean had planned for us, we knew it was hills, but it wasn't the usual Wild Wally or Big Bertha. It was cool again this morning, but not raining which was a nice change. After our warm-up and streches, I was chatting to Sean about my program, Katie reminded him that I backed up for the CG Half after W2B with not problems, Sean agreed and quickly increased my session from 3 x 3 laps to 4 x laps with a 2 minute recovery; thanks Katie :-). We ran over the hills and did the usual drills and strides. After the first lap, Sean advised me I had a 50 second recovery....shit. When we lined up for the third lap after my 30 second recovery, my faithful old 201 died :-(. By the third rep I was starting to feel the pinch, but I was lucky enough to have 15 second recovery before the fourth rep. I am a bit unsure of the times for the first and second rep, but the third and fourth were both 7.24. I was stuffed after the session, but I managed to get through the reps even with my limited recovery and after some weight training last night.

Now I might close the door in my office and have a nap......

Wet Wednesday

I had arranged to meet Katie and Deanne for a mid week run. The conditions were no where near as bad as yesterday, although it was wet we didn't have the wind to confront as well. We we started off I felt a little stiff from yesterday's session and probably due me being too lazy to stretch properly. We got a really good rhythm going this morning and it was one of the days I felt like I could keep going all day (almost :-). Deanne left us after the outside loop of Centennial Park, and Katie and I headed into the Park to finish off. We ended up running 11.4km with average pace of 5.23/km.

To finish off we used the faithful fence at Randwick TAFE for some streching. Thankfully, Katie was still there, I got my shoe caught on the fence and needed assistance. Although Katie did suggest she'll come back and see me there in the morning.

Now I just have to get my shoes to dry for tomorrow's session.

I can jump puddles.....

Blue Dog and I arrived nice and early and waited for Katie so we could walk to the oval together and convince ourselves that we really are sane. We tried to avoid the puddles of water as we walked to the oval, but I am pretty sure we all arrived with duck feet. After a couple of warm up laps of the oval Sean advised were would give the track work a miss today and run two laps of the 3.7km circuit at 10k race pace, with a 5 minute recovery. This didn't sound too bad, but it has been so long since I have done a 10km race I don't know what my pace is anymore. On the first lap I tried to keep Katie in sights and stick to her as long as I could. When I have finished the first lap, I thought I may have pushed it too hard. Horrie then reminded me that I must hang on as long as possible in the second lap, and Sean gave us all instructions to improve on the first rep. So off we went, I actually felt better on the second lap and my stride felt better. I also concentrated on my arm technique which is starting to come a little more naturally. I really enjoyed this session, and left the park this morning on a high and I am now really looking forward to Sutherland to Surf.

My times for each rep were: 18:14 and 17:55

The Holiday is Over

Unfortunately today is last the day of holidays for me, so I enjoyed my a last sleep in for a while ;-(.

At this stage I don't run on Monday's, but I don't get off that easily. I went to the Gym for my "strength" session this afternoon. I did a bit of a warm up on the bike and then got stuck into some weights which included;

* glutes
* abductor and adductor
* chest and back
* rotary cuff
* biceps and triceps
* shoulders
* abs

I do enjoy these sessions, given my previous life use to include endless PUMP classes. I focus on keeping the correct balance of weights and reps to ensure I get the benefits without any muscle fatigue that may impact on my running.

Sunday Morning Coming Down

After a late night last night and little sleep, I didn't quite bound out of bed but I got myself up and went to the STaR. Kerry and I were both scheduled for the same distance and time, so we left with Katie and a very civil 6.00am group this morning, who kept the pace comfortable and even waited for each other to re-group for a quick drink. Kerry and I tried to be discrete and map out our shorter option, but you can never hide. We finished off running 20km in just under two hours, giving us an average pace of 5:49/km. We were both pleased with our effort, and it's good to see Kerry coming so strong.

We met Deanne who had just finished her run and then made our way to the "STaR Recovery Village" and waited for Katie who arrived looking strong.

14 July 2006

Just a nice easy 30 minutes today. I made an effort to take it easy, as I tend to run too hard on my easy days. I ran with Blue Dog so we chatted throughout both focusing on "easy". I again tried my new technique with my hands which seems to be working, although BD did have to bark at me a couple of times :-).

We ran a nice loop of 6km.

15 July 2006

Woke up this morning to the sound of rain and pretty miserable looking day, so we guessed we would be running in a mud pit. Made our way out to Bankstown in just enough time for me to register, due to a broken down truck in the M5. After a very short warm up, we were lined up and freezing.

The females event was 5k course consisting on 1 x 2km lap and 1 x 3km lap. It was extremely slippery out there and really hard to get a good grip, particularly running up the hills. I finished in a time of 25:35 and was really happy considering the conditions. My average pace for the XC is definitely improving.

Katie, Ray and myself did a bit of cool down so we could cheer the male runners, who were running 8km today.

The Striders team picked up a bit more bling, and yes Blue Dog got another medal.

Fartlek

This mornings session was scheduled for Fartlek outside loop, but when we arrived I saw Sean walking around with the markers. Kit and I were both disappointed, we were looking forward to the outside lop, rather than the 1k circuit. Did the usual drills and strides, but due to the huge crowd today we all lined up on the goal line, there were no touch downs :-).

After Sean explained the session he advised anyone who was running the XC on Saturday to only do 4 reps instead of 7 at an easier pace. During the session I really concentrated on my arm technique, which felt a little more relaxed. I finished my 4km in 19:32 which wasn't too bad.

I finished off with a cool down and total of 9.4km for the day.

Girly Hour

Although I am still on holidays I met Kit and Deanne for our mid week run. It was quite pleasant this morning, it was already 12 degrees at 6.00am I even left the gloves in the car ;-). We ran along at a comfortable pace, although me legs felt a bit heavy due to yesterday weight session but I actually felt like I was keeping up for a change. Deanne left Kit and I at Paddington and we kept going towards Queens Park, we were then joined by another SWEAT buddy, Helen.

As Kit and I approached our cars, I pointed out we still had another 5 minutes to go, so we ran into Centennial Park and completed our 1 hr run, well actually 1:02:38 (11.37km with an average pace of 5:30km/hr). We finished off with some stretching.

Now, what am I going to do with the rest of my day......

5 x 800s

It was a huge group this morning with a few more new faces, I no longer feel like the new kid on the block. It was really good see Deanne back this morning recoverying well from the marathon.

Did the usual warm up, drills and strides. I felt pretty flat on the drills this morning. We were all given our instructions to gradually increase the speed for each rep and make sure we kept the active jog recovery happening.

My reps were as follows; 3:39, 3:38, 3:38, 3:32, 3:34. Sean instructed everybody to put an effort in on the 5th and let the last rep work for itself. A couple of times as ran past Sean he advised me to relax my shoulders, we had a chat about this after the session and he gave me a few tips that I will put into practice.

Love is a Bridge....Ten Actually

Today's STaR was my favourite, Ten Bridges. I only had a 2 hour run on my program today at a very easy pace, so I mapped out a course that would give me just over 2hrs. We arrived nice and early and found Kit, who I was doing the full STaR today, so we ran together until I took the turn for the short cut. I was very tempted to keep going, but I decided to be sensible particularly after the past two weeks and yesterday.

It's always find it spectacular running through the city, watching the sun come up and the city coming alive. Running across the Harbour Brigde I pointed out the Mexican tall ship that was docked at the International Terminal. Kit and I saw Queen B out for her training run, so we stopped and had quick chat before we headed off again.

At White Bay Kit and I went in our opposite directions. I ran along back to the start happy to have completed another good session.

My total distance was 23km.
I

Mutch Park XC

After a slow morning we went over to Mutch Park for the XC. I had never seen or ran this course before and when I got out of the car my imediate thought was "shit look at that hill". It was nice to see Horrie, Belinda, Tim and Flake all there for a nice low key event. The course was 3 x 2k circuit, so I decided to do 1 lap as my warm up and was pleasantly surprised the course was not as bad as it looked. I felt like crap in the warm and could feel the effects of yesterday's weight session, but I have a theory, the crappier (is that a word) I feel in the warm-up the better I run in the race!

The 2k, 4k and 6K competitors all lined up together and the chase was on. I noticed a couple of girls a head of me and as my targets, I actually worked my way through the field in this race which a pleasant surprise, however I did have someone overtake me in the 1500m ;-(. I again focused on keeping my arms relaxed. Blue Dog gave me a cheer as he went past in the opposite direction on the final leg and gave me a cheer, a gave him a very brief acknowledgement, which he later commented on how focused I appeared.

I finished in 30:12 with an average pace of 5:02/km. I was stolked, thus far my average pace for the xc races has been 5:30/km and considering my race schedule of the past couple of weeks I am very happy. All finished off with a nice cool down.

Love my guns.....

7 July 2006

After a nice sleep in, Blue Dog and I ran together for an easy 45 minutes. BD has always commented on were I position my arms when I run, so today I decided to concentrate on keeping my arms relaxed. A few times I got a bit carefree and got back into my usual swinging pattern, so more work to be done.

Just focused on keeping the run easy, our run was 9.2ks with an average pace of 5:17/km which felt good. I commented that my current easy pace was prevously a struggle and how happy I am to see the improvement in my running.

I spend the afternoon in the gym doing a good solid strength session. I really enjoyed the session not having to rush and working through all the muscle groups. I finished the session off with some core work and stretching.

We then went over to CR drinks and had a great night. Thanks Karin xxxx.

Still Playing Catch up....

I am still on holiday's finding no time to up date the blog. BTW I forgot to provide my time 1:47:47 (gun), 1:47:17 (net).

5 July 2006

Back to my home turf and into training. My program is a bit out of sink, however I stuck to it with a one hour run. I decided to again use the time alert function and set if for 30 minutes, allowing me to turn around and retrace my steps home. My legs felt great, nil soreness, my breathing was slightly elevated, but comfortable.

On my return I passed Blue Dog who had just started his run, so we high-fived each other and kept going. I was surprised I ran a total of 11.4km with an average pace of 5:15/km. A little too quick for after the half.

6 July 2006

Even though I am on holidays I set the alarm nice early and headed over to SWEAT, and was accompanied by Blue Dog who has been threatening to attend for a while. I had 10 x Wild Wally on my program, but as Sean was giving us our instructions he stated the group would running between 5 to 7 reps. I quietly advised I had 10 reps on my program, Sean was a bit surprised too and suggest I do 5 reps at any easier pace.

It wasn't unit I started the effects on my legs begin to show but I pushed through, my times were:
3:26, 3:27, 3:33, 3:28, 3:25 very consistent and within the range of 3:30 that Sean suggested.

We then went home to enjoy the rest of the day.

Travelling Road Show

We are finally home so I will give a quick update.

29 June 2006

We arrived at the Gold Coast at 7.10am, yes we had a very early flight. After some breakfast we decided to head to the race expo and collect our race kits and do a bit of shopping. Very happy with the new purchases.

We then headed to our friends place in hilly Gaven. We set out for a 30minute easy run. However, the bloody hills were unbelievable I will never complain about a H5 STaR run again. Then relaxed in the sauna for a while.

30 June 2006

30 minutes easy again today. We decided to head into Surfers and run along the beach front. Felt pretty good. I had a goal of 1:47:?? in mind and I was confident I could pull it off even after last week's effort.

After the run we sat in mall in had coffee and did some "people watching". I spotted Deek so we gave him a wave, Blue Dog could not resist the urge to approach him and let him know what an inspiration he was and is.

1 July 2006

We headed into Surfers again for our easy run. We parked along the beach front and ran to the race expo just in time to hear some legends of running. It was very inspiring. Then ran back to the car discussing race plans, the weather, and how great life is.

Blue Dog and I took our hosts out for dinner as a thank you. They were going in the walk this year after they promised us last year they would get involved, so we were all very excited.

2 July 2006

Before the race I felt a mixture of feelings, excited, nervous, etc. I was really happy to see Deanne and Ali before their debut marathons and wished them well. I met up with Karin, Bec and Katie and we headed over the start together, us Striders women were fired up. Spotted Blue Dog in the que for the loo so I ran over and gave him a kiss and wished him well. We sqeezed into spot pretty close to the start. We chatting and laughing about everthing and nothing.

The start was very conjested, my first km was 5:24 and it took at least 2km to get a clear running passage. The first couple of k's were quicker than I had planned, but I kept telling myself to relax it's a half marathon not a 10k race. Even though I felt more relaxed the splits didn't differ too much, I felt pretty good and decided to hold on at that pace as long as I could. I started to suffer in the last 4ks with a stitch which progressively got worse in the 20k I actually pulled over and stopped for a couple of seconds, I then decided to keep running as best I could, I knew I had a PB so I just had to hang on.

Overall I am really happy with my run, particularly after Woodford to Glenbrook. Makes me wonder how I would have went if I had of entered the race fresher???

After getting through the finishing area, Karin and I headed over watcher the Marathon at the 26k mark (start). I was happy to see Blue Dog running along strong, he asked how I went and I just smiled and said "PB". We then met up with Tim and Bec and watched the finishers, which always gives me a buzz.

After Blue Dog and finished we watched the walkers and cheered our friends, Rhonda and Ian who had a ball. We all then went for drinks and dinner with the CR crowd.

3 July 2006

Rest day. BD and I met Tim and Bec at Dreamworld and had a great day. We went from ride to ride and shared some great laughs. BD and I then drove to Brisbane to have dinner with his brother. By the time we got back to Gaven we were both stuffed.

4 July 2006

I opted for another rest day. I was totally buggered, we both sat around and did some reading and then later flew home.