Goodbye August

27 August


I woke with the legs still feeling pretty good and complete escape from DOMS, which clearly indicated in ran W2B and the correct "training pace". I was still however very stiff in the left shoulder and neck due to non-running related incident, twisting my neck the wrong way early Saturday morning to look at the clock ;-(. I enjoyed a nice easy run along Botany Bay covering 7km at 5:48/km pace.


28 August


After waking up in pain at 2am to take some anti-inflammatories for the my neck and shoulder I decided to give SWEAT a miss and actually had a complete rest day. I figured I had ran W2B on Saturday following with Sunday's and Monday's in fair bit of pain in the neck and shoulder area, a rest would do it good. I did however I have my first deep tissue massage in 7 months.


29 August


The usual routine; Kerry, Deanne and I hit the streets for our mid-week long run. I felt pretty good and cruised through the run, probably a combination of a rest day and the massage. Total 15.80km with an average pace of 5:50/km.


30 August

With Saturday's SS 10km approaching I had decided to take it easy in for the session, 4km Fartlek. I finished the session in 19.22 (average pace of 4:48) and felt pretty good.

31 August

I enjoyed a nice easy run along Botany Bay covering 6km with an average pace 5:36/km. This is a little quicker than my programmed pace however, I have noticed lately I have been struggling to keep my runs at the slower pace so I have been enjoying the recovery session with relative effort.

August Stats.

Total KMs: 345

YTD: 1870

Willy to Billy

After Kerry had managed the logistics of our Willy to Billy adventure, Kerry, Helen, Deanne, Kit, Razor and I all headed to the mountains for the day. On arrival we said our goodbyes to Kit and Helen and boarded our bus to the start. The bus ride was an experience and we were a little afraid Deanne was going to loose the benefit of her carbo load. After the bus driver getting a little lost and showing us his three point turn skills we finally arrived at the start area. We were greeted by the usual suspects and enjoyed the usual pre-event chatter.

Deanne, Kerry, Razor and I all planned to run the event as training run. It was a good opportunity to for me to manage my energy levels for an extended period of time, particularly with my recent diagnoses and the commencement of medication.

The start caught us by surprise due the level of chatter and the very casual start call. Once we hit the trail there a couple of muddy and slippery areas that were a bit of fun as romped through it. We shared another enjoyable run learning about Kerry's Jelly Bean eating habits and I shared my electric blanket secret. As we approached the aid stations Razor was very supportive and caring, ensuring I was looking after myself. We eventually made our way to the bridge before commenced our climb to the finish. During this section of the course we eventually broke away from each other. I can happily say during this section no one passed me, and I managed to pass a number of runners. As I approached the finish chute, Razor was running back towards me offering encouragement. I finished 3:53hrs and felt pretty good.

I enjoyed a nice shower and then Kerry, Deanne, Helen and I enjoyed a nice coffee at the Bilpin Fruit Bowl on the way home.

26 August 2007

I was pleasantly surprised this morning when I woke up feeling great no muscle soreness at all, which indicates I ran W2B correctly. I only had a very short recovery run on the program this morning and I was tempted to go a little further, however Blue Dog advised me not to overdo things. I settled with 3.5km with an average pace of 5:46/km

Finally

22 August

As usual Deanne, Kerry and I got together for our mid-week run. Whilst it was not raining, we were greeted by those nasty August winds. I again experimented with my pre-race nutrition and felt great throughout the 90 minutes, so I think I now have something to work with. Finished nice and strong with an average pace of 5:48/km.

Finished off a great day with a Pilates class.

23 August

Once I got through the usual routine we then headed to our Wild Wally course. I had seven reps on the program and was very pleased to have completed the session with my best times this year; 3:15, 3:13, 3:12, 3:01, 3:00, 2:59, 2:55. Kerry and worked together throughout the session and we both ecstatic with the result. It was good to get some positive feedback from Sean, who believes things are now starting to kick in for me.

24 August

I enjoyed an easy session along Botany Bay this morning, unfortunately there was no beautiful sunrise but at least the rain held. I was feeling pretty good and had to remind myself to slow down a couple times. I arrived home feeling good with 6km in the bank at 5:46/km pace.

Results

As I drove to SWEAT this morning I was feeling slightly nauseous but otherwise feeling pretty good. Blue Dog and I did our usual warm up lap of the park, whilst he felt great I was just happy to keep the contents of stomach together. We had a four lap time trial of the lake this morning, so by the time I had warmed up and completed the drills and strides I lined up with the rest of the group and hoped for the best. As Blue Dog ran past he gave me a pat on the bum, wished me luck and ran off into the distance. I took off a little too quick but settled into a good pace and felt pretty good through and was determined to keep pushing along running through a few muddy spots and couple of very slippery areas. I finished in 28:17 which is a 74 second improvement since last months time trial, so it looks like everything is coming together.

Plodding Along

15 August 2007

On my day off I was up at 4am to meet the girls for our mid week long run. Even though we had arranged at our usual time, we all decided to trial a couple of different things in regards to pre-run nutrition. By the time we started our run my stomach felt quite comfortable and a thankfully I no problems. I actually felt more energised and continually felt strong during the run. As we ran our usual Wednesday loop we hardly noticed any runners out training, perhaps they have all gone into semi-retirement until next years C2S J. With another 15.5km in the bank I could then enjoy my day off work.

I enjoyed a great day with Blue Dog which included a nice lunch, movies (Mr Brooks) followed by the Bob Dylan concert.

16 August 2007

After waking up exhausted I decided to have a couple extra hours sleep and miss SWEAT and enjoy run after work. I was still pretty tired when I got home for work so I ran an easy thirty minutes.

17 August 2007

Rest day.

18 August 2007

After feeling pretty nauseous most of the morning due to some medication I had commenced taking a few days ago I finally got myself out the door. I enjoyed a nice 10km around Kogarah and Botany Bay and was pleasantly surprised to be running a very comfortable average pace of 5:30/km.

19 August 2007

I meet Deanne and Razor at The Bay for a DIY STAR. When we arrived it was absolutely poring with rain, within about 500m our shoes were filled with water and we must have looked like drowned rats. Despite the wet conditions I really enjoyed the run, and we even managed to get a few kilometres in whilst the rain held off. However, when we got back to The Bay, it started to pour again.

After 25.5km we then enjoyed a nice breakfast.

Blowing in the Wind

12 August 2007

After a bit of planning I finally arranged to met Kerry and Deanne for a LSD at the pleasant hour of 5.00am. The goal was to complete our long runs and shower and then make our way down to Bondi to watch the C2S. Enjoyed a great run, which included our usual loop around Centennial, then we ran around the back of Randwick Race Course and down towards the Lakes and Australian Golf course. I ran for 2.5hrs and enjoyed a nice pleasant run in warmer conditions. The girls continued on as they were doing a little extra.

We all met up down at Bondi where Katie and Bec had secured a great area so we could watch and cheer the winners.

13 August 2007

I enjoyed a 60 minute recovery run along Botany Bay watching the sun come up. It was another pleasant morning and a great way to start the day.

14 August 2007

I arrived at SWEAT and did my usual 3k warm up and then lined up for the drills and strides etc. I only had 3 x 800m on my program, but I spoke to Sean who agreed I should increase this to 5 reps. I ended playing the bunny today and lead 800m group in each rep. After my first rep Sean advised me to slow down, but it just didn't happen. My times were; 3:36, 3:32, 3:33, 3:32, 3:30. I was happy with the session.

Off to bed now..........another early start in the morning

Building up the Base

7 August 2007

Hill reps today, on our new "Wild Walter" course. I had 10 reps on my program and just ran consistently throughout the session, with the exception of the last rep that was 10 seconds quicker than the other reps.

As I lined up writing my times in the "squad book", Razor pointed out my husband was amongst the trees vomiting; we laughed if off as normal behaviour however a couple of new people behind us were surprised and little concerned.

8 August 2007

Deanne, Kerry and I ventured out for mid-week long run once again. With the days start to get longer hopefully I'll soon be able to leave the gloves at home. We finished with another 16km in the bank.

9 August 2007

Fartlek session that commenced with one of Sean's very informative speeches to all the C2S runners, offering a few tips etc. I was up for 5km of Fartlek however most of the group finished with 4km so there weren't too many bunnies to chase in the last lap. I finished in 25:06 which wasn't too bad, my Garmin measure the course a little longer, but hey maybe I didn't run the course using the shortest route, but it's all good.

10 August 2007

I gave myself a rest day today.

11 August 2007

I had so many options today, given that I had decided to give the C2S a miss this year. A couple of health reasons that I would rather not go into at the moment. I had a couple of options, do my LSD today, head up with Blue Dog with and do part of 6 Foot while he runs 12 Foot; but in the end I decided to stick to a local 30 minutes.

I will be meeting the girls at 5am tomorrow morning for our LSD and then heading down to watch the C2S.

A week of ups and downs

1 August 2007

I meet the usual gang for our mid week run. I was pleased to have Razor join us again after finishing his community service. Just another 90 minute session, with our average pace getting slightly quicker each week.

PM- I meet a friend at my local gym for a Pilates class.

2 August 2007

I woke up exhausted; Blue Dog just laughed and commented how that exactly the way distance runners should feel (according to Sean). Today's session was Big Bertha, however on our new course. I had ten laps and by the time I got to the fourth lap I could have just walked away from the session, I felt terrible. I just gritted by teeth and finished the 10 laps and was thankful it was all over.

3 August 2007

30 minutes today. Just for something different I set the Garmin to alert me at 15minute intervals, allowing me to just turn around and run home after 15 minutes not looking at pace or distance. I finished a perfect run with 30 minutes at 5:26/km pace.

4 August 2007

A couple of weeks ago I was instructed not run/race the Striders 10km. This actually worked out well, as I had to have some medical tests on Saturday morning that involved fasting, urine tests and a lot of blood tests. After a nice wholesome lunch and my first coffee for the day, I went for a run later afternoon and felt great. Total of 11km at 5:35/km pace.

5 August 2007

After endless emails during the week the usual gang decided on a run in the Royal National Park. I suggested a course that would meet every body's needs. Everything was going great until I hit 90 minutes and I just hit the wall. This was probably a combination of the tests from the day before and the diet I had to follow leading up to the tests. I decided to keep running until I found Katie who was out for LSD Walk and then walked back to her car with her. We waited for the others to return and I decided to run back to my car with them. So in total I had a 2hr run and 1hr walk. Not quite the training session I had planned, but shit happens.

We then enjoyed a great brunch at Gymea. Our waitress had a very familiar face, and when I suggested she was the winner Australian Princess everyone thought I was mad. I am pleased to say I was right, us dirty smelly runners were being served by reality TV royalty.

6 August 2007

An easy hour along the shores of Botany Bay watching the sun came up.