Shattered by The Dog

Blue Dog flew home yesterday afternoon after his awesome effort at Glasshouse, we decided to go out for dinner to celebrate our weekend of PBs and the fact that we were both home together again. I had two glasses of wine and woke up this morning feeling like crap and I felt like shit throughout my session this morning. Solution, no more alcohol.

I did a couple of laps of the oval and it just seemed to go down hill. I had 3 x 1200s on my program and I ran the first one 5:23 with Blue Dog pacing for the 300 metres, offering encouragement. I seemed to have a long recovery, so Sean suggested I run a 1600 rep. Great. I settled into a better rhythm with Blue Dog suggesting I relax and concentrate on my form and then pushed me through to the end. By the time I lined up for the third rep I was stuffed, and totally shattered when Blue Dog overtook me after only finishing a 100 mile race on Sunday. My 1600 times were 7:21 and 7:28 but when I checked my previous times for this distance I had still improved.

Time to Catch up

I have just returned home after two weeks at my parents place caring for mother post-surgery. It had been a pretty busy two weeks spring cleaning, nursing and training.

Monday, 21 August 2006

I drove down to Newingtown and ran along the foreshore of the Parramatta River. Just a nice easy run nothing too exciting. A total of 7km with an average pace of 5:15/km.

Tuesday, 22 August 2006

I actually did no exercise at all. By the time my father arrived home from work which allowed me to go for a run I was too buggered. I had been spring cleaning and looking after my mum all day so I just had no energy to go for a run. A visit from Blue Dog made my day.

Wednesday, 23 August 2006

I drove over to The Bay in the afternoon for a run. It almost felt like my old MTG days. I did a total of 10km with an average pace of 5:14/km. I felt pretty good and enjoyed a nice comfortable run.

Thursday, 24 August 2006

Lets just call it a rest day.

Friday, 25 August 2006

Today's run was almost the highlight for the month. When I arrived at The Bay I saw Steve (Blocka) Roach, whom I have had a crush for a few years, so I quickly said hello and got started. I ran for a total of 12km with an average pace of 5:12/km. The pace felt very comfortable which may be a result of missing my two hard sessions his this week. When I finished my run I phoned Blue Dog to advise him of my sighting but he just couldn't understand my excitement :-).

Saturday, 26 August 2006

I arrived to find a very small group at the 5k Challenge due to other races. It was really good to see my running buddies again. I set off on my warm-up and was surprised to find the that I should have already started, so I just turned around and ran. I felt really flustered with my start and finished in 23:58 which was a little disappointing. After a leisurely run back to the start I got away early missing breakfast.

Sunday, 27 August 2006

I meet Katie, Deanne, Kerry, Ali and Blue Dog at The Bay. We all ran the first 10km together, and Blue Dog and Ali left us to keep going. We kept the pace going at a pretty good speed for our LSD. I actually had some toast before the run today, which made a huge difference as I tend to only have a coffee and sometimes a yogurt and often find I run out of puff. So today I felt energised. When we got back the cars, our garmins were all showing slightly different distances so we agreed to keep running with Katie to ensure she reached a nice round number of 36km. Blue Dog was waiting for us in the car with some cold drinks just smiled knowing we were rounding off the k's. I am glad he understands us and does not think we are strange. After some streching and chatting on the grass we then went for breakfast.

I enjoyed a nice day with Blue Dog, and later had diner with him and his son before heading back to my parents place for the week.

Monday, 28 August 2006

Rest days are back on my program for Monday's, so I did.

Tuesday, 29* August 2006

I decided to go back to SWEAT this week now that I had established a bit of routine at my parents place, however after dropping my father at the train station I arrived at 5:15am. I sat in the car until I thought it was safe enough to get out and ran a few laps of the oval; actually quite a few. Katie arrived and thought I must have slept in the Park.

I had 4 x 1km reps on the program but after a quick chat with Sean I did 5 reps. My times were: 4:32, 4:25, 4:28, 4:25, 4:21. I finished very happy with my best 1k reps yet.

Wednesday, 30 August 2006

I meet Katie and Deanne for our midweek. We just plodded around chatting and enjoying each other's company as the k's clocked over. Deanne and I ran for nearly hour and left Katie to finish her run. Total distance 10.26km average pace of 5:42/hr.

Thursday, 31 August 2006

It was like a famous movie, the hills were alive this morning and my Wild Wally times were my best ever. I did five reps ( 3:19, 3:15, 3:15, 3:17, 3:14). I was really happy when I finished and feeling very excited about the Striders 10k on Saturday.

Friday, 1 September 2006

We met at The Bay this morning for a nice easy run, which we all agreed to take very easy. We chattered away finalising our race plans. It was a beautiful morning with the sun coming up, rowers on the water. Spring was in the air.

Saturday, 2 September 2006

Race day. I was really excited about the Striders 10K as I haven't ran a 10k for a while due the ANSW race calendar. I had set myself a goal of 48:20, which I thought my be a bit quick but achievable. My race plan was to go out as hard as I could and just hold on, maybe foolish but it worked. I did a decent warm up and tested the legs for a bit of speed. I was was ready to run. My first km was 4:37/km and the 50 min pace was ahead of me so I choose to forget what they were doing. The first few ks were quicker than my race plan, but I figured I feel okay don't back off just hold it. I finished with a huge PB of 66 seconds, 48:09. I am still smiling.

I finished off a nice morning sitting on the beach in the sunshine, with some great company.

Sunday, 3 September

Katie, Deanne, Kerry, Kulinda and I meet this morning for our LSD. I suggested we run from Centennial Park to the city, down Macquarie Street for a dress rehearsal for Katie's marathon finish and then through the Botanical Gardens and back to the park. Everyone agreed the variety would be good, so we set off. Running along Oxford Street and through Kings Cross early a Sunday morning is always interesting. We did a total of 18.89km with an average pace of 5:45/km.

Lady Carington Drive, Royal National Park

Kit, Ray (aka Razor), Deanne and Helen met at my house this morning so we could head over to the RNP for a LSD. Deanne, Razor and I had 2hrs on the program and Kit and Helen 3hrs 20mins. Deanne, Razor and I ran together and comfortable pace. It was pretty cool this morning and us at least 40 minutes to thaw out. We ran from Gray's Point Public School, down the Honeymoon Stars and along Lady Carington Drive for an hour and then turned around. We ran for a total of 20km which was Razor's longest ever run, I think Deanne and I slowed him down bit. We streched and come home to find Blue Dog has squeezed us fresh fruit juice and made us Blueberry and Raspberry Pancakes. Kit and Helen arrived soon after and were also welcomed with Blue Dog's great breakfast. We then sat around in the sun in our backyard for a while giving Helen's some race tips on how she could go sub 60 minutes for C2S, even Blue Dog blushed and was lost for words.

My mother was discharged from hospital today so I will be going over to stay at my parents place for a week or two, which means no internet access; no blogging. I have packed my training program and will be sitting on the back step each day waiting for my Dad to come home so I can go for a run.

I was scheduled for a race this afternoon, but due to various commitments I just couldn't make it so I decided I would just go out for run on my own with a bit of a plan. My scheduled race was 3.2km, so I decided I would run 3.2km hard and then just cruise for a couple of kilometres. The first 3.2 incorporated all the hills which required me to combine my hill and speed training finishing in 15.20 minutes with an average speed of 4.48/km. I then got my breath back and ran for 7.5km with an average speed of 5:22/km.

My last few local runs I have encountered a weirdo who likes to sing to me and makes an effort to approaching me. I have politely told him to f&*k off, but it doesn't seem to be worked. I will have to get SS Sergeart-At-Arms aka Blue Dog politely resolve this little issue......

When the alarm went off yesterday morning, I decided to roll over and have another couple of hours sleep, I was just exhausted. But it wasn't a SWEAT free day, the morning and afternoon squads had a bit of get together last night which was really nice.

I also received a much anticipated package for the US; two Garmin 305s one for Katie and myself. Very exciting.

This morning I met Katie, Deanne, and Ali at The Bay this morning. It was still dark this morning so we got to watch the sunrise over The Bay and very mild morning. We panicked knowing it's nearly time drag the shorts out of the cupboard again. Perhaps I had better go and buy the current edition of No Idea, I am sure it will have a special lift out; how to loose 10 kilos in one week ;-). My new toy measured my run as 11.16km with an average pace of 5:27/km.

When the alarm went off this morning I really didn't feel like getting out of bed, and was very tempted to just stay there all day, but I dragged myself up and out the door. I had a rather emotional night and then a song come on the radio this morning which brought me to tears so I arrived without my usual smile. We all had 90 minutes on the program today and we just ran at a comfortable pace aware that C2S niggles my still be present. I am very happy I turned up this morning as Katie, Deanne and Helen left me feeling so much better. We did 16km with an average pace of 5:49/km.

After some thought I have decided I won't run Willy to Billy this year. My mother's diagnosis after surgery is not good, and I will be caring for her when she comes home from hospital. I feel that I would be physically and emotionally exhausted. I will continue with my training during this period but I need to be listen to my body at the moment.

Runner's High

We were a very happy group this morning still on a high from our C2S runs or perhaps it was Sean's easy session. We did the usual drills and strides followed by an option of running 800s or 35 minutes easy. Us sensible one's took the 35 minutes easy option and ran than inside lap on the grass and the then few laps of the over. I think we ran for 30 minutes and stretched for a little longer than usual. Although I felt pretty good, I thought is often times like this you can choose to push yourself too hard and gain little benefit. In total I ran a comfortable 10.5kms.

One of my colleagues gave me the handout with the C2S results so I was happy to see my time of 69:37 and placed 4303.

The Morning After

I got up early and went for my recovery run this morning. I just took it out nice and easy not worrying about pace but just listening to the body. I felt pretty good actually, perhaps I did not run hard enough yesterday :-). I just cruised around my local recovery/easy run which has a few small hills which seemed like speedhumps today. To ensure the brain was having an easy day as well, I set the time alert for 17.30 minutes and then turned around and ran home. In total 35 minutes with an average pace 5:35/km.

City to Surf

Blue Dog and I arrived nice and early this morning and found a nice little door way to shield ourselves from the cool breeze as we waited for the bagage centre to open. We were soon joined by Tesso, Johnny Dark and Superflake who coming bearing gifts of chocolates, yes Flakes! When I got to the start I was please to see Katie and Deanne waiting and excited. C2S always seems like a bit a reunion, and we all shared some good laughs while we waited, some people even shared more than we needed to know ;-).

I had set myself of goal of sub 70minutes, so I did a little research yesterday of my time and splits from last year, and I thought based on my current form and my training the goal was achievable. I got away to a pretty good start, not too crowded and could found my own space. I reached the 5km mark in 24:16, I was a little ahead of plan but I figured Heartbreak Hill will slow me down a little. It's funny two weeks ago I ran Heartbreak Hill and didn't think it was that bad, but when your racing it is bad. When I reached the 10km mark, I thought my goal of sub 70 was out the window, and did a few calculations and thought maybe. Well I did it 69:37. I was so happy, I just kept watching the clock as ran along the finish shute and kept thinking; faster Bernie don't let sub 70 get away on you.

It was great to chatch up with everybody, meet up with a few Firies and then walked over the Strider's area and found a whole heap of smiling faces.

In summary it was another great day!

A Peace Full Day & Easy Run..........

I have enjoyed a nice quiet day by myself day, as Blue Dog was gone well before the sun came up and headed up the Blue Mountains for 12 Foot Track. Given that today's an easy day I thought it would be a good idea to sit back and get a manicure. I then went shopping and found dress for a ball I am going to in September. It was the second dress I tried on so even dress hunting was even easy today.

I went for a my usual local run this afternoon. It was beautiful being out in the sun shine with the water sparling from the sun's rays. I was thinking about C2S tomorrow and mentally visualising how I plan to run. It will be good to catch up with a friends I haven't seen for a while and just sit back and enjoy the afternoon.

Just What the Dr (Coach) Ordered

This morning I met Katie, Deanne and Ali at the Bay for a nice easy run. I am always guitly of running my "easy runs" too hard so today we were all sensible. Although when we got back to the car we still had 4 minutes to go; our personality disorder reappeared and we finished our 45 minutes. I really enjoyed this mornings run, it was great company and a beautiful morning.

Update on my mother.

A visit to the doctor last week identified she also has four tumors on the liver. She is scheduled for surgery on Monday (14th August) to remove the bowel tumor. Once she is has recovered from surgery she will then commence treatment for the liver. BTW it was her 55th Birthday yesterday, so Happy Birthday Mum.

Disqualified but Not Disillusioned

I arrived at SWEAT this morning to my find my fellow relay team members and we all held our heads up high. We were not going to be shamed with being DSQ’d, but I will still regard the time as a PB. Nice and easy was the key for today, but somehow it’s never seems too easy. Today’s session was 4ks Fartlek, I just worked with the girls and finished in 19:39. Given that we finished the session a little earlier than usual we ran the inside lap of the Park as cool down which was really nice. I often neglect my cool down as I am usually rushing off to work.

Social Wednesday

Due to the C2S today's mid week run is shorter than usual so we started at the civil hour of 6.00am. There were a lot of people out this morning including a few members from SWEAT and we even spotted the Coach. I felt really good this morning; no niggles and really enjoyed running. We ran for an hour with an average pace of 5:30/km. Tonight I will go to the gym for a weight session, I haven't done any weight training for a week and I really miss it.

Long Reps

The mornings are getting brighter which means the warmer months are just around the corner. Today was another big group, there must be a big race coming up ;-). I had 3 x 1.6km reps on the program today. I wanted to focus and keep a good solid pace and improve on each rep. My times were 7:24, 7:22 and 7:15. I was really happy with my last rep and when looking back on my times from a previous identical session, I have improved significantly so I am very happy. I had a weird dream about C2S last night and with all the preparation for fire protection being discussed for Sunday I am now getting excited.

Catching Up.......

Saturday, 5 August 2006

Blue Dog, Katie, and Razor (Ray) and I travelled down to Wollongong together for the ANSW Relays. Thankfully the rain had cleared but we were confronted with strong winds. As Katie, Amanda and I did our warm up Razor went flying past us in this race looking very strong. The female teams were called to the start area and we were all given our instructions. I was running running third leg. I was really pleased with my run, which was a 4km PB of 12 seconds my time was 18:40. I felt really strong and really worked the up hill, I think Thursday hill sessions are definitely assisting. My recent focus on my form is also working, Blue Dog commented how strong I looked. Finished off a great day with a nice Katie and Ray. We were all very hungry after a hectic day and racing, so we were very happy diners.

Sunday, 6 August 2006

Went to the Royal National Park today for my LSD. It is probably one of my favourite runs due the great surface and the beautiful scenery. I only had 2hrs on the program today which was good. I really didn't feel I had any strength today. I suppose it's a combination of my recent illness and possibly feeling a little stressed at the moment. After the run enjoyed a rushed breakfast with the CR crowd.

Monday, 7 August 2006

I enjoyed a nice run this afternoon, just enjoying the simplicity of running. Everything felt great, my breathing seems to be back to it's normal pattern .... a perfect runs. On my way home I notice a man who was running he seemed to have all the gear so I focused on flying past him up the hill, which I did very comfortably. My easy run was just over 7km with an average pace of 5:12/km.

Easy lap of "The Bay"

Katie, Deanne, Ali and I meet at the Bay nice and early this morning. The lightening was spectacular this morning and we were lucky enough finish before the rain. It was nice easy pace and thankfully my breathing was far more relaxed, so I can safety say I have turned the corner with my cold which is good as Katie and I will be flying the green white banner again tomorrow for the ANSW Relays. Our secret baton changing training camp has been very successful, we know have practice stepping onto the podium.

Big Bertha

I arrived nice and early meeting Katie at the gates. We jogged down to the oval together and did a bit of a warm up. I think I have started to turn the corner with my cold, although my breathing is still heavy and my energy levels are lower than usual. Towards the end of the drills my lovely husband arrived after his nightshift. Sean checked on my health and advised my to just go easy it was only training, but I still had 10 laps of Big Bertha, I was secretly hoping he reduce my the laps. I just concentrated on my form, which I believe is improving. I finished in 24:42 minutes which is still a PB for 10 laps even though I was taking it easy. I am now looking forward to my next encounter when feeling on top of my game.

Mini Wednesday

I woke up feeling a little better today and met the girls as planned. Started off okay, but after about 15 minutes realised I had better stick the revised plan from Sean and cut the run short. I finished one outside loop of Centennial Park and then decided to run the a lap of the track. I was joined by Kulinda, I was almost tempted to run another lap, but I then listened to my voice of reason. I for 1hr 7 mins, with an average pace of 5:44km/hr. Nothing too exciting, but at least I got out there and turned the legs over. I feel alot better tonight, hopefully I am on the mend.

Taking it Easy

I went to training this morning still feeling like crap from my cold and was a little emotional when I first arrived. I did the usual warm-up and managed to loose my car key, as I forgot to zip up my back pocket, thankfully "eagle-eye" Katie found it for me. I spoke to Sean before we started to let him know I was sick, so he suggest I just take it easy. I had 5 x 1km reps on my program, but I ran 3 x 1km and 2 x 800. Didn't worry about time at all, but Sean kept reminding me each lap to slow down. I really hate being sick and not putting in a big effort, but I have to remember I have bigger things on the horizon.

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.

Holiday Fever

Today I woke up at a reasonable hour 7am, you have got to love holidays. After a chat to Sean yesterday my whole program for this week has been modified, it's all easy.

I went to the gym today while Blue Dog had his massage and ran on the treadmill for 5.8km in 30mins, 30 minutes of the elliptical machine finished off with some strenght work and strectching. Not too interesting but relaxing.

Lady of Leisure

Today was my first day of holidays :-). I started the day off well with my track session this morning. I was pleased that today's session was relaxed after W2G and leading up to the GC Half. Sean advised me to run my reps at half marathon pace. I ran the first rep of 2.2k in 11:08 and the 2k in 10:16, which probably a little quick but I did feel too bad. I could still feel the effects of Sunday in my stomach and leg muscles but everything else felt great.

Blue Dog, my mother and I went to Cape Solander to do some whale watching later in the morning. By 11am NPWS had sighted 28 whales. Well worth the trip.

Woodford to Glenbrook

My goal was to improve on my time from last year, 2:21:05. So I had discussed the plan of taking 5 minutes off my time.

We arrived at Glenbrook and met CR Sarge to drop his car off at the finish and we then drove back to the registration centre in my car. All the usual suspects were there huddles around a fire to keep warm. We then walked to the start heading towards the sea of mountain bikes. Stood around chatting for a while waiting for the delayed start. I had found out that Blue Dog had suggest to Uncle Dave I should finish in 2:12, which a little quicker than I had anticipated as I had set my mind on 2:15, but it was something to think about. I always like a challenge.

The race got off to a fairly routine start. I stuck to my race plan of conservative for the first 12km and then pick up the pace in the back half. I really noticed an improvement on the hills today, obviously the benefits of Thursday's hill sessions. I finished in 2:13:55 which is a 7 minute & 50 second PB, I am very happy. Thank god tomorrow is a rest day.

Very Easy

23 June 2006

I ran in afternoon for change, only because I wanted a sleep in, and no I did not watch the soccer.

I decided to try something different; I set the time alert on the garmin for 15minutes, with the aim of running for 15 minutes and the turning around. I didn't bother with pace and just ran on feeling. Very easy, just keep the legs moving and turn around with the first alarm and stop on the second. I ended up running 5.8km with an average pace of 5:12/km, which suprised me. I felt comfortable the whole way and really enjoyed just running without any pace or distance goal.

5K Challenge

After a late night helping celebrate Papa's 60th birthday, we dragged ourselves to the 5k Challenge. I was only running easy today, so I was only there for social reason. Ellie was starting the 28 minute group but hoping to improve on her recent PB of 27:15, so I offered to pace her for sub 27 minutes.

It was very foggy when we started and I took us out a little too quick reaching the 1km mark in 5:00 minutes, so we backed off. Ellie ran very strongly, and by the time we got to the 4k mark I told Ellie if she stuck with me a PB was in the bag, but it was up to her how big a PB she wanted. We kept it going and even picked up the pace in the last 80 metres giving Ellie a 46 second PB of 26:29.

I then jogged back and caught up with a few regulars before enjoying a great breakfast.

21 June 2006

My second attempt at this post. My computer crashed just as I had completed the update :-(.

I didn't met the girls this morning due to transport issues. Blue Dog and I a juggling work commitments and training commitments with one car at the moment, which is a little difficult given that Blue Dog's a shift worker and the public transport in our areas is crap.

I had planned on running to Sydney Park for a couple of laps of the Park, but it was still quite dark, so I headed to the safety of the gym at work. When I walked in the gym was packed with recruit firefighters making good use of the mirrors and both treadmill were being used. Thankfully, one of the guys knows I'm an "athlete" so he let me use it. Today's plan was 1hr easy (10km). We all know treadmill are boring, however when the maintenance staff are working on the generator, and all power shuts down at least four times it did start to piss me off. One of the guys suggested Blue Dog may have been playing with the electrical circuits....hahaha. I agreed this could be a possibility as he may find me threatening ;-).

Any way I got through 12km in a just over 1hr.

22 June 2006

We were scheduled for Fartlek around the park, but when I saw Sean arrived with his "markers" I knew we were in for a change of plans. Today's session would be Fartlek around a 1k circuit. We did the usual warm up and drills, but I think the surges we a little more relaxed without Sean's supervision (he was marking out the circuit). We finally lined up and were advised some of us would be running 7k, 6k or 5k. I was hoping with Woodford to Glenbrook coming up I would have a shorter option, but Sean was dutifully advising me of how many more laps I had to go each time I ran past him.

I felt like crap this morning and finished the 7km in 35:36. On a positive note, the tightness I have been experiencing behind my knee seems to have disappeared. Happy Days.

Auto Pilot

I arrived nice and early this morning, and parked in the usual spot and thought I would wait for the girls so we could walk to the oval together. After a couple of minutes, I decided to jog to the oval on my own, I then noticed the gates are open, Allison pulled up and gave me a lift to the oval. At least my legs work at that time of the morning, obviously my brain doesn't.

It was good to see Kerry and I are maintaining our routine of wearing the same outfits, noice.

This mornings session was track, 4 x 1200m on my program. Sean gave us all instructions not to take it out too hard, as we would only be a having a short recovery, and were to complete 4 reps. I lined up with the big guns and took off, finishing the first rep in 5:40, I then thought I had better back off for the next couple. I then completed the three remaining reps, 5:43, 5:40, 5:36. I felt really heavy and slow on the third rep and was surprised with the time. Sean instructed us to dig dip for the 4th rep so I managed to maintain a consistent pace behind Katie for the first 1km, I then decided to "dig deep" and finished with a nice strong last rep.

I left the session this morning feeling really good. I am really enjoying training with the group and the structure of a program.

The Blue Dog, Katie, Ray and Bernie G Roadtrip

Saturday, 17 June 2006

Katie and Ray arrived at our place nice and early for a day of adventure, the Nowra Cross Country. It was a perfect day and the scenary was beautiful. We stopped a Berry for a quick comfort stop and to grap a couple of drinks, when I spotted a van selling donuts, which I announced to Blue Dog, who quickly turns into a Simpson character with donuts. As we got close to the venue, we joked about a couple of hills in the horizon, thankfully we were wrong.

We got there nice and early so we marked out a sunny area for the official "Striders" tent ;-). Thankfully, we did arrive early as a few of the team missed the national anthem. It was great fun watching the kids races, they would take off for a 2k race at the pace you would start a 100m dash.
Katie and I eventually went for a warm up, and thankfully ran most of the course, so we got an idea of what was ahead of and twice. We joked that we would miss the start of the boys race, thankfully we didn't. As everybody took off Katie and were both close the back of the pack and went through the first kilometre in 4.39minutes, shit way too fast. I eventually got into a comfortable rhythm, my goal was to run the complete course and not walk, which was achieved. As were running the guys kept popping up all over the place offering words of encouragement. I finished in 44:03, which I was very pleased with, given the difference between myself and the other girls, and I had anticipated a 45 to 46 minute finish. Katie, Amanda, Naomi and I then went for a cool down and cheered the boys home. When we had all finished our races and cool downs, we ate the samplings of great food supplied by Elise, Katie, Amanda and myself.

It soon got very cold so we quickly departed. Unfortunately, the trip home was a little slow due to weight of the bling Blue Dog won in the 45+ Team, and yes it was GOLD. We finished off the day with some great Pizza.

Sunday, 18 June 2006

Blue Dog and I got up nice and early and ran the STaR. I ran with Katie and Naomi, who we were ahead of me most of the way, and we were joined by Damien and Blue Dog for the first 16ks. It was a beautiful morning, and the views were spectacular along the coast. Us girls took a short cut as we only wanted to run 20ks today. We got back to the finish and found we were 500 metres short, so we ran around the park and until we got to that magic number, and no we do not have compulsive disorders.

Another great weekend.

Unplanned change of Plans

I decided to treat myself this morning, and have a sleep in and go for a short run after work. Lets say the sleep was really good.

Last Sunday, Blue Dog and I had a car "t-bone" us. Although nobody was hurt, it's always an inconvenience. I had to take the care to an assessment centre this afternoon which was earliest date we could get, only to find they wanted to keep the car over the weekend to get it towed away for a mechanical assessment. After a few phone calls and various discussions the insurer agreed to provide us with a hire car over the weekend. Don't these people know we are heading south for a run. After an 1.5 hrs I finally I was provided a lift home.

Unfortunately, it was quite dark and the second car with with Blue Dog who happens to be on night shift, I aborted all ideas of running and the gym. So I decided to bake some cookies for tomorrow's road trip (perhaps I better go for a run).

Small version of Big Bertha

Today's session was hills, but thankfully I was given a last minute change from 10 laps to 6 laps at a comfortable pace, but hill work is never comfortable. I hadn't bothered to look at my previous splits or time for Big Bertha, so I really had no idea what time to aim for, so comfortable worked. After a slight problem with the Garmin (user error), I relied on Sean's timing, and finished the 6 laps in 14:46 minutes.

Did some more stretching this evening, as I am still having a few muscular issues, nothing too serious. They just need some TLC before I attack them at Nowra.

Midweek Shorter Version

Met the girls at Centennial Park this morning for our mid week run. Due to our forthcoming race schedule it was 60 minutes today. My right leg was giving me a little grief during most of today's run, but it eventually loosed up, hence I was a bit quieter than usual today. My plan is to have a nice hot bath tonight and do a solid stretching session while I watch the State of Origin.

I find running with the girls pushes me along a little, although I probably slow them down. We ran a total of 11.40km with an average pace of 5.36/km.

10 June 2006

Another rainy day but it was not going to rain on my parade :-).

Blue Dog and I went over the Sydney Park for the Cross Country. Blue Dog had suggested he would run with me, and pull out if necessary, after our warm-up it became very clear that I was running on my own. The course is a 2.5k lap, with the option of running a 2.5k, 5k or 7.5k race. I ran the 7.5k, which is always interesting because we all start together and you are never sure who is running what distance so it makes it hard to mark somebody as a pacer. I finished a little slower than my last run (38:14), but I was the second female (out of three, but it still counts).

It's always a tough course, even when though it's a regular training run for me. The track conditions were not great, actually a little slippery on a couple of places.

A few Striders there today, perhaps it's part of our training for next weekend's Cross Country.

11 June 2006

Homebush Hustle STaR. I agreed to met Katie at 6.00am for the STaR, we both had 20km on our programs at a nice comfortable pace. We headed off with the large 6.00am group which always included various paces. We found ourselves being pushed along by another three people, who we soon found out they were only interested in our map reading skills not our company, and were pushing us along a little quicker than we wanted/needed to run. We stopped for a drink and a stretch at approx. 9ks, but they stopped with us. We headed off together for a few more kilometres, until Katie and I stopped for another drink, this time they kept going. We then took off at a more relaxed paced. I was very happy to finish as I felt a little fatigued by the end.

12 June 2006

At this stage Mondays are still rest days.

13 June 2006

It took a while to warm up this morning, I think it was probably one of the coldest morning so far, but it's better then wet (sorry).Today's session was "Windsprints", which was new to me, but when explained it's very simple, Fartlek basically. It was a 4.8km, which we had to sprint the straights and float the bends. I tried to work with Katie as long as I could, but she got away on me, she's definitely returning strongly. I finished in 23:43.

On another note, my weight has finally decided to relocate (sorry to anybody who has found it), so I am very happy.

Easy Friday

I was lucky enough to extend my long weekend and had the day off. After a nice sleep in, we spentmost of the day shopping. I went to the gym and did my easy 30 minutes on the treadmill, which I extended to 31.30 just to round off to 6km.

I then moved over to the "stretching area" and stretched for 30 minutes. Walked out feeling great.

Where's Wally?

Today's session was Wild Wally (hill reps). I always find these sessions tough, but I always manage to get through it :-). I felt quite stiff during the warm up and drills.

I did 6 reps today; 3:26, 3:25, 3:27, 3:25, 3:23, 3:23. Total distance for the session 10.4km.

Wet Wednesday

Met Katie and Deanne at Centennial Park this morning at 5.30am in the wet and cold. We ran around the outside of the Park, and a couple of times I felt like I was slowing the girls down but I managed to keep with them. My hammies were okay today but my glutes were a little tight, I have a massage booked in tonight which should help.

We ran 16.2kms at an average pace of 5.31km/hr.

Although it was very wet I am happy knowing I got out there, rather than taking a softer option.

It Can Rain on Race Day......

I reminded myself that "it can rain on race day" and headed over to SWEAT. I met Katie and Kerry at the gates and walked to the oval. It wasn't until the final stage of the drills that the rain began.
I had 1 x 2k and 2 x 1200m programmed for today's session, and missed the instruction to 1600m for the last rep instead of 1200m.

My times were:
9.16
5.30
5.33

The track was pretty wet and soggy, but it didn't seem to slow me down too much, my previous best 2km time was 9.28. So everything is heading in the right direction.

With all the rain I finished up feeling very happy with my effort to actual get out in the rain and my running.

BTW, Blue Dog just said to remind everyone how wonderful my husband is ;-).

Weekend at Bernie's

3 June 2006

Headed over the Striders 10k at Lane Cove with Blue Dog to perform the role of "catcher". It was not as cold as anticipated. There were some pretty good runners out there this morning.

Scarborough Park, Ramsgate in the afternoon for my first ever relay race. I was a little confused and probably drove everybody mad with all my questions. I ran the 3rd leg for the B Team. It was quite nerve racking in the "change over" area waiting for Amanda.

There was a really strong head wind, which was hard work, I recorded my time as 18.47 (not official). I was really pleased as I ran the 4k Cross Country at Scarborough Park in April in 19:58. I hung around and watched the men. The start of the race was a total F&*k up, with at least 30 people heading the wrong way.

4 June 2006

Met Katie, Deanne, Helen and Ali over at Centennial Park, giving the STaR a miss this weekend as we met at 7.00am, so I could have a bit of a sleep in. We then met up with Allison and Kerry for the second lap. Today's run was 19km in approx 1hr 50mins, which felt pretty comfortable, at a nice consistent pace. We finished with some streching, chocolate biscuits and diet coke ;-). Spotted Horrie out training this morning obviously for PCM.

I had nice relaxing afternoon at the movies with Blue Dog, we saw "RV" which gave us a few laughs.

Fresh Start

Meet Kit and Deanne at Centennial Park this morning for our easy Friday. I must admit it was not easy removing the layers of clothing this morning. After a short discussion on where to actually ran we headed off . My left hammy was still a little tight but did loosen up after about 2ks. We ran along chatting about our training and race plans. Both Deanne and Kit will be running the SS 10k at Lane Cove tomorrow, and I will be marshalling due to the 4 x 4 ANSW in the afternoon, so the topic was heavily focused on how cold it will be in the morning. Finished the session with some streching.

This morning I borrowed Blue Dog's skins (I need to do some washing), it was the first time I have ran in them, felt great ;-) mmmm ........ time to go shopping.

Total distance of 6.3km @ 5.18/km.

I had a massage last night. My local gym has a physio/massage centre so I gave it a try due to convenience and price. I was booked in for an hour, but received an extra half hour all the wee price of $60.

Not too much to report except that I need to stretch more to increase my range of movement, which may actually transfer to improved running times :-).

I come home last night feeling absolutely buggered, after eating a beautiful meal Blue Dog had cooked I was ready for bed.

When the alarm went off this morning, I just couldn't get out of bed so I decided 2hrs extra sleep would be more beneficial. Today I will not run, just a good streching session this afternoon.

Blue Dog Update

For those of you who are interested, BD is off to see CR PodRunner to pick up his orthotics today. He had some x-rays on Monday, which have found heel spurs on both feet.

Midweek Dilemma ....

The alarm went off nice and early again this morning and I announced I had better get out of bed and go for a run. I was planning to run locally but Blue Dog suggested I drive to work and head to Sydney Park allowing a little more daylight and like-minded people out exercising.

As I started the run, my left hammy and glute were really tight and I was doubtful I would get through the run. When I arrived at the Park, I stopped and had a good strech and then got stuck into it. Thankfully, the leg loosened up and I felt okay. I really concentrated on my form on the hills this morning, running tall and lengthened out my stride. This will be good practice for the Nowra cross country in a couple of weeks.

I ran a total distance of 13.45km, 5.38/km average pace. Happy with this, may average pace for this run is usually 5.49/km.

BTW, a massage will be booked today.

Long Reps

Headed over to Centennial Park this morning to find the gates closed again, so I parked outside and was soon met by Katie so we walked down to the oval together. It was quite cool walking to the oval this morning, and we had a few spots of rain on the warm up which disappeared before the usual strides and surges.

Today I had long reps; 2.2k rep (10:16), 1.6k rep (7.27) and 1k rep (4.31). I did notice my hammys were a little tight today, so my stride felt a little restricted during the reps, but I was pleased with my effort and can feel the improvements.

Driving to work this morning, I realised my last massage was after Willy to Billy (August) last year, maybe it's time to book myself in.

Total distance: 8km