frosty the running snow woman!

Hello all :) This is a picture of the sunset in the UK countryside where I'm staying. I've got a ton more, but I'll wait til I can upload them all in one go.

Managed to get myself to the local athletics centre the other day in the belief that perhaps it might be less icy than the roads - I discovered that actually, it is probably more icy on a track - particularly when it's 2 degrees!

I think I lasted 20 minutes before the pain of the cold got the better of me and I came into the warm. I did ask about using a treadmill indoors but they wanted me to have an induction session on it first so I decided not to ;)

I'm resigning myself to the fact that there will no doubt be three weeks of serious pain when I get home to burn off all the calories I'm consuming. The good thing about this resignation is the fact that I'm not going to worry about it so much. No point!

Went for a run this morning and it was much milder, thankfully. Very different running when it's soooo quiet - great seeing all the local animals around - birds, horses, pheasants, deer... smells very nice too - the air is really clean :)

I've been making certain running resolutions etc for next year plus a big 1 year running anniversary post for this blog, but I'm waiting til I get back to Bris to post that :) Hope you're all well and enjoying the sunshine (!)

It is soooo frigging cold here! I went out this morning for my first run - it was frosty and icy and I couldn't feel my nose. By the time I got back, my torso was warm enough under three layers, but my legs were freezing and blotchy red. Was quite pretty though in the middle of the countryside... absolutely silent... except for the occasional cows and birdsong.

Eating waaayyy too much - but we knew that would happen ;)

Couldnt resist posting something from the airport here in osaka, japan - free internet access at the airport begging to be used! (plus, I:ve got hours to waste before the second part of the flight to london.

It is SOOOO bloody cold here... the UK is only going to get worse! The hotel was nice though (I stayed overnight) with a multifunction toilet (!) and non fogging bathroom mirror )bizarre!

Ate too much on the plane but there:s not much else to do! was highly amused to find out justhow much more comfortable the seats are when you fit into them... last time I flew, I couldn:t even press the buttons on the armrest without digging my hand down and taking pot luck... and the seatbelt had miles of slack too lol (stupid stuff, but mademe grin!

Now I:m off to find something interesting to do for a few hours while I waitfor my plane - this keyboard is driving me nuts!

Sionara, CRs!

3rd Female Team!!!

I just checked the kurruwa results - Sam and I were third female team! (and, for once, we weren't even the last all female team, either ;) LOL

Yay Us!

Catch you all on the other side of the world! xxx

Kurruwa 25km 2:45

Everything you could do wrong before a race, I did before the Kurruwa 25km today! Finished in 2:45 which, considering there was a fair amount of walk breaks going on, was not my best, but not my worst either.

I went to see friends last night and despite my best intentions, got to bed very late at 1am. I got up at 2am reminding myself that the night before a race is never good rest anyway. Sam and I ended up carpooling with MJ and Mark (Iliketoast) which was really good fun and we gossiped the whole way down the coast. We arrived at 4.30am and registered. Everyone looked so very, very fit and determined. My goal then and there was just to finish. Schultzy was there, back from holidays and decided to run the first leg with me. Saw Tesso who was really nervous - and Clairie who was bouncing off the walls!

Before long, we were off. MJ took off up the front with others and I plodded away at the back. We were still going quite quickly for me, doing five-something kms for the first six or seven kms. Sam and Iliketoast were both running the second leg, and went ahead to provide cold water, sponges and sprays at points along the way.

I knew it was going to be a tough run when at 7km, my left shin started hurting in quite a major way. I stopped and stretched it, swearing profusely to myself. Schultzy ran on ahead a way, but needed a few toilet stops so we caught up with each other soon enough. I started to struggle a bit and felt terrible for Sam who was running the second leg and the longer I took, the hotter her return leg was going to be. They decided to have a 2:30 cut off to avoid people having to run the second leg any later, but I immediately felt disheartened since I knew even if I was firing on all cylinders, my PB for the distance was 2.36.

After a while the pain in my shin shifted around to my calf muscle and I started feeling myself limp to compensate. I had a little voice in my head telling me it was not a good idea to carry on with pain like that, but then I realised if I stopped, I'd be completely stranded since our teammates had gone ahead to their start line. So, I made a resolution just to get there, even if I had to walk the whole way. It was (probably) the right decision since by the time I got to about 15km, I got into a bit of a rhythym and my calf became bearable.

They promote Kurruwa as being a flat course, but it definitely isn't a course for the inexperienced runner really. I found myself wondering why I was doing it on many occasions. Usually up the 97 steps and several hills. The worst bit was a huuugggeee hill right at the end, which I didn't even attempt to run after doing 24kms. The heat was pretty nasty by that point and I felt every bit of it.

When I finally finished, I was happy just to stand there and down four cups of water and endura in a row. MJ, Schultzy and I then jumped in the car to crew for our team mates. We had a lot of fun getting ahead of them on the course and returning the favour and cheering for every single coolrunner we saw! We had some party horns and harrassed *ahem* encouraged every runner we saw on the course. Most of them loved it!

Sam crossed the line in 2:37 looking absolutely stuffed, bless her - superb effort considering how hot it was, and she accidentally did an extra set of stairs in there too! Jumped up and down repeatedly, bellowed loudly as she crossed the link and gave her a big hug. Perfect moment!

The barbeque afterwards was great and was a chance to gossip with everyone. The running buddies all went fabulously! Tess and Nick had the most fantastic shirts and xmas hats.

Really enjoyed the day although I swore I'd never do it again during the run. Now I'm not sure. It's definitely a challenge and now I have a time to beat. I'm hoping my calf comes good tomorrow - it's always that same leg that gets injured but I'm defiantly trying to avoid orthotics. Hopeefully it'll be fine!

Congrats to everyone who raced - great effort :)

10km run and discoveries

Yesterday I went for a cruisy 50 minute run. Interesting being in an entirely new suburb and finding all the new places to run. I actually discovered a bike path with permanent exercise apperatus on it - so I can do a bit of circuit training when I feel like it :) The whole area is absolutely FULL of hills too which is quite nasty (but good for me too!)

Today I lounged around by the pool for a few hours with a friend which was bliss. I think that when I get back from the UK, a CR/running friend pool party and barbeque may be in order! I'm thinking hawaiian theme... fairy lights.... cocktails and music... got to make the most of this place while I'm here!

Tonight I did my 10km or so with the Run Inn Crowd. Phil very kindly extended my bike loan indefinitely, which is sooo nice of him - so I can settle into training on it for the next tri or eight. It gives me a little more breathing (saving!) room in which to scrape the money together for my own bike. It was so unbelievably humid tonight, I sweated buckets and it felt like we ran for 2 hours not just 10km or less. Such hard work! I kept up with the faster people until the last ten minutes or so then fell back a minute or so. I'm not going to bust a gut with the weekend looming, anyway!

With all the panicking I did over the tri, I got distracted from panicking about Kurruwa. Which was probably a good thing. Only a few more days to stress! Meh! I'm sure it'll be fine. Caught up with MJ tonight and Sam and I are going to carpool with her and Mark down there and back. Should be good fun! Will probably run with the Running Buddies on saturday but do a very, very, very cruisy effort. Mostly for the breakfast after, anyway!

900m swim

I thought I might feel really really sore today, but thankfully only the muscles over my lower back and the muscles that go over the top of your elbows are achey. Everything else is a little tired but fine, though 48 hours after a race is usually when I feel worst, so we'll see! I'm even contemplating going to track tomorrow night because I don't have to work (or rather, I'm not going to work!) We shall see!

Went to the pool this afternoon, did 900m (with rests after 300m) before getting kicked out of my lane for swim school. My freestyle is really starting to feel better in terms of getting a rhythym and because of that, my body is a bit more relaxed in the water - which is helping my breathing too :)

I seem to have gotten a much better grip on my diet now too, having lost the four (yes, FOUR!) kgs I put on recently and am back to 77kgs. If I can just keep it up, I'm going to hit 75kgs before I go to the UK. I'd even like to get to 73kgs if possible (2kgs being insurance against inevitable xmas gluttony!) But having said that, I leave on Dec 15th, so perhaps that's a bit of an unrealistic goal. As long as the scales don't go up from here on out, I'll be reasonably happy!

Plan for this week:

mon: swim (900m DONE)
tues: track (moderate effort) or 10k cruisy run
weds: 10km Group Run
thurs: swim + weights
fri: REST
sat: REST
sun: Kurruwa 25km

Bribie Tri - I made it!

Well, I survived! *grins* where to start?

Last night was my trainer's xmas party, so I went along to that, drank water all night and left early. I am obviously the spirit of xmas *L* Actually, I was glad to get home early so I could get everything together and try to get myself in the zone. John rang me to check I'd remembered everything and to gee me up which was nice. I managed to fit the bike in the car (toyota starlet) which is a feat in and of itself and packed everything else up.

As usual, I spent last night tossing and turning and dreaming that I was doing the tri and had gotten lost, was late starting or generally making a huge mess of the whole thing, so when 4am came, I was happy to get up and get moving. Put the purple suit of doom on, groaned at myself in the mirror and was out the door by 4.30am.

Got to Bribie just as the sun finished coming up and was very happy to see the water looked like glass. There was a much more relaxed atmosphere than Noosa which was nice - I was nervous as anything, anyway - if it'd been like Noosa, I would probably have been hysterical by then! Bumped into another John from running group who was also doing the short course and was lovely enough to answer all my last minute questions and show me where the swim started/finished and where the run and bike entrance/exits were. I was happy to see a few other people doing the tri on mountain bikes and racked it, then went and got numbered up.

Before long, we were all down at the edge of the water, where I bumped into MJ who was also doing her first tri after being corrupted by me (actually, I think she was really already set to do it - didn't take much!) - my heart was in my mouth and my stomach was doing cartwheels. After a couple of waves, we were off! The water was surprisingly warm (much warmer than the pool!) and surprisingly easy to swim in - must be the salt. We had a straight course, parallell to the beach which helped. Couldn't see a thing through my goggles - only saw peoples feet when they were two inches from my face. Didn't like being sorrounded by people very much - arms and hands and everything crashing into everything else. It actually slowed me right down and I had to keep sticking my head up to see where I was going. Seems like my breaststroke would've been fine anyway! Swam in feeling like I'd taken it wayyyy too easy. There I was thinking it was going to be the hardest leg for me, and it was actually the easiest by far!

As I got up to transition I spotted the very lovely Cirque and Cirquelets who had come to watch and they were all cheering me on, bless them! I nearly cried *grins* It was so nice of them to do that and such a surprise! Definitely spurred me on!

Bolted up to transition, tried to get some of the sand off my feet, shoved my shoes on (thankyou elastic laces!) and my helmet, grabbed my bike and took off. Some of the others from my wave were actually changing into running clothes! Started peddling and got overtaken by about a million people going at a billion miles an hour. Soooo fast! Stuck my head down, tried to keep out of the way and peddled but it was definitely my hardest leg - need much, much more practice, that's for sure! Ended up counting squashed cane toads (noice!) to distract myself *L* Some of the elite lot seem to be complete gits - one or two were just bellowing at me and the people in front to "GET LEFT!" even though we were all on the hard shoulder and they had stacks of room. It's all in the tone they use I suppose, but I don't think it's necessary component of success to behave like a bastard! Anyway...

Before long, I was coming back into transition, racked the bike and almost took off with my helmet still on *L* the marshalls stopped me in time (how embarrassing would that've been? LOL) My legs were like jelly from the bike, and it took me about 1.5km (with, I hate to say it, a very slight walk break or two) to get comfortable before I could pick it up on the return. Must take some time for your muscles to settle again or something. No chance of doing anywhere near my 3km TT effort, so I just did my best and started picking off people - one girl had been just infront of me the whole way (she was wearing a cotton singlet, bra and baggy shorts for the whole thing!) so I focussed on her and decided I'd get over the line before she did. I think running helped a lot - a lot of the faster people on the swim/bike seemed to die in the run leg. Caught her and sped up. I did my usual favourite little glory dash trick and started to sprint as hard as I could for the line. Caught one or two more on the way into the chute and could see another woman about 20m from the line so I went absolutely flat out (so did she!) and we just threw ourselves at the finish - Cirque and sons and various other lovely people I knew started bellowing for me, so did the commentator and I made it over the line first. I have to admit its quite annoying when other people do that to you in a race, but dammit, it felt soooo good!

Overall, I'm actually pretty surprised at myself. I found the progression from one activity to another suited me because it meant I could use more of my physical strength and different muscle groups, rather than relying solely on my cardio fitness. I was probably most anxious about the swim but I feel like I could go heaps faster on that, use my upper body as much as possible, do the bike (because I think I'll always be crap on a bike!) and then go faster again on the run. My goal with this one was just to finish so I'm happy - as I say, I know I need to work on the bike leg for sure - the one I rode was quite heavy and I also think it would help to get someone to set it up for me properly.

Stayed and watched the winners get their cups which was really interesting in itself - to hear the different times and things - gives me an idea of what constitutes an elite time, a reasonable time and the rest. Interesting to look at the different body shapes too - a lot of triathletes actually seem to have a different shape to runners - they're more muscular with wider shoulders or something. It gives me heart actually, because I think that's more the bodyshape I'd have if I dropped another 10kgs - and, some of the category winners were quite solidly built like me, too!

Oh, and I won a random draw prize! What does the girl without a bike win? a new bike tire, a bike service and a bike pump of course! *L* I did also score a water bottle and a half hour massage (that'll do nicely after kurruwa, thankyou very much!) so I can't complain! I ended up giving the tire to John for showing me all the starts and finishes and everything - it was really nice of him and it made a heap of difference to my whole experience.

So, yeah - a good day. Will I do another one? Absolutely - If I can wrangle the bike loan til february, I'll definitely do the next Bribie one in Feb, though I think I'll stick with the shorter distance still, til I get my confidence up. Next year, I'll do a full length Tri for sure :) Hooked :)

Oo, and thanks for all the text messages and blog support guys - you rock!

little plastic bits and mentalness

Finally feeling a little more human! Hormones - gotta hate them. A combination of that and a case of the lonelies has had me feeling round the twist the last few days. So few of my friends are single these days that I don't think many of them understand quite what it's really like on a full time this-is-my-life sort of basis. Most of the time it's fine and I enjoy the freedom immensely, but occasionally it can just eat away at you. Anyway, doesn't help to dwell, so nothing to do but get on with things, no doubt!

Back to running talk...

This week, I've noticed that for some strange reason, before any major sort of race or event, I suddenly feel like all my training has backslid and that I'm back to square one. The more it happens, the more I realise it's just a mental thing because even if I don't go well at something, I can still do it (and therefore my training is in fact, adequate) The only time I didn't feel like that was before the Noosa Tri and we all know how that turned out - so really, based on that logic, I should be worrying if I *don't* feel under prepared!

On the plus side, I've shed most of the weight I put on due to my naughty week last week, hurrah! My purple tri suit thanks me. The only problem being that I'm back to square one in that I'm the same weight now that I was when I bought it so it still looks horrific. But at least I'm not on Square two anymore and it won't look worse than it did! ;)

Yesterday I was at a photoshoot and dropped a huge painting that was mounted on 9mm MDF board onto my foot and it took a chunk out of my little toe! It feels a little better today but I'm keeping an eye on it - I've broken that toe about three times (mostly from stubbing it against my futon base!) so it doesnt take much :( positive thoughts - it's going to be fine!

Went to run club last night, went for an easy run. Felt like a piker ;) Went to the gym tonight as well, got a bit carried away with the chin up bar which might not have been such a good idea so close to the weekend, but we shall see, no doubt. Am slowly getting used to my shoes without socks and elastic laces (buggered if I can work out what you do with the plastic bits that come with the elastic laces though!)

The big day approaches *omgomgomg* !!!