7km Social Run

Went and did the social run out at Sandgate tonight with Tracey. When I got there, felt quite sore and sorry for myself but once we got going, I felt better and better and felt like I could've carried on! We were going at a slow pace but it was really comfortable, we chatted as we went and even the hills didn't really phase me. I love runs like that, where it feels good and you just look like one big moving grin :)

I think I'm finally starting to feel the benefit of all the runs I've been doing lately - I'm back on track, recovering better and better, the more-carbs approach seems to be doing wonders for me (and I can train loads harder because of it) and consequently, I'm feeling really excited about the next few months.. they're full of events and perfect running weather :) *contented sigh* ah, happiness is!

Talked to a few people tonight about coming down to Sydney for the C2S this year. It'll depend on my finances, but I'd love to do it :) Get a chance to meet some more of my fellow CRs!

In fact, all I have to do is try and find someone who wants to swap their volunteer shift at BRRC for the half mara champs next weekend and my life will be complete ;) Everyone I would ask is on the longer run shifts anyway! Maybe I'll just have to grin and bear it and do my long run in the afternoon or something! Not the end of the world ;)

20k 2:06

Well, I wasn't really too optimistic about today's long run at BRRC - I knew I'd go slower because of the 5k yesterday so it was more a training run than anything else. I actually ran a faster pace when I did the rainy 25km there some time back, but like I say, I hadn't thrashed my legs and been surfing all day before that!

Still, all things considered it wasn't too bad - I felt like I could've carried on doing the pace I was doing (6:18 average - but I had drink stops as well where I walked during that - if I settled into that pace for the entire marathon, I would manage 4:25 which would be absolutely fine with me!)

Arrived at the West End to see all the usual suspects - lots more people there this morning... I suppose with Canberra sneaking up on us, everyone is busy preparing. We set off and as usual, everyone took off ahead. I purposely hung back (let Angie go *grins* she wasn't doing the whole 20k anyway) and just plodded along behind a few people who were doing perfect, bang on six minute pace. I stayed with them for the first 11km or so, then slipped back a bit - let myself walk through the drink stops, which really, I shouldn't have done - but like I say, wasn't really aiming to do today fast. Coach Phil was there, watching and geeing us on! It's amazing how much more pressure you put on yourself when your 'master' is there watching... I'm the same way with my Personal Trainer when we're doing bootcamp - you want to please them ;) a little bit of hero worship never hurt anyone, I'm sure ;)

The lovely Karisma ran her warmdown lap with me on the final loop. I was definitely stuck in the same gear on that lap! Still, consistency is not necessarily a bad thing! We had a good chat and the last 5km passed quite quickly. I think that it'll be interesting to see how I go on the upcoming self select distance (between 7-35km) because I'll make sure I'm fresh for that and I know damn well I can go faster. I learnt so much from yesterday's effort about what happens when I really truly focus - I thought I had been pushing myself, but I seem to have discovered my limits are a little further away than I thought! I think I believe in myself a bit more now - that I can actually go faster with some hard work!

Surfing was good, though it was rough, very choppy with strong currents - and the waves were waaaaayyyyy bigger than last time - but I think every time I go, I'll start to get a little bit better and be able to stand up more!

WOOOHOOOOOO !!! 5km PB 25:50!

omgomgomg! *much squealing and jumping up and down and cheering*

Seems my sneaky suspicion that I was getting a little bit faster at track was spot on! I went and did the 5km TT this morning at Shorncliffe and took a great big chunk (1:35!) off my previous time. I crossed the line at 25:50.. and, I finally, finally, finally did what I've been dying to do for about six months - I beat Angie!

I think this means I'm now over Caboolture ;)

It was a *REALLY* hard run this morning though - I have sore legs from PT on thursday and I always get so bloody nervous at the start of the time trials... I think they hurt a million times more than the longer runs I've done, but I guess at least it's over quickly! My plan was just to hang behind Angie the whole way, match her pace and then try and speed up at the end. It all went according to plan and felt a bit more comfortable than last time too. I knew we were going a bit quicker than last time, but I didn't look at my watch much (can't really tell anyway since they don't have k markers and I'm not familiar with it enough to know where the breaks are)

We hit the turn around and I was still hanging just off the back of angie. As we went round the cone, she got a little bit ahead of me.... the return is worse because you can see the end (the pier) in the distance and it looks closer than it is. It's hard not to speed up too early. Angie started to get away from me, my breathing was absolutely killing me and I started reaching that point where you feel like you're almost hyperventilating. I kept telling myself just to hang on, not to let her go because I knew I'd be really irritated with myself. The gap widened to about 10 metres and I concentrated like hell on keeping it at that. By the last 200m, the gap was at about 20m and I knew I was going to have to sprint flat out to pass her before the line. I could see the others standing at the finish, most of them bellowing.... so I thought, now or never and put EVERYTHING I had into the last sprint. Despite the excruciating pain of it, it was a bit of a pivotal moment for me because I suddenly found my ability to really block everything else out, crash through the pain barrier and really focus. Everything else in the world seemed to just disappear - tunnel vision! (or maybe that was the lack of oxygen getting to my brain? LOL)

I passed Ange about 25m before the line and just couldn't believe it. Contemplated heaving my guts up briefly and couldn't talk for about five minutes either, except to swear profusely between gasps. But, I did it! I did it! I did it! I'm absolutely, completely ECSTATIC! I've been trying sooo hard to break into the 25:something bracket for ages and I completely didn't expect to do it today! When I looked at my watch, I thought I was imagining it - I still do! I hope I didn't dream it :)

Now, I'm off to steal a bit of a cat nap before going surfing again - I only had three hours sleep last night!

Raisin Toast, Resting, Swimming and Stuff!

Swam laps on tuesday morning, felt fantastic.... by that evening, felt much worse and track was evil. Speedwork whilst coming down with a virus is really not a good combination and after a warm up and about three attempts at 400m sets (and doing 1:54 (under 5 min pace?) exactly for each?) I got sent home in disgrace by Coach Phil! Good thing really, since I thought I might throw up or pass out by the end!

Interesting though too, since I know that if I'd been well, I would've been able to go a fair quicker than I did. Which sort of makes me feel like I'm getting faster, even though I have no proof to back up that theory at all. Finally feeling better after Caboolture, maybe. Was ordered not to come to last nights medium long run, so I've really done nothing much this week.

I'm still not feeling well - though the bug has yet to shift from sore throat to snottiness. Fingers crossed it won't (been drowning in vitamin C!). Mostly I just feel tired. Have been eating lots more generally (lots more carbs, too) and actually feel REALLY good for it. I think my body was actually crying out for more food. Despite eating loads more, have stuck at the one-down kg weight, which fascinates me since normally I'm up and down like a yoyo. Of course, I'll have to reign myself in somewhat soon, but I'm starting to think that it's not really a very good idea to be training for marathon and trying to lose weight by cutting calories and carbs. I think I'd rather carry on eating decent amounts, be a bit heavier and just feel like I have the energy to train harder. Maybe training harder will be enough in itself to shift the weight naturally.

Had breakfast this morning with the lovely Lulu who is up on business - not to mention my usual partners in crime, Tess, Clairie and Cirque. Much gossip and raisin toast was consumed. I do love meeting my fellow CRs from interstate! I think I need to score a job where I can travel ;)

Swimming laps at the gym on tuesday made me realise how much I used to enjoy just going to the gym, without the pressure of having to do anything in particular. I think that I'll have to start doing a few classes there again... I'll finish my house sitting stint in a week or so, so will be back at my old gym before long. Looking foward to getting stuck into my routine.

Now, really have to go and get ready for my PT session :)

blahhh

I'm fighting the feeling that everything is falling apart today. Yes, rubbish I know and I keep telling myself that. Didn't do the long run I was supposed to do on sunday, took monday as a rest day and now I appear to be coming down with a cold :( My throat is sore and I feel fatigued.

After eating more carbs, I'm up one kilogram again (but still down one in the big picture) but aside from this virus, feel like I've got more energy. I'm taking some vitamin C tablets so hopefully that'll knock the bug on the head. Blah.

YESTERDAY: rest day
TONIGHT: track
WEDS: medium long run
THURS: PT session (weights)
FRI: swim/bike
SAT: 5km TT
SUN: LSR 2:10 (going to run the 20k at BRRC and add on whatever is extra)

I'm not going to get sick. I'm not! I refuse! LOL!

Baby Bribie Tri no.2

Well, that was interesting!

Got up at 4am this morning, got my stuff together and headed to Bribie for my second attempt at one of the mini triathlons. The weather was beautiful and so on the way, I got to see a stunning sunrise. See, the things people miss by sleeping in on a sunday! (anyone would think they had some sense, getting a lie in!)

I am also horrified to report that on the way, I saw a pack of about ten cyclists pedalling along the BRUCE HIGHWAY in the DARK with nothing but flashing rear lights. They were practically invisible. *shakes head* I can appreciate that it's a nice flat straight road to cycle, but to do it on a freeway where the speed limit is 110kph and most people drive like lunatics anyway - now that's insanity, surely. I wonder if it's illegal?

Anyway, enough of my rant! Got numbered up. This time round, I learnt from my mistakes and wore a pair of bike pants under the purple suit of doom so when the legs of it rode up, it didn't matter. I also wore socks in the ride and run which helped enormously too. I don't care if I'm supposed to be all hardened up and go sockless - I'd rather wear socks than get blisters!

Before I knew it, we were off. Last time, the swim was really good. There was a great current pushing us down the beach, but this time round I really felt my lack of training for it and the lack of the aforementioned current because it was really, really hard. There were also some little waves this time just to make life interesting. Staggered out and thought my legs would never recover. My shoulder still isn't right after the surfing lesson either, so all in all it was a crap swim.

Got into transition, dumped my swim goggles and hat, grabbed bike helmet and bike, headed out to the bike exit. Tried to mount and then discovered my chain had come off. Oh Bugger. No knowing the first thing about bike maintenance, one of the marshalls had to help me put it back on and it took about five minutes :( I got grease everywhere in the process and took off on the bike ride feeling pretty narky with myself. My legs were still quite tired from the swim and so I trundled around the course twice and was very glad to be finished that leg. I do have to mention here, how absolutely lovely Cirque's boys are - they cheered me on every time they saw me out on the bike leg. They're such a credit to their fab mum - really nice, friendly kids :) Cirque cheered for me too when she saw me although I was a bit preoccupied with not going A over T on the turnaround to wave too much LOL!

Hit transition again, headed out on the run. Initially my legs were heavy but gradually warmed up. Infact, the run part was substantially better than the last time I did it - I may still feel crappy from running long distances, but the advantage is that 3km now feels like nothing! Last time I ran it, I had to walk about three times - this time, I didn't walk at all (except to drink once at the turnaround)... So, it didn't all go horribly. I've got no idea how long it took me to do the course though (am waiting for times to come out, though I suspect it'll be worse than last time, by a mile. Ange did the long course and said her swim was three minutes slower than normal, so perhaps I wasn't alone in feeling yuck about the swim leg.

After I finished, I stuck the bike back in the car, changed and headed back to watch the long course finishers come in. Saw Coach Phil *grins* who had heard via Ange (aka my closest competition!) that I wasn't eating carbs in an effort to lose weight. He promptly bollocked me ('told me off' - aussie translation!) and told me that's why I'm struggling still - told me to take a few days off and eat carbs. *L* On that advice, I've promptly just eaten the best part of a bucket of cookies and cream icecream *belch-of-tanky-proportions* and it was goooooooddddd!!!

I'm still trying to come to grips with letting someone else have 'control' of when I run and how much I run. I seem to have definite control freak tendencies and it's actually really hard for me to trust that running less will actually make me run better. I do trust Phil though and so I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to get me back on track and running better than before. Bit upset about losing my junky (read social) kms though :( half tempted to sneak a few in, but that then kinda defeats the purpose!

swim and bike

Since wednesday nights pathetic run, I decided it would be wise to do some cross training and not run til sunday, when I'll do the mini tri and follow it with my long run (I'll get to do it at Bribie, which is always beautiful - love running on the beach!) I think I feel a bit better for it, too :)

So on thursday, I went and swam. My right shoulder is still funny from surfing - I think I may have pulled something because when I pull on the stroke, it hurts down the whole arm. I'm sure it'll come right though, so I didn't push things too much. it's the first time in ages that i've swum in the gym pool which is indoors, 20m and disgustingly warm. I forgot how irritating turning around every 20m is (particularly if you're me and can't roll!)

Yesterday (friday) I went for a bike ride. I have to admit I haven't ridden since before xmas, so that was a slight shock to the system too! LOL! While I was riding I realised the run distance is longer on this tri, so I'm not going to be able to better my time from the last tri anyway. In a way, that's quite good because it allieviates some of the pressure I put on myself. Looking forward to it though, it's such a nice morning!

The Girl has a Plan!

Went and saw Phil at the Run Inn tonight and got him to look over my training plan, which, I have to admit, has been all over the place. I've really just been running what I feel like running - I don't know if it's come out clearly enough to read, but this is february so far - as you can see, no consistency or plan to it really. Oops!

What I'll be doing in the count down to Gold Coast will instead be based on three runs a week for training. Speedwork on a tuesday, medium long run on a wednesday night and a long run on the weekend (adding in cross training of course - one total rest day a week). Apparently, I'm going to be running smarter, with no more junk kms where I'm struggling just to keep going.... The long runs will also go by time not kms which will be an interesting change for me, mrs-counting-kms!

Basically, the time between now and the gold coast have been broken down into four blocks of five weeks, increasing the long run by ten minutes every week with a temporary plateau between to give my body time to adjust to the distance. The maximum distance I'll run prior to the marathon will be about 35km.

I'm thinking this is going to require a fair degree of discipline from me - particularly in terms of the long runs. So often, there's stuff on during the weekends, races and things that I want to do, that I'm really going to have to think about and work out what I want to do - no more trying to run a reasonable 15kms two days in a row!

I still have to go through and change stuff around on the rest of the calendar, but I'll probably post it when I've finished. I've got a review of the program in four weeks. Phil doesn't know what time I'm likely to get until I recover and start recording times from west end etc, but he thinks somewhere between 4-5 hours is likely.

I signed up for the enticer tri at Bribie this weekend tonight as well. It'll be just for fun and lets hope it won't kill me too badly - I haven't ridden the bike since before I went away! I'm not going to do any running for the rest of the week either, so it'll give me time to get back to the pool and probably have a ride too.

Did a very miserable 45 minute effort tonight, still feeling crap but I've vowed and declared not to complain anymore! Ending on a positive note, the assault on my wobbles is going well :) I may even take a pic of the purple tri suit this time ;)

Back on Track (well, almost!)

I think I am one of the worlds most impatient people when it comes to this whole marathon recovery process. My brain is absolutely firing on all cylinders and wanting to run, run, RUN... my body on the other hand, still feels rather like it's been hit by a steam train. I know I'll come good, I just feel like moaning, bitching and whinging about it lots. Anyone who'll listen has copped it over the last few days!

My ants-in-the-pants state was heightened last night by the fact that I went to a marathon clinic last night at the Run Inn. Really enjoyed it and got a lot of useful hints and tips out of it. One of which being keeping track of my resting heart rate every day and looking at it in relation to my training to see how I'm going.

It's certainly made me rethink having a crack at the Brisbane Marathon in April.... I'm going to do the half instead. Mostly because the recovery time eats into the training time I have for the Gold Coast and I really want to have a good lead up to that. I'll just have a crack at the half instead. I've also got to sort out which events I want to do and work it out so they don't ruin my long runs. Mnn. Finally getting Phil to look at my program tomorrow - now I've quit the evil temp job I've finally got time!

Went to track tonight.... I think tuesday sessions suit me better... I was a tad apprehensive knowing that I'm still not firing on all cylinders, so went thinking I'd just see how I went and not push too hard. Strangely, I'm able to sprint really hard over short distances and not feel tired (although breathless as hell!) but anything longer, like a 400m repeat just floors me. It must be different muscles groups or something. Psychologically, I always feel like I do better at sprints anyway and I think I just about matched everyone else tonight (except the uber fast boys) so who knows.

I'm dying for the 5km time trial to come around on the 25th, because (fingers crossed!) I'll be back to normal by then and hopefully feeling the benefits of all the kms I'm doing lately!

Hope you're all having a fabbo week!

Surfing, 16.1km and dodgy foot

Yesterday I had my first surfing lesson which was soooo much fun! I think a new addiction may have been borne! I had lessons right outside the Southport SLSC where we had the CR get together after the GCM and I found myself getting all excited about this year and remembering how much fun it all was!

I had no idea just how physical surfing is - there were about 15 people in the lesson and I was the only girl matching the boys wave for wave - the other girls turned up in stupid little bikinis and wouldn't go out past their knees (why they were doing surfing lessons, I've got no idea!) I ended up in the washing machine a few times and have bruises in all sorts of places today and tripped myself up on the rope a few times, but I loved every minute of it. By the end of the lesson there were only about four of us left - everyone else was apparently buggered... so being reasonably fit seems to have paid off! It meant I could spend a little longer out there and consequently, by the end of the lesson I managed to stand up for about two seconds. Am now dying to go back and practise! The Lovely Man made me laugh - he played beachboys the whole way down the coast *LOL*

Went to the West End this morning to do the ten mile race. When I woke up it was absolutely pouring and whilst the thought of staying in my lovely warm bed was really, really tempting I remembered the last really rainy 25k we did there and how much fun it was, so got up and got ready. I was also really really REALLY sore from surfing! My core muscles and upper body muscles are screaming!

Arrived just in time and saw Clairie and Tess, Shane, Sam and a few other familiar faces. Sorted myself out and off we went. My goal was just to run the distance because I'm still not quite up to speed after caboolture. Consequently, came in at 1.46 (exactly ten minutes slower than the same run, last year! waaaa!) and ran with Angie the whole way. On the positive side of things, I did collect some more gold bling since I was the only one in my age category running! My foot/hip hurt the whole way though, so I think a visit to the podiatrist is definitely in order :( bugger :(

Us CR's seem to do well in the wet - Clairie, Tess and Shane all scored bling again too! Go, Us! Fab effort Team! :)

Now, I'm off to rest my poor sorry weary self. I'm getting a bit impatient to get up to speed again but I guess that'll come over time... hopefully by wednesday I shall be entirely back to normal!

sore hip

First run after the big M today.... yesterday I think I actually felt better than today! My right hip is really sore - I think I've sprained/pulled something so I took a couple of anti inflammatories :( I can't work out why it only started hurting today though?

Tonight, I ran with the beginners and did a very gentle 5 or 6kms with walk breaks. I'm not rushing things til my hip feels better. Might hit the pool for a few days instead. Oh, did I mention a certain lovely man and I are going to learn to surf on saturday? I'm so excited ;)

Day One of the Wobble Assault ;) (mine, not wobblys!)

Vegie girl took this awesome pic of me and Tess - I think it's my favourite running photo so far - made all the more amusing by the fact that Tess is going so fast, she's a blur! LOL! We really must try and get a nice CR gals pic one day, with us all together, running :)

Yesterday, I felt pretty exhausted and the same thing today... my foot is getting better though, which has to be good (was having nightmares about what the podiatrist might say) my hips are pretty stiff and sore and everyone at the evil temp job was giving me strange looks for limping around the office.

I'm still feeling all happy and bouncy - if I wasn't so sore, I'd be out there running right now. Best to have a bit of a rest though I think - tomorrow I've got PT, then on wednesday I'll go to running group and see how I fare.

Another thing I think I got out of the race was a renewed desire to drop the extra weight... I'm naturally so much more chunky than everyone else, but I just *know* that a big part of the secret to getting my times down, is to be lighter. We all know I've been harping on for forever about doing it and somehow I just haven't gotten there yet.. but I think perhaps the fact that I surprised myself this weekend might be the extra bit of motivation I need... If I can do it being overweight and undertrained, how would I go if I was the right weight and had the miles in my legs? *LOL* I think I'll start with small goals - not weight targets, but races and TTs ;) Today was therefore Day One of the Wobble Assault.

I've got three events, three sundays in a row this month - on the 12th, the BRRC 10 mile, on the 19th, the Bribie Tri (planning for the short one, but you never know!) and on the 26th the BRRC 20k. Oh, and there's a 5km TT on the 25th, too. I'm loving this time of year - everything is really just grinding into full swing and there's so many great events to run :)

43.5km in six hours :)

I can't stop grinning and I still feel like last night was a figment of my imagination (albeit a very painful one!)

Headed up to Caboolture and arrived at about 4pm. Saw Clairie, then bumped into the girl who taught me to row, a few years back. It was one of those funny things really, since it was while I was rowing and just starting to get fitter that I first saw the BRRC road runners charging along the river and decided that I wanted to be able to run. Nice sense of the wheel turning full circle to see her there :) Got dragged into a card game which I didn't have a clue how to play and despite my best efforts to lose, actually kept winning until I'd cleared the bank out. I quite wish it'd been real money LOL!

There were tents lined up along both sides of the track and gradually more and more people turned up. The lovely Cirque arrived to lap score for me and we settled ourselves into the lap scoring area and chatted a bit. It was pretty hot at six o'clock still, and I wasn't really looking forward to the first section of the run but before I knew it, we were off!

The course was a 500m unsealed gravel track around the historical village. I'd wondered if the looping would drive me nuts, but it didn't - there's always different stuff to look at and people to talk to on the way by. I loved how supportive everyone was, geeing each other along. Tess looked really strong and really determined from the start. I stuck to my run-four-walk one plan and it worked beautifully for me. I had to make myself walk the first few times because I wanted to keep going, but I knew if I didn't, it would cost me later on!

Two hours rolled around quite quickly, new runners came onto the track which was nice - new people to talk to - and we changed direction. It got darker and cooler which helped and I started to think maybe the six hours wasn't going to be as bad as I thought. Infact, I felt really good until I got to 3:30, when I think I must've hit what everyone calls the wall. My calves started to cramp up and tighten and my left foot was hurting. (I've decided after last night, I am going to get orthotics - it totally wasn't aligned right or something last night - the other foot was fine!) I dropped my walk-run ratio down to 3:1 and carried on. Cirque started to walk some of the walking laps with me, which was nice as it gave me some conversation to distract myself. By that point, a ton of people were sitting in the pub and yelling out encouragement as we went by. I got to the point where I just had to put my head down and focus on putting one foot infront of the other. It was hurting!

The next hour or two passed in a bit of a blur as I got gee-d along by other CRs... vegie girl, tanky, AB, Run67... too many to mention and gradually I got to the point where I felt better again. My calves stopped cramping and the magic 42km mark started approaching... I was feeling much more tired and walking a lot more, but the thought of doing marathon distance really spurred me on.

The magic 84th lap was soooooo good - I practically sprinted it... couldn't believe I'd really done it and my cheeks hurt from smiling so much! As I went past the lap scorers I started bouncing up and down and shrieking :) If I'd had the energy, I would've done a victory dance as well :) When the hooter went, I dropped my bag of sand (to show where we finished on the lap) and felt this moment of absolute pure happiness.

Thinking back on it, I don't think I ever, at any point, thought I wouldn't make it to six hours. Even when I felt like crap because I knew I'd just walk the rest. Since I've been running, I've been able to set these increasingly more difficult goals for myself and being able to achieve them has just enriched every part of my life. Running makes you a stronger, better person I think, because it teaches you to believe in yourself and follow through. If you believe in yourself, then there's really nothing you can't do.

I would also like to take this opportunity to whole heartedly thank the lovely Cirque for being my lap scorer - without you, I just couldn't have done it. You made my first marathon distance so special. You're a star! She even made me a lovely excel spreadsheet with my splits which I've uploaded to the net. see here.

Next year, 12 hours :)

New Shoes, a Decent 10km and 6hr Strategy :)

A recent bit of artwork to amuse you. I've named it 'Gecko Girl' ;) Since making it, I'm actually not too keen on geckos anymore! I wonder why? LOL. It's actually okay for general viewing, too! Thanks for all the lovely comments, everyone. I'm bearing up - just going to take time to find my sense of direction again, but it's coming!

Anyway, am feeling slightly better tonight, after a dodgy start this morning - I turned off my alarm in my sleep and woke up an hour late! Somehow I still made it to work on time though (go figure?) so it wasn't a drama. Still feeling a bit 'jetlagged' from the last week or two, but went to run club. As I got there I decided the time had come to spend some of my ill gotten gains (debt collection wages!) and buy some new shoes :) same as last time, Aasics 2100's that everyone wears (and I do LOVE them!) only this time they're orange not blue trim :)

Love that bouncy feeling you get from new shoes :) I was feeling pretty buggered so I didn't expect to have a good run at all - with one thing and another, I hadn't really run since the TT on saturday (give or take a few kms at the gym as a warm up before a weights session) but the rest obviously did me good, since I felt and ran about a MILLION times better than last weeks effort. I couldn't help but share my joy at regular points along the way. I must have just been physically exhausted the last week or two, having come back from the UK and then doing that huge 60km week. It sounds stupid but you just don't realise quite how much difference it makes until you feel better! I'm even contemplating decreasing my number of runs to three or four a week, but just increasing the distance on the long run. Which is probably what I should've been doing anyway.... that'll teach me to get someone to look at my program. Really should take it to Phil soon!

On the run, we got about half way in and then Tracey and Sam turned back (has an exam tomorrow so wanted an early night) I nearly went with them, but I felt so good that I decided to carry on. The group went a bit slower than last week I think (Phil reckons we were doing 5:30 pace for the 70 mins) which is probably why I felt less dead, too. I actually kept up with the faster people from the middle group all the way.... except for perhaps the last km or two, when they started to speed up and I had to drop back a little. Wouldn't have been more than a minute behind them though.

Faxed my entry through for Caboolture today! 'Coach' Phil reckons my ratio of run to walk should be 4:1 and to work downwards from there - see how far I get, then decrease to three laps of running and so on. He doesn't think I should walk more than one at a go, but I dunno! Strangely, I don't feel nervous at all... I felt more nervous at the 5km TT where my stomach was in my mouth for about an hour. Perhaps it hasn't sunk in yet that I'll actually be doing it. It's probably just that I don't have any expectations for it at all. I don't even care if I don't manage the whole six hours. Anything longer than three will be a bonus and I figure that once I'm past three I'm on the downhill anyway and it'll be easier to keep on going, even if I have to crawl on my hands and knees!

The lovely, lovely Cirque has offered to be my lap scorer for which I am eternally, eternally grateful.... I'm thinking I'm going to have to be cirque's cheersquad/running buddy at the MDC :) Bring on the weekend! It should be a really good night - lots of friendly faces and a chance to have some fun afterwards, too :)