meh

Argh, I hate crazy busy weeks! The good news is that my most recent cold seems almost gone. About time! Other good non-running news includes the recent purchase of shiny red shoes. Just call me Dorothy ;)

Anyway...

Track on tuesday was pretty hard. Nasty session, with no drills and a combo of 400m and 800m sets. Yucccckkkk. I still feel really, terminally slow and got my butt whipped by everyone. Only started to feel halfway human towards the end. How does that happen?

Despite my crap running, I enjoyed the last thing we did - we got staggered into 2 second intervals (slowest to fastest, with me being about fourth from the front) and did an all-out, give-it-everything-you've-got-then-fall-over-dead 400m sprint. I went for it and crossed the line joint first with someone from behind. Not really sure what that means exactly, other than that I am perhaps able to do better earlier on in a session than my running suggests. Blah.

Wednesday night saw my first medium long run with the group for a few weeks. Again, utterly, utterly shite session. Angie's garmin said we were running 5:50 pace (though that was what it said at the top of a hill!) and to me, it felt like 5:00 - I struggled like hell and ended up running in with a first timer who had had time off running.

I want to make excuses for myself and say wednesday night was crap because I was tired and had done a weights session at PT that morning, but the truth is that I'm also just shit at running at the moment. I need to suck it up and just keep on keeping on.

Seems I have also managed to miss the cut off date for the Lamington classic accommodation - Schultzy put the wind right up me on tuesday about everyone twisting their ankles up there and now I'm feeling slightly nervous about entering.

I'm sure I'll feel better about everything after this weekend - doing a long run tomorrow 25km-ish which will include another attempt on Mt Cootha with Sam and then the 12km B2B on sunday.

Onwards and up (and up, and upwards)!

A cunning training plan

Thanks to Vege for the lovely 'after' pic of us (Me, Vege and Davo) in which you can also see my new haircut (although, it's a bit sweaty and revolting in this pic!)

Have put together a bit of a training plan for the next few weeks in the lead up to the GH. Am also going to try my hardest to lose a few kgs before then too. I look like such a lard arse lately. It's all this time off I've been having ;) I know I keep saying I'm going to lose weight, but I figure, it's better to keep on trying and fail sometimes, than not to try at all!

Spaces are where I've not decided on what to do as yet (am still tweaking this plan!) Really, I would like to do a long run every weekend, but it's just a case of fitting them in. I'm going to start running laps of mount cootha I think...


Week 1

Sun 30 July REST
Mon 31 July Yoga
Tues 1 Aug Speedwork
Wed 2 Aug PT + Run Inn 15km
Thurs 3 Aug gym
Fri 4 Aug gym
Sat 5 Aug Yoga + BRB 30km (inc. two laps of mount cootha?)

Week 2

Sun 6 Aug B2B 12km
Mon 7 Aug Yoga
Tues 8 Aug Speedwork
Weds 9 Aug Run Inn 15km
Thurs 10 Aug gym
Fri 11 Aug gym
Sat 12 Aug Yoga (+ poss long run w S)

Week 3

Sun 13 Aug BRRC 16k (or long run w S)
Mon 14 Aug Yoga
Tues 15 Aug Speedwork
Weds 16 Aug PT + Run Inn 15km
Thurs 17 Aug gym
Fri 18 Aug
Sat 19 Aug

Week 4

Sun 20 Aug Noosa 21.1km
Mon 21 Aug Yoga
Tues 22 Aug Speedwork
Weds 23 Aug PT + Run Inn 15km
Thurs 24 Aug gym
Fri 25 Aug
Sat 26 Aug Lamington Classic 1 22.5km

Week 5

Sun 27 Aug Lamington Classic 2 22.5km
Mon 28 Aug Yoga
Tues 29 Aug Speedwork (TAPER)
Weds 30 Aug Run Inn 15km
Thurs 31 Aug (TAPER)
Fri 1 Sept (TAPER)
Sat 2 Sept Yoga

Sun 3 Sept 50km GH!

Glasshouse 24km + six hour at GC?

*claps hands* ladies and gentleman, girls and boys - the running mojo has landed on planet Hannah once more, hurrah! I was starting to fear it wasn't ever coming back!

Woke up at 5am, pulled on my clothes in the dark and hopped in the car. Stopped at my local servo to get some petrol. Every time I do a long run, I seem to end up stopping at my local servo for one thing or another, and the guy in the shop thinks he's gotten to know me. He always asks me where I'm off to at that hour in the morning even though I tell him every time I go in there I'm going running. Then, he tries to get me to do a multi-buy of whatever it is I'm buying, usually water. Yes, it may technically be better value to buy three massive bottles - but I just want the one small one, thankyou.

You would think, after six months of early morning visits, he'd cotton onto the fact that I just want the small one sooner or later, wouldn't you? I'm developing a nasty case of water rage *L* soon I may even resort to taking it out of the tap ;)

Anyway, slight detour there. Where was I? Oh Yes.

Drove up the coast (and think I got done by a speed camera on brekkie creek road, even though my speedo said I wasn't speeding, bugger it). Arrived with plenty of time and hopped out to get my number. Before long, people started rocking up and there was quite a CR convention.

Davo and Vegie Girl arrived to do the 8km but somehow I (according to them ;) managed to twist their arms into doing the 24km with me. My cold was a bit better and hasn't gone to my chest like the last one, so I felt okay to run even though I knew it would be slow. I felt a bit uncomfortable and realised in my early morning stupor, I had put my tights on back to front. Oops.

We chatted our way through the run, walking up the nasty bits. There was a fair amount of mud, but nothing too bad. We bumped into Lady Jove somewhere along the way and ended up running as a group. The scenery was just unreal - it's so beautiful and green up there - the mountains are just stunning.

The time seemed to fly by so fast, before I knew it we were back at the start and finishing the run. 3:13 or so, so a nice long run over a short distance :) Thanks Davo and Vegie for running with me!

Am contemplating doing the six hour track run at the Gold Coast, depending on how things pan out. Apparently, it means I have to join AURA. *LOL* But you know what they say, in for a penny, in for a pound. Are any of you guys going? Six hours is the shortest event.

EDIT: Stop the press! No GC 6 hour for me - have just seen how much it costs to enter! Shall have to do my own long run instead... oh well!

Public Health Hazard. For a Change.

Well, I'm sure you'll all be delighted to know that I am sick... again! *L* I really don't know what's going on with me this winter - normally, I'm healthy as an ox. So far I'm stuck with just an excrutiatingly sore throat and extreme fatigue. My mother had the same thing and now has mild pneumonia (!) but I'm hoping that the fact that I'm healthy and don't smoke like a chimney will prevent it from progressing any further.
I'm eating enough vit C to sink a ship so fingers crossed!

I went to track on the tuesday. Good session, good to break a sweat at last. Feeling like a tub of lard from the time off. It's definitely getting warmer because the mossies are already out in force biting me on the arse. I had skins on, but still I walked around scratching my behind like a bogan. Good job it was dark!

Went for a little run wednesday morning as this was then the bug I've got had started to kick in. Did 5km reasonably quickly for me - my old run took a bit less time, so that was quite nice. Came back in with the hot and cold flushes and gradually felt worse from there.

Consequently, today has consisted of nothing other than a ton of soothers and some croaky swear words, inbetween having to speak for an hour last night at a public forum and then teach for six hours straight today. Blargh. LOL.

Still feeling a bit 'out of the running loop' from all of this. I feel a bit off kilter :( once I get my wednesday night runs back on track, all will probably fall into place. I entered the Bridge to Brisbane today and sent my GH entry off the other day too (decided on the short course this time round, the long one in september)

Slightly more motivated

I've been getting much needed pokes and prods from people to update my blog (waves at tracey and sam!) and to get back out there and get back on the horse, so to speak, so here I am!

My week off has been pretty good - scares me that it's so easy to lose the will to exercise - Though I do feel absolutely disgusting without it. Instead, I concentrated on getting more sleep and relaxing...

I went and had a float tank session - best $25 I've spent in ages - sooo relaxing and definitely something I'd recommend for de-stressing. Apparently, they get quite a lot of athlete types using it.

Also had a massage (soooo NOT relaxing!) I really should've done it regularly during the build up to the GCM, but my finances protested. I think it was the most physically painful massage I've ever had. My hamstrings and calves were particularly bad. *wails* she chased knots from my shoulders down to my hips on both sides. Blah!

Contemplated running saturday (running buddies) and today (the Jetty to Jetty was on) but decided to enjoy the rest of my week off. Mustering my enthusiasm (I know it's here somewhere!) the next week is looking like this:

M - easy run a.m - yoga p.m
T - PT a.m - Speedwork p.m
W - medium run - a.m
T - yoga p.m
F - run in the a.m - body balance p.m
S - Glasshouse 24km
S - BRRC 10km

What I really need to do is sit down and write out a program on how to get myself ready for the GH 50km in September....

Enforced Holiday for a Week

I think I'm discovering what is known as post-marathon blues. Although, it's not really because I don't want to run, just that when I do, I can't get out of first gear and I feel like crap.

Work at the moment is really stressful. The downside of doing three jobs simultaneously is that each workplace only think about what you deliver in terms of their needs - (which is fair enough because that's what I'm there for) but it makes meeting simultaneous deadlines more than a bit challenging. It usually means burning the candle at both ends for prolonged periods of time and it's just not healthy.

For quite a while now I've been realising that I am neither superwoman nor immortal and have slowly making my way to having just *one* full time job like a normal person. I'm starting to get there, but days like today just make me wish for it to happen just a little sooner. The stress is insane and has to stop!

Anyway. Enough of a work related whinge. Save to say, It probably goes a long way to explaining why I am still so dead tired and generally feeling not good. I actually feel like I'm falling apart slightly physically, which is weird. Nothing hurts exactly, but my left hammy is twinging still and I've booked a massage to try and fix it. I just know I'm still not 100% and it's three weeks since the bloody M! grr!

I went to PT this morning, and struggled again. So much so that Tony made me take another week off running. I'm allowed to do Yoga but that's it until next tuesday. I'm hoping it's going to be a case of taking the time off and then coming back heaps stronger.

Ho Hum.

D2W Relay 74km - First Female Team!

I've been fairly slack this week. Mostly because I'm still struggling to recover. Entirely my own fault, I know. Hopefully things will improve this week and next.

Thanks to my trainer, who had the bright idea to shift my PT session to a tuesday morning, track on tuesday night was really, really hard. He absolutely thrashed me into the ground and consequently, trying to run that night was like trying to wade through mud.

Anyway.

Because I felt sooo tired and because I have also been working 14 hour days the last week or so, I didn't go running on the wednesday night. Infact, I really did nothing until today, when I somehow got roped into taking part in the Dayboro to Woodford Relay.

D2W is a really small race through very hilly land ajoining (and at some points crossing into) the Glasshouse trail run terrain. Teams of seven compete with members doing two legs each during the day. I did a 6km leg and a 3km leg. Sounds like nothing really, after 42.2, doesn't it?

Schultzy coordinated the teams and alotted the legs and he knew I wasn't up to much, so I got the easier legs. My first leg (the 6km) was the first to start. It was graded as easy and "mostly flat". Let me just say, it was FAR from mostly flat! As the day wore on, we all started to realise the difficulty ratings of all the runs were more on the (how shall we say?) optimistic side of accurate!

We started in Dayboro, outside the school. I found myself sorrounded by uber quick whippets and started freaking out wondering what I'd let myself in for. The pressure was increased by the fact that the next leg required a restart and they couldn't go until I go there! The weather was shocking - it was freezing, rainy and grey and the wind started picking up.

Sure enough, when we set off they went 0-60 in about 6 seconds. I knew within the first 100m that I was going to spend both runs struggling. I feel like I'm stuck in first gear at the moment - I'm fine on the flat at a plod, but the minute you throw decent hills into the mix, it's a major struggle. (patience, grasshopper, I know)

Anyway, I plodded along, wishing I'd taken my ipod with me, but trying to enjoy the views. It's such a beautiful area. I distracted myself with promises that when I feel better, I'll go back to train on the hills for the GH 50km. Next year (or the year after at this rate) it'll be great for 6ft, too.

I don't think I've ever run such a lonnngggggg 6km before. It was technically supposed to be 5km I think, but felt like 10km and there were loads of hills. I had really bad period pain the whole way which didn't help either. Not to mention, the pace car was about two inches from my behind the whole way and I felt fairly pressured by the noise of the engine just behind me (another reason for ipods!)

Eventually, I came around the last corner and everyone was there cheering me in. I know someone has to be last and normally I wouldn't care, but there was just such a big gap in the level of ability between me and the other runners that I felt weird having them all *see* me finish. I think it's the first time I've felt genuinely embarrassed at finishing a run. Blah!

Hot cup of amazing *proper* coffee from my teammate Suzannah (my GH50 collaborating running buddy! *waves*) and a slice of toast had me getting over my self and we headed off for the next leg. Some of the runners in our team did bloody amazing runs. Tania in particular blitzed the hardest leg, Karen did a sterling job on hers too. Suzannah did sub 25 on a hilly 5km and then a great longer 8km. While she was running, I got to drive her 4WD which was a first for me and loads of fun!

My second leg was a 3km on part of the Mount Mee Classic course that Phil organises. There was one other all-female team from the Caboolture Road Runners and their runner whipped my butt in the first 6km leg. We ended up running in the 3km together too.

As per normal, everyone took off like they were on fire for the 3km and I tootled along behind. Went out at a somewhat faster pace than previously though. The other lady got the hop on me at the start, but slowed a little after about 800m. She was about 50m ahead of me.

We crossed off into a bush trail (lots of mud, broken rocks and hills) and I started to catch her. We crossed through a freezing creek (wet socks and shoes, lovely) and I started gaining fast. It was my favourite bit of both runs - I think because I realised that while I couldn't keep up on the bitumen, if you put me on trails, it's a different story. Love that sensation of flying along and calculating where to put your feet. Sort of like your body floating while your legs are going like the clappers beneath you.

Unfortunately, we crossed out of the bush side by side and the other runner took off again. No chance to keep up. More and more hills and again, the LONGEST three kms I have ever run. Even walked up a particularly steep bit. In a 3km race! Couldn't help but laugh at myself ;) If we'd stayed on the trails I'd have had her, but C'est la Vie!

The rest of the legs flew by and we finished up being the first all-female team. We even got a HUGE bit of trophy-bling and is going on the wall at the Run Inn. Felt quite relieved that me being terminally slow didn't hold the others back. They said they didn't care, but it's still nice not to have been an entirely dead weight! We then got back to the Showgrounds and had a barbeque which was yummy, before heading back to Brisbane.

It was an interesting experience really. I'm not entirely sure I like relays now. Bit too much pressure. The weather was shocking but I imagine on a nice day, it would be an amazingly scenic run (wasn't bad as it was, but blue sky is always good!) The Caboolture Runners seem like a nice bunch and I learnt some new training spots for running which was good. Got to gossip and catch up with lots of people and we got bling, so can't complain at all :)

BRRC 14km 1:22

Went to the West End this morning to do the 14km. Ate a load of carbs yesterday (was my 'cheat' day!) and consequently felt a zillion times better when I woke up this morning. Felt like I actually had a little bit of energy back. Not much, but I wasn't dead on waking like the last week! Going back to yoga seems to agree with me too.

Arrived at the West End and saw the lovely Shane, Cass and Sam. Sam is getting so big. I'm so clucky it's terrible! Angie arrived and I discovered that she's not run this week at all and Phil told her not to run longer than 30 minutes as part of marathon recovery so she was doing the 7km.

*looks around sheepishly after having run 35kms this week*

Oops. Oh well. I've been listening to my body and not pushing it at all so I'm hoping that's okay. I did have a few twinges on the run today, although they settled. Oh, and a rather unpleasant bout of palpitations when I did try to speed up. Again, settled when I slowed down so I think it's just my body telling me not to get my heart rate up too soon.

Todays run was definitely better than yesterday - and in the last couple of kms I was able to up the pace a bit to overtake the girl in front. All up, I'm very happy with my 1:22 - that's under six minute pace and I was comfy the whole way. It may even be a PB for the distance :)

recovery

It's been a pretty easy week this week. Looked like this:

Monday: Rest, glorious rest
Tuesday: 15 minute slllooowww walk at gym + stretching
Wednesday: Gentle group run - 7km easy?
Thursday: Personal Training
Friday: Gym
Saturday: 13km easy
Sunday: 14km easy

km total: 34km

Tomorrow I'm planning on doing a very easy 14km at the West End. Today's 13km easy was a very slow plod from New Farm to Bretts Wharf and back.

It's good to be able to run again, although I've got absolutely no juice in the tank! Bit of a weird feeling really. Can't wait for it to go, but then, I am terribly impatient. How long does it take most people to recover from a marathon, anyway?

I've tentatively pencilled down next saturday as a long run (2 hours?) though I'm not aiming to start pushing hard any time too soon - I'll only make things worse! *grins*
The main thing is that today's run felt better than wednedays and hopefully tomorrow will feel better than today and so on.

Which brings me to try and formulate a cunning plan for the next couple of months. I would like to do these races:

J2J 10km - 23rd July
???GH 50km end july???
B2B 12k - 6 August
BRRC 16k - 13 Aug
Noosa Half - 20 Aug
BRRC 14k - 27 Aug
???GH 50km - 3 Sept???

I am a race slut. Love them. I've probably missed a few too!

There is also another Glasshouse event at the end of July. If I'm recovered fully (which I bloody hell hope I am by then!) I may have a crack at it then. Make hay while the sun shines and all that. I can't decide whether to do it then or in September though. Suzannah from the run inn said she'd do the september one with me, but she's a lot quicker than me, so I'm worried I'd hold her up. Then again, I'm just as worried I'll get lost on my own! Shall have to chat with her about it all.

How much do we all love this time of year? All these races to be run, great weather for it.... life is good!

happy hannah

The lovely Tracey emailed me this pic today... I think my grin says it all ;)

I'm still floating around from the weekend and generally bouncing off the ceiling. I'm sort of switching between feeling intensely relieved that I did it and incredibly zen-like and peaceful. Gotta love those endorphins, huh?

Honestly though, I haven't felt as mentally clear about everything as I do right now. Talk about unexpected benefit!

Went to the gym this morning for a very gentle 15 minute stroll on the tready. Tomorrow night I'm going back to run club for a very gentle jog. I'm still sore as all hell and tired, but am dying to hear everyone's race tales so I'll see how I go.

Thankyou all so much for all the comments - it means so much to me! Cass - you know, running is always a good idea ;) I hear there's a mothers beginner running group at Intraining on a wednesday morning... you could run with Sam in the stroller! *wicked grins* Yes, Shane - I'm attempting to corrupt your wife! *grins*

Now to plot out what my next race will be muahahahaha! Looking forward to Noosa half actually. Thinking along the lines of 1:55?

Gold Coast Marathon: 4:42:50

Phew! What a huge weekend. Where to start?

Saturday

Headed over to Sam's house, where Rell and Tracey were meeting us. Couldn't believe how much stuff I brought, just for a weekend! It seems I've lost all ability to pack lightly these days! We picked up Jill en route and headed down to the Gold Coast together.

We booked a unit in Surfers which was lovely. Even better was the fact it had a Spa! Wasted no time in making use of that! CR Vegegirl (Lisa) was also sharing with us and came down later. We had lunch and then visited the expo and caught up with heaps of friendly faces.

My nerves weren't too bad although I had my moments of hyperventilating and squealing like a girl at marathon related things - the road I was going to run down, the km markers.... as you can imagine, I did quite a reasonable guinea pig impression at points during the expo! The girls did a great job of putting up with me!

On saturday night we had dinner with the CR gang at the SLSC and got to meet a few new faces, Lostboy and Mrs Lostboy among them. Also saw Phil K from our running club and Tanky with her boy. Lovely to see Jen and Davo again of course and Cirque who was in fine form for cheering the next day.

Headed off reasonably early and ended up hitting the hay at about 10pm.

Sunday: The Big Day!

Got up at 4am. Surprisingly, none of my usual late-for-race dreams during the night. Ate a tin of creamed rice for breakfast (thanks Sam!) and hopped on the bus, which stopped just around the corner from our hotel. The other girls were all running the half, which started earlier than the full and it seemed like two seconds before they were heading off. The atmosphere was starting to build and people were all starting to jump out of their skins in anticipation.

Watching the half marathoners take off was incredible - last year I was in the middle of it so I've never seen it from that perspective before... thousands of people all surging forwards, loud music pumping, people cheering - talk about explosive!

Bumped into Suzannah (also coached by Phil for her first big M) and confessed how terrified we were to each other, then headed to the start line. Managed to bump into Mr and Mrs Lostboy who were running around the same pace as me, as well as a couple of new CR faces, then off we went!

The Race

I had decided to run very conservatively during the first half, remembering Caboolture and how I felt there at 3:30. I think I was a bit scared of hitting the wall again, so I plodded along with my ipod going full blast... started with Like a Prayer by Madonna, then by the time I got to Surfers, I was onto one of my all time favourite songs for running Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf. Perfect for cruisy running!

Hit the first turn around (13km) with Lenny (Are you gonna go my way?) and started to see familiar faces on the approach. Suzannah breezed by, as Did Schultzy, Angie and Kate and a whole myriad of others. I realised then that there was no way I was going to catch Angie. Secret training I reckon! Half wondered if I might get catch up a bit later on, but tried just to enjoy the music and the atmosphere.

Ate my first gel (have since decided that enervit products are really disgusting and I'm never using them again!) and looked around me at the people cheering and the other runners. I saw blind runners, amputee runners and transplant patients all crusing along and thought about how bloody lucky we all are to be able to run at all. There was a guy running in his marshall arts whites, complete with black belt. He was starting to look HOT - the temperature was rising by then.

In the air tonight by Phil Collins came on and then a couple of irish folk songs. Ran past our hotel and then headed back up towards the start. I got to about 16km without even feeling it. I knew I was well ahead of the 4:30 pacer but didn't dare look behind to see where they were. First half done in 2:09:39.

By the time I got back to the startline and passed the CR cheersquad yelling their lungs out (you fabulous, fabulous people!) I was starting to feel really tired. That was at about 27km I think. The cheering helped enormously, but it was then that I became intimately reacquainted with "The Wall" (enter shock horror music!)

I told myself there would be no walking until 30km and there wasn't but it was a fight. I had been drinking my water bottles of endura the whole way to there, to avoid walking through the drink stations. Perhaps that was a mistake, since in training, I stopped once every 10-20km for water and stretched. It works for me in the half because I don't have to stop at all, but it's twice the distance (d'oh!) and a very different beast, as I am learning.

My wall lasted until about 32km, where the 4:30 pace ground blitzed past me like they were on roller skates. The pacer asked me if I was okay, I grunted yes and off they went. I swear they were doing faster splits. Bugger it! LOL! I watched my 4:30 debut skate off into the distance and decided that I should drink more water. So every drink stop thereafter, I downed two cups of water and strode out. It did teach me the squash the paper cup trick though - so you learn something every day!

My legs and feet were starting to kill me by this point - the continual flat surface made the backs of my knees ache like hell. I actually found myself wishing for hills to try and alter my stride and move my body weight onto different muscles. It is the strangest sensation to want to kick your legs up really high but have nooo energy to do so. Reminded me of weights sessions a bit. I walked and ran a little bit.

At about 33km I started to feel better and resumed my shuffle. Felt slightly heartened to be with so many other people equally as buggered and shuffley. Saw Angie coming down the other side of turn looking good and Suzannah beating Schultzy! Go, girlfriend! Passed Mr and Mrs Lostboy along the way and walked through another drink stop. The kms seemed to be getting longer and looooonnngggeeerrr from there on out and I found myself wondering how one km could possibly be that far.

Giggled to myself as Macey Gray told me I try to say goodbye and I choke, try to walk away and I stumble... even though, on rereading it, it's not as funny as it seemed at the time! Blame dehydration ;) My emotions were all over the place and I found myself on the verge of tears on and off for the rest of the race. It took me by surprise actually - just how much this race cleans out your insides. It's a great big chunk of thinking time, that's for sure and I found myself facing some of the problems in my life and realising that if I could finish this race, I could do anything. More on those resolutions later!

At 39km, as I was starting to flag again, my mother and aunt scared the crap out of me by jumping out of the bushes with a camera! They started cheering and taking photographs of me... My mother has never really understood why I started running or why I love it so much. When I said I was training for the GCM I think she was more concerned I was going to hurt myself in the process than anything else. So, to see her there, jumping up and down and cheering for me and looking so proud of me just meant so much. I started crying again and the realisation dawned that the end was in sight!

The last three kms were definitely the longest as I shuffled my way towards the distant shape of the race precinct on the horizon. As I approached the home strait people started cheering for me left, right and centre. Phil K (uber fast triathlete and runner) from our running club was there yelling for me which was so lovely of him , then I saw the river city runners with Run67, Karisma, Tanky and others - then the sound of hooters and clappers and mayhem approached and I saw the giant CR cheersquad all bouncing around for me.... by this point, I'd passed the tearful stage and just couldn't stop grinning. Jen_Runs jumped onto the road and ran me in towards the finishing chute and everyone started chanting my name!!! Everyone else around started looking at all the noise and probably wondered what on earth was going on! By that point, I was incapable of coherent speech (sorry Jen!) and just grinned and laughed and rode the high.

I ran down the finishing chute which seemed to be a mile long in its own right and Phil (coach) who was commentating, saw me coming and announced me to the crowd with a big round of applause and more cheering. It was like every single emotion it's possible to have, all at once.

Crossed the line and almost fell over when I stopped moving - big case of jelly legs! After a brief sit down and lots of water, I was fine. Wandered out of the enclosure to find the girls all cheering and happy for me. All of them did great times in the half and we compared finishing tshirts and gossiped. It was all I could do to find a patch of grass and fall in a heap. After a while, found I could eat, so had a ham and salad wrap and watched people I knew pass by for gossip. I was really hoping the cheersquad crew would wander by, but I just didn't have the energy to go and find them! Dammit!

Eventually, we decided to head off for a shower, since we all felt disgusting. Me particularly! Tracey was staying another night so we went to her hotel (Gold coast international!) and used their spa and showers. Naughty us! I know you shouldn't get into hot water straight after a race but it felt soooo good I couldn't help it. I felt tons better afterwards anyway.

I was going to come to the after race drinks but I didn't know I was going to feel quite so absolutely buggered... so instead I sent a round of text messages, spoke to the lovely Tess who rang up to see how I was going and then headed home. Crawled into bed for a few hours, got up to eat and take painkillers and then went back. I couldn't believe how much my body hurt - I'm used to post-race pain on moving, but hurting while staying absolutely still was a new one to me!

Thankfully I feel heaps better today and am going to the gym for a gentle stretch and possibly a steam. Am still drinking tons of water, too.

Congratulations to everyone who ran this weekend... was so much fun! Can't wait for next year! Hmmm, next year... 4:15? *L*

Distracting self from freaking out...

Tagged - thanks, Owen! (owwweeeeeennnn!!!! *tesso voice*)

4 jobs I have had: Call centre operator, waitress, nude centrefold (yes, really! in an ironic, political-statement sort of way) debt collector.

4 movies I could watch over and over Mists of Avalon, Monsters Inc, Sixth Sense, Rocky Horror.

4 places I have livedMacclesfield (north UK) Farnham (south UK) Toowong (brisbane) Tarragindi (brisbane)

4 TV shows I love to watch - Big Brother, House, All Saints, Supernatural

4 places I have been on vacation India, Peru, Ecuador, Minorca

4 websites I visit each day coolrunning, livejournal, bloglines, blogspot

4 favorite foods Smoked salmon, mangoes, cashews, chocolate.

4 places I would rather be right now hammock on a tropical beach, asleep, camping in the bush, mt everest base camp trek.... anywhere on holiday basically!

4 favorite bands Currently... Ben Harper, Martha Wainright, Eskimo Jo and that incredibly annoying song by the aussie idol girls. Stuck in my brain!

4 Bloggers I am tagging - Cirque, Aki, Jen, Owl

FREAK OUT!

Last night I had dinner with my mother, who is a nurse. Everyone she works with at the moment has been catching a really highly contagious stomach bug. Tonight she had it in full force, poor thing. She felt awful about catching it and being around me so close to the marathon and everything, even though no one can help these things. I felt awful for telling her so then walking out and freaking out over it!

Of course, I'm absolutely paranoid I'm going to catch it before sunday. I have been disinfecting everything she's come into contact with and washing my hands frequently and all I can do is cross my fingers and think good thoughts.

I absolutely, steadfastly REFUSE to get sick. Again. After sunday, I don't care if I catch bubonic bloody plague. It didn't really strike me until this happened, just how devastated I would be if I couldnt run on the weekend. I almost cried just thinking about it, sook that I am!

Anyway, all of this is entirely irrelevant because as I said, I REFUSE to get sick. Dammit!

easy track, easy run... here I come!

Track last night was a very easy session ;) Enjoyed it ;)

Tonight we had the 'cooks tour' (aka an easy run where everyone runs together) which was heaps of fun - about 25 of us, all sorts of abilities, all running (read, gossiping and running) for a very gentle 50 minutes. Lovely. Feeling better and better, healthier and healthier.

I have realised that as I am wearing my run inn orange, I'm going to have absolutely no coolrunning colours on me! woe! I really should've bought a hat but didn't get round to it in time. Oops! Oh well, no doubt I'll still be able to wave at coolrunners en route!

As tesso suggested, I shall publish my playlist before the weekend... once I decide what to put on it, that is! I'm feeling the urge to raid the iTunes store!

Tomorrow morning, I've got an easy stretch, et voila! Nothing til sunday wooohoooo!

almost there!

I couldn't believe it but I pulled up slightly sore from the 5km on sunday! It's amazing how totally paranoid I've become about every single tiny twinge, ache, pain or sniffle in the last three weeks *L*

Last night I went to the social run out at Sandgate which was nice. The run felt slightly easier - according to Angie's Garmin we did 7.5kms at 6:30 pace, but I'm still having to work harder than normal for it. It seems weird that I ran the entire queensland half a few weeks back at 5:30 pace and it felt sustainable! Meh!

Tonight is an easy track session, wednesday is an easy run, thursday is a stretch session with Tony - et voila, I'm there. I had a brief panic yesterday when I couldn't find my iPod - it's so small it's quite easy to misplace...but all is now well.

Five sleeps to go...

Another sucky 5km

Went to the West End this morning and ran the 5km in 27:03. Really wanted to do the 10km because it was the champs, but was good, took Phil's advice and did the 5km instead. Blaaaahhhhh... was working reaaaaaally hard to do that time, too.

Little voices in the back of my head have started playing mind games with me. Knowing how neurotic I can be, I think it's fair for us to say I'd have those anyway (bug or no bug) but I think I shall just have to do my best not to irritate the shit out of everyone before the weekend.

*positivethoughtspositivethoughtspositivethoughts*

It's all going to be fine. Yes it is. *nods to self*

I'm just impatient to feel full of juice again. It could be worse. At least I can run on the weekend, slow or no.

On the positive side of things, I do believe a certain blogger by the name of Clairie may have won the 10km this morning! Go, Clairie! Wooooooo! I did come third in the 5km, too (no bling though. Woe!)

and another positive - the race pack for the full at the coast is fab. It's a backpack not another drawstring affair. The half has a shopping bag thing!

5km TT 26:53

Did the 5km TT this morning at Shorncliffe. Everyone took off like steam trains and I shuffled along behind. I wasn't last however - it always amazes me when there are amazingly skinny athletic people slower than me. But then, maybe they were injured. Or, maybe they'd been sick too! Who knows! Anyway, just goes to show once more that you can't judge a book by it's cover.

Felt pretty crap during the time trial. I miss my cruisy 30something km lollops. It's surprised me actually. I thought I'd be dying for a good taper (as opposed to dying during it LOL!) but I really started to get into the long, long runs. Which is good really, since if I plan to do the 50km in September, I shall no doubt be continuing with them (post GC recovery of course!)

Mostly today I just felt verrrrrrry tired. My breathing was okay, though still have gunk in my chest. Afterwards I felt like throwing up. Never a good thing but I suspect it's from doing not much for a while. Crossed the line in 26:53 which is not as bad as I was expecting, to be honest. I thought I'd be a few minutes slower than that. I'm looking forward to the next few months of getting into good shape and attacking all my times at the various races around the place. So even if the GC goes badly, it's not the be all and end all (says H, convincing herself)

Phil tells me I have to drink two cups of endura every day til next weekend and tomorrow at the West End, I've been told to run the 5km slowly. Waaa. Monday I can do the social run as well.

Was good to catch up with everyone this morning - and even bumped into the lovely fellow CR blogger Chelle, who was out on a run and stopped to chat. I hope the weather is the same for next weekend. Slightly cold and overcast suits me perfectly!

Feeling better! yay!

HURRAH!

I finally feel better! Antibiotics rock and aside from being uber tired from coughing all night still, I feel so much more human. As someone who rarely, rarely gets ill, I can't believe I've been sick for almost three weeks all up.

But anyway. There is now a light at the end of the tunnel and without wishing to tempt fate, I'm starting to think I shall be fine come next weekend!

On wednesday I went to the Run Inn thinking I might run, but by the time I got there, I felt awful still. Phil took one look at me, told me not to be stupid then gave me a much needed lecture on how he's flogged my butt over the last six months, all the hard work is done and how I'll be fine ;) Definitely needed to hear it!

Instead of running, I stayed around and chatted with everyone before they ran. Got to love the atmosphere close to big events... everyone is so pumped! I'll probably (gingerly) run the 5km time trial tomorrow and see how I go. No big efforts, but just enough to see if I can move more than ten feet at speed without coughing my lungs up.

On thursday, I ventured to Personal Training for a repeat lecture from Tony. I really think Phil and Tony should meet one day - they'd get on famously ;) *grins* Again, the lecture helped reinforce in me that I haven't wrecked six months of hard work and it will be okay. Did a reasonable weights session, although felt really tired and very nauseous afterwards. Hopefully that's a thing of the past from now on!

I have been reading running magazines today and making a conscious attempt at getting myself all enthusiastic and in a positive frame of mind. Thus far it's working!

Thankyou all for your lovely comments... they mean so much to me :) I finish my antibiotics tomorrow - cross your fingers for me!

still sick... (broken record, aren't I?)

Well, the good news is that I don't have bronchitis... yesterday I felt so awful that I caved in and went back to the doctor. What I do have is either a nasty throat infection or a particularly nasty virus. Personally, I think it's the former since I have the most bizarre constant feeling of someone squeezing my throat (pressure? swelling?) and am coughing up nasty, nasty never-before-seen stuff. My voice is still mostly MIA, too.

But enough about that, TMI, I know!

Either way, I'm on another course of antibiotics which (thanks to a double dose - shh!) seem to be starting to have an affect. I almost contemplated dragging my butt to track tonight, but have decided not to tempt fate any more than I already have. Instead, I'm going to try and do ALL of my marking at work so I can stop stressing about it. If I feel better tomorrow, I may run, but not holding out much hope. What I'd really like is three days off work completely in which to sleep hugely, but alas, that isn't going to happen any time soon. Having three different jobs, two of which are casual, negates the desire for unpaid sick leave. *sighs*

Not much I can do but wait this out I guess.... at least it happened this week, not next week... though it's all rather too close for my liking. Am being philosophical currently :)

Fingers crossed

GGGGRRRR!

I'm going back to the doctors tomorrow if I'm not better....
I think I might have mild bronchitis :(

Pass me the antibiotics....

2:00 hours - Easy (?!?!)

Grrr Arrrgghh! I can't believe it! I'm sick AGAIN! The only good thing being that it's not quite as bad as before - this time I can at least do stuff... I'm just incredibly snotty, tired, irritable (whodathunkit?) and best of all (!) have lost my voice. I can grate out an attractive two-octaves-high-than-normal squeak, but that's about it. My students are going to have fun with me tomorrow!

I did my best to ignore the crappiness yesterday when I went out to run two hours easy. There was I thinking, ha! I only have to run 2 hours! and that it would be cruisy, but nope, it was hard. Very bloody hard actually. Sam started off with me but I sent her off ahead after the first 5kms because I knew I had to slow down or I wouldn't make it. Had a couple of stops and stretches, but ran somewhere near to 20kms (to the bowls club by new farm park and back)

7km track + 16km hills + PT = tired!

Hmmmnnn..

I was sooo unbelievably sore on monday from the 32km of killer hills that I almost couldn’t walk! For those of you who are curious to know where we went, I’m going to try and get a copy of the route from Angie, who was wearing a NavMan Garminesque thingo and shall post it here. I went to the gym and tried to do my 5km slow recovery run and after about 30 seconds on the treadmill decided it was a bad idea. Instead I stretched and came home. I’m a little bit paranoid about breaking myself before the big one! LOL!

Track session on tuesday. Less sore, but still hurting. One of the gals was wearing a garmin and interestingly, it showed that we run a lot further at track than I thought – I thought we were doing possibly 4 or 5km but tonight we did almost 7km and that was an easy session. The session I missed last week was closer to 10km.

The interest in blogging continues to mount at the Run Inn and I am compiling a bit of a list of blogs to put in the newsletter – so you might all be getting emails from me asking if you mind! I have also finally managed to start using bloglines properly (had to chance browsers to get it working) and am loving it! Saves so much time seeing who has updated!

Wednesday (last night) was medium long run. 16km hills, hard!!! Still feeling the effects of sunday I think. Came home strong though, running with the lovely Sam. I think she wss doing it easy, but it was funky to be able to keep up with her for once!

This morning I did PT ...

Meh. Onwards and upwards! Back to your regular viewing!

32km Samford Loop -hills, hills and more hills!

Hurrah - I can run again!

I must admit, I did briefly question my sanity this morning as I crawled out of bed at 4am to go and do the 32km Samford loop with Phil and co. Woke up feeling nauseous and tired – the antibiotics and new inhaler seem to be working but I spent most of last night coughing my lungs up. Blah! I just kept telling myself that it was my last loonnggg run before the big one, so I didn’t really want to miss it!

There were two groups running, the slow and steadies (us) and the whippets fast people. Ended up with me, Angie, Suzannah, Phil, Sue and a new guy in our group, although Sue, Suzannah and the new bloke soon pulled ahead. The run started out being a bit deceptive – lots of nice gentle rolling hills which were quite fun. I was a bit worried how I would go with the asthma, but took my Ventolin as well as the preventative puffer and it seemed to stop it being a problem.

After a while, the hills started getting bigger and longer, and bigger and longer still. I felt like I was doing one huge Mount Cootha summit run (I can’t wait until after the GCM to have a go at that again actually – dying to see if I can run the whole thing yet) Everyone said I was very quiet during the run (except to whinge occasionally or swear profusely at the next upcoming mammoth hill) but mostly I was stuck in ‘survival mode’ as Angie calls it – chugging along trying to breathe.

By the time we hit 3 hours, I was starting to h-u-r-t quite a lot – my knees and calves were seriously aching and really fatigued. I think that sort of running is probably good for me – to teach myself to feel that and know I can keep going anyway.

Looking at the positives, even though I’m still fighting the tail end of the flu and felt tired, I ran the vast majority of the hills. I know that not so long ago, I would’ve been walking a lot more of them than I did today. All up we did about 32km in Phil’s 3:30 (which in real time took us about 3:50, including drink stops)

I can’t believe that I’m now on the tail end of the marathon training! So exciting!

Doomben piccies

Mid race ;)



Suzannah (who ran the GH with me) Me and Rell
Me and Sam

I caved in today and went to the doctors to get some antibiotics. I'm still sick and it's now settled right into my chest, making my asthma heaps worse. I tried to do Personal Training yesterday and came over all dizzy when doing step ups!

Phil told me no running until sunday and only then if I'm better. I've also got a new inhaler, which should hopefully sort me out. I have to admit I feel like absolute crap though! Trying not to stress out over it - there's nothing I can do about it but try and get better - but am wondering if taking an entire week and a bit off training is going to have an effect on the GC...

Sick :(

I seem to have caught a really nasty flu bug and consequently, spent most of yesterday flat on my back in bed. I'm upright again today, but only just. No running for me last night and none tonight either as a result :(

I hate being sick, I really do!

On a positive note, this weekend Phil tells me I am doing the (infamous) Samford loop which is apparently comprised of 35km of hills... by then I shall hopefully be back on track and feeling 100% again!

Queensland Half :) SUB 2!!!

Soooooo *grins*

1:56!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is officially a NINE minute PB ;)

*insert obligatory screaming, shouting, jumping up and down and jerry springer dances here* I'm still practically doing cartwheels as you can probably tell... I don't think it has quite sunk in yet that I FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY managed to do it - I finally managed to break 2 hours for the half and a little more besides!

Okay (getting self together) Bit of a race report:

Woke up feeling quite average but okay, got dressed, ate some porridge and headed out of the door. By the time I arrived, I was starting to feel nervous as all hell and consequently was jumpy as anything! Saw Phil who told me to go out steady and work my way forwards from there.

Wasn't sure how I was going to go at all - physically felt good from three days of no running but then I felt good before the Brisbane half, so I didn't want to take that as an indication.

Said hello to everyone and by the time I'd been to the loo twice (nerves!) we were on the start line. A very quick warm up and then we were off. I positioned myself next to the 2 hour pace group thinking I would heed Phil's advice, go slow to begin with then try and pull ahead. The 2 hour group were doing bang on my splits for the first couple of kms anyway!

After a while, I decided to try running infront of them and see if I could just maintain that position. Poor old Rell was running with me for a while but I was so focussed on the race I was incredibly antisocial! I stuck my music on, said nothing, hopped into the zone and just went for it. I managed to say hi to a few people along the way but a lot of people cheered me as I went by and I either didn't hear, didn't see or had no energy to say hi back! Sorry guys!

The best thing about all the long runs I've been doing, is that km markers now seem to tick by nicely when I race.... no more praying for them to come. Settled into a rhythym and before I knew it, we were at the 10km marker. I looked at my splits again and realised I was ahead quite significantly - crossed 10k at a new PB of 54:20! woo!

Though that was a nice motivator, it also worried me a bit and I wondered if I was going to get to 15km or so and just blow up if I didn't slow down. I decided just to try and hold my pace and see what happened. I could possibly have speeded up a little too at times, but held back just a smidge.

Saw the CR cheer squad who were in fine form - Davo and Cirque, you guys deserve a medal for cheering so loudly! It helps sooooo much. I can't wait until you guys run and then I can do the same for you again!

I hit 15km, checked splits, still a few minutes ahead and started passing people - poor Rell got left on her own and I realised as we went around the turns that I was starting to catch some familiar faces who normally leave me in the dust. It was probably at that point that it dawned on me that I might actually manage to go sub 2 but I tried to keep the idea out of my head incase I jinxed myself!

17km came around... still feeling fine.... 18km ditto..... at 19km I started having to work a bit more - particularly when a Pat Carroller lady with long black hair came by me and we kept playing cat and mouse with each other! She got me in the end but I resisted the urge to go after her for fear of blowing up before the finish.

Then, all of a sudden, I can see the race course and the final turn into the track... and there, standing on the side of the road is Phil. I look at my watch in disbelief and start grinning madly at him. He (in typical Phil-coach style) looks at me, nods and grins to himself and then says, "Well, come on then..... put some effort in!" shooshing me towards the finish as I go by *ROTFLMAO*

The best bit of the whole race is definitely the last 100m down the track to the finish - you go right by the grandstand and everyone is cheering and yelling. It rocks! I crossed the line and screamed and jumped up and down repeatedly, bouncing all over the place.

Unfortunately for Sam, she happened to be the first person I saw as I came over the line (she was only about 40m ahead of me) and I grabbed her and hugged her and carried on jumping up and down *L* Then I had soo much fun seeing how everyone went - it seemed to be PBs all round! I was so excited I even gave myself an asthma attack but a quick dose of inhaler (Thanks Tracey!) soon fixed that.

Afterwards, I caught up with Davo and Cirque, Robert Song and Tess and many other lovely CR faces. Also got to meet IronPete *waves*

I stayed for the presentations but alas the fab random draw prizes were not to be mine :( Not that it matters, I got my sub 2 and that's enough for me!

If you'd told me last year when I crossed the line in 2:30, that I'd do 1:56 today, I would have laughed my head off, but here I am! I surprised myself today in a really big way. It wasn't anywhere near as painful as I was expecting either! I had no idea I was capable of getting any lower than just under sub 2 and was half resigned to the idea that I might never manage it. That it just might not be in me!

Today was really like all my christmasses came at once :) six months of hard work, speedwork, long runs, training runs and events have finally paid off ;) What ever happens from here on out no one can take today away from me :) It's mine - all mine! :)

Congrats to everyone who ran today, hope you all had a fab race and thankyou to the cheersquad, the volunteers, helpers and organisers :) Can't wait for next year!

New Shoes, New Skins and Busy stuff!

Whoah. Firstly, I must apologise for being slack and not reading blogs for a few days. It's assessment time at work at the moment and consequently, everything has gone nuts. What have I been doing this week?

Monday: 5km Recovery run + swim
I have decided that treadmills now bore me absolutely rigid. No wonder I never got past running 3km when I first started running - I struggled to do it on monday because it drove me so crazy not to be going anywhere!

Tuesday: Track session
Enjoyed this one - did wind sprints (tempo type runs) instead of normal sets.

Wednesday: Group run - 12km?
Bit of an easy run for a mini taper before this weekend's half.

Thursday: PT session
What else can I say but owwwwwwwww

I forgot to mention that as a result of sundays long run, I managed to reopen the blister I got at glasshouse and have spent most of this week whinging about how much it hurt. It's more or less healed again now, but I'm going to have to tape it on sunday!

Oh, and I had some running related retail therapy this week too:

I have new shoes! (same old Aasics 2110s but they work for me - and they're the new colours - turquoise and light blue)

and, even better -

I finally have full length skins! They're blue and silver. I caved in and decided being as how I'm running so long these days, I could probably put them to good use!

3:00 Long Run (32km?)

Struggled my way out of bed this morning - thankfully it wasn't unbearably cold, so I managed to extricate myself from the doona without too much trouble!

Because I did the 5km TT yesterday, I had to do my long run today. I saw a whole truckload of familiar faces along the way including Eddie, Runner Bee, half of intraining and one or two others who shouted hello whilst the sun was in my eyes (so I'm sorry if you said hello and I was vague!)

Funny how different the running crowds are on a saturday to a sunday though! The Brissie to Bay Bike rides were also on and lapped through part of the riverside bike path by the gardens. Normally not a problem for me since I've become used to dodging bikes and hearing them approach - but this ride was *full* of kids and people who obviously never get on their bikes normally - they didn't yell out on approach and were weaving precariously across both lanes and at stupid speeds. They didn't care about give way signs or slow down signs or pay much attention to the occasional marshall I saw, either. Infact, I got quite shitty after almost having to jump in the river to avoid colliding with another zigzagging yuppy on a shopper bike and was just waiting for the accident to happen. Sure enough, not three minutes later, I round the corner and there is the stupid woman, sprawled out underneath her bike on the ground after colliding with another bike.

One or two other riders stopped to pick her up and dust her off so I didn't stop but it made me more worried for the hundreds of kids riding their bikes on the path too. On the whole they seemed to be better behaved than the adults, but it was bedlam and I would be very surprised if there weren't a whole lot more serious stacks on the course.

Anyway, enough of a rant about that - at least the occasional arsey 'proper' bikers can generally ride straight and at a reasonable pace - and don't almost knock you into the drink!

The rest of my run was great - no more bonking and having to walk at 25km (It still makes me giggle to use that expression: it means entirely different things in the UK to Aus) I had about four drink stops all up and stopped to stretch briefly on one of those but overall, I felt heaps better than the last time I did that run... once I get into my rhythym, I'm fine :)

Incidentally, can any of the lovely brissie bloggers tell me how to extend a run past brekkie creek? I end up at the end of a bikepath in a small park on the riverside of the road - do you cross the road somewhere to carry on down towards the gateway bridge? I have to do 3:30 after Doomben and want to try and go a little further on my usual route! Ta!

5km TT - 25:50 again!

Woke up this morning and was about to head to the regatta when I realised that this morning was actually the 5km TT instead, with a long run tomorrow. For some reason, I thought it started at 6am, when really it starts at 6.30am and bombed it from my place to Shorncliffe in record time (30 minutes from the south side! LOL!)

In my haste, I forgot my fuel belt or I would probably have continued my long run so I could sleep in tomorrow morning. Instead I'll have to do 3 hours tomorrow. I hate rushing to get ready and get to places - puts me off kilter. Anyway, at least I made it and half an hour early at that!

Lined up with Sam, Tracey and everyone else. My butt is still chronically sore from PT on thursday and my gazelle-feeling from wednesday was gone, so I decided just to run at a quick but sustainable pace and see how I went. Was bang on at 12:30 on the turn around, but slowed a little on the return, meaning I came through the line in exactly my last PB from a few months back. Grrr! Arggh! LOL!

I spent a few moments berating myself for not pushing a tiny bit harder (because I probably could've) and getting a new PB, but then I realised that last time I ran that time, I had to hang off Angie's butt the whole way and by the time I hit the finish, I sincerely felt like I was going to die. This time, I ran how I felt and it was nowhere near as painful as the last time. I really need to find someone to hang off who wants to run 24:something ;)

So, I may not have improved my time, but it felt better - and I felt like my form has improved too. Like Cirque, I've been concentrating on lifting my chin a little, as well as lengthening my stride and keeping my shoulders/arms down to open my chest.
Tracey did a PB as did quite a few of the gals. Yay, us!

Looking forward to the Queensland Half immensely. Got a lovely email from Tanky, who offered to pace me on my 2 hour attempt :) So nice of her - have decided that since I'm sort of a woman on a mission with this whole 2 hour mark, I want to do it solo - but just you lot wait until I do finally manage to crack it - you're all on my 1:55 pacer list for sure! (if you're willing of course ;)

After the TT, went to the gym for a good stretch. My butt is soooo sore. Lunges should be band! Then I headed into the sauna to warm up. My gym membership is worth every penny in this colder weather - the sauna is the BEST way to get the chill out of your body after an early morning :) I think a repeat performance may be due tomorrow after my 3:00 hour run! I know it's not great for muscle recovery, but it's sooo good to be warm!

Crap Track but Fabulous Run!

Morning, my fellow lovely bloggers! I seem to be full of the joys of spring today :)

Monday, I decided I'd earnt a rest day after a big weekend and so I skipped my swim. It was also due to the fact that I'm currently snowed under at work!

Tuesday, I ventured back to track. Felt fantastic, but as soon as I started strides, I knew my body wasn't so keen - my left hammy was wound so tight it wasn't pleasant. It didn't hurt exactly, but it meant that I kept veering to the left and getting in front of the girls next to me. You'd think this would be an advantage at track where you're going round and round and round - but alas, not! I ended up doing one set and then calling it a night. I considered carrying on despite the hammy, but Phil told me he'd shout at me if I did, so I didn't *L*

Last night I went to do my medium long run with the group. I still felt bloody fantastic and despite some reservations on how my hammy would go, I had the best run there that I've had in ages. I didn't run at the back, I didn't fall off the back - infact, I stayed right at the front for the entire run and then felt I could've carried on afterwards!

I do love runs like that - everything comes together, breathing is great, lots of energy and body following through. I came home on such a high... I don't want to tempt fate but I feel a little like everything is starting to come together :) It's like peaks and troughs - you have a few weeks of feeling awful, then your body just adjusts and you feel great. I think I've finally shaken off the bug that was making me feel run down and am now buzzing.

This morning I had a PT session which was hard but I still feel fantastic. My mind feels clear and the GCM is on it's way. Phil jiggled the last few weeks of my program around, so now I'm looking towards a 5km TT on the weekend, 3:00 run on the weekend - the next week is Doomben Half and then there's a 20 mile BRRC meet (where I'll add on the extra to make it 3:30) then I'm almost on a taper!

WoOhoO!

Warwick Pentathrun

I feel like I've lived three weeks in two days! Another huge race report coming up, sorry!

Friday night

Left work at 3pm on friday feeling like absolute crap. The bug that I've been fighting for a few days came back with a vengeance and I felt hot and cold, fatigued and headachey. By the time I arrived, I almost felt like heading for home!

It was around 5pm when I got to Warwick and no one else was around so I headed to a nearby cafe. Had a drink and read for a while. Then got jeered at and followed back up the street by some scary looking teenage boys, so I hopped back in my car and sent a few text messages to see how everyone was progressing. Thankfully, Tess was just across the street and so I headed into the pub with them for dinner.

Cirque was picking up Jen and The Owl from the airport and arrived shortly after, closely followed by Miners. A great evening of catching up with loads of CRs ensued - so many it's impossible to remember everyone, but there must've been at least 20 of us! Saw Vegie Girl again which was lovely, and Iron Bee, who I've met previously but was the first chance I've had to sit down and have a decent chat with him. After learning all about why he wears a bee costume (raising awareness about diabetes) I'm really inspired. I'm just about the only person in my family who doesn't have diabetes, so it's a cause close to my heart too.

Turned in at about 9.30pm and hopped into bed. Had my usual pre-race dream where I'm late for the starting line. I don't know why I dreamt it this time round - I wasn't even in 'race-mode' for the weekend! Training runs, all of them! LOL! I had paid for all of saturday events and was undecided about sunday, what with the nasty cold.

Saturday Morning: The Half Marathon: 2:05

Woke up to a chorus of alarms and got dressed ready for the half. Still felt yuck, but mildly better than the night before. Lucky for us, the half left from outside the motel, so we were perfectly placed to roll out of bed and onto the start line.

Despite my intention of not wearing a watch, I did end up wearing one - mostly because I wasn't sure if they'd have a clock and I wanted to see the end time (just not the km times!) It was pretty chilly when we started out - thanks for the gloves idea, Tess! You ROCK!

The course was incredibly pretty - misty rolling hills, mountainous backdrop, wide open space and fresh air. The bonus about doing Glasshouse 30k the weekend before was that it meant the hills in the half looked like bumps *LOL* Set out at a comfortable pace and just stuck with it. When I get comfortable and get into a rhythym, I feel like I can keep chugging along for a long time - it's what everyone calls their marathon pace I guess - I just can't seem to speed it up much for a shorter distance!

The km markers were great - really clear and easy to spot from a long way off. I knocked them off one after another. Between 11-14km my stomach decided to start messing around and I started looking for suitable bushes to duck behind. Unfortunately (or rather fortunately for those behind me!) there were no decent bushes in sight, so I managed to hold on til the finish. It did however mean that as I hit about 17km I needed a slight walk break up a hill (which also happened to be when the car load of CR cheersquadders flew by, dammit!) but bit by bit, I ran down the rest and came through the finish in 2:05. Two minutes quicker than Brisbane so I'm moving in the right direction again, hurrah!

As soon as I got through the chute, I bolted for the toilet. It was highly unattractive and slightly flooded (I think the cistern had been leaking) but I had reached the point of no return! Thankfully, it wasn't until afterwards, when I flushed it, that I realised a massive frog had been sitting under the rim the entire time - ewwww! (I bet that's what it had been saying, too! poor thing! LOL!)

Event 2: Cross Country 4.8km: 28:00?

After the half, we headed back to the motel for showers, threw on clean running gear, grabbed some lunch and then off to the next race. I caught a lift with Schultzy and Geoff which was fab because I had no idea where I was going! When we arrived, I also got my first glimpse of a certain gorgeous little CR baby belonging to our very own Shane and Cassie. Sam is sooooo beautiful - I bet the two of them didn't get a minute to themselves amongst all those adoring CR aunties! (cluck, cluck, cluck!)

The cross country took place at an equestrian centre and featured grass, hills, horse jumps and more. I was pulling splinters out of my bum at the end! Literally! My legs were tired from the half still, so Jen and I tootled around. It was pretty dusty and hot by then. Hopped across the line gratefully!

Event 3: 5km Road Race 43:00?

The 5km took place at the local industrial area, beginning at the Big W distribution centre. This would have to have been my absolute favourite race, mostly because I got to run it with Cirque, Jen and the Owl. Poor Cirque wasn't feeling too well either and ran the whole race pausing regularly to almost vomit. Cirque, you are an absolute legend for running the race - I would've pulled out after 500m!!!

Other hilights included watching Miners wear the big girls blouse for the entire race and reuniting a poor little girl, crying her eyes out, with her Dad. The finish was accomplished with loud singing of 'Chariots of Fire' and 'She'll be coming round the mountain...' lots of clapping, laughing and cheering all round. Fabulous.

Saturday Night Dinner

By the time saturday night dinner came around, we were all feeling the events of the day. My legs started to stiffen up, but I decided to run the sunday events as well. Afterall, it seemed rude not to, considering I'd already done three!

The dinner took place in the hall at the aquatic centre. They played the video of the races and Iron Bee did a guest speaker spot. Then we had presentations - I got second in my age group for the half marathon (*snorks* more twenty somethings obviously need to be running the half! Or actually, not - I like getting bling!) The medal is funky - silver and hot pink!

Our table cleaned up, actually - the Cirquelets got medals for every race and so did Kate (a woman I met on the bus who was there all on her own, who we then adopted for the evening) so there was bling all round! It was great knowing so many of the medalists - much cheering and stomping of feet was had!

Dinner was great - the food was amazing for the price! But I think we were all desparate to fall into bed when it finished. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow!

Sunday Morning, Event 4 - 10km Ascent 1:17?

Jen, Owly and myself got together with Vegie and ran the 10km as a group. I must admit, I was questioning the sanity of my decision to do five races by that point. When I woke up, my legs weren't as sore as the night before, which was good but I felt tired.

We set off at a comfortable pace, with the finish car right behind us. The first part was quite good - undulating. Then when we got to 5 or 6km, true to form, the nasty great big hill started. It immediately reminded me of mount cootha - so that will be a definite training strategy for next year!

After a while, we decided that walk-run-walk-run was a far more sensible approach so started picking off landmarks for each stretch. It seemed to work and we chugged our way upwards, stopping for drinks on the way.

Reached the finish line to another loud chorus of 'She'll be coming round the mountain...' which definitely seemed more apt! Cirque was also standing 200m up from the line, cheering us on which was lovely!

Event 5: 1500m Dash 7:33

I really surprised myself with this one - a 1500m dash up the high street and back. I started out conservatively because I thought my legs would give out. Weirdly though, I managed to run at 5:00 pace and crossed the line in 7:30!

I felt better after the last race and 42.2km than I did after the initial half marathon! When I sit down and add my times up, I think I did the 42.2km in around 4:30 which is fab. I think I could probably shave some off that yet, although it's different doing it over two days than in one hit. Not sure which is the most taxing!

I also realised this weekend that realistically, my gold coast time is going to sit around that mark anyway - if I struggle to get sub 2 for a half, then 4:30 or so is probably the optimum time for me. I'm quite happy with that for now. Years to come in which to improve that marathon time, anyway - as I start to look past the Gold Coast at other events, the less pressure I feel about it. Though, the nerves are always going to be there!

----

Doubtless, I've forgotten tons of stuff - The Owl misplacing her coffee cup in the motel room for one and Jens WTF hat ;) I really enjoyed the weekend and I'll be back! Can't wait for the photos! Thanks all the Warwickers for making it a great weekend!

Go, Team CR!!!

Giant Green Asteroid!

Went to track on tuesday night and limped my way through the session - who would've thought a stupid little blister between your toes would be so painful? (I even resorted to taping a corn pad between my toes the next day!)

Track was quite gentle because most of us had done Glasshouse. Suzannah had even run 12km the next day! (mind you, it turns out that the girl runs 100km weeks!) We did about four sets of five laps at 70%. As we were standing recovering from one of them, all of a sudden this bright green flare passed overhead. At first I thought it was a firework gone awry, but it was silent. That's when we realised it was an asteroid - later confirmed by the evening news!

Apparently, people kept phoning the observatories because it was so bright! I'd never seen one so close before... it seemed like it landed quite close. A few years ago, a friend showed me an asteroid she'd found - they're really strange things - very heavy lumps of metal, covered in small bumps that look like warts. They're really cold too and perfectly round. Hah, X files, eat your heart out - come to track!

I missed the wednesday run because of work :( In my absence, I also got nominated as captain of our trivia team because 'I wasn't there to argue' LOL. I don't think they realise I'm crap at trivia LOL!

Aside from that, I've also got a nasty cold which I've been fighting with my usual mega doses of vitamin C. I'm working this afternoon until 3pm then heading down to Warwick (yaaayyyyy!) so I'm hoping I feel slightly more human by tomorrow :( Fingers crossed!

blisters, pictures and weight loss

This is one of the 'orange wall' piccies ;) I really want the high resolution copy so I can get it blown up. Everytime I look at it I grin stupidly ;)

I have the biggest, most painful blister from the weekend. It covers almost my entire little toe and goes between my toes. I've got two bandaids on it and I'm still limping! I'm hoping my trainers are a bit more comfortable than my work shoes but we'll see! Except for my nasty blister, I'm not as sore as I thought I would be actually. My hips ache a bit when I first stand up, but it's bearable. I went for a recovery swim last night which helped matters too.

Tonight is track and I don't know quite how I'm going to go, but we shall see! If I pick up okay, doing every event on the weekend is starting to look appealing (at the moment, I've just entered the saturday runs) I now have to go to a work function friday evening, so I'm debating whether to drive down late or just go saturday morning.

Weight loss continues - another half a kg gone :) yay! The diet is going okay, although I've been avoiding the protein shakes *grins* am still working on 3L of water a day though (do you think diet coke counts? *wicked grin* shhhh!

Glasshouse 30km!

I hardly know where to start with this race report! Here goes!

Got up at 3.30am and drove to Ronnie's to meet her and Sam so we could carpool. Makes the trip to races much more fun! Headed up the freeway to Beerwah and just as we got into the area, we got overtaken by a speeding Aasics van containing Phil, Di, Angie and co. It was quite lucky really since we had no real idea where we were going and we managed to follow them the rest of the way. Mind you, Phil got us lost once anyway, but we won't talk about that ;)

We arrived at the last decent loo stop aka lookout toilets before the race. It was just too early, so we all looked at the view out across the mountains as the sun rose through the mist. It is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, that's for sure. Really took my breath away and I wished I'd taken my camera! Sometimes it's nice not to though - it's as if the special moments like that, shared between a few, link you all together.

Arrived at the start and really didn't want to get out of the car. It was sooo cold! Saw CRs Veggie Girl and Davo who had been there for hours already. They were all rugged up in blankets and we had a good chat waiting for the start. Saw a lot of friendly faces which was nice and went some way to calming my nerves. Suzannah (from track) came which was lovely. It ended up being me, suzannah, angie, schultzy, phil and stu all running in our bright orange shirts as a group.

Before I knew it, we were off. Nice easy pace and a gentle up and down lulled me into a false sense of security before we turned off into the bush and down the side of the mountain. My first thought was OMG - how on earth am I going to manage 30km of this? We had to slow to a walk and carefully hop down the hillside which, like a lot of the trail, was bumpy uneven 4WD tracks, with a coating of loose dust and gravel which made it even more dangerous. I nearly went arse over tit multiple times in the first 2km, but somehow managed to stay upright (thankyou core strength exercises!)

My nose started to run and continued until the end. I spent the whole 30km continuously blowing my nose - I think I must've had hayfever or was allergic to something in the air. It was incredible *L* At least it was a distraction from my feet! We tootled along at the back and before long, arrived at the first checkpoint. I was cautiously optimistic at this point, feeling pretty strong. Perhaps it was the coldness of the start or the just the ever changing sorroundings and obstacles, but it passed by quite quickly. We grabbed some water, lollies and endura and carried on. A lot of the trail has blurred into a continuous stretch in my mind already!

For some reason, there was a huge amount of fairly deep sand along the trails. It was like running on the beach in parts! I don't know if they were just filling some of the potholes or not but it made for hard going and Schultzy remarked that it was like running at Surfers Paradise, renaming it 'Runners Paradise' (I thought it was more like Runners Hell, but what can you do?) We bobbed around as a group, running with different people at various times. I surprised myself by staying around the middle and front for a lot of the way. We walked a lot of the hills which was fine by me!

The next checkpoint was situated at the top of the biggest frigging hill I think I have ever seen. All potholed and lose gravel, too. The marshalls at the top must've had such a great view of us all chugging our way up the side of this awful, awful thing. Got to the top and drank about four straight cups of water and endura, ate more lollies and then off we went again.

By the time we got to the powerlines section, I was starting to feel it. This consisted of an array of steep rock faces, much of which we had to clamber up on hands and feet. It seemed to go up for ever and between gasps I told Phil I hated him *L* Obviously, it's a love-hate relationship like all good coaches. Needless to say, it was hard going and by the time we hit the top, I had so much sweat in my eyes I couldn't see properly!

I can't remember if it was before or after this that we also came across the most gorgeous view. We're so lucky to live in this part of the world. It was just stunning and I felt really priveleged to be able to be there to see it. How many people never bother to go further than ten minutes down the road, or even anywhere they can't get to by car? There are so many beautiful things out there just waiting to be discovered and all it takes is the effort to go looking.

We started to pass people and I continued to feel really good, even pulling ahead a tiny bit at times, with Phil wisely reigning me in. I didn't start seriously struggling until we literally had about 1km to go (by which time we'd technically already done 30km, since the course is actually 31.1km!) then despite the first and only serious bout of prodding from Phil, found myself walking up the hill. If I'd known exactly how close I really was, I may have been able to run the whole last bit, but I guess I was still trying to conserve some energy to see me to the finish. That part is all mental and something I'm going to have to continue working on.

We rounded the corner and there was the finish line! I couldn't believe it actually... I kept expecting myself to have another serious blow up and end up walking vast sections of the course, but it didn't. Which was so nice, because it renewed my faith in all this training I've been doing and my progress so far.

I think my favourite part of the race was running towards the finish line, side by side with each other - a wall of orange singlets. We could see everyone dashing for their cameras and I think they'll be some lovely piccies from it. We crossed the line in 4:01. Running as a group was sooooo good and helped so much. I'm so lucky to have such lovely running friends - not just the people who ran with me today, but all of you guys too. The support is just so fab.

All up, I think I surprised myself today. What a difference a couple of weeks can make. Once I find my pace and trust myself, I can do this stuff. I've discovered I really like trail running. I like the variety of it, the constant changing of the landscape and the path - the different obstacles along the way. It was, all in all, a great run :)

Hooray! Look out Warwick, here we come!

7km lazy lollop

Went to the Regatta this morning and had a lovely bludgy 7km or so walk interspersed with the occasional lollop. It was quite nice not to have to head down to brekkie creek for once! Met Sam for brekkie and caught up with Clairie, who I feel like I haven't seen in forever! I took a bag of my old 'fat' clothes to give to Tesso, whose neighbour is doing a clothing stall for charity. I pulled out an old brown pair of trousers of mine and we had a giggle over the hugeness. I could practically use the arse as a hammock now!

Strange letting go of the last few reminders of how I once was but also very therapeutic. The trousers were bought when I'd already lost 20kg and I clearly remember them being too tight!

Anyway... on another note....

I emailed my personal trainer yesterday to ask a couple of questions about the new diet. He cracks me up - this is what he sent back. Incidentally, if you've ever wondered where I caught the habit of calling people 'dude', this'd be where *grins*

Yes you can swap the morning and afternoon snack around. No you cannot try
to drink 3 litres of water per day, it is essential that you drink at least
3 litres per day!

*snorks* Okay. 3L it is. *cough* I also commented on how disgusting the sculpt protein drink is when made on water - to which he replied:

You can have one sculpt shake per day with no fat milk - any more
must be on water. You'll be ok, it's not going to taste like a chocolate
milkshake dude!

and then, an example of why he's fab at his job -

You can do this and it will be worth it!

Aw. I have to say, I'm feeling better for eating like this already. Though eating fruit toast without butter was a bit of a challenge today (dry as!) The scales are moving in the right direction again, however!

Right. Bed! Tomorrow is craziness and evil - must have lots of sleep for it!

Track + 15km + Food Glorious Food...

Wow, I actually went a few days without posting anything! LOL!

Tuesday was track. Reasonable session, only I felt pretty tired from the weekend. Rel came for the first time which was great - we've got such a nice group of people doing track now, it's so much fun. Painful, but fun ;)

Wednesday night was at the club. Tracey decided to run with the shorter group, so I ran with Phil's group and lucky for me, there was a new girl who had just moved up from beginners so I had some company at the back. Still felt tired from the weekend and Phil came back to run us in at the end. Repeated mantra of no-pressure to myself. I've come to terms with the idea that I'm probably going to be closer to five hours in the GCM and am working on not caring ;)

Yesterday, I went and had a PT session and got weighed and measured again. I lost half a cm from my waist, my boobs actually got slightly bigger (hurrah!) and I am down half a kg. I showed Tony my food diary, which apparently wasn't too bad. Though it did have muffins on it,here and there ;) Consequently, I am now following Tony's "Lean Mean Running Machine" diet, which looks like this:

---

BREAKFAST
Wholegrain toast x 2 with 2 egg whites and 1 whole egg
Or
1/3 cup of oats, and serving of Sculpt and skim milk

SNACK
3 Ryvita or Rice Cakes with weight watchers cottage cheese or 85g tuna snack
Or
Sculpt Bar
Or
Sculpt shake on skim milk
Or
1/3 of a can of chick peas with ¼ avocado and 4 cherry tomatoes

LUNCH
Wholegrain sandwich with 125 –150g lean meat (chicken, turkey, tuna, salmon) with salad
(For example – 6-inch subway, no cheese, no sauce, balsamic vinegar is ok)

SNACK
1 piece of fruit and a handful (approx 25g) of almonds
Or
Low fat yoghurt

DINNER
200g of grilled lean meat (steak, chicken, fish) with salad or fibrous veges (no potato, pumpkin, corn)
(For example – Kebabs, mixed grill, meat and vege stir fry, meat and salad)

NOTES
1.Allowed 2 treats per week – 2 pieces of fruit toast on Saturday morning is a good treat, try to have it without butter
2. At least 3 litres of water per day
3. Leave 90 minutes between workout and next meal
4. Alcohol – only 2 drinks per week
5. Must record exactly what was eaten on your Nutritional record sheets

---

It's always interesting talking about nutrition because I learn something every time - this time, I learnt that the porridge I was eating religiously for brekkie is not good for me (I have the flavoured stuff because unflavoured is so nasty without jam/honey/something on it) I also learnt apples after lunchtime aren't good either.

I think I can probably follow this plan. I had the breakfast this morning and liked that. The thing I'm going to struggle with will be drinking 3 litres of water a day. The sculpt stuff is protein powder/bars - I don't always have time or opportunity to eat during my work day, so they're really an easy alternative. I've got to say it's bloody revolting stuff though. One of the worst protein powders I've tried! Oh well! Perhaps it'll grow on me. Haven't tried the bars yet.

Today is a rest day, tomorrow will be a very cruisy 5-10km (if that!) before glasshouse on sunday. I know I keep saying it, but I'm sooooo nervous!

Mt Mee 10km

My cold seems to be in suspended animation, so I headed out to Mount Mee for the 10km this morning. Tracey, Rel, Ronnie and I carpooled and the trip up was great fun. It's such a beautiful area - really scenic and being a passenger gave me a chance to appreciate the views.

When I woke up, my legs were really, REALLY sore from yesterday's 30km+ and I felt slightly nervous at the prospect of having to run a 'slightly' *cough* hilly 10km. I really didn't care how long it took me or how much I walked and yay for me, Tracey was in the same sort of mood, so we plodded along together, walked up the steepest hills and generally gossiped away the run.

The return route was much easier for some reason, despite it being an out and back course. I think perhaps we had more downhill on the way home. Certainly felt like it, although there were one or two killer hills in there too. Arrived back at 'base camp'
at about 1:07 *LOL* but as I say, this new no-pressure strategy of mine seems to be working because I couldn't have cared less!

The scenery on the run was fantastic and the company great - It was nice to do a run that was comfortable like that (it's been a while!) My legs were feeling it, but the walks up the worst hills took the edge off. I can remember when doing 10km two days in a row used to kill me, so today was a good chance to count my blessings :)

Also got a chance to have a chat with Karen (CR Karisma) which was lovely *waves* - I haven't seen much of her lately with all the races around the place. She is such a calm person and through the things she says, reminds me why I love to run and why the journey is just as important as the finish line :)

Incidentally, it seems half of you keep getting redirected to bible websites via my blog URL! As Tanky says, maybe I'm being targetted, LOL! Not that I'm getting all conspiracy theory or anything, but funny they hone in on the resident pagan CR blogger! LOL! Is it happening to any of you?

And to answer Tess (I think it was Tess who asked!) question - I'm doing the 30km at Glasshouse and I'm quite scared *grins*

According to my new revamped Tony-PT-esque training schedule, tomorrow is a 5km recovery run followed by 20 minute swim.

Hope you all had a fab weekend :)

Three Hours Something, max HR and cramps

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten...

-Natasha Bedingfield, Unwritten

I think this would have to be one of my all time favourite songs... I listen to it a lot on my ipod and it makes me feel like everything is right with the world ;)

Met up with the Running Buddies crew this morning to do 3:10. Schultzy ran with me, even though I knew I would be incredibly slow, all things considered! I went to bed really early the last two nights and had a nap this afternoon and my cold seems to be improving. I hadn't realised just how tired I was on top of everything else. I may have to start having early nights as a matter of course!

We ran from the Regatta down to Breakfast Creek and then out towards the Gateway Bridge - we turned at the end of the footpath in a small park by the river. I felt bloody fantastic all the way back until the Botanical Gardens, when I started to struggle somewhat (the last 5kms) I ended up doing a walk-run-walk-run to try and ease my calves which were cramping like all hell. I was really thirsty - I don't think I've ever drunk so much on a run! (perhaps that's why the cramps?)

The interesting thing was that Schultzy is really good at splits and we were going at an even pace for the 25km. I even wore my heartrate monitor for once, and it sat on 160 for the entire run. Once I'd started struggling a little, it went up to 165, but no more. I still have yet to find out exactly what my max is (should really wear it at the next 5km TT) but according to an online calculator and my resting heart rate of 55, it should be around 198 - which makes 160 around 80% - no idea if that's ideal or not... Time to do some research!

Pretty tired from this morning - am feeling slightly nervous about Mt Mee tomorrow! Ah well...

PT Epiphany :)

I am coming down with a nasty cold I think :( Haven't had enough sleep over the last few days and working really, really hard so I guess it was just a matter of time til I got the lurgy. Have taken half a ton of vitamin C and went to bed at 7.30pm last night so hopefully I can fight it off!

Yesterday I went and had the best personal training session... he sat down with me and we started plotting out my program between now and the GCM. Mine was no good by all accounts - got told off for not incorporating an easy week, er, ever. Apparently, the plateau's in my running program do not equate to an easy week... it's a bit delicate trying to balance my trainer's program with Phil's, but Tony (trainer) seems happy to leave that side of things to Phil and work with me on weights, other cardio and nutrition. I've been training with Tony for about three years now and it's quite amusing that he knows me so well -

One of the things that made heaps of sense to me was when he said that if you train really hard all the time, with no easy week to recover, you end up being able to train all the time but you're only about to put in 70% effort - whereas, if you recover fully and regularly allow your body to adjust, you might be doing less sessions but those you do, you do at 100% and get better results. It made me turn red and grin actually because this is exactly my problem - my instinct, when I've gotten really crap results, is to think I should be pushing harder - which usually only makes it worse!

Everyone has been saying this to me in numerous ways, but for some reason it didn't really click in my head until Tony said it.... so consequently, I've decided to bump PT up to weekly sessions (currently fortnightly) until the GCM, to keep me on track with nutrition and losing weight - and to keep myself in check ;)

I came away feeling a lot more positive about things. I don't even care that I've done the bare minimum of what I set out to do this week in training... if this cold doesn't improve tomorrow, I may even take the rest of the week off entirely. It's a bummer because I've paid for Mt Mee already, but maybe I'll be okay by then :)

track and 10k

Woe! I looked at the weekend results tonight and lo and behold, I did worse than I thought. Have built a bridge however and am mostly over it :)

Went to track last night and did a reasonable session. Phil pulled Schultzy and I out one set early for warm down. I was still quite sore yesterday, so I didn't complain. Phil gave me another pep talk which helped. I am immensely stubborn about this whole running lark, it seems... I'm so impatient to get better and improve that I seem to end up being my own worst enemy sometimes! Anyway, I digress...

Woke up this morning feeling less sore, but still tired. The new training plan morning sessions have been absent this week thus far - mostly because I didn't bargain on feeling so bushed from the weekend. I think it's going to take me a few days to recover properly. I'm not too concerned because I know I've got a big weekend coming up with Mt Mee and a long run.

Tonight I ran with the slower group - did about 10km, although they weren't slower at all really. Few people in that that should shift up to the next group. Felt a bit blah about not sticking in with the usual crowd, but I just need some time to find my feet again I think.... some sense of running-equilibrium.

On the plus side, weight loss appears to be going reasonably well.... PT session tomorrow :)

Thoughts, Plans :)

Spent this morning having a therapy session with some weights at the gym, then had a sauna and vegged out in the aromatherapy room whilst thinking everything through. Onwards and upwards, as they say!

Thankyou all for your comments... they all made sense. Shane, you're right - I do think too much and I'll have to see if I can remedy that situation! Music seems to help :) I'm not going to kill myself by doing huge sudden increases in training, but I am going to try to maximise my chances of improving along the way to the GCM. This means fitting in a bit more yoga, a bit more cardio and really, really trying to drop a few more kgs. One of the ways I can do that is to keep myself very, very busy so that I don't have time to eat more than I should!

I've been thinking about why I haven't been able to lose any more weight in the last few months. It's another one of those annoying things - I managed to lose 50kgs but all of a sudden, now I struggle three times as hard just to move five. Every time I've tried recently, I've come to a grinding halt. No point in making yet more excuses for why that might be... I know what I have to do, I just have to buckle down and do it! So you can all expect copious amounts of food and weight related entries in the next month or so as I try to keep myself honest!

My new job has unsettled my routine a little and so today has been a great opportunity to refocus and work out ways around the occasions where things clash.

The next week look like this. My plan is to see how I go and adjust accordingly:

Mon
am: weights
pm: REST

Tues
am: gym
pm: track session

Weds
am: BodyCombat
pm: Run Inn 15km

Thurs
am: PT session (Weights)
pm: RPM/gym (dep on legs!)

Fri
am: easy 10km
pm: Body Balance

Sat
am: Long Run (3:10) Yoga
pm: REST

Sun
am: Mount Mee 10km
pm: REST