Back on Track (well, almost!)

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

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

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

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

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

Hope you're all having a fabbo week!

Surfing, 16.1km and dodgy foot

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

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

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

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

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

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

sore hip

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

43.5km in six hours :)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Next year, 12 hours :)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Crash Bang....

I must apologise for being so grumpy/down/generally absent in the last couple of weeks. The reason being that I've been going through a bit of a tough time... the result of which has meant that on sunday, I finally closed my business down :(

I'm still a bit shell shocked over it all, since it was three years of absolute blood sweat and tears to get it up and running, but in the end, I think I just had to admit to myself that even though I have limits and I can't do everything, all of the time. The stress and the hours were just 24/7 and no one can exist like that for the long term. Not quite sure what's next on the agenda for me, other than teaching at uni for another semester - I'm going to use that time to think through my options.

Have discovered I can enter the 6 hour race, if I fax through my entry form tomorrow... I just have to try and organise someone to count laps for me, which I shall hopefully manage tomorrow, when I'm at run club.

Onwards and Upwards, Team!

grumpy

I went and did the 5km time trial yesterday morning at shorncliffe. 27.25 :( Which means, really, that I've not gotten any faster since the last time I did a 5km time trial which was about eight months ago I think. Hopefully with some speedwork, I'll get better.

Oh, and looks like I will be coming to watch the caboolture run - in my overly stressed state, I got my dates muddled up and thought that my prior commitment was that weekend, when it was actually this one. It was mortifying enough that I turned up late this weekend (the equivalent level of embarrassment would probably be getting the dates of your own wedding mixed up and getting a phonecall from the party asking where you are) but there's nothing to do now except suck it up and get on with things :(

Argh. I'll be back when I feel less grumpy and stressed. Trying to look on the bright side, maybe this means I can do the 6 hour race. If they let me enter late and if I can find a lap scorer.

Exhausted 10km :(

Dear me, seems that huge week last week (combined with my long walk yesterday) has really caught up with me. I think doing the best part of two full time jobs at once doesnt help matters either - I've had about four hours sleep each night for the last week and generally I'm feeling absolutely exhausted. Ran 10km or so tonight with the club and barely kept up. It was disgusting! I don't even get tomorrow off, unfortunately, since I have to go up the coast to do a photoshoot. I may go and watch the beer mile tomorrow afternoon at least, if I can finish the work I'm supposed to have already done :( argh!

Consequently, I've decided to take another rest day tomorrow. Friday I've got a PT session but I'm declaring my legs and glutes a no-go area because I want to do the 5km time trial. Then sunday is the West End 15km which I shall just take slow and steady. As yet, I still haven't been able to show Phil my training program, so I think I'll have to email it to him instead!

I'm going to try increasing my mileage much more slowly, building up from 40km. I think I've just got to find what average works best for me - I think as long as I can stay on my feet for four to six hours and cover 42km, that's the main thing! I'm hoping that after a few weeks of this more intense training my body will get used to it and I won't feel quite as awful as I do at the moment!

Tell me you get used to it! Please?

2.30 walk-run-walk!

Well, launched into my easy week with gusto this afternoon. Decided to run home from work... from the City Centre to Kelvin Grove, to Newmarket, Enoggera then finally McDowall.. which took me 2:30 because I discovered my backpack jiggles far too much for much of a run! No idea how far it was...15km maybe? Better than sitting crammed on an almost permanently stationary bus for an hour, that's for sure!

Running club tomorrow night. Hurrah!

60km for week!

Picked Tracey up this morning for Mount Cootha. Somewhere along the line, I think we'd gotten our wires crossed since she thought we were only doing a section of it - I'd told her the loop from Slaughter Falls is 10km, which it is - I just forgot to tell her we would run from the Regatta which makes it 15km. I don't think she was very impressed actually *L* but she ran better than me! That girl really underestimates herself! Mt Cootha still has me beaten (mostly due to this weeks efforts) but not for long, dammit!

Oh, and Rejoice, for after all my whinging and moaning about having no running buddies to actually run with, I may have found myself a Marathon buddy to do long slow runs with! Lisa (CR VegieGirl) is also doing the GCM - I had thought she was quicker than me, but I'm not complaining! (Thanks, Running Gods! I remain your humble servant!)

When we finished Mt Cootha, I realised I'd done 57kms for the week total and was mightily tempted to do another 3kms (with much egging on from Tesso!) so when I got home, I did go out and do another 3kms, although it took me forever because I was sooooo tired. But it meant I ran 60kms this week.

60 KMS! *insert jerry springer dance, cartwheels, much whooping, cheering and general get-down-with-my-bad-self here*

Can't believe it - happened by accident really, too! Tomorrow shall be a rest day and next week will be a bit easier. Next saturday is my first 5km TT of the year. Time to start putting some speed on in my effort to drop my 5km times down. I haven't run a 5km for ages (march last year?) so it'll be fascinating to see if I've improved at all.

Oh, and I'm pleased to announce that I've now dropped my 3kg xmas spare tire :) three weeks on, three weeks coming off! Wahoo!

Rest Day :)

There is nothing like reeeallllyyyy working your butt off to make you appreciate a rest day :) Also survived another day at the new job. Can't wait to get my security pass since it gives me access to the stairwell so I can climb the stairs instead of catch the lift. Work is on the 17th floor though... but I do like a challenge :)

Have managed to talk tracey into doing mount cootha with me tomorrow, hurrah! :)

8k run instead of track :(

So I made it back to track tonight. Unfortunately, it was so wet, there was no track, so instead everyone decided we should go for a little run. I almost backed out because I'm really tired from work and all the running I've been doing this week. Not to mention the effort that last night took! I knew I'd be slow, my legs were immensely heavy and I walked a lot. I wanted to hug the ground and cry several times. I doubt I'd have been any good at track even if it had been on in this state, but I was a bit disappointed. I'm now sitting on 42k for the week (a marathon!) so if I can squish another 8km out of myself on saturday, I shall be one happy gal!

Last night I broke the strap on my HRM wrist watch too *grumps* I'm going to have to get it fixed now before I can use it again. Might give me the impetus to actually read the instructions this time ;)

Am having fun inputting my training plan into my computer. Applemacs have this great thing called iCal, which rocks immensely since you can colour code everything, print it out, save it as pdfs and everything. I might upload my plan for each month in my blog as a jpg.

Thinking about doing my own private six hour stint on a treadmill at the gym. If that doesn't drive me insane, nothing will, but it's the only way I can think of to run that long, alone, without it being dark (and dangerous for single female runner) or way too hot to run. If I did it on a sunday for a long run, I could even start at a reasonable hour and finish at one too. Plus, anyone who is a fitness first member in Bris and felt like popping in to say hi or even run a little way with me, could. At least I'll also have the tvs to keep it a little bit more interesting!

Also contemplating doing the Brisbane Marathon as a training run for the GCM... no time in mind for that one, just curious to get a feel for the distance and gauge where I am in the scheme of things by that point.

Still trying to catch up on blogs! This weekend, promise!

7-10km yuck run

Went to running group tonight, bit the bullet and set out with the middle group again. I've been feeling much better running again and felt a bit more confident than last week. Unfortunately, several of the people in the group are training for various things and so we went out quite fast (for me) and did some nasty hills too. We got half an hour in and I knew I was flagging because I had to start walking some of the hills. I hate doing it when you're running with a group at night - falling behind is not really an option and it means someone has to come back with you :(

Lucky for me, one other guy (who also usually runs with that group) was struggling, so he and Schultzy turned back with me. As soon as we settled into a more sedate pace, I felt fine and could've carried on even once we got back to the shop. Looks like I'll have to go down a group again though - I hate having to pike half way and hold other people back because I can't keep up. When I ran with them before, we had a sort of a middle-ground group who would hang off the back then drop off when we needed to, but most of them have either sped up heaps or are doing their own thing. It's frustrating really, but I guess that's life. I just seem to be at a weird point in my running generally, where I'm a bit faster than most beginners but not quite fast enough for most other people... so I've got a severe shortage of running buddies to actually run with! I need to egg tracey on to start training seriously with me - she's thinking of doing mt cootha with me on saturday.

One positive thing is that my mileage has jumped up quite sharply this week. Provided I do my track session tomorrow and then the saturday run, I'll finish the week on 50-something kms! Most I've done before in a week is just about 40. I'll have to have a bit of an easier week next week so I don't do myself a mischief. Ten percent rule *cough cough* I'm listening, really!

CR B-fer and I have set ourselves a little competition for 2006 to see who can crack a sub-23 min 5k, sub-50min 10k and 1:50 HM in 2006. I suspect it won't be me since my goals are a tad optimistic ;) but it'll be fun trying!

In non running related news, I survived my first debt-collecting work day today. I suspect I'll have this temp job until they try and put me on the phones. Then I suspect I'll be off. Oh well! At least it's work!

Oh, and Apologies to everyone whose left me nice comments on my blog lately, I'll have to sit down and have a mammoth blog reading session to catch up on you all. I love you all really, honest ;) *hugs*

7km Social Run

Went to the running group social run tonight at Sandgate. Probably did 6 or 7km and although my legs were heavy from yesterday, felt like I could've gone further (although not faster!) so perhaps I'm finally getting somewhere :) have lost 1kg of my 3kg xmas belly.

Organised my appointment with Phil to sort out my program. Now I just have to actually write it all down in a way that makes sense to people other than me. I think it'll do me good to have some direction and organisation in there. Make sure I'm doing it all sensibly.

In other news, I think I need new shoes - my left foot and the area just behind my knee has been hurting a little bit (might be all the hills I've done lately) but I suspect it's my shoes as this seems to happen whenever I'm due a new pair. As soon as I've got a bit more work coming in, I'll get some - and I think I may even give in and get orthotics for that foot - there's something not right, there. Anyway. Shoes and things shall have to wait for a bit.

My job interview for 2 mth temping went well, but it's debt collecting - the reality of which sank in at the interview and now I'm feeling a bit blah about taking it - I'm not really programmed to do hardcore demanding of money (except when it's money owed to me, that is! LOL) Anyway, shall have to have a think about it. Perhaps something else will turn up... am knee deep in selection criteria for a job or two I'd really like, anyway!

2:15 solo run and my very own 6hr race

On saturday, went to the running buddies and did a *rreeaaalllllyyyy* pathetic 10km down to the botanical gardens and back. I drive myself insane when I run alone and without music - I cheat continuously, having walk breaks left, right and centre. It makes me wonder how on earth I'm going to manage to get my mlieage up for the GCM when there's no one as slow as me who wants to run the longer distances.

Moan, moan, moan, LOL! Gods I sound grumpy, don't I? *shakes self*

Last night I went up the coast to see friends and got back really reeeeaaallly late. Woke up at 5.30am, and then realised I'd never make it to the West End for 6am for the 14km start and went back to bed. I was really tired, but when I woke up the second time I was really irritated with myself for doing it. I really wanted to do the 14k to prove to myself that my recent spate of walk breaks *is* all in my head and I *can* still run without them. Meh. Sam sent me a text message about missing it - *L* the Brisbane running grapevine is faster than a speeding bullet, it seems!

Perhaps it was a good thing really, since it made me kick myself up the bum and start to organise things. This week has been a bit slack since it's my first full week back and I somehow reckoned that meant I could take it easier *L* (except for the mount cootha run that is!) so this afternoon I resolved to put in a decent effort as penance.

I headed out of the door and embarked on my very own running adventure across three suburbs and numerous bike paths through Kedron Brook, Stafford and McDowall. Got home 2:15 later, so that was the biggest training run I've ever done on my own! No idea how far it was - am about to have a look at the gmap pedometer website to try and work it out. There were lots of walk breaks of course but also lots of hills, so I reckon I probably did 20km.

Phil is doing training plans, so I'm going to go and see him with mine and get him to tweak it. Next week I'm going back to speedwork, come hell or high water. Enough messing about - time to start putting in some hard work and trusting that despite what my brain tells me, I am not getting worse really!

Tomorrow I've got a job interview for a bit of temping work (January is deathly quiet for the self employed!) so if I get it, I'll be working in the city centre for a while - am thinking of joining the regatta runners a couple of times a week to bump my mileage up. Oh, and thanks for all the comments everyone - my email is playing up so I only just got them - thanks for the HRM info, LL - makes sense - still trying to work out how to use it but I'm getting there!

Oh, and Woe, it seems the Dusk til Dawn run is going to clash with another commitment as I feared, so I'm not going to be able to do it :( I think I may just do my very own little six hour event around Brisbane instead (should kill or cure my penchant for walking breaks!) - start at 3am from the regatta one saturday maybe :) details to follow, no doubt!

feeling hot, hot, hot!

Another picture! This one is Exmoor, one of the wildest parts of the UK. My sister took me for a drive there when I stayed with her. Beautiful place, but again, soooo cold!

Last night was my first night back at running club - great to catch up with some familiar faces. My legs were so sore from PT that I went with the easier group again - not that it was that much eiaser - we did about 7km of hills! This week seems to have a bit of a hills theme actually, as tonight I went out and ran 5km of hills on my own.

I got a heart rate monitor for xmas and tonight was the first time I attempted to use it -the instructions are so hard to follow! Apparently, I was working at 78% of max effort, which doesnt seem like much... must read up on what I'm supposed to be doing! Am starting to feel a bit better when I run now which is good - starting to get a grip on my holiday blow out! Still trying to shift my extra spare tire though, but I'll get there!

The speedwork that wasnt!

Another UK piccy. This is my gorgeous lovely three year old niece, Charley. While I was away, I endeavoured to get her to follow in her aunties running footsteps by chasing her across the sand in Devon ;) She's not hooked yet, but give me time;)

My Mt Cootha effort definitely caught up with me on sunday - I went to a social going-away run for MJ who is off to join the girls in green. Lovely to see everyone. We went to the wetlands which are really close to me. Like Tess, I've never run there before, but I'll be back! Very relaxing and peaceful. Cycle track is good too - good place for me to practice my turns without the fear of getting squished by over zealous truck drivers. Anyway, most people decided they were running 10km, but after the first 200m I knew my legs weren't in agreeance - had that horrible concrete boots feeling. It was such an effort, that Tracey and I turned around at the 3km mark, making a 6km effort with walk breaks. Liz was supposed to be on a rest day, so she came back and did the return with us. Had a good yack.

On Monday Night I was so sore from Mt.C that I could hardly walk. How can three weeks make so much difference? it's so unfair! LOL! Luckily, the worst was soon over, but I took yesterday as a rest day just incase. I've decided the quickest way to demotivate myself is to run while I'm really sore, since it inevitably makes me run badly and therefore makes me feel crap.

Anyway, this morning, I went and did my first PT session for 2006. Paiiinnnn!!!! PAIIINNN!!!! Gods, it was disgusting. I sweated and swore and complained my way through various sets. Tony (PT'er) has decided that we need to work on my upper thighs so I can drive through with more power when I run. It's something I know I'm bad at - when I'm tired, I shuffle along without moving my upper legs much. Really bad habit and slows me down. I think speedwork will help me with that - sprinting makes me lift my knees right up. I've got homework to do, including regular sets of dynamic lunges (evil, evil things) huge step ups (also evil) and jumping, knees to chest repetitively (yep, evil as well) Oh well. If all this evil makes me quicker, then give me horns and call me satan!

After the PT session I went to the pool and did a very slow, very pathetic 300m with many breaks. The cold water felt great on sore muscles so hopefully tomorrow I won't be too crippled. I was going to go back to speedwork tonight, but alas, I'm just too buggered from this mornings efforts. I figure it's probably not worth it/good for you to try and do speedwork on tired legs - there's another session on thursday I'll go to instead.

Tony also tried to sign me up for the Mooloolaba Tri - the whole thing this time, but I'm feeling a tad scared at the prospect of doing an olympic distance tri there - it's a USM event and if it's as big as Noosa, I don't relish the thought of having to deal with the washing machine of people... although, if I got right at the back it might be okay. That said, I know there's surf at Mooloolaba and as yet, I've got no experience at swimming through waves (aside from a failed attempt at learning to surf) plus I know there's a hill in the run section. I think I'd rather do a full distance at Bribie first.... less pressure, although the bigger number of people at Moo would mean less pressure to finish in a reasonable time so as not to hold marshalls etc up.

And then there's the issue of the BRRC race, which is a 7-35km self select event - which I had planned to do 35km at in preparation for working my way up to 42k.... I dunno! I guess I need to have a good think about it.

I also have this horrible, horrible feeling that the Dusk to Dawn is going to clash with another commitment - and if it does, I won't be able to do the run :( but I'm ignoring the nagging feeling in the hopes I'm mistaken. Shall have to find out.

15km Mt Cootha Run

With some trepidation, I ventured out to the running buddies this morning and despite thinking I would do a flat easy 10km, decided to do the Mount Cootha run instead. I figured that if todays run was going to be painful (which it was, either way!) it might as well be really painful! I walked more of it than last time, but then, I wasn't jetlagged, 3kgs heavier and 3 weeks less fit before ;)

Despite all that, I really enjoyed it - it's such a nice place to run - the smells, the bush - and, even better was the fact that it started to rain just as I reached the top and all the clouds rolled in so it was all misty and mysterious. It's one of the many reasons I love living here - you can run through big fat clouds and soft raindrops and not freeze to death! Because I was sooo slow, I did the circuit on my own again and it was nice to get some thinking time to myself as well.

Am contemplating making it a weekly thing - probably just me until I can run the whole thing without stopping - will start keeping track of my total running time over the course and then work on increasing that bit by bit. infact, add Mt Cootha to my goals for 2006 - I'm going to run the whole thing non stop by the end of the year!

Caught up with Tesso and Clairie which was lovely - feels like I've been away forever, even though it was only three weeks! Social run tomorrow with MJ - looking forward to that too, and hopefully seeing Sam (who wasnt at running buddies today) and Tracey too.

It's sooo good to be running again - nothing can be as painful as todays effort was, so the only way is up!

UK, Goals and Aspirations!

Arrived back to the humid goodness of Brisbane yesterday morning. Although, I must admit, the ‘good’ part of the humid has already started to wear off! Ah, the joys of living in a tropical climate. Certainly better than freezing though! This is a picture of the xmas tree we had. Awww. Pretty.



Overall, I enjoyed the trip – it was lovely to see my family again and spend xmas and new years together. I like the sense of history that you get in England… there are stories ingrained in everything over there; everywhere you go, every surface, every place…the past reads like Braille. The countryside is really pretty in winter, although quite stark during the day. particularly when there's a frost!

I ventured onto the scales this morning, and much to my disgust, I put on 4kgs while I was there! I’m confident it’ll come off again though (and a bit more besides) and I thoroughly enjoyed every mouthful of turkey/stuffing/chocolate/cake/venison/flapjack/revels/smoked salmon, so I remain unrepentant! I’m not looking forward to the next few weeks of pain of course, but needs must! ;)

Anyway, enough of my gluttony ;) time for my promised goals post!

One Year of Running!

The first of January marked one year of running for me. I can remember feeling very apprehensive about spending $200 on running shoes because I thought I’d probably give up after a month or two. I consoled myself that I could always use them as cross trainers at the gym if it didn’t work out. I started by running on the treadmill and then running down the street. I don’t think I ever imagined I’d still be running now let alone having worked my way up to 25km!

My first attempt at running with other people was the January BRRC 5km. I was so nervous and by 2km, I’d slowed to a walk. I still felt proud when I crossed the line though! It’s also where I met many of my lovely running buddies and fellow CRs… Tess, Clairie, MJ, Brenda, Karisma and many more besides. I joined the Run Inn Runners and fell in love with club runs :)

This year, I've done three half marathons, one 'official' 25km run and numerous 5, 10, 15km races. I've taken six minutes off my 10km time and about 18 minutes off the half. Overall, I think my favourite run of the year was the 25km run at the West End a few months back, where it poured and poured with rain and we got to jump puddles and squish in our shoes. That, and the Bribie Beach Bash. Magic!

GOALS for 2006 - DEEP BREATH - GULP!

So, my goals for 2006 are split into different options - I like to have a back up goal, so if I don't make one, I can still tick off another. Plus, I know some of them are a little ambitious, but like the quote I saw today on a card - "shoot for the moon, if you miss, you'll still land among the stars" cheesy, I know but who cares ;)

GOAL ONE: Complete 42.2km (Gold Coast Marathon)

a. in 3:59
b. in 4:10
c. in 4:20
d. just to cross the finish

GOAL TWO: Half Marathon Times - reduce to:

a.. in 1:50
c. in 1:55
b. in 2:00
a. in 2:05

GOAL THREE: 10km Times - reduce to:

a. in 49:59
b. in 51:00
c. in 52:00
d. in 54:00 (had to put this one down, since I've been trying to crack it forEVER!)

GOAL FOUR: 5km Times - reduce to:

a. 22:00 (muahahaha - doesn't hurt to dream!)
b. 23:00
c. 24:00
d. 25:00

GOAL FIVE: 3km TT times - reduce to:

a. 14:00
b. 14:10
c, 14:20
d. 14:30

GENERAL GOALS AND ASPIRATIONS

I want 2006 to be the year where I take my running up a level... put simply, I'm going to work my butt off ;) I'm going to commit to regular speed work sessions and write a big plan so I can work towards the Gold Coast Half. Depending on how things pan out, I may even have a go at Canberra as a warm up (my conference funding got rejected, so doesnt look like I'll be going to Atlanta afterall)

I'm going to carry on doing triathlon, but more as a cross training exercise and for the fun. Though of course I want to improve my times there too ;)

I also want to do the caboolture dusk til dawn - the six hour event which I shall just walk-run-walk, slow and steady...

By the end of the year and just between you, me and the gatepost, I may even have a go at a 50km event. Just, you know, to see if I can ;)