A Hard Task Master!

speedygeoff's training session at Dickson Oval

Warm up loop of full oval (only one loop for me as I arrived late, the others ran the loop twice) then we did the following session:

2km time trial - my time 10:36
a couple of gentle 400m
1km time trial - my time 5:04
cool down full loop of oval

Total km: 5.5km

Now Gandalf tells me I ran my kms faster than those recorded. I read two of my kms as 4:55 and 4:47. Wish I could use those instead!!

Keep these eyes open!

Tuesday - Intervals

Another early start yesterday in order to go on my windtrainer before meeting a couple of friends for brekkie.

Session:
5 mins warm-up
30 mins intervals - 1 min moderate/2 mins hard
5 mins cool down

Boy, this felt hard. I am so glad I have an ipod to plug into my ear so that I can listen to fast music to keep me motivated!

Wednesday morning
Gym session
Another resistance session.
10 mins warm up on treadmill
Single Arm DB Row - 3 x 15 (17.6lb)
Bench chest press - 3 x 15 (17.6lb)
Body weight squat with Swiss ball - 2 x 20 (10lb)
DB Static Lunge - 2 x 15 (10lb)
DB Side Lateral Raise - 1 x 12; 1 x 15 (8lb)
DB Biceps Curl - 2 x 15 (10lb)
Triceps Cable pushdown - 2 x 15 (25kg)
Abs - 3 x 15 crunches; 3 x 15 reverse crunches
Stretches

Yoga Session

We had a lot of "active rest" poses tonight at yoga in the attempt to teach us to concentrate only on our breath and not allow outside stimuli to interfere. I had a hectic day at work and am so tired and during the rest poses I had to concentrate on not falling asleep. Only three people turned up for the class and it was very embarrassing when my stomach rumbled loudly in the deathly silence. It was difficult to pretend it wasn't me when there were so few of us! I was obviously very hungry! When I emerged into the freezing night it was to discover that some smart idiot had taken a couple of odd shoes, mine being one of them. It was so cold in bare feet but some kind person investigated the road and found my shoe and one other belonging to the other person so that saved hopping to the car in the freezing conditions!

Tomorrow I'm meeting CJ for brekkie and after work is speedygeoff's training session. I need sleep right now!

Week 4 Day 1

Tonight I can hardly keep my eyes open as I write this. I'm just so tired. This morning I rose at 5.30am so that I could prepare everything for work and pack all my different bags and food.

Gym session:
Warm up on treadmill - 8mins
Single Arm DB Row - 3 x 15 (17.6lb)
Chest bench press - 3 x 15 (17.6lb)
Body Squat against Swiss Ball with 10lb weights - 2 x 20
DB Static Lunge - 2 x 15 (5kg)
DB Side Lateral Raise - 3 x 15 (10lb)
DB Biceps Curl - 2 x 15 (10lb)
Triceps Cable pushdown - 2 x 15 (25kg)
Abs - 3 x 15 crunches; 3 x 15 reverse crunches

After work I drove to Parliament House for speedygeoff's session at 5.30pm

Session:
2 x warm up loops of PH in opposite directions
long loop in front of PH - fast on the uphill between the flags
gentle at the ends
moderate pace on the downhill
5 x repeats but I managed 4 repeats
warm down loop of PH

Total distance: 9km
Calories: 529

It was jolly cold with a definite need for long sleeves and gloves, especially in the warm-up. Great to see CJ there tonight.

Are all Runners Crazy??

Vetrunners' Handicap Run

Distance: 9.3km
Time taken: 53.09
Average pace per km: 5:45
Calories burned: 514
Fastest km: 5:16
Place: 27th

Hmmm - today I decided the Vetrunners are definitely crazy and loving it! As I drove to CJ's place to collect her for the Mt Ainslie handicap run this morning the radio announced that it was minus 2degrees - brrrr and this was heading to 9am when the handicap started. I have never seen so many pairs of gloves and long sleeved tops in a vets' run before. While the mist was low the sun wasn't appearing and it remained cold throughout the run. However it was very undulating and we did warm up after a few of those hills. The Mt Ainslie run is made up of several hills and one very long steep hill in particular in the last few kms. It's a tough run, in fact it is known as one of the toughest runs on the Vetrunners' calendar. However, I don't mind it too much as although it's off-road the ground isn't too uneven and the last km is downhill and fast.

As usual it is always great to catch up with heaps of running friends at the monthly handicap. We also had news of PRB who has just had surgery for bladder cancer. He is recovering well in hospital but unfortunately has to return for more surgery in a couple of weeks. It makes us all very sad to realise what he must be going through but we are all wishing him lots of good health bugs and get well wishes. He is such a lovely man.

After the run and presentations where kiwi Barb won a gold medal for the long course (woo hoo - good on you Barb) I met up with JS, CJ & Mr CJ and speedygeoff for a lovely coffee and chat.

Friday
Gym Session:
5 mins warm-up on stationary bike
Single arm DB row - 3 x 15 (15lb)
Chest press - 3 x 15 (15lb)
Body wieght squat against Swiss ball - 2 x 20
DB side lateral raise - 2 x 15 (10lb)
DB Biceps Curl - 2 x 15 (10lb)
Triceps Cable Pushdown - 1 x 12; 1 x 15 (25kg)
Abs - 3 x 15 crunches; 3 x 15 reverse crunches

Tomorrow is another gym session and speedygeoff's training at Parliament House.

20 second repeats

speedygeoff's running session
Location: Dickson Oval
Distance: 8km approx
Time: 42mins

I accidentally pressed the start button on Gandalf tonight before I had recorded the session and suddenly I heard "beep beep beep" and a signal appeared saying "distance alert". This has never happened before. Gandalf was going crazy. I pressed the stop button which recorded 21km - oops! From memory we ran about 8km tonight or just over.

Session as follows:
Warm up of 2 loops of the entire oval
Main set: 20secs fast, 20secs jog repeated for 20mins.
Warm down loop of oval

speedygeoff blew his whistle after every 20secs. Fortunately 20secs doesn't take long, either fast or slow, but gee the 20mins seemed a long time. When he called out "7 minutes left" I wondered how I would make it to the end but I did and I really pushed myself on the fast bits. Marg was there tonight so it was great to have the company and the competition at about my pace which makes me try really hard especially as I'm usually lapped by everyone else! I was seriously stuffed at the end but it felt good. I thought it was a really good session.

Rewarding myself with a Banana!

Morning Activity - Gym

Session:
5 minutes warm up on stationary bike
Chest Press - 3 x 15
Body Weight Squat with Swiss Ball - 2 x 20
DB Static Lunge - 2 x 15
DB Side Lateral Raise - 1 x 15, 1 x 12
DB Biceps Curl - 2 x 15
Triceps Cable pushdown - 2 x 15
Abs - 3 x 15 crunches; 3 x 15 reverse crunches
Stretches between each set.

I used the increased weights today for all sets. I find the Side Lateral Raise (similar to Flies only not on a bench) the hardest and I have only increased the weights a little bit for this one. I always feel good after a gym session and look forward to increasing the weights more next session if possible. I allowed myself the luxury of buying one banana to eat after I had finished. I haven't eaten a banana for ages - at $12 a kilo that's not surprising. It was very yummy!

Evening activity
Yoga

Tonight we learnt a few new movements as we have just 2 more weeks before the end of the term and are now preparing for Level 1, next term. We spent some time doing hand stands resting our legs on the wall and ages in our shoulder stand.

Mr B has left the country!

Photo from Terry Fox Run - note the CR outfits. You can see Allrounder in her CR gear on the right near the front and I'm in my CR singlet and cap near the front on the left.

This morning I took Mr B to the airport to catch his plane to Sydney then on to Paris. His flight was supposed to leave at 9.40am but it was 2pm before he finally arrived in Sydney as the flight was delayed several times. Fortunately his connecting flight in Sydney didn't leave until 3.30pm. So now he's somewhere up there in the sky flying to Paris and I miss him already! Seven weeks is a long time!

After work I climbed on my windtrainer and did the following session which just about had me falling over in a ball of perspiration. My legs were very wobbly when I climbed off that bike.



Session:
5 mins warm up
30 mins intervals - 1 min moderate/2 mins hard (repeated 10 times)
5 min cool down

I miscounted and did an extra interval so my total time was 45 mins when it should have been 40mins. It was such hard work! Tomorrow morning I have a gym session and tomorrow night it's yoga. I hope all this is doing something productive!

Week 3 of my 12-week Program

Today I took a day off work so that I could spend time with Mr B on his last day before his overseas trip. It was great to have a bit of a sleep-in as I did stay up until 3.30am to watch the soccer - a very unusual scenario for me. We had all the family over for a birthday/farewell dinner last night and it was such a great night. I think I was on a bit of a high and quite wide awake until about 2.30am when I was starting to nod off a bit but I did manage to watch til the end of the game even though we lost! While Mr B had some last minute business to do in the city this morning I went to the gym. I managed to increase my weights.

10 mins warm-up on stationery bike
Single Arm DB Row - 3 x 15
Chest Press - 4 x 15 (I used a heavier weight for the last rep - I will normally do 3 x 15)
Body Weight Squat with Swiss ball - 2 x 20
DB Static Lunge - 2 x 15
DB Side Lateral Raise 1 x 15 then increased weight and managed 1 x 10 (ouch)
DB Biceps Curl - 2 x 15
Triceps Cable pushdown - 2 x 15
Abs - 3 x 15 crunches; 3 x 15 reverse crunches
Stretches between each set

This session took well over an hour and after a shower I met up with Mr B for lunch (a yummy chicken salad).

Evening - Running at Parliament House with speedygeoff's group
Distance: 9km
Calories: 533

Session: Warm-up of two loops of PH and stretches then we ran to the lower part of the grassy bank in front of PH where we ran 5 laps one way and then 5 laps in reverse running at 60% on the downhill, 70% on the cross slope, 85% on the uphill slope and back to 40% on the short cross straight back to the start - approximately! It was a solid session and I tried very hard to run as fast as I could on the uphills. We ran mainly on the grass which is a bit easier for the legs but tougher to get the speed. After the main set we ran another warm down loop of PH. Of course it was lovely to have a chat to Griffin later. He hasn't been to training for a while so it was good to catch up again.

Terry Fox Fun Run

Today was a stunner - blue sky and sunshine but freezing cold of course. The ground was white with frost early but the run was not held until 10am which was a civilized hour. I ran in a singlet top but wore gloves to keep my hands warm! Terry Fox, a Canadian, was 18 when diagnosed with cancer and lost one leg to the disease. In 1981, at age 21, he decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. He managed to run 5,000km before the cancer reached his lungs and he was unable to continue. He died soon afterwards but he managed to raise more than $24 million through his "Marathon of Hope". Now annually in 58 countries throughout the world the Terry Fox Run is held to raise money for cancer research. This year Canberra had its best turn-out yet with over 2,000 people running and a record amount of money raised. It was very successful. The run starts from the Canadian Embassy and travels to a turnaround point at Weston Park. Certainly it was freezing cold but because the sun was out and there was little wind the conditions were excellent.

I was up until nearly 1am this morning cooking for tonight and was not at my best for this run due to some extent to the run yesterday or perhaps just due to lack of training! However, I enjoyed very pleasant company running with FlashDuck for about 5km when she took off to the loo but still managed to fly past me at the 7km mark, looking strong.

Distance: 10km (10.21km according to Gandalf)
Time taken: 55mins
Average pace per km: 5:29
Calories: 586
Fastest km: 4:55

After the run there was an opportunity to catch up with lots of running buddies. So many people turn up for this run who you might not see from one year to the next. The winner of the 10km run ran it in 30mins and the winner of the 5km in 15:05 - totally impressive! It is quite a tough course with lots of undulations! CJ was amazing coming in as 16th woman in a time of 45mins ahead of Mr B by 1 minute!

Friday - Mr B's Birthday

I didn't go to the gym yesterday morning but left it until the evening so that I could spend a bit more time with Mr B on his birthday. I gave him an ipod nano for his overseas trip and when the kids come over for dinner on Sunday night they have promised to download lots of music on to it for him to listen to on his travels.

Full Body Workout
Warm up of 5 minutes on windtrainer
Single Arm DB Row - 3 x 15 (I used two chairs for this as we don't have a bench)
Chest press - 3 x 15
Body Weight Squat with Swiss ball against wall - 2 x 20
DB Static Lunge - 2 x 15
DB Side Lateral Raise - 2 x 15
DB Biceps Curl - 2 x 15

Abs:
Crunches - 3 x 15
Reverse Crunches - 3 x 15

Today
Activity: Long run at 9am
Distance: 15.07km
Time taken: 1hr 35mins
Calories burned: 640
Average pace per km: 6:20

Comments: A slow steady run with Marg and the two Barbs from the yacht club and around Lake Burley Griffin. It was very very cold but the sun was out and that makes all the difference. I wore a long sleeved top, ear warmers, shorts and gloves and I rolled up my sleeves and took off my gloves about 3/4 of the way round. Later we had a coffee at Yarralumla. We deliberately ran gently as tomorrow is the Terry Fox Fun Run and that's another 10km to run. Hope the sun is out for that one too! I'm planning to run in a singlet!

Brrrrr - it's soooo cold!

It was minus 7 degrees as I drove to the gym yesterday (Wednesday). I was glad I was going to a gym session and not out there running but I would rather have been snuggled up in bed.

Session:
5 mins warm-up on bike
3 x 15 Single Arm DB Row
3 x 15 chest press
2 x 20 body squats with Swiss ball
2 x 15 static lunges with DumbBells
2 x 15 DB side lateral raises (I find this one really hard and have to use light weights)
2 x 15 DB Biceps Curl
2 x 15 Triceps Cable pushdown
Stretches between each set

Evening

Yoga - This session was really good as we did heaps and heaps of stretches and held them for ages - painful, yes, but felt great anyway. Just as I'm getting the hang of this and feeling comfortable our instructor is suggesting moving up a level next term as I've been in the Beginner Classes long enough now!

Thursday
Morning
Activity: Swim
Distance: 700m

A very short swim due to the fact that I arrived at the pool later than planned. It was a bleak foggy morning and not conducive to swimming but the water was like a warm bath and I was sorry I hadn't started earlier. I felt really comfortable and if time had permitted feel confident I could have swum much further. The brekkie later with CJ was lovely, as was the company of course.

After Work
Activity: Running with speedygeoff's training group
Locality: Dickson Oval
Distance: Approx 7.5km
Calories: 430

Warm-up of two long loops of entire oval then we ran 3 x 1km on 10mins. There were only 11 of us at the session braving the freezing conditions. The grass had that glistening look of frost about to happen and it was slightly slippery. However, it didn't stop those fast runners from making good times on their 1km sprints.

My 1km times were very slow compared with everyone else. They were 5:19, 5:22, 5:23. Mr B's times were much better - 4:27, 4:17 and 4:06. I have been easing off the running lately and it shows!

Gee, I wish the weather would warm up!!

Intervals

After a hard day at the office I jumped on to my windtrainer and performed the following intervals:

5 min warm up followed by 21 min intervals as follows:
1 min moderate/2 mins hard repeated 7 times
5 min cool down - total time of 31 mins.

The hard intervals were very intense and even the carpet under the bike was wet by the time I was finished from me dripping on it!! I increased the resistance on the hard intervals and made the moderate intervals easier. It was a hard session and next week I have to repeat the intervals 10 times - help!!

Monday Manic Monday!

Talk about filling every minute of the day! Yesterday we spent the day with Talia and had a wonderful time spoiling her rotten - movies, Maccas, rides, toyshop, playing at our house - a full-on day which we made specially for her and we all had a ball!

Today was a "fitness" day. This morning I did my full-body workout at home as my gym wasn't open on a public holiday. The only exercise I can't do at home is the Triceps pull-down curl. Everything else is possible with a few improvisations.

10 mins warm-up on windtrainer
Single Arm Dumb-bell (DB) Row - 3 x 15
(I used two chairs for this and my own weights)
Chest Press on the Swiss ball - 3 x 15
Body Weight Squat on Swiss ball - 2 x 20
DB Static Lunge - 2 x 15
DB Side Lateral Raise - 2 x 15
DB Biceps Curl 2 x 15
3 x 15 crunches
3 x 15 reverse crunches

I followed this with brekkie then Mr B and I decided to go for a bike ride as it was a sunny day - damn cold but sunny! I dusted off the cobwebs on the bike and Mr B had to use pliers on the valve on the front wheel as it wouldn't pump up. However he solved the problem, at least temporarily and wearing all the appropriate warm cycle gear we set off on a gentle ride down round Lake Ginninderra. On the way we said "hi" to a very friendly couple on their bikes cycling in the opposite direction and it wasn't until we were past them that Mr B realised it was FlashDuck and FlashDrake! Happy Birthday to FD today and what a gorgeous day to have a birthday. It took ages to warm-up but the sun was shining and you have to feel good out there under that blue sunny sky! I enjoyed the ride and decided I really must get back into this on sunny days.

Activity: Cycle
Distance: 17.17km
Time taken: 56 mins (definitely gentle)
Fastest pace: 30kph
Calories: 264

Next activity was the running session at Parliament House at 5.30pm. There were only 7 of us at training tonight probably because it was a public holiday. Lovely to have speedygeoff safely back with us from Queensland. Brrrr, it was cold. Tonight the weather prediction is minus 3 and I'm sure we were feeling the start of it out there running. Tonight's session was a sort of fartlek session. We ran a warm-up loop of PH, stretched then ran in the opposite direction half way round where we proceeded to do fast stretches randomly throughout the session, fast stretches, a slow recovery run, fast then slow intermingled with a couple of sharp grassy hill runs up the side of PH to the roof and back. We finished the session with a gentle large loop. I so enjoyed my hot shower when I arrived home tonight!

Activity: Run
Distance: 9km
Calories: 554
Location: Parliament House

Long Run Just Before the Rain!

Yes, it's been raining all afternoon - beautiful, steady rain which we need so desperately. Maybe it will green the place up a bit.

Activity: Run
Distance: 15:56km
Time Taken: 1:37:38
Calories: 897
Average pace per km: 6:17

Comments: I met up with the two Barbs and Marg at 8.30am at the yacht club and from there we ran the loop of Lake Burley Griffin. It was a cool cloudy morning but not freezing and in fact perfect conditions for a long slow chatty run. I ran the first half with kiwi Barb and the second half with Marg. We saw a number of cyclists but not many runners out there but the rain held off until we went for coffee afterwards at Yarralumla. We spent nearly two hours over that coffee just talking. It was so relaxing and pleasant.

Later Mr B and I went shopping and bought lots of goodies before visiting Sam and his very happy family. Tomorrow we're taking Talia to the movies to see the animated movie "Cars". That should be fun! It was a good day.

Woo hoo it's Friday!

Yay, the long weekend is here. How lovely to have a little break. Sam and his mum went home from the hospital today and all is well.

Activity - Windtrainer
Session: 5 mins warm up
7 x [1 min moderate/2 mins hard]
5 mins cool down
Total: 31 mins.

Stretches. Happy Queen's Birthday weekend everybody!! Stay safe.

Intervals and Weights

I couldn't make it to sprint training at the oval tonight as I had to attend a Board Meeting. I really don't like missing my running sessions.

Wednesday
Morning - Windtrainer

Session: Intervals

5 min warm up
1 min moderate/2 mins hard repeated 7 times
5 min cool down

total of 32 mins

It was hard work and I was dripping wet literally when I dismounted that bike. I then followed this with several stretches.

Evening

Yoga - lots and lots of great stretches. We also spent an extra long time on the shoulder stand doing all sorts of variations upside down. I always love the feeling after completing the shoulder stand as I know that last beautiful ten minutes is coming up when I almost fall asleep!!

Thursday - 7am
Resistance Training

I met up with a personal trainer at the gym just to ensure that I was using the machines and doing the exercises correctly. He was really helpful. Mr B had me on the right track but I was shown a variation of the chest press which is easier for me with my bad wrists.

Session
10 mins warm-up on stationery bike

Back:
single arm DB Row - 2 x 15reps
Chest:
Bench chest press - 2 x 15reps
Legs:
Body squat with Swiss ball - 2 x 15 reps
Shoulders:
DB Side Lateral raises - 2 x 15reps
Biceps:
DB Biceps Curl - 2 x 15reps
Triceps:
Triceps Cable pushdown - 2 x 15reps

Stretches after each complete exercise

Evening (after Board Meeting)

Abdominals
3 x 15 crunches
3 x 15 reverse crunches

Tomorrow morning I have another interval training session scheduled and on Sat I plan a long run.

We have a Grandson!

Yes, we are proud grandparents again. This time we have a grandson, born on Monday to my son Peter and his wife Jocaine, little brother to Talia. His name is Samuel David and he came into the world at 9lb 6oz two weeks early! He's just beautiful and I'm not in the least biased of course!!

Everybody is well and very happy!

Monday Training

Morning:
5mins on windtrainer as a warm-up
Abdominals exercises
3 x 15 crunches
3 x 15 reverse crunches

Evening - 5.30pm
Running at Parliament House
Distance: 8.45km
Calories: 473
Fastest km: 5:23

Yes, I went to training even after hearing the news of Sam's arrival but my heart wasn't in it and my legs objected violently! Such dedication!! Straight after the training I raced home to shower and go to cuddle our new grandson.

Session: Warm-up lap of PH with all the in and out bits - 1.62km
3 x 1.5km loops with the long sides solid and the short sides slow
Cool down loop of PH
Stretches

For me there wasn't a lot of difference! I did push myself on the long sides but it still didn't work for me. Fortunately I had company at the back of the pack although my buddies weren't there tonight. Neil took the session as speedygeoff is still away so the majority ruled that we stayed where it was lit which meant the session was not hilly for once!

Tuesday
Gym session

Back:
Single arm dumb-bell row - 3 x 15 reps
Chest:
Machine Chest Press - 3 x 15 reps
Legs:
Body Weight Squat - 2 x 15 reps (I used a swiss ball against the wall)
Dumb-bell Static Lunge - 2 x 15 reps
Shoulders:
Dumb-bell Side Lateral Raise - 2 x 15 reps
Biceps:
Dumb-bell Biceps Curl - 2 x 15 reps
Triceps:
Triceps Cable pushdown - 2 x 15 reps

Stretches

Mr B met me at the gym and showed me how some of the machines worked and went through the basic exercises with me. It was such a help as this is my first time doing these resistance training exercises. It took over an hour to get through all this and I'll probably be sore tomorrow!

Great Company, Great Friendship!

On Friday I rose a little early and spent about 20mins on the wind trainer. Gosh, it felt weird getting on my bike again after so long. I worked up a sweat pretty quickly! Later in the day I had a physio appointment and have my leg strapped a new way. It seems to help.

Saturday Run at 8.30am
Distance: 15km
Time taken: 1hour 32mins
Calories burned: 921
Average pace per km: 6:11

Comments: I drove over to Palmerston to Marg's home where I met up with kiwi Barbara and Marg for a medium distance run. We ran from her place past the Golf Club and round both the Gungahlin lakes. It was a great morning for a run - cold but sunny and although I found out that evening that the Cross Country runners met with very cold winds we seemed to be lucky where we ran as it seemed to be more sheltered. It was very enjoyable as we ran at a comfortable place and caught up on all the news at the same time!

In the evening a number of us went to Griffin's home for a curry night/pot luck dinner. It was a fantastic evening held in an absolutely beautiful home and of course the company was great.

Tomorrow is the first day of my new program and I'm more than a little nervous. I hope I can stick to it and make it work for me. I will faithfully report on my progress!

It's Raining Cats and Dogs!

Well, not literally, but it is very wet out there. In fact I turned up at Dickson Oval early (yes, ten minutes early in spite of the rain) to find one other car there with Neil inside. As speedygeoff is interstate Neil had been nominated to take our training group and I had been nominated to take the roll! We sat in our respective cars and talked through the windows as we watched the rain come down in buckets and the oval become muddier and muddier. Then Ken arrived followed by Mr B but that was all and so it was easy to make an executive decision to cancel training. In fact we were very surprised that the oval hadn't been closed in this weather. There was not a single person on it so obviously everybody's training had been cancelled. I do know that if it had been an event the rain would not have stopped those vetrunners but I must admit I was relieved that I was off the hook and didn't have to stand out in the rain ticking off names!!

Fortunately I did go for a short swim this morning with CJ and I felt I could swim further but time was an issue. Next week I'll have to start earlier. CJ is in the shower before I'm out of the pool!

Activity: Swim
Distance: 700metres
Time: Slow!

Followed by, you guessed it, brekkie with CJ and Mr B!

Last night at my yoga class my teacher, Polly, asked me if I used to be a swimmer (lol - she obviously has never seen the way I swim). I responded that I swim but this is recent and I would never class myself as a "swimmer". The question was asked because I have a bit of discomfort round my neck when I do shoulder stands and it could be because of swimming apparently - not so in my case I can guarantee that. I imagine it's just old age!!