Where does the time go?

I can't believe it's Thursday again tomorrow and my blog is a week behind again already. It's been such a busy week. Saturday night was a fund raising dinner, Monday night the Chef's Awards dinner, Tuesday night an underwear party - it's been go, go, go and oh boy, how am I supposed to avoid all this food and wine?

Friday 8 September - Gym
Gym session - followed the program that had been designed for me and was a bit lost at first but managed to work things out eventually! I think I will enjoy this once I'm organised.

Saturday 9 September - Easy Run - 8.45am
I met up with Barb and Marg and we had a lovely easy social run from Marg's place in Palmerston. It was a windy cold morning and a bit of a battle against the wind but it was lovely to catch up on all the week's events. Barb had just returned from her dad's funeral in NZ so it was good to be able to run with her and gave her a chance to release her emotions. At times like this I believe these sort of runs are great therapy. Later we stopped at Marg's for a cuppa and home baked cookies - yum!

Distance: 10.15km
Calories burned: 591
Average pace per km: 6:04 (yes, it was a social run)


Sunday - Fun Day
This morning was the MS Fun Run round Lake Tuggeranong and it WAS fun! I can't believe that I enjoyed it so much. Mr B, CJ and I cut it really fine with our timing, only just making it to the start with 1 minute to spare. We had all been out to a fund raising dinner/dance the night before and had imbided in a few glasses of wine. I was decidedly worried it would affect my running and if it had been raining I might have found an excuse not to go. However, although the morning dawned cold and windy there was no rain so no excuse and I'm just so glad we ran in this event. There were a large number of familiar friendly faces and after the run, some of which was into a nasty head wind, among lots of other vetrunners and friends we caught up with Tuggeranong Don, Caroline, Q'land Barb and our PRB who looked really great and seems to be recovering remarkably well. He had a friend's little girl on his shoulders and it was so good to see his smiling face.

The run itself was mainly flat and I was quite excited with the result as I finally made the distance averaging exactly 5min per km which I don't think I've ever managed before. Yippee!

Distance: 6.62km (so says Gandalf)
Calories: 381
Average pace per km: 5mins (made up as follows):

Lap 1: 5:06
Lap 2: 4:37
Lap 3: 4:50
Lap 4: 4:56
Lap 5: 5:00
Lap 6: 5:25 (must have been the headwind here)

I was pretty happy with those times. If I had run faster in the sixth km I could have beaten that 5min km pace - one day...........

Monday morning - Body Pump - 6.15am

This is quite a new session for me and I found it just slightly scary at first. It was suggested I use light weights for my first session. It is a group class and takes an hour and involves lifting barbell weights using different muscles in time to music. I can see how the heavier the weights the more difficult it will be so I will gradually build up to heavy weights. Next time I will increase a little. I was surprised at how busy the class was so early in the morning. Is everybody crazy like me?

Wednesday morning - A run to start the day at 5.45am
Actually by the time I ran out the door it was almost 6am and I wore leggings, a long sleeved t-shirt and ear warmers cos it felt jolly cold although the temperature peaked at 21deg today which is pretty impressive - beautiful!

Distance: 10km exactly
Time taken: 57:40
Average pace per km: 5:46
Fastest km: 5:34
Calories burned: 562

I ran from home along the cycle track towards Gungahlin through the tunnel near Giralang and on to the bridge and returned the same way. It was quite a misty cold morning and not looking a bit like it did later in the morning when the sun was streaming down. I did notice a number of magpies hovering around - Spring is here and those maggies are building their nests and will soon be swooping. It's nearly time to carry a stick above my head for protection!

Wednesday after work - yoga

I was so tired today that I almost nodded off at my desk. Last night CJ and I went to an underwear party in Jerrabomberra which is on the other side of Canberra from us. It was held in a gorgeous home and was a lot of fun as we were able to try on the garments which sometimes created a bit of giggle! However it did mean two late nights in a row and lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me. Monday night was the Chef's Awards Dinner and oh boy what a night. It was a seven course dinner each course cooked and prepared by a different finalist and with each course there were a couple of different wines to drink. Each table was completely covered in wine glasses. Not being used to all that gorgeous rich food and definitely not being used to all that wine - red, white, dessert wine, port AND champagne - I was not a well lady later that night and my planned visit to the gym on Tuesday morning did not eventuate. In fact I didn't cruise into the office until 10am! It was an amazing experience though but next year I must remember to keep my hand over my glass!!

Anyway I digress! Yoga was another restorative session - definitely my favourite, especially when so tired. Today CJ and I were emailing each other trying to keep each other awake as she was suffering from the "tired" bug too although her problem was probably heaps of running not heaps of wine!! We both had difficulty keeping awake during those relaxing poses tonight but it was a lovely session.

Tomorrow morning I am going for a swim for the first time in months. That will be interesting! Afterwards CJ and I will have the much loved brekkie. Then of course being Thursday it will be speedygeoff's training session after work. I think speedygeoff is such an amazing man. He gives up his own time freely to take our training sessions and is so dedicated to his training groups and helps us all such a lot with running tips and patience. Sometimes people like him are so taken for granted and we forget to say "thank you". So just in case you read this blog a big THANK YOU speedygeoff. Your running sessions make such a difference to our lives and certainly keep us motivated.