Sunday, August 31, 2008

Blue Suede Shoes!

Just for Tesso and Katy I have posted the "blue suede shoes" that I wear to the gym sometimes. Aren't they cool!! They match my pink/black tracksuit perfectly but they're definitely not made for running. Speaking of running yesterday I went for a run at about 11am and surprisingly became positively hot! Just as I was thinking that I should have worn less clothes the voice on my ipod sang, "girl you're so hot" - hmmm my sentiments exactly. However, they are not the sentiments of my just-6yr old grand-daughter who was explaining to me in a stage whisper in the car on Friday that "hot" means "sexy" and "you're too old to be hot grandma. You're pretty but you're not hot. Mummy is a little bit hot though cos her face is smooth!" Ah me, the disillusionment I feel - it is official, I am defnitely NOT hot!!
Yesterday's total distance: 10.4km
Time taken: 58:34
Average pace per km: 5:47
Calories burned: 600
This morning I ran in the Masters' monthly handicap run at Blewitt's Forest. When I looked out the window this morning it was pouring with rain and blowing a gale. Yuck - not a good start for a very hilly off-road run. Mr B opted to stay in our nice warm bed but I love catching up with everyone at the handicap and besides I needed to burn off the rather large meal I cooked last night and the choc chip muffins Miss 6 and I cooked yesterday afternoon! As I drove nearer the event the rain cleared and by the time I parked the car the sun was peeping through the clouds. The timing of the run was perfect - no rain, no wind and the only downside was the slushy mud underfoot. I did watch my footing especially on the downhills as it would have been very easy to slip over in that mud. It was a very hilly run with one long slow steady incline in particular which felt like it was going on forever, but the total distance was only 7km so quite manageable. Miranda won the gold medal in the 7km long course which was absolutely fantastic and well-deserved! Steve sped past me 500m from the end starting from a very big handicap and looking very fit ready for his enormous 100mile hill run in a couple of weeks.
And now the rain is back and that's a good thing, cos we desperately need it - excellent timing!
Total distance: 7km
Time taken: 41:51
Average pace per km: 5:55
Calories burned: 420
Handicap Group: 22
Place: 40th (about 80 runners)

Thursday, August 28, 2008

And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind!

Tonight at speedygeoff's training on the oval we ran a couple of warm-up laps before the main set which consisted of two person relays with one person running 300m fast while the other person jogged 100m back to the previous cone where they waited for the first person to reach them and pass the baton for a repeat of this 9-10 times. The wind was very cold although we had experienced a gorgeous sunny day earlier. After the main set we ran another gentle cool down lap of the oval.
Total distance: 7km
Calories burned: 380

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

A Little less Conversation!

Okay not much less - but I did listen more than Ewen talked cos he decided to set our pace a little faster and our distance a little shorter. The first few kms were a little tough but after warming up it became much more comfortable. We ran our usual route just cutting it short by a km. It was a still, mild evening and only just started to become dark as we almost reached our finish point. Spring is coming, hurrah hurrah!
Total distance: 12.2km
Time taken: 1:10:32
Average pace per km: 5:47
Calories burned: 723

Monday, August 25, 2008

Sweet Caroline

Parts of the cycle course - Mr B on an uphill

Caroline on a down-hill

Mr B finishesCaroline wins Gold!
Smiles for competitors and supporters!
Caroline's proud son!
We have now returned from a lovely weekend in Newcastle where Mr B competed in a challenging duathlon as did a few of our Canberra masters athletes, including Caroline. It was a great course for spectators and there were several laps where we could cheer everyone on loudly (the "toasties" would have loved it)! The distances were standard - 10km run, 40km cycle, 5km run which will be the same as in Italy, the difference being that the Rimini cycle course is flat whereas the Newcastle one was very very hilly - good training! We drove around the cycle course the evening before when the wind was so strong that the organisers could not set up the course markers and instead had to return to do this at 3.30am on the Sunday! During the Sat evening it also rained heavily and we were very relieved when the wind dropped and the rain stopped in time for ideal conditions for the morning of the event. Although Mr B did not gain a medal he still managed a good time considering the cycle course and he did have some serious competition. The winner of his age group beat him by 30minutes!

While Mr B rested in the afternoon I went on a short run of my own as I definitely felt the need for exercise after being inspired by those duathletes. We stayed at Adamstown Heights which gives some indication that hills surrounded us but I was directed to a disused railway line and found a great place to run - a steady gentle incline was involved and the weather was brilliant. Back to work tomorrow - why do weekends always go so fast even when an extra day is involved?

Distance: 14.3km
Time taken: 1:22:54
Average pace per km: 5:47
Calories burned: 820
Oh and yes, Elvis did sing the title of this blog! He just wasn't alone in doing so.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Good Luck Charm!

Happy 38th wedding anniversary to our speedycoach and his speedyjenny today! He wins by a year! Yesterday he led 7 of us in training at Dickson Oval. It was actually quite a mild night for a change with no wind - woo hoo! We ran our warm-up loop (I missed the first loop but arrived in time for the second) and then our main set was 10 laps (unless we were lapped) running fast on the straights and slow on the bends. All except 3 of us were lapped once and consequently only had to run 9 laps - great. We then ran a warm down loop making a total distance of 7.5km.
This morning I tried something different at the gym - a Body Balance class. This is a combination of pilates, yoga, stretching, abs, balance, strength and relaxation in the space of an hour. I had to concentrate hard especially on the core and balancing work but I'm sure a compulsory hour of various types of stretching will help me, especially as I no longer attend yoga classes. It does mean however that I will only be doing two RPM classes a week instead of three - may need to add an extra run in soon to up the ante!
Tomorrow Mr B and I drive to Newcastle where Mr B is competing in a championship duathlon on Sunday - a good practice for the big one in Rimini, Italy next month. It should be good fun cheering him on along with a few other Canberra competitors and I have the opportunity to catch up with my brother there. Best of all we are not returning until Monday - a day off work, woo hoo!! Good luck Mr B!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Help me make it through the night!

Tonight Ewen and I ran our usual route out past Molonglo Reach and back struggling with a head wind after the turn around. That wind was cold! We saw numerous rabbits on the way including one poor little prostate one which we suspect an eagle may have attacked! The evenings are staying lighter later now but I still needed my headlamp for the return trip. After intensive treatment at the physio yesterday my leg was still painful for the first half of the run but I have committed to lots more stretching and will need to do this in order to continue to run without discomfort. It seems to take about 5km before my legs are operating in a normal fashion. It would probably also help if I had more sleep and didn't burn the candle at both ends watching Olympics late and going to the gym early! I had to make two pit stops tonight - defnitely a bad move to celebrate a work colleague's birthday with icecream cake!
Total distance: 14km
Time taken: 1:25
Average pace per km: 6:08

Monday, August 18, 2008

Girls, Girls, Girls!

It's a bit difficult to drag myself away from the Olympics long enough to write up today's entry. After RPM this morning I did go to work for a few hours before whizzing home at lunchtime to watch the women's tri. Wow, I'm so glad I didn't miss it - just the best watching those Emmas win gold and bronze - just awesome!
Tonight at speedygeoff's PH training we ran a couple of warm-up in and out loops of PH before running 5 x [600m fast out and slow back] along the top flat grassy bank by the road beside PH. I'm still having trouble with my leg and it seems to take me about 4km to warm up but it was a good fast session. Tomorrow morning I have a physio session. Jimmy has had a bike accident and fractured his collar bone in four places (ouch) so I have a different person tomorrow and obviously a very different injury!
Total distance tonight: 10km
Calories burned: 600m
After our training tonight we celebrated Helen's birthday, Yelena's PB in the 3ooom at the High Noon meet yesterday and Rae's 3rd place in her age group at the C2S - lovely bubbly supplied by the birthday girl went down very nicely thank you!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Just a Closer Walk with Thee!

Saturday's run was not very memorable. It looked like a lovely day and the sun was shining but there was a cold headwind for a fair bit of the way and I didn't take off my long sleeved top until about 8km into the run. For the first 5km my legs felt like blocks of lead and everything hurt. It was not good at all. I did have a very late night on Thursday but hey that was two nights ago - no excuse for such a bad run. I think a physio appointment is in order this week and I think I have also made up my mind to go with Mr B to Newcastle next weekend and cheer him on in his duathlon instead of competing in the Canberra Masters' Half Marathon where a satisfactory result would not be likely at the moment. Besides Mr B is very keen on having me as his cheer squad!
Distance: 15km
Time taken: 1:30:25
Average pace per km: 6:05
Calories burned: 874

Today, Sunday, the weather was absolutely stunning - the wind didn't pick up until late afternoon. We spent the morning watching the women's marathon and the 1500m men's swim before being on babysitting duties for the rest of the day which resulted in us taking master 2 year old for a 7km brisk walk in his pram - at least it was some form of exercise and enabled us to make the most of the gorgeous sunshine.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

'He is My Everything'!

Tomorrow I have been married 37 years to the same wonderful caring man who has learnt to share my love of running and fitness and understands my idiosyncrasies. To quote a well-known movie which we both enjoyed, "he completes me". I am indeed very blessed!
Last weekend we both competed in the City to Surf. I was excited with my time on Gandalf which stated I ran it in 78:43 which would have been a PB by 1min. However, in the paper it tells me my chip time (my official time) is actually 80:25. How can this be, I wonder? Is Gandalf speeding me up? I pressed the start as I ran across the timing pad at the start line. How mysterious and how frustrating. Mr B ran a PB in 70:58 and is obviously very happy with that. We both enjoyed the run. I felt the hills at the start but after settling in to my rhythm barely noticed heartbreak hill. The most difficult part for me was wending my way around so many people, purportedly 70,000 starters. The morning dawned very cool but the conditions were actually ideal with no wind and definitely not too hot. Later in the day it poured with rain and turned extremely cold so we were very lucky to have had a clear morning. We saw a lot of familiar faces out there, a large contingency of Canberrans. We spent a lot of hours later just watching the Olympics on the telly in the hotel room - very relaxing.
Stats from Gandalf 2
Distance: 14.12km
Time taken: 78:43 (official chip time: 80:25)
Average pace per km: 5:34
Calories burned: 824
Fastest km: 4:50
This afternoon Ewen was unable to join me for my mid-week run so I took my courage in my hands and ran on my own. I didn't start out until 5.15pm which was later than usual but I took my ipod for company and at the half-way point turned on my headlamp. I also wore ear warmers and was very glad of them on my return journey. My right leg has been playing up and is stiff and sore causing me problems sleeping. It was ok running C2S although it was aching the day before. On my run this evening it hurt for the first 5km then seemed to settle down and I managed to complete the run comfortably. By the time I reached Molonglo Reach it was dark and I turned on my headlamp. The second half of the run was tough. There was a bitterly cold fierce headwind and it was dark and I was a tad scared out there on my own. My imagination was working overtime and I turned my music up loud to drown out the noise of the wind! Ewen, I missed you out there - don't leave me alone again - eeeeeek! However, I made it home in record time avoiding a few potholes and running as fast as possible to try to find some light. I can't say I particularly enjoyed the experience but I'm glad I did it! It was very necessary as I have to squeeze into a new little black dress for an awards night tomorrow night! This of course means that I will miss training AND that Mr B and I will have to celebrate our anniversary dinner on Sat night instead!!
Distance: 14km
Time taken: 1:22:24
Average pace per km: 5:52
Calories burned: 829
Fastest km: 5:34
My son has sent me an interesting link to an article about how running after 50 slows the aging process. This seems to me a very good reason to continue running! Take a look http://www.theage.com.au/world/running-slows-aging-process-study-20080812-3tqg.html

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Only the Strong Survive!

Wednesday morning after a tough RPM class we had an equally tough abs class. Then after work I met up with Ewen for a 14km run. We were joined half way by Grant, a visitor from Sydney who was keen on running by the lake but unsure of directions. He was pleased to run some of the distance with us. Although cold it was a still night and the conditions were good. My garmin was playing up a bit and tells me I ran a faster pace than Ewen's garmin which was obviously incorrect but I'm still going to report what mine says cos it sounds better! Besides it felt fast even if it wasn't.
Total distance: 14km
Time taken: 1:22mins
Average pace per km: 5:57
Calories burned: 800

Thursday - speedygeoff's training at Dickson oval
Tonight would have had to be one of the coldest nights we have run at Dickson this winter. It was really really cold yet 9 people still managed to brave the freezing temperature and turn up for training. We started with a couple of loops of the entire oval then the main set was :
12 x [45secs fast followed by 75secs slow]
We then finished with a cool down loop of the oval.
Total distance: 8km
I did strip down to my t-shirt and off came the gloves but when I stopped it felt like I was going to freeze to bits so I jumped into a hot shower the moment I reached home and by the time I emerged Mr B had the dinner on the table. Aah, I love having a retired hubby who cooks me meals (on the nights he's home anyway)!

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Beyond the Bend

Oh dear me, I now have some catching up to do! On Saturday for some crazy reason I decided to run in the Cross Country 10km event from the Boathouse at the lake. It started at 1pm and by that time the wind had picked up and the weather was cold and bleak to say the least. I felt ok for the first half but after the turn-around it was like running uphill against the strong wind - really tough. I couldn't catch Caroline who finished 2 minutes ahead of me although she was only one place ahead. I finished 85th in a field of 95 - at least I wasn't last!!
Total distance: 10km
Time taken: 55:39
Average pace per km: 5:33
Calories burned: 617

Monday - speedygeoff's training at PH
Tonight was the first of the training for track season. After a couple of loops of PH for a warm-up our main session was a series of 400m fast/400m jog for 30 minutes running fast along a grassy bank edge beside the road just up to and around the bend in the road then a slow jog back to the start. We followed this with a cool down loop taking us back to the start. I found the first 4 fast 400m really tough, my legs didn't want to run. They felt very heavy perhaps because we had an extra track at RPM this morning or perhaps through lack of sleep. However by the 4th repeat I was feeling much stronger and felt I could have run more than the 6 fast repeats I managed in the time frame if only I hadn't been so slow at the start. It seems to take me ages to get into my stride and warm up properly in this bitterly cold weather although it was actually a still night with no wind which made it ideal conditions for training (just a pity it wasn't slightly warmer)!
Total distance: 9km

This morning I concentrated on my upper body strength at the gym and this afternoon I took an early mark to come home to re-make grand-daughter's 6th birthday cake - a mouse! My first attempt was a disaster as overnight it gradually sunk, sunk, sunk and all the innards slowly seeped out of the undercooked mouse! Attempt number two was considerably more successful - one brown chocolate mouse to be delivered safely to birthday girl tonight!