Wednesday's Activities

6.15am - RPM class at the gym - yes indeed, even on holiday I rose at 5.30am and went to my RPM class and raised a sweat - phew!

7am - killer abs class - ouch!

5.50pm - Run

I met up with Ewen, Chris and Andy at Parliament House for our mid-week run. We tried to keep in the shade where possible as it was still really hot at that time of day but it was great to catch up with the "boys" before the New Year. We ran down to the lake and through the wetlands, Molonglo Reach and back to PH - a pleasant little run with good company.

Total distance: 13.14km

Time taken: 1:22:20

Average pace per km: 6:15
Calories burned: 771

Warm days, balmy evenings!

Yesterday the plan was to go to the movies in the late afternoon. However, when we arrived the theatre was packed and all the movies we wanted to see were full. Next time we'll plan it a bit better!

This did mean that at 7.40pm I took off for a run. It was still quite light and warm although I battled a head wind during the course of the run. However, I did manage a marginal negative split on the return trip - a very pleasant time of day and I was extremely hungry for my dinner on my return. Leftovers are still in my fridge which results in very little meal preparation - one of the benefits of over-catering at Christmas time!

Total distance: 8km
Time taken: 46:12
Average pace per km: 5:46
Calories burned: 469

Return of the wayward blogger!

As we approach the end of December it is time to update my blog once again. A big thank you to Susan and Ewen who have helped me sort out my lost header and motivated me to return to my long overdue blogging. I have continued running, gym sessions and training including speedygeoff's sessions and Ewen's drills. It would be too tedious to record them for the past three weeks so once more I will start fresh and restart my blog from yesterday.

However, I will include my total distances over the past few weeks to help me compare them when I check this space next year!

Week ending Sun 13 Dec: 68km

Week ending Sun 20 Dec: 55km

Week ending Sun 27 Dec: 33km (oh dear - that was Christmas week!)

Monday 28 December

Early run with a few speedygeese: 7km

Main session at 5.30pm: We ran relays from the Rose Garden Steps, a repeat of our last week's session: teams of two running two laps fast and one lap slow, repeated over and over for 20 minutes. My team member was Jodie. It was good fun but hard work especially running up the steps on the course.

Total distance for day: 14km

Belated Christmas wishes to you all! I know I will now need to run that little bit further to counteract that over- indulgence to which most of us succumb!

And tonight it's raining!

Monday training at Parliament House

I arrived at 4.30pm, in time to run the 8km warm-up in the heat of the sun with Helen, Ewen and speedygeoff. Then back to PH for the main session. There was a great turn out tonight, many more than last week and even a couple of new starters - always good.

We ran our usual warm-up loops of PH before heading for the grassy slopes in front of PH. We ran in teams of three. I was in a team with Bron and Jodie. Bron kept us honest speeding up the hills. We ran in zigzags down the grassy slope and up the straight edges as fast as possible to tag the next team member and jog slowly down the hill as we waited for our next tag. It was exhausting but fun and good to do something different avoiding the frisbees flying across us and runners from other teams as we crossed diagonally down the grassy slope.

Total distance: 16.14km

Calories burned: 922

Tuesday

As I had babysitting duties in the evening I ran early before work and managed to squeeze in 8km listening to my music and thoroughly enjoying the pleasant temperature at that time of day.

Total distance: 8km
Time taken: 48mins
Average pace per km: 6mins (can't go wrong with that maths Ewen)!
Calories burned: 470

Ending the week well

Thursday - A big night at Track

On Thursday at track I decided to enter a few events. First I ran the 3000m at 6pm. It was hot and dry and I only managed a very short warm-up first.

Distance: 3000m
Time taken: 15:27:20
Average pace: 5:12

Next I entered the 2000m walk - an event I really enjoy and it's a great way of warming up for the next event.

Distance: 2000m fitness walk
Time taken: 13:44:42

And for some strange reason I felt the urge to enter the Higgins Handicap 800m event which attracted a huge field.

Distance: 800m

Time taken: 3:44

800m is not a distance which I find easy. I did my best and picked up in the last 200m but I am still very slow. After the run I coughed and coughed and coughed. I know a lot of people suffer from the 800m cough but this was ridiculous as I wasn't even fast. I sucked on a mint, drank water but the dry air didn't help. My throat was still dry and tickly when I lined up at the start of the Parlouf Relays, a new event for me.

We were divided into mixed ability groups of five and each team member had to run 400m, 300m, 200m and 100m making a total of 5000m It was lots of fun. Our team did end up coming last but it was a really good fun event and nobody minded about the end result!

Distance: 1km

Total distance for night including warm-up: 8km

Saturday Run

The majority of the Molonglo group started their run at 7am but Ewen, Andy and I started at 7.30am giving us an extra half hour to rest! Ewen led us over 13 bridges, the extra 2 bridges being in Telopea Park where we ran through the "finish" of the Canberra Marathon which sadly probably won't even happen next year due to dispute about ownership.

We ran and talked and didn't worry about the pace.

Total distance: 20km
Time taken: 2:16:49
Average pace per km: 6:50
Calories burned: 1174

Later we joined the rest of the group for a picnic morning tea by the lake enjoying Carol's yummy Christmas cake.

Sunday - Drills

On Sat night I went with a friend to see Glen Campbell in concert. It was fantastic and scarily enough I knew nearly all the songs! On Sunday as I had a load of things to do in the morning we decided to do our drills session in the late afternoon. I met up with Jen, Janene and Ewen at Parliament House and off we ran for our warm-up run and drills session on the flat grass by the road near the portrait gallery. Lots of cars drove past but we just kept going probably providing plenty of entertainment!

Unfortunately I had to run off soon after the session started, back to PH carpark where the nearest toilets were situated and ended up missing part of the session but was still able to complete some strides, schoolyard skipping, tricky high knees, butt kicks and carioca - I think I might be improving just a little. Janene was a star at carioca. After a few wines I think we might be quite an act, just need to call LL to join us! We also ran a little session of forwards/backwards with Ewen clapping behind us to indicate a change of direction. It was all quite fun. Then off we ran to a steep hill on the west side PH where we ran 6 x 10 sec 'Brad Hudson' hill sprints with a full recovery between each sprint. After that we ran gently back to the start. It was a fun session and great company.

Total distance: 8km

Total distance for week: 77km

A New Starter for our Wednesday Group

Tuesday - Run and Drills

As I was on rostered duty at the cross country run in the afternoon I decided to give the gym a miss and do my Peter Magill drills this morning before work. I ran 2.5km to a reasonable oval and selected a flattish grassy area of about 50-60m:

3 repeats of the following jogging or walking back to the start each time

• 3 x strides to start then 1 length of strides between each set
• schoolyard skipping
• high skips
• flat foot marching
• carioca (left and right - slight improvement I think but still a bit weird - good for the hips)
• high knees
• butt kicks

Then I ran home. As my hammie was a bit dodgy I omitted the skip kicks this time.

Distance: 8.5km

After doing my roster duty at the cross country by recording names before and after the event and inserting ID numbers I joined Ewen and Maria for a short warm-down run - great conditions.

Distance: 4km
Total distance for day: 12.5km

Wednesday
6.15am- RPM at gym
7am - 15mins abs class
5.45pm - Run from Parliament House

Tonight Richard joined Jen, Andy, Ewen and I for a pleasant run past the National Gallery and on to Lake BG anti-clockwise through the Wetlands, Molonglo Reach and back via Kings Ave Bridge. The temperature was at its hottest for the day but was a very manageable 24deg - still and beautiful. We discussed plans for our picnic/bbq next Wed. It was fun and great company as always.

Total distance: 12.5km

Time taken: 1:18:34

Average pace per km: 6:17

Calories burned: 729