Monday, May 17, 2010

A Shorter Session with the speedygeese!

Tonight I arrived at training in time for the main session only. My hip is painful and I am being a bit careful until I have advice from the physio on Wednesday.
We ran two loops of Parliament House before the main session which was one practice loop then three 954m undulating loops incorporating a different exercise station on each loop - push-ups, chin-ups and tricep dips - eight of each.
We then ran a cool-down loop. It was really dark down there on the trails so it was good that a few of us had headlamps to light the way.
Total distance: 8km

Sunday, May 16, 2010

A Sunny Weekend of Running and Coffee ....

Or should that be coffee and running?? Canberra really excelled itself this weekend. The mornings were cold and crisp but as the sun came through the misty haze both days turned out to be gorgeous, sunny and a mild 17deg - fantastic Autumn weather for the middle of May.
Saturday
I met up with Andy at the War Memorial at 8.30am and we ran down to Molonglo Reach where Ewen joined us to run round the Duntroon Golf Course and past Campbell Park offices on the flat part of the trails and back again. Andy and I continued back to the war memorial while Ewen headed to Molonglo Reach where he collected his car and drove back to join us for coffee.
Total distance: 17km
Time taken: 1:50:59
Average pace per km: 6:30
It turned into a stunning day and we enjoyed great coffee and cake sitting outside the new cafe at the war memorial.

Sunday
This morning I met up with Thea, Ewen and Andy at the War Memorial at the very civilised hour of 9am. Although it was cool to start the sun soon warmed us up and it was just lovely out there. We ran along some of the Mt Ainslie track, past Campbell Park offices, through the wetlands, Kingston, Kings Avenue and back to the War Memorial along Anzac Parade keeping off-road as much as possible.
Total distance: 15km
Time taken: 1:36:52
Average pace per km: 6:27
Of course after the run we again headed for coffee at The Terrace restaurant at the War Memorial. Later Jen joined us for soup and a chat. It's so lovely sitting outside in the sunshine on these glorious days. It was also great to catch up with Thea again after such a long time. She is so well and happy.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Thursday training with the speedygeese

Tonight at Dickson Oval training we ran a couple of warm-up loops before running 850m repeats on handicaps. I started the first couple at zero handicap because my hamstring was hurting and I thought it would slow me down. However, after winning the first two repeats speedychief rehandicapped a few of us and gave me a handicap of 30secs for the next two repeats. I still won on the next 850m just sprinting past Caroline at the end but she was a long way ahead of me in the last round as she had truly warmed up by then!
My first 850m was 4:28, next 4:17, next 4:10 and last one 4:08.
Total distance: 7.5km
Strangely once I had warmed up properly my hamstring didn't feel so bad and I found I could push myself.
It was a cold night but very still and we became warm quite quickly!

A Few More Geese!

On Wednesday morning I returned to the gym for some strength work followed by the 15mins abs class and after work it was off to Parliament House to meet up with Jen, Chris and Andy for a short run in the cool of the evening. It had been a sunny but cold crisp day and I wore 3/4 length leggings and a long sleeved top and ear warmers throughout the entire run. We missed the company of Richard and Ewen tonight as we ran down past the lake and managed to keep in the reasonably well-lit places with the help of headlights.
Total distance: 10km











Photos: A few more speedygeese at the dinner. From top - chatting to Peter and Roger; with Chris; some of the geese at the table - Jen and Katherine, Jenny and Helen on the right, Peter talking to Caroline on the other side with Michelle in the distance; speedygeoff with Richard

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Some Happy Geese!























I decided to go for a pleasant run in the sun on Monday morning as we had our speedygeese dinner in the evening instead of training. It was a gorgeous sunny day and I was so lucky not to have to go to work. I found as many off-road trails as I could, some new discoveries behind the streets. It was fun. In fact I felt on a real high in the sunshine. It's not often I have the opportunity to run at that time of day in the sun in a perfect temperature. I ran down past the AIS and on to the O'Connor Ridge where there were some lovely undulations. I was almost sorry to turn and run back over even more trails home again but I have been very careful to run only short gentle distances since the marathon as my hamstring is still uncomfortable. It was a lovely run.
Total distance: 10.7km
Time taken: 1:08
Average pace per km: 6:20

The speedygeese dinner attracted a record number of 35 speedygeese with some partners. As always it was a very enjoyable evening. Thank you speedycoach!

Photos: two grinning geese - strewth and Yelena; Warwick; Cheers - Katherine; speedyjen; speedygeoff and Jenny






Saturday, May 08, 2010

Easing slowly back into it!

This morning I met up with Ewen at Molonglo at 9am - a very civilized hour for a run in the sun. It was a stunning morning - we ran on the sunny side of the trails and although the temperature was still only a few degrees at that time of day, it was very pleasant in the sunshine. We ran from Molonglo and past Campbell Park offices on the trails towards Mt Ainslie. It was pleasant, slow and fun. I was aware of the pain in my hamstring but it is definitely improving. It was good to run slowly and Ewen didn't seem to mind.
Later we met up with Liz at Campbell Shops for coffee where Andy joined us after his 23km run at the Cotter.
Total distance: 11km
Later still we drove out past Collector (about 40mins drive) for a wonderful family lunch at Grandma's Little Bakery - absolutely beautiful spot overlooking lots of little olive trees which are grown there. The countryside looked almost Tuscany-like - just lovely on a sunny Autumn day.

Thursday, May 06, 2010

First gentle run after the marathon

Tonight I joined the speedygeese at Dickson Oval. I ran a couple of warm-up laps of the oval with them and then just trotted gently round and round the track while they did speedy 800m repeats. I ran with Yelena most of the time but her ITB was playing up and she was hurting even more than me so had to stop a bit earlier. My hamstring is still very tight and I think it may require another physio visit and some more exercises before I can run normally again. Never mind, it was worth it!
It was bitterly cold tonight once the sun went down and I wore my skins, long sleeved top and ear warmers. As I didn't take part in the speed work I kept these on the entire session!
After the session finished we enjoyed some of Janene's beautifully home baked cookies - absolutely delicious!
Total distance: 7.7km
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Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Just a few Marathon photos - more to come!

Just a few photos courtesy of Nadine.

The official photos are not yet on the website.



Sunday, May 02, 2010

Inaugural National Capital Marathon DONE!

I am a very sore, tired but happy goose tonight! Yes, I'm happy because I finished and ran all the way in spite of a sore hamstring which niggled right from the start and did not improve with distance. However, the pain didn't become unbearable and I managed to finish and although my time was very slow I felt just so happy to finish my 9th Canberra Marathon. I am suffering now but it was worth it!
The conditions were perfect - a cool 2deg to start (brrr) but no wind and the sun streamed down as the day progressed. The early 7am start meant rising at 4.45am in order to digest a couple of pieces of toast and honey and leave home at 6am to arrive and park in plenty of time for a little warm up with Michelle and three nervous visits to the loo!
It was a well run event starting from Manuka Oval which had a plentiful supply of toilets and a special room for bags. It also included a stadium finish within the oval which was pretty exciting. The cheer squad was great.
I couldn't find the four hour balloon at the start and as a consequence I ran out too fast (again) as I assumed it was up ahead somewhere and was running to catch it! After about 2km along came Roger with the four hour balloon - oops! Later when I checked my garmin I discovered I had run the first km in 5:20 and the second km in 5:30 which is a bit fast for my prospective time and may explain why the balloon just ran on past and I didn't catch it again!
At the 5km mark I sighted Margaret who was running the half marathon and I ran with her until she turned off on the half marathon course at the 15km point. It was great running with someone at that stage and I was hoping she would make it in under two hours but unfortunately she missed out by a few minutes. However, she still came second in her age group. :)
After leaving Marg I plugged in my music to keep me company for the long hard run ahead. I had forgotten about all the undulations on that course and the bitumen which is so hard on the body. It was fun to see so many familiar faces out there and I remembered to smile for all the cameras along the way (hopefully) and the lovely encouraging spectators and volunteers.
This was an inaugural running weekend and I would think the Cross Country Club would be very happy with the way it turned out. It was great fun having the half marathoners run with the marathoners for the first 15km. There were lots of late entries. In fact they had only catered for 300 marathoners and 400 decided to run. As a consequence the last 100 have their medals posted to them so I was very lucky to receive one. I also received a medal for finishing third in my age group - amazing! Mind you the other two winners in my age group (Claire and Maria) did times of 3.40 and 3.42 respectively - fantastic!
It was a good day. I loved the finish and found a little bit of extra oomph in me to sprint past Katherine over the finish line - woo hoo! I think it was just that great crowd cheering us on, including my workmates who had brought huge pink pom poms and were screaming out my name. It was so cool. My son and grandchildren were there at the finish too which was just lovely. Mr B ran the half in 1hr 42mins so didn't quite beat his 1hr 40mins goal but I think he ran really well! There were some great times out there and lots of PBs were set and lots of first time marathoners who ran great times.
Later it was great to catch up with so many friends who had all run so well, including the lovely Norma (Lucky Legs) who, at age 80, had finished the half marathon in 2hrs 17mins - amazing effort.
The results are already on the website.
Total distance: 42.195km
Time taken: 4hrs 18min 22secs (2nd slowest time I have run)
Average pace per km: 6:07
Place in age group: 3rd
Place overall: 285th (out of 377 finishers)
Calories burned: 2,482
Next year I will run faster (does that sound familiar?) as it will be my year to become a Griffin when I will have run ten Canberra marathons - yay, not to be missed!