Cows, Kangaroos and HILLS!

It was bleak out there today, cold, damp and generally grey! I went to my Body Balance class at 6.15am at the gym and thought this might help loosen me up for my run later - wrong!

After taking Teddy for his walk I set off for a hilly run - big mistake! It hurt, in fact it hurt heaps. I headed towards North Lyneham Ridge and seeing a herd of cows in front of me I headed in the opposite direction. At 2.5km I faced a very large group of kangaroos eyeing me suspiciously. I 'walked' past them (some were VERY large) and once safely past continued on my slow hilly jog. Of course eventually it was inevitable I would return to the cows as it was a loop after all. Now one of those cows had horns and looked suspiciously like a bull. Again I walked past talking calmly to them and then I broke into a run. I've heard enough stories of bulls to know I didn't want to argue with one. That was probably the fastest 100m of the run. When I found a hole in the fence I leapt through it and only then dared to look back. Those cows and Mr Bull had not moved a centimetre. They just stared at me with big brown eyes thinking "silly old woman"! Oh well, it made for an interesting morning.

Actually, there was a lot of walking involved in today's "run". I found the hills extremely hard and I worry about Sunday's hilly handicap as it is one of the hardest on the calendar and I have not been training on hills since my hamstring has been playing up so much. There could be lots of walking involved!

I'm so lucky to have squeezed in my run this morning as now the rain is bucketing down, absolutely bucketing.

Total distance: 7.5km

History has been made in Australia today!

Wednesday

7am - abs class at the gym followed by upper body strength work

After the physio in the morning and Teddy's walk I went for a run, along the cycle path past Giralang where I met up with Margaret and we ran down to the lake and part of it before turning back and separating at the cycle track again to return to our respective homes. It was great having company for part of the run.

Total distance: 15.3km

This was the furthest I have run for some time and although it was a slow pace I was happy to have run that far. The physio had been using the elbow treatment in my butt (ouch) and this did loosen up the hamstring to a certain extent although there was still a fair amount of discomfort. I am currently only running every second day.

Thursday

Today, after Teddy's walk, I cycled down the track to meet Margaret again and this time we cycled around the lake stopping halfway for the most delicious date and walnut toast and coffee before continuing on round the rest of the lake. I could get very used to this not working life!

And this morning it was announced that Australia has a new Prime Minister. Yes we now have a red haired female to lead our nation - the first female Australian PM ever - an historical day indeed. Congratulations Julia Gillard - long may you reign!

Moving forward ever so slowly!

I have slowly been returning to running without walking, managing about a slow 11km, sometimes with Ewen, sometimes on my own and yesterday I finally returned to the speedygeese training still injured but running slowly. It was lovely to see everyone after such a long break. We ran the warm up loops of Parliament House followed by a 450m loop from the rose garden with the flat sandy stretch (200m) by the road supposedly being run fast. This was repeated as many times as possible in 20minutes. My 'fast' is still slow but it was good to be back.

The physio has decided my problems with the hamstring stem from the sciatic nerve so my 'friend',who is cruel to be kind, has become the tennis ball. In fact I am sitting on one as I write this so it may be a bit erratic as I wriggle in pain!

I have also returned to bike riding. After a little taster on Sunday afternoon I decided to go for a longer ride today with Margaret. It was fun and now I have the bug. It was cold out there but with several layers and a great coffee break on the way it was defnitely to be repeated! At this stage I am only running every second day until I can run with less discomfort so the cycling is good cross training as will be more regular trips to the gym.

Mr B has arrived in Nice, France with his bike. He will be away some weeks, following some of the Tour de France on his bike and going to car races in Italy and the UK. He's also attending the Alfa Romeo centennary in Milan. I envy him the warm weather as we shiver here in Canberra!

My puppy Teddy is now nine weeks old and can now walk for 30minutes but he does need a little rest half way through. I can relate to that little Teddy!

A Slow Return!

I am slowly returning to running after a hip injury and a continuing hamstring problem. Injuries are a pain literally and I have been walking/running very slowly every second day. I ran/walked 11km with Ewen on Saturday followed by a great catch up coffee with Liz, Victoria, Andy and Ewen. I have been really missing running with the speedygeese and do hope to return gradually to proper training next week.

Today I managed to run an hour without stopping so I guess that's progress finally. However, I can't imagine running the Gold Coast Half in a few weeks so I still expect to have to downgrade to the 10km and even that will be slow. I am finding this very frustrating indeed.

On the upside my new little labradoodle puppy Teddy came to live at our home on Saturday (just 8 weeks old) and he has settled in very quickly. He's funny, cuddly and ever so cute. I'm really looking forward to the day he'll be able to run with me. So far I have managed to persuade him to walk to the corner and back (only about 5 houses away) so it could take a while!!

Photos: A Bali temple, Teddy our puppy, notsospeedy geese at a massage parlour, Balinese woodcarver

Reflections from a Senior Citizen

I qualified for the above title a couple of weeks ago when I celebrated my 60th birthday in Bali. It was a lovely relaxing week with massages, cocktails, swimming and lots of long walks. The temperature was 31deg every day but we did encounter daily storms and overcast skies. The Balinese people are delightful, always smiling and friendly.

After a visit to the physio just before the trip I was advised not to run until visiting him on my return. This I did on Wed and was told to just run/walk a maximum of 40mins every second day until I see him again this coming Wed. To make matters worse I went to Bali with a sore throat which gradually became worse and this past week back in Canberra it has turned into a nasty cold. I have also been advised that my current part-time job, where I have been working for just over 12 months, is being reinvented into a full-time position and consequently as from Friday I will be retiring for the second time, for a few weeks anyway as I'm sure I will continue to work somewhere else for a few days a week.

However, I do have some exciting news. From next weekend I will have a new addition joining our family in the shape of a cute cuddly puppy called Teddy. Teddy is a gift from my children for my birthday and he is just beautiful. He is a labrador crossed with a poodle and as his mum is a gorgeous gentle dog I am hoping for the same - no doubt with a little puppy mischief on the way!!

Yesterday I ran/walked my first 40mins and it was uncomfortable and strange. I will run again in the morning but it is frustrating as I have been advised not to return to training sessions for a while. As I have entered the Gold Coast Half Marathon already I may have to do a re-think nearer the event and change to the 10km race instead perhaps.