Fun Times Abound!

There is no doubt that this is a busy time of year preparing for Christmas and all that entails. I have been busy making gingerbread men and decorating our Christmas tree this afternoon. Just before lunch I sped off for a run in the sun - yes, that yellow ball in the sky bravely appeared today and it was hot and humid. There were still huge puddles and fallen tree branches to avoid and as I had scheduled a 1km time trial it was difficult to find an unbroken km stretch. In the end I ran two 1km time trials and chose the second one which was marginally faster.

This is my last week of my 12week body transformation program. I'm not exactly transformed but I have definitely lost weight and am eating much better. Next weekend is the culmination of all that hard work when CJ and I head for Sydney to take part in "pain in the domain" before the celebration party that night with an after party to follow. On the Monday night Mr B and I have tickets to see U2 in concert at Homebush. That too should be an amazing experience. Good times, fun times!

It has been a couple of weeks since I blogged and the weather has been wet. That is an understatement. We have had the wettest spring on record and since the start of summer it has rained almost every day and more is expected. The grass and gardens look amazing but I have to admit I love it when the sun shines and we can run without heading for cover when the thunder roars.

Back to my blog continuing on from my last entry -

Tuesday 23 November

I started the morning with yoga before work.

At 6.15pm I headed for the last official ACT Cross Country Club spring series run. It was held at Weston Park and after a 1km warm up on rough ground the main event was 5km. I ran it even slower than the week before in 28:51 which is an average pace of 5:52 per km. After the run Ewen, speedygeoff and I ran a 4km cool down to make a total for the day of 9km.

Wednesday 24 November

Because I went to a gingerbread house making class this evening I couldn't make my usual Wed group run after work. I did however go to the gym in the morning for strength work followed by the abs class.

Thursday 25 November

I wasn't feeling 100% when I went to track tonight (probably from nibbling at the lollies while making the gingerbread house) and as a consequence didn't compete in the walk or the 1500m events. Instead I ran the 3000m and the spiral at the end of the night. My 3000m time was slower than usual 15:19 (average pace 5:06per km) - no PB tonight! However in the spiral I felt much stronger and ran the 7 laps (2.98km) in 14:48. I must have had a second wind (no pun intended)!

Friday 26 November - Bodybalance or my weekly stretching class - great!

Saturday 27 November

I met up with Ewen, Andy, Jen and CJ at the War Memorial from where we ran round the Mt Ainslie track and down to the lake and round the wetlands, Kingston etc. It was good to have all that company and later Liz joined us for coffee at the Campbell Shops.

Total distance: 16km

Sunday 28 November - Vets' Handicap Run

It was not a pleasant day weather-wise and not many people lingered afterwards as the heavens opened. The last handicap of the year was held at Weston Park and because the ground was soggy and the weather had been so bad the course was changed slightly to an out and back course. It was fun to catch up with people but it was also very muddy and slushy and I ran with due caution as I didn't want to slip and fall. Later I enjoyed a very pleasant coffee with some of my running mates at the War Memorial cafe where we warmed up again after shivering in the rain.

Handicap group: 27

Finish place: 57th out of 87

Distance: 7km (plus 1km warm up)

Time taken: 39:44

Average pace per km: 5:41

Age percentile: 72.7%

Monday 29 November

6:30am - strength work at the gym

7:30am - swim 600m

5.30pm - speedygeoff's training at PH

As it was still raining when it was time to start the training and a few soggy runners had just returned from their early run we opted to train in the carpark - round and round for the warm up and cool down and the main session was hill repeats as fast as possible for one side of the carpark which slopes upwards - 12 of them. We ended up racing each other in pairs and it turned into an excellent workout. Naturally we all prefer to be outside in the fresh air but preferably without the rain!

Approximate distance: 8km

Tuesday 30 November

It was another very wet day and instead of heading to the cross country run at a soggy Stromlo I headed for the RPM class at the gym - probably a wise decision! It was a really good work out.

Wednesday 1 December - First day of a wet summer!

6.30am - strength work in gym followed by 15mins abs class

No running tonight as our Wed group had a party instead which proved to be heaps of fun - lots of food, laughs and charades which turned into an absolute hoot. We have such a great little group.

Thursday 2 December

Another really really wet day and this time track at the AIS was officially cancelled. Instead I once more headed for the gym and ran 5km on the dreaded treadmill. I did hill intervals and I absolutely dripped. I felt like I had run 20km by the time I ran 5km. I am not at all used to the treadmill and it felt like really really hard work, not something I would ever choose over running outside but it could happen more often if the rain and storms persist. At least I have the option.

Friday 3 December - my usual body balance class - I love Fridays.

Saturday 4 December

I met up with Ewen and Andy at 7.45am for a run to the lake from the War Memorial. This time we ran an out and back course to the hill near Scrivener Damn and just past the ferry terminal we met up with speedygeoff heading towards us. He turned and ran another 5km out and back with us which was great. The best part is it didn't rain. It was overcast but very very humid as obviously a storm was brewing later in the day. We were all dripping wet (especially the boys) on our return journey. We left speedychief at the ferry terminal and continued on back to the war memorial to meet up with CJ at the cafe for a great coffee and chat. It was a slow run but good to be building up the distance again.

Total distance: 20km

Time taken: 2hrs 12mins

Average pace per km: 6:37

Later in the afternoon I had just left the house to take Teddy for his walk when the thunder started rumbling in the distance. I had no jacket or rain gear with me so we started to run. Then the heavens opened, the rain pelted down and the inevitable happened. Teddy ran across me, I tripped on his lead, sprawled on the soggy ground, partly landing on him. He yelped and pulled away on to the road - eek, fortunately I still had hold of the lead, pulled him back, scrambled up and we jogged on to the corner and home. We both looked like drowned rats, literally. Teddy has very long shaggy hair and it was all sticking to him and as for me, when we finally reached our front door and Mr B let us in, he burst out laughing at the sight that greeted him. I had to peel everything off before daring to go any further indoors. Oh boy, wet, bruised and very sorry for myself I towel dried the poor dog (who didn't seem to mind one bit) and headed for a hot shower! Not great timing - so lucky to get in that beautiful run this morning!

Sunday 5 December

This is where I started this blog entry and my total distance including two time trials was 8km.

Monday 6 December

This morning I headed for the gym to spend over an hour pumping iron and working on my abs before going to the pool and swimming a km. Woo hoo, I was very happy to manage a km as that's the furthest I have swum in over twelve months. Tonight is the speedygeese Christmas party at Pialligo - we are so lucky to have a wonderful venue. Here's hoping the rain stays away. It has rained again today of course but currently the sun is struggling through. It should be another fun night.

This is my last week at work. Yay, I may finally be able to keep my blog up-to-date and catch up with all the Christmas "to do" list after we return from Sydney on Tuesday.

Photos: Richard, Ewen, Andy at our Wed group celebration.

Gingerbread houses