Ups and Downs!

It's almost two weeks since my last blog entry and so much has happened. I am currently back under physio treatment for sciatica. My back and left hamstring has been causing me grief and I have had to ease off the running over the past week or so. 

Track season commenced a couple of weeks ago and I went on the first Thursday but was out of action last week. 

Thursday 13 October - track

I arrived just in time to run once around the track (400m) before the first 3000m event. It took me 15:38 by my garmin although the official results say 15:49 which is even slower so I have lots of room for improvement! My back was hurting at this stage so I knew I was in trouble. I followed the run with the 1500m fitness walk where my garmin reads my time as 10:39 and the official results say 10:46. This is also slow but as this was the first track session of the season I hope my back allows me to speed things up a bit!

After these two events I went for a short warm down out of the AIS and up through the bushy trails with Ewen and his friend Bruce, who was visiting from Sydney. It was fun.

Total distance for night: 8.5km

Friday 14 October
I spent 3.5hours walking the streets collecting and delivering Avon books and later in the day took Teddy for an hour walk. I think in future I will wear my garmin as it's interesting knowing just how far I'm walking.

Saturday 15 Otober

I met Ewen and Andy at the war memorial and we ran a reasonably gentle middle distance run. We started and finished slowly but in the middle I was running at about 5:20 pace in order to keep up with the conversation! We passed a family of black swans with about 8 tiny cygnets - so cute and fluffy. I hope there are still 8 next time we run there! We ran from the war memorial past the ferry terminal and through the ANU grounds and back. After our run we enjoyed a reasonable coffee but there's room for improvement there too! I think the staff has changed and they need a new barista!

Total distance: 15m
Time taken: 1hr 34mins
Pace per km: 6:18

Monday 17 October

I did my usual gym session in the morning but my back was definitely worse and I made appointments with the physio on Wed and for a remedial massage next week.  It seemed wise not to go to training that night.

Tuesday 18 October

I opted to walk at Tuesday group this morning. I had delightful company and we walked briskly so I didn't feel like the morning was wasted. However we managed to become totally lost and didn't end up at our destination!

It probably didn't hurt to avoid a few hills at that stage anyway.

Total distance: 8km

In the afternoon I wore my garmin and walked for 6.2km with Avon and later took Teddy out for 5.2km. Every little bit of exercise must help although I must admit walking is not nearly as efficient as running:(

Total walking for day: 19.4km

Wednesday 19 October

For something different and to relieve the frustration of not running at BBQ Stakes I decided to go for a swim before my physio visit.

Total swim distance: 1km

Time taken: 26 mins

I was pleasantly surprised at how good this felt. I also had the spa afterwards and it felt wonderful as I sat there letting the jets ease my back.

Later I visited the physio who has given me some specific exercises to do religiously and I'm not supposed to run until my next visit. He checked my last MRI results and it does appear I have some discs out of alignment. Anti inflammatories and pain relief is currently needed. This is a problem that will flare up every now and then. I just hope the timing is not near my next event!

I took Teddy for a 5.3km walk later in the day.

Thursday 20 October
 Margaret and I had a fun day. We decided to take the dogs to Black Mountain Peninsula and wave to the Queen sailing past in her boat. It was a long wait for a fleeting glimpse of her lavendar hat but it was lots of fun especially taking the two Teddies for an 8km walk afterwards. They loved it, especially when we let them go for a swim in the murky water after a hot walk and chase sticks in the water.

Friday 21 October

I only managed to squeeze in a ten minute swim as the pool closed for the morning just after I started! In that time I swam 400m and then headed for the gym to change and do a workout before taking Teddy for his hour walk.

Saturday 22 October

I was a bit naughty and without the physio's ok I went for a short run from home. I ran slowly just testing to see how I would go. It hurt for the first half but I didn't feel too bad after that until much later!

Total distance of run: 10km

Later my daughter and her partner came for a visit from Sydney and we had a lovely family BBQ at our son's new house.

On Sunday afternoon I went for a swim again. I swam 1km in 26mins, stopped then swam 500m in 14mins and then another 250m before I had to stop with a severe cramp in my leg - ouch! But it felt great to be extending the length of that swimming.

Monday 24 October

First thing in the morning a 1.5hour workout at the gym concentrating on chest, biceps and abs plus my physio exercises. Then it was off to another physio appointment to check progress. I was given another elbow treatment in the butt and massage and an upgrade of exercises. Running has been cut back again. If I run BBQ Stakes on Wednesday and some events at track on Thursday then I must refrain from running after that until the handicap race on Sunday. 

Tuesday 25 October

Today our baby daughter turned 28. Now that's scary! It was pouring with rain for most of the day and as I had only planned to walk at Tuesday group Margaret and I decided to opt for coffee at the mall instead! Later in the afternoon when the rain had eased a little I took Teddy for a long rather wet walk for a total of 8km.

Wednesday work out!

This morning at the gym, after a warm-up on the cross trainer and 20 push ups, I worked on my back and triceps for 30minutes and did lots more push ups before taking part in a Yoga Fusion class. This is normally a Body Balance session but we had a stand-in leader today who took us for Yoga Fusion instead. There was heaps of very intensive stretching involved and parts of my body are still really sore from it. I'm not too sure if it did me any good or not! However, after hanging out the washing, I headed for Woden for the BBQ Stakes handicap. It had reached a sunny 20degrees by mid-day and felt a lot hotter than usual for the hilly run. Andy ran with me and Jen ran with Kerrie in a much later group. My handicap had been put back to 5:45 as I ran a PB last week. I was 19secs slower today but I still ran as fast as I could. I think the opposite direction which we ran last week suits me better!

Total distance: 6km (plus warm up)

Time taken: 35:04

Later, after a great catch up with Jen and Andy with coffee and lunch, I took Teddy for a pleasant walk in the sunshine. The weather is beaut if the wind doesn't blow.

Bling and a big catch up!

Oh golly gosh, how on earth will I remember what I have done over the past couple of weeks? I really must endeavour to keep my blog updated! I've been going to the gym three times a week working on different areas each time eg chest and biceps, back and triceps, shoulders and back and always abs. I have also been taking part in Body Balance classes once a week and often meet up with Miranda there which is heaps of fun.

Running has been as follows:

Saturday 1 October - long run

I ran 10km with Andy from the war memorial, round and past the museum and back to the ferry terminal where we met Ewen and ran through the wetlands with him and back to the war memorial.

Total distance: 20km

Time taken: 2:09

Sunday 2 October
I took Teddy for a run today. We always have a daily walk but about once a week I also take him for a run. He loves it!
Total distance: 10km

Monday 3 October - speedygeese session at Parliament House

We ran our usual warm up round PH  plus a jog to the rose garden for our main session. This was a winding undulating 200m finishing with an uphill into the rose garden. We ran a total of 12 efforts on 2:30mins including jogging back to the start each time.

We finished with a warm down jog and I ran a little extra at the end with speedygeoff to round up the distance.

Total distanc: 9km

Tuesday 4 October - Tuesday group at Black Mountain Peninsula

I ran with Alan today to the cork oak plantation, over gun barrel hill and near the arboretum. It was a tough hilly run and took longer than it should but I enjoyed the company and the off-road part of the run.

Total distance: 11km
Time taken: 1hr 8mins!


Wednesday 5 October - BBQ Stakes Handicap - Woden - Bling!

Today, being the first Wed of the month, we ran in the opposite direction as we do once a month. For some reason this seems to suit me better. We start on the uphill but the second half of the run has more downhills and by then I have warmed up and can run better. Although I had been to the gym and worked quite hard once I had run the first few kms I felt quite strong. I started with Jen and Andy and ran with them for the first 4km but then they ran ahead and I managed to keep them in sight most of the way. The other thing that happens when we run in this direction is that we nominate our team and of course I am part of the "retired" team. The exciting part was that our team won the challenge this month and I was selected to take home the trophy. Woo hoo, it is a bowl mounted on a block of wood with a plastic steak attached by a cord to the bowl to represent a BBQ! Great fun. Our team members also won a $20 voucher from the Runners Shop - yay! How exciting!

Total distance: 6km (plus 1km warm up)
Time taken: 34:45 (a PB at last)
What a great day!

Saturday 8 October

Over the weekend we drove to Sydney to visit our girls. We had a wonderful time. Before we left in the morning I ran from home towards Gungahlin and back along the cycle track.

Total distance: 10km
Time taken: 58:04

Monday 10 October
I didn't make it to the speedygeese session tonight. Instead I met up with Jen at the lake and we ran together over the bridges and round the museum. The wind was nasty a lot of the time and we had to hang on to our caps. The trouble with this time of the year is definitely the strong Spring wind, especially when it blows you backwards. It's like running uphill at times.
Total distance: 10km
Time taken: 1:01

Tuesday 11 October

Back to Tuesday group this morning. Margaret's car had a flat battery so I drove out to collect her and we made it to the start of the run with 2 minutes to spare! Today we ran the Haig Park route and I ran with Marilyn. It was good to run at her pace as I was feeling a bit stiff and sore, perhaps from the gym workout I did yesterday morning or perhaps backing up after running last night - not too sure, but I felt better the further we ran.

Total distance: 10km

There was an enormous spread today after the run celebrating 4 birthdays so the champagne was flowing and the home made goodies were extremely tempting! I walked the streets with my Avon books for a couple of hours in the afternoon trying to work off the excess consumption!