Inclement Weather!

Brrr, it's been cold, wet and windy over the past few days. On Wednesday I had the afternoon shift at work and it rained and it rained. In the morning, just by way of a change, I went to a Cross Training class at the gym. It was a mix of cardio, weights and abs work and was quite challenging. It was a good workout and quite different from what I usually do. 

On Thursday all sportsgrounds were closed due to the recent steady rain. I worked until 2pm when I met Ewen for a coffee catch up before driving home to take Teddy out with me for my run. I was lucky in my timing as we avoided the rain. It was a good run and we both enjoyed it.

Total distance: 7km

This morning I went to my usual Friday Body Balance class for necessary stretching. Of course Teddy still had his long walk with me this afternoon. It was not a very pleasant day but there were only a few drops of rain as we walked.

Tomorrow the plan is to run a longer run incorporating the Parkrun. Fingers crossed the weather isn't too unkind.

My 1000th Post

Wow, I've finally reached 1,000 posts for this blog. It's taken a few years! This morning it was cold and bleak outside, a day for catching up with things around the house, but as mid-day approached the sun came out and it was time to take Teddy out. It was stunning at that time of day and he had a great off lead run on the grass and in and out of the drains.

Teddy ready for his run

I made it to Speedygeese at Dickson Oval by 5.10pm and managed to fit in a large loop outside the oval giving me a good warm up before the session began. It was a mild evening although there was one very cold patch on the straight.

Only 7 of us turned up for the main session of training plus our speedy leader. Miranda had run early for the 8km with speedygeoff and Kelley had joined them. Miranda left after our warm up leaving Colin, Kelley, Kym, Margaret, Mick, Rod, speedychief and me. After our warm up loop our main session consisted of 400m fast loops of the oval with 400m slow running in the opposite direction between each rep. This was for a total of 30mins. Then we ran a warm down loop of the oval. Colin and Rod were much speedier than anyone else and were neck and neck most of the way.

Total distance including my early warm up: 9km

It's a rare occurrence these days to be able to make it to the Dickson training as I often have the afternoon shift at work and as it's the other side of town it makes it impossible to make it in time for the session so I was particularly happy to be able to run with the speedygeese today!

Speedygeese on a public holiday

After my push ups and planks this morning, I prepared lamb shanks for the slow cooker and put it on to cook for the day. Mr B and I then went for a swim at CISAC. It was busy when we arrived as it was Queen's birthday weekend and a public holiday but people were drifting off by lunchtime and it was a bit quieter for the last few laps. Initially I had a few problems with leaking goggles but finally I sorted them out and had a good swim - 1200m in total. Mr B swam 1500m. Then I sat in the spa for ten minutes of luxury before we headed home. 

This evening after visiting our grandchildren in the afternoon, I headed off for training at Parliament House. There were very few of us there tonight, only five plus our speedyleader - Andrew, Craig, speedygeoff, Jen, Me and Sarah - all fast runners, except this slow goose! Ewen had run 8km earlier with speedygeoff but left before the main session as he is only just returning to running. 

We ran the usual warm up and then headed down to the lake through the tunnel. I was glad I was wearing a headlamp as in parts it was quite dark. Our main session was running from the other side of the tunnel up through it and on the grass up to the cone left by our speedyleader and jogging back to the start. The distance to the cone was 140m and it was on an incline which felt quite steep after a few repeats and my hammie complained! We repeated this 12 times, each on 2minutes. Then we ran back to our starting point at Parliament House.

Total distance: 7.5km

Oh my, it was so lovely to arrive home to the smell of slow cooked lamb wafting out to greet me. Mr B had cooked the veges to go with it and after a quick shower dinner was served - mmmm, so yummy!

Trailing the Hills

This afternoon, after a successful shopping expedition with Mr B, buying necessary homewares in the sales, we headed off with Teddy for an undulating trail run. I wanted to test my new Brooks Adrenaline trail shoes in some tough hilly conditions. We ran from home to North Lyneham ridge and over that through North Lyneham to O'Connor Ridge and round part of one of  the vets' monthly handicap courses, returning past the AIS and home through the suburbs, off the hilly trails where I put Teddy back on his lead. He had a great run and I must say it was good to run the trails again as it's been ages. Gee I noticed all those hills though. Mr B was flying but I managed to keep him in my sights although he did have to stop and wait for me a couple of times.

Total distance: 10km

Time taken: 1:04 (yes, I was very slow on those hills) 

Average pace: 6.30

Calories burned: 563

Running in the Parkrun on Saturday

No PB for me today

Last night I watched the movie The Green Mile on telly and I absolutely loved it. Trouble is it ended at 12.20am this morning (being almost 4 hours long) and my alarm was set for 5.55am - not much time for a good sleep! However I was up as soon as the alarm rang, did my planks, had a piece of white toast and half a banana and prepared for my 5km run to the start of the Gindy Parkrun. It was minus 2 degrees outside and I layered up with skins under shorts, t-shirt, long sleeved top, spray jacket, ear warmers, cap and gloves. At least I had warmed up by the start of the event. I met up with Marg there and Mr B was a volunteer. I stripped down to a t-shirt but kept on my long skins under my shorts and wore my earwarmers and gloves. I felt as though I was running well but my time definitely did not reflect this. After the Parkrun finished I chatted to a few friends before running back home. Marg ran well achieving a PB and was only a minute behind me. Next Friday night the goal will be an early night! Let's see if I can improve my time finally.

Distance of Parkrun: 5km

Time taken: 28:30

Age percentage: 70.06%

Place in age group: 1st (I'll have a shock if someone else runs in my age group)!

Overall place: 80th (out of 111)

Total distance of run: 15km

Once home I had a quick shower, donned my uniform and drove off to work for the rest of the day at The Runners' Shop.

Speedygeese at Kaleen - Better Late than Never!

Wednesday

I managed a short run before heading off to the dentist and then a lovely lunch with CJ in the city. It was not warm and I was on a time frame so had to be brief.

Total distance: 7km

Thursday

I started the day with an early breakfast with good friends (a belated birthday treat) before heading for the hairdresser. I started the afternoon shift at work at 12noon. Today I worked with Kathy and as we both wanted to join the speedygeese for some of the training we were glad it wasn't too busy and we could lock up on the dot of closing time before heading for the busy parkway and back to Kaleen oval. I detoured home and ran from there as the oval is only 800m from my house. It was quite a mild evening and well lit although busy tonight and we had to avoid a few dogs and soccer balls. We arrived 30minutes after the start time but at least some training is better than no training. After an 800m further warm up round the perimeter of the oval I ran five 200m sprints with Kathy and Maria (I use the term "with" loosely as I ran behind them but it was a good way of making me run as hard as I could). We then ran a few more loops of both ovals joining the rest of the participants. Speedygeese tonight were Clint, Colin, Rod, speedychief, Kathy, me, Maria and Susan. I was glad I made it for half of the session. I tried out my brand new Brooks Adrenaline ASR trail shoes tonight. They were great on the uneven ground and didn't feel too heavy. I'm looking forward to trying them out on the hilly trials.

Total distance: 7km

A Speedy Session at Parliament House

Kim, speedygeoff, Me, Marg & Andy waiting for the start of the Australian Mountain Running Championships - photo courtesy of Ewen

Sunday dawned bleak and wet. It had rained overnight and continued for most of the morning making it very cold and miserable weather for the Australian Mountain Running Championships at West Stromlo. I collected Marg and we drove there at 8am to watch our speedy buddies. We had planned to go for a gentle run inbetween events but that didn't happen. Instead we shivered on the sidelines huddled under brollies and wearing gloves and several layers under rain jackets. It was amazing to watch. Our speedygeese - Kelley, Mick, Kym and Caroline all ran really well. In fact Kelley and Caroline won their respective age groups. It looked like a really tough steep course.

After we had watched our friends finish Ewen, Marg and I headed to Scope for a coffee as it was walking distance. After last week's bad experience it was a bit of a risk. However, this time we were pleasantly surprised. We sat at a table inside in the warm and the service was reasonably fast, probably due to less people being there, possibly because of the weather!

As we sat there looking through the window the sun came out and it turned into a pleasant afternoon, perfect for taking Teddy for a brisk 6km walk.

That night Mr B and I went to see The Great Gatsby at the movies. We saw the original of this movie in 1974 with Mia Farrow and Robert Redford. This was a remake and came to us quite fresh after so many years.It was a great night.

Yesterday, Monday, the sun shone and it was lovely for the majority of the day after an overnight temperature of minus 2 degrees. First up I took Teddy to the vet to check out his ear and buy some drops. Next stop the pool where I swam 1200m before enjoying a spa followed by a coffee. Then off to deliver some Avon before enjoying my yummy pumpkin and ginger soup for lunch which I made yesterday. This was followed by a 7km brisk walk with Teddy as I walked to Miranda's house to deliver Avon.

Then off to Parliament House for a speedygeese training session. It was great to see Marilyn there as I didn't expect to see anyone near my slow pace and she is good company. I forgot my Garmin which I had left charging. However, judging from speedychief's garmin our session was about 6.5km - short and sharp!

After our warm up we were put into relay teams of three. I was with Clint and Andrew who are both extremely fast. I chose to run as first runner as I figured the boys could do the catching up roles. We ran 200m sprints to tag our team member who ran the next 200m back to tag team member 3. It meant a little break but not long as I had fast team members. It was hard work and I was pleased to stop after 20minutes when we headed to a little hill which SG had discovered by accident on our warm up loop. It was about 40m and we ran up it several times doing different drills on the way up to make it interesting. We finished with our usual cool down loop of PH and jellybeans!

Total distance by SG garmin: 6.5km (short and sharp)

This morning, Tuesday, I woke to a white frosty world. I didn't run out the door with Teddy until 9am when the sun was shining brightly but it was still very crisp and cold and some of the grass on our way was still white where the sun hadn't yet shone. Both my ankles were painful and my left hamstring is really playing up but it still felt great to be alive this morning. There's nothing quite like running with music in one ear and Teddy running off his lead as we ran off road and enjoyed the feel of the sun on our skin. Now I am heading off to work for the afternoon shift leaving Teddy happy to lie in the sun after his lovely little run.

Total distance: 6km

The Week (and two days) in Review

On Friday morning, a week ago, Mr B and I drove through to Berry in the Alfa for my birthday surprise. We stayed in a delightful  Bed and Breakfast overnight in the little country village. On the way we stopped for lunch at The Green Grocer, one of our favourite cafes in Goulburn. Here we contacted our good friend Charlie who called in to sit and chat with us.It was so lovely to see her.

Berry is such a pretty place. We arrived in pouring rain and the plush green countryside reminded me of New Zealand. We had an explore before going out for a delicious meal in one of the few restaurants that were open.

Berry B & B

Next morning, Saturday, the sun was shining when we went for a 7km run along the undulating country trails working up an appetite for breakfast. Later we had more of an explore of the quaint little shops and drove home with a detour to check out Shoalhaven beach. We drove home a different way avoiding some of the very big undulations.

Shoalhaven Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday we headed out to the Veterans' Monthly Handicap run at West Stromlo, an undulating course that finishes uphill. We were lucky with the weather as although it was foggy and cloudy it didn't rain and the wind was slight. Later a group of us went for a disappointing coffee at The Scope. We had to sit in the foyer and it was really cold. Some of us girls used provided crocheted rugs to wrap around us to give us some warmth.

Total run: 7.5km

Time taken: 46:25

Average pace per km: 6:11

Finish place: 18th (out of 92)

Handicap group: 15

Age percentage: 70.4%

The best part of the morning was that Margaret won the Bronze medal. That was exciting but her handicap will be amended accordingly!

This Week in Review - Planks every day of 2mins 15secs; daily walks with Teddy

Monday - 

Swim 1.1km

Run with Margaet - 11.5km

No training at Parliament House as we had our SG dinner at Phnom Pen - a lovely night.

Tuesday 

Run with Teddy - 5km

Work

Thursday

Run 8km from home

Work

Night - Thank you nibbles and drinks at the Tradies for volunteers and officials at the Australian Masters Athletics which were held two months ago

Friday

Body Balance at gym

Saturday - Park Run

I ran from home to the lake for the Ginninderra Parkrun. There I met up with Marg and several other familiar runners. 

Parkrun: 5km 

Time taken: 28:27 (PB remains at 27:50)

Place: 61st (out of 90)

Place in age group: 1st

Age graded score: 70.18%

Total distance including warm up: 10km

After the run I joined the others for coffee at Birrigai Cafe. We were lucky that the rain held off until after the run and since then the rain has not stopped. It has been constant. We need the rain but tomorrow at Stromlo will be soggy for the mountain running championships which I am planning to go to watch.