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