Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Starting the week the right way!

Monday I tried a new class at the gym so that I could join Miranda. It was a crossworks/balance class. The first half concentrated on abs and upper body strength using fitness bands. The second half was a speeded up body balance class. There was some difficult stretching and twisting involved in the first half of the class and I think I may have pulled something so I may give this class a miss until after the marathon. I have managed to book a few remedial massages over the next few weeks starting tomorrow. I am a bit sore in places! I could be more sore after the massage!
 
I made it to the early speedygeese warm up run with Miranda and speedygeoff before the main session where there was another good turnout. Jen had run the 45km Six Foot Track in the weekend and needed to recover so she took photos from the side which worked out well. We were divided initially into teams of three and had zigzag relays down the grassy bank and up the straights. In the first half we ran down the diagonals where we were tagged by our team member then ran as fast as we could up the straights. While waiting to be tagged we jogged across the short ends of the oval shaped bank. For the second half of our session we were divided into teams of two (I stayed with Susan) and we had an extra length to run which meant we ran fast down the diagonals and up the straights before we were tagged.  It's always a fun session and this was no exception. After our cool down most of us headed for dinner at the yacht club - a lovely social evening.
Total distance: 10km
 
Miranda, speedygeoff and strewth heading back to Parliament House

Tagging Susan as I run up the straight.
 
This morning I ran down to Lake Ginninderra and around it and back the same way to make a total of 15km - a good way to start the day before my afternoon shift at work.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Only Four Weeks to Marathon Day!

Last week I ran my long run (34km) on Friday and we headed for Sydney straight afterwards. Marg joined me for 17km of my run which was great as it broke it up a bit and it's always lovely to have company. I ran from home to Gungahlin and Marg and I ran round Yerrabi Pond (where the Gungahlin Parkrun is held) and round the Crace loop (another newish suburb in Gungahlin). Then I ran home adding a little extra loop on the way.
Home, shower and then off to Sydney for The Eagles concert at Homebush. It was amazing. They sang all the old songs and we loved every minute of it. We stayed with our daughter and her husband in Waterloo for a couple of nights and managed a 9km run next morning including Centennial Park. On the Saturday evening we all went to the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade. It was loads of fun.
My total distance for the week was 84km.
 
This week I stuck to my program much more rigidly. It's my last really hard week as next weekend I have a half marathon event to run which means my long run is shorter.
As Monday was Canberra Day and a public holiday here our speedygeese session was held in a different venue at Yarralumla. I arrived at 4.30pm as did Miranda, speedygeoff and Dan which meant we were able to do a warm up of 6km before the main session. We used the oval for our main session which, after our warmup run, was a session of 40secs sprints on 2 mins with a jog between for a a total of 20minutes. We finished with a cool down run and had a bit of fun throwing a Frisbee around before jogging back to our cars.
On Tuesday I headed for Bruce Ridge where I ran hill fartleks of 2 x 60secs/60 float, 4 x 30/30, 2 x 60/60, 4 x 30/30 and 2 x 60/60. I then crossed the road to O'Connor Ridge where I managed to get a bit lost and had to ask directions to lead me back to the cycle track and run home again completing 17km before my afternoon work shift.
On Wednesday it was still dark when I headed out for my 13k run and I needed a headlight as I had to fit the run in before a full day at work.
Thursday it was back to the track where I took part in the 3000m fitness walk and the 3000m run with some jogging inbetween events to make up my distance of 9km altogether. I also did a Body Balance class with Miranda at another branch of my gym. It was a much bigger and more modern area than my usual gym and I really enjoyed it.
 
On Saturday I ran my long run leaving home before 6.30am, when it was just starting to get light, I ran to Lake Burley Griffin and on reaching the lake the first person I saw was Roger who is training for the Paris Marathon. It was a morning of seeing everyone. Next was Maria who is also training for Paris and she had Peter cycling beside her. Next sighting was Liz  running with a cyclist friend nearby. I also spotted Bob on his bike a couple of times. I ran West Basin including the extra Weston Park loop which is very pretty. Being early the hot air balloons were hovering overhead in the early sunrise. It was a beautiful sight. As I left the lake and headed home again it was a nice surprise to find that Mr B had cycled down on his mountain bike to meet me and ride the last 7km home where he suggested I run another 600m to round up my distance. I thought it was only me that did that. Anyway I ended up running 36km but I wasn't exactly fast. I must admit though that I didn't feel too sore and although I have been a bit tired and very hungry all weekend I feel more positive about the forthcoming marathon. It may be a slow one but I have more confidence in finishing it at least.
 
This morning (Sunday) was another early start as Mr B was competing in the ACT Triathlon Championships Olympic distance which is now known as the standard distance triathlon. It was a very cool morning and the wind picked up making the water choppy. CJ was also competing and Ewen joined me to cheer them on. We managed to squeeze in a 9km run while they were out on the bike leg. It was fun as we had a good view of the cyclists when we ran offroad beside them.
They both did well in not ideal conditions. It was an inspiring event altogether.
 
Total distance for week: 96.5km (I should have run that extra 500m if I had only realised)!
Bruce Ridge - kangaroo in distance

Clovelly Beach
Balloons over Lake Burley Griffin

Mardi Gras Parade Sydney



Mardi Gras Parade


Mardi Gras Parade





Telstra Tower in the distance on my long run


A competitor checking out swim start at triathlon
 
 
 
 
 

Sunday, March 01, 2015

Women's and Girls' Fun Run

On Thursday night I met up with Marg some time before the track events were due to start and we went for a 5km warm up run on O'Connor Ridge behind the AIS. It would have been pleasant just to continue running there but we had to return to take part in a few events. Somehow I was roped into running in the mile run (something I don't normally do) and immediately after it finished I lined up for the 2000m fitness walk. To finish the evening I ran the 3000m run. It was a combined meet with the ACT Athletics club which included some very young, extremely fast competitors - a little intimidating to be lapped several times but quite exciting too knowing the potential of some of these bright young runners setting incredible PBs.
As this was my pull-back week I only ran a total of 20km for my Saturday long run this week and included the local Parkrun after the first 7km warm up. I ran my slowest time ever and after running another 3km with the lovely company of friend Bron, I ran the remaining 5km home feeling just a tad sore and disappointed in myself. My left foot has been troubling me for a while indicating plantar fasciitis which concerns me somewhat with only six weeks until the marathon.
Today (Sunday) I ran in the annual Women's and Girls' Fun Run in support of a cure for ovarian cancer. There were 762 finishers. It was a rather strange day weather wise. At times it was really hot but when the sun went behind the clouds it was quite pleasant. Fortunately for the majority of the run the conditions were perfect. I finished in a time of 28:13 and was 7th in my age group out of 40 finishers. Not great but a few seconds faster than when I last ran this event in 2013 and I felt a whole lot better today than I did yesterday.
Ewen and I on duty at the February ACT Veteran's Monthly Handicap