Strewth's Training Blog

Midweek Run

2012-02-15T21:32:00.000+11:00

I couldn't go to the BBQ Stakes run today as I was on grandma role. As Sam has just started school this year he only has four days full time for a couple of weeks before he goes to full days. I'm therefore looking after him for a couple of Weds. It was a great outside day today, perfect for fun at the park and for giving Teddy a bath. Sam also had fun hosing down the slippery dip, swings, tables etc and of course the garden had a good water too!

I did however fit in a middle distance run before Sam was dropped off. I plugged in my music and ran from home down to Lake G, round the lake and on through the tunnel towards Gungahlin before turning back and heading for home. My ankle gave me a bit of a twinge but I could run through it today.

Total distance: 18km

Time taken: 1hr 54mins
Average pace per km: 6:22
Calories burned: 1035

Fun with Sam at Lake Ginninderra

Tuesday run on Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T22:41:00.000+11:00

Happy Valentine's Day today.

This morning at Tuesday group we ran from the peninsula past the museum and on to the world globe. I ran a bit ahead of Margaret and after running "round the world" once I ran back for her then ran "round the world" a second time with Margaret. Then we ran back to the start to eat some lovely honey joys made by Rae and choccie bikkies. Oops!
Total distance: 12km

During the run my left ankle gave a big twinge and I had to stop and walk. It seemed ok after a minute so I continued to run for a few kms when it happened again. Ouch! Later I iced it and went for an hour's walk with Teddy but it was still aching a bit so I decided against going to the summer series run tonight. Instead I cooked a nice dinner for Mr B for Valentine's Day including dark chocolate coated strawberries for dessert. Mmmm, yummy:)

Quick Recap and Nine weeks to marathon!

2012-02-14T14:42:00.002+11:00

Thursday

As we were going to see Ronan Keating in concert on Thursday night I couldn't run at track that evening so instead I followed the marathon program and ran out past the AIS track and on to the undulating track beside Bruce Ridge where I ran as follows:

2 x 60secs fast/60secs float

4 x 30secs/30 float

2 x 60secs/60 float

4 x 30secs/30 float

2 x 60secs/60 float

Then I ran back home.

Total distance: 10km

The concert was amazing. Ronan sang a lot of newer songs as well as some of the ones I know and love. The support act was Sharon Corr (from The Corrs) who played the violin brilliantly. It made me want to resurrect my childhood violin but I wouldn't subject others to that pain. I remember my cat used to love me practising and climb up and curl itself around my neck to get closer to the screeching!!

Saturday - long run

I met Ewen and Jen at the War Memorial carpark and ran over the base of Mt Ainslie trails to Stirling Ave, Watson & back, all on dirt trails, before returning to the carpark where Jen and Ewen left me and I ran down Anzac Parade and on to the lake where I turned left heading towards Molonglo. Richard caught up with me on his bike and rode the last 12km near me. It was great to have company for nearly all my run.

Total distance: 28km

Time taken: 3:09:30

Average pace per km: 6:45

Calories burned: 1534

That evening Mr B and I were happy to join lots of running mates at very speedy Bruce's 50th birthday party. Everybody took a plate of food and the spread was amazing. We didn't stay late as I had an early start next morning but it was lovely to see so many friends and enjoy the comraderie and music.

Sunday - sprint marathon relay

Margaret and I headed to the start by just after 7.15am where we were given our relay team details. There were eight teams of six runners each competing this year. I was runner number 5 in my relay team with speedygeoff as our team captain. Every runner completed four legs of 1k and one leg of 2k, or in the case of the slowest runner in each team six legs of 1k, and faster runners had to catch up to slower runners at the end so that team members crossed the finish line together. Being Runner No 5 I ran my second last km sprint up the hill to meet runner number 6 where the rest of the team caught up and we all ran back to the end where we ran together over the finish line holding hands. At one stage our team was coming seventh; at another stage it was last but we ended up coming fourth (exactly in the middle) with lots of hard running from everyone so we were happy with that result. It was lots of fun in ideal conditions - no rain but some cloud cover.

In between sprints I was lucky to have the company of Ewen, who was runner 5 in another team, to jog 1-2km with me while we waited to be tagged by the next runner. This kept our legs moving as well as giving us some more distance.

After the relay I ran a warm down with Ewen and Geoff and later Margaret and I enjoyed a pleasant coffee at the Farmers' Daughter cafe in Yarralumla. It was really busy but the coffee was good.

Total distance for day: 17.4km

In the early evening Mr B and I went to a 65th birthday celebration at a cycling friend's home. It was quite a weekend of parties. I took chocolate truffles and mini frittatas to each so inbetween running I was baking!

Total distance for week: 95.4km

Monday speedygeese training at Parliament House - A New Week - Nine Weeks to Blast Off!
warm up: 1.56k
Main Session

Something a little different tonight. Speedychief organised a circuit after our warm up. We headed for the grassy oval where he had set up four stations. After a quick run round the oval we did the following circuit:

crunches; squats; push ups; lunges marked with cones approximately 10m apart. We progressed from 1 rep at each station to 2 at each station, then 3 etc. We had to run back to the start between each set.

I managed 11 repeats of each set by the time the whistle blew. It was lots of fun and totally exhausting.

Next we headed up to the edge of the road where we ran intervals on the grass using the light posts as markers. We ran 1 hard/1 easy; 2 hard/1 easy. 3 hard/1 easy out & back with a pause in between (so two lengths) then we repeated this. The last return was by far the hardest as there was a very slight rise heading to the finish which by that stage felt like a mountain. After our warm down we had still only run a total of 6km, although it felt like more, so speedygeoff and I ran a further 2km to give me a better total for the day.

Total distance: 8km
I almost forgot to mention that I had been to the gym in the morning to work on abs and some upper body strength work where I wasn't too successful as my wrist still bothers me. I also went to the pool for a swim after that session and of course a Teddy walk so it was a big day of exercise!

Total di

BBQ Stakes on an overcast day

2012-02-08T21:27:00.004+11:00

I started the day with a 1km swim before heading to Woden for the BBQ Stakes run, this time run in the right direction. I always find I can run it better when I run the opposite direction and this was no exception. My legs felt heavy and I found the hills tough work today. I ran a 1.5km warm up with Jen and then headed for my start group of 5mins15secs. It was overcast and not too hot, in fact great conditions, so I have no excuse but it definitely wasn't one of my better runs today!

Distance of race: 6km
Time taken: 36:26
Average pace per km: 6:05
Calories: 331
Jen and I ran a warm down of 2.5km before heading off for a coffee and sandwich.
Total distance for day: 10km

A Good Start to Week 5

2012-02-07T23:13:00.001+11:00

Monday
Morning - 1km swim

Afternoon - speedygeese session at Parliament House

After the warm up loop we headed for the lower grass rectangle for our main session. As there was an odd number for the relay teams of 3 Ewen and I just ran round and round and up and down the course until the second half of the session when we were divided into teams of two. This time we could take part in the speedy session and run fast down the diagonals and up the straight to tag our team member. While the other person was running we jogged across the straights. At the end of the session I needed a few more kms so Jill and Jen ran with me down to the lake and beside it for a few kms before turning to face the wind and run back to the carpark.

Total distance: 13km

Calories burned: 708

My two grandchildren on the first school day. Sam's very first day of school and Talia going into Year 4. He's nearly as tall as her!!

Tuesday

Morning - Tuesday Group

Margaret and I ran more or less together from Black Mountain Peninsula and along past Scrivener Dam until we reached 5.5km where we turned and ran the undulating path back again. It was a slow run but I needed to save something for the YCRC Summer series later in the day.

Total distance: 11km

Calories burned: 598

In the afternoon I did some more Avon and took Teddy for a walk before driving to the Boathouse to run the second run in the summer series.

6.15pm - Summer Series

There was a large number of starters in the run in ideal conditions, some cloud cover, some sun and a pleasant temperature. There were loads of people I knew and it is always good to see them. I ran a short 1.3km warm up with Cathy M and during the run just tried to catch the person in front of me. I felt ok and I quite like that course running past the Hospice and on towards Molonglo Reach, turning at the markers and running back the same way. Later I had a pleasant chat with CJ and Janene and also caught up with Roy. I did however cool down very quickly and I really enjoyed the hot shower later at home.

Time taken: 26:35

Distance: 4.86km (it measured a bit short unfortunately) plus 1.3km warm up

Average pace per km: 5:28

Calories burned: 267

Total distance for Tuesday: 17km

Ten Weeks to the Marathon!

2012-02-05T22:51:00.001+11:00

At the Aranda monthly handicap 28 Jan

I had a little sleep in this morning. It was so lovely. The trouble is this meant I was hungry when I rose and needed brekkie which meant I had to wait an hour or so to digest it before I could run. I only had a short run on the schedule today which is why I didn't need to start early. However, for once the sun was shining and it was quite hot when I ran out the door. Because I was just running a few kms I took Teddy with me which meant there was a bit of stopping and starting involved when there was a tree to sniff or a drain to splash in.

It was lovely when we reached the oval to let Teddy off the lead and to run on the spongy grass for a while. I tried to stay in the shade of the trees whenever possible on the track.

Total distance: 7km
Total distance for week: 67km (required 50-57km as it was my easy week, so happy with that)
Next week I will be building up the distance again.

One of my local "Teddy" runs

That's an interesting tree - let me stop!

Doggy trails!

2012-02-04T22:41:00.002+11:00

That's what we could have called our run this morning because everywhere we ran there were dogs, small, big but all friendly happy dogs, probably due to lots of exercise.

When I looked out the door this morning very early there was a low mist and the ground was very wet due to overnight rain. However, there was no rain all day. We were in luck. As I drove to the war memorial there was a heavy misty fog which required headlights and the cloud cover remained for an hour or so as we ran. When the sun finally broke through it was near the end of the run and there was quite a bite to it.

I met Jen at the war memorial carpark and we ran an extremely slow 2.65km warm up on Mt Ainslie trails before Ewen arrived to run with us at 8am.

Ewen led us over the trails of Mt Ainslie. We turned left and ran past the water tank and on through the pretty leafy suburbs of Ainslie and Dickson enjoying the oval, which is very green and spongy currently and along Limestone Ave back to the war memorial.On the way we ran over some lovely trails and along some gorgeous tree lined flat trails where the surface was fantastic. It just didn't last long enough.

I only had to run a short run today as this is my easy week but after 15km I was hanging out to finish. It's weird how the mind works. Normally I feel like that at about 26km so psychologically I obviously knew I only had to run 20km. I had company for the majority of the run only having to run 3km on my own. In fact I had 1.2km to go when Richard turned up on his bike and rode beside me to finish off the run.

Total distance: 20km

Time taken: 2hrs 15mins (oh boy, must have been the hills, or maybe it was that slow warm up)

Average pace per km: 6:50

Calories burned: 1079

Later in the day Mr B walked Teddy with me for 5km while I delivered Avon. The sun was shining and it was a lovely day at last.

Ewen and Jen on our run

Jen and Strewth on our lovely flat trail after coming off Mt Ainslie

Ewen and Strewth

Wet, wet, wet!

2012-02-03T22:23:00.002+11:00

These past couple of days have been dreary weather-wise and not at all summer-like! We needed the rain but did we need the bleak cold days to go with it? I don't think so. However, as far as running goes it is probably far better to run in the cool than the heat.

Last night at track there were not many hardy souls who braved the elements and competed in the program. I turned up with Yelena just in time to run the first 3000m with no warm up at all - not a good start. It was cold and difficult to remove the spray jacket to run in constant drizzle but we soon warmed up and found the conditions actually quite pleasant if a bit sloshy underfoot. It took me a couple of laps to get into my swing which proves I had needed that warm up. As a result I was way below par with my time while Bruce, on the other hand, whizzed past me several times and finished in a long standing record time for M50's of 9:30:33 taking 16 secs off the old record of 9:46.9 set in 1991.

Distance: 3000m

Time taken: 15:54

Average pace per km: 5:21

Calories burned: 161

The only other event I entered was the 2000m fitness walk. Margaret, Sherryl and I were having fun talking and giggling on the first lap until we decided we should make a real effort. I do enjoy fitness walking as it's definitely non threatening and race walkers are so friendly and encouraging. It's not nearly as intimidating as lining up with some super fast runners in the other events.

Total fitness walk distance: 2000m

Time taken: 14:34

After this Margaret and I went for a run in the drizzle outside the gates and on through the track past the Bruce Ridge and on to the turn off to the city. Then we turned and ran back to the track.

Total: 4.5km

We left before the final event although by then the rain had stopped and the conditions were ideal.
Total distance for night: 10km

Today is my weekly rest day. Instead I swam 1km in the pool in the morning and had fun with my grandchildren in the afternoon, making lots of mess including cupcakes. Later we all went out for pizza and pasta making the most of the last week day of the school holidays. It's hard to believe that our little Mr Five starts school on Monday!

BBQ Stakes in Reverse

2012-02-01T22:19:00.002+11:00

Conditions were perfect today for the BBQ Stakes run. As it was the first run for the month it was done in reverse which meant lots of hills to start and a lovely downhill finish. The temperature was quite cool although it felt warm running up those hills but there was cloud cover and no wind at all so absolutely ideal. I think a few people ran PBs. Even I ran nearly a minute than last week although it was a minute more than my PB. I was happy though as I expected to run much more slowly after yesterday's efforts. My legs even felt quite springy during parts of the run and I was so glad I had run this event as I had been sorely tempted just to run from home! After the run I ran a short warm down with Jen's boys who thoroughly enjoyed racing past me!

Total distance: 6km (plus 1km warm down)

Time taken: 35:42

Average pace per km: 5:58

Calories burned: 326

Week 4 - Easy Week - 11 Weeks to Marathon

2012-01-31T22:53:00.002+11:00

There are now 11 weeks to the Canberra Marathon and this is a pull-back week (aka an easy week) where I run less kms in the week and my long run will be much shorter.

Monday - speedygeese training at Parliament House

I started the morning with a 1km swim. This takes me about 28 minutes. I'm not a fast swimmer but it does seem to be a good gentle exercise for me and at the moment I'm avoiding overuse of my sore wrist.

The speedygeese session tonight was back to the rose garden after our warm up for more 200m sprints on the flat grass beside the road incorporated in a 440m undulating loop. We were divided into two groups, the faster ones running 12 loops in 2:30 while the rest of us ran 10 loops in 3mins - still quite challenging in the heat. I didn't manage to catch Cookie until the 10th loop this week. I remember when I used to catch her on the 5th. Either she has become much faster or I have become much slower or perhaps it's a combination of the two!

I was definitely running with tired legs after the big weekend.

Total distance: 8.4km

Tuesday - Two Runs!

This morning Margaret and I drove to Black Mountain Peninsula for Tuesday group. The run this week was from Black Mountain Peninsula to Haig Park so it was a flat course but quite a pleasant one with shady trees on the way. I started with Marg but ended up running with Marilyn and finishing alone when she slowed down. It was still a relatively slow run but that's what I needed for this morning. I couldn't stay for morning tea today as, after a quick shower and change, I had to rush off to the airport to pick up a friend.

Total distance: 10.2km

Canberra Runners' Club Summer Series Run No 1

In the late afternoon I drove to the first of the summer series for 2012 starting at 6.15pm at Stromlo Forest Park. Earlier it had been really hot and sunny but just after 6pm the wind picked up, the clouds came out and the temperature dropped. That course is very exposed and it is not at all pleasant on a very hot day so we were very lucky when it was so much cooler - pity about the wind though. I had hesitated about running twice in one day and my hamstring certainly felt tight and sore at the start. However, I ran through the pain and although I was slow it wasn't as painful as it could have been. The grass felt quite good underfoot as there are no longer all the potholes that used to be there. It is definitely a hilly course though, especially the second time you have to run the undulations.

I do enjoy going to these runs as it's a great opportunity to catch up with heaps of running friends including some I only see very rarely. Yes, it was the social aspect that made me decide to run twice in one day!

Total distance: 5km (plus a short warm up with CJ of about 600m)

Time taken: 28:11

Average pace per km: 5:43

Calories burned: 270

Total distance for Tuesday: 15.8km

New Beginnings

2012-01-30T22:45:00.002+11:00

Yesterday morning was the first Vets' Monthly Handicap for the year. It was a new course in the bushlands near Aranda. It was undulating and a bit stony but great trails and I really enjoyed it. It's certainly not nearly as challenging as some of the handicaps.

I had another bad night's sleep (two in a row does not bode well for good run times) but I felt fine on the actual run although my time didn't translate to that. I ran a short 1km warm up with Ewen and then headed for a second visit to the loo queue which unfortunately moved very slowly while the countdown to my start group moved very fast. I sprinted to the start to find that I was standing with Group 20 and my Group 18 had long since gone. Damn - not a good start to the run and I took off like a chook without a head. The hills soon slowed me up but I didn't feel too bad except when Steve passed me later in the run calling "come on Ruth, where's the speed?" - then I realised I was chugging along even though I felt like I was doing ok. Oh well, I guess 34km the day before probably has some effect on these old slow legs! I still enjoyed myself and isn't that what it's all about?

Total distance: 6km (plus 1km warm up)

Time taken: 36:54

Average pace per km: 6:07

Calories burned: 333

Lots of our running friends won medals (including the speedy Janene and Heidi) but I didn't discover this until the evening, when I read the results on-line, as CJ, Ewen and I rushed off from the handicap, straight after gulping down some fruit, to see the finish of the triathlon at the lake. Unfortunately we missed the main event (which was a qualifying race for the worlds triathlon championship in Auckland NZ in October) but we did catch up with everybody just after they finished. Mr B managed a PB but he didn't beat his nemesis as Bob came in 1 minute ahead of him also with a PB. We also had a hug with Charlie who was a spectator as she had torn her hamstring and was sensibly giving it recovery time. Flashduck was there sporting her new motorbike which is oh so awesome and speedy looking.

Sadly, we found out later that a close friend and experienced triathlete (who we had been going to have dinner with last night) had been pulled from the swim leg with a suspected heart attack. He is still in hospital having tests. I guess it just proves that even the fittest of us are not invincible. We are waiting to hear more as I write this.

Later in the afternoon another friend and I visited a friend who has just moved into a new home of her own with her daughter after a break down in her marriage. Sad and happy feelings as we toasted new beginnings with champagne.These two girls were the first friends I made when we first moved to Canberra in 1981 and we have always remained great buddies.

Total distance for Week 3 of Marathon Training - 89km

Flashduck (Carolyne) with her new beaut wheels!

Good friends toasting "new beginnings"

With CJ after the Vets Handicap run

Slower and Longer!

2012-01-28T22:15:00.001+11:00

Yesterday I went for a swim before meeting CJ for a lovely coffee and brekkie at Beppes at the markets. It was such an excellent catch up as CJ had an extra day off work so we could make it leisurely.

Today I drove to the War Memorial carpark by 6.45am to meet Jen who ran the first part of my long run with me. We headed for the west basin running round the wetlands and past Kingston and over Kings Ave bridge where we met up with Ewen to continue on with the run. Jen left us at 13km and Ewen and I continued on past the ANU round the museum and on to Black Mountain peninsula. We turned soon after that and ran back past the ferry terminal and on past Rond Tce where we spotted the line up for the half marathon which commenced at 10am - rather a late start in the summer time. However at this stage there was cloud cover although that had definitely lifted by the time I was in the last few kms of my run. Soon after that Ewen left me to head back to the carpark while I ran on to Molonglo Reach and back to Anzac Parade to log up the last 8km of my run.

We did spot a few familiar faces on our run including Katherine, Andy, Zainab and Suzy running their various distances. I found it really tough today and certainly appreciated having company for the majority of the run.

Total distance: 34km

Time taken: 3:49:34
Average pace per km: 6:45
Calories burned: 1871

The best part was the leisurely brunch with Ewen at the cafe later. Oh boy I needed that food input so much! We analysed my slow speed and tried to find a way to make me run faster. Oh boy, tomorrow's vets' handicap run is going to be very tough after today!

Photo shows Ewen, Roger and Andy at the Gold Coast in 2010 - after the 10k and marathon

Australia Day and Ewen is my hero!

2012-01-26T23:31:00.000+11:00

Gary (Griffin), Carolyne (Flashduck), Norma (Luckylegs), Thea (Aki), Cathy (CJ), Strewth (that's me), speedygeoff and Ewen - what fun times - look at those shoes!! 2005 after the CT Fun Run.

When I was browsing through my old blogs I discovered this photo taken after the CT Fun Run in 2005. I absolutely love it - here we all are in ourCoolrunning gear all those years ago.

Having lost all the background of my blog and having minor panic stations, it is a huge relief that Ewen has managed to rescue the old format and brighten it up with new colours and the correct countdown for the marathon. After track had finished last night we spent an hour and a half poring over the options and trying to fix the problem. No luck! Instead he spent hours this afternoon, with some texting and phone calls between us, rectifying the problem. Apparently what happened was that I had updated to the new Blogger interface and it did not recognise HTML when we were trying to update the template. Lesson learnt, everything is now sorted and Ewen is back in my good books. Thank you Ewen - you really are very clever:)

Ok, enough praises sung! Now to the blog update.

Wednesday was a full-on day which probably accounts for some of my lethargy today. I started the day at the gym working on triceps, biceps and shoulders but struggling with my wrist pain. I followed this with a Body Balance class going easy on wrist pressure especially in "down dog" movements.

Then it was home to change into running gear, bring in the Avon which had been delivered and dash off to meet Jen for a short run before BBQ Stakes at Woden. We managed only 2km warm up with her boys cycling on the track with us before heading off for the start. I was too late for my 5:15 start and had to start off at 7minutes instead which was a bit scary. I actually felt ok. The conditions were good, although humid there was cloud cover and I thought I had run faster than I actually did which was a bit disappointing. However, Jen ran a ripper and indeed she managed to win the event with an awesome PB. Running 15secs after her start time didn't phase her one bit!

After the event Jen and I ran another 4km to warm down before I drove home for a quick lunch, unpacked a bit of Avon, then went for another run with Teddy for 5km. Then my first shower for the day - absolute heaven - before driving to the AIS track where I was on roster duty as someone wanted to swap with me. Thank goodness I didn't have to run any races. I doubt if my legs would have worked.

Total distance for day: 17.5km

Thursday - Happy Australia Day

It was lovely not to set the alarm and just wake naturally this morning. I had a banana before going for a run before breakfast. I plugged in my music and headed for the AIS, ran past it and on to Bruce Ridge trails where I found a suitable off-road hill and struggled up it. The plan was to run 10 x 1minute hill repeats and this I did. It was definitely a struggle for the first few but then I got into the swing of it but it still felt great when I finished and headed for home. Oh boy, I was glad to finish this morning!

Total distance: 11km

speedygeese training and Tuesday run

2012-01-24T21:07:00.002+11:00

Monday started with a gym session - warm up on the rower of 1 minute slow, 2 minutes fast for 6 minutes followed by 30 pushups on knees. Main session was:

3 sets of chest press with dumbells with 12 reps of 9kg weights alternating with 3 sets of 12 reps of 9kg with dumbell rows.

Dumbell Flys 3 sets of 10 reps with 5kg weights followed immediately by a drop to 10 reps of 3kg weights.

Lateral pulldown - 3 sets of 10reps 30kg

Straight arm pull downs 10 reps

I had problems with the chest press with the barbell which was next on the program. I used to lift 20kg on the barbell comfortably but I have been having problems with my left wrist and when I turn it to hold the barbell or weights at a certain angle it is extremely painful. I've been trying to find wrist supports in the sports shops with no luck so far. It is such a pain (literally) as it's preventing me doing the chin ups in speedygeese training and I'm sure I could do them if my wrist didn't give way - bother!

Next -30 push ups on toes (this also hurts my wrist so I'm limited as to how many I can do unfortunately)

I followed this with 3 sets of calf raises holding 5kg weights and finished the session with abs work - leg extensions, leg raises, scissors and the plank, followed by lots of stretching.

After a 6km walk with Teddy in the afternoon I drove off to Parliament House for the speedygeese session. There were 18 of us tonight including a couple of new young girls which is always fun. After the warm up loops we headed for the grassy bank in the front of PH on the second section of grass as the first section was being set up for the big Australian Day concert tomorrow night.

We were divided into relay teams of 3 with a rough spread of slow and fast in each group. We took turns to run fast down the diagonals, jog across the straight grass to the opposite side where we were tagged by our next runner before running up the straight to the top again. This continued for 15minutes when we were reorganised into different groups and this time had to run fast down the diagonal and continue up the straight to the top before jogging down to the bottom and back while waiting to be tagged. There was no chance to stop running this time and it was a great workout. At least I'm not sure we were saying that at the time but afterwards it seemed like fun! We finished with a warm down loop.

Total run distance for me: 8.7km

Tuesday group

Today our run was from Black Mountain Peninsula and on to the trails of Black Mountain itself. It was off road, stony, rough, undulating, challenging and fantastic. I ran with Marilyn and although we were averaging 5:50 pace before we reached the trails we slowed right down as we watched our footing especially on the downhills and walked a bit of the rougher stages of uphills. It was a good temperature at that time. We start at 8.30am during the summer months and it's much better than starting at 9.15am when it is often quite hot. This summer has not had many very hot days which is much better for running. We celebrated an 80th birthday and a 74th birthday with champagne and birthday cake later!

Total run distance: 11km

By the middle of the afternoon it felt quite hot. I left it until 5pm before taking Teddy out and we walked a pleasant 5km trying to stick to the shady paths.

Trying out my new shoes!

2012-01-22T22:21:00.000+11:00

After some persuasion from Ewen I decided to drive to Stromlo Forest Park to join a group of speedygeese on the lovely spongy green grass there for an 8am start. This meant no sleep-in again but it was a great way to break in my new running shoes. The attending geese (Andrew, Abby, John, Lucia, Thach and Jacob) were all very fast and they ran 3 x 1km sprint intervals with 1km slower between each. I ran a long warm up double loop with Ewen who was kind enough to run at my speed as they (six fast geese and speedycoach) all flew ahead. Speedygeoff, Ewen and I ran a little way as the others ran their fast sprints making sure we were back in time for them to be timed and handicapped accordingly.When they finished their 1km repeats we all ran the large loop as a cool down.

The grass felt great for stretching out my legs after yesterday. In fact Ewen and Geoff ran a couple of loops in bare feet. I was very tempted to do so too but I did want to give my shoes a good test so decided against it, especially as I was wearing Injinji socks (which are like gloves on your feet) and they are quite a hassle to put back on!

I'm glad I ran out there. It was easy to build up the kilometres and I finished the running week with a few extra kilometres in the bank! The temperature wasn't too hot but the wind was a bit strong at times.

Distance for today: 10.8km (I should have run that extra 200m)

Total distance for week: 87.2km (schedule was for 82km - yay)

Later in the afternoon I took Teddy out for a 5km walk in a very strong wind. He was a bit crazy today and was pulling on the lead. I think the wind affected his mood!

Footnote: I'm loving my shoes:)

Building up the kilometres.

2012-01-21T15:22:00.000+11:00

This morning Ewen and I met at the War Memorial carpark at 7am and started our run on the Mt Ainslie track. We ran some off road on the trails only to discover, when we clambered over a locked gate heading for Campbell Park, that we were not supposed to be running that track due to unexploded ordnance (military ammunition which has been fired many many years ago, but failed to explode). We headed through bush to Campbell Park, Duntroon, across the golf course grass and through the wetlands. A lot of this was on a much better surface than the concrete cycle paths in the other direction. The weather was overcast and actually quite pleasant at that time of day and we had a lot of cherry comments from happy cyclists or runners heading in the other direction. We saw a Liz look-alike approaching on our return and I waved my arms wildly at her in the distance, thinking "gee she's focussed, she hasn't seen us"! Ha ha, as she came nearer we realised it wasn't Liz, just someone running in her style with similar hair and clothes. Oops, she must have wondered who that strange woman was screaming out "Hi Liz" and waving wildly! We ran back over Commonwealth Avenue Bridge and Ewen left me just before the carillon when the distance read 15km.

I plugged in my music and continued on back past Molonglo and along the track to the airport where I met Tony who was out there running 500m intervals. He stopped for a chat before I continued on to the end of that track and back and over the bridge heading out towards Fyshwick. I turned at 23km and headed back to the war memorial. When the distance hit 30km on my Garmin I stopped the watch and walked the last few hundred metres up Anzac Parade.

Total distance: 30km
Time taken: 3hours 20mins
Pace per km: 6:40
Calories burned: 1658

This pace does not bode well for a good marathon time but at the moment I'm just building up the distance and hoping the speed will return eventually and if it doesn't, well I guess I just hope to finish in one piece!

At the end of the run, Mr B cycled over after his run to join a few of us (including Jen and CJ) at the War Memorial cafe for a sandwich and coffee and I really enjoyed a refreshing diet coke too! CJ was rewarded with cake and coffee from Ewen as she has now covered 53 days in her running streak - amazing! What's more, Ewen is only about 3 days behind her:)

Yesterday I visited The Runners' Shop and bought some new running shoes using up lots of vouchers I had accumulated.. I may try them out tomorrow. They are the updated version of the Asics DS Trainers which I currently use. They're so pretty and I'm looking forward to running in them!

I hear thunder!

2012-01-20T22:22:00.001+11:00

There are huge claps of thunder happening outside at the moment and I probably should turn off my computer but I'll take the risk and write this up before bed.

Track last night was a bit of a disaster! I was there in time to only run a 1km warm up before the 3000m event at 6pm. It was hot, I was slow and the result was a PW for the season.

Distance: 3000m

Time taken: 16:02 - oops not sure what happened there!

The dark clouds hovered overhead and we felt about two drops of rain but nothing further eventuated. The next event was the 3000m walk and Margaret, Ewen and I took part in that too. I always find that feels just as hard as a run and I'm sure the heart rate is just as high! It was a handicapped event and I did quite well - I must have warmed up by then!

Distance of walk: 3000m

Time taken: 21:22

During the 1500m event next I just trotted around the outside of the track to watch some amazing runners recording fantastic results while I slowly logged up a bit more distance.

The last event of the night was the 4 lap spiral handicap, a fun event. My handicap was 28 and I came in near the back of the field.

Total distance: 1600m plus a little more

Time taken:8:48

Average pace per km: 5:21

We then ran a short cool down to recover from the slow runs.

Total distance for night including warm up: 10km

Friday is my running rest day. As a bit of cross training I swam 1100m at the pool this morning and I only took Teddy for a brisk 3km walk later on this very hot afternoon.

Tonight at last the much needed rain is pelting down. Fingers crossed that it will rain itself out by early morning when I have a very long run scheduled!

13 weeks to Canberra Marathon

2012-01-18T22:43:00.000+11:00

We had a great weekend in Sydney. The weather was abysmal with intermittent rain the entire time. However, it held off for most of the sprint triathlon except for the cycle leg when it poured down. As a spectator I was constantly putting my brolly up and taking it down. It was Mr B's best result for a sprint triathlon and he came 2nd in his age group so he was very happy. We caught up with our daughters and had a lovely couple of days.

I also managed to squeeze in an 8km run with Teddy before we left home bringing my total distance for the week to 70km - slightly under schedule but it's a start.

Week 2 of training

Monday - gym in morning triceps, biceps and abs

Today was a grandma day when I took Miss 9 to the National Museum where they had some great creative activities for 5-12year olds. We also visited other parts of the museum where there are lots of hands-on activities for children. It was lots of fun. Then it was off to speedygeese for another tough session at Parliament House.

We ran our warm up loops and headed for the rose garden where we ran a similar session to last week although this week we had 22 starters which is an excellent number and we were divided into two groups - the very fast group and the rest of us who ran 10 x 440m undulating loops with 200m straight sprints on the grass by the road on 3minutes. It was very hot and I had not eaten wisely during the day so my stomach struggled more than my legs. However, I made it, just! We finished with a painful warm down.

Total distance: 8.4km

Tuesday Group

Margaret and I arrived just a few minutes after everyone had taken off so we decided to run together. We knew where they were heading so we ran from Black Mountain peninsula past the museum and "around the world" before returning the long way. It was a slow, gentle run which suited me just fine after the previous night.

Total distance: 11.5km

Wednesday

This morning I ran first thing before the sun was too hot. The temp reached 33deg later in the day. I ran from home and round Lake Ginninderra and back the long way.

Total distance: 16.5km

Time taken: 1:47

Average pace per km: 6:30

Calories burned: 924

Long Run on a Friday

2012-01-13T23:00:00.000+11:00

I needed to run my long distance today instead of tomorrow this week as we are heading off to Sydney in the morning for Mr B to compete in a sprint triathlon at Kurnell where he will have an ocean swim instead of in our murky lake water.

It was quite difficult backing up after last night's track session but I managed the distance at a slow pace and didn't even have to stop for a nature stop which is unusual for me! I took 'guu' for carb loading which I swallowed at the 13km mark and dissolved a couple of jellybeans in the side of my mouth for a sugar hit during the run. I ran down to Lake Ginninderra from home, round the lake and then back through the tunnel on to NIcholls in Gungahlin where I turned and headed for home. I was glad to finish but it was quite pleasant running on my own listening to a variety of music and letting my thoughts drift. In fact I had drifted far away when I suddenly noticed something slithering on the dry grass beside the path very near my feet and realised it was a long brown snake. I jumped and squealed and came back to the present moment in a big hurry. I'm glad there wasn't a soul around to witness my reaction! I am still not used to snakes as I see them rarely and having grown up in NZ where we don't have snakes it still gives me a big scare when they are that close!

Anyway, there were no more exciting incidents and I arrived home just in time for a quick shower before heading off to meet a friend to celebrate her birthday with a lovely lunch where CJ, Mr B, Jon and I had brekkie yesterday. Mmmm, I appreciated the coffee!

Total distance: 26km

Time taken: 2:48

Average pace per km: 6:28

Calories burned: 1441

Although the speed is very slow at the moment I'm just trying to build up the kilometres. I hope to squeeze in a short run with Teddy before heading off for Sydney in the morning.

Racing against Marty Dent!

2012-01-12T22:48:00.000+11:00

Not everybody can say that they have run in the same 3000m track race as Marty Dent. Marty ran the Canberra Marathon in 2hrs 15mins in 2004 among other amazing feats such as winning the Sydney City to Surf in 2004. He also has a PB of 7:59 for 3000m. That's one of the benefits of joint meets at the track when the Veterans combine with ACT Athletics which include some very fast runners indeed! I was the only slow runner among a huge field of competitors and it was a little intimidating to say the least but the amazing thing is I didn't come in last, not quite!

Ewen and I ran round the outside of the track watching the runners in the mile race and other short events warming up at the same time. It was a good way to run 5km before the start of our event.

I felt sluggish and knew I wasn't going to achieve a PB in the race but I treated it as a tempo run as I needed the kms. And there I was in a super fast field. Marty only lapped me twice!!

Distance on track: 3000m
Time taken: 15:35 (Bron beat me by over 3mins and ran a PB of 12:33 - well done Bron!)
Total distance including 5km warm up and 1km cool down = 9km

Wild Wednesday Weather

2012-01-11T22:20:00.001+11:00

Brrrr summer disappeared today and it really was very cold. It didn't even reach the predicted maximum of 19deg. I went to the gym for an upper body workout but have recurring problems with my left wrist which is a bit restrictive lifting the heavier weights - very frustrating. I followed this with the Body Balance class before collecting Yelena to go to the BBQ Stakes handicap run at lunchtime. It drizzled on the drive there but the sun was out at the start of the run. However, I was only about a km into the run before the sky darkened, the headwind picked up and down came the rain. It wasn't just rain however, it turned into sleet which felt like hailstones and were actually quite painful. It was quite unpleasant for the next few kms and I'm sure many of us were asking ourselves why we were running! There were in fact 68 runners so it was an excellent turn out with many of the public servants being back at work after the Christmas break.

In the last 2km of the run the sun came out again and the wind dropped and although I was absolutely saturated by the finish at least it stopped raining. Gee, it was cold at the end though and it was good to enjoy a nice hot coffee with Jen and Yelena later.

Total distance: 6km

Time taken: 36:23

Tonight I'm wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. I can't believe that this is almost the middle of January. Where has summer gone?

Tuesday Run and a drop in temperature

2012-01-10T21:53:00.000+11:00

Tuesday runs have been moved to 8.30am instead of 9.15am starts on a trial basis. Today was the first run at this time and as it happened the temperature was quite cool in comparison to what we have been having lately. However, it made for perfect running weather. I ran the first half of the run with Brian. The course was from Black Mountain peninsula to Cork Oaks Plantation over the gunbarrel so called because it is a trail that rolls over and over and is relatively steep. We included an extra loop and I ran the return trip with Marilyn. My legs felt very slow after last night's speedygeese session and it was a bit of a struggle. I was hanging out for water at the end.

Total distance of run: 12km

In the afternoon Talia and I went for a fun walk with Teddy along trails through trees, being intrepid explorers, carrying our supplies of water and sultanas just in case! Oh and of course an icecream was required after detours to two play areas on the way.

Total distance of walk: 4km

A speedy speedygeese session

2012-01-09T22:39:00.000+11:00

Teddy and I went for our run yesterday at about 5pm with two detours to the drains for Teddy to hydrate. It was very humid at that time of the day and I was dripping by the time we returned. Teddy ran quite well although he defnitely enjoyed stopping for water. We ran on the lovely spongy grass at the oval for a short time and it felt great on the legs.

Total distance: 8.3km

This morning I squeezed in a gym session before spending the day with my beautiful 9year old grand-daughter. I warmed up for ten minutes on the cross trainer then concentrated on shoulders, biceps, triceps and abs. I really must seek out some wrist support straps as I have a very sore and tender wrist, probably from the weights at some stage.

Later Talia (Miss 9) and I went to Cockington Green miniature village which I haven't visited for some years, then to the cafe for a large bowl of wedges - not exactly healthy eating but fun!

Later still it was off to the speedygeese session at Parliament House. Oh boy, that was challenging. After the usual warm up we headed for the rose gardens and this week ran 11 x 440m undulating repeats with a 200m sprint on the grassy flat at the top stretch by the road. Each repeat was on 2:45 and I was really happy that I just made each repeat on time and managed the full 11. I don't think I could have gone any faster though!

We had 20 starters at the session tonight - a great turnout including those who had returned from holidays and a few new geese. The temperature was much cooler than last week although it still felt very humid when we were running.

Total distance: 8.8km
And now there are 14 weeks until the Canberra Marathon so out comes the program! Day 1 has been achieved.

A Tiny Setback

2012-01-08T12:31:00.002+11:00

On Thursday morning I walked barefoot straight into the bathroom doorframe - that corner bit where the door closes - and ouch it hurt so much. It turned purple and red during the day and swelled up. I took Teddy for a 6km walk with Jen and baby Daniel delivering Avon books in the afternoon but realised there was no way I could race at track that night. It was disappointing to miss the first track of the season but I was elevating and icing instead. On Friday morning I swam 1km and walked but did not run. I was determined to run a good distance on Saturday.

On Sat I rose at 5am in order to digest my breakfast and headed down to meet up with speedygeoff, Ewen, Andy and Warrick at the ferry terminal for a long run. Everyone ran various distances but the plan for me was to run 22km. We started together but my pace was much slower than the others and although Andy ran the first few kms with me it wasn't long before I was running on my own and regretting that I didn't have my music. It was soooo quiet out there. We ran the West Basin of the lake anti-clockwise and fortunately the boys stopped to wait for me at about the 13km mark so that I knew where to run next! Andy, Ewen and I left Geoff and Warrick to continue on to cover 29km while Ewen ran 15km and Andy and I continued on past the carillon and covered 22km exactly before walking the last 600m back to the ferry terminal to stretch our tired legs.

Total distance: 22km

Time taken: 2hr21mins!

Average pace approx: 6:25 per km

Calories burned: 1235

I was slow but my toe only hurt when I stopped and during the warm up. Today it is aching a bit but that could be because of tiredness due to little sleep with little people staying the night. Mr Five suffers from night terrors and bed swapping resulted in a broken night's sleep. However, I plan to run with Teddy later in the day. We have been blessed with some much needed rain and I won't need to water the tomatoes today:)

First tomato from our garden:)

First BBQ Stakes Handicap for 2012:)

2012-01-04T22:31:00.000+11:00

Today's forecast was for another very hot day but as it happened there was lots of cloud cover when we ran the BBQ Stakes and although the temp was over 31deg it didn't feel quite as bad as I expected. First thing in the morning I went for a 1km swim and I think it may have helped as my legs felt ok on the run. I arrived 5seconds before my start time and was still searching for the satellites on my garmin as I ran under the first tunnel. This was only about 300m from the start and finish line so I need to wait for the official times before establishing my exact time. I think it was about 36mins which is not very fast but the heat certainly was a factor. There were not many there today probably due to several people still being on holidays.

Today we ran the course in the opposite direction which happens on the first Wed of the month and means the first half of the run is uphill. It is also a teams event and IP office came across the line first.

Total distance: 6km
It was good to see Bob, Andy, Kerry and Caroline all running well.
Photo taken at NYE party. That's Bob on the right being Cadel Evans!

A very hot run at Tuesday group

2012-01-03T17:13:00.000+11:00

Yes, it was a stinker this morning. Marg and I decided to start our run from Black Mountain about 30mins before the others but it was still very hot at 8.45am. Over the summer months the start time is going to be changed to 8.30am which is much more sensible when the temperatures are well over 30deg.

After last night's effort it took a while for my legs to feel good and I ran the first 5km with Marg around the West Basin part of the lake. She turned at 5km and I ran another km further before turning and chasing her. I finally caught up and then ran back to her whenever I got too far ahead which gave me a little more distance. It was very hot but I took water with me today which proved very necessary. It was good to catch up with all the others later and celebrate one of the birthday girls with icy cold champagne! I use the word "girl" loosely as Pauline was turning 64 but I still feel like a girl at 61 so it's all a matter of perspective:)

Total distance: 13km

Ring out the old, bring in the new!

2012-01-02T23:52:00.000+11:00

Here's to 2012. May it be a healthy, happy, injury-free year of good running for all of us. I also aim to keep my blog updated far more regularly than in 2011! It's quite amazing that another year has gone by so fast and here I am after four weeks of non-blogging trying to update my blog. Nope, it's too hard so instead I will just say that I've been running most days, swimming once a week and working out at the gym three times a week interspersed with daily Teddy walks and the occasional bike ride.

The past few weeks have been a bit crazy. At the start of December I flew to NZ for my brother-in-law's 80th birthday. It was for just a brief very busy 5 days and then it was back to Canberra for a very busy festive season which included dinners, lunches, catch ups and of course Christmas shopping and baking and a house full of family - loads of happy, busy days. Mr B also entered his first Olympic triathlon and did really well, finishing only 10 seconds behind his nemesis, Bob.

On New Year's Eve I ran with speedygeoff and Andy round East Basin of the lake with a little extra to make a total distance of 20km. We ran at a slow pace but it felt great to be building up the kms at last and of course the company was good although we missed Ewen who was celebrating with his family in Wagga.

Mr B and I saw the New Year in at a party at a running friend's house. The theme was "What do you wanna be when you grow up?" There were some very interesting interpretations! Mr B went as The Stig out of Top Gear as he's always loved motor racing. I went as the car race starter chick. It was such fun.

Then on New Year's Day, after walking Teddy over to collect our car (hmmm no comment required), we drove to the south coast for a swim in the surf followed by fish and chips by the beach before the two hour drive home again - a great way to start the New Year.

Tonight it was back to the speedygeese running at Parliament House. There were only ten of us tonight but it was a good session in very hot, sunny weather. We ran from the rose gardens up the steps to the flat grass by the road where we ran 200m sprint repeats then jogged back to the start (about 460m) on 2mins 30 to 3mins. We repeated this ten times although Bronwyn managed 13 times as she didn't slow down after the 200m sprints! I ran a total distance of 8.5km.

Judging by the soaring temperatures I think summer has finally arrived!

Wet soggy weather turns to sunshine!

2011-11-28T23:03:00.001+11:00

Thursday track session

I arrived with very little time for a warm up before the 6pm 3000m event at the track. Needless to say I didn't run very well as it took a few laps into the race to warm up!

Distance: 3000m

Time taken: 15:27

Fitness walk:

Total distance: 3000m

Time taken: 22mins

Spiral Handicap

Adler 6 lap spiral

Distance: 2.49km

Time taken: 13:31

Average pace per km: 5:09

Friday

It rained and it rained. In the morning I went to the gym for my upper body workout and later in the early evening I met Ewen at Parliament House where we donned spray jackets and ran to the lake and round the wetlands (appropriately named) and back again. We were utterly drenched by the time we finished. The rain didn't let up at all. Fortunately there are underground facilities at PH and we were able to change into dry clothes before heading for Kingston to meet up with Jen and enjoy a pleasant meal.

Total distance: 13km

Time taken: 1hr 21mins

Average pace per km: 6:16

Sunday - Vets' Monthly Handicap at Weston Park

This was the final handicap run for the year. It had rained all Saturday and we expected the ground to be muddy and slushy but it wasn't too bad. The run is a two lap undulating course. I ran off Group 19 and felt a bit sore but managed to just trot round in a slow comfortable pace. I came in 40th out of 97 finishers in the long course.

Total distance: 7km

Time taken: 42:49

Average pace per km: 6:07

Later we enjoyed a picnic lunch and champagne in the sunshine with a large group of running friends

Monday - speedygeese at Parliament House

It was 29deg when we set off on our warm up loop at 5.30pm for the speedygeese session at PH. There was a good turnout of speedygeese and the session was lots of fun. We ran a 1km large undulating circuit near the tennis courts incorporating all the fitness equipment on the way. We had to stop to do chinups, pushups, situps, calf stretches, hamstring stretches and tricep dips as we reached each piece of equipment. It meant we had little breaks from the running and it made it interesting and fun. However, more practice is needed on the chinups! We finished with a warm down loop of PH.

Total distance: 7.5km

Summing it all up!

2011-11-09T22:08:00.000+11:00

Is it possible that a month has now flown by since I last updated this blog? I can't believe that I am so busy that it's dificult to fit in the time to blog. It would be much easier if I updated this every day which was the original intention. It's a bit difficult to remember four weeks' worth of activities and also very boring to read! I will just give a rough precis of the past few weeks instead.

I have been regularly going to the gym on Mon, Wed and Friday mornings doing workouts for chest, back, triceps, biceps, shoulders and abs. On Wednesdays I also go to a Body Balance class straight after my workout before heading for the BBQ Stakes handicap 6km run at Woden..

My weeks have been fairly consistent as follows:

Mondays: Gym - upper body strength in the morning; speedygeese session at Parliament House in the evening

Tuesdays: Tuesday group. Because I am still being treated for my back and hamstring problems I have been walking the Tuesday sessions briskly - between 8 and 12km.

Wednesdays: Morning gym upper body strength followed by Body Balance; Lunchtimes: BBQ Stakes 6km undulating handicap

Thursdays: AIS track session - various events but I usually run the 3000m, walk the 1500-2000m and always run the spiral handicap when it is held (4-7 laps)

Fridays: mornings upper body strength at the gym; run with the dog

Saturdays: middle distance run when possible

Sundays: swim 1km - 1.5km

Each day I take Teddy for a walk for at least an hour or 5km and at least once a week I also take him for a run up to 10km. Of course there is also the walking I do with my Avon which seems to take up quite a lot of time!

I missed a few training sessions because of my unreliable back problems but am slowly getting back into it. It's time I increased my distances and looked towards next year's marathon.

Familiarisation of the triple tri run course

Good views from the hills

With Andy and Ewen on Red Hill

With Andy on the familiarisation

The real event - wearing gloves just in case I fall!

A muddy Mr B on his bike leg

Last Sunday I took part in the Sri Chinmoy triple tri. Mr B was also roped in and rode a mountain bike he borrowed from our son for a very muddy slushy off road 35km on the first bike leg for his team. I ran the final leg for my team which was 13.5km of a very undulating, half off road course. It was heaps of fun and an event I would like to take part in again with more preparation next time. The weekend before Ewen and Andy had run over the course with me to give me an idea of what to expect. It involved a lot of walking in the practice but on the actual day I managed to run most of it to my own surprise.

As for the BBQ Stakes I have been running with my hamstring strapped and with some discomfort. I haven't yet beaten my PB although last week I was getting closer. Today though, although the weather was much cooler, I still didn't run a fast time. I guess more practice will eventually give me some improvement.

Tomorrow it's back to the track. In a week's time I'm off to NZ for just 6 days to celebrate my brother-in-law's 80th birthday. That should be fun but the timing isn't good as I will miss the spiral handicap that week which is my favourite event:(

Ups and Downs!

2011-10-25T23:13:00.000+11:00

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!

2011-10-12T22:58:00.002+11:00

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!

2011-10-11T23:13:00.001+11:00

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!

Woden on a Wet Wednesday

2011-09-28T22:18:00.000+10:00

Body Balance was the first exercise on the menu on a cloudy Wednesday. When I emerged from the gym it was absolutely pouring down and I decided against driving to Woden to run. However, after a hot shower I looked out the window and the rain had stopped. My conscience got the better of me and I donned my running gear and headed off for the BBQ Stakes handicap. When I first arrived about 2 minutes before start time there were very few people there but gradually more people arrived. The rain very obligingly stopped for the run but the hills were muddy, slippery and slushy. My shoes collected heaps of mud and my feet felt like heavy lumps of lead. I'm sure they weighed a few extra kilos and dragged me down! Andy ran with me as he didn't want to set a PB and it was great to have company although of course that meant we did talk for the majority of the run. As a consequence my time was slower than last week although the climate was nice and cool for a tough hilly run.

Total distance: 6km plus warm-up

Time taken:37:26

Handicap: 5:30 (group 23)

Place: 34th (not sure how many starters today as they kept arriving late)

Tuesday group at Black Mountain Peninsula

2011-09-27T21:48:00.000+10:00

This morning I joined the Tuesday group to run from the peninsula out to Scrivener Dam near the arboretum, over trails and mainly off-road. It was an interesting run through fences and muddy puddles. I ran with Marilyn today and we lost sight of Bryan and Alan on the way out so we were pretty relieved when we spotted them on the return loop and knew we had gone the right way. My legs were definitely leaden after last night's speedygeese hills session. Later we celebrated Terry and John's birthdays on a lovely sunny day.

Total distance: 10.3km

In the afternoon after pounding the pavements collecting Avon orders, I took Teddy for an 8km walk stopping half way to have coffee with a friend and a big bowl of water for Teddy!

Training on the HIlls!

2011-09-26T21:53:00.003+10:00

Sunday - Vets' Handicap at O'Connor Ridge

We had a busy weekend helping our son's family move house and babysitting but it was very productive. On Sunday morning we made it to the monthly veterans' handicap run at O'Connor Ridge. This is a very undulating course and the weather was bleak with a cold headwind on parts of the run. I ran off Group 20 having been put back a couple of groups since the last handicap. Mr B ran off Group 29, having missed last month's handicap as he was competing in a duathlon at the time.

I actually like this course but I was watching my footing as it was very rough. I passed quite a number of people but a number of people passed me in the last couple of kms including our very speedy leader!

Handicap group: 20
Total distance: 8km plus 1km warm-up
Time taken: 49:08
Average pace per km: 6:08
Age percentile: 72.5%
Finish place: 48th (out of 94)

After the presentations I joined a number of speedygeese to celebrate Heidi's birthday for brunch at Black Pepper in Belconnen. It was great fun and we filled two tables with a gaggle of geese!

Monday - training at Parliament House

This morning I worked on chest, back and abs at the gym for just over an hour before heading into town for a scheduled routine mammogram. Oh the joys of being a woman of a certain age!! I am quite sure a man invented that nasty machine which has now gone digital - I swear it's even worse than it was two years ago!

Tonight after our warm up loops we headed for the bottom of the grassy hill opposite PH. Here we ran up all sections of the long hill and round a loop back to the bottom of the hill and repeated this 3 times on five minutes. This was one set and we repeated the set 6 times for a total of 30minutes. We finished with a warm down loop of PH. It was a tough hill and a tough session - all in order to make us stronger!

Total distance: 7.5km

Mixing it up a bit!

2011-09-23T22:23:00.000+10:00

Tuesday group

I had a lunch date in town at 12noon today so couldn't stay around after our Tuesday group run but I did manage to squeeze in one cup of tea and a short catch up with Rae. The run this week was from the peninsula to the trails of Black Mountain and over the hills. I was very conscious of the fact that last time I ran this route I fell flat on my face so I ran with caution on the rough surface. We spotted numerous kangaroos who were very "close and personal" and it was a pretty run and although a bit cool to start it certainly warmed up quickly on all those undulations! I ran with Brian and Marilyn and a few other caught up and joined us for the last few kms. I do love the trails but I run them slowly as I watch every step.

Total distance: 11km

Wednesday - BBQ Stakes

7am - abs class

7.15am - rower, cross trainer, leg press, chest press, upper body work, stretches, push ups

9.30am - Body Balance - stand-in instructor who took us through a very pilates based class - lots of abs work

I managed a total of 100 push ups on my toes today with rests and a break in the middle for the Body Balance class - 30, 20, (Body Balance) 30, 10, 10. My goal is to do 50 push ups on toes without stopping twice a day so that I can do 100 push ups every day. Hmmmm, it could be a while before I achieve this!

Next I drove to Woden to run the BBQ stakes. My handicap remained at 5.30 and Andy and Jen started with me as neither of them wanted to run fast. However at about 4km I urged them to run ahead. I ran faster than last week but didn't manage a PB. I was about 25secs slower than that.

Total distance: 6km

Time taken: 35:55

Thursday

I collected my grandaughter from school and had the great pleasure of taking her to her school concert performance and consequently couldn't attend speedygeese training tonight. Instead I took Teddy out for a run during the morning. He was great for the first half of the run but was feeling the heat in the last few kms and we had to keep detouring to the drains so that he could have a drink and run through the water. He does love a good run though and is great company.

Total distance: 10.2km

Friday

This morning I went to the gym for another workout. I only did 30 x 2 push ups on my toes today. I did a warm up on the rowing machine then worked on shoulders, triceps and abs. Later in the morning I spent 3 hours pounding the pavements collecting Avon orders. It's surprisingly tiring but the sun was streaming down and although it was very windy at times, it was very pleasant out there.

One Day .......

2011-09-19T22:50:00.002+10:00

This morning I had a short session at the gym with a couple of appointments to squeeze in straight afterwards. I concentrated on upper body strength after a warm up on the cross trainer. 3 x 12 sets of each -Squats with a 15kg barbell, tricep dips with one leg elevated, walking lunges with 8kg weight in each hand, shoulder press, biceps curls and chest press with 17.5kg barbell.

In the afternoon I spent over 2.5 hours walking round the streets delivering Avon books. Yes, I have become an Avon lady - yet more exercise. One day I might even get fit!! It was a stunner of a day - the sun streamed down and it felt wonderful out there.

Off to the speedygeese at 5.30pm. One day I will make the 4.30pm early group - one day!
We ran the warm up loops of Parliament House then headed for the lower grassy square in front of PH where we were divided into relay teams of 3 based on height! I was in a team with Yelena and Caroline and Rebecca (first session tonight) ran with me. The main session was:

sprint diagonal downhill & uphill alongside flag poles, jog backwards & forwards across short side x 2...repeat for 30mins.

We finished with a warm down jog down to the lake and back to PH. It was a beautiful balmy evening, perfect running weather.

Total distance: 8.7km

Things that go BANG in the night!

2011-09-18T23:23:00.000+10:00

Thursday 8 Sept - speedygeese training at Dickson oval

There were 15 at the speedygeese session tonight and after our warm up loops we were divided into relay teams of 3 or 4. I was in a team of 3 with Miranda and Colin. I don't think I've ever run harder in a speedygeese session. Colin is probably our speediest goose and it meant there was not much rest between sprints. We alternated between 300m and 200m sprints with 100m slow between. We fnished with a slow lap of the oval.

Total distance: 8km

Friday - a rest from running but I did go to the gym for some upper body strength work.

Saturday

Ewen and I ran a gentle off road run to stretch our legs on the Mt Ainslie trails. We ran out for 3.5km then turned and ran back the way we came out.

Total distance: 7km (slowly)

Sunday 11 Sept- Canberra Times Fun Run

The weather was almost perfect (just a little wind in the last few kms) for the annual fun run. My legs felt a bit heavy at the start and I took off a little fast which made it difficult to keep up the pace.I think Canberra has a bit to learn with fun runs. There were not many spectators out there cheering and no bands or music like the City2Surf. I usually wear my ipod and don't notice but this year I ran without music and it did seem remarkably quiet! However, it's always fun afterwards when we catch up with lots of friends and compare results.In spite of the ideal conditions I still managed to run about 40secs slower than last year. In fact each year I seem to have run a little slower than the year before. Next year I should try training for this event or push myself a little more perhaps!

Total distance: 10km
Time taken: 57:01

Monday - speedygeese at Parliament House

In the morning I did an upper body strength workout and later it was off to the speedygeese session.It was a stunning evening as we ran on the grassy diagonals in front of PH tonight. There was a full moon glowing and old and new Parliament Houses were aglow. The evening was still and quite balmy for this time of year. We ran in relay teams of three fast up and down on the diagonals and slow on the staights. Our team ran more gently as we were all suffering from annoying niggles and didn't want to make them worse. We finished wth a warm down loop.

Total distance: 8km

Tuesday run

This morning we followed the edge of the lake past the National Museum to the globe just past Commonwealth Ave bridge where we literally "ran around the world" before returning the way we came. I ran out with Steve for company giving us a chance to have a catch up chat and on my return I ran with Alan who usually runs with Bryan who wasn't there today. It was a good social run but although the sun was shining the wind was a bit nasty, a head wind even after we ran round the world!

Total distance: 11.5km

Wednesday - no PB's today:(

First thing this morning I headed for the gym for an upper body strength session followed by a Body Balance class.Then later it was off to Woden for the BBQ Stakes 6km handicap. My hamstring has been playing up all week and today was no exception. Jen was recovering from the flu so was happy to run at my pace. When the headwind blew it felt like even more hills than there actually were. I found the run very tough today and as a consequence my time was nearly 2 mins slower than last week which was disappointing.

Distance: 6km

Time taken: 37:29 - my third slowest time:(

Thursday - training at Yarralumla

Speedygeese training on Thursday evening was at the Yarralumla Dog Park as Dickson Oval is closed for a couple of weeks. We ran a warm up jog and then did a hill power run before heading for a lovely green, spongy oval.There was nobody else around so we had the oval to ourselves. Although it wasn't lit there was enough light shining from nearby houses to make it possible to train there for the entire half hour of one lap intervals with a lap jog's recovery, run as a relay in teams of three. I was in a team with Bronwyn and Colin - oh the pressure! Colin suffered an injury and had to pull out on about the third sprint and speedycoach took his place for the other three fast efforts. It was dark by the time we finished so we just ran back along the road to the dog park to collect our cars.It was great to try a different place to train on such a lovely surface.There were ten of us for the main session although Tori and Nadine left after the warm up after they had done an early run with speedygeoff.

Total distance: 8km

Friday

Last night was rather eventful. Mr B was in Rockhampton playing squash all week so I was on my own. At 2am I was woken by a huge banging followed by two more. I had been in a deep sleep and was a bit confused, thinking "is that a noisy possum on the roof?" or is it gun practice somewhere?? Strange how the mind works. I eventually went back to sleep only to be woken again at 3.20am by a text beeping on my mobile from emergency services saying there had been a chemical incident in Mitchell and we were to stay indoors. The actual message read like this: "The ACT Fire Brigade responding to chemical 'insadent' in Mitchell. 'Resadents' of Franklin, Crace, Harrison, Watson, Downer, Kaleen, Lyneham, Hackett stay indoors." I think someone overlooked the spell check!! I then lay awake for ages before crawling out of bed, checking the radio for approval to go out and heading off to the gym to work on chest, triceps, shoulders, abs and stretches.

Later in the afternoon I took Teddy for a lovely walk along the North Lyneham ridge on a stunning evening. The view was glorious and the evening calm and beautiful.

Saturday

At 8.55am Ewen and I ran from the War Memorial along the Ainslie track, through the bush to Campbell Pk, Duntroon, the Wetlands and back over Commonwealth Bridge along Anzac Pde and back to the War Memorial. We stopped on the trails to stare at what looked like a frill-necked lizard. It was so cute basking in the sun but a bit vulnerable so Ewen touched its tail so that it ran off under the safety of a tree. Later we enjoyed coffee and lunch at The Terrace Cafe at the War Memorial.

Total distance: 16km

Tme taken: 1:46:18

Average pace per km: 6.39

Sunday 18 Sept

This afternoon during what was probably the hottest part of the day when it was about 24deg I took Teddy for a run along the cycle track to the tunnel heading towards Gungahlin and home again. We had to stop 3 times for loo stops for Teddy (he's worse than his owner) and 3 times for him to drink from the drains but apart from that and three dogs to meet, he was pretty good and we had a pleasant run and definitely felt the difference in temperature!Total distance: 8km

BBQ Stakes Handicap at Woden

2011-09-07T22:21:00.003+10:00

This morning I went to the gym for some strength work followed by a Body Balance class and a catch up with Miranda. Then I changed into my running gear and drove over to the south side for the BBQ Stakes run. My handicap is now 6 minutes. Last week it was 3:45. As this is the first Wednesday of the month the course was run in the opposite direction and Brian Wenn volunteered to run with me so I wouldn't get lost! However, there were plenty of people around to follow and after the first steep hill Brian zoomed ahead although he did turn to check I was ok. It was ideal conditions, a bit cool to start but the sun was struggling through and it was great running weather. I managed to run just 10 seconds faster than last week so I'm very gradually getting faster.

Distance: 6km

Time taken: 35:30 (according to Gandalf - last week 35:40 officially)

Spring Sunshine and Showers!

2011-09-06T16:14:00.008+10:00

Thursday last week

Speedygeese session at Dickson oval and I was hurting. My hip/back gave me heaps of pain after the warm up and during the 200m sprints. We were divided into teams of three for a relay and I was with Marg (great to see her back running with us)and Miranda. The goal was to run 12 x 200m fast, tag the next team member and run a recovery jog back for approx 100m while waiting to be tagged. I was in pain for the entire session and even found the warm down tough work. I went to bed with two heat packs and lots of panadol.

Total distance: 8km

Friday - I didn't run and avoided the gym. I did lots of stretching and took the dog for a walk trying to ease out the soreness - more drugs:(

Saturday - YCRC 10 miler

I was determined to run this so rubbed in the deep heat, took a couple of tablets and registered for the run from Black Mtn Peninsula. I probably shouldn't have run feeling like I did but I hate missing opportunities to run relatively long distances with other people. It was freezing cold to start and I kept my gloves on for most of the way although I did still run in singlet and shorts and certainly warmed up eventually. Jen was kind enough to run beside me and I kept the metro runners in sight. In hindsight I should have stayed with them although it would have only given me a few more seconds. I was definitely not in form and had to be careful every step of the way.

Distance: 10 miles (16km)

Time taken: 1hr 39:40 (a PW by about 7 minutes!!)

Average pace per km: 6:11

Finish place: 69 (out of 78)

Here's hoping I can well and truly improve on this abysmal effort next year!

Monday

I woke up still sore, definitely pinpointing the lower back and left hamstring so I avoided the gym and decided to stretch out by taking Teddy for a very long walk. I organised to meet Marg and her little dog (also Teddy) on the way. We walked towards Gungahlin and covered a distance of 11.2km, managing to walk 1.5km of it with Marg's company which was fun. Teddy loved it!

speedygeese session at Parliament House

I ran the warm up loops and we headed for the hills. I was a bit uneasy about running the hill repeats so although I ran all the repeats but for most of them I only ran 2/3rds of the way up the hill as I didn't want to make the pain worse. I also ran gently. After 12 repeats of 100m hills on 90secs we ran some attrition sprints up the top half of the hill. Three of us girls were eliminated in the first sprint but were given the opportunity to run one more sprint at the end. I was still last but it was much closer that time. We ran a warm down loop of PH and I didn't appear to have any ill effects.

Total distance: 6km (a shorter session than usual)

Tuesday group at Black Mountain peninsula

This morning the running route was from the peninsula to the Cork Oaks Plantation and the arboretum and back. There is a very steep hill on the way and it is mainly offroad - a good surface. We ran past curiously lazy cows who just stood and stared at us on the way out but on the way back (love those downhills) they didn't even bother to stand up as we passed them. It had rained heavily earlier and the ground was wet but we were so lucky as the conditions were ideal, if a little cool to start, when we were running. I kept Bryan and Alan in sight and when Alan took a slight shortcut ran the remainder with Bryan. I always enjoy listening to his stories. Marilyn joined us on the return leg. I felt so much better today than I have these past few days.

Total distance: 12km

The rain decided to return when I took Teddy for his walk later in the day and we returned home looking like a couple of drowned rats!!

A Quick Update on the last day of Winter:)

2011-08-31T21:55:00.002+10:00

Sunday Vets' Monthly Handicap - Mt Taylor
Conditions were good for the hilly Mt Taylor run which starts uphill. It was rough and uneven underfoot but not as bad as I remembered from the past. I did at least manage to run all the way in spite of all the undulations. I was however slow!
Group start: 21
Distance: 7km (plus 1km warm up)
Time taken: 44:41
Pace per km: 6:23
Finish place: 75th (out of 89)
After the presentations we headed for Chifley to A Bite to Eat for brunch with a number of our running mates. It was a great catch up.

Monday - Gym and Run
This morning I headed for the gym for a much needed upper body weights session. In the evening it was back to Parliament House for the speedygeese hill session.
After our usual warm up loops of PH we headed for the hilly grass and ran 12 x 100m hills on 90seconds. Next we ran to a different slightly less steep hill where we ran 8 x 85m repeats on 90seconds. To finish we ran a reverse lap of PH. It was a tough session running all those hills after yesterday's hilly handicap!
Total distance: 8km

Tuesday
Margaret and I drove to Black Mountain Peninsula for the Tuesday group run. Today we ran to Haig Park via O'Connor and the Uni. This is the course where I managed to become lost three times when we last ran it, so this time I made sure I stayed near Bryan as a guide! It was a good run when going the correct route!
Total distance: 10km

Wednesday
Another long trip to the gym this morning. This time, after 40mins of upper body strength work, I went to the Body Balance class. Miranda goes to this class too so it's a great chance to catch up with her beforehand. It's also an excellent stretching class. After this I drove over to Woden to take part in the BBQ Stakes handicap. I was supposed to run off 3:45 but I ran off at 3:30 with Caroline as I wanted to run with somebody. However, this meant that I don't get given a time or points so next week I will be brave and run from my own start group and keep an eye on the person in front of me. As it was, Caroline was not having a good day and I ran ahead and followed the people in front of me anyway. I ran much better than last week on this lovely, sunny day. Next week we run in the opposite direction so it will probably be slower as I'll be concentrating on directions!
Distance: 6km
Time taken: 35:38 (last week was 37:10)

On these lovely sunny days I have been taking Teddy for very long walks and making the most of the beautiful sunshine.

Saturday run from War Memorial

2011-08-27T21:33:00.002+10:00

This morning I ran on my own from the war memorial, down to the lake and to the ferry terminal where speedygeoff caught my attention as he was doing some warm up moves there. He pulled off his jumper and long pants and joined me for about 6km of my run. It was lovely to have some company. We ran to and round the museum and back to the ferry terminal where he left me and I continued on back to the war memorial. It was a stunning Autumn day in Canberra - blue sky, no wind and bright sunshine.I ran comfortably in singlet and shorts.
Distance: 10km plus 1.3km warm up untimed = 11.3km total
Time taken: 60mins for 10km
Average pace per km: 6mins
After my run I headed for the cafe to meet up with Emma P and Ewen for coffee and a very long catch up chat sitting outside in the sunshine. It was very pleasant indeed.

This weather is just so lovely at the moment and Teddy dog is really appreciating some very long walks as he gives me a good excuse to enjoy the sunshine.

Spring is on its way!

2011-08-26T22:33:00.002+10:00

The past few days in Canberra have been just stunning weather wise. The sun has shone in a bright blue sky - just beautiful!
Tuesday Group
I have no idea where we ran today but it was a pleasant off road run from Black Mountain Peninsula and I was very lucky to have the company of Steve and Bryan which saved me becoming lost! It was great to welcome Steve back to Canberra after his amazing road trip holiday in warmer climes. Tuesdays are a lovely social run and I really enjoy running off road. I just have to stay upright!
Total distance: 10km

Wednesday
This morning I went to the gym to do some upper body weights. While there I saw Miranda and decided to join her in the Body Balance class at 9.30am - lovely time of day. It was a good class and great to catch up. Later I headed for Woden to the BBQ Stakes handicap and arrived just as Caroline was about to run so I joined her as my navigator. It was a lovely day and actually quite hot at lunchtime when we ran. I managed 40secs faster than last week so a gradual improvement is better than no improvement.

Distance: 6km
Time taken: 37:10

Thursday
This evening was the speedygeese session at Dickson Oval and finally the weather was good enough at that time of day for us to strip down to singlets and shorts. We ran a couple of warm up laps of the oval before the main session. This was a two lap timed run (ie 800m) followed by three more two lap runs, with handicap starts. Of course I started on zero as I am the slowest but in the very last repeat Jeni just passed me in the home straight whereas on the previous laps I was outrun by quite a few people. Possibly I had warmed up by then!! To finish we ran a cool down lap of the oval.
It was great to catch up with Jeni who was making her fortnightly visit from the coast a day early so could join us.
Total distance: 8.5km

Friday
Today is my rest day but I did go for a very pleasant cycle with Margaret on a stunning Autumn afternoon. I had to make a statement about some property that had been recovered from the burglary we had in May and who should we see as we entered the police station in our cycling gear but Flashduck and Flashdrake who had just returned from several months in Queensland. It was lovely to see them looking so fit, brown and healthy.

Training at Parliament House

2011-08-22T22:42:00.004+10:00

Tonight I went to speedygeese training at Parliament House. My legs were a bit slow and did not want to cooperate by running fast. After our warm up loops of PH we ran several repeats of 400m sprints fast and slow along the straight by the road, keeping to the left! We finished with a cool down loop weaving in and out of the trails.

Total distance: 9km

Vets' Half Marathon

2011-08-22T13:41:00.003+10:00

Yesterday morning, on a calm overcast day, I ran in the 30th Veterans Athletics annual half marathon. This has been run by the vets for those aged over 30 for the past 30 years with Bryan Thomas as organiser. However, this year sadly he has decided to retire from this responsibility. It is such a well organised event and I do hope it will continue this way. There are three starts catering for slow and fast runners. I opted for the early start at 8am knowing that it would take me more than two hours to complete.
As Andy was going to do his long run anyway I suggested he keep me company to give him the long slow distance. It was so good to have him there so that we could chat and make the time go quicker.
Interestingly my finish time was exactly, to the second, the same time as last year. What are the odds of that! I checked last year's time when I arrived home and was truly amazed. With serious lack of training this year, carrying a few extra kilos and entering on the spur of the moment at the last minute I was actually happy that I managed to complete it and feel quite comfortable throughout the run. I know I didn't really push myself but I did enjoy the calm weather and the company.
I was delighted when I ran to the start to find Norma (Lucky Legs) lining up again this year. She is such an inspiration to me, at 82, completing the run in 2hrs 19mins and winning not only her age group, but the age standard percentage as well.
Later I was joined by Ewen, Liz, Andy, Jen and her children, for coffee and food at The Deck which was very near our venue. It was so good to see Liz and Ewen after a very long time. Ewen has been gallivanting in the USA and Liz has been busy running the Townsville Marathon and the 50km ultra at the Tan among other things - hard to believe that we were in Melbourne twelve months ago when she ran 100km there - wow! I am so lucky to be surrounded by amazing and inspiring friends. It was great to see lots of other runners there too and catch up with a few more lovely people.
Time taken: 2:06:40
Average pace per km: 6mins
Place in age group: 3rd

A huge weekend of celebrations!

2011-08-18T20:22:00.012+10:00

On Friday night we celebrated our son's 34th birthday, a week after our grandaughter turned 9. Next morning Mr B and I headed to Sydney to run the City to Surf on our 40th wedding anniversary on Sunday. We stayed at the Sheraton on the Park which was absolutely fantastic and just opposite Hyde Park where we lined up for our starts. It was a bleak morning, having rained all night and in fact it stopped raining just after the Red group started at 8am. I was in the Green group which started at 8.10am. With no more rain, no wind and cloud cover for the entire run the conditions were ideal. It didn't become hot but it was not nearly as cold as Canberra has been this week. If I had been race fit it was a good opportunity to run well. Although I didn't walk at all my time was still five minutes slower than last year. The undulating C2S is always a fun event and this was no exception with nearly 69,000 finishers.

Distance: 14km

Time taken: 85:24
Place in age group: 30th (out of 856)

Pace per km: 6:06

That evening a few of our friends joined our daughters and their friends for a lovely dinner in Bondi. We shared a degustation menu and a few glasses of wine. The music was loud, as was the conversation, but it was lots of fun.

On Monday Mandy took Mr B and me out for an amazing lunch at Manta in Woolloomooloo to celebrate our anniversary. It was truly lovely. Later, much later, we drove back to Canberra.

On Tuesday I ran with the Tuesday group from Black Mountain peninsula. This is the 4th time I have run with this group and the 4th different route. I ran with Brian to save becoming lost. We ran along the lake through the gardens and eventually along the old vets Rani Road handicap course. Unfortunately as I ran over the rough ground listening to Brian's interesting story and tripped falling hard on the ground. I managed to recover quickly and we continued running although a little slowly! By the time we returned I had blood dripping down my leg and was feelng a bit sore and sorry for myself!
Total distance: 11km
Yesterday I still felt stiff and sore and as a consequence I didn't go to the gym or to BBQ Stakes. Instead I met up with Jen and Andy for a lovely lunch and coffee and did no exercise whatsoever.
Today, Thursday, the sportsgrounds were closed because of all the rain we have been having and as a consequence I ran from home instead of going to the speedygeese session. I wore leggings, a spray jacket,gloves and a beanie and just ran round the block.

Total distance: 6km

Second Run at BBQ Stakes Handicap

2011-08-10T20:13:00.005+10:00

This morning at 6.45am I returned to the gym AGAIN. I seem to be always going away, coming back and returning to training. I need to get serious. It was tough work in the abs class and even tougher lifting weights and giving my upper body a well overdue workout!

At 12.15pm I ran at the Woden BBQ Stakes handicap for the second time. Last week the course was run in the opposite direction but today we ran it the usual way. As I have never run the course this way before Andy ran with me and we chatted all the way. It was fun, difficult but very enjoyable. My handicap time was starting at 1:19 and we ran in first which will obviously change my handicap next week and of course as it's only my second run it doesn't count.

Distance: 6km

Time taken: 37:50 (still slow but nearly 2 mins faster than last week so I will improve)

I know I won't be able to find my way on my own so hopefully there'll be someone else starting at the same time as me next week:)

Notching up the kilometres!

2011-08-09T19:48:00.003+10:00

Speedygeese at Parliament House

Last night I was about 3 minutes too late for the early start and arrived as speedycoach, Nadine and Craig were leaving. However I ran with Jen down to the lake and across the two bridges and we ran our 8km arriving back at the same time as the other early starters. There were 14 of us for the main session and after a couple of warm up loops we ran around an undulating trail in semi darkness for about a 860m loop alternating between fast and slow although I think I ran all mine at much the same speed - not very fast! I managed five before we ran the cool down undulating loop to finish.

Total distance including warm up: 16km

Tuesday Group at Black Mountain

Margaret and I returned to Tuesday group with our home baked cookies for a pleasant social run. This time I stayed with Brian as I didn't want to get lost again. We ran from Black Mtn past the Museum along the dirt track and on to the lake for nearly 6km then turned and ran back. Clare joined me for the last km.

Total distance: 11.3km

Running a little longer!

2011-08-07T20:17:00.002+10:00

This morning at a very civilized hour I headed out for a longish run and Mr B joined me for part of the run which was fun. We ran down to Lake G, round it and Mr B headed back while I ran an extra couple of kms by running back past Giralang. The rain had stopped and the sun came out while we were running and it felt quite warm. In fact the conditions were beautiful and there were a lot of people out enjoying the weather.

Total distance: 16.5km
Time taken: 1hr 40mins
Aveage pace per km: 6:06

Trying something new!!

2011-08-06T14:50:00.004+10:00

On Thursday it was back to speedygeese at Dickson Oval. We ran a couple of warm up loops of the oval and the main session consisted of 3 x 1k with a 1k recovery jog between each set. We ran in lane four and each kilometre included pace variations such as 2 x 200m or 400m fast and 100m float. I found it hard work, especially the last set but as speedycoach tells me it's the only thing that will make me faster, that and losing the extra kilos I've gained I imagine!!

Total distance: 9km including cool down.

Saturday - Rogaining

This morning about 22 of us met up at Nadine and Brett's house in Nicholls for the inaugural rogaining event which they had organised. Most of us had never done anything like this before and it was challenging and loads of fun. We were given a map with checkpoints marked and which had very few street names on it and two pages of questions to answer. The idea was to run round the very undulating suburban streets and try to find as many checkpoints as possible writing down the answers to the questions as we found a checkpoint as evidence we had been there. It didn't matter what order we found the checkpoints but there were 52 and nobody achieved nearly that many. We were age handicapped with a time limit which in theory meant we would all arrive back at the same time. Of course some of us arrived back much later and for every minute late back we lost ten points! At the start of the event it started to rain and our papers and maps were a bit soggy but the heavy rain held off until we finished and after that it really teemed down so the timing was pretty good really.

Bronwyn won the women's trophy but she had to dash off to footy before it could be presented to her so that should be a nice surprise for her. She was the only runner who arrived back within the time frame! Mr B won the men's trophy even though he lost heaps of points for being late back. He obviously has a much better sense of direction than me!! I ended up with 130 points so at least it was in the plus side rather than the minus!!

I reiterate it was loads of fun and we enjoyed champagne and yummy home baked cooking afterwards celebrating Nadine's birthday the day before. I believe the plan is to repeat the event annually. Thanks so much to Nadine and Brett. I'll be back, but I might brush up on my map reading skills before then:)

Living the Dream in Paradise

2011-08-03T23:14:00.005+10:00

We returned to Canberra late last Wednesday night after an amazing week in Vanuatu. The main purpose of the trip was to take part in the Round the Island Relay. This covers a distance of 140km and is run in relay teams of ten people. Fourteen of us went from our Veterans Athletics including four supporters. The actual race day was very hot especially in the middle of the day when the course was very exposed and undulating. I was runner six and lucky enough to run at 9.30am as we had split starts. Our first runner started at 5am in the dark and had a very long steep hill to negotiate. Although it was quite hot even at 9.30am and undulating at least I didn't experience the intense heat of runners 7 and 8. I was lucky too in that I had the company of the Townsville runner and we had a lovely conversation along the way. We also experienced some shade where there was gorgeous plant life and delightful village children cheering us on. Mr B was the last runner in our team and he had the fun of running through the finish line to the sound of all the cheering and happy supporters.

I ran my 13.3km in 79mins but have no idea where our team came overall. We do know the Townsville team finished third which was quite exciting for them as most of the winners were local runners who were very fast and very young! Some even ran in socks or bare feet. However, the Townsville team did have the advantage of having a couple of local runners in their team as substitutes for two of their team members who were unable to run on the day.

We had such a great week in Vanuatu. Apart from the run itself and all the celebrating afterwards, we had tours of the island which included hot water pools, mud baths, swimming in a blue lagoon and experiencing great local food. We tried Kava at a Melanesian feast, learnt to dance with the locals, went bush walking, visited a tiny bush school where the children never stopped smiling, swam in waterfalls, visited interesting food markets and clothing markets, went sailing on catamarans, snorkelling which included a visit to an underwater post office and ate at some beautiful restaurants trying new foods such as coconut crab, semolina cooked in a hangi and the most amazing fruit cocktails. Some of us girls had our hair braided in tiny tight plaits and enjoyed a great massage. Even when it rained the temperature was pleasant enough to swim and we enjoyed the resort pools as well as the beach. We stayed in little huts or "fares" and they were just delightful with great views of the lake.

The company was great, everybody bonded happily and we filled every minute with fun and friendship. It is an experience I would love to repeat as there is still heaps of things to see over there. We stayed at Port Villa in a resort which included amazing breakfasts with eggs made to order including delicious omelettes, and the most fantastic fresh tropical fruit. The grapefruit, tiny bananas and coconut were probably my favourite.

We loved how the children everywhere were so happy. They were happy kicking a ball made of paper mache, thrilled to bits when we threw them lollies out of the bus windows on race day and just seemed to love life in all its simplicity.

Port Villa itself is quite run down in some ways. The roads and footpaths are in a state of disrepair and we nearly stumbled several times over the rough ground. Although our resort was cleaned regularly early in the morning with palm branches being used as brooms, often the towels in our 'fare' were not replaced and time was relaxed. But I think this all added to the charm of the place and I loved it.

The school children all have machetes which are used to cut down bananas or slice through coconuts or cut branches out of their way when ploughing through the bush. Some days they are kept home from school so they can help their families.

It is a very different lifestyle to ours. We were told that there are no real road rules, no enforced speed limits and no traffic lights. There are also no taxes taken out of their wages. Not surprisingly there are a number of Aussies and kiwis who have chosen to stay there for extended periods. One of the runners in my leg of the relay was an ex patriot kiwi who has lived in Vanuatu as an engineer for 13 years. He has no intention of leaving. Not surprisingly, he loves the relaxed lifestyle there.

On the day after our return, Thursday, I had a short run of 7km with kiwi Barbara who flew back to NZ next morning. On Saturday I ran 8km and on Sunday I ran at the Vets' monthly handicap at Blewitts Pines. This was a tough hilly off road run but I managed to run (slowly) all the way. With a handicap of 22 I finished 67th out of a total 86 finishers in the longer course of 7.2km. It took me 46mins which is pretty slow but I'm carrying a few extra kilos at the moment and have some work to do!

On Monday I returned to the speedygeese session at Parliament House where the main part of the session included 4 x 600m fast, jogging slowly back to the start inbetween. With the warm up and cool down I ran a total of 9.5km.

Tuesday I went to Black Mountain and ran with the Tuesday group. This is made up of mainly retired Veterans' Athletes although there are also some part time workers. It starts at 9.15am and is about 10km finishing with announcements and a great morning tea made up of food which everyone contributes, usually home baking. Oh dear, it's difficult to lose those kilos when I consume the calories I run off! Margaret and I attended the Tuesday group before I went to Vanuatu too as that was just after kiwi Barb arrived and we could run together which was fun. This time however I was running on my own and managed to get lost THREE times. Oh dear, I have absolutely no sense of direction. Next week I will stay with someone else or at least keep them in sight! We ran to Haig Park via the university grounds and back again. It took me 62mins to run 10km!

Today, Wednesday, I had another first, I attended the BBQ Stakes handicap run at Woden. There were 60 runners and I recognised lots of familiar faces. Jen had persuaded me to go and offered to run with me so I wouldn't get lost! It was 21deg, sunny and a stunning day in Canberra. The course is undulating, part road and part dirt track, a lovely run but tough. I enjoyed it and until that time of day becomes too hot in the summer months I will continue running it as the hills will do me good! It took me 39mins to run 6km but hey, I will improve (eventually)!!

Toughing it out at training!

2011-07-16T16:20:00.003+10:00

Last Sunday Teddy and I ran 8km which we tend to do on the days I'm not running with other people and have shorter distances to run. He's getting much better although he is still distracted by other dogs.
On Monday I returned to the speedygeese session at Parliament House. Oh boy, I found it tough! After a couple of warm up loops of PH we were divided into teams of two for the main session. Yelena and I were put together. We ran fast down the diagonal grass in front of PH and straight up the hilly edge (just under 300m), tagged our team member and jogged slowly across the top straight while waiting for them to do the opposite diagonal and run uphill to tag us. The plan was to repeat this 12 times although we only managed nine repeats before the fastest team finished. We finished with a cool down loop of PH. It was of course freezing to start and I wore long pants and long sleeved top although I did strip down to a t-shirt as we warmed up.
Total distance: 8km

Tuesday
Another 8km run with Teddy.

Wednesday
This morning, after a weights session at the gym and a 15mins abs class, I ran with my music, from home down to and round Lake Ginninderra and back again. I haven't run that course for ages and it's also the furthest I've run since before my trip so it was challenging.
Total distance: 15km
Time taken: 1hr 33mins

Thursday
Tonight I returned to the speedygeese session at Dickson. Brrr, such a cold open place to train. Having said that it was great to meet up with everyone and to welcome a few new people to the session. We started with a couple of warm up laps and then were divided into relay teams of two like on Monday. I was put with Cinea who was brand new to the speedygeese. However, this time one team member ran 300m fast, tagged the other person, then jogged back 100m ready to be tagged after the other team member had run 300m. Again the goal was 12 repeats and we managed 11 although our team finished after everyone else had stopped. We warmed down with a long lap of the oval.

Saturday
This morning I met up with Andy at the war memorial for a run at the civilized hour of 9.30am. There was lots of cloud cover but it had reached 5deg by that time after minus 2 overnight so I even wore shorts and later in the run was running in a t-shirt instead of long sleeves. Because there was no wind for a change the temperature felt more comfortable although I did keep my gloves on for the duration of the run.
Total distance: 15km
Later Jen joined us for a coffee at the War Memorial and this time the coffee was lovely - yay!

Shaking off the Jetlag

2011-07-10T22:39:00.003+10:00

Our long flight home was not without its share of dramas. The first glitch happened at Barcelona airport when we were told to take our stamped "tax free" receipts through customs to the Blue stand on the other side.. Once through customs you are classed as being in another country and cannot turn back. When we handed them over we were told that the shop stamps were not sufficient but that we should have had them stamped by the Spanish customs on the other side. They were therefore invalid for our hoped-for tax refund on our purchases. Good start!

Next stop the British Airways Club which has a reciprocal arrangement with Qantas club. This was not our day however as apparently our Qantas Club card did not have sufficient status for this BA Club and we were unable to use their facilities.

We should have stayed downstairs where there were heaps of cafes and shops to browse around. On this side of the barrier there was a McDonalds, a small magazine shop and a loo. It was a long wait until the next flight.

Fortunately at London airport we were welcome at the BA Club. It was so pleasant and relaxing that we were the last passengers on the next flight - you know that moment when everyone stares as you try to find your seat just before take off! You probably don't, but I know it well being married to the most laid back man on this planet:)

At Hong Kong airport the plane stopped to refuel. This meant we all had to disembark, take our boarding passes, walk downstairs and through the bag check area again before reboarding the same plane. When we reached the bag check area Mr B discovered that he had left his boarding pass on the plane after having carefully remnded me to take mine with me! Back to the other end to have a new one issued then to do the entire process again. Ho hum! Of course I had my laptop in my hand luggage and so all this had to be checked through twice. At least it filled in the refuel time!

At Melbourne Qantas club we freshened up with a shower and oh boy was it good! And then it was a very quick flight back to Canberra with no more dramas, just a very long, very cold, wait for a taxi!

So there it was Wednesday and that day was really a complete write-off - unpacking, Washing updated, food shopping done and a quick lie down which turned into a five hour sleep in the afternoon!

Next day my beautiful Teddy dog was returned and on Friday I took him on an 8km run in our local area.

Saturday
Still feeling slow and lethargic I met up with Andy at the war memorial for a run down to the lake, on to Molonglo Reach and back to the War Memorial carpark. It was sunny but fresh and on the return we were hit by a head wind which slowed us down even more. It was a great catch up time but I have lost a lot of fitness and speed.
Total: 11km
Time taken: 1h13mins
Later the coffee at the cafe did not fulfil my expectations. I have yet to consume that perfect coffee!

Adios Espana

2011-07-09T20:36:00.007+10:00

Our final two nights in Spain were spent in Tarragona, a major industrial port which has preserved many remnants of its Roman past, which of course means there were lots of ruins to explore. Unfortunately we only had one full day in Tarragona on Sunday when most of the tourist spots were closed and we were unable to enter the closed gates although there was still plenty to see.

In the town square there was a very "different" statue of hundreds of men standing on each others shoulders like a human tower. Apparently this is a rendition of what actually happens at the Terragona festival when there are contests held to see who can build the highest human tower!

We had a couple of lovely meals for our last evenings in Spain, enjoying tapas and sangria on Sat evening and on Sunday night I had the best duck breast ever, cooked in the most divine sauce.

The sales were in full force here and a little last minute shopping just simply had to be done before leaving at about mid- day on Monday to drive to Barcelona.

Feeling a little nostalgic from our last visit to Spain in 1973 we stopped at Sitges for lunch. This is a delightful little beach resort (supposedly known as a "gay" resort) with lots of seaside restaurants and lively bars. We enjoyed a lovely "menu de dia" at a restaurant facing the sea watching the little fishing boats with the Sitges' landmark, the 17th century church of Sant Bartomeu, standing on the hill in the distance.

Sadly this was our last stop before heading to the airport, returning our hire car (not without some drama as the location had moved) and commencing the long trip home with short stops at London, Hong Kong and Melbourne airports on the way.

Adios Espana and Portugal. We have had an awesome holiday.

A taste of heaven at the Costa Blanca!

2011-07-09T17:25:00.011+10:00

On 1 July we reached Eastern Spain to spend a night in Alicante in the Costa Blanca. We were on the 5th floor of the hotel and it was accessed by a lift surrounded by glass like a bay window on the outside of the building giving the sensation of actually being outside. The beach was a drive away and took several roundabout ways to find where to park as we always ended up going past it in the wrong direction and not able to turn around. Eventually we found an underground carpark and at 8pm on an overcast evening we jumped into the waves. I was a bit dubious until my bare feet touched that water. It was just amazing. It felt like a tepid bath except there were great waves for fantastic body surfing. We had a glorious swim. I couldn't believe how beautiful the water felt and how long we stayed in there at that time of night without sunshine.

Later in the evening we found the most fantastic little restaurant where we chose a very large plate for two of prawns cooked in a variety of ways. Yummo - it was divine and the bottle of vino was great too.

Everyone at all the little restaurants on the hill where we were, was serenaded by an accordian player (who was actually really good) and his partner who was playing the tambourine. When they finished she turned the tambourine upside down and approached everybody for a donation. We responded positively as we enjoyed the music. However, we didn't buy the red roses, glow sticks, watches or shirts which we were also offered during the course of the evening!

Next morning we had time for a run before breakfast. We ran from the hotel to the beach and along the boardwalk enjoying the sea air. With less hills we managed to run our 9km two minutes faster than our previous run.

Later we went for an explore and discovered that all the sales started that day, on 1 July, just when our suitcases were already full (almost) to the brim!

Exploring Granada

2011-07-09T15:21:00.011+10:00

We spent three amazing days in Andalucia in Granada, Southern Spain. Our hotel was in a busy area and about ten minutes walk from the busy bustling city where there were pedestrian streets with "Christmas" lights hanging in rows above us. We explored everywhere by foot including the Albaicin which is in a corner of the city on the hillside. This is mainly pedestrianised and reflective of Granada's Moorish ancestry. The Albaicin is the site of the first fortress built in the 13th century with cobbled alleys and villas with Moorish decorations and gardens. There were some stunning views and we could view the Alhambra (see below) perfectly. Many of the street names start with Cuesta which means 'slope'! We were also rewarded with a free orchestral concert conducted from the top of an apartment which was a school of music. It was lovely!

On one of our days in Granada we joined a tour bus which collected us from our hotel and took us to The Alhambra. This amazing complex dates back to the start of its construction in 1237. The gardens were built to be a recreation place for the King of Granada and the palace was built much later in 1525 for Charles V just after his marriage but he never actually lived there.

The Alhambra was a complete town within the walls with shops and public baths, but it fell into disrepair with nobody living there. In 1923 restoration began and continues today it being declared a World Heritage site in 1984.

Our extensive tour took three hours and then we continued to explore the places we missed such as the baths and the fort. With so much to oooh and aaah at and hours of walking we definitely enjoyed our final dinner (and wine) in Granada that evening.

Missing Africa by ONE minute!

2011-07-08T21:01:00.010+10:00

The drive to Granada took most of the day and it was nearly midnight when we arrived. However on the way we passed hundreds of modern windmills dotting the landscape and stopped to explore lots of interesting places. During our stop in Tarifa, a 30min ferry ride to Africa, we suddenly had the urge to "just do it". The boat left at 3pm and it was 2.45pm and our passports were in the car parked a long way up the hill. We ran back to the car and pulled everything out of our backpacks and suitcase having momentary panic attacks when it took 10 mins to find the passports in the bottom of the suitcase. We rushed back to the boat with one minute to spare but weren't allowed on - bother, that was 15 very exciting minutes when we almost caught the boat to Africa! We had to be satisfied with blurred photos of it in the distance instead!

Our next stop was Gibraltar where we stopped to ogle the legendary rock and to laugh at the monkeys guarding this British colony. It was quite strange realising that residents here speak English, have British number plates and we were actually in the UK in the middle of Spain - bizarre!

Our last stop before Granada was Ronda and here we spent two hours exploring as it was a fabulous town, with great views and gorgeous white washed houses on steep banks.

A few hours later we finally reached our destination. Granada is in Andalucia in Southern Spain and the temperature continues to rise!

Living the High Life in a Monastery

2011-07-08T20:45:00.004+10:00

On Monday 27 June we drove to Santa Maria near Cadiz in Southern Spain for just one amazing night in a monastery which had been converted into a fabulous hotel. It was unbelievably luxurious with marble staircases, 16th century paintings hanging on the walls of long corridors and huge chandeliers, original monks' kneeling benches and gorgeous courtyards. For a really reasonable price we had a luxury suite and free wifi. In fact we have stayed in 4star hotels or equivalent everywhere we have been and have paid less (often much less) than $100 a night except in Barcelona where it was very slightly more. Booking online as we go seems to be the way to travel.
Santa Maria was a delightful little place with very narrow cobbled streets, cute restaurants and interesting markets by the river. We also discovered that petrol is 30cents a litre cheaper in Spain than in Portugal!

Next morning we took the very slow winding scenic route to Granada.

Soaking up the sun!

2011-07-08T20:11:00.006+10:00

We are now back home in freezing Canberra (minus 5 last night) so this title does not seem very apt! However I need to bring us to the present day so back I go to.........

Days of endless sunshine and a washing machine meant an opportunity to relax, run, swim and wash our clothes instead of buying new ones! Damn!

It had reached 40deg when we arrived in Albufeira in The Algarve and it has been hot and sunny, with temps between 37 and 41deg, every day since. We stayed in a resort near Albufeira about 2km walk from the beach. It had six swimming pools, one of which was long enough to swim lengths (at least 20metres) and actually feel like we had exercised. We ran three of the four mornings we were there - 7.3km, 11.3km and 9km. They weren't long distances but undulating, uneven cobbles made for a considerably slower pace than it should have been. Actually, that's my excuse. The true reason for the speed (or lack of it) could be the extra kilos which have have made their way round my waistline and butt. Even my running clothes feel tight which is not a good sign! Hmmm - a lot of hard work is needed in the two weeks we are home before leaving for Vanuatu on 20 July to run in the ultra marathon relay team.

But oh, it has been worth it. We loved our time in The Algarve. Our washing dried outside, we ran and went for a swim straight afterwards, sometimes up to 40 lengths, all before breakfast.

Later in the afternoon we would go for swims at the beach and inbetween browse round the interesting little shops or drive further afield to check the sights such as the day we drove to the most south western point in Europe (Cape St Vincente) where there was a working lighthouse (although we didn't see any ships), great views and a windswept little town nearby.

We spent four nights in The Algarve before heading for Southern Spain.

Evora - town of secrets

2011-06-28T07:51:00.004+10:00

Mr B prefers taking the scenic route rather than taking the autovia (motorway) which would have halved the time but also would have halved the fun! Instead we drove through interesting little towns and rolling rather dry countryside, spotting modern windmills and the occasional old windmill, for more than six hours, to reach the most delightful little medieval town of Evora. We found ourselves driving through extremely narrow winding cobbled streets within the city walls. It took a lot of narrow misses squeezing past walls you could reach out and touch and avoiding pedestrians. When we finally arrived at the hotel after a few hair raising moments the hotel receptionist told us in no uncertain terms that we were parked on a pedestrian only street and we should move the car. We did however want to carry our bags up the stairs to our room first. We had managed to fit overnight stuff into our smallest suitcase and Manuel (he reminded me of Manuel out of Faulty Towers) grabbed the bag and ran flat out up the stairs waving his arms in vague directions on the way indicating the breakfast bar, lounge etc. We were exhausted by his anxiety which appeared to be caused by our car being illegally parked outside for five minutes!

Evora has a population of 41,000 and seemed uncannily quiet apart from a few tourists and locals wandering about. We re-parked the car and explored the town. It was gorgeous, so many narrow little steep laneways, cobbles everywhere and inviting little doors indicating hidden treasues behind them. There were lots of squares full of quite busy restaurants but we opted for the one recommended by Manuel which proved to be an excellent choice. Our waiter, who didn't speak a word of English, was like a little bird twitching around and trying to be helpful. Dave had the recommended pork and clams dish while I opted for Portuguese style lamb chops which proved to be a fantastic choice as they were so tasty and juicy. I would love to know what secret spices went into that recipe.

Later we walked and walked exploring every nook and cranny. In one of the main squares there was a large number of brightly coloured fibreglass model pigs. Apparently there was a meeting of the pork community and all the pigs had been painted by different schools to welcome them. It was quite bizarre!

Next day we were looking forward to checking out all those mysterious shops only to find that it was a public holiday all over Europe for Corpus Christi so those doors remain a secret yet to be discovered. This public holiday also meant that a number of tourist spots were closed. However we were lucky to find that the Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones) was well and truly open for viewing. Oh boy, what a gruesome place that was! A small room behind the altar has walls and columns lined with carefully arranged bones and skulls of about 5,000 people! An inscription over the entrance reads "We bones await yours". It was truly macabre. Oh and to complete the picture there were two hanging mummified corpses - mmmmm, yes delightful!

Near where we had parked the car there were some ruins of a Roman temple to explore and some lovely views. We did like Evora and were sorry we didn't have longer there to enable us to walk along the Aquaduct which is an 8km walk in one direction which could pose a problem at the other end - somewhere to consider in the future perhaps.

Next stop - The Algarve and some time to run!

Putting the Port in Portugal

2011-06-22T17:31:00.002+10:00

Here in Porto, about 300km north of Lisbon, we are staying in the Grande Hotel Porto and it probably once was! The breakfast room/restaurant has a self playing grand piano and large ornate chandeliers. It also has proper French pastries- yummo! The hotel foyer is grandiose with floor length mirrors and long hallways. The bedrooms however are fairly basic, the shower leaks and the floors rumble and shake whenever someone walks in the corridor or next room. We are situated in the centre of the main pedestrianised shopping area which is a bit of a challenge! The parking building however was a piece of cake compared to Lisbon!!

With just two nights and one full day we filled every minute of it! We took a tourist bus and covered the whole city and the riverside beaches. Porto is an interesting city full of tiny narrow steep laneways, zigzag paths leading to nowhere, houses on the tumble down hillsides, soaring bell towers, buildings piled on top of one another, baroque churches and so many photo opportunities that my camera batteries ran out twice as I tried to capture the moments. Our bus tour took us through the old and newer parts of the city on both sides of the river.

In the morning we also visited the Majestic Cafe - plush and amazing but definitely overpriced for pretty average coffee and juice! We also stared in amazement inside the train station where the walls are covered in tiles telling stories of the history of Porto in pictures. We visited the fruit markets and were surprised at the brightly coloured "artificial" flowers on display for sale.

We spent an hour on a tour of the port wine cellars in Gaia (on the other side of the river) including sampling of course, and later enjoyed port on the rocks as we basked in the late afternoon sun and watched the tiny boats in the harbour beside the tumbling cliffs.There's nothing quite like drinking port in Portugal! Later we walked over the bridge and up the steep cobbled streets back to the hotel - a much needed workout before dinner!

Lisbon in five days!

2011-06-21T07:53:00.006+10:00

Our first impression of Lisbon was its size. It seemed huge so we were surprised to read that it only has a population of 580,000. We crossed a really long bridge to arrive at our hotel where we stayed five nights. This included breakfast and very lumpy pillows!

Thursday 16th was Mr B's birthday and we decided to thoroughly explore the city. We went for a short run before brekkie up the street and into a nearby park where again we had to climb uphill. To make it easier both on the uphill and the downhill on the other side we ran across the path in zigzags which made it seem less steep. What we lacked in distance we made up for in degree of difficulty!

After brekkie we caught the underground train into town and headed for the No 28 tram. This goes to the suburb of Alfama - up a very very steep street. The views were picturesque and the ride was very exciting as we wound round the steep very narrow street so close to the edge that you could reach out and touch the walls of the shops as we rode past. The tram itself was very old, probably built in the early part of the 20th century, tiny and creaky but such fun. We rode on lots of trams that day stopping to admire the amazing views at the top of the world and peeking in cute little souvenir shops and marketplaces. We stopped for pastel de natas and found an elevator (Santa Justa) in the oddest place which took us straight up to another amazing lookout. Oh, so many photo opportunities!

We found a cafe recommended in our guide book, aptly named Cafe Vertigo. Here we enjoyed a lovely lunch and had fun watching people walk up, up, up the steep cobbled street outside. The cafe itself was fabulous with wooden panels, walls covered with old photos and a steep vertical staircase leading down to who knows where, although I saw a couple of staff disappear down there! Here in Lisbon there are cobbled pavements everywhere and you have to watch your footing as both of us have nearly tripped a few times on the uneven cobbles.I wonder how many people have fallen flat on their faces as some of the high heels that are worn look a little precarious and we have seen a few near misses (no pun intended)!

In the evening we found a delightful local restaurant for Mr B's birthday dinner. The service was fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed the recommended fish and pork dishes and of course the vino!

On Friday we headed for Estoril to spend time at the beach. The wind blew and the breakers were big with a strong undertow but it was sheltered lying on the sand and fun to cool off in the ocean. It was a lovely way to spend some relaxing time today. However parking the car back in the hotel carpark was another story. With me directing and Mr B maneouvering - backwards, forwards, sideways and phew, finally success with a squeeze! Now we know why there are so many 'Smart' cars driving round Spain and Portugal (way to go speedyMiranda)! We do have narrow tight carpark buildings in some hotels in Oz but this carpark is simply ridiculous. No wonder they offered to park our car for us when we arrived! Since that experience we have stuck with the trains and trams!

In fact over the weekend that is exactly what we have been doing - exploring every part of Lisbon by every means of transport available. We even included another short steep run. We have discovered a green ticket available at the station which covers all travel on buses, trams, trains, elevators and cable cars for 24 hours. We had such fun catching trams to the end of the line, catching all the cable cars straight up the steep, narrow streets and down again. We found an elevator in the middle of the city that shot us straight up to an amazing lookout at the top. We found 'miradouro' (lookouts) in the most interesting places, had daily indulgences in pastries, freshly squeezed juice and coffee (not often up to much but a dash of sugar helps the bitter strong taste). We also caught one of those 'on and off' tourist buses to cover all the sights in more detail.

One of the highlights was our visit to Castelo de Sao Jorge which towers dramatically above Lisbon. The bus took us to the hill nearby and we walked up the steep cobbled streets to the castle. Every tower involved steep (and I do mean steep) narrow steps to reach the narrow edge around the turret. I have an unadulterated fear of heights but I determinedly plodded up those steps, gripping on to the sides of the walls with heart in mouth, to be rewarded by breathtaking views at the top - so worth the beating heart!

The visit was made complete when we returned to the bottom of the castle to find a full orchestral band singing and playing Fado music - it was amazing.

On Saturday we decided to sample Lisbon's exciting night life. We took the train to the city at about 10.30pm and went into the centre of the city where it was all happening! Every night club was buzzing and the narrow streets were wall to wall people. There was music, loud laughter, singing and bright lights everywhere. We found a very quaint cafe/bar to have a drink where the walls were covered in vintage art decor. It was fun to experience such a fun city at night. However, when we caught the train back to the hotel just before 1am the station was quiet and there were few party animals heading home that early!

This morning we managed to wriggle our car out of the carpark building without scraping any walls and drive about three hours north to Porto where we are staying a couple of nights. This is the second largest city in Portugal and after an explore we have noted that there are more very old trams here - what fun! Life continues to be an adventure.

Sad to leave Seductive Seville!

2011-06-20T20:06:00.003+10:00

The flamenco dancing last Sunday night (13th) was truly amazing. The small room was full upstairs and down. We sat on chairs and were provided with a free drink as we watched (sangria for us - surprise, surprise)! There were two guitarists and three singers - all male, taking turns so that there were three on the stage at a time. They played and sang soulful music as a dancer came down the stairs and began to dance. We couldn't understand a word but the general gist ofi it seemed mournful and probably about unrequited love. There were two male dancers and four female. My favourites were one of the men, in a black suit and bright red shirt, who was absolutely amazing as he swirled round and round in dizzying circles and a woman performer who wore a white flamenco dress (maybe she was a bride) and a purple shawl with which she performed fantastic moves. She also seemed happier than the others! As a finale all the dancers, guitarists and singers came on the stage to perform together - fabulous!
Later we drank cava with yet another wonderful meal followed by an icecream at one of the many heladios.

Monday 14th was our last day in Seville and we went for a very long walk trying to cram in anything we might have missed seeing before. We also caught the tram to the end of the line and back again - a long bendy tram. It was fun. We had tapas and red wine for lunch and tapas and sangria for dinner! We find that if we choose three tapas each we get a good selection and for dessert we usually indulge in one scoop of icecream at the icecream shop!

On Tuesday morning Mr B collected our hired car, an Opel Astra, and we said a sad farewell to Seville, definitely our favourite place so far. We really loved its narrow winding cobbled paths, outdoor cafes, low flying bats (yes, bats flying so low we sometimes had to duck), delightful restaurants and little boutiques.

We headed for Faro in the Algarve in Portugal just after lunchtime. Wow, this was another gem. What a stunning place. The houses on the hillsides were whitewashed with orange roofs until we reached a new little area of condomoniums which were all different pastel colours - so pretty amongst all the white ones. We went for an explore and discovered a little cafe where I finally had a good coffee - wowee! The hotel where we stayed for one night was not quite up to the standard of the others and my sleep was not good with a lumpy pillow and airconditioning that was either too hot or too cold. However, breakfast was supplied and the delightful surroundings more than made up for it.

We have also discovered pastel de natas (Portuguese tarts) - oh wow, they are just to-die-for - melt-in-the mouth morsels of egg custard in very flaky pastry with a crispy top - divine! Before leaving Faro we walked through the marketplace to check out all the different varieties of seafood, fruit and veges etc. After packing up we headed for Praia da Gale, a fantastic beach near Albufeira. Here we both had a swim in the Atlantic Ocean. It was cool and refreshing and just lovely to find such a beautiful spot for a break on the drive to Lisbon, where we are staying for the next five nights.

Sunny Seville - it doesn't get better than this!

2011-06-13T02:10:00.004+10:00

Have I died and gone to heaven? We arrived in Seville at about 4pm on Friday and checked into yet another amazing hotel. Every place we have stayed has been fantastic and very reasonably priced. This hotel doesn't include breakfast so we went to the nearest Supermercado to stock up on fresh strawberries, bananas and yoghurts which is our usual brekkie in Spain. In the late morning we often buy a pastry and I keep on trying coffee in the desperate hope that one day I will find a good one!! It hasn't happened yet unfortunately but at least the milk has been real since leaving Barcelona.

We walked through the busy shops and narrow streets and totally fell in love with Seville. It is pretty, quaint and full of atmosphere. There are even trams here and a band was playing as the musicians walked along the streets all dressed in white. We managed to become quite lost as we wound in and out through a maze of narrow streets, each one confusing us more, especially when the signs back to the hotel pointed straight ahead but the directions stopped when we faced a choice of several more narrow streets going in a number of different directions - all part of the experience and eventually we found our way.

There are cafes everywhere and the shop windows are amazing. We chose a restaurant to eat outside at 10pm. It was still light and people were still arriving to eat. We chose a selection of tapas and had a great meal with a very palatable bottle of white. We seem to have quickly become accustomed to eating lunch at about 2pm and dinner after 9.30pm just like the locals. We go to bed very late at night and sleep well. It is definitely a different lifestyle which we enjoy while on holiday. Oh and I made a discovery after dinner tonight. I ordered my coffee with Baileys and have decided that this must be the only way to enjoy my coffee. It went down very easily indeed!

The temperature in Seville is several degrees warmer than where we have been up to now and we will have to rise early in order to run before it is too hot.

Saturday 11 June
Rising early didn't happen today and after brekkie we headed out to explore the local area and peruse the absoutely gorgeous shops including a limitless supply of shoe shops. We love the fact that the shops all face the streets and we can be outside instead of enclosed in a mall. The sun was hot and we wore as little as was decent. We found the flamenco venue recommended in our guide book and have booked tickets for tomorrow night. We also found the "shoe street" of Seville and just couldn't believe the amazing window displays everywhere. When everything closed for siesta we headed to an outdoor cafe for a light lunch as we soaked in the atmosphere. This is a wonderful part of Spain.

In the early evening we continued to explore the delightful little alleyways, sometimes managing to peep behind grilled gates to the tree-lined courtyards beyond. As we walked past the town hall we found we were in the middle of a demonstration. We assume that it was regarding unemployment which is currently at 22% in Spain and everywhere we have been there have been tents erected and banners requesting improvements of conditions in Spain. This demonstration could have been a celebration of a footy win. There was loud singing and cheering and chanting. There were police everywhere and banners and lots and lots of people of all ages. It was quite exciting but we did stay to the edge so as not to be drawn into the crazy crowd.

We ate at a local restaurant after 10pm and had a fantastic meal. Mine included the most beautiful grilled veges with large flat mushrooms, zucchinis, green asaparagus this time and tomatoes. We chose a bottle of cava (sparkling light white wine) with our meal and it was beautiful. Dave had oxtails which are a speciality here. It was well after midnight when we wandered back to the hotel. It doesn't even become dark until nearly 10pm here.

Sunday 12 June
The goal was to wake early which I sort of did but then fell back to sleep as is easy to do in the darkened room. The only reason I woke before 9am was that the cleaners were rattling around in the corridor. This meant it was after 9am before we headed out for a run in the heat of the sun. In fact it was 28deg at that stage and the temperature has been climbing all day. We ran through the local park and across the road through the next park and over two bridges before heading back. It was hot but it felt so good to run. It took about 4km before the hammie loosened up but as long as I can run, at least a little, I am happy. I'm so lucky that Mr B leads the way as if I ran on my own I would undoubtedly become completely lost!

Total distance: 8km (it may have been a little further as my garmin had a mind of its own today and started off in miles!)

Later we headed off to have a look inside the enormous cathedral. It is the largest cathedral in Europe and work began on building it in 1401 taking just over a century to complete. Being Sunday there were some services taking place inside and we had limited access but we still saw a lot of the inside and it was truly magnificent and HUGE!

Next we decided to visit the Real Alcazar which is the royal residence, started in 1364! These dates boggle my mind! The Spanish royal family still use the upper levels when they are in residence today. We spent more than 3 hours being gobsmacked by this amazing place - the artwork, the gardens, the amazing ceilings and tiling, the ancient baths, the plasterwork, intricate designs on the archways and tiles - impossible to describe but just fabulous!

We ended up at a restaurant eating tapas for lunch at 4.15pm, absolutely starving! It's great having the opportunity to sample Spanish food this way - small portions, lots of variety, not too filling - perfect! We don't expect to be eating dinner until after 10pm again as we have the flamenco dancing to attend at 8pm - how exciting!

Madrid

2011-06-12T00:55:00.003+10:00

I didn't think I could top the hotel where we stayed in Valencia but our hotel in Madrid was fabulous. The only thing missing was the bidet! Everything else was in plentiful supply even down to spare travel toothbrushes and razors each morning. Breakfast was included in the cost and it was amazing. It turns out that a handbag is a useful commodity to take to breakfast for collecting a few pastries, fruit and snacks for later in the day.

I did omit to mention earlier that our hotel in Valencia cost us the equivalent of Aust $75 a night, amazingly cheap. However, when we enquired what it would cost on the nights of the Spanish Grand Prix in late June we were quoted the equivalent of $750 a night - we may give that a miss!!

Wednesday 8 June
This morning we went for a short 5km run before brekkie. It was a question of weaving through traffic, demonstrations regarding unemployment and crowds of people, dogs and cyclists before finding the lovely gardens of the Parque del Retiro where running was pleasant, pretty and fun. After brekkie we walked and walked taking in all the sights, markets, churches, fabulous buildings and shops. We also included a visit to the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. This is housed in what used to be the general hospital and diplays 20th century art including a lot of Picasso's very modern cubism etc - interesting, strange, not really my style, but well worth a visit.

Later we walked through an enormous food market where we sampled tapas at 1 euro each and enjoyed many interesting tastes. The food markets in Madrid feature more cooked foods and tapas than in Valencia although fresh fruit, veges, nuts, cheeses, meats and fish are still in plentiful supply. In the evening we enjoyed paella and sangria and soaked up the sights and sounds of the city.

Thursday 9 June
On Thursday morning we had an early start as we planned to fit in lots. After brekkie we caught the underground train to the Principe Pio which is a huge shopping complex. We only saw a fraction of the amazing shops before heading to the oldest restaurant in the world where we had booked for lunch. This is the Botin and is featured in the Guiness Book of Records. It was built in 1752 and still uses the original wood-burning oven to cook the specialities of roast suckling pig and roast lamb, the latter which I chose and it was just like a lamb shank and absoutely delicious.

For starters we had white asparagus with cheesy mayonnaise and giant mushrooms - absolutely divine. The asparagus looks like large white sausages and melts in the mouth. In fact it was all delicious and lived up to its reputation.

Later, after walking off our lunch (and visiting the occasional shop - tee hee), we lined up for the Prado Museum which has free entry after 6pm. There was only 2 hours til closing time and we only managed to cram in one floor of magnificent paintings. Now this is what I call art. The Prado houses the world's greatest collection of Spanish paintings from the 12th to 19th century and also has Dutch, German, Italian and French artwork. The light in some of the paintings was stunning. It's all truly fabulous but we definitely needed to allow more time to do it justice. With all the amazing food we are sampling I am definitely becoming Rubenesque!!

Friday 10 June
This morning we ran another short run on the other side of the park. Both runs start uphill and this time we ended up by a lake at the top of the park - a strange place to have a lake. It was pretty and we managed to run on a gravelly surface which felt good underfoot. Running back to the hotel was good as it was mainly downhill.
Total distance: 7km
After enjoying another lovely brekkie and ensuring we had enough for our long train journey ahead we checked out of the hotel and walked to the station to catch the fast train to Seville. The train was delayed 30mins and the journey took 3 hours but the time went quickly. There was a movie on the telly in English with Spanish subtitles (that was surprising) and the countryside was really quite pretty and green as we whizzed past heading for Seville.

A brief glimpse of Valencia

2011-06-09T05:00:00.005+10:00

On Monday morning we started the day with a run from our hotel to the Jardines Del Rio Turio. This is a 10km strip of gardens which is actually a dried up river and is crossed by 19 bridges. It was a good place to run as we could see all the City of Arts and Sciences up close and personal. We ran 5km and turned back but on the return we found some dirt tracks and grass which was much easier on the legs than the concrete path we had run on the way out. The sun came out and it was a pleasant run.
Total distance: 10km
Time taken: 62mins!
After showering we took advantage of our 24hr tourist bus tickets and went into the city for a light lunch and browsed around the fabulous food markets where we bought delicious fresh fruit and yummy nuts. The bananas here are absolutely delicious and we are making the most of the great prices. We also discovered yet more outdoor markets before returning to our hotel on the bus just before the 24hrs ran out. From there we walked to the Oceanografic. This is a very modern aquarium where we walked through open tunnels and the fish, sharks etc swam around us. This is situated in the City of Arts and Sciences. It is a series of lagoons and pavillions linked by bridges and tunnels and is quite amazing.

There was time for me to browse round the enormous shopping complex below our hotel before we went for dinner at 10pm at an "all you can eat" complex - big mistake!! We ate too much and drank another large jug of sangria to wash it down! I have been a bit conservative with running distances as my hamstring has been bothering me but if we are going to continue to consume all this amazing food the time has come to up the distances methinks!

Speaking of food (which I am, rather a lot) I forgot to mention that on Sunday night we ate the most amazing paella. We caught our tourist bus to the beach where we walked beside the sea and browsed in the little beach market stalls before finding a restaurant. The paella was absolutely superb, as was the sangria! That was one of my favourite meals so far.

Currently we are on the "very fast" train travelling to Madrid. The speed of the train, current temperature etc pop up on a rolling screen on this very modern train. We are whooshing along at 300kph and the countryside is flashing past. It's a very comfortable ride and we should reach our destination in 1.5hrs.

Adios Valencia, next stop Madrid!

Hola y Adios de Barcelona

2011-06-07T02:48:00.005+10:00

We have encountered numerous problems connecting to the internet but finally on our last night in Valencia we have success!

We arrived safely in Barcelona on Tuesday morning after a very long flight from Canberra to Barcelona via Melbourne, Singapore and London. Since our arrival the weather has been decidedly inclement. We have had a few bursts of hot sunshine interspersed with cool, cloudy weather and rain. This morning we squeezed in our first run of 8km before the rain settled in for the rest of the day and the temperature dropped. Yesterday while the sun was out it was a pleasant 24deg.
We are loving Barcelona in spite of the weather. Our hotel is comfortable and we are about 5mins walk from the shops and restaurants, just far enough away to be in a quiet part of town and have relatively peaceful evenings which assists in a good night's sleep.
Here it is traditional to eat lunch about 1.30pm - 2pm and dinner at 10pm. Naturally inbetween one eats pastries or tapas and drinks sangria or cava. It's very civilized but also easy to pile on the weight when it is a lifestyle we are not accustomed to. Short runs and long walks are probably not enough to counteract the extra goodies we are sampling in quantity. One thing I have not found is good coffee. I have since discovered that one reason is that here in Barcelona and hopefully this will not apply everywhere in Spain, they use longlife milk rather than fresh milk and this definitely does not taste the same. Spain just cannot compete with Italy in the coffee stakes, at least not in Barcelona anyway.
On Tuesday night we fell asleep early while resting after a long explore around the local area and ended up sleeping 12hours and missing dinner - no harm done, we had been doing nothing but eat for the previous 24hours on the plane and in the Qantas club and with no exercise we definitely needed to miss a meal!
On Wed we made the most of our fresh legs. It was raining in the morning and we set off to explore. We had stocked up on yoghurts, fresh bananas (less than $3 a kilo here and absolutely delicious) and strawberries (also less than $3 a kilo) and used these for our breakfasts. During the previous afternoon we discovered the most amazing fresh food markets with gorgeous fruit, vegetables, seafoods etc attractively and temptingly displayed in mouth watering stands and stretching for miles. We also discovered many little patisseries and cafes and the plaza reial which is a large open square surrounded by cafes and hotels. Here we sat listening to music and enjoying sangria in the sunshine which had struggled through in the late afternoon. During the day we visited the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia. This was commenced in 1882 and designed by the architect Gaudi. It is still being built 129 years later. Examples of Gaudi's architecture are spread throughout Barcelona and we saw lots of them onour run today. It's so amazing to visit an unfinished modern cathedral in its mind boggling magnificence. We included the lift to the top tower in our visit. This took us up 65 metres and from here we walked up several narrow staircases and took in the fantastic views far below through the narrow windows of the top of the tower. Apparently there are still 300 people working on the cathedral and there are cranes and scaffolding around one side of the building and above the towers. As we descended the stairs back to the lift the bell in the tower (it is a bell tower) started to ring loudly and it was quite eery being part of it all. A lot of the work depends on donations and it has not been estimated how long it will take before the cathedral is finally finished. I wouldn't like to be commissioned to clean it! In the evening we walked quite a way to find a lovely restaurant for dinner. Here we tried some delicious tapas and salads and drank cava which is a light sparkling wine and very easy to consume!
Today we were very excited to be able to meet up with an ex-work colleague of mine from about 15 years ago. Paula and Brett have been living in a village just outside Barcelona for some years and both teach at the same international school. They caught a train in to meet us for lunch. It was wonderful to catch up with friends with local knowledge and they showed us a great place for a beautiful meal at a very reasonable cost. This time we tried the set price menu and I enjoyed vichyssoise, a bread roll, lightly grilled pork and potatoes and a form of layered cake with cream for dessert. Wine of the region was included and was really good. In fact the meal was lovely and we had a great time. Later Paula showed us where to find cafe Italiano and a fantastic shop where the brightly coloured clothes are produced in Barcelona. Both Mr B and I ended up spending money here and in fact I bought quite a lot of very different fun clothes. The only down side to today was when we stopped later this afternoon for a strawberry cheesecake for Mr B and plain cheesecake for me it must have been the straw that broke the camel's back as upon returning to our hotel Mr B suffered a bout of food poisoning or at least a strong reaction to his cheesecake. He was quite violently ill which prevented us from going out this evening except to the local supermarket to stock up on yoghurt for the morning. I guess one could say that Mr B got his "just desserts" that being all that he ate or did not eat as the case turned out to be!
Since our run this morning the rain has fallen steadily for most of the day. We ran from the hotel through the Arc del Triomf, past the zoo and on to the beach where we ran along the boulevard for a few kms before turning and running back a slightly different route although we did run past the zoo and through the lovely surrounding parkland. It was so good to just get out there and run again for the first time since Sunday.

Friday 3 June

On our last full day in Barcelona, after a long walk through the streets, we decided to have lunch before joining the queue to visit the Picasso Museum. We found a lovely little restaurant with a very reasonably priced menu. I ordered lamb done in the oven which turned out to be a 'melt in the mouth' lambshank and Mr B had tiny fried fish which were similar to whitebait fritters. For entree we had white asparagus wrapped in Spanish ham. Desert for Mr B was a baked apple and for me a creme caramel. The wine here is very light and easy to drink and also very cheap.
By the time we returned to the queue it was quite short and moved quickly. The museum was well worth a visit with samples of Picasso's works throughout his entire career including his very unusual modern art later in life. He started painting when he was in his early teens and died at aged 92 in 1973.
After our fascinating visit there we headed off to catch a train to Montjuic which sits 213m above the commercial port on the south side of the city. We caught the funicular to take us to the castle at the top of the hill and the views from the ride and the castle were really amazing. The moment we stepped off the funicular the sun came out. It was actually hot. We have experienced every season in the few days we have been in Barcelona often all in one day. The only answer is to wear layers and to always carry an umbrella. Montjuic has lots of museums and galleries and after exploring the turrets of the castle and viewing the port and all the cruise shops (one was carrying a friend of mine from Canberra and we sent each other a text message )we rode back down the funicular and explored the gorgeous Montjuic gardens and joined loads of tourists on the steps of the Museum of Catalunya Art. The sun was still warm well after 7pm and we enjoyed a glass of cava as we sat listening to the music of buskers and admired the magnificent views of the city below. It turned out to be a beautiful evening.
Saturday 4 June
We had a relatively early start this morning when we decided to run from our hotel before catching the train to Valencia. We ran a similar run to Thursday heading through the Arc del Triomf and on to Barceloneta to run beside the seafood restaurants and along the boardwalk beside the beach. We turned at 4km and ran back stopping at the 5km mark when Mr B decided to go for a quick dip in the sea. We had perfect running conditions today, overcast and cool although it was still hot enough to work up quite a sweat and Mr B enjoyed his very short invigorating swim.

Total distance: 8.5km (incl warm-up)
Time taken: 48mins (for 8km)
Average pace per km: 6mins

We caught a taxi in plenty of time for our mid-day journey. Unfortunately however Mr B had omitted to print our tickets off the internet and the printed receipt was not acceptable. Thus we ended up buying more tickets and this time first class ones which were only slightly more expensive. We did however have a 3 hour wait for the next train as the mix up meant we had to miss our original train.
The train journey takes 3 hours and gives me time to read my book and write this up in a word document to be saved to my blog later. I've just finished reading 'Born to Run' by Christopher McDougall and it's a fascinating book. I would recommend it to anyone interested in running. Now I'm reading a book Ewen gave me for my birthday - 'The Soloist' by Steve Lopez which was made into a movie. After only a few chapters into it, I can already tell I'm going to enjoy it.

Sunday 5 June
Our hotel in Valencia is amazing. It is situated above a very modern five level shopping centre and opposite the City of Arts and Sciences. This is the new modern part of the city and today we caught a taxi into the original part of the city where we had some lunch and caught a tourist on/off bus so that we could have a tour of the entire city (old and new) and the port and learn of the history. It was also a good way to glimpse all the amazing buildings, museums and churches.
On Sundays it appears that all the shops are shut for the entire day. However we discovered lots of outdoor markets selling all sorts interesting items. It was interesting just to wander along the narrow streets with the tall narrow buildings and apartments and browse through the market Today, for the first time in Spain, the weather was sunny and warm at 26deg. Later the wind picked up but on the whole it was a lovely day.
I tried the local drink of Horchata today which is a sweet, milky drink made from earth almonds. It's refreshing but probably not a drink I would normally choose. Last night we ate in a local restaurant in the huge shopping area below the hotel. As well as shops there are numerous interesting eating spots.

Waiting, waiting to fly to Barcelona!

2011-05-30T10:56:00.005+10:00

I am currently at Canberra airport waiting for the flight to Melbourne which has been delayed twice due to fog in Melbourne. Fortunately Mr B has Qantas club membership and we have had a relaxing brekkie and there's still time for me to update my blog before the first leg of our long flight. We fly from Canberra to Melbourne, on to London and then Barcelona arriving about 10.15am tomorrow (Tuesday) if everything goes to plan! The predicted forecast for tomorrow is 22deg and raining - hmmm, glad I've packed my spray jacket and umbrella!

Yesterday I ran in the Vets' monthly handicap at West Stromlo. Mr B was on roster. We had to rush off straight afterwards but I still had an opportunity to catch up with a few people and it was lovely that Jen brought her baby Daniel out. The ground was a bit rough and there were a few undulations but it was good to be out there with so many familiar faces and I didn't stop and I managed to run all the course even if I was a bit slow. I was also a few seconds faster than Ewen who was caught walking on the hills!! He did have a good excuse however as he had raced the day before and was racing again in the afternoon.

Handicap Group: 23

Total distance: 7.5km

Time taken: 45:01

Average pace per km: 6mins

Finish place: 67th (out of 93 finishers)

I couldn't go to coffee afterwards as Mr B and I were joined by our entire family and drove to Collector to Grandma's Little Bakery at the Olive Farm, for a delightful family lunch celebrating birthdays, return from overseas and farewell to us. The girls had driven through from Sydney and we had a very special time together. I do love my family:)

In 20mins our flight should be called and we will be off. Having gone to bed at 2.30am and risen at 6.30am I'm hoping for some catch-up sleep on the plane (unlikely, but I can but hope)!

We are spending four days in Barcelona, then we travel by train to Valencia, Madrid and Seville staying a few days in each place. We will hire a car in Seville and drive on from there. Hopefully I will be able to blog on my way. Bye for now.:)

Birthday Week and too much food!

2011-05-28T21:48:00.003+10:00

On Tuesday 24 May it was my birthday and I had a rest from running. This has been a week of eating starting with a birthday brekkie with a good friend. Mr B took me out for a delicious dinner in the evening. Oops, bad habits are forming before I leave for Spain. I have had celebratory lunches all week and tomorrow after the veterans' handicap run we are heading off for a family lunch in Collector where my daughter will drive through from Sydney to join us.
Wednesday
I took Teddy for a lovely long walk in the morning and at lunchtime CJ collected me and took me out for a really yummy lunch. The run in the evening was a bit of a struggle but it felt better than Monday's effort. I met Chris, Andy and Ewen and we ran from Parliament House anti-clockwise round Central Basin and along Constitution Ave.
Total distance: 8.5km
Time taken: 53:06
Average pace per km: 6:15
Thursday
I spent an hour at the gym in the morning doing chin ups, push ups, chest press, shoulder, triceps and biceps exercises and abs work. This was followed by a very busy day organising overseas money, lunching with yet another friend, hair appointment, nail appointment, optical appointment and shopping for last minute bits and pieces for my trip. I didn't make it to training, instead cooking a roast dinner and continuing with the packing.
Friday
First thing in the morning Teddy and I went for a run to make up for the one I missed last night and to make it up to Teddy who had missed out on his walk yesterday. We ran with minimum distractions for 8km.

Next it was off for a remedial massage in Kingston and after that a lovely lunch with Marg and Jeni, who was here for work on her fortnightly trip from the coast. In the evening we had our beautiful grandchildren overnight. They were so good and such fun and slept really well. I will miss them a lot when we are overseas.
Saturday
This morning, after organising the children, I drove to meet Ewen at the War Memorial at the civilized hour of 9.30am. The sun was out and it was a glorious day with no wind although it was icy cold and we both wore gloves. I wore a t-shirt and shorts and felt ok but never too hot. We just ran down to the lake and towards Molonglo Reach and back. It is taking me longer to recover from this half marathon than it usually does. I'm still a bit stiff and sore.
Total distance: 10km
Time taken: 64.29
Average pace per km: 6:27
Tomorrow's hilly run will be interesting and very slow! Only two more sleeps until Spain!

One Week to Go!

2011-05-23T21:19:00.004+10:00

This morning I spent a couple of hours at the gym working on my shoulders, chest, triceps, biceps and abs. This was followed by an industrious afternoon of defrosting the freezer, ordering a replacement Garmin ant stick, sorting out paperwork and clothes and bits and pieces to take overseas.

Later I went to the speedy geese session at Parliament House. I met them on their return from the first warm up loop and joined them to run to the hills where they were sprinting hill repeats. I opted to run along the flat well lit area at the top of the hill and along the footpath opposite PH. My hamstring was really painful and I didn’t want to risk making it worse by pushing on the hills. Instead I ran very gently backwards and forwards until the others had finished their hills when I joined them on the final loop of PH back to the carpark. It took until about 5km before my hamstring started to feel a bit less painful.
Total distance: 7.6km
And now there are just 7 more sleeps until Spain and still a lot left on my list of things to do!

Worth Waking Up For!!

2011-05-22T16:32:00.005+10:00

The forecast for today was "rain developing"! Fortunately it didn't develop during the half marathon and the conditions were perfect for the YMCA Canberra Runners' Club 42nd Half Marathon which started at Lennox Gardens, going round the square of the National Library, Portrait Gallery etc and then on round the undulating west basin of the lake. I was so happy it didn't rain. The first 5km felt hard, possibly due to the concrete underfoot but after we headed for the track round the lake I felt comfortable even on the hills. The bright blue strapping on my hamstring must have helped and I played CJ and Tori's game of passing the person in front of me whenever I could. It gave me a little burst of speed as I came closer each time making it fun. In the first few km I realised I had lost the little rubber stopper for my left earplug of my ipod so I ran with only one earplug and listened to all the interesting conversations and heavy breathing around me out of one ear!

At the half way mark I had run one hour exactly so I was very happy when I finished in under two hours giving me a negative split!

Time: 1hr 58:52 (official time)

Average pace per km: 5:38

Place overall: 223rd (out of 327)

Place in age group: 1st

Not only did everyone receive a medal for finishing but I received a medal for winning my age group plus a $25 voucher from the Runners' Shop. Then, I won a lucky barrel draw of another two $25 vouchers from the Runners' Shop. Woo hoo, I have $75 to spend. I may wait to browse through the shop on our return from Spain.

After the run a group of us headed for Dobinsons in the city for lunch and coffee and lots of good conversation. Unfortunately we had to split into two groups a long way from each other because it was so busy but it was still fun. Jen joined us with baby Daniel and he is just so adorable. I was so lucky to have lots of cuddles!

During the week just gone I ran with Teddy on Tuesday incorporating Fartlek of 5 x 2min surges with 2min easy run between. Teddy was puffing and running nicely after the 5th surge until he spotted two yappy dogs behind a fence then he just about pulled me over in his eagerness to get to them. That was definitely another surge!!

Total distance: 5km

On Wednesday I ran my usual course with Chris, Andy and Ewen from Parliament House and part of the lake. It felt comfortable and the lights in the darkness made the lake look just stunning and mirror still and the carillon glowed.

Total distance: 9.5km

Friday

I incorporated Thursday's 200m strides in my plan (as I couldn't get to training on Thursday) with Friday's easy run taking Teddy with me. It was just 6 x 200m strides with easy jogs between and a 3km easy run.

Total distance: 5km

I then had a physio appointment and lessons on putting on my super blue tape so Mr B can do this for me while we are running overseas. It does seem to help.

We have 8 more sleeps until we fly to Spain - woo hoo!

speedy geese hills

2011-05-16T22:14:00.002+10:00

This morning I did a solid weights session at the gym followed by abs and stretches.

Tonight I arrived for training just as the other speedygeese were leaving for the warm up. Fortunately Chris started running with me and we met the others on their return round the loop of Parliament House. After the warm up we headed for the steep grassy bank leading up to the very top of PH. It has four levels and we ran right to the top the first time. After that we ran two levels (ie 100m) twenty times jogging down between each hill to repeat on the whistle. It was steep and hard work and 30mins of steady running. We finished with another loop around PH.

Total distance: approx 8km

It's all been happening!

2011-05-15T21:30:00.002+10:00

I have to go by memory this week as I no longer have a Garmin stick to download my week’s runs. I had everything written in draft on my little laptop but unfortunately on Tuesday we had a break-in and our house was burgled. One of the losses was my lovely little laptop with my Garmin stick attached although they didn’t take my Garmin which was charging nearby. All the history of my runs and my photos are on that laptop which is very frustrating.

I think home invaders are the scum of the earth. The fear and loss of trust that has been installed in me is worse than the theft. I jump at every noise and no longer feel comfortable at home on my own. I guess I am very lucky that I have lived nearly 61 years and this is the first time we have been burgled. We are also lucky that nobody has been hurt and Teddy is still here, as the side fencing had been moved and he could easily have run away. Instead he remained as a faithful “watch” dog, no doubt happily “watching” as the burglers trashed our bedroom and removed anything of value that they could find! If only dogs could talk!

The most inconvenient part of all this is that we leave for Spain on 30 May and all our passports (five current ones between us) and relevant documentation was in a steel safe which has been pulled from the wall and removed. We are now in the process of having new passports organised and old ones cancelled - such a pain!

Anyway, back to what I can remember of the week just gone.

Saturday 7 May
Andy and I ran from the War Memorial at 8.45am and just ran for 15 minutes before returning to meet Ewen at 9am and from there running to the ferry terminal where we met Emma and a little later speedy Geoff. It was a cold crisp morning but the sun shone and it was a good run once we got into our stride. We ran through the ANU grounds, which are always interesting, and back to the War Memorial.
Total distance: 20km
We tried a new venue for coffee today at Wilburs by the Hackett Shops. It was quite a pleasant change except that it was very cold outside and we needed extra layers.

Sunday 8 May
I took Teddy with me on my run during a sunny part of the day.
Total distance: 8km
Time taken: 50mins

Monday 9 May
In the morning I went to the gym and spent a couple of hours doing upper body strength work. At 5.30pm I joined the speedy geese for our training session at Parliament House. After our warm up loops we headed for the hilly grassy bank opposite PH. Our main session consisted of 12 x 100m hill sprints on 90secs followed by attrition sprints won by Joel who was narrowly followed by Colin and Abby. We then ran a warm down loop in and out of the trails round PH.
Total distance: 8km

Tuesday 10 May
Due to the circumstances described at the start of this blog entry I didn’t manage a run today. The house was no longer secure as the door needed repairing and I even had to miss out on the speedygeese dinner that night which was very disappointing!

Wednesday 11 May
Fortunately the insurance company sent a builder to secure the door and although it still needed a replacement lock I was able to join Ewen at Parliament House for a warm up (?) run at 5.30pm before Chris and Andy joined us for our usual run. I have to say that it was great to get out but oh boy, it was a cold night. I wore leggings, gloves, long sleeved top and tee shirt and never felt it was too hot. I did remove the spray jacket that I had worn on the warm up. Gee, it was minus 2deg and it felt very cold indeed!
Total distance: 10.2km
Time taken: 63mins
Average pace per km: 6:16

Thursday 12 May
Tonight I arrived at the speedy geese session at Dickson Oval just a little late and missed the first warm up lap. I was greeted with lots of hugs and felt so loved. I do think it makes a huge difference to know that people are so caring. I have wonderful friends. Everyone has been so supportive and this does help so much.
After another warm up loop of the oval our main session was a pyramid type session round the track.

60secs fast/60 jog
50secs fast/50 jog
40secs fast/40 jog
30secs fast/30 jog
40secs fast/40 jog
50secs fast/50 jog
60secs fast/60 jog

This was repeated for 20minutes with speedycoach blowing the whistle at the appropriate changes of speed. It was tough but enjoyable. I was lucky to have the company of speedygosling Jeni for the entire run.
We finished with a warm down lap of the oval and didn’t wait around too long afterwards as the air was very cold indeed!
Total distance: 6.5km (a short session as I missed the long warm up at the start)

Friday 13 May
Today was my rest day but I did go to the gym at 6.15am for an intensive RPM/spin session. This was followed by a remedial massage and oh boy I have a lot of very sore touchy spots right now. Tomorrow is only a middle distance run, a week before the half marathon.

Saturday 14 May
Today only two of us left the War Memorial at 9am for my last longish run before the half marathon next Sunday. Ewen and I wore our long sleeved tops on a crisp but sunny morning of only 5deg as we ran along Anzac Parade to the lake, along Kings Ave, the south side of the lake past Lotus Bay, over Commonwealth Bridge and back to the War Memorial. It was relaxing and we enjoyed good conversation which continued when we were joined for coffee by Liz and CJ at the War Memorial café later.
Total distance: 15km
Time taken: 1:36:48
Average pace per km: 6:27

Sunday 15 May
This afternoon I took Teddy with me as it was a scheduled easy run. After a couple of early distractions he ran quite well veering off and pulling me with him when he spotted another dog to bark at but apart from that we enjoyed a good run. He’s improving!
Total distance: 8km
Time taken: 48:55 (Teddy will make the 6min per km mark yet!)

speedygeese at Dickson

2011-05-05T22:41:00.002+10:00

Today was a gorgeous day after the initial very cold start to the morning. When I walked with Teddy round North Lyneham ridge it was t-shirt weather - gorgeous. However, by the time I ran with the speedygeese at Dickson Oval it was time for long sleeves and leggings. Brrr! After a couple of warm up loops of the full oval we ran our main session in relay teams of two. I was paired with Miranda and our session was as follows:

6 x 600m fast (1.5 laps of the oval) with approx 200m jog between while we waited for our partner to pass us the baton at the starting point.

We finished with another loop of the oval.
Total distance: 8.5km
Amazingly Miranda and I were not the last team home - woo hoo!

Happy Birthday Speedycoach!

2011-05-04T20:59:00.004+10:00

I started writing this on Easter Sunday but was obviously side tracked in the interim. I just don't know how the days disappear so quickly! Easter Sunday was a stunning day. I met Andy (who had just returned from the UK) at the ferry terminal and we went for a gentle catch up run.
Total distance: 11.3km

Easter Monday
A public holiday and I took advantage of this by running in the morning while the weather was pleasant.
Total distance: 15km

Anzac Day
Yet another public holiday and and Mr B and I enjoyed the great outdoors by going for a very enjoyable cycle down to Lake Burley Griffin and round the bridges before heading home. I went for my run later in the afternoon and took Teddy dog with me. This is the furthest distance he has run and apart from a few distractions on the way he managed well.
Total distance: 10km

Wednesday 27 April
I returned to the gym in the morning and in the evening met up with Ewen, Andy and Chris to run our usual route from Parliament House.
Total distance: 10.3km
After the run Chris had choir practice but Andy, Ewen and I met up with Jen and bub at a lovely pizza restaurant. It was great that Richard could also join us. We haven't seen him for ages as he's been injured.

Thursday 28 April
Tonight was our first speedygeese session at Dickson Oval this season. It was a good turnout on a cool drizzly evening - 14 including a few new starters and some geese who we haven't seen since last year. It was great to catch up with everyone and meet new people too. We started with a large loop of the oval for a warm up and the main session was as follows:

12 x 200m fast with 100m recovery jogs between.

We were told to concentrate on our form running on toes and keeping tummies tucked. I found that eased the pain anyway although of course I was still last finished! It started to rain during the main part of the session - lightly, but we were all dripping wet by the end. We finished with a warm down of the small part of the full oval.
Total distance: 8.5km

Friday 29 April
Fridays are my rest day but this day I went to an RPM/spin class at the gym for the first time in several weeks. It was a really good work out.

Saturday 30 April
This morning I met Emma P at 8am for an early run of 9km before returning to the War Memorial and meeting Andy and Ewen to run further. We ran the short-cut to the Ainslie track staying on the trails to Campbell Pk, Duntroon, through the Wetlands and back along Anzac Pde.
Total distance: 24km
It was a pleasant run but unfortunately I couldn't wait for coffee afterwards as I had a prior commitment:(

Sunday 1 May
Once more I incorporated my run with Teddy's walk. He does enjoy being worn out running in between walking days. Today we just ran from home to the tunnel heading for Gungahlin and home again. He was better today as there weren't as many dogs out to distract him and he managed to run all the way after the first couple of kms of tugging towards trees!
Total distance: 8km

Monday 2 May
Morning - long strength session at gym
Evening - Back to speedygeese session at Parliament House. This time there were only a few of us running round PH. Next week I really must remember my spotlight as it is becoming dark much earlier now and difficult to negotiate the footing when we run around the hidden tracks.
After our warm up our main session was as follows:
6 x 680m on five minutes, using a couple of steep slopes as part of the loop.
The cool down afterwards brought the total distance to 8.5km

Tuesday 3 May
Having entered the ACT Half Marathon on 22 May I have been endeavouring to follow a program of sorts for the past few weeks. Today all I had to do was a short fartlek session as follows:
Warm up followed by:
6 x 2min surges with 2min easy run between.
Warm down
Total distance: 4km!

Wednesday 4 May
Today is speedygeoff's birthday and it really was a lovely sunny day - cool, but sunny with a slight breeze - a good day for a birthday.

I went to the gym in the morning.
6.50am - warm up on xtrainer
7am - 15mins abs session
7.20am - warm up on rower
7.30am - strength work and upper body weights
8.15am - brekkie at the gym
9am - rower followed by push ups, chin ups etc. It was great to meet up with Miranda who had come to do the Body Balance session which I had planned to do.
9.30am - Body Balance (what a civilized hour for a class)

11am - finally left gym and headed for a coffee!

After my daily walk with Teddy and catching up with this long overdue blog I headed for Parliament House to meet Ewen, Chris and Andy for a run. It was cool enough to wear 3/4 pants instead of shorts and a t-shirt instead of a singlet but it was pleasant running weather. We ran round the bridges, past the carillon and along Anzac Parade to the war memorial before heading back to PH. On the return trip Victoria caught up with us on her third lap of bridge to bridge. She was running 20km as she is training for the Gold Coast marathon in July.
Total distance: 11km

The Week in Review!

2011-04-23T22:06:00.002+10:00

Monday 18 April
6.30am - 50mins upper body strength and abs work at the gym
5.30pm - speedygeese training at Parliament House
My hamstring was still sore and tight but I decided I needed to try a proper training session after a week of very easy running. We started with a warm-up loop of PH before heading for a grassy slope for some hill training. This consisted of 20 x 100m hill repeats and a jog back down to run the next one within 90secs. It was tough and I didn't push too hard but at least I managed every one which pleased me. This was followed by a warm down loop of PH.

There were only a few of us at training, probably a number were affected by the school holidays. However, a surprise visitor was Thea who ran the hills well. She also surprised us with the exciting news of her engagement, which actually happened in January. She is good at keeping secrets! Woo hoo - lovely news indeed:)
Total distance: 7.7km
I am looking after my 8 year old grandaughter Talia, for a few days in the school holidays and this morning we went to see Rio in 3D at the movies. It was lots of fun.

Tuesday 19 April
I just ran a short run of 6km this morning before collecting Talia for the day. It was not a comfortable run and my leg hurt far more than last night.
Talia and I met up with Jen and her boys at Questacon. We had a really fun time.

Wednesday 20 April
7am - 15mins abs class at the gym
7.15am - 45mins upper body strength work
Talia and I had a lovely day, spending some time in the morning buying craft materials and visiting the chocolate shop and the afternoon making Easter baskets and baking.
6pm - I ran from Parliament House with Ewen and Chris on a really pleasant evening. Earlier it had rained and I wasn't looking forward to the run. However, the evening was still and the rain had stopped. It was a lovely run.
Total distance: 9km

Thursday 21 April
Today I decided to kill two birds with one stone and took Teddy on my run with me. The first 2km were a struggle as he wanted to keep pulling over to stop and was easily distracted by dogs and interesting smells on the way. After that he found it easier just to run with me and was actually quite good. It was the furthest he had actually run with me without stopping.
Total distance: 8km

Saturday 23 April
None of my runs have been very long this week as I'm trying to keep my hamstring in one piece! This morning I ran from home and along the cycle track towards Gungahlin, just 5km out and 5km back listening to music. It was cold and crisp but later it turned into a beautiful sunny day.
Total distance: 10km
Time taken: 62mins
Average pace per km: 6:14
Calories burned: 589

Tomorrow I'm meeting Andy at the lake for another short run after his return from the UK. Next weekend I will pick up my distances hoping to be able to take part in the half marathon on 22 May.
Currently my daughters are in travel mode. They have both just left for overseas trips. One is in Vanuatu for a week and the other has just arrived in Paris. This is a good time to travel to warmer weather.

I wish you all a very happy and safe Easter weekend.

The after effects!

2011-04-16T21:25:00.003+10:00

Photos (with thanks to Ewen): Pam, Liz and strewth become Griffins Strewth and CJ on Marathon Eve Lunchtime celebrations after Marathon

Marathon weekend was big. Somehow in all the furore I forgot to mention how much I appreciate the support of all my friends and family. I have some very special friends and a wonderful husband. Mr B has always been there to support me when I used to dabble in triathlons and throughout my running career. He has in the last 6 years gone on to excel in his own running and triathlon adventures. In the half marathon in the Running Festival he achieved a time of 1:43. His goal is to complete a half in under 100mins and his PB is 1:41 so he is now aiming to improve in the next one. My son has also started running and hopes to complete a marathon himself before too long.

Since the marathon on Sunday I have had a couple of not very memorable runs. Basically they were painful and slow. I had a massage on Wednesday which felt great afterwards. Then on Thursday I ran from home for 7km. It was very slow and also very uncomfortable. My hamstring hurt even though I ran in compression tights. I couldn't wait for the run to end. This morning I met Ewen at the war memorial and ran with him for another slow painful 12km. The time is too slow to record and it hurt all the way. Thank goodness the company was good and the conversation kept my mind off the pain. The coffee later was great and we spotted Thea running past the cafe and managed to call her in to join us which was fantastic. I am concerned that my recovery is so slow this year. Next week I may have to pay another visit to the physio. Today was Teddy's (my labradoodle) first birthday and later this afternoon I took him for a long walk/run. The running part hurt but he loved it so much. Tomorrow I am on roster duty at the Veteran's handicap run - just as well, as it's all hills!

Proud to be a Griffin!

2011-04-11T21:14:00.012+10:00

What a weekend! Yes, I achieved Griffin status which means I am now one of only five females who have run ten Canberra Marathons. I felt truly happy and proud to join Liz and Pam on the stage after the marathon on Sunday to be presented with our Griffin certificates. In due course we will receive singlets and t-shirts. Next year we will be able to run as Griffins!

On Sunday it rained on and off for the entire duration of the marathon. In the afternoon when it was all over the sun came out! However, the temperature was pleasantly cool at 12degrees and the rain kept the dehydration at bay. The half marathon started at the same time which made a field of over 2,200 competitors. Mr B ran in the half. CJ was injured and unable to run but she kept Ewen company on cheersquad duties. In fact the support out there was phenomenal in spite of the weather. Nadine and Brett were taking photos and supplying jellybeans, Margaret was out there with her camera as was Kerrie with hers. I spotted lots of friends from the running community and lots of familiar faces in both the half and full marathon. I met lots of new friends. It was a great day and a number of us enjoyed a lovely lunch later at the war memorial cafe.

We were not permitted to supply our own drinks this year but because of the weather it didn't actually cause me any problems. I took the water at every drink station and carried two Guus in my pockets. Ewen handed me one at the 25km mark.

I must admit that when I ran for just 20 minutes on Saturday I was, to put it mildly, worried. Everything hurt - my hamstring, my ankle, even my calf muscles. I thought if I felt like that at the start of the marathon I was in big trouble.

As it happened the endorphins took over, adrenalin set in and when the run started I went with the flow. There was nothing else I could do but run, run and keep on going through the rain, the slight wind in parts and the buzz of conversation around me. I didn't plug in my music until I was into my rhythm and there was nobody to chat to as I didn't want to miss any of the atmosphere and fun.

When we were well on our way Tori appeared from under the bridge and ran with me for nearly 10km. She was so encouraging, making me run faster, change my gait and aim for somebody in front of me to pass. It certainly helped the kms go by. She left me to try to catch Roger and I saw her later running with Kelley. She was great.

On the long boring stretch on Parkes Way speedycoach came running up beside me. He had already run the half marathon in 94mins and was running his cool down. Wow - he's amazing! He ran with me for a short while then ran with Rob Ey before returning to his car.

My hamstring was strapped by the physio on Friday but it gave me a lot of twinges and certainly was hurting quite a lot later in the run. However, I was absolutely determined not to give in to it. This tenth run was very important to me.

When I reached the 40km mark I suddenly felt quite emotional. I realised what I was about to achieve and that I was definitely going to make it. I suddenly felt on an incredible high. I spotted Chris out there and felt like jumping up and down with excitement at being so close to my goal. That long stretch before the final corner did not seem so bad this year. I knew I was going to do it. I felt fantastic. I heard people cheering not realising it was my own family there on the home strait. I ran over the finish line and achieved goal number two. I finished with a smile!

My son, daughter and grandchildren were there to greet me. Mr B had run his half marathon and was waiting to give me a hug. I felt overwhelmed and incredibly happy. I did it! I ran my first Canberra marathon at 50 and my tenth Canberra marathon at 60. I had achieved what I had set out to do. I was content!

Total distance: 42.195km

Time taken: 4:12:52 (6mins faster than last year)

Average pace per km: 5:59

Fastest km (22nd km): 4:52

Place overall: 683 (out of 943 finishers)

Place in age group: 3rd

Calories burned: 2,534

Tapering makes me hungry!

2011-04-06T20:30:00.008+10:00

There is no rhyme nor reason to being more hungry during taper time. I haven't gone to the gym this week and I'm running less so where is the logic? I just feel like eating all the time. It's not good. Tomorrow I start carbo loading. At this rate I will look like an elephant at the start line!

Monday was a scheduled rest day and in the morning I had a remedial massage. It was painful but it was good pain and at the masseur's recommendation I returned in the afternoon to see Craig, the physio, who strapped my lower back and left hamstring with bright blue tape, a new sort of tape which stretches with the body. Hopefully it will be successful in keeping me upright on the big day!

Yesterday I ran 40mins with taped leg for the first time. It felt a bit strange to start but soon I couldn't notice it. The only downside seems to be that my right glute feels left out and is giving me some trouble now. All the joys of marathon week I expect where every niggle seems enormous!

Tuesday

Total distance: 6.6km

Time taken: 40mins

Average pace per km: 6:09

Wednesday This morning I decided to kill two birds with one stone and took Teddy with me to run my scheduled 45minutes. He was pretty good apart from all the distractions on the way, such as other dogs and interesting lamp posts. Then it was a tug of war keeping him beside me. Total distance: 7km Time taken: 46mins Average pace per km: 6:35 (a bit tricky to run with Teddy but he will get better)!

Four sleeps to go!!

Sunshine means fun times!

2011-04-03T20:14:00.006+10:00

Yesterday I wrote a post and the whole lot disappeared which means I have to try to remember what I said. That's a worry! This has been a perfect weekend weather-wise and I can only hope it is just as beautiful next weekend for the marathon weekend. Saturday

I met Emma and Ewen at the War Memorial at 8.30am (woo hoo - a little sleep-in) for a gentle last longish run. We ran to the marathon start at Telopea Park, at my request and from there on through the wetlands and back to the War Memorial via Molonglo Reach. At 13km gandalf went stone cold blank as I had forgotten to charge him after Thursday's track night - grrr! This meant we had to estimate the remaining distance from previous runs and from our time. I think we should be fairly close.

Distance with garmin: 13:36

Time taken for this distance: 1:25:31

Average pace per km: 6:24

Total distance for day: 17km

My legs felt like lead - no oomph at all. I was completely sluggish - not good! Later we enjoyed coffee at the cafe with Liz and later still, after collecting my shoe chip for today's run, Mr B and I took Teddy for a lovely walk round the bridges over the lake in the bright sunshine.

Sunday - Women's and Girls' Fun Run

This morning daylight saving ended and we thus gained an extra hour's sleep, in theory! The fun run started at 9am which was very civilized. There were 875 finishers, a bit lower in numbers due to a lot of other events happening, but it was a resounding success with many women and girls of all abilities taking part.

The start of the race is always a bit of a challenge as it's very narrow and difficult to pass people. However I entered with no serious intent as this was just a training run with company really! I certainly didn't want to push too hard with the big event just next weekend!

I ran a 2km warm up, 1km of it with Liz, which was lovely. Distance: 5km Official time: 28:24 Garmin time: 28:01 Net time: 27:58 (I'll take this one!) Place overall: 158th (out of 875) Place in age group: 3rd (out of 28) Average pace per km: 5:35

This afternoon Mr B and I took our grandchildren to the model railway exhibition at the local high school. It was fantastic. We all loved it!

Photo by speedygeoff: strewth and Liz

Last spiral handicap at the track

2011-04-01T21:20:00.005+11:00

After a cold start to the day this afternoon turned into a stunning sunny Autumn day, a perfect day for a long walk with Teddy.

Last night however was definitely cold for the track events. I arrived an hour early for my event and went for a run out of the stadium and along the cycle track past the nature park (which was very dark) and down to the main road heading for the city where I turned and headed back to the track and ran a couple of loops before lining up for the start of the last spiral handicap for the season.

I ran off Group 28 with about 26 other participants. During the warm up I felt sluggish but once I started the spiral I felt fine. I didn't take my jacket off until just before I started as it was really cold. This was actually of benefit, as it's much preferable to run in the cold than the heat. It doesn't take long to build up a sweat! Tonight was a 7 lap spiral and I passed a number of people and managed to come in 3rd place overall keeping just ahead of Helen who finished in 4th place Audrey in 5th and Nadine in 11th. By my calculations Helen should win the pointscore by a narrow margin over Nadine and all things being equal I should place third in the women. However, the results are not yet on the website so that is yet to be confirmed. I was still happy with my time however which is a PB for me for the 7 lap spiral - yay!

Distance of spiral (according to gandalf): 2.94km Time taken: 14:18 Average pace per km: 4:51 Handicap group: 28 Finish place: 3rd Total distance including warm-up: 9km

Meeting Daniel James

2011-03-30T22:43:00.004+11:00

Good friend speedygoose Jen produced a beautiful baby boy, Daniel James - 7lb 7oz -at 4am on Monday. She was home by 10am and meeting friends for coffee and shopping the next day! This morning, after my abs class and strength work at the gym, I drove out to visit Jen and little Daniel in her home. She is a beautiful relaxed mum and Daniel is just gorgeous. We went for a walk to the shops and enjoyed a coffee together. Daniel just slept through the entire exercise. He is alert and absolutely perfect. I enjoyed lots of cuddles and had a lovely day with both of them.

This evening I ran with Ewen and Chris on our usual route from Parliament House to the War Memorial. Just before I left home black clouds threatened and sure enough, after a lovely sunny day, the heaavens opened. However, by the time I arrived at PH the rain had stopped and the sun had come out again. In fact while we were running, although there was some wind, it was really quite warm and pleasant - strange Canberra weather!

Total distance: 11.5km

Time taken: 1:16

Average pace per km: 6:36

Only Two Weeks to Marathon!

2011-03-28T21:36:00.005+11:00

This morning I rose early and went to a cross training session at the gym which involved abs work, lunges and boxing - a good cardio session in fact. I then managed to get into a one hour remedial massage which was painful but amazing. I have another booked for next Monday.

The problem however was that at tonight's Parliament House session I felt rather sore and sluggish. I joined everyone for the warm up laps of PH at 5.30pm and while they were running hills I headed down to the lake and was joined by Ewen, Nadine and Andy for a flat gentle run. The sun was shining and the lake was beautiful, rather different from the wet conditions last Monday. It was very pleasant and my legs felt much better by the end of the run.

Total distance: 9.3km

Tomorrow is a rest day so I plan to go for a swim.

Photo: A kiss for the bride - speedygoose Abi and Will's wedding on Saturday

Vets' Handicap at Stromlo Forest Park

2011-03-27T21:45:00.011+11:00

Ewen looks as though he's having far too good a time at the Vets' handicap this morning!

It was a great morning - cool, crisp and bright sunshine. There were lots of people at the run who I don't see often and it was a surprise when Jeni from Sydney turned up as she was in Canberra for the weekend. It was lovely too to catch up with Kerry and Kelley who are training some amazing distances in preparation for Kelley's 90km Comrades run in Sth Africa in May.

Part of today's run was around the big grassy loop of the track before we headed out on a dirt trail for a few kms then turned and headed back for a final loop of the grass. It was so much nicer on the grass than it was last season probably due to the rain. The grass was spongy and felt great underfoot. The dirt trail was a bit rough and I did witness one person having a fall flat on his face. He stopped for a moment to recover before resuming the run. I imagine there were a few near misses on the trail and the course was undulating but that is to be expected on a vets course.

Handicap group: 24

Finish place: 77 (out of 104)

Distance: 8km

Time taken: 46:17

Average pace per km: 5:47

Total distance with warm up: 9km

Total distance for first week of taper: 74km

Earth Hour

2011-03-26T20:43:00.006+11:00

I am struggling to type with a torch on one side of my battery operated laptop and a candle on the other giving me minimal light as it is currently Earth Hour and we have turned off the electricity throughout the house. It is eerily quiet with no television or music and everywhere in darkness.

This morning I started my run on my own from the War Memorial at 7.30am and headed down to the lake and back again and round the block until Ewen, Andy and Emma were ready to join me just after 8am. My first 5km on my own was cold and I wore a spray jacket but I felt quite warm by the time the others joined me and continued the run in a singlet top. I wore my new running shoes so wanted to avoid Mt Ainslie and the dusty trails there. Instead we ran back down to the lake and turned right running past the ferry terminal, round the museum and then on to a lovely trail running through the Uni grounds.

We turned at 15km and headed back the way we had come, meeting up with speedygeoff and Mary (who was just finishing her run). Speedygeoff joined us for a few kms and I also ran a few extra before returning to the War Memorial to meet the others for coffee.

Total distance: 26.3km

Time taken: 2hrs 51

Average pace per km: 6:32

Calories burned: 1527

Later this afternoon I joined speedygeoff to watch the gorgeous speedygoose Abi become married in the beautiful gardens of the Commonwealth Club. It was a really lovely ceremony.

Taper Time and Sad News

2011-03-24T22:42:00.006+11:00

Wednesday 23 March
I met Ewen a little earlier in the PH carpark so that we could run a few kms before joining Andy for the majority of the run. Chris only ran a very short distance with us as he had to leave early for a meeting. Mr B and I had just returned from Sydney where, on Tuesday, we went to see Dr Zhivago the musical. It was absolutely amazing and we both loved it. We saw the movie in the 1970s so the story came back to us - just wonderful. We also caught up with our younger daughter and her partner for a yummy Spanish meal in the evening.

The boys and I ran our usual war memorial loop running out a little further to make extra distance. It was a pleasant run with lots of good conversation and we did spot a large hare as we ran through the cemetary at St Johns Church in Reid. He disappeared among the tombstones very quickly.
Total distance: 16km
Time taken: 1:44:51
Average pace per km: 6:33

Thursday 24 March

It was a much cooler day today and there was a bitter head wind when I headed out for my run in the early afternoon. I was on roster at track in the evening so needed to get my run in first. I ran from home and included 3 x 10 min tempo runs with 3 minute jogs between. Strangely enough my 11th km was my fastest. Going out I battled a head wind which turned with me. However, for the last few kms the wind finally dropped and I felt much better and faster.

Total distance: 11km

Time taken: 1:04:43
Average pace per km: 5:52
Calories burned: 643

Friday 25 March

I started the day early with a Body Balance class before heading into The Runners Shop to buy some more shoes for the marathon. They are the same sort I'm running in already so I will just run in the new ones tomorrow and try to keep them clean for the big day. There are now just over two weeks until the race and the taper began this week which meant a rest day from running on Tuesday and today. Tomorrow my long run will be 8km shorter than last week!

Postscript

I met up with Jen for a long coffee this morning. Her baby was due two days ago so she is jumping out of her skin (not literally of course but it is exciting)!

CJ had bad news from the physio today. Her hamstring is torn and it no longer looks as though she will be running the marathon this year. She damaged it during the half marathon a few weeks ago. She is quite naturally devastated.

I also had extremely sad news today from a close friend who we caught up with while in NZ a couple of weeks ago. We have been friends for many many years and her 30 year old only son (just a year younger than my older daughter) fell off his horse two days ago and was badly injured. It was a head injury even though he was wearing a helmet and he is now on life support. The prognosis is not good. His parents have to make an extremely difficult decision in the next day or two.

We wait for news with heavy hearts and know that sometimes life can be very sad and cruel.

Great Weather for Ducks...

2011-03-21T22:12:00.002+11:00

....and black swans and a few straggly geese! It was raining steadily when I drove to Parliament House well in time for the 5.30pm session. A few soggy geese (Craig, speedycoach and Tim)arrived after their early run and we were soon joined by Rachelle (who ran a speedy 4km), Andrew (new starter) and Chris (who turned back after 2km). It was still raining but the underground carpark was busy and noisy so we were happy to head out and run in the very fresh air! I ran with Craig at a comfortable pace while the others raced ahead. When Tim and Andrew turned back at 4km speedycoach joined Craig and me to run out a further 2km before turning back making a total of 12km for me, 20km for Craig and 25km for speedycoach. I really appreciated the company in such wet weather.

We were soaked through, running through deep puddles and muddy slushy grass. A quick dry with a towel and a hot shower as soon as I reached home made me feel much warmer. I had already prepared dinner so just had to heat it up which was so good.

I returned to the gym this morning for the 6.15am cross training class, this time a fitball class. It has been over two weeks since I've been to the gym and it hurt. It also hurt when I followed the class with some upper body strength work.

Teddy was lucky as the rain held off long enough for me to take him for a walk and a good run at the oval this afternoon.

Total distance for run: 12km

Time taken: 1:18

Average pace per km: 6:32