November already!

Sunday 29 October - First Day of Daylight Saving
Vets' Run

Guess who blogged about daylight saving on Sat night and then forgot to put the clocks forward before going to bed! Yes, it was me and believe me, when I realised the actual time while eating my banana on toast at a leisurely pace, I moved faster than I run in order to shower, dress and drive out to pick up CJ on the way to Deek's Forest for the Veterans' Monthly Handicap run. I made it with time to spare and discovered I had been put back six groups because of my win last month. Eeek! Not much danger of a medal today! However, it was a good run and a good course albeit a little bare without the forest but the surface was good and there were plenty of undulations to make it interesting. I came in 78th which was rather different from 1st last month! After witnessing our friend Ian being presented with his "100th run" t-shirt CJ, Barb, Marg and I drove to Black Pepper where we met up with Mr CJ for coffee.

Distance: 8km
Time: 43:30
Average pace per km: 5:25
Fastest km: 4:50
Group: 20
Place: 78th

Monday 30 October
6.15am - Bodypump at Gym
This was a good class and a great way to start the week. It was hard work but always feels good.
5.30pm - speedygeoff's running at Parliament House

A couple of warm up loops of PH followed by a 1km undulating run, 30 sit ups then a main set of intervals round the track between the cones speedygeoff had set up for us. We also practised our sprint starts for the track session on Thursday. Of course we finished with a cool down loop of PH and stretches.

Distance: 8km
Calories burned: 400

Wednesday 1 November
5.45am - Run

Yes, I dragged myself out of bed intending to go for a 10km run. However, it was an absolutely perfect morning for running and I had a few things on my mind. I always find a long run is a great panacea where all the problems of the world seem to find a temporary (very temporary) solution. It's the best therapy ever. Anyway, my run turned into 17km. I set off from home and headed for Lake Ginninderra but instead of running past it and towards home my legs carried me down the hill and on around the lake before heading home via Giralang. It's a great run but I probably started a little late and it turned into another mad panic when I arrived home. Breakfast became a liquid drink and I did roll up to work half an hour later than usual. I was only in the office ten minutes before I just had to go down to buy a strong coffee to keep me awake!

Distance: 17km
Time taken: 1hr 38mins
Average pace per km: 5:48
Calories burned: 992

5.45pm - Yoga
Yoga was really good tonight - heaps of new stretches and leg work and I actually found it quite good for my hamstrings which are still troubling me. We spent a long time perfecting a number of stretches and repeating them over and over. We also practised the start of a head stand and spent five full minutes in a shoulder stand. The rest pose at the end was for 15 minutes - absolute heaven!

I am very tired tonight. Tomorrow morning I'll go for a gentle swim and spend some time in the spa - I love that. Then of course it's track tomorrow night. The forecast is for much needed rain tomorrow - will be interesting if it rains for the track session. Wonder if that affects the numbers?

Daylight Saving Starts Tomorrow - woo hoo!

And so another week is drawing to a close. Today I woke with a headache and felt a bit clammy, slow and lethargic. I took Mr B to the airport and intended running later in the morning but it took me the rest of the day to do the washing, shopping and other household chores which is why I find it's much better for me to run early in the morning! I do feel a lot better now although I'm still tired and slow which does not bode well for tomorrow! Last night we babysat for our two little grandchildren and it was well after midnight before we left for home. They were such a delight I might add and very well behaved.

Back to Tuesday
I went for a swim in the morning at CISAC - 1km - slowly but I enjoyed it. The best part was I was able to access the spa with my "Club Pink" membership so that was very soothing on my sore hamstring.

Wednesday morning - Run
Today was my youngest daughter's 23rd birthday - scary! I went for a run before she woke then heated up croissants for her brekkie - her favourite. Of course I had one too!

Distance: 10.25km
Time taken: 1hour 45secs
Average pace per km: 5:56
Calories burned: 594

When I left home I noticed the ground was wet so it had obviously recently rained. However, I proceeded with my run as it appeared to have stopped. About 5km from home the heavens opened and it really poured down. I felt great waving my arms round madly and catching rain drops with my tongue and it smelt divine. Then came the thunder - rumble, rumble RUMBLE! It was a little scary and I was a drowned rat when I reached the front door. However, by the time I left for work an hour later the sun was out and there wasn't a sign that any rain had ever happened! I know I didn't imagine it! Mr B witnessed the apparition appearing in the bedroom after my return!

Wednesday evening - Yoga
Now some days you just should not go there! This was one of them. I enjoyed the session in spite of my struggle and in spite of the fact that Polly, our instructor, kept announcing my name in relation to straightening my leg, lifting it higher, twisting my head further, widening my stance - I'm sure everybody in that very full class knows my name now! But at least I didn't fall asleep during the relaxation at the end - quite!

Thursday morning - Swim!
Yes, two swims in one week - amazing! I felt very comfortable with my 1km swim this morning. I don't get any faster but at least it felt good. The spa afterwards was great and evidence of last night's yoga class was afoot as a girl approached me in the spa to ask if I went to yoga. She recognised me - I knew I had become infamous from last night's class - there's no escaping now!
After my shower and dressing for work I hurried off to meet CJ for brekkie. Mr B joined us later too.

Thursday evening - Track session
I don't think my body has fully recovered. Tonight's track session was even harder than last week. They didn't have a spiral this week. That's only every second week so I only entered the 3000m and the 800m events. That was hard enough.

Distance: 3000m
Time taken: 15:03 (2secs slower than last week!)

Distance: 800m
Time taken: 3mins 40secs

The most exciting part of the evening was that some time after competing in the 3000m, which is the first event of the evening, I spotted Lucky Legs with Ewen. It was so fantastic to see her and really cool that she ran in the same 800m heat as Marg and me. It was even more exciting watching her face when she finished the 200m sprint event. She was on such a high, in fact her excitement was definitely contagious and it made the evening really fun. I'm hoping she will be back in a few weeks to join us again.

Friday - Gym
This morning I concentrated on the upper body again - chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps, back and abs.

Tomorrow morning (Sunday) is the Vets' Handicap Run at Deeks' Forest (or ex-forest now). The forecast is for minus 1 overnight (aaah) and as we have to put our watches forward an hour tonight (daylight saving starts tomorrow), it will probably be a jolly cold start! Hope someone wants to go with me for a coffee afterwards!

Tomorrow night all the family is coming for dinner to celebrate daughter and daughter-in-law's birthdays which are one day apart.

Ouch, ouch, ouch!

Morning - Gym
Gee, it was hard work convincing myself that I should go to the gym this morning but I was determined to keep going as usual. After all it was only a 17km run yesterday. It's just that my calves and hamstrings were telling me differently. Ouch, they really hurt. I decided against doing a Bodypump class as there's a lot of lunges involved in that class and I wasn't too sure I could cope with that this morning. Instead I attended a half hour Fitball Class which involved lots of abs work and marginal leg work. I followed that by about half an hour in the gym working on my chest, shoulders, biceps and triceps.

After work - speedygeoff's training at Parliament House - 5.30pm
Yes, I actually attended speedygeoff's session and ran a couple of warm-up laps before the main session at the grassy oval. We had a repeat session of last week with a 1km loop followed by several speedy 200m loops. However, I had special dispensation because of yesterday's run and just ran the loops at a very gentle pace. We did 30 sit-ups before the main set, practised our sprint starts again and ran a warm down loop of PH to finish.

Total distance: 7.2km

I think tonight my calves feel marginally better but my left hamstring still hurts heaps. Perhaps I need a massage!

Brindabella Classic to end the week!

strewth, Aki, Marg and Barb - Aki is the speedy gosling!
cj and strewth at start of Bulls Head leg









What a week! So much to say that it's difficult to know where to start. I guess I should go back briefly to the beginning.

Tuesday 17 October - Run 6.30pm
Distance: 5.33km
Time taken: 30:31
Average pace per km: 5:44
Calories burned: 318

Mr B arrived home on his bike having already just run 9km and joined me for a short run as it was becoming dark and I needed company! We ran a slightly different route along a back track. It was fun having the company but it felt as though we ran quicker than we did!

Wednesday - Gym 6.15am
Absolute Abs Class for 15mins
followed by upper body workout - chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps with weights and machines
That was the first time I had attended the abs class and it's certainly good for me. I will do that again. It was tough but felt effective.

On Wed, Thursday and Friday I attended a conference at the AIS and it was pretty full-on. However the catering was superb and it was impossible to resist the scones with jam and cream, yummy pastries and delicious cooked lunches. Day One of the conference was hard work with a number of work shops and lots of concentration so the conference dinner that evening was a welcome break with fantastic entertainment, band and food. In fact for the first half hour of the evening we were taught how to play bongo drums by an African band. It was loads of fun but our hands were quite red and we certainly earned our beautiful meal!

Thursday - Track - 6pm
This was the first time I have been to the track at the AIS for years. It was quite nerve wracking really. I decided to try the 3000m which was the very first event. There were loads of people there and a large number entered this particular event which is obviously very popular.
The other events I entered were the 1500m and the 4lap spiral handicap which increases every 2 weeks by a lap. Each time you run a lap you run in the next lane so it's a little longer each lap. I enjoyed it.

Results of my first track session
3000m - 15:01
Calories burned: 178
Average pace per km: 4:47

1500m - 7:08
Calories burned: 90
Average pace per km: 4:35

4 lap spiral - 8:05
Calories burned: 98
Average pace per km: 4:42

I did find the 3000m race the toughest as I spent the next half hour coughing with a very dry throat but I really enjoyed the 1500m and the spiral handicap runs. After the track session ended ten of us enjoyed a delicious meal at Della Rocca, a little Italian restaurant in Kaleen. It was delicious food and I was surprised that my appetite had returned even at that late hour after all the eating I had done during the day at the conference! Speedygeoff had organised the venue and it was a great way to start the track season - yummo!

Friday - Gym - Body Balance
This morning I decided to try a Body Balance class - something a little different for me. As I had to miss my first yoga session on Wed night due to the conference dinner I thought it would be a good plan to try this class instead as an alternative. It was a mixture of tai chi, yoga and pilates - interesting, especially some of the moves which felt a bit like ballet moves or something! However the stretches helped and the abs work was good. I don't think it was as good as my yoga class though but it was worth a try.

Saturday - Brekkie with Jen and CJ
Jen had visited Canberra for a weekend of culture (!) and unfortunately Saturday's weather was Canberra at its worst. It was cold, grey and quite wintry. However we enjoyed a lovely breakfast together at Da Celini in Braddon and although we had to sit inside out of the cold it was still just so lovely to catch up with Jen and the short time we had went very quickly.

Jen, Strewth, CJ (photo borrowed from CJ!)














Sunday - Brindabella Classic
This morning I had to roll out of bed at 4.45am as I was being collected at 5.45am for our long sojourn to the start of the Brindabella Classic with our relay team. Aki, Marg, Barb and I entered as 'Three Slow Geese and a Speedy Gosling'. We met at the reserve to collect our numbers then continued the long drive to the top for the start. We made the top with less than 5 minutes to spare and panic was starting to set in as we realised how fine we had cut the time. However we dropped Barb safely at her start spot and returned down to the the start of the second leg to drop Aki off for her start. There we waited until Barb safely arrived and Aki started before proceeding on to the next stop. Barb looked strong and it appeared that the first leg was in fact shorter than the suggested 8.7km. Aki's leg on the other hand measured 20.5km on her garmin instead of the advertised 17.9km. Aki's leg was probably the toughest but she thoroughly enjoyed the bush and the hills which was great. When she pushed herself up the last hill to tap my hand for the start of my relay leg she certainly looked like she had worked very hard. Her time for the 20km was 1hr 44mins which was brilliant as the terrain had been very tough by all accounts.

This is Aki finishing her hilly second leg of the Brindabella Classic











Now it was my turn. The sun was shining brightly by now and although the air was still a little cold I was very glad that I had decided to wear my CR singlet and not the tee-shirt. Having said that, I changed my mind and re-pinned my number three times before I made that decision! My leg had a lot of downhill and the surface, although stony with a few twigs and branches on the path in parts, was mainly good, some of it running on pine leaves and some on dirt. It was quite exposed as fire had destroyed a lot of the forest a couple of years ago. It was also very dry and dusty out there. What I found most scary was the fact that there was just not a soul to be seen in front of me or behind me. I did catch a glimpse of a small group of people turning a hill behind me in the distance at one stage which made me feel a bit better but then they disappeared and after several kilometres of running in the wilderness I really was starting to become quite worried. Just before the 8km mark I finally came to a drink station and I was so relieved to see humans and to know I was actually going in the right direction that I forgot to stop and take a drink! However the next drink station wasn't too many kilometres further down the track and I made sure I took gatorade and water here.

After that stop the track was better marked with litter bins on the way and I felt even more comfortable when a stray runner appeared beside me. Yay - a real person running and in my direction what's more. How much better did that make me feel! And around the bend I saw another runner so I defnitely knew I was running the right way at last. At the 15km mark there was an uphill run and I really enjoyed the break from the downhill and flat. There I passed the runner who had passed me. He was now walking. At the top the view was breathtaking - the hills were almost blue in the sunlight and you could see for miles - lots of little tracks marked through the hillside. I commented how beautiful it was and how it was worth the climb but the other runner seemed a bit tired. I think he was running the whole run and not as a relay member so probably didn't really appreciate any hills at all at that stage. After that it was mainly downhill to the next change-over point where I reached Marg who ran our last leg.

I thoroughly enjoyed the run - my only worry was the fear of becoming lost alone out there. Next year I would like to run the Bulls Head in its entirety (that is the second half of the Brindabella Classic) which would mean I could start with a group of people and not feel so alone. Two runners did in fact become lost out there and one ran 10km in the wrong direction which meant that her team could not finish. That would indeed have been very disappointing and frustrating.

After the finish of my leg













Marg had a good run for her last leg in spite of having to run through thigh deep water before running up a steep hill in wet shoes. We ran out to meet her towards the finish so that we could all run in through the finish line together. It was a great course with heaps of food supplied afterwards and we had a ball.


Total distance: 53.8km
Time taken: 4hours 49minutes
My leg: 17.15km (measured by Gandalf)
Time taken: 1hour 29mins
Pace per km: 5:12
Fastest km: 4:18
Calories burned: 950

Welcome back to speedygeoff!

Where do I begin? It's so easy to fall behind in blogging when life gets in the way! However I will briefly summarise the last few days for an update.

Thursday 12 October - Swim
I swam a km at CISAC before work. I actually quite enjoyed it in spite of the long time between swims! Of course I was slow which is normal for me but I felt comfortable and didn't struggle to swim the distance. I really must try to swim more often.

Evening - Training was not held tonight as a number of us attended the farewell dinner for one of our long-standing veteran athletes who is heading off for Wollongong in a few weeks. There was an enormous turn-out for a gentleman who has contributed an enormous amount to vets atheletics in a number of capacities and who will be difficult to replace.

Saturday 14 October - Long hilly sloooooooooow run - Mt Majura
I met up with Marg at the base of Mt Ainslie - just the two of us this time. We took a different direction and aimed for Mt Majura. This time we started on an uphill and didn't do much else but run in a more or less vertical direction. We found a stile, climbed over it and ran a very narrow track up, up, and up. Now I use the term "run" very loosely as we did have to walk in a number of places where there were wide uneven steps, loose gravelly uneven ground and VERY steep slippery spots. It was so tough I wasn't even confident we would make it to the top but I really really wanted to be able to achieve the top of Mt Majura this week to match the top of Mt Ainslie last week. We spotted a stumpy-tailed lizard (large and gorgeous) - quite different from the frill-tailed lizard we saw last week. It looked like snake territory to me and near the top when we felt as though we could go no further a young girl came whizzing past us saying she was running fast because she was scared of snakes! However, although she had often run to this spot the last steep gravelly hill was even her undoing. She had never managed to conquer that hill and we took it very gingerly as it was definitely slippery. I cannot remember ever running this distance so slowly. It was one tough run - even tougher and definitely more uneven and scary than last week!

However I have to admit it was a glorious feeling reaching the peak at last and admiring that stunning view at the top and knowing that we had actually finally managed it. The downhill was much quicker! It did occur to me that maybe another time it would not seem so bad. We were just very unsure of our footing and that definitely takes practice. I'm sure even walking all those steep steps must have been good for the leg strength!!

As we neared our starting point we spotted Will just returning from his run and he made some comment about how fit we are - ha - if he had seen the way we struggled up those hills he might not have been so complimentary. Here's hoping we can struggle successfully through the Brindabella Classic Relay next Sunday!

Distance: 16km
Time taken: 2hours (oh dear me!!)
Calories burned: 1062

Monday morning - today
Gym - Bodypump
Gee I found those lunges really difficult today. My legs burnt. However it was an excellent session and gave my muscles a good work-out!

Afternoon - PH Running - speedygeoff has returned
Yes, our fearless leader was back at Parliament House tonight and we had a good session. It was great to welcome him back.

Session:
Warm-up of 2 loops of PH
1km hilly lap fast
30 sit ups!
6 x 200m with 100m easy jog between each 200m
practice of sprint starts for track season
Cool-down loop of PH

Total distance: 7.6km
Calories burned: 579

Squeezing in a Quick Run

This morning I rushed off to the gym with the intention of doing the RPM class at Club Pink. However although I made it to the class on time (just) the bikes were all taken so I had to be satisfied with just following my fitness/gym program. Next week I'll aim to be there at least 5 mins earlier to ensure I have a bike or else I'll revert to the Club Lime class which has room for a lot more people. However I did a good weights session although it's probably not a good idea to do weights two days in a row.

After work I attempted to arrive home at a reasonable hour, change and go for a longish run. However the best laid plans ............... I didn't manage to run out the door until nearly 6.30pm which meant it was becoming dark by the time I was running the home stretch. I decided just to run the block loop due to the hour although my original intention had been to run twice as far.

Distance: 6km
Time taken: 33:20
Average pace per km: 5:39
Calories burned: 332

I received some exciting mail today. It was a Canberra Times black cap and a certificate stating that our team "Moore or Less" won first place in the Female 50-59 age group. That was pretty amazing. In the same mail I received my certificate of participation from the City to Surf in August!

Tuesday - Gym - Bodypump class
I decided to try the Club Pink Bodypump Class. It went well although there are so many lunges my legs just burn by the time it's over. The people are very friendly and I do enjoy the social atmosphere in the breakfast room after the classes.

Parliament House Training

About ten of us turned up for speedygeoff's training session tonight. Trev took the session in our leader's absence. As I drove towards the underground carpark I was directed to "illegally" do a u-turn as we could not enter the carpark today - not sure quite what important happening was taking place but there were a few fire engines about - perhaps there was a a bomb scare?? Anyway, I digress. I had to park the car on the street and met up with Maria and Ken so at least I had company for the first warm-up loop of PH. We then met up with the rest of the group to run the next warm-up lap before heading to the bottom grassy verge in front of PH where we ran our main set.

5 laps of the grassy rectangular verge with each uphill edge fast then
5 laps in the opposite direction with the opposite uphill edge fast

Another lap of PH to cool down.

Total distance: 9.5km
Calories burned: 572

My legs didn't want to work properly tonight but I persevered. It was hard work but I'm glad I did it. The company was good and I think my hamstring feels marginally better for the effort! Tomorrow morning I'll do a bodypump class at the gym.

We drove to the coast yesterday and the car went beautifully but we drove away from gorgeous Canberra sunshine into cloudy cold drizzly weather at the beach! We bought fish and chips and drove home again! However at least we gave my little VW Golf a good run!

Forget the Undulations; Think HILLS!

Mr B and I met up with CJ, Marg and Barb at the same place we ran last Saturday. We ran exactly the same course and met the same magpie which chose to swoop Mr B and left us girls alone! After we ran over that nasty gravelly hill (which somehow didn't seem quite so bad today) Marg and Barb continued on back to the start and the rest of us decided to keep running (if you can call it that) up, up, up, up to the road leading up, up, up to the very top of Mt Ainslie. It was dusty, it was hot, it was tough but it was a glorious feeling to reach the top and admire that fabulous view on a stunning Spring day. We decided to run back down the road and it was a great feeling just finding a bit of speed at last after struggling up those hills although I found the road surface much tougher on the limbs and my ankle was giving nasty twinges until we reached the off road track again. As we ran in the trails again we spotted an enormous lizard and stopped to watch it for a moment as it rustled through the dry grass. Once we reached the water tower we felt like we were nearly back but gee that last 1.5km seemed very very long. It was a tough course but it did create a nice sense of achievement although CJ kept pointing out more uphill tracks on the way back which may be an even steeper option next weekend. Later we enjoyed muffins and coffee at Hudsons.

Distance: 19.4km
Time taken: 2hours 8mins
Average pace per km: 6:36 (!!) - but it was soooo tough!
Calories burned: 1275 (probably the equivalent of that muffin and the Italian hot chocolate I enjoyed at the markets later that day)!
Fastest km: 5mins exactly (must have been that downhill bit)

I have now officially entered our team in the Brindabella Classic Relay - "Three Slow Geese and a Speedy Gosling" - Marg, Barb, Aki and I are definitely competing in what is known as 'Australia's Toughest Downhill Mountain Race' - scary stuff! My leg is the third one and is 17.4km - should be fun!

Friday - Gym
Yesterday I went to the gym early in the morning and worked out on my upper body as I wanted to save my legs for Saturday's run. I worked on the chest, back, arms, shoulders (ouch) and lots of abs!

Tomorrow (Sunday) we are driving to the coast for the day to give my new Golf a good run. I am so looking forward to my bed tonight!

speedygeoff's group without speedygeoff!

This morning I drove in to meet CJ for brekkie in my smooth new car. It's so lovely to drive and it was probably a good idea to do my first solo run before the traffic started. I had enough of that on my way to training after work. Yes, speedygeoff's group was still running at the oval minus our fearless leader who is currently enjoying(!) running in the heatwave in Adelaide! Only nine of us turned up tonight. Mr B decided to join us even though he had just run a lap of Lake Ginninderra. It was decided that our main set would be a pyramid session.

Warm-up: approx 2.7km
2 x 100m fast
100m slow between each 100m
1 x 200m fast
200m slow
1 x 300m fast
300m slow
1 x 400m fast
400m slow
1 x 300m fast
300m slow
1 x 200m fast
200m slow
2 x 100m fast
100m slow between each 100m
Warm down loop of 1.2km

Total distance: 7.5km

Although the temp reached 25deg today there was a fair bit of wind which was okay on the oval but the temperature dropped considerably as darkness fell and tonight is predicted to drop back to 1deg before another lovely sunny day tomorrow.

My New Car Has Arrived!

Tuesday - Today I had planned to go to the RPM class after work but the best laid plans.......!! I had just arrived at the gym when I had a call from a work colleague who had managed to be locked out of the office and had left his car keys inside. Guess who had to turn round and drive back to rescue him! Damn - I missed the RPM class but did return to the gym to do my normal program and it felt like a good workout. I still have trouble with the shoulder lifts though. I can increase weights everywhere else but the shoulders lifts are HARD!

Wednesday - Run

What a gorgeous day - 25deg in the sun and lovely. And very excitingly I collected my new work car, chosen by me so that I can buy it to keep in a few years time. It's a blue VW Golf and it's just gorgeous - so beautiful to drive. I'll take a photo and post it on my blog in the next few days! After driving it home (carefully!) I decided I should go for a quick run before it grew too dark to see - just time to run the block in fact.

Distance: 6km
Time taken: 33:07
Average pace per km: 5:35
Calories burned: 352

Tomorrow morning I'm meeting CJ at RBB for brekkie. I'm looking forward to it and I'm also looking forward to driving my new car in to work!

Running a Dusty Virgin Road!

How I love having long weekends especially warm, sunny ones. It has been so lovely catching up with friends, family and grandchildren over the extra time we had as well as spending time out in the sunshine, cycling, gardening, painting etc.

This afternoon Mr B and I decided to do something slightly different and we ran on the new Gungahlin Drive extension which is still being built. We ran it late in the day and of course there were no workmen about as it was a public holiday. There was a barricade across but it was easy to circumnavigate this and we were not quite alone as a lone walker with a backpack was obviously exploring the forbidden road too! We ran on the dusty gravelly not-quite-finished road and it was quite an adventure to discover how far the road had been completed. Going out was a slight steady incline and returning there was a head wind but it was much faster as it was slightly downhill. It was quite bizarre running freely on a road with no traffic (of course) and viewing bundles of light stands ready to be erected on the sides of the road. It was very dusty and dry and it stopped dead at Belconnen Way where the overpass is being built but doesn't yet connect to the road. We then turned round and returned the way we had come - a hot, dusty, windy but rewarding effort.

Distance: 9.49km
Time taken: 52:36
Average pace per km: 5:33
Calories burned: 564
Fastest km: 5:06

Fun in the Sun!

Friday - Gym in morning before work
Just followed my program - working on all parts of my body including abs. Spent an hour working on the muscles with increased weights.

Saturday morning - Run
I met up with Marg and the base of Mt Ainslie where the Vets start their handicap run and we ran the vets' course then ran a variation of it as we wanted a longer tougher course and we sure found one! We discovered a very hilly version indeed with a very rough uneven surface. It was a bit scary actually as it was slippery with loose gravel on the steep downhills. We are entering the Brindabella Classic as a team and need to practise those downhills so we took the plunge but had to run very slowly and carefully a lot of the time and this reflected on our average pace and overall time. Next weekend we will try another version but at least it felt like a good tough run. It was very very dusty and dry out there as evidenced by my deceptively brown legs which changed colour after my shower later!

Distance: approx 16.50km
Time taken: 1hr 45mins
Average pace per km: 6:30
Calories burned: 915

Yes, it was a slow run but I think the hills made up for the speed!

In the evening we enjoyed a beautiful Italian meal at a restaurant by Lake Ginninderra with a number of triathlon and running friends who we hadn't seen for months. It was a fantastic night.

Sunday - Cycle!
Yes indeed - on this gorgeous sunny Spring afternoon Mr B and I went for a leisurely cycle following the AIS track in to the city then we cycled on to Lake BG where we found a mobile coffee van and bought blueberry muffins and coffee and ginger beer for Mr B. We did in fact cycle 23km so woo hoo, I'm back on the bike - gentle sure, but I have to start somewhere and it was a stunning day for a cycle.

Running off the Chocolate!

After a full-on day in Sydney we had half an hour to spare before catching a cab to the airport. This meant there was time to walk down Pitt Street where we found Haighs Chocolate Shop - big mistake! I bought some choccie for Mr B but couldn't resist some for this chocoholic as well - not good, not good at all but oh so yummy!

In spite of allowing plenty of time for me to arrive in Canberra in time for training, the plane was delayed an hour due to mechanical problems and a change to a smaller plane (don't you hate that) and as a consequence by the time I arrived home it was too late to make it to training on time. Thus I had to change and run from home instead and only managed one loop of the block before it became dark. I also felt quite ill (from eating too much chocolate and drinking too many coffees no doubt)! I do have to admit that I had two excellent cappuccinos in the Sydney CBD followed by a lovely flat white at the airport - three out of three aint bad!! However that is probably two more coffees than I should have had and definitely too much chocolate!

Distance: approx 6km
Time taken: 32:27
Average pace per km: 5:35
Calories burned: 340

10km Before Breakfast!

This morning I decided it was time I went for an early morning run. It's lighter much earlier in the mornings now but it's still pretty cool so leggings and long sleeves were still required at 5.45am. I decided to take a different route from usual and ran to the AIS and along the new cycle track to Haydon Drive and home to Kaleen past the CIT and back on to the cycle track. The track is worth another investigation on the bike as it's pretty hard concrete on the feet but in spite of the roadworks and concrete world there were still lots of magpies and beautiful rosellas in plentiful supply. My fingers remained cold for most of the run although the rest of me eventually warmed up!

Distance: 10km
Time taken: 57:21
Calories burned: 598
Average pace per km: 5:44

Evening - Yoga
I was so hungry during the class tonight. My tummy was rumbling like crazy and I was very much looking forward to eating my dinner! This was the last session for this term and we now have a couple of weeks break. It was a good session with lots of much-needed leg work - standing and stretching poses and a very long shoulder stand.

Tomorrow morning I'm catching the 7.15am flight to Sydney for a meeting so no swimming this week! Now I had better book a cab!

The Week in Progress

Today I have developed a sore dry throat which is very irritating. There's been a few nasties going round the office and it's inevitable that the air conditioning will spread them around - I am not impressed!

Monday 6.15am - Body Pump class at the gym
This was a good class but the eventful part of the gym session was when I discovered I didn't have a towel when I emerged from the shower. Holding my t-shirt in front of me I called out to be rescued. Fortunately I had a friend there who could collect me a towel. At least it created a giggle from those nearby! I'm glad Club Pink provides towels!

Evening - VIP Movie Preview of "The Devil Wears Prada". We had to wear a touch of red - I probably wore more of a splash as I have lots of red in my wardrobe - red leather jacket, red shirt, red jewellery, red bag, red shoes .... ! We met up with CJ and Bec in the foyer but we managed to lose each other in the queue when the doors opened! There were nibbles and champagne to start and a little fashion show. The movie itself was fantastic. Talk about the boss from hell - hope I'm not that bad!!

Tuesday 6.15am - RPM/Spin Class at the gym
Now this was such a good work-out. I was dripping by the time we reached our cool down. I had help setting up my bike and it definitely made a huge difference. I worked much harder than last week and the music was great.

I had intended going for a run after work but I came home feeling pretty ordinary so it didn't happen! An earlier night than usual might be a good plan!

Go for Gold!!

This has been a busy week work-wise and a bit interrupted training-wise but I must have done something right as today I hit the jackpot at the monthly Vet's Handicap Run and won the GOLD medal - yay, yay, yay!! I'm very excited and happy about that.

It was a cloudy, windy, drizzly morning but not too cold for running in a singlet. The course was at Blewitts Pine Forest (minus the pines these days) on a good surface and very undulating. The first half of the race was up and down and really quite pleasant but at about the halfway point it started going up, up, up, up for the next 3km. I just kept my eyes on one person in front of me at a time and decided to aim to pass that person. It was fun and rewarding but as I reached about the 5.5km mark the lady I passed said, "you are heading for a gold" and I realised there was nobody in sight ahead of me. Panic attack, nobody to follow, will I get lost - where is everyone? I decided they must be round the next bend but round the next bend and running up the hill cheering loudly were speedygeoff, speedygoose and Griffin - "come on Ruthy, you can do it". Well, that was it - there was a lovely downhill stretch then an uphill finish and I felt really determined and strong. I saw someone walking a long way ahead but apparently she had entered the short course of 3.5km (the Frylink series) and was not counted. I couldn't believe it when I was told I really had won the gold medal. A photo was taken of the winners but as I left my camera at home (after all I didn't expect this result) Mr B took a photo in the lounge room (above) before I changed out of my running gear.

We finished our run just in time as a huge windstorm swept through as the last competitor finished blowing everything everywhere and there was a long wait before the notices and results were read out as the tents were being dismantled. CJ, Mr CJ, Mr B and I then headed off to Musica e in Belconnen for a cappuccino - yes, yes, yes - such a good day and such a great feeling! I have such wonderful supporters and friends. Life's good!

Stats for today's hilly course
Distance: 7:05km
Time taken: 39:12
Average pace per km: 5:34
Fastest km: 4:50
Calories burned: 465

The week in Brief
Nothing can quite compete with today but on the whole it's been a pretty good week.

Monday morning - Bodypump class at the gym - heavier weights now as I'm getting the hang of it and enjoyed the class.
Monday evening - Dinner at Belluci's with speedygeoff's training group - delicious food and great company - a lovely evening - thanks speedygeoff.

Tuesday morning - my first attempt at an RPM (or spin) class at the gym - hard work on those bikes especially on the uphill parts but it felt like a great work out.
Tuesday later in the morning - I test drove a VW Golf which I will soon have as my work car (my choice). It is sooooo lovely and smooth to drive. I'm trading in my Nissan Pulsar which is a couple of years old and will soon proudly drive a new blue Golf. It's due to arrive late next week hopefully - how exciting!
Tuesday evening - ACTVAC sub-committee meeting - an offshoot of the VETs' main committee - Tuggeranong Don has now joined and it's a lovely little group although we need more members

Wednesday morning - A short run before flying to Sydney for a couple of days for a work function.
Distance: 6km
Times taken: 32:35
Calories burned: 340

Friday morning - Gym
This was my weights session - an hour of leg press, chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps and abs exercises with a warm up on the stepper and a cool down on the treadmill followed by brekkie in the gym which is part of the deal.

Saturday - My first cycle outdoors this season!
Yes, Mr B and I went for a quick cycle to stretch the legs before the grandchildren were delivered to be looked after for a few hours. They are so gorgeous!
Distance: 10.90km
Fastest pace: 32kph
Average pace: 20kph
Considering it was my first ride since about February I was happy to at least be riding my bike again. It was such a great sunny Spring day and I'm looking forward to my next ride now.

And that brings me back to today which I had to put first while it's fresh in my mind. I have another work conference in Sydney for just one day this coming week which again puts paid to my swimming. However I should be back in time for training at the oval on Thursday evening. Tomorrow morning I will go to Bodypump but will miss speedygeoff's training at Parliament House after work as CJ and I have tickets for "The Devil Wears Prada" tomorrow evening - a special VIP night. We went to a VIP fashion champagne breakfast yesterday and were given a show bag which included the tickets. I'm taking my daughters too so it should be such fun! Have a good week everyone!

Sunshine, Flowers, Great Friends and a PB!

What more could one want? We do live in a beautiful world. Today was an example of that. It started just a little misty but turned into a stunning Spring day of 23deg. The Canberra Times Fun Run started in the south of Canberra at Phillip and ended in Commonwealth Park in the city. As yesterday was the start of Canberra's Spring Flower Festival - Floriade - just a short walk from the finish line was a haven of sweet smelling gorgeous flowers. There was not a breath of wind and conditions for the 10km run were really perfect even running over Commonwealth Bridge which other years has been a struggle against the wind. As a consequence I think a number of us achieved a PB.

I saw so many people I knew out there on the run and at the finish. This event brings all sorts of people out of the woodwork and I kept bumping into people I hadn't seen for months, some since last year's event. It was great fun catching up with everyone. There were also a number of CRs out there and TD, speedygeoff and his team, PRB, FD, Aki, CJ and a lot of our running friends from our triathlon group and a large contingency of vetrunners were there too.

The start of the run was a bit difficult as there were crowds of people and I was not near the front so it was a matter of trying to aim for a spot between people and was a bit reminiscent of the start of C2S in Sydney though obviously Canberra can't quite manage that many people!

However I had a really good run, I felt comfortable and just aimed to keep people I knew in sight and aimed to pass one at a time. It was such fun. There was even a band near the start to provide some entertainment and lots of people were dressed in interesting costumes such as a whole family of pirates! I really enjoyed myself. I pushed as hard as I could and feel confident that one day I will make this run under 50mins. That is now my goal!

Today's stats:

Distance: 10:09km (so says Gandalf)
Time taken: 51:27
Average pace per km: 5:06
Calories burned: 595

Lap 1: 5:20
Lap 2: 4:42
Lap 3: 4:58
Lap 4: 5:23
Lap 5: 5:29
Lap 6: 5:09
Lap 7: 4:36
Lap 8: 5:04
Lap 9: 5:05
Lap 10: 5:13

Very happy with those splits. I think the faster ones must have been on the downhills!!

After the race and all the barrel draws Aki, Barb, Marg, Mr B and I headed for The Deck for an excellent coffee and a light lunch after which we walked back to our cars through Floriade smelling the flowers. It was such a lovely day!

"Sixty seconds' worth of distance run.."

Thursday morning - swimming 6.30am

Yes, I finally returned to the pool after weeks and weeks of slacking off. In fact I enjoyed it and surprised myself by actually managing to swim a kilometre in two sets of 500m to break it up a little. I met CJ there and after our swim we enjoyed brekkie at RBB where Mr B joined us - a good start to the day.

After Work - speedygeoff's training session - 5.30pm

I arrived too late for most of the first warm-up loop of the oval but managed the second loop. It was good to see Marg and Barb there tonight as well as the usual suspects. It was a good session made up as follows:

2 warm-up loops of oval

1 x 30secs fast; 60secs slow
1 x 40secs fast; 80secs slow
1 x 50secs fast; 110secs slow
1 x 60secs fast; 2 minutes slow
1 x 50secs fast; 110secs slow
1 x 40secs fast; 80secs flow
1 x 30secs fast; 60secs slow

Then we repeated all the above set one more time before a cool down loop.

Total distance: 8.53km

As speedygeoff was running beside me at one stage he quoted a line from Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" which I remember so well from my childhood when my mum offered half a crown for the first of us siblings to recite the poem in full. My brother won the prize and coincidentally went on to become a Professor in Linguistics - maybe that was his start in the world! Following is the poem which still is one of my favourites.

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat these two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it in one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on where there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can walk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run;
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling

Where does the time go?

I can't believe it's Thursday again tomorrow and my blog is a week behind again already. It's been such a busy week. Saturday night was a fund raising dinner, Monday night the Chef's Awards dinner, Tuesday night an underwear party - it's been go, go, go and oh boy, how am I supposed to avoid all this food and wine?

Friday 8 September - Gym
Gym session - followed the program that had been designed for me and was a bit lost at first but managed to work things out eventually! I think I will enjoy this once I'm organised.

Saturday 9 September - Easy Run - 8.45am
I met up with Barb and Marg and we had a lovely easy social run from Marg's place in Palmerston. It was a windy cold morning and a bit of a battle against the wind but it was lovely to catch up on all the week's events. Barb had just returned from her dad's funeral in NZ so it was good to be able to run with her and gave her a chance to release her emotions. At times like this I believe these sort of runs are great therapy. Later we stopped at Marg's for a cuppa and home baked cookies - yum!

Distance: 10.15km
Calories burned: 591
Average pace per km: 6:04 (yes, it was a social run)


Sunday - Fun Day
This morning was the MS Fun Run round Lake Tuggeranong and it WAS fun! I can't believe that I enjoyed it so much. Mr B, CJ and I cut it really fine with our timing, only just making it to the start with 1 minute to spare. We had all been out to a fund raising dinner/dance the night before and had imbided in a few glasses of wine. I was decidedly worried it would affect my running and if it had been raining I might have found an excuse not to go. However, although the morning dawned cold and windy there was no rain so no excuse and I'm just so glad we ran in this event. There were a large number of familiar friendly faces and after the run, some of which was into a nasty head wind, among lots of other vetrunners and friends we caught up with Tuggeranong Don, Caroline, Q'land Barb and our PRB who looked really great and seems to be recovering remarkably well. He had a friend's little girl on his shoulders and it was so good to see his smiling face.

The run itself was mainly flat and I was quite excited with the result as I finally made the distance averaging exactly 5min per km which I don't think I've ever managed before. Yippee!

Distance: 6.62km (so says Gandalf)
Calories: 381
Average pace per km: 5mins (made up as follows):

Lap 1: 5:06
Lap 2: 4:37
Lap 3: 4:50
Lap 4: 4:56
Lap 5: 5:00
Lap 6: 5:25 (must have been the headwind here)

I was pretty happy with those times. If I had run faster in the sixth km I could have beaten that 5min km pace - one day...........

Monday morning - Body Pump - 6.15am

This is quite a new session for me and I found it just slightly scary at first. It was suggested I use light weights for my first session. It is a group class and takes an hour and involves lifting barbell weights using different muscles in time to music. I can see how the heavier the weights the more difficult it will be so I will gradually build up to heavy weights. Next time I will increase a little. I was surprised at how busy the class was so early in the morning. Is everybody crazy like me?

Wednesday morning - A run to start the day at 5.45am
Actually by the time I ran out the door it was almost 6am and I wore leggings, a long sleeved t-shirt and ear warmers cos it felt jolly cold although the temperature peaked at 21deg today which is pretty impressive - beautiful!

Distance: 10km exactly
Time taken: 57:40
Average pace per km: 5:46
Fastest km: 5:34
Calories burned: 562

I ran from home along the cycle track towards Gungahlin through the tunnel near Giralang and on to the bridge and returned the same way. It was quite a misty cold morning and not looking a bit like it did later in the morning when the sun was streaming down. I did notice a number of magpies hovering around - Spring is here and those maggies are building their nests and will soon be swooping. It's nearly time to carry a stick above my head for protection!

Wednesday after work - yoga

I was so tired today that I almost nodded off at my desk. Last night CJ and I went to an underwear party in Jerrabomberra which is on the other side of Canberra from us. It was held in a gorgeous home and was a lot of fun as we were able to try on the garments which sometimes created a bit of giggle! However it did mean two late nights in a row and lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me. Monday night was the Chef's Awards Dinner and oh boy what a night. It was a seven course dinner each course cooked and prepared by a different finalist and with each course there were a couple of different wines to drink. Each table was completely covered in wine glasses. Not being used to all that gorgeous rich food and definitely not being used to all that wine - red, white, dessert wine, port AND champagne - I was not a well lady later that night and my planned visit to the gym on Tuesday morning did not eventuate. In fact I didn't cruise into the office until 10am! It was an amazing experience though but next year I must remember to keep my hand over my glass!!

Anyway I digress! Yoga was another restorative session - definitely my favourite, especially when so tired. Today CJ and I were emailing each other trying to keep each other awake as she was suffering from the "tired" bug too although her problem was probably heaps of running not heaps of wine!! We both had difficulty keeping awake during those relaxing poses tonight but it was a lovely session.

Tomorrow morning I am going for a swim for the first time in months. That will be interesting! Afterwards CJ and I will have the much loved brekkie. Then of course being Thursday it will be speedygeoff's training session after work. I think speedygeoff is such an amazing man. He gives up his own time freely to take our training sessions and is so dedicated to his training groups and helps us all such a lot with running tips and patience. Sometimes people like him are so taken for granted and we forget to say "thank you". So just in case you read this blog a big THANK YOU speedygeoff. Your running sessions make such a difference to our lives and certainly keep us motivated.

Back to it!!

I'm not sure where to start as it's been over a week now since I updated my blog. We had a lovely time at Daydream Island in the Whitsundays although the weather was disappointing. It was cloudy and windy most days and even rained at times. However we still managed to make the most of every minute enjoying all the activities at the resort including the day spa where we both had massages and a body treatment being covered in mud (or seaweed in Mr B's case) and wrapped in gladwrap. That was great especially the amazing showers with all the massage gadgets inside. We enjoyed cocktails each evening and music and amazing food. We took advantage of the free snorkelling and scuba diving lessons although we couldn't actually do the real thing due to the inclement weather. I did beat Mr B in mini golf although he beat me in pool! We spent an hour or so in the very modern gym and even fitted in a couple of 6km runs which was made up of two loops of the island! We went on a day trip to Whitehaven Beach and Hamilton Island and managed to swim inbetween showers! It was fun, we relaxed, ate and drank too much and had a lovely break in spite of the weather returning to Canberra on Sunday afternoon. In fact on Monday the weather here was much sunnier and more pleasant than Queensland although it is considerably colder today which means it's probably beautiful back in the Whitsundays this week!

On Monday evening we returned to speedygeoff's running group at Parliament House. After two warm up laps we ran our main session on the grass in front of PH. We ran up and down and diagonally across the spongy grass several times then ran in the reverse direction. The diagonals which were uphill slopes were fast and the straights easy. It was a good session with the usual great company including a very welcoming CJ.

Distance: 9.44km
Calories burned: 595

Wednesday
This morning I went for my first visit at my new gym. I had an assessment done and a program designed for me although I intend to add a few classes such as the Bodypump Class and the RPM cycle class which sounds hard! It looks like a very nice gym but it will take me a while to get used to all the fancy equipment. I'm used to pretty basic machines. I'm looking forward to the challenge though.

Evening -Yoga
Tonight I really enjoyed the session. It was a restorative session with lots of breathing techniques and lying down rather than balancing and leg work. It was a great way to finish a hard day at work.

Thursday
This morning I met CJ for brekkie at RBB - lovely. I chose normal scrambled eggs on spinach and Turkish toast and a flat white coffee - lovely after eating white scrambled eggs for so long. I am still watching what I eat but not to the same extent. I am sticking to the five meals a day (ie morning and afternoon tea of rice cakes, yoghurt or apple) which I find helps keep me from picking at other less healthy food inbetween meals although while on holiday we just relaxed and enjoyed all the good food.

Evening - speedygeoff's Running at Dickson Oval
Warm up of a couple of loops of oval then session as follows:

8 x 70m fast with a slow run back to start.
20mins of 30secs fast, 2mins slow
4 stride throughs to stretch of about 70m each

Cool down of another 1km loop of oval
Total distance: 7.44km
Calories burned: 476

It was a good session tonight. I found the long recoveries great between each sprint making it quite manageable.

Tomorrow I'm off to my first proper gym session bright and early! I did try to upload some photos but Blogger took too long then rejected them. Will try again another time. Now I'm off to bed at last!

One proud and happy Strewth!

Week 12 is over. I have stuck to my program and achieved well over my desired goal weight and bodyfat reduction. I am delighted with the result, the only problem being that I have to put on a few kilos now cos I lost a bit much in this last week with the carbo depletion stage. However I'm sure that putting it on won't be a problem at all!! I have dropped from 55.3kg to 46.8kg and lost nearly 10cm off my waist!

Yesterday I whizzed down to watch the end of the Vets' half marathon. I couldn't compete this year as my last 3 days stated "no cardio" so that was bad timing. However it was great to see speedygeoff, Marg, Flashduck, Tuggeranong Don and CJ all doing so well. Well done all of you and to all those other competitors out there who ran a great race in perfect conditions. Next year I will be part of it for sure.

This week has probably been the hardest of my 12 weeks. On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I spent nearly 2 1/2 hours at the gym each day working on the upper body and the abs. I also had the cardio training as usual. Tuesday was "intervals" on the windtrainer in the morning and gym after work until I was thrown out as they wanted to close up!

Wed was gym in the morning and yoga after work. I think both CJ and I were fighting the sleep muscles when it came to the relaxation for the last 15mins. I know if I had entirely relaxed I would have definitely fallen asleep. CJ had been to the gym and run at lunchtime as well so was definitely feeling the same way.

Thursday morning another 2 1/2 hours gym work but this time I rose at 4.45am and spent the time with free weightsand abs improvising the exercises at home as my current gym doesn't open early enough - can't wait til Sept when I change gyms! I left work early that day as I went for a run from home with Mr B as I had to go to a formal awards presentation dinner that night. I had spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday carbo depleting and drinking 5 litres of water a day so I surprised myself when we ran the Kaleen block at a reasonable pace.

Distance: 6km
Time: 33:39

Friday, Saturday and Sunday I had no cardio or weight training and started on the rice cakes for starchy carbs. Today at about 3pm after I had finished at the photographer Mr B and I went for a nice lunch at Black Pepper to celebrate the success of my program. I ate pasta for the first time in 12 weeks and even had an apple and cinnamon cake for dessert - yum - and the best cappuccino in the world! However I think my stomach objected to all that rich food all of a sudden. I probably should have broken it in more gently!

Tomorrow morning at 6.30am we fly out to Daydream Island in the Whitsundays so this blog may again be quiet for a week but we have packed our running gear so don't intend to be idle although we may become dizzy as the island is only about 2km round I think. I'm so looking forward to relaxing and just having a wonderful time together belatedly celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary. Life is good and I feel fantastic!!

Week 12 Day 1

Monday morning - 5.10am
Roll out of bed, shower, brekkie, carry gym bag, work bag, work clothes on hanger, lunch bag, running bag and struggle to car. Drive to gym to carry out following program:

Warm-up on treadmill - 5 minutes
Chest
DB Bench Press - 4 set x 20 reps
Pec Dec Fly - 4 sets x 15
DB Fly - 4 sets x 15
Knee push-ups - 2 sets x 20

Back
Lateral pulldown - 4 sets x 20
Cable seated row - 4 sets x 15
DB One Arm Row - 4 sets x 15
DB Pullover - 4 sets x 15

Abs
Crunches - 4 sets x 20
Bicycle crunches - 4 sets x 20
Back extension - 4 sets x 20

4 sets of each takes ages and I didn't arrive at work until nearly 9.30am. Tomorrow I have to work on shoulders/biceps/triceps/abs. This is the week when I have to double the number of repetitions but decrease the weights. Tomorrow I start carbo depletion for 3 days and I'm not looking forward to it!!

Monday after work - 5.30pm - speedygeoff's training session at Parliament House
Today has been another lovely Spring day although overnight temps dropped to minus 4degrees - brrrr! Speedygeoff's session as follows:

Warm up - 1 1/2 loops of PH
Main set:
10 x 1minute fast and jog back to start for 2 minutes on whistle
Cool down of extra loop of PH
Total distance: 9.3km
Calories burned: 606

It was pleasant not to be running hill repeats for a change. There was a smaller turn-out than usual but it was good company - a lovely group of people.
I was quite pleased with my fast intervals. I aimed to reach a certain spot when we ran on the grassy uneven verge next to the road. On the last repeat I reached my goal - woo hoo! No idea of the distances for each 1 minute repeat but it was challenging as it was in semi darkness and we had to avoid lamp-posts with nasty sharp metal signs sticking out on them and pot holes in the grass. It was a good session though.

Tomorrow morning is an interval session on the bike and after work another long gym session.

Sunshine and Flowers!

Friday - Gym Day
This morning I worked on the legs and arms at the gym as follows:
10mins warm-up on treadmill
Leg Press - 3 x 15 (60kg - yes, I finally made the next level)
DB lunges - 3 x 15 (20lb)
Seated Leg Curl - 3 x 15 (30lb)
Lying Leg Curl 1 x 12 (only 10lb - don't like these)
DB Standing Calf Raise - 2 x 15 (20lb) - ouch!
DB Triceps Kickback
Abs/Core
Bicycle Crunches 3 x 15
Crunches - 3 x 15
By then I had run out of time so couldn't complete all the abs. Will have to continue those at home!

I love Fridays cos I usually only do one session and have a free evening - lovely. Besides the end of Friday means the start of the weekend!

Saturday - Medium Run at 8.50am
Distance: 12.20km
Calories burned: 718
Time taken: 77mins
Average pace per km: 6:20 (yes it was very slow)

I drove over to Marg's and met up with her and Barb for a medium distance undulating run from her home. I didn't quite expect to be running up a very long hard hill but the view at the top was well worth the climb. It was a stunning Spring morning and the view was breathtaking. I had to stop to admire it and did wish I had my camera with me. In fact the run was lovely. I felt a bit tired and we certainly didn't run fast, in fact we chatted most of the way and turned it into a very gentle pleasant run. The golden wattle was out and pink blossom was everywhere. It was a great day to be alive and running with friends.

Tomorrow is the Vets' Monthly Handicap Run but CJ and I are on roster duty which suits me very nicely as it's such a tough course. I'm sure we'll still manage coffee afterwards!!

Training, training, training.

I forced myself out of bed at 5.30am in order to fit in interval training on my indoor bike (windtrainer) before brekkie with CJ. I really didn't want to roll out of bed but knew I would be very cross with myself if I gave in to that nagging voice in my head saying, "stay in bed a little longer, more sleep, more sleep" - NO - I will ignore that voice and persevere. So there I found myself on the windtrainer dripping with perspiration and knowing this was good for me or something.

Session:
5 minutes warm up
1 1/2minute easy, 3 mins hard (working on a hard gear) x 6 repeats
5 minutes cool down
Total of 37mins

Shower, dress and off to Red Belly Black to meet CJ for lovely company and white scrambled eggs and a flat white - I do love starting my day like that (at least with the brekkie, not so sure about the interval training).

Evening Training - speedygeoff's group at Dickson Oval
I arrived late again (too much work and too much traffic) but arrived in time for the second warm-up loop of the oval.
Main session:
8 x 400m on 4mins which meant inbetween each 400m we had a gentle jog before the next 400m.
We had to practise running through the finish line without being tempted to slow down until we were well past the line. Apparently a large number of people tend to slow down just before the finish line so it was a case of pushing very hard for the last 50m to ensure we were well and truly over the line before stopping or slowing down to a jog.

On our last 400m speedygeoff timed us to see what time we would achieve when tired. Tricky! I managed that last 400m in 1min 49secs - not exactly earth shattering time but I was stuffed!

We ran a cool down loop to finish.

Total distance 7km
Calories burned: 523

Postscript: I am now well into Week 11 of my 12 week fitness/nutrition program and feeling good. The time has gone so quickly.

Sydney Rocks!

City2Surf - What a Day!!

Mr B, CJ and Mr CJ decided to make a real weekend of this run. We had a ball. We booked the Avillion Hotel in Pitt Street into a special "Winter Warmer" package which included a room upgrade, valet parking, a late check-out and a full breakfast each day. It was also situated in a very convenient location near the shops and very near the start of the run.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny - cool to start but very pleasant. More than 63,000 people competed in the run and the atmosphere was amazing. Mr B and I ran in the Green Group which was the second start. We were fairly near the back of the group as we didn't want to be standing round waiting for the start for too long. This way we avoided the loo queue as we could leave it to the last minute before walking from the hotel. CJ started from the red group which started on the starters' gun at the correct time. Our start was about 10 minutes later.

To start with it was a shuffle and very difficult to weave through the crowds. It took a while before it was possible to break into a jog and finally a run. There were bands playing and the usual cry of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oy oy oy" echoing through the tunnel. There were also quite a few people dressed in fancy dress. One lady I passed was sporting a large hat covered completely in flowers matched up with flowers hung round her neck and on her top. There were quite a few interesting sights on the way and many interesting t-shirts to read!

The best part of the City2Surf is the atmosphere and the discovery of so many happy chatty people and the amazing CR community including a great cheer squad calling our names during that last tough kilometre which seems to go on forever. It certainly helped push me on hearing the encouraging cheers of our CR cheer squads. Thanks guys. It really is appreciated.

I really enjoyed the race and felt very strong - must be all that hill training. Gandalf told me my time was 78:16. However the official results in the paper state that my time was 79:47. I was placed 9638th out of over 63,000 starters. At least I came in under 80minutes which pleased me! I felt comfortable throughout the entire run stopping for water at nearly all the drink stations on the way. I didn't find Heartbreak Hill difficult but I was frustrated trying to weave my way through all the crowds. I did find this year that there seemed to be more people than usual and it was more difficult to find a space to run my own race. However, the people are what make this particular race so special. It may be difficult to achieve a great time in these groups but it is amazing fun. I loved every minute of it. I also passed a number of people I knew from Canberra. I saw Marco, Roy and Marg on the way which was exciting.

After running through the finishing chute and receiving my finishers' medal I found PRB (or he found me) walking to our meeting place. This was his last run before major surgery and he was very happy with his time. We came in virtually together. It was so good to see him and be able to wish him well. We walked to the meeting spot and sure enough there were so many people there we knew. I had seen The Owl on the run and called out to her where we were meeting afterwards and several CRs turned up there including Jen, Lulu and Tuggeranong Don who came over to talk to us while we were waiting for others. It was great to chat with all these lovely CRs and yummo to Owl who had made the most beautiful apricot slice which I did not resist after buring all those calories. We also caught up with Roy, Graeme and JS from Canberra - lots of Canberra friends turned up at the City2Surf. It really is a great day.

My stats according to Gandalf:
Distance: 14:31
Calories burned: 812
Average pace per km: 5:28
Fastest km: 4:18 (must have been a downhill!)

We were joined by Barb, Mark and Marg and we all took the free bus back to the city where we found a nice spot for lunch and coffee. After a quick shower back at the hotel we went to Darling Harbour where the boys visited a Ferrari display while CJ and I managed some retail therapy and also managed to bump into Ewen and Gordon who were "loitering with intent"! In the evening we enjoyed a beautiful meal back at the hotel before finally going to bed tired but still on a high from the wonderful day we had all enjoyed.

Monday 14 August
Today Mr B and I have been married 35 years! We're celebrating the occasion in style at the end of August when we're flying to the Whitsundays for 5 nights and staying on Daydream Island which sounds pretty idyllic. It sounds like heaven to me! CJ and I managed some very satisfactory retail therapy this morning. We both bought gorgeous shoes. Mine are red, pointy, high heeled and just beautiful. I also bought a flat pair to wear with jeans. They are Italian and were half price and are soooo comfortable - green, navy and white and soft soft leather.

We took advantage of the late check-out and finally left Sydney in the early afternoon stopping at our favourite spot in Berrima on the way home. Then straight to visit our son with pressies as he turned 29 on Saturday. We also detoured to the CISAC gym in Belconnen where I had organised to collect a special membership which includes both gyms and the pool. I'm starting it on 5 September and having an assessment and program done for me that morning. This will be a very different experience from my current gym. Club Pink is the ladies' part of the gym and it's just so pretty and looks fabulous with lots of classes and great modern equipment, treadmills, bikes, weights, breakfast every day etc. Club Blue is for the pool and includes the solarium, sauna and spa pool. Club Lime is the main gym with lots more classes and weights etc. My membership covers all three gym memberships - should be fantastic.

Tuesday
This morning I went for a run and oh boy, my calves hurt, my hamstrings hurt and I ran slowly in the freezing cold with long sleeves, ear warmers, leggings - very different from Sydney. However although the nights and mornings are so cold I have to add that we are experiencing delightful Spring weather right now with today's temps reaching 18deg.

Stats as follows:
Distance: 6km
Calories: 350
Time taken: 36:18
Pace per km: 6:04

Oh dear, this was a tad slow - I think my legs are suffering!!

Wednesday
This morning I went to the gym and did my chest/shoulders/back program. It felt hard and I felt tired. However I managed to cover all the appropriate program including my abs. However I was a bit late for work!

Today was another stunner once the fog cleared in the morning. Tonight I went to yoga. There were fewer people in the class this evening so a bit more personal attention. CJ was caught up in meetings at work so couldn't make it tonight. As it turned out I was very glad I had attended as I will miss one session when we're in the Whitsundays.

Something else I have noticed lately is that the days are starting to get longer. It's becoming light earlier in the mornings and staying light later in the evening. Spring is just around the corner!

One More Sleep til Sydney!

It was a lovely sunny Spring day today but it was still jolly cold at 5.30am this morning when I ran out the door. I decided I should do one last run before City to Surf on Sunday as I had to miss speedygeoff's session last night due to a Board Meeting - oh joy!

Wednesday morning
Gym - Legs/Arms/Abs

Evening
Yoga - stretches, stretches, shoulder stands and more stretches
Great to have the company of CJ.

Thursday morning - 5.30am - Run
Session: Hill repeats
Calories burned: 542
Distance: 6.12km

I reluctantly rolled out of bed and ran out the door at 5.30am (it was absolutely freezing and I wore lots of layers) . Session as follows:

9 minute warm up run to a good hill which was just under 400m to the top.

Run slowly to the top of the hill twice, jogging back to the start
Run fast to the top of the hill twice, jogging back to the start
Sprint to the top of the hill twice jogging back to the start
Slow run to the top of the hill twice, jogging back to the start

Cool down back home for about 9 minutes.

This morning there was a full moon which helped light the way as I ran on the cycle track where lots of roadworks are currently taking place and there's a few obstacles on the way to the start of the hill.

After a shower I quickly drove into the city to meet CJ for brekkie (scrambled egg whites and toast and a skinny flat white) - a great way to start the working day.

Friday morning - 5.30am - Run
Session: Interval training
Calories burned: 362
Distance: 6km

I ran for 5 minutes then sprinted for 3 minutes, jogged at an easy pace for 1 1/2 minutes and repeated the sprint and easy jog six times before doing an easy jog home. It didn't take long to warm up with my brightly coloured vest over a long sleeved CR top, my headlight showing the way, a band to keep my ears warm and a cap to cover my light and head. Under all that headgear I wore my ipod and the music kept me going! I am currently almost asleep as I write this so need to go and pack for the morning.

Good luck to all those friends out there who are competing at the C2S on Sunday. It should be a fun day with lots of familiar faces. I will definitely wear my CR gear!!

Census Day - Interval Training

I rose early to complete an interval session on my indoor windtrainer before meeting a couple of friends for breakfast at Red Belly Black.

5 mins warm up
27 mins intervals - 1 min easy/2 1/2 mins hard (repeated 6 times)
5 mins cool down
Total time: 37 minutes

And oh boy it was hard work! I rode the "hard" sections in a difficult gear and really pushed through it. Thank goodness for my ipod. It helps make that 2 1/2 mins go faster! Now we must fill in our census forms - on the net I think.

And so another week begins - And Spring is coming!

Before Work - Gym Session
Chest/Back/Shoulders
10mins warm up on treadmill
Later Pullodwn - 3 x 12 (25kg)
Cable seated row - 3 x 12 (50kg)
DB Bench Press - 3 x 10 (20lb)
Pec Dec Fly - 3 x 12 (25kg)
Upright row - 3 x 12 (10lb)
DB Shoulder Press - 3 x 12 (10lb)
Stretches for all parts of body
Abs/Core - Back extension - 2 x 15; modified plank - 3 x 60secs;
bicycle crunches - 3 x 15; crunches - 2 x 15

After Work - speedygeoff's running at Parliament House
Distance: 8.46km
Calories burned: 529

Session: Two warm up laps of Parliament House then off to the grassy hill for another hill repeats session of 20 uphill sprints x 20 repeats on 90secs including the downhill jogs back to the start at the bottom of the hill. There was a large turnout tonight - could be something to do with the balmy weather today. There were lots of running friends there and it was fun catching up with them on the warm-up and cool-down but everyone was working hard on those grassy hills with very little breathing space between each repeat! The forecast overnight is for minus 6 degrees (!!) but tomorrow the temp is supposed to reach 17deg - positively spring-like. How lovely!

I think I'm finally shaking my cough. It was much better tonight after the running session - I could even breathe properly for once - woo hoo! And it was so nice today to meet Mr B for lunch.

I have now lost 5.7kg in weight and believe me I'm eating heaps - lots and lots of veges and salads and protein. It seems to be working!

My Man Has Returned to Moi!

Mr B managed to miss his flight on Friday and as a consequence flew in on Saturday instead. However he is now back safe and sound with lots of goodies to distribute and it's lovely to have him home again. This morning we even went for a run together and he has certainly not lost any fitness!

I haven't had a very good week with this lingering cough but time still seems to have disappeared rapidly leaving me behind with my blogging! I took Monday and Tuesday off work at the recommendation of the doctor and apart from doing a few weights at home I did very little in exercise for those two days.

On Wed I returned to the gym and worked on chest/back/shoulders but I did struggle with the weights as I didn't have much energy. I coughed so much during the day and my tummy reacted badly to the antibiotics and I ended up missing yoga which was frustrating.

Thursday - interval training
This was done on my windtrainer (bike) at home before work as follows:
5 min warm up followed by 27mins intervals - 1 1/2min easy, 3 mins hard (repeated 6 times)
5 mins cool down - total of 37 mins.

5.30pm - speedygeoff's training session - Dickson Oval
I arrived a little late and missed the first warm up loop. However I made it to the second warm up loop. In spite of coughing lots I really enjoyed the session. It was just good to be running again for the first time since Sunday.

We divided into groups of 3 or 4 again and ran 3 x 1200metre loops changing leaders each time speedygeoff blew his whistle. It was tough but fun and challenging. We finished with another cool down loop.

Total distance: 6.11km
Calories burned: 390

Friday - Gym - Working on legs/arms.
Warm up on treadmill for 6 mins
Leg press - 3 x 15 (55kg)
DB lunges - 1 x 15, 2 x 112 (20lb)
Seated leg curl - 3 x 12 (30lb)
DB standing calf raise - 2 x 15 (20lb)
DB Biceps Curl - 12 x 10lb, 10 x 15lb, 8 x 15lb
DB triceps kickback - I only did 1 x 12 of this as I think this is where I hurt my shoulder and it's been hurting ever since
Abs/core and stretches
Back extension 2 x 15
Bicycle crunches - 3 x 15
Crunches - 3 x 15

Sunday - Medium Distance Run
Mr B and I went for a run from home to and round Lake Ginninderra and home again. It was a stunningly sunny day with a clear blue sky and it was lovely to be running although Mr B definitely didn't let me slack off. Next weekend is, after all, the City to Surf in Sydney - not long now. It is so cool to have my man back home again!

Distance: 15km
Time taken: 1hr 24mins (84mins)
Average pace per km: 5:37
Calories burned: 866
Fastest km: 5:24

Later in the day we visited CJ and Mr CJ in their beautifully renovated home. It's just fantastic. Then later still we visited our little grand-daughter who has just turned 4. All our family came too and we had lots of fun. It was a lovely weekend. I wish it didn't have to end.