Running Friends Rule!

This morning at 7.30am I met up with Andy at the carillon. It was a stunning Autumn morning. Andy and I started the run enjoying the gorgeous views of the blue lake, blue sky (at that time of day) on a backdrop of the Canberra icons with the hot air balloons floating above them in the sky - just gorgeous. Jen joined us at the ferry terminal and the three of us ran a lovely run together round the West Basin of Lake Burley Griffin. We saw just so many people we knew - lots of speedygeese and females in training (FIT ladies) out there running and lots of cyclists too. It was a perfect time of day before the wind picked up later in the morning.

Back at the carillon Andy left us and Ewen joined us running round the Museum and the north side of the lake. Jen ran all except the last 4km with me and I only had to run the last km on my own. Running friends are so cool!

At the carillon Ewen and I enjoyed cold drinks, hot drinks and snacks before walking over to watch the Cross Country race near Stage 88 and collecting my chip for the Women's and Girls' Fun Run tomorrow. By then it was lunchtime and we decided to enjoy the most yummy pancakes ever at The Deck restaurant overlooking the lake. While there we caught up with yet another of our running friends. It was a great way to wile away a few hours on a pleasant day. By the time we walked back to our cars at the carillon the clouds were dark and threatening but we didn't have any rain, just a bit of wind - a good day.

Total distance: 34km

Time taken: 3:30:57

Average pace per km: 6:12

Calories burned: 1987

Photo: Jen, strewth, Ewen (photo taken by Ewen)

Speedygeese at Dickson Oval

I arrived just before 5pm to give me time to run a gentle 5km before the main group arrived. Speedygeoff and Craig had gone for a long run at 4pm but I didn't want to run quite that far tonight. Instead I enjoyed the main session with quite a large turnout of speedygeese. It was really pleasant and still sunny at 5pm but after a couple of warm up loops after the 5.30pm session started I discarded my sunglasses. We ran a long warm up loop and a short loop of the oval before the main set which was a group of pyramids as follows:

60secs fast/60secs slow
50secs fast/50secs slow
40secs fast/40secs slow
30secs fast/30secs slow
40secs fast/40secs slow
50secs fast/50secs slow
60secs fast/60secs slow
repeated like a 'W'!
This part of the session lasted a solid 20minutes and we finished off with another cool down lap. By this time the temperature had dropped considerably and it was chilly at the end.
It was good to see so many speedygeese, some who we don't see often if ever at training, turning up for a solid session at Dickson.
Total distance including my warm-up lap before the start: 12km

Wednesday Double Up!

I ran early in the morning before work, instead of going to the gym, in order to build up the required kms for the day.

6am - Run from home for my usual loop to Giralang and back via the track and running on the grass where possible. I plugged in my music and it was light enough not to have to use my headlamp this morning.

Distance: 8km
Time taken: 49:56

Average pace per km: 6:14 (where has all my speed gone?)

Calories burned: 472

In the late morning I had an appointment with the physio and had 'the elbow in the butt' treatment which really hurts but does seem to help loosen up the sore bits.

6pm - Run from Parliament House with Chris, Andy, Jen and Ewen.

Chris had limited time but ran about half the distance with us before heading off to choir practice. The rest of us wore headlights and struggled on in the dark. We ran a loop of Central Basin at Lake Burley Griffin then along Anzac Parade, round the back of the War Memorial and back over Commonwealth Ave Bridge to PH. It was a slow run. I was very sluggish and found it difficult until the last km when I started to pick up as I wanted to ensure I ran the full distance.

Distance: 12km

Time taken: 1:18
Average pace per km: 6:32 (dear me)
Calories burned: 693
Total distance for day: 20km

Navigating in the Dark!

Yesterday I joined speedygeoff, Ewen, Jen, Miranda, Craig and Andy for the early run at 4.30pm. At this stage I was feeling very lethargic and had already had three tablets for a nagging headache. The warm-up was difficult and slow. Andy was happy to run with me at the back of the pack but we did run a slight detour and lost sight of the others at about the half way point. However, we managed to return to Parliament House with time to spare for the 5.30pm session. Here we were joined by seven more speedygeese for the next warm up before the main set.

We were divided into two relay teams of six with Miranda and speedycoach being reserves in case anyone needed to pull out. We had three people in each team running at the same time using the diagonal grassy bank and the flagpoles in front of PH. There was very little rest before the next team member was tagged and it was a tough 20 minute workout. However, I felt a lot better for making the effort and found the fast running actually helped clear my head. We finished with another warm down loop of PH. At this stage it had become quite dark as we ran in and out of the trails. With daylight saving ended we will need to carry our spotlights next week to light our way.

Total distance: 14.78km

Tuesday
6.30am - Upper body strength work and abs works at gym
5.30pm - Run from home.

It was dark really early tonight as rain was threatening. However, the rain never eventuated and I was able to run with my spotlight lighting my way for the last half of the run when it had become really dark on the unlit paths. I was actually a bit nervous and think I will run in the lit pathways when I run on my own in future. My imagination was working overtime when I ran along long stretches of unlit cycle paths and my heart skipped a beat every time a cyclist or motorbike whizzed past.

I ran 15mins for a warm-up and then 5 x 4mins fast with 2 mins jog between each set. I followed this with a tempo 'nervous' run home!

Total distance: 13.44km
Time taken: 1:18:15
Average pace per km: 5:49
Calories burned: 784

Stretching out the sore spots on Easter Sunday!

After icing my knee heaps last night and tossing and turning during the night, it seemed a bit better this morning, not puffy but still very stiff. I decided to put it to the test and go for a short run to ease out the sore bits. The first half was painfully slow but the running helped and I was running freely on the return trip. I just ran from home along the cycle tracks past Giralang (our neighbouring suburb) and turned as I approached the tunnel to Gungahlin (exactly 4km) and returned home. It was a stunning morning for a run. Daylight saving has ended and it was light early although I didn't go for my run until 8am. It was really quiet in the streets and extremely pleasant.

Total distant: 8km

Time taken: 47:20

Average speed: 5:54

Calories burned: 468 (not enough to counteract the chocolate)

Total distance for week: 95.86km

Happy Easter to all my friends. Stay safe and don't over-indulge in chocolate or you'll feel like I am right now. I think I'll have to go for a bike ride next!

I have entered the National Capital Marathon on 2nd May and only have one more big week of training before I start tapering. Oh dear, here's hoping I can do it!

Fish are leaping; balloons are floating; leaves are falling!

In other words Autumn is in full swing. The trees have beautiful colours and the leaves were falling in the slight Autumn breeze this morning. I arrived just before 7am with the plan of running for an hour with Chris before joining the main Molonglo group at 8am. When I arrived there was one other runner waiting - Amanda. She used to run on Weds before my time and has run once with us on a Wed but found us a bit slow and I haven't seen her again. Oh dear, the pressure! Chris arrived soon after and we set off on our early run at 7.09am at a good pace. We ran through the wetlands over the new concrete bridge (all that concrete - such a shame) then came to a flooded road so we detoured round Kingston and returned to Molonglo past the boathouse. In the lake beside us we saw fish leaping really high out of the water - huge leaps! As we ran round the back streets we came across four hot air balloons being prepared for take off. Later as we ran on the other side of the lake we saw them floating in the air - such a beautiful sight.

Soon after running past the boathouse Chris sent Amanda ahead to let the others know we were coming as it was approaching 8am. We had run just under 10km at that stage. At Molonglo Chris and Amanda had to leave before our next run with the Molonglo group. There were about 8 of us who set off together although we all had different distances to run.

We ran past Duntroon and round the base of Mt Ainslie. Graeme ran with Andy and me for most of this section but left us after the big hill to run on back to the others who had taken a short cut. As I watched him disappear over the hill I lost my footing and did a 'CJ' landing flat down in the dust and gravel. Not much damage done but yes there was blood - dripping from my elbow and knee. However it was mainly surface gravel rash although my knee is going to have a big bruise and is very tender tonight!

Andy and I ran down to Lake Burley Griffin and past the ferry terminal and turned after just over 3km to return to Molonglo Reach by which time everybody had dispersed. We then decided to drive to the National Carillion and enjoy a coffee and muffin at the outside cafe there. It was lovely sitting on the steps in the sunshine. It truly is very pleasant running weather at this time of year - not too hot and not too cold!

Total distance: 32km

Time taken: 3:26:47

Average pace per km: 6:27

Maximum elevation: 683m

Running back-to-back

Wednesday - Hills, hills and more hills!

6.30am - Gym -upper body strength work

7am - Gym - 15mins abs class

5. 15pm - Run!

I arrived at Parliament House early enough to do a short warm-up on my own looping in and out and around the trails of PH for a few kms before meeting up with Geoff, Ewen, Chris, Richard, Jen and Andy for a "different" run.

We ran along Melbourne Avenue and up to the summit of Red Hill Lookout. After admiring the view we continued running (using the term generously at this stage) up, up, up along trails and to another summit. It was rough stony terrain and parts of it were also steep rough downhills giving me a taste of what some of the Six Foot Track surface would be like, putting me off for good! After reaching another peak we ran down again to the lower north trail and headed west back to PH. The last part felt positively easy and comfortable. The hills were really tough for me. I remember cycling up Red Hill when I was training for triathlons some years ago. I also remember the fear of losing control as I cycled back down! I have no idea how I ever did it - it seemed very steep to "run"!!

Later I passed round mini Easter eggs and drank lots of water to revive!

Total distance: 15km (including my warm-up run)

Maximum elevation: 765m above sea level

Calories burned: 823

It was a good run to do before the end of daylight saving as the views were magnificent.

Thursday

I had to rise early this morning for a back-to-back run as I had a function to attend later in the day and couldn't make it to training in the afternoon. I ran from home, past Giralang and through the tunnel towards Gungahlin, gently for 15mins before running 3 x 8mins tempo runs with 3mins of jogging between each set. Then a run back home.

Total distance: 12:11

Time taken: 1:12:43

Average pace: 6mins per km

Calories burned: 704

The temperature was cool and I kept my spray jacket on throughout the run. I haven't run early in the morning for ages and it was still dark at 6.30am. I guess with daylight saving finishing this weekend it will be lighter earlier for a few weeks.

Splashing in the Puddles!

It's not often I can use that blog title in Canberra but this afternoon it rained and rained. There was no avoiding it when I set off on my early evening run at 5.20pm. I wore a spray jacket and became soaking wet but it was great. The rain and breeze kept me reasonably cool and I felt quite comfortable. There were lots of puddles to splash in and muddy trails on the ridge.

I ran about 20mins past the AIS and on to O'Connor Ridge and did a fartlek session on the hills as follows:
2 x 60secs fast/60secs slow
4 x 30secs fast/30secs slow
2 x 60secs fast/60secs slow
4 x 30secs fast/30secs slow
2 x 60secs fast/60secs slow
Then I continued running around the undulating trails before heading back home.

Calories burned: 777
Total distance: 13.24km
Time taken: 1:21:29
Average pace per km: 6:09

Intervals at Parliament House

Tonight I ran the early 8km warm-up run with Miranda, Yelena, Ewen and speedycoach. It had rained earlier in the afternoon and as a consequence was really humid and we were all dripping by the time we finished the warm-up. Then it was on to the main set which was similar to last week's session.

We ran another warm-up loop of Parliament House then started from the oval where we ran an undulating 935m circuit with cones marking each 100m and 200m interval. We ran each 100m slow and each 200m fast for the circuit and ran the circuit four times without stopping. It was a short but tough session. Leanne was selected to introduce everyone tonight and she managed perfectly.

Total distance including early warm-up: 15.5km

Vets' Monthly Handicap at Stromlo

This morning our monthly handicap race was back at Stromlo Forest Park. I ran just over a couple of km warm up with Miranda and Ewen which helped loosen up my rather stiff, sore legs. Miranda ran off Group 24 and I didn't catch her, I ran off Group 25 and Ewen ran off Group 26 and didn't catch me! However Steve and CJ caught and passed us all on the return loop. The course started with the same course as the cross country then we ran out on an undulating dirt track and turned at 4km running the cross country course in the opposite direction which involved a very steady climb in the last 2km. In fact the majority of the course was undulating and pretty tough in the humidity. We were all dripping wet at the end. I was surprised that I didn't feel much worse after yesterday's run. In fact after the warm up I didn't feel too bad although the last 2km was a bit of a struggle!

Later Mr B and I joined Janene, Heidi, Ewen and Ken for a very pleasant coffee and light brekkie in Weston. I always enjoy the vets' monthly handicaps as it's fun catching up with so many inspiring running friends.

Handicap group: 25

Finish place: 69 (out of 104 finishers)

Total distance of race: 8km

Time taken: 45:45

Average pace per km: 5:43

Calories burned: 473

Total distance including warm-up: 10.5km

Total distance for week: 95km

An exciting couple of days!

Thursday - last track session for season

I arrived at track in time to run a short warm up before competing in the fitness walk 1500m championship. This is always a fun event.

Total distance: 1500m
Time taken: 9:58:60

Very soon after this finished the Turkey 2000m run was held. I was pretty knackered after the walk so I estimated a comfortable 9:55 in spite of Ewen suggesting I could run it in 9:49 if I ran my hardest.

It turns out I should listen to Ewen (sometimes) as my actual time was very close to his estimate.

Total distance: 2000m
Time taken: 9:48:67
Average pace per km: 4:54

Marg's estimate of her time gained her first place and my estimate came in 2nd place!

After this event Marg and I went for a 5km run out of the arena before coming back to cheer on the 5000m competitors. There were some fantastic times and many PBs from our speedygeese - great to watch.

After all the events were over the awards were presented and it was really exciting receiving a trophy and a keepsake engraved glass for winning the pointscore for the spiral handicap females. My name had already been engraved on the trophy - so cool!

Total distance for day: 9.5km

Saturday - Long run

I arrived at Molonglo a little early which allowed me time to run 2.5km before meeting the others at 7am. I ran with Chris, Cathy, Graeme and Nadine around the base of Mt Ainslie. Cathy and Graeme left us after about 8km while the rest of us ran round the streets of Campbell before heading for Anzac Pde and down to the lake enjoying the sight of hot air balloons in the distance. Here we met up with Ewen and Jen, while Chris and Nadine turned left to head back to Molonglo. Ewen, Jen and I next ran all around the undulating West Basin end of the lake and back over Kings Ave bridge to where their cars were packed. We then walked down to the mobile cafe by the carillion where we had cold and hot drinks and a snack by the lake before Ewen drove me back to my car at Molonglo. It was lovely on such a stunning Autumn day.

To top off a great day our daughter from Sydney stayed one night with us and we had a lovely lunch together in the city.

Total distance of run: 35.55km

Time taken: 3:47:08

Average pace per km: 6:23

Calories burned: 2093

A Slow mid-week Run

6.15am - RPM class at gym

Our previous instructor took the class this morning and made us work really really hard. It was a great session but I think it took its toll on my afternoon run.

5.50pm - Run with Wednesday group from Parliament House.

Tonight's group consisted of speedygeoff, Chris, Jen, Ewen and I. I was so slow; my legs didn't want to push too hard and I was always in the slow end of the group.

We ran from PH and down to the lake to the wetlands and anticlockwise round Central Basin.

Total distance: 14.5km

Last of the Summer series

6.30am - Gym - upper body strength work

6.15pm - Stromlo Forest Park - Last summer series race

I arrived in plenty of time for a warm up which I ran with speedychief - just a couple of the short loops of the course. After the race I ran a warm down with Ewen and the other Geoff. The grass was a bit more spongy tonight but the ground was still uneven and required some caution to avoid turning ankles! I ran the first lap of the race with speedycoach and we talked all the way. After that I thought I should make a concerted effort to catch a few people so I chased Cathy and Graeme and passed them as they were taking it easy after their amazing 6' track effort last weekend. Next I aimed to catch Caroline but she put on a last minute burst of speed and I came in two places behind her.

It was a lovely evening but there was a bit of wind which was annoying.

Distance of race: 5km

Time taken: 27:15

Average pace per km: 5:27

Place: 72nd (out of 90)

Total distance for evening: 8km

Monday Madness - or Looping the Loop!

The weather is stunning at the moment - cool mornings and gorgeous sunny days in the mid to late 20s. Today was no exception. In fact it was positively hot as Miranda, Geoff and I ran the 8km warm up at 4.30pm when it was still 26deg. We ran a slightly different route from usual crossing the roads at pedestrian crossings down to the lake and then on towards Kingston for 4km before turning and running back again. It was a mad rush for a cold drink before the main session started at 5.30pm.

To start this we ran another warm-up loop of Parliament House before heading for the start of 900m undulating loops where we ran 100m slow, 200m fast x 3 within each loop. We ran this four times plus a warm-up loop of the route and a warm-down loop of the route. Then we ran another in and out loop of PH before heading back to the carpark. It was quite a tough, long session but interesting and fun - a good start to the week.

Total distance for evening: 17km

Over a Week in Arrears!

Where do I start? I need to go back to Tuesday 9 March I guess when it was the Cross Country race at Acton Ferry Terminal. This was on the cycle track heading out to and round the museum and out a bit further towards Black Mountain before turning back the way we had come. My time was a little slower than last week but it's difficult to compare on a different course.

Total distance: 5km
Time taken: 26:52
Average pace per km: 5:22
Place: 86th (out of 108)

I ran a 2km warm up with Maryann and a 2km cool down with Maria, Margaret, Geoff, Jen and Ewen.

Total distance for day: 9km

Wednesday 10 March

Geoff, Chris, Andy, Jen, Colleen, Richard, Ewen and I ran from Parliament House to Daltons Book Shop near Marcus Clark Street to listen to Melanie's book launch. It was lots of fun. She's such a good speaker. Most of us bought a copy of her book and I'm really enjoying it. Mel has had lap band surgery done and has recently moved to Canberra from Darwin and has joined the speedygeese running with us, when work permits, on Mondays. She is certainly inspirational. The book is called Fat Chance and is the story of her journey to lap band surgery and beyond. It's written in a light humorous way and is very easy to read.

After a few nibbles (and in Ewen's case a glass of wine!) we ran back to PH. It was just a short run but a fun event although Ewen felt decidedly seedy when we arrived back - a result of wine and three egg sandwiches!

Total distance: 8.44km

Time taken: 57:39

Average pace: 6:49

It was a slow run but my legs were hurting and I was glad we did a gentle run tonight.

Thursday 11 March

Tonight was the final spiral handicap for the season. I was nervous and under pressure as it was a race against Helen and Bronwyn to win the pointscore. I ran a 3km warm-up with Margaret before the start of the race but didn't enter any other events.

I started in Group 33 while Helen and Bronwyn started in Group 43. As soon as they called my group I ran for my life, or my place! I really tried hard and was so happy when the girls didn't catch me at the end. I ended up running a PB for the 7 lap spiral which pleased me heaps.

7 lap spiral (distance 2.97km)

Time taken: 14:31

Average pace: 4:53 per km

This will make me the female winner of the spiral handicap. Yay, how exciting!

Total distance for night: 6km

Sunday 14 March - Weston Creek Half Marathon

Today was the Weston Creek Half Marathon starting at 7.30am. The conditions were perfect with cloud cover and cool to start. I was chugging a bit to start but by the second half of the race I felt very comfortable. I just wish I had run a few seconds faster as I really felt good in the second half.

Total distance: 21.1km

Time taken: 2:00:16 (1 second faster than last year!)

Average pace per km: 5:42

Calories burned: 1233

After the race there were lots of barrel draws and my name was the first one called. I was lucky enough to win a lovely bottle of NZ sauvignon blanc. Woo hoo!

Total distance with warm-up - 23km

Total distance for week: 62km

Monday 15 March

I ran gently with the 4.30pm speedygeese and we just ran 6km for our early warm-up tonight. There were lots of tired legs at the 5.30pm training after yesterday's half marathon event. However, we split into teams of three and ran a similar training session to last week using the sloping grass in front of Parliament House. We ran fast on the diagonals and uphills tagging our team member after each fast leg and ran slowly across the straights inbetween. My team members were Caroline and Jen. It was fun. This main session lasted 30minutes. Then we ran a gentle warm down to finish off and I ran a bit extra to make up the distance.

Total distance: 15km

Wednesday 17 March

Yesterday I had an extra rest day as my body objected to more racing. This afternoon I met up with the Wednesday group at Parliament House and we ran a gentle undulating run through the Australian University grounds with speedygeoff as our leader as neither Ewen or Chris were there tonight. Ewen had run 6' track in the weekend so was definitely still recovering. It was just speedygeoff, Richard, Jen, Colleen, Andy and me.

Total distance: 15.7km

Time taken: 1:47

Average pace per km: 6.5mins

Thursday 18 March

There were no track events tonight so Jen drove to my house after work and we ran from home to and round Lake Ginnninderra and home via Giralang. It was a beautiful evening but was very dark by the time we headed home and we had to run with care as there was no lighting. It was great having company.

Total distance: 16.53km

Time taken: 1:43:36

Average pace per km: 6:16

Calories burned: 967

Saturday 20 March - Long Run

I met up with the Molonglo group at 7am and started running with Chris, Maryann, Andy, Michelle and Stuart. We all ran from Molonglo Reach and to Mt Ainslie where Maryann and Stuart went in different directions. Chris, Michelle, Andy and I ran the Mt Ainslie loop before running past the war memorial, down Anzac Parade and down to the lake where Michelle, Andy and I turned right to run the west basin but Chris headed back to Molonglo. Michelle ran ahead and I ran the rest of the way with Andy. After a call from Ewen he met up with us near Scrivener Dam and ran with us for about 4km before turning back to his car and organised to meet up with us later for coffee.

It was a beautiful morning. The lake was still and the air was cool and didn't become too hot until later in the run. By about 25km we were stopping at every drinking fountain for water as our supply was becoming low and we were very thirsty. That's one advantage of running by the lake, there are plenty of water fountains available. The last few kms were difficult and it was slightly further all round west basin than we had anticipated but we made it and freshened up at Molonglo before driving to Campbell to meet up with the patiently waiting Liz and Ewen for coke, coffee and omelette - beautiful!

Total distance: 35.42km

Time taken: 3:48:28

Average pace per km: 6:26

Calories burned: 2,057

Sunday 21 March

This afternoon I ran from home down to the AIS just in time to watch the 800m vets' sprinters race with amazing results. It was fun to catch up with a few people and after the race I ran with Nadine and Brett round the back of the AIS and up O'Connor Ridge on the trails. It was a lovely run and the views were magnificent. I left them after about 4km to run home again. Although the start of the run was difficult as my legs felt tight I found the hills helped me and I felt ok for the second half of the run.

Total distance: 12.45km

Time taken: 1:22:14

Average pace per km: 6:36

Calories burned: 728

Total distance for week: 95.1km

Start of an easy week!

Tonight there was a record number of speedygeese for a public holiday both at the early session at 4.30pm and the main session at 5.30pm. Today was Canberra Day and there were a lot of tourists in the PH grounds. There were nine of us at the early session including Mr B as he didn't have squash tonight. It was also Liz' first visit and it was great to have her there. Our warm-up session was at a faster pace than usual with Liz, speedycoach, Jen, Craig and Andy leading the way. Yelena, Ewen and I ran behind and we ran to Kingston for 4km where we turned and ran back to Parliament House to make a total of 8km.

Here we did some necessary stretching before the main session.

Next it was another warm-up loop of PH before running to the western side and running 12 x 40 secs sprints in two different spots with 40 secs recovery. I didn't push myself as my hamstring was very niggly tonight and this is supposed to be an easy week with the half marathon on Sunday.

We finished with a warm-down loop and more stretching.

Total distance: 15km

Skipping in the Rain!

This afternoon I met up with Jen and Ewen at Parliament House for a drills session. Ewen and I ran a warm up loop round PH before Jen joined us and we ran another warm-up and down to the flat grass in front of the Portrait Gallery. It was raining lightly at this stage and we found a grassy verge near the road. We ran 3 x 60m strides before our drills as follows:

2 x schoolyard skipping
2 x high skips
2 x flat foot marching
2 x high knees
2 x butt kicks
2 x carioca

Ewen also did 2 x 60m skip kicks while Jen and I did an extra couple of schoolyard skipping drills.

In between each set we ran 60m strides.

As it was a long weekend to celebrate Canberra's 97th birthday there were a number of curious tourists and cars slowed with several comments being called out as we skipped in the rain. As the rain became heavier we moved to the slight shelter of trees to finish our drills and Ewen decided to video our leg movements - slowly and speedier. See Video with Ewen's comments.

We then jogged to the Portrait Gallery for the all-important coffee and cake feeling rather soggy from the rain. We sat outside under shelter and watched the rain falling more and more heavily before we stepped back into it and ran back to PH - drenched but pleased with our efforts. I had to run about an extra km to make up my distance for the week.

Total distance for today: 10.54km

Total distance for week: 93.36km (yay!)

Perfect Running Weather

I was first to arrive at Molonglo this morning. It had been raining but although the ground was damp and there was a light drizzle for the early part of the run it was mainly fine, overcast and for the first half of the run there was not a breath of wind. The lake was like a mirror - very calm.

There were 12 starters which is the most at one time for this group for quite some months. In fact most of us ran together for the first few kms- it was great to catch up with everyone - some running or spectating at 6' track next weekend, a few going to Queenstown in NZ for another hilly event and some of us running in the Weston Creek Half Marathon next weekend. Nearly all of us have an event next weekend. I am using the Half more as a training run although I will make next week an easy week and cut down the kms a bit - no long run the day before obviously!

We all started together and ran via Duntroon and Campbell Park avoiding the wet grass underfoot then we ran on to the Mt Ainslie summit trail. We went in separate directions at the turn-off to the War Memorial.

Ewen, Andy and I ran down to the lake and headed in the direction of the Museum taking a lovely dirt trail through the bushes which I didn't know was there! Andy was running a shorter distance as he is cutting back for the half marathon next weekend so he headed back to Molonglo while Ewen and I continued on round the lake anti-clockwise incorporating Kings Avenue Bridge to make the distance a little longer. When we reached Molonglo I ran an extra 500m just to make it the same distance as last week. I need to save a little bit for next weekend!

I did have a lot of trouble with my Garmin during the first half of the run. It decided to record "lap error" and beeped several times every 30secs. Eventually I had to turn it off and restart to make the beeping stop as it was driving us both crazy!

When I reached Molonglo our group was still at the picnic table. I spent ten minutes standing in the icy cold lake soothing a sore foot before joining them. It was heaven!

Later Ewen and I went to Campbell Shops for brunch and a couple of coffees. The sun came out and it was very pleasant and relaxing indeed.

Total distance: 31km

Time taken: 3:17:45

Average pace per km: 6:23

Random photos

Birthday girl - cj

Yesterday was CJ's birthday and a gluten-free ladybird cake was requested. The trickiest part was finding the gluten-free confectionary for decorating it but it was fun!

On Wednesday I met up with Ewen, Andy and Geoff at Parliament House for an easy run through the underpass at Commonwealth Avenue and, with speedygeoff as our leader, on through the Australian National University (ANU) grounds which were really pretty. We ran past the Lennox Gardens and back to PH. It was really good to run somewhere different. Unfortunately Jen, Chris and Richard couldn't join us today.

Distance: 12.5km

Thursday

There weren't any events at track that I particularly wanted to enter tonight and instead I met up with Ewen at 5pm at PH again and we ran down to the lake and on to the bridge past Molonglo Reach where we turned and ran back again. It was a perfect evening, cool and still and I really enjoyed the run. It had been a very busy day. I don't go to work on Thursdays usually and today I met a friend for brekkie then dashed home to decorate CJ's cake before meeting her in Kingston for lunch, then I was off for an hour's remedial massage before driving home to change into running clothes, collect the cake and deliver it to CJ's home before heading to meet Ewen for the run.

Total distance: 12.09km

Time taken: 1:15:55

Average pace per km: 6:16

Other photos -

• 100th Vets' Handicap Run displaying the t-shirt.
• With Anitra who also earned her "100 runs" t-shirt.

Weston Park Summer Series in Autumn

Yes, a bit of a misnomer really, as yesterday was the first day of Autumn and the temperature has continued to drop. It was pleasantly cool this evening for the run at Weston Park. I met up with Ewen before the race and we had a short warm up followed by some 60m drills:

2 x run throughs
2 x schoolyard skipping
1 x run through
2 x high skips
1 x run through
2 x flat foot marching

1 x run through

2 x high knees

1 x run through

2 x butt kicks

1 x run through to finish off

Then a short run to the start before we lined up for the 5km run.

It was an undulating uneven course but there was a bit of downhill in the second half and there was quite a lot of shade which was great.

Distance of run: 5km

Time taken: 26:13

Average pace: 5:24

Place: 82

This was better than last week but still a bit slow. Each week the course is different so it's a bit hard to compare times.

After the race Susan, Geoff, Richard, Ewen and I ran a 2.5km slow warm down with plenty of chatting - lots of fun.

Total distance for night: 11.23km (oops - we should have rounded it up!)

Lots of honking but no frisbees!

I met up with speedycoach, Miranda, Jen and Ewen for the early speedygeese session where we ran a new route out to Mugga Way, Girls' Grammar School, Red Hill and back to Parliament House. There was a bit of wind but it was mainly slightly cooler than usual and quite pleasant. Today is the first day of Autumn and the temperature has dropped accordingly!

We met the main group back at PH at 5.30pm to run just under 2km warm up loops of PH before heading for the sloping grass in front of PH where we selected a couple of people of similar speed for relay teams of three. I was in a team with Miranda and Ewen. We ran fast diagonally down the grass, tagged our team member, then ran a gentle jog across the straight before being tagged by our next team member and running up the straight slope as fast as possible to tag again and jog across the short straight at the top. It was fast and steady for 30mins with little rest between sprints.

Tonight there were no frisbee throwers to just miss us as we sped across the grassy diagonals but there was plenty of honking from the geese when someone was running in the opposite direction or we were cheering on other team members. It was fun!

Total distance: 16km

Reaching a Century!

Thursday track

Tonight I competed in the 3000m and the 6 lap spiral (about 2.4km).

Firstly I ran a short warm up before lining up for the 3000m at 6pm. I felt ok but still ran marginally slower than last week.

Distance: 3000m

Time taken: 15:00:77 (so near and yet so far!)

I ran a few km warm up before the spiral handicap as there was quite a long break between these events. The field was not as big as usual probably due to the late start of 8.15pm. However, Bronwyn was still there vying for leadership in the pointscore. Bron was in Group 43 and I was in Group 33 and fortunately tonight she didn't quite catch me. Thus I still lead the pointscore by a very narrow margin in this 'novelty' event. There is one more spiral (this time 7 laps) in a couple of weeks.

Total distance: 2.4km

Time taken: 12:31

Total distance for night including warm up laps: 8.5km

Friday - Gym

Body balance and abs class

Saturday - long run

I met up with the Molonglo group at 7am and ran with Jen, Bronwyn, Andy and Ewen anti-clockwise round the whole of Lake Burley Griffin. Liz joined us for the last and toughest 10km of the run. I ran with Bron and it was fun as I found out all about caching which I had always been curious about. Part of our run was through the wetlands but when we reached the foot bridge it was closed as they were rebuilding it and we had to detour over a disused railway bridge and through an old dump. We had to cross over a sort of trestle bridge with big gaps between each board where you could see a long way down to the water. As I am most definitely height phobic I just froze. Ewen and Liz were already out of sight but Bron clambered back over that scary bridge, gave me her arm and helped me across. On the other side we had to negotiate a steep rocky bank to get up out of the gully and reach the top of the ridge so that we could finally run on the flat again. From there it was mainly flat again on the bike path back to Molonglo Reach.

Apart from that little detour I found the run generally easier than last week - possibly because I was engrossed in Bron's stories. If I had any sense of direction and could read a map I would certainly find caching lots of fun!

After a short recovery chat Ewen, Jen, Andy, Liz and I headed off to Campbell Shops for a really good coffee and snack - lots of fun.

Total distance: 31km

Time taken: 3:22:14

Average pace per km: 6:31

Calories burned: 1817

It was a stunning morning, the temperature was perfect, cool to start and gradually warming up. There were hot air balloons floating over the lake and the company was great.

Sunday - Vets's Monthly Handicap

Today was my 100th Vets' Handicap Run and after the run I was presented with my specially inscribed oversized t-shirt which fits me more like a nighty than a t-shirt but that's ok, I will just save it for wearing after each monthly handicap event. I ran my first run with the vets in 1996 so it's taken a while to get this far!

Today's run started from the south side of North Curtin and the first half was up, up, up the cycle path to the top of the hill and from there it was downhill for most of the way. Near the start of the run the rain started and it was gentle and refreshing. However, it didn't last long and the weather turned really muggy. By the time I reached the finish I was soaking but not from the rain! I was very glad that I did a short warm up with Andy before the run began as my legs felt very stiff and sore before the warm up. However, I felt ok during the run and enjoyed the downhill!

Distance: 6.2km

Time taken: 34:57

Average pace per km: 5:38

Group start: 26

Finish place: 100th (that was auspicious on my 100th run)

Total runners: 118

Total distance with warm-up: 8.5km

Later Ewen, Andy and I headed off to join some other speedygeese for coffee but the queue was challenging so we headed for an alternative venue and called in to say hi later. Coffee, cake and good company after a run is always fun!

Total distance for week: 85km

Speed Challenged!

Tuesday - cross country summer series 6.15pm
Location: Stromlo Forest Park

Disappointingly the surface of the run was pitted and uneven, not like the soft grass that was there last season. It was a case of running with caution to avoid unexpected potholes. I was also feeling a bit tired and noticed every hill. This is a two lap course and the second lap felt awful. I also felt the heat tonight and I did struggle. As a consequence my time was the slowest for this series of runs but ho hum, it was good training!

Distance: 5km
Time taken: 27:20
Average pace per km: 5:30
I ran 1km warm-up and 1km cool down
Total distance for day: 7km

Wednesday
6.20am - Gym - Upper body strengh work
7am - Abs class

6pm - wiggly geese group

Run from Parliament House with Jen, Ewen, Andy and Chris. Unfortunately Richard was unwell and unable to join us.

We followed Chris towards some shade and ran a new route tonight. It was challenging with some rough tracks and undulations but it's always fun to do something different. We ran down to the lake and turned left at the cycle path by the lake and ran to Weston Park and on to the far end of Yarralumla Nursery where we turned and ran back via the Stirling Hills bush track. Here it was difficult to run at all as there were lots of loose stones and a narrow path. From here we ran back to the start at PH. At the end Ewen and I ran a few extra metres to round up the distance!

Total distance: 14km
Time taken: 1:32:28
Average pace per km: 6:36
Calories burned: 821
Tonight it's off to Track for the 3,000m and the spiral handicap - eeek!

speedygeese sprints at Parliament House

I made it in plenty of time for the early speedygeese session at Parliament House tonight. The air was very humid and I found the warm-up quite difficult tonight. Jen, Yelena, Carolyne, Ewen, speedycoach and I were the only early starters and we joined the others at 5.30pm for the main session - about 23 tonight. We did another warm-up, this time the PH loop before doing 400m sprints in random relay teams. Actually they weren't as random as last week as the faster runners were put in teams of three and those who were all worn out from weekend races or who were slower were put in teams of four. It worked well as it gave some of us a bit more rest to run gently between fast sprints.
Distance: 7.32km warm up plus 8.91 main session including extra cool down

Total distance: 16.23km

Sprint Marathon Relay - Fun in the Sun!

Yesterday Marg collected me at 6.45am and we headed for the start of the sprint marathon relay at Dunrossil Drive. "Marathon" is a misnomer really as the total distance is only 36km although I believe it was originally 42km when it was at a different venue. As the relay was postponed from last weekend due to inclement weather (that is constant rain all weekend) we only had six teams of six people in each but it was heaps of fun and Jimmy, the organiser, always does a fantastic job.

I felt a bit stiff and sore after yesterday but the 3km warm-up Marg and I ran at the start certainly helped. I was in a team with Bruce (super fast), Craig, Ewen, Neil and Margaret. I was Number 5 runner. Our first leg was 2km and each leg after that was 1km except for the last one which was 2km again where we ran over the finish line together.

Our team ran in 2:40:06 which wasn't too far behind the 5th team. It was all good fun.

My splits:
First 2km - 9:57 - average pace: 5:03
Third km - 5:02
Fourth km - 5:04
Fifth km - 5:10
Last 2km - 10:21 (average pace 5:25) - In the last km we had to wait for the last runner to catch up so that we could all run across the finish line together so this may have delayed the time a few seconds.
This made a total of 7km for the relay event.

However I also ran 1km to the start and a 3km warm up.
Total distance for day: 11km
Total distance for week: 82km
I need to pick up the kms now as it appears that the National Capital Marathon will definitely go ahead on 2 May and I do want to run in it without disgracing myself!

I just pick myself up, dust myself off and start all over again!

Actually, I didn't start all over again - I just picked myself up, walked a bit and then continued on with the dusty run. Yes, out there on the Mt Ainslie trails I managed to do a "CJ" - haven't done one of those for a while. Fortunately I was in the company of great running companions who took care of my welfare and ensured I was ok before continuing on. I haven't learnt the art of doing somesaults and rolling back up - instead when I fall, it's considerably inelegant - splat on the dry dusty earth and I always end up covered with dirt with nothing broken except my dignity!

After a slow start it was a good run and once we returned to Molonglo I continued on for another 8km to make up my distance. It was hot but not humid and at 7am the start of the run was pleasantly cool. In fact the conditions were great. We started with Stuart and Graeme but I ran with Ewen and Andy most of the way and for some of the way we also ran with Chris and Mary Ann.

After our get together back at the picnic area Ewen and I decided to go for coffee at Campbell shops. Starvation having set in we also enjoyed a vege omelette - yummo. We'll go there again!

Total distance: 30km

Time taken: 3:19:45

Average pace per km: 6:39

Calories burned: 1748

For some strange reason I had a burst of energy this afternoon and as a result now have a nice clean house! Then while dinner was cooking I jumped in a radox bath and soothed my gravelly knee. Ouch! Now I hope I'm not too stiff for the sprint marathon relay which has been rescheduled to tomorrow - forecast for 32degrees!

Almost but not quite!

Tonight at track I competed in the 4 x 800m walk relay. I was in a team with Margaret, Carol and Trish wearing hot pink bibs. It was lots of fun but hard work too trying to walk, without running, really fast for 800m. My split was 5:11 and our team finished in 21:02 in 5th place out of 7 teams.

After this I jogged a few laps of the track while cheering on the 4 x 800m run relay teams which included Margaret and Carol in the W60s. This was Margaret's birthday night and she did really well as the W60s won a new ACT record.

The last event of the night was the 3000m at 8pm. I felt better tonight and thought for a moment as I crossed the line that I had run under 15minutes but not quite - very close though so I'll just keep trying!
Distance: 3000m
Time taken: 15:00:02 (almost there)!!

Total distance for night: 6.5km

Photo: Peter and Margaret at a speedygeese dinner in 2009.

In the Company of Great Friends

Tuesday
6.15am - I started the day with strength and abs work at the gym
6.15pm - summer series #3 at North Curtin

In spite of having to ignore all the "perform a u-turn now" commands as I approached the new part of the parkway I managed to find my way to the start of the cross country run straight after work without any undue stress.

I ran a 3km warm-up with Heidi and was pleased to see CJ out there again gradually getting faster each week.

Tonight's run had a steady incline on a cycle path - up, up, up and then a great downhill run after the turnaround point off road. I felt good and so was a bit disappointed that I finished in over 26mins even though I was about 8secs faster than last week. CJ passed me at about the 1.5km mark finishing in 24:32 and Andy ran in 20:53 which was absolutely brilliant!

Total distance of race: 5km

Time taken: 26:11

Average pace per km: 5:14

Finishing place: 83rd (out of 111)

I didn't have time for a cool down as I had to dash home for a shower before a sub-committee meeting.

Total distance for evening: 8km

Wiggles Wednesday

I met up with Jen, Andy, Chris, Richard and Ewen for a shorter version of our usual Wednesday run from Parliament House. Tonight we ran the west basin loop out around the museum. It made for a pleasant change on a warm evening. Before we left PH we rang and ordered pizzas to be ready to be picked up from Kingston after we finished.

Total distance: 9.5km

Time taken: 58:18

Average pace per km: 6:08

Calories burned: 557

Later we had a fantastic evening at Richard's apartment enjoying our pizzas. We had lots of fun and lots of good laughs and it was definitely one of those nights that make us know that running friends are great company and good fun!

Canberra is greening up!

It rained and it rained nearly all weekend, the most rain Canberra has had since 1989. As a consequence the sprint marathon relay, due to be held yesterday morning, was cancelled. Later in the day the family came over and there was no opportunity to run.

This afternoon looked pretty bleak too and it was still raining when I drove towards Parliament House for the early training session. However, by 4.30pm at the start of the early warm-up the rain had stopped and the sun was streaming down. In fact it was quite warm as I set off with Ewen, Jen, Geoff and Yelena on our 8km warm-up.

The rest of the group (20 of us tonight) joined us at 5.30pm and after a warm-up lap of PH we headed for the rose garden to drop off our drink bottles and do a trial lap of our 400m undulating run. We divided into teams of three and ran a fast lap, tagging the next person in our team and then jogging a slow lap inbetween each fast one. My team members were Joel and Jen and it was jolly hard to keep ahead - not many rests in the 30minute fast session.

To finish off we gently ran another lap of PH and back to the start.

Total distance for evening: 17km (8km warm-up plus 9km main session)

Wednesday Wiggles and Overdue Update!

On Wednesday we all turned up in a mix of coloured t-shirts and reminded ourselves so much of The Wiggles that Ewen took a couple of photos just beside Parliament House at the end of our run. But I digress - another week has flown by and lack of blogging has happened once again so a brief overview is once more in order.

Thursday 4 Feb - Track

3000m - 15:18 - handicapped according to age group

Average pace: 5:06 per km - slightly slower than last week and still not below the 15mins! No excuse either as it was the first event of the night.

1500m walk - 10:14

Average pace: 6:53 (fun!)

5 lap spiral (2km) - 10.18

Bronwyn pipped me at the post in a speedy finish and although I still lead in the points score it is by the very narrowest margin - looks like I'll have to find my speedy wings!

Total distance: 8.2km (including warm up and cool down)

Saturday 6 February

6.30am - Molonglo Reach run

We started a little earlier this morning as Mr B and I drove off to Sydney for a couple of days. We went to see the show Wicked and it was brilliant - just loved it.

It was a humid morning and Jen, Andy, Ewen and I ran past Campbell Park and round the Mt Ainslie track down past the War Memorial and over Commonwealth Ave Bridge on through the wetlands and back to Molonglo Reach. It was very hot and the pace was fairly slow. Chris ran with us for about 20minutes before returning to meet the 7am starters. Michelle caught us in the last few kms and ran a couple of extra kms with me out towards the airport at a good pace.

Total distance: 25.16km

Time taken: 2:41:55

Average pace per km: 6:26

Total distance for week: 73km

Monday 8 February

Early warm up run at 4.30pm with speedygeese - 7.9km

Main session at 5.30pm

We had a total of 29 speedygeese at the session tonight which was a great turn out. After the warm up I was selected to name all the participants, some of whom were new starters. I was really excited when I managed to name everyone correctly. Yay!

This was our last hill session for this season. We ran 20 hill sprints but the last 8 were attrition sprints and the last few people to the top just ran half way for these 8. It was tough, it was hot but it was fun and Ewen busily took photos of us for future reference!

Total distance for night: 15.04km

Tuesday 9 February

6.15am - gym - upper body strength

6.15pm - Cross country summer series race 2 at Boathouse

I arrived a bit late for a good warm-up and that does make a difference. I was a bit slower than last week on the same course which was disappointing.

Total distance: 5km

Time taken: 26:18

Average pace per km: 5:15

Calories burned: 290

Finish place: 97th (out of 136 finishers)

Total distance (including warm up and warm down) - 8km

Wednesday 10 February

6.15am - RPM class at gym

7am - Abs class at gym

5.45pm - Run with speedygeese Wednesday group from Parliament House

Jen, Ewen, Andy, Chris and I took off for our run to the lake and through the wetlands, Kingston etc and back to PH. Just past the wetlands Richard joined us - he had been held up in a meeting but it was fun to see that he was wearing a red t-shirt. As Jen was in a green t-shirt, Andy in bright yellow and Chris and I in blue we had a strange resemblance to the Wiggles. Once we arrived back at PH Ewen produced his camera and did a photo shoot - lots of fun!

Total distance: 12.22km

Time taken: 1:17:50

Average pace per km: 6:22

Thursday 11 February

After some consideration I decided against running the 10,000m at track due to a very unsettled tummy - a bit disappointing as I would have been the only entrant in my age group! Instead I entered the 2000m handicap of the walking race and lap scored for Ewen who won a silver medal - very exciting. I also went for a 4km run outside with Nadine between events.

2000m fitness walk

Time taken: 13:29

Average pace per km: 6:45

Total distance for night: 6km

Saturday 13 February

7am - Run from Molonglo Reach

I met up with Jen, Ewen, Andy, Steve and Michael for a run going the same way as last week. The only difference was that there was a gentle drizzle and the temperature had dropped considerably. It was in fact quite pleasant running this morning, rather different to the high humidity we have had recently. It was great to have Steve and Michael run with us for a change. Cathy and Graeme started with us but they were running in a different direction so left us at the base of Mt Ainslie. We spotted lots of kangaroos out on the trails - I wish I could run at their pace! At the 23km mark I ran an extra couple of kms out towards the Boathouse to make the same distance as last week.

Total distance: 25km

Time taken: 2:40:47

Average pace per km: 6:25

Calories burned: 1449

After the run Jen, Ewen, Andy and I went for brunch at Delissio Brasserie in Braddon. We left after THREE hours to be met with constant heavy rain for the rest of the afternoon. Here's hoping it will clear enough in the morning to be able to go ahead with the sprint marathon relay. It was a good day.

Wednesday without a Wombat:(

Wednesdays are always my busiest day. I start the day with gym and end the daylight with running.

6.15am - 45mins RPM/Spin class

7am - 15mins abs class

6pm - Run from Parliament House with Jen, Chris and Andy

Yes, only 4 of us ran today as neither Ewen nor Richard could be there and Chris ran a short run as he had a meeting to attend. There was cloud cover which was good and we ran at a very gentle pace. We ran the same direction as last week on through the wetlands, Molonglo and back to PH without losing each other! We stopped for a few of nature's calls on the way. It was a pleasant social run on sore legs!

Total distance: 13km
Calories burned: 766

This morning, Thursday, I again went to the gym at 6am. This time I worked on upper body strength and abs. Then it was off to brekkie with CJ - always fun. Tonight it's track at the AIS and I feel sleepy already - oh dear!

Cross Country Summer Series has started!

After work today I went out to the Boathouse to run the first of the Cross Country summer series. There were 146 finishers in the 5km run and 28 in the 2km run. It was fantastic to catch up with heaps of people I haven't seen for some time. It was a good course and a pleasant day if a little windy, especially on the first leg when there was a head wind. CJ ran well and passed me just after the half way mark looking strong. It's so good that she's starting back so well. Mel, very new to our speedygeese, ran the whole distance which was also a great achievement, especially after yesterday's drills.

I ran a 2km warm up with speedygeoff, Nadine, Brett and Margaret and after the race a 2km cool down with speedygeoff, Margaret and Maria.

We ran past the hospice where Milton, one of our veterans, sat outside and watched us run. Several people stopped briefly to say hi as we ran past.

Distance of race: 5km
Time taken: 15:53
Average pace per km: 5:10
Finishing place: 107th (out of 146)
Total distance with warm up and cool down: 9km

A Different Session for our speedygeese tonight!

This morning I went to the gym to work on upper body strength and abs. Then off to speedygeoff's early running at 4.30pm for a 7km warm up with Ewen. Helen, speedycoach, Craig and Gary started just before us. It was hot and sunny.

We joined the rest of the group at 5.30pm (27 of us - quite a turn-out) and ran a warm-up loop before heading off to the flat grass near Questacon where Ewen (with my back-up) took the group through our Peter Magill drills. It made a great change and meant that we didn't miss out on our drills this week so it worked out really well. We ran three strides x 60m followed by 2 x 50-60m schoolyard skipping, high skips, skip kicks, flat foot marching, high knees, butt kicks and carioca (or grapevine) with 60m strides between each set. We then ran to the grassy Parliament House roof where we ran 8 x 10sec 'Brad Hudson' hill sprints with full recovery between each sprint.

Total distance: 14.5km

Pinged by the Handicapper!

In the last run for 2009 in November I won a bronze medal at the Vets' Handicap. As a result of this the handicapper made me suffer accordingly and put me back NINE groups from Group 18 to Group 27. Now that's a pretty tough call. We ran the Campbell Park course at 8.30am in warm to hot conditions - an undulating out and back course, a bit rough in parts but at least I knew what to expect and where I was going having incorporated it in our long run yesterday. I enjoy catching up with everyone at the monthly handicaps - people we only see once a month and others returning to running like CJ - so good to see her out there again.

I ran a short warm-up with the usual suspects round the flat carpark then headed for the portaloo and from there to the start.

Total distance of run: 6km (plus 1km warm-up)
Time taken: 33:37
Average pace per km: 5:36
Handicap group: 27 (in the same start group as Jen; Ewen and Chris ran off Group 25 - how does that work??)

Finish place: 112 (a little different from last handicap - wonder if that qualifies for a new group next month?)

Number of finishers in Thomas course: 132

The really great part of the results is that our speedygeese won the first three places in the Thomas series. Andy won Gold, Craig Silver and Brett Bronze. What a fantastic result!

After the run I joined Jen, Andy, Ewen, Heidi, Janene, Ken, Noeline and Garry for a very civilized coffee and brunch at Carlo's - if fact I indulged in two coffees, they were so good!!

Total distance for week: 71km

Catch up time!

Oh dear, this has been another fly-by week without any posts since Sunday so here goes with the catch-up!

Monday - run training with speedygeese at Weston Park

4.30pm - early warm-up of 5.33km with Jen, Ewen, Andy and speedycoach - a run around the jogalong course - some shady bits which was important in the intense heat!

5.30pm - main session with 18 speedygeese attendees

It was fun and a pleasant change training at Weston Park tonight. There was a big concert in the grounds of Parliament House celebrating Australia Day which made parking there at a premium.

It was a very hot evening and after a warm-up again on the jogalong course we headed for a hill which was not as steep as last week's hill but still a challenge in the heat.

We ran 20 x 80m hill repeats in 30minutes before our cool down.

Total distance including early warm-up: 13km

Calories burned: 745

Tuesday - Run

Today was a holiday being Australia Day and I had a sleep in! It was another scorcher and I left my run until 7.20pm when the intense heat had lessened. I ran from home towards Gungahlin along the cycle track and back again listening to my music.

Total distance: 8km

Time taken: 48mins

Average pace per km: 6mins

Calories burned: 470

Wednesday

6.15am - RPM/spin class at gym

7am - Abs class

6pm - Run with Jen, Andy and started with Ewen and Chris

On another hot night we ran from Parliament House to the lake and as we were running over the bridge somehow Jen, Andy and I were separated from Ewen and Chris. We did pass them going in the opposite direction as we neared the wetlands but that was the last time we saw each other. There was a bit of confusion about directions but at least we all had a good run!

Total distance: 12.3km

Calories: 722

Thursday

6.15am - Strength training at the gym

5.30pm - Track

Tonight at the AIS it was "come and try it" night which attracted quite a few extra people. In fact 89 people took part in various distances tonight. I didn't feel 100% but I did want to enter a few events. I ran in the 1500m at 6pm and it was dreadfully hot and dry at that time. At the end of the run I had a coughing fit just like after the 800m.

Distance: 1500m

Time taken: 7:21:21

I was still struggling with the cough and sucking on peppermints when I started the next event of the 2000m walk. I enjoy the fitness walking. This time it was a Turkey race and we had to guess the time we thought we would do. We were not allowed to wear watches and they covered the clocks. Margaret won the event as she estimated her time within 3secs - pretty good estimate!

On the other hand I was miles out with my estimate.

Distance for walk: 2000m

Time taken: 14:11

Estimate: 15:50

The last event I competed in at track was the 3000m handicap race. This was handicapped according to age.

Distance: 3000m

Time taken: 15:16

Average pace per km: 5:05 (almost there!)

Margaret and I ran a few laps to warm up at the start and ran out of the AIS for a short cool down after our 3000m.

Total distance for evening: 8.07km

Friday - Rest Day

6.15am - Gym - Body balance class (including stretching and abs)

Saturday - long run

This morning I met up with the Molonglo group at 7am and ran with Chris, Ewen and Andy along the Campbell Park course which we will be running in tomorrow's handicap run. We ran round the undulating base of Mt Ainslie in an anti-clockwise direction and turned off towards the War Memorial where we ran down to the lake over Commonwealth Bridge and along to and through the wetlands and back to Molonglo Reach where we met up with the rest of the group for a short catch up before Ewen, Andy and I headed for the Portrait Gallery for coffee and cake - defnitely a good way to finish a good morning's run.

Total distance: 23km

Time taken: 2hrs 32mins

Average pace per km: 6:36

Calories burned: 1350

The temperature was pleasantly cool to start this morning and it just started to warm up as we neared the finish - perfect timing!

What a difference a day makes!

Overnight the temperature dropped considerably and this morning it was only 13deg when I drove to Parliament House to meet Ewen at 7.30am. Wow, it felt positively chilly! Great weather for a warm-up followed by drills and hill sprints. We headed for the shady grass opposite the portrait gallery where we ran 3 x 60m strides before our drills as follows:

3 x 50m schoolyard skipping

2 x 50m of high skips, flat foot marching, high knees, butt kicks and carioca

50-60m strides between each set.

We then ran to a grassy bank on the roof of PH and ran 8 x 10sec hill sprints with a good recovery between each run.

Total distance: 8km

Total distance for week: 70km

After all this we drove over to the triathlon site and joined the cheer squad for Jen_Runs and Mango who were racing the Olympic distance as a team. It was exciting to watch and of course we incorporated coffee while Mango was out on his run. We saw lots of familiar faces and caught up with friends - some from many moons ago - another good day. Mr B was a technical official on the back of a motorbike pinging those who were drafting on their bikes and sending them off to the penalty box where they had to wait 3 minutes - quite a number of culprits as it happened! There were six motorbikes with technical officials on the bike course!

Later in the afternoon the temperature warmed up to another hot sunny day of 32degrees but fortunately the triathletes experienced perfect cool calm conditions early in the morning.

To top off a lovely weekend Mr B and I went to the movies tonight to see 'It's Complicated' starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. We really enjoyed it - good fun. About 3/4 of the way through the movie suddenly died and we sat in silence. We had to wait about ten minutes before the movie was brought back to life and because of the inconvenience every person in the theatre was given a free ticket for a movie another night. Considering we saw the rest of the movie AND enjoyed it thoroughly, we thought that was a pretty good deal! We now get to see another movie free - woo hoo!

Second hottest January night ever in Canberra!

This meant that at 6.44am when I finally managed to run out the door it was already 27deg. At 1am it was still 31deg - that is so hot for the middle of the night!

Anyway, my run was less than ordinary. I left from home because I was on a time frame and ran to Lake Ginninderra, round the lake and back via the road to Gungahlin before turning and running home via the cycle tracks. I definitely prefer the trails to all that concrete and grassy verges. After a quick shower it was time to take the children to swimming lessons on their final day with us. It's been fun having the grandchildren stay and we will miss all those daily cuddles!

Total distance: 21.8km

Time taken: 2:18:18

Average pace per km: 6:20

Calories burned: 1283

Later in the afternoon I collected CJ and we drove into town where we met Ewen for coffee before heading to the triathlon site to meet up with Jen_Runs here from Sydney with Mango and Mini Mango for a triathlon weekend. We joined the cheersquad for Mini Mango in the enticer tri. She had an awesome sprint to the finish - great to watch and fantastic to catch up with Jen_Runs and family - a hot, but good day.

4 lap Spiral

I didn't even have time for a decent warm-up before the spiral handicap at 6pm tonight - just a few laps with speedycoach right before the start. I went off in Group 32 and Bronwyn still managed to whizz past me on the home straight off Group 43. I really tried my best but it was 33deg at that time of day and although a little breeze had started I still felt extremely dehydrated. I couldn't stay for the 1500m tonight unfortunately as I had to dash home to relieve my friend from her babysitting duties but it was great to have the opportunity to participate even in just one event. I did race past Sheryl who was coming 2nd in the pointscore but I have a feeling that Bron will be ahead of me now as she finished 6th and I finished 8th! I have some work to do! :)

4 lap spiral (1.6km)
Time taken: 8:02 (tbc)
Average pace per km: 4:58
Handicap group: 32
Finish place: 8th

Total distance with warm-up: 3km (hardly worth recording)!

Friends make running fun!

Wednesday
6.15am - RPM
7am - Abs

6pm - Run with Jen, Ewen, Andy and Richard from Parliament House. We ran down to the lake and through the wetlands aiming for as much shade as possible. It was good to catch up with Jen again as she has been out of action for a few sessions. There was a bit of wind but it was generally quite a pleasant run apart from the persistent twinges in my left hammie!

Total distance: 12km

Time taken: 1:15:35
Average pace per km: 6:18
Calories burned: 700

And later today a friend is coming over to watch the grancchildren for a short while for me so that I can defend my pointscore position in the 4 lap spiral at the track. Fingers crossed cos it will be very hot. Currently at 3.25pm it is 36deg which has already surpassed the expected high of 33deg! Ouch!

Drills in the afternoon

I managed to fit my drills session in this afternoon while the children were at their various activities (this babysitting business takes some organisation but it's lots of fun). It was a pleasant 25deg at 3.30pm and I headed for the oval with my hamstring taped so that I wasn't in too much discomfort.

It was about 2.6km to the starting spot and I ran my 3 x 60m strides in the semi shade of trees and did the following drills jogging back to the start each time.

3 x schoolyard skipping (60m)
3 x high skips (60m)
3 x flat foot marching (60m)
3 x carioca (left and right) (60m)
3 x high knees (50m)
3 x butt kicks (50m)
I ran 60m strides between each set.
Then I ran home again.
Total distance: 8.6km

Hill Repeats on a much cooler evening

The weather was positively cool today. I couldn't believe the huge drop in temperature. It was a lot better for training although there was a bit of wind out there. I arrived in time for the 4.30pm early run and was surprised at the number of early starters tonight - seven of us; usually there are only three or four. We ran 8km and returned to collect the rest of the group starting again at 5.30pm. There was a good turn out for this session and a lot of newbies. We ran a warm-up loop of Parliament House before heading for the southside grassy slope of the roof of PH. It was very plush and spongy. Our goal was to run as many 80m steep hill repeats on 80secs as possible for 30minutes. I managed to run the full 24 but it was tough and I was slow as usual although I didn't get left behind and some people didn't do all the repeats.

Total distance for evening: 16km
Calories burned: 922

After training had finished Bronwyn and Jodie produced chocolate caramello koalas from the Cadbury Factory in Tassie for us all - yummo - what a great way to end a tough session! Thanks girls - mmmmm!

Juggling the Training

I struggled a bit with my hamstring in today's run from Molonglo which was a shame as apart from the nagging pain I felt fine and I'm sure I could have gone faster in normal circumstances - grrrr! The conditions were still quite humid but not unpleasant and of course the company was good. I ran mainly with Andy and Ewen. I was under a time frame as I had to take Talia to a birthday party at the bowling alley. There is a bit of deja vue in having little children in the house again. We are looking after our two grandchildren (aged 7 and 3) for just over a week while their parents are holidaying in Hong Kong so Mr B and I need to fit in with each other with training times which requires a bit of tricky juggling sometimes.

This morning we ran from Molonglo over the base of Mt Ainslie anti-clockwise down past the War Memorial across Commonwealth Ave Bridge, through the Wetlands and back to the start. On our return trip we stopped for water and Liz (aka known as Jog or Superwoman) came running up with her 4kg backpack looking very strong and probably already having run about 40km. She is in deep training for the Cradle Mountain 84km which is coming up soon.

Total distance: 22.5km
Time taken: 2:31
Average pace per km: 6:43 (oh dear)
Calories burned: 1,316 (and I didn't stop eating all day!)

Total distance for week: 65km

Back on Track!

Yesterday (Thursday) morning I went for a fitness assessment at the gym and was pleased to learn I have a resting heartrate of 49. I was also shown a few more exercises which will make a bit of a change to my usual regime. A change is always good.

It was also good that the temperature was much less extreme today and almost cool when I ventured out to track to run the 3000m. I warmed up with Marg, Ewen and speedygeoff for a few laps and then headed for the start line. There was a bit of a breeze but apart from that the conditions were pretty good as it's so much easier to run when it's not too hot.

The final results have now been posted and I ran the 3000m in 15:23 which is slightly better than last time but not a PB. My goal is still to go under 15mins. I am a bit disappointed with the official time as I thought I ran in 15:16. Oh well, keep on running strewth!!

Total distance including warm-up and cool down: 8km

Calories burned: 412

Woo hoo - a cool change!

Wednesday is always a big day for me and the morning was very warm as overnight we had the hottest overnight temperature in Canberra for about 40 years. At midnight last night it was still 31deg! I started my day with an RPM class at 6.15am. The fans in the room were just not enough cooling and it was dreadfully hot. At 7am I dripped my way into the bigger room for the abs class and the air conditioning felt wonderful after our hot steamy little cycling room!

Late in the afternoon the temperature dropped by about 10deg and by 6pm when I ran with Chris, Ewen, Richard and Andy it was a comfortable 23deg with an easterly wind. We ran a pleasant course from Parliament House down to the lake and on through the wetlands in the opposite direction to what we run on Saturdays. In parts the wind was a bit strong but it was just so good not to be fighting the intense heat. Unfortunately my hamstring is still being a bit of a pain and there were no records set for my pace!

Total distance: 13km
Time taken: 1:24:14
Average pace per km: 6:26

Drills and no reprieve from the heat!

It was another scorcher today. I started it by going to the gym early in the morning before a day at work. I spent about 40mins on upper body strength, abs and stretching.

After work I drove home first and left at 6.45pm thinking it might have cooled down. It still felt really hot so I ran to the furthest part of the oval to find a spot of shade on the flat and measured a 50m and 60m course. I only go 50m for high knees and butt kicks as they are very tough!

It was a 3km gentle run to the start.
3 x strides to start then 1 x 60m strides between each set of 3 of the following:
schoolyard skipping
high skips
flat foot marching
Carioca (left and right)
high knees
butt kicks
I finished with a 3km run home again.
Total distance: 9.2km
Calories burned: 500
And oh, I do wish there was a cold pool or lake to stand in after I finished. It was sooooo hot even at that time.

Hot Start to a New Week

At almost 40deg I joined Ewen and speedygeoff for the 4.30pm start for our training session. It was far too hot to run at any speed and we tried to find shady spots as we ran only 6km for our first warm up. We joined the others at Parliament House at 5.30pm when we ran another warm up before the main session which was 17 x 100m sharp hill sprints every 90secs. The hills were on the east side of PH and tougher than last week even though there was a little shade. We had a short break half way for a drink and cool face splash before resuming the session. My legs felt heavy, I was slow and it was really hot and tough. This evening I have just not been able to drink enough. I am so dehydrated.

Total distance with warm up: 13km
Calories burned: 700

Back to the Heat Wave

.....and the hills! This morning I met up with the Molonglo group at 7am for our run, this time round the very undulating base of Mt Ainslie before heading off from the War Memorial and on to the lake and through the wetlands. It was hot even at 7am although much hotter later in the morning. It was great to catch up with Nadine and Brett, not long back from their honeymoon in Nepal - sounded so amazing. Michelle was also there running ahead keeping Ewen honest. Andy had problems with his knee at the 17km point so left us to take a short cut back and just Ewen and I completed the 24km giving us a chance to catch up on all the news.
Total distance: 24km

Time taken: 2:34
Average pace per km: 6:24
Calories burned: 1,395

Total distance for week: 63km

Strewth - I'm Tardy!

I was a little late arriving at Parliament House for our mid-week run today and we didn't start until 6pm instead of the scheduled 5.45pm. Ewen was cranky and ran ahead of Richard, Andy and me to make up time for half the distance! He starts work very early in the mornings and needs lots of beauty sleep! But running is a good cure for crankiness and soon we were all chatting happily and hopefully all is forgiven!

It was hot tonight but the advantage of running that little bit later is that for the last 20 mins the breeze picked up and cooled the temperature down a little. We ran through the wetlands where there are some lovely shady spots which helped.

Total distance: 13.4km

Time taken: 1:24:12

Average pace per km: 6:16

Calories burned: 783

Mr B and I have decided on the spur of the moment to drive to Sydney tomorrow to take our daughter out for dinner for her 30th birthday - just stay the one night then home again. We might even make it to Bondi Beach with her. It will be fun. I'll miss the first track session for this year but will be back for the long run on Sat!

Catching up on the Drills!

This morning before breakfast I ran to the oval in the next suburb for a drills session on a flat semi shaded area near the school. It was quiet and I felt quite comfortable looking like an idiot. One lone cyclist gave a double take but apart from a few young cyclists in the distance I was pretty much alone. I missed out the skip kicks as my hammie has been troubling me a bit but after 3 x 60m strides I did 3 each of the following Peter Magill drills with 60m strides between each set including at the finish.

• schoolyard skipping
• high skips
• flat foot marching
• carioca (left and right with the third one half of each)
• high knees
• butt kicks

After that I ran the 2.6km home again. It was hot but there was a little head wind on the gentle run back to the start after each drill. At least the wind was going in the right direction to benefit me.

Total distance including drills: 10km

First speedygeese session for 2010 - in the heat!

This morning I went to the gym to work on upper body strength and abs. Both areas need lots of work! Then at 4.30pm I joined Miranda, Craig, Ewen and Geoff for the early warm-up run down to the lake and to Manuka and back. It was really really hot and we cut the distance short by a km making a total of 7km for the warm-up.

We joined the other speedygeese including one new starter and a couple who haven't run with us for some time. It was good to see them again looking strong.

Our main session after our warm-up laps round Parliament House, consisted of 20 x 100m hill sprints with a jog back down to the start and restarting on 90secs. It was very hot and very hard but a great feeling to finish. I tried to be conscious of my form, concentrating on my abs and running on my toes and as tall as possible. It seemed to help a little.

Total distance for day: 15km

Girl Sweat with the Boys!

This morning I joined Andy and Ewen at 7.30am for a run from Molonglo Reach. Although it was cloudy to start it was still humid and sticky. We ran part of Mt Ainslie and down to the War Memorial then on to the lake via the city before heading for the wetlands and back to Molonglo. Ewen and I ran an extra 3km towards the airport but Andy stopped at 17km. It was hot and we were slow but the company and conversation were good. We were just in time to catch up with Michelle, Cathy and the two Graemes before they left. A decision was made to head for the Portrait Gallery for coffee and something to eat where the three of us continued with good conversation and lots of fluids. It was fun!

Total distance: 21km
Time taken: 2:19:35
Average pace per km: 6:38
Calories burned: 1220

Total distance for week: 66km

Roll out the old year - bring on the new!

Thursday 31 December

For my last run for 2009 I ran from home with Mr B. We were expecting it to be cool as there had just been a refreshing shower of rain. However, it was really humid and we were both dripping on our return. I sweated "like a man" - eeeew!

Total distance: 10km
Time taken: 59:04
Average pace per km: 5:54
Calories burned: 584
Total distance for 2009: 2520km (I think I missed a few but pretty close)
In 2010 I will aim for a bigger total!

I wish you all a happy, healthy, injury-free 2010 with all your goals achieved and your dreams fulfilled! May good fortune, wonderful friends and exciting new adventures be part of an amazing year. Thank you for your friendship.