Return from Aotearoa! - Part 1

We arrived back in Canberra on Tuesday night after a lovely 11 day holiday in "The Land of the Long White Cloud (Aotearoa)" aka New Zealand. We were lucky with the weather, the wedding was held in a beautiful setting at a winery in north west Auckland. We caught up with friends and family and refreshed our accents!

We hired a car a few days after the wedding and drove down to Wellington via Coromandel and Rotorua, stopping with friends in Tauranga and making overnight stops in Napier and Masterton. In each place I ran tried to stick to the marathon training program although last week was a little lighter than it should have been!

Sunday 6 March (morning of wedding)

Short run in rural Auckland (very undulating)

Total distance: 8.38km

Total distance for week 28 Feb - 6 March: 97km

Monday 7 March

Run rural Auckland (lots of hills)

Total distance: 18.7km

Time taken: 1:5:39

Average pace per km: 6:07

Wednesday 9 March

Run in Tauranga suburbs

Total distance: 12.14km

Time taken: 1:18:10

Average pace per km: 6:26 (slower than the hills!)

Thursday 10 March

Run in Napier (by the beach)

Total distance: 8km

Time taken: 47:32

Average pace per m: 5:56

Friday 11 March

Short Run in Masterton

Total distance: 7.6km

Saturday 12 March

Wellington - hilly!

Total distance: 7.23km

Time taken: 47:04

Average pace per km: 6:30

Sunday 13 March

Run with Barbara Tucker by the Hutt River (flattish)
It was fantastic to spend the day with Barbara who used to run with the speedygeese in Canberra before returning to Wellington a couple of years ago. Barb ran 19km with Mr B and me and I continued on for another 11km. Lots of catching up took place for the first 19km!

Total distance: 31.3km

Time taken: 3hrs 26mins

Average pace per km: 6:30

Total distance for week 7-13 March: 85km (8km less than planned)

Photos:

• wedding group of our family and relations on Mr B's side. The bride is his niece.
• our grandchildren and flowergirl (great niece)
• Mt Maunganui (in Tauranga)
• Barb and Mr B studying flora and fauna in Zealandia Nature Park (Welllington)
• Coromandel Peninsula
• Wellington cable car

To be continued.......

Happy Half a Century to CJ!

Today is CJ's 50th birthday. She has been my inspiration since we started running together 15 years ago. She boggles my mind with her achievements and her dedication and is a wonderful friend.

I am writing this post in haste as tonight we celebrate CJ's birthday at her favourite restaurant and tomorrow morning we fly to NZ for a niece's wedding in Auckland and a ten day holiday driving down to Wellington to visit friends and relatives. I still have heaps to do before flying out in the morning. A good friend will be staying in our house and looking after Teddy.

This morning I rose at 4.30am to have a couple of pieces of toast before running out the door just afer 6am to fit in my long run before meeting CJ and Liz for coffee before Liz had to dash off for an International Women's Day lunch. They too were running 34km this morning. CJ and I stayed on to enjoy brunch. We were starving!

It was freezing cold at 6am and I regretted not wearing gloves as my hands positively ached for the first 5km. However, after that I thawed out and it really was a perfect morning for running. I ran from home along the cycle track in Lyneham to the ferry teminal and from there round the West Basin of the lake then a couple of extra kms before heading home. I ran home a slightly different way and consequently ended up with an extra km. I felt good and comfortable almost all the way. There were lots of people cycling to work and balloons floating over the still lake. It truly was a stunning morning to be out there running. I felt so lucky and happy to be fit, alive and running.

Total distance: 35km
Time taken: 3:42:16
Average pace per km: 6:21
Calories burned: 2049

Catch up on week's runs:
Tuesday - summer series at Weston Park

I ran a km before Ewen joined me for a further 4km warm up before the race. It was rough ground and parts of it were through long grass on a narrow trail so it was a case of watching ones footing. As a consequence I didn't manage to run it at the same pace as last week. However I still came in ahead of Ian and just two places behind Ewen.

Total distance: 5.08 (according to gandalf)

Time taken: 28:32

Average pace per km: 5:37
After the race Ewen, speedygeoff and I ran another 5km warm down.
Total distance for day: 15km

Wednesday 2 March

I went to the gym in the morning for my abs class and upper body strength work and in the evening met up with Emma P, Ewen, Andy, speedygeoff and Chris for a middle distance run. On the way we were joined by Tom, a NZer who saw us running and asked to join us as he was only here for a couple of days on business. It's always fun to run with someone. Chris and Emma were running well ahead and the others weren't far behind but speedygeoff and I stayed at the back running more gently after a couple of tough runs on the previous days. We all ran together for the last few kms when both Chris and Emma had to leave a bit early.

Total distance: 16km

Time taken: 1:45:53
Average pace per km: 6:36

Yes, it was very slow, in fact much slower than my long run today! I think my legs were tired and today they felt so much better.

Thursday

There was no track yesterday as the championships are on over the next couple of days. Instead I ran from home in the morning at a comfortable pace. I ran a 15mins warm up heading out towards Gungahlin then ran a tempo run for 15mins before heading for the hills where I ran 4 x 1min hills with a jog between. Then I ran gently home again.

Total distance: 12km

Time taken: 1:14:59

Average pace per km: 6:14

I have a feeling this marathon is going to be run at a very slow pace judging by my lack of speed!

Veterans Monthly Handicap at North Curtin

The monthly handicap was held yesterday on a pleasant Sunday morning at 8.30am. It was a similar course to the YCRC summer series run a couple of weeks ago with an uphill start of about 2.5km before we ran on cycle tracks mainly on the flat. I found there was a bit too much concrete for my liking and I actually preferred the other course but I always enjoy the handicap runs because it is a great opportunity to catch up with everyone.

I didn't get off to a very good start as we cut the timing a bit fine and I had very little time for a warm up before the race. I felt ok in spite of the lack of warm up and managed to come in ahead of Caroline and Ewen - woo hoo!

Handicap: 25

Total distance: 6.2km

Time taken: 34:43

Average pace per km: 5:36

Finish place: 69th (out of 104)

Calories burned: 366

After the run some of us headed for Manuka where we finally found a table big enough for 12 of us to have coffee and in same cases brunch together. It was great company but a very long wait for service!

Total distance for easy week: 72.5km

Monday - Start of a New Week - Six Weeks to Marathon!

Focus for next three weeks - Anaerobic Threshold and Race Preparation

This morning I tried a new class at the gym which included drills - high knees, butt kicks, lunges etc and a few jogs back and forth across the gym floor. This was followed by a boxing session. I have never done a boxing class before and it was great fun, a really good upper body workout. We worked in pairs learning about sparring, undercuts etc and later in the session had to do push ups and lunges inbetween bouts. It was tough, challenging but a really good workout.

At 5.15pm I arrived at Parliament House for the speedygeese session. I just had time for an extra lap round PH before the start of the session at 5.30pm. We ran our usual warm up loop before heading for the oval where we were divided into teams of three with a fast, medium fast and slower runner in each team. We then ran 360m undulating loops with the fastest runner leaving first while the slowest runner did a gentle loop on the same course. The first runner tagged the second runner who on their return tagged the third runner who than ran the course fast. We ran solidly for 30minutes - another good workout. We finished with a warm up loop of PH running in and out of the trails.

Total distance including warm up: 10.5km

A Good Day to be Alive and Running!

Today, Saturday, it was a pleasant surprise when Maryann and Chris joined Emma, Ewen, Andy and me for about 4km for the start of our run from the War Memorial down to the ferry terminal. It was a stunning morning. There were hot air balloons floating above us and indeed one of them had landed very near us and they were gradually pulling it up in the air again. It was huge close up! It was the kind of day when it is frustrating not carrying a camera! The temperature wasn't too hot and the sun was out in a blue sky - a gorgeous Autumn day in the nation's capital.

We joined speeygeoff and his metro runners at the ferry terminal and proceeded to run round the West Basin of Lake Burley Griffin before returning to the ferry terminal. Ewen and I were a bit behind the others although Emma ran with Chelsea (a new starter) and after starting out fast Chelsea found that she had to walk some of the way as she had not been training for long distances. They did set a cracking pace when they were running though. Ewen stopped to walk after exactly 20km and Andy and speedygeoff ran with me for another km before Geoff turned back. Andy and I walked the last little bit back up to the War Memorial where Ewen joined us soon afterwards.

Total distance: 21.3km

Time taken: 2hr 19mins

Average pace per km: 6:30

We walked from the War Memorial carpark to Gorman House Markets to meet up with Liz and try somewhere different for coffee. The actual restaurant wasn't open so we had coffee out of paper cups and the cake was nothing to write home about! However, it was very pleasant sitting outside with good friends amongst the pretty shady trees watching the sights of the second hand market place - fun!

Wednesday 23 Feb

Gym and abs class in the morning and a run with Ewen, Emma and Andy just before 6pm. We ran from Parliament House to the ferry terminal and on round the museum and through the university grounds. I felt sluggish and the run was difficult for me. I think after a couple of hard running sessions on Monday and Tuesday my body was suffering a bit.

Distance: 12km

Thursday 24 Feb

I decided against going to track tonight as my legs were still slow and my body tired. It is supposed to be my easy week after all. Instead I ran from home in the early evening incorporating a Fartlek session of 2 x 60secs fast/60secs float followed by 2 x 30secs fast/30secs float repeated.

Total distance: 13km

Canberra Marathon Number Ten - Entered!

Today I officially entered the marathon and with seven weeks to go, there's not much time left! This morning I went to the pool and swam 1200m. My legs were a bit sore after last night's session and I thought this might help loosen them up. I followed this with a long walk/run with Teddy.

This evening I headed for Barrenjoey Drive for the next race in the summer series. I met Ewen for an early warm up run of 3.2km. The sun felt quite hot. The race started at 6.15pm and was a 3 loop course on a rough dirt track, partly in the shade and partly exposed. It was undulating and required leaping over tree routes and stones but it was fun and I enjoyed it as there was variety. During the warm up I felt sore and slow but during the race I felt strong and happy. To me this just proves how important it is to have a warm up before races!

After the race Ewen and I ran a cool down of 2.8km on the road.

Distance of race: 5km

Time taken: 27:29

Average pace per km: 5:23

Finishing place: 73rd (about 96 finishers to be confirmed)

Total distance with warm up and cool down: 11km

Speedygeese on Fire!

....Not literally of course but the first day of my "easy" week turned out to be a tough session! I only ran the 5.30pm session as my training schedule is for less kms this week. We started with a couple of warm-up loops before heading for the grassy bank at the front of PH, for a similar session to last week. We were divided into teams of three but this time we had a fast, medium fast and slow person in each team to try to equalise the abilities of each team, a bit like the sprint marathon relay teams. I was in a team with Craig and Abi but half way through the 30minutes main speed session, speedygeoff took over from Abi who was very sore.

We each in turn had to run down the diagonals on the grass and up the long straight hills to the poles to tag the next team member. It was tough and during the short break as we were waiting to be tagged we jogged across the short straight at the top. The downhills were great and fast but the steep uphills were tough. It was an excellent workout however.

We finished with a long warm-down loop in and out of the trails of PH.

Total distance: 8.5km

Good times, good friends, great weekend!

Here are a few photos taken on my iphone at Stromlo on Saturday at the age handicap 7.5km race.

• speedycoach - an inspiration to all of us
• Rad - oldest finisher at 82 years young
• Maria, Michelle and Liz after a brilliant race
  
  

Yesterday, Sunday, I walked and ran with Teddy later in the day after a busy weekend. My beautiful grandchildren stayed over and my eldest daughter came from Sydney for the night too. In the morning I had fun at Jen's baby shower at breakfast in Pialligo and met up with Mr B and the children at the park afterwards.

At 4.20pm Teddy and I ran for 3.5km and had fun seeking out undiscovered tracks and running in and out of the drains (Teddy that is, not me - I just leapt over them). We walked another couple of kms home before I left for my 5km run plus 6 x 100m strides before hurrying home to shower and meet friends at a local restaurant for dinner. It was a lovely weekend - friends, family, good food and plenty of exercise!

Distance of run with Teddy: 3.5km

Distance of run on own: 6.4km (incl strides)

Average pace per km of 5km run: 5:53 (29mins)

Total distance for week: 103.4km (yay!)

I am now up to an easy week and have less kms to run before picking up again next week.

This morning, Monday, I spent a couple of hours at the gym doing some strength work on my upper body, abs and legs. I also enjoyed a pleasant breakfast. A new week has begun! Seven weeks to the marathon - not that I'm counting!!

Short and Long Runs - Humidity High!

Wednesday 16 February

7am - 15mins abs class followed by 40mins strength work at gym

10am - Jen and I took Teddy for a long walk over O'Connor and were caught in the pouring rain as we tried to find our way back down. It turned into a very long, very wet walk but lots of fun.

Total distance of walk (I don't count walking in my weekly distances): 12.5km

Because it was raining Teddy was very bouncy even at the end of the walk as he stayed hydrated having fun drinking out of the puddles.

5pm - The rain continued as I ran from the War Memorial and met up with Ewen after a few kms and we continued with our wet run before heading back to the WM to meet Emma and Chris at 5.45pm. We then ran another 13km together. At about the halfway point the rain eased off and the conditions were ideal.

Total distance: 20km

Average pace: 6:20

After the run Chris, Ewen and I headed off to Kingston where we met up with Jen for pizza and dessert!

Thursday - Track

The only event I entered tonight was the 5 lap spiral handicap. I arrived early however and ran outside the AIS on different tracks to increase my distance. Before the race I ran 9.1km and I ran a 1.3km warm down afterwards.

The exciting event of the night was when the W50 women (the two Kathys, Maria and Helen) set a new record for the 1500m race. They have been working hard training for this and beat the record by about 12secs - amazing!

My handicap in the spiral was Group 28 and I finished in 15th place out of 32.

Distance for spiral according to Gandalf: 2:05

Time taken: 10:13

Average pace per km: 4:58

Total distance for day: 12.5km

Saturday - long run

It was still dark when I left the house at 5.45am and I clipped a little headlight to my running drink bottle belt to help me feel safe and plugged in my music for company. Apart from the cycle track at the start I chose to run along the main roads which were better lit. I ran down to the ferry terminal, turned right and ran down and round the museum before heading back to meet Emma P at the ferry terminal at 7am. By this time I had run over 11km so that was a good start. We then headed off in the direction of the carillon but turned at the appropriate time to run back to the base of Anzac Pde to meet Ewen at 7.45am. We next ran back round the museum and headed for the University grounds, on to Belconnen Way, back past the ferry terminal and on to the turnoff for Anzac Parade. I had to run an extra couple of kms here to make up my distance before returning to the War Memorial. Conditions today were overcast and humid with a tiny drizzle of rain at one stage. However it is so much easier to run when the sun isn't streaming down and I enjoyed my long run today.

Total distance: 34km

Time taken: 3hrs 33mins

Average pace per km: 6:15

Calories burned: 1,981

Ewen gave me a ride to Stromlo in time to watch our speedycoach and many speedygeese compete in the age adjusted 7.5km handicap race. It was a very exciting event. The conditions were difficult with high humidity and some wind. That is a tough course at the best of times. Well done speedy friends. Photos will be posted soon. :)

Summer Series Race at North Curtin

Early this morning I went to the pool and swum for 1200m. It was great cross training for the sore legs. Later Teddy and I walked for an hour to loosen up the legs a bit more before heading out to North Curtin for the YCRC Summer Series 5km race. I arrived in plenty of time for a 4km warm up but I did make the mistake of following the cones up, up the hill for a couple of km - not an easy warm up. However, the weather was perfect - cloud cover and slightly cool to start.

I saw Kym, Caroline and Susan at the race and ran ahead of Caroline and Susan for the first half but Susan caught me at the top of the long, long hill and stayed ahead on the downhill coming in two places in front of me at the end. However, I did pass Ian on the downhill and came in just ahead of him - speedygeoff would be happy with me!

The first half of the run was a steady uphill climb for 2.5km mainly on a cycle track but the second half was nearly all downhill on a rough dirt track which was great except I had to watch my footing which slowed me down a little. It started and ended on the freshly mowed oval. I ran one second slower than last week's race which pleased me as it was a lot tougher. After the race Susan and I ran a 3km cool down.

Distance of race: 5km

Time taken: 26:19

Average pace per km: 5:15

Place: 61st (78 finishers)

Total distance including warm up and cool down: 12km

Training on Valentine's Day

6.15am - Cross training class at gym. This is a new class for me and included some boxing, running, drills and today an assessment of our fitness. I was by far the oldest in the class and am proud to say that after 5 minutes doing the plank (core strength) the trainer told me to stop as the next best was 3 minutes and in the wall squats (leg strength) I held mine for 3mins - a minute ahead of the others. I managed 48 push ups on my toes in 1 minute, however my flexibility (eg sit and reach and abs sit ups) is terrible! My bodyfat was 18.9% (again the lowest in the all-female class) so I was happy with that. It was quite interesting and an assessment like this is given every few months.

After the hour's class I spent 30mins doing some more upper body strength work and stretches.

4.35pm - I was a little late for the early warm-up but met Kat and Ewen in the Parliament House carpark and we ran together down to the lake where, after 3km, we met up with Geoff and Craig on their return and we turned around and returned to PH with them.

5.30pm - We met up with the other speedygeese back at the carpark and after our warm up loops we ran to the grassy bank in the front of PH and divided into teams of three to run up and down the diagonals and straights like a relay team. We basically had to run hard for 30mins with a short break while waiting for our next team member. I was in a team with Caroline and Mike. It was hard work and my legs felt a bit tight after all the running over the past few days but I completed the session and after this we had a long warm down running down to the lake to touch the water and run back again. Andy and I ran 200m more just to round up my distance!

Total distance: 15km

Calories burned: 894

Weeks to go to Marathon = 8

Sprint Marathon Relay at Yarralumla

The conditions today were perfect for Jimmy's annual sprint marathon relay from the grounds of Government House. Each team had six runners who were theoretically seeded to try to ensure that each team was equal in ability. I was number 5 runner in my team and speedygeoff was number 3. The fastest team member runs as number 1 and passes the baton to number 2 etc. Our team members were Peter, Nick, Chris, Geoff, Nadine and me.

Each person runs approximately 7km. My first leg was 2km, then I had 3 x1km legs and finished with a 2km leg when all the team members need to finish together holding hands.

There was cloud cover but no rain and it was lots of fun. I struggled out of bed very early again not fully recovered from yesterday. My warm-up was a tad difficult and my legs felt sluggish and sore. However, once the relay started it was just a case of running my fastest and having fun. There's always a lot of waiting inbetween runs but that's a great opportunity to get to know the other team members and it's very social and pleasant.

Our team finished 5th out of 7 teams but we all ran our hearts out. It was certainly good training! My average pace ranged from 4:51 per km to 5:14 per km. My fastest leg was the second one.

Total distance for day including warm-up and warm-down: 9.5km

Our total team time for sprint marathon: 2:35:37

Total team time of winning team: 2:29:04

Total distance for week: 97.5km

Later Ewen, Andy, Nadine, Brett, Michelle, Kym, Cathy, Graeme and I enjoyed coffee and date scones at Yarralumla Nursery. Later still Mr B and I headed off to the Multicultural Festival in the city but I was a walking zombie by then!

I just threw a ball and made Teddy chase it heaps for his exercise today. It will need to be a long walk with him tomorrow after my early morning gym session! He's just happy to have company.

Photos:

• Our team just coming in to finish -where's Nadine?
• Our team members after the finish -Nadine, strewth, Nick, Peter, Chris, Geoff
• A few of us gathering at the start
  

The best of both worlds!

Happy birthday today to Liz. Have a wonderful day amazing friend!

I enjoyed the best of both worlds today as I ran some of my run on my own and the majority with company. I left home at 6.30am and ran with my ipod in my ear listening to lovely music and enjoying the solitude as I took in a few interesting sights such as a youngish man wending a very crooked path in his dress pants, black shoes and no shirt - late night maybe, kicked out by girlfriend, threw up on shirt? All sorts of scenarios were going through my head especially as he couldn't walk in a straight line!

I ran along the cycle track through Lyneham and O'Connor, past the ANU and on to the Marcus Clark Street end of the city and over the bridge to the ferry terminal. This was just under 8km so I extended my 'pre' main run by running past the museum, where I spotted a very friendly bunny and many timid ones, and along that track for just over 2km before turning back to meet Andy, Ewen, speedygeoff and the Metro runners at the ferry terminal. I ran with them for their 10km Sri Chinmoy course before Emma, Zainab, Geoff, Ewen, Andy and I ran back through the ANU grounds and returned to the ferry terminal across Commonwealth Park to make their distance 20km.

Surprisingly I felt fine throughout the run. The temp was pleasant in the low 20s and there was cloud cover for the majority of the way with threatening rain clouds, although the humidity was so high that Ewen could wring out his t-shirt afterwards - eeew!

After the run we walked over the bridge for coffee at Urban Foods. The coffee was lovely but only luke warm and much more exe than the War Memorial cafe. It was also crowded and noisy with loud music - not as conducive to good conversation. CJ joined us there after her long run and Mr B came in later to drive me home.

Total distance: 32km

Time taken: 3:27

Average pace per km: 6:28

Calories burned: 1,860

Going for Gold!

Last night was the 10,000m ACT VETS track championship event. I decided I would have to run 12km for my training and the 10,000m would certainly help me achieve that. Thus it was, even after that hilly run last night, I decided to enter the championships at the AIS track. It was the last event of the evening and Margaret lap scored for Caroline and me. The majority of the field was men but there were six women entrants, each in a different age group. Ewen, Andy and speedygeoff also entered, Andy already having run a PB in the 1500m.

25 laps of a 400m track seems a long way to run in circles but it wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be. I managed to squeeze in a 2.3km warm-up before the event and watch a few friends achieve great results in earlier events before lining up at the start line.

I stuck close to Caroline for most of the way but she pulled ahead of me later in the run. Although I shortened the gap quite a bit she managed to finish 10 secs ahead of me but I felt good and was happy with my result which turned out to be a PB for 10,000m on the track - woo hoo!

Distance of race: 10,000m

Time taken: 52:25

Average pace per km: 5:15

Calories burned: 575

Total distance for night: 12.3km
It also meant I had a chance to stand on the stadium and be presented with a gold medal as did my wonderful running friends shown in the photo!

Photo taken by Ewen on my iphone - from left:
Caroline W65 - 52:15; Annie W75 - 67:58; CJ W45 - 49:01; strewth W60 - 52:25

First Summer Series event with our new club!

YCRC Summer Series

Last night was the first event of the summer series this year run by our new YMCA Canberra Running Club. It was held at the Boathouse and the temperature was pleasantly mild. There wasn't a huge turnout with only 79 finishers in the 5km course. I ran a warm-up of 3km with Ewen and speedygeoff and after the race finished we ran a warm down of another couple of kms. Speedygeoff ran with me for the first 4km of the race which kept me honest. It was great. In the last km he took off and finished one minute ahead of me. However, I was happy with my time and my splits indicate that I got faster with each km. I wish that could happen in the marathon!

Distance of race: 5km

Time taken: 26:18

Average pace per km: 5:15

Finish place: 56th (out of 79)

Splits: 5:19; 5:23; 5:16; 5:08; 5:06

Oh, and the best thing was I came in ahead of Caroline and Ewen:)

Total distance for day: 10km

Wednesday

7am - Gym - 15mins abs class followed by an hour's upper body strength work.

5.10pm - I ran from Parliament House down to the lake for 2.5km before turning back to run to meet the others at the carpark. Andy, Emma P, Ewen and I then followed Chris on an interesting hilly but pretty run to Red Hill, past the Embassies, Yarralumla along dirt trails through the Westbourne Woods and back to Parliament House on an undulating route.

Total distance with my warm-up: 17.53km

Calories burned: 1005

I'm not sure how my recovery will be for the 10km track event tomorrow evening! I will treat it as another training run.

Only Nine Weeks to Go!

Sunday 6 February - Waitangi Day in New Zealand

I met up with Ewen at The Deck in Commonwealth Park just after 4.30pm for a lovely run in cooler, slightly windy weather. We ran to the Australian National University (ANU) and along the dirt paths which were in a really pretty setting among bushland. The wind was a bit strong at times but the time went fast as I was entertained the whole way by Ewen telling me in amazing detail about the movie he had watched that weekend. It was better than a storyteller on my ipod! Thanks Ewen.

After we had finished 8km I ran 6 x downhill strides while Ewen rested on a nearby park bench!
Distance of training run: 8km
Time taken: 51mins
Average pace per km: 6:20
Calories burned: 469
Total distance including strides: 9.15km
Total distance for week: 92km plus daily Teddy walks!

Monday -9 weeks until marathon

In the morning I spent over an hour at the gym working on upper body strength, abs, stretches etc with a warm up on the cross trainer and finishing with 1000m on the rower.

4.30pm Run - I was two minutes late for the early warm up but fortunately Ewen and speedygeoff saw me coming and waited for me. Amazingly enough I managed the whole early session and enjoyed it because the temperature had dropped by about 10deg. It was wonderful. It makes such a difference to how I feel when it is cooler.

We met up with the others back at Parliament House at 5.30pm for our main session. We ran our warm up before heading for the rose garden. There was lots of work going on with barriers and ropes everywhere and we had three attempts at navigating a course before finding a suitable unblocked way to run. We were divided into five teams of three and speedycoach just ran the loops. Chris turned up when we had 8 minutes of the 24min main session left as he had been held up at work. We ran a short relay loop with the first person running fast, one jogging the loop while the other team member waited to be tagged on the first person's return. The loop included a number of steep steps which ran into a short steep incline and then a run through the sprinklers back to the start. Half way through the session the sprinklers changed direction to run on the grassy slope as we ran downhill instead. It was fun and refreshing. Although the temperature was much cooler than it has been lately the sun still felt hot and the sprinklers kept us cooled down. We were all very wet by the end of our 24mins! To finish up we ran in and out of the trails and back to the start at PH. Ewen, speedygeoff, Chris and I ran a little further to round up our distances.

Total distance for night: 16km

As soon as I arrived home I had a shower and took Teddy out for his walk before dinner and by the time I arrived home I was absolutely starving! Thank goodness I had already prepared mushroom and basil risotto before training and only had to heat it up!

This morning Jen rode her bike beside me as I ran down to the lake from the War Memorial heading for the ferry terminal to meet up with the Metro Runners. Andy met us there and we met up with Ewen a little later. Jen rode with us all the way as we ran, in very humid sticky conditions, towards Molonglo Reach for 5km before turning and running back to the ferry terminal where the majority of Metro Runners left us as they had run their 10km. The lovely Emma P joined us as we ran to and round the museum and on for another 4km before turning again and heading back to the War Memorial, leaving Emma and Andy there to join us later for coffee.

The Metro Runners are a delightful group of young university students who run with speedygeoff on Saturday mornings, gradually increasing their distance each week. We stopped at the carillon for some water and this is where a few of us took advantage of the photo opportunity on our iphones!

At just under the 9km mark my garmin decided to give up on me telling me my database was full and I had to delete some runs. Instead of stopping to do that I relied on Geoff's garmin to let me know the distance. He ran the rest of the way with me and my total distance was 28km as planned. However, I do not have the pace (which was slow) or the calories burned. Never mind, the distance is what really matters for those long runs.

Total distance: 28km
After the run Jen, CJ, Andy, Emma, Ewen and I enjoyed a lovely coffee break and some cold drinks while speedygeoff ran back to the ferry terminal. Phew, it was so hot. I really need to start much earlier to try to avoid some of that humidity.

Running between claps of thunder!

Wednesday

6am - I ran a very short run from home just to ensure I ran the appropriate distance for the day before heading off to the gym.

Total distance 4.3km

7am - 15mins abs class followed by a warm-up on the cross trainer before I spent 40mins doing strength work.

During the afternoon inbetween showers I took Teddy for a lovely long walk.

6.30pm - Expecting very hot weather we began our run from Parliament House a little later than usual. As it turned out a storm came through just before I left from home and immediately after our run the thunder roared and the rain just teemed down. In fact I had to pull the car over on the drive home and stop for the rain to subside just a little as I couldn't see in front of me.

I ran with Chris, Andy and Ewen initially. However, Chris had to turn back fairly early on as he had a prior engagement.

Total distance: 12km

Time taken: 1:20

Average pace per km: 6:40

Calories burned: 704

Total distance for day: 16.3km

Thursday

Thinking that I was on roster duty at the track in the evening I decided to go for a run early in the morning before meeting a friend for breakfast. It rained for the entire run but I enjoyed feeling the cooling rain on my skin. I was absolutely saturated and there was not a soul about being as crazy as me but it was great not being far too hot for a change. I did have to run a bit carefully though as there were lots of muddy slushy puddles to negotiate. I could have competed in a wet t-shirt or mud wrestling competition by the time I finished! My session was as follows:

2 x 60sec/60 float

4 x 30sec/30 float

2 x 60sec/60 float

4 x 30sec/30 float

2 x 60sec/60 float

Total distance: 10.22km

Time taken: 1:04:41

Average pace per km: 6:19

Calories burned: 596

During the afternoon I had a call from Gwen offering to go on roster at track in my place in the evening to allow me to take part in the postal walking relay. Hmmm, I hadn't counted on that happening and as I was there and able to run after all, at the last minute I decided to enter the 3000m event at 8pm too. It was probably a huge mistake as I was already tired but it did seem a bit of a waste not to make the most of the opportunity.

I went in the 4 x 800m walk relay and was the youngest member of the 60+ team. The others were 75, 70 and 65 so I was the baby at 60 - needless to say our team came last but it was heaps of fun!

Total time of team: 23:20

My individual time for 800m walk: 5:12 (which happened to be the fastest time in the team- what a hoot - that was an unexpected bonus)!

The night was hot and humid, even at 8.05pm when I ran in the 3000m event. I did NOT run well but at least it gave me some more kms for the day and I could enjoy the supper afterwards guilt-free!

Distance: 3000m

Time taken: 15:18 (no PBs tonight)!!

Average pace per km: 5:06

Total distance for day: 14.3km (including short warm-up)

Today, Friday, was my rest day. I went for a gentle 22km bike ride with Margaret and we rode out to Federation Square to visit Adore Tea for a creme brulee flavoured tea - most interesting experience. We rode and chatted and it was lovely. We were also lucky to avoid the raindrops as later in the day the thunder roared, the lightning flashed and the heavens opened. Fingers crossed that the weather will be kind early in the morning for my long run!

Endurance and Anaerobic Threshold......

....This is the focus for the next four weeks of my training program. However, it becomes much more difficult in the heat.

Yesterday, on the last day of January, the temperature soared to 37deg and was positively steaming later in the day. In the morning I went to the gym for upper body strength work, abs and stretches. I headed for Parliament House at about 5pm to meet up with speedygeoff on his return from an 8km run.

We ran a very short warm-up before meeting up with the others for the main session. It was a small turn-out tonight, just ten of us, probably due to the extremely hot temperature. My car thermometer showed 39deg as I approached PH. We are having a brief heat wave. Fortunately in Canberra these heat waves don't usually last more than a week or two before we have a reprieve and according to the forecast some more rain.

Our main session consisted of a warm-up loop in and out the slightly shady trails and a practice of the 950m loop before running 3 x 950m undulating loops as fast as we could manage in the heat. Some of it was in the shade but even that was hot. In between the repeats we drank heaps of water and ran 400m along the straight grass by the road with Joel who was doing 200m sprint repeats. After our warm down, I continued on for a few kms with Susan, Ewen and Andy to make up my distance for the day.

Total distance: 13km

Total distance for January: 343km

Tuesday 1 February (today)

After a very late night last night I could only manage to run out the door just before 8am which was leaving it far too late as the temperature was already in the 20s. Today's maximum is 38deg but there's a hot wind blowing now and it's quite unpleasant. Thankfully I was back from my run before this happened. It was supposed to be a tempo session but I struggled with speed. Instead I ran faster in the shaded areas and slower in the exposed areas. I stripped off to my crop top very early in the run - the less clothes the better as long as I have heaps of sunblock on, even at that time of day.

Total distance: 11km (including some tempo running and some fartlek intervals)

Calories burned: 650

After reaching home I changed into my swimmers and headed for the pool for a refreshing 1km swim. I am very slow but it was absolutely wonderful to fit that in before heading off to town to meet a friend for lunch.

The temperatures are soaring!

Today Mr B and I headed for Campbell Park to run in the Vets' Monthly Handicap race. My handicap group was 26 and Mr B's was 31. The sun hadn't reached its peak at that time and it wasn't too too hot. It has since risen to 35deg and we expect soaring temperatures over the next few days with temperatures from 31-38 celsius all week!

The track this morning was rough underfoot and dry. It was also steep on the outward course which meant there were some nice downhills on the return. I found it tough but I didn't walk at all although my speed on those hills was probably more of a "granny" shuffle than a run.

Total distance: 6km (plus 600m warm-up - hmmm)!
Time taken: 35:28
Average pace per km: 5:55
Handicap group: 26
Finish place: 88th (115 finishers)
Calories burned: 344
Maybe I'll be re-handicapped next month!

I always enjoy catching up with lots of running friends on those runs. Later we joined a large group of running friends at the War Memorial Cafe. The intention was to have coffee at Campbell shops but they were closed this morning. Instead we met up with Heidi, Janene, Maria, Peter, Rachelle, Bruce, Carol, Roger, Jen, CJ, Ewen and Michelle and Katherine and their gorgeous little childen. It was lots of fun.

Yesterday I ran my easy week "long" run with Ewen and Andy. We ran down to the lake along Anzac Parade and towards the ferry terminal where we met up with speedygeoff and his Metro running group heading in the opposite direction. We turned and ran with them for the remainder of their 8km then speedygeoff joined us for the rest of our run. Ewen and Andy stopped at 20km to walk the other km but sg ran with me back to the carpark before meeting up with Steve, Michael and Robbie and heading for the hills!

Ewen, Andy and I then headed for the cafe where we met up with Liz, Jen and CJ for cold water, coffee and a tasty morsel!

Total distance: 21km

Time taken: 2:21

Average pace per km: 6:41

total distance for easy week: 65km

Next week I increase the distance again for three weeks. There are ten weeks until the Canberra marathon!

Thursday Track Session

Today (Friday) was my rest day from running and I went for a lovely walk with Jen and Teddy round some Black Mountain trails late in the day. The sun was low and we were in the shade of the trees. There were stunning views and it was pleasant and cool - just delightful.

Yesterday I went to the AIS track, watched the exciting 1500m race then ran a gentle warm up out of the grounds with Andy for 4.6km before lining up to run the 4 lap spiral, my only event for the night. I came in 25th with Nadine and Rachelle sprinting past me right at the end. It was a hot sticky night and I was very pleased not to have run the earlier events in the burning sun.

Total distance for evening: 6.2km
Spiral distance: 1.6km
Time taken: 8.1mins
Average pace per km: 5:04 (not exactly earth shattering speed tonight!)

A Hot Sticky Australia Day Run!

I spent Australia Day afternoon beginning a big decluttering campaign. I have filled another two bags of clothes for recycling and have heaps more to go through. It's going to take me weeks to sort out all my junk. I have already bought a filing cabinet and started reorganising paperwork but there is loads and loads to do.

It was still 38deg when I drove to meet Ewen and Andy at Parliament House for our evening run. We headed off at 6.40pm trying to find some shade on the way. It was incredibly uncomfortable weather and I ran only in a crop top instead of a singlet hoping I didn't meet up with anyone I know! I was just too hot to care and I was smothered in sunblock even at that time of day. We ran down to the yacht club and on to Yarralumla Bay and turned when we reached 6km. On the way back I felt so dehydrated that we had to stop at every single water fountain. Fortunately there are quite a number in that direction. I just couldn't seem to take in enough fluids. On my return home I just kept on drinking until bedtime. If it wasn't for the good company I think I would have given up - not pleasant conditions but we were so lucky to find a little shade, thanks to Ewen's navigating skills!

Total distance: 12km
Time taken: 1:20:23
Average pace per km: 6:41 (!!!)
Calories burned: 699

Day 2 of Easy Week!

Yesterday morning (Tuesday) I went to the pool and swam 1200m. It was very refreshing on such a hot day. I didn't go out for a run until 7pm when it was still hot but at least the sun wasn't quite as brilliant. I ran from home along the cycle track and under the tunnel and on for another km towards Gungahlin. Mr B ran with me (or slightly ahead of me) until the 4km turnaround point but I wanted to run the extra km to make up the required distance for the day.

Total distance: 10km

Time taken: 59:53

Average pace per km: 5:59

Calories burned: 583

Today, Wednesday, is Australia Day and a public holiday here. Teddy and I went for a long hot walk this morning as the temperatures are expected to rise to 37deg later today. We stopped at the local coffee shop after his run at the oval, for a coffee for me and a cold bowl of water for Teddy. Now he is lying collapsed on the wooden floorboards while I write this.

I am meeting the boys for a slightly later start than usual this evening for our run but it will still be very hot - guaranteed!

More Hill Training

Today is the first day of my "easy" week. My marathon training program is made up of three weeks of build-ups followed by an easy week with less kms and less intense training to give the body a chance to recover before increasing the distances again.

This morning I did an hour's strength training at the gym followed by abs and stretches. I didn't go to the early session of training this evening. Instead I took part only in the main session at 5.30pm and it was still very hot. It was great to see a few people who haven't been to speedygeese training for quite some time! such as CJ and Colin.

We ran a couple of loops of Parliament House as a warm-up before the main session of an undulating loop incorporating a very steep hill. We repeated this four times before heading for another hill for attrition sprints. The last two up the top of the hill were out each time. I was in the second bunch to be out so for once I wasn't first out!! Joel won again but there was some strong competition from Colin and Tim.

We ran another loop of PH for a warm down and some of us ran on for another loop to make some more distance. It was a hot night but a good session.

Total distance: 8.6m

Sunday Fun Day??

Hmm, I lack original ideas for post titles. However, it really was a fun day as it happened. It was a very early start as Mr B took part in the sprint distance triathlon down at the lake and I enjoyed being a spectator, especially as I caught up with Charlie who was being a spectator too! Mr B went really well as, in spite of a no-wetsuit swim, he still managed to beat his nemesis, Bob, by two minutes overall which meant he won his age group - yay!

Later in the day I ran a short 3km with Teddy but it was very hot and not a quick pace. I had to run him down to the drain so he could run in the water and let him off the lead on the oval where we raced round and round. It was so hot but fun. Next I headed off to Regatta Point at the lake to meet up with Ewen for another run. We tried to keep to the shady parts on a track down to the Museum and were hissed at by some protective mother swans. We gave them a wide berth and enjoyed our little run in spite of the heat and appreciated a cold bottle of coke afterwards.

Total distance: 9km

Time taken: 58:58
Average pace per km: 6:31
It's difficult to maintain any speed in the heat unfortunately.
Total distance for day: 12km
Total distance for week: 89km
Next I hurried home to shower as we were meeting friends for a wonderful dinner and a great evening - yes, a fun day.

Saturday's Long Run Done!

This morning I started my long run from the War Memorial on my own (with my music) just after 7am in order to have a few extra kms in the bank. I ran down to the lake where I saw some of the half marathon in progress. I ran in and out of some of the little side tracks and then back to join the boys for a longer run with good company.

We ran a little loop on the Mt Ainslie trails, across the Duntroon golf course and past Molonglo Reach round the West Basin of the lake including the wetlands and back over Commonwealth Bridge. Ewen turned back soon after this while Andy and I continued on past the yacht club where we spotted Jen out doing a 20km walk (very impressive at 7months pregnant). We turned just after Yarralumla Bay and returned to the War Memorial. Here we freshened up and headed for the cafe to meet up with Ewen, Liz, CJ and Steve - a great catch-up and good coffee!Jen arrived later after completing her very long walk. I had a very bruised toe but managed my run ok by keeping it strapped to the next one and well protected. It's a bit sore now though!

Total distance: 30km
Time taken: 3:21:27
Average pace per km: 6:42
Calories burned: 1741

Later in the day I headed off to watch Mr B take part in his first bike criterium race (about 25km at a VERY fast pace). It looked utterly exhausting!

A Little Trip to Sydney

Mr B and I drove to Sydney for a few days to make the most of part of his Christmas present and see The Jersey Boys. It was fantastic and brought back lots of memories from that era. We also went to a fantastic newly opened restaurant near where the girls live in Woolloomooloo, visited China's Entombed Warriors at the Art Gallery and had a great swim at Watson's Bay followed by fish and chips at Doyles - yummo! Needless to say I did not run while in Sydney. However, I ran on Tuesday morning before we left Canberra and on Thursday night after our return and instead of having my Friday rest day I ran this morning as well! This means I am still on schedule - phew!

Monday 17 January - speedygeese training at Parliament House

I ran at about 4.45pm with Ewen to gain some extra distance. We just missed the 4.30pm early start but did manage to run 6km to help our day's total.

At 5.30pm we met up with the other speedygeese for the main session. There were 19 of us in total which is good for this time of year. It was very warm but not as humid as it has been lately. After a warm up loop we headed for a sandy hill and ran 20 x 100m hills. It was a good surface but extremely dusty especially after a few repeats. I didn't push myself too much as I knew I had to run again the following morning. However, it still felt hard and I didn't miss any repeats. We ran another loop of PH for a cool down.

Total distance with early warm-up: 14.4km

Tuesday 18 January

I left the house at 8.15am after making sure I was completely packed and ready for our trip before I ran. I just ran out along the cycle track and through the tunnel towards Gungahlin for 6km and then turned and ran back.

Total distance: 12km

Time taken: 1:14:26

Average pace per km: 6:12

Thursday 20 January

After our afternoon swim in Sydney we left quite late and managed to become caught in peak hour traffic. It therefore took much longer than planned to leave Sydney let alone reach home at a reasonable hour. It was after 7.30pm when we arrived and too late to go to track. Mr B was even late for squash! I left home at 8pm and it was becoming quite dark by the time I arrived home.

Total distance: 10km

Time taken: 1:01:20

Average pace per km: 6:08

Friday 21 January

The plan this morning was to run to the gym in time for my Body Balance class then run home again. However, the best laid plans and all that. I left home in plenty of time (5.30am) but in the dim light I managed to take a wrong turn or three when I was attempting a short cut and by that time I was feeling very disillusioned and frustrated so I just ran instead. At least I had a lovely early start to the day!

Total distance: 10.6km

Time taken: 1:05

Average pace per km: 6:12

Tomorrow my long run is scheduled. Here's hoping I manage the distance!

Building up the kilometres!

This morning I met up with Ewen at Parliament House for a short run at 8.30am. It was already over 22deg at that time of day and I started the run feeling stiff and sore after yesterday. The sky was bright blue and we only counted two white fluffy clouds in the distance - a stunner of a morning. We tried to keep in as much shade as possible running to Yarralumla Bay and slightly beyond turning at the 4km mark. There were quite a few people out there we recognised, friends running and friends cycling. We also chatted to a man who is training for our marathon and I told him about the speedygeese. Maybe we'll have a new recruit.

It was a gentle run and I think it helped to loosen up some of the sore spots. After the run we left our cars at PH and walked back down to the lake (1.3km each way) to sit outside in a shady spot to enjoy coffee and raisin toast - a lovely morning.

Total distance of run: 8km
Time taken: 52:12
Average pace per km: 6:31
Total distance for week: 93km

Hello Sunshine!

The sun was actually shining and the sky was a vivid cloudless blue when we set off for our run from the War Memorial just after 7.30am this morning. I ran with Chris, Ewen and Andy and about 3km into the run we met up with speedygeoff and his Metro runners and ran with them for their 6km course. Ewen pulled up at 12km and walked back to the War Memorial; Emma ran with us until she had run for two hours then returned to join us for coffee later; Chris, speedygeoff, Andy and I continued on right round the lake covering central and west basins. We stopped a few times at the drinking fountains on the route and farewelled speedygeoff at his 24km mark before continuing on back to the War Memorial. The boys stopped to walk just before 25km but I managed to continue (albeit slowly) for my desired distance. Later we met up with Ewen, Emma, Jen and her little Laura, at the cafe and enjoyed a very leisurely coffee which turned into lunch. It was a lovely pleasant way to pass the morning.

Total distance: 27km

Time taken: 2:57:55

Average pace per km: 6:35 (slightly faster than last week)

Calories burned: 1569 (which I'm sure were replaced very quickly!)

Footnote: After reading Jog's and Friar's blog I am feeling much more positive about the Canberra Marathon recognising that Jog and I will be aiming to complete our tenth Canberra Marathons this year and may gain Griffin status after all. There has certainly been some doubt about this so we now have our fingers and toes crossed!

Photo shows me with Jen and Ewen during a lake run in 2010!

Another PB by a very narrow margin!

This afternoon I ran with Teddy for 3.8km as a warm up for the track session. It was very humid out there and even after such a short run I was dripping wet. Off to track at 7pm for another warm up with speedygeoff, Ewen and Yelena before the start of our race at 8pm. The rain held off and we had lots of cloud cover and a little wind for the event.

Yelena ran past me about 100m before the finish line but our times were very close. It was very humid and my back was troubling me for some unexplained reason. However I managed to beat my PB - JUST - in fact by less than a second! Phew!!

Time taken for 3000m: 14:53.21 (last week 14:54)!
Total distance for day including warm up and cool down: 11km

Wet Wednesday

7am - Off to the gym for another upper body strength session. I started with a warm-up for 10mins on the cross trainer. Next I spent 50mins on the machines working on the shoulders, back, chest, triceps, biceps etc followed by a circuit of abs training and finishing with 1000m on the rower as fast as possible which currently is 5mins 31secs. My goal is to get this down to under 5mins eventually! It's quite hard to do at the end of a tough session. After the session I spent about 10mins stretching and when I headed home it was pouring with rain.

1.30pm - It continued to rain on and off most of the day. When it eased off a little I put on some running clothes and a spray jacket and took Teddy out for a run in a light drizzle. However, about 10mins into the run it began to rain heavily and we headed to a friend in Lyneham just over 3km away where I stopped for a cup of tea and Teddy had a big drink of water as we watched the rain through the window and towel dried. When the rain eased off we headed back home stopping briefly to chat to Maria through her car window when she spotted us. A hot shower was definitely required on my return. Teddy is starting to get the hang of this running. The break in the middle probably helped.

Total distance: 6.5km

Later I headed off to Parliament House to meet up with Chris, Ewen and Andy for our usual Wednesday run. It had stopped raining and the sun shone bravely and intensely for a short time before cloud cover caused intense humidity instead. In fact on our return the boys were wringing out their singlets making puddles on the concrete - eeeew! We ran our usual run over King's Avenue, to the War Memorial, Constitution Avenue and Commonwealth bridge with a little extra distance round the back of the War Memorial. We did spot some large hares running very fast near Commonwealth Park. I wish I could run that fast.

Total distance: 11.5km
Time taken: 1hr 14mins
Average pace per km: 6:26

Total distance for day: 18km

Tuesday's training

This morning (Tuesday) I decided to go for a swim to start the day. I managed 1300m so was pretty happy with that. Once I reach 1500m I will just concentrate on swimming a little faster but swimming is not a strong point for me and I will always be slow. It is however excellent cross training.

I needed to be home before 9am as I was on grandma patrol for the day. I had such fun. During the morning little Miss 8 and I went to see 'Tangled' in 3D at Dendy Cinema and it was terrific. We both loved it. We also enjoyed the icecream and popcorn!

In the early evening I went for my run from home. It was overcast and really pleasant out there. My schedule was to run 10km steady plus 6 x 100m strides with 100m jog between . This I did and then ran home to collect Teddy and squeeze in a quick and short run round the block with him before dark and dinner time. It was a good work-out.

Total distance for day: 13km

Time taken for 10km: 59:28

Average pace per km: 5:56

Photos taken on Christmas Day with my gingerbread house slowly being demolished! What fun :)

A Good Start to Week 2 of my Marathon Training

At 7am I headed for the gym for a strength program including a warm up on the cross trainer and a warm down for 1000m on the rower. I also completed abs and stretches. The whole session took 1hour 15mins.

In the late afternoon, as a little warm up before speedygeese training, I ran with Teddy for 3.4km from home just avoiding the raindrops. He is getting better at running on the lead and I'm looking at increasing his runs gradually so that I will be able to go for a decent run with him before too long.

I chose to meet Ewen earlier than the main session at Parliament this afternoon. We ran out for nearly 3km where we met up with speedycoach and Katherine, ran a little further and then turned and ran back to PH, a total of 6km. There we met up with the rest of the speedygeese including a new starter, Emma. There were only 14 of us tonight. Some are still on holidays.

After a warm up loop the main session consisted of:

12 x 100m hill sprints with a jog down to the start between each sprint

We then ran another gentle loop before heading for another hill for attrition sprints. The grand winner again this week was Joel. He is truly amazing!

Total distance for day including warm ups: 16km

The countdown has begun!

Early this morning (Sunday) I went out with Mr B to cheer him on in the Australian Triathlon Championships. He entered the sprint distance - 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run. There were heaps of people I knew there, both entrants and supporters. Lots of speedygeese runners also stopped to say hi and it was lots of fun. The conditions were perfect with a glass-like lake and cloud cover for the entire event. The rain started just as we packed up the bike at the end of the race. It was very exciting to watch as Flashdrake and Mr B were racing neck to neck in the same age group. Mr B was pipped at the post by about 30secs to achieve a 3rd place in his age group but he gave Flashdrake a run for his money! Of course the most inspirational competitor of the day was our Rad who is now 84 and featured in today's Canberra Times. He is such an amazing man with an incredible life story.

Late in the afternoon, before my beautiful local family joined us for dinner after their holiday, I met up with Ewen for a run from Parliament House. Of course it rained and it rained for the entire run. It was humid and I loved the feel of the rain to keep us cool although we had to run with due caution. Ewen was a bit tired as he had already run 10km earlier in the day but after the first few kms I felt fresh and really enjoyed the run. We were slow but it didn't really matter. Today was more about completing some more kms for the week.

Total distance: 10km

Time taken: 1:04:17
Average pace per km: 6:25

Total distance for week: 74km
Total distance so far for January: 96km

I have a lot of work to do as I really need to increase my weekly distance. The countdown to the Canberra Marathon in April has begun!

Just One More New Year's Resolution for 2011.....

Stress less!

This year I resolve to start preparing for Christmas early. I always leave everything until the last minute and then my stress levels rise as I try to do my Christmas baking, write my annual newsletter (or poem) and shop til I drop. I try every year to be organised but 2011 is the year I will plan to achieve this and avoid last minute panic. Hmmm, we shall see!

This morning I met up with Ewen and Andy at the War Memorial where we spotted lots of speedygeese heading off for the Mt Ainslie hills. Our plan is to pick up the distance and endurance before we start on the hilly trails. We still have hill training on Mondays in the meantime.

We ran down to the lake, turned right and ran right round West Basin and over Kings Avenue Bridge. Andy lost us after 12km as he took off as a speck in the distance. He was running well, we were running slow. Having said that we felt comfortable and I certainly felt better than last week, possibly because we had cloud cover all the way. I just need to 'up' that speed! However the company was good and of course the coffee and chat later, when we next met up with Andy, was great fun. During our run we spotted speedygeoff running in the opposite direction with two lovely young ladies. We also spotted a family of ducklings which were still fluffy although they were not tiny newborns anymore.

Total distance: 24km

Time taken: 2:39:13

Average pace per km: 6:38 (which is exactly the same pace as last week)

Calories burned: 1408

Photo taken with Ewen and Andy on a trail walk at the Gold Coast in 2010.

Resolution Number Five - Declutter!

I'm not totally sure that "declutter" is a real word but that's what has to happen around me. I have this immense accumulation of paperwork, unworn clothes and things to be done! Today, one day after the twelfth day of Christmas, I took down the tree, the decorations and the cards. It always feels a bit sad - that after-Christmas clean-up and I still need to vacuum all those bits of tree and tinsel that somehow are always left behind when the tree comes down!

This morning I swam 1200m before meeting Marg for a coffee to toast our daughters' birthdays which both happen to be today.

Later, a long walk with Teddy helped to work off some of the nibbling I had been doing during the day trying to "declutter" my refrigerator!!

Fridays are my non-running day in preparation for the long run in the morning.

Photo is of my two girls who live in Sydney - birthday girl on the right.

I did it - a PB at last!

Tonight at track I finally ran the 3000m in under 15mins. I was going to write that down as one of my goals for this season not expecting to run it on the first track session of the year. It was a combined meet with ACT Athletics which meant that Yelena could run the 3000m too. Speedycoach had promised to pace Yelena and suggested he pace me too. He managed to keep us on an even 1min or just under for every 200m. Yelena took off with about 400m to go and went through the finishing line in 14:46 which equals her PB. I ran through in 14:54 which is a PB for me by 4secs so I was very happy indeed.

Thank you speedycoach. You rule!

Total distance with warm-up and cool down: 6.2km

Time taken for 3000m track race: 14:54

Average pace per km: 4:57

Photo: speedycoach and his Jenny

Resolution Number Four......

Keep in constant contact with my friends, not necessarily just running friends!

This morning I cycled to meet Margaret (who is unable to run for some months due to an achilles infection) and we rode down to the lake for a great coffee before continuing on our way making a total of 30km. We had lots of catching up to do today but next time we will cycle faster. It was really enjoyable.

Just before 6pm I met up with Ewen, Chris and Andy for a run from Parliament House along Kings Avenue, round the War Memorial, Constitution Avenue, Commonwealth Avenue and back to PH. It was quite a strong wind in parts especially crossing the bridges but it was a pleasant run although my hamstring felt quite tight and sore.

Total distance: 11.2km

Time taken: 1:13:13

Average pace per km: 6:31 (I did forget to press the stop button on my Garmin a few times when we were waiting to cross roads which may account for a couple of minutes!)

Photo: Andy, Jenjen (from Sydney), Margaret at the speedygeese Christmas BBQ

Resolution Number Three .....

Keep up the Cross Training!

My goal is to regularly attend the gym for upper body strength work at least twice a week and attend RPM, Body Balance and abs classes each week. I also aim to cycle and swim at least once a week to maintain overall fitness and of course take Teddy for his daily walk. Judging by my absymal effort at the hill sprints at training last night I also need to incorporate hills and trails in my long runs. 2011 will be the year to make me stronger!

This evening I went for my run at 7pm when the temperature was cool and pleasant. I ran from home and out towards Gungahlin on the cycle track turning at 4km.

Total distance: 8km

Time taken: 47:44

Average pace per km: 5:57

Photo: Teddy before and after grooming! Yes, it IS the same puppy!

Resolution Number Two ......

Stretch, stretch, stretch!!!

Yes indeed, I do not stretch enough after my runs. I stretch at the gym but it is so important to warm up before a run and stretch afterwards. This year I am going to aim to stick with my plan of stretching after every run to try to avoid injury. After my long run yesterday my left hamstring has been playing up again. I took Teddy for a long walk in the afternoon but the hamstring continued to hurt.

This morning I headed off to the gym for a work-out as follows:

ten minute warm-up on the cross trainer

super sets x 4 of the following with the 1st set 15 reps, 2nd set 12 reps, 3rd set 10 reps, 4th set 15 reps. The 1st and last set have the same weight and the weights increase for the 2nd and 3rd set.

Assisted chin-ups + push-ups

Barbell chest press (15kg) + tricep dips with leg elevated

DB alternating bicep curls + French press (5kg)

DB rows x 15 on each side (6kg)

Abs - 30 secs each of the following repeating the circuit x 2

Side plank right

reverse plank

side plank left

plank

double crunch
I finished with 1000m on the rower.

This is one of my Michelle Bridges routines and takes about an hour. The photos show CJ and I with Michelle after "pain in the domain" in Sydney and later at the celebration party.

Later today I headed off to Parliament House for the speedygeese running session. I was too late for the early session but too early for the 5.30pm start. However, I had time to run just over 4km down to the lake before the main session started.

There were only 12 of us there tonight - 9 guys and 3 girls. Others must still be on holiday. After the warm-up loop we headed for a hilly bank where we incorporated a fast sprint up a steep short hill, a slower run up the rest of the hill and a windy loop, as fast as possible, then a short rest before repeating this three times. This was followed by an attrition sprint running to the top of the hill. Last person to the top each time was out. Joel won the last sprint and Andy came second. We finished the session with a warm down loop of Parliament House.

Total distance including warm-up: 11.3km

AND I finished the session with stretches!

New Year's Resolution Number One .......

....To keep my blog updated!

On that note, Happy New Year to anyone out there who hasn't given up on me. Here's to a fantastic injury-free, healthy and happy 2011.

Some highlights for 2010 have been:

• Running my 100th Veteran's Handicap run
• Winning the first place trophy in the Adler Spiral Handicap series at the track
• Being support crew with Ewen for Liz at the 100km Tan in Melbourne
• Running in my 9th Canberra Marathon
• Changing age group and celebrating Mr B and my 60th birthdays with a trip to Bali
• Becoming a proud mother to Teddy, my labradoodle
• Being interviewed and appearing in the Canberra Times with speedycoach and Roger
• Having fun at the Gold Coast with lots of speedygeese entering in lots of races
• Winning a medal in my age group in the Vets' Half Marathon
• Completing a 12-week Total Body Transformation program with Michelle Bridges (from Biggest Loser) on-line and meeting her in person at the culmination of the program in Sydney

I'm quite sure there are heaps of other golden moments which I can't currently recall but all in all 2010 was a fun year and I'm hoping 2011 will be even better and maybe I might be able to run a little faster! Hopefully my hamstring won't give me too much grief.

Total kilometres run in 2010: 2,651

It's been so long since I last blogged that I won't bore everyone (including myself) with all the details of the last few weeks. Suffice to say I have been running, going to the gym regularly, cycling a little and swimming about once a week. I now need to 'up the ante' as the YCRC (YMCA Canberra Running Club) will now be conducting the marathon in April and more training is required. As this will be my 10th marathon in Canberra I have my fingers crossed that Griffin status (ie acknowledgment of ten Canberra marathons) will still apply.

Temperatures in Canberra have risen excessively in the past few days. Summer seems to have finally arrived and this means running earlier or later in the day to avoid the heat. We have had heaps of rain this season and the grass is green and growing rapidly.

On New Year's Day (when I started this entry) I swam 1.1km at the pool instead of venturing out into the 37deg heat after rather a late night on New Year's Eve! Instead I ran my first run of the year today (Sunday) with Andy at 7.30am from the War Memorial. We ran down to the lake and round the East Basin, through Kingston and back to the lake, down to the yacht club and on to Yarralumla Bay where we turned and ran back to the carillon before returning to the War Memorial to loiter over coffee.

Total distance: 22km
Time taken: 2hrs 25mins
Average pace per km: 6:38

Yes, this pace needs work but it was decidedly humid out there this morning and we may have to start our long runs earlier to avoid the heat of the day at this time of the year.

Photo shows some of us having fun at Maria's Heroes and Villians Party on New Year's Eve.
From left: Kerry (Cruella), Drew (Phantom), strewth (Batgirl), Kelly (Supergirl), Mick (Dracula) and Andy (Gunslinger)