Ten Weeks to the Marathon!

At the Aranda monthly handicap 28 Jan

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

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

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

One of my local "Teddy" runs

That's an interesting tree - let me stop!

Doggy trails!

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

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

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

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

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

Total distance: 20km

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

Average pace per km: 6:50

Calories burned: 1079

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

Ewen and Jen on our run

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

Ewen and Strewth

Wet, wet, wet!

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

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

Distance: 3000m

Time taken: 15:54

Average pace per km: 5:21

Calories burned: 161

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

Total fitness walk distance: 2000m

Time taken: 14:34

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

Total: 4.5km

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

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

BBQ Stakes in Reverse

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

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

Time taken: 35:42

Average pace per km: 5:58

Calories burned: 326

Week 4 - Easy Week - 11 Weeks to Marathon

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

Monday - speedygeese training at Parliament House

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

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

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

Total distance: 8.4km

Tuesday - Two Runs!

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

Total distance: 10.2km

Canberra Runners' Club Summer Series Run No 1

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

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

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

Time taken: 28:11

Average pace per km: 5:43

Calories burned: 270

Total distance for Tuesday: 15.8km

New Beginnings

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

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

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

Time taken: 36:54

Average pace per km: 6:07

Calories burned: 333

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

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

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

Total distance for Week 3 of Marathon Training - 89km

Flashduck (Carolyne) with her new beaut wheels!

Good friends toasting "new beginnings"

With CJ after the Vets Handicap run

Slower and Longer!

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

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

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

Total distance: 34km

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

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

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

Australia Day and Ewen is my hero!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Total distance for day: 17.5km

Thursday - Happy Australia Day

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

Total distance: 11km

speedygeese training and Tuesday run

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

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

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

Lateral pulldown - 3 sets of 10reps 30kg

Straight arm pull downs 10 reps

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

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

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

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

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

Total run distance for me: 8.7km

Tuesday group

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

Total run distance: 11km

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

Trying out my new shoes!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Footnote: I'm loving my shoes:)

Building up the kilometres.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I hear thunder!

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

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

Distance: 3000m

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

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

Distance of walk: 3000m

Time taken: 21:22

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

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

Total distance: 1600m plus a little more

Time taken:8:48

Average pace per km: 5:21

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

Total distance for night including warm up: 10km

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

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

13 weeks to Canberra Marathon

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

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

Week 2 of training

Monday - gym in morning triceps, biceps and abs

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

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

Total distance: 8.4km

Tuesday Group

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

Total distance: 11.5km

Wednesday

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

Total distance: 16.5km

Time taken: 1:47

Average pace per km: 6:30

Calories burned: 924

Long Run on a Friday

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

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

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

Total distance: 26km

Time taken: 2:48

Average pace per km: 6:28

Calories burned: 1441

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

Racing against Marty Dent!

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

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

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

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

Wild Wednesday Weather

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

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

Total distance: 6km

Time taken: 36:23

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

Tuesday Run and a drop in temperature

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

Total distance of run: 12km

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

Total distance of walk: 4km

A speedy speedygeese session

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

Total distance: 8.3km

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

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

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

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

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

A Tiny Setback

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

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

Total distance: 22km

Time taken: 2hr21mins!

Average pace approx: 6:25 per km

Calories burned: 1235

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

First tomato from our garden:)

First BBQ Stakes Handicap for 2012:)

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

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

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

A very hot run at Tuesday group

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

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

Total distance: 13km

Ring out the old, bring in the new!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wet soggy weather turns to sunshine!

Thursday track session

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

Distance: 3000m

Time taken: 15:27

Fitness walk:

Total distance: 3000m

Time taken: 22mins

Spiral Handicap

Adler 6 lap spiral

Distance: 2.49km

Time taken: 13:31

Average pace per km: 5:09

Friday

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

Total distance: 13km

Time taken: 1hr 21mins

Average pace per km: 6:16

Sunday - Vets' Monthly Handicap at Weston Park

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

Total distance: 7km

Time taken: 42:49

Average pace per km: 6:07

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

Monday - speedygeese at Parliament House

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

Total distance: 7.5km

Summing it all up!

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

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

My weeks have been fairly consistent as follows:

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

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

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

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

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

Saturdays: middle distance run when possible

Sundays: swim 1km - 1.5km

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

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

Familiarisation of the triple tri run course

Good views from the hills

With Andy and Ewen on Red Hill

With Andy on the familiarisation

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

A muddy Mr B on his bike leg

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

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

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

Ups and Downs!

It's almost two weeks since my last blog entry and so much has happened. I am currently back under physio treatment for sciatica. My back and left hamstring has been causing me grief and I have had to ease off the running over the past week or so. 

Track season commenced a couple of weeks ago and I went on the first Thursday but was out of action last week. 

Thursday 13 October - track

I arrived just in time to run once around the track (400m) before the first 3000m event. It took me 15:38 by my garmin although the official results say 15:49 which is even slower so I have lots of room for improvement! My back was hurting at this stage so I knew I was in trouble. I followed the run with the 1500m fitness walk where my garmin reads my time as 10:39 and the official results say 10:46. This is also slow but as this was the first track session of the season I hope my back allows me to speed things up a bit!

After these two events I went for a short warm down out of the AIS and up through the bushy trails with Ewen and his friend Bruce, who was visiting from Sydney. It was fun.

Total distance for night: 8.5km

Friday 14 October
I spent 3.5hours walking the streets collecting and delivering Avon books and later in the day took Teddy for an hour walk. I think in future I will wear my garmin as it's interesting knowing just how far I'm walking.

Saturday 15 Otober

I met Ewen and Andy at the war memorial and we ran a reasonably gentle middle distance run. We started and finished slowly but in the middle I was running at about 5:20 pace in order to keep up with the conversation! We passed a family of black swans with about 8 tiny cygnets - so cute and fluffy. I hope there are still 8 next time we run there! We ran from the war memorial past the ferry terminal and through the ANU grounds and back. After our run we enjoyed a reasonable coffee but there's room for improvement there too! I think the staff has changed and they need a new barista!

Total distance: 15m
Time taken: 1hr 34mins
Pace per km: 6:18

Monday 17 October

I did my usual gym session in the morning but my back was definitely worse and I made appointments with the physio on Wed and for a remedial massage next week.  It seemed wise not to go to training that night.

Tuesday 18 October

I opted to walk at Tuesday group this morning. I had delightful company and we walked briskly so I didn't feel like the morning was wasted. However we managed to become totally lost and didn't end up at our destination!

It probably didn't hurt to avoid a few hills at that stage anyway.

Total distance: 8km

In the afternoon I wore my garmin and walked for 6.2km with Avon and later took Teddy out for 5.2km. Every little bit of exercise must help although I must admit walking is not nearly as efficient as running:(

Total walking for day: 19.4km

Wednesday 19 October

For something different and to relieve the frustration of not running at BBQ Stakes I decided to go for a swim before my physio visit.

Total swim distance: 1km

Time taken: 26 mins

I was pleasantly surprised at how good this felt. I also had the spa afterwards and it felt wonderful as I sat there letting the jets ease my back.

Later I visited the physio who has given me some specific exercises to do religiously and I'm not supposed to run until my next visit. He checked my last MRI results and it does appear I have some discs out of alignment. Anti inflammatories and pain relief is currently needed. This is a problem that will flare up every now and then. I just hope the timing is not near my next event!

I took Teddy for a 5.3km walk later in the day.

Thursday 20 October
 Margaret and I had a fun day. We decided to take the dogs to Black Mountain Peninsula and wave to the Queen sailing past in her boat. It was a long wait for a fleeting glimpse of her lavendar hat but it was lots of fun especially taking the two Teddies for an 8km walk afterwards. They loved it, especially when we let them go for a swim in the murky water after a hot walk and chase sticks in the water.

Friday 21 October

I only managed to squeeze in a ten minute swim as the pool closed for the morning just after I started! In that time I swam 400m and then headed for the gym to change and do a workout before taking Teddy for his hour walk.

Saturday 22 October

I was a bit naughty and without the physio's ok I went for a short run from home. I ran slowly just testing to see how I would go. It hurt for the first half but I didn't feel too bad after that until much later!

Total distance of run: 10km

Later my daughter and her partner came for a visit from Sydney and we had a lovely family BBQ at our son's new house.

On Sunday afternoon I went for a swim again. I swam 1km in 26mins, stopped then swam 500m in 14mins and then another 250m before I had to stop with a severe cramp in my leg - ouch! But it felt great to be extending the length of that swimming.

Monday 24 October

First thing in the morning a 1.5hour workout at the gym concentrating on chest, biceps and abs plus my physio exercises. Then it was off to another physio appointment to check progress. I was given another elbow treatment in the butt and massage and an upgrade of exercises. Running has been cut back again. If I run BBQ Stakes on Wednesday and some events at track on Thursday then I must refrain from running after that until the handicap race on Sunday. 

Tuesday 25 October

Today our baby daughter turned 28. Now that's scary! It was pouring with rain for most of the day and as I had only planned to walk at Tuesday group Margaret and I decided to opt for coffee at the mall instead! Later in the afternoon when the rain had eased a little I took Teddy for a long rather wet walk for a total of 8km.

Wednesday work out!

This morning at the gym, after a warm-up on the cross trainer and 20 push ups, I worked on my back and triceps for 30minutes and did lots more push ups before taking part in a Yoga Fusion class. This is normally a Body Balance session but we had a stand-in leader today who took us for Yoga Fusion instead. There was heaps of very intensive stretching involved and parts of my body are still really sore from it. I'm not too sure if it did me any good or not! However, after hanging out the washing, I headed for Woden for the BBQ Stakes handicap. It had reached a sunny 20degrees by mid-day and felt a lot hotter than usual for the hilly run. Andy ran with me and Jen ran with Kerrie in a much later group. My handicap had been put back to 5:45 as I ran a PB last week. I was 19secs slower today but I still ran as fast as I could. I think the opposite direction which we ran last week suits me better!

Total distance: 6km (plus warm up)

Time taken: 35:04

Later, after a great catch up with Jen and Andy with coffee and lunch, I took Teddy for a pleasant walk in the sunshine. The weather is beaut if the wind doesn't blow.

Bling and a big catch up!

Oh golly gosh, how on earth will I remember what I have done over the past couple of weeks? I really must endeavour to keep my blog updated! I've been going to the gym three times a week working on different areas each time eg chest and biceps, back and triceps, shoulders and back and always abs. I have also been taking part in Body Balance classes once a week and often meet up with Miranda there which is heaps of fun.

Running has been as follows:

Saturday 1 October - long run

I ran 10km with Andy from the war memorial, round and past the museum and back to the ferry terminal where we met Ewen and ran through the wetlands with him and back to the war memorial.

Total distance: 20km

Time taken: 2:09

Sunday 2 October
I took Teddy for a run today. We always have a daily walk but about once a week I also take him for a run. He loves it!
Total distance: 10km

Monday 3 October - speedygeese session at Parliament House

We ran our usual warm up round PH  plus a jog to the rose garden for our main session. This was a winding undulating 200m finishing with an uphill into the rose garden. We ran a total of 12 efforts on 2:30mins including jogging back to the start each time.

We finished with a warm down jog and I ran a little extra at the end with speedygeoff to round up the distance.

Total distanc: 9km

Tuesday 4 October - Tuesday group at Black Mountain Peninsula

I ran with Alan today to the cork oak plantation, over gun barrel hill and near the arboretum. It was a tough hilly run and took longer than it should but I enjoyed the company and the off-road part of the run.

Total distance: 11km
Time taken: 1hr 8mins!


Wednesday 5 October - BBQ Stakes Handicap - Woden - Bling!

Today, being the first Wed of the month, we ran in the opposite direction as we do once a month. For some reason this seems to suit me better. We start on the uphill but the second half of the run has more downhills and by then I have warmed up and can run better. Although I had been to the gym and worked quite hard once I had run the first few kms I felt quite strong. I started with Jen and Andy and ran with them for the first 4km but then they ran ahead and I managed to keep them in sight most of the way. The other thing that happens when we run in this direction is that we nominate our team and of course I am part of the "retired" team. The exciting part was that our team won the challenge this month and I was selected to take home the trophy. Woo hoo, it is a bowl mounted on a block of wood with a plastic steak attached by a cord to the bowl to represent a BBQ! Great fun. Our team members also won a $20 voucher from the Runners Shop - yay! How exciting!

Total distance: 6km (plus 1km warm up)
Time taken: 34:45 (a PB at last)
What a great day!

Saturday 8 October

Over the weekend we drove to Sydney to visit our girls. We had a wonderful time. Before we left in the morning I ran from home towards Gungahlin and back along the cycle track.

Total distance: 10km
Time taken: 58:04

Monday 10 October
I didn't make it to the speedygeese session tonight. Instead I met up with Jen at the lake and we ran together over the bridges and round the museum. The wind was nasty a lot of the time and we had to hang on to our caps. The trouble with this time of the year is definitely the strong Spring wind, especially when it blows you backwards. It's like running uphill at times.
Total distance: 10km
Time taken: 1:01

Tuesday 11 October

Back to Tuesday group this morning. Margaret's car had a flat battery so I drove out to collect her and we made it to the start of the run with 2 minutes to spare! Today we ran the Haig Park route and I ran with Marilyn. It was good to run at her pace as I was feeling a bit stiff and sore, perhaps from the gym workout I did yesterday morning or perhaps backing up after running last night - not too sure, but I felt better the further we ran.

Total distance: 10km

There was an enormous spread today after the run celebrating 4 birthdays so the champagne was flowing and the home made goodies were extremely tempting! I walked the streets with my Avon books for a couple of hours in the afternoon trying to work off the excess consumption!