Meeting Daniel James

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

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

Total distance: 11.5km

Time taken: 1:16

Average pace per km: 6:36

Only Two Weeks to Marathon!

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

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

Total distance: 9.3km

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

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

Vets' Handicap at Stromlo Forest Park

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

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

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

Handicap group: 24

Finish place: 77 (out of 104)

Distance: 8km

Time taken: 46:17

Average pace per km: 5:47

Total distance with warm up: 9km

Total distance for first week of taper: 74km

Earth Hour

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

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

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

Total distance: 26.3km

Time taken: 2hrs 51

Average pace per km: 6:32

Calories burned: 1527

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

Taper Time and Sad News

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

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

Thursday 24 March

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

Total distance: 11km

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

Friday 25 March

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

Postscript

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

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

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

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

Great Weather for Ducks...

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

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

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

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

Total distance for run: 12km

Time taken: 1:18

Average pace per km: 6:32

Return from Aotearoa - Part 2

My last post was becoming too long so I decided to split it into two parts for easier reading.

Monday 14 March

Another very hilly run from my sister's house in Wellington

I started running from her house in one direction going up, up, up and then turned and ran back down and up the other side. I was proud of myself that I didn't stop to walk some of those hills. The views were stunnning but some of the steep cliffs I was looking out on made me feel quite dizzy!

Total distance: 11.18km

Time taken: 1:12:28

Average pace per km: 6:28

This was my last run in Wellington before flying home the next day. We had a lovely holiday, catching up with so many friends and enjoying magnificent scenery. It is a green and beautiful country and we were very lucky with the weather.

Wednesday 16 March

It is good to be home and back running with my friends. Tonight I met Ewen earlier than the others at Parliament House so that we could run 6km before joining Emma P, Chris and Andy to run another 13km. Emma then ran another km with me to make up my distance. It's great having company for the entire run. I hadn't quite recovered from my trip and was very slow.

Total distance: 20km

Time taken: 2:10:32

Average pace per km: 6:31

Thursday 17 March

I met Ewen at the AIS track at 6pm and we ran out to O'Connor Ridge where he led me on some very rough trails before relenting and heading for more even ground. After a couple of near misses I was a bit worried about going for a big fall just before the track event. We ran a warm-up of 10.5km before heading for the start of the spiral handicap.

It was a 6 lap spiral and I started in Group 27. Coincidentally there were 27 finishers and I came in 5th overall which really pleased me as I gained 47 points. I am currently 3rd place out of the women and as there is only one more spiral this season I have no hope of moving up a place now. However, it is a fun event and defnitely my favourite one on the track calendar.

Distance of 6 lap spiral (according to gandalf): 2:56km

Time taken: 12:20

Average pace per km: 4:50 (4:42 according to official results)

Handicap group: 27 (now re-handicapped to 28)

Finish place: 5th (out of 27)

Total distance for day: 13km

Friday 18 March

Friday is usually my rest day but as I didn't run on Tuesday because of travelling I ran a short run today instead. It was embarrassingly slow however! I think I was recovering from last night. My legs did not want to cooperate!

Total distance: 8km

Time taken: 51:24

Average pace per km: 6:24

Saturday - long run

This morning would have been my dad's 108th birthday. He was born in 1903 and died in 1988 aged 85. I remember him with love and pride.

Today was also my last long run over 30km before the marathon. How scary is that! I ate my toast and honey at 5am and left the house at 6.40am to run on the cycle track and footpaths through O'Connor and into the city. When I reached the ferry terminal I turned right and headed for the museum and then ran back to meet up with a couple of Metro runners, speedygeoff, Emma P, Andy and Ewen. There were a few very light sprinkles of rain but the weather was basically perfect for running, too cloudy to wear sunnies but not cold or humid.

We headed out to Molonglo Reach and spotted Thea on the way who turned and ran a short way with us. Chang and Anne turned back at Molonglo and the rest of us ran past Campbell Park and towards Mt Ainslie and up, up, up to the saddle. It was lovely to hit the trails but I had forgotten how steep they are. Some of the trails had been graded which made it so much easier to negotiate the footing. There was a large group of mountain bike riders heading up the hills, some struggling but not envying us and an old friend who called out to me on his way up. It was lovely.

We ran back down past Glebe Park, over the swimming pool bridge and back to the ferry terminal. Here speedygeoff and I ran a few more kms to make up the required distance before Ewen drove me back to the War Memorial cafe to meet up with Andy, Liz and her lovely mum, Bev, who had come for a flying visit from Ballarat. It was so good to catch up with her. Jen joined us too with her two young sons. Her baby is due in 3 days and she looks amazing.

It was a good morning made even better by the knowledge that the hardest part of the training is out of the way now.

Total distance: 34.5km

Time taken: 3:42:02

Average pace per km: 6:26

Calories burned: 2004

It will not be a fast marathon but I think I will make it to the finish line!

Sunday 20 March

I had to run Tuesday's run today to make my distance for the week. Ouch, did my legs object for the first few kms! However, after that I felt a bit better and ran along the cycle track through the tunnel towards Gungahlin for 6.5km before turning and running home. I incorporated 3 x 4mins steady with jogs between. I remembered the program incorrectly as it should have been 5 x 4mins but I don't think my tired legs would have liked that anyway!

Heading out there was a head wind and a slight uphill rise all the way which felt like a mountain running against the wind. The return run was much more comfortable.

Total distance: 13km

Time taken: 1:21

Average pace per km: 6:15

Calories burned: 766

Total distance for week: 100km

Tomorrow the taper begins!

Photos :

• Out for lunch with Rex and Kerry. Kerry was Wellington's Mayor for 9 years and has just been voted out. She has no intention of slowing down however and is already on 9 Boards.
• With my sister Cathy in Wellington. She is 71.
• Sunset by the beach in Plimmerton, Wellington where we ate fish and chips with Barbara
• Fence around Zealandia Nature Park, Wellington
• With friends from Mr B's Uni days at Backbenchers Pub where the politicians hang out. It has become a tradition for us to meet there whenever we return to Wellington.
• Zealandia Nature Park, Wellington
• Tauranga Beach
• Napier
• Auckland - Mr B's sister's property. Mr B with grandson, Sam.

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