Logging up the kilometres!

I knew if I didn't blog every day that I would get behind again and sure enough another week has gone. Thank goodness for training diaries or I would never remember what I had done this week!

 

Last Saturday(17th)  I ran from home to Lake Burley Griffin and met Miranda and speedygeoff who were running from the Ferry Terminal. I joined them for their run toward the east past Molonglo Reach and down towards the airport track before returning to the ferry terminal. For some reason my stamina disappeared and I just lost my oomph and knew nothing would be achieved by attempting to run any further. Instead speedygeoff gave me a ride home after I had run 25km.

 

Next morning (Sunday) was another early start as Mr B was taking part in the ACT Sprint Triathlon Championships and I was doing the run leg (only 5km) for CJ. It was a lot of fun being part of this event and our team did really well thanks to CJ's amazing cycling and swimming ability! After the event was over we headed over the bridge for a coffee and joined some friends there for a lovely little social gathering.

 

Monday morning was my Body Pump class (strength work which included far too many lunges and squats with weights until my knees were hurting). In the afternoon I managed to arrive at speedygeese in time to run the 4km warm up again. The main session was made up of 24 minutes of hill repeats through the tunnel by the lake and up a steep grassy incline to a cone where we turned and jogged back. I did a couple of short cuts as I was very aware that I had a track session to go to after training. The night had been changed this week and as the spiral handicap was being held I didn't want to miss out. After a warm down loop (giving the session total 11km) I headed straight for the track and took part in the 4 lap spiral. There were not many taking part so it was a good opportunity to gain a few extra points!

 

Tuesday I managed a 1.2km swim although the first few laps were interrupted when I had to keep adjusting my goggles - very frustrating!

 

On Wednesday I rose early to fit in an 18km run before work. It was disappointingly slow even though I hadn't run the day before. I just ran down to Lake Ginninderra, round the lake and back home via Giralang with an extra km past the tunnel to give me the distance.

 

Thursday I ran 10km and included 10 x 1minute hill sprints aiming to get a little further each time. It was tough but I actually felt better than the previous day.

 

On Fridays I always do a Body Balance class if I'm not rostered on to work. It's a great way to include stretching and flexibility. I have also been including the January challenge in my daily routine, sometimes this is just a brisk walk with Teddy, other times it includes abs, dips and back exercises. There's only another week to go of this.

 

And so we reach today (Saturday) when I ran my long run. It felt much better than last week. I ran from home to Lake Burley Griffin again but this time I ran the west basin and included the Weston Park loop (a pretty little run)and managed to run back to the ferry terminal and home via Lyneham. After reaching 34km, however, I walked the last km home. That seemed quite enough. Although I wore a hydration pack today I made the mistake of only filling the side bottles as I knew I could stop at bubblers round the lake. However, next long run I will fill the hydration pack as well as I was really thirsty and it was a very hot, humid run as the morning progressed. I may have started out at 6.30am but because I am so slow it was really hot by the time I finished! Later in the afternoon I took Teddy for his aerobic walk. It was a bit difficult to feel motivated but those pleading eyes made me relent!

 

Tomorrow is the vets' handicap run. A sleep in would have been good!



Lake Burley Griffin

speedygeese training (Ewen's photo)

 

A Few Undulations and a Zippy Little Car!

Here it is Friday again already and another weekend approaches. Today I had a full day shift at work and used it as my rest day from training apart from Day 16 of the January challenge which I have been following daily. Today included a 90second plank, crunches, leg extensions, superman and dips - all good for strength.

On Wednesday I completed my middle distance run - 17km including the Lake Ginninderra loop and the long way there and back from home. I started early in the morning to allow plenty of time to prepare for work. It was pretty slow in spite of not having run the day before.

Yesterday evening, Thursday, I ran fartlek on rolling hills selecting North Lyneham Ridge which is off-road and definitely undulating, a total of 10km. I spotted a few cows but only a couple of runners on the trails.! After that run I detoured home to collect Teddy and take him out for another 2km extra run as my additional aerobic exercise for the day, making a total of 12km.

Excitingly I also collected my brand new car yesterday - cornflower blue - a little VW Polo. I love it!


Loving my Car!

It feels like the country so close to suburbia!



Speedygeese with lots of little goslings!

Each Monday morning, when I don't have a work shift. I take part in a 60 minute Body Pump class at the local gym. It's tough but I am hoping the strength training will translate to improvement in my running. Yesterday was no exception and it hurt but pain is good within reason!

Late in the afternoon after taking Teddy for his daily brisk walk I managed to arrive at Speedygeese training in time for the early warm up of 4km. There were a few of us running at that time and it was a good way to prepare for the main session 30 minutes later. During the school holidays we have been enjoying the company of some 8-10 year old speedygoslings. It's such fun watching them enjoying themselves and running in the fresh air. Tonight there were enough of us to have three person relay teams running the diagonals on the grassy bank in front of Parliament House. I was in a team with Cathy and Rae (the plus 60 ladies) and it was all good fun. We had 30 minutes of the relays, running the diagonals either up or down and jogging the straights before being tagged. To finish we had a 1.8km warm down loop of Parliament House. I do enjoy those sessions, competitive but fun with a great group of people.

This morning before work I returned to the pool. It must be more than twelve months since I last went for a proper swim and the first 100m was hard work, especially as I had to stop to adjust my goggles. However, I soon found my rhythm and slowly completed 1km of freestyle. My reward was the spa afterwards - heaven.

I am going to experiment for the next couple of weeks and cut down on the "junk" kilometres and replace them with some cross training. I'm hoping it will keep me going injury free and maintain my enthusiasm. I certainly won't sacrifice my long or middle distance runs or the important interval, speed and hill sessions. I just want to find out if this works better for me as I need to train smarter.

A few speedygeese at a hill repeat session a few months ago

 

Greening up Canberra!

Today it rained and rained and rained! However, there was no thunder or lightning and it obviously wasn't going to ease off in a hurry. A long run was on my schedule so it had to be done! Out I went to face the elements starting off in a spray jacket which really didn't protect me much at all. I ran down to and round Lake Ginninderra and  then ran back towards the tunnel to Gungahlin. The entrance to the tunnel was completely flooded so I did a slight detour to continue on to Nicholls where I ran round the lake there and promptly lost my bearings. As anybody who knows me well would understand I have no sense of direction. Thank goodness for mobile phones. I made a call to Margaret who lives in that area and she set me in the right direction to head towards home. I had run further than I intended and by the time I finished had completed 30.33km. Talk about a drowned rat - I was so drenched. One thing about running in the rain it keeps you cool. I had no problems with overheating today.

Everywhere was so green and the ducks were loving the new little lakes created by puddles, supposedly just for them. There were intricate cobwebs woven on the trees at Lake Ginninderra and the drains were overflowing with water. My shoes and socks were sodden as there were many puddles I could not avoid so I splashed through them instead. It was a slow run but time on my legs must be a good thing.

Late in the afternoon the rain finally eased and I took Teddy out for a brisk walk to fulfil Day 11 of speedygeoff's January challenge. I didn't forget to balance on one leg and touch my toes too.

This evening Mr B and I enjoyed a delightful French movie at the cinema and I didn't fall asleep!

With LL after the Bowral Parkrun.

Finishing the Bowral Parkrun yesterday (photo courtesy of Ewen)

Flooded drains

speedyducks enjoying their new puddles

pretty cobwebs

 

Thunder, lightning and a memorable Parkrun at Bowral!

What an interesting week it has been!

 

At Speedygeese on Monday we ran our intervals under stormy skies and we all ended up drenched! Tuesday it was perfect and cool early in the morning for my run with Teddy but when I ran 10km after work it was very hot with just a few raindrops to cool me down. My mid-week run on Wednesday stayed rain free but was pretty warm by the time I finished. It was a bit of a struggle running 15km.

 

On Thursday I ran in the evening to avoid the heat and as my program included hill repeats I decided to run them at North Lyneham Ridge. As I approached the off road ridge I did observe very black clouds above me.   However, I continued with my plan and managed to complete 3 x 1 minute hills and 3 x 2 minute hills jogging down the hill between each repeat, before the thunder started rumbling very loudly! As the sky darkened I continued to run around the ridge taking a few wrong turns and feeling just a tad frightened as the lightning flashed and then down came the rain, not just rain but a head wind pelting it against me so that I couldn't see in front of me. I was so relieved when I reached the gate to climb through and head on the cycle path back home with the heavy rain falling on me, thunder roaring and lightning so close it made me jump. I have never been more pleased to reach my doorstep and stumble inside absolutely drenched like a drowned rat! I peeled everything off before heading straight for a hot shower. That is not an experience I am keen to repeat in a hurry!

 

A far better experience was the road trip Margaret and I took to Mittagong after work yesterday in order to run the Parkrun at Bowral this morning. This is LL's local Parkrun and Ewen, Jim and Bryan drove from Canberra this morning to run too. Last night it had poured most of the night and as the Parkrun starts and finishes on grass we expected it to be very soggy underfoot. However, it wasn't nearly as bad as expected and  it was so much fun to be part of LL's regular run. The narrow grassy start lasted for about 500m and then we ran on a concrete cycle track until the 2.5km turnaround point when we returned the way we came. This is when we realised that the path sloped slightly downhill as we ran out and the slight incline was quite noticeable on the return culminating in a steep little finish on the grassy slope. Not being used to grass or concrete all of us Canberrans had slower times than usual. However, Margaret smashed the previous W65 record so that was fantastic. We plan to return to repeat the experience in a few months. I need to train more so that I can beat the W60 record. They are such a friendly, welcoming group of Parkrunners. My favourite part of the morning was definitely the excited greeting Norma gave us when she arrived and spotted us. It was indeed a memorable event.

LL and her Canberra friends after the Bowral Parkrun

Street art in Bowral

 

Olive Groves at Grandma's Little Bakery in Collector

Margaret in the arbor overlooking the gardens at Grandma's Little Bakery

 

 

 

 

Another Canberra hot summer's day!

During 2014 I enjoyed taking part in the 5km Parkrun which falls at 8am every Saturday morning.
I don't run it every week as I enjoy having company on my long runs which often means a clash with Parkrun. However, yesterday I ran Parkrun at Gungahlin (my home run is Ginninderra) and found lots of different fellow parkrunners there. It was stinking hot at that time which resulted in a slower time than I would have liked but I will give that course another go later in the year as it is flatter than my home run.

 

A long run was therefore on the schedule for today and I decided to run at Lake Burley Griffin which I haven't done for months, Ewen accompanied me on the last 10km of my 23km run which I started in the cool at 6.45am. However by the time we met up the temperature had soared resulting in a very slow time over all. Maybe I need to start even earlier to avoid this problem.

 

Ewen and I spotted lots of familiar faces out there including some friends who are in training for the Paris Marathon in April. In the early part of my run I also spotted lots of cute bunnies. I know they are a pest but I do love them.

 

This afternoon we had a little relief from the high temperatures when the stormy grey clouds actually produced some much needed rain!

 

 

New Year - New Start!

My poor little Blog has been corrupted, probably through lack of attention, but thanks to the advice of speedygeoff I have finally managed to sort the problem and now I will make a fresh start for 2015. Happy New Year to all who wander here. Here's to a healthy, happy and injury free year.

 

My Marathon training has begun again for the Canberra Marathon in April. I have sourced my old program and hopefully I can keep up the training without injury. I do enjoy trail running but have a bad habit of tripping over and have permanently scarred knees.

 

I ran at the Cotter last weekend with a group of lovely running mates and enjoyed the scenery so much. The water is rising and the original route is no longer possible to run but there are many interesting trails. I will run there again during the course of my training but I am very slow on those hills!

 

On Wednesday I ran 21km on the bitumen - not my favourite surface but the marathon will be on road so I do have to consider that when training. In the meantime I have been faithfully following our speedy leader's November, December and now January 30 day exercise challenges. I need all the help I can get!

 

Exploring New York

On Monday, the day after the marathon, Mr B, CJ and I met up with KT (from Melbourne)and her hubby for a farewell breakfast as they were heading off to Vegas that afternoon. It had been lovely to catch up with them on the other side of the world and share experiences. Later Mr B and I packed our bags and headed off to a guest house on the East side of  NY. Our room was several floors up but fortunately our host met us and helped carry our bags. Our Canberra friends were on the floor below us which was great. That evening the five of us enjoyed a great middle Eastern meal together in our new local area.

We had another week in NY but as it was CJ's last night on Tuesday we decided to go to a show. We took the subway to Times Square that day and bought cheap tickets for Kinky Boots. The five of us went together and found it lots of fun. Later we finally had our celebratory drink at a pub nearby.

It was sad to say goodbye to CJ next day when she flew off to Paris. 

Over the next few days we explored New York City, Madison Square, took long walks in Central Park, browsed the shopping centres and enjoyed a beautiful meal at Brasserie Les Halles in Park Avenue, where famous chefs have trained, with our daughter Em and her fiancé who arrived in NY a few days before we left. They had been celebrating her 30th in Vegas!

We had a great time exploring Greenwich, SoHo and the Chelsea Markets. We walked the High Line on a very cold day which required buying a beanie first! We had lots of lovely meals with our Canberra friends including one memorable one in Little Italy. We also had an opportunity to spend some time with Em & Court, shops, pubs and meals.

We spent a long time at the Guggenheim  Museum but our favourite visit was probably the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). (Thanks for the recommendation LL). Coffee has improved so much in the past four years when we were last in NY. I have enjoyed many great coffees in NY this time and some beautiful meals.

On our last full day in NY, a week after the marathon, I went for my first run - an 8km undulating run with Mr B, taking in some of the north side of Central Park and a few hilly detours. It was pretty and I felt happy although a little sad to know we were leaving this great city next day.

The New York Experience!

For some months I have been training for the New York marathon. This training has been encumbered somewhat by lower back pain caused by the sciatic nerve and recurring problems with my left hamstring. Early in my training I decided I would follow a walk running program and followed this for some weeks. I even downloaded Jeff Galloway's book on my iPad and read it with interest. However, after several visits to the physio, gradually I was able to run more than walk and eventually returned to speedygeese training and resumed running training for the forthcoming NY marathon.

The plan to run this marathon took place about 16 months ago, while we were in Turkey, when our friends emailed us to suggest that we go with Travelling Fit which meant making the decision way back then! It has been a big build up which has finally come to fruition.

We left Canberra for New York on 30 October arriving on the same day! It was great being able to fly in the company of several friends who were also taking part in the marathon, including CJ.

Next day we collected our race numbers and spent lots of time and money at the extensive expo, before heading for Times Square. This being Halloween we were treated with some fantastic costumes being worn everywhere that evening. It seemed that nearly everyone was dressed in the spirit of the occasion and there were lots of brightly cut out pumpkins and pumpkin lanterns in the shop windows or in market places.

On Friday we met up with the Travelling Fit crew and did a familiarisation run in Central Park and through the finish line of the marathon. Later after checking out local running stores CJ, Mr B and I went by boat to visit The Statue of Liberty and afterwards we visited the 9/11 memorial. It was a lot to cram in to one day, so much to think about. The memorial had not been built when we were last in NY in 2009.

Marathon Day turned out to be the coldest day in New York since April! We had to meet at 5.45am in the hotel foyer which meant our alarm was set at the ungodly hour of 4am to give CJ and I plenty of time to get organised. The buses set off for the venue at 6am. We met up with another Canberra friend on our bus and it was a great way to keep distracted on the journey. The roads closed at 7am which was why we had to leave so early. The start was from Staten Island and here we went to our various corales. Sadly I was in a different coloured group from my mates and thus filled in time by running up and down to keep warm and making several visits to the loo to relieve the nerves more than anything else! There was four hours of waiting involved! It was freezing and on top of my singlet and shorts I wore a long sleeved top, a jacket, trackie pants, beanie and gloves plus a plastic cape. Even with all that gear I still had to keep moving to keep warm.

Eventually my wave was called to the line to head for the start. However there was a bit of a language problem (not mine) and a large group of us were not allowed past the rope until the last wave was due to start. It was most frustrating! As I stood waiting in line a gentleman approached me and said, "hi there you sold me my shoes at The Runners Shop"! Yes he was an Aussie from Canberra and we were very pleased to see each other. What a small world! It was great to have company for the next ten minutes before we were finally herded to the start area.

The run started with the bridge from Staten Island to the mainland. I threw away my top layers but kept on one long sleeved top, gloves and beanie until we were over the bridge. As we approached the end of the bridge I could hear a low buzz which increased to a roar and then we were in the open and suddenly there were hundreds of screaming spectators. It was awesome. All along the way the spectator support was amazing. It just carried me along and the first 20km seemed to fly by. I would like to be able to say that the rest of the run felt like that but after all a marathon is still 42.2km no matter how much support there is and later in the run I started to feel the pain in my hamstring, stitch in my side which kept recurring and general niggles which are par for the course really. I managed to drop my jellybeans and gu chomps so I only had gu gels on the way. I sipped water at every second drink station but never felt too dehydrated until near the end.

We ran through the five boroughs and a lot of the run has since become a blur but I do clearly remember running through the Jewish community in Brooklyn where the men were dressed in their long black coats and tall top hats and were totally oblivious to what was happening around them.

There were bands and music all along the way except on the bridges where no spectators were allowed although on one bridge a Scottish piper led a band to keep us entertained. It truly was an amazing experience with nearly 50,000 finishers and thousands and thousands of spectators everywhere you looked, high fiving us, cheering us on by name, holding up signs and always encouraging us. As I finally reached the finish line I felt fantastic. I knew it was my slowest time ever for a marathon but I managed to raise my arms and smile for the camera. I had achieved a dream, I had held since our last visit to New York four years ago, ticked another box on my bucket list, yes I had run New York marathon and that was a great feeling!

I have to add that after crossing the line the cold set in again. A medal was placed around my neck, a photo was taken, we were shuffled on to collect a food bag, given a foil wrap for some warmth, and then we walked again for what seemed ages before being wrapped in a lovely warm bright orange cape. This didn't help the shivering bare legs but certainly helped the upper body. I drank the supplied sports drink, chewed on a protein bar and gradually started to feel a little more human.

I was so happy to see Mr B at the appointed meeting place. He walked me back to the hotel which was ages away before returning to meet CJ while I sunk into a blissful hot bath!

Marathon 14 done and the holiday begins!

Stats:
Time taken: 4hours 39mins
Average pace per km: 6:36
Calories burned: 2460
Second half 7mins slower than first half!

Inclement Weather!

Brrr, it's been cold, wet and windy over the past few days. On Wednesday I had the afternoon shift at work and it rained and it rained. In the morning, just by way of a change, I went to a Cross Training class at the gym. It was a mix of cardio, weights and abs work and was quite challenging. It was a good workout and quite different from what I usually do. 

On Thursday all sportsgrounds were closed due to the recent steady rain. I worked until 2pm when I met Ewen for a coffee catch up before driving home to take Teddy out with me for my run. I was lucky in my timing as we avoided the rain. It was a good run and we both enjoyed it.

Total distance: 7km

This morning I went to my usual Friday Body Balance class for necessary stretching. Of course Teddy still had his long walk with me this afternoon. It was not a very pleasant day but there were only a few drops of rain as we walked.

Tomorrow the plan is to run a longer run incorporating the Parkrun. Fingers crossed the weather isn't too unkind.

My 1000th Post

Wow, I've finally reached 1,000 posts for this blog. It's taken a few years! This morning it was cold and bleak outside, a day for catching up with things around the house, but as mid-day approached the sun came out and it was time to take Teddy out. It was stunning at that time of day and he had a great off lead run on the grass and in and out of the drains.

Teddy ready for his run

I made it to Speedygeese at Dickson Oval by 5.10pm and managed to fit in a large loop outside the oval giving me a good warm up before the session began. It was a mild evening although there was one very cold patch on the straight.

Only 7 of us turned up for the main session of training plus our speedy leader. Miranda had run early for the 8km with speedygeoff and Kelley had joined them. Miranda left after our warm up leaving Colin, Kelley, Kym, Margaret, Mick, Rod, speedychief and me. After our warm up loop our main session consisted of 400m fast loops of the oval with 400m slow running in the opposite direction between each rep. This was for a total of 30mins. Then we ran a warm down loop of the oval. Colin and Rod were much speedier than anyone else and were neck and neck most of the way.

Total distance including my early warm up: 9km

It's a rare occurrence these days to be able to make it to the Dickson training as I often have the afternoon shift at work and as it's the other side of town it makes it impossible to make it in time for the session so I was particularly happy to be able to run with the speedygeese today!

Speedygeese on a public holiday

After my push ups and planks this morning, I prepared lamb shanks for the slow cooker and put it on to cook for the day. Mr B and I then went for a swim at CISAC. It was busy when we arrived as it was Queen's birthday weekend and a public holiday but people were drifting off by lunchtime and it was a bit quieter for the last few laps. Initially I had a few problems with leaking goggles but finally I sorted them out and had a good swim - 1200m in total. Mr B swam 1500m. Then I sat in the spa for ten minutes of luxury before we headed home. 

This evening after visiting our grandchildren in the afternoon, I headed off for training at Parliament House. There were very few of us there tonight, only five plus our speedyleader - Andrew, Craig, speedygeoff, Jen, Me and Sarah - all fast runners, except this slow goose! Ewen had run 8km earlier with speedygeoff but left before the main session as he is only just returning to running. 

We ran the usual warm up and then headed down to the lake through the tunnel. I was glad I was wearing a headlamp as in parts it was quite dark. Our main session was running from the other side of the tunnel up through it and on the grass up to the cone left by our speedyleader and jogging back to the start. The distance to the cone was 140m and it was on an incline which felt quite steep after a few repeats and my hammie complained! We repeated this 12 times, each on 2minutes. Then we ran back to our starting point at Parliament House.

Total distance: 7.5km

Oh my, it was so lovely to arrive home to the smell of slow cooked lamb wafting out to greet me. Mr B had cooked the veges to go with it and after a quick shower dinner was served - mmmm, so yummy!

Trailing the Hills

This afternoon, after a successful shopping expedition with Mr B, buying necessary homewares in the sales, we headed off with Teddy for an undulating trail run. I wanted to test my new Brooks Adrenaline trail shoes in some tough hilly conditions. We ran from home to North Lyneham ridge and over that through North Lyneham to O'Connor Ridge and round part of one of  the vets' monthly handicap courses, returning past the AIS and home through the suburbs, off the hilly trails where I put Teddy back on his lead. He had a great run and I must say it was good to run the trails again as it's been ages. Gee I noticed all those hills though. Mr B was flying but I managed to keep him in my sights although he did have to stop and wait for me a couple of times.

Total distance: 10km

Time taken: 1:04 (yes, I was very slow on those hills) 

Average pace: 6.30

Calories burned: 563

Running in the Parkrun on Saturday

No PB for me today

Last night I watched the movie The Green Mile on telly and I absolutely loved it. Trouble is it ended at 12.20am this morning (being almost 4 hours long) and my alarm was set for 5.55am - not much time for a good sleep! However I was up as soon as the alarm rang, did my planks, had a piece of white toast and half a banana and prepared for my 5km run to the start of the Gindy Parkrun. It was minus 2 degrees outside and I layered up with skins under shorts, t-shirt, long sleeved top, spray jacket, ear warmers, cap and gloves. At least I had warmed up by the start of the event. I met up with Marg there and Mr B was a volunteer. I stripped down to a t-shirt but kept on my long skins under my shorts and wore my earwarmers and gloves. I felt as though I was running well but my time definitely did not reflect this. After the Parkrun finished I chatted to a few friends before running back home. Marg ran well achieving a PB and was only a minute behind me. Next Friday night the goal will be an early night! Let's see if I can improve my time finally.

Distance of Parkrun: 5km

Time taken: 28:30

Age percentage: 70.06%

Place in age group: 1st (I'll have a shock if someone else runs in my age group)!

Overall place: 80th (out of 111)

Total distance of run: 15km

Once home I had a quick shower, donned my uniform and drove off to work for the rest of the day at The Runners' Shop.

Speedygeese at Kaleen - Better Late than Never!

Wednesday

I managed a short run before heading off to the dentist and then a lovely lunch with CJ in the city. It was not warm and I was on a time frame so had to be brief.

Total distance: 7km

Thursday

I started the day with an early breakfast with good friends (a belated birthday treat) before heading for the hairdresser. I started the afternoon shift at work at 12noon. Today I worked with Kathy and as we both wanted to join the speedygeese for some of the training we were glad it wasn't too busy and we could lock up on the dot of closing time before heading for the busy parkway and back to Kaleen oval. I detoured home and ran from there as the oval is only 800m from my house. It was quite a mild evening and well lit although busy tonight and we had to avoid a few dogs and soccer balls. We arrived 30minutes after the start time but at least some training is better than no training. After an 800m further warm up round the perimeter of the oval I ran five 200m sprints with Kathy and Maria (I use the term "with" loosely as I ran behind them but it was a good way of making me run as hard as I could). We then ran a few more loops of both ovals joining the rest of the participants. Speedygeese tonight were Clint, Colin, Rod, speedychief, Kathy, me, Maria and Susan. I was glad I made it for half of the session. I tried out my brand new Brooks Adrenaline ASR trail shoes tonight. They were great on the uneven ground and didn't feel too heavy. I'm looking forward to trying them out on the hilly trials.

Total distance: 7km

A Speedy Session at Parliament House

Kim, speedygeoff, Me, Marg & Andy waiting for the start of the Australian Mountain Running Championships - photo courtesy of Ewen

Sunday dawned bleak and wet. It had rained overnight and continued for most of the morning making it very cold and miserable weather for the Australian Mountain Running Championships at West Stromlo. I collected Marg and we drove there at 8am to watch our speedy buddies. We had planned to go for a gentle run inbetween events but that didn't happen. Instead we shivered on the sidelines huddled under brollies and wearing gloves and several layers under rain jackets. It was amazing to watch. Our speedygeese - Kelley, Mick, Kym and Caroline all ran really well. In fact Kelley and Caroline won their respective age groups. It looked like a really tough steep course.

After we had watched our friends finish Ewen, Marg and I headed to Scope for a coffee as it was walking distance. After last week's bad experience it was a bit of a risk. However, this time we were pleasantly surprised. We sat at a table inside in the warm and the service was reasonably fast, probably due to less people being there, possibly because of the weather!

As we sat there looking through the window the sun came out and it turned into a pleasant afternoon, perfect for taking Teddy for a brisk 6km walk.

That night Mr B and I went to see The Great Gatsby at the movies. We saw the original of this movie in 1974 with Mia Farrow and Robert Redford. This was a remake and came to us quite fresh after so many years.It was a great night.

Yesterday, Monday, the sun shone and it was lovely for the majority of the day after an overnight temperature of minus 2 degrees. First up I took Teddy to the vet to check out his ear and buy some drops. Next stop the pool where I swam 1200m before enjoying a spa followed by a coffee. Then off to deliver some Avon before enjoying my yummy pumpkin and ginger soup for lunch which I made yesterday. This was followed by a 7km brisk walk with Teddy as I walked to Miranda's house to deliver Avon.

Then off to Parliament House for a speedygeese training session. It was great to see Marilyn there as I didn't expect to see anyone near my slow pace and she is good company. I forgot my Garmin which I had left charging. However, judging from speedychief's garmin our session was about 6.5km - short and sharp!

After our warm up we were put into relay teams of three. I was with Clint and Andrew who are both extremely fast. I chose to run as first runner as I figured the boys could do the catching up roles. We ran 200m sprints to tag our team member who ran the next 200m back to tag team member 3. It meant a little break but not long as I had fast team members. It was hard work and I was pleased to stop after 20minutes when we headed to a little hill which SG had discovered by accident on our warm up loop. It was about 40m and we ran up it several times doing different drills on the way up to make it interesting. We finished with our usual cool down loop of PH and jellybeans!

Total distance by SG garmin: 6.5km (short and sharp)

This morning, Tuesday, I woke to a white frosty world. I didn't run out the door with Teddy until 9am when the sun was shining brightly but it was still very crisp and cold and some of the grass on our way was still white where the sun hadn't yet shone. Both my ankles were painful and my left hamstring is really playing up but it still felt great to be alive this morning. There's nothing quite like running with music in one ear and Teddy running off his lead as we ran off road and enjoyed the feel of the sun on our skin. Now I am heading off to work for the afternoon shift leaving Teddy happy to lie in the sun after his lovely little run.

Total distance: 6km

The Week (and two days) in Review

On Friday morning, a week ago, Mr B and I drove through to Berry in the Alfa for my birthday surprise. We stayed in a delightful  Bed and Breakfast overnight in the little country village. On the way we stopped for lunch at The Green Grocer, one of our favourite cafes in Goulburn. Here we contacted our good friend Charlie who called in to sit and chat with us.It was so lovely to see her.

Berry is such a pretty place. We arrived in pouring rain and the plush green countryside reminded me of New Zealand. We had an explore before going out for a delicious meal in one of the few restaurants that were open.

Berry B & B

Next morning, Saturday, the sun was shining when we went for a 7km run along the undulating country trails working up an appetite for breakfast. Later we had more of an explore of the quaint little shops and drove home with a detour to check out Shoalhaven beach. We drove home a different way avoiding some of the very big undulations.

Shoalhaven Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday we headed out to the Veterans' Monthly Handicap run at West Stromlo, an undulating course that finishes uphill. We were lucky with the weather as although it was foggy and cloudy it didn't rain and the wind was slight. Later a group of us went for a disappointing coffee at The Scope. We had to sit in the foyer and it was really cold. Some of us girls used provided crocheted rugs to wrap around us to give us some warmth.

Total run: 7.5km

Time taken: 46:25

Average pace per km: 6:11

Finish place: 18th (out of 92)

Handicap group: 15

Age percentage: 70.4%

The best part of the morning was that Margaret won the Bronze medal. That was exciting but her handicap will be amended accordingly!

This Week in Review - Planks every day of 2mins 15secs; daily walks with Teddy

Monday - 

Swim 1.1km

Run with Margaet - 11.5km

No training at Parliament House as we had our SG dinner at Phnom Pen - a lovely night.

Tuesday 

Run with Teddy - 5km

Work

Thursday

Run 8km from home

Work

Night - Thank you nibbles and drinks at the Tradies for volunteers and officials at the Australian Masters Athletics which were held two months ago

Friday

Body Balance at gym

Saturday - Park Run

I ran from home to the lake for the Ginninderra Parkrun. There I met up with Marg and several other familiar runners. 

Parkrun: 5km 

Time taken: 28:27 (PB remains at 27:50)

Place: 61st (out of 90)

Place in age group: 1st

Age graded score: 70.18%

Total distance including warm up: 10km

After the run I joined the others for coffee at Birrigai Cafe. We were lucky that the rain held off until after the run and since then the rain has not stopped. It has been constant. We need the rain but tomorrow at Stromlo will be soggy for the mountain running championships which I am planning to go to watch.

YCRC Half Marathon

Loot from the barrel draw plus medal and lucky run number

With Margaret just before the start. Photo by Ewen.

It was so cold early in the morning of the Canberra Running Club's Half Marathon on Sunday. In fact it was minus 4 degrees when I was eating breakfast and wondering how many layers to wear! I selected a singlet and shorts with a long sleeved top and gloves to be removed at the 4km mark.

It felt so cold when I met up with Marg to run our warm up after collecting my race number. Mr B was a volunteer and was put on bag duty. This did mean he could catch my jacket and gloves when we ran past the 4km drinks station. It also meant he could trot out for a 10km run while we were running the half.

I was sorry I didn't retain my gloves for a bit longer as it took at least 10km before my fingers had any feeling. They were numb with cold. The toes on my left foot were also numb but strangely running in singlet and shorts felt fine. 

The sun struggled through a little later and it actually turned into a glorious morning for running with no wind at that time. We ran hospital hill instead of running round the museum as we did in previous years. The aternative route would have been much flatter. We started at 8am and ran a 4km loop round some of Canberra's icons before heading off round the West Basin of the lake on the undulating track. I had forgotten how many hills there are running that loop. I had extra music loaded on my ipod and I listened to it from one ear only so that I could be conscious of my beautiful surroundings and all the people out there. I actually really enjoyed the run although it was a bit of a shuffle at the start. I chatted to quite a few people on the way and I felt good, yes I actually felt good. I am sure I ran the second half quicker than the first. I only consumed one gu and my tummy felt fine which is definitely a plus for me so I'm not quite sure what I did differently. I guess it was just a good day and the cold weather must have suited me. My only problem was that for the entire run my left hamstring hurt and I was a bit worried I would really hurt it if I tried too hard so I decided to just enjoy the day which I did!

After the run I found Marilyn, Margaret, Caroline and heaps of running mates who had all run well. Although I only came 5th in my age group I was happy to have beaten my time by 2 minutes from the Weston Creek Half a couple of months previously. It was also very exciting to score a barrel draw prize and it was a beauty. I won a $25 Runners Shop Voucher (that may have to be a gift for someone else tee hee), a $40 massage voucher and a bottle of white wine. Woo hoo! How lucky am I!

Distance: 21.1km (plus 1km warm up)

Time taken: 2:05:47

Average pace per km: 5:56

Calories burned: 1226

I had some very exciting news on Saturday morning while at work. My youngest daughter rang me from Singapore. She had been flown there as a surprise and taken to one of the world's best restaurants to celebrate her tenth anniversary of going out with her boyfriend. She rang to say they are now engaged! Big excitement and we are delighted.

On Monday I showed up at speedygeese training at Parliament House. As it was the nearest Monday to my birthday I took a bottle of sparkling wine to share after our training so it was important I showed up. The session included pyramids along the straight grassy edge by Parliament House. I just ran gently for 7km but as my hamstring was tight and sore I definitely did not push myself!

Autumn is turning into Winter!

Brrrr - it's not getting any warmer in Canberra now. The pretty Autumn leaves are falling rapidly from the trees and the quicker we sweep them up the quicker they fall. It's a question of crunching through the leaves and remembering to remove shoes at the door. And it's so cold. The sun shines less brightly and we are lucky to have much warmth in it. We have had some rain and bitterly cold wind and cloudy overcast skies. It's not nearly as conducive to running in the cold evenings. Even taking Teddy for his daily walks requires a thick jacket and gloves. I haven't located my woolly beanie yet but that will be next.

I managed 4 x 1min 45seconds for my daily plank this morning. Next week I increase to 2minutes. It's definitely becoming harder!

Our speedygeese session was at Kaleen Oval tonight. Marg drove to my house and ran with me to the oval. Sadly CJ really hurt her hamstring on Tuesday evening and won't be running for some time. The girls well and truly outnunbered the boys tonight. There was Janene, Kelley, Miranda, Maria (who turned up a little late and ran long timed sprints), Margaret, Me, Susan, Rod and speedygeoff braving the cold.

We ran 1200m loops and some shortcuts crossing the ovals in the middle. Marg and I basically took it easy. She had already run 11km today and I was more interested in the distance than the speed. It was good to have company or I would have struggled at the idea of braving the cold weather!

Total distance: 8km

Tuesday at Dickson

Today was cold. The sun was shining for most of the day which provided a little warmth but as the afternoon went on it became colder and by the time we started our warm up at Dickson Oval it felt bitterly cold. I wore gloves, running beanie, 3/4 tights, t-shirt, long sleeved top and spray jacket. Only the top layer came off during the course of the session but I definitely warmed up. The wind dropped and the bitterly cold air seemed to diminish somewhat.

There were 9 of us tonight plus our fearless leader - Marg, Kelley, Cathy, Miranda, me, Colin, Rod, Roden, Mick and speedygeoff. Parts of the oval were soggy from the rain we had experienced last night but most of it was spongy and very runnable. We ran a couple of warm up loops before starting our main set.Three of us were given batons and three started at a point 100m away on the flat. The goal was to run as fast as possible to pass the baton to the first person at the other end who would then run back and pass it to the next person etc. We repeated this for 15 minutes and then we ran zigzags up and down the hilly bank for 5 minutes before repeating the relay but this time for 10 minutes.

It was certainly tough to keep sprinting short sharp bursts and unfortunately poor CJ pulled her hamstring in the final 100m. She had to leave before the warm down to go home and ice her leg. Fingers crossed it will feel better tomorrow as she has entered the half marathon on Sunday - not good timing at all. Not that pulling a hamstring is ever good timing. That is definitely the danger with 100m sprints!

Total distance: 7km