Monday, June 26, 2006

Just a little hill or three…….

Stats:
Distance – 9.3km
Time – 43.31min
Av pace – 4.40min/km
AHR – 168; MHR – 181
Group – 25
Placing – 15th

Strewth very kindly picked me up on Sunday morning for the monthly vets run, this month at Mt Ainslie. It’s a challenging run – there are hills throughout and one big hill near the end. What I had forgotten was how many or how big some of the other hills were! It was soooo cold to begin with that I didn’t want to part with my tracky pants, long sleeved top or jacket. As it was, I ran in a long sleeved top and gloves as well as the usual running gear.

I started off well but it wasn’t long before the cold gave me a headache – similar to when I eat icecream. Plus it didn’t help that my breathing felt constricted from the cold as well. Anyhoo I slogged along, with Mick - the other person who started in group 25. Little did I know it at the time but I was going to be very grateful to him in the latter stages of the run.

So up and down and up and down we went, through the bush – I love running through the bush. Slowly but surely the sun was trying to shine through. Passed a few people I knew along the way. I was feeling okay though the thought of that last big hill was always there at the back of my mind. Eventually it had to happen – the big hill was ahead of us and I was starting to feel tired in the legs. Up until now they had been doing a great job considering what I had inflicted on them during the week. But now they were starting to complain….Up and up we went, the pace getting slower and slower until I finally reached a point where all I wanted to do was stop and walk. I took 3 steps and then Mick was saying “c’mon you can’t give up now not after all the work you’ve put in – you’re not far from the top and then you can rest.” Heck, what could I say – I picked up the pace again and with head down just got up the rest of the hill the best way I could – not pretty but it did the job. Actually, we hadn’t been too far from the top when I gave in very very briefly. So thanks Mick – sometimes I need a kick up the butt like that. Then it was about a downhill run of about a kilometre to the finish line – now that was fun!

Afterwards we had coffee at Carlo’s and then Mr CJ and I headed off to King’s Furniture to look at lounge suites and we purchased one for our ‘new’ house - a black leather modular lounge. It’s so cool. Later in the afternoon I visited Strewth who was busy organizing her meals for the week. We went out to our house so Strewth could have a look at what’s been done since she was last there a week ago – the decks have been completed, the feature wall in the entry has been painted (a bright red!), the wardrobe shelves have been completed, some of the tiling in the bathroom has been done inc the glass mosaic tiles. Its all looking good.

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"If you doubt you can accomplish something;then you can't accomplish it.
You have to have confidence in your ability,and then be tough enough to follow through" - Rosalynn Carter

3 comments:

Jen said...

Well done CJ - sounds like a really tough course. Isn't it amazing how your mind is quite often wrong about what you are capable of. Silly mind - I need to learn to ignore mine more often
;-)

strewth said...

And brrrrr, wasn't it cold!! I just love the colour scheme in your "new" house!

Lulu said...

Sounds like you've been very busy whilst I've been away and it sounds very cold in Canberra. I'm only just adjusting to the cold again after being in nice warm Europe.