Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Bah humbug ten times over!

Running? Phooey! Hills? Bah humbug!

In case you haven't picked up on it yet, I'm not that hung up on running at the moment and hills are definitely not doing it for me. I'm feeling discouraged and frustrated with my running.

So what has brought on these un-CJ-like feelings about running? Tour de Mountain! It was crap, it was horrible, it was........well words fail me. But anyway lets start at the beginning....

Saturday's run

Where: part of the Tour de Mountain course excluding Mt Taylor.
Distance -15.2km
Time - 1hr 40.24min
Av pace - 6.34min/km
AHR - 145; MHR - 178

Now this was fun. We had Tesso and Tuggeranong Don (TD) for company and it was great. Poor Tesso, though, I think she was thinking it was going to be a flat easy run, oops! But with great company it didn't feel too bad (tho' TD going for a tumble may think otherwise!) and I was feeling relatively optimistic for the race the next morning. Anyway it was great to catch up with tesso and hopefully the favour can be returned when I'm up at the Gold Coast early January - somewhere flat would be nice!!!! *hint, hint!* I had also brought my camera especially to get a photo but forgot after the run...dammit! And next time Tesso, we'll include Mt Taylor! *wink*

The rest of Saturday was spent xmas shopping, fruit and veg shopping, before heading off to our friends' Xmas party (a not-to-be-missed annual affair!). No alcohol passed my lips (tho' in hindsight I may as well have, it might have helped my running!) but I did snack on party food eg dim sims, party pies, little meatballs, and various other delicious food items.

Sunday
What - Tour de Mountain
Distance - 19km
Time - 1hr 45.59min
Av pace - 5.45min/km
AHR - 163; MHR - 191

Not a lot to say other than it was a horrible run, did a lot of walking and generally never got going. Between the 8th and 10th kilometre things improved, albeit very briefly! Never was I so glad to finish a run. So what went wrong? Don't know - haven't reflected on the run at all.

Tuesday run
Distance - 12.1km
Time - 65.47min
Av pace - 5.25min/km
AHR - 149; MHR - 195
Started with: Born to run - Bruce Springsteen (appropriate)
Finished with: Someone that you're with - Nickelback

After a rest day on Monday I thought I better get out and see how I felt. It was an easy, relatively flat run and I didn't have to get up at some unearthly hour to do it! Mission accomplished!

Wednesday run
Where - Mt Taylor
Distance - 16.4km
Time - 1hr 42.47min/km
Av pace - 6.15min/km
AHR - 142; MHR - 170
Started with: Fingers - Pink
Finished with: Twisted transistor - Korn

It was a cool, grey and cloudy morning. As per usual there were parts of Calf Cramp Hill that I had to walk but otherwise it was just a slow steady plod from start to finish. Not as many people out either; other weeks there have been lots of walkers heading up and down the path but not this morning. No mishaps to report either - no falls (though quite a few close calls) and my ipod remained fully powered!

I'm also feeling much better about Sunday's run. It wasn't a great run but hey, that's life! You have good ones and bad ones. I still love running though the jury is still out on hills!

Also, in the mail today arrived entry forms for SFT and Canberra marathon. Decision time!

12 comments:

Jen said...

Don't be hard on yourself CJ. You've had a rough month or so. Maybe an easy week or two over Christmas is the rest you need. There's plenty of time still - it isn't going to set you back & may be just the thing you need

Wishing you & your family all the best for a lovely, safe Christmas & may 2007 bring you everything you desire - including lots of chocolate!

BTW, I'll be planning another trip to Canberra soon - probably early Feb at this rate ;-)

Anonymous said...

Enter the marathon, CJ. No hills! I have estimated 3:26 for my time. How about you?

Tesso said...

Thanks sooooo much for the run on Saturday. It was tough but I really did enjoy it and wish I could do more hard sessions like it (ha ha, she says that now).

You said you had a horrible run in the Tour de Mountain but it looks like a great result to me - you were going close to 1 minute per km faster than we did Saturday!

Looking forward to your visit. We might show you some of the Kurrawa course.

2P said...

LOL CJ - you crack me up - you run like a mountain goat (only much better looking and on 2 legs not 4) and you reckon you had a dud run - I'd be over the moon with that result and that training week.

Well done mate - onwards and upwards to Pluvio I say - don't worry about that silly marathon thingee - you can run in Canberra any time ;-)

Ewen said...

I'm with 2P - marathons are a dime a dozen. 6' is an experience that happens just once a year.

Clairie said...

Shit CJ that is a good time for a tough course.

I don't know about the wisdom of the hilly run the day before the race, but I guess if you were not feeling the best that may have something to do with it.

That said - I am still impressed with your time and pacing. for hills that is quite good. (um unless the hills are just speed bumps and tesso's description needs taming a bit lol)

mmmm I got my Canberra Marathon in the mail too. How exciting. Definitely on my agenda. Either way it will be good to have you cheering or running.

Now...a flatish area to run in when you are here....mmm Mt Tambourine sounds good ha ha

Anonymous said...

not liking hills is like not liking farts. sort of expected.

so... when are you coming down...er...up?
would love to meet, although running is obviously out!

Unknown said...

Don't make decisions until after Christmas, CJ...have a great Christmas Day & look forward to meeting up with you again in 2007.!

Tesso said...

Just in case I don't get a chance to drop in on your blog before then I just wanted to wish you and the fam a merry merry Christmas.

See you early in the new year!

Black Knight said...

The hills are important to prepare a marathon. I didn't do such kind of workouts and it was a big mistake. Merry Christmas!!!!

R2B said...

Sorry to hear you didnt have a great run.Hope you have reflected on it?

Perhaps you tried to "grind out" the hills instead of flowing with them it makes a huge difference!

R2B

2P said...

Merry Christmas CJ