Its a long way to the top..........

Event: North Curtin xcountry summer series
Distance: 5km
Time: 24.32min
Place: 69
Pace: 5min/km
Splits -
1: 5.02
2: 5.33
3: 5.00
4: 4.36
5: 4.49
Calories: 276

Tuesday just gone was my third xcountry event - at Nth Curtin oval. It was a pleasantly warm afternoon, soft underfoot as a result of the rain we had over the weekend. I should've been feeling good and starting to get into my groove for running, having returned to running several weeks prior. But, my mojo was off, disappeared, gone AWOL or MIA, or something. It was anywhere but where I needed it Tuesday afternoon. In fact I was beginning to think that maybe I didn't need to go running anymore, that maybe I should focus on something else like swimming or cycling instead. In short, I was so not in a running mood and it was like a little black cloud hovering over me. I reluctantly warmed up and fortunately came across Strewth and Heidi returning from their warm up so I joined them for the jog back to the start, buoyed by the company.

I started very slowly in the run and soon realised that we were heading up the hill. I haven't done hills since SFT last year. I plodded along and surprisingly passed other runners. Don't look up became my mantra. Once I reached the turn around it was an easy run back to the start. After all, what goes up must come down.

I think I will have to start joining others for my longer run on the weekend soon. Running on my own all the time is lonely and I'm missing my running buddies. Its doing my head in.

On Thursday Mr CJ and I went to see AC/DC in concert at ANZ stadium, in Sydney. This was my surprise Xmas present to Mr CJ who is an AC/DC fan. I'm not a fan but I do love my music loud, heavy and with a good beat and this concert certainly ticked all the right boxes. The bonus, in my opinion, was Wolfmother as support act. I loved New Moon Rising, Woman and the Joker and the Thief. And then the main act started - opening with Runaway Train - wow! Other popular songs included TNT, Dirty Deeds, Shook me all night long, and Hells Bells. Angus on guitar was amazing. The night finished with fireworks. And the number of people packed into the stadium was incredible - I have never been to a concert that size before - and 90% were wearing AC/DC t-shirts (I was in the other 10%)! But sadly there was no Its a Long Way to the Top - apparently they don't play it anymore.

déjà vu

I'm glad this is the last run at the boathouse in the summer series because the traffic was awful yesterday afternoon trying to get to there. It was the second run in the summer series and while the start was same spot, the run was meant to go in the opposite direction to last week. However, this didn't happen and the route was the same as last week - past the hospice (it was good to see Milton sitting out watching the runners). I bumped into someone I met doing my Cert 3 at CIT last year - that was a nice surprise. She spent the last 6 months of last year overseas, based in Italy, but doing lots of travelling to other countries, half her luck. I was better prepared for the start this time and set off at a slightly quicker pace than last week surprising Strewth when I passed her - she hadn't heard me coming up behind her! I just love surprises! The run wasn't any easier but I managed to finish in just under 25mins so I'm happy with that.

Distance: 5km
Time: 24.53min
Pace: 4.58min/km
Cals: 287
Splits -
1 - 5.10
2 - 4.52
3 - 4.51
4 - 4.59
5 - 4.57

So far this week........

Tuesday - Boathouse West run

Session: Xcountry Summer Series
Distance: 5km
Time: 25.22min
Place: 103
Pace: 5.05min/km
Splits -
1 - 5.27
2 - 5.17
3 - 5.02
4 - 4.45
5 - 4.55

It was a breezy afternoon and cooler than I had anticipated. Mind you once I started running I warmed up rapidly! I arrived a little earlier planning on going for a warm up jog before the run but somehow it never happened - there were people to meet (all these new speedygeese) and others to catch up with. I was feeling ok after Sunday's 3km run so this was a step up in distance. We started and it felt like everyone took off and I was left standing still! Strewth took off like a bat out of hell and it wasn't long before I lost sight of her. The first 1.5km was awful - I huffed and puffed and felt so unfit. But gradually, oh so gradually, I started finding my stride and at the 1.7km mark I was starting to think that this wasn't so bad. Slowly I was overtaking people and then I caught a glimpse of Strewth ahead. Well this was just too tempting - I had to try and catch her! Which explains the increase in pace for the 4th km! She said she heard me coming and its no wonder, I sounded like a steam train - an old puffing billy! I was happy with the run. My legs are strong but I lack endurance and speed but these will come with time (I hope!).

Wednesday - turning the legs over

Session: stationary bike
Time: 45mins

I hummed and haa'd and drank my coffee, trying to work out whether I could move the cycling to another day. I considered the weekend but realised that if I added any more exercise to Saturday or Sunday I wouldn't get anything else done - and what's the point of a weekend if you can't relax at some point! So I did it - got on my bike and pedalled, listening to my ipod. It probably did my legs good, turning them over after Tuesday's run. Later today I see the physio - hmmm, wonder what he'll say about yesterday's run?! (He was happy with my progress. My lower back is playing up and was quite sore which he thinks might be to an irritated disk which has resulted in the muscles tightening in that area. I have been given some stretches which I know off by heart as this is not a new occurrence for me! In fact he remarked that he has seen my back in a lot worse shape! I'm also to do a 3km run on Friday (rather than a 5km run) and if I pull up ok after that then can do a 5km run on Sunday. Talk about baby steps…)

Wednesday night - swimming.

Good swim. Surprising given that earlier that evening I had almost convinced myself that I was way too tired to go and should put iff to another day. At the last minute I made the decision to go and I'm really pleased that I did because I felt so much better for it and the bonus is that I had a really good sleep that night which resulted in me……

Sleeping In!
Which normally is not a problem, but I had a session with the trainer this morning at 6am. So it was a mad dash around the house doing last minute things like getting dressed, gulping down coffee and an interesting looking protein shake which I call the Jungle Juice because it is green; cleaning teeth, etc, dashing out the door to the car, and getting to the gym. I didn't need a warm up - I had already warmed up! The Raiders junior and senior teams were doing yoga in a room adjacent to where we were training - it was interesting to watch some of them getting into some of the more bendy poses and it took my mind off the pain I was going through! Finally got to do deadlifts today - the first since since the op, so more progress - yay! Did more cursed pushups - I hate them with a passion, as well as triceps dips. Had the shaky arms by the time I got to the shower - trying to wash hair with arms that won't cooperate is a challenge! Had brekkie with Strewth - double bacon and eggs on gluten free toast - yum! Not exactly healthy but ok to have once in a while.