Sunday, sunny Sunday

Yesterday was a beautiful day – we are getting rather spoilt with all this spring-like weather but I love it! Now if the warmth could be turned up a notch or two (or ten) then I’d be a very happy CJ. However, the next bout of sub-zero frosty days with winds whipping off the alps must be just around the corner I’m sure.

Yesterday Strewth and I were helping at the monthly vets run at Urambi Hills – a gently undulating 7km course – NOT! That’s why we were helping and not running. This course is one of the toughest monthly runs and after running it a couple of years ago I have since elected to help out instead (wimpy I know). My very important task was to give out the place cards to runners as they finished the long course. Its very interesting viewing the race from this perspective – the sights and sounds you witness as tired runners come hurtling down towards the finish line – with little ol’ me standing back hoping not to get steamrolled in the rush! Fortunately there were a few helpers to ensure that runners finished in some sort of order and I was able to hand out the cards without too much bother (tho’ my hands were frozen and I found it difficult to get them to function properly). Afterwards it was off to Babars for a well-deserved coffee (well it is a very important job handing out place cards!) – mind you, not that I need an excuse to go out for coffee.

I still had a long run to do for the weekend and somehow I managed to find time to nip out the doors after lunch – about 3.30pm. The plan was to run about 20-21km since I do have a half marathon next weekend and I haven’t run that distance since the end of July.

Session – long run
Distance – 21km
Time – 1hr 49.33min
Av pace – 5.13min/km
AHR – 156; MHR – 192

A good run – I ran down to Lake Ginninderra, around the lake and then home again along the cycle path. I had eaten about 7 large Darrell Lea liquorice allsorts (only the best) just before starting out and these repeated on me the entire way – all I could taste was liquorice (possibly not the best pre-race nutrition *LOL*). There were plenty of people out running and walking, with or without dogs, including one person with a little white fluffy ankle biter that was trying to take a chunk out of my ankles as I passed. I was pleased with the run and the fact that I pulled up okay, just a bit tired. However I don’t think I’ll be setting any PBs next week – I haven’t put in any consistent training.

CJ’s Cooking Misadventures (my latest project)

As a result of a 12 week challenge which I finished several weeks ago now I am trying to maintain my healthy eating habits (prior to this I was possibly the world’s laziest vegetarian – toast with peanut butter was my idea of a nutritious evening meal and chocolate goes with everything, doesn't it?!). This has meant becoming acquainted with my kitchen and all its utensils – I am the type of person who will buy the latest whiz bang piece of equipment and then it will spend the rest of its life in a cupboard until I have a garage sale and get rid of it (you know, the juicer, the sandwich press, the waffle maker, the vertical grill - tho, in all fairness, I did inherit that!) For example, we have an espresso machine (used a couple of times in the last 6 years), dripolator, several plungers, and a stove top percolator but guess how we make our coffee – yep, instant! Anyway now that I have a brand new modern kitchen I have decided that I need to be a bit more creative with my meals and so I have been….COOKING! My family have been amazed at this transformation into kitchen goddess (actually that’s probably not what immediately springs to their minds) but I’m still in two minds – a) it’s time consuming and b) it makes a lot of mess (but that might just be me) – so thank god for dishwashers.

This weekend I managed to make the Apricot Loaf, strawberry pancakes (though yesterday I decided to make a strawberry sauce using that Braun stick thingummy I was given several years ago but never used - I somehow managed to get strawberry gloop everywhere – there is obviously an art to using one of these things) and Layered Pasta Bake.

I can’t say I enjoy cooking yet but there is a certain feeling of satisfaction of producing something edible – even if the production is fraught with many little calamities along the way (running a marathon is easier). Anyway the plan is to try at least one new recipe a week.

The latest house photos.........

...courtesy of a temperamental Blogger. Perserverance has paid off and here they are.

The best laid plans......

Today didn't quite work out as I wrote last night. The Farmers Markets didn't happen mainly because I slept in. Maybe next week!

However I did make my favourite breakfast - pancakes with strawberries. This is a weekend treat and I really look forward to it and its really easy to make too - just whiz up in the blender the following: 4 egg whites, 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/4 cup cottage cheese and 1 Tbs protein powder (I used vanilla this morning but I have also used chocolate). Then cook in a non-stick fry pan (I can get 3 pancakes from this recipe). In another saucepan heat 150g sliced strawberries over a gentle heat and then serve with the pancakes. I also topped these with some sugar free maple syrup - yummo.


(ok, not as stylish as you would see in a magazine but still delicious!)






Then it was off to Belconnen markets - but first for a cappuccino at Beppe's. They serve their coffees with a teaspoon of chocolate rocks (small chocolate pieces covered in a thin candy shell). I love going into fruit and veg shops - seeing the displays of fresh fruit and veg, the colours and smells - it all looks so.....healthy!

I made the Apricot Loaf (courtesy of The Owl) once we got home. However I had soaked the Allbran in the milk before we went to the markets and so by the time we got home it had been soaking for a couple of hours (I think it says for an hour in the recipe). Once I added the other ingredients it was like mixing concrete so I had to add more milk - I was a bit worried I was creating a concrete door stop! I must confess that I am very out of practice when it comes to making cakes - in fact I can't remember the last one I made. However it smelt delicious while it was baking and Mr CJ had a slice and didn't clutch his stomach or make some facetious comment!

Didn't get in a long run because time just got away so I went for a short run and will do the long run tomorrow - promise!

Session - easy run
Distance - 7.5km
Time - 39.33min
Av pace - 5.15min/km
AHR - 145; MHR - 168

It was a really enjoyable run. Bumped into JD who was just finishing his run as I was starting - stopped for a brief chat before heading off. Favourite running song was one by The Offspring - can't recall the name but has a really fast beat and great lyrics.

Tomorrow I'm on duty to help at the Urambi Hills run in the morning and then I hope to run 20km later in the day.

Finally, here are latest photos of the house, with the deck and railings complete - well, they would be but Blogger has had a dummy spit.

TGIF

Up at 5.30am, had breakfast of rolled oats and cottage cheese (tastes better than it sounds) and then off to the gym in the 'tank', dropping son #3 off at the bus stop on the way. This morning it was a back and biceps session followed by swiss ball back extensions (I had serious balance problems this morning - could not stay steady on the damn ball), bicycle crunches and swiss ball crunches.

There seemed to be a few more wannabe muscle men wandering around the gym this morning, stopping every now and then to stare into the mirrors and flex various body parts. They seem to move around in packs of 2 or 3 and hang around various machines in the heavyweight section of the gym - its not often you see women down that end. One day I'll venture down there and check out the machines - there are some serious bits of apparatus.

It was a very quiet day at work as most people had decided to take it off for one reason or another. I had Monday off (post C2S) so couldn't really justify another day off in the same week. However I did meet Bec for a coffee and some seriously delicious mini loaf at Coffee Club before lunch (the mini loaf has dates and other good stuff in it - it is delish).

Then at lunchtime I surprised my self by heading back to the gym for an interval session on the bike. For the last few days I have packed my gym bag to do this particular session but somehow always managed to find an excuse not do it. Guess I ran out of excuses today!

Session: bike intervals - basically gradually increasing resistance, holding for 3 mins and then decreasing resistance marginally for 2mins.
Time: 30mins in total
Distance: 13.7km
AHR: 141; MHR: 230 (think there was some interference!)

It was a good session - got the heart rate up and also got very sweaty. Headed off to the showers and managed to lose my soap - it slipped out of my hands and slid several cubicles down. There was no-one around to rescue my soap so I used some slivers of soap that were left in the soap container and rescued my full bar once I had dried off and got dressed (it was just too much bother to go fetch it while I was still showering).

We have finally got the cedar blinds installed in our bedroom. The rest of the house was done about 3 weeks ago but they provided the wrong blinds for the bedroom so they had to be returned and we have had doona covers as temporary window coverings - a really good look - not!

Tomorrow Mr CJ and I are planning on going to the Farmers Markets in the morning for our fruit and veg (and possibly Belconnen Markets to get anything we can't get at the farmers markets). This is a first for us so we're not quite sure what to expect. Then I will make the Apricot loaf recipe that I got from Owl's blog - having tasted it after C2S last week I can't wait to make a loaf. I bought all the necessary ingredients tonight. Then I will do a long run of about 20km around Lake Burley Griffin, and this will be followed by a slice of the Apricot Loaf. Can't wait! (for a slice of the loaf not necessarily the run!)

Good luck to anyone racing this weekend especially to Tesso in the Noosa Half :-). Have a great weekend!

When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time." — Anonymous

A horror day

Today was definitely not one of my better days - any gloss from the weekend has well and truly worn off and its back into reality - back to back meetings all day; having to deliver our car to the assessors for damage to be repaired that was not done by us (someone backed into our car in a carpark and never bothered to leave their name and number); allowing someone else to organise the above but they don't get all the details hence I show up at the assessors expecting a replacement car only to be informed that it will take at least 2 hours to get a car and I would have to go to Braddon (assessors are in Fyshwick); expecting to get a small economical car but instead end up with a petrol guzzling tank; a reallocation at work means that I inherit someone else's stuff-ups; and due to a meeting running over time I miss yoga, grrrrr (and tonight is probably the night I really need it). Okay *breathe deeply*

Right, now that's off my chest. I went to the gym before all of the above happened (except for the !@#$% backing into our car) and managed to do a chest and triceps session followed by reverse crunches, v-sit twist with a 5kg medicine ball and plank.

Yesterday I went for my first run post-City to Surf:
Distance - 8.8km
Time - 50.29min
Av pace - 5.42min/km
AHR - 150; MHR - 186

Felt okay. However I did an impersonation of a flying goose at one point when I tripped on a footpath - my last fall earlier this year flashed before my eyes and I strained with every ounce of effort and with arms outstretched, trying not to go over and it worked! Somehow I managed to stay upright though it must've looked amusing for the solitary person waiting at the bus stop just ahead.

And to those who left comments - thank you! It was one of the very few highlights of my day.

Tomorrow will be better.......

A Sydney weekend

The City to Surf fun run was on last Sunday in Sydney. Strewth, Mr B, Mr CJ and I traveled up on Saturday to spend a couple of days in Sydney, shopping, relaxing, eating and running in the race. As per usual, we stopped in Berrima on the way to Sydney for a coffee or two. That evening we went out for dinner to a pizza and pasta place across from our hotel - very convenient.

We were greeted with a beautiful blue sky Sunday morning. After breakfast of fruit salad and yoghurt plus some toast we eventually made our way to the start, a couple of blocks away from where we were staying. Of course, leaving so close to the start does mean that I end up at the back of my starting group but that's fine. I started in red group (A1), Strewth and Mr B were starting in the group behind me - Green group (or A2). Even the 10 or so minutes I end up waiting for the start feels like an eternity - I really don't know how those people who get there early so they get a good start, handle hanging around that long.

Soon we were off and after a shuffle to the starting line I managed to start jogging slowly and then the never-ending criss-crossing to avoid runners began - you just cannot run a straight line from Hyde Park to Bondi! However I had my music and so rather than get frustrated I focused on what was playing on the ipod - much more pleasant! Ran alongside Superman for a while, passed a guy running in glomesh singlet, shorts and cap, tried to avoid the inevitable crush at drink stations and thought that if I could run under 70mins I would be happy. I never once looked at my time, preferring to run according to how I felt and I felt pretty damn fine. In fact I was enjoying the run and even Heartbreak Hill was not a problem, compared to last year when I could've sworn that it had gotten longer and higher!

The last kilometre I decided to sprint, assisted as I was by the cheers from the CR cheer squad - they are truly awesome! Thanks guys! I had sort of forgotten how long that last bit of the run is - it goes on and on and on and on and would you believe, on a bit more before finally we round the bend and there it is ahead - the finish line. What a beautiful sight but so close and yet so far! My finish time was 65.33mins - a PB by 2.30min! Yay, woo hoo and all that!

Caught up with Tesso who came in just after me, Minersrun, and Go Girl not long after finishing. Briefly spoke to Aki who had done a amazing time despite what had happened, saw Rae P from Canberra, and also briefly spoke to allrounder who had also run a PB. Sat around in the sunshine for a while with Mr B and Strewth and others from Canberra. Tuggeranong Don managed to catch up with us for a quick chat. Mr CJ bought us cappuccinos (he knows me so well!) and these went down a treat. PRB also appeared for a quick chat - its amazing who you manage to see despite there being well over 60,000 people! Then Lulu, Jen and Owl showed up - it was so good to see them. Owl was offering an apricot slice which was to die for (and yes, I have got the recipe from owl's blog!).

Had lunch back in the city then after a quick shower Strewth, Mr B, Mr CJ and I headed off to Darling Harbour - the guys to check out the Ferraris while we indulged in some retail therapy. That night we had dinner at the hotel - a pleasant meal of wine and good food finished off with cheesecake for me and apple cake for strewth (I think).

We had a late checkout on Monday which meant we could indulge in a bit more retail therapy! Then it was time to head home. Of course we stopped in Berrima, as you do, and both Mr B and I had the famous Magpie Cafe apple pie with icecream - this is just the best apple pie. I finished off the day by eating a box of Tim Tam balls so consequently was feeling pretty blah by bedtime. Trouble is I can never stop at one.

Stats:
Distance - 14km
Time - 65.33min PB!!!!!!
Av pace - 4.38min/km
AHR - 171; MHR - 188

Short and sweet

Its late at night and I need to get to bed so this will be quick. We are off to Sydney tomorrow - yay! City to Surf on Sunday; retail therapy and eating and drinking the rest of the time - what more could a girl ask for! :-)

Good luck to everyone running on Sunday - hopefully I'll see a few familiar faces and maybe meet some new ones!

Oh, I did run this morning - it was minus 4 degrees Celsius apparently.

Session - 6 x 2.30min intervals (1min RI)
Distance - 6km
Time - 30.45min
Av pace - 5.01min/km
AHR - 152; MHR - 172

Faster than yesterday so pleased with that. Didn't feel so much like the bumbling abominable snowman as I did yesterday but more like a runner today.

And now to running

I thought I better add something about my running as this blog is supposed to be about my running - lately its been anything but. I've downloaded some new music and while I'm listening to it I'll work back from today:

This morning's session - Intervals (6 x 2.30min with 1min RI)

Stats:
Distance - 5.7km
Time - 30.38min
Av pace - 5.20min/km
AHR - 162; MHR - 208

I think my pace is a little slow because it was soooo cold and I was soo rugged up that I resembled the Michelin Man! Well that's my excuse anyway. I was up at 5.30am for a coffee before heading out the door at about 5.50am. It was still dark but there was a full moon. However I was wearing my head lamp so I could see where I was going and didn't have to rely on street lighting. No-one else was up and out, not that I blame them because to say it was chilly is an under statement! Afterwards I met Strewth for breakfast - scrambled eggs on toast plus a cappuccino.

Tuesday session - moderate run

Distance - 8.8km
Time - 50.53min
Av pace - 5.45min/km
AHR - 138; MHR - 196

Nothing memorable to report.

Monday session - hill repeats x 20

Distance - 7.5km
Time - 54.37min
AHR - 138; MHR - 177

Finally made it to speedy geoff's session at Parliament house - it has been a while. And gee, talk about bad timing - it was the second last session of 20 hill repeats, and I'm away next week for the last session. I recall thinking when we still had 12 repeats to go that I'd had enough. For the last few repeats my legs were wobbly on the last little bit where it gets very steep. Has to be doing me some good, hey?!

And what are the songs I have downloaded?

Black Fingernails red wine - Eskimo Joe
SOS - Rihanna
Red dress and Push the Button - Sugababes
Vertigo - U2
Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down
Pieces - Hoobastank
Your woman - White Town
I was alive - The whitlams
Common people - Pulp
One crowded hour - Augie March
Like a Prayer - madonna
We're coming home - Rogue Traders
Hips don't lie - Shakira

Oops, its getting late - 11pm *yawn* - goodnight.

A day in the life of CJ

5.30am - bugger, that's the alarm and not a dream. Up for breakfast of rolled oats with chocolate protein crunch (just like a chocolate milkshake only crunchy - ok so its not coco pops but it could be!)

6.30am - drop son #3 off in Woden for work and then go to gym for a chest and triceps session followed by several killer abs exercises.

8.45am - make it into work. Check my email, make a couple of follow-up phone calls. Have a protein bar and an apple.

10am - off to Parliament House for the launch of the Out of the Abyss report - Australia's Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and Trauma by Tony Abbott. Went to get a coffee before proceedings started only to have everyone file into the room for the launch. Oh well, I'll get one later. Listened to a speech by the CEO of FASTT and a young Sudanese refugee before Tony Abbott got up to say his piece.

11.30am - back to work. Read more emails and chase up more phone calls that I missed when I was out. Annual reports from non-government organisations are waiting to be read.

12.30pm - Met Mr B for lunch. Heard more about his France trip. And got a very cute Tour de France t-shirt. Had minestrone with a side order of bread, and black coffee. Did order a cappuccino but it never appeared despite reminding the waiter that I was still waiting for it. Not happy.

2pm - back in the office ploughing through the annual reports, reading and replying to more emails and taking phone calls.

3.30pm - time for cottage cheese and strawberries and more annual reports - yech.

5.45pm - yoga class but not the sort that has me lying on a mat contemplating my navel and focusing on my breathing. This is more the twist the joints in the sockets and stretch to the point of (almost) no return type of yoga(Iyengar), all in the name of better alignment. And I have to admit that it was not one of my better nights - my alignment was nowhere to be seen, my lower back as very tetchy (I did aggravate it at last week's class) and I felt like an old crock. There were times when I could have quite easily have burst into tears and usually I am not a sook. I'm sure I've had more fun at the dentist.

7.30pm - dinner, finally. Cottage cheese and strawberries can only sustain a person for so long. Resisting the urge just to make do with peanut butter on toast, tonight its sweet chilli vegetarian sausages and stir fried vegies. This was followed by putting on a load of washing, stacking the dishwasher,washing those dishes that don't go in the dishwasher, making tomorrow's lunch, paying bills on-line, making the bed (can't stand getting into an unmade bed,)folding the washing that had been brought inside from the clothes line and put it away, and finally trying to catch up on some blog reading and do my own entry. And finishing off with some diet strawberry jelly and a choc'n'toffee hot drink.

Somewhere between 10.30pm and 11.30pm - finally get to bed but not before checking that the alarm is set for 5.30am for tomorrow's interval run before brekkie with Strewth.

Goodnight......

Before and After photos

A before photo of our house - an example of Canberra's classic (ie ugly) ex-govies!














An after shot, but not the most recent as I have been slack with taking photos. There is now a deck out the front.















More to come soon.......

Hills, hot chocolate and truffles

There's a very good reason why I run and it has to do with chocolate. Because if I didn't run I'd be a candidate for The Biggest Loser show! This way I can combine my love of running with my love of chocolate! S'all good!

Yesterday's run - Bush Capital run
Distance - 25km
Time - 2hr 7.11min
Av pace - 5.08min/km
AHR - 173; MHR - 199
Calories - 1,381! (Justified having an Italian hot chocolate later that day)

I have to admit I was a tad worried about the distance as I hadn't run that far in training and in the past week and a half I had probably run twice. I figured that if it got too much I could always walk! Saw Liza before the start - she looked fit and raring to go. Also saw FlashDuck who was still debating what distance to run. As per usual once the run started, everyone raced off like startled rabbits, except for me. I turned on my ipod and settled in for a long and challenging run.

The first part of the run which both those running the 16km and the 25km do is probably the hardest, certainly the steepest. Downhill running is not my forte and this is where I lost time to other runners, namely Kerrie. Surprisingly I was quite strong on the uphills and this is where I'd manage to reel Kerrie back in. However on the downhills and on the flat Kerrie is a lot stronger runner than me, and she would take off, leaving me to follow behind.

All in all, it was a good run and I finished 4th woman, just behind Kerrie. Having Kerrie just ahead of me all the time really helped me to keep going, especially when I was getting tired. Not sure what Liza thought of the run - I hope she enjoyed it.

Later that afternoon I had the best, to-die-for, hot chocolate ever at Beppe's Tuscan Kitchen cafe at the markets. It looked and tasted like melted chocolate - it was very dark and very rich and came with a teaspoon, that's how thick it was! Mr CJ and I also shared a Biscotti Napoli - a shortbread type biscuit with a date and raisin filling. And then last night I made Chocolate Truffles!

Today's run - Mt Taylor handicap run
Distance - 6.8km
Time - 36.08min
Av pace - 5.18min/km
AHR - 164; MHR - 211
Started in Group 26; came in 94th

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Why on earth did I run this morning? My body, especially my legs complained bitterly about the course. I ran slowly listening to my ipod, trying to block out the pain sensations. The highlight was the cappuccino at Babars after the run! Nuff said!

Four things about me.....

Things you may not have known about me.....

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Waitress
2. Supermarket check-out operator
3. Nurse
4. Project officer in the public service

B) Four movies I would watch over and over
1. Shawshank Redemption
2. Breakfast at Tiffany’s
3. Lord of the Rings trilogy
4. any of the Harry Potter movies

C) Four places I have lived
1. Belair, SA
2. Esperance, WA
3. Busselton, WA
4. Scullin, ACT

D) Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. What not to wear
2. Supernatural
3. the new Dr Who
4. The Biggest Loser

E) Four places I have been on holidays:
1. Darwin and Kakadu National Park
2. Singapore/Bangkok/Hong Kong/Manila
3. Forster, NSW
4. Merimbula, NSW

F) Websites visited daily:
1. Hotmail
2 Blogspot
3. Banking site
4. Calorie King

G) Four of my favourite foods/drinks:
1. Chocolate
2. Coffee
3. Pancakes with strawberries
4. Vegetarian pad thai

H) Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Italy
2. Home
3. nice dinner/coffee with friends
4. Retail therapy with friends

I) Four people I think will respond
1. Strewth
2. Hilda
3. Lulu
4. You !!


You know the drill - copy, participate, pass on - if you want to :-)

Tomorrow: 25km Bush Capital run
Sunday: 6.8km Mt Taylor run

I'm back! :-)

Wow! I have been so busy that I have had no time to draw breath, let alone update my blog or look at anyone else's for that matter. I haven't been sick for all of that time though - there was a house move and lots of unpacking happening as well. We are back in our old 'new' house and its great. Everything is so new and clean and pristine and I'm morphing into the mother from hell, or the house nazi as one of my sons called me the other day!

I have managed one run in the past week which is good since there is the Bush Capital 25km happening this Saturday!

Stats:
Distance - 7.5km
Time - 42.58min
Av pace - 5.43min/km
AHR - 145; MHR - 165

I will post some photos of the new house once I'm organised.

Anyway, I'm back! I have lots of reading to catch up on. And its only 17 sleeps until City to Surf!

Blah Blah Blah :-(

Still not well though at least I'm out of bed. However I resemble something out of the Living Dead. Have a good weekend

The fog has descended…again

I don’t know what’s wrong with me but yesterday afternoon I felt so sick that I thought I was going to throw up while driving home after work. Today I feel like crap – headaches, upset tummy, and very tired. I went to the gym this morning for a back and biceps workout and it was a struggle to lift weights, so I took it easy.

Have just ordered cedar blinds for our new house – very exciting.

Hope everyone is feeling a whole lot better than I do and has a great weekend.
****************************************************
“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!” – Dr Seuss

The fog is lifting

I’m referring to the fog in my head. I’m feeling much better compared to earlier in the week when I was grumpy, tired and felt like I was coming down with the dreaded lurgy. However I met Strewth for brekkie this morning and that always puts me in a good mood!

Stats:
Today’s session: interval run – 6 x 2.30min (1min RI)
Distance: 6km
Time: 30.27min
Av pace: 5.05min/km
AHR: 153; MHR: 192

Splits: 4.34 / 4.25 / 4.29 / 4.25 / 4.35 / 4.30min/km

It didn’t feel as cold this morning – there was no frost and it was overcast, which of course meant it was darker than usual. I’m actually really surprised with my splits because my legs felt were really tired and slow. I like this session because its quick and over in half an hour, yet it feels like a really good workout.

Last night’s session: Cycle intervals: increasing & decreasing gears
Stats:
Time: 30mins
AHR: 121; MHR: 145

This is such a tough workout even though my heart rate doesn’t reflect this. Why is that? Trust me, I’m grinding those gears out, the sweat is pouring off me and my legs are burning but my heart rate is frustratingly low. This is one hard workout and I’m always cursing Sharleen (the person responsible for this workout) while I’m doing it but again, its another short workout.

*********************************************************
"Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend." - Albert Camus

Grumpy bum

Everything irritated me yesterday – work, the real estate agency that we are renting the icebox from, family, traffic, the weather, the way the newspaper was folded, the company we are getting a quote for cedar blinds (they wanted to change the carefully planned appointment I had set up several weeks before…grrrr), you get the picture. It was not a good day. So it was probably a very wise decision not to inflict myself on anyone at yesterday evening’s run session.

Today there are traces of irritation but not as bad as yesterday. I’m tired – that half marathon really took it out of me, more than I would admit. But I did get up this morning and run my hill repeats like the obedient little automaton that I am. There was a sense of déjà vu as I ran up and down the hill – whether it was memories of Saturday’s run or last week’s hill repeats I’m not sure – its all starting to blend into one! Though there was no Cindy Lauper this morning; instead it was Foo Fighters, Offspring, Korn and Green Day (suited my mood really!).

Stats:
Session: hill repeats x 12
Distance: 10km
Time: 60.12mins
AHR: 156; MHR: 224

*****************************************
As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.

Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.
~anonymous~

My ‘get up & go’ has got up & gone…

I ran my hardest ever half marathon on Saturday – the Googong off-road half marathon, organised by the Cross Country run. We were lucky with the weather – it looked like it might be a miserable day but it improved, and for a while there was even blue sky. I missed the start because I was talking to Peter and then realised that everyone had taken off. I followed quickly though in hindsight I needn’t have worried – it was never going to be a fast run. I kept to a steady pace up and down the hills – it seemed like we were either going up a hill or down a hill, though I’m sure there were some relatively flattish parts to the course, I just can’t remember them!

Course description and profile - check it out!

Stats:
Distance: 21.1km
Time: 1hr 53.05min (according to my watch)
Av pace: 5.17min/km
AHR: 171; MHR: 187

I was gradually passing other runners and tried to keep Kerri B in sight – which I did until near the end where she took off and I didn’t see her until after I had finished! And I’m not ashamed to say there were times when I walked parts of hills because it was a lot faster than running. Also I am not a great downhill runner and there were some very steep downhill stretches where the ground was very unstable. Though the three or four times I nearly came a cropper happened on the relatively flat bits.

I finished strongly and I was pleased with my run on such a challenging course. Next event is the Bush Capital 25km at the end of July – this course has definitely prepared me for that.

Since the half marathon I have felt really really tired. Sunday was a rest day though I wouldn’t have managed any training with the way I was feeling anyway. This morning I did a legs and shoulders weights session at the gym and I was planning on going to the run session at parliament House after work. However, I still feel really tired (my get up & go has got up & gone) and so I’ve decided to give this session a miss this week.

I’m also sporting a bit of a bump and bruise on my forehead from a little accident I had with a kitchen cupboard last night. I bent down to open it and it swung out more quickly than I had anticipated and I have the imprint of the corner of the door on my forehead! Ouch!

Well done to everyone who competed at the Gold Coast. I know Tesso did really well – yay!!!!!!

*******************************************************
"Aim not for what you are, but for what you could be." - Lucas Hellmer

Its Friday

“How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?” (Dr Seuss)

Have a great weekend. Good luck to those competing at the Gold Coast and to anyone else who may be competing this weekend.

Energizer bunny

Session: Intervals, 6 x 2.30min fast (1min RI)
Distance – 6km
Time – 31min
Av pace – 5.09min/km
AHR – 152; MHR - 190

It was another cold and frosty morning – apparently minus 2 degrees but it looked and felt a lot colder. Because I was meeting Strewth for brekkie at 7.30am I ran my interval session at 6am, in the dark, with my Energizer head lamp for light. Not quite the pink bunny playing a drum and wearing shades and blue sandals (the Energizer bunny) but I was wearing pink; and I kept going and going (the Energizer slogan!) tho’ the battery was getting low.

It was a good run through the frost and fog. Brekkie with Strewth at Sabayon was even better – its one of the highlights of my week.

Wednesday evening
Session – cycle intervals
Time – 30mins
AHR – 124; MHR – 149

I may as well have been doing hill climbs on my bike because that’s exactly what it felt like. For each 3min interval I had to increase by 3 gears and then for the rest interval I could drop 2 gears – the legs were burning and by the end it was really hard pushing the pedals around. Fortunately its all over in half an hour.

***************************************
"Victory isn't defined by wins or losses. It is defined by effort. If you can truthfully say, 'I did the best I could, I gave everything I had,' then you're a winner." - Wolfgang Schadler

More hills……

Obviously I just can’t enough of hill running at the moment. There was the Mt Ainslie run on Sunday, then speedygeoff informs us at running last night that we would be doing laps that include hills (I don’t care what you call them speedygeoff – last night they looked and felt like hills to me!), and then this morning as part of a 10km run I was also doing 12 repeats of Black Mountain peninsular hill. And, get, this is really bizarre, *Twilight Zone music playing* but every time I do these hill repeats the “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” song by Cindy Lauper starts playing, just as I’m doing the 2 hill sprints. Yep, at 6.30am in minus 4 degrees I am having soooo much fun sprinting up and down a very long hill – NOT! Actually when the going got tough I imagined speedygeoff running behind me nagging (sorry – encouraging) me on! It was cold – I had about 3 layers of clothing on plus my bike gloves and my fingers and face still went numb and I wouldn’t have been able to talk to anyone because my lips were frozen together. But I did it and before breakfast too. Mind you, by the time I made my breakfast (rolled oats plus protein powder and sugar-free maple syrup – yum!), it went down without hitting the sides! I was soooo hungry.

This morning’s stats:
Session – 12 hill repeats (gradually increasing the pace with each repeat until I’m sprinting)
Distance – 10km
Time – 58.43min
AHR – 156; MHR – 220!

Last night’s stats:
Session – speedygeoff’s session at Parliament House
Distance – 8.6km (from when my Garmin found a satellite)
Time – 55.30min
AHR - 138; MHR - 190

After a 2 lap warm-up around the House we then headed to the flagpoles for a session that involved running down the hill towards old PH and then turning and running back up the hill on the other side towards the flagpoles, increasing and decreasing the pace along the way (I can’t be any more specific because I don’t think I was actually doing it correctly). I have to admit I did improve with each lap but I certainly didn’t warm up – my fingers gradually lost all feeling because I forgot my gloves.

******************************************
"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit at home and think about it. Go out and get busy." - Dale Carnegie

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.

************************************************
"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

Today's thought

"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You." - Dr. Seuss

Have a good weekend!

Working my butt off?

Wednesday morning

After the site meeting with our architect and builder I managed to fit in the hill repeats. I had been to the gym the day before for a hard leg session (leg press, hamstring curls, lunges with dumbbells) so my legs were feeling a tad weary. However the spirit was strong so I set off for a 15min warm up which took me to the bottom of the Black Mountain peninsular hill. There were 12 hill repeats with the 7th and 8th being sprints – it was probably at this point that “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” popped up on my ipod. I don’t know about having fun – its not a lot of fun when the lungs and legs are burning from the effort of sprinting uphill, but it did spur me on!

Stats:
Distance – 10km
Time taken – 58.49min
AHR – 144; MHR – 201

Yay! I survived the session.

After seeing Mr CJ up to the day surgery unit in the afternoon I went to the gym for a chest/triceps and abs/core session. It was a great time to go to the gym – everyone had gone back to work and I had my choice of equipment.

This morning
Interval session

Stats:
Session – 6 x 2.30min efforts (1min RI)
Distance – 6km
Time – 30.53min
Av pace – 5.12min/km
AHR – 156; MHR – 192

Surprisingly I could still run after all the leg work I’ve been doing lately. This session was done in the dark (its still very dark at 6am these days) so I wore my headlamp – what a handy little item it is. However I have to say that now my butt and my legs are so sore – DOMS has definitely set in. So I have literally been working my butt off – well at least I hope so! ;-)

******************************************************
"It is the `follow through' that makes the great difference between ultimate success and failure, because it is so easy to stop." - Charles F. Kettering

The best laid plans……

I had worked out the perfect training plan for this week – everything slotted perfectly into place and I was happy. Then life got in the way……

Yesterday, Monday:
Noon – easy run with a work colleague, 6.5km
Pm – gym session

Hmm, yes, well it started well – the run at lunchtime was great. We ran the Barbecue Stakes course very gently. It was a lovely day and I really enjoyed it. Then I left work in the afternoon, all set to meet my gym instructor and do an upper body weights session. Fine, except I forgot my shoes. The girl behind the reception desk said in all seriousness; “you’ve got closed toe shoes on haven’t you?”. When I nodded she said “Well you could wear them”. (I kid you not!) I just shook my head – I’m sorry but shorts, t-shirt and ankle boots with heels was not quite the fashion statement I had in mind. And she was serious! Okay, so no gym session – I decided to have the evening off.

Today
Am – hill run
Pm – cycle intervals

Ok, no hill session because I got a call from the builder asking if I could meet with the painters early in the morning. I decided to bring the cycle intervals forward and do them before breakfast (ohmigod, what a hard session to do before eating. I focused on the fat burning that it surely must be doing!) The gym session I missed yesterday I would do after work.

Wednesday
Am – gym session
Pm – long run

Ooops, forgot – Mr CJ goes in for day surgery tomorrow afternoon so looks like the long run might be out. Never mind I will move that somewhere. Then a call from the architect – can we have a site meeting early in the morning because she has another meeting afterwards. Right, the planned gym session with the instructor is canned yet again but I will go to the gym later in the morning. Will try and fit in the hill run sometime in the afternoon, in between getting Mr CJ to the hospital and then collecting him afterwards.

Thursday
Am – swim
Pm – yoga

Actually this will probably work unless Strewth has other plans for the morning – I hope not! But I might have to fit in a long run at lunchtime as well.

Friday
Am – gym session

Looking good but I might also have to add in the interval session at lunchtime, otherwise I’ll have to do it on Saturday.

Saturday
I am trying to keep this as my rest day *fingers crossed*

Sunday
Mt Ainslie run, 9.3km.

************************************************************
"How committed are you? There is a remarkable difference between a commitment of 99% and 100%." - Vic Conant

Goal achieved: 16th female and a PB!!!!!! :-)

Stats:
Distance: 10.12km (maybe that takes into account where I started in the pack)
Time: 45.20min (8sec PB!!!!)
Av pace: 4.29min/km
AHR: 172; MHR: 188

Splits:
1 - 5.07min/km (conservative start)
2 - 4.39
3 - 4.26
4 - 4.31
5 - 4.25
6 - 4.21
7 - 4.18
8 - 4.21
9 - 4.28
10 - 4.12
11 - 4.29 (0.12km - 32sec!)

I had a great run yesterday at the Terry Fox 10km fun run. Believe me, it was fun – I thoroughly enjoyed my run. Its days like that that make me really appreciate my running. My goal was to place in the first 25 women so I could have my time officially recorded. Saw Flash Duck, Strewth, Mr B, John Boy, Allrounder (who I might say had an awesome run), speedygeoff, Katie (speedy goose?) and Running Girl. It was perfect running weather. I started conservatively and a fair way back in the starting pack – I have decided I need to start slowly and come home hard – works for me. Mr B accidentally(?!) tried to nobble me not long after the start by treading on my foot and I almost got my legs in a twist! Fortunately I managed to untangle myself and keep on running, keeping a respectable distance between me and Mr B!

Naturally I was listening to my ipod and it was playing a lot of 80’s music such as Break My stride, Round and Round, Counting the Beat, etc – as you can see, perfect running music! Heading towards the turnaround point I started counting the number of women that were heading back to the finish and it was looking a bit worrying –there seemed to be quite a few ahead of me, including Allrounder. I started to pick up my pace for the second half of the race and would try and catch the next woman in front of me. Fortunately I picked up quite a few running in a group not long after the turnaround and then after that it was one or two here and there. The hills didn’t bother me – my legs felt really strong and I felt so comfortable. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire race. And to come in 16th woman topped it off – it was a great morning! And……wait for it….I didn’t have the post-race pancakes with maple syrup. But I did have a coffee! :-)

Well done to everyone else who ran – just getting out there and doing it is an achievement in itself.

How did others go over the weekend? Did anyone else run…in any event, or even a training run?

**********************************************************
"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." - Herman Cain

Its Friday

Another cold night in the icebox (aka the house) followed by another morning at the gym. Below are some words I came across and they really struck a chord. Enjoy!

Now is the time

Whatever happened on the previous attempt doesn't matter anymore. What matters is what you do now.

Though you may have failed once, or numerous times, or a thousand times, that has no bearing on what you're able to do now. In fact, each failed attempt brings you closer to success.

By discovering what does not work, you have more information to help you know what does work. The more you have invested in the goal, the more motivated you are to make it succeed.

Effort is never wasted, even when it leads to disappointing results. For it always makes you stronger, more capable and more experienced.

Now is the time to make use of all that strength and experience. Now is the time to push forward with more commitment and effectiveness than ever before.

Take great satisfaction in where you have been and in how far you have come. Now is your opportunity to make it into real and lasting success. (Ralph Marston)

Have a good weekend everyone and if anyone is racing, enjoy, and here's to PBs all round!

Who turned the heater off?

It has been soooo cold here in Canberra lately – overnight temps have been sub zero; it was minus 7 the other day and about minus 4 this morning plus fog. The house we are currently renting – a lovely old double brick Turner house – is like an icebox in cold weather; it has such inadequate heating (and don’t get me started on the dodgy plumbing). The only positive I can see at the moment is that I must be burning more calories just trying to keep warm – all this without raising a sweat! I am so looking forward to getting back to our house with its ducted heating, double glazed windows and lots of insulation – hopefully next month. So another month of living in an icebox.

Another way of keeping warm in the icebox is doing bike intervals on the windtrainer indoors and that is exactly what I did last night. I have an updated exercise plan for the next 6 weeks and the cycle session was a change from the 10 x 2min intervals that I have been doing.

Cycle session:
5min wu
5min pick up the pace and maintain (light resistance)
Increase 3 gears for 3min
Drop back 2 gears for 2mins
Repeat twice
Increase 4 gears for 3min
Drop back 3 gears for 2min
5min CD

Increasing each time was hard work and I was grinding away by the end for the never-ending 3 mins but the amazing thing was when I dropped back the 2 gears it felt so much easier, and yet before, cycling at that level of resistance was really hard work (if that makes sense).

Yesterday morning
Gym session – legs/arms plus abs/core

I am up to pushing 82kg on the leg press (no need to smirk) and managing more reps on the dumbbell curls – I had so many problems with this particular exercise. However, I have a new resistance and abs/core program starting tomorrow so I’m looking forward to that. I like a variety of exercises. Tomorrow I will be focusing on back and biceps plus abs/core.

This morning
Swim session – 700m, about 15.30min

I must be stark raving mad even contemplating swimming in subzero temperatures. Its an indoor pool but there’s still the walk to and from the pool to endure. However the pool was really warm this morning and I managed 700m –I’m slowly on my way to reaching a km which I will then maintain. So next week I will aim for 800m. There were a couple of guys who got in my lane after me and hogged most of the lane when swimming. The first couple of times I would knock one of the guys with my arm as he was swimming toward me, and I was right over to my side of the lane almost hugging the lane rope. He must have got the hint to move eventually which was lucky for him because there was going to be a fist greeting him next time he swam into me – hehehe pool rage! :-) Following the swim I had brekkie with Strewth - I always look forward to this!

Have a great day everyone!

*****************************************
Thought for the day: If you rest, you rust – Helen Hayes

Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest

Last night before I hit the gym for my cardio session I dumped my bags in the car and tossed my wallet onto the front seat, fully intending to take it with me. So what did I see when I got back to the car after my session, sitting in full view on the front seat? Yep, my wallet – with credit cards and cash (not a lot but still…). I cannot believe I did something so dumb (well, secretly I can but I have a public image to uphold!) though I have to admit as far as dumb things go, that was probably the dumbest act I’ve committed for a while. Anyone else got any dumb incidents to relate?

Operation Mayday, a 12 week program I started last month is in full swing. I am now in week 7 (not 12)*thanks Strewth, for pointing out the error!* and have lost a total of 2kg but centimetres off my waist, hips and thighs. Yay! Now if I could just budge that problematic ab fat I’d be an ecstatic CJ! I know there are awesome well defined abs underneath the fat somewhere!

So I’ve been gymming, running, cycling (on the windtrainer – its too cold outdoors) and actually feel really good despite being surrounded by people coughing, sneezing, spluttering and making other awful phlegmy noises, yech.

This coming Sunday I am running in the 10km Terry Fox 10km fun run which is followed by pancakes with maple syrup – yum! If I can finish in the top 25 women I’ll be happy – the top 25 get their times recorded.

*********************************************************
"Your only limitations are those you set up in your mind, or permit others to set up for you." - Og Mandino

Suggestions welcome!

Had a few responses for the commandments of running but need more suggestions!

#1: Thou shalt not run so soon after eating

#2: Do not eat "banned substances" on the evening prior to a race ...Curry, Spicey Thai, etc (Iliketoast)

#3: Do not go out into the pouring rain for a run dressed like it is summer! (Kit)

#4: Do not run if you ate a hamburger 4 hours before... (Hilda)

#5: Do not run with children 7 years old... (Hilda)

#6: Thou shalt not run listening to music which is faster than your normal pace (or at least, you won't run for very long). (thanks Deege!)

#7: run while injured or sick (yay, v sensible Go Girl - and haven't we all done that!)

#8: run with very boring shoes on (Go Girl - v important and personally I like red shoes - they go faster)

#9: Fall into the habit of going for gentle jogs with the 4 yo on his bike, and then take his training wheels off - it becomes a speed session! (Tamyka)

#10: Thou shalt not do speed sessions over icy wooden bridges. (Aki)

#11: Thou shalt not run without gloves in minus 2 degrees (or minus anything for that matter! - Strewth)

#12: Thou shalt not run in the dark without a torch or headlamp off-road in the dark! (Strewth speaking from experience)

#13: Thou shalt not run on a Monday, the runner's day of rest (Tuggeranong Don)

#14: Never, ever run with twisted shoe laces! (Hmmm, something you've done Wobbly?)

#15: Thou shalt not forget to put copius amounts of bodyglide/vaseline on before long runs (I can so relate to that Hannah!)

#16: Thou shalt not attempt to engage in conversation with other runners while going up extremely large hills (Hannah)

#17: Do not run if you have an angry dog behind you (or run very very fast Stefano?!)

Well?!.....waiting......

Ten commandments of running

1st Commandment: Thou shalt not run so soon after eating

I broke this commandment yesterday afternoon and very nearly lived to regret it. I had an interval session to do after work so I scoffed down my afternoon tea about 3.15pm and then promptly forgot I had done this. At 3.45pm I was out the door starting my run and for the first 8 x 2min intervals, I felt fine. But then it hit – waves of nausea, indigestion and basically feeling like s**t. I was sooooo relieved when I finished my run and immediately started to feel better when my stomach contents weren't being jiggled. This is something I don’t normally do – generally I eat about an hour and a half before I run but yesterday I wasn’t thinking – probably had something to do with the amount of work I had and the thought that I had to fit in a run somewhere. Never again!

I have no idea what the other 9 commandments might be – suggestions welcome!

Monday morning

Session – gym – legs/arms plus abs/core exercises

Saturday

Session – long run

Distance – 14.7km
Time – 1hr 20.28min
Av pace – 5.27min/km
AHR – 152; MHR – 169

It was a really good run – it really was a ‘fun’ run – non-runners think I’m mad calling any run fun but this one was. It was a lovely morning and I ran around part of Lake Burley Griffin and then home. I’m so glad I decided to run first thing in the morning because the wind picked up later that morning and it ended up being a bitterly cold day.

******************************************************
There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream ~ Author Unknown

Slo Mo Day

Ever have one of those days when no matter how hard you try you just can’t seem to go any faster or get away any sooner? I am having one of those days today. No matter that I got out of bed at 5.30am with the intention of getting to the gym by 6.15am – I didn’t even get out the door until after 6.30am – and I had packed all my bags the night before. Then at the gym I tried, really tried, to work through my reps and sets but it seemed to take forever and so any idea of getting to work by 8.15am flew out the window. In fact, it was probably 9am before I managed to make it to my desk.

Maybe it’s the weather (its still very wet, grey and miserable), maybe its because it’s the end of the working week or maybe its just because my batteries are running low. Or maybe, its sabotage…..all day yesterday I resisted those yummy Haighs choc coated caramel balls sitting on the table behind me at work but by 5pm when I was here by myself, those damn balls began talking to me. I swear they were whispering “eat me, eat me” behind my back and whatever willpower I had left just crumbled. Ok I‘ll have just one, that will do, well maybe two. But then that would leave 2 left and I will only eat them tomorrow so I may as well eat them now – so I did. When will I ever learn that I will never be happy with just one chocolate, unless its one packet or one bar! So maybe it’s the chocolate that’s slowing me down!

I was planning on running at lunchtime but judging by the gloom outside my window I don’t think that will be happening. This means that I’ll be running both Saturday and Sunday. Oh well, at least I can manage a sleep-in on both those days and still run.

As for the house renovations – I will post some photos as soon as I get organised. Promise!
******************************************************

Today's Affirmation: I have made a choice to be happy. :-)

Jelly legs

I was particularly hard on my legs yesterday. First I had the weights session in the morning, which focused on legs, and followed this with 20mins on the stepper. Then after work it was on my bike on the windtrainer for the mother of all interval sessions – 10 x 2min efforts with 1 min RI.

Time on bike – 40min, inc 5min WU and 5min CD.
AHR – 132
MHR – 163

Compared to last week, my AHR was about the same but my MHR was a little higher so I must have been working harder! It certainly felt like it. If I don’t lose those lumpy bumpy thighs over the next 7 weeks then nothing will shift them (the lumps and bumps, that is, not my thighs!). I always feel like I’ve put in a hard session after being on my bike.

Wet, wet, wet

Its raining today – something we haven’t seen here for a long while. And I also went swimming and then had brekkie with Strewth and Mr B.

Session – swim
Distance – 600m
Time – 13.09min

A much better swim than last week but I still felt a little uncoordinated – its scary how much fitness and technique I seem to lose after a couple of months of no swimming.

Island problems and other house things

Well, our kitchen has arrived and is being installed – in fact, it should probably be about finished by now. Up until now we have had a relatively problem-free renovation but yesterday that was about to change. I showed up for the site meeting after work to see the architect, the builder, the installer and Mr CJ standing around several cupboard modules, all with extremely worried looks on their faces. Not good, not good. It seems that the island was way too big for the kitchen and looked out of place so they were trying various configurations – it was like moving large lego blocks around. Several hours later the installer (Harry – lovely guy), Mr CJ and I finally came up with a smaller configuration that we can live with – and we only lose one small cupboard. So *fingers crossed* the rest of the installation has gone well. No doubt I will hear from Mr CJ later this afternoon when he goes around to have a look.

The bathroom has been waterproofed, now if they can just find our custom built vanities which seem to have gone missing (from the factory), our bathroom should be completed next week. The tiles will be delivered tomorrow/Monday.

The front door is up (its so cool – I love it) but will get a 2 pack polyurethane coating in black once the house has been completed. The painters will start in a couple of weeks, we just have to decide on colours (more decisions). They will start on the decks soon, and the completion date looks to be the end of June. It’s all looking good (except for the kitchen island issue and hopefully that’s been resolved).

"Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional" - Roger Crawford

Tell me why.......

One thing has got me fascinated when at the gym and its those people who sit on the exercise bikes with a magazine and look like they are going for a gentle cycle. So, what exactly are they achieving by doing what appears to me to be a pointless exercise as they are hardly raising a sweat and I doubt their heart rate gets about their resting rate? As for me, there is no doubts about what I’ve been doing – working my butt off as the sweat is pouring off me – not pretty but effective. I just can’t see the point of going to the gym to read a magazine – there are a lot more comfortable places to do that and sitting on an exercise bike is not one of them…or the stepper for that matter.

This morning’s session – gym – legs/arms + abs/core

The biceps curl exercise is coming along slowly – I am managing to do a couple of extra reps on the 2nd and 3rd sets. I’m still lifting girlie weights but its such hard work. The ab exercise using the 3kg medicine ball ain’t a lot of fun either – buts again, its effective. I think of all the people that annoy me as I’m sitting and twisting (with feet off the floor and sitting leaning back) and lugging the medicine ball from side to side – seems to help!

Yesterday afternoon – cardio session, elliptical trainer

Duration – 20mins
MHR – 167

I was meant to do 40mins: 20mins on the elliptical trainer followed by 20mins on the stepper but after waiting around for what seemed like ages for someone to finish on the stepper machine I decided to cut my losses and do the session the next morning after my weights session (which I did). It was one of those hot and sweaty sessions!

*************************************************
If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it.
(Jesse Jackson, American civil-rights leader, baptist minister and politician)

Runners aren’t obsessed…..are we?!

The reason I say/ask this is because last night at speedygeoff’s interval session at Parliament House it was hilarious listening to people’s comments/questions re the distance we were running around the various tracks. There was checking and double checking people’s times against estimated distances and then comparing these against distances tracked by Garmins. Nah, we’re not obsessed, its called ‘attention to detail’!

Anyway it was quite a fun session, even if I say so myself. Many of us were prepared for night-time running this week and had torches or headlights for the dark stretches of the runs. The short intervals were just as hard as the longer ones because these included a nasty little hill near the finish. In all, we ran 3 longer intervals (approx. 800m) and 3 shorter ones (approx. 400m) and in total we probably ran about 8km, including the warm up and cool down.

Last Friday 26 May

Session – Gym – legs/arms plus core/abs

I think it well – seems so long ago now!

Saturday

Session – Moderate run

Distance – 9.5km
Time – 50.21min
Av pace – 5.15min/km
AHR – 152; MHR – 168

This was left later in the day because I desperately wanted to sleep-in and then we had to go shopping and before I knew it, several coffees and lunch later, it was getting late in the afternoon and I still hadn’t run. Hmmm. The glute was ever so sore which is really frustrating because I have cut back on my running and I am stretching all the rest. Anyway it was a reasonable run.

Sunday

Session – Vets’ monthly run – Oakey Hill

Distance – 7.5km
Time – 38.12min
Av pace – 5.06min/km
AHR – 167; MHR – 180
Started in Group 25
Place – 85, I think

It was a very undulating run but a lot of it I was familiar with, from running the Barbecue Stakes – parts of this course was similar to that run. I ran it very conservatively mainly because my glute was sore and it didn’t like hilly courses. This meant that I was passed by a lot, if not all, the back markers – they all hurtled past at some point, huffing, puffing, and generally making a lot of noise. At one point, when crossing a wooden style-type thing, I looked behind only to see a group of very fast, very focussed men charging towards me – I moved very quickly to avoid being run over! All in all, it was a comfortable run, though definitely not one of my fastest.

Monday 29 May

Our kitchen arrived today – though you would be hard pressed to know it was a kitchen – it looked like a lot of lengths of wood of varying lengths.

Session – gym – back/chest/shoulder plus abs/core

Increased the weights on my most of my exercises knowing that I was going to pay the price the following day.

****************************************************
"Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself."
Harvey Fierstein

Q. How long is 2 minutes?

A. An excruciatingly long time when I am doing intervals on my bike!

Last night I was scheduled to do an interval session on my bike, on the windtrainer – 10 x 2min intervals with 1min RI. However, after getting home from our site meeting with the builder and architects I was thinking that maybe I could re-schedule this session to another day. However I had apparently mentioned that I should get on my bike and so Mr CJ had very obligingly set up my bike and windtrainer in the spare room, as it was very cold outside. What could I do? Looks like I was doing the bike session after all!

The last time I got on my bike was 10 December last year! I felt very rusty when I first started and my legs felt very heavy and slow. Not only that, I was experiencing the muscle burn and I had only just started! I would start the 2min interval, pedal madly, feel my heart rate rise rapidly (though it only maxed out at 157), think 'I must've done about a minute by now', look at my watch, nup, still another 1min 20sec to go, and so it would go with me checking my watch about every 20sec!

Time: 40min inc 5min WU; 10 X 2min intervals (1min RI); 5min CD
AHR: 132; MHR: 157

By the time I had finished I had jelly legs, sweat pouring off me (again) and I was definitely not cold! However it was another night of falling asleep in the lounge, under the pretence of watching TV!

Wednesday morning – gym session

Now this was a morning that I would have stayed in bed if I had known what was ahead of me. I arrived at the gym for my back/chest/shoulders session plus abs, loaded with my work gear and showering stuff, only to be told that there was no water and it wouldn’t be back on until about 10am due to a burst water main. Great! This probably meant there would be no water at work either – my other option for a shower. So I did my session and then drove home for a shower – the traffic was a bit heavier now so it took a bit longer. Then I drove back to work in Canberra peak-hour traffic only to spend the next 20mins looking for a car park. Once I found one it was a great hike to my office lugging all my bags containing all very necessary stuff. Grrrr.....

************************************************
Apparently, what you think about most moulds your attitude.
So today's affirmation: My thoughts are positive and self-empowering. :-)

Sweat baby sweat

Because of the cold and inclement weather yesterday afternoon I decided to forgo the run outdoors and do my 40min cardio session at the gym. I lugged my backpack (containing my running clothes), my ‘Shop til you drop’ tote bag containing stuff I need during the day at work such as food containers, organiser, work shoes (I wear joggers to the car) etc, my green shopping bag containing food items I had bought at the supermarket during my lunchbreak, and my shoulder bag to the car – it was a weight training session in itself.

Once changed and with my trusty ipod strapped on I hit the elliptical trainer for 20mins getting faster and increasing the resistance the longer I was on there. The sweat was pouring off me – looked pretty gross. Then I followed this up with 20mins on the stepper, again increasing the intensity. It looked pretty funny when I increased the resistance for the final hard 5min session – I could barely push the pedals down! And then when I reduced the resistance I nearly drove the pedal through the floor! By the end I was hot, sweaty and feeling pretty chuffed with myself for completing a hard cardio session.

After dinner, dishes and making my lunch for the next day I lay on the carpet in the lounge to watch TV, in front of the heater, and promptly fell asleep.

Tuesday morning

Session – SWIM
Distance – 500m (!)
Time – 11.29min

The 5th of January was the last time I went swimming and on that day I swam 1km. Tuesday morning I swam 500m and I felt every metre of that 500m! Well, actually, the first 50m was great – no worries, this will be a breeze. The 2nd 50m was a bit more difficult and by the 3rd 50m I was finding it hard work. How on earth did I manage to synchronise breathing with moving arms and legs and actually moving down the pool? I thought these processes were imprinted in my muscle memory – I guess my muscles were having a senior’s moment ie short-term memory loss! However by the 450m I was beginning to improve but that may be because I could see the end in sight. Next week I have set myself the challenge of swimming 600m. The best thing about swimming in the morning is the breakfast afterwards with Strewth and Mr B. It was at Sabayon and I had a cappuccino and french toast with berries and maple syrup – yummo.

Fun, fun, fun

Gosh I can’t remember the last time I’ve had so much fun running hills as I did at last night’s session at Parliament House. It was a crisp night (read – bloody freezing cold) but the company and the actual session soon warmed me up. (How’s that Geoff – have I gushed sufficiently?!)

Seriously I’m glad I showed up for speedygeoff’s session last night. I think I need some company when running at the moment – takes my mind off all my niggles and provides motivation that is sadly lacking.

The session involved intervals of about 600m on 5mins and this included 3 times up the hill for each interval. It was hard work but I felt myself improving with each one. However my glute complained bitterly about the hills and in fact is still complaining this morning.

Monday morning – gym session
Lower body weights plus arms session plus core stability and strength exercises.

More fun than I can handle on a Monday morning! Did my leg press, leg extension, swiss ball squat with weights, biceps curl and overhead triceps extension, concentrating on form. My biceps curl is pretty sad – I start well with 12 reps in the first set but by the third set all I can manage is about 3 reps.

Sunday – rest day – this involved sleeping in and retail therapy later in the day!

Saturday – long run
Distance – 12km
Time – 1hr 08.51min
Av pace – 5.45min/km
AHR – 144; MHR – 192

A pleasant run that I did early in the morning. I ran down to Lake Burley Griffin and then anti-clockwise, stopping at the top of the hill going down to Scrivener Dam, and then retraced my steps. I didn’t look at my watch while running – preferring just to run comfortably and if that was at a slow pace, so be it.

Thanks for all the encouraging comments I received following my whinge. I’ve decided to just run for fun and pleasure at the moment and not train for anything until the glute and foot settle down again. I’m looking to running the Vet’s half marathon in late August with several runs before including Terry Fox 10km next month, Bush Capital 25km in late July and City to Surf in August. While I’ll hope to run a decent half marathon time, I’m not planning on great times for the other races.

Meanwhile I’ll enjoy being a gym junkie for a few months!

I am so over running

*Warning – a whinge coming up*

I know, I never thought I would utter those words so I should wash my mouth out with soap – oh such blasphemy. But honestly, I’m sick of the little niggles I have that just won’t go away, like my glute problem and the new problem with my left foot – I seem to have irritated a nerve (I have the tendency to do that!) under the ball of my foot and when I run I get a burning pins and needles sensation – not pleasant. And lately when I run, its more like plodding. Its such hard work.

Ok, enough of the whingeing. I’m sure I’ll get over it. I think its lack of chocolate that’s making me grumpy. However, the fact that I also helped another runner to a PB at the half marathon last Sunday (yay Liza!) has cheered me up a little.

This morning at the bright and early hour of 6.30am I was back in the gym doing an upper body session followed by core stability and strength exercises (yes Ewen, I’m not solely focusing on my abs!). Observed a touch of gym rage, if you could call it that, when an older woman and a young one argued over the length of time the younger one was on the cross-trainer. Thought it might come to fisticuffs but then the older woman huffed and puffed and plonked herself on the bike and waited, looking at her watch every now and then just to make a point!

Yesterday:
Moderate run

Distance: 8.6km
Time: 49.10min
Av pace: 5.42min/km
AHR: 140; MHR: 161

Felt like I had lead weights tied to my legs – it was miserable. I have never felt so slow and awkward as I did when running yesterday. I think my average pace says it all.

Wednesday

Morning session: gym – lower body weights plus core stability and strength exercises

Lunchtime session: run inc 7 x 2min intervals (1min RI)
Distance: 6.6km
Time: 34.14min
Av pace: 5.09min/km

It was actually not too bad a run. I think I prefer running in the middle of the day as opposed to the end of the day, after work. Hungry all afternoon though and felt like a nana nap.

Desperately seeking abs

If I take a deep breath, suck in my stomach, squint my eyes, breathe in a little deeper, turn sideways to the mirror, squint some more, suck the stomach in even harder until I’m blue in the face and in danger of passing out, I can just glimpse an ab muscle there. Trouble is I can’t walk around like that – apart from suffering from extreme oxygen deprivation, I’d look a little strange.

So I was back in the gym at lunchtime lifting weights, then getting all hot and sweaty on the elliptical trainer and stepper, and finally finishing off with the all-important ab exercises. I’ll find those ab muscles or die trying!

I went for a run yesterday afternoon, after work. Now I’m a hardcore morning runner so running after work was a major challenge for me but I did it (the many excuses I had just didn’t stand up to logical analysis!). The bizarre thing was that I felt really slow but in actual fact, my pace was no slower than the other days when I do this session before work. Hmmm, strange.

Distance: 5.7km inc 7 x 2min intervals (1min RI)
Time: 29.29min
Av pace: 5.10min/km
AHR: 150; MHR: 167

Ps: Just to set the record straight, in case anyone thought I was having a right old whinge about Sunday’s run –I was happy with my time, it was just the way I felt – like crap! But I’m glad I played a part in Aki getting a PB. Can’t ask for more than that!

Not pretty

Run: Canberra half marathon, 21.1km
Time taken: 1hr 44.44min
Av pace: 4.55min/km
AHR: 172; MHR: 224

I’ve decided that sometimes its probably better to listen to your body. On Sunday morning it was telling me that it really didn’t want to run a half marathon. Seeing as it was Mother’s Day all it really wanted to do was sleep in and get breakfast in bed. However I ignored the nagging little voice in my head (bad move) and reluctantly got up to have breakfast and get ready for the run. I certainly wasn’t going to be firing on all cylinders today…….

There were lots of people milling around the start near the yacht club when we arrived. It actually wasn’t as cold as I imagined it would be so it wasn’t too hard removing my jacket: 5*c instead of minus 5*c! There was the usual jostling for places, banter about times people were hoping to run and then we were off – for me it was to the Korn song “Twisted Transistor”.

Aki ran alongside me, just ahead or just behind me for most of the way. Liza, who I hadn’t seen since the half marathon in August last year, ran past me near Scrivener Dam. She did say something to me but I couldn’t hear because of the music playing so she said she would see me at the end. She was running really well and looked very comfortable. I, in the meantime, was feeling like crap and probably looking it and everything hurt – my feet, my hamstring and my ever-present companion, the niggly glute. At the 15km mark I would’ve been quite happy to finish – I really wasn’t interested. Aki was storming ahead and looking so good – that girl has improved out of sight over the past year. Mr B passed me not long past the turnaround near the Carillon. In fact, it felt like everyone was passing me.

After what seemed like an eternity pounding the pavement it was wonderful to see the finish shute. It’s hard to believe that a little over a month ago I ran twice the distance faster and a whole lot better than I ran this race. Spoke to a jubilant Liza who had run a great race and a PB. Also spoke to Mr B who had run about 1hr 42min for his first half marathon. Whereas Strewth and I looked like we were over the whole running thing!

Something I did learn: Lots of gym work, no taper, a high protein/mod carb diet and half marathons don’t go together! C’est la vie....and back to the gym tomorrow.

Dead legs

Session: 7 x 2min intervals (1min RI)
Distance: 6km
Time taken: 31.40min
Av pace: 5.17min/km (it felt faster than this!)
AHR: 154; MHR: 191

This morning’s interval session was bloody hard work after the lower body weights session yesterday. However I worked my arse off during the 7 x 2min fast intervals and mentally ticked them off as I completed each one. Some days are like this – I persevere and push through the tiredness, the heaviness and slowness and yet on other days I just completely wimp out. So a good short session this morning.

Tomorrow: Rest day though will do ab/core stability and strength exercises

Sunday – Canberra half marathon & Mothers Day. So happy mothers day to all the mothers out there!

Gym junkie or gym monkey?

I fear its probably the latter – I’m still familiarising myself with the large assortment of equipment in the upstairs gym (it’s a lot bigger than the women’s gym and contains bigger, scarier and heavier equipment), let alone trying to work out how to use what looks like torture equipment. Also, I’m so uncoordinated when it comes to some of the cardio equipment – especially the elliptical trainer. If I don’t think about what I’m doing I’m okay – my arms and legs know what to do. Bust as soon as I start thinking about what I am doing or even look at what I’m doing my arms and legs refuse to work together. One day I’ll manage to wrap myself around the bloody machine!

Anyways…this morning’s workout – Gym

Lower body and arms weights session:
·Leg press
·Leg extension
·DB squat with swiss ball
·DB biceps curl
·DB overhead triceps extension

This was followed by ab/core strength and stability exercises:
·Back extension with swiss ball
·V-sit – twisting with medicine ball (character building)
·Bicycle crunches
·Modified plank – 3 x 40sec

Tonight: yoga

Tomorrow: 30min interval run

A balmy morning

Dream on.....but it was a lot warmer than yesterday. This morning at 6am it was 10*c. I had a great sleep last night thanks to flogging myself at some ungodly hour at the gym yesterday morning.

A conversation between Mr CJ and myself at night, in front of the TV, usually goes something like this:
Me: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Mr CJ: snore, snort, mumble, snore, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Oh yes, we lead interesting lives!

This morning’s run:

Distance: 9km
Time taken: 49.14min
Av pace: 5.26min/km
AHR: 150; MHR: 173

I ran down to Lake Burley Griffin, taking the cycle path alongside Clunies Ross Rd. Once at the lake I headed toward Regatta Point before turning and heading back the same way. This route takes me over several hills and I’ve come to realise that I am very much out of practice. Honestly I sounded like a chain smoker the way I was huffing and puffing and wheezing up the hills – almost had to stop for a breather at the top!

No after effects from my gym workout yesterday – unlike last week when even getting dressed the following day posed a challenge because my arms, back and shoulders were soooooo sore.

Four sleeps to the Canberra half marathon. And I've entered the Terry Fox 10km run which will be on Sunday June 18.

Its unnatural……..

…to be at the gym at 6.30am doing a weights session but that’s where I found myself this morning, bleary eyed and definitely not bushy tailed. The 6.30am slot was the only one I could get with a trainer (funny that), though the trainer Nicole insisted that there were always people queuing outside the doors at 5am waiting to get in. Sick!

This morning it was an upper body weights session consisting of:
·Lat pulldown to front
·Cable seated row
·Machine bench press
·Pec deck fly (mean machine - its so cool)
·Seated dumbbell press (these are so hard!)
·Barbell upright row

This was followed by ab/core strength and stability exercises:

·Back extension with swiss ball
·Swimming
·V-sit – twisting with a medicine ball (character building to say the least)
·Reverse crunch

And then this was followed by:
·10min on stepper (increasing resistance)
·20min on elliptical trainer (increasing resistance)
·10min stepper (again increasing then decreasing resistance)

And all this before 8am! The downside is that by 3pm I’m in dire need of a nana nap.

Yesterday (Monday)
Run including 7 x 2min intervals (1min RI)

Distance: 6.3km
Time taken: 33.26min
Av pace: 5.17min/km
AHR: 154; MHR: 208

Chilly, chilly, chilly. Gloves, headbands, and tights weather - okay I'm a wuss! But it was about minus 1 at 6am. Not too many people about at that time – even the cyclists seem to have given away their riding until later in the morning. Just as long as any weirdos also find it too cold to be roaming about as well. A good run and nothing out of the unusual happened (eg no alien abductions).

What are my plans? Hmmmm…… I am running in the Canberra half marathon this coming Sunday. I’m still weighing up my options with the Gold Coast marathon. At the moment I’m just enjoying running relatively injury-free (which I’m sad to say appears to put me in the minority at the moment). So everyone out there (Tesso, Jen, Lulu, Kit, Cirque, Hilda, and anyone else I have forgotten) with injuries, whether niggly or major, I sincerely hope it gets better and you can get back to running. Hang in there guys - positive vibes coming your way! ;-)

Earth to CJ........

No, I have not been sucked up by any spaceships for testing by aliens; I have not fallen off the face of the earth; I have not given up all of my earthly possession and sworn a vow of poverty; I have not gone into self-imposed exile due to over consumption of chocolate; but I have been very very busy! And not having internet access at home also makes it difficult to update my blog.

So rather than bore you to tears with what I have been up to since god knows when, here is a brief update of the life of CJ:

April
Friday 28 – 6km run; 33.06min; av pace – 4.46min/km

Saturday 29 – 16km run; 1hr 27.23min; av pace – 5.28min/km

Sunday 30 – monthly vets run at Majura nature park, 10km hilly course
Went off in Group 25; Finished in 36th place
Time – 47.43min; Av pace – 4.46min/km

May
Monday 1 – Operation May Day begins
This means cleaning up my diet; and increasing my exercise because I have put on 3kg and feel like a fat and lazy blob. So for 12 weeks I will clean up my act.
pm – did ab exercises

Tuesday 2 – 25th wedding anniversary!!!!!!!
Interval run including 7 x 2min hard (1min easier)
6.3km; 32.54min; Av pace – 5.09min/km
Noon – Gym – did upper body weights plus abs

Went out for dinner so put diet on hold for one night!!!!

Wednesday 3 –
8.9km run; 49.14min; Av pace – 5.31min/km
pm – ab exercises

Thursday 4 –
Noon – Gym – lower body weights session followed by 20mins on elliptical trainer, 10mins on rower and 10mins on stepper. I was knackered when finished!
Pm – yoga

Friday 5 –
Interval run including 7 x 2min hard (1min easier)
6.4km; 33.31min; Av pace – 5.13min/km
pm – ab exercises

Saturday 6 –
Long run – 20km; 1hr 50.08min; Av pace – 5.30min/km

Sunday 7 – Rest day (and I hab a cold...sniff)

So I have been busy – at work and outside of work. But I will try and keep my blog up-to-date and not get so far behind in future.

In short – I’M BACK!

Much ado about nothing really

Not a lot to say really. I've been running, eating, sleeping and all the rest of it. A temporary respite until I get back into it all on 1 May - Operation Mayday. Feeling like a fatty bombatty and have put on a number of kilos since the marathon.

Saturday run - my 'long' run

Distance - 10.7km
Time taken - 1hr
Av pace - 5.38min/km
AHR - 142; MHR - 164

Ran with my good friend Kezza who is back from Alice Springs - a bit of a change in weather for her. It was apparently minus 6 that morning though by the time we started running it was about minus 3 and quickly warming up. It was a great run at a very leisurely pace around Lake Ginninderra, with a little out and back section added on. Afterwards we had a coffee at Black Pepper cafe, went home, showered, changed and then met up again with Kezza and Strewth for lunch at Bayswiss in the Mall.

That evening we went to a surprise 50th birthday for the The Hare.

Monday run

Distance - 8.4km inc 7 x 100m strides
Time taken - 45.20min
Av pace - 5.22min/km
AHR - 149; MHR - 184

I've been sort of following the post-marathon program in last month's Runners World so this week the aim is to introduce some faster running and get the legs moving a bit quicker than they have been lately. So I elected to run 7 x 100m strides evenly spread out on this run. The first one was a bit rusty but I gradually found my stride by the 7th! Notice the average pace of each run is slowly getting a little quicker.

This morning's run

Distance - 6km
Time taken - 32.03min
Av pace - 5.18min/km
AHR - 144; MHR - 158

Had a long debate with myself this morning about whether or not to go for a short run. Evil CJ wanted to stay in bed for as long as possible, then shower, have breakfast and get to work in record time. Saint CJ meanwhile wanted to get out in the brisk morning air and burn some calories before breakfast - she won the argument........eventually.

That's it....nuff said.

Another long weekend!

Its a 4 day weekend for me - yay! Back to work on Wednesday.

Its a chilly, windy day - much nicer to be tucked in bed with a good book rather than out running in the cold and wind or going to work. But guess what I did - yep, the latter two!

This morning's run

Time - 6am
Distance - 6.8km
Time taken - 39.05min
Av pace - 5.44min/km
AHR - 144

Ran out towards Lyneham and back amid the swirling leaves. Autumn in Canberra is a lovely time save for the chilly mornings. What spoils it though is knowing that winter is just around the corner. Good run - I'm starting to feel like a runner again which is reassuring.

Once upon a time.......

.......there was a runner called CJ who trained and trained and trained for the Canberra marathon and on the day managed to run a personal best. CJ was very happy. As to be expected, CJ was feeling a little sore after this massive effort and the little holiday on the coast was very therapeutic, though the left calf was still being bothersome (some smart alec pointed out that her left calf was over-compensating for the hardware CJ was wearing on her left arm ie the Garmin and the ipod).

The self imposed 2-week chocolate denial had also come to an end and with Easter just around the corner, CJ went slightly overboard with chocolate consumption (this is a huge understatement). Combined with very little exercise, apart from the occasional stroll, this was beginning to create havoc with CJ's waistline. The expanding waistline, in turn, was making running even more difficult than it already was. Poor CJ - what to do? Fit CJ was rapidly morphing into Fat CJ.

Then the fairy godmother of lost causes came to CJ's rescue. With a wave of her wand she........

Damn, time to get out of bed. And the dream was getting interesting too. Mind you, it was mostly true except for the bit about the fairy godmother of lost causes. This means that I actually have to put the work in myself and so since Sunday I have run three times.

Sunday's run
The left calf and ball of foot complained from about the first kilometre and I was tempted to call it quits at this point. However pigheadedness kicked in and I persevered and gradually things improved. Mind you it was difficult to believe that this shuffling jogger was the same person who ran a marathon PB the week before. Ran for 27mins.

Monday's run
A little better today and I managed 31mins, looking much more respectable. I even managed to stay ahead of someone who looked like an original resident of Turner, complete with walking frame. Calf was still sore.

Today's run

Distance - 5.9km
Time - 35min
Av pace - 5.55min/km
AHR - 132; MHR - 150

Bit of a doddle but enjoyable, even for an early morning run (it was daylight). Still finding my way around the suburbs of Turner, O'Connor and Lyneham but it is a very pleasant area to run.

The chocolate consumption is continuing but I do have a little project in store for myself beginning next month aptly titled "Mayday, Mayday!" More news on this closer to the time.