Monthly Wrap Up

Running
13.5 Km in ??, average pace ??

Still no watch so I ran last weeks Tan to Albert Park circuit knowing that it would be a certain distance. The good news is I got a phone call from Polar today to let me know that my battery had been changed, the unit tested and that I will have it back with me tomorrow.

Today’s run was a bit blah, it was very windy and I was tired because I didn’t sleep well last night, which is unusual for me. But enough moaning, that’s another 13Kms locked away.

Monthly Summary
KM January – 272.5 (Jan ‘06 133Km), better than expected coming back from injury.

Excuses – none needed, raring to go after losing December to injury

Injuries – none, foot holding up well, lot’s of stretching and post run icing

Upcoming events – Super Sunset Series 4km events, mostly to be used as a tune up and exercise in learning to pace

Goals – To hopefully inspire some other runners as a Run for the Kids run leader. To go 17:30 or less in at least one SSS race.

Quite a good month considering I am coming back from injury, I was realistically expecting about 250km so was pleased to manage better. I managed 3 interval sessions, the first one hurt like hell but they are getting better and I got in some decent long runs as well.

Still pretty tired tonight, an early night and a better sleep should sort me out.

Just a quickie

Running
Sans watch today, what an odd feeling.

11km in ??, average pace ??

Judging by the drenching I gave my shorts and T-shirt I’d say I probably went a tad too fast, felt good though.

Back late today after helping out at the Vic Milers meet again this evening.

Really need to crash. Will catch up on blogs tomorrow.

Can you sell endorphins?

Running
Intervals today, 500 mtre on 500 mtre off around The Tan.

With warm up and cool down 10km

This was a great session, a good challenge, especially as one of the “on” reps started half way up Anderson Street

I really pushed the final 500mtres with a couple of girls breathing down my neck for motivation. No splits today, after 13 months of almost daily use the battery in my faithful Polar watch has finally given up the ghost. It was with great trepidation that I popped it in the mailbox this morning, as I let go I hoped that I would be seeing it again in a couple of days. It is still within warranty so it needs to go back to the service centre to keep the warranty valid. I feel very lost with out it, the great big chunky old thing has sat there on my bony little wrist for over a year, now I just look down at the white patch where it used to be.

Another Vic Milers meet on tomorrow, this time at Olympic Park. I was going, then I wasn’t going and now thanks to a small bribe (dinner out on Wednesday, no hardship really) I am going again, cool, I was looking forward to watching some racing at OP.

I felt so great after yesterday’s run, it was a great session and I was still buzzing today. Now if only I could figure out to bottle that I’d never have to work again

Another good day out for the Aussies’ yesterday with Craig Mottram and Sarah Jamieson winning their indoor 3000mtre and mile events AND getting Australian records in the process.

Celebrity Spotting
I saw this guy in the city today, at first I didn’t realise who it was and I was having a bit of a perve then I remembered him from The Empty Pockets on The Big Gig, ‘aint that a blast from the past. I think he DJs on one of those commercial stations now, one that I would stick chopsticks in my ears before listening to.

Anyway, here we go again, Em’s perve file, maybe I should start a separate page for my giggling teenage girlesque carry on. Anyhow, take it from me, he is pretty hot in the flesh and quite striking because the dude it TALL.

Foxy Loxy

Running
19Km in 1:40:51, average pace 5:18

Ok, Ok, yes, a bit of a quick pace for a long run, but please, allow me to ’splain myself.

I picked up Michelle and we met Jay at Seville Station. Michelle was on the “easy” week of her Marathon Training plan so was only looking for 15Km and Jay is building again after an injury layoff. I was looking for around 20km easy after last weeks 26.5km in the hills as a result of a temporary loss of my sanity so I suggested that the girls run 7.5km, I would run on another 2.5km and turn around and chase them back to the cars.

So we ran on to Worri Yallock and after a quick detour to the loos (unlike some people who think it is OK to go behind a tree in a picnic area we opted for the public toilet option, remind me never to have a picnic at Worri) we were up to 9km, so I said goodbye and went on to complete another 1km before turning around. See, I am a total nuff nuff with numbers, it wasn’t until I was about 3km from Seville that I realised I should have gone another 1.5 km as I missed the loo detour on the way back, doh! which is why my planned 20km turned into 10km.

Anyway, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t catch the girls, not with only 10km to do it in (my maths is bad but it’s not that bad) I was still feeling good, so after the slower pace of the first 9km I decided to go for a negative split and up the pace on the way back. Let’s just call it a race prep training run and be done with it, I am just slightly apprehensive going into the Run for Kids in April with no long races behind me since the HM in October, so I don’t think a few sessions like this will hurt.

The upshot is that the final 10kms were pretty quick and I finished in about 49:35 with only 1 45 second break to suck down some drink and re-adjust the Fuel Belt. Here are the splits for the last 10….
10 – 4:52
11 – 4:52
12 – 4:47
13 – 4:58
14 – 5:14 (steady incline of about 800 mtres, I visualised the on ramp to the Bolte Bridge)
15 – 4:51 (woo hoo, down the other side)
16 – 4:56
17 – 5:02
18 – 5:07
19 – 4:54

Then back at the car Jay and Michelle were having a stretch having beaten me by about 5 minutes (I think, will have to check), so the Fox did not quite catch the Rabbits, but I gave it a good shot and it was a fun way to motivate myself to put a bit of speed on. I hear tell that Jay picked up the pace on the way back, determined not to get caught, so it pushed us all round.

It was a great run and I had that transcendental feeling that I have not felt in ages. It was a pretty flat track today, just the one steady rise about 15Km in, but I absolutely flew up it, I was almost at the top before I realised what I had done. Wish my feet always felt like they had little wings on.

On the subject of the Fuel Belt, I can safely say I will never be 100% happy with it and I will certainly never race in it. However I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable it was. I can’t wear it around my waist, too much like trying to run in a corset, however it generally stayed on my hips. It was a bit of a fiddle at first and did pop up a bit, but I got used to pushing it down on the fly and only had to stop once to cinch it in tight again. And it was a nice change to be able to drink, it has meant I have not had to spend the rest of the day today filling myself full of water to re-hydrate.

Weekly Summary
A pretty good week with some fast runs and a return to the mid-week long run.

Mon – Intervals, 500mtre and 4 by 250 mtre – With warm up/cool down 7km
Tue – 10km easy
Wed – 11km easy
Thur – 13.5Km quick
Fri – 42km bike ride
Sat – 10km easy
Sun – 19km easy/quick, negative split

Total – 70.5Km

Also just a small weight loss showing on the scales. I am not actively trying to lose weight, if it comes off it is purely as a result of the mileage. I don’t really trust the BF measurement though, only a caliper test will tell that, I am pretty sure my BF would be less than 23%.

I have finished this week with that satisfying sense of weariness that I have not had for a while. It is good to get my base back and now I can build from here. Still not 100% sure what the approach should be, but being that I am preparing for winter and longer distance racing (anywhere between 3.5Km and 21.1 Km) I guess it makes sense to keep working on the endurance with some speed work thrown in for sharpness. I plan to use 70km as a rough base and vary weeks between 65km and 85km for the next couple of months. I am not currently training for a Marathon so no need to go nuts.

Righto, time to go to the shops, I need a banana for my breakfast cereal tomorrow.

Couldn’t Find the Brakes

Running
10Km in 54:00, average pace 5:24

An easy run around Jells Park this morning, and what a contrast from yesterday! For the first time in ages it was wet, cold and windy and just a wee bit miserable, but as the log shows, I still did it. Because of the conditions I thought I would head down to Jells to run with a group that I knew met there on Saturday mornings, you know it is easier to run in less than fantastic conditions when you have company. Anyway, I got there about 10 minutes early and being that the sky was looking pretty black I decided not to wait and just head out and knock of a quick 5Km and get back home to a hot shower.

Well, I wasn’t paying much attention to my watch and reached 5Km about 1Km away from the car park, so I added a extra loop up a different path and 5Km turned into 7Km, so I figured I would round it out to 8Km, and of course once you get to 8Km you may as well do 10Km right, I just couldn’t find the brakes this morning Lucky I didn’t eat breakfast so I stopped at 10Km, otherwise I may still be out there running loops of Jells.

When I got home I had a lovely warm, OK hot shower. Here’s the thing with me, for some reason I like my showers HOT, not sure why maybe I am part reptile. And I always do my calf stretches in the shower, is that weird? Makes sense to me because the muscles will be nice and warm. For the first time in ages I made porridge for breakfast. I could easily eat this everyday, but with my mostly vegetarian diet I need to rely on supplemented food for breakfast, which is why I usually have 3 weet-bix, Physical Milk and Sustegen powder. But when I do have porridge I don’t do it by halves, no “quick oats” chucked in the microwave for me, rather nice organic rolled oats with half water and half milk cooked on the stove, served with more milk, chopped banana, cinnamon and a little honey, YUM

I spent a couple of hours at a friends house this evening, they have 2 kids and have just found out there is another on the way, Phew. Don’t know how they do it, I was exhausted by the time I left after playing with a 3 1/2 year old and 2 year old for 2 hours. I was told that it was Pizza for dinner and instantly thought Uh-Oh, can’t do that, treat dinner was last night, is that just terribly obsessive? Turned out OK, it was home made Pizza and we all did our own so I could control what went on. We made them using Pita Bread bases, I hadn’t done that since I was a kid, they were fantastic!

I had a glass of wine too, my first since Xmas, Mmmmm, forgot how nice that was. Craving chocolate though, might have to make a hot choc tonight (yes, with skim milk)

Long run tomorrow, hopefully the weather not as yuck as this morning but I suspect it will be, still, good company will make it easier. Looks like I am on track for 70Kms this week, excellent, that means I have reached my base again and I can build from that.

A spot of browsing on Amazon today and 2 new books are in the post. I have been picking up and putting down Tim Noakes’ Lore of Running in the bookshop for ages, but is a bit expensive at $60, got it on Amazon for about AUD$24 at today’s rates, gotta be happy with that. I also picked up Vegetarian Sports Nutrition for a song, I have been wanting this one for a while. My main worry is managing my protein intake, never an issue previously but with the extra demand on my poor muscles I want to make sure I am doing all the right things, my extreme aversion to all things Tofu does not help me though.

Obsessed?
Kind of occurred to me that maybe I am in danger of being a bit obsessed about running, god knows I have been accused of it. But the thing is I don’t do things by halves, and I love it, it gives me great joy, I even love watching other people do it, so why worry, I don’t really give a shit what other people think anyway. It’s the only thing I have stuck to, normally I get bored of a new hobby and move on pretty quickly, but not in this case, I will admit it has become a bit of a lifestyle.

Rest Day

Rest day from running today, I went for a 42km bike ride instead, not really in the mood for cycling today so I just cruised along taking it easy.

A pretty uneventful day otherwise, just catching up on some sleep and taking it very easy. When I have a 3 day weekend I tend to just bum around on the first day, I have some jobs around the house to keep my occupied for the next two days.

It’s Australia Day today. By in large most of my family earned free passage out here courtesy of the British Government .I am not a demonstrably patriotic person but I certainly feel privileged to live in a country like Australia, especially when I see the various citizenship ceremony on the news and understand the reasons why so many people choose to come and live here. We have quite a few Sudanese families that have settled in my area and whenever I see the mums with their gorgeous little munchkins on the bus I think “thank god those children will be growing up here” and count myself damn lucky that despite my parents problems I still had a safe and happy childhood and I never had to see or experience some of the unspeakable things kids in many other countries have to. Having said that we still have plenty of work to do to clean up our own backyard and ensure that our indigenous kids get a better lot aswell. They deserve the same healthcare and educational opportunities as all Aussie kids, both born and migrant and that includes the right to be exposed to and be educated in their own culture and to expect the same life span.

PS – JJJ’s Hottest 100 winner this year, One Crowded Hour by Augie March, I voted for it and a damn deserving winner in my opinion. A band that have been around for a while but really put out a mighty fine album last year, in fact I had trouble narrowing down my vote to this song because I love Cold Acre as well. Last year was a great year for Oz music, I think my 10 votes included 5 Aussie Bands and JBT (Funky Tonight) and Gotye (Hearts a Mess) were also in the top 20. As well as The Hilltop Hoods, who I didn’t vote for only because I knew they would do well regardless. Great to see Australian music going 1, 2 and 3 this year, even if I wasn’t overly enamored of Black Fingernails Red Wine, still a decent song and The Hard Road was probably the best from the HTH last year (OK, Clown Prince was my favorite). And of course I can’t forget to mention The Grates at number 10, so that was 5 Oz bands in the top 10. I think our alternative music scene is much stronger than the cookie cutter Australian Idol mainstream scene. Though I am loathe to call it alternative, let’s try vibrant, original, exciting, thoughtful, fun and just downright better than the bland R&B crap we get on the Top 40.

OK, I can stop streaming the countdown and go get some dinner now

Better, much better

Running
13.5Km in 1:08:37, average pace 5:05

Isn’t it great when an ordinary run is backed up by a fantastic run the following day

Contact lenses firmly in place I was feeling much more secure this afternoon so thought I’d try returning to my mid-week long(ish) run, albeit a day late. Rather than trekking up along the path to MacRob’s bridge and back again I decided to try Albert Park for a change. Despite a bit of mucking around waiting to cross a few major arterials it was well worth it. I ran up The Tan past the war memorial, down Dallas Brooks Drive and Domain Road then over to the Lake.

I can’t believe I hadn’t ventured down that way before, the last time I ran Albert Park was my first proper fun run, The Queen of the Lake in August ‘05. I ran the 5km in 25:53, placed 10th in my age group and all off 30 to 40kms a week of treadmill running at the gym, not too bad, even if I do say so myself, It was that race that gave me the running bug, it was one of the first times I had run outdoors since high school X-C.

Anyway, I digress. Despite the famous Albert Park wind it was thoroughly enjoyable and as you can see from my overall average pace I used to nice flat track to pick the speed up for some sub 5 minute Kms. I’ll definitely be using that course again and adding an extra bit along The Tan and Yarra I could easily manage an 18km run. Previously my mid-week long runs were maxing out at 16Kms when I was training for the half marathons. So just like with the Sunday long run I’ll start building these up again week by week.

I have been asked if I was to help out as a run leader for the Run for the Kids training runs, I said yes. I really enjoyed these training sessions last year, the atmosphere was great and I got to meet alot of new buddies, it will be fun taking a group of runners out and helping them towards their goal of finishing the R4K.

Caved in a bought myself a Fuel Belt today, I have resisted but after close to 3 hours running in the Dandenongs on Sunday with no water or Gels I realised I needed one if I want to keep running trails. Anyway, I amused the sales staff at Paddy Palin today, jumping up and down on the spot and running up and down the store. It seemed pretty secure and non-bouncy, I’ll give it a go on Sunday, better be comfortable because they ‘aint cheap. I got one with 4 flasks, 1 for water, 2 for Endura and 1 for Brandy in case I get lost

Ahhh, is anything better than a long weekend? I think not.

3 whole days to myself, no work, no stress, magic!

Can a mole run?

Running
11km in 1:02:13, average pace 5:39

God, a bit of a slog tonight. Just one of those runs where I just couldn’t get into the groove, once I got to the magic 3km mark I still didn’t feel good so I knew it would be a case of knuckling down and getting through it.

I forgot my fecking contact lenses today, I haven’t done that before. I can’t wear them all day because my eyes get too dry starting at the computer so I only wear them for running. Besides I am not at all self conscious about being a speccy four eyes, glasses kind of suit me, and I have been wearing them since I was 18 and can assure you, boys DO make passes at girls who wear glasses

My specs are no good for running, they are a nice swanky designer pair with a plastic frame so if I run in them they just slip right off the end of my nose. And far be it for me to let a case of chronic myopia stop me from running! I was planning on running up to Albert Park today, just for a change, but owing to my seriously blurred vision thought I would leave that for tomorrow and just stuck with The Tan this afternoon.

Problem was I felt totally unco and was unable to judge the pot holes and other obstacles in the path as a result the run was less than steller. And I ran into (almost literally) 2 mates today, of all days. I only recognised Steve at the bottom of Anderson St because of his distinctive blue and yellow Coolrunning cap and only when he was 2 metres away. I like running into Steve at the bottom of the hill because I always push myself to keep up and end up getting up much quicker than when I am dragging my lazy butt up there by myself. Lucky Steve can talk though because I temporarily lose the power of speech Maybe I will have to get him to wait at the bottom when I am doing The Tan relay later this year so he can pace me up the hill!

Then heading back along the Yarra I ran into Lou from Sandy/HVT, again didn’t recognise her until I was almost on top of her. Hopefully I didn’t run past anyone else I know who now thinks I am a complete snob.

Phew, contacts now packed in my sports bag for tomorrow, I am looking forward to heading up to Albert Park for a change of scenery.

So yeah, I guess a Mole can run, just not very well. And by Mole I mean a little shortsighted underground dwelling creature, not a spray on jeans, white fringed boots wearing female who is generous with her affections.

Thankfully the Middleborough Road rail bypass project appears to be coming to an end early, I noticed this afternoon while waiting for my bus WHICH WAS 20 MINUTES LATE, that normal train services will be returning next Monday. YAY!!!!

Ice, my new best friend

Running
10km in 53:15, average pace 5:20

Just an easy spin around The Tan and back up along the Yarra to my office, ran into a friend just finishing her run and stopped for a quick chat before continuing on. I am still suffering some DOMS after my trek through the mountains on Sunday so I was just cruising along and concentrating on form. Specifically today I was trying to keep my arms tucked in nicely and my stride easy and light. I am pretty sure less walkers than usual were turning around, fearful that a baby elephant was bearing down on them so I must have got something right.

Guess I better explain the post title – how is it that something as simple as frozen water can be such a godsend, if I am not bathing in it I am applying it to various parts of my body, can’t live without the stuff!

Rambling, Rantings and a Blast from the past
I didn’t change into my trackpants this afternoon, like I normally would for my train trip home. Usually, even when it is warm I will do this, too self conscious. But just lately I have realised that I have no issues any more, I am 100% happy with how I look, even my previously hated legs are no longer bother me. Somewhere along the line they have transformed from shapeless, pale sausage like appendages to strong, defined and athletic (but still pale, I am a red head after all, though I have gained a tan line from my shorts) and I am now quite happy to get about in my shorts. Also I haven’t had any body freak outs for months, not even when I put a few on when injured. Ahhhhhh (that is a sigh of relief), it feels so good to finally be in a happy place I train hard and I eat well, my body will be what it is and I love it for what it let’s me do.

Alright, enough sappy shite.

Now for the ranting, I got really peeved by a headline in The Age online today, frankly I’d expect better – “Shark Spotters Hunt Monster”. It is this sort of over emotional tripe that has people baying for blood when I shark attacks a human. Sorry, but they are predators and if you put yourself in their territory that is the risk you take. I love to play in the surf as much as the next person, but I respect the environment and don’t take risks. White Pointers are endangered and protected, they are magnificent, powerful, impressive and yes, beautiful animals. They are at the top of their food chain, they hunt ruthlessly and they kill, it is what they do! To call them Monsters is a demonstrable display of extreme disrespect for an amazing creature. And I spent all my summer holidays at Phillip Island growing up, sailing, swimming and playing in the surf, we always knew that sharks were out there, we didn’t fear them, we didn’t take stupid risks.

I have filled up my iPod shuffle to full capacity now, it has close to 8 hours worth of music. Because I only use it when I am running there are still quite a few songs on there that I haven’t shuffled round to yet, sometimes one will pop up and I wonder when the heck I put that on, there is always a surprise.

Today I got a real blast from the past, a gold star to whoever picks this one and I am making it piss easy here so no googling the lyrics, ahh be still my beating heart, I used to love this one –

What you gonna do when things go wrong?
What you gonna do when it all cracks up?
What you gonna do when the love burns down?
What you gonna do when the flames go up?
Who is gonna come and turn the tide?
What’s it gonna take to make a dream survive?
Who’s got the touch to calm the storm inside?
Who’s gonna save you?

It’s not that bad, I promise!

Running
Interval training again tonight, with warm up and cool down let’s call it 7Km.

Tonight’s session was mercifully short, thank god after yesterday’s hills my quads were quite sore. This was all done on The Tan tonight using the 250mtre markers.

1 by 500 mtre – 120 seconds
4 by 250 mtre
55 sec
54 sec
57 sec
52 sec

First 3 250mtre sets were progressive, that is we stepped up the speed in 3 sections, the last one was flat out (hence the faster time) and had me doubled over and gasping this was followed by about 5 60mtre strides to work on form. I need to work on keeping both my arms close to my body, one kinda sticks out a bit, if I don’t watch it I’ll end up running in circles.

I was pretty pleased with today’s session, the speed is gradually starting to come back.

To answer Andrew’s question, no I don’t get a chill while sitting in the ice bath because it is not quite the same as a normal bath…..

I don’t go Commando (TMI perhaps?), I wear my bather bottoms and on top what ever I was running in

I only fill the bath up to my hips and I sit up rather than reclining like you normally would in a bath

I wrap a towel around my shoulders

Now give that ice bath a go folks, I promise it’s not that bad and they really do help those tired muscles. Just make sure you get in and start filling the bath with water and the ice, rather than fill the bath with water add the ice and then jump in, too much of a shock that way.

On that note, after tonight’s session it was back in the ice bath and then on with the Skins. My quads are pretty sore after yesterday so I am just doing what I can to help them along so it doesn’t affect the rest of the weeks training.

And my foot is 100% fine, I have finished 3 weeks of training including hills and 2 interval sessions, so far so good (touching wood though, ever the superstitious Celt)