Another Month Down

Running
6.7Km in 35:27, average pace 5:16

Normally I would do at least 10Km on a Monday, but as I am being sensible and easing up the distance after a couple of lighter weeks so today was just a short gentle trot.

Taking advantage of the strong Aussie dollar I picked up some new shoes on the net last night. I am rotating a pair of Brooks Trance 5 and 6s at the moment and both have about 500Km on them. So for just $20 more than one new pair of Trance’s would cost me here I got a new pair as well as a pair of Adidas Cross Country spikes. The spikes were a real bargain at AUD$60, and they also double as distance track spikes so that was pretty thrifty

Thanks for the reassurance JH, glad I am not the only one with an ego as delicate as Waterford Crystal I tend to chuck a sulk from time to time and it will reflect in my posts.

Andrew, a “goat track” is an unofficial trail that has been worn through regular use. If you ever go to the Greek Islands you will see them every where, worn by actual goats.

I have had a couple of days to think on Saturday’s performance and I have well and truly gotten over myself now. Rather than wallowing I have come up with a plan, my training week tends to follow thusly with a mixture of key sessions and easy runs -
Mon - Easy run
Tue - Interval work
Wed - Easy run
Thurs - Long reps or tempo run
Fri - Easy run
Sat - Rest, easy run or AV race
Sun - Long run

So I have decided to add XC work to the Thursday Key session workout. Using Ewen’s suggestion I’ll take myself over to Fawkner Park and do some tempo work on the grass, to help with pacing and building endurance on the off road terrain.

Daily Observations and General Rambling
My latest obsession is Cross Words, I am not particularly good at them, but I read a while ago that people who do Cross Words daily are less likely to develop Alzimers Alzheimers disease (yes, I knew it was spelled wrong, but forgot to go back and correct, sheesh, tomorrows rant “People who pick on my spelling” ). Whether it’s true or not who knows, but anything to help delay the slow slide into this is worth a try. I do know that when my grandma was drying of cancer and couldn’t even sit up in bed anymore she was still able to give the answers if I read the clues out to her, this was even close to the end when she had a brain tumor and she did Cross Words every day.

I am getting better at them, I just tend to get a bit of a brain freeze, then when I stumble on the answer it is like “Doh, of course!”. So where is this all leading? Oh yeah, For the first time I managed to solve the entire Age “Quick Crossword” today, though I did have to look up the meaning of one clue I like to do the Age one because the clues are only one word, so it is a bit trickier. I am afraid I have not yet reached the intellectual pinnacle of the Cryptic quite yet.

Not on my account Benny - So Ben Cousins is home or on his way home. Apparently one of the conditions of him being able to play football again is that he must apologise!!! My question is “to whom and for what?” Personally I don’t give a rats what he wants to smoke or shove up his nose, I haven’t been at all offended by his actions and therefore require no apology. I am glad he took some accountability for himself and got some help, but really, it’s none of my business.

Don’t you just piss yourself laughing when you see someone walking down the street with a blue tooth headset clamped to their ear! Funny enough on some guy in a sharp suit, strutting down the street yakking away to himself “Yar, yar, get Tokyo on the blower and sell sell sell” or some such nonsense. But even funnier on some tracksuited dude schlepping around the Forest Hill shopping centre on a Sunday afternoon. What call could be so important on a Sunday, are they expecting God to ring? Then again I am hopeless with my mobile, WHEN I remember to bring it with me half the time I don’t answer it in time and anyone who has ever sent me a text will know that I don’t usually notice them until an hour later personally I like to give people a chance to miss me (think I just stole a line from Seinfeld there)

Ughh, felt guilty today and caught PT to work. My morning trip door to door took 75 minutes (by car takes me 30 minutes) and my afternoon trip also took 75 minutes (by car generally 45 to 55 minutes), guess it’s back to the car again tomorrow. The morning trip was bearable because it was an early train. But the afternoon, ick. A woman who had bathed in perfume sat next to me, this is my biggest hate. I can’t tolerate chemical smells, perfume, scented soap, aftershave, air freshener, fly spray all that stuff, gives me a terrible headache and makes me feel sick. So anyway, sitting next to gallons of cheap perfume woman I was feeling pretty dodgy, then the disgusting grogan standing next to me decides to CUT ONE, I am not joking here, the guy farted. Anyone standing beside the track between Camberwell and East Camberwell would have seen me with my face pressed up against the window desperately clawing at the catch trying to open it (it was an old Hitachi Train).

Sorry Environment, back to the car for me.

To end on a less whingey note, got home and made a great pumpkin soup for dinner. I had about a cup of brown rice left over from last nights dinner so I chucked that in at the end after blending the soup, funnily enough it worked well, nutty.

The Month That Was
March km’s - 325

YTD - 1147 km

Injuries - Pesky calf niggles, massage and ice are my best mates

Excuses - I don’t make them

Races - AV XC Relay - 6Km, fun

Upcoming races - AV 15km LaTrobe, AV 10km Sandown.

Goals - don’t neglect post run stretches, re-discover core work, run a 70 minute 15Km and run a 10Km PB

It’s Raining!

Running
An easy 12Km recovery run today at about 5:55 pace.

The first 4Km or so was on a narrow, slippery goat track so the running was necessarily slow to avoid taking a dive down into the Yarra River I also tripped on a rock and nearly came a cropper, luckily I managed to regain my composure, just.

I did head out with the intention of doing my Sunday minimum of 20Km, but ended up with a couple of girls who wanted a shorter run and pretty soon I realised if I went off on my own I’d end up lost so stuck with the group. And really, I should probably be doing something shorter every 4th week anyhow so the day after a race seems like a good time to slot in a shorter Sunday recovery run, rather than a long run.

It was raining off and on for most of the run, with the temp at around 16 degrees it was wonderful, no wind, not too cold, just a bit wet. After a long hot dry summer it was great to run in the rain for a change, note to self though, remember to bring a towel in future.

Thanks so much for all the comments and advice yesterday, much appreciated. I have to confess to having a pretty deplorable character flaw, that is, I have a fairly delicate ego. That is not to say I need constant re-assurance, in fact that tends to be pretty counter productive anyway. It is just a tendency to blow things out of proportion, where most people will roll with the punches I just take things a little too seriously sometimes, which then plunges me into a “mood”. I am trying extremely hard to lighten up, I promise

With regards to the relay, I was the first runner. However as I was starting in Div 2 this didn’t really help me with my pacing because all the other runners were so much faster, I just kept saying to myself, “what ever you do DON’T try to keep up”.

There were quite a few photo’s taken on the day, so here I am resplendant in Green and Black with the “really giving it my all” look on my face, have to say by the second lap I was thinking, “for the love of God, please don’t take my photo”

I was wearing a pair of 2XU shorts I had bought specially, I am a huge fan of their gear and these didn’t let me down, super comfortable, the material was the lightest of any run shorts I have ever worn before.

I got a pretty nasty cramp in my right calf this afternoon, it still hurts, I definitely didn’t replace enough fluids yesterday, I have been drinking the Endura today.

Weekly Update

Another low mileage week for me, I think the legs needed it. I think I had jumped up to the 90Km weeks too suddenly and I was starting to get some niggles. Mainly in my calves which then followed through to my shins. I was icing the shins every day last week and taking the runs a bit easier. I had a pretty painful massage on Thursday night, however my MT mentioned that everything felt normal and that there was no sign of shin splints at this stage. To that end I am not too concerned about backing off to 60Kms in the last 2 weeks. My plan for next week is to aim for around 70Km.

Another issue is that most of my runs tend to be 10Km or more, I rarely do anything under 10Km. I will often do a couple of 15Kers as well as a long run each week. My thinking is that perhaps I need to try doubling up some days. I already do this on Wednesday where I do my 10Km then 5Km as a run leader (with about 45 minutes break between the 2 and the second at a pretty slow pace). Maybe also on a Monday I could look at a morning and evening run as well, a 5Km and a 10Km perhaps, or a couple of 8s???? Just thinking………

Mon - 13Km in 3 parts (killing time while car was being serviced) and a very long walk around the Botanical Gardens
Tues - Session, 5 by 600mtres, with warm up/cool down 8Km
Wed - 13.5Km including Run Leader for S2F
Thurs - 6.8Km tempo (and massage in the evening)
Fri - Unscheduled rest day (work got in the way)
Sat - 8km including 6Km XC Relay
Sun - 12Km slow recovery run

Total - 61.3 Km

Em, you’ve got alot to learn girl

Running
Ok, the facts first, 6km Cross Country on a pretty challenging course, 2 3km loops
Total - 28:35 (avg pace 4:46)
Splits - 13:42 and 14:43

The lesson - P A C I N G

That’s right folks, I really need to learn to pace myself properly, I did the first 3Km too fast and suffered on the second. Perhaps better pacing on the first leg would have resulted in a better time. It didn’t help that team mates from lower divisions overtook me, major and I had to work had to stay positive when I was feeling very exposed and For the record I was in Division 2 and sorry Ewen I was definitely not the fastest in my team.

At the end of the day though it was my first foray into Cross Country since high school and I ran my heart out so I can make no complaint. Any tips on how to pace yourself without the aid of Km markers would be most appreciated, likewise any tips on XC running. Back in high school I was full of vigour and youthful enthusiasm, I just ran as fast as I could until someone told me to stop I think now I need a slightly better plan than that.

The day itself was gorgeous, about 20 degrees and sunny. So much so that I warmed up in just my crop top so as not to get my singlet all sweaty, and then guess what, I capitulated and ended up making an impulse purchase of a club crop top (proud of me Vicky?) and didn’t end up feeling that self conscious afterall.

During the run I could hear lots of people calling my name and cheering which was really cool. I saw a mate from another club at a particularly cruel section on the second lap, I reckon I was looking pretty ropey by that stage, but still nice to see a friendly face and get a cheer. And this is something I HATE to admit, but not long towards then end, also after a bit of a climb I started to get my end of race panic and couldn’t get my breath, so I slowed to a walk for about 10 seconds to calm myself. Just as I got going again an O40 runner from Richmond ran up beside me and encouraged me to kick it up a bit and finish strong. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of it and it was the kick up the bum I needed, I made sure I thanked her at the end and we had a bit of a laugh. I felt a bit crappy when I finished, like maybe I had let my team down a little bit, but that was just me being stupid, all the girls were great and we looked after each other.

Next stop Latrobe Uni for the 15Km road race on Mother’s Day. I am looking forward to this one after having to miss the Run for the Kids.

So that’s the first club race out of the way, I had a fantastic day and don’t regret getting into this for a second. I am stoked to be part of a team again.

I had a “lovely” ice-bath when I got home and the legs are feeling pretty good now, but can’t be arsed cooking, I think Japanese take away will be on the cards soon.

The map and elevation of todays course can be found here if anyone is interested.

Spot the Difference

This is a community service announcement for all our Japanese friends out there

This is a POODLE

A Poodle is a dog. Dogs were domesticated about 15,000 years ago and are often referred to as Man’s Best Friend. Confusion can sometimes abound as Dogs have been known to eat grass on occasion and can often be found in the company of sheep and lambs, though Poodles are not employed as “working dogs”

This is a LAMB

A lamb is a farmyard animal and can most often be found on the dinner table for Sunday lunch. Lambs can often be identified by the fact that they don’t bark or eat Meaty Bites.

Thus ends the lesson, please study the pictures carefully and beware of men with overalls and straw hats trying to sell you cheap Poodles.

PS - special message to Kathy, please don’t think I am ignoring you, I just can’t comment on your blog because I have lost my old blogger password, instead I am a quiet observer

Only home now after having a massage appointment.

6.8Km tempo run this afternoon.

Chat more tomorrow, time to relax now.

ANZAC Day

Running
All over the place today, all up 13.5Km

I parked on The Tan this afternoon and did a lap and a bit, 6Km at about 5:05 pace. Quickly grabbed my gear from the car and then ran another 1Km to Fed Square for Run Leader duties. Switchero into my Adidas kit and then took two runners on a slow, 6:20 pace 5.5Km run. A couple of lovely chicks, smiling and chatting the whole way, even got a couple of big smiles at the top of Anderson St

Bit of a chat and imparting some advice back at base then bag under my arm again and another 1Km back to the car.

Prior to the relay on Saturday my plan is -
Thursday - An easy 8Km with about 15 minutes at tempo pace
Friday - 30 minutes easy with some strides to finish

ANZAC Day
I think most of my visitors are either Aussie or NZ so you all know the significance of the day.

For any international readers have a look here to see why it is such an important day of remembrance for Australians and New Zealanders.

As I said yesterday it now has added importance for me as it is also the day my Godson was born. I am happy to say that he was thrilled with his Spidey PJs and we had a bit of a play with the matchbox cars as well, in between scoffing cup cakes (I had my fair share, never could resist kids party food). He is such a gorgeous kid, a real little charmer, I had a great afternoon. His dad also assured me that Little Aths enquires have already been made and in another year when he turns 5 he’ll be signed up

Time to start buying lotto tickets

Running
8Km including track session, 5 by 600 metres with 2 minute recovery

Splits
2:20
2:21
2:22
2:22
2:19

Not too shabby at all, nice and even Quite a spring in my step today and about 5 minutes afterwards I was jumping around declaring I could do it all over again.

Then off home for a lovely bowl of homemade Carrot and Ginger soup that I made earlier today, nice not to come home and attempt to eat some pasta for a change (Pasta is about the only carb I don’t like). The soup worked out well, very healthy and earthy. Easy to make, just 3 chopped carrots (no need to peel), one chopped potato, 3 teaspoons grated ginger, 1 clove of garlic and about a litre of veg stock. Simmer until it is all tender and stick it in the blender, I like to add about half a cup of skim milk when blending and serve with crusty bread and heaps of cracked pepper.

Looks like there could be some rain on the weekend, I hope so, nothing like a bit of mud and mess to add to the fun of cross country, though I don’t have XC spikes so hope it’s not too slippery. I used to love XC at high school, my school was in a pretty bushy setting so it was always the real deal. Back then we had a pretty naff sports uniform, a cotton polo shirt, a netball skirt (what the!) with big old blue granny “bloomers” underneath and a pair of black Dunlop Volleys. At my school it was pretty muddy and wet and there were plenty of obstacles to jump over, good stuff, more like XC Steeple Chase really. I was certainly the only one of my mates who enjoyed it, they all thought I was mad. It’s just a pity it has taken me 16 years to get back to it.

Lazy Days
Another lovely day off today, I’ll have to start buying lotto tickets, I could get used to this lifestyle. Was up at about 630am, very sad I know but this is sleeping in for me, any later and I get a headache. Turned on the TV while I ate my cereal and Prefontaine was on one of the movie channels so I settled in to watch it.

I resisted the urge to go for a run knowing that I had a session tonight. Instead I popped up to Glenferrie road for lunch at my favourite cafe, it was a gorgeous afternoon to be sitting in the big open window enjoying a great coffee and reading the paper.

Thanks for all the present suggestions, I ended up with a pair of Spiderman PJs (Aden’s latest fad is Spidey) and a pack of 5 Hotwheels toy cars. I have no idea about the size of Kids clothes, I am hoping Size 4 means suitable for a 4 year old, best I keep the receipt. I love that he was born in Anzac day (he was 6 weeks early, such a tiny wee thing when he was born and such a strong happy boy now), I like the symbolism of new life and it makes the day more special.

Could get used to this

Running and Stuff
3 runs this morning.

My car was booked in for its 6 month service (2 months too late, typical me, can never get anything done on time) at Docklands. After taking many wrong turns I managed to get there just one time, got the car booked in, fluttered my eye lashes a bit and had the customer service guy promise me he would try and get the car ready for me before the scheduled 1pm.

Then I took off to run into the city for some breakfast. 2.6Km later I had a paper and was sitting in Degraves Espresso doing my best invisible woman act, watching everyone else who came on after me get served Well, not a hassle I wasn’t exactly in a hurry today. One long mach, a bowl of porridge and once through The Age later I was ready for Run 2. This was up to The Tan from Federation Square and a lap and a bit to give me 6Kms at 5 minute Kms.

Now, how to kill some more time? Fortunately it was a stunning morning and I figured I have run around The Tan about a trillion times in the last year or so but it had been ages since I had been through the gardens. For the next hour I just wandered through the gardens, I had forgotten how big they were.

I found the Oak Garden and spent a bit of time wandering around, I love Oak Trees, they are so climbable (I resisted). And yes, I did hug a few of them, not that I could really get my arms around ,then I sat on the benches, hoping if I sat really still maybe I’d catch the fairy folk. Don’t laugh, Oak Trees are a portal to the fairy world, didn’t you know! There have been cases in Ireland where new roads have been diverted to avoid cutting down an Oak. Anyone who cuts down an Oak does so at their peril, you don’t want the fairy folk mad at you

At about 11 Subaru called and my little motor was ready to be picked up, yay, I was wondering how I was going to kill time until 1pm, being all sweaty and stinky kinda limited my options. So Run 3 was 4.4 Kms back to Docklands, in 21:33, 4:53 pace. All up that was 13kms on the nose, how’s that! Maybe the fairy folk were around afterall

I picked up my keys and had no trouble finding my Scooby Doo in the car park, there he was all shiny and red and newly washed (I love how they wash my car for me) standing out amongst all the white, silver and black cars, I wonder why more people don’t choose red?

Back home I had to face the fact that the housework fairy had no intention of visiting my house, lazy bitch. So the rest of my afternoon was spent giving the bathroom a good going over, ughhh, I always swear I will draw up some sort of roster and try and keep on top of all these things, but the weekend comes around and I have so much to do it all goes to hell. Doesn’t help that I hate house work and will only do the bare minimum until I have overnight guests and I run around the day before in a mad frenzy scrubbing everything.

Another lovely day off work tomorrow, then ANZAC day on Wednesday, which also happens to be my godsons birthday so I expect a good portion of the day will be spent with a bunch of 4 year olds. Yikes, I suppose tomorrow will also involve some sore of present buying excursion, anyone know what 4 year old boys like???

All signed up and ready for winter

Running
19.2Km in 98 minutes, average pace 5:08

A shorter long run for me today, it was a club run from Sandringham along the Coastal Trail and my group turned at 45 minutes, I wanted 2 hours so kept on going. But then another 5 minutes along I though “Shit”, Georgina’s bag is in my car and I forgot to give her my key! So rather than leaving her stranded I decided to run until I hit the 10Km mark and turn back.

After a spot of rain it was a lovely morning for a run and I was enjoying the solitude and the view over the water. Once I hit 10Km I decided to run back via the bike track for two reasons, one being I don’t know the area and was worried about getting lost, I didn’t know where to get off the trail and two, I kept rolling my ankle on tree roots.

I absolutely flew back home, I was feeling comfortable so decided to go for a Neg Split return and just let the legs do what they wanted. The first 10Km took 53:22, the return 9.2Km took 44:57

Back at the club rooms I submitted my forms for the 2007/2008 season, bought my singlet (sorry, just not ready for the crop top yet, besides, this is the WINTER season) and then we had a chat from one of the clubs champs, Tamsyn Lewis. Now let me just qualify this statement, I can honestly say I have never said a bad word against her. I have always tended to take what is written about her in the press with a healthy dose of skepticism, not too mention the out right bitchy garbage that can be posted on some of the forums. So having said all that, after hearing her talk this morning I have nothing but respect for the girl, she is a champ, a sweetheart and a fantastic role model. I hope she gets that A qualifier in Europe and makes the world champs and also Beijing next year.

On the topic of great Australian female athletes the London Marathon is on tonight, I can’t wait to see how Benita goes, I hope she runs a blinder, she certainly seems pretty confident.

Weekly Wrap Up
Mon - Rest (after 7 days on)
Tues - Hill Reps, with warm up/cool down 9km
Wed - 10Km recovery and 5.4Km easy as run leader
Thurs - 11Km tempo run
Fri - 60 minute run 11.4 Km
Sat - Rest again (sore shins prob. from Hill Reps and stupid cold)
Sun - 19.2Km along lovely Coastal Trail in 98 minutes

Total = 66Km

The shins felt fine today, was a bit stiff to start with but once I warmed up I cruised along nicely for a comfortable run.

Bit pissed with myself with a lower mileage week, but sometimes you just have to obey your body I’ll look on the bright side and look at it as freshening up the legs ahead of the X-C Relay I am running next Saturday.

Doing the right thing……

….but not happy about it

My shins have been a bit niggly the last couple of days, both of them, low down on the inside.

Not overly painful, doesn’t hurt to massage, just fecking annoying and although extremely doubtful that it is full blown shin splints I have erred on the side of caution today and had another rest day. My god, 2 days off in one week terrible business. I guess I am pretty cautious in so far as I refuse to do the martyr thing and run through any pain, therefore you can always be assured that if I am running I am fine to do so.

It’s raining right now and has been for a few hours now, I’d love to put the gear on and go and get wet, but not to be.

So apart from a quick trip to the supermarket I have pretty much been ensconced in the house all day, doing the R.I.C.E thing and coming to terms with the low mileage week. Having said that I am sure I’ll be right for a long run tomorrow, I am feeling pretty good now and I am sure the extra day rest will help me freshen up for the relay next Saturday.

Until tomorrow

(hmmm, anyone notice a subtle shift in mood when things aren’t 100%)

PS - correct, pain from a tough session is fine, and strangely satisfying (did someone say masochist?), but “this isn’t normal” pain I will not run through, pigheadedness will do me no favours.