Enough Already

55 minutes this afternoon, which meant multiple laps of The Tan as I am not allowed on the bike path yet.

To support my new found desire to learn to run within myself and to become more attuned to my perceived rate of exertion I have changed the display on my running watch. I used to have it set to show Stop Watch, Pace and Km Splits, now it displays Stop Watch, Time and Heart Rate.

I set out to keep the HR under 80% and to run at an easy conversational pace, though I only had myself to talk to so looked pretty strange

I finished up with 10.4Km in 55 minutes with an average pace of 5:17, this quite surprised me because the pace felt slower.

A quick word on the whole mileage thing, I definitely still plan on keeping track of how many kilometres I am running and do log distance and average pace every day. I am just not planning on basing my workouts on how far I am going to run that day and I am not viewing real time pace data while running. Before the next Winter season starts I want to be well and truly in tune with myself and be able to run intuitively.

I am as happy as anyone that Jana Rawlinson won her 400 metre hurdle final last night and it is obvious that she has worked hard since having a baby 8 months ago. BUT, can the media please stop with this Super Mum crap, it is such a tedious old cliche and a pretty damn patronising one at that too, I could rant on and on but I will spare you

Ho Hum, not really on the ball this week, looking forward to some leisure time this weekend to re gather my thoughts, my mind is a bit sieve like at the moment, hope I don’t have mad cows disease.

It’s pretty simple really

Recovering after a running injury is pretty simple really and can be summed up thusly……

2 steps forward, 1 step backwards

Fret not, this is not a post about a set back, it is just that I was thinking though the next couple of months today during an idle moment.

For example last week I ran 4 times but never on a consecutive day and clocked up about 35Km. This week I will also run 4 days, however have done consecutive days for the first time (Tuesday/Wednesday) but will finish the week on about 31Km. It is also important to make the right decisions day by day, rather than being inflexible. I am building up my run time by 5 minutes at a time, holding each increment for 2 runs before stepping up. However on Wednesday this week I opted to stick with the 40 minute tempo run, it was a good workout and knocking out a 15 minute cool down just to tick the 55 minute box would be pointless.

As I posted last week I have come to believe that focussing on Kms run is not necessarily the smartest thing to do. Rather I will now set out my training based on time and the workouts I want/need to do to achieve my goals.

Christ, it is all so sensible, mature and cautious

I am a typical uptight Capricorn control freak.

I had a massage this afternoon and got a bit of a shock when I booked my next appointment in 2 weeks time, it will be 3 days before the first Spring into Shape 4Km run. This has me a bit nervous now because I am no where near race ready, it seemed like a good idea 6 weeks ago. I am still very conscious of my left leg in particular as this is where the injury was the worst, there is still a lump over the bone and slight thickening of the whatsit stuff over the bone that the MT can feel. I don’t have any discomfort in the leg either during or after a run, I guess I am just extra aware.

I guess at worst I just go out and do a gentle run and enjoy the day, there will still be 2 more runs in the series.

Jana Rawlinson (400 mtre hurdle final) and Craig Mottram (5000 mtre semi) are running tonight, time to settle in on the couch.

Bit of a dry running only musings post tonight, I’ll have to think of another poor hapless celebrity to pick on tomorrow night.

Later that day….

Great run by Jana for the Gold and a nice measured 5000 mtre from Craig to easily make Sunday’s final

Another Shortie

Another short one tonight, I am a bit busy this week.

As mentioned about a million times I was able to run consecutive days once this week so I backed up today and led the 8km training group tonight. As I was out the front I had to set the pace for the faster runners so I ended up with a nice handy 40 minute tempo run, happy to say it was fairly comfortable. Though it was a run in 2 parts as we stopped at about 4Km to re-gather the group.

I hadn’t led the 8km group before and to the horror of the front of pack I nearly led them on a 10Km jaunt that would have taken them up Anderson St. Bless them for being so trusting though none of them wanted to correct me until Sal (the other run leader) hollered out that I was going the wrong way oh well, I was up for it.

Rest tomorrow night and a massage.

The full moon tonight is spectacular it was still really low and huge in the sky as I was driving home on the freeway, it got a bit hypnotic, lucky I didn’t drive off the road

I won’t be silent anymore

I have tried to be silent, I have tried to be understanding, maybe he has a great personality, and maybe she see’s a side to him that the rest of us don’t. But it’s no use, I can’t hold my tongue any longer and I have to ask the question………….

……..what the fuck does Kate Moss see in this train wreck?

It is not like he even has the redeeming quality of being a musical genius or is able to convincingly play the tortured artist card along the lines of Kurt Cobain, Nick Cave, Jimmy Hendrix and even Jim Morrison at a stretch before he went all I am the Lizard King on us (though I have always found having people share their “mystical journey” with the world ever so slightly tedious, it is a bit of a case of “you had to be there” really). All I see is a sallow, grotty, flaccid (cue google visits from people looking for little blue pills), spotty and totally unpleasant little man I would cross the street to avoid.

Give it up Pete, Sid Vicious went there and did that while you will still drinking free milk in kindy and we all know that one ended in tears. Then again I have always theorised that he was done in by Sinatra as revenge for that cover version, if you look really closely you can see the string holding poor Sid upright

Running?
Haven’t had my run yet today, I’ll take a spin around The Tan before watching the rest of the squad do speedwork at Olympic Park. This is the week I get to run consecutive days so I have chosen Tuesday/Wednesday as Wednesdays I am a run leader and it is always a gentle run for me anyway, seemed like a wise decision.

PS
I headed to The Tan, I started at the Pillars with the intention of just running until the watch said 20 minutes, imagine my surprise when I made it back round to the Pillars in 20:04

While I was waiting for the others to turn up I did 3 30 second oblique planks on each side, 3 60 second planks and one 30 second plank as well as a stack of stretches. The were lots of lovely fellas out on The Tan tonight too

It was a very comfortable run too, then I had a lovely dinner with some of my club mates after they finished training.

Quick!

I went to Bikram Yoga after work tonight, lovely to have a nice long stretching session.

Then off home to be terribly virtuous and eat a bowl of homemade Broccoli soup made yesterday so I didn’t have to cook tonight.

This week I aim to keep the mileage the same as last week, that is around 35Km. I also get to run consecutive days this week, so I’ll do the 20 minutes tomorrow and then another run on Wednesday, rest Thursday, 55 minutes on Friday and a “long” run on Sunday afternoon, 60 whole minutes

Signing off for the day, I have the Monday blahs.

Boing!

Spring is here

Sure the weather can go to crap at any moment but it does not take much more than a weekend of perfect spring weather to put me in a fantastic mood. This sounds terribly lame but it was so lovely to do heaps of washing and get it dried outside on the line for a change. Especially the sheets, nothing beats the smell of freshly laundered bedding when it has been able to dry on the line, especially as I have planted lavender bushes under the clothes line.

It is also fantastic to feel like I have done some decent running as well, the week has ended on 35.7Km with some solid running behind me. In fact looking over my training diary when I was first starting out this was pretty much a normal week for me, so it is kind of like I am starting out again, but the pace is much better.

Mon - 45 minutes
Tues - Rest
Weds - 45 minutes (10 minute warm up on my own then 35 minutes as run leader)
Thurs - Rest and massage
Fri - 50 minutes
Sat - Rest
Sun - 50 minutes
Total - 35.7Km

Things are looking up and it feels great to be edging up towards the one hour mark again

I spent a few hours yesterday scanning old photos, there are so many memories in there. I have my old albums from Mum, a pile from high school, virtually none from the uni/goth years though (I could barely afford to eat after paying the rent, photos were not a high priority), my album from my trip to Europe in 2000 and particularly treasured my Grandfather’s album from when he was in the Navy in WW2. I have only managed to scan some from my childhood album so far, it is going to take a while to get them all done and organised.

I did add some to my Flickr account, these can be found in the side bar to this blog.

Here were some of my favourites -

Mum still has this dress at home, by the looks of my right foot it looks like I needed orthotics from the get go

One of many photos of me kissing my baby brother, we were very close

Official Prep Portrait - I have vague recollections of someone saying “Say Freckles” instead of “Say Cheese”, I was not amused

This one made me a bit misty eyed, it wasn’t easy for Mum when we were kids, we did not have very much money (note our cute homemade clothes) but she loved us so much and we never felt like we were going without. Also looking at this photo I can see so much of my sister, she resembles my mum much more than I do.

I still love my brother, but he isn’t the sweet little boy anymore, but he is now a great father and wonderful brother. This was Italy 2000 in a camp ground in Rome. The van was a very old Bedford and it pretty much died when we got back to London. This was my first day there and I hadn’t seen my brother and his girlfriend (now fiance you can see her in the bottom of the pic) in 3 years, we got stupid drunk that night and I was sicker than I had ever been the next morning

Thought I better include one with my darling little sister. This one is kinda funny because it looks like I am kicking her down the hill, trust me, I wasn’t. This was taken at the Botanical Gardens when I was about 9, who knew about 23 years later I would spend so much time running around those gardens. My sister was an adorable child, she was so damn cute, still is actually. I can’t believe I will be standing next to her as her Maid of Honour when she gets married next March.

Easy does it

Stepped up to a 50 minute run today.

I am loving this feeling of renewed vigor and enthusiasm, spending the day at work happily anticipating knock off time when I get to go for a run.

I ran up to The Tan from Federation Square because most of the path is the same surface as The Tan, then a lap and a bit and back the way I came. It was a glorious afternoon, the sun was shining, there was a gentle breeze, it was pretty much perfect

My goal was to take it really easy because I am now stepping up to longer and longer runs, I was aiming for 9Km, any further and I’d simply be running too fast, I have come too far to risk re-injury. The emphasis here is on slow comfortable running, no heroics, apart from a quick final 2 minutes where I let myself step up and turn the legs over a bit faster in the run for home. It was utterly enjoyable, no huffing and puffing (apart from Anderson St), no pain, just the pleasure of the run.

It was 9.2Km, an relaxed average pace of 5:29 Km.

I used my Nike+ unit today, enjoying some of my new toons. At this stage of my recovery it has the added advantage of removing the reliance of constant feedback while running. When I use the footpod that comes with my Polar watch I can set it to display pace and distance, I then spend too much time checking on my progress. Running with the Nike+ unit today I couldn’t see the feedback because the iPod was on my arm, I really enjoyed the experience of running within myself and just enjoying the afternoon.

I think I will continue running for time for the next couple of months. For example (Caveat - this is just an idea, I am not going to go out and do this next week) -
Mon - Rest
Tues - Speedwork
Weds - 75 minutes easy
Thurs - 45 minutes (including 30 minutes tempo)
Fri - 60 minutes easy
Sat - 45 minutes fartlek
Sun - 90 minutes long

And then the Kms covered at then end of the week will be what they will be. De-emphasising weekly mileage and instead concentrating on quality workouts seems like a far more sensible idea to me, perhaps then taking away the desire for me to churn out an extra 5Kms just to say “I ran XXKm last week”

Just a thought

Can you tell I don’t want to go down the serious injury road again?

It was Daffodil Day today, to raise money for cancer research. I don’t buy anything on the day, I don’t need a collection of pins and crappy pens, I prefer to donate money directly. My grandmother died of Breast Cancer and I always donate money to the Cancer Council on her birthday, in lieu of a present, her birthday was the first day of Spring, 1st September. The year she died, a couple of months before Daffodil Day was the year they decided to use the Coldplay song Yellow in the ad campaign, I can’t listen to that song anymore.

There was a stall in the foyer of my building selling DD merchandise, just outside the door from where they were set up all the smokers were huddling, some people just don’t get it do they?

To that end, I just checked the news on line and have discovered that Kerryn McCann has breast cancer and to further the awful news she is still pregnant. My every sympathy is with her, she is a fighter and I hope she pulls through, this must be a very difficult time for her and her family. News like this certainly puts ones own woes into perspective.

A dying breed?

Ginger, bloodnut, ginga, blue, carrot top, ranga, ginger nut, day walker (a recent addition, thank you South Park, we quite like this one in our family) I could go on, you name it I have heard it. For more gems check this out.

When I was a kid I used to hate my red hair and freckles, I was teased mercilessly like I was the resident circus freak or something. When I was about 13 I spent a couple of weeks secretly dousing my face with bleach in the misguided belief that it would make my freckles go away, fortunately I didn’t do any permanent damage. One particularly nasty bitch I went to Uni with had there nerve to declare, “I have never met a good looking red head”, granted at the time I think I had blue hair I was still pretty damn offended.

Now anyone who wants take me on can do so at their peril because I do have the temper to go with the hair.

And guess what? I am pretty damn unique thankyou very much, only 2 percent of the population are natural red heads and only 4 percent carry the gene, mostly of Celtic decent and I am proud of my ancestral heritage. The mutation in the gene that causes red hair also allows us to more easily sythesise Vitamin D from limited exposure to the sun, owing to the serious lack of sunlight in Northern Europe thousands of years ago. This is particularly useful for me as it helps the absorption of calcium.

But what do I hear today, we are in danger of becoming extinct

Some boffin reckons we could be all gone by 2060, frankly I find this very alarming. So give us a break, don’t dis the red head, some of us are pretty cute

Course I am kinda letting the side down with my stubborn refusal to reproduce.

I had a follow up appointment with my podiatrist today, not much to report, I am happy with my orthotics, she was happy with them just needing to make a slight adjustment. The appointment didn’t cost me anything and I don’t need to go back until January.

As I was walking back to the car park I strolled over the Barack Bridge and my thoughts turned to the Melbourne Marathon which will have it’s closing stages over that bridge in October. It suddenly struck me that I no longer care than much for running a marathon, it used to be the ultimate goal for me, but now it just isn’t that important, I don’t need it to complete me as a runner. Back in January this year I started to consider giving it a go and it was agreed that I would make the decision in June. Well, the decision was made for me in May when I got 2 Stress Fractures. Now I reckon if I run one it will only be after I have cleared up some unfinished business with what I call my “real” running goals and then it will just be for fun.

Goals before running a Marathon

Regain my fitness

Stay injury free for a year

Complete a winter season

Run a sub 42 minute 10Km

Run a sub 20 minute 5Km

Run a sub 90 minute half marathon

And taking my cue from Stu I doubt you will see me running for more the 2 hours at a time for at least the next 12 months. I have ambitions, I want to see what I can achieve, and a Marathon simply does not factor in the medium term plan.

Umm, Marilyn, thanks for that link, please assure your friend that death by overly amorous camel is very rare in Australia

What was I on today?

8km done in 2 part today.

I did a short one on The Tan to calibrate my Nike+ unit, I had to run a known distance. I walked there singing along to myself with the iPod, did 1km to calibrate then ran back to Fed Square, stopping at The Angel statue, this portion was a cruisy 2.6Km at about 5:15.

Then I was leading the 5Km group from Federation Square. Because we are now in the lead up to the Melbourne Marathon, which is sponsored by Asics I have again switched allegiances (don’t let it get around but I am pretty easily bought). I am not kitted out in new shoes, socks, shorts, crop top, T-Shirt and jacket in a pretty funky grey and orange, next to green orange is my favourite colour, oh yeah, the shoes are green

They didn’t ask us what style shoes we needed so I was pretty lucky to score a pair of 2120s which are suitable for an overpronator and they only weigh 260gms. They will not suit me for high mileage training but they will be a great lightweight trainer for speed work and road races.

I was also joined by a new run leader today who turned out to have recently started with my Tuesday night training group, but because of my injury I hadn’t met her yet AND she works in my building. She was very chatty and friendly, she will be a fantastic run leader.

After we got back to Fed Square I had a quick chat with a guy who I had noticed pull out of the 5Km run early and head back, he looked more than capable so I wanted to check he was OK. Turns out he had quite a bit of pain in his foot, he’s seen a sports doc and a physio and they had both told him to rest a couple of days and try running again. He said that they poked his foot a bit and couldn’t find a hotspot, the doc said he “might” have a stress fracture but didn’t even bother to order a bone scan. Poor guy was a bit puzzled about what he should do next because he reckoned the pain was quite bad. It just made me grateful that I had been referred to an excellent sports physician who had me off for a scan immediately, no mucking about. It was kinda funny because I was giving him all this info and he asked what I did for a living because I seemed to know so much about running injuries, I just pointed out that I have just spent waaaaaaay too much time on google and had also had a stressie myself. Also, did I mention he was kinda cute cut me some slack, I don’t have ice running though these veins all the time.

I have been thinking about getting a fringe, I used to have one years ago. I always wear my hair in a pony tail, I never wear it down, I bet none of you who know me have seen me with my hair down. But I reckon lately that I am starting to look a bit severe and school marmish, especially after I lost weight and my face got thinner so now I am going through one of my “maybe I need a change” phases. However considering my lackadaisical attitude to the hairdresser I know what will happen, I’ll look fine for about 4 weeks, won’t go back for 8 months and end up looking just like I do now

Watching Spicks and Specs and Adam Hills was asking the panel what their first concert experience was, here goes, I knew I would live to regret this one day, mine was Guns n Roses at the now defunct Glasshouse (The Entertainment Centre) in I think, 1987 when I was in year 8. Surely I redeemed myself in the following years when I also saw Bjork and the Smashing Pumpkins at the same place.

Oh yeah, for some reason I was in a freakishly good mood today, I think it is because the running is becoming more consistent

Yikes

Rest day today, I have a massage later this evening. It is waaaay overdue, I was supposed to be having them once a week but the last 3 weeks have been pretty disrupted due to being away from work and I just couldn’t manage it. My ITB has been niggling (relax, nothing serious) so I am looking forward to a good pummeling. I will definitely be making my appointment for next week on the spot.

I also have my follow up appointment with the Pod on Thursday as I have been running in the orthotics for about 6 weeks now. I have to say I have been pretty pleased with how they have been treating me. I was expecting all sorts of drama’s but they feel as natural as can be now, I guess I really needed them.

After yesterday’s epic this will be a short one tonight.

How’s this picture I took today from my office window, it is the Rialto (the 2nd tallest building in Melbourne). They have been cleaning the windows, have a look up there at the top left, see how far out the window cleaners cage is certainly not for the faint hearted

And this is just a gratuitous picture of my gorgeous little niece that was sent to me this weekend.