Sooky La La

And another 8.8km after work, an odd number as it was a spin around the block via the supermarket towards the end.

Thursday was more sleeplek in the morning followed by club training out in Berwick in the evening. Bends and Straights around the grass track, easy on the bends, harder on the straights, 8 laps, f*cking awful, I hate short stuff, takes me too long to get going and my two fast twitch fibres were not cooperating as I crawled slug like around 3.3 something Kms in about 15:30, even the ducks on the infield were mocking me (though it is conceivable that imaging that bird life is taking the mick could be considered a tad irrational, it is more likely that they were excited about a particularly juicy worm).

I was going to run this morning, so I could have a longer break before tomorrows cross country, but 3 sleepleks in one week is one sleeplek too far and the snooze button got a good hammering. I’ll do an easy 8km this afternoon; I can’t see how it will have a negative impact on racing at 130 tomorrow afternoon.

Round 1 of the Cross Country and Road racing season starts tomorrow and kicking off with the traditional 6km relay at Jells and happy to say that my club has an Open Women’s team ready to race.

I am struggling with my confidence at the moment (damn, that is hard to admit, traditionally I am your paper over the cracks type of person, put on a brave face and for pity sake don’t show any weakness!), but what the hell, a problem shared and all that. Training is going well, apart from a brief flirtation with Mr Lurgy 2 weeks ago and a soul shattering short rep session last night, but I just feel kind of heavy and useless at the moment. Not heavy heavy, but heavy in my head, it’s frustrating because it causes me to write myself off before I have even tried, wow, I can be flaky sometimes. I think it’s best to focus on small goals and not be overwhelmed by the bigger things right now. I am not going to dwell much on my time tomorrow, I am going to instead concentrate on starting out conservatively and running a negative split and not crashing on the second lap like I have every other time I’ve run this course (3 years now) and the time will be what it will be.

Yup, that sounds good, do that Em.

And do try to cheer the f*ck up

And why am I being all prissy with the *s?

Because even at the age of 36, I can still hear my mother lecturing me about not using unladylike language.

Reports of cold mornings have been greatly exaggerated

Sorry Mr Twain

I don’t pay a huge amount of attention to the weather reports, if its summer it’s bound to be warm, if its winter it’s bound to be chilly and I have enough surplus gear floating around the back of my car to allow me to adapt to the prevailing conditions. Then I noticed last night on the ubiquitous Facebook that a few people were expressing concern about the weather turning arctic overnight and I braced myself for my first truly cold morning run of the year.

As it happens the minor hysteria was unfounded, my heating didn’t come on in the morning, so it was at least 17 degrees inside the house, I went to the loo and my feet didn’t freeze to the tiles (it’s the coldest room in the house), another good sign. I dressed for my run in shorts and a long sleeved top, within about 5 minutes the sleeves were up, it was a perfectly lovely morning; brass monkey weather is surely on the way, but not today.

So a bit of a catch up, going quiet usually means one of a few things, I am injured (no), I am sick (no), I am running like crap (no) or I have descended into a mood and don’t feel like talking (snap!). No, it’s not a PMS thing, I’ve just been in a mood because you know, I am like, complex and stuff in another time and place I’d have spent the last couple of days standing on a bleak moor howling into the wind pointlessly before being saved from myself by some patronising Austenesque hero.

As it happens Austenesque heroes are a bit thin on the ground these days and I am a modern woman and perfectly capable of dragging myself of the moor and seem to be a in a slightly more chipper mood this morning.

Now, where was I?

Friday – Umm, what did I do? Something around 10.5km in a warm rain, I got soaked but it was lovely.

Saturday – a hilly 7.5km around home, it was a little bit shit, just one of those do it because it’s on the plan runs

Sunday – The Inaugural Eyjafjallajoekull Volcano Half Marathon was kicked off with a small, exclusive invitation only field. It was run along a scenic out and back accurately measured course along the Main Yarra Trail starting in Templestowe, there was a hoard of hoppy race marshals, they were very cute but were of little help and refused to bring us any sports drink. The event was self supported with a few drink taps along the way, stopping to take a few photos was encouraged and the event culminated in a very exciting sprint finish and the two participants crossed the line together in just over 1:53.

Ok, it was my attempt to make up for the fact that a friend of mine was not able to run the London Marathon this weekend as a certain volcano in Iceland meant that she could not fly to the UK last week.

Monday – I went for a bushwalk around Olinda before lunch, it was only about 7km but there was a fair bit of climbing over the second half, it was a gorgeous crisp day and I totally earned my Devonshire tea.

Then in the evening as I was driving to training I was waiting at the intersection of Jells and Wellington Road, I looked down the hill and a small, barely perceptible shiver passed though me, “Hmmmmm” I though to myself, “It’s been a while since we’ve done those hill reps down there”

Guess what we did last night?

Go on, I bet you’ll never pick it!

OK, I’ll let you know

Hill Reps!!

Curses! Damn bushwalking, what was I thinking?!

6 by 2 minutes, somehow, in spite of the fact that each one felt more painful than the last I managed to complete them all at a fairly consistent pace.

I seem to ne having a bit of trouble getting up out of my chair today.

Today – A very very easy 6.5km before work.

chirp chirp chirp

Terry and I have reached an uneasy detente, that is, he is still chirping away outside my bedroom and I now have some earplugs, so he still did his thing last night and I managed to get some sleep.

Hopefully the rain will stick around a bit tonight because that shuts him up as well, or one of the magpies that hang out in the yard snacks on him tomorrow.

I’ve managed to train reasonably well this week and the remnants of last weeks lurgy have just about been shaken off.

Tuesday – under the cover of a pretty spectacular lightening storm (though at times a little close for comfort) we did 400 metre reps, I did 3 sets of 3 with a 130 metre floating recovery and a 500(ish) float between sets.

Phew, 9 by 400, that was pretty tough.

Not a bad effort, averaged around 1:45 per rep so a little off what I would normally do but at least it was consistent.

Thursday – the usual sleeplek this morning, around 6.5km

Tempo run out in Berwick this evening, just a smidge quicker than 2 weeks ago, though felt a little harder this time and I totally crashed on the hill on the way back, so there is some lingering fatigue from last week.

Short ‘n sweet, can’t seem to find the words at the moment

Nemesis

Ahab had his Whale, Peter Costello had John Howard, Blur had Oasis and I have Terry the Territorial Cricket!

This little Indian summer we are having is playing funny buggers with the local wildlife, more specifically on Terry the Territorial Cricket who has taken up residence right outside my bedroom and is busy trilling and chirping ALL BLOODY NIGHT!!! As I lay in bed, unable to get to sleep I contemplate ripping Terry’s wings off to shut him up, if only I could find the little bugger, you would swear he was sitting right on the door step outside the french doors, I am sure I can hear his little legs brushing against the screen door, but I’ve looked, I can’t see him anywhere. All I know is that he has his patch and he has refused to budge for the last 3 nights and I am becoming slightly homicidal, or should that be insecticidal?

I could sleep on the couch I suppose, but it isn’t very comfortable, so either way I am stuffed until Terry gets his leg over or moves on or dies.

Lurgy Update!
Feeling considerably better, about 95% back to my usual self, but still feeling a touch washed out.

I did rest on Sunday, no run at all, slept in until 8am (that’s a big sleep in for me), fed the cats, made a cup of tea and malingered in bed until 930am (damn near unheard of), did some chores which tired me out so back to bed again in the afternoon for more sleeping and then an early night, slept OK, save for Terry’s incessant chirping.

I went for an easy 8km run last night, no watch or garmin, it was mostly fine though Andersen Street was a bit of a chore. I pushed the pace just a little in the middle to see how it felt, it wasn’t comfortable but no stomach cramps.

This morning I did an easy 6.5km, it was harder than it usually is at that time of day, but again, no stomach cramp.

I think it will just take the rest of this week to get my momentum back, but things seem OK, I’ve got training tonight which will be a more telling test, I’ll ease in and see how I go.

The main problem now is that my appetite still isn’t back, normally I would give a plague of locusts a run for their money, I love food! But right now I am still very blah on everything apart from cheese and crackers and tinned fruit (especially pineapple), my usual I don’t feel very well staples, but a women, let alone a runner can’t exist on these things alone so it better come back soon.

Oh and my right ear is still blocked, I can’t hear properly, it’s proving to be quite useful here at work.

A question answered
From a few post ago, when John asked what the increased mileage is for, I’ve been sitting on high 50 to mid 60s for about a year so now that I’ve got a solid base with no injury I am adding a bit to bring it up to low to mid 70s. I want to run a mid year half marathon so it’s time to start putting the work in if I want a good time, also ‘tis the season for racing over longer distances so it was time to step up the training.

Curses!

The lurgy has won

Damnit

10.5km last night, ok but not great, feels like I am running with one lung.

Attempted another session this morning, gorgeous crisp morning down at Jells, warm up and strides alright but again halfway into the first rep I was doubled over again. I am alright at 5:30 pace or slower, any faster and my stomach twists in a knot.

So I gave up and ran out a very slow 10km.

And as much as it pains me I admit defeat, no long run tomorrow, just lots of very tedious laying about resting, what a waste of such a lovely weekend.

That’ll learn me to be all excited about the improvements last week won’t it!

In the meantime, Aths Vic have asked the clubs to come up with a catchy nickname, along the lines of Richmond Tigers, Adelaide Crows, Brisbane Lions, that sort of thing.

Easy if you happen to be Richmond Harriers, Essendon or Collingwood, a bit trickier for us

So Casey Cardinia {insert clever, appropriate and cool nickname here}????

All suggestions welcome

excuse me, that’s not in the plan

I may have mentioned it before, I can be a tad rigid at times, I think the words Control Freak may have been mentioned in the same breath as my name on more than one occasion by those who know and love tolerate me.

So on Wednesday when I started to get the chills and then the sweats, followed by my head starting to feel like it was in a vice I knew an ill wind was blowing and I tried to pretend it wasn’t happening.

No, sorry, “getting sick” hasn’t been written in my training plan this week, can’t accommodate that I am afraid.

*sigh* my sinuses had other ideas.

I took the day off work yesterday, dosed up on Sudafed and stayed horizontal for most of the day as it was the only position I could adopt that was vaguely comfortable for my pounding sinus clogged face and aching blocked ears.

By 4pm I was climbing the walls, I was sooooo BORED! I went for a quick walk to the shops and felt ok(ish) so like the idiot that I am I popped some more Sudafed and went to training.

Warm up was ok(ish) but then halfway though the first rep I thought I was going to be sick and I couldn’t breathe.

That was it, I decided to cut my loses and call it quits.

Feeling a bit better today, no Sudafed required, though I talked myself out of a short run this morning in the cold, I’ll try for a relaxed run this afternoon instead.

I talked my brother and sister into a 5km fun run up in Queensland in July, it fits between two AV rounds but we’ll run as a family so it won’t be a hard one. The course goes right past my sisters front door about 1.5km in which is a bit of a novelty. Actually, there wasn’t much convincing needed, I brought it up with them on Tuesday and came back to work today to find they’d both e-mailed me to tell me that they have already entered. I’ve done fun runs with them both seperately so I’m looking forward to us all running together this time

Andrew, don’t worry, I wouldn’t expect most people to get the title from the last post, it’s Irish Gaelic, it means Nothing Without Effort, I used to write it on the inside of my arm before I raced, but then I had it stamped on a silver braclet earlier this year. Possibly a little corny but it serves are a reminder when things get hard and I want to give in.

Tada Gan Iarracht

I bounced back fine from my two runs on Sunday, I was starting to worry that I’d fooled myself into thinking the 10km (ok, 9.8km) was harder than imagined but I definitely did not pull up sore and tired like I would after a racing effort.

Monday nights easy run was around 8.7km, started slow and then warmed up to a good steady pace, in the end I was forcing myself to slow down a little as I was starting to fly along. I was running a different part of the Yarra trail so I was probably just enjoying a change of scenery or maybe trying to finish up before the seriously ominous black clouds let go of their rain.

Tuesday morning I had to give myself a stern talking to, getting out of bed was easy enough, as was getting dressed and driving to the city. Putting one foot in front of the other and heading out for an 8km run was another matter altogether, frankly I was acting like a whiney little sook but whiney little sooks are never going to achieve their goals so I had to be given a good talking to and a kick up the bum. Being your own coach isn’t so bad, but has one distinct disadvantage, that is appearing to be a total psycho when giving your athlete a pep talk

I didn’t wear a watch, just stayed relaxed, let my mind wander and next thing I knew it was all over and I felt far better than I would have if I’d sloped off to the office and skipped the run.

I fully expected it to be pretty cold yesterday morning, although autumn has well and truly hit us the mornings are still pretty mild, I had my arm sleeves on but they were off after only a Km.

Last night we did a progressive run on a loop of about 1.5km, increasing the pace with each lap. The option was for 3 or 4 laps, given that I am still testing myself out at this increased mileage I opted for 3 laps, 9.3km for the afternoon was more than enough. My mistake in the past was the arrogant belief that I am indestructible, sadly it has been proven to me several times that I am not and I have learned that discretion is the better part of valour and that training is not a competition.

I know, how tedious

It was a good session though and I was happy with how I ran.

So, midway through my fourth big week, how do I feel?

Tired? Yes!
Sore Muscles? Yes!
Hungry? Constantly!
Niggly Shins? NO!

So far so good, I am feeling stronger and more confident, but laurels a very long way from being rested on.

knock on wood

I ran the Angela Taylor Memorial Run today, the plan was to do the 10km and then an extended cool down with a friend who was also running.

I was up at 430 as I had some testing to do after another upgrade, as I was sitting there going through the checklist I could hear it chucking down the rain outside, yikes, oh well, ’tis the season and it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Mother Nature is clearly a runner because by the time I got to The Tan the sky was clear and it was just about warm enough to be in a T-Shirt and not shiver (too much), I was running late so didn’t have to stand around getting cold for too long. Wasn’t really sure what I was going to do, I was cold and a bit tired after a big couple of weeks training and the early start, so figured I’d warm up for a couple of Kms, settle in and do a spot of Fartlek. The course was two almost laps of The Tan, we went long down to Domain Road off the top of Anderson St, continued down Domain, a little dog leg up Dallas Brooks Drive, back down Domain to turn right into St Kilda Road, up in at Government House Drive, another dog leg up to the statue near the Music Bowl and so on for another lap, a bit twisty turny upey downey.

Anyway, I settled in and did my Fartlek thing, didn’t bother looking at my watch and cruised comfortably over the line in 46:38.

Huh, 46:38, comfortably, on a twisty course, twice up Anderson Street and a heap of head wind! But that’s barely a minute slower than my PB (on the short Sandown course that was actually more like 9.9km), umm yay!

Ok, so the course was not accurate, 9.8km by the Garmin, but hey, I’ve raced 10km slower than today over the last year and it’s been a gut wrenching slog (50 minutes for Sandown last year damn near killed me!) and now I find mid 47 pretty comfortable, it’s another small positive sign

I like where this is going, but knocking wood every chance I get.

Oh and a cool down of around 7km to finish off.

Hey Cilla, gotta check the gym timetable, I was mad busy at work last week.

not all that scintillating

Tiiiiiiired, but thought I’d post a quick update.

Would you believe it I am still riding a happy wave after Thursday’s training? I’ve done a 20 minute tempo run along that same route 3 times previously and I’ve never made it to the hospital before, I just made it this time, I saw the sign so I knew it was a good start, but I was even happier with the way I held on back up the hill and was strong right to the finish.

Small thing I know, I am just excited to be feeling good going into the winter season for a change, the last three haven’t started (or continued for that matter) all that well

2007 – Ran round one on what I later discovered to be my first stress fracture, didn’t come back until round 6
2008 – Trailwalker hangover, ran a 10km PB, then got my second stress fracture, didn’t come back until the last round
2009 – Trailwalker hangover, no injury, just ran like crap just about every round, but did manage my first half marathon in 3 years

Sooooo, hoping to give it a proper go this time

Time to start thinking about my goal races I think………..

Running since Thursday has been pretty cruisy, an easy 6km(ish) after work on Friday and and a chatty relaxed 10km run leading today. Back in the garden for the rest of the morning, wrestled the last of the nasty grass out of the ground and now I can start plotting out the new patch, I don’t think I hurt anything this time.

Tomorrow I am meeting a friend for a low key 10km race (NOT racing, just an excuse to meet up with a friend) followed by an 8km cool down, it’ll be a nice change to do a long run with company, I haven’t done that for a while.

Ahhhh, sometimes you have a good day, a little spot of sunshine that serves to keep driving you forward, a good training session will always put a smile on my face.

A quick run down

Tuesday
Easy 8.something around Lysterfield, lovely morning but a bit of smoke in the air from the DSE back burning being done over the weekend. Towards the end of the run I head a bit of a commotion, at first I thought it was mountain bikers as I was near one of the bike tracks, next thing I know a big Mob of Kangaroos is coming out of the bush right for me and I am surrounded, best just to stand still and wait for them to pass, especially as all the big boys came out last!

1km(ish) reps at Waverley Park in the evening, either 4 or 5. Just 4 for me, something wasn’t quite right in my left thigh, I think as a result of the gardening the day before, anyway, twas a bit tight so I took it easier on the first two reps, warmed up Ok and went a bit harder for the last two, all seems fine now but better safe than sorry.

4:24
4:24
4:19
4:13

run on a 7 minute cycle.

Wednesday
Rest and massage

Thursday (Today, or tomorrow, or two days ago, depending on when you are reading this)
Easy 8km sleeplek before work, nice to be running in some daylight in the mornings now.

Great session tonight, 20 minutes tempo, felt good from the start and ran strongly and consistently, there is a short sharp hill on the return leg (10.5 out, 9.5 back), but given that I’d already run further on the out leg than I usually do I was feeling confident and decided that I wasn’t going to let it beat me and it didn’t!

Checking back over my diary I confirmed my suspicions, it was the best I’ve run this session, my next best was on 1/10/09, 4:27km @ 4:41 per km, today was 4:38km @ 4:36, though it felt easier

Feeling a little chuffed with myself this evening.

Though also feeling a little edgy about injury at the moment, mileage has gone up over 70km a week for pretty much the first time since my first stressie. I’ve rebuilt a good base over the last two years so I am sure I can handle it, but the paranoia is creeping in and nagging at me, very frustrating! I am overdue for a blood test so it’s a good time to get back to the doctor, she will have a good dig in my shins and set my mind at ease. My legs feel fine, it’s just in my head, training well, looking forward to a decent winter season (is there any such thing as 4th time lucky?), so of course I decide that something must come along to ruin it for me

This is obviously totally unrelated to the post, I just thought it was funny given my appalling Tetris addiction