Wordle

Computers are cool. I am still very much a gumby when it comes to this stuff, but I love trying new things. This comes from Wordle. I got the idea from Plu, thanks Plu. I just cut the words from the last few weeks of my blog.

Body training, mind wandering

I have had a good week, and recovered well after feeling a bit tired from the weekend. It was so great not to have it raining every day.

Monday
PM - Easy 2k swim followed by 20 blissful minutes in the steam room.

Tuesday
AM - Rode with LACC. My legs were feeling a bit tired so I went with Group 4 - a solid effort but not super hard.
Lunch - Pain in the Domain. I was anointed leader for group 5, which is fun, but it means I don't run as hard as I would otherwise. I got the group around in about 29:45.

Wednesday
AM - 14k run around the Bay. I just couldn’t motivate myself to do my <5mink>

Thursday
PM - 5k Bolt at the Bay with Balance Tri Club. I wasn't sure how I would go and so guesstimated 21:30, but I ran well. It was strange to be running fast in the dark, but good. I finished in 20:19. If I had been honest with myself and estimated 20:30 I would have won the handicap - silly girl. The course was possibly a little short, but now I can smell the sub-20 and will aim for that some time soon. 19-something sounds so good.

Friday
AM - swim squad 4k. It was quite a hard session and I was on my own, with the other swimmers being mostly faster and some slower than me. I have been thinking about finding another squad, with more people and triathletes. But there is really nowhere as convenient.

Saturday -CR 5k challenge. I planned to take it easy and ran without a watch. I think I did about 23 minutes. It was a lovely morning with great company and banana bread for brekky.

So this week I have been thinking I would like to get back to dedicated tri training. Its been 6 months now of just running. Yes, I swim and ride once or twice a week, but its not the same. The biggest difference I guess is not doing long rides on the weekend. And I must admit I don’t like the idea of going back to those. Its nasty road riding in Sydney and its not very Tom-friendly. I am really happy with my progress as a runner this year and there are lots more runs I want to do. But I do feel a stirring. Anyway, I am not going to make any changes right away, I'll just see how things develop.

Tomorrow is Woodford to Glenbrook. I am aiming for under 2 hours, which is a big step up from last year's 2.20, but I think I can do it. Last year I was sick and not as fit as I am now. We'll see. Its sure to be a great day out on the trail in any case.

Canberra Capers

We were down in Canberra on the weekend for little Miss Chloe's 4th birthday party.



But I managed to squeeze in some good running too. On Friday I did a great long run, in two parts. The first part was 20k with Tom. It was an adventure run around the back of and over the top of Mt Majura. We only averaged 6min ks, but that included lots of hills and some bush bashing. The second part was another 10k on my own. I wanted to go fast, so aimed to do a lap of Mt Ainslie in under 5min k pace. I really struggled on the up hills and had to fly on the downs to make up time, but I did it with an average pace of 4.59 and was really chuffed.

On Sunday was the 10k Canada Run for Cancer. I did this run years ago and fondly remembered the pancakes at the end, and Tom and family were keen, so we went along. I wasn't sure how I would feel after the long run on Friday, and whether a sub 43 PB would be on the cards. But once I started running I felt pretty good and thought I could do it. It was a gorgeous morning and the course is great, a gently undulating out and back. At the 5k turn-around the negative thoughts started to creep in, thinking lots of women would catch me on the way back. But I kept up a decent pace on the way back and none did. (A few blokes did.) I finished in 42.49 and 6th women, so I was really happy with it. Tom felt really sick on his run, but was pleased to finish in a respectable 46 minutes.

Now its less than a week till Woodford to Glenbrook - I can't wait! :)

Blue Gum Forest

Its taken me a little while to upoad these photos of our bushwalk on the long weekend. The weather wasn't great, but we had a great time.

Looking down into the Grosse Valley, where we were headed.

Looking up at Govett's Leap falls

Beanie weather down in the valley

Cooking lunch in the tent in the rain

The lovely Blue Gum forest

Climbing back up the Perry's Track

CoolRunning 5k Challenge and Great NOSH Footrace

It’s a bit late now but last weekend was blog-worthy.

Saturday was the CR 5k Challenge. This is a monthly time trial around the Bay, where the runners handicap their start times so everyone finishes more or less together. Then we jog the 5k back, have breakfast and talk about running (what else?) I have not been for ages and was looking forward to setting a new PB. I have recently run around 21.15 for the first half of a 10k race, so sub 21 was the goal. I started off with another woman who was also aiming for 21 minutes and we ran together for the first 3k, at a good pace I thought. She then stopped with shoelace issues so I had to slog the last 2k out alone. I forgot to start my watch unfortunately, but I think I did about 20.30 and was pleased with that. At brekkie I was seated at the 'ultra' end of the table, so I got to pick up some priceless tips, such as how it is important to be able to vomit while running without breaking stride. True.

Sunday was the 34th Annual Great NOSH Footrace. I have literally been looking forward to this for a year, since reading about it on CR last year, and I was not disappointed. I LOVED this run. It is 15k from Lindfield Oval to Seaforth Oval, mostly via bush tracks with some good hills. There was heaps of single track and I just loved running on it. It’s a narrow start with a few hundred runners and so I had to do quite a lot of passing in the first half, but I prefer passing to being passed. I went out pretty hard and was worried my pace was too fast to maintain, but I was really really enjoying myself, so I thought I might as well make hay. Over the last 5k I started to tire, but I passed a couple of women, so I was still going okay. With about 1k to go I spotted my friend Geoff up ahead in his lairy 6ft Track shirt and so I tried to catch him, but I couldn’t get him. The last 500m was single-track and very fun and challenging on tired legs. I finished in 1.20.40 - 3rd in my age group and 6th woman. :) I think the running gods might be trying to tell me something, because this year I have had 2 great runs off-road.

Which is a good segue way to what next? I feel like my running is going pretty well and I have been contemplating doing a marathon and trying to improve my "a bit soft" PB of 3.54. Gold Coast would be fun and fast, but its too soon now and would be expensive. At the end of July are 2 cheaper options - Cities, which is on-road and would be a reasonable prospect for a fast time, and also the Bush Capital Marathon in Canberra, which is off-road and would be slow, but very enjoyable and good training for other stuff. Or I could not do a marathon at all and keep busy with Woodford to Glenbrook, Shoalhaven KOM, City 2 Surf, Mt Wilson to Mt Bilpin, Striders runs and trying to get more time on my mtb - all of which I want to do anyway. But then I would be left wondering what time I can run a marathon in. Decisions, decisions!

Beyond that is definitely the Mogo 100k mtb in September, the Scott 24hr mtb in October, Triple Tri in November and maybe Canberra HIM in December. Beyond that is the triathlon season and the allure of the Olympic Distance World Champs on the Gold Coast and/or Long-course World Champs in Perth, both in 2009, but qualification details are not available yet.

On the more immediate horizon is a long weekend bushwalking in the Blueys and no running whatsoever.