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.

A lovely big weekend

On Saturday I did the Manly to Palm Beach 30k Fatass run. It was a beautiful day, the views are truly wonderful and I never get tired of running near the ocean. I hooked up with another girl right at the start. She kept up a pace that was not feeling easy at all for me and I kept thinking I should tell her to go on ahead, but I figured she was free to do that if she wanted. In the end we ran the whole way together and it was really nice to have the company. We were only going about 5.30 pace but I was struggling a bit, I haven't done a 30k run before 6ft. Its quite hilly too. We finished in 2.47 and I was definitely spent at the end. I think I would have been a lot slower if I had been running alone. I will need to do a fair few more of these if I want to run a marathon soon. It was a great feeling to finish at Palm Beach and when we were driving back down the peninsular it seemed like a very long way to have run. I wasn't at all tempted to do the 60k return trip, but the option to do a full marathon distance and return to the Newport Arms hotel next year could be a winner.

On Sunday was the Working Week Series 8 Hour Mtb race at Appin. I had organised my friends Jocie and Simone to do a team of 3. It was freezing and foggy when we arrived and there was a lot of muttering about a "very technical" course. It was a 9.5k loop which none of us had ridden before. I did the first lap and as usual it was very slow and congested for the first half of the lap but it got better in the second half. There were some pretty challenging sections, and plenty of stuff I had to walk, but overall it wasn't half as bad as it was made out to be and I really, really enjoyed it. It was almost all single track which is just so fun. Jocie was next up and I started straight into the eating and drinking. Jocie came back from her lap with a big smile, but she'd had a big stack on the way around and was bleeding. Fortunately Simone didn’t notice that before she went off for her lap! Jocie had nasty cuts, grazes and bumps on every limb and a very sore shoulder, but was still keen to keep going (crazy girl). Simone returned in one piece and said one lap was enough for her. It was my turn again and I was a little more nervous this time thinking of Jocie, but had another very enjoyable lap and rode a few bits that I had failed at on the first lap.

Jocie and I swapped off turns for another 2 laps before she decided that considering her numerous injuries, it was sensible to call it a day. Now that our team had gone from 3 to 2 to 1, I could have stopped too. But I was really enjoying myself and the course and not feeling tired at all. I felt amazingly good actually considering the long run the day before and my lack of mtb training. Oh well, make hay while the sun shines, so I kept going. After my 5th lap my hands and wrists were very sore. This is because I grip the handlebars and brakes way too hard, which is very poor form. I was going to stop then as there wasn't any "point" going on - we were not going to win our category or anything like that. But there was a nagging voice in my head saying - this is an 8 hour race, you need to ride for 8 hours. Plus I was definitely still enjoying myself and had a few more scores to settle with the course, so I went back for one more lap. I was so glad I did because this time I managed to do both the creek crossings perfectly for the first time. There were still 3 bits I couldn't do (a biggish drop-off, a biggish step-up and a tricky rocky climb) but I had improved on lots of other bits which was just what I was hoping I would get out of this race. Plus a tidy 55k of mtb in the legs. I couldn't ask for more. :)

By the time we got back to Sydney I was very very verrrrrry tired. I crawled into bed, didn’t set the alarm and slept for 12 hours.

SMH Half Marathon Race Report

I had no idea what to expect for this race. Last year I did 99 mins which was just from post-Ironman fitness and 2 weeks solid running beforehand. This year I have less endurance fitness, but a lot more running under my belt. I felt I had been training pretty well for the past 6 weeks, doing regular speed and hill work. The only thing lacking a bit was long runs but I have done 3 longer than 20ks, so it wasn't too bad. I thought that the next nice round number down (95 mins) was probably a bit out of reach, but I might get there on a good day. McMillan predicted 96 mins based on my 10k time from 2 weeks ago and I thought that was do-able. My result was 97.20 gun time and 96 mins flat chip time (which I am taking) so I am happy, but not over-the-moon, completely chuffed, floating 10ft off the ground happy. But still happy.

I found the pacing a bit hard, and was never sure if I was going too fast or too slow. I don’t feel like I have enough experience racing this distance yet, as its only the 3rd half-marathon I have done. I was fairly happy with my mental effort, I pushed myself pretty hard, especially over the last few kilometres. But I lost concentration and probably slowed down too much a few times. I really struggled going up the Hunter St hill both times. I have no idea why because the Argyle St hill felt great and the Mrs Mac's chair pinch was fine too.

It was a beautiful day and the new finish in Hyde Park is a huge improvement over Hickson Rd. Afterwards we sat around with Mum and Danny eating bacon and egg rolls and drinking coffee and enjoying the sunshine. Its expensive to enter and very crowded, but this is still a truly fantastic race.

Tom cruised it to finish in 104 mins - safely under 5 min per k pace - and he really enjoyed himself. He claims he is now "back" which is great. We are both going to do the 15k NOSH footrace in 2 weeks and then Woodford to Glenbrook at the end of June.

SMH Half Marathon Training Taper Week

For the record, this was my final week of training before the Half.

Monday
AM - Gentle run on some hilly dirt tracks in Castlemaine. I intended to do an easy 8ks, and all was going well until I got completely lost. Ooops. Fortunatley I turned on the "Back to Start" function on my Garmin and followed the arrows back. I have such a poor sense of direction, its scary.

Tuesday
Complete day off

Wednesday
PM - Swim squad. I enjoyed this session. The highlight was 6x100 where I managed to do each one on 1.40. This is slow pretty slow, but I was really trying hard and that felt good. We probably did about 3.2k.

Thursday
AM - 45k ride at SOP. I went with group 4/5 again and felt pretty good. A return to Group 3 should be on the cards soon.

Friday
AM - 6k easy run to the river. No watch but I felt good and my legs felt pretty fresh, which I was hoping for after doing next to nothing all week.

Saturday
No running, but we ended up doing quite a bit of walking around South Head and I felt really tired at the end.

All good - I had planned a very light week and that’s what I did. I really wanted to do another swim but I just couldn’t fit it in.