One Year Ago ...

I started running! Wow ... what a difference a year makes, here I am at Boxing Day last year - believe it or not I was feeling good because I'd lost a few kg's -


I haven't got a recent photo of me anywhere handy, but believe me I look different now!

Anyway - one year ago I started the C25K programme, best thing I ever did! My then nearly 13yo came with me, with a stop watch and he did the timing - and oh my gosh, that one minute running was HARD, I felt like I was going to die! But I started, and finished, the programme and the rest is history :)


So, since last year -

• I've lost 25kg
• I've run five 10km races (and improved from 1:12 to 59:40)
• I've run one half marathon
• I've done things I only ever dreamed about (Duathalon, 10k, Incline run).
• and the biggest thing, I'm training for the London Marathon!

I wouldn't have believed any of it if anyone had told me that I'd be sitting here a year later, such a new and improved me!

Okay, I found two photos from Saturday's race, but really they're not that good - I need to pose for the camera! LOL

Here I am trying to avoid getting my feet wet -


and at the end!

Rimutaka Incline (aka Last Tick on my "Dream List")

Firstly ... look at my weight ticker! I reached the 60's *happy happy happy dance*, okay, it is a bit of a cheat, I don't normally run on a Friday which is weigh-in day, and when I do run I know I drop about 500g from water lost ... so yesterday I was a day ahead of myself because my long run was today (Saturday) rather than Sunday, so I had my rest day on Thursday and ran 5km yesterday - but I'm taking it, even if it means I probably won't change much this week (in fact will have to be very careful not to go up!).

The last tick on my "Dream List"

When I was overweight for years, I always had vague thoughts in the back of my mind of what I'd like to do if I ever lost weight and got a fitter. They were the Kapiti Womens Duathalon - I did that in February, the 10km run Around the Vines - did that in March and the last one was to WALK the Rimutaka Incline, I never thought I'd run it - but I did, today :)

Such a neat race, as far as organisation goes, you don't get a lot for you buck - no free fruit at the end, nothing in the goodie bag except your number (in fact no goodie bag, just your number), water only at the drink stops. But the actual race, and course - amazing!

It is run off-road through what was the old railroad route (the actual tracks have long gone - not sure how many years ago, but they have a huge tunnel that goes through the hill now), 10km up hill, then 7km down (they lied, it was 11km up and 7km down). It is a gentle incline upwards, you don't really notice it until the last 2-3km, they were hard. There is just one small railway tunnel on the way up, and three longer ones on the way down - so, so, so cool running through railway tunnels, except of course for the fact that it is dark (they put lights up via generators but it is still dark), and worrying about tripping!

Okay, the running part of the race - about 400 people were entered, not a huge number. My sister Julie was doing it to, her husband kindly dropped us off at the start and was there at the end to drive us home (you end up on the other side of the Rimutakas, a big windy hill road). She decided that I was grown up enough to run on my own this time, so she took off at the start, and of course I didn't see her again until the finish. I started, going at my new 5:50 pace which seems to be the new "comfortable" for me - kept that 5:50-6:00 pace pretty much until the last couple of kms of the 11km hill. The hill work I've been doing really paid off, there were a lot of people walking those last couple of km, but even though it was hard, I never felt like I couldn't keep running ... although, a woman in front of me turned around and asked me if I needed an inhaler! Sheesh, no wonder i have music so I can't hear my breathing, it must be bad! LOL ... I assured her I was fine, just working hard :)

Reached the summit (*phew*), had a drink and gel and then started running down, bit stony, slippery at first, and the longest tunnel, then a really steep gully down and then up - impossible to walk up, more like a stony mountain goat kind of up! But once we got down and then up that gully it really was downhill, in the middle of nowhere, just the track and amazing NZ bush surrounding us - it felt really good, going gently downhill and being in the middle of nature :) Some of the way down was a bit worrying as it was pretty stony, rocky, but mostly I felt great that second half. The finish seemed to be miles away once I had about 1km to go - but I got there!

According to my ipod - it was 18.2km (rather than 17km as advertised, at the 10km mark I checked and my ipod said 9.9km, so I think it was pretty accurate) and I ran it in 1:48:30 - woohoooo! Although (and don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled with my time for what is quite a hard run), to put things in perspective, Julie ran it in 1:35 and two mothers from school ran it in 1:22 and 1:23 (sheesh they are fast!).

(I didn't take the photos - I found them on the web and copied them onto here - thank you whoever you are, great photos!).

I have a huge blister on the inside (arch) of my foot - I could feel it the whole way, not sure if my sock had a wrinkle, or what quite happened - I was relieved when I took my shoe and sock off and it was still whole and not a bloody mess though, because it was feeling like that by the end.

So ... now, roll on four weeks of half marathon training, I'm starting to look forward to my next half marathon in four weeks - I'm feeling stronger and stronger all the time :)

Now I'm off to our school's annual community fireworks display - for Guy Fawkes that was over a week ago ... in all honesty I'd rather be watching the all important All Whites (NZ Soccer Team) game, they are playing in the Wellington stadium, a sold out crowd of 35,000 - if they win (against Burain (Sp!)) they will be in the World Cup next year, for the first time since 1982 ... so DH and two boys have gone into watch that - I get to take the girls to the fireworks, fireworks don't do it for me at the best of times, when they're on just as the soccer game is on TV, they're really not doing it for me ... but Miss Charlotte (8yo in a few days) is very excited about the fair they have on before hand and the fireworks, so I have to put on my happy Mother face and make it fun for her! Miss Rhiannon (nearly 11yo) is already down there hanging out with her friends ... wonder when she suddenly grew up?

Good luck for everyone else running this weekend - enjoy yourselves!

The magic number 6

Lately the number 6 has been on my mind. 6 minute kms is what I want to achieve (maybe less than 6) for most of my runs, not my long runs so much, I know they need to be slower, but for my short-medium runs. Number 6 is what I want the first number on the scale to be, and its getting closer!

The first one, the one where I run about 6min kms is happening! 8km on Saturday, 47:11 - 11km yesterday, 1:05:30 ... and both runs I wasn't pushing it hard to make that pace, it was just happening, yay me! Both runs have been hard, definitely a bit of a push, but definitely not the feeling like I'm pushing myself more than I should be ... I definitely couldn't keep up that pace for a half marathon, yet ... but I'm confident that eventually I will be able to, maybe not by December, maybe not before the marathon, but definitely in the future :)

... and the scales? I'm probably still a kg off hitting the 60's, but oh so close, if I can just keep myself on track for the rest of the week, I might not make it this week - but should in the next couple of weeks ... it has been at least 15years since I weighed in the 60's :)

So what have I run this week?

Wednesday 4/11 - 9.5km - 56:28

When I run my 10km block, I start down a different road than normal, of course I forgot to turn that way, so ended up only running 9.5km, I was really annoyed because I'm pretty sure I would have broken that 60min. Not that it matters that much, it was a good run :)

Thursday 5/11 - 8.5km - 56:36

Maungatooks day! I made it running all the way to the top again ... hard work, but it has definitely been worth it, I'm sure this is helping my speed on the flat and my endurance ... and its a darn good work out! Interestingly, and quite buzzy, I'm running up the hill at about a 7min pace, when I finished the C25K programme and was running 5km, my pace for quite a while was 7:20min/km ... I'm running up a steep hill faster than that now! I've come a long way!

Friday 6/11 - Rest and Weigh In Day

No weigh in as I worked during the day so missed my WW meeting, according to my scales I was probably down about 800gm and below where I was when I put some on a couple of weeks ago, hopefully I can keep that up this week!

Saturday 7/11 - 8km - 47:11

According to Map my Run - 7.9km, according to my Nike+ 7.98km. Whatever, this is the fastest I've run this block and I wasn't trying too hard!

Sunday 8/11 - 11km - 1:05:30

Same as the Saturday, according to Map my Run 11.3km, according to Nike+ 11.00 km (although I run this backwards from what I originally mapped it, and I tried mapping it the right way a while ago and got 11km but didn't want to change it on Map my Run, so the 11km is probably pretty accurate, more accurate too when looking at my time.

I've broken that 6min/km for my last three runs!!!

Monday today, rest day, and I'm off to work for the day again. My trying to eat well for the week will be tested as there is a big morning tea this morning because we won the best legal firm in the "Large Legal Firm" category last week ... I could do without fattening, tempting morning teas!!

I'm not very good at updates, am I?

... and this might have to be short and sweet highlights, I need to put my bike in the car and go delivering!

Thursday - Maungatooks (8.5km) - 57:06

Ohhhh boy, it was windy, and cold ... and as I left the car park full force into the wind I seriously contemplated turning around, but I managed to convince myself that it was only 2km to the bottom of the hill and I'd turn left into a different direction, and it would be downhill and then I'd be blown home! I was running at about 7:00/km ... my legs were still telling me they were tired and overworked and the wind was a killer - BUT I got to the bottom of the hill, and it wasn't so bad as I went up ... and up I went, and up ... and ran all the way to the top, yay me!! I was right, going down wasn't so bad, and the 2 and a bit k back to the car was much easier with the wind behind me ... I was still slower than the week before, even though I'd ran all the way up - but so happy that I did it :)

Friday - rest day, thank goodness

... and weigh-in day, of which I stayed exactly the same - totally deserved, I had bought my lunch a few days and whilst I chose reasonably, you just can't count points that way - this week my goal has been to make lunch at home, I have no excuses for not doing it, except one of my bad eating habits is good bakery comfort food, on my own (lunch time my house is nice and empty and quiet), with a good book! Time to revisit that habit and kick it out.

Saturday - 5km - approx 30:30

Saturday I decided I would actually (finally after about 2 months!) calibrate my nike+ ipod, so I set it at 1.0km and ran to where I knew my 1.0km mark was, hit the set button and then reset it and carried on for the other 4.06km. It seemed to work, it came out at 4.09km - close enough. I finally felt good, my legs felt recovered - yay!

Sunday - 16.3km - 1:41:10

I was being picked up at 8.30am to travel to my Stampin' Up Team Meeting (of which I am "team leader", so had to be organised to set a good example! LOL) - I managed to cut card and pack my bag, make muffins for lunch, and have everything ready the night before. Got up at 6.00am, aiming to leave at 6.15am (I left at 6.16am - yay me). I was a wee bit worried because I usually get up and eat a couple of pieces of toast before I do a long run, but I didn't have time for that. I drank some Powerade, took my water bottle and a gel and hoped that would do it.

I'm starting to really enjoy the long runs, there is something about the head space you get into, and the nice pace you keep that is hard to explain, but nutso maybe I am, but I enjoy a long run. It went well, body felt good, stopped at about 8km to have a drink and gel, carried on after that, managed to sip water every now and again while still moving all the way home - with just enough time to stretch, shower, change - grab a banana and cereal bar for breakfast, just in time to be picked up - it all worked well.

Monday - Rest Day

No deliveries today, so I had a "real" rest day - of which I spent cleaning my much needed dirty windows!

Tuesday (today) - 5.02km - 28:50

Yep, I pushed it today, testing my speed again! I was pleased the Nike+ clocked it as 5.02km which is slightly less than the 5.06 Map my Run has it - kind of balances with where its been at the last couple of runs, so I think it is pretty accurate. I also done a spin class this morning - I feel so much stronger at those as well now. Now I'm off to do some delivering ... this is the sort of day I have trouble balancing how much to each with how much I've exercised - a quick (for me) 5km run, an hours spin class, a couple of hours on my bike ... that must be burning a few calories, but eat too many and the weight doesn't move, it is a really hard equation to work out.

Righty, my highlights went on a bit long and I have to get moving to make it back before school finishes!

6 Months!

Have you seen my ticker? I've got less than six months until the big day! When I won the prize I had just over 10 months, and that seemed such a long time ... suddenly it is six months and boy that is going to go fast. Our air tickets are all booked, my biggest worry now is that we've decided to move from London to Paris the day after the marathon - I just hope my legs are workable enough to walk around all the great museums and art galleries in Paris for those few days after the marathon.

Anyway - back to the running ...

I ran 8km this morning - well, 7.9km in 48:01 - I just can't quite get to that 6min/km, close, but not quite there. My legs are feeling the added pressure I'm putting on them so I'm thinking I just need to concentrate on the km's and let the speed catch up. Very frustrating. I have to remind myself how far I've come!

I ran 10km (going backwards now) on Saturday, it should have been 8, but I wanted to take part in the Nike World Race, ran it in 1:01:10 (still not quite that 6min/km!), then hopped on my bike and did 3hrs of delivering. Definitely too much to then run the 14km I ran on Sunday, I took the 14km pretty easy, i had to - the whole run my body was whinging and moaning that I'd pushed it too much! Part of me thinks, darn I shouldn't be pushing it so hard, the other part thinks, well come marathon training, I will be pushing it that hard so get used to it! LOL I survived, the time was 1:29, pretty much exactly what I ran 14km in when I ran it for my half marathon training - but probably with my body much more tired, so it was "okay".

I'll be back up my hill tomorrow, rest on Friday, SMALL run on Saturday (no 10km pushing it too much this weekend), then 16km on Sunday.

Weight wise, I was up last week, 400g - I'm really struggling to keep my eating on track - it's just so hard ... getting that balance between being hungry because of the exercise and keeping to the right amount of food to handle that AND lose weight. Very frustrating.

Onwards and upwards though!

Gosh, where has time gone?

I've been a slack blogger!

I was extremely lucky after the half marathon in that I didn't seem to have any injuries or a lot of soreness at all, so I've pretty much got straight back into the running. I spent the first week taking it pretty easy, I didn't run Monday or Tuesday and then did a 5km run Wednesday. Then Thursday, still feeling good, I tackled the Maungatooks! Worked out that it is 2km from the golf course carpark along Valley Road (gentle rolling hills), then 2km up the Maungatooks, 2km down, and 2km back to the car, so a good 8km run. I didn't manage to run all the way up, but ran more of it than I thought I would manage. Coming DOWN was hard, my stomach hurt (I think the muscles were given a work out holding myself back), I got the stitch, and it was hard, harder than going up. Next day, once again I felt fine (I am counting my lucky stars here that my body seems to have taken to this whole running thing really well, besides my back that seems to be all better, I haven't had any injuries, or worrying niggles at all).

Saturday I ran 5km, and ran it as fast as I could - I think one of the reasons I'm not hurting is because I'm maybe not pushing myself enough, now, I'm not sure whether that is a good thing or not - probably a good debateable topic to be quite honest. But Saturday I tried hard, to get a grasp on where I am at with pace. I ran it in 28:30 (5:40/km), so faster than I have before, but not outstandingly fast ;). Next day I ran 10km, in 1:02:50 - not extremely fast, but a slightly quicker pace for a training run.

This week I've tried to push myself a bit each run - I'm aiming to try and run my 5-10km training runs at 6.0m/km ... and still take it easy on the longer ones. Tuesday I ran 8km in just over 48min, yesterday 10km in 1:01 ... so getting there. I can "feel" my legs, they know I'm working them harder, but hopefully in a good way. Today it is the Maungatooks again, I probably won't push it too hard for that run, I just need to concentrate on building endurance up the hill.

My weight is up again, the last two weigh ins I've lost 1.4kg, then 0.9kg ... good weeks! This week my routine totally changed, I filled in a PA position at work Mon-Wed so I was in the car for an hour commute there and back (sitting on my butt), then sitting in an office all day - SO not used to that, no time on bike, no walking to school and back, I don't think I realised how much "extra" exercise I fit in during the day! PLUS I couldn't resist the pull of the nice "by myself, no should be doing things" lunch break in a cafe reading my book. So the scales today show I've probably put on the 0.9 I lost last week, I have today to try and drag it back a bit before weigh in tomorrow - I should be able to stick to my points, plus a good run up hill, plus about 3hrs of delivering on my bike ... it shouldn't be too bad - but very frustrating when I'd decided to work hard and get rid of the last 5-6kg!!

I think that is all to report really ... busy, busy, busy as usual!

So, What's Next?

I'm a goal setting, mountain climbing Capricorn ... believe me, I had "What's Next" planned out a way before Sunday's Half Marathon!

This is a journey for me, each step is getting closer to that marathon goal - so, yes, I've got a few little goals along the way.

Next up though, I plan on more endurance training, which means hills! So next up in my training I'm going to start including running up the Maungatooks once a week, I tried to find a photo, but couldn't find one - I'll have to take one when I get to the top! It's a popular hill training place for runners and bikers here, I used to bike up there when I was training for the Taupo Bike Race a few years ago, it took a few goes to manage to bike up without stopping, I'm imagining that it will take a few goes before I can run all the way too. The golf course is down the road a bit, and according to a pre-mapped course on Mapmyrun, it is a 10k run from the golf course, up to the top, and then back to the golf course - so I'm going to make that my Thursday run each week.

As for races, next up is the Rimutaka Incline Run this is one of those runs/walks I've wanted to do for years (admittedly, I always imagined walking it if I ever got fit enough, never imagined running it!), it is 17km and runs through the old railway tracks and tunnels - it goes up an incline for 10km and then down for the last 7km. Definitely supposed to be a fun run, rather than anything serious - I'll be looking forward to it!

After that I'll be running another half marathon on 12th December, in Wanganui (about 2hrs from here), I need one more under my belt before I start the 18wk marathon training programme. Conveniently, 18 weeks before London is 21st December, which means I can run this last half marathon, have a week to take it really easy and then start the serious stuff.

As for short terms plans - I've rested yesterday and today (if you can count 3hrs on my bike yesterday as rest), tomorrow I plan to run 5kms, then tackle the Maungatooks for the first time on Thursday. I'm feeling good so it should all be a-okay.

Thanks for the good wishes :)

Masterton Country Marathon - Half Marathon Report

Firstly - I did it! ... a year ago I hadn't even started running - I could walk 10k, and I could sit on my bike and do my delivering for a few hours, but I hadn't started running yet - amazing, 11mths after starting to run, I've run a half marathon ... and enjoyed it!

Official time: 2:12:38
Whole field: 112/133
Age Group: 16/23

(I did say little 'ole NZ has a lot less people in their races than the big ones I read about overseas!)

Nitty Gritty Details

As I'd said, the weather had been horrendous for about a week before the race, Masterton is known for being either really really hot, or really really cold. Saturday, it was freezing ... and here is what we woke up to on Sunday morning - look at the snow on the hills! We were sure that wasn't there when we went to sleep the night before.

But, Sunday was perfect. The sky cleared, it was still a bit cool, but not nearly as cold as it had been, the wind died down - perfect running weather - yay!

We got there about 45min before the start, after going on Saturday to collect our numbers and bag of goodies, Georgie was official key holder and bag/jacket put-awayer as her 10k started 30min after Julie and I started the half, it was nice not to have to worry about any of that.

We lined up at the start line, made sure we were towards the back (the walkers had started an hour before, yay, no trying to run around the walkers who always seem to start up front - one of my new pet hates in life) ... and off we went, at a nice steady pace. It was all pretty uneventful really - We got to the first 5km and I checked our time, 30:40, I was aiming for 32:00 - I said to Julie we're going too fast, I don't want to burn out! She assured me that if it felt good, don't worry about it just keep going where I felt comfortable ... okkkkayyyy, turns out she was right because we really did run that same pace the whole way. Between 10 and 15k it got rolling hill hilly, which I wasn't expecting at all - I thought it was all going to be flat, I train on the very flat, and the few 10k's I've done that have got even little hills usually really throw me, but even the hills yesterday weren't going to ruin it - just as we got to the top of them all, we hit the 15k drink station, just the right time to stop have a drink, a gel, and carry on. When we hit about 19k we both said, okay now it's getting tougher, but we dug in and kept it up right to the end - perfect, perfect run ... gosh if they could all go like that, life would be pretty darn good.

Interestingly, I said to Julie at the start, I'm going to stop and walk through all the drink stops (every 5km), take a gel at 10k and 15k. She said, that's okay I'll just run on the spot and wait - she is "old school", couldn't possibly stop running, no way she could start again. Afterwards, when she did stop through the drink stations she said she was amazed at how easy it was to go straight back into running the same pace and how it really didn't affect the running at all - nothing like teaching an "expert" something :)

Another highlight was that we were never passed by anyone, actually, we were by one lady quite early on, but we passed her towards the end. We passed probably about 10 runners along the way ... just sticking at our steady easy pace, it was a good feeling.

So all in all, a great race ... and nice to know that following a training programme really does work!

Here we are before the race, I'm the one looking goofy, Julie is in the glasses.

Oh, and today (Monday) the next day, I'm hardly sore at all! I'm a bit stiff, and one ankle feels a bit tender - but I walked the girls to school and definitely no limping, I'll be off on my bike soon which should be good to really loosen those muscles.

Tomorrow is Half Marathon day!

Yippeee! I think. LOL No, actually I'm looking forward to getting this part of the journey done. Because it is all part of the journey, the journey to the LONDON marathon. Yep, I'm going to be hugely proud to have trained and run a half marathon (all going well), but in reality it is one of steps along the way to the huge goal.

I ran 12km on Thursday, I was unsure about doing such a longish run so close to it, but I took it easy, tried to pace it the same as I'll run tomorrow and it was a good run - no soreness, no stiffness, it all felt good, as a confidence booster it was just what I needed.

Today I ran 5km, and again kept it to the pace I want to run tomorrow, and once again it was a great confidence booster - I think I am FINALLY starting to "get" the whole pace thing - for ages everytime I ran I just ran as fast as I could, well not sprinted, hard out, but I had one pace, albeit a pretty slow pace, but one pace, whether it was a long run, a training run, a race, whatever ... one pace. Now, I'm finally getting my brain to feel what my body is doing and what it should be doing and I can run a slower pace when I should, and speed up a bit when I should. I think I'm finally becoming a runner ;)

In other news ... our flights were booked this week - OMG!!! It really is real, for a while I was expecting someone to tap me on the shoulder and say "Just Kidding! ... boy we sucked you in" ... but having those flights written in black and white, and the too much money (to pay for David's - mine are paid for) come out of the bank account ... yep, Oh. my. gosh. it is really going to happen - very very scary. A big race here is like Wellington where I won the prize - which had about 5,000 people running ... there will be 35,000 in London, pretty uncomprehendable for a girl from little 'ole NZ.

So things to do before we set off - like getting card cut for 40 people for a demonstration I'm doing on Tuesday morning - eeek! I'll feel better if that is done before I leave and one big job is crossed off my list.

Oh - and goals ... I said a couple of months ago when I started training for this half marathon that I didn't care about the time, I just needed to know I could complete a half marathon, whether I ended up walking or whatever - I just needed to finish. Well, a funny thing happened over the training, suddenly I started to believe I could actually run this thing :) ... so time goals ... and copycatting the other running blogs I read - A, B and C.

A = less than 2.10, considering my usual 10km is about 1:03, this would be a bit of a miracle!
B = 2.10-2.15, if it all goes extremely well, I think I can do this - but everything has to go well, right until the very end, and I'm not sure what will happen the last 3-5km, because so far I've run one 18km and that's the longest I've run - so I'm realistic in knowing that it might not all be pretty smelly roses for the whole run ;)
C = 2.15-2.20, okay, biggest thing is I finish, but honestly, I'll be disappointed if I'm slower than 2.20.

So we'll see, I'll update you after its all over!

Quick Nike+ Question?

Hmmmm not not sure how you get a big picture! But you get the idea - this is my graph this morning, now see that big dip down? How does that happen, I know for sure I didn't run a 10min km there - I was running a good pace the whole run. Any idea why that happens? Just about every run I get a huge dip somewhere on the graph that doesn't make sense.

Oh BTW, I don't really run that fast - it was actually about 12.1km, I STILL haven't got around to calabrating it properly, I've got used to adding about 10sec to each per km total!

4 Sleeps to Go!

Yep ... 4 sleeps to go until Half Marathon time - eeek! Remember a week ago I was obsessing/worrying about it being too hot? Well, now I'm obsessing that this stormy, freezing cold, wet weather isn't going to let up before the weekend - see you just can't win, I'm never going to be happy! LOL

Not sure if I've mentioned, but I'm incredibly lucky to have very supportive sisters (I have five sisters and two brothers), three of us are travelling over to Masterton Saturday afternoon and staying in a motel over there so that we don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to make it to the race on time (Masterton is about 2hrs drive from here). Georgie is running the 10km (she ran her first half marathon at the same race I totally blew my 10km), Julie is going to run the half with me - we've followed the same training programme, she is about an hour away so we don't run together, but it is still nice to compare notes each week. Julie has been running for years and could run the half SO much faster than me but she has been amazing through this whole journey, has run a few 10km with me, including my first one, as support - she swears this is all about supporting me and she is quite happy to run at my pace - see how lucky I am?

It's school holidays here at the moment and it is so nice to sleep in a bit and go running a wee bit later in the morning, I feel like I've caught up on more sleep than I have for ages ... although I'll be in for a shock next week when it is back to waking up early and running around like a mad woman again!

My other worry before this big run is the fact that I've eaten really really well Weight Watchers wise this week, which is great for my weight (according to my scales its coming down), but I'm not so sure it was a good week to do it when I should probably be building up calories ready for a big run. Hopefully the fact I've kicked the the Diet Coke habit and drunk way more water will slightly make up for it!

So - training this week -

Sunday 3 October 2009 - 12km - 1:17:40

Sunday seems long ago, I can't remember how the run went! Oh, I remember, the WIND. I've heard/read runners talking about wind, I've run in wind, what are they going on about, its not so bad ... I run what is basically a 10km square block, when I run 7, or 8 I cut through streets that cut through the block to shorten the basic 10k block, when I run 12k I run a little block within that block that is 2km - to make it 12. Anyway - started off fine, felt great, turned the corner going West and whoaaaaa it was windy, really windy, as in probably the wind I've heard talked about! LOL ... it wasn't so bad, hard work and not pleasant at all but I knew when I turned again it would be better and at the last turn I'd be blown home ;)

I was telling my Dad about it and he said he remembers running the Wellington Marathon one year where it was practically hurricane conditions, as he finished up running head on into the wind and turned out of it two runners suddenly passed him and thanked him very much for blocking them while they were running in it! The cheek! (but maybe a good tip to remember LOL).

Tuesday 6 October 2009 - 8km - 49:53

Pretty standard run - that wind is still there (we've had a real cold "Spring" storm hit, 300 cars were stranded on one of our highways because of snow and people had to be rescued, the snow is down low on the ranges we can see from our place, which usually only happens mid winter), bit of rain but not much.

I did have a weird thing happen - I came home and my, I don't know, below my shoulders "sides" rathen than back, hurt. You know what I think it might be? Probably way TMI, but I did notice my bra felt loose yesterday, I checked the size as I put it on this morning and it is probably a good 1-2 sizes too big for me now, and I think the lack of support maybe made strange places hurt - do you think? Whatever, I'm going out to buy a couple of new ones today ... funny how those sorts of things creep up on you!

Wednesday 7 October 2009 - 8km - 50:27

Pretty much the same as yesterday, I'm trying to work at running about the same pace I will on Sunday, pretty slow and steady. Still windy, still a bit wet, still way too cold!

I've got to go battle that rain, wind and cold on my bike now - I did about 3.5hr delivering yesterday, and will probably only do a couple today. The girls have some dolls to make, I bought them ages ago and promised them that today I'd probably have some time to do them with them - they are soft, all sewn, should be fun, maybe ...

Oh, and how could I forget, I have a "follower"! Hi Jackie!!!! (very exciting LOL)

A Quiet Weekend

Saturday 3 October 2009, 5km - 30:50

We don't get many quiet weekends, so I plan to enjoy it! All our kids play various sports, but at the moment it is school holidays and inbetween winter and summer sport, so we have a very rare weekend free of any sport (except my running of course!). David is working, I'm at home trying to tidy up our very neglected house somewhat.

Nothing to report on todays run really, I'm still a bit stiff from last week which is kinda, but not really, worrying me. The training programme I'm following doesn't really have a huge taper before next week's half marathon, I've got a 12k run tomorrow and then same as last week, 8km on Tues and Wed and 12k on Thursday - I'm very tempted to cut back a bit but I won't, I've followed it exactly and its worked so far ... but I think I do need to make sure I just run slowly.

Weight Watchers weigh in day yesterday (as it is every Friday), I'm going to try and keep that updated here too, its good to look back on. I gained "officially" 1.1kg this week, but last week I lost 800g which was really just water weight because I'd switched my runs around and ran on Friday morning before weigh in ... I think in reality I put on about 3-400g, darn holidaying! LOL

I've decided I need to commit myself to losing the last 8kg I need to lose, before I start marathon training (about 10 weeks away!) - I've been pretty slack with the eating part for the last month and haven't really lost anything, the month before that when I upped my running it came off really easily from the change in exercising - the honeymoon is over though and I need to start working at it properly! So today, I've started tracking properly ... so far so good - but I've only just had lunch ... still the afternoon and evening to go.

Right, off to finish off some vacuuming and I might even start to attack my craft table - then I might actually be able to sit and do something at it!

Another week!

I need to do better than updating once a week really, don't I?

Thursday 24/9/09 - Rest Day

Friday 25/9/09 - 10km - 1:03:50

Ahhhh back to my normal pace, it took a while to recover from running faster on the Sunday! It was raining on Friday, it NEVER rains when I run, David and I kid about it - it can be raining and it will virtually stop as I head out the door, but not Friday, Friday it rained, the way around and actually it wasn't so bad. The day before I had spent four hours on my bike delivering and it was wet, freezing cold and rained the whole time - nothing could have been worse than that!

Also went to the physio Friday morning (after my run), he did quite a few exercises with me to test my muscles, hips etc to see how strong/supple/stable they are and everything was really good! He also gave me a couple of other exercises to stretch some of the muscles that are a bit tight, especially the ones working to my back ... AND gave me the all clear - no need to see him again unless it all flares up again - yay!

Saturday 26/9/09 - 18km - 1:55:10

Yay! I did it - the big scary 18km. I'd worked hard the few days before to drink lots of water, made sure I ate pasta the night before and had a good breakfast before I set off, I really think those little things helped. It was a really really good run, I ran a 11km block, stopped at our letterbox and grabbed my gel and drink bottle and walked while I drank and had the gel and then set off and did a 7km block. Everything just seemed to be right, I never felt like stopping, it never felt like I couldn't do it - just a nice steady pace the whole way around, if the half marathon can be like that, well it would be perfect!

We then drove to New Plymouth, David left earlier with Cameron and a couple of his team mates (we were going up to watch Cameron's soccer rep tournament), I left a bit later with the two girls so I could make sure I had time to walk around a bit and get my muscles moving before I sat and drove for four hours - it all worked well, I was stiff Sunday evening and Monday, but not too bad at all - definitely not as sore as I was two weeks before that when I ran 16km.

Sunday/Monday - Rest Days

I did rest, but I also made sure we went for a couple of walks - also went swimming at the pools on the Tuesday - so I could keep my stiff body moving!

Tuesday - 8km - 50min

The nice thing about New Plymouth is they have an amazing waterfront walkway that covers 7km of beach front, all concreted and nice and wide - a proper walk/run/bike way, I was really looking forward to running along it and wasn't disappointed! I started from the main part which is sort of in the middle, ran to the end one direction which was 3km, back to the main part and 1km the other way and back to make my 8km - I did it on time, I know it takes about 50min for me to run 8km, plus my Nike+ is still not set up properly, because I just haven't got around to doing it! So I knew about 8.3km according to that is about 8km.

Oh, and it rained, and rained, and rained on Tuesday - but not while I was running, when I left our motel it was bucketing down, I sat in the car for a while until it stopped - ran, got back to the motel, by the time we went and watched Cam's soccer it was bucketing down again - we sat in the car and watched him, amongst the thunder and lightening!

Wednesday 30/9/09 - 8km - 50min

I did the same as Tuesday, except I actually parked the 1km up the other way so I ran in one direction and back again.

And the rain? except for about a 1min downpour that soaked one side of me because it was coming in sideways, and the huge wave that managed to crash into the rocks and give me a soaking, um, it didn't really rain while I was running, again! LOL IT certainly poured down all the drive home!

Totally off topic, on the way home we stopped to visit my niece who has just had a baby - she is so cute and little! 4 weeks early and only weighing 4.5lb - she is now about 5.5lb ... but soooo tiny :)

Thursday (today) - 12km - 1:16:15

My car was booked in to get wheel bearings (or something) fixed, and its school holidays, so instead of waking early (after working last night), I slept in a bit, had breakfast and dropped the car off and then ran from there. It was nice to run a somewhat different route and not to do a "block". But, being later, it was hot - it is probably good to do a few runs later and when its hotter I think, most races (including the half marathon!) start off a bit later and you just can't pick the weather!

It seemed hard this morning, whether it was because I had cereal for breakfast rather than my usual pre-run breakfast of toast, or because it was hot, or because I've eaten crap while we've been on holiday ... I don't know - it wasn't really bad, just seemed to be long and hard work!

Rest day tomorrow, then a little 5km on Saturday before another 12km on Sunday - all manageable :)

Catching Up ... Again!

I think I last posted Thursday? ... okay ...

Friday - Rest Day - Physio Appointment

Off I went Friday morning to the physio, the really nice thing about him is after going through my history, what I'm up to etc, he told me has run the London Marathon twice - yay - it's always nice to talk to someone, especially one working with your muscles and body, that knows what you're talking about, and doesn't think you are totally nuts LOL. Of course, on Friday the pain wasn't so bad, thats pretty typical. After going through lots of exercises and talking about it, the most important thing he said is that movement, including the running, seems to be good for it - it is probably the sitting at work that is actually causing more problems, and the fact that I am a terrible terrible sloucher, with a noticeably curved spine to show for it - the pain isn't there, but its all part of it. He has given me some exercises, instructions to make sure I get up every 30min from my computer at work and do a couple of stretches, and I'll see him again this week to see how it is all going.

And how is it going? Well, Friday and Saturday it was pretty good, Sunday morning I took a painkiller/anti-flammatory before my 10k race, ran hard (more on that later), and felt it Monday. After Tuesday's (yesterday) slower run, it felt loosened up and pretty good - so I think it is improving - yay!

Right on to the running since Thursday ...

Saturday - 5km - 30:01

Good run - 5km feels so comfortable now ... I can remember when I first got to 5k and pretty much straightaway started training towards 10k and thinking holy moly how will ever get to 10k, 5k is SO hard ... I've come a long way!

Sunday - 10km Race - (ready for it ...) - 59:28 Yay!!!

Yep - I did it, a sub-60 10km! But boy, I worked for it. I had my Nike+ all hooked up to my ipod so I could check my pace as I went around. Hmmm back to the beginning, the race started at 9.30 - I usually run at about 7.00 ... so late for me. There were a few women from work and a couple of mothers from school running it as well, we all lined up together and when we started I took off ahead of them, and did think, oh no I hope I'm not going to fast and then they'll all pass me further on and have a good laugh!

It was HOT, well actually, probably not really really hot, but we're moving into spring/summer and it was a lovely spring, sunny day, later than I normally run, and it sure felt lots hotter than normal. When I run 10k I don't generally stop for drinks or anything. I got to 5km, checked my time - it was pretty bang on 30min, I tried to up my pace slightly - passed the drink station, then a couple of km's down the road thought I should have had a drink, I was hot, working harder than normal and really feeling it - but not wanting to give up!

I slogged out the last few k's, knew I was pretty close to 60min and managed to speed up for the last couple of 100m's ... and got there, just under the 60min - woooohooooo! My two girls were at the end to cheer me in, which was really nice. I had to bring them with me (David works every second weekend) and was a bit worried about them faring for themselves around the race headquarters, luckily one of the woman from work had her two kids and husband there so he very nicely kept an eye on them for me - so it all worked out fine :)

... and I did stay ahead of all of them! Something I did notice this time is the runners I am with seem faster to me now, I've definitely sped up and I feel like I'm running with the "runners" rather than the, well, the ones like me - not sure how to put it - its just different.

Monday - Rest Day

... and I needed it, my back was sore again, my legs were stiff ... boy I worked it on Sunday!

Tuesday - 10km - 1:05:10

Much slower than Sunday! My body was still really stiff and not very co-operative when I started, it loosened up and starting feeling good at about 3km, I took it easy though. This is my biggest week in the half marathon training - so I won't be out to break any records, just jogging through it :)

The nice thing is that after the run, my back felt SO much better, that gentle jog seemed to loosen everything up just nicely.

Wednesday - 11.3km - 1:11:26

Another slow slog ... I'm still feeling stiff, but slowly getting there. It seemed to take a long time this morning - I'm looking forward to a sleep in and day off tomorrow!

Friday is another 10km, then Saturday 18km (big gulp). We're going away for a few days on Saturday so I'm going to have to run my 18km and then sit and drive for about 4-5hrs, not sure that is going to be great for the 'ole body ... but you do what you have to do, right?

I haven't really said a lot about what I do in my "spare" (ha ha ha) time ... but one of my little part-time jobs is helping my Dad with a delivery job. So often when I've run in the morning, I also spend about 2-3hrs on my bike! So, like tomorrow is a rest day, I know I've got a big delivery day - probably more like four hours. I'm not sure that it is great for the training, I try to take it easy and its not big heart racing stuff as I'm obviously stopping at letterboxes as I go - but it is all physical. For now it seems to be fine, but I'm hoping it still is in a few months when I start full on marathon training - hopefully it is loosening and keeping the muscles moving which is a good thing!

No smart title

No smart title - because I can't think of one!

So ... what have I been doing this week?

Tuesday - Spin Class

Love my spin class - I reckon when I lose weight, that is where I lose the majority of it from! I also love that I know I'm working muscles in my legs but not pounding them on the pavement.

Wednesday - 7km Run - 42:52

I'm on to Week 5 (of 8) of half marathon training this week - every second week is easier, this is an easier week - which is good, my back, butt, or whatever is hurting needed time to recover. I think it is, slowly.

I'm finding my times are slowly getting faster without really trying. Except for the nagging pain - I'm feeling so much stronger and so much better at running :)

Thursday - 11.3km Run - 1:08:52

Uh-oh ... I'm starting to think that I could run the 10km Race I'm doing on Sunday in under 60mins, I've been avoiding thinking about it because last one I did I totally stuffed up and I think it is because I psyched myself up to run it in 60min and I tried too hard ... I'm trying to work on just letting my body take it at the speed it wants to ... except the last couple of runs have been about 6:05/km ... and I'm thinking, maybe just maybe I could do it ...

Todays run was good - I got up and the pain in my back/butt/leg was feeling good, took the first few steps and though, bugger, its still there and it took about a km for everything to loosen up - I could "feel" it all run, but felt pretty good ... was working hard - you know, it's not easy, but you just get on with it! I've worked the last two nights and got home at about 1am, in bed asleep at about 1.30am - then up just before 7am to run, I know it is harder when I haven't had enough sleep and I think thats what I was feeling this morning. Lucky for me David had an appointment locally this morning so I still got up at 7.00am rather than earlier - he got the girls up and off to school, that made it a lot easier!

I've got an appointment at the physio tomorrow, so hopefully he'll have some answers on where the pain is coming from and what I can do about it ... fingers crossed, I'll be so disappointed if he says take a rest!

Rest day tomorrow, 5km on Saturday and 10k race on Sunday :)

Monday again, already!

So what have I run this past week ...

Wednesday - 10km - 1:03:22

Out of bed and off running, morning run again - I think I do these in a kind of sleepy haze! LOL ... 1:03 seems to be a regular 10km time for me now, which is fine!

Thursday - Rest Day

Love those rest days!

Friday - 8km - 50:30

Bit slow, I'm suffering from, I think, my first official injury. I'll talk more about that later.

Saturday - 16km (more like 16.5 I think) - 1:50:00 (approximate, darn it my fancy Nike+ didn't record the first lap for some reason, I checked it then and realised it wasn't going, so recorded the second lap, which took 55min and recorded it as 8.8km - going by fuzzy reasoning, that must have been about 8.3 because I know the calibration is wrong).

This was actually a really good run - DH and I went away for the weekend so I was running in a strange place, I'd mapped it out and managed a big 8km block where most turns were where I had to turn (I have no sense of direction so this is good for me! LOL). I got DH to drive around it with me the day before so I definitely knew where I was going. Also worked out where 2km was so that I knew where the 10km mark would be on the 2nd circuit - for gel and water update!

The first circuit I put the water bottle and gel behind a lamppost at 2km, I forgot a smaller drink bottle and I found the one I had way too heavy and annoying ... and I have no pockets in my running 3/4 pants ... I need to look at some new running clothes that have necessary things, like pockets! Anyway, first circuit went well - was really annoyed to find my Nike thingee hadn't recorded anything, no idea what happened, whether I didn't press it right or what - I don't know, but so annoying. I got it right for the second circuit.

I stopped by the 10km lamppost and picked up my drink bottle and gel and had those. Was hard work the next couple of km's ... at about 12-13k I was thinking, yeah I know I can finish this run, but a half marathon? What was I thinking? ... about 14-15km second wind kicked in and I still felt like I could run further when I'd finished :) I was really really stiff after this run though, I thought I was smart by having a hot bath which I never do (being away and having time and no kids around is a definite luxury!) ... and I wonder if my usual having to run off to do the next thing is actually better for my muscles than being able to relax a bit. My legs weren't stiff the next day though, so all good.

Now, the injury - I had problems with my back way back when I played netball, the jarring of landing on concrete all the time ... well, I think it's playing up again - I thought it was a muscle between my hamstring and bum, I'm finding if I put too much pressure on my left leg it hurts - like my leg meeting my bum - does that make sense? If its sore I walk with a terrible gait, it doesn't hurt while I'm running though, it takes a K or so to loosen up and come right, but after that (even for 16k!) it is fine, its when I stop and go back to walking. It isn't actually too bad today, and wasn't too bad yesterday - it worse at the start of last week. But I think I definitely need to get it seen to, last time I did they used a scanner thingee to break down old scar tissue, can't remember if it really worked, it must have I suppose because I don't think I've had problems with it again until now! Very frustrating though, I'm feeling fit and able to run a half marathon, except for that annoying continuous niggle!

Today is an easier week - I did everything a day earlier last week so I get an extra rest day this week (today), I'm hoping that will give my back time to come about right. I'll do my spin class tomorrow which gives three days of no running.

Wednesday is 7km, Thursday 11km, Saturday 5km and then a 10km race on Sunday. I'm looking forward to seeing how I go on Sunday - 10k is starting to feel like a short training run!

Another Day, Another 8km :)

Week 4, Half Marathon Training - 8km - 48:42

Not much to say really! I got up, I ran, I got home. Oh! I did go out and buy a Nike+ attachment thingee for my ipod yesterday, it is very cool. Although it told me I ran 8.24km, when I ran 7.9 and I pressed something wrong so couldn't calibrate it properly, I'll try to do it right tomorrow. But at least I know the stopwatch shouldn't fail!

The biggest bummer this morning was coming home, doing my usual making lunches, waking up the smallest child (who would sleep until 10am if she could, which is convenient for morning runs - her big teenage brothers are at home, but she's a lot less trouble when she's a sleep!), sitting her down to breakfast and then going to have a shower ... only it was stone cold .... grrrrrrr who'd have teenage boys!

I decided I couldn't cope with the freezing cold and knew I was going out on my bike delivering, so gave up dressed in non-running clothes, made my hair look the best it could without its daily wash and got the girls to school just in time for the bell to ring.

Tomorrow is 10km, means an early alarm call!

(oh, and I'm not sitting here smelly, I did my biking and then had a shower before I picked up the girls from school!)

Catching up

So, I've got at least two people reading, so I need to keep this thing updated - it's also a good record for me!

Thursday - dragged myself out of bed at 7.00am (and dragged it was, I worked Tuesday night as well as my usual Wednesday and Thursday this week) and ran my 8km. Nice steady pace (50min if I remember rightly), just one of those, this is a chore but I've got to do it runs ;) I think what keeps me going on that Thursday run is the fact that I know Friday is a rest day, and for me a complete rest day! One of the other wee jobs I do is help my Dad with his delivering job, he has the contract to deliver a local power company's invoices each month - over the last couple of years he has been giving me more and more each month ... it's now probably more than a "wee" job! So Friday is the one day I say, rest day - but no biking either.

Anyway - Rest Day Friday.

Saturday - 5km - this was a good run, I had to get up early again because I knew I was out all day (I had a stand at the local parent/child expo). I felt like a runner when I ran this - 30:30, full minute slower than the other day, but I felt well paced, and in a good head space.

Today (Sunday) - 11km - slept in, at last! (okay, only until 7.30 - but I was asleep by 11.00 last night, and boy I needed it - maybe I should turn this blog into a how Lisa manages to fit sleep into her life? LOL). My stopwatch aka my cell phone turned off halfway through so I don't know how long I took (I hate it when that happens), but I think it was about 1hr10min, it was actually 11.3km so I think it was a good 6.15-6.20 pace which I think is just right for me at 8-12k distance :)

As for the rest of my day, I got home, showered, breakfasted and then raced off to watch Rhiannon's netball tournament. We've just got home and it's now about 4.30pm - its Fathers Day her in NZ today and I've been a slack wife in this department (not to mention a slack daughter - but I'll catch up with my Dad tomorrow when he drops off the deliveries). To at least be somewhat a good wife I need to dig out the steak we got given a while back out of the freezer and cook it up nicely for him for dinner, the kids will have sausages, I'll have eggs ... along with chips and some coleslaw - easy dinner, but he'll be happy!

I can't remember what I'm running this week, but its going to be a hard week, I think I need to squash it up a bit so I do my long run on Saturday, husband and I are going away for the weekend (two free nights in a nice hotel about 2hrs from us ... courtesy of the other big spotprize I won!), I'd quite like at least one day to just relax, so if I squash it up and do my long run while we're away on the Saturday, at least Sunday I can sleep in, enjoy the free breakfast and just relax.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day, so no running, but I will be delivering which will probably be a 2-3hr bike ride - I'll be taking it easy though!

5km - Finally Cracked It!

5.06km - 29:32

I've been trying for ages to crack the less than 6min/km - I've come close a couple of times, and it just hasn't happened.

So the half marathon training programme I am following has an "easy" week every 2nd week, today was "just" 5km (who would have believed I'd think a 5km run as a short run!), so I decided yesterday that I was going to run it fast and see if I could crack that time. Partly, because I'm finding on the longer runs I'm trying really hard to run slow and take it easy but I'm still running at about 6:15-6:30, I needed to know in my head that I am running slower, does that make any sense?

So off I went this morning, checked my time at 1km and it said 6:12, darn it, tried to make sure I just kept a good pace all the way ... and I did it, yay! I'd love to say that means I can break the 10km in an hour, but I don't think I could keep that pace going for another 5km ... but I do know my body can go at that speed, so its just working on it now :)

Back to easy pace for my 8km tomorrow though ... I'm really trying to work on the length and durability now, not speed!

Here I am!

I said I'd blog this journey, it's just taken a couple of months to finally do it!

Okay - quick background ...

July 2008 - 6 months until I turn 40yo, decide I really have to do something about my weight so I can be Fab 40yo ... join WW for the upteenth time. Weigh in at 96.8kg (213lb).

November 2008 - I've lost about 5kg but need something to help the weight loss along, have talked about doing the C25K programme for a while, 18th of November I finally start it. Find running for 1min darn hard work!

January 2009 - finish C25K programme and am delighted that I can run 5km - running about an average of 7:20min/km. Put on too much weight over holiday season, turn 40yo on 9th January and weight 91kg (200lb). I announce then that the 40's will be all about me, I plan to be healthy, thin and rich! LOL Start training for my first 10k.

March 2009 - run/bike the Kapiti Womens Duathalon - something I've wanted to do for years, I finish with a huge smile on my face. Run Around the Vines in Martinborough, my first ever 10km race - 1:12 ... absolutely overwhelmed that I did it! Weight is starting to finally come off.

April/May 2009 - I am 81kg (178lb). I go to Australia for my Stampin' Up Convention and reach one of my other huge goals of being on stage and looking lots better than I did the year before. Run Moonshine 10km - 1:08, win "big" spotprize there - 2 nights accommodation in a nice hotel in Martinborough. Come home for Australia and run the Eastbourne 10km - 1:06, I'm getting faster each time!

June 2009 - this is THE month ... I hit the 70's (kgs), I enter the Wellington Harbour 10km. I'm starting to struggle to eat right, I tell myself I need another goal to keep me going. I break the 1:05 at Wellington, that was accomplishment enough! THEN ... this is the day my life suddenly changes ... I win the MAJOR SPOTPRIZE - entry into the London 2010 Marathon, along with airfares and a couple of nights accommodation!!

After a month of getting my head around it, I'm in for the challenge ... I'm going to run the London Marathon - heck, I'm going to run a marathon!

July/August I spend getting serious about losing weight and running and working out at the gym to strengthen and build my body up ready for serious training. End of August I run another 10km - most awful run ever - 1:06, first time I've gone slower in a race. Reality kicks in ;) Also is the finish of "loose" training, and start of serious half marathon training, ready for half marathon on 11 October.

September 2009 - half marathon training has started, I now weigh 73.7kg (162lb), if you're counting I've lost 50lbs! 9kg to go to reach my WW goal weight.

So here we are ... hopefully my journey will be worth reading about - I know I've read through quite a few running/weight loss blogs lately and find them all very inspiring!