Today's run was "only" 14.5km ... amazing how it really did feel like just a normal training run, who would have thought!
14.6km - 1:27, I felt great the whole way. Dee wasn't available this morning so I ran on my own and managed to keep my pace down to an easy to breathe, keeping running easy and steady ... about 6min/km. I'm hoping I can feel that good and keep a nice pace like that for the half marathon I'm going to run in a few weeks.
Next week picks up - 6.5km/11km/6.5km mid-week runs and 11km/22km weekend runs, bring it on! Next week also brings the start of school and a new (or the old?) routine. Well, actually it will be new. Last year I was getting up early(ish) and running before the kids went to school, after a lot of thought I've decided to do my runs after I've dropped them off, except Tuesdays which I'll still try to do early. This is mainly due to the fact that I had too many scary drives home from work last year where I was just way too tired to be behind the wheel. So, even though it means losing part of my day, I'm planning on making myself sleep in until about 8.00am on Wed/Thurs/Fri (work days). Up at 8.00am, dressed, quick breakfast, quick tidy up of the house and then drop the kids off and go for my run. Wednesdays I'm going to try and run and then get to the 10.30am Synergy class at the gym (stretching/yoga/pilates) ... makes for a busy rest of the day fitting in delivering and grocery shopping, but its also looking like a free after school day (no dancing, sports practices or gymnastics) so I might just have to drag the kids with me grocery shopping then. Thursday's won't be so bad, its a shorter run day and usually a free during the day day, I'll run then do whatever delivering I've got to do and should still have time to shower and eat before school finishes.
Hopefully it will all work in ... next week we'll find out!
School goes back on Tuesday, so tomorrow (Monday) we'll do our last holiday blast with a round of mini-golf, the pools and probably McDonalds for lunch. The kids have been pretty good all holidays, especially the last week or two when I've been working extra hours, its been hot, and they've been stuck at home entertaining each other!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Well, that was the last 5km for a while
I know I've felt for the last few weeks that 5km seems to short when you are supposed to be training for a marathon, but I think I'm going to miss knowing that I've "only" got to run 5km, it's only half an hour ... pretty okay, no matter how I'm feeling. Short runs from now on are 6.5km (4 mile), I've got a 7km block I run, so I'll be running that rather than the exact 6.5km.
Anyway, what have I been doing the last few days? Working, can't you tell? I can't sign on to blogger at work, I wish I could, it would be easy to slot in a blog entry or two there ... I'm a word processing operator, as long as I'm clacking away on the key board it looks/sounds like I'm working hard! Yeah, working, delivering plus one of the woman I work had her mother die the Monday we all started back at work, she had been sick just before Christmas and I think in re-hab but obviously wasn't well enough to make it. So anyway, I've been starting earlier and working a couple of extra shifts so only time to breathe, deliver, run and work!
Training-wise
Sunday - long run (19km). I ran with Deirdre again, after worrying about running with someone else, whether I really wanted to (I'm a bit of a loner kind of gal), etc ... I think its working well. We had a great run on Sunday, she is really good at keeping me to a slower pace and I think I'm really good at digging in and keeping going, which is what she needs, so we're a good combination. It took us pretty much exactly 2hrs to run the 19km, that was with a trip - land straight on her face and legs, ouchy! for Dee and a toilet stop for Dee ... looking at my ipod stats when we were running we were pretty consistently at 6:10-6:15 which is about where I'd want to be - with the stops it was 6:23/km. I'm also wayyyy more technical than her, she would just run for a couple of hours, I'm anal about sticking to the distances my programme says to run ... as I say, the two combined makes for a good combination ;)
Monday - I worked all day and then made spin class at night, love my spin class - I've told myself that when it starts getting hard I'll have to stop it ... but its still working so I'll keep doing it.
Tuesday - 8km - I tried to run this fast, just because I felt good and wanted to. Managed it in 43:12 which is my fastest time for that route (actually 7.9k according to mapmyrun). Felt pretty good, but there was no sprint/fast finish left me at the end! Plus we've actually had summer hit (at last!) so its pretty hot out there now too.
Today - 5km - I was tired this morning, whether it was yesterday's effort, or (and I suspect is the case) working and getting home at 1.00am, I'm not sure - but my body felt tired. I took it pretty easy, still managed 27:43 which is a pretty good time for me, so all good :)
Rest day and weigh in day tomorrow ... I didn't report last weeks weigh in because I am frustrated, still frustrated. Last week I "officially" put on 100g but I know I put on more than that - when I run on WI day I always lose about 500g and last week I swapped days around to adjust for Sunday's race and Monday's long run so ran on Friday morning. This week, I'm looking about the same again ... which in a confused world means I have actually probably lost a few hundred grams of what I put on last week ... but darn it ... it shouldn't be such hard work to drop the weight with all the exercise I'm doing! I admit to not being perfect, I'm eating good meals but snacking IS a problem, but then again, my snacking is so much better than it has been, I'll keep working at it - I'm determined to drop this last 5kg!
Anyway, what have I been doing the last few days? Working, can't you tell? I can't sign on to blogger at work, I wish I could, it would be easy to slot in a blog entry or two there ... I'm a word processing operator, as long as I'm clacking away on the key board it looks/sounds like I'm working hard! Yeah, working, delivering plus one of the woman I work had her mother die the Monday we all started back at work, she had been sick just before Christmas and I think in re-hab but obviously wasn't well enough to make it. So anyway, I've been starting earlier and working a couple of extra shifts so only time to breathe, deliver, run and work!
Training-wise
Sunday - long run (19km). I ran with Deirdre again, after worrying about running with someone else, whether I really wanted to (I'm a bit of a loner kind of gal), etc ... I think its working well. We had a great run on Sunday, she is really good at keeping me to a slower pace and I think I'm really good at digging in and keeping going, which is what she needs, so we're a good combination. It took us pretty much exactly 2hrs to run the 19km, that was with a trip - land straight on her face and legs, ouchy! for Dee and a toilet stop for Dee ... looking at my ipod stats when we were running we were pretty consistently at 6:10-6:15 which is about where I'd want to be - with the stops it was 6:23/km. I'm also wayyyy more technical than her, she would just run for a couple of hours, I'm anal about sticking to the distances my programme says to run ... as I say, the two combined makes for a good combination ;)
Monday - I worked all day and then made spin class at night, love my spin class - I've told myself that when it starts getting hard I'll have to stop it ... but its still working so I'll keep doing it.
Tuesday - 8km - I tried to run this fast, just because I felt good and wanted to. Managed it in 43:12 which is my fastest time for that route (actually 7.9k according to mapmyrun). Felt pretty good, but there was no sprint/fast finish left me at the end! Plus we've actually had summer hit (at last!) so its pretty hot out there now too.
Today - 5km - I was tired this morning, whether it was yesterday's effort, or (and I suspect is the case) working and getting home at 1.00am, I'm not sure - but my body felt tired. I took it pretty easy, still managed 27:43 which is a pretty good time for me, so all good :)
Rest day and weigh in day tomorrow ... I didn't report last weeks weigh in because I am frustrated, still frustrated. Last week I "officially" put on 100g but I know I put on more than that - when I run on WI day I always lose about 500g and last week I swapped days around to adjust for Sunday's race and Monday's long run so ran on Friday morning. This week, I'm looking about the same again ... which in a confused world means I have actually probably lost a few hundred grams of what I put on last week ... but darn it ... it shouldn't be such hard work to drop the weight with all the exercise I'm doing! I admit to not being perfect, I'm eating good meals but snacking IS a problem, but then again, my snacking is so much better than it has been, I'll keep working at it - I'm determined to drop this last 5kg!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Paekakariki Road Race Report
Here we all are! ... and the official results - oh, firstly, they changed the course slightly from previous years for safety reasons, so the loop was 5.3km - meaning 10k was 10.6k and 15k was 15.9k.
Cameron (72) 5.3km - 4/8 age group and 9/28 (25:49)
Me (161) 10.6km - 4/6 age group and 13/22 (1:01:01)
Dianna (204) 15.9km - 2/5 age group and 13/22 (1:20:13)
Julie (288) 15.9km - 5/5 age group and 20/22 (1:30:18)
Georgie (167) and Stephie (168) (yes, they are identical twins!) 10.6km walk - 1=/3, 2=/11 (1:25:56)
So we all did good!
The race itself - well, as you can see it was perfect running weather - misty rain, cool breeze, very nice!
They had to change the course this year, something to do with road safety, I haven't run it before so I'm not sure what they changed, something in Queen Elizabeth Park - but this year they added a loop in the park, which included a killer up hill - I think that really sorted everyone out! I was a bit disappointed it wasn't exactly 10km, I wanted to see how I did timewise in a 10km - but 10.6 is close enough!
Great course, a big hill about 1.5km in, and some other smaller rolling hills. I had a game plan, I didn't want to push it too hard, not with a long run the next day, my plan was to run about the pace I wanted (5:45/km) on the flat, take it easy up the hills and catch up on speed on the way down. I reckon I did it well. First time around the first hill wasn't too bad at all, all that training has obviously been good for my strength :), the second hill in the park was a killer but I ran all the way up and caught my breath on the hill going down straight after.
Funny thing about the killer hill - I remember it SO well from school cross-country, it's probably about 0.5km? from what was the start line way back then, all the kids would sprint off, and I couldn't sprint (still can't!) to save myself, so I'd be towards the back ... hit that hill and all the sprinters would be walking and gasping for breath, that's where I'd pass them all - not much has changed! LOL
So, after lap one - I was feeling great! Stopped briefly for a drink, enough time to ask Cam how he went, then carried on. Second time around, the first hill was definitely harder work ... but I passed the woman who was just ahead of me, but not quite catchable for a quite a while before it - she stopped at walked, I kept running ... and never saw her again. Once I was over that hill I actually picked up my pace a bit, as we hit the park I decided I was going to walk some of the killer hill so I'd have enough energy to put more into the home stretch - I ran up half of it then, walked (fast) up the last half - it is a short sharp steep hill, so really I don't think walking was any slower than running! Shot down the hill, ran up the last upward rise out of the park and then dug it in for the last down hill and then last I'd say half km straight/flat stretch to the finish. I had enough in me to do a faster run to finish (I couldn't call it a sprint, as I said, I can't sprint!), but had plenty left in me to push myself (unlike previous 10km races where I've had nothing left for any sort of fast burst at the end).
I was so happy with the way I paced myself, I never felt like it was too hard or I was pushing myself more than I should and I finished with exactly the overall pace that I wanted. Yay me!
Also really happy that I finished middle of the pack!
... and a quick note about Cameron, I'm so proud of him - 25:49 (4.52/km), he hadn't run 5km before, he got up to 4km the day before! He did so well :) He's now keen to run the 7km Around the Bays run in a few weeks, I'm planning on running the half marathon - so he'll keep running over the next few weeks. First up he has a cricket tournament in New Plymouth over the next few days though!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Yay! It's the Weekend
The sudden shock of work last week reminded me that my life sure does get busy, and school isn't even back yet (so Saturday cricket, Jazz ballet, Gymnastics etc hasn't even started yet). That's okay ... this is my year of becoming organised, first up is getting a "To Do" notebook to keep me on track, hopefully!
So training? Seems to have been hard work this week, Wednesday's 10km and Thursday's 5km were very sluggish and seemed to take a long time (10k = 57min, 5k = 28:10), not that bad really. I'm putting it down to my body suddening being thrown back to getting home from work and to bed after 1.00am again, I don't actually feel sleepy tired (I've been making sure I sleep until 8ish each morning), but I suppose my body would feel it in ways I don't even notice!
So Friday morning (yesterday), I ummmed and ahhhhed about running another 5km or just giving my body a rest, I decided to run and felt so much better ... so was good to get out there (5k = 27:50). Today I've made my rest day, tomorrow is the Paekakariki Road Race (10k) and Monday is 19km. Tomorrow's race will be interesting, I've looked at the last couple of years results about 60-70 runners, and obviously practically all "serious" runners - the Harrier club organises it and its obviously mostly the club that come and run, not the "fun" runners. Going by the results from the last couple of years, my hopefully about 57:30 (my 10k during the week is actually about 9.9k) will put me about last! ... and I thought I was getting speedy ;). I'm not at all worried, I'm quite happy to run at my pace - I'm not going to push it too hard, I need to save my body a bit for my long run the next day. As of today my older sister (Dianna) and younger sister (Julie) are running the 15k, I'm running the 10k and my younger sisters (Georgie and Stephie) are walking the 10k, and of course Cameron is running the 5k ... they're hoping for 100 entrants this year, we'll be helping them along quite a bit!
It is a 5k circuit - little 'ole Paekakariki is only a very small village, and looking on map my run they have to add a couple of little "bits" to make it 5km :)
Oh! and I bought my new shoes :) So far so good, I've worn them for my last two 5k runs - they are Asics GT2150 (my last ones were 2140), the only thing I've maybe noticed is that the soles of my feet feel burny hot? I hope that doesn't mean there is something funky going on about my feet and the way they touch the inner soles of the shoe ... and just to make you laugh, the day I bought my shoes we went "shoe shopping", as well as my shoes we went and bought cheap running ones for Cameron, two pairs of black school shoes for Cam and Josh, a pair of trainers for Rhiannon and a pair of trainers for Charlotte. My shoes cost $100 more than all the other pairs put together, crikey!
Okay, dokes, I'm off to Georgie's house to meet up with my other sisters for a bit of sisterly gossip :)
BTW - I also do have two brothers ... the youngest (my baby brother - only 26yo!) is in Perth and my older brother, couple of years older than me, is only a 40min drive away but he's not into the running thing and I think his partner is freaked out by her six close SILs. On another rambling interesting note - both my brothers' partners are called Lisa, what are the odds of that? I reckon its because they admire their favourite sister so much!
So training? Seems to have been hard work this week, Wednesday's 10km and Thursday's 5km were very sluggish and seemed to take a long time (10k = 57min, 5k = 28:10), not that bad really. I'm putting it down to my body suddening being thrown back to getting home from work and to bed after 1.00am again, I don't actually feel sleepy tired (I've been making sure I sleep until 8ish each morning), but I suppose my body would feel it in ways I don't even notice!
So Friday morning (yesterday), I ummmed and ahhhhed about running another 5km or just giving my body a rest, I decided to run and felt so much better ... so was good to get out there (5k = 27:50). Today I've made my rest day, tomorrow is the Paekakariki Road Race (10k) and Monday is 19km. Tomorrow's race will be interesting, I've looked at the last couple of years results about 60-70 runners, and obviously practically all "serious" runners - the Harrier club organises it and its obviously mostly the club that come and run, not the "fun" runners. Going by the results from the last couple of years, my hopefully about 57:30 (my 10k during the week is actually about 9.9k) will put me about last! ... and I thought I was getting speedy ;). I'm not at all worried, I'm quite happy to run at my pace - I'm not going to push it too hard, I need to save my body a bit for my long run the next day. As of today my older sister (Dianna) and younger sister (Julie) are running the 15k, I'm running the 10k and my younger sisters (Georgie and Stephie) are walking the 10k, and of course Cameron is running the 5k ... they're hoping for 100 entrants this year, we'll be helping them along quite a bit!
It is a 5k circuit - little 'ole Paekakariki is only a very small village, and looking on map my run they have to add a couple of little "bits" to make it 5km :)
Oh! and I bought my new shoes :) So far so good, I've worn them for my last two 5k runs - they are Asics GT2150 (my last ones were 2140), the only thing I've maybe noticed is that the soles of my feet feel burny hot? I hope that doesn't mean there is something funky going on about my feet and the way they touch the inner soles of the shoe ... and just to make you laugh, the day I bought my shoes we went "shoe shopping", as well as my shoes we went and bought cheap running ones for Cameron, two pairs of black school shoes for Cam and Josh, a pair of trainers for Rhiannon and a pair of trainers for Charlotte. My shoes cost $100 more than all the other pairs put together, crikey!
Okay, dokes, I'm off to Georgie's house to meet up with my other sisters for a bit of sisterly gossip :)
BTW - I also do have two brothers ... the youngest (my baby brother - only 26yo!) is in Perth and my older brother, couple of years older than me, is only a 40min drive away but he's not into the running thing and I think his partner is freaked out by her six close SILs. On another rambling interesting note - both my brothers' partners are called Lisa, what are the odds of that? I reckon its because they admire their favourite sister so much!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
I might have talked him into it!
Our young (14yo) Cameron is a bit of a sporting nut, he has played in the JPL (Junior Premier League) age group soccer team for a few years, and the rep soccer team. He is captain of the rep cricket team, and usually a bowler, but like last Saturday, couldn't bowl so did a fine job as a wicket keeper and then carried through the team to a win with a 25NO batting, which aren't his usual positions, for the college team. He is one of those lucky beings who is just naturally co-ordinated and usually naturally fit. This cricket season he keeps injuring himself, so when he came back from his last tournament a couple of weeks ago I said I reckon he needs to work on his fitness, so he's been going out for a run a few days a week - just 2-3ks. (This is also the kid who came, i think it was 2nd, in his high school 1500m last year, with no running training at all ... then moaned that he "only" came 6th out of 8th in the interschool - as in Wellington region - 1500m, um hello Cameron? most of those kids train and work hard to get in those races!).
So today, as he left for his run, I looked at the clock and when he came back, looked again ... 2.3km - 11min, sheesh, I've worked darn hard to break 5.30ish/km, he's breaking 5min! So, I had a thought ... how about you run the 5km race on Sunday Cam? I think I've almost persuaded him to, I'm really interested to see how he would go. I might even buy him a cheap pair of running shoes, because he's not even running in proper sneakers at the moment ... sheesh.
I'd love him to get into proper running, he is small, all muscle and really light ... but his first loves will always be soccer and cricket, so I haven't got much hope, I can keep trying though!
As for me - 5km this morning, 27:27, my legs feel great. They were sore after Sunday's long run on Sunday - a bit stiff yesterday but some delivering on my bike and a spin class last night seemed to have cured them and they felt great this morning. 10km first up in the morning!
Righty, I'm back at work, so this is a 1am entry ... I should get to bed and have some beauty sleep before I wake up at 7-8ish for my run!
So today, as he left for his run, I looked at the clock and when he came back, looked again ... 2.3km - 11min, sheesh, I've worked darn hard to break 5.30ish/km, he's breaking 5min! So, I had a thought ... how about you run the 5km race on Sunday Cam? I think I've almost persuaded him to, I'm really interested to see how he would go. I might even buy him a cheap pair of running shoes, because he's not even running in proper sneakers at the moment ... sheesh.
I'd love him to get into proper running, he is small, all muscle and really light ... but his first loves will always be soccer and cricket, so I haven't got much hope, I can keep trying though!
As for me - 5km this morning, 27:27, my legs feel great. They were sore after Sunday's long run on Sunday - a bit stiff yesterday but some delivering on my bike and a spin class last night seemed to have cured them and they felt great this morning. 10km first up in the morning!
Righty, I'm back at work, so this is a 1am entry ... I should get to bed and have some beauty sleep before I wake up at 7-8ish for my run!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Wanganui Half Marathon Review
Okay, a very late review ... but today is cross-training/no run day so I thought it was a good time to try and finally remember the details.
Wanganui Half Marathon - Saturday 12 December 2010
This came at the end of a really busy time in our household, in hindsight, that showed in my running and how I felt ... but hindsight is always a wonderful thing!
Wanganui is about 2hrs drive from here so my two sisters and I decided early on we would go up Friday and spend Friday night in Wanganui, then run on Saturday. Once again Georgie was doing the 10km, Julie the half marathon. As it turns out, Cam was playing a rep game against Wanganui on the Sunday ... perfect timing! I then decided I'd take the two girls with me (David was rostered to work that weekend) and we'd stay the Saturday night as well. It was Rhiannon's birthday on the Friday, so it was a nice birthday weekend for her too.
The girls both decided they wanted to go to school on Friday morning and be picked up at lunchtime (I have strange children who love school! LOL), which suited me fine, I still had things to do and finish off before we left - it was a rushed morning, and we didn't leave until more like 2pm rather than the planned lunchtime. We stopped at McDonalds on the way up for a very late lunch and arrived in Wanganui about 5ish. Connected with Georgie and Julie, and Julie's son David (who is a couple of years older than the girls ... the planned kinda babysitter while we were running!) and went for a quick visit to my niece and her baby ... then went and picked up our race numbers. At this time it was stinking hot and humid ... and we were wondering what it was going to be like to run in, in the morning! Rain was forecast though so hopefully that would kill the humidity. We had some dinner, sat up and chatted a while, and then went to our motel rooms to sleep. It was hot and sticky, not good sleeping weather at all ... then about 3.00am the heavens opened up and the temperature dropped - yay!
So got up Saturday morning, it wasn't raining ... but the clouds were heavy. Went down to the start which was in a boating club clubrooms. Not long before the start time, the heavens opened and boy did they open it absolutely bucketed down, oh no. They had the pre-start talk in the basement boat storage amongst all the rowing boats, Julie and I being the polite girls we were brought up to be, were standing towards the back, and being polite when the talk had finished we took our time leaving letting the people in front of us all leave first and politely letting people come in, get in. Bad idea.
So, Wanganui is a 10.6 lap course - two laps for the half marathon, four laps for the full marathon. I wasn't worried about this at all, even though Ms Negative Nelly (my oldest sister) had of course told me that it was a horrible course (she seems to say that about every course she runs, not sure why she bothers!). Anyway, two laps, and runs alongside the big Whanganui River, crossing 3 bridges - 5 times, I think ... I've been trying to remember how it worked, but can't remember!
So, the start, Julie and I come out of dark basement clubrooms, into the pouring rain ... and ... S*** they've already started! The big bunch of runners is about 100m ahead of us, we weren't the only ones, there were a few of us muttering "thanks very much, great organisation!" Now, as soon as I started I told myself just keep to your pace, it doesn't matter that everyone else is ahead, and I think I did okay with that - but I'm not sure that it still didn't affect me. Julie had decided to run on her own this race so she had taken on well and truly ahead of me. I was running next to, the same pace as a tall girl for about the first 1k, we chatted a bit at first, but really ... it annoyed me having someone next to me ... I was quite pleased when she eased a head of me (ha! come on Lisa, how many people do you think are going to be right next to you in London? LOL). The rain stopped after about 1km and it never rained again, but the parts where we ran through the park were really really muddy.
The first half dragged. Really dragged. I didn't think that first lap would ever be over. I really wanted to run this half in 2:06, I was checking my time, trying to stick to about 6:00min ks. I did, but it was too fast. By the time I got to the start/finish, so halfway, I was right on time - 1:03 something, but I was tired, really tired. The kids were at the halfway point cheering us on, which was really nice ... nothing like a cheer from family to keep you going! I decided then just to run comfortably, I still had half to go! That is what I did, and at about 13/14k I actually felt really good, mad with myself that I'd slowed down, and also mad that I'd put too much into the first half. So I felt good for about 3-4k then hit about 18k and was really really tired. I wanted to walk, and I'd had enough. I made myself keep running, mostly because if I couldn't run it in 2:06, I definitely wanted to be faster than my first half marathon of 2:12 and told myself that even if I was running slowly, it wasn't that much slower than I wanted.
By the time I got to the end my oldest sister (the non running one, not Ms Negative Nelly one), niece and great niece were at the end to cheer us in as well :)
I'd set myself up a playlist for this half marathon, ending with one of my favourites at 2:06 (Smashmouth's You're an All Star - probably not the right name, I'm hopeless with music!), and then had thought, I better have an extra if I went over ... so tagged Step's Tragedy on at the end, ha ha sick sense of humour. But I did indeed get to Tragedy, but I finished before the song finished! LOL ... 2:09:12 That was my time, and I'm taking that one ... the official one was going to be wrong because we started late!
All in all, not really the most enjoyable run. But a good experience, and a good lesson. Don't go out too fast!
As for recovery, I was pretty stiff and sore on the Saturday, but by Sunday wasn't too bad at all - so although I felt pretty tired and it was hard work, I probably did okay :)
Saturday afternoon, I took the girls to a movie, we had takeaways at the motel and relaxed for the evening, it was lovely. Sunday morning we went off and watched Cam's cricket, then left early enough to make it home to Rhiannon's birthday party at the local 10 Pin Bowling place, and dinner afterwards, a busy weekend!
Official results:
2:09:52
31/53 Women
10/16 Age Placing
... and Julie? She did good :) 1:57:36 (17/53, 10/31 in her age group - she slips into the U40's, I don't!).
Wanganui Half Marathon - Saturday 12 December 2010
This came at the end of a really busy time in our household, in hindsight, that showed in my running and how I felt ... but hindsight is always a wonderful thing!
Wanganui is about 2hrs drive from here so my two sisters and I decided early on we would go up Friday and spend Friday night in Wanganui, then run on Saturday. Once again Georgie was doing the 10km, Julie the half marathon. As it turns out, Cam was playing a rep game against Wanganui on the Sunday ... perfect timing! I then decided I'd take the two girls with me (David was rostered to work that weekend) and we'd stay the Saturday night as well. It was Rhiannon's birthday on the Friday, so it was a nice birthday weekend for her too.
The girls both decided they wanted to go to school on Friday morning and be picked up at lunchtime (I have strange children who love school! LOL), which suited me fine, I still had things to do and finish off before we left - it was a rushed morning, and we didn't leave until more like 2pm rather than the planned lunchtime. We stopped at McDonalds on the way up for a very late lunch and arrived in Wanganui about 5ish. Connected with Georgie and Julie, and Julie's son David (who is a couple of years older than the girls ... the planned kinda babysitter while we were running!) and went for a quick visit to my niece and her baby ... then went and picked up our race numbers. At this time it was stinking hot and humid ... and we were wondering what it was going to be like to run in, in the morning! Rain was forecast though so hopefully that would kill the humidity. We had some dinner, sat up and chatted a while, and then went to our motel rooms to sleep. It was hot and sticky, not good sleeping weather at all ... then about 3.00am the heavens opened up and the temperature dropped - yay!
So got up Saturday morning, it wasn't raining ... but the clouds were heavy. Went down to the start which was in a boating club clubrooms. Not long before the start time, the heavens opened and boy did they open it absolutely bucketed down, oh no. They had the pre-start talk in the basement boat storage amongst all the rowing boats, Julie and I being the polite girls we were brought up to be, were standing towards the back, and being polite when the talk had finished we took our time leaving letting the people in front of us all leave first and politely letting people come in, get in. Bad idea.
So, Wanganui is a 10.6 lap course - two laps for the half marathon, four laps for the full marathon. I wasn't worried about this at all, even though Ms Negative Nelly (my oldest sister) had of course told me that it was a horrible course (she seems to say that about every course she runs, not sure why she bothers!). Anyway, two laps, and runs alongside the big Whanganui River, crossing 3 bridges - 5 times, I think ... I've been trying to remember how it worked, but can't remember!
So, the start, Julie and I come out of dark basement clubrooms, into the pouring rain ... and ... S*** they've already started! The big bunch of runners is about 100m ahead of us, we weren't the only ones, there were a few of us muttering "thanks very much, great organisation!" Now, as soon as I started I told myself just keep to your pace, it doesn't matter that everyone else is ahead, and I think I did okay with that - but I'm not sure that it still didn't affect me. Julie had decided to run on her own this race so she had taken on well and truly ahead of me. I was running next to, the same pace as a tall girl for about the first 1k, we chatted a bit at first, but really ... it annoyed me having someone next to me ... I was quite pleased when she eased a head of me (ha! come on Lisa, how many people do you think are going to be right next to you in London? LOL). The rain stopped after about 1km and it never rained again, but the parts where we ran through the park were really really muddy.
The first half dragged. Really dragged. I didn't think that first lap would ever be over. I really wanted to run this half in 2:06, I was checking my time, trying to stick to about 6:00min ks. I did, but it was too fast. By the time I got to the start/finish, so halfway, I was right on time - 1:03 something, but I was tired, really tired. The kids were at the halfway point cheering us on, which was really nice ... nothing like a cheer from family to keep you going! I decided then just to run comfortably, I still had half to go! That is what I did, and at about 13/14k I actually felt really good, mad with myself that I'd slowed down, and also mad that I'd put too much into the first half. So I felt good for about 3-4k then hit about 18k and was really really tired. I wanted to walk, and I'd had enough. I made myself keep running, mostly because if I couldn't run it in 2:06, I definitely wanted to be faster than my first half marathon of 2:12 and told myself that even if I was running slowly, it wasn't that much slower than I wanted.
By the time I got to the end my oldest sister (the non running one, not Ms Negative Nelly one), niece and great niece were at the end to cheer us in as well :)
I'd set myself up a playlist for this half marathon, ending with one of my favourites at 2:06 (Smashmouth's You're an All Star - probably not the right name, I'm hopeless with music!), and then had thought, I better have an extra if I went over ... so tagged Step's Tragedy on at the end, ha ha sick sense of humour. But I did indeed get to Tragedy, but I finished before the song finished! LOL ... 2:09:12 That was my time, and I'm taking that one ... the official one was going to be wrong because we started late!
All in all, not really the most enjoyable run. But a good experience, and a good lesson. Don't go out too fast!
As for recovery, I was pretty stiff and sore on the Saturday, but by Sunday wasn't too bad at all - so although I felt pretty tired and it was hard work, I probably did okay :)
Saturday afternoon, I took the girls to a movie, we had takeaways at the motel and relaxed for the evening, it was lovely. Sunday morning we went off and watched Cam's cricket, then left early enough to make it home to Rhiannon's birthday party at the local 10 Pin Bowling place, and dinner afterwards, a busy weekend!
Official results:
2:09:52
31/53 Women
10/16 Age Placing
... and Julie? She did good :) 1:57:36 (17/53, 10/31 in her age group - she slips into the U40's, I don't!).
Sunday, January 17, 2010
18km ... done.
Got to say, it was hard work! I can't imagine running 26-27km in a few weeks, heck I can't imagine running 42km ... but I'll keep tackling it all one km at a time :) I knew it was going to be hard, I knew it was going to be hard even before I'd gone to bed last night (got to wonder about the mental game, right?). I could feel my legs from the 10k I ran in the morning, I'd managed to get my face lovely and sunburnt while sitting in the freezing cold southerly and overcast weather (I should know by now that that doesn't mean those darn sun rays aren't working!), I felt over cooked.
But! It is done :) 17.8km 1:47:30 - 6:01/km. I tried to keep a SLOW steady pace, but still ended up slower at the end than at the beginning. I really need to find a comfortable pace where I know I can run forever, or close to it. All experience, all will work itself out.
It was a good course though, I'll definitely try and work it so that it becomes a regular - from our house along the long way to the Waikanae River (4km) then the 10km River run (up one side and then down the other), then 4km home.
Now, I was reading Andrew is Getting Fit's blog last night and he mentioned inspirational women he'd seen while running. It reminded me about the woman I saw yesterday. Now I've seen this woman for years - she obviously has MS or something like that, I used to see her at weighwatchers years ago, and over the years I've seen her out walking, progressing from limping, to walking with braces on her legs to the last year or so out with her dog and sitting in an electric wheelchair, well Friday as I was driving I saw her walking! and determinedly walking (with braces covering both legs, but walking). I ran past her yesterday (back in her wheelchair) and tried to say quickly, I saw you walking yesterday and you looked great! She replied something like "Thanks, it felt great" ... but I was running past and had my ipod on ... so didn't quite catch it. But I would say, that is one determined lady :)
Okay, on to the rest of the day - off to the shops to kit up the two girls for school, grab a couple of baking things so I can do some baking this afternoon - probably really dangerous thing to do when I'm trying really hard to eat right ... but the rest of the family could do with something in the tins!
But! It is done :) 17.8km 1:47:30 - 6:01/km. I tried to keep a SLOW steady pace, but still ended up slower at the end than at the beginning. I really need to find a comfortable pace where I know I can run forever, or close to it. All experience, all will work itself out.
It was a good course though, I'll definitely try and work it so that it becomes a regular - from our house along the long way to the Waikanae River (4km) then the 10km River run (up one side and then down the other), then 4km home.
Now, I was reading Andrew is Getting Fit's blog last night and he mentioned inspirational women he'd seen while running. It reminded me about the woman I saw yesterday. Now I've seen this woman for years - she obviously has MS or something like that, I used to see her at weighwatchers years ago, and over the years I've seen her out walking, progressing from limping, to walking with braces on her legs to the last year or so out with her dog and sitting in an electric wheelchair, well Friday as I was driving I saw her walking! and determinedly walking (with braces covering both legs, but walking). I ran past her yesterday (back in her wheelchair) and tried to say quickly, I saw you walking yesterday and you looked great! She replied something like "Thanks, it felt great" ... but I was running past and had my ipod on ... so didn't quite catch it. But I would say, that is one determined lady :)
Okay, on to the rest of the day - off to the shops to kit up the two girls for school, grab a couple of baking things so I can do some baking this afternoon - probably really dangerous thing to do when I'm trying really hard to eat right ... but the rest of the family could do with something in the tins!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
She wears shorts
Who would have believed it? ... I've progressed from baggy shin length, cover everything capri sort of pants, to running tights, capri length with a pair of shorts over the top to now wearing my new Skins (thank you family, excellent Christmas gift!) which only just go to below my shorts and while I'm running definitely only peep out from below my shorts. Who would have believed I'd feel okay about running around the local streets in shorts. Okay, I still hate my knees, even if I was a thin size 8-10 I'd still hate my knees, I also have striped tan marks ... capri length tight marks, then biking pants (just above the knees) marks ... I'm not a good advertisement for tanned legs - not unless you like the striped look ;) Oh and by the way, does anyone else have knees that actually bend backwards? It's quite a party trick when people start talking about double joints, I'm not sure whether I've come across anyone else with that strange ability... wonder if it makes them stronger or weaker, I assume the ligaments are looser ... something to ponder!
10km run this morning - 56:32, and whooooaaaaaa remember there was no wind the other day? Well, I'm picking that is because the strong northerly was turning around to a strong southerly and I was lucky enough to run while it was inbetween doing nothing, cuz today the wind had definitely turned, so it was a hard first half ... but nice second half - I'd much rather be blown home! But gosh, come on summer! I expect wind in October and November, in another life I was a pretty serious smallbore rifle target shooter, we did most of our serious trials in October and November and it was always windy, but by this time of year it had settled - January shooting was usually much easier. I wouldn't mind seeing some stats somewhere to see if it has been more windy this month than usual. As an aside, at one of the 10k runs I ran a few months ago we ran past one of the indoor shooting ranges and I could hear them shooting, I couldn't help thinking that sport was sooooo much easier (I mean, really, what is better than a sport where you lie down to do it! LOL).
Anyway, I'm obviously in a rambly mood - it's Saturday here today (one day I will work out how to change my blog time so it matches NZ time), Cameron is playing cricket at the high school so we'll probably go and watch some of that (the high school have put together a U15 team to play an invitation U15 side from Sydney). The girls could be playing, but I'm revolting against the club who has decided its okay to start Saturday morning cricket for the school kids when it is still a good two weeks until they go back to school, I mean come on, this is the only time of year we get a break - I'm queen of juggling, but I'm not ready to start doing it again quite yet!
I need to get my head together to start planning some Stampin' Up workshops and classes ... I've been putting it off - but being organised now will really pay off in a few weeks - I have some new stamps to play with so will hopefully get time to do that this afternoon. Also got about an hour of delivering to do, I'll go out just before dinner to do that.
Tomorrow I've got 17.5km to run - I'm not sure whether I'm looking forward to it or not ... it seems a long time since I've run that far, and definitely haven't run that far the day after running 10k, I think I'm looking forward to having it done!
Have a good weekend everyone!
10km run this morning - 56:32, and whooooaaaaaa remember there was no wind the other day? Well, I'm picking that is because the strong northerly was turning around to a strong southerly and I was lucky enough to run while it was inbetween doing nothing, cuz today the wind had definitely turned, so it was a hard first half ... but nice second half - I'd much rather be blown home! But gosh, come on summer! I expect wind in October and November, in another life I was a pretty serious smallbore rifle target shooter, we did most of our serious trials in October and November and it was always windy, but by this time of year it had settled - January shooting was usually much easier. I wouldn't mind seeing some stats somewhere to see if it has been more windy this month than usual. As an aside, at one of the 10k runs I ran a few months ago we ran past one of the indoor shooting ranges and I could hear them shooting, I couldn't help thinking that sport was sooooo much easier (I mean, really, what is better than a sport where you lie down to do it! LOL).
Anyway, I'm obviously in a rambly mood - it's Saturday here today (one day I will work out how to change my blog time so it matches NZ time), Cameron is playing cricket at the high school so we'll probably go and watch some of that (the high school have put together a U15 team to play an invitation U15 side from Sydney). The girls could be playing, but I'm revolting against the club who has decided its okay to start Saturday morning cricket for the school kids when it is still a good two weeks until they go back to school, I mean come on, this is the only time of year we get a break - I'm queen of juggling, but I'm not ready to start doing it again quite yet!
I need to get my head together to start planning some Stampin' Up workshops and classes ... I've been putting it off - but being organised now will really pay off in a few weeks - I have some new stamps to play with so will hopefully get time to do that this afternoon. Also got about an hour of delivering to do, I'll go out just before dinner to do that.
Tomorrow I've got 17.5km to run - I'm not sure whether I'm looking forward to it or not ... it seems a long time since I've run that far, and definitely haven't run that far the day after running 10k, I think I'm looking forward to having it done!
Have a good weekend everyone!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Friday = Weigh In Day
... and once again I'm UNDER that 70kg mark (69.6), now lets see if I can actually keep it there - forever! I've been up and down over that mark so many times over the last couple of months ... very very frustrating. But then again, its all up to me!
Thanks for the comments on the shoes, Andrew - I looked at Runners Warehouse and other places in the States, nobody is allowed to ship Asics overseas, bummer. I do have some good internet friends who would be happy to send me some, so I might still go down that track - I think it is free shipping to them, and then I can just pay the postage to send them to me, I'm not sure I'll bother this time (mostly because I've left it too late, but also I do like to support local shops - its tough enough out there for them) ... I just need to suck it up! One thing for sure, when stop over at LA on our way back from London I plan on finding a good outlet mall and stocking up on shoes and running gear! As for the $ - that is NZ$, which at the moment = US$190.00 for a new pair of shoes ... got to pay for living in paradise ;)
Now, please don't think I'm whining! Its just a fact of life ... without going into great detail, because its long, boring and you don't really want to know, DH's company owe him quite a bit of money - and that money is our trip money, plus would-be shoe money ... we're better off than lots of people at least we'll (hopefully!) get that money and meanwhile we're not too badly off ... just the little extras get a bit harder, but as my DH keeps saying, I've got my good ole positive thinking (he says Hippy) attitude going :)
Also when I write my best selling book about becoming a marathon runner, I want to remember all these wee hic-ups - so anybody who is reading, gets to read the boring, whiny stuff! LOL
Today is my lovely rest day, which I take very seriously ... the kids and I are going to a local adventure park for a picnic and then to the pools - it's my last Friday off work so we'll make the most of it!
Thanks for the comments on the shoes, Andrew - I looked at Runners Warehouse and other places in the States, nobody is allowed to ship Asics overseas, bummer. I do have some good internet friends who would be happy to send me some, so I might still go down that track - I think it is free shipping to them, and then I can just pay the postage to send them to me, I'm not sure I'll bother this time (mostly because I've left it too late, but also I do like to support local shops - its tough enough out there for them) ... I just need to suck it up! One thing for sure, when stop over at LA on our way back from London I plan on finding a good outlet mall and stocking up on shoes and running gear! As for the $ - that is NZ$, which at the moment = US$190.00 for a new pair of shoes ... got to pay for living in paradise ;)
Now, please don't think I'm whining! Its just a fact of life ... without going into great detail, because its long, boring and you don't really want to know, DH's company owe him quite a bit of money - and that money is our trip money, plus would-be shoe money ... we're better off than lots of people at least we'll (hopefully!) get that money and meanwhile we're not too badly off ... just the little extras get a bit harder, but as my DH keeps saying, I've got my good ole positive thinking (he says Hippy) attitude going :)
Also when I write my best selling book about becoming a marathon runner, I want to remember all these wee hic-ups - so anybody who is reading, gets to read the boring, whiny stuff! LOL
Today is my lovely rest day, which I take very seriously ... the kids and I are going to a local adventure park for a picnic and then to the pools - it's my last Friday off work so we'll make the most of it!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Darn, another month isn't going to do it!
My shoes that is, my plan was to have my current pair last until about two months before London, and I'd get a new pair at that time, but I don't think they've got just over a month in them. Problem is, I'm not sure I've got over $200 in me to buy the next pair! The inside heel part is falling apart, and more noticeably my knees are suddenly feeling the running - sure sign I would say that the shoes have done their dash. I can't remember when I got them - I think back in about July, definitely the same time as my ipod and since I got my Nike+ attachment which was a few weeks after that, I've run about 750km ... not sure what the scientifc formula is, but I'm pretty sure I've heard 500miles somewhere.
I looked in the sports shop briefly yesterday, I thought my Asics that have done me well were $280, they're actually $260 ... that's a saving of $20.00. The manager came and chatted and said she would give me 10% discount ... so thats a total of $46.00 saving - that makes it sound, ohhhh so much better (hurray for my sister who used to work there, and all my past sport admin work, they know me well in the shop!). *sigh* ... two primary kids to kit out for school in a few weeks, two secondary kids to kit out in a few weeks, and one university big kid who I have an inkling is going to need a bit of financial help in a few weeks. Such is life, we'll get there :)
Onto the training, much more exciting!
I ran my 10km yesterday - tried to keep at a good steady, but not too hard pace and took almost exactly the same time as on Saturday - 56:28 (I think, that is going from memory) ... it's actually not quite 10km, I'm picking I need to add another 30sec on for a proper 10km time - but I'll definitely take it :)
Today was 5km - I made myself (and believe me, it was hard!) not check my pace at all, and just run, good and steady. Got home and it was 27:36, yay! I actually slowed the last couple of km, my legs were tired - running, spin class plus a couple of days of 2 or 3hrs of biking = tired legs!
Right, after 2.5hrs of delivering, plus a spin class ... I am well and truly ready to attach myself to the couch for the evening!
I looked in the sports shop briefly yesterday, I thought my Asics that have done me well were $280, they're actually $260 ... that's a saving of $20.00. The manager came and chatted and said she would give me 10% discount ... so thats a total of $46.00 saving - that makes it sound, ohhhh so much better (hurray for my sister who used to work there, and all my past sport admin work, they know me well in the shop!). *sigh* ... two primary kids to kit out for school in a few weeks, two secondary kids to kit out in a few weeks, and one university big kid who I have an inkling is going to need a bit of financial help in a few weeks. Such is life, we'll get there :)
Onto the training, much more exciting!
I ran my 10km yesterday - tried to keep at a good steady, but not too hard pace and took almost exactly the same time as on Saturday - 56:28 (I think, that is going from memory) ... it's actually not quite 10km, I'm picking I need to add another 30sec on for a proper 10km time - but I'll definitely take it :)
Today was 5km - I made myself (and believe me, it was hard!) not check my pace at all, and just run, good and steady. Got home and it was 27:36, yay! I actually slowed the last couple of km, my legs were tired - running, spin class plus a couple of days of 2 or 3hrs of biking = tired legs!
Right, after 2.5hrs of delivering, plus a spin class ... I am well and truly ready to attach myself to the couch for the evening!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Not a lot to say!
But I'm trying to be good at updating regularly, so figured I should write something!
Hard to believe that I'm starting Week 4 (of 18) in the training programme this week - this is the week it starts stepping up, 17.5km on Sunday - its been a while since I've run that far. Tomorrow goes from 8km to 10km and so does Saturday.
Did my 5km block this morning - 27:44, I was kinda pushing it, but not really - in fact trying not to push it really, as the mileage picks up I need to just be concentrating on getting the distance in!
Spin class last night, a late one at 7.30pm which I thought might mean I was sore or tired this morning, but didn't feel too bad at all and really it probably means my body is just getting used to the spinning and after this week I'll be pushed to fit those classes in - over the next few weeks I think I'll keep trying to do the Monday night one, it is a cross training day and Tuesday's run is always a shorter one so it should keep working for a little while, at least until school starts and I have BOT meeting once a month and usually a class or workshop or overtime throws itself in as well!
Managed to finish cleaning out the girls' room yesterday - nice sparkling clean instead of the rubbish tip it has looked like for the last few months. Next up is my desk and surrounding area, another big job ...
Hard to believe that I'm starting Week 4 (of 18) in the training programme this week - this is the week it starts stepping up, 17.5km on Sunday - its been a while since I've run that far. Tomorrow goes from 8km to 10km and so does Saturday.
Did my 5km block this morning - 27:44, I was kinda pushing it, but not really - in fact trying not to push it really, as the mileage picks up I need to just be concentrating on getting the distance in!
Spin class last night, a late one at 7.30pm which I thought might mean I was sore or tired this morning, but didn't feel too bad at all and really it probably means my body is just getting used to the spinning and after this week I'll be pushed to fit those classes in - over the next few weeks I think I'll keep trying to do the Monday night one, it is a cross training day and Tuesday's run is always a shorter one so it should keep working for a little while, at least until school starts and I have BOT meeting once a month and usually a class or workshop or overtime throws itself in as well!
Managed to finish cleaning out the girls' room yesterday - nice sparkling clean instead of the rubbish tip it has looked like for the last few months. Next up is my desk and surrounding area, another big job ...
Sunday, January 10, 2010
First 10km in a while
and it went awesome! Looking back, November when I was training for the Wanganui Half Marathon is the last time I ran my usual 10km block - back then I was still struggling to get under an hour, a couple times I did, couple times I was just over. Today, 56:24!! Wow, I don't know where this sudden extra speed has come from, maybe fairy dust on my shoes ... whatever it is, I'm taking it! The weather probably helped, it was a cool morning with soft rain ... and I think the wind helped this morning for most of the run, the last 1km it suddenly was full blast against me, but by then I knew I was nearly home so pushed myself to keep up about the same pace through it. Have I mentioned, I am seriously sick of the wind!
After yesterdays, um slight blow out, in the eating arena - I'm back on track today. Day's menu is planned out, completely ready to roll - lets hope the will power is there too!
Oh, and reading lots of other blogs and seeing what the world has to offer ... I worked out that if Disney has its marathon the same weekend each year that it will be on my Birthday next year ... how awesome would it be to run the Disney marathon on your birthday? Of course I mentioned this to my "darling" husband and he gave me the "what the hell are you going on about woman" look ... he just doesn't get it. Then again, London in April which we're still finding the money for (free trips are really really expensive ;)), I don't think we'd be taking the kids to Disney in January ... not unless that Lotto win finally comes in - but a girl can dream, right?
After yesterdays, um slight blow out, in the eating arena - I'm back on track today. Day's menu is planned out, completely ready to roll - lets hope the will power is there too!
Oh, and reading lots of other blogs and seeing what the world has to offer ... I worked out that if Disney has its marathon the same weekend each year that it will be on my Birthday next year ... how awesome would it be to run the Disney marathon on your birthday? Of course I mentioned this to my "darling" husband and he gave me the "what the hell are you going on about woman" look ... he just doesn't get it. Then again, London in April which we're still finding the money for (free trips are really really expensive ;)), I don't think we'd be taking the kids to Disney in January ... not unless that Lotto win finally comes in - but a girl can dream, right?
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Happy Birthday to Me!
I'm an old 41yo today :) ... but I believe you only worry about your age if you feel like you're missing something in life - and life is good, so I'm happy!
Last year at my surprise 40th Birthday Party I said a quick couple of words (never been one for speeches ;)), but basically said that this decade was going to be MY decade and that it would be all about me ... it would be my decade where I became thin, fit and rich. Well, I wouldn't call myself thin yet, but am 20kg thinner than I was then (plus the 5kg I'd lost before that), wouldn't call myself rich either, but we're not struggling like we were ... but the fit part? Oh yeah baby LOL
Yesterday was Friday which = rest day (and I take that rest day VERY seriously, no running, no delivering and a lovely sleep in!) plus it is also WW weigh in day. Officially I put on weight from the last weigh in a week and half before that, but last weigh in was on a Wednesday and I'd ran, so I always sweat out a few hundred grams ... plus I'd done a hard spin class the night before and I'm sure I was way too dehydrated. Anyway - yesterday's 70.5kg is I'm pretty sure a true weight, I'm going to call it my 2010 start weight :)
This morning I've run my 7.9km block, somehow pressed pause on my Nike+ when I did my usual check of my pace after 1km - so lost about 0.25km before I worked out what I'd done ... I worked out from my average pace that it was 44:12 though ... I think that is my fastest (which makes me more annoyed that I stuffed the Nike!).
Right I'm off to do some delivering this morning on my bike and then David is taking most of the kids to the Phoenix game tonight - I'm looking forward to a quiet evening at home with my cross-stitch and hopefully a good movie on TV (for me, that is Birthday bliss ;)). I hope our lucky kids are appreciative, I took them to the 20/20 last night, soccer tonight ... very lucky indeed!
Last year at my surprise 40th Birthday Party I said a quick couple of words (never been one for speeches ;)), but basically said that this decade was going to be MY decade and that it would be all about me ... it would be my decade where I became thin, fit and rich. Well, I wouldn't call myself thin yet, but am 20kg thinner than I was then (plus the 5kg I'd lost before that), wouldn't call myself rich either, but we're not struggling like we were ... but the fit part? Oh yeah baby LOL
Yesterday was Friday which = rest day (and I take that rest day VERY seriously, no running, no delivering and a lovely sleep in!) plus it is also WW weigh in day. Officially I put on weight from the last weigh in a week and half before that, but last weigh in was on a Wednesday and I'd ran, so I always sweat out a few hundred grams ... plus I'd done a hard spin class the night before and I'm sure I was way too dehydrated. Anyway - yesterday's 70.5kg is I'm pretty sure a true weight, I'm going to call it my 2010 start weight :)
This morning I've run my 7.9km block, somehow pressed pause on my Nike+ when I did my usual check of my pace after 1km - so lost about 0.25km before I worked out what I'd done ... I worked out from my average pace that it was 44:12 though ... I think that is my fastest (which makes me more annoyed that I stuffed the Nike!).
Right I'm off to do some delivering this morning on my bike and then David is taking most of the kids to the Phoenix game tonight - I'm looking forward to a quiet evening at home with my cross-stitch and hopefully a good movie on TV (for me, that is Birthday bliss ;)). I hope our lucky kids are appreciative, I took them to the 20/20 last night, soccer tonight ... very lucky indeed!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Another 5km
I know I have to follow the programme, I know the programmes work, and I am following it like a good girl (even if I am adding in a spin class or two) ... but these 5k runs seem so small! Remind of this when I'm complaining about too much running in a month or two ;)
I missed blogging yesterday, didn't even think about it! Probably because not much was really happening yesterday, just a quiet day at home with time to plan meals, plan the shopping list, do the shopping and help Rhiannon with her paper run.
I ran my 8km training run in the morning - 44:35. I'm looking forward to running a 10k, I don't seem to have done that distance for a while, I'm not sure I can keep my 8k speed up for 10k - if I can, my 10k times should be looking good. I've got 10k on the programme on Sunday but will probably run that with Dee. I think I have another one mid week next week, that one will be a good indication of how I'm doing. 23rd of January I'm running the Paekakariki Road Race ... I grew up in Paekakariki, its a sleepy little seaside village, I can remember watching/cheering my Dad and sister on up at our front gate. The race stopped quite a few years ago, then a couple of years ago the local Harriers club decided to ressurect it as a memorial run for one of the long faithful members who came from there. Anyway, at this stage five of us girls (out of six) are definitely going to run or walk it ... I think we're going to enter under our maiden name just for sentimental sake, hopefully we can talk the oldest sister who lives a couple of hours away into coming down and at least walking the 5km option ... it would be cool to have all of us do it.
Today's 5km I pushed myself to see how fast I could do it and knocked 20sec off my last fastest time - yay! go me! 27:10 ... according to my Nike+ the circuit is always 4.9something, according to Map my Run it is 5.06km ... not a huge difference unless you're looking at per km times ... 5:22 sounds so much better than 5:29! There is no way I could have kept that pace up for much longer though ... I'm still a long long way from comfortably running continuously and easily below 6:00 all the time ... but definitely getting there!
Right, off to clean up some clutter and do some very exciting vacuuming!
I missed blogging yesterday, didn't even think about it! Probably because not much was really happening yesterday, just a quiet day at home with time to plan meals, plan the shopping list, do the shopping and help Rhiannon with her paper run.
I ran my 8km training run in the morning - 44:35. I'm looking forward to running a 10k, I don't seem to have done that distance for a while, I'm not sure I can keep my 8k speed up for 10k - if I can, my 10k times should be looking good. I've got 10k on the programme on Sunday but will probably run that with Dee. I think I have another one mid week next week, that one will be a good indication of how I'm doing. 23rd of January I'm running the Paekakariki Road Race ... I grew up in Paekakariki, its a sleepy little seaside village, I can remember watching/cheering my Dad and sister on up at our front gate. The race stopped quite a few years ago, then a couple of years ago the local Harriers club decided to ressurect it as a memorial run for one of the long faithful members who came from there. Anyway, at this stage five of us girls (out of six) are definitely going to run or walk it ... I think we're going to enter under our maiden name just for sentimental sake, hopefully we can talk the oldest sister who lives a couple of hours away into coming down and at least walking the 5km option ... it would be cool to have all of us do it.
Today's 5km I pushed myself to see how fast I could do it and knocked 20sec off my last fastest time - yay! go me! 27:10 ... according to my Nike+ the circuit is always 4.9something, according to Map my Run it is 5.06km ... not a huge difference unless you're looking at per km times ... 5:22 sounds so much better than 5:29! There is no way I could have kept that pace up for much longer though ... I'm still a long long way from comfortably running continuously and easily below 6:00 all the time ... but definitely getting there!
Right, off to clean up some clutter and do some very exciting vacuuming!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
6 for 13 off 6 overs
Ha! Now if you're from the US (like most bloggers seem to be) and not from an English good 'ole Commonwealth country, you will have no idea what that means! If you ARE from an English good 'ole Commonwealth country and follow cricket, you will know that those are darn good bowling figures! We went up to Wanganui for the day to watch Cameron and his team play two of their games in their annual tournament ... and those were Cam's bowling figures from the first game ...woohoooo, go Cam! He's wanted a five cricket bag for a while, he has had a couple, but I don't think he did at all last season, as the kids get older the batting gets tighter and it gets harder. So, we had a good day! Two wins to the boys, which is great, they are the Horowhenua/Kapiti rep team, and have very little numbers to pick from compared to the bigger Manawatu, Taranaki, Hawkes Bay etc ... they had an awesome season last year winning nearly everything, and looks they're still on track this year ... really nice bunch of boys too which is always nice (nice when you can say that about a bunch of 14yos!).
So anyway, on to the quick running update for the day - just a 5km on the training programme today, I was up at 6.30am, out the house by 6.45 and home after 27:50min!
So anyway, on to the quick running update for the day - just a 5km on the training programme today, I was up at 6.30am, out the house by 6.45 and home after 27:50min!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Monday = Cross Training Day
and cross training = Spin class for me today, yay! I love that spin class! Bit naughty really the training programme definitely says "easy" cross training, and normally this takes care of itself as I do my delivering on my bike and as Dad and I do it together, and he and my mother go shopping on a Monday - normally Monday is a definitely biking day. But today is a holiday, and is the 4-5 days off per month we get every month, so spin class it was. Also while I'm off work and can fit in with the gym timetable I'm trying to do two spin classes a week for the weight loss - normally on a Tuesday and Thursday when I'm only running 5km which seems such a short run. We're off to Wanganui all day tomorrow to watch 14yo Cam play cricket, so no spin class = working out well to do it today.
I'm really really going to hate going back to work in a couple of weeks, because I work 2 evenings (6.30-11.30) and an afternoon/evening (2.30-9.00) ... and commute via a 50min drive into Wellington, there is no way I make the evening classes, the early morning classes are 5.50am, and well working evenings I need sleep so just don't do mornings well (plus the wee fact that it is pretty scary driving home when you can't keep your eyes open, believe me, after a couple of drives like that I make sure I get the sleep!) - if life isn't too busy I make the Tuesday morning 9.30am class and this is it. Oh well, in a few weeks I'll be doing enough running that I won't be contemplating spin classes anyway!
Good news today is that I'm on to day 2 of no Diet Coke and today was definitely easier than yesterday, yesterday I wanted one alllllll day and ate crap (as in the evil packet of liquourice allsorts and evil box of biscuits left over the Christmas) all day ... grrrrrrr so much to sticking to my eating plan 100%! Anyway, today was a good day, lots of water, no coke and sticking to my eating plan - I made a yummy vegetarian lasanaga for dinner that, even though filled with Kumura, peppers, onion and zuccini the kids all seemed to enjoy as well (always a bonus!).
Tomorrow I need to wake up early to run 5km and then get the girls and I organised and out the door by about 8.30am, we are definitely out of school/work mode so it won't be an easy task!
I'm really really going to hate going back to work in a couple of weeks, because I work 2 evenings (6.30-11.30) and an afternoon/evening (2.30-9.00) ... and commute via a 50min drive into Wellington, there is no way I make the evening classes, the early morning classes are 5.50am, and well working evenings I need sleep so just don't do mornings well (plus the wee fact that it is pretty scary driving home when you can't keep your eyes open, believe me, after a couple of drives like that I make sure I get the sleep!) - if life isn't too busy I make the Tuesday morning 9.30am class and this is it. Oh well, in a few weeks I'll be doing enough running that I won't be contemplating spin classes anyway!
Good news today is that I'm on to day 2 of no Diet Coke and today was definitely easier than yesterday, yesterday I wanted one alllllll day and ate crap (as in the evil packet of liquourice allsorts and evil box of biscuits left over the Christmas) all day ... grrrrrrr so much to sticking to my eating plan 100%! Anyway, today was a good day, lots of water, no coke and sticking to my eating plan - I made a yummy vegetarian lasanaga for dinner that, even though filled with Kumura, peppers, onion and zuccini the kids all seemed to enjoy as well (always a bonus!).
Tomorrow I need to wake up early to run 5km and then get the girls and I organised and out the door by about 8.30am, we are definitely out of school/work mode so it won't be an easy task!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Running with a Buddy
So, today was my long run - 14.5km (9mile) on the training programme. Also first time running with who I think will be my training partner - still not sure I'm totally sold on the idea! LOL
Anyway, it was fine, we ran at a really nice pace - she is a little unfitter than me, so I slowed slightly, but I NEED to slow on my long runs so it was a good combination. The run went by pretty quickly with having someone to talk to, so all good :)
14.2km - 1:28 - 6:13/km - that was with Dee stopping for a toilet break, so infact I was probably pretty close to my 6:00/km which is what I like to sit at.
Today is also my last slow lazy days of the holidays, DH is back at work next week, and its time for me to start de-cluttering and organising this messy house for another busy year! I still have two weeks off work, and in that time I really do need to get classes planned and ready for the next few months, as I said, decluttering done and just generally getting myself as organised as possible ... I know those couple of months before the marathon are going to be hard work so hopefully the more organised and prepared I can get now will make it easier then!
Hope you all have a nice runfilled weekend :)
Anyway, it was fine, we ran at a really nice pace - she is a little unfitter than me, so I slowed slightly, but I NEED to slow on my long runs so it was a good combination. The run went by pretty quickly with having someone to talk to, so all good :)
14.2km - 1:28 - 6:13/km - that was with Dee stopping for a toilet break, so infact I was probably pretty close to my 6:00/km which is what I like to sit at.
Today is also my last slow lazy days of the holidays, DH is back at work next week, and its time for me to start de-cluttering and organising this messy house for another busy year! I still have two weeks off work, and in that time I really do need to get classes planned and ready for the next few months, as I said, decluttering done and just generally getting myself as organised as possible ... I know those couple of months before the marathon are going to be hard work so hopefully the more organised and prepared I can get now will make it easier then!
Hope you all have a nice runfilled weekend :)
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Following everyone else - 2009 running totals
I finished the Couch to 5k programme in January, then went straight into a 10km training programme, looking back I'm impressed at how I pushed myself to the next step, even before winning the spot prize in June I was pushing pushing to run a bit further and a bit faster :)
Surprisingly, I ran a total of 1416km (880 miles), not bad at all for a total beginner. Jan-June I ran 38-47 miles and only 3 days per week, in June I was suddenly going to run a marathon so the miles picked up in July and picked up again in Aug/Sept as I started serious half marathon training. By October I was running 5 days a week, and still am.
As for today -
2nd week of half marathon training.
7.9km - 44:50
Tomorrow is Sunday, long run day, I'll be running approximately 14km and for the first time running with a running buddy. She is a mother from gymnastics who has run one marathon and is training for her second one, she lost her training buddy and asked if I wanted one, her marathon is a couple of weeks before mine so it should work well. She is aiming for a 4:30 time as well and it sounds like we run about the same pace ... so should work out well. Not sure I'm ready to switch from my solo with my ipod runs, but I'm very aware that the long runs over the next couple of months are going to get harder and that I'm probably going to appreciate it further down the track!
Surprisingly, I ran a total of 1416km (880 miles), not bad at all for a total beginner. Jan-June I ran 38-47 miles and only 3 days per week, in June I was suddenly going to run a marathon so the miles picked up in July and picked up again in Aug/Sept as I started serious half marathon training. By October I was running 5 days a week, and still am.
As for today -
2nd week of half marathon training.
7.9km - 44:50
Tomorrow is Sunday, long run day, I'll be running approximately 14km and for the first time running with a running buddy. She is a mother from gymnastics who has run one marathon and is training for her second one, she lost her training buddy and asked if I wanted one, her marathon is a couple of weeks before mine so it should work well. She is aiming for a 4:30 time as well and it sounds like we run about the same pace ... so should work out well. Not sure I'm ready to switch from my solo with my ipod runs, but I'm very aware that the long runs over the next couple of months are going to get harder and that I'm probably going to appreciate it further down the track!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Long time ... no write!
Happy 2010!! It is New Years Day here today, so what better time to get back on the blogging wagon!
November/December are always busy busy months here - lets see if I can remember enough for a quick re-cap ... a couple of things, like my second half marathon! I'll write something longer over the next few days :)
S0, from my last post on the 18th of November ...
3 Birthdays - Charlotte's 8th (on 19th Nov), Rhiannon's 11th (on 11th Dec) and Cameron's 14th (on 20th Dec).
Finish of the school year -
David's last year at high school = lots of organising for university and hostel living next year (awards for service to School Council and contribution to school via being a peer mediator for one of the first year classes).
Josh's finish of 2nd year at high school = award for achievement in health (got to feel sorry for Josh he is the very quiet hardworking type that teachers don't notice - I was that personality and its hard!).
Cameron's finish of 1st year at high school = awards for outstanding achievement in Math and PE, outstanding achievement for contribution to cricket (he captains the school 1st year team plus captains the region's representative team), diligence in Social Studies and English AND award for being top in PE (yes, he is our over achiever ... with that twinkle in his eye that teachers DO notice).
Rhiannon's last year of middle age at school, she is in the "senior" part of primary school next year - lots of awards for service to the school - librarian, road patrol and a few others - she is our "always wanting to help" child ;)
Charlotte's finish up of her 3rd year at school - no awards at this age, but if she got any it would be personality of the year, or making the teacher laugh the most with her stories (I hate to think sometimes, when you're the youngest of five and have three teenage brothers ... I'm sure a lot of her stories aren't what you'd expect from a sweet 8yo girl's mouth! LOL).
What else have I been doing? My last few Stamping classes for the year, organising Christmas for our family, last Board of Trustee (for the school) duties - including making decisions on what to do with a poor lost boy who threatened someone with a screw-driver, hopefully next year will see lots of intervention and help for him ... and I'm getting side tracked.
We had the end of year dance performances as well ... which involved sewing up the girls' costumes - now I like sewing and can do the basics, but those costumes are way too much stress each year, all cut out ready to go - but no spare pieces, the pressure of making sure your child hasn't got the costume that looks "wrong" ... wayyyyy too much pressure for this Mama! But done, the girls had a great time ... and I'll conveniently forget how stressful it is until next (this!) year when we do it all again.
Oh, and I HAVE been running too - I ran a half marathon on the 12th of December, I put lots of pressure on myself wanting to run it in 2:06, managed it in 2:09:20 - nothing wrong with that at all - but the short tale, I went out too fast - the first half was 1:03, but was really tired for the second half ... ran the whole way, but it was definitely hard work! Looking back, I think my body was just plain tired from a busy month. Anyway, in other running, I've started my marathon training and am 2nd week in ... so far so good - but this is the easy part!
Weight wise, I've lost and gained the same 1-2kg way too many times and decided after the half marathon that I really really need to drop the last 5kg if I want to run better ... and um, I still haven't lost any of it ... but new year, new resolutions ... hopefully over the next month before marathon training gets really hard I will lose it!
That's the quick version ... hopefully I'll be back over the next few days to fill you in on training etc :)
Oh, and I just set a goal on Nike+ to run 2010km in 2010 ... I'm hoping I'll still have the running "bug" after the marathon, and that will be a great goal to keep me motivated :)
November/December are always busy busy months here - lets see if I can remember enough for a quick re-cap ... a couple of things, like my second half marathon! I'll write something longer over the next few days :)
S0, from my last post on the 18th of November ...
3 Birthdays - Charlotte's 8th (on 19th Nov), Rhiannon's 11th (on 11th Dec) and Cameron's 14th (on 20th Dec).
Finish of the school year -
David's last year at high school = lots of organising for university and hostel living next year (awards for service to School Council and contribution to school via being a peer mediator for one of the first year classes).
Josh's finish of 2nd year at high school = award for achievement in health (got to feel sorry for Josh he is the very quiet hardworking type that teachers don't notice - I was that personality and its hard!).
Cameron's finish of 1st year at high school = awards for outstanding achievement in Math and PE, outstanding achievement for contribution to cricket (he captains the school 1st year team plus captains the region's representative team), diligence in Social Studies and English AND award for being top in PE (yes, he is our over achiever ... with that twinkle in his eye that teachers DO notice).
Rhiannon's last year of middle age at school, she is in the "senior" part of primary school next year - lots of awards for service to the school - librarian, road patrol and a few others - she is our "always wanting to help" child ;)
Charlotte's finish up of her 3rd year at school - no awards at this age, but if she got any it would be personality of the year, or making the teacher laugh the most with her stories (I hate to think sometimes, when you're the youngest of five and have three teenage brothers ... I'm sure a lot of her stories aren't what you'd expect from a sweet 8yo girl's mouth! LOL).
What else have I been doing? My last few Stamping classes for the year, organising Christmas for our family, last Board of Trustee (for the school) duties - including making decisions on what to do with a poor lost boy who threatened someone with a screw-driver, hopefully next year will see lots of intervention and help for him ... and I'm getting side tracked.
We had the end of year dance performances as well ... which involved sewing up the girls' costumes - now I like sewing and can do the basics, but those costumes are way too much stress each year, all cut out ready to go - but no spare pieces, the pressure of making sure your child hasn't got the costume that looks "wrong" ... wayyyyy too much pressure for this Mama! But done, the girls had a great time ... and I'll conveniently forget how stressful it is until next (this!) year when we do it all again.
Oh, and I HAVE been running too - I ran a half marathon on the 12th of December, I put lots of pressure on myself wanting to run it in 2:06, managed it in 2:09:20 - nothing wrong with that at all - but the short tale, I went out too fast - the first half was 1:03, but was really tired for the second half ... ran the whole way, but it was definitely hard work! Looking back, I think my body was just plain tired from a busy month. Anyway, in other running, I've started my marathon training and am 2nd week in ... so far so good - but this is the easy part!
Weight wise, I've lost and gained the same 1-2kg way too many times and decided after the half marathon that I really really need to drop the last 5kg if I want to run better ... and um, I still haven't lost any of it ... but new year, new resolutions ... hopefully over the next month before marathon training gets really hard I will lose it!
That's the quick version ... hopefully I'll be back over the next few days to fill you in on training etc :)
Oh, and I just set a goal on Nike+ to run 2010km in 2010 ... I'm hoping I'll still have the running "bug" after the marathon, and that will be a great goal to keep me motivated :)
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