Why is it?

That I look *beep* awful in official running photos? The photos from the half marathon are finally up (and lucky you, I can't copy any of them!) ... and there are a measily three of me, and they all look awful. The one "good" running shot, I look hunched over and have a big open mouth with what looks like gritty teeth - cripes do I really look that bad all the time I'm running? Sheeeeshhhh

Oh yeah AND I still look fat - all these people who keep telling me how fabulous I look and how I don't need to lose anymore ... hello? I can see that extra 5kg even if they can't!

Although, looking at photos like that DOES tell me that, yes, I look hunched up - I need to work on my posture and try and run straighter ... hard to describe, but I look "short", like my knees bend too much and my body is hunched. Something to work on!

Oh well - maybe London, I'll get that perfect running photo?

Onto much happier things ... we ran 28km yesterday, and I feel great! We ran it slow and steady and I felt pretty good the whole way, even when we got back to my house I felt like I could have run a few more km. Poor Deirdre was struggling, the last km or so she kind of fell behind me and I could hear her shuffling, whereas I felt like my feet were still lifting well - I've said it so many times, but the training really does work, I'm amazed that albeit slowly, running 28km really wasn't that bad at all! It took us just over 3hrs, I don't know the exact time because I forgot to press "resume" after our drink and gel break at 18km, it took me a couple of km before I realised there was no music playing my ears (in my defence, I had it on pretty quietly just as a very background noise!). The main thing is though, we did it!

I've been on my bike for four hours today and honestly, my legs are a little tight and one inside ankle ligament feels a bit "stretched" ... but otherwise, I'd hardly believe I'd run that far just yesterday.

So this week - 8km tomorrow which I'll try and put a couple of tempo sets in, 13km on Wed, 8km on Thurs which I'll do up the Maungatooks, 13km again on Saturday and then 29km on Sunday - it's one of the bigger weeks in the schedule!

Hope everyone has had a good running weekend and are looking forward to a good week, wherever you are!

Two Months!

Do you see the ticker? Two months!!! Whooooaaaaa baby, it wasn't that long ago that I won the prize and it was 10 months away, and I was having to tell people, no, no, its not for ages yet, but I need that "ages" got get my body prepared. Well, I'm happy to say the preparation is going good, now I kinda feel I just need to finish the training programme, keep my body well and uninjured and we're all GO!

I saw a friend at the shops today that I haven't seen in a while and she asked if I was nervous, and as I said to her, funny enough, the closer I get the less scared I get (about the actual run, I'm scared of getting sick, getting injured, the huge crowds I'm not used to and don't like at the best of times). As I get closer and the training gets harder, and I knock off the long runs, the more I believe that I might actually be able to do this and maybe, just maybe, do it pretty well, better anyway than I ever dreamed about 10mths ago when my initial reaction was "what! run a marathon, not *insert bad words" likely" LOL

I did my hill run yesterday, 53:20 - funny, my time gets slower each week, yet I feel stronger running up it - I think I've learnt to pace myself better and pace it pretty slowly before hitting the hill and then take it pretty easy running down ... not worried at all, its getting that hill in that counts! In fact, mad woman I am, I'm wondering if I should attempt doing it twice - or even maybe three repeats of the first half, the first half is steeper - I know now, definitely more of a mental thing, that once I get past the first half it is okay, that first steeper half is the killer. Anyway, I then read the notes on the Hal Higdon training programme last night where it says take Thursday's shorter run easier to prepare for a lot of running this weekend - whoops! 8.5km, steep hill on still a bit tired legs from the weekend before ... maybe not quite what he meant! Legs feel good today though, and its a rest day - so all good :)

Weigh in today, and for the first time in a while I actually lost a reasonable amount of weight (600g, just over a lb). My secret? Well, WW wouldn't like me, but basically a couple of weeks ago I decided to stop counting points and to sound like the hippy that my husband likes to call me (I'm still trying to persuade him that positive thinking, kindness and deepset belief in yourself works wonders) I'm sure that in some sort of strange way, I've released it from head, so my body is happy to "release" as well. Yeah, sounds wacky, but I think there is something in it. Also, mostly, I just can't count points and stick to a "diet" when I'm going to run 2-3hrs the next day, or needs to refuel my body after a 2-3hr run. I'm not rushing out and eating junk, in fact I'm pretty much eating the same ... but definitely those couple of days of big exercise, I'm letting my body dictate more about what it needs. We'll see what happens over the next couple of weeks - hopefully its the start of a downward trend!

So - this weekend - 13km at marathon pace tomorrow and then 27.5km on Sunday ... I've mapped it out on Map my Run ... and boy it looks like a long way! We'll take it easy though, and I'm sure we'll survive :) I get to come home and go to a baby shower for my niece which should be lots of fun, something to look forward to while I'm running!

Still on Cloud 9!

Yep, still on cloud 9 and still buzzing :)

But I've got to write about my "Best Mother of the Year" moment yesterday, can I blame still being high from such a good run and wanting to rush the girls to school so I could buy the paper with the official results for my wee, um, slack mother moment?

I got up yesterday, did the normal shower, breakfast, getting the girls' lunches ready, getting them out the door (really, it is only the 8yo that still needs prompting to eat breakfast, put shoes on, brush hair), took Charlotte to school, got the paper - came home and read it, mucked around on the computer here for a while, made a couple of phone calls and then went out on my bike delivering for a couple of hours. Got home about 12.30 and notice Cameron on the couch in the lounge as I walked past to put my bike in the shed, I figured he'd come home sick from school (the high school is a 5 min walk down the road from us).

Got to the front door and vaguely wondered why it was still locked, and how he'd got inside. So I ask him why he's come home? His answer? "I never left", um, yeah ... mother of the year, I'd never even noticed that he wasn't in amongst the normal morning activities in the morning, certainly never occured to me he was still in bed asleep! Turns out he was very tired and slept until 11.30, and actually went to school this morning, raced in the 1500m for athletics and then came home sick, full of a cold. There is no doubt he will be well tomorrow though because he has a school cricket game!

So, got to wonder ... maybe my head is full of running rather than mothering? LMAO!!

So, this morning is usually my shorter, tempo run. My legs are still a bit stiff and tired from Sunday so I wasn't sure whether I'd try and run faster, figured I'd decide once I started. I gave it a go at my normal starting point, but only lasted about 1.5km, and then just ran steadily to another road where I knew it was about the end 1km that I usually run faster and tried to run that faster, but really was too tired and didn't do much pushing at all. I'm fine with that, got to listen to the body sometimes, especially when I know I've got a 13km to run tomorrow!

6.6km - 36:24min

Right, off to the next "way too busy Tuesday" pick-up - Rhiannon from Hip Hop, then dropping her straight to netball!

2:01:08!! and a little bit of Sunshine

Wow and wow!! How did I manage that? In just two months from my previous half marathon, I took 8 minutes off my time, just wow ... I am amazed everyday at what we can train our bodies to do :)

Ewa gave me a Sunshine Award - thank you Ewa!! and thank you for all your nice comments, I'm blushing :) I have been reading your blog, but can't comment? Just in case you thought I was really rude and was totally ignoring you!

I'm supposed to pass this on, but I think every blog I read has had a Sunshine Award! I read lots of inspirational blogs and they all deserve awards!

Today is a non-running, cross training day. My cross training will be getting on my bike and delivering, I have Saturdays and todays to do, because I wanted to let me legs totally rest before yesterdays run.

Legs feel pretty good today, one calf muscle is a bit sore, it was trying to cramp for a few km's yesterday, but I willed it away ;) ... but it is tight today, otherwise - a bit stiff, but not too bad at all!

So what was my Half Marathon Time?

I don't know!!! and its killing me! Stupid, stupid me arrived at my carpark at work (okay its a client carpark, but its "my" carpark when I work my evening shifts, so I decided there'd be no harm in parking conveniently and easily almost across the road from the start line!). Anyway, arrived, parked starting getting all my gear together and found I'd forgotten my Nike+ attachment for my ipod, oh no! absolutely gutted! My game plan was to run a 5:50/km pace for the first 15km and then decide from there whether to speed up, stay the same or struggle at whatever pace to finish. So here I was, no ipod attachment, no watch, absolutely nothing to give me any idea on how fast I'm running ... duh, duh, duh!

I remembered just before we started that I DID have my playlist from Wanganui's half marathon, so if I used that at least I'd have a vague idea if I was on track or not if I could remember the songs I'd placed at 5k and 10k, and would definitely know if I was doing really badly if the playlist finished before I did ;)

So off we went, I was with Deirdre (running partner on a Sunday) and Sue (another mother from gymnastics who was doing her first half) ... we were all running about the same pace to start with but then the two of them edged away from me - which was fine by me, I hate that feeling of trying to keep up, or like I should be talking or whatever, I just wanted to concentrate on my running.

I started and kept up a pretty steady pace, at about 3km I passed Sue and it was getting pretty hot. At 5km it was still feeling like hard work but I felt like I was running at a pretty good pace, confirmed by the first "girl" artist singer song at 5km, which is exactly where it should have been. At about 7-8km the rhythm and in the "zone" suddenly kicked in and I was feeling great ... I love that what I call "machine" feeling :) ... there was a drink station at 9km, I pulled my gel out of my pocket ready to take and then thought, no I'm feeling fantastic, I'll save it until the next drink station and only use one (I'd been umming and ahhing for a while about whether I really need two gels for a half marathon).

We hit the wind about this stage - Wellington is well known for its wind and it was good hard gusts for a while, which going by the way a lot of people were dropping back and I was still going and feeling well, I handled quite well!

I could see Deirdre just ahead of me all the way ... all that running together, we must have pretty much aligned our pace!

So on we ran, 11km I had my drink and gel ... hit the turn around area at 14km (the finish wasn't at the start) and was still feeling strong, at about 15km I sped it up a bit ... feeling strong and the wind now on my back! I passed Deirdre at about 17km, and at this point was looking hard for the 18km where I was hoping to put in a last burst. By the time I got to 18km I was still going at a good pace so I kept with it (and was passing a few people, so I must have paced myself well as they seemed to be flagging). Then hit about 19km and all of sudden my body said "enough!", the last 2k's were a struggle, but not a really bad struggle, just tired and it was hard work.

Then finally, the finish! They had said to us at the beginning that when we came in and looked at our times to make sure we added 50min as the clock was set for the 7km runners/walkers who left after us (but were all coming in as we came in - wow, chaotic!). So I desperately looked for the clock but didn't see it anywhere! I knew I'd definitely run faster than the 2:06 I wanted because my last song hadn't played on my playlist, but otherwise had no idea of my time. Deirdre came in not long after me and her watch said 2:02 for her time ... but I'm not sure how accurate it is ... so until tomorrow when the official results come out, I'm thinking I ran about 2:02, maybe 2:01 something ... which I am absolutely thrilled about! My goal was to definitely run about 2:06, but hopefully push it to a 2:04 :)

Of course, I will wonder for ever whether actually not being able to check my pace and time was actually a good thing for me, I had to go completely by feel (these last few weeks of working on marathon pace, and tempo runs and "normal" runs definitely has helped me "feel" my pace better), or whether I would have done just the same if I was checking my time ... and well, if I knew I was that close to two hours would I have had the mental focus to push just a bit faster to break it? (not that that was ever even in my head to do - I'd long decided that one of my first goals after London will be to work on a sub-2hr half marathon, I had no dreams or intentions of pushing for that yet!).

Anyway - it was a good run, good in that I did exactly what I wanted, paced myself in the beginning well enough that I'd have enough juice left to push it a bit faster at the end, didn't quite do it exactly right as I definitely felt it in the last 2km, but 15-19km I was able to push it a bit faster.

Very very happy :) (and even happier when I actually see the official time!).

Mini Taper

Sort of a mini taper ... it is also the "cut back" week on the marathon programme, so it worked well. Mini taper for Wellington Around the Bay's Half Marathon on Sunday! It is only the second year they've run the half marathon at this event, usually it is just the 7km fun run/walk event ... which is one of the bigger running events close to us. I'm looking forward to running the half with about 1000 people, rather than the last couple that have been 1-200 people :)

None of my trusty sisters are running this weekend, Julie my usual running mate is battling injuries, the twins just thought it would be too much of a struggle with lots of people and Macy (the baby) and Dianna is concentrating on her biking ... so its just me from the damily this time. BUT! I have two friends running, my usual running buddy and another mother from gymnastics is doing her first half marathon. I'm picking up Sue and driving us in, parking at work which is very conveniently almost across the road from the start and then Sue's husband is going to pick us up at the other end (don't like those races that don't finish where they start!) and drop me back off at my car. Fingers crossed it all works smoothly because I have to be in Palmerston by 2.00pm to run a stamping/card making class ... so half marathon starts at 8.30, should finish 10.30(ISH), back to the car by 11.30, home by 12.30, very quick shower, need to leave by about 12.45 to be in Palmerston at 2.00pm - its going to be tight!

So my mini taper, I stuck to the programme Tues/Wed, but ran my hill on Wed rather than Thurs. Yesterday (Thurs) and today I've run 6.5km at a pretty easy pace ... I'm going to have my rest day tomorrow so hopefully my legs are fresh for Sunday.

I'm hoping, and expecting (and will be disappointed if I don't!) to at the very least make my 2:06 goal (6.00min/km). I'm aiming for more like 2:03-04. My plan is to start out at 5:50/km and hopefully keep that pace to about 15/16km. At the point I'm going to either find that I was dreaming and started to fast, but should be able to maintain or drop back in pace a bit for the last 5km and still make 2:06. What I'm really hoping is that the tempo training will kick in and I will have enough energy left to actually pick up the pace a bit for the last 5km and run those a bit faster. Here's hoping!

Deirdre who I run my long runs with wants us to race each other ... that works for her. Also Sue I think will be just a wee bit faster than us, so she reckons we should aim to keep up with her. I'm going to have to work really hard at being firm about running my own race! Yep, I'm competitive and would be happy to race and beat them, but I think I know my limitations and I'm better off sticking to my plan and if that just happens to make me faster, well that would be nice ... but beating my friends isn't actually a biggie for me ... I'm very self-motivated and self competitive and thats enough for me :)

Now, lets hope for a NON windy Wellington day! (They don't call it Windy Wellington without good reason though!).

No hill repeats for me!

Just one kick-ass hill! I was going to take photos last week, but it rained. Today it is raining again, but I took photos anyway. Now, I live on the flat, by the beach, walk out my door and it is all flat ... but up the road away from the beach we do have hills! So I drive up to Valley Road, park by a retirement village, and do my hill.

So here we go, my hill run in pictures!

Firstly, dropped the girls off at school, then driving to the hills - can you see them in the distance?















Starting off - down Valley Road, this part is just over 2km, the horrible thing is, as soon as I get out of the car I'm straight into a small hill so I'm stuffed as soon as I start! Once again, see those hills in the distance?















Here we are! The Maungatooks ... now trying reading that sign after a few wines, there is a good reason all the locals call it the "Maungatooks"! Can you see that sort of horse shoe group of trees on the right at the top? That's where I'm going!















This is my view for the next 1.8ish km, going up I just concentrate on the road and keeping on going!




















Finally the top! One of the ways I keep going is telling myself that at the end of the London Marathon, this is how I'm going to feel ... so suck it up and just keep going!

Getting to the top is worth it though - look at the views!






























I've got to say, it looks much better on a sunny day when you can see the blue sea, Kapiti Island and if its really clear the South Island as well ... but well, I can't say we've had a lot of sunshine this summer! If you look hard you can see the flat with all the houses in the distance, that's where I live, see how flat it is!

This next photo, you can see Valley Road where I've turned off from to run up the hill, see? one kick-ass hill!
















Of course running down is way more fun! I didn't take any on the way down ... but going down it is definitely easier to enjoy the view ;)

... and just because I had my camera when I got back to my car, look at my number plate - it's one of my favourite things :) Then again, I haven't shot for a couple of years so maybe I should change it to RUNMOM!















... and you know? Watching the Winter Olympics, my favourite event has always been the biathalon, I would LOVE to give that a go one day, but considering I've never skiied, that I've touched snow, oh about once in my life, there isn't a lot of chance. But hey, they should make a Summer Olympic sport biathalon - RUNNING and shooting, would that not be the coolest thing?

So the boring details - 8.5km Hill Run (52:56).