You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April, 2007.
Exercise: Netball Game (6’s)
Okay, who gave me the cold? I have been feeling absolutely crap since Thursday afternoon. I was fine Thursday morning, still fine Thursday lunchtime, but something happened between lunch and knock off work time. I just went down with snotty nose, blocked sinuses so quickly, it’s hard to really comprehend.
I had to take Friday off work, and cancel my hill run with Michelle. I was SO looking forward to doing some hill repeats too 
And to make things worse, Michelle and I had organised a girly night out on Saturday night up in town. There was no way that I was cancelling as I’d been looking forward to it for ages. We’d also decided to do a nice 20km run while we were up there and run along a different route for a change.
So a slight change of plan. No running whilst we were up there. We still went but it was a very low key affair. We wandered over to the casino, played a little roulette, had something to eat and then listened to a band in the Sports Bar until the smoke got too much for us and we had to leave. We were both happily snuggled up in our hotel room by 10.30pm, watching movies and scoffing chocolate 
We had a really good game of Netball tonight except that I hurt my finger. The ball caught it and it flexed right back. Currently it’s very sore and is painful to move. Might have to strap it for a day or so. We played a really nice bunch of ladies tonight, which was a pleasant change. There are a couple of teams in the league who are right bitches and it’s not very enjoyable when we come up against them. Anyway, it was a draw tonight, after a count back by the umpires. We actually thought we’d lost by 1 goal but for some reason the umpires wanted to count the scoresheet themselves. Can’t argue with the umpires 
Okay I’m off to get my dose of Big Brother. Hubby taped the nominations for me so that I didn’t miss it. What a lovey he is
Exercise: 20km Run - MMCT (7’s Yellow)
It’s amazing what a difference a day makes. This morning I had a great run. Met Michelle at MMCT (after she’d run there from home) and we did 2 lengths of the trail. My glutes are still a little sore but my legs themselves felt really good.
I normally hit a bit of a wall at the 15km mark, usually because I haven’t eaten properly the evening before and have not hydrated well enough. Last night I made up some Pasta Bolognese and downed close to a litre of water. I’m sure this helped today.
Wasn’t the weather fantastic today too. After the run Hubby and I took Alana down to Lilydale Lake so she could have a play on the fantastic playground they’ve got there. But how busy was it!! I think every man and his dog were there!! We managed to find a park and then sat in the sun sipping on McDonalds Latte’s.
Have just enjoyed watching another riveting session of Big Brother. Can it get any better than this
Alana’s Quote: “Never trust a man!!”
Exercise: 9.6km Run - MMCT (7’s Blue)
It’s getting colder. Was 4 degrees at 6am this morning. My hands actually felt cold and it took a while for them to warm up. And it was a very slow run. The glutes were a bit tight from Netball last night. I tried to think back to the game and why the bum is sore and realised that I had done quite a bit of jumping for the ball, which I don’t normally do.
I mentioned to Michelle that I’d had a look at some of the training plans on the Gold Coast Marathon website yesterday and had considered incorporating one of them into my training. Then I got real and decided not to. Being honest with myself, I realise the reason that I don’t really have any goals at the moment is because I don’t like committing to something if I think I might fail. My track record is not good for committment, and then when I do commit to something (like R4K) I crash and burn. It’s the main reason why I have decided not to do any more races for now. I’m not good with failure. So for now I’ll just tag along with Michelle whenever she wants me to run with her.
Warriorwoman, the road goes under the bridge. Puffing Billy goes over the bridge. Still very scary if you’re in the train when it’s going over that bridge though.
Blkbox, Sekhmet, I know it looks cold in the photo, but it was actually not too bad. I ran in a singlet and t-shirt and for me that means it was warm
Andrew it was great to finally meet you. Hope you find some hills before the race
Deege, they were all waiting for me, as I walked most of the way up the damn hill and it took forever getting to the top 
Scott, we went and saw Ardal O’Hanlon at the Comedy Festival. I was a little disappointed as I thought he’d be funnier.
Alana’s Quote: “Mum my knee is sore and I need some stencils to help me walk” (she meant crutches)
Exercise: Netball Game (6’s)
I had one of those days at work today where everything was a hassle. I just wanted to close the door to my office and just ignore everyone. Unfortunately my job involves alot of liaising with other people so I had to just plaster a smile on my face and get on with it. It didn’t help that I had to deal with a work colleague who is an absolute oxy moron and has no idea how to do his job, which makes me grit my teeth hard as he is in a senior position and gets paid tons of money 
I got home after work and just wanted to crawl into bed, but unfortunately had to go back out to play Netball. I’m glad that I went as we had a great match and won our game by 1 goal.
Have we all been watching Big Brother? I always watch the first show so that I get a heads up on who is in the house. And I think that they’ve made it much more fun this year with all the secrets and cover ups happening. Now I just have to figure out who the transexual is (well that’s the rumour anyway!!).
Alana’s Quote: Mum how can they be comfortable to wear with that little bit that goes up the back? (She was talking about my underwear)
Exercise: 12.1km Run - Belgrave (7’s Yellow)
Yes, I’m still here. Just haven’t done any exercise until this morning
I have, however, been up to town, seen one of the shows at the Comedy Festival, celebrated Michelle’s birthday, drunk too much, not had enough sleep, and been to see Essendon defeat St. Kilda - YAY!!
This morning’s run was not good. No excuses really other than my left foot went to sleep and I couldn’t feel it at all and both of my ankles felt like they had absolutely no strength in them, which made it really hard to run up the hills of Belgrave. I ended up turning around at the 6km point and running back to the car.
Saying that it was great to meet up with some of the Ausrunners and Coolrunners. Here’s some photos below.
Exercise: 9.6km Run - MMCT (7’s Yellow)
Michelle and I shuffled along the trail this morning. I think our average pace was about 6.28, that’s how slow we were going. There was no way that I could have considered doing a sweat run. There was no pace in me other than SLOW.
It was really cold this morning. 3/4 pants and long dri-fit top with singlet underneath was necessary. I don’t think it’ll be long now before we start seeing some frost on the ground. Must go find my gloves
I don’t actually have any muscle soreness from Netball apart from my throwing arm, so I’m happy with that.
I jumped on the scales when I got home from Netball and I’ve put on about 3kgs, so I’m now at my heaviest that I’ve been for ages. I’m quite surprised really, especially considering all the exercise that I’ve been doing lately. Must be my food intake, so a closer look at that is called for. I’m going to up the weight training again as I think this has a big impact on my weight. Let’s see what happens
Alana’s Quote: “Wow, check out that car!” (She’s now obsessed with cool looking cars).
Exercise: Netball Game (7’s Blue)
Yay, we won!! And they were all really tall and really young!! You know you’re getting old when you remember when YOUR boyfriend came along and watched (which a couple of the girls in the other team had with them!!). Muscles aren’t feeling too bad at the moment, but that’s not to say tomorrow morning will be an enjoyable experience.
I’m really snowed under at work right now. I was happily going along, with just the right amount of work on my desk to keep me busy through the day and then all of a sudden…BAM!! I now have way too much work to get through. Budget time - need I say more!! 
Might have to cut down my internet use for a few days as I really waste too much time surfing
Alana’s Quote: “Dad have we got any swords?”
Exercise: 3.7km Walk - Local Streets at Lunchtime (7’s Blue)
I had to wear my skins to bed last night as my legs were really aching. I iced them throughout the afternoon, but I didn’t actually have the dreaded ice bath that I should have. It’s just not warm enough for me to sit in cold water. I have enough trouble getting into a warm shower (must be ultra hot) let alone a freezing cold bath. Luckily when I got out of bed this morning they were feeling heaps better.
A quick walk at lunchtime gave them a bit of a workout too, and I made sure that I stretched when I’d finished.
Netball tonight. Haven’t played for 3 weeks so I have a feeling that my legs might hurt a bit tomorrow.
Alana’s Quote: “Mum your legs are really skinny!” (Yeah, right!!)
Exercise: 22km Run - MMCT (6’s)
Our long run was done along the MMCT today. Michelle and I both agreed that we can run this trail every day and still not get bored with it. It’s got a bit of everything. Some small inclines, some bitumen to run on, some nice soft trail to run on, plenty of scenery to look at and even some shady areas when the sun is beating down. And best of all there are toilets along the trail too
Michelle ran from home and met me at the start of the trail. I drove to where we normally start our runs and ran back up the trail to meet her. Then we did a nice leisurely run along the trail twice. It was quite busy today with lots of people out walking their dogs and cycling along with their kids, which was nice to see. I stopped at 22km but Michelle still had another 10km to run home so I filled up all her bottles with water that I’d brought with me and sent her on her way
I’ve become quite addicted to McDonalds Lattes. After my run yesterday morning I stopped off to get one for breakfast and again this morning. I’m not sure why they taste so good but I could drink one of them every day. I just have to resist the urge to buy a nice cake to go with the coffee
Alana’s Quote: “Mum can I have this to remind me of you when you die?” (She was talking about a TY Beanie cat that I have).
Exercise: 9.6km Run - MMCT (7’s Yellow)
Looking out of the window at 6.30am this morning, it looked very chilly, so I dressed accordingly. When I got out of the car at MMCT, the temperature had increased, very rapidly Luckily I had put a singlet on underneath my long sleeve top so I could take the long sleeved top off. I’d also put on 3/4 pants so I still got very warm as I couldn’t really take those off and run in my undies
Even though I felt fine after our hill run yesterday, my legs were certainly feeling the effects this morning. Was very sluggish and it felt like forever before we got to the turnaround point. Isn’t it amazing how your body tends to feel so much better once you’re on the homeward stretch though
We stopped and chatted to JH, for a couple of minutes. He was doing some fartlek work along the trail.
I was saying to Michelle this morning what a difference an hour of more sleep makes. Normally the alarm goes off at 5.30am so that I can meet Michelle for 6am. This morning the alarm didn’t go off until 6.30am and even though I could have turned over and gone back to sleep, I didn’t have that exhausted feeling that I get when I wake up at 5.30am….weird huh
I’ve just watched Essendon lose to Carlton. How could this have happened. When I turned the TV off at half time they were winning by 50 points. I’m just shaking my head in disbelief! Next week boys, next week!! I will be there in person so you’ll hear me. I’ll be the one screaming at the umpires
Alana is now collecting Egg Flips, so every time we go to the supermarket she has to buy one. They are very smelly (in a nice kind of way). I can’t really remember collecting anything when I was a kid other than stamps, which I’m sure alot of kids did in those days. Anyone used to collect anything interesting?
Alana’s Quote: Me: “We’re going to Echuca next month”
Alana: “Do they speak English there?”
Exercise: 9.2km Run - Local Hills (6’s)
Well nothing untoward has happened to me yet (touch wood).
Michelle and I finallly did our new hilly run. And hilly it certainly was. I actually had to shut up for once and concentrate on running up them!! My calves and bum are certainly going to feel the effects tomorrow, that’s for sure.
I’ve found a new favourite song. And I’m going to share it with you too: I have it on loop at work so that it just plays and plays and plays. I’m sure I’ll get sick of hearing it sometime
I wanted to embed the video but unfortunately WordPress won’t let me do it (something to do with security and me trying to damage the site :roll You’ll have to click on the link instead. I may try to find it on You Tube when I get home as WordPress will allow me to embed that!
Update: Here’s the YouTube Video
JH, the numbers in brackets are there to remind me which trainers I wore so that I can add them to my spreadsheet so that I have an idea of how many km’s I’ve done in them.
Michelle and I have made the decision not to race in the Great Train Race. It wasn’t an easy decision to make as it’s one of those must do races. However, I felt so much happier once we’d made a decision. I’ll still be at the finish line cheering everyone as they come over the line, and I’ll definitely be at the pub afterwards for a drink or 10!!
Exercise: 5.2km Run/Walk (7’s Yellow) Weights - Shoulders, Situps
I met up with one of my work colleagues this morning (she lives very close to me). She has asked me if I’ll meet with her so that she has somebody to help her get into running. I was more than happy to meet her as it gives me the motivation to get out of bed and do some exercise
We did a run for 2 minute, walk for 1 minute session. I’m hoping that after this morning she wants to do it again. She did say that she felt quite exhausted when she finished, but when I got into work a bit later she told me that she felt really good.
Once I’d got home, I did a quick weights session. Worked on my shoulders and then did some situps.
I’m not sure why, but for some reason I’m just not sleeping very well. I always seem to wake up with my neck and shoulders all scrunched up right at the top of the bed. My pillow is pushed up hard against the headboard and my head is pushed into the pillow,which gives me that concertinered (sp?) feeling. I’ve tried changing how far down I sleep in the bed, which pillow I use to sleep on (I have 2 pillows), whether I use a pillow as a comforter or not (you know, when you put one down the side of you), but nothing really seems to be making much difference. I will persevere
Exercise: 3.7km Power Walk - Local Streets (7’s Blue)
A gorgeous day to go for a walk.
I was very disappointed that Greg was eliminated from the Biggest Loser tonight. He would have really given Chris a run for his money. Maybe he’ll still win the $50,000. He certainly deserves it.
Hasn’t it just been fabulous weather for the long weekend I managed to get out in the garden yesterday and tidy up bits and pieces that I’ve been wanting to do for ages.
Here’s a few pictures of my favourite flower - the Fuscia. They have survived really well through the summer and are still blooming. I made sure that at the beginning of summer (when we were still allowed to water) I saturated them every time I went out to water.
I didn’t do any other exercise yesterday other than some work in the garden and I’m not sure that I’ll get to do anything tonight either. I was supposed to meet up with Michelle this morning, but unfortunately events worked against us meeting up, and of course I didn’t bother getting up go out and run by myself
I’m so glad that Courtney is finally out of the Biggest Loser house. I read in the TV Week that he’s too scared to go out at the moment as people have been coming up to him and telling him how much they don’t like him. Serves him right for his attitude while he was in the house. Looking forward to seeing what happens when all the evicted contestants come back to the house this week
I’ve got a week to make up my mind as to whether I enter the GTR or not. I may just go and cheer everyone at the finish line and join everyone afterwards at the pub for a drink.
Alana’s Quote: “Mum do I look 5 years younger?” (she put some of my moisturising lotion on)
Exercise: 13km Bike Ride - Home to parents and return. Weights session
Well I think I’ve gotten through Easter with a fairly minimal intake of chocolate I had a few of Alana’s mini eggs (okay QUITE a few) and a bit of Hubby’s Giant Egg but to be perfectly honest, I really didn’t enjoy the chocolate that much - OMG did I just say that And I’m taking my giant egg over to my parents house tomorrow to give it to them as I don’t want it…..yep, you read that right
I had to get over to my parents place today so that my Dad could copy some programs that I’ve downloaded from Torrent Pond onto some DVD’s. I was just going to drive over but Hubby suggested that I ride my bike over. What a great idea I thought. I was even considering leaving my bike at my parents house and running home, then in the morning running back to pick up my bike and then cycle home.
I soon changed my mind once I’d got to my parents house. Even though I’ve run to my parents house a few times I’ve never cycled there and my legs were like Jelly when I got off my bike. I just didn’t realise that there were so many inclines Instead of running home I just jumped back on my bike and cycled home again. And I finally used the new weight bench and weights that Hubby bought last week. Hope my shoulders aren’t too sore tomorrow.
I’ve decided that I’m going to concentrate on one muscle group each evening, so I’ll do shoulders one night, back another, chest another and arms another. I’ll probably do stomach exercises every night that I do the weights as that area needs alot of attention
So has everyone joined a footy tipping competition? I got 7 out of 8 last week and am currently at the top of the ladder As I type I’ve got 5 out of 7 correct this week. Just need Melbourne to beat Hawthorn tomorrow. And didn’t the Bombers do well today
Exercise: 22km Run - Warby Trail (6’s)
After worrying that I’d have to run in rain this morning, I opened the curtains to find the sun shining - YAY!! A quick change of clothes (I’d got all my stuff ready last night and pulled out all cool running stuff) and I was ready to go.
Drove out to Killara, and it wasn’t long before Em came running along to meet me. She’d wanted to run a bit further than me so had parked at Seville and run down to Killara. Then we headed on to Woori Yallock and met Michelle just before there. She’d been kept company from Warburton by Bek, one of her daughters, who was riding her bike alongside Michelle.
Now I have a confession. Eat Em was supposed to be running from Seville with Em, but I’d told Em the wrong time and it was only late last night that Michelle noticed on the Ausrun forum. Unfortunately Eat Em hadn’t seen the post about the change of time, so he rocked up to Seville at about 10.15, by which time we were already at Woori Yallock (having a toilet stop). We arranged for him to meet us at Woori Yallock instead, which he did in lightning speed (hope there were no speed cameras around!).
The rest of the run was at a really nice steady pace. A stop at Yarra Junction for a stretch and a refill of water bottles, and then it was onwards to Warburton. Another small stretch at Millgrove before the final incline to Warburton. Normally on this last section I tend to pick up the pace as I just want to get to the end, but today I concentrated on keeping the steady pace so that when I got to the end I wasn’t absolutely exhausted. I felt much better after the run today. My legs didn’t feel anywhere near as sore as they normally would have either.
I bottled out of the ice bath as I just felt too cold to jump in. I’ve been sitting with an ice pack under my feet though, so hopefully this will do something for the feet. I wore the PSC thingy today and it felt good. No pain at all afterwards.
Some photos after the run.
These are the mountains behind Warburton. I’m pretty sure that Mt Donna Buang is over the top.
Alana’s Quote: “I wish I had super powers”
Me: “What kind of super powers?”
Alana: “Powers so that I can shoot people!” (Might have to look at the games she’s been playing on PS2!
Exercise: 9.6km Run - MMCT (7’s Yellow)
Michelle and I missed the rain this morning. It was spitting as we started to run, but stopped within a couple of minutes. It was only when I got home that it started spitting again, and then when I walked into the kitchen after my shower, it was raining quite steadily. The run itself was a slow steady one. We were going to do a sweat run but as we’re doing a long run tomorrow, we though it wise to put the sweat run off until the weekend.
I went into Kmart last night and they’ve got heaps more of the dri-fit sport clothes in now. I bought a lovely powder blue long sleeve top, a 3/4 pair of pants and a long pair too (with key pocket!!). I’m not sure exactly how much it was individually, but chuck in a new shirt and an electronic skipping rope (it counts the amount of jumps you do) and it came to just under $100, which I thought was good value for money
I’m probably going to have to go through my winter running wardrobe and make sure that I’ve got enough to get me through the winter. There’s nothing worse than running out of things to wear because nothing’s dry because it’s been raining. Saying that, we now have whatever that clear stuff is that goes on the roof of decking and Hubby had put some line up to peg clothes.
There are some huge big black clouds looming on the horizon as I type. I just hope they don’t pass us by as we still need lots of rain over here. That said, I’ve got my fingers crossed that we don’t have to run in the rain tomorrow. 20+ km’s of running in rain and getting cold and wet does not appeal to me at all
I made a fantastic pasta meal last night. It had broccoli and cauliflower in it, along with a cheese sauce, mixed with wholegrain mustard, and then sprinkled with cheese and breadcrumbs on the top.
Alana’s Quote: “Mum you look very attracting today!”
Exercise: 3.7km Power Walk - Local Streets (Lunch time) (7’s Blue)
I’ve been a bit piggy today There was a whole table full of hot cross buns (freshly made and still warm) and Easter Eggs…..way too many for the amount of people that work in my office. And of course I dived in and ate too many. Feel a bit blah now. Well that’s my chocolate fix finished until Sunday anyway
Hopefully I’ve walked some of the crap off at lunch time, although the walk wasn’t really long enough. Unfortunately the girl that I walk with only has a specific lunch time, so I have to fit in with her, otherwise I would have probably walked for alot longer. Oh well, I’ll take what I can get at the moment.
Thankyou to everyone for your really supportive comments. Sometimes I really doubt myself when it comes to this running lark. I watch Michelle doing all her km’s (and do them easily I might add) and I feel that I just don’t have the same motivation as her to get out there and pound that pavement. But then I don’t seem to have the motivation to do anything else at the moment either
With the onset of Winter this lack of motivation is only going to get worse too. As I said in a previous post, I may have to start running more in my lunch hours, when it’s not as cold (unless it’s raining of course). I’m still going to meet Michelle for our early runs, but anything else probably won’t be at 6am. Looks like the treadmill will become my friend very soon
I’m nearly at the point where I am going to turn the heating on in the evening. At the moment I’m snuggling under a blanket while watching TV, and in the morning I jump straight into the shower when I wake up, so I’m not feeling the cold. But for how much longer can I hold off?? My only saving grace is that Hubby has to do something to the heater thingy that sits outside as it’s moved slightly and we are losing hot air out of one side. Seems it’s only a small adjustment that needs to be made, so maybe this weekend is a good one to get it fixed.
I’m hoping that this weekend is going to be fine as I’d like to spend some time in my garden getting it tidied up before winter arrives. It’s time to cut back the roses and the fuscias and pull out all the straggly weeds that have appeared over the last few weeks. I’ve also got some fuscias that need to be moved as the position that they’re in at the moment is too shady and they’re not getting enough sun. And isn’t it nice to see all the lawns looking a bit greener again?
Alana’s Quote: “When I find the right man I’m going to marry him forever, well maybe not forever, but a long time!”
Exercise: 5.5km Run - Local Streets (6’s)
After my run yesterday, Michelle mentioned that I had really blue lips. I thought it best that I check out why this may have happened so I did a google search. Two causes kept appearing. Either I have Asthma or I’m dehydrated. I’m pretty sure that I don’t have Asthma, and when I think back to my hydration on Saturday and Sunday morning before the race, it all seems to fall into place. I had a pint of Powerade on Saturday evening, but didn’t really drink much water at all during the day. Sunday morning I didn’t drink anything before the race because I didn’t want to keep needing the loos.
So I probably brought my crappy run on myself. I should have hydrated better. I’ve also thought about what Eat Em said regarding my 2 runs on Friday and Saturday. Yes, maybe I should have just done an easy 5km run on Saturday rather than the 9.6km run.
Also thinking about the run, when Michelle and I do all our training runs we normally stop and stretch half way through, with maybe a refuel and toilet break on our long runs as well. So to go and run 15.2km without a stop, my body just wasn’t used to it. I’m thinking that we may need to do some training runs where we don’t stop at all. This should help prepare the body a bit better for fun runs where there is no stopping!!
Okay, that’s all I want to say on the matter. Lets move forward shall we
I was going to meet Michelle for a recovery run tonight but unfortunately Michelle couldn’t make it so I had to really motivate myself to get out there and do it by myself. I nearly talked myself out of it, but realised that if I didn’t go I’d only be letting myself down. Also the fact that my legs would probably hurt more if I didn’t run helped me get out the door.
My new PSC arrived in the mail today, so I wrapped that around my foot to give it a test drive on my run. I’m very impressed. It made a huge difference. I had absolutely no pain when I took my trainers off. I highly recommend it to anyone suffering heel pain or PF.
Exercise: 14.8km Fun Run - Run For The Kids (7’s Yellow)
Had a phone call from Em at 6am to say that she wouldn’t be going today as she had a family medical emergency she had to attend to, so a quick change of plan and I rocked up to Michelle’s place instead and we all went in her car.
Managed to get to the Casino with not too many problems, and waving my membership card in front of the car park attendant gave us free parking - YAY!!
We headed for the Rotunda, which is where all the Ausrunners were meeting but only caught up with Eat Em before the race. The race was about 20 minutes late to start but today, for the first time, I was not cold while waiting. I’d put a dri-fit singlet on underneath my very bright green race top, and even though I was wearing my running skirt, my legs wern’t cold either. Very unusual I have to say, especially as Michelle was absolutely freezing cold next to me.
I suffered badly today. Felt absolutely brilliant until I got just over the Bolte Bridge and then I hit a wall. Just had no energy left in me to run well. The splits below tell the tale. Michelle had a fantastic race and enjoyed every moment of it she tells me
Here’s the course map.
Once we’d finished and waited about 25 minutes in the queue to get our goody bag,we found Michelle’s kids and then headed over to the Transport Bar. It was lovely to finally meet Deege, Running Sweetlee, RunJaneRun and MorseyRuns. And then Jo arrived with a big bag of Minstrels, that she’d brought over from the UK for me, which I accepted gladly and stuffed straight into my bag so nobody else could eat them 
I’m really sorry that we couldn’t stay and chat for longer but Michelle had to get one of her girls to a soccer match which was starting at 2pm.
I’m now in two minds about running Puffing Billy. I really want to do it but I don’t want to run another bad race. I’ve got until the 19th April to decide.
