You are currently browsing the monthly archive for February, 2008.
Exercise: 11km Run - MMCT - (8’s)
So do you want the good news or the bad news?
Okay, good news first. I got out for a run tonight with Michelle. Now the bad news. What was supposed to be a 20km long run turned into an 11km, stop start hobble. Not good.
After the first 500 metres I had to stop and stretch my calf because it was so tight I thought it was going to twang. Then I had to stop again at McDonalds as I’d eaten something that hadn’t really agreed with my digestive system. Another stretch before we set off again.
Then another stop at the public toilets along the trail. Of course this was followed by another stretch before we were off again. Each time we stopped my calf got progressively tighter and tighter.
It was with a very unhappy mindset that I pulled the plug at 5.5km, where we turned around and headed for home. At least it didn’t get any worse on the way home 
I’ve made an appointment with Corrie tomorrow to see if she can do her magic and fix it (whatever IT is!!).
Do you know what the really stupid thing is. The 11km that we ran felt great cardio wise. Very easy. I could have kept going for the whole 20km if it hadn’t been for my stupid calf 
Still haven’t done any hills this week or Yassos. Not sure when I’m going to be able to fit them in either.
Oh well, there’s always next week 
Exercise: 10 Mins Cross Trainer, Weights, Abs
Well the calf has gotten a bit worse. I could feel it tightening it up in bed last night but was hoping it would be feeling better this morning.
I hopped on the cross trainer to warm up (did a 10 minute sweat session) and then hopped onto the treadmill. Was going to do a hill workout and got it all set up, hit the start button, but within about 20 seconds I realised that this probably wasn’t the best thing to do as my calf was still quite sore, so I hopped off straight away (one of my few sensible moments 
).
I just hope that it’ll be okay by tomorrow as I’ve got a long run planned in the evening. Please don’t give out on me now calf
Exercise: 6km Recovery Run - Treadmill (Propels)
I slept in my skins last night and the legs didn’t feel too bad this morning when I got out of bed. I on the otherhand felt like crap.
The power had gone off during the night and Alana came in to tell us so, and also wanted to sleep in the bed with us. This didn’t really affect me too much as she slept on Hubby’s side of the bed. What kept waking me up was the phone next to the bed. Everytime the power came back on, the phone bleeped, and then the power went back off again. Did this quite a few times
And for some reason the clock radio reset itself but was 30 minutes slow, so instead of waking up at 5.35am, I didn’t get woken up until 6am. This gave me just enough time at the gym to do the 6km run and get a stretch in before I had to leave.
Unfortunately when I got home from work tonight my right calf seems to have gotten sore. I’m not sure if this was because of yesterday’s run or whether it happened while I was on the treadmill. Either way I’ve now iced it, stretched it, rubbed Arnica cream into it and I’ll throw on the skins again tonight. Fingers crossed that it’s nothing bad 
Exercise: 31.7km Run/Walk - Trailwalker Checkpoint 1 (Jells Park) to Belgrave Station - (7’s Blue)
How is a girl supposed to know how to dress for running when the weather is so tempermental? One minute the sun is out and the next minute it’s overcast with rain threatening clouds
I met up with Corrie at Belgrave Station, where we left one of the cars, then headed back down to Jells Park where we met up with Michelle and Emma.
It was fairly easy going over the first few km’s. We were fairly confident of the direction we needed to go as we’ve done the whole trail now.
Had a bit of a break at Churchill Park. The weather was being good to us and it was fairly warm and sunny, although there was a rather fierce wind at times. The person who took this photo thought it was very funny that we were all standing in a line from tallest to shortest and we were also on a small hill so thought they’d angle the camera so it looked more even - yep, that idea worked
We also saw some lovely wildlife on the way to Belgrave.
Last time we walked up the hill out of Churchill Park we had to stop half way. This time we powered up it with no breaks. We did stop at the top for another scenic photo call though.
Then it was on to Lysterfield Lake, where we stopped for another small break. Back on our feet and we were off to Belgrave. I think we were all starting to get a bit tired at this point, but I’d loaded up a heap of music onto my phone last night and we all perked up when Kylie’s Locomotion came on. Nothing like singing and dancing along to Kylie out in the middle of nowhere is there 
Had another small stop at a picnic ground near Upwey, where the facilities were greatly appreciated by Em and Corrie. Michelle and I filled up our Hydration packs as they were empty. It’s not a good feeling when you run out of water with 5km still to go before you can have a drink
We headed off with the thought of that short, sharp steep hill ahead, followed by some steep steps and another steep hill afterwards. Not a great thought when you’re feeling quite fatigued. Michelle and I had slowed down a bit by the time we came to the first hill and we watched Em and Corrie power up it ahead of us.
I’m not sure how this little piece of advice has stuck in my memory, but I remembered reading somewhere that it’s easier to get up a steep hill if you zigzag across it as you’re walking up it, you know, walk from side to side. No time like the present to try out this method, and I’m very happy to report that it does indeed make the hill much easier to walk up
We finally made it to Belgrave Station, and Corrie even mentioned that she could have walked further as she was still feeling quite good 
Everyone jumped in the car and we headed back to Jells Park, tired, weary but full of confidence that we will be able to complete the Trailwalker with a bit more training and time on our feet. Roll on April 11th
And don’t forget if you’d like to sponsor our team, just click on the Oxfam Icon to the left of the page.
Finally, a rest day
Of course a rest day means that I have more time to clean the house, do the washing and ironing
Here’s my ironing output. Took me nearly all afternoon to do it, but what a sense of achievement to see an empty ironing basket The only problem I have now is trying to fit it all in my drawers and wardrobe
We were given tickets to the Reading Cinema Gold Lounge for Christmas, so we decided to go and see the movie Jumper last night. I’d heard that the critics had bagged it and was prepared to be disappointed, even though the trailers that I’d seen were very impressive.
I wasn’t disappointed. The film kept me entertained (as did the champagne and potato wedges that were brought to our seats ) and I thought that only the final scene was a bit weak.
We’ve decided that we are going to try the Village Gold Class next time as Reading is pretty average.
Now in response to all the questions:
Lee, the book I got from Jillian Michaels is called Making The Cut and it’s written for people who are looking to lose the last bit of weight that they can’t shift by following her 30 day plan. I bought it from Amazon.
Andrew, the book I bought from Ebay is called The Complete Book of Running by James E Fixx. It was written quite a long time ago but I’ve decided to try and read as much as I can about running as I just haven’t bothered before. I’m sure alot of it will still be current and can be utilised.
JH - I still have this idea in the back of my mind, but I’m considering maybe running from Melbourne down to the Great Ocean Road and picking up the trails down there, which continue on down past Apollo Bay. I’ve just put it on the back burner for now until I get myself a bit fitter and a bit more organised.
Okay I’d better go and get all my gear ready for our Trailwalker training session tomorrow. We’re starting at a later time, which will be nice for a change, although there’s the possibility it might rain, which will not be nice
Exercise: 18km Run - MMCT (8’s)
Yep, that’s right, I ran 18km this morning - BEFORE work.
I met Michelle at Mullum Mullum and we ran up and back along the trail a couple of times, including a pit stop at McDonalds to use the “facilities”
I’d advised everyone at work that I was going to be late, which gave me the extra time to do the longer distance. I love that the company I work for is flexible with working hours, even though we don’t have actual flex time etc. It’s all a matter of trust here, which is why I like working for this company. And the perks are pretty good too 
All of my latest purchases seem to have arrived within 24 hours of each other. My Jillian Michaels book arrived yesterday. Did I also tell you that I bought a headlamp off Ebay? Well it arrived this morning (got it delivered to work), and also a book about running that I’d bought off Ebay. So new toys to play with and things to read
Now in response to Eat Em’s query about why I’m doing Trailwalker, given that I am not that keen on running hills, I’m not sure that I can give a really specific answer.
I suppose it’s got something to do with completing something that I think is going to take alot of determination, courage and downright hard work. Not something that I tend to do very often. I have this new found need to push myself to do things that I normally would not even consider, as I’ve found myself becoming quite lazy and always looking for the easy out.
This is probably why I’ve also signed up for the GC Marathon and am seriously considering entering the Four Peaks Challenge in November.
I’ve found a fantastic Sugar Free Lolly to keep in my drawer at work when I want something sweet.
Bought them in Safeway in the lolly aisle
Exercise: 8km: 6 x 400 Yassos @ 12kph (7’s Blue)
I almost changed my mind and didn’t go when the alarm went off this morning, but it would have meant that I’d have to do Yassos on Saturday morning instead and I was looking to make Saturday a full on rest day, so I just rolled myelf out of bed and drove down to the gym.
It actually felt a bit easier doing them this week than last week. I’m hoping that the fantastic massage I had last night helped
Now something to make you chuckle. I noticed in this week’s Aldi catalogue a little boy wearing shin pads with L and R on them (to differentiate which leg to put them on). You know what I’m going to say don’t you Yep, the L was on the right leg and the R was on the left leg
Exercise: 6km Recovery Run - Treadmill (7’s Yellow)
How wonderful is it to actually see storm clouds and hear the rain on the roof. Okay it was actually next door’s tin roof over their carport, but it still sounded good!
I backed up last nights hill run with a very easy 6km recovery run. And surprisingly the legs felt quite good
Alana has decided that she wants to get her hair cut like Michelle, the trainer from Biggest Loser! I’m sure there are better cuts around than that one. Must show Alana all my magazines and see if there’s something else that she likes
Really looking forward to my massage tonight. The legs certainly do need it.
Have now registered for Great Ocean Road 1/2 Marathon. I just hope it’s going to be a better experience than last time I did this event
Exercise: 8km Hill Run - Treadmill (Propels)
Oooh, I got some new trainers out of the box tonight. My Hurricane 7’s in Yellow are just about at the end of their life span now. They have probably done over 900km’s and even though they still feel good to run in, I don’t want to do any damage to myself, so they’ll be retiring very shortly.
The Propels were very comfortable, although they had a very different feel to the Hurricanes. I will give them a run outside very shortly to see how they feel on a harder surface than the treadmill. I did feel a small amount of, not so much pain, but more constriction in my left toes, but nothing that I’m sure will not sort itself out with a few more runs.
The hill run on the treadmill was REALLY, REALLY hard I’ve never done a programmed run on the treadmill, so I wasn’t sure what the incline was going to be. I did take it slow as this is my first proper hill run (other than trailwalker training) for a long time.
OMG, I was running at 6%. Okay, some of you may laugh and say that’s not much, but for me, who just does NOT do hills, it was a very steep incline. I’m so glad it was only 8km as I don’t think I could have done much more than that.
I have been in total agony since Sunday. I could not walk properly at all yesterday and every time I got out of my chair at work I had to literallly stretch my legs before I could even manage to walk. I had to take a half day sick as I just could not cope with how much pain I was in.
Once at home I slathered myself with Tiger Balm and laid out flat on the couch as it hurt less to roll off the couch onto the floor and get up that way than it did to sit in a chair and try and get out of that.
I’m feeling alot better now that I’ve actually done some running and I’m hoping to do a nice easy recovery run tomorrow morning.
Exercise: 30.5km Run/Walk - Trailwalker Checkpoint 4 to 7
Even though this was probably the flattest section of the trail, it seemed like the hardest one to me. My hips are really sore. It may be because we walked alot more than we ran today and I haven’t done alot of walking over the last few months, so these muscles were definitely worked!!
Unfortunately Michelle couldn’t join us this morning, so it was just me Em and Corrie. It was a beautiful morning as we set out. We veered off into a fantastic forest reserve called R J Hamer Arboretum. Loads of great walking and running tracks to try out for another day
We followed our map until we came to Silvan Reservoir. This is where we’ve decided to have dinner on the actual Trailwalker. It’ll be getting dark then too
Then it was on to Mt Evelyn, where we met up with the Warby Trail. Loads of people out on the trail, including a guy who literally fell off his bike right in front of us. I think he was very embarassed as he hopped back on very quickly and rode off even quicker!!
We did a bit of running along the trail as it was a long decline and the legs needed a bit of a workout. By this stage it was starting to get quite warm and the trail opened out so the sun was beating right down on us.
More walking, a bit of a rant about a lycra clad idiot on his bike who thought he owned the whole trail (okay so he also got the bird from me ) and we ended up at Woori Yallock where Em’s other half was waiting for us. We jumped in the car and headed back to Olinda for a spot of lunch at the local Pie shop
My Garmin only registered 30.5km but Em’s Polar said we’d done 31.6km. Not sure who’s is more accurate but it was a long way anyway
Here we are at the start, raring to go
This was at the beginning of the RJ Hamer Arboretum. It was a moving shot, so the photo is a bit shaky
We walked over a road called Olinda Creek Road, walked along a track called Olinda Creek Track and then we finally found Olinda Creek
The long walk to Woori Yallock along the Warby Trail!
We’d literally just finished when Em’s partner took this photo
Exercise: 6km Recovery Run - Treadmill (8’s)
A visit to the gym after work. I’ve got a couple of sessions that I haven’t completed on my weekly training plan so I thought I’d better get them done.
Tomorrow morning I WILL be running hills!!
I also did some weights, targeting arms and shoulders. I need to do some serious hard work on them after seeing the photo from our Trailwalker training session last Sunday
Exercise: Pump Class
We had a new instructor this morning. The last one moved up to the city and it was way too far for her to travel.
A new routine. Lots of different moves. Lunges
I just hope my butt doesn’t hurt too much tomorrow.
I’ve been putting off running hills this week. I should have done them yesterday, and had the opportunity yesterday morning and last night.
Instead I stayed in bed yesterday morning and vegged out on the couch last night watching Biggest Loser.
Why is it that I’m not liking trainer Michelle in this series? Has she got mean or what
Exercise: Yassos 8km - 6 x 400 @ 12kph (7’s Blue)
I decided that yesterday was a good day for a rest
This morning called for Yassos. I’m not sure why I don’t like them, but I don’t
So I started with a 2km warm up and then I got stuck into them. The first couple weren’t too bad and it was nice having the recovery break inbetween each one. The third one got a bit harder and I was constantly looking at how much time I had left before I could reduce the speed. The last 3 were hard. I wanted to give up on the 4th one, but after each recovery section they felt alot better - better until I started to run fast again
But there was a feeling of achievement when I’d finished. I only did a 1km cool down as I was running out of time and I wanted to have a good stretch before I left the gym.
So that’s 2 lots of Yassos completed now. Only 20 more sessions to go until I can stop doing them
Now I have a bit of a dilemma. Alana wants to get her hair cut shorter. For anyone who doesn’t know Alana, she has hair down to her bottom. This is probably due mainly to the fact that my Mother always had my hair cut short, and I wanted my daughter to have beautiful long hair (okay so I’m living a bit of my missed childhood through her!!). Anyway she has asked me if she can have some of her hair cut off. When asked why, she says that she’s sick of people playing with it.
So what to do….I can’t really say no, as that would be really unfair. But having long hair really makes her stand out, which I think is a great thing. Am I being selfish by not wanting her to get it cut?
Exercise: Netball Game (8’s)
A win this time - YAY!!
Okay the other team only had 6 players, but we also played really well as a team. I had a good run around and worked up a nice little sweat
Legs felt quite good tonight. I was a little worried that they’d be fatigued but they held up well
Okay, my bed is calling me, I’m wiped out!
Exercise: 6km Recovery Run - Treadmill (7’s Blue)
Now that I have a training plan I am much more motivated to get out of bed and do whatever it is that I have to do on the plan.
So this morning was an easy recovery run. I did consider doing this outside but it was still dark and I’m a scaredy cat, so I drove to the gym instead.
I think these recovery runs after a long hard session on the trails and the hills is actually starting to get a bit easier
OMG, did I just say that!!! Hang on, I’ll just get up off the floor
Now how cool is this photo. It was taken at The Police concert. Those seats are the $250 ones You can see how far away we were from the stage
Exercise: 24km Run/Walk - Trailwalker Checkpoint 7 to 9 (8’s)
The girls all met at Woori Yallock for a 7am start
It was definitely chilly this morning. Even Em had her gloves on so it must have been cold
We decided to do a run 4km, walk 1km session, which worked really well. We had a couple of pitstops at the toilets along the way (phew, thank goodness for those toilets!), with Em and Michelle having a bit of a laugh too!
Once off the trail just before Warburton things became a whole lot harder
There were hills!! And not very nice hills either. The first one was fairly steep and quite narrow, which made it quite tricky (apart from our little Mountain Goat Em who had no trouble at all!!).
Once at the top there was some nice wide, fairly flat trail to walk along. The views were absolutely spectacular (sorry forgot to get the camera out ).
Then a bit of downhill, which wasn’t too good for those of use with ITB issues
We all thought that was the end of the hills - how wrong were we!!
We’ve named this hill Tanty Hill, as it’s at the 95km mark of the Trailwalker and there will definitely be a few tantrums when we get to it
This is not the steepest part of the hill, but by the time we got to that bit, I was absolutely shattered and didn’t have the energy to take a photo. I had to do a bit of backward walking again as my quads were really starting to hurt.
The last couple of Km’s were all downhill, which was a blessing.
Once we’d stopped at Wesburn Park the flies descended on us in plagues. Trying to take this photo was awful as we had to keep still and they just covered us from head to foot
Note to self: Do more arm work with weights
Exercise: 6 x 400m reps @ 2.15 pace, including warm up and cool down - MM (7’s Yellow)
The plan was to run 3 x 800 reps @ 4.30 pace
Unfortunately 800 metres is just not something that I can achieve right now if I want to keep any form and do more than one rep
So Michelle and I settled on doing 400 metre sprints instead. This is definitely much more to my liking and I still feel like I’ve got something left in the tank when I do my recovery in between reps! We will eventually build up so that we are running longer for each rep, but for now 400 metres is what we are going to do.
I’ve found what I’ve been looking for Specifically new champagne glasses
When I was in the UK, my girlfriend Helsy had these wonderful glasses, so I’ve been hunting around various shops trying to find some that are similar. I got them in Freedom, and although they’re not quite what I was looking for, they’ll do for now
Exercise: 5km Run - Treadmill (7’s Yellow)
I made an executive decision and made yesterday a rest day!!
This morning called for a 5km run. I wasn’t sure how fast to run it so I just varied the pace up and down on the treadmill, depending on how knackered I felt
Then just a few upper body weights and I was done.
I’ve put off the yassos that are on my training plan for this week Saturday morning I WILL do them!!
Is anyone else sick of hearing that we are going to have showers and thunderstoms and NOTHING happens?? I’ve heard it all week now and today is the first time that we’ve actually had a bit of rain out this way. From my window at work I can see all the dark clouds coming over and then they just go around to the right of the hills and totally miss us.
I was given a pair of GHD straighteners for my birthday (how lucky am I ). Anyway I took Alana to the pool last night as the Cubs first night back was a swimming night. I sat and watched Alana while she was there (about 2 hours) but when I got home I looked in the mirror only to find my immaculately straightened hair was now a frizz ball
Have booked accommodation at Apollo Bay. Oh yeah, did I tell you that I’ve been conned into doing decided to enter the Great Ocean Road 1/2 Marathon
Exercise: 9.6km Run - MMCT (7’s Blue)
This exercise thing is really wearing me out
Met Michelle for a 10km recovery run. We’d both agreed last night that if it was raining we would do our own thing (I’d go to the gym and do my run on the treadmill). I’m so glad it wasn’t raining as it’s so much more motivating to run with someone outside than plod along on the treadmill, having to force myself to do the distance!
I am now finding that my clothes are starting to fit me much better, with the muffin top slowly shrinking. Now I put my hand up and admit that I weigh myself every day, more to see the fluctuations than to worry over the actual numbers.
In 24 hours I’ve lost a whole kilo
Can you believe that I’ve missed the first 2 episodes of Biggest Loser. I turned the TV on at 7.30pm Sunday night and I’d missed it And of course I played Netball last night and missed it again. I might have to go and download both episodes just so that I can get a feel for each of the contestants before the next episode!! Ok, ok, I know that sounds really sad but it’s one of the only reality shows that I really enjoy watching
Exercise: Netball Game (8’s)
First game of the season tonight. It was very hot and sticky inside the stadium. They don’t have any type of cooling
It was good to catch up with the team after not playing the winter season (you all know how much I hate the cold don’t you ).
We lost
One good thing that happened though. I ran into my old netball coach. She started coaching the team I was in when I was 10 years old, and continued to coach the team for about 8 years. I then moved into an adult league and played with her too. She was like a surrogate mother to me, especially when I was 16, as I had quite a few issues during that year and she was always there for me.
I haven’t seen her for about 20 years and it was just like I had seen her yesterday. She’s a wonderful woman and is still playing netball twice a week. She’ll be 66 next week.
Exercise: 6km Recovery Run - Treadmill (7’s Yellow)
I’m very excited……I have my marathon training plan
This morning called for a 6km recovery run. I’m glad it wasn’t more than 6km as my legs felt very tired and heavy and I don’t think I could have run much more than that. I had to put some Tiger Balm on the calves before I left for the gym as they felt very tight. My knee is still niggly too
Netball starts again tonight
Exercise: 19.1km Run - FTG & 1000 Steps (8’s)
3 out of the 4 girls met this morning at 1000 steps for our weekly trailwalker training. Tiger Boy made up the 4 as Emma had jetted off to Qld for family birthday celebrations
We had decided earlier in the week that we would do a 15km run, followed by a couple of ascents of the 1000 steps
The first 12km of the run were fine. We pretty much stuck to 6.30 pace with a few faster bits as well. After 12km it seemed to go downhill rapidly
Not sure what the problem was but I ran out of energy pretty quickly. Legs were okay but the breathing started to get quite laboured and I had nothing left in the tank. The last 100 metres was not a pretty sight
We all recharged the batteries with water, gels and jelly beans, and once hydrated again set off for the 1000 steps. Anyone who has climbed them before will know that it is probably a good 1km to the actual start of the steps from the car park. Both Corrie and myself were already wheezing when we got to the start. We also had to have a couple of short breaks as we made our way to the top.
Once at the top we carried on in search of a water tap,which was about another 500 metres further up. We then turned around and made our way back down the steps to the bottom. Corrie and I called it quits then but Michelle and TB decided that they wanted to do it again
We all met up again at the cars and had a nice stretch and a bit of a chat before going our separate ways
My knee is a little bit niggly and really didn’t like the steps at all
Relaxing at the end
Exercise: Pump Class
Yes I’m a glutton for punishment
I know that the more I do this class, the less it will hurt eventually. I even upped the weights this morning I just hope that it doesn’t hurt as much as last week. If it does, I’m in trouble
I booked the accommodation last night for when we fly up to the Gold Coast. Got a great deal through The Entertainment Book (best buy of 2007). Staying 3 nights in a 1 bedroom apartment in Surfers for $94 per night. Bargain!!
Okay, the only thing left to organise now is getting fit and being ready to actually do the marathon
Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me
