You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May, 2008.
Exercise: 11.3km incl 6 x 800M Yassos - Track (Phoenix’s)
Met Michelle for an evening run around the track tonight. Even though today had been lovely and sunny, by the time the sun went down, it had cooled down heaps.
I did struggle a bit, mainly because my belly was full of a whole day’s food. Normally we do Yassos first thing in the morning so I have an empty tummy. It really showed me that it’s much easier to run first thing in the morning 
Exercise: 8km - Treadmill (Trigons)
I made yesterday a rest day. Woke up with a headache and it (being motivation) just deteriorated from there
So I was determined to get out today. Originally I was going to go and do a hill run, the same as last week, but when I put the bins out last night (yep, here comes the excuse!!) it was mighty chilly and on checking the weather forecast I realised it was going to be cold, foggy and bleugh!
So I went to the gym instead. Much nicer environment, even if it was deathly boring running on the treadmill.
And the good thing is that I am in the winning team (Fernwood had a competition) and get to go to the premiere of Sex & The City at the local cinema 
No idea when or what or anything, as I don’t really get too involved with events at the gym. But a freebie is a freebie and if I can get there, then I will
I went to Aldi this morning before work to get some of these compression garments.
OMG 
There was a huge queue waiting to get into the store, and when the doors opened, they all headed straight towards where I wanted to go 
Anyone looking to buy any of this gear might be disappointed as most of it was gone within 10 minutes! Hopefully they’ve got more stock out back so that they can refill their bins.
And on a side note, I couldn’t believe how pushy some of the pensioners were
Exercise: 8km Run (Local Streets) - (7’s Blue)
I think that I’m finally starting to enjoy running outside on my own again.
Was very happy that it wasn’t raining when I first started out. And I was even happier that it was fairly warm out this morning too.
Okay so the run was slow (I’m not going to mention the time) but it really was just a recovery run and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I didn’t even notice when it started raining either. It was only when I got close to home that I realised I was getting wet.
On another note, think I might change football teams 
Exercise: Netball Game (Propels)
Would you believe that I have no soreness in my legs at all today.
My knee is still a bit tender, but nowhere near as sore as I thought it would be.
I can probably put my lack of soreness down to the following:
We walked the last 800 metres of the run….okay it was more of a hobble than a walk, but it wasn’t running
I had a protein shake as soon as I got back to Michelle’s place.
I sat in a very cold bath when I got home.
I put my skins on after my lovely warm shower.
I stretched properly (for a change!).
Anyway, I was able to run around the netball court without any pain, which is a big thumbs up in my book
And we won our game, but then the other team only had 5 (very good) players so we were very fortunate there!
Exercise: 30km Run - Michelle’s Place to FTG & Return (8’s)
Ouch, ouch, ouch!! That’s all I can say right now.
I’m hurting in all the right places. Bum is sore, calves are tight and knee is tender to touch
BUT - I ran 30 km today
I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to run this distance as the longest I’ve done over the last month is a 25km run/walk up and down the hills.
Due to the weather conditions I was very unsure about what to wear. It was freezing cold at 8am, but the sun was out and I knew it wouldn’t take too long to warm up. So me being me, I erred on the side of caution and wore winter running gear.
I’d bought one of the new Slazenger compression t-shirts yesterday and I have to give it a huge thumbs up. I’d started running with the t-shirt underneath a long sleeved top but was quite warm by the 8km mark, so when we stopped at a toilet break I took the long sleeved top off. After that I never felt either too warm or too cold. It was just a great top to run in and I may even consider buying another one so that I can alternate them.
We saw PJ (Ausrunner) at the 8km mark also and he joined us for a very slow 10km plod before veering off the trail towards home.
The last 2km were pretty ugly. My body was screaming at me to stop, but even though I really wanted to, I was determined to complete the 30km running. I was very relieved when the 30km mark ticked over and we were able to walk the last 800 metres back to Michelle’s place.
Can you believe that I ran myself a cold bath when I got home and sat in it for 10 minutes. Hubby made me a cup of coffee which I drank while in the bath. Also had a top and a towel wrapped around my top half to keep some of the warmth in my body.
Am happy to have made this distance as it really gives me some hope that I can actually complete my first marathon. Just need to see how I feel tomorrow and whether I’m actually going to be able to walk
Exercise: 12km Run incl. 6 x 800M Yassos - Track (8’s)
Oh the joy of getting out of bed in sub zero temperatures
Just as well I have a full wardrobe of winter running gear otherwise I would be complaining bitterly about how cold it was this morning. My lovely new pink hat (see photos from GOR) kept my head nice and toasty warm.
The track was fairly busy this morning, considering we normally have it all to ourselves (there were 4 other people using it). Even with all the fog, it was still quite clear and we ended up turning off our lights as they just weren’t necessary.
I took these photos yesterday. (I seem to have this thing about clouds )
Exercise: 8km Run - Hills (7’s Blue)
I’m not sure why, but lately I’ve had this real aversion to running outside unless I’m running with Michelle.
This morning I had to choose between doing a hill session on the treadmill at the gym or actually go out and run some local hills. So I chose the 2nd option.
I thoroughly enjoyed it too The only part that was not enjoyable was the first hill. Anyone who knows Exeter Road will know the hill I’m referring to It’s short, sharp and it knocks the stuffing out of you before you’ve even gotten halfway up it
I was in no danger at all of getting mugged, even though it was early, as there were hordes of people out running, walking and shuffling along with their dogs. There were even people at the bus stops, waiting for the bus.
Must do this circuit more often. Sure beats running on the treadmill
Exercise: 7km Run - Treadmill (Trigons)
Knee was sore when I woke up this morning so I decided to rest it, knowing that I could go to the gym when Alana was at Cubs tonight.
So that’s what I did. I was hoping to run longer than I did but I had a toilet break at 7km and when I hopped back on the treadmill and started running again my knees told me very bluntly that they’d had enough, so I stopped.
This gave me time to go home and have a shower before I picked Alana up from Cubs (there’s nothing worse than standing at Cubs with all the parents, after coming straight from the gym, and you’re dripping with sweat and not smelling the best!).
Did alot of stretching and alternating lunges and squats when I got home. (See Mr Mac, I am listening to your advice )
I know it’s really strange for me, but I hardly took any photos while we were at Apollo Bay.
Luckily I’ve just checked the offical website for photos and found these. As you can see Michelle and I had a smile on our face even when running up the mother of all hills
This was the view from our apartment. You can see people running past who were just finishing the Marathon
And here we are about to head out to the pub once we’d got showered
Exercise: Netball Game (Propels)
Now that the cooler weather is arriving I’m finding it hard to get motivated to walk out of my nice warm house in the evening to play Netball.
However I’m glad that I do go as it’s such a great way to keep fit, but of course it does also have it’s drawback when it comes to injury (broken fingers, pulled muscles etc). Luckily I haven’t suffered any of these for a while now.
We lost tonight but we played really hard. The other team just seemed to be able to shoot the goals.
Oh well, there’s always next week
Exercise: 23km Run - GOR (8’s)
Well what can I say - It’s been a fantastic weekend and Michelle and I had a great time down at Apollo Bay.
The weather, however, was not nice at all
We drove down on Saturday morning in absolutely torrential rain. It only really stopped once we’d hit the Great Ocean Road. Scary is probably an understatement when driving along the M1 with absolutely no visibility and trucks hurtling along on either side of the car
We finally got to Apollo Bay and found the apartments where we were going to stay. They were literally within 200 metres of the finish line
We made it just in time to see the start of the 14km run and tried to find Kathryn in the crowd. Luckily we spotted her purple rain jacket as she ran by We then ate some lunch and drank some bubbly stuff while waiting for everyone to return from the run! We ran into Sue & Jed and their tribe at the finish line. It was great to see some familiar faces
Cheered Kathryn and her friend Simon across the line and then wandered back with them to the apartment for a drink and some nibbles.
A very relaxed evening, just getting everything ready for the run, making sure we were hydrated properly. Even ate Pasta for tea
Raceday dawned and it was absolutely peeing it down with rain and howling a gale when I looked out of the window at 4.30am
Luckily by the time that we arrived at the buses that were taking us to Kennett River it had stopped raining. We jumped off the bus at Kennett River and raced straight over to Kathryn and Simon’s cabin. How good did we feel sitting snug as a bug in their cabin while everyone else had to stand out in the freezing cold 
We ventured out to the start line with about 10 minutes to go before the start. There was a fairly decent crowd (over 1200 I believe) and it didn’t take long before we were off.
Long story short, I was amazed at how good I felt the majority of the run. We didn’t stop at all, which I was very surprised about. The hills were nothing like I remembered them to be 2 years ago when I had the worst run
The only downside of the run was the wind and rain. At one point we were running down a hill and the wind was so strong that it didn’t feel like there was any downhill at all. It was literally blowing us backwards
I beat my time from 2 years ago, although we weren’t looking to do any PB’s as this was just another training run in preparation for Gold Coast. Thanks to Sue, Jed and the boys for their wonderful cheering as we neared the finish line
We’d decided that we were going to stay an extra night in Apollo Bay as we just wanted to relax and enjoy the evening, rather than having to rush back home with aching muscles, although saying that, I have no aching muscles
I do have a sore knee again, but I’ve rolled on my foam roller and I’ve stretched it and have rubbed lots of Arnica cream into it too, so I’m hoping it’ll come good quickly like it did last week.
Michelle is trying to talk me into doing the Full Marathon next year
Exercise: 8km Run - Treadmill (Trigons)
My knee has improved quickly. I had a rest day yesterday just to help it along.
Three things have come to mind as to why the quick improvement.
1. I have been doing squats and lunges wherever and whenever I can. It takes no time to do a quick 20 squats, including in my office (when nobody is around 
).
2. I took the strapping off my foot on Wednesday night. Maybe this was having a detramental (sp?) effect on my knee somehow. Had I strapped my foot incorrectly and it was pulling on a muscle or nerve that attaches to my knee?
3. I used my foam roller on Wednesday night and rolled along the ITB area on both legs. Maybe this also helped with things.
Anyway I’m happy to report that the knees are definitely alot less painful today, even after doing a run on the treadmill. I’ll continue to do squats, lunges and roll on my roller.
Now to everyone who couldn’t make out what was written on my shorts, it said “Woody 4 me”. Also, when looking through my old photo album I came across a photo of me wearing my all time favourite outfit as a teenager. My Levis, Treads and Miller Shirt. How cool was I
Alana’s Quote: “Mum why does your bottom wobble?”
Exercise: 6km Run - Treadmill (7’s Blue)
Wanted to do 8km this morning, but could only manage 6km
Now Kathryn, you wanted to know who my favourite Bay City Roller was. Well here’s a clue (you have to look very closely at the photo).
OMG, I can’t believe my Mother let me wear those shorts There is definitely no way that I’d let Alana wear anything with her bum hanging out like that
Okay Beki, here’s a few songs that have alot of meaning for me. In no particular order:
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
You Don’t Treat Me No Good - Sonia Dada
Against All Odds - Phil Collins
Show me Love - Robin S
Love Generation - Bob Sinclair
Okay, Beki put up a post which asked 3 questions:
1. Name your all time favourite song that you will never get sick of
2. List the ten songs that would make the “sound track of your life” i.e. your other favouritist songs that are not your bestest ever
3. The one song that you love but are too embarrassed to admit it to anyone. The more embarrassing the better
So here goes:
1. Blondie - In The Flesh………I have loved this song since the day I heard it and I played it over and over and over on my record player at home when I bought the 45 (showing my age now!!), so much so that my Mum took the record off me for a while.
2. I found it very hard to come up with just 10 songs that are my favourites. Here’s just a selection:
Linger - The Cranberries
Girlfriend - Avril Levine Remix with Lil Mama (much better than the original)
Am I ever gonna see your face again - The Angels
Teddy Bear - Elvis
Truly Madly Deeply - Savage Garden
The way you make me feel - Michael Jackson
Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash
On Call - Kings of Leon
First time ever I saw your face - Roberta Flack
Tubthumping - Chumbawumba
3. Okay, here goes: Bye Bye Baby - Bay City Rollers In fact I could list all the Bay City Rollers songs. I don’t know what it is but it just brings back all those girly teenage feelings when I hear the songs, or if I see the videos on the TV
The reason Alana brought up Corey yesterday was because she’d received a very cute hoodie from her Nana in England, and when she came back out from her bedroom after trying it on, she had nothing underneath it, the same as Corey wears his
I did try to highlight to her that girls don’t go bare chested as it’s not proper, but she reckoned that as long as she doesn’t have anything up top then she can be just like a boy
Exercise: Netball Game (Propels)
OMG, my knees
Try playing Netball with sore knees……I almost buckled with the pain in the 3rd quarter. Surprisingly though by the 4th quarter the pain was less than when I started - weird huh
Alana’s Quote: “I want to be just like the party boy”
Me: “Party Boy? What Party Boy?”
Alana: “You know, Corey!”
Exercise: 5km Run - Treadmill (8’s)
I iced my knee all yesterday afternoon yet it was still feeling sore this morning, so I limited my recovery run to 5km.
I remembered to change treadmills though, and the look on the snotty, pleghmy woman’s face when she saw I was on a different treadmill was priceless
Have been to see Corrie (managed to get a lunchtime session) and my knee is not tracking properly, so I have to do specific stretches to help this.
With all the stretches I’ve been given to do for my foot, hip flexors, calf and now my knee, it’ll take me longer to get through these than actually doing a long run
Exercise: 4km Walk/Run - Mothers Day Classic
Exercise: 19km Run - Michelles place to Home (Trigons)
Don’t you just hate it when you go to bed at a decent time and wake up nearly 2 hours before the alarm goes off and you just can’t get back to sleep again
Anyway the whole family attended the Mothers Day Classic this morning, me and Alana doing the 4km run and Hubby spectating. The weather was good, not too cold (yes I just said that ). There was a fantastic turnout and the organisation was spot on as well.
I was hoping that Alana would do quite a bit of running, but unfortunately she got “stitches” almost as soon as we started to jog. I’m not sure if it was just a reaction to her being really nervous about running in her first fun run, but we ended up walking most of the way.
I tried to make it as fun for her as possible, but she just wasn’t having any of it. It was only when we got to the 3km mark that her “stitches” magically disappeared and she was able to run down to the finish line. She was determined to beat me over the line and get a better time than me
Once finished we went back to the main area to collect our showbags and medals, then wandered around the tents for a little while before heading back to the car.
Hubby then dropped me off at Michelle’s place. Part of my training program was to do a slow 20km run today, so I ran with Michelle for 10km along the Dandy Creek Trail where we parted company. Michelle then ran back home and I ran home too. Worked out well for both of us.
I’m still having trouble with my knees though. They are very sore to touch, and I think my quads are pulling them out of alignment a little bit, so a visit to Corrie is in order I think. She’ll fix me up!
Exercise: 25km Run - Lysterfield Lake to Grants Picnic Ground and return (7’s Blue)
Okay, who thought it would be a good idea to scoff potato cakes and chips just before a long run I blame Michelle 
Even though it was a great run, I had a pain in my stomach the whole way and I had to stop and walk a few times when the cramps got the better of me
I suppose the fact that I hadn’t really hydrated very well last night, other than a glass of champers, and also hadn’t really eaten the right foods….in fact didn’t eat anything last night, didn’t really help matters either
We were very lucky with the weather and it didn’t actually start to drizzle until we were about 500 metres before the end. Legs are a little weary right now and there’s a little niggle in my right knee which I’ll fix with some ice and nurofen gel, but otherwise I’m not feeling too bad.
I did consider jumping into a cold bath when I got home, but banished the thought pretty quickly
Here’s Michelle and I at the half way point
Hope to catch up with everyone at the Mothers Day run tomorrow. Time for bed now as I have to get up at stupid o’clock to be there for the 4km run
Exercise: 12km Run incl 6 x 800M Yassos - Croydon Track (8’s)
After a late night last night, the alarm going off at 5am was the last thing I wanted to hear
Michelle and I wanted to try and get in a 15km run and incorporate 8×800m yassos as well. Alas, the pitstop at the loos and the slow pace warming up meant that it wasn’t to be
The reason for my late night was to go and watch Michelle graduate
I have to admit that other than watching Michelle go up on the stage to receive her certificate, all decked out in her robes, this must have to be one of the most boring things going
I swear that the guy who holds the big silver staff thing when all the big wigs walk on to the stage was actually falling asleep in his chair on the stage. And the guy who reads out everyone’s name as they come up on the stage must have each person’s name written in plain english, as some of those names were pretty hard to pronounce
Anyway, here she is in all her glory
Exercise: 8km Run - Treadmill (Trigons)
Yes, thanks Mr Mac for highlighting that I did not get the 20km run in that I’d planned on Tuesday
However, there is a good reason for that. I shall endeavour to explain (but not in too much detail )
My original plan was to go to the gym both in the morning and the evening. The morning visit went off without a hitch.
I bought some new snacky things at the supermarket on Tuesday at lunch time - Arnotts Vita-Wheat 100% natural Grain snacks to be exact. Unfortunately they did not agree with me - not one little bit. And by the time I got home from work I was not in a very good way
Let’s just say that I’m glad there was a toilet very close by Okay, enough of that.
So I didn’t get to the gym on Tuesday evening to do the 12km extra bit that I was planning on. Then yesterday morning I was still feeling the affects of these horrible things and didn’t want to risk any “accidents”
This morning my stomach had settled down heaps, thankfully
Not sure about anyone else, but I always get on the same treadmill at the gym. There is a woman who also gets on the same treadmill each morning, the one right next to mine. I’d like to slap this woman over the head one morning soon 
She has phlegm stuck in her throat and snot up her nose every time she gets on that damn treadmill, and I can hear her coughing and snorting, even through my music, which is turned up very loud. It’s pretty disgusting. I’ve decided to choose another treadmill to call my own. It will be at the other end of the gym too
Alana this morning - free dress day at school (PSP clutched tightly in hand!!)
Exercise: 8kkm Run - Treadmill (7’s Blue)
I woke up in a bit of a daze this morning, thinking that I didn’t actually have to get out of bed. Unfortunately reality hit me about 5 seconds after that thought and I grudgingly got up and went to the gym.
Whereas yesterday’s 8km run was pleasant and quite comfortable, this morning was a whole other story. I just didn’t seem to have it in me to run at any speed, or with any energy.
I’m pretty sure it was because of the hard game at Netball last night, and also the fact that I didn’t really eat the right kind of food to give me the energy to run. Must think about these things a bit better in future
I’ve found another lovely bottle of champers. This one is from Chile. It’s called Fresita
Exercise: Netball Game (Propels)
I love me a good game of Netball and that’s what this one ended up being, even though we lost by 2 goals.
The other team only had 4 players and we can’t start a game until the team has 5 players. Every minute that we weren’t on the court we got a goal awarded to us. So by the time the 5th player turned up, we were already 7 goals in front and we hadn’t even started playing
Unfortunately we just didn’t play well enough as a team to make use of the lead we’d been given.
The umpires at the end of the game said it was one of the best games they’d umpired for a while as they hardly had to pull anyone up for contact, obstruction, step etc. And one of the umpires came up and apologised to our team for making a bad call during the game. We all nearly fell over
No problems with the foot
Exercise: 8km Run - Treadmill (8’s)
I was supposed to be meeting Michelle this morning for an easy 20km run but there was a text message waiting for me when I got out of bed to say that she wasn’t able to make it.
Two things went through my head:
1. Yay, I don’t have to run
2. Yay, I can go back to bed.
Then I got real and realised that I still should run as this marathon that’s looming on the horizon is not going to run itself
So I got dressed and went to the gym. I’ll do my long run tomorrow as I have more time then. I did a very comfortable 8km and the foot was fine.
Okay, update from my appointment with the Podiatrist on Saturday.
He checked out my scan pictures and x-rays and confirmed that there was definitely no stress fracture. He then checked out the trainers that I’d bought with me. No problems there either. He was impressed with the Arch Lock thingy that the Hurricanes have in them (whatever that is!!) and confirmed that they are definitely a good trainer to run in.
Then I jumped on the treadmill without shoes or socks, then with shoes and socks. Then we went outside and he made me run up and down the grassy area outside the sports place. He was quite happy with my form (really….. ) and didn’t see any problems with how I run. I have to question what the Sports Doctor was on about then when he told me I don’t run correctly….. 
After I’d described how the pain felt after Trailwalker and even now, he thought that it sounded like a classic case of a sprained ankle and wanted to know if I’d rolled it whilst doing Trailwalker. I had no idea as it was so long ago now and my brain was pretty much mush by the time that the foot was hurting.
So he’s taped it up to help support it (made sure I watched exactly what he did when taping it so that I know what to do if I have to tape it myself) and has given me some stretching exercises to do, and also wants me to ice it more regularly.
I can also start back running properly again
A great day out yesterday at Puffing Billy, watching everyone at the finish line. Michelle and I got up there early enough to get a car parking space inside the Lake. We met Sue and her boys already set up in a prime position at the finish line to see everyone run past so we joined her.
It was great to cheer eveyone, although I noticed the most of them seemed very focused and didn’t even see us. I wonder if this is the case when Michelle and I run too. Never really thought about it before.
Then we drove back to Belgrave and met up with loads of Ausrunners and Coolrunners at Macawbers pub. Lovely social afternoon
And check out these mushrooms/toadstools that we saw at Emerald Lake. The colour is just amazing.
Exercise: Jillian Michaels DVD - 30 Day Shred - Level 1
I want to try and do Jillian’s workout every day if I can. I really want to see if I get the results that she raves on about.
I could feel the lunges I did on Wednesday when I did them again tonight. It hurt
After doing it for 10 days I’ll move up to Level 2 and see how that goes.
Now did anyone watch “I’m a Celebrity, get me out of here” tonight? It was first shown in the UK about 6 or 7 years ago and a new series has been filmed every year since. Unfortunately it’s taken this long to be aired over here. But if you want a real laugh, you have to watch it.
Exercise: 7.5km Run - Croydon Track (Trigons)
I met Michelle at the track this morning. Michelle had the idea that the running surface would be much gentler on my foot than maybe Mullum Mullum trail (which is where we were going to run).
Can you believe that I was actually excited
I even woke up early and was so fidgety that I had to get out of bed otherwise I may have woken up Hubby.
The run was slow, and we went round and round and round
There was no pain……until Michelle happened to notice that I was limping. I hadn’t really noticed it at all, so we stopped then. It was only when I’d stopped that I felt a very light ache underneath my foot, but nothing too bad, otherwise I would have felt it straight away.
There is no pain now so I think it’s just my foot getting used to running again after it’s holiday
And did we all watch Biggest Loser last night? I could not believe how much more weight both Alison and Kirsten had lost since the show last week. OMG they both looked fantastic. I was really happy that Sam won the main money. Imagine being 19 years old and having $200 grand in your bank account……PARTY TIME
Seeing the Podiatrist tomorrow morning. Em, I will definitely remember to take my shorts with me. Will also take all 3 pairs of running shoes so that he can check them out too.
And I’ve just added up that my Hurricane 7’s have now done 700km so a new pair may see the light of day soon
