Today's run: 5.8km, 46 mins 41 secs
That good run that I was looking for finally happened! After last nights horrible effort I got myself out of bed early (for me) this morning at 6:50 and got going for a run. I was planning on doing 5.8km, but had in mind various short cuts if I felt horrible or my back hurt again. I started ok, no aches or pains, and the great thing was, I just kept going in that same way! I didn't get an achey back, I didn't get stomach cramps, I didn't get sore shins or hips! My calves were a little tight at various parts of the run, but hey, I can live with that! I was pretty happy with the length too. I had tried this run I think last weekend, but I couldn't find one of the paths I had seen on google maps and the run I did ended up being about 400m short. I managed to do the full run today and probably could have gone a little further, but that would have broken the 10% rule, so I figured that was next weekends job. I came across the triathletes in the park I run through again this morning. They're so super fit and fast. Maybe one day.
For now, I'm happy to have gotten another good run in. I am not so down and out about the whole thing anymore. In a half an hour or so I'm going for a bike ride with my Dad. Probably not a long ride, but perhaps helping me on the way to a triathlon one day - if only I could swim better than an 8 year old!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Another crappy run...
Today's run: 4.8km, 38 mins 51 secs
It hasn't been a good few days, running wise. After running on Thursday night with my running group, and getting back pain and exercise induced asthma, I took a complete rest day on Friday. After vacuuming on Friday though, my back started to become sore again. So rather than do my 5km fun run on Saturday morning, I took another rest day. On Saturday, my back was fine, which was good. So this evening (Sunday), I went out for a 4.8km run. It started off ok, and my back was behaving itself. I had various twinges at various parts of my run. My left hip would be sore for a while, then my right shin was sore for 200m or so. But after about 3km or so, I got an intense stomach cramp, which was no fun at all. I've had this once before, the first time I went to my running group, I think. It was almost like an intense hunger pain, but tonight I had to stop and walk for 50m. Now I may be a bloody slow runner, but I always keep going, I don't stop and walk. After the initial pang of pain, and the little bit of walking I did, I was able to keep running (very slowly) until I finished my run. The funny thing is, that tonight, I had a small handful of chips to eat about 30 mins before my run because I was hungry. But the other week when this happened before, I hadn't eaten since lunch time and was running at about 6:30pm at night again. So I can't work out whether it has anything at all to do with eating.
Whilst I'm pleased I managed to make it to the end of my run running, I need one of those runs soon (you, know, the really good kind). On Tuesday I have to go back to work after summer holidays of being able to run whenever I want to. Not only is work going to be spectacularly busy, but I am worried that it's going to be hard to fit in time to run amongst everything else. And I don't want to be a fair-weather runner, or a summer-holidays runner. I want to be a real runner. I've almost been there before, and stopped after a year or so for various (flimsy) reasons. I want to read this blog in 5 years time and still be running, and laugh at how slow I was and how small the distances are.
Come on good run... come and get me!
It hasn't been a good few days, running wise. After running on Thursday night with my running group, and getting back pain and exercise induced asthma, I took a complete rest day on Friday. After vacuuming on Friday though, my back started to become sore again. So rather than do my 5km fun run on Saturday morning, I took another rest day. On Saturday, my back was fine, which was good. So this evening (Sunday), I went out for a 4.8km run. It started off ok, and my back was behaving itself. I had various twinges at various parts of my run. My left hip would be sore for a while, then my right shin was sore for 200m or so. But after about 3km or so, I got an intense stomach cramp, which was no fun at all. I've had this once before, the first time I went to my running group, I think. It was almost like an intense hunger pain, but tonight I had to stop and walk for 50m. Now I may be a bloody slow runner, but I always keep going, I don't stop and walk. After the initial pang of pain, and the little bit of walking I did, I was able to keep running (very slowly) until I finished my run. The funny thing is, that tonight, I had a small handful of chips to eat about 30 mins before my run because I was hungry. But the other week when this happened before, I hadn't eaten since lunch time and was running at about 6:30pm at night again. So I can't work out whether it has anything at all to do with eating.
Whilst I'm pleased I managed to make it to the end of my run running, I need one of those runs soon (you, know, the really good kind). On Tuesday I have to go back to work after summer holidays of being able to run whenever I want to. Not only is work going to be spectacularly busy, but I am worried that it's going to be hard to fit in time to run amongst everything else. And I don't want to be a fair-weather runner, or a summer-holidays runner. I want to be a real runner. I've almost been there before, and stopped after a year or so for various (flimsy) reasons. I want to read this blog in 5 years time and still be running, and laugh at how slow I was and how small the distances are.
Come on good run... come and get me!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Can't. breathe. any. air.
Went to my running group this evening. We started off with a warm up, and I was slowest around the oval during that. We stretched a little, that was fine. We did some drills. They were ok, except for the ones where you had to start out slowly and get faster towards the end. I was slowest there too. The main event for the evening though, was a 3km time trial. 3km is not very far, I think to myself, I should be ok doing this. And I was taking it as a gauge to see perhaps what kind of time I might do on Saturday during my 5km fun run. The trainer says "go", and everyone sets of. Within 100m, I am again last. My running group, by the way, is not full of speed demons (although there are a few) - many of them are plodders but they are still quicker than me! Anyway, there I am, tail-end Charlie. Everything was going ok until 2.75km. Then it happened - I just couldn't get enough air in. I'm trying to puff and pant and suck in the air, but it just felt like it wasn't going further than my mouth... nothing seemed to be getting down my air way. By this stage one of the quicker runners (after a 10 minute breather because they'd finished so long ago) had run back to run the last leg home with me. Mostly because I didn't want to give up or look bad, I kept running and made it to the finish in a crappy time I'm not pleased with. When I finally did finish, I didn't even have enough air to say to anyone how I felt. I'm guessing exercise induced asthma, although I've never had any kind of asthma before. And to top it all off, about half way through the 3km I started getting a niggling ache on the left hand side of my back... higher than the butt muscle, sort of next to the hip, really low down on my back. Anyone know what that muscle is / what may be causing it / how to fix it?
OK. There's my rant and feeling sorry for myself post. Tomorrow is a 100% total rest day. I think 5 days running in a row is too much now. Hopefully my time on Saturday's fun run is not too disappointing.
OK. There's my rant and feeling sorry for myself post. Tomorrow is a 100% total rest day. I think 5 days running in a row is too much now. Hopefully my time on Saturday's fun run is not too disappointing.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
A crappy run... followed by a great ride
Today's run: 3.2km, 25 mins 17 secs
Today's run was dreadful. After feeling so great yesterday, I had legs of lead today. I couldn't get a rhythm going, I couldn't pick my legs up, I felt heavy and clunky, and got sloppy and tired and lost my form again. Whilst 3.2km is a short run by most people's standards (and even by mine now) I was pleased just to make it that far without stopping to walk.
Half an hour after my run, I met my Dad and we went for a bike ride. As a contrast to my awful run, my ride was great! I felt really good, and rode the furthest I ever have (19.2km - again short by many standards!). The hills still just about killed me, as they always do, but I felt quite comfortable during the ride.
You'd think with all this sudden increase in exercise that I would lose a kilo or two, or a cm here or there, but no. I don't suppose the whole bag of chips I ate the other day helped much, but apart from that binge, my diet hasn't been that bad... well no worse than normal anyway!
Today's run was dreadful. After feeling so great yesterday, I had legs of lead today. I couldn't get a rhythm going, I couldn't pick my legs up, I felt heavy and clunky, and got sloppy and tired and lost my form again. Whilst 3.2km is a short run by most people's standards (and even by mine now) I was pleased just to make it that far without stopping to walk.
Half an hour after my run, I met my Dad and we went for a bike ride. As a contrast to my awful run, my ride was great! I felt really good, and rode the furthest I ever have (19.2km - again short by many standards!). The hills still just about killed me, as they always do, but I felt quite comfortable during the ride.
You'd think with all this sudden increase in exercise that I would lose a kilo or two, or a cm here or there, but no. I don't suppose the whole bag of chips I ate the other day helped much, but apart from that binge, my diet hasn't been that bad... well no worse than normal anyway!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
A redeeming run
Today's run: 4.8km, 37 mins 14 secs
Today I redeemed myself. Instead of piking after my 3.2km loop like I did yesterday, I continued on and made it a 4.8km run. So that was the first thing I was happy about. There were points during my run where I started to loose form a little, but not as badly as on the weekend. At the end of the run, in about the last 400m, I started running stronger, and lasted to the end of the run, which was great.
These are the kind of runs that make me feel great. I feel like I am improving on these runs, and I feel confident that (eventually) I will get better.
My confidence today is helpful, because I am entering my first 5km fun run on Saturday at a local Australia Day event. I'll be using this time to enter Vanilla's Shave Your 5K Challenge. My best ever time for a 5km a couple of years ago when I was running was 29:26. A couple of years before that when I was running I achieved 34:18. I would so love to get in under that 30 minute mark, but geez that's a lot of improvement from what I ran today... Here's hoping!
Today I redeemed myself. Instead of piking after my 3.2km loop like I did yesterday, I continued on and made it a 4.8km run. So that was the first thing I was happy about. There were points during my run where I started to loose form a little, but not as badly as on the weekend. At the end of the run, in about the last 400m, I started running stronger, and lasted to the end of the run, which was great.
These are the kind of runs that make me feel great. I feel like I am improving on these runs, and I feel confident that (eventually) I will get better.
My confidence today is helpful, because I am entering my first 5km fun run on Saturday at a local Australia Day event. I'll be using this time to enter Vanilla's Shave Your 5K Challenge. My best ever time for a 5km a couple of years ago when I was running was 29:26. A couple of years before that when I was running I achieved 34:18. I would so love to get in under that 30 minute mark, but geez that's a lot of improvement from what I ran today... Here's hoping!
Monday, January 21, 2008
A change in form
Today's run: 3.2km, 25 mins and 23 secs
Since I have started back to running this time around, my form has changed quite a bit. I used to think I was a mid to fore foot striker when I ran before, but I have now discovered that I wasn't. In fact, I was probably a classic heel striker. One of the things that has really changed my form this time is the barefoot warm ups I do with my running group. It's true what they say - when you run without shoes you definately land on your mid to fore foot. So that's what I've been trying to focus on when I run at the moment. For the most part, that's easy enough, although my legs still get quite tired during a run, and I turn into a sloppy runner, just happy to keep putting one leg in front of the other, any way I can! The last couple of runs in particular though, I have been getting quite tight calves, and I'm pretty sure that that's a result of my new stride. I also have always had tight hamstrings.
I guess the point that I'm getting to, is that I think I need to focus on stretching. Stretching previously has always seemed like such a big hassle. And I'm the sort of person (and I wish I wasn't), that if it all starts to get too hard, and seem like a pain, then I will just give up and not do it. But I don't want to get to that point this time. I don't want to be a giver-upperer, I want to be a runner.
So I'm off to investigate some stretches. Wish me luck!
Since I have started back to running this time around, my form has changed quite a bit. I used to think I was a mid to fore foot striker when I ran before, but I have now discovered that I wasn't. In fact, I was probably a classic heel striker. One of the things that has really changed my form this time is the barefoot warm ups I do with my running group. It's true what they say - when you run without shoes you definately land on your mid to fore foot. So that's what I've been trying to focus on when I run at the moment. For the most part, that's easy enough, although my legs still get quite tired during a run, and I turn into a sloppy runner, just happy to keep putting one leg in front of the other, any way I can! The last couple of runs in particular though, I have been getting quite tight calves, and I'm pretty sure that that's a result of my new stride. I also have always had tight hamstrings.
I guess the point that I'm getting to, is that I think I need to focus on stretching. Stretching previously has always seemed like such a big hassle. And I'm the sort of person (and I wish I wasn't), that if it all starts to get too hard, and seem like a pain, then I will just give up and not do it. But I don't want to get to that point this time. I don't want to be a giver-upperer, I want to be a runner.
So I'm off to investigate some stretches. Wish me luck!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Back on the horse...
Today's run: 5.4km, 41mins 56 secs
After scoffing that entire bag of chips on Friday (I still feel bad about that), I had great intentions to run on both Saturday and Sunday. When I woke on Saturday though, it was raining, and my stomach still felt disgusting from all that food. The weather report said the rain would clear in the afternoon though, and I thought that waiting would give me a chance to digest a bit more food and I might feel better for a run in the evening. I should have known, but the weather report was very wrong! It rained, quite heavily, all day long. I don't mind going out in a shower, but heavy rain is another thing... In the evening, once I had dinner, of course it stopped, but by then it was dark, I was at my parent's place, and I was once again very full! So there's my long winded excuse for why I didn't run yesterday.
This morning when I woke up it was not raining! Yeah! However it was pretty humid, as the sun was out and sucking up all the moisture that was now in the ground after the rain... (yes folks, it's summer here!). I had planned a 5.8km route that I was going to take, however there was a path on the route that I hadn't taken before, and when I got to that point I couldn't find it! So I ended up taking a weird short / long cut, and my route ended up only 5.4km. Oh well, I was just glad I got out there in the end.
There's more showers forecast for the next week so hopefully I get some more decent runs in!
After scoffing that entire bag of chips on Friday (I still feel bad about that), I had great intentions to run on both Saturday and Sunday. When I woke on Saturday though, it was raining, and my stomach still felt disgusting from all that food. The weather report said the rain would clear in the afternoon though, and I thought that waiting would give me a chance to digest a bit more food and I might feel better for a run in the evening. I should have known, but the weather report was very wrong! It rained, quite heavily, all day long. I don't mind going out in a shower, but heavy rain is another thing... In the evening, once I had dinner, of course it stopped, but by then it was dark, I was at my parent's place, and I was once again very full! So there's my long winded excuse for why I didn't run yesterday.
This morning when I woke up it was not raining! Yeah! However it was pretty humid, as the sun was out and sucking up all the moisture that was now in the ground after the rain... (yes folks, it's summer here!). I had planned a 5.8km route that I was going to take, however there was a path on the route that I hadn't taken before, and when I got to that point I couldn't find it! So I ended up taking a weird short / long cut, and my route ended up only 5.4km. Oh well, I was just glad I got out there in the end.
There's more showers forecast for the next week so hopefully I get some more decent runs in!
Friday, January 18, 2008
A confession...
I just ate a whole bag of Tasty Jack's chips (potato chips for Americans). Yes the family size bag, not the single serve bag. In fact reading the nutrition (or lack thereof) label, 4 serves. I am disgusted with myself. I couldn't even eat dinner. No doubt I will pay for it when I try to run tomorrow morning. And to make matters worse all I have done all day is sit on the couch watching tv and reading running blogs / websites / forums. (OK, so I did ride this morning, but haven't moved from my living room since about 10:30am).
Bad, bad slow poke.
Bad, bad slow poke.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
A post about nothing...
Today's run: Running group, 90 mins
Today's post is a hodge podge of different things... so bear with me (or not...).
I haven't posted for a couple of days, so first of all a quick update of what I have been doing training wise for the last couple of days. Two days ago, on Tuesday, I did a 5km run. I was pretty happy with this - for a couple of reasons. First of all, it was my first 5km run that was not with my running group, so I proved to myself again that it wasn't just a fluke, and that I could do it. I also pushed myself a bit and managed to do it in a faster time than I ever used to do 5km when I was running a couple of years ago. So yeah for me! Yesterday was a cross-training day and I did about 10km on my bike. For anyone else who rides, 10km is bugger-all, but there is a big hill where I ride (I'll stop whingeing soon) and I am even newer to bike riding than I am to running. Today was my running group. Funnily enough, I drove home from it this evening thinking that I didn't feel too bad and I should have pushed myself harder, but we spent a great part of the evening running hills and flights of stairs - so maybe my quads will disagree with me and I will have worked just hard enough! On the way to my running group tonight, I again had the conversation with myself along the lines of "It's going to rain this evening" (it did, and the sprinkling was nice and cooling), "I've just done lots of working today - I'll be tired" (well I felt crappy during the warm up but ended strongly), "But I like running on my own" (yes I do, but I need someone to kick my arse every now and then because I think I let myself off the hook too much). The bunch of people who run there are great fun too, although most of them are lucky and only live 10 mins or so away (unlike the almost hour I drive...). So I'm glad I went... and I needed to document here how much I enjoyed it for next week when I am trying to talk myself out of going!
Other things to note - I had my 100th visitor last night! Congratulations Topher... for your efforts you win a link from my blog to yours! (Now don't you feel special!) I was going to arrange for those cannons to blow little bits of shiny paper all over you, but you know... Before I get too excited about 100 people having visited my blog, I guess I need to take into account the several-times-a-day that I check my blog, just to see if the counter's gone up since last time. The I also need to subtract the times that I visited my blog to purposefully increase the counter and make it look like I'm more popular than I am. So I guess the real number is probably down nearer 80... or maybe 60... or maybe 40... Whatever the real number is, I'm amazed that I have had visitors at all! Thanks, Complete Running Network!
The final thing I would like to say is that I have resolved to make my blog funnier. I have been reading lots of other running blogs as "research" (let's call it that anyway), and decided that mine is too boring. How am I doing tonight? Did I get a chuckle out of anyone?
Today's post is a hodge podge of different things... so bear with me (or not...).
I haven't posted for a couple of days, so first of all a quick update of what I have been doing training wise for the last couple of days. Two days ago, on Tuesday, I did a 5km run. I was pretty happy with this - for a couple of reasons. First of all, it was my first 5km run that was not with my running group, so I proved to myself again that it wasn't just a fluke, and that I could do it. I also pushed myself a bit and managed to do it in a faster time than I ever used to do 5km when I was running a couple of years ago. So yeah for me! Yesterday was a cross-training day and I did about 10km on my bike. For anyone else who rides, 10km is bugger-all, but there is a big hill where I ride (I'll stop whingeing soon) and I am even newer to bike riding than I am to running. Today was my running group. Funnily enough, I drove home from it this evening thinking that I didn't feel too bad and I should have pushed myself harder, but we spent a great part of the evening running hills and flights of stairs - so maybe my quads will disagree with me and I will have worked just hard enough! On the way to my running group tonight, I again had the conversation with myself along the lines of "It's going to rain this evening" (it did, and the sprinkling was nice and cooling), "I've just done lots of working today - I'll be tired" (well I felt crappy during the warm up but ended strongly), "But I like running on my own" (yes I do, but I need someone to kick my arse every now and then because I think I let myself off the hook too much). The bunch of people who run there are great fun too, although most of them are lucky and only live 10 mins or so away (unlike the almost hour I drive...). So I'm glad I went... and I needed to document here how much I enjoyed it for next week when I am trying to talk myself out of going!
Other things to note - I had my 100th visitor last night! Congratulations Topher... for your efforts you win a link from my blog to yours! (Now don't you feel special!) I was going to arrange for those cannons to blow little bits of shiny paper all over you, but you know... Before I get too excited about 100 people having visited my blog, I guess I need to take into account the several-times-a-day that I check my blog, just to see if the counter's gone up since last time. The I also need to subtract the times that I visited my blog to purposefully increase the counter and make it look like I'm more popular than I am. So I guess the real number is probably down nearer 80... or maybe 60... or maybe 40... Whatever the real number is, I'm amazed that I have had visitors at all! Thanks, Complete Running Network!
The final thing I would like to say is that I have resolved to make my blog funnier. I have been reading lots of other running blogs as "research" (let's call it that anyway), and decided that mine is too boring. How am I doing tonight? Did I get a chuckle out of anyone?
Monday, January 14, 2008
Just catching up on some reading...
This afternoon, whilst I was waiting for my non-run with my running group (see post below!), I was sorting through some of my things (I moved about 6 months ago, and there is always that LAST box that takes forever to get unpacked!) and I found my old running logs.
So I sat and curled up on the lounge with it and read through them. I had run from the beginning of Feb '06 to about September '06. In the end I hurt my neck and couldn't run for a couple of weeks, then I never really got back to it...
It was interesting reading. I started with the couch to 5km program, and it was great reading about all my new distance milestones. There were plenty of crappy runs, and lots of days where I would have a 'twinge' on a shin, or I could 'feel' my hip, but (touch wood) I never really had any injuries. There were plenty of runs where I felt like I just couldn't pick my feet up and run any longer, but most of the time I managed to. And boy, I was slow. But it was great to read it all again and think that I could be back to doing 10-13km long runs (even if they took me almost a couple of hours!).
Certainly some food for thought there. When I came home tonight I filled in my new running log, as I usually do, but made sure I put plenty of detail in there - who knows, I might be reading them again in a couple of years! (Of course, I will still be running though! ;-) )
So I sat and curled up on the lounge with it and read through them. I had run from the beginning of Feb '06 to about September '06. In the end I hurt my neck and couldn't run for a couple of weeks, then I never really got back to it...
It was interesting reading. I started with the couch to 5km program, and it was great reading about all my new distance milestones. There were plenty of crappy runs, and lots of days where I would have a 'twinge' on a shin, or I could 'feel' my hip, but (touch wood) I never really had any injuries. There were plenty of runs where I felt like I just couldn't pick my feet up and run any longer, but most of the time I managed to. And boy, I was slow. But it was great to read it all again and think that I could be back to doing 10-13km long runs (even if they took me almost a couple of hours!).
Certainly some food for thought there. When I came home tonight I filled in my new running log, as I usually do, but made sure I put plenty of detail in there - who knows, I might be reading them again in a couple of years! (Of course, I will still be running though! ;-) )
It's a conspiracy...
Today's run: 3.2 km, 22 mins 41 secs
As the title says, it's a conspiracy. This evening I was meant to go and run with the running group I joined again. It never happened.
Unlike last time, I was ready to go on time. I had hydrated well, I hadn't eaten since lunch so I wasn't running on a full stomach, and I had all my gear together. I had put my handbag in the boot of my car last time, and I wasn't comfortable with that, so I took the cash I needed for the training fee with me. However, I was only about 5 minutes from home when I discovered that I was going to run out of petrol before I got there. And besides my entry fee money, I only had enough other cash to buy about 3L of petrol. Even if I had stopped for petrol, I then would have been late again!
So I reluctantly turned around and headed for home again. At least I was ready in my running clothes and all I had to do was park my car again and go run. I did my usual 3.2km route again, albeit quite a bit quicker than last time. I had contemplated doing 5km tonight since I wasn't going to get as much of a workout as if I had been with my running group. However, as I started running I started to ache in my lower back, below my waist but above my backside. Towards the end of my run, this sort of moved to the left hand side of my body. Not sure at all what caused this... but thought it was better to do less than more since I'm really still getting back into running. Also since I hadn't eaten since lunch, I started getting pains in my stomach and cramps towards the end of my run and ate ravenously when I got home! Now as I walk this evening after my run, I feel a slight 'twinge' in my left shin.
Truth be told, I was a bit nervous about going back to the running group. Whilst the people were lovely and the trainer was great, my efforts that evening were similar to what I would put into a race - and to back that up with the same again a few days later is a big ask. Like I said, I don't want to overdue this too soon! Plenty of time for that later!
As the title says, it's a conspiracy. This evening I was meant to go and run with the running group I joined again. It never happened.
Unlike last time, I was ready to go on time. I had hydrated well, I hadn't eaten since lunch so I wasn't running on a full stomach, and I had all my gear together. I had put my handbag in the boot of my car last time, and I wasn't comfortable with that, so I took the cash I needed for the training fee with me. However, I was only about 5 minutes from home when I discovered that I was going to run out of petrol before I got there. And besides my entry fee money, I only had enough other cash to buy about 3L of petrol. Even if I had stopped for petrol, I then would have been late again!
So I reluctantly turned around and headed for home again. At least I was ready in my running clothes and all I had to do was park my car again and go run. I did my usual 3.2km route again, albeit quite a bit quicker than last time. I had contemplated doing 5km tonight since I wasn't going to get as much of a workout as if I had been with my running group. However, as I started running I started to ache in my lower back, below my waist but above my backside. Towards the end of my run, this sort of moved to the left hand side of my body. Not sure at all what caused this... but thought it was better to do less than more since I'm really still getting back into running. Also since I hadn't eaten since lunch, I started getting pains in my stomach and cramps towards the end of my run and ate ravenously when I got home! Now as I walk this evening after my run, I feel a slight 'twinge' in my left shin.
Truth be told, I was a bit nervous about going back to the running group. Whilst the people were lovely and the trainer was great, my efforts that evening were similar to what I would put into a race - and to back that up with the same again a few days later is a big ask. Like I said, I don't want to overdue this too soon! Plenty of time for that later!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Triathletes
Today's run: 3.2 km, 25 mins 23 secs, ran continuously (no walk breaks)
Today I went out and did my usual 3.2 km loop. I was able to run the whole thing non-stop, which I was pretty pleased about! I considered adding on another half a loop, so that my run would be 4.8 km, but I decided that since I planned on running with my Running Group again on Monday, I should not kill myself with effort now, as that would be done for me on Monday afternoon!
As I ran my loop today, I was joined by about 50 or so triathletes! Whilst there is no pool or lake or anything near by, they were obviously practicing their bike and run legs. I think they were doing something like ride 2 laps, run a lap, repeat etc. Triathletes are very fit people! There were some older guys (50's or 60's) and some very young guys (10 or so) and everything in between. They certainly put my efforts to shame!
Traithlons are out of the question for me as I'm a crappy swimmer. I do have an old second hand bike though, and sometimes take it out for some cross training. Maybe one day!
Today I went out and did my usual 3.2 km loop. I was able to run the whole thing non-stop, which I was pretty pleased about! I considered adding on another half a loop, so that my run would be 4.8 km, but I decided that since I planned on running with my Running Group again on Monday, I should not kill myself with effort now, as that would be done for me on Monday afternoon!
As I ran my loop today, I was joined by about 50 or so triathletes! Whilst there is no pool or lake or anything near by, they were obviously practicing their bike and run legs. I think they were doing something like ride 2 laps, run a lap, repeat etc. Triathletes are very fit people! There were some older guys (50's or 60's) and some very young guys (10 or so) and everything in between. They certainly put my efforts to shame!
Traithlons are out of the question for me as I'm a crappy swimmer. I do have an old second hand bike though, and sometimes take it out for some cross training. Maybe one day!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
I joined a running group!
I joined a running group today and it was great! Aside from being weak from exhaustion, I am bubbling over with excitement over how good it was!
I very nearly didn't make it this afternoon either. One part of being on holidays that I love it nanna naps in the afternoon. Not that I had particularly exhausted myself today, but I found myself lying on the couch this afternoon and managed to doze off. Anyway, when I woke up and looked at the time, it was exactly when I should have left to meet this running group for the first time. So after a very hasty change of clothes and grabbing my bodyglide and a bottle of water, I raced out the door and was on my way. The whole way there I was balancing looking at my speedometer and the clock, hoping to make it on time!
Anyway I finally made it, and was only a few minutes late. As I parked the car, I had a brief moment where I tried to convince myself that I was too late, and should probably just turn around and head home (symptoms of me trying to chicken out), but after a 45 minute drive I figured I'd give it a go.
The warm up was a barefoot run, which I had never done before and had always wanted to try. The good thing was that I didn't have to change my running style to go barefoot, which I guess means that my style is ok to begin with. After a few drills the main part of the session was basically running 5 km, which was broken into km sections where we had to aim to go 10 seconds faster or slower than previous splits, with the aim of getting better at pacing. Because I was the second slowest runner there, I only had a few seconds rest in between each of the km sections too!
The best thing about the whole session was that I RAN ALL 5 KM!!! I guess the Couch to 5km plan is out the window now... As I said before, I was slow, but man I'm proud of myself!
This particular running group meets a couple of times a week - and I'm going to try and make it there as much as I can. That will be much easier during the holidays - during term time (I'm a teacher) I think I will struggle. That's partly because it could take me up to an hour to get there because of the traffic, plus with my mortgage and interest rates rising the money it will cost me to go twice a week might be pushing the limits of my bank account.
Anyway, I am very pleased with myself tonight and am going to take a well earned rest day tomorrow!
I very nearly didn't make it this afternoon either. One part of being on holidays that I love it nanna naps in the afternoon. Not that I had particularly exhausted myself today, but I found myself lying on the couch this afternoon and managed to doze off. Anyway, when I woke up and looked at the time, it was exactly when I should have left to meet this running group for the first time. So after a very hasty change of clothes and grabbing my bodyglide and a bottle of water, I raced out the door and was on my way. The whole way there I was balancing looking at my speedometer and the clock, hoping to make it on time!
Anyway I finally made it, and was only a few minutes late. As I parked the car, I had a brief moment where I tried to convince myself that I was too late, and should probably just turn around and head home (symptoms of me trying to chicken out), but after a 45 minute drive I figured I'd give it a go.
The warm up was a barefoot run, which I had never done before and had always wanted to try. The good thing was that I didn't have to change my running style to go barefoot, which I guess means that my style is ok to begin with. After a few drills the main part of the session was basically running 5 km, which was broken into km sections where we had to aim to go 10 seconds faster or slower than previous splits, with the aim of getting better at pacing. Because I was the second slowest runner there, I only had a few seconds rest in between each of the km sections too!
The best thing about the whole session was that I RAN ALL 5 KM!!! I guess the Couch to 5km plan is out the window now... As I said before, I was slow, but man I'm proud of myself!
This particular running group meets a couple of times a week - and I'm going to try and make it there as much as I can. That will be much easier during the holidays - during term time (I'm a teacher) I think I will struggle. That's partly because it could take me up to an hour to get there because of the traffic, plus with my mortgage and interest rates rising the money it will cost me to go twice a week might be pushing the limits of my bank account.
Anyway, I am very pleased with myself tonight and am going to take a well earned rest day tomorrow!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Holiday luxury
Today's run: 26 mins 10 secs, 3.2 km Couch to 5km program Week 4 Day 3
(3 mins running, 90 secs walking, 5 mins running, 2 1/2 mins walking, repeat)
Man, I love summer holidays. I woke up at 9am this morning (woohoo!) and after a glass of water and getting changed, I went out for a run. Today is a much cooler day, and the temperature was nice for running. It's now 10:30am, I haven't showered yet and I am sitting here filling in my blog post. What a nice start to the day.
Today's run was great. I was actually not sure whether or not to go for a run today - tomorrow I intend on trying a training session with a running group near me, and that will make it 4 days running in a row. I figure I'm probably going overboard right about now, but I felt good this morning so off I went.
Picked my feet up again as I was running today and I felt faster and stronger than I have on any of my other runs - I could get used to that!
(3 mins running, 90 secs walking, 5 mins running, 2 1/2 mins walking, repeat)
Man, I love summer holidays. I woke up at 9am this morning (woohoo!) and after a glass of water and getting changed, I went out for a run. Today is a much cooler day, and the temperature was nice for running. It's now 10:30am, I haven't showered yet and I am sitting here filling in my blog post. What a nice start to the day.
Today's run was great. I was actually not sure whether or not to go for a run today - tomorrow I intend on trying a training session with a running group near me, and that will make it 4 days running in a row. I figure I'm probably going overboard right about now, but I felt good this morning so off I went.
Picked my feet up again as I was running today and I felt faster and stronger than I have on any of my other runs - I could get used to that!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Undoing good works
Today's run: 24 mins 44 secs, approx 3km, Couch to 5km Week 4 Day 2
(3 mins running, 90 secs walking, 5 mins running, 2 1/2 mins walking, repeat)
Managed to get out this morning for another run whilst at Sis's. Was pretty proud of that fact too - it would have been easy to give myself another rest day and start again tomorrow when I got back home, but I didn't. My butt muscles are still sore from the mountain climb too!!!
Ran a similar route to yesterday and checked myself out again in the window of the shopfronts that I passed. I consciously tried today to pick my feet up after I put them down rather than shuffle along just grazing the surface of the pavement like a slow hovercraft. My reflection reflected an improvement in my running form - that is to say, I looked more like I was running and less like I was shuffling. There's still not much air underneath me yet, nor pace - but at least I look a bit better doing it!
On the way home from Sis's I undid all I achieved by running the last two days whilst I was visiting - when I filled up with petrol at the start of the trip (which is about 4 hours), I got myself a Mint Aero Bar (man, I love those chocolates). Then, since it was dinner time whilst I was driving I stopped halfway at McDonalds and got some fries and a quarter pounder. Bad Slow Poke, bad Slow Poke. Losing weight is NOT going to happen if I don't eat better than usual, as well as run.
(3 mins running, 90 secs walking, 5 mins running, 2 1/2 mins walking, repeat)
Managed to get out this morning for another run whilst at Sis's. Was pretty proud of that fact too - it would have been easy to give myself another rest day and start again tomorrow when I got back home, but I didn't. My butt muscles are still sore from the mountain climb too!!!
Ran a similar route to yesterday and checked myself out again in the window of the shopfronts that I passed. I consciously tried today to pick my feet up after I put them down rather than shuffle along just grazing the surface of the pavement like a slow hovercraft. My reflection reflected an improvement in my running form - that is to say, I looked more like I was running and less like I was shuffling. There's still not much air underneath me yet, nor pace - but at least I look a bit better doing it!
On the way home from Sis's I undid all I achieved by running the last two days whilst I was visiting - when I filled up with petrol at the start of the trip (which is about 4 hours), I got myself a Mint Aero Bar (man, I love those chocolates). Then, since it was dinner time whilst I was driving I stopped halfway at McDonalds and got some fries and a quarter pounder. Bad Slow Poke, bad Slow Poke. Losing weight is NOT going to happen if I don't eat better than usual, as well as run.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Through the looking glass
Today's run: 24 mins 32 secs, approx 3kms, Couch to 5k Week 4 Day 1
(3 mins running, 90 seconds walking, 5 minutes running, 2 1/2 minutes walking, repeat)
Well as promised, I'm here at Sis's and managed to drag myself out of beg this morning for a run. And I did have to drag myself. Do you know how much your butt muscles hurt from walking up and down a HUGE mountain??? Well, if you haven't already gathered, it hurts a lot! At 9:15 when I made it out the door, it was also about 28 degrees celsius already, and my nose is still blocked from my allergies.
But I made it out for a run. This blog is actually good insurance for making me run - if I start missing runs now, then I have nothing to blog about! Only 24 mins today, but I made it.
The title for today's blog post comes from that exercise in vanity I'm sure everyone has done at some stage (come on, admit it!). I made the mistake of turning my head to watch my running style as I ran past a shop window. And I can tell you, it was not a pretty site. Certainly what I am doing at the moment cannot be classified as running - it's really more of a glorified shuffle. I need to start picking my feet up as I run... they must stay about a centimetre or so from the ground! Normally I run in a park near my place, so I have not had the pleasure (?) of checking out my style. Something to work on, but I am ashamed to run in public looking like that for too much longer!
My conundrum at the moment is do I get to 5km shuffling as I do, then try and pick my legs up, or would I be better to try and improve my style now?
(3 mins running, 90 seconds walking, 5 minutes running, 2 1/2 minutes walking, repeat)
Well as promised, I'm here at Sis's and managed to drag myself out of beg this morning for a run. And I did have to drag myself. Do you know how much your butt muscles hurt from walking up and down a HUGE mountain??? Well, if you haven't already gathered, it hurts a lot! At 9:15 when I made it out the door, it was also about 28 degrees celsius already, and my nose is still blocked from my allergies.
But I made it out for a run. This blog is actually good insurance for making me run - if I start missing runs now, then I have nothing to blog about! Only 24 mins today, but I made it.
The title for today's blog post comes from that exercise in vanity I'm sure everyone has done at some stage (come on, admit it!). I made the mistake of turning my head to watch my running style as I ran past a shop window. And I can tell you, it was not a pretty site. Certainly what I am doing at the moment cannot be classified as running - it's really more of a glorified shuffle. I need to start picking my feet up as I run... they must stay about a centimetre or so from the ground! Normally I run in a park near my place, so I have not had the pleasure (?) of checking out my style. Something to work on, but I am ashamed to run in public looking like that for too much longer!
My conundrum at the moment is do I get to 5km shuffling as I do, then try and pick my legs up, or would I be better to try and improve my style now?
Sunday, January 6, 2008
6th Jan - Climb every mountain
Saturday and Sunday have included no running for me. I had already said that I was visiting my sister and her husband for a few days, but I had intended to run on Saturday morning before I left. I woke up early enough on Saturday, got changed into my running clothes and was ready to go. However as soon as I got out of bed that morning my legs were still quite sore from the last 3 days of running. So even though I felt like a big fat quitter, I didn't run. There are lots of ways in which I feel like I let myself down by not running that day, but my logical brain tells me I did the right thing.
Today (Sunday) I hadn't planned on running, so the three of us a climbed a mountain near their place instead. After coming down with a horrible dose of hayfever last night, I found that pretty hard going today. 1hr 20 mins straight up, 10 minutes at the top to recover and eat a sandwhich, 40 mins down. My throat and nose were really itchy, my nose started to block up, and I had trouble getting my breath. I am hoping that all the (legal) drugs I am doping myself up on will help when I try a run tomorrow. By the way, throughout all of this walk it was about 35 degrees celsius and there wasn't much shade!
It's been nice spending time with my sister and her husband - lots of good food, conversation etc. Tomorrow after I go for a run in the morning, Sis and I plan on indulging in some retail therapy. Should be good!
Today (Sunday) I hadn't planned on running, so the three of us a climbed a mountain near their place instead. After coming down with a horrible dose of hayfever last night, I found that pretty hard going today. 1hr 20 mins straight up, 10 minutes at the top to recover and eat a sandwhich, 40 mins down. My throat and nose were really itchy, my nose started to block up, and I had trouble getting my breath. I am hoping that all the (legal) drugs I am doping myself up on will help when I try a run tomorrow. By the way, throughout all of this walk it was about 35 degrees celsius and there wasn't much shade!
It's been nice spending time with my sister and her husband - lots of good food, conversation etc. Tomorrow after I go for a run in the morning, Sis and I plan on indulging in some retail therapy. Should be good!
Friday, January 4, 2008
4th Jan - Mama needs a new pair of legs!
Todays run: 3.2 km, 28 mins 15 secs, C25K program Week 3 Day 3
(90 seconds running, 90 seconds walking, 3 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, keep repeating)
Today's run was quite good - It was nice and cool (well relative to the last few days anyway), and as I have said in my last few posts, I am excited to get out there each day and get closer to my goals. This was my third straight day in a row of running straight, and my legs felt like it too! Don't get me wrong, I made it round fine, but my legs were heavier to pick up and put down each time compared to 2 days ago.
And the thing is, I am going to my sister's place for a visit from tomorrow (Saturday) to Tuesday. So I don't need to ditch her too many times to go for a run, I'm going to run tomrrow morning as well, before I leave. No doubt my legs will be feeling it then! At least once that's done I know I can have a few rest days, and will probably try to make it out for 1 run whilst I'm there.
(90 seconds running, 90 seconds walking, 3 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, keep repeating)
Today's run was quite good - It was nice and cool (well relative to the last few days anyway), and as I have said in my last few posts, I am excited to get out there each day and get closer to my goals. This was my third straight day in a row of running straight, and my legs felt like it too! Don't get me wrong, I made it round fine, but my legs were heavier to pick up and put down each time compared to 2 days ago.
And the thing is, I am going to my sister's place for a visit from tomorrow (Saturday) to Tuesday. So I don't need to ditch her too many times to go for a run, I'm going to run tomrrow morning as well, before I leave. No doubt my legs will be feeling it then! At least once that's done I know I can have a few rest days, and will probably try to make it out for 1 run whilst I'm there.
3rd Jan - Training Run
Today's run: 3.2km, 27 mins 34 secs, C25K program Week 3 Day 2
(90 seconds running, 90 seconds walking, 3 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, keep repeating)
Today's run was fairly good. My shin was ok today - I could feel it, or at least I was conscious of that spot, but it certainly wasn't painful. After running last night and again this morning, I am feeling like I am crossing some runs off of my training program again. Man I love my long summer holidays too - I can run at whatever time of day I like, and don't have to fit it all in around work and other things that often get in the way!
I have been looking on the internet for a running group that I can join in my area. There are a few possibilities... but I think I will wait until I can at least run 5km again without stopping (albeit slowly!) In particular, there is a group called Can Too! that train people to run a marathon, half marathon or shorter and in return you need to raise money to go to cancer research. The only problem is that I am not sure that I coulod raise the $1250 needed to train for the half marathon in the later part of the year. Something to think about.
Happy running everyone!
(90 seconds running, 90 seconds walking, 3 minutes running, 3 minutes walking, keep repeating)
Today's run was fairly good. My shin was ok today - I could feel it, or at least I was conscious of that spot, but it certainly wasn't painful. After running last night and again this morning, I am feeling like I am crossing some runs off of my training program again. Man I love my long summer holidays too - I can run at whatever time of day I like, and don't have to fit it all in around work and other things that often get in the way!
I have been looking on the internet for a running group that I can join in my area. There are a few possibilities... but I think I will wait until I can at least run 5km again without stopping (albeit slowly!) In particular, there is a group called Can Too! that train people to run a marathon, half marathon or shorter and in return you need to raise money to go to cancer research. The only problem is that I am not sure that I coulod raise the $1250 needed to train for the half marathon in the later part of the year. Something to think about.
Happy running everyone!
2nd Jan - Don't run before you can walk!
Today's Run: 3.2km, 27 mins 47 seconds, Couch to 5km Program Week 3 Day 1
(90 seconds running, 90 seconds walking, 3 minutes running, 3 minutes walking...
keep repeating)
Today's run was ok. I went at about 6 in the evening, as it's been about 30 degrees (celsius) during the day and it had cooled down slightly by then (at least there were more shadows at that time).
Whilst it sounds like a measly effort, it's the first time that I've run more than 90 seconds at a time, and I am bummed that I got some shin pain today in my left leg just below the knee. It's currently being iced with some McCains SteamFresh Peas, Corn and Carrots!
I have been trying to do more than 3 runs a week as I start the C25K program again... Whilst I have actually heard many times that it is easier to start again if you have run before, truth be told it is really just that I am impatient to be running reasonable distances regularly, and would love to do some group training runs and short races. I will need to do some reading on running styles too - when I got the pain I changed my running style and it improved a lot. I did not throw my legs forward so much and put more weight on the ball of my foot (but did not actually run on the ball of my foot).
So I guess the moral of the story for today is to take my time and not rush things. This is a difficult lesson for me, but I don't want to have to learn the hard way. I was watching a program on the web about a group of people Nova trained to run the Boston Marathon in 40 weeks - one girl got shin splits that were stress fractures and had to pull out, and I don't want that to be me.
I guess time will pass and I will get to that point eventually but geez, it seems like it is going to take such a long time!
(90 seconds running, 90 seconds walking, 3 minutes running, 3 minutes walking...
keep repeating)
Today's run was ok. I went at about 6 in the evening, as it's been about 30 degrees (celsius) during the day and it had cooled down slightly by then (at least there were more shadows at that time).
Whilst it sounds like a measly effort, it's the first time that I've run more than 90 seconds at a time, and I am bummed that I got some shin pain today in my left leg just below the knee. It's currently being iced with some McCains SteamFresh Peas, Corn and Carrots!
I have been trying to do more than 3 runs a week as I start the C25K program again... Whilst I have actually heard many times that it is easier to start again if you have run before, truth be told it is really just that I am impatient to be running reasonable distances regularly, and would love to do some group training runs and short races. I will need to do some reading on running styles too - when I got the pain I changed my running style and it improved a lot. I did not throw my legs forward so much and put more weight on the ball of my foot (but did not actually run on the ball of my foot).
So I guess the moral of the story for today is to take my time and not rush things. This is a difficult lesson for me, but I don't want to have to learn the hard way. I was watching a program on the web about a group of people Nova trained to run the Boston Marathon in 40 weeks - one girl got shin splits that were stress fractures and had to pull out, and I don't want that to be me.
I guess time will pass and I will get to that point eventually but geez, it seems like it is going to take such a long time!
1st Jan - Adventures in Blogging and Running
Hi all,
Well, I've never had a blog before. And I'm not exactly sure why anyone would want to read mine - I guess I am thinking that this blog will provide a record for me as I make my foray (again) into the world of running.
I run for about 14 months a couple of years ago. After a neck injury and a break from running due to a work commitment, I just sort of stopped. After piling on a few kilos and needing an outlet from work pressures, I have decided to take it up again.
I started my first run back on 22nd December 2007. I am following the Cool Running (US) C25K program. I used this last time and I found it was a great fit for me. It gets you to alternate running and walking until you build up to running 5km non stop. I'm hoping to get through the C25k program a bit quicker this time.
Since my re-starting of running coincides pretty much with New Years, I have also set myself the goal of running the City to Surf again this year, and of improving my previous time. When I was running in 2006, my efforts culminated with just under 100 minutes for the 14km City to Surf fun run. I was thrilled with that result (my goal was under 100 minutes), but I'd love to get even faster!
OK. I think that is enough of an intro for tonight.... will check back in soon and update you all on how I am going!
Well, I've never had a blog before. And I'm not exactly sure why anyone would want to read mine - I guess I am thinking that this blog will provide a record for me as I make my foray (again) into the world of running.
I run for about 14 months a couple of years ago. After a neck injury and a break from running due to a work commitment, I just sort of stopped. After piling on a few kilos and needing an outlet from work pressures, I have decided to take it up again.
I started my first run back on 22nd December 2007. I am following the Cool Running (US) C25K program. I used this last time and I found it was a great fit for me. It gets you to alternate running and walking until you build up to running 5km non stop. I'm hoping to get through the C25k program a bit quicker this time.
Since my re-starting of running coincides pretty much with New Years, I have also set myself the goal of running the City to Surf again this year, and of improving my previous time. When I was running in 2006, my efforts culminated with just under 100 minutes for the 14km City to Surf fun run. I was thrilled with that result (my goal was under 100 minutes), but I'd love to get even faster!
OK. I think that is enough of an intro for tonight.... will check back in soon and update you all on how I am going!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
