Some Days You Just Feel Fantastic

I was a feeling a little flat and fatigued when I went to gym this afternoon and had even considered giving it a miss - I'm glad now that I didn't. I went at the worst time of the day - the cardio room was crowded and there was only a couple of bikes available. It didn't worry me too much at the time because I wasn't that keen on jumping on the treadmill anyway. I got on one of the bikes ( I still don't really know how to operate them) and thought I would do 30mins or wait until one of the treadies became available - within about 5mins 3 of them were available. I kept going on the bike because I was working up a good sweat and I was feeling pretty good - eventually I settled on doing 20mins. Now the last time I did this and tried to run right after doing a session on the bike I felt like I was learning how to run again, but not today. I am not sure why but I'm thinking that last time I did 30mins and my muscles may have been more fatigued but today I felt really loosened up and got into a good rhythm straight away - I was feeling great! I was full of energy, I felt really upright and even though I was going 5:21 pace I felt like I was standing still. I didn't want to get carried away with myself and start trying to run 4min km's so I thought I would try and do 4 sets of 500m hill climbs with 500m recoveries. So I did that little made up session and finished off the last 10mins at 5:00min pace.

Today:
7.6kms in 40mins on a 1 incline

Week: 36kms
Month: 253.4kms

Monday Workout

Not much to report here. I did another gym session on the trusty treadmill - I took it easy to start and finish but in the middle pushed it a little harder. Felt good afterwards and surprisingly fresh given that the session was almost run at 5:00min pace and yesterdays long run.

Today:
8.9kms in 45mins on a 1 incline
First 15mins done at 5:15pace, next 20mins done at 4:45pace and last 10mins done at 5:15pace.

Week: 28.4kms
Month: 245.8kms

Improved Longer Run

Last Sunday I managed to do a long run of 1hr30mins and I set myself the target of improving this by 10mins each week - today I managed to go 1hr45mins. The only reason I did 5mins more then what I set out for was that I thought 1hr45 sounded better then 1hr40 - pretty silly I know, but I have little quirks like that. I did the run on the treadmill again as I figure I have one more week of my gym membership left and I may as well get my money worth plus after this week all my running will be done in the great outdoors. My knees are just aching with the thought!

I've tracked down all the info on the Cairns Road Runners so once I get settled in I'm going to join up with them. I think it will be great and keep the interest there as well. I'm also going to start a serious program. My plan has always been to get a base level of fitness and ability to work with and then step up and take things a little more seriously. I think I have reached the point now where I am competent enough to tackle a Half-Marathon without disgracing myself and I want to train smarter rather then harder.

Its going to be an exhausting week. I have spent the last 2 days procrastinating wishing that all my stuff would miraculously pack itself - somehow I dont think its gonna happen and I'm going to have to bite the bullet and start getting stuck into it.

Today:
19.5kms in 1hr45mins on a 1 incline

Week: 19.5kms
Month: 236.9kms

End Of Another Training Week

I pulled up pretty well from the Aus Day Fun Run which is a good sign. I had visions of me waking up barely being able to walk but apart from a little soreness in the knee that was about it. Its been interesting reading the varied accounts of runners all over Australia and their impressions of the Aus Day Fun Run - overall you would have to say that it wasn't very positive. When I read BlueDog's report of the Sydney Run I have to say I cracked up laughing - funny stuff and a nice flipside to the usual reviews everyone writes.

I have one more week left here in Toowoomba and I've decided to put the house on the market rather then rent it out. So anyone wanting to buy a lovely 3bedroom home in Toowoomba - look no further! Once the pics are up on the Real Estate website I'll put up the link.

Today:
9.3kms in 50mins on a 1 incline

Week: 60.1kms
Month: 217.4kms

Australia Day Fun Run

After getting about 2hrs sleep I left Toowoomba at 4-30am and tried to give myself plenty of time to get Brissy as I hadn't yet registered for the run. I left my car at Indooroopily and caught the train into the city and walked to Southbank. I arrived at Southbank at about 7-20am and there was already quite a crowd there and heaps of people trying to register like me. I don't have any Fun Run experience so I don't have anything to compare this run with (except City 2 Surf) but there were quite a few things that could have been improved on in my opinion. Firstly, they ran out of Race Bibs so I got given a bit of A4 paper with my race number written on it. I didn't think anything of this at the time but at about the 6km mark of the run the A4 paper was that soaked with sweat it was just a mushy bit of pulp that could no longer be held onto my shirt with the safety pins - thus it fell off and I had to turn around and go back and pick it up. No big deal I only would have lost maybe 20seconds but it annoyed me a little at the time. Secondly, it was a hot and humid day and when I got to the first drink station ( just after the 2K mark) there was only 2 people giving out water and by the time I had got to them the people in front of me had got all the water. I didn't panic I just thought there would be more drink stations ahead - there wasn't! Still no big deal - I could get water at the 6K mark. No I couldn't! By the time I came back for the second leg the 2 people that had been handing out water had garbage bags and were walking around picking up the discarded cups from the track. So I ended up running the 8km's without a drink - no wonder when I was finished I polished off 8 cups of water.

I don't want to be too critical of the planning and organising of the run. Maybe most Fun Runs are the same - to me I just got the impression that they ended up having a heap more people running then what they anticipated. I still had an enjoyable time and am glad I made the effort and did it. Surprisingly I only saw ONE Cool Running cap for the entire run - I am not sure who it was (unidentified male runner). I did however see heaps of R4YL caps and plenty of what I suspect to have been crew of the USS Ronald Reagan. There was a little short dude who was dressed like a Drill Seargent who was about 20metres ahead of me for the last 3/4kms. I was determined to beat him but with about 500metres to go he got away from me.

So, how did I go? I am still not sure what to make of my run - I finished with a time of 37.47. When I finished and looked at the time I was pretty happy but the more I thought about it the more I was disappointed. I went out really hard and by about the 5km point I knew I was struggling. From then on it was just a case of trying to maintain a speed that I knew I could hold for the last 3km - there was no fast finish and there was definitely no negative splitting the run. I am really going to have to learn how to pace my runs better.

Not sure if they give a race time or even how they would do it - all they did was take my bib and put it on a desk spike when I finished. How on earth do they know what time everyone did? Hope everyone else who ran today had a great day and posted some good times.

Today:
Australia Day Fun Run - Brisbane SouthBank 8km: 37.47

Week: 50.8kms
Month: 208.1kms

I Hate Moving!

Moving house is possibly one of the worst things you can ever have to do. The amount of crap that is accumulated over the years is quite staggering. I can't wait until all this is over.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I did an hour on the treadmill. My calf muscle was still a little sore but I wanted to do a good session as today I only planned on doing a short one due to the Aus Day Fun Run tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the run - apart from City 2 Surf its the only Fun Run I've ever done. I have no idea what time I am likely to do but ideally I would like to run under 40mins for the 8kms.

Tuesday: 11.3kms in 60mins on a 1 incline
Today: 5.7kms in 30mins on a 1 incline

Week: 42.8
Month: 200.1

I also got tagged by Go Girl with the blog questionaire - so here it goes:

What was I doing 10 years ago?
This time 10yrs ago I had just got my first permanent posting with the National Bank after spending a year on relief staff. It didn't last long though - I quit the bank not long after and went back to Uni full time to finish my Commerce Degree (I had been studying externally).

Five snacks I enjoy?
Mars Bars, Herb & Spice Flavoured Rice Cakes, No Fat French Vanilla Yoghurt, Maggi 2min Noodles and Bananas

Five songs I know all the words to:
Cradle of Love - Billy Idol
Boys of Summer - Don Henley
Blow Up The Pokies - The Whitlams
Take On Me - A-Ha
Beautiful Day - U2

Five things I’d do as a millionaire:
Holiday in a Chalet in the Swiss Alps every year
Watch the FA Cup Final Live every year
Buy a high rise unit on the Gold Coast with Beach Views
Make some shrewd investments
Have the best Home Theatre system money could buy

Five things I like doing:
Watching movies, reading, travelling, trivia nights and I'll show my immaturity by admitting I love playing PlayStation and Xbox games.

Heading North

Well its official - I'm going to Cairns! I would have preferred Brissy but I had my suspicions it was going to go this way. As nice a place as Toowoomba is I've been working here long enough and need a change. I sure am going to miss Winter though - no that isn't a joke. I love cold weather, it was one of the reasons I moved south originally. Thankfully I've got all next week to get everything organised and make my way north. Not sure whether or not to sell the house or rent it out - if anybody with a bit of real estate knowledge has any opinions please feel free to shoot them my way.

Anyway, to the running news. I woke up with a really tight left calf muscle - very nasty and I even had trouble walking on it - my first really serious injury. It got a little better the longer the day went on and I went to gym tonight. Once I started running it didnt bother me but once I cooled down it was still there. If it is still sore in the morning I suppose the prudent thing to do is have a couple of days rest.

Today:
8.8kms in 45mins on a 1 incline

Week: 25.8kms
Month: 183.1kms

Sunday Long(er) Run

The battle to do a decent size long run began today and I've started reasonably well I think. Yesterday was my rest day but since I had a fairly easy week I was feeling guilty all day and at about 5pm it got the better of me. I didn't want to run - I try to at least have one day off a week, but I needed some sort of aerobic workout so I had this idea of skipping! Now I haven't skipped since about Gr. 8 at school but from what I remembered it was a good workout and easy. I searched around the garage looking for some sort of rope I could use to skip - that was a half hour ordeal in itself! Eventually I found a good rope which I cut and found a place on the back patio clear of plants, chairs, beams etc. When I started Lara thought we were going to play so she kept running towards me and then she would get scared by the rope and take off and turn around and do it again - she did this for about 2mins before finally just laying down about 2metres in front of me. Ripley (the cat) sat on the water tank staring at me as if I was totally nuts! I started off going at what I thought was a comfortable skipping pace, but what the hell do I know what a comfortable skipping pace is? After about 2 or 3 mins my arms were dead, my calf muscles were burning and I was sweating bullets. Skipping is definitely an excellent exercise for strengthening the calf muscles. Before I started I had this idea of doing 30mins - fat chance of that! I settled on doing just 10mins and thats tougher then any 60min run I've ever done. After my skipping fiasco I took Lara for a run up Lara's hill - so by the end of yesterday I wasn't feeling so guilty anymore.

Today my calf muscles were a little tender and my knee was a bit niggly - from the skipping no doubt. I was going to go out on the open road but since I was a little injured I decided to play it safe and make my way to the gym. I got there at about 2pm and thankfully the cardio room was empty and freezing cold. I punched in 90mins on the treadmill and started off at 5:27pace. I did this pace for the first 30mins before eventually going a little quicker every 15mins. I really wanted to do 17km for the 90mins but since I had my mp3 player on and just zoned out I forgot to work out what pace I needed to go for the last 15mins to make sure I got to that mark - when I finally snapped out of my zen like state I realised it turned out I had to do my last 2kms at just over 4:00min pace. I'm happy to say that I got my 17km in with 3 seconds to spare.

The plan next Sunday is to go for 100mins and each week I'm going to try and go an extra 10mins. I don't suspect it will be a problem as I felt surprisingly fresh after the run today - the big test will be how the body feels in the morning.

Today:
17kms in 90mins on a 1 incline

I'm Back!

Well I've been back since Wednesday afternoon but just haven't got around to updating my blog. I had a good couple of days in Cairns and I think I bought the rain back with me. Surprisingly Cairns wasn't as hot as I expected and remembered but it was very humid - overall not that different to the heat and humidity we've been having here in the SE of Qld the last few weeks. I had orignally intended on doing a long run on Sunday with one of my mates but after about 10mins he decided he wasn't feeling up to it and piked out and we only did 5km - I was a bit disappointed but the plan was to do the long run on Monday then. The 5km circuit was a good one and was a tough road run up into one of the hilly affluent areas of Cairns - lovely views of the City. I was happy with the run especially considering that about 1.5kms of it was right up into the side of the mountain and I had to wait for about 1min and run around and around in a cul de sac until my mate reached the top before we turned to go back down.

I had a pretty hectic day on Monday and wasn't feeling all that energetic. I also pulled up a little sore in my quads as well but I was still keen to do at least a decent size run. My mate and I decided we would do two circuits of the same run from the day before and I knew this would be an excellent test to see how well I could handle a really tough hill session. Once again about 10mins into the run my mate decided he only wanted to do one circuit - I told him to just get through the first one and then see how he was feeling and then make up his mind. I am now starting to question just how intense he's training has been the last few months! We practically were walking the first lap and as strange as this sounds I find running at a really slow pace extremely uncomfortable and even tiresome. I didn't want to go out too hard though because I really wanted to get my mate to stick out a second circuit. About half way into the first lap it started to bucket down rain and as drenched as my clothes and shoes were it was quite refreshing. We also passed a group of about 25 runners - they looked pretty hardcore and I couldn't spot any Cool Running Gear on any of them. I'm guessing they were probably members of the Cairns Road Runners. As we were finishing the first lap I asked my mate if he was ready to do it all again and he said he didn't think he could - so I did what any good friend does and resorted to the proven motivational method by calling him a 'nancy boy'. Surprise, surprise, it worked! So we headed out and did it all again - at snails pace! When we were about 800m from finishing I told him we would really put an effort in and finish it strong. He agreed and we took off. I went hard and after about 100m turned around to see where he was - about 50metres behind me! I kept going and finished it off at a fair clip and my mate shuffled in a minute later. After I had cooled down I noticed that my knees were a little sore - running up hills doesn't bother them but running down sure does. I knew my mate wouldn't have the slightest inclination of running on Tuesday so I decided I would just forget about running and have a rest day. There are so many great places to run in Cairns. I noticed I spent most of my time driving around areas telling myself 'that would be a great place to run' over and over! How sad is that?

I was happy to get back to Toowoomba on Wednesday - as much as I enjoyed my time in Cairns I like being in the comfort of my own home and environment. I also noticed the healthy diet went out the window and I ate a heap of crap! I'm still feeling pretty guilty about that.

I dragged myself to the gym late Wednesday and did a session on the treadmill. On Thursday I had another busy day so gym was out of the question and I just did my hill circuit around home and then took Lara for a short run as a cool down afterwards. Today I finished the week off with another session on the tready for a week total of 44.3kms.

Sunday: 5kms in 27min 20secs
Monday: 10kms in 59mins 25secs
Wednesday: 11.5kms in 60mins on a 1 incline
Thursday: 4.6kms in 21mins 45secs + 1.6km cool down
Friday: 11.6kms in 60mins on a 1 incline

60kms For The Week

I'm pretty happy with that! I had no idea how many kms I'd done for the week until I added them up tonight and it just so happened that by doing 9.6kms today it took me to exactly 60kms for the week. I felt great today as well, if I hadn't of been in such a rush to get home I would have kept going.

Today:
9.6kms in 50mins on a 1 incline

I felt a little sore after my TT yesterday but still dragged myself to the gym. I did 10mins on the eliptical cycle thingy just to warm up and get the body moving and then did a 45mins run on the tready. Apart from the humidity the run felt good and I think something I've neglected the last 2 months is a proper warm up before running - apart from the obligatory few stretches I never really do anything else.

I leave for Cairns on Saturday and have organised a good long run with one of my mates for Sunday. We haven't caught up since City 2 Surf and he's kept on with his training since then, unlike me who took 2mths off afterwards - so should be interesting. Along with him and another mate we've committed ourselves to the SMH Half-Marathon and Gold Coast Half-Marathon and are in competition to see who can run a half-marathon in under 100mins first. We've all agreed since that maybe sub 100mins was a little ambitious!

Today:
8.5kms in 45mins on a 1 incline

My 2nd Unofficial 5km TT

I got to the gym a little earlier today and thankfully there weren't too many people there. Around this time last month I did my unofficial 5km TT so I thought I would do one today and see if I've gone forwards or backwards. I decided to go out a little harder then last time and if things got nasty I would just try and hold on from there. Once I had started and got into a good rhythm I was feeling awesome - I love the feeling of running at a fair pace and I even feel like a runner when I do it. Everything was feeling comfortable and unlike the troubles of yesterday my breathing was very relaxed. The hill in the run kicked in but like last time I just maintained my pace and told myself it would be over before too long. Once I had finished the hill I realised I still had plenty of gas in the tank and I jumped up to 4:07 pace. I think I kept on this pace for about 600metres and then for the last 500metres went up to 4:00 pace - unfortunately thats as far as the treadmill will go! I was so disappointed! I really wanted to pick up the pace in the last 500m because I was feeling fantastic and wanted to be absolutely spent by the end of it. The end result : 22mins and 22 seconds. I went 51 seconds better then last month and I have no doubt next time I will go under 22mins. After the TT I did another 20mins at a very gentle pace to cool down.

Today:
5kms in 22:22 TT
3.5kms in 20mins
Total: 8.5kms in 42:22

25 Sweaty Bodies

No matter what time I get to the gym it seems the cardio room is always crowded at the moment. Yesterday every single bit of equipment was being used - too many new years resolutions I think! The room isn't that big and they never have any of the windows open - just the air conditioning going. When I walked into the room the air was hot and it smelled like a combination of sweat and womens perfume. Despite all this I decided to push on. I started on the treadmill with the intention of doing 60mins and after about 10mins I was once more lathered in sweat and starting to find it hard to breath - something that has nevered happened to me before. I began trying to suck in deep breaths and that helped a little bit. I was thinking at the time the reason it was probably so hard to breath was because the room was chocka full and they didn't have ONE window open - 25people in a tiny room working out and not one single windown open! I was even feeling a little claustrophobic and I'm sure that didn't help my breathing. I slowed my pace down marginally and manged to stick out the 60mins but by the end of it I was happy just to get out of that little sweat box!

Today:
11.2kms in 60mins on a 1 incline

Busy Day

I almost didn't get to the gym today and if I hadn't I wouldn't have really minded. I felt exhausted and didn't really have much energy.

I have to go to Cairns next week for a couple of days and it looks as though that may be my permanent home again.

Today:
7.6kms in 40mins on a 1 incline

A Longer Run

I got up the motivation to go for a longer run so I made sure I had my mp3 player and plenty of water and tried to get to the gym when I knew there wouldn't be too many folks around. It was a nice cool day with all the rain and storms we've had but the humidity must be the real killer - I still sweat like you can't believe. When I was finished my run I looked like I had just walked out from underneath a shower - I definitely sweat more from running on a treadmill then out in the open air.

The original plan was to run for 90minutes but about 30mins into the run my mp3 player died - flat battery! I didn't panic because the cardio rooms always has the big screen TV going with one of the music channels playing but unfortunately they were playing a Bernard Fanning concert! I dislike Bernard Fanning (Powderfinger) immensely - apologies to Brissy folks and fans. I tried to just zone out and after about an hour I was drenched and I could feel my socks were ringing wet (this I've discovered gives me blisters) and I was feeling very uncomfortable. I knew 90mins was a bit ambitious considering all this so I decided 80mins was the go. I was feeling ok by the end of the run and even managed to do the last 5mins in 4:30pace.

After todays episode I've decided my long runs are going to have to be out on the road. I sweat far too much in the gym and its too uncomfortable to keep going for any long periods of time. Thanks to those who posted replies after my little sulk the other day - its you guys who will keep me motivated and I really appreciate it.

Today:
14.6kms in 80mins on a 1 incline

53km's For The Week

This is the first time I've done 50+K's for a week so its a bit of an achievement for me - yay me!

I keep telling myself that I have to build up my longer run on the Sunday but running any longer then 60mins is becoming a bit of mental barrier for me. I've no doubt I can physically do it and have done it ( I ran for 75mins almost 2 weeks ago) but I'm getting to a point where I'm asking myself 'why do it?' Running for any longer then 60mins makes me go stir crazy! Last week I thought if I went and ran out in the boonies and got amongst nature it might invigorate me but all it did was make me realise how easy it is to roll an ankle on uneven ground and how easy it is to swallow an assortment of insects while running out in the open. I think I'm starting to get into a bit of a running rut!

Today:
11.5kms in 60mins on a 1 incline

Repeating Myself

I don't have too much to report lately, I just seem to be saying the same things ie. Its hot, I went for a run and I felt good or bad or ok. So today it was hot, I went for a run and I felt good.

I'm going to try and crack the 50km mark for the week tomorrow! I'm starting to get a little bored so these little milestones are whats keeping me going at the moment.

Today
8.8kms in 45mins on a 1 incline.

Run Before The Storm

I went to the gym at about 6-30pm right before we were hit by a bumper storm. The humidity was awful and after about 10mins on the treadmill I was drenched in sweat and feeling very tired. Usually I try and finish the back half of my runs faster then the first half but this time I was just trying to complete the session in one piece.

Today:
11.3kms in 60mins on a 1 incline

Hill Run

Just did 30mins today on hills setting on the treadmill. I had to run at about 1-30pm so it was too hot to go for anything longer then that. Supposedly Toowoomba is in for a couple of cool days starting Thursday - gotta say I'm looking forward to that!

Today:
5.6kms in 30mins on hills setting

Mini-Triathlon

I thought I would try something different today and do a mini-triathlon. A dip in the pool seemed like a good idea as well as it was stinking hot again. I'm guessing this is the first time I've been in a swimming pool for maybe 10yrs or more. My Dad used to be a swim coach and although I was strong swimmer I never really cared for it. Waking up at 4-30am five times a week when you're a teenager isn't exactly the most appealing thing in the world. When I was about 15 I gave up swimming to concentrate on tennis and cricket - much to the disappointment of my Dad. I still used to do some swimming - school and Uni carnivals and even did some swim legs in triathlon relays but after Uni I can't ever recall jumping in a pool again. My plan today was to swim 1500metres, bike for 30mins and run for 30mins - I had no idea how or if I would even be able to do this but the whole idea got me very curious.

The swim was surprisingly easy, not a blistering time by any stretch of the imagination but it was very comfortable and not bad considering I hadn't been in a pool for so long - 1500metres in 24.55. I couldn't go straight onto the exercise bike - I had to shower and change so it was about 20mins before I got onto the bike (possibly one of the longest ever transitions). To my embrassment I didn't know how to get the exercise bike going - I've never used the bikes before. I ended up pressing a few buttons and programmed an ironman course into the computer and put in a level 5. I have no idea what all of that meant but it was all good. The course was up and down hills and I managed to do 13.2km in 30mins. I went straight onto the treadmill as qucikly as I could and I'm lucky I didn't fall flat on my face as I started running - it was as if I was learning to run for the first time. It was one of the most bizarre sensations I've ever experienced - I knew what I wanted to do but the legs wouldn't co-operate. I had to go at 6:00min pace for the first 2mins until I could get some co-ordination going. Eventually everything felt alright and I settled into a nice groove and even did the last 5mins at 4:21 pace. I ended up completing 5.8kms for the 30min run.

Although this was just a way to vary my training I have to say I really enjoyed it and was feeling quite proud of myself by the end of it all. I wasn't dead on my feet afterwards and kept thinking how great it would be to actually do a real triathlon - food for thought and something I think I would like to pursue once I have my running at a level I'm happy with.

Today:
1500metre swim
30min bike
5.8kms in 30mins on a 1 incline

The Start of 2006!

To start 2006 off I went and did my 10K road circuit. It was still pretty hot and humid when I started but nothing to stress out about, I took a bottle of water with me though just in case. I wore my heart rate monitor as well and set the upper limit to 165 - as it turns out that was a big mistake because for about 60% of the run the watch was vibrating! The last time I did this circuit I felt very comfortable, today I felt terrible. About half way through I was even giving serious thought to pulling up and just walking home. I am not sure what the problem was but I think I may have started out way too hard and fast and from then on it was just a case of holding on. The hills all seemed like they were at 60º, the slightest breeze felt like a cyclonic headwind and my legs felt like lead - I didn't enjoy the run the slightest bit. It hurt and I even nearly had a chuck up the final hill! When I got home I just collapsed onto the front lawn and wondered what on earth happened. I went from a nice casual run to one that nearly killed me in the space of 2 weeks.

The only good thing to come out of the run was that is was actually 7 seconds faster then the last time. A PB to start the new year - but what a way to do it!

Today:
10kms in 48:20