Cross Training

I had a very nice time at the gym this morning! I did 20mins on the elliptical trainer (set for 'fat burn'); 20 mins on the bike (same setting); free weights for upper body work; abs., lunges & stretches; all followed by a refreshing shower. As I said before.....a very nice time was had by Chickybabe!

10km Run

Out late again! 9:30 start, did 10km fairly comfortably. Avg. HR = 80%...& that's it for today for Chickybabe!

Rest Day

A day off from running so we went to the movies to see "Ladies in Lavender" an unpretensious, little whimsy with two wonderful ladies : Maggie Smith & Judy Dench.

'Pace' Run

It has to have a name, so I'll call it a 'pace' run; 10km trying to keep an eye on the monitor which was set to keep as near as possible to a pace of 7:07min/km. or 8.4km/hour.

Now to look at the results : 1st km (walk/jog warmup) 7:24; 7:10; 7:19; 6:48; 7:13; 6:58; 7:01; 7:05; 7:01; 6:27. ...+ 1km (walk) cooldown. HR Avg. = 80%. Since training is 3 days only at the moment, I'm trying to keep the pace up a bit & not run too slowly each day. 11:00am start & the day is very warm for running, but beautiful for a stroll!

That'll come when I take the doggies for their walk this evening; we've met a most friendly cow & her calf in one of the paddocks & they both trot over when I call out to them & wait for a rub on their heads! The mother quite startled me at first when she was right up close to my face, opened her mouth wide & let out a monstrous MOOOOOOooooooo! Very nice! I look forward to 'talking' to them each afternoon!

Week 10... begins with Anzac Day

10th week begins, as always for a Monday, with a rest day.

Sunday's Run

A short run of 12m this morning; started out at 10:00am....a glorious Autumn day in the Southern Highlands. I didn't take watch or monitor again so that I could jog comfortably & enjoy the day; even so, 12kms was enough...how did I ever do those 40+ runs!!!....haven't got it in me now, that's for sure.

Between now & GC marathon, wherever possible, I'll run in the middle (warmest) part of the day so as to get some idea of how different the temperature here in July is from that on the GC in the same month. Hope it'll help!

Now I'm going to be talking to myself about the future!!
I know I'm always thinking, planning way too far ahead, but I like to have events, goals to look forward to over a 12 month period; usually it's been what I'll do between one Canberra marathon & the next! While I was out this morning I started to think : what are the next biggest events after GC marathon? Thinking of half marathons : Bankstown (the Hidden Half) in August? Blackmore's Half in September? Thredbo Half in November? All possibilities. At some stage later this year, I want to drive back to Canberra for a day & go over as much of the marathon course as I can get onto...more unfinished business with that one...will it ever end? Yes, it will! I will do it again next year! Unless, of course, I'm banned from the course, dead or have been kidnapped by the mafia! All, bar the middle of these, I think I can handle.

That's enough thinking aloud for today; a blog is such a good place to do this; putting thoughts into words does clarify things & unburdens the mind.

For the rest of this week, 3 days of training & might slip in 1 day with some deep water running followed by hot spa...I so love luxury; all Chickybabes do!

2 Rest days

I've decided not to run today or tomorrow; legs still a bit tired after yesterday's 12km (a bit too far?); will run 'shortish' on Sunday. For another 2 weeks I'll take it very easy & short on 3 days only. Next post will be on Sunday. Till then, it's good night from Chickybabe!

Mid-Week Run

No watch or monitor; ran comfortably for 12km ...good to be back on the bush dirt roads & away from bitumen.

Rest Day

Keeping the next 3 weeks very easy on just 3 days running each week; will probably add a 4th day after that. Will do some stretching & gardening today.

Training for GC Marathon... Week 11

Starting with today's session, the plan will be to train for GC marathon on 3 days only each week. I think more rest days are needed to revitalise my addled brain as well as the rest of the body.

So today was just 6km on flat road, which is difficult to find here, trying to keep an even pace of around 7:50min/km.

Results were : 7:36; 7:53; 7:47; 7:53; 7:56; 7:28. Short distance, no chance of getting lost, but at a reasonable speed....for Chickybabe!

Totally Insane...Here I Go Again!

This is the first of 11 weeks to the GC marathon......Totally insane!

At the gym this morning : 2km on the elliptical trainer; 2km treadmill jog.

And Another Day...

A week has passed as if it's been one long, dark night, but I cannot stay with this disappointment forever, so it's time to force myself to make a change, think of other things, get another goal. If I fail to do this & just keep on feeling angry & sorry for myself, I will have very badly let down my wonderful Cool Running family, without whom I would just as surely given up altogether & that certainly was my intention.
That's a positive thought; letting down my CR family would have a more drastic & longlasting effect than the incident itself; I need these people far more than I need success in a run.

But I still feel sick in the stomach & cannot fully grasp that this all happened.
All the more reason to have another goal to think about & work towards; and then enthusiasm will return.

Then I should aim to do the Gold Coast marathon even though I lack any interest in it right now; flights & accommodation have been arranged; apart from having it as a goal, it's money wasted to pull out unless there were more serious reasons for doing so...e.g. injury, illness, etc.
I'll go to the gym tomorrow & Tuesday & do some cross-training on the elliptical trainer & see how my legs feel; if OK, I'll try a short run on Wednesday.

There are no words to describe how completely overwhelmed, overjoyed & profoundly grateful I am to this Cool Running family who have me back on my feet again! I wish I could give each one a hug as well as saying "Thank You"!

And Another Day..

No one should read this blog for a while; it's talking to myself stuff; just my way of unloading personal thoughts & feelings; won't make much sense either, but it's what I want to do for a few more days, weeks, years...who knows?

Today : no tears; worst time is the second of waking in the morning & the realization that Sunday last really happened...I'd rather not wake up.
I'm thankful that I did wake up; if I didn't wake I'd have died during the night! Not the best solution.

No tears today....that's a positive; just feeling numb emotionally; still can't think of anything else except what happened.
That will lessen each day as other things start to occupy my mind.

Went around the yard with the leaf blower/vacuum & stood in dog shit & got cranky that Jim hadn't picked it up...like it was the end of the world! Selfish bitch, Norma!
Jim is just as upset as I am & also he's nearly crippled with his knee while waiting for knee reconstruction surgery; on the other hand, it's to be expected that I'm still a bit touchy, I suppose.

I took a walk around a local nursery, looking at the plants & trees in autumn foliage...that's a positive.

Walked the doggies through a quiet pine forest...another positive.

Read & re-read all the comments on my blog & the emails...a positive thing to do for the rest of my life; because, Norma, apart from Jim, you will forever be indebted to many, many cool runners for their responses of encouragement & concern; the love & care they've shown while a fellow runner is down & grieving; no words of mine will ever adequately express how completely overwhelmed I am & how much I love & care for them, my family, in return; amd what a family they have turned out to be!

This is a more positive day, I think and, somewhere inside this despondent, depressed being, there's a brighter, stronger person trying to get out!

Tomorrow is another day.....

Another Day...

My blog is going to become a psychiatrist.... It might be helpful to account for each day for a while & see where it leads., i.e. how much is positive & how much is negative thinking & then try to turn the negatives into something positive.

Still reading & re-reading the comments of understanding & love left on my blog....I find these of great comfort; will continue to read them several times each day. (positive.)

Still can't stop the tears (negative); I look terrible & pale as a ghost. (negative)
They are fewer than yesterday; No one has run away in fright so I can't look that bad.

What happened in Canberra will happen again because I'm always running alone. (negative)
I can't be absolutley sure that this will happen again & there 's a possibility there might be someone else as old & slow...who knows for certain?

It's bound to happen that I'd get lost if ever I did a long distance again. (negative)
There's no proof that I'll always get lost.

I have no appetite & can't eat much. (negative)
It's true I'm not enjoying food, but this will change when the sick feeling passes.

I'm a real wet blanket at home, making others miserable too.
Jim is upset for me & has taken it all very much to heart which shows how much he loves me; when my darkness lifts so will his. I smiled & talked as best I could to a lady who was walking her dog.

I keep saying and thinking a favourite prayer : "Give me serenity to accept the things I cannot change". (positive)

I took my 3 doggies for a walk & they had a great time on the scent of rabbits. They made me smile. (positive)

Tomorrow is another day....

Trying to Talk

Owl said : Talk to us" & I'm going to try, even though I can't stop the tears.

I don't want to lose my family of cool runners or my blogging children!

I have accepted, though heart broken with the result, that I was on a wrong section of the course.
I asked directions & went where I was told to go.
Discussions all week with a race director leave the case with me accepting that I was on the wrong course at some stage, but the director refusing to admit that a marshal could have given a wrong direction. They have to be protected at all costs, I believe now.
This is what leaves me physically sick to the pit of my stomach.

I was taken to task about posting anything at all on the CR message board & told that if I didn't tone it down, they would respond with a post strongly defending the marshals.
If you read my first post, it merely is a response to CRs asking when I would report & asking them to leave this matter in the hands of the directors.
I was shocked that the director said they wouldn't read the message board to see my post because CR are a lot of trouble makers.

I'm embarrassed to be so upset by all this...grieving is what Owl called it & that's
exactly what it is. Put in perspective, which I must do, to what real disaster is : sickness, loss of loved ones, world poverty, war, etc. I feel ashamed to succumb so completely to a disasterous running event.

When I dig myself out of this hole, it will have been all of you who have been responsible for getting me there so I'm going to hold on tightly to your hands & love & if common sense, not emotion, can prevail, I will run, post & blog again.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.........Norma

End of Blog

My blog will end here....there will be nothing more to add & it can be deleted from the Blogging List by anyone who cares to do so. 'Bye from Chickybabe.

Last Run Before Canberra!

That's it! Finished! Used the gym treadmill today to do 7km @ 7:30min per km & since it looks like it's going to be a hot day on Sunday, I'm going for a very negative split...rightly or wrongly....gradually increasing pace. That, for me, translates into starting with an 8:05 first km & taking it up from there.....if possible!

So, in a way sadly, that's the end of training for this event; have enjoyed the training & looking towards the goal enormously...always do enjoy that part far more than the event itself. The only leg work for Chickybabe between now & Sunday is to hoist a leg over Wombat's 1400 bike on Saturday, & roar off around the course & Canberra!

7km with Strideouts

Fast walked 7km this morning; at the 2km mark I went into Renwick soccer field & did 6 x 100m strides, then finished the walk; felt good just to walk, no huffing & puffing; will continue with stretches several times each day as well.

Not much longer to wait now......not for the run, but to become a biker with Wombatface! Even suggested to him that we skip the whole running thing on Sunday & go biking instead....haven't had a reply yet!! We blast off from Telopia Park school around 2:00ish Saturday afternoon , weather permitting; otherwise it's going to be difficult hoisting a leg over the bike after the run on Sunday!! That's the latest news from Chickybabe Blogger-Soon-to-be-Biker!

WEEK 1...6 sleeps to go!

Rest today as usual for a Monday..........and most of the last few days before the 50km in Canberra. Will be doing some stretching each day this week. Still coughing a lot, breathing not as easy as I'd like it to be, but all else seems to be OK...no signs of injury; if I could only shake off the last bit of this cold. I always thought that Chickybabes didn't get colds! Still a few days to improve.

10km @ 'Pace'

By this I mean that this morning's run of 10km was at the pace with which I want to start the 50km on Sunday. ......i.e. with an 8min km; what I'll finish with, only the day will tell!

Monitor results for each km were : 7:12; 8:13; 7:48; 7:35; 7:50; 7:12; 7:14; 7:23; 7:52; 8:41; 7:53...................Avg. 8:20 over variable terrain.

Remainder of this week is resting! Walk on Tuesday; very short run on Wednesday; walk on Thursday.

This time next week...........most will have finished, but Chickybabe will be about half way..sob! sob!

Rest Day

Rest & a hot day! 25+ degrees here today & hoping that next weekend will be cooler! Still unable to shake off this cold & cough; makes the house shake...almost!

A Short Run + Strides

Yesterday, Thursday, was a rest day. This morning, 8km with 6 x 100m strides. Tomorrow will be another day off & then a short run on Sunday.