Leaving on a Jet Plane?

It didn't happen!

On arriving at Virgin Blue around 10:00am for a 1:50pm flight, I was dismayed to be told the flight had been cancelled....all other flights Friday & Saturday booked out. On offer was a night flight to Brisbane, but with 6.5 hours to wait & no idea of how to get from Brisbane to the GC late at night, I had no choice but to get a train back to Mittagong.

The same thing happened in 2005 for the GC Marathon - with flight changes to Brisbane, buses etc it was 15 hours from when I left home until I arrived at the GC....I couldn't face the same ordeal again.

I'm not going to pretend that my thoughts are "such is life' & "worse things happen to others" , "it's not the end of the world", "there's always another race" etc. etc. (which I know is true & which I suppose I should be thinking but it'd be a lie) or that I'm taking the knock-back gracefully - I'm not! I'm bloody angry, bitterly disappointed & have been in tears ever since ...I trained so hard for so many months for this run... & I don't want to run again!

I should add that, after I got home & posted on the Message Board what had happened, I had several offers from Cool Runners offering to pick me up from either Brisbane or GC (& Plu from Ballina!) but I couldn't get one single seat on Virgin Blue or any other airline that I kept checking on every hour right through Friday night & all of today!

Last Run Before Leaving for GC....

....and it's the coldest day I've ever felt here!

Program : Short easy run ....20 minutes.....on the treadmill.

I decided to change this a bit so as to fit in the same heart rate test as yesterday.

10 minutes easy warm-up. Stretches & a few drills.

1 minute at 8kph & immediately increase to 11kph. Stop when HR reaches 135.

5 minutes at 8kph.

Today's Time = 3:04.39 to reach 135bpm.

Track Day....

It was to be a track session for today but the rain is still falling & heavy mist surrounds the entire area. Off to the gym.....again!



Program : Short Session at the Gym......

Warm-up for 10 minutes on the treadmill at low heart rate.

Stop. Stretch. A few drills.



Start treadmill at 8kph . After 1 minute, increase to 11kph. Stop when heart rate reaches 135bpm or at 10 minutes....whichever comes first!

Warm-down with 5 minutes at 8kph.



Now I can see the funny side of Ewen saying: ".....or at 10 minutes"!



It took exactly a time of 2:48.98 for heart rate to hit 135bpm!!

Week 5 (of 5) to Gold Coast .......Day 1 (of 7!)

Program : Monday...Easy Short Run. 30-40 minutes.

First half at HR 120; 2nd half at 130bpm.

Heavy mist & light rain. Gym treadmill.

20 minutes @ 120bpm with treadmill at 9kph.

20 minutes @ 130bpm with treadmill at 10.5kph.

Second half was hard!

Short Run.....& another struggle!

...staying on the flat road again along Old South Road & the airstrip.

Program: 30-40 minutes run with HR 120bpm out & 130bpm back..negative split. (This didn't happen!)

Every run lately feels a struggle....even short, easy ones like today's.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3100603

Avg. HR = 115; Max HR = 131

51 minutes: 25 out & 26 back.

6.7km

Complete Rest!!!!!!

Some Like It Cold!

....but not his cold!

It didn't take anything more than hearing the morning's temperature on the radio to make me huddle back under the doona! 1 degree at 8:00am. I waited till later in the day to start today's run. I think we might have reached 8 or 9 degrees tops with a chilly breeze blowing as well.

I blame all of this for having a bad day!

Program : Long Run.....90 -105 minutes. HR at 120 - 125.

I knew what I had to do but the legs wouldn't co-operate at all & it was a struggle to put one foot in front of the other right from the start. I couldn't get my breath & huffed & puffed the whole distance ( 16.4km). Even walk breaks did nothing to get anything near what might be called 'running'. Heart rate was all over the place - Mr G-armin's fault...I saw readings of 186 & within seconds of "slowing down", HR take a nose dive to 110! I gave up looking at the monitor & got back to the car a.s.a.p.

Strange how some runs turn out badly & with no prior warning! My legs have been aching ever since I got home so, after a shower & some hot soup, I put the electric blanket on & snuggled under the doona for a couple of hours! My legs are still aching tonight!

The airstrip at Mittagong on Old South Road...where I tried to run........>

A Rest Day....

....a change in the weather : sunny! This would be good for tomorrow's long run.

Track on a Treadmill....

Today should have been at Chev track but running under water is too difficult!
Program : Warm-up with stationary bike & easy drills for 15 minutes.

Treadmill at the gym: Start running at 8kph. Gradually increase speed over next 3 minutes until running at 10kph at 3 minutes. Take heart rate.

Stay at 10kph for a further 3 minutes. Take heart rate.
Slow down & stop for 2 minutes exactly (i.e. from when starting to slow down).

Repeat the above twice...i.e. HR readings at 3, 6, 11, 14, 19 and 22 minutes.
Warm-down 6 minutes brisk walk.

And the winner is.........! Rather, the results are:

At 3 minutes HR = 124bpm; at 6 minutes HR = 127bpm.

At 11 minutes = 124 ; at 14 minutes = 128

At 19 minutes = 125 ; at 22 minutes = 131

I enjoyed this session...it was short & easy! Ewen predicted my heart rates would be between 120 and 130. How did he know that so exactly??!!

Easy Short Run....

A truly miserable day : wet, cold & getting colder by the hour. I used the treadmill at the gym for today's training.

Program : Short Easy Run 25 - 45 minutes. Strides & 15 minutes drills.

On the treadmill for 40 minutes including strides & then 15 minutes of drills - the latter providing a source of amusement - or was it fear? - for a couple of guys belting the boxing bags! At least they were curious enough to ask what I was doing!

A Long Cold Run - Photos...

A Long Cold Run...

There was mist, sleet,rain & wind....what more could I ask for on a long run!

Program : Long Run - 2 hours 30 minutes:

30 minutes at Heart Rate of 110bpm.

1 hour 30 minutes @ 118 - 125.

30 minutes below 110bpm.

It was difficult to keep HR within these limits, although I kept checking.....too many hills, long & short. The weather was atrocious & I kept going by telling myself how good it would feel under a hot shower when I got home! And it did!

Distance = 18.55km . Time = 2 hours 29.32. Pace = 8:03mpk (best 4:33 - that would have to be a riping downhill!). Speed = 7.4kph

Alternative Track Session.....

............Treadmill at the Gym.

Program : Warm-up ......10 minutes stationary bike.

7 minutes on treadmill.

Keep heart rate under 110bpm.

4 x 8 minutes at AHR of 128 - 130 gradually bring HR up over first 3 minutes. Don't let HR go over 135.

3 minutes between repeats.

Warm-down : 15 minutes stationary bike.

On paper this looked a cinch! On the treadmill...a different story! In fact it was a very hard session. I finished looking as if I'd run in heavy rain....drenched. But I did what I was supposed to do as best I could : keeping track of HR without flying off the treadmill & the results are :

Heart Rates for 4 x 8 minutes : (1) 119-130; (2) 122-133; (3) 123-132; (4) 124- 135

First 3 minutes treadmill at 9kph, next 5 minutes at 10kph.

Dreading the weather forecast for Sunday's long run!

Bitterly cold & Wet...

.............at the gym.

A very cold & wet day. I can't recall a day so cold!

Program : Easy, short run 25 -45 minutes including some strides & drills.

After 40 minutes on the treadmill I spent about 15 -20 minutes doing drills including some with the 'ladder'.

I can't see track happening tomorrow!

Bitterly cold & wet day...

Cold Feet........

.....cold hands, cold everything! Temperature 1 - 9 degrees.

I left today's run until afternoon - it was just too cold this morning, sunny but freezing cold. Mr G-armin wouldn't pick up the satellite as quickly as he normally does, so I set off anyhow......it was just too cold to stand & wait.

Program: Medium Run. 1hour 15 minutes.

15 minutes @ HR 110bpm.

45 minutes @ HR 118-120.

15 minutes @ HR 110.

Managed to keep HR within these limits for the given times but hardly even warmed up!

Hanging on the Wall......

There's a black & white photographic exhibition making its rounds of different venues in the Southern Highlands.

Today's Program : Rest....so

with some friends, Mr LL & I went to lunch in Bowral & hanging on the walls of the restaurant was the exhibition showing some of the more notorious local identities!

If it had been in colour, it would be seen that the subject of this photo was wearing Cool Running top & cap!

An Easy Day.....

While the sun was still out & the rain hadn't returned, I went to the soccer field for today's training session:

Program : Short easy run 25 - 45 minutes. Strides & Drills.

I did 45 minutes low HR run on the grass in the soccer field...strides along the short sides. Finished with Drills. Then the rain returned.

Long Run...3 Weeks to Gold Coast......

Who would have thought today would turn out to be such a beautiful day after the awful weather of the past 3 days! I was dreading having to do a long run had the rain, wind & cold persisted, but instead there was sun, some cloud, no wind, no rain & it wasn't even cold!

Program : Long Run......2 hours 15 minutes.

First hour very easy at average HR of 106bpm.

For the second 1 hour 15 minutes, gradually increase HR (and speed) to 130bpm.

Run as long as possible between 120 -130.

Try to do 30 minutes at average HR of 125.

Ease back down to 106 pace.

Results : Did all of the above & sent Motion Based report to Ewen!

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2980516

I think this was a good run : first hour very easy, turning back at the top of the hill above Glenquarry.. Then 35 minutes between 120 - 130. Maybe I should have run longer at the increased HR...I could have, but I was already back to the car & had to fill in time going up & down the road to get to 2 hours 13 minutes & then called it a day! It was interesting having something to do while running : keeping a close eye on heart rate & adjusting pace to the ups & downs of Range Road.

A Day Off....

Wild, wet and windy...just right for a rest day! Tomorrow....a long run in better conditions I hope!

Cold, Wet & windy, so the gym it was!

Program : 25 - 45 minutes easy run including strides & 15 minutes of drills.

Treadmill 45 minutes, speeding up for strides. 6km

For drills, I used the large room at the rear of the gym (pic. above!) & had the entire floor to myself! I borrowed the 'ladder' from the nice young man at the desk to use for some of the drills. This nice young man, Keith, came back later &, being a sprinter & hurdler, he joined me in doing a bit of tripping the light fantastic together! Good fun & good drills on an otherwise nasty day.

Heartbeat.........

............Program testing for Maximum Heart Rate:

Warm-up jog 15 minutes.

Drills & Stationary Drills.

4 Strides.

Rest 4 minutes.

1 more stride.

Walk to start......

Run 800m as fast as possible, but evenly...etc....etc...(meaning: don't go out so fast that you break down after first 100m!!).

Rest 3 minutes.

Run 400m as fast as possible & take HR immediately here!

Rest. Then 2 laps slow jog warm-down.

Chev track was cold, wet underfoot, misty rain & miserable! 9 degrees top today. It had rained pretty heavily all last night & this morning, so I waited until about 2:00pm when it seemed to fine up a little, except for the misty rain in Bowral, but good enough not to miss the session.

Ewen has been thinking that I have set my Max. HR too high (155bpm) judging by races & results of training that he's been looking at & this was the first step of finding out if this was true. I suspected he would be right & from today's results he thinks so too!

800m = 142bpm ....4:40 ( Ewen has checked that this time is less than 10 seconds outside my ACT record for 800m!...This cheered me up no end!!)

400m = 138bpm....2:07....pretty good I thought!!

Putting all this together, Max. HR has been changed to 145bpm until Ewen looks through some of the 1500m Time Trials I've been doing since October last year to see what else he might be able to come up with.

I think if conditions had been better today, HR might have been a bit higher. We'll just wait for the mastermind to work it out for me!

There was a time when I thought Mr G-armin was my best running buddy, but I was so wrong...of course he's not anywhere near the as important to my running as is Ewen! I'd be "lost" (figuratively speaking I hope!) without his continued help in programming especially for my needs. I don't know how to thank a person like that, except to buy him an ice-cream at the Gold Coast!

Time on My Hands.......

With Nothing Better To Do.......Rest Days are so boring!

A Medium Run......

.....I almost expected to meet these little people this morning!

8:00a.m. temperatures : Moss Vale minus 1.5 degrees; Bowral 2 degrees & Mittagong 4 degrees...so I stayed in, again!

Program: Medium Long Run - 1 hour 15 minutes. Run a bit quicker than Sunday's long run. Try to keep HR between 115bpm & 120.

It was still very cold at 10:30 a.m. but it was then or never! It was a very successful run I thought.....my legs felt 'free & easy'.....must be all the drills working. I felt like I was flying along!

Ran for 38 minutes & got back in 35 minutes approx....(10km.) Avg. HR 110bpm.

The Long & the Short of........

....the white lines marking the soccer field at Ironmines Oval. I love doing a session here : protected from any wind & all to myself!

Program : Easy short run 25 - 45 minutes. Strides & 15 minutes drills.

The thought occurred to me that I could use the lines to do a combination of a short run & some strides.

After a warm-up - stride out on one of the short sides, walk half of a long side & jog the 2nd half of the long side, then stride out on the short side again...etc. etc.... for 45 minutes, 'round & round' the rectangle. I enjoyed this, I think because it was structured & saved me doing any thinking! 3.5km

After the run/strides I did 15 minutes of drills. Not an easy session but I was very pleased with myself (!) & I think Ewen will be pleased when his "spies" let him know how well I did the drills!!

Get Me to the Church On Time...

Program : Long Run 2 Hours.

I had set the alarm for 8:00am, but when the weather man said it was 5 degrees outside, I immediately re-set it for 10:00a.m by which time it had warmed up sufficiently to drag me out of bed & onto Range Road for a 2 hour run! How lazy can a person get, but I love my warm bed these cold mornings!

I aimed to get to the church at Glenquarry in 60 minutes & return in the same time. I made it to the church a little faster than last time in 57:46. Return was 3 minutes slower (walking a couple of steep hils). 15.3km. Total time = 1hour 58 seconds! I was watching HR to keep it low: Avg. 112; Max. 137. I ran a little faster for the last 1 - 2 kms feeling very tired & hungry!

I felt this was a good run in perfect conditions : sunny, clear blue skies, cool breeze....a superb morning!

Not Jacob's Ladder but Norma's!

.......at Ironmines Oval, away from the cold wind for today's program :

Program: 45 minutes easy, short run.

Strides & Drills included.

Each time I came round to this white line was where I let go for the strides. Didn't count them, but quite a few. Lastly, did the required drills & for a couple of them, I use this fancy piece of equipment, replacing pine cones (too easy to roll an ankle) & sticks!

Another good session!