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!

Not My Fault After All!

....cold & windy at Chev track today, but not to be deterred by any sort of weather, I set out to do the following program:

Program : 6 x 400m each in 1:55. ...3 minutes between repeats.

After the usual 15 minutes warm-up, drills & strides, I set off on the first 400m & all hopes of doing 1:55 were dashed with a time of 2:18, but having put all my trust in Ewen that this was what I could/had to do, I ran the next 5x400m.....but it was all a disastrous, mortal funk & I was left in a wail of woe! I even sent a text message after 3 repeats begging to be allowed to stop, but the reply was short, sharp & direct: "Keep at it!" And of course I did & tried even harder to meet the seemingly impossible deadline of 1:55 for each 400m. I was thinking: "How could this 'old boiler' have gone off the boil so quickly?"

Back home my blood ran cold at the very thought of having to relay the results to Ewen. I was ruined, undone & beyond remedy.... but the mail must go out!

Times for 6 x 400m were :- 2:18; 2:20; 2:16; 2:17; 2:20; 2:17

I waited fearfully for a formidable 'dressing down', only to receive a reply that he - the superlative coach - had made a mistake! The time for each 400m should have been 2:25 not 1:55!! So, after all...I did a very good session!

His days are numbered!!

Wintertime.....

....maybe not officially for another day, but Winter was here today, hopefully not to stay! A biting cold wind straight off the snow is sweeping through the Southern Highlands, which is why I headed for the Renwick soccer field where there was some shelter from the freezing wind.

Program : Easy Short Run.....25-45 minutes including strides & 15 minutes of drills.

I did this session in the relative calm of Renwick soccer field where the tall pine trees blocked some of the freezing wind. However, it meant I just went round & round & round &.....for 35 minutes http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2876850 , including 6 x100m strides & then 15 minutes of drills. 4.5km.

Starting Out All Over.......for GC Half Marathon

....and I got it in the form of a new program from supercoach Ewen to whom I'm always so grateful for the time he spends working on new programs for me....what more could a body need to stay motivated!

Monday : Long Run. 1 hour 45 minutes.

I ran along Diamond Fields Road, brilliant, sunny morning - 53 minutes to where it ended & then 52 minutes back giving a tiny, but neat, negative split!

Avg. HR = 108..70%; 13.5km of ups & downs....mostly ups!

5 Weeks to Gold Coast Half Marathon....

New program starts this week:

Monday : Long Run - 1 hour 45 minutes.

Tuesday : Rest

Wednesday: Easy Short Run.

Thursday : Track.

Friday : Easy Short Run.

Saturday : Rest.

Sunday : Long Run - 2 hours.

A Day or Two Off.......

Wednesday, Thursday & Friday.....rest! Then some serious work - new program - in preparation for the Gold Coast Half Marathon, July 1st.

Against the Wind.........

.........a shocker of a day - 9 degrees & cold wind!

A very easy 6km jog/walk & all I got out of it was a bad headache! Blistered foot was OK though!

6 Weeks to Gold Coast Half Marathon...

Today.....

SMH Half Marathon 20/5/07

First the suffering.....or the worst part of the day! Before 5km I felt the unfamiliar sting of a blister beginning.. Above, is what my left foot looked like back at the motel...pre-0p!
.......and this is what it looked like after 21.1km...post-op using a safety pin, the only medical tool available...not even a scalpel!

Apart from that I had a very enjoyable day! Not having done any 'distance' running to mention since last September, I struggled all through this run. As the pain worsened in my foot, I slowed even more until I came face to face with Horrie somewhere near Circular Quay on the second lap...never has anyone's spirits lifted as quickly as did mine! I just had to hug him! A few steps later, there was the ever faithful Ray (Eagle), both of whom had retraced their steps (not knowing just how far they were going to have to retrace them to find me!).

They both made a great rescue team : Horrie, the enthusiast urging me on, telling me I was 'on fire', 'looking geat' (I felt like shite really!) & the ever quietly patient & wise Eagle using caution that I had nothing to gain by trying to be a heroine racing up the Argyle Cut...as if I could have!

Further on there was Ewen, but by this time I was belting down Napoleon Street hill like a maniac & then all three (from my point of view!) were struggling to keep up with me!!!! From there to the finish, between the three of these most generous souls 'splashing' compliments all over the place & Ewen continually pointing to several lots of "those 2 girls up ahead..I think you could catch them" ....and we did! Then it was time for them to 'let go of my hand' & with Ewen's words; " Now sprint to the finish" in my ear, I raced through the last 100m or so with the speed of one with a demon (not Horrie, or Ewen or Ray!) in hot pursuit!

There was one moment of light relief when a friend who was standing near the Art Gallery stopped me, called out to a St John's Ambulance crew who thought I was in trouble & started to get a chair, only to find that the friend wanted me to stand with them for a photo!!

My time, probably around 2:32, was a few minutes slower than last year but I'm still here....that's the main thing....being here, being alive!

Blame it on the blister - limped to the tune of "Blame it on the Bossa Nova"!!

Almost Time.......

....to march up to the cannon's mouth! Easy jog on Friday & that's it! Sydney on Saturday, travelling with Ewen.

Program : 2km warm-up. Stretches. 3 x Strides.....

2.5km at half marathon pace...hard, but even running.

1.5km warm-down.

1km Splits = 6:31; 6:48; 3:27 (500m)

I used Ironmines Oval again so as to run on the flat.

On the Flat.....

Program : 4km jog on the FLAT + 4 or 5 strides.

Ironmines Oval again 4km jog + 5 Strides...another brilliant day but hoping for a cooler one on Sunday!

Best Foot Forward......

...Ironmines Oval, Mittagong.

Today's session deserves a post all of its own! Now......

I'm the first to admit that I'm as susceptible as anyone to a compliment or flattery...probably more so as I get older & they get fewer! Easy to imagine then how pleased I was this morning, at the very instant I was about to put my best foot forward on Ironmines Oval, to receive the following text message from Ewen!

But first & to put it into its proper context : I know less about computers than I do about running (bought one & struck out on my own from there), so on the rare occasion I have a problem I usually ask Ewen who knows as much about computers as he does about running.................................& he knows a LOT about running! Anyone who reads his blogs will agree with that & that is not flattery , just the truth! Next thing I want to know, Ewen, is how you put a link to someone's blog when you mention their name!

Anyhow, it was obvious I was having a problem with my blog - a vast, empty space below recent posts that I couldn't remove or fix. Straight away I fired off an e-mail to Ewen & just as smartly back came a reply & the solution. ..no need to say what that was because probably everyone else knows the cause except me!

Now, back to the text message which, honestly, came through just as I was about to take the first step of today's run :

"Did you get rid of your blank space? (Not the one in your head)."

How about that? Ain't it the truth!! And that's how I came to have a laugh 3kms long!

......blank space again!! Oh No!!!!

Week 8 (of 8) to SMH Half Marathon

Program: Monday...............3km 'easy' jog. Flat road.

Tuesday..............4km 'easy' jog . Flat road. 4 to 5 Strides.

Wednesday.........2km warm-up. Stretches, 3 strides.

2.5km @ 'solid' pace i.e. half marathon pace...6:42

Run hard but evenly. Flat road. 1.5k warm down.

Thursday.............Rest

Friday.................3km 'easy' on flat road + 4 or 5 strides.

Saturday.............LEAVE FOR SYDNEY

SUNDAY..............21.1 KM HARD!

Week 7 (of 8 ) to SMH Half Marathon

Tapering Off!!!!

Monday : 45 minutes run.......Done: 23 mins. out; 22 mins. back.

Tuesday : 90 Minutes run......Done, but very tired & to make matters worse...... I caught my leg in a blackberry bush!

Wednesday : 45 minutes run......Done! Didn't feel a bit like running this morning but happy I did...turned out to be the most enjoyable run of the week!

Thursday : Walk & strides......took the dogs for about 30 minutes walk + Pilates DVD (without the dogs!)

Friday : Track:....Done! 3km warm-up; drills, strides; 4x150m @42 seconds pace.

40.52; 42.22; 41.19; 38.99. An easy session!

Saturday : Rest.......Done! Took the dogs for a long walk.....a brilliant day.

Sunday : 75-85 minutes run. Speed up last 15 minutes. .........decided to make this 90 minutes - I hate uneven numbers! Out for 45 minutes; return in 44 minutes. It so happened that the last 15 minutes was all up bloody hills, but I pushed & pushed, didn't go very fast, but managed 1 minute negative split. Total time = 1:29.46!! 13.5km.

Now for the last week before SMH Half Marathon....can't wait!

A Long Morning's Run Into Afternoon....

Program : 120 minutes run.

Total Running Time = 2 hours 28 minutes.

I had set out to do 2.5 hours on my feet...just to make sure I could still do it....and then to run the last 30 minutes at a faster pace. Little did I know that my legs would be horribly tired by 2 hours with still 30 minutes to go!

Range Road to Glenquarry plus 15 minutes down Macquarie Pass (& back up again!), then up that awful hill out of Glenquarry (walked that one!), passing a dead snake that wasn't there on the way out, but must have come out to sunbake & got squashed by a car!

I stopped for lots of photos, drinks from taps, looking around & giving directions to two different car drivers who had become lost. One lot took off & by mistake drove onto a "No Through" road before I could stop them. I knew they'd be back in about 10 minutes so I waited & signaled them in the right direction....they were very pleased to see me the second time!

Amazingly, but being a pedantic so-and-so (like Ewen whom I refer jokingly to as a 'pedantic bastard') though my legs felt dead ( & so did the rest of me), I made myself increase the pace for the last 30 minutes, which on those hills got the old heart rate up to 90% of Max. When my car came into sight where I'd parked along the side of a section on Range Road, I imagined it was the SMH Half & sprinted to the finish line at 5.5mpk pace!

Avg. Speed = 7.4; Max = 12.5

Avg. HR = 103 (66%); Max. HR = 140 (90%).

Running Distance = 18.5km

Running Time 2 hrs. 28 minutes. Total Time 2 hrs. 57 mins.

Start 10:00 a.m.
Finish 1:00 p.m. approx.

A shower, something to eat (no brekky), a short nap late afternoon & feel fine again! Taper starting this week.

Chev Track....

Program : 4-5km XC warm up. Drills. Strides.

2 Sets of 4 x 150 m in 40 -42 seconds. Walk to start recoveries.

I didn't use the grounds at Chev for a cross country warm-up. The funeral service for the 15 year old cyclist killed last week was being held in the college chapel. The upper levels of the grounds were packed with cars so I stayed on the oval where the track usually is but no longer has any lanes marked except for one narrow strip of mowed grass...near where lane 8 would be. The rest of the oval is marked out for soccer. I used all of these lines : around, up, over, across & every which way to cover 5km......it looks very weird on Motion Based Map Player! http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2635234

Set 1. 44.9; 42.7; 42.6; 40.9
Set 2. 41.9; 40.0; 39.6; 40.0

Very windy on the oval; ran clockwise for the 150m repeats. Wore Frees.

Another Good One...

Program : 60 minutes Run.

This was a good run today! Beautiful Autumn weather, sunny, slight breeze. I wanted to get back faster than I went out...I tried hard and I did!

Total time = 1:00.12!!

32.x minutes out; 27.x minutes return.

Avg. Pace = 7.3; Max =5.1.

Avg. HR = 114; Max. = 150

...I think Ewen's getting worried I'll pass him at SMH Half!

On the First of May.......It Is Moving Day!

Although I run on Diamond Fields road just about every day, it always seems that I'm seeing it for the first time...it's just so sublimely beautiful. Even having to climb through a barbed wired frence was no deterrent!

"Moving Day"..not as in house, "moving" as in legs!

Program : 120 minutes Run.

Running Time = 125 minutes; 16km...pushing hard after 7km to return at a faster pace. Once again stopped the timer to chat with a local property owner & forgot to turn it back on!

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2611563