Wednesday 11km and CR Dinner

Another morning where I was fortunate to avoid getting rained on despite the heavy clouds nearby, which only started emptying their contents as I was having a stretch at the end. It was an easy run spent exploring some of the back streets between the Oatley train station and Oatley Park. I originally thought it was 10km, but Google Earth tells me I actually covered 11km!

This was followed up with a lovely dinner in the city with Lulu, Jen_runs, The Owl, Trivia Dave, Ellie80, WTR and Don Juan. It was such an enjoyable night, and I’m so glad to have had the chance to catch up during my short trip to Sydney. Thanks so much to Jen for organising it :) :)

3 x Run, 1 x Cancelled Run

The time is drawing close with “our” due date now less than 3 weeks away and I’m starting to get excited after the long wait. Jodie is a little less excited about some aspects of what is coming up, but is more than ready to have her body back to herself! I’ll be happy if she can hold off for at least a few more days otherwise I’ll have a mad 4-5 hour dash back home! That's a bit scary given that the labour was officially less than 4 hours for Isabel.

I drove to Sydney yesterday, which will be my last visit before the baby is born. Jodie’s Dad is on holidays this week so he’s helping Jodie and keeping the girls company while I’m away.

I’ve been so slack with blog reading and writing. I think that rather than catching up all at once I’m better off chipping away at it.


Thursday 20th - 6km

We were dog sitting for the week, and the weather was kind on Thursday morning so I took them out for a run before work. My plan was to give each of them a 2.5km loop around the block.

They’re a handful together, so I took turns with them. Jade, the husky was up first. The other dog (Snoopy) was howling as I left him behind…he thought he was being neglected and protested accordingly. Jade was enthusiastic for the first km, then settled in for a more relaxed trot beside me, before turning into something of an anchor for the final 500 metres. I think she was happy to be home at the end of it.

By the time I got back for the changeover Snoopy was in a frenzy. He was a bit out of control, weaving all over the place, which was a contrast to Jade who had maintained a steady relative position to me even at the start. But he certainly had more stamina. After 2km he was still charging along, so I took a couple of detours to give him an extra km. At the end he was still keen, but seemed just as satisfied to head back into the yard for a drink of water and a break.

So the dogs were happy and I got a 6km run done with a bit of weaving and a couple of sudden stops when Snoopy decided he preferred to travel on the other side of a couple of trees and poles at the last minute!


Saturday 22nd - 10km

With some inspiration from one of Miners recent runs I decided to head out for 8 to 10km and take a few new pathways in the Lighthouse area. I wasn’t quite sure where I might find myself with a couple of them so I was fairly flexible about how far I was going to run.
I actually started off through a couple of the surrounding estates to notch up about 6km before heading into the maze. There were a couple of interesting sections in there, and the rainforest section at the bottom of the MFD hill was fun dodging the bush turkeys!


Sunday 23rd – Run Cancelled

Isabel had her vaccinations on Friday, and ended up having a rough sleep on Saturday night. I had planned to do a long run on Sunday morning but seeing as I’m not 38 weeks pregnant I thought it better for Jodie to sleep in so I looked after Isabel instead!


Tuesday 25th – 6km

After hearing the rain pour down overnight I was pleased to be faced with just the lightest of drizzle first thing this morning. It was fairly mild, and despite finding a few puddles in the dark it was a pleasant run over to a regular Penshurst, Mortdale and Oatley loop.


I have another run planned for tomorrow morning and a mini CR dinner for tomorrow night which makes missing the Hunter Valley run (despite its reported teething problems) a little more bearable...yay!! :)

Some cool 200m Reps

What a refreshing change to get out at 6.30 this morning. It was just perfect at that time - cool, but not too cold, and just as the sun was rising.

I even had a real plan for this morning! I was going to do as many 200 metre reps as I could fit along Matthew Flinders Drive from the Lighthouse Beach Surf Club to Ocean Drive and back (about 4km). Turns out it was 10, with anywhere from 45 to 90 seconds jog recovery between each. I really enjoyed the 200’s and they were just what I needed…they felt like enough of a workout without the “hang in there” aspect of some of the longer efforts.

Half way through one of them a guy pulled alongside on a bike and commented that I was keeping a good pace. I told him it was only for about 50 seconds at a time, but he said it was better than he could do. That made me consider how some people can keep up that pace (and quicker) for a full Marathon to go under 3 hours…now that’s amazing!

On the way home I mumbled a quick greeting to Miners as he glided downhill past me whilst I was making a futile attempt to cool down on the uphill climb out of Lighthouse! All told it was a good way to start the day.

A hot 17km in the middle of Winter

I was looking after Isabel until mid morning, so I didn’t get out for my long run until 10.30am. After a wet, windy night the weather was fairly decent today.

I cut through the middle of the Lighthouse Beach area, then straight up to Town Beach, through town and back via Granite Street. I had a plan to run about 15km, but towards the end there were a couple of extensions. As I approached each of them I contemplated whether to do the extensions or not, and found myself automatically taking the longer routes.

I pulled up stumps at 17km and ended up walking another km home. The sun felt like it was blazing down and I’d had it at that point. I was really hit by the difference between running in the cool/cold mornings and in the middle of the day…even in winter.

As much as possible of the rest of the day was spent sprawled flat out on the lounge room floor playing with Isabel and her toys!

8km and other stuff

I headed out for a 6km loop down through Flynns Beach and back past Shelly Beach this morning. There was a steady light drizzle falling for much of the run so I decided that if I’m gonna be out in the rain I may as well make it worthwhile. So I tacked on a couple of extra km around to the Waniora shops.


In other matters…

I’ve been struggling with a decision I’ve had to make about doing the Hunter Valley Half next weekend.. It’s not a fitness issue, but there are a number of other factors that have conspired to the point that I really can’t make it. I’m so disappointed about this. It sounds like it would be fun event and every time I turn around there’s someone else going that it would have been great to see.
I’ll have to comfort myself with the Central Coast Half in another FIVE months and the slimmest of possibilities of getting to the Lake Macquarie Half in six weeks. In the meantime I’ll just work on some aerobic fitness and build up a bit more distance so I’ll be ready to start some full on Marathon training in December.

Recent runs have felt like a huge change of pace since I ran the Half. I know I’m working on some aerobic fitness at the moment, but after following a reasonably intense, structured program in preparation for the Half the pace feels a bit flat now and the runs lacking direction. It’s not that I’m not enjoying it…far from it. I think it’s just the contrast against three months of intervals and other harder sessions. Although I’m taking it a bit easier for a while I still might throw in a tougher session every 10 days or so.

Couple of midweek runs...

Tuesday 6km

It was great to get a good night’s sleep. As I got dressed I felt a false sense of warmth thanks to the dying embers in the fire providing some heat to the house. It was a shocking difference as I headed out for what was quite a nice run this morning.

I did my Lighthouse loop by starting towards the recently opened Lighthouse Plaza which I used to refer to as the Tacking Point Tavern. I had a great view of a huge and brightly shining full moon setting as the first km is downhill heading west. As I made my way to the coast and along the beach the sun was rising behind the lighthouse. Nice.


Wednesday 9km Group Run

After a long absence I finally found myself lining up for the 5:45pm group run. Not too bad a turnout with 15-20 people showing up despite the cool, dark winter evenings and the fact that a few people were away.

The first half was an easyish 4km out to Settlement Point with the chance for a chat before heading back for a minute or two quicker on the return 4km. I ran the 8km in just under 37 minutes, which is the quickest I’ve run that route, given I’ve mostly gone through around the 42-43 minute mark. Not really a race though as the trip out is taken fairly casually. I followed it up with a 1km cool down and hung around for a quick ale before heading home.

Quickly up to date

The last week or so has gone by in a flash. So for the moment I’ll just make do with a quick update as I’m sure there’s plenty of reading to catch up on while I have an hour or so!

Work is very busy, and we were away for much of the weekend at Jodie’s parents. Isabel had her 1st Birthday on Saturday and combined with Jodie’s sister’s 21st Birthday party it made for a big weekend.

Wednesday 8km
This was just an easy run around the back of Waniora.

Friday 17km
For this run I made my way at a comfortable pace across to and through the industrial area, over to the river, Town Beach then back via the beaches.

Saturday
It was quite a warm afternoon so I worked up a sweat kicking a soccer ball around with the kids for an hour or two…before settling in for a less strenuous evening around the bonfire.

Sydney Striders 10km – Homebush

Official time: 44:59…I did it, but only just!!

Met a few more CR’s this morning, although not as much overload as last time at North Head so I’m game to name a few, and it was particularly great to meet some more bloggers for the first time. There was Ellie80, Blkbox, Gronk, Will, Uncle Dave, Horrie, Gnome, FakePlasticTrees, Superflake, and a few others. It’s funny how just about everyone identified Will as “the Frenchman” when they (we) met him.

I enjoyed the conditions and the company today, and in spite of the sharp turns, gravel loop and corkscrew I really like this course.

My 10km goal for the year on Go Girl’s Challenge thread on CR was sub 45 minutes. Last year I ran this Homebush course in 48:30, North Head two months ago was 45:53. In the blur as I went past the clock I thought I crossed the line spot on 45 minutes. The official time is in and it’s 44 minutes and 59 seconds!! A new PB and my goal time for the year achieved with exactly no time to spare :) :) :) It’s fortunate that it came off today, as I can’t guarantee I’ll get another shot at a 10km race this year.

I really need to thank the guy that I passed on the way up the corkscrew with just over 200 metres to go. He started sprinting over the bridge to the finish, pulled level with me, at which point I responded and it was on from there! I knew I had him well beaten near the end of the bridge (11 seconds on him in the end) so I eased a tiny bit until I saw the clock showing just 10 seconds to beat 45 so I floored it and obviously just made it! But without the challenge he put on I would have just missed out, so I’m really grateful about that :)

I was pleased with my fairly consistent pace. This was my third 10km race, and with this one I was more comfortable about keeping the intensity up at times that I would previously have eased off. This is the mental edge that was missing at the Half. I turned up relaxed yet prepared to tough out the difficult stages, confident that I could maintain the pace all the way to the end. Another strong finish for me which indicates I could have given a bit more earlier on, which might have saved the need for the desparate dash at the end.

After the formalities, some stretching (thanks to Ellie’s prompting, as I often forget to stretch in these situations) and a quick change I was well out of there by 8.30 and back home by lunchtime.

My splits were:

1: 4:23
2: 4:32
3: 4:28
4: 4:31
5: 4:35 (22:29)
6: 4:35
7: 4:38
8: 4:29
9: 4:37
10: 4:11 (22:30)