What happened to December?

I had myself wrapped in cotton wool since my little ankle scare the day after the Half. Whilst there wasn’t any actual pain, it did swell up a bit so I gave it plenty of RICE all week (and beyond as a precaution). Later in the week I picked up a head cold, so that set me up for doing even less. I ended up doing no exercise at all for a week, and no doubt the enforced break did me some good. Since my return to running the ankle has been fine.

In the meantime I worked out what I was going to do for my Canberra Marathon campaign and sorted out an 18 week program, which was supposed to start on Monday the 11th, but actually kicked off on Wednesday instead due to the lingering cold. In the down time, with all the planning I became extremely keen to get back out for a run, but there wasn’t much I could do about it…I’d rather make sure the ankle and head were fixed properly rather than prolonging either issue.

Part of my plan is to include some sports massage in the program as a preventative measure, so I went for my first session on the 7th. I’ll probably limit my visits until a bit later in the program when the distances start to build up and I’m doing some of the longer runs.

December’s such a busy month. Lucky I do most of my training before the “normal day” begins or it wouldn’t get done at the moment. Hence I’m nearly 3 weeks behind in posting (and commenting – sorry) so here’s a quick rundown to get up to date.


6th Dec: 1km Swim


Week 1 of 18

Wed 13th 6km Easy Run
First run for a week and a half, so just nice and easy. The first run of the program and the first couple of weeks are just “build” weeks.

Fri 15th 8km Medium Aerobic Run
In Sydney this week, and tried a completely new route over to Connell’s Point.

Sun 17th 16km Long Aerobic Run
So I finished the first week with a run along the beaches and the river. Nothing too serious in the program yet. My long run pace at the moment seems to be sitting at about 5:30 to 5:40 per km.


Week 2 of 18

Tue 19th 5km Recovery Run
Around Bangalay Drive and up Shelly Beach Rd.

Wed 20th 11km Medium Aerobic Run
Down to Lighthouse Beach, through Emerald Downs and a few local streets.

Thu 21st 1.2km Swim
I went 100m beyond the point where I wanted to stop for the day – I need to get down to the pool on a more regular basis!

Fri 22nd 8km Aerobic Run (with some strides to finish off)
Bit of a loop down to Flynns Beach and around Waniora this morning. I can’t believe how loud the cicadas are at 5am – they all seem to congregate on one of our gum trees (which also has a Koala in residence at the moment).


I’m really pleased that I’ve lost a few kg over the last couple of months, so I’m not carrying too much excess weight for my training. With a 20km long run planned for Christmas Eve I’ll be happy to eat as much as I like on Christmas Day!

I just realised this is my 100th post, but I’ve written enough already! Lucky I caught this little milestone, because at the time I missed when I hit 1000km for the year (for the first time in my life) back in October.

Thanks to everyone for their support (that means you!) through comments and other means. Blogging and CR has been a great way for me to keep on track, and to regain the sense that training/exercise/being healthy is just a normal everyday part of life. I think that’s made a big difference for me, particularly on the many mornings when the easiest and most appealing option would be to turn the alarm off and go back to sleep. Even though I feel half dead when getting my gear on at 5am, I know that it was more than worth it when I’m walking back through the door afterwards and for the rest of the day.
I’ve met a lot of wonderful people in person as a result (and equally in an online sense as well), and I look forward to converting more from “online” to “in person” throughout 2007.

I’d like to wish everyone a wonderful, Merry Christmas, a very Happy New Year and all the best for 2007.