Up at the crack of dawn and one thing I was aware of, I wasn’t really in the mood for running!  It was so warm and snug in bed and it was the first time ever that I struggled to get my butt up and moving for an event.  Eventually got myself organised and headed off.  I decided to park in the Sofitel Hotel parking and I just knew I wasn’t on the planet when I tried to pay on arrival   It was coming up $0 owed and I stood there looking perplexed for a moment or two before a parking attendent told me to pay when you leave, pmsl!  Anyway, met up with RJ and we headed down to where the action was.  I think I managed to roll of about twenty complaints, right down to the fact that my undies didn’t feel right.  Lucky for me, RJ was feeling a little the same so I didn’t come of sounding like the biggest whinging loser as she was giving me a run for my money   It wasn’t long before we were heading down towards start line, still trying to convince ourselves that we would be right once we started. 

As much as it was a bit of a crappy run for me, I really enjoyed the course.  I lost RJ somewhere along the way, I think around the 5km mark and I was convinced she was ahead of me.  I spotted someone ahead that looked like RJ and I was trying to catch her up but just couldn’t do it.  I felt like I was running out of steam towards the end and my legs felt like lead.  Not sure really what was going on but there was a lot of negative self talk going on and I was desperately trying to turn it around!  It was such a relief to see the final 200m mark and as much as I could see I was going to do a sub 50mins, I couldn’t do that last sprint.  When I checked my Garmin afterwards, I crossed the finish line at 49:32 which means I knocked off 3mins of my best 8km time   I am pretty rapt with that result thats for sure   I looked around for RJ and couldn’t see her anywhere.  I didn’t think I was going to find her in the crowd and decided to to head back to our meeting place at the Arts Centre in hope that maybe she was waiting there for me.  I was just about to head off and I saw her coming out of finish area, she was actually behind me!

After we collected our very impressive showbag and medal, we headed to Southbank for a very scrumptious breakfast.  I might add here we continued our whinging conversation about what crappy runners we are and how on earth are we ever going to do a half marathon!!       

running

As scheduled, I ran my three 5km runs this week, unfortunately they were all street runs.  I honestly find suburban street runs a tad boring and absolutely love it when I can get down to the Tan or Princes Park.  I am so looking forward to running my 8km’s at the Mothers Day Classic on Sunday, I can barely wait!

ramblings

Things have settled slightly on the Kinder front with me leaving the pesky 4 year old after about 1/2 hour after it starts.  He is certainly not happy but does settle………. eventually   I have been picking him up earlier than finishing time and he always looks ok when I front up.  Wednesday he had everyone in hysterics as he was belting out a Kiss song with guitar in tow, he does the Gene Symmons tongue thing and all   Oh well, as long as he is happy!

So the plan for me now is to resume my Pilates program that I had to abandon due to Kinder duties and I am also going to try and get to the gym at least once a week to start my weights up again.  As soon as I get the MDC out of the way, I am going to start my 1/2 Marathon program in preparation for The Melbourne Marathon in October.

I will be going home in August as my sister has decided to become an honest woman and get married   It has been a bit of a bone of contention as the first date that was set was going to be on my Dads 1st anniversary of his death.  My other sister (the one that was just here visiting) and myself were not happy at all about this I can tell you.  Anyway, to cut a long story short the date was changed and is now set for the week after, still not happy but what can you do!  I honestly thought my next trip home would be to scatter my Dad’s ashes, not attend a wedding.  I am really hoping we can plan to do Dad’s ashes as well because I really don’t know when I will be able to get back there and I really want to have some closure on the whole thing if that is at all possible    

I gained 200gm this week but I am back on the wagon again.  I found it a little hard to get back into the swing once my sister left to go back to Perth.  I am telling you though, I am going to get this bloody last 4kgs of if its the last thing I do 

Got up this morning and decided I was running no matter what.  Put the running gear on and waited for hubby to get home so he could look after 4 year old, we wagged kinder today   He stepped in and I stepped out, and even though it was sunny, I just couldn’t get my head around running the streets.  I decided because of time frame I would go to the gym and run on the tready.  Today I realised that I miss going to the gym and I am going to try and get there a bit more, no idea how but I am going to try.

I ran 5km and loved every minute of it.  The second song that came on my ipod was La Grange and I love running to that   The whole run was great and it was good to listen to my music.  My running time is the only real time I get to listen to it.  I do in the car but its not quite the same as when you are exercising.  The other bonus today was I was able to get an appointment with the Beauty Therapist at the gym and get my bikini line waxed

My plan is to try and run every second day leading up to the Mothers Day Classic.  I am doing a refresher pathology course at Monash Uni over the week-end but it finishes early enough on the Sunday to hopefully slot it in at the end.  I might take my running gear and do it over in that neck of the woods so that it is done and out the way before I get home to the troops

Weighed in yesterday and I lost 200gm while sister was visiting, very happy with that as I was a bit nervous I had undone some of my good work from the previous week.  So a total loss of 1.6kg in the last 2 weeks

West Coast Eagles are playing Carlton tonight and I am not sure who to go for, my first team or my second

Hhhmmpphhh!  I thought I better post as it has been a while and thanks for asking Andrew, everything is fine apart from the old mojo going awol! 

Its been a month since R4K’s and I think I have been out about three times for a run since then   I entered myself into the Mothers Day Classic to get myself motivated but so far it doesn’t seem to be working!  There are 11 days left so if I want to run the entire 8km, I guess I should get myself out there somehow.  I have been finding it really hard to slot the time in around all my 4 year olds bits and pieces.  I am still having to stay for all kinder sessions and have to say, I am a little over it.  All I can think of is what I could be doing instead of playing dress ups, doing puzzles, reading stories, playing hide and seek etc, I think the kinder should put me their pay-roll When we are not at kinder we are doing Speech Therapy sessions and soon we will be adding Occupational Therapy.  My big plan was to use the kinder session times as my exercise time guilt free but I can’t seem to fit it in anywhere else at the moment.  I know this is not forever but I can’t help but find it a little frustrating.

Now on a positive note, I started using a different Weight Watchers method which they have added to the program and in the first week I lost 1.4kg, woo hoo!!  Was extremely happy with that and I find it so much better than counting points.  My diet has been so much better and the biggest bonus is, I am definitely not hungry!

I have had my sister staying with me for the last 5 days and it was really great to have her here.  When I went home in August last year for Dad’s funeral it was such a short sad trip that we both felt we needed some time together.  She is the only person in the world who I can have a real good laugh with at the most ridiculous things, and I mean rolling around with tears streaming down out faces.  Although I had the kids home for her stay, we also somehow managed to cram in quite a bit of retail therapy and we were both really happy with our purchases, although the kids weren’t!  Its the first time in ages I have been to the shops and bought clothes and shoes for everyday wear and not running gear!  I had actually planned to utilise her while she was here to get out and run but I just couldn’t be stuffed, and have to say the weather is also turning me off a bit, it is so cold!

So feeling a little down in the dumps today as she flew home to Perth and now its back to reality.  I have to somehow get out and run!

And its all to do with my weight!!  I weighed myself yesterday as I couldn’t remember if I weighed in on the Friday or the Saturday and I was 400gms lighter.  Now I wasn’t overly wrapped with that figure, but hey its better than nothing!  Then I get on the scales this morning just to double check and I have frickin maintained, how can that bloody well be!  I feel as if I have been starving the whole week for nothing, I was hoping to have at least lost 1kg.  I hate watching what I eat, it seriously sucks especially when it appears you haven’t in fact lost anything!! 

So, I am starting again today……… I am taking todays weight and am going to continue with the starvation diet Weight Watchers points.  I am going to try and not have any alcohol for a week which is going to down right kill me, no actually I will finish the four sisters bottle in the fridge and then no alcohol until next weigh in.  I can do that surely???  I am also going to try and do some activity everyday, even if it is only a walk.  I have been finding it really hard to slot the exercise in as I have been having to stay for all my 4 year olds kinder sessions as he is not settling in at all  

My knee feels much better now but I do feel a little tightness in in the quad.  I haven’t done any running since Mondays run group and I actually feel as though I have lost my mojo a bit.  This always seems to happen after I do my goal event.  I am planning to do the 8km Mothers Day Classic but it just doesn’t feel the same as Run 4 Kids.  I feel a little apprehensive about going to Mondays run group as I am scared I am going to hurt myself again.  

Will finish by congratulating both The Girls (Jaykay, Em, Michelle and Corrie) and Team Muttley (Clarkey and co) who both participated in the Oxfam Trailwalker event.  First the Girls, you are an inspiration to us all!  With all your blood, sweat and tears that you have put into the preparation, and following through and completing the event earlier than anticipated, you girls do truly rock!!!  I have loved following your journeys through your blogs and thank-you for sharing them.  And Team Muttley, what a sensational achievement!!  Not only did the team run the entire way, they broke the bloody Australian record   Absolute legends!  I feel very proud to be associated with all these ausrunners   Oh boy, that all sounds a bit gushy, doesn’t it, but I can’t help it because I am blown away by everyones achievements  

Went to run group last night and it was fantastic!  We did hill repeats, strides, strength stuff as in push-ups, dips and lunges etc.  I went home feeling as though I had put in a good session but a little embarrassed about my upper strength, I so suck at push-ups

Today is a different story as when I woke up, I was unable to weight bear on my right leg because of something going on in my knee.  I don’t know what I have done as it was perfectly fine last night??  As the day has progressed, I can now weight bear but my gait is definetly not normal.  I have managed to get ice on it once today and tonight I will apply some more and elevate leg.  Not very happy about this as I really wanted to do the speed session tomorrow and I am not sure what to do.  There are only three weeks left of my Sporting Spirit sessions and I have loved it!  Haven’t always been able to get there which has been a total pain in the butt!  I would love to sign up for more sessions and continue on with it but I don’t think I will as I hate it when I can’t get there.  The best time for me to exercise is when pesky 4 year old is at kinder.  If only they had 9.30am groups then I would be laughing.

Although I am still starving from my WW point counting, I feel as though I am getting into the swing.  I have still gone over a few points here and there but I know I will eventually get there and make better choices.  Thanks for the link Em, that site looks good.  I have made a pumpkin risotto today and it looks really yummy, just have to watch my portion sizes as dinner time is my worst time    Andrew and JoJo, you are way too kind but thank-you for your nice comments

I am feeling pretty refreshed after having a week of no exercise.  I didn’t intend not to exercise, it just ended up that way with one thing or another.  I am really looking forward to run group tonight to get the old bones moving again.

 As the title indicates, I have started counting  Weight Watcher points again after deciding it is time I faced reality that I am a boombaladi and I need to get at least 6kgs off.  That certainly crept up on me and I need to take action now with winter just around the corner.  Soon someone will have to arrange a crane to get me out of the house if I don’t do something about it.  Its pretty damn depressing actually when you realise you can no longer eat and drink what you want, when you want.  I can honestly say this has happened to me over the last 6 years.  I like to blame aging and hormones but at the end of day it doesn’t matter what the reason is, you just have to face reality!  I wish I had more than 20 points a day though, as yesterday I felt as though I was going to starve to death

 Oh yeah, I have changed my blog look yet again, it just seemed a bit dark and gloomy   

I seem to be forever dragging my heals in the blogging department lately.  I started my Run 4 Kids post on the day and now it is Tuesday  

Sunday was the most brilliant day, weatherwise, runningwise and socialisingwise!  Met up with RJ outside the Arts Centre and headed down to event area.  Checked our bags in, did the toilet stop and before we knew it, it was time to line up at the start.  Have to say it didn’t appear as organised as last year as we noticed lots of different coloured bibs in our yellow section which we paid for after the run had started. It took ages to weave through walkers and prams before we found ourselves on a clear path. Honestly, whats the point of different coloured bibs if you are not going to get into correct allocated area! Running through the Domain tunnel was awesome and I made sure to really take in all surroundings from start to finish as last year I didn’t. We were in a really good rhythm and before we knew it we were at the 5km mark. It was totally awesome looking at the streams of runners way ahead and then look behind at the mass as well. Loved the Bolte Bridge and I was wishing I had my mobile to take a snappy of RJ and I under the BB sign. We kept cruising along and were soon at the La Trobe Street where Sara was stationed and it was really great to see her nice smiling encouraging face at that point  Not long after that we found ourselves at Collins Street.  I knew they had changed the course and I thought it was going to be flatter at that point. It was a very rude shock to find myself grunting up a different killer incline as this is where I started to feel the pinch last year and just wasn’t expecting it at all!  I could hear RJ saying “I thought they got rid of this hill?” Eventually got through that and then continued along and fell back into a rhythm again although probably a little bit slower.   Ran down St Kilda road towards finish and felt so much happier as I definetly was not carking it like last year.  Crossed the finish line and spotted Jaykay, Michelle, Tigerboy and Wombatoutofhell and stopped and chatted for about 10 minutes.  We then continued along and it was then that RJ and I realised that we hadn’t passed through the “paddle swiping bit yet  We collected our bags and then headed to the Transport Bar for coffee, champers and something to eat.  We caught up with the ausrunners and met some coolrunners from the forums which was really awesome!  It just made the day so much better and was a great way to spend post race.  Its just a shame that when I got home I had to return to “Mum” mode the minute I walked in the door  All I felt like doing was continuing on with the champagne and lapping up my “runners high”, pesky kids

*edit*  Results are in the paper today and my official time was 1:32:28.  

running

I have been out there running in this damn heat and I truly think I must be mad Have to say though, I am feeling really happy with my effort!  Last week did my SS sessions, one tready run, also managed to fit in Pilates and finished the week with a 10km run on Sunday   

10km Run:  It was a bit of a slog in the last km because it was just so damn hot!  I ran with RJ and we took a different path than we normally do which was really refreshing.  We crossed over at Morrell Bridge and then headed right.  We ended up running along the Yarra for over 3km then turned around back to the Morrell Bridge continued up Anderson Street and finished the lap of the Tan.  I think my new shoes, which I bought from Running Warehouse have helped with some of my niggles.  When I actually look at my old pair, they are in a shocking state  I am seriously thinking of ordering another pair or two!  While running we made sure to stop for drinks at the bubblers and I even wet my entire face and hat as well.  Wetting the hat was great idea……. it got me thinking about the suggestion on the ausrun forum about putting a lettuce in your hat  

That run has done a lot for my confidence and I am now trying to work out how far to go this Sunday, the last long run before Run 4 Kids.  Still wishing I had a couple of 12kms under my wing, hence the title of post but never mind, I am where I am.  So, should I repeat the 10km, move up to 11kms or try and do 12kms??  JoJo??  What do you think?  I think if the heat wasn’t a factor I could have gone further and I am kind of banking on Run 4 Kids to be a really cool day so that it won’t be quite a slog at the end.  Not really sure if increasing will do much at this stage so any suggestions appreciated.  

ramblings

After “coming out” on the ausrun forums about Carlton being my 2nd team, what happens, Fev goes and pee’s on the Candy Bar’s window, not to mention further shenanigan’s   Honestly these AFL foot-ballers

running/ramblings

Happy to report that my achilles is fine.  Although slightly tender it was fine running yesterday and today there is no problem in sight   I have a sneaky feeling I haven’t been lacing up my laces tight enough and made sure I did yesterday. 

Met up with RJ at the Tan just after 9am and the morning was cool and fresh.  We abolished our plans to have a family morning at Moomba and ended up with all of us getting together in the afternoon at our place instead.  Sometimes organising all the troops is just way too much trouble!  After comparing ailments, niggles and tiredness   ,not the families, ours  we decided we would play our run by ear.  We ended up doing 8km’s with a couple of walk breaks and stretches.  RJ’s hips were giving her grief and my legs were feeling a bit heavy, probably from Fridays run.  We were like a couple of geriatric’s!!   Although I didn’t do the 10km as hoped I am still happy with that effort as I know I can run 10kms.  I have come to accept that when I do Run 4 Kids it will probably be a walk, run, roll, crawl effort but as long as I finish I guess.  I am disappointed that I am not where I wanted to be at this point with my training and when R4K is out of the way, I am going to concentrate on getting to the bottom of my pesky hip problem.  It has not been fully resolved and along with physio, I think I may have to go back to Podiatrist to get my orthotics reviewed.  I plan to then build a solid running base with the goal of working towards doing the 1/2 at the Melbourne Marathon.     

When I got home, I sat in a cold bath, no ice as I didn’t have any and then I put the skins on for a couple of hours.  Wasn’t long afterward when RJ and family rocked up and we had ourselves a very pleasant relaxing afternoon/evening eating and drinking ourselves into oblivion   All our good work undone……. aahhh well, you only live once!

Today I feel good but wishing run group was tomorrow night instead of tonight so I could rest the legs one more day.  I will be ok though as it is only a technique and strength session so I will survive.  I am toying with the idea of trying to run 12km’s on the week-end but not sure if that is a bit ridiculous.  My good sense is saying do a 10km but psycologically want to the 12km.  Stoopid mind games! 

Now I am off to clean up as the house looks as though a bomb has hit it