Its nearly a week since the big event and I am about to go gaga.... This no training lark takes a bit of getting used to and something I dont really like...
Monday is the day with the coach and we will set up training for the marathon in April. I cant wait to get out running again. I am sure my body is grateful for the rest but my head doesn't like doing nothing...
The week since the race has been interesting. Sunday I was knackered and sore but not sore sore, with a throbbing second toe. Killed the nail again; Monday more aches came out especially in my lower back which is purely core strength not being at its best. Also a really lovely dose of every woman's nightmare, the horrible itchy condition that kicks in when wearing tight cloths and standing around wet for several hours, I am sure you know what I mean; Tuesday coming right with with aches and pains; Wednesday doc's for a check up because feeling blah; Thursday heaps better, all the aches and pains have gone as has my beautiful black toenail. Today I am feeling the need to run but will do what I am told and just wait til next week.
Friday, 24 November 2006
Sunday, 19 November 2006
Kerikeri Half Marathon - Sat 18th November
The day started at 5.01 am when I looked at the clock and heard the alarm go off. Suzie was to ring so no use getting in the shower yet. On cue she calls to make sure I am up. I slept; once I got to sleep. Too much thinking going on making sure everything was ready to go for the morning. I think I was only up a couple of times which is pretty damned good considering the sleep patterns earlier in the week. MAR sent a text to say she was in Kerikeri and we arranged to catch up after the race.
I had laid my gear out the night before so it was just a matter of going through the motions; shower and dress. Being a bigger girl boob wise, chaffing is a constant concern, so is the bounce factor. Nothing worse than stripping off after a run to find beautiful red, bloody welts where the bra has rubbed, so the wonderful ‘red pot’ was on hand, the ‘red pot’ being Luca’s Pawpaw Ointment. Great stuff. I smear the catching lines and dots with the goop then apply sticking plasters…..yes, plasters over the nipples. I could think of nothing worse than to have nipples chaffing all that way!!! I am so pleased I did too. More about that later. Next comes the heart rate monitor. Set the right programme the night bfore; another thing I don’t think I could have coped with, a bleeping monitor all the way. Its probably about now that I realised I had 20mins to eat and get out the door. Another loo stop….. I had been guzzling water for the past couple of days, having read or heard something that its wise to drink lots the last couple of days before a race. Forced myself into normal breakfast, glass of water, cereal and fruit. I so didn’t want to eat; 5 is just an ungodly hour in my books!! Decided against a cuppa, nerves were rampant. The night before I had made my electrolyte drink, Horley’s Replace, and had that in my bag, plus a couple of bananas and oranges. Peeled the oranges the night before too, what a hassle trying to do that on the bus. Finally out the door, until the phone went, Suuzie had run out deodorant and could I bring mine round….
Right, finally out the door off to pick up Suz. She’s all a dither and even managed to hang washing out. Onto the bus with all the other crazies. It was interesting watching people as the prepared themselves for the race. The bus ride was 1 hr 20 I think. I ate my banana at about 7 am, my usual process for long runs and had a couple of swigs of my drink. There was plenty of time to be gagging for the loo again as well.
Oh no the weather!!!! The further north we got the greyer and lower it looked. Spots of rain on the windscreen was something we didn’t really like either. Off the bus, and omg the wind….. straight for the porta loos. Thankfully we were one of the first buses to get to the start so the cues weren’t that horrendous. The rain was blown from the NW and didn’t have the chance to sit long, the wind was just whipping around and cold….man alive, I didn’t think it would be cold. Whatever happened to the sub-tropical north!!
We arrived a good 40 minutes before the start so there was lots of huddling around under the trees to keep warm. There were about 2,200 of us idiots standing out there freezing our butts off. I guess it wasn’t that cold but it sure as hell wasn’t a warm bright start to the day.
Line up time arrived or happened when I was in the loo, again, so I had to rush over and get in place. By now the nerves had eased off and I was just so excited to be there and doing it. All that work was about to be proven and I was a happy camper in all respects….save for the wind and now the rain…. I found a spot at the back of the pack, chatted with a few guys, yes, they were looking at finishing 2 hours ish so I was in the right place. I aimed for 2.15 but was far enough to the back not to be caught up in the ‘race’. My coaches words were going through my head, forget the time and enjoy the day. He was so right. Man was this fun or what!!!
The hooter fired and we all stood there…. It took 2 mins to get to the line and get going. Lots of jokes and giggling was going on about just having a cruisy stroll.
So I finally got across the line and started as I meant to go on. Treat it like a long slow Sunday run then if able to kick in at about 15 km. Weaving in between runners who were already walking was a bit surprising, we had only just started for crying out loud… I knew the course so was prepared for the hills and drink stations. I was working on a 6.30 km. Here’s my splits:
6:16, 6:42, 6:39, 7:10, 7:43, 6:42, 7:28, 6:22, 6:12, 6:28, 6:08, 13:13, 6:29, 6:45, 6:57, 6:48, 6:09, 6:11, 6:11, 6:51
My time was 2:19.45. Official chip time was 2:18.58. I’m going with the official time!!!!
So how did the race go. Pretty damned good actually. At about the 4 k mark I hooked up with another women and we ran together for the next 10 km until she had to slow down because of a knee that was giving her grief. It was brilliant running with her. Made me realise that I need a running partner for training. We yakked away about most everything, kids, work, men…. Every time I clicked my watch we would say, that went quick, and they did. The kilometres just disappeared big time. She kept me slow which was great. I may have been inclined to have gone out faster if she wasn’t there and I don’t know how I would have coped toward the end of the race. Started taking electrolytes at the drink stations from the 10 k mark and water from about 7 k’s. Didn’t ‘need’ water cause the rain was coming down quite nicely. The first 7 km’s are hills and thankfully the wind just blew us up them. Man some of the gusts were nasty as and I thought my number was going to be whipped off me. Around 14 k’s we noticed there was no wind, no sun, and just a light kind of drizzle thing happening. My HRM tells me it was 21 C ave. Nice… Average heart rate was 153 bpm, which means I could have worked harder but towards the end I did and didn’t have much left in me over the last couple of k’s. I notice my belly started to grumble big time at around 18 km. Thankfully we were all spread out and I could fart away to my hearts content….hell, do you put that info in these blogs or not…who knows ;-) This is about the time I felt my second toe. Killed the nail, again. Its throbbing today and is going to look beautiful and black in a couple of days. Not sure what does it, the hills or the distance.
I sped up from 18 k's and just whizzed past some others. Thats great fun. Looking at the back of another runner and overtaking. The last km was hard, my legs were tired but I didnt let anyone pass me that I had already passed. I ran along side an elderly man, he must have been 80 at least. Hell if he can do it I can I was thinking. Loads of encouragement from the crowds at the end on the streets which helped so much. The whole thing was just great stuff.
You read things about not changing anything on race day, and I didn’t really except wearing a cap. The best thing ever. With the rain and wearing glasses it helped no end. It also kept me warm whilst we waited after the race for Suzie to finish. She was walking with her elderly uncle and they got in just on 4 hrs. Pretty major achievement for them both!!. Oh I did splurge and buy some of those wonderful Asics socks. Best thing ever. I had been training in the regular Asics sock, you know the cheapies at only $10 a pair and had been doing fine in them until the last couple of long runs and the damned things starting slipping down on me. The wonderful girls in shoe store tossed in an extra pair of the good socks so now I am the proud owner to two pairs. Hell at $30 bucks a pop its not really feasible to have a drawer full of them!!!
The only downside of the whole day was the weather. It really packed in when we were waiting for prize giving. It got cold and miserable and not thinking it would be cold I didn’t take long pants or jacket. Just an extra pair of shorts and sweet shirt. Oh yes prizes, I won a spot prize just for entering – an umbrella and sports bag. Very fortuitous because of the crap weather.
I caught up with Vicky aka MAR and must apologise to her. I should have invited you to join my family and I so that you weren’t hanging around by yourself but my brain wasn’t working. Sorry. It was wonderful to meet someone from the forum and she did so well. A PB. Maybe I will get to that kinda time at some stage in the future. I see she was third in her age group too. What an achievement!!!
Today, I have sore quads and shoulders plus my butt needs a damned good massage. But not feeling wrecked which is great.
Well, that’s about it. My first half marathon is done and I am very proud of myself. My work has paid off and I am very pleased with my time 2:18.58.
What’s next……..hehehehe……see my coach next week for my marathon training schedule. The Rotorua Marathon 28 April 2006.
I had laid my gear out the night before so it was just a matter of going through the motions; shower and dress. Being a bigger girl boob wise, chaffing is a constant concern, so is the bounce factor. Nothing worse than stripping off after a run to find beautiful red, bloody welts where the bra has rubbed, so the wonderful ‘red pot’ was on hand, the ‘red pot’ being Luca’s Pawpaw Ointment. Great stuff. I smear the catching lines and dots with the goop then apply sticking plasters…..yes, plasters over the nipples. I could think of nothing worse than to have nipples chaffing all that way!!! I am so pleased I did too. More about that later. Next comes the heart rate monitor. Set the right programme the night bfore; another thing I don’t think I could have coped with, a bleeping monitor all the way. Its probably about now that I realised I had 20mins to eat and get out the door. Another loo stop….. I had been guzzling water for the past couple of days, having read or heard something that its wise to drink lots the last couple of days before a race. Forced myself into normal breakfast, glass of water, cereal and fruit. I so didn’t want to eat; 5 is just an ungodly hour in my books!! Decided against a cuppa, nerves were rampant. The night before I had made my electrolyte drink, Horley’s Replace, and had that in my bag, plus a couple of bananas and oranges. Peeled the oranges the night before too, what a hassle trying to do that on the bus. Finally out the door, until the phone went, Suuzie had run out deodorant and could I bring mine round….
Right, finally out the door off to pick up Suz. She’s all a dither and even managed to hang washing out. Onto the bus with all the other crazies. It was interesting watching people as the prepared themselves for the race. The bus ride was 1 hr 20 I think. I ate my banana at about 7 am, my usual process for long runs and had a couple of swigs of my drink. There was plenty of time to be gagging for the loo again as well.
Oh no the weather!!!! The further north we got the greyer and lower it looked. Spots of rain on the windscreen was something we didn’t really like either. Off the bus, and omg the wind….. straight for the porta loos. Thankfully we were one of the first buses to get to the start so the cues weren’t that horrendous. The rain was blown from the NW and didn’t have the chance to sit long, the wind was just whipping around and cold….man alive, I didn’t think it would be cold. Whatever happened to the sub-tropical north!!
We arrived a good 40 minutes before the start so there was lots of huddling around under the trees to keep warm. There were about 2,200 of us idiots standing out there freezing our butts off. I guess it wasn’t that cold but it sure as hell wasn’t a warm bright start to the day.
Line up time arrived or happened when I was in the loo, again, so I had to rush over and get in place. By now the nerves had eased off and I was just so excited to be there and doing it. All that work was about to be proven and I was a happy camper in all respects….save for the wind and now the rain…. I found a spot at the back of the pack, chatted with a few guys, yes, they were looking at finishing 2 hours ish so I was in the right place. I aimed for 2.15 but was far enough to the back not to be caught up in the ‘race’. My coaches words were going through my head, forget the time and enjoy the day. He was so right. Man was this fun or what!!!
The hooter fired and we all stood there…. It took 2 mins to get to the line and get going. Lots of jokes and giggling was going on about just having a cruisy stroll.
So I finally got across the line and started as I meant to go on. Treat it like a long slow Sunday run then if able to kick in at about 15 km. Weaving in between runners who were already walking was a bit surprising, we had only just started for crying out loud… I knew the course so was prepared for the hills and drink stations. I was working on a 6.30 km. Here’s my splits:
6:16, 6:42, 6:39, 7:10, 7:43, 6:42, 7:28, 6:22, 6:12, 6:28, 6:08, 13:13, 6:29, 6:45, 6:57, 6:48, 6:09, 6:11, 6:11, 6:51
My time was 2:19.45. Official chip time was 2:18.58. I’m going with the official time!!!!
So how did the race go. Pretty damned good actually. At about the 4 k mark I hooked up with another women and we ran together for the next 10 km until she had to slow down because of a knee that was giving her grief. It was brilliant running with her. Made me realise that I need a running partner for training. We yakked away about most everything, kids, work, men…. Every time I clicked my watch we would say, that went quick, and they did. The kilometres just disappeared big time. She kept me slow which was great. I may have been inclined to have gone out faster if she wasn’t there and I don’t know how I would have coped toward the end of the race. Started taking electrolytes at the drink stations from the 10 k mark and water from about 7 k’s. Didn’t ‘need’ water cause the rain was coming down quite nicely. The first 7 km’s are hills and thankfully the wind just blew us up them. Man some of the gusts were nasty as and I thought my number was going to be whipped off me. Around 14 k’s we noticed there was no wind, no sun, and just a light kind of drizzle thing happening. My HRM tells me it was 21 C ave. Nice… Average heart rate was 153 bpm, which means I could have worked harder but towards the end I did and didn’t have much left in me over the last couple of k’s. I notice my belly started to grumble big time at around 18 km. Thankfully we were all spread out and I could fart away to my hearts content….hell, do you put that info in these blogs or not…who knows ;-) This is about the time I felt my second toe. Killed the nail, again. Its throbbing today and is going to look beautiful and black in a couple of days. Not sure what does it, the hills or the distance.
I sped up from 18 k's and just whizzed past some others. Thats great fun. Looking at the back of another runner and overtaking. The last km was hard, my legs were tired but I didnt let anyone pass me that I had already passed. I ran along side an elderly man, he must have been 80 at least. Hell if he can do it I can I was thinking. Loads of encouragement from the crowds at the end on the streets which helped so much. The whole thing was just great stuff.
You read things about not changing anything on race day, and I didn’t really except wearing a cap. The best thing ever. With the rain and wearing glasses it helped no end. It also kept me warm whilst we waited after the race for Suzie to finish. She was walking with her elderly uncle and they got in just on 4 hrs. Pretty major achievement for them both!!. Oh I did splurge and buy some of those wonderful Asics socks. Best thing ever. I had been training in the regular Asics sock, you know the cheapies at only $10 a pair and had been doing fine in them until the last couple of long runs and the damned things starting slipping down on me. The wonderful girls in shoe store tossed in an extra pair of the good socks so now I am the proud owner to two pairs. Hell at $30 bucks a pop its not really feasible to have a drawer full of them!!!
The only downside of the whole day was the weather. It really packed in when we were waiting for prize giving. It got cold and miserable and not thinking it would be cold I didn’t take long pants or jacket. Just an extra pair of shorts and sweet shirt. Oh yes prizes, I won a spot prize just for entering – an umbrella and sports bag. Very fortuitous because of the crap weather.
I caught up with Vicky aka MAR and must apologise to her. I should have invited you to join my family and I so that you weren’t hanging around by yourself but my brain wasn’t working. Sorry. It was wonderful to meet someone from the forum and she did so well. A PB. Maybe I will get to that kinda time at some stage in the future. I see she was third in her age group too. What an achievement!!!
Today, I have sore quads and shoulders plus my butt needs a damned good massage. But not feeling wrecked which is great.
Well, that’s about it. My first half marathon is done and I am very proud of myself. My work has paid off and I am very pleased with my time 2:18.58.
What’s next……..hehehehe……see my coach next week for my marathon training schedule. The Rotorua Marathon 28 April 2006.
Friday, 17 November 2006
Night before....
Its the day before my race. Man, how did I manage to work at all. Talk about hyper and yabber yabber yabber. If I am like this with a half what will I be like with a full....:)
I coughed and sneezed this morning and thought, oh no I'm getting sick...as if......
Sleep last night was broken beyond all hell and I doubt tonight will be much better.
No training today, the "Schedule" says REST........oh sure..... Yesterday was to be an easy 30 minutes but I baled. Sleep has been shocking all week and I was knackered so just crashed early.
The weather forecast is OK I think. I heard someone say that there was a tail wind, there could only really be a tail or head wind, just the way the road goes, but who knows til the morning and the heat shouldn't be much of problem.
Right that's it for now.
C ya
I coughed and sneezed this morning and thought, oh no I'm getting sick...as if......
Sleep last night was broken beyond all hell and I doubt tonight will be much better.
No training today, the "Schedule" says REST........oh sure..... Yesterday was to be an easy 30 minutes but I baled. Sleep has been shocking all week and I was knackered so just crashed early.
The weather forecast is OK I think. I heard someone say that there was a tail wind, there could only really be a tail or head wind, just the way the road goes, but who knows til the morning and the heat shouldn't be much of problem.
Right that's it for now.
C ya
Wednesday, 15 November 2006
3 more sleeps ........
Just three more sleeps ..........arghhhhh
I collected my race pack this afternoon, 624 is me. And yeah me, I have won a spot prize that I cant collect until after the race. Wonder what it is........ Last I won a sports bag. Its all getting soooo exciting.....
Nothing to do today training wise. I must remember to check my heart rate in the morning. I have been forgetting, how do you remember to not move, check the clock, find ya pulse and count for a minute........too hard some mornings.......
I spoke with my coach today and asked how to get through that 'burn' feeling at about 16 -17 km. Of course he asked what kind of feeling it was, and I could only describe it as a burn but thought it must be lactic acid. His words were, you shouldn't be feeling anything more than tired legs and if anything more than tired, I've gone too fast and need to slow down. He annoys me sometimes with is casual nature. Its all serious business to me and he just says, don't get het up about times, go out and enjoy yourself and worrying will ruin the day for me. I guess he knows what he's doing......... I find it hard trusting him, hell I need to cause I know diddly about running except what I have learnt from 'The Forum' and books.
We talked about how much time to take off to recover and I need to get and see him next week to set up training for the marathon, so that is the plan at the minute.
Last run tomorrow - 30 min easy.
I will write my plan in here now so then I can see how well I stick with it on the day.
Working on 6:30 k's
5 k = 32:30
7 k = 45:30
10k = 1:05
12k = 1:18:30
15k = 1:37:30
17k = 1:50:30
19k = 2:03:30
21.1k = 2:16:30
Who knows.................... its an idea only and my first race, so I maybe totally dreaming.
I feel I have done the work except for totally stuffing up one long slow day becuase of what I consider a blonde moment in reading my schedule. Just not thinking.....but still, I think I have done enough. I have it in the back of my head, so long as I dont stop to walk and just keep the legs going and drink something at each drink station, even just a mouthful.
Its all so exciting...........arghhhhhhhhh. Just great fun and I love it to bits. The passion and achievement, nothing can stop me now!!!!!
Bye
I collected my race pack this afternoon, 624 is me. And yeah me, I have won a spot prize that I cant collect until after the race. Wonder what it is........ Last I won a sports bag. Its all getting soooo exciting.....
Nothing to do today training wise. I must remember to check my heart rate in the morning. I have been forgetting, how do you remember to not move, check the clock, find ya pulse and count for a minute........too hard some mornings.......
I spoke with my coach today and asked how to get through that 'burn' feeling at about 16 -17 km. Of course he asked what kind of feeling it was, and I could only describe it as a burn but thought it must be lactic acid. His words were, you shouldn't be feeling anything more than tired legs and if anything more than tired, I've gone too fast and need to slow down. He annoys me sometimes with is casual nature. Its all serious business to me and he just says, don't get het up about times, go out and enjoy yourself and worrying will ruin the day for me. I guess he knows what he's doing......... I find it hard trusting him, hell I need to cause I know diddly about running except what I have learnt from 'The Forum' and books.
We talked about how much time to take off to recover and I need to get and see him next week to set up training for the marathon, so that is the plan at the minute.
Last run tomorrow - 30 min easy.
I will write my plan in here now so then I can see how well I stick with it on the day.
Working on 6:30 k's
5 k = 32:30
7 k = 45:30
10k = 1:05
12k = 1:18:30
15k = 1:37:30
17k = 1:50:30
19k = 2:03:30
21.1k = 2:16:30
Who knows.................... its an idea only and my first race, so I maybe totally dreaming.
I feel I have done the work except for totally stuffing up one long slow day becuase of what I consider a blonde moment in reading my schedule. Just not thinking.....but still, I think I have done enough. I have it in the back of my head, so long as I dont stop to walk and just keep the legs going and drink something at each drink station, even just a mouthful.
Its all so exciting...........arghhhhhhhhh. Just great fun and I love it to bits. The passion and achievement, nothing can stop me now!!!!!
Bye
Tuesday, 14 November 2006
My first post
Hi, this is my first post of my first blog....MAR, you have led me astray I am sure of it.
Well, today was my second to last training session before the big day on Saturday, my first half marathon, running, that is. I walked it last year after 40 years of sendentary behaviour.....oh yes, I had never run in my life until February this year!!!!!! The big event is at Kerikeri which is north of Auckland.
So, todays training was shceduled to be:
40 mins easy with 3 x 2 min hard with 4 min easy between
I headed out the door later than usual (7.30 pm) because of Ems riding lessons but the up side was that it was nice and cool. Ems being my 10 year old daughter. The normal time is around 4pm. Not a morning person at all, but will try it one day.....
It went quite well I think. I go out too fast when starting the 'hard' part then my hard gets easier. I may learn one day not to go so hard to start with grrrrrr...... I have struggled with the speed work ever since starting it 2 or 3 months ago. Its a head thing I know and will have to get over myself and get into the right head space. I know that it does work and always feel a hell of an achievement when I do the whole session as I am supposed to.
Thats it for today. Now I must try to sort out the layout of this blog and get to grips with what I can and cant do here.
Bye for now.
Well, today was my second to last training session before the big day on Saturday, my first half marathon, running, that is. I walked it last year after 40 years of sendentary behaviour.....oh yes, I had never run in my life until February this year!!!!!! The big event is at Kerikeri which is north of Auckland.
So, todays training was shceduled to be:
40 mins easy with 3 x 2 min hard with 4 min easy between
I headed out the door later than usual (7.30 pm) because of Ems riding lessons but the up side was that it was nice and cool. Ems being my 10 year old daughter. The normal time is around 4pm. Not a morning person at all, but will try it one day.....
It went quite well I think. I go out too fast when starting the 'hard' part then my hard gets easier. I may learn one day not to go so hard to start with grrrrrr...... I have struggled with the speed work ever since starting it 2 or 3 months ago. Its a head thing I know and will have to get over myself and get into the right head space. I know that it does work and always feel a hell of an achievement when I do the whole session as I am supposed to.
Thats it for today. Now I must try to sort out the layout of this blog and get to grips with what I can and cant do here.
Bye for now.
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