It's official- I'm fit
Had to do an extra post today for this. One of my very fit girlfriends who is training to be an fitness instructor called me up to say she needed some fit friends to fill her assessment circuit training class.. and she thought of me.. Now that is a first.. first time anyone has called me up to do something because they thought I was fit enough.. yeehaa..
On the track
Off to SWEAT this morning. Relieved to have the car back so I don't have to cycle down in the dark. The session today was 5 x600m intervals with 45 secs recovery for me, the others were doing 800's. This meant that I started at the 200m mark and so tried to hold off the others. Very inconsistent times, getting slower and slower and didn't feel that I had recovered much before we were off again. I fell behind in the fourth interval as I had only just made it back to my starting point and they had already set off again.My times were 3.09, 3.30, 3.39, 3.43, 3.44 In the first couple I only got overtaken in the last 200m and only by the faster two.. later on there were a few more overtakers!Good to be back doing some tough training and the hip seems to be holding up OK. We'll see if it stiffens up later on.
Another day, another run..
Had hard time dragging myself out of bed this morning but finally managed to get up at 6.30, mainly because the garbage men were making so much noise doing their council pick-up that it was pointless staying in bed! I don't like these damp cold mornings much and find it much easier to get up early when it's nice and sunny, even if it's cold.
I did a short 40 mins again today heading down to Centennial Park and back around Queens Park and home down Bronte Rd. That's a tough hill on the North side of Queens Park but I plodded up most of it OK, only walking the last few metres as my hip was starting to feel the strain. Lots of stretching when I got home and the hip is holding up well.
I did Pilates yesterday and we did some glute work and I think that also puts a bit of strain on the hip so I made sure I stretched it out afterwards. It's definately not getting any worse but I'm not sure it's improving much either. I think I'll make another trip to for more massage later in the week. I'm planning to go to SWEAT tomorrow for interval training so we'll see how it holds up to that.
Another run for Mr Lulu who is gradually increasing the number of runs and the distance. Maybe I can persuade him to run with me at the weekend as he can't run that fast at the moment and so might be quite happy plodding along with his wifey!
Two beaches
There is great jubilation in the Lulu household this morning, we're both back on the road! I decided to go down to Clovelly and back up the coast path to Bronte beach, through the gully, up Bronte hill and back home. I stretched my hips and glutes before I started off and although I could feel a bit of tightness there was no pain.. I didn't push my luck though and stuck to a 40 min run and will do a longer run tomorrow if there doesn't seem to be any adverse effects. Lots of stretching when I got back, another magic plaster and I think the right hip feels better than it did before I went for a run. Mr Lulu also went for a run, a similar route and it seems he is on his way back after a month off recovering from the torn calf muscle at the SMH half .
Walking and stretching
Mr Lulu and I walked up to Bondi Junction again today and did the shopping. Strange weather with the sun shining and a fine rain falling, at the same time. Hip feels OK and when we got back I did some glute and hip stretches and then put on one of the Chinese medicine plasters. Not sure if there's any science behind it but they definately seem to help. Let's hope the run will be on for tomorrow.
Being a bit slack
I've been a bit slack for the last two days. My intentions to go and at least do some Pilates or go for a swim have fallen by the wayside. I was going to swim this afternoon but then I had to go out to Bankstown to pick up the car.. at long last.. Mr Lulu and I will be back on the road again. At least I won't have to risk life and limb on my bike going to SWEAT next week, assuming the hip is back to normal or nearly normal. At least I've been giving myself a good rest which is probably not a bad thing considering a few niggles were developing.I'm a bit surprised that it is still a bit sore but I've been told I can try a gentle run on Sunday.. hooray.. so we'll see what happens. I find it really hard to get motivated to go and do other forms of exercise when I'm not able to run so let's hope I'll be back on track next week.Will do a good long walk tomorrow and see how it copes with that before making any firm plans for Sunday.
Some good news!
After a good massage and some acupuncture my hip feels a lot better. Diagnosis seems to be that my glutes have just become too tight.. more stretching required here. This is also my weak side and although Pilates is strengthening them they are becoming fatigued and tightening up so I need to give them a bit of a break! This is good news as I thought that I had done something more serious, but once everything had been loosened up - no pain, so it seems nothing is torn.
Plan for this week is that I will do a couple of Pilates mat classes, which don't work the glutes as much as reformer, on Thursday and Friday. I'll do some cardio at the gym tomorrow and probably try a swim on Friday. Then I'm allowed to attempt a light run on Sunday and see what happens.
A bit too much all round I think with the new training with SWEAT and quite a few Pilates sessions. Time to back off a bit I think and build back up. I'm just glad it's nothing more serious and this will also give my shins a bit of time to recover although they were feeling fine on Monday's run. The trials and tribulations of a finely tuned athlete :)
Sore hip
I'm a bit worried that I have strained or torn something in my hip. It was a bit stiff and then I felt something in it at the start of my run yesterday but then it seemed to be OK when I warmed up. Afterwards it felt sore and stiff.It's hard to tell where exactly it's hurt but it's sore when I push my hip out to the side but doesn't give me any trouble walking. Consequently not exercise today. I've made an appointment to see my sports masseur/acupuncturist to see if he can assess what the damage is and fix me up.More news tomorrow after I've seen him.
Country Air
The weekend saw me and Mr Lulu in Orange indulging in some lovely food and wine. We went to Pilates on Sat morning before heading out west. I had every intention of going for a run on Sunday morning and even got up and put on my gear before realising that it was pouring with rain. I don't normally wimp out but I had no wet weather gear or even a hat and it was absolutely freezing and so I went back to bed instead!
Made up for it today with an hour run around the streets of Orange before we headed back to Sydney. I now have a very sore hip. It has been a bit tight in the training I did for the half but I thought it was better but I seem to have done something more serious this time. I'll have to see how I feel after a rest day tomorrow before deciding on what to do for the rest of the week.
Another Fartlek session
Another training session with SWEAT this morning. We did the fartlek session around the outside of Centennial again. We didn't have the grey hound like runner with us this morning and so I didn't get quite so left behind this week. There was another woman runner there so at least there some was someone between me and the front runners. Sean ran a couple of the surges with me and would run ahead and say "Come on overtake me!" Yeah, right.. maybe if you ran backwards I could catch you.. fortunately he ran nice and slowly so I had the satisfaction of overtaking him at one point!
I definately handled this session better than last week.. can I be getting fitter already? Last week it took me over 44 mins to finish and this week only 41.37 so perhaps I am improving already. We'll see what happens next week.
On my way back out of the park I spotted a CR cap in the distance and said Hey CR. It turned out to be Don Juan so I stopped for a brief chat before tackling the traffic and long hill back home on the bike.
I've got a bit of a sore shin so I hope I'm not developing shin splints. I'll have to put some ice on it later and do some more stretching when I'm doing Pilates this afternoon.
Relaxing around the park
After a terrible night's sleep I staggered out of bed feeling a little the worse for wear but decided a run in the fresh air would help me get going for the day.Ran down to Centennial Park and then back around Queens Park and home, for a gentle 36 mins. Started off feeling tired but came good once I'd warmed up and even tackled the steep Queens Park hill.Will go to the gym later on for Pilates.
Intervals
Yesterday ended up being an extra rest day. Just didn't feel up to running in the morning and had very sore left achilles later in the day. I'm not sure what caused that as it had been a lot better.Back on track this morning though with my second session with SWEAT down in Centennial Park. This session was a interval training session. I've discovered that there is a benefit to being one of the slower ones - less intervals for me! I did 1 x400 1x800 1x400 1x800 while some of the faster ones did 5 x 800. I probably could have pushed myself a bit more in the second 400 interval but I quite enjoyed the session. Times were 1.55, 4.19, 2.09, 4.32. Lots of room for improvement there!.I had a quick chat with Sean about what races I should think about doing and he suggested sticking to some of the shorter 5-10km races for a while and think about doing another half next year which will give me time to really build up a good base and try to develop a little more speed. That sounds good to me and there are plenty of 10km races around so that should be easy. I'll do the bridge run instead of the half in September and then see what else is around.I also met CR Amjan who was training this morning and look forward to seeing her again in the next few weeks.Slightly revised plan this week as I'll do a run tomorrow and then do an extra pilates class and cardio session on Saturday morning before we go away to Orange for the weekend.
Holiday Rest
How great not to have to get up and out into the dark and cold this morning. Slept until 8, had some breakfast and then went back to bed.. luxury, pure luxury!
Did get a nice walk in as we walked down to The Spot at Randwick and went to the movies "ae fond kiss" .. excellent movie by Ken Loach.
Back on the road tomorrow and let's just hope it's more successful than yesterday's effort.
Plan for the week:
Tuesday: 50 mins run, Pilates
Wednesday: Sean's training group and Pilates
Thursday: Cardio and Pilates
Friday: training group and Pilates
Saturday: Walk
Sunday: 90mins run
Yuk!!
I had intended to do 90 mins this morning but when I set off I just didn't feel right. I struggled to get into a rhythm and my legs felt like lumps of concrete, which is not very helpful when you're trying to run.
I headed down to Centennial Park and started off around the outside loop but it just wan't happening and I tried putting in some walk breaks but still felt really flat. I decided after 45 mins to call it quits and head back home, which I did. I was still out for 70 mins but I walked some of it.
Just one of those days you get sometimes and I'm sure I'll be back to full strength for Tuesday.
Walk and shop
No running today and normally I'd do a Pilates class but can't be bothered to go in on public transport to the city so Mr Lulu and I went for a walk instead. Down to the beach and then up to Bondi Junction, a nice breakfast and then all the food shopping for the weekend. Very organised and we're quite getting used to having no car... it's alright as long as public transport is working as it should, which can't be guaranteed in Sydney!
I thought my legs would be a bit sore from yesterday but they're not really, just a bit fatigued which I only noticed climbing up the stairs from Bronte gully.
Park Fartlek
It was the first training session with Sean William's training group today. Up at 6am and down to the park on the bike. It was a little spooky cycling in the park as it was still dark and there was a light mist. I found Sean and we were joined by 2 other runners. A short warm up around the oval and then Sean said we were going to do a fartlek session around the outside of the park which is a 7.5km run and it was a tough session. The other two runners were MUCH faster than poor old me, one guy had recently run under 37 mins for 10km. We all started off together but when we started the first fast section they soon disappeared into the mist and I wondered if I'd ever see them again. Fortunately I spied them in the distance and once they had finished their speed section they turned around and rounded me up. This continued around the outside of the park and there were a couple of particularly tough sections where Sean had us running fast up some hills. On one of the longer surges my legs just felt like dead weights and I struggled up the hill. They seemed to recover for the next couple of surges on the flat. The other guys were very encouraging and didn't seem to mind the amount of back tracking they had to do. I expect they ran an extra couple of kms! Sean gave me some good tips on my form, saying I was leaning forward a bit too much and not driving through enough with my arms. This definately made a difference and I'll have to work on this.I must say I was relieved to be on the final downhill stretch back to where we started and to have a quick stretch before climbing back on the bike and heading for home. It was certainly a tough session and it would be an easy option for me to say that I think it's a bit beyond me at the moment, but that would be wimping out and I'd like to think I'm made of sterner stuff than that. I need to be pushed if I want to improve so I'll be going back for more punishment next week and see if I can do a bit better. I'll know what to expect if we do this session again! I did feel good afterwards as I had done a really solid workout, which I'm sure will pay off.Off to the gym later for a relaxing reformer class to end the day.
Some hills by the ocean
As I'm going to Sean's training session tomorrow I changed my schedule this week to do 50 mins easy today. As I was a bit late leaving 7am I decided to do some hills by the ocean and away from the traffic. I headed down to Clovelly and then back towards Bronte. It's such a great place to run in the morning as the sun comes up over the ocean which is so calm and clear at the moment. Down to Bronte beach and I decided to head up Bronte Rd. This is a good long hill and I haven't done it for some time as I avoided hills for a few weeks when my achilles was sore again. No problems today though and I went up to the school before heading towards home. I put in a couple of extra loops around the block to get up to 48 mins and then went in.
Will do a Pilates mat session at lunchtime to give my legs a break and concentrate on some ab work..
Cardio and Pilates
Caught an early bus and train and headed to the gym for a 7.15am reformer class. I arrived a bit early and so did a 10 mins warm up on the elliptical runner then did the 1hr class and then a further 20 mins on the elliptical runner.
I haven't used the elliptical runner for a while and it's a good way to get in some extra cardio training without worrying about injury from doing too many running sessions, so I'll try and do this at least once a week from now on.Later on in the afternoon I went and sorted out my bike - pumped up it's tires and made sure the front light worked so I have some way of getting to Sean's training group on Friday. It's a bit too far for me to jog there do an hours training session and then jog back so the bike seems like a good plan in the absence of the car for the next week or so.. and better for the environment too!
Tuesday speedwork and a trainer
I don't really like speed work but know that it really helps improve my fitness and speed. I'd followed a Pat Carroll training programme for the half marathon and I've been using that as a guide for my training. Today's session was 3 x 1km with 1.30 standing recovery.. doesn't sound too bad now does it!
Jogged down to our measured km course along Darley Road alongside the park.
First km in just under 5 mins - that's a bit of a record I think but it is slightly downhill and I was pushing it. I needed 2 mins to recover.
Second km in 5.30 - slightly uphill
Third km 5.25 and really felt it.
Jogged back up the hill to Bronte and recovered quite well from the km efforts.
Mr Lulu had suggested some time ago that it might be a good idea to join Sean Williams training groups in Centennial Park and after today's not so good speed session I plucked up the courage to contact him. Sean phoned me back and we had a chat about what I have been doing and what I would like to do. I was worried that I would be too slow for his group but he assures me that there are people of all levels there and I will be fine. The added bonus is that if I go regularly to his training group then he'll design a monthly programme for me. This will be excellent as I like the idea of having a programme specifically tailored for me rather than following a generic programme. I'm such an athlete these days that I now have a trainer! All I have to do now is work out how I'm going to get there on Friday as the car is in the garage being undented.
Did a 45 mins Reformer class at lunchtime. A new instructor and quite a tough class.
Rest day and plan for the week
No soreness from yesterday's run which is good. I'm handling these longer runs well these days. Monday is rest day but the rest of the week will be back to the normal routine now the cold has gone and I'm fully recovered from the half.Plan for the week.Tuesday: interval training and PilatesWednesday: PilatesThursday: Speed work, PilatesFriday: 50 mins easy run, PilatesSat : walk or swimSunday: 1 hr 30m easy run
Lovely long run
Despite consuming some delicious crispy pork belly and a few too many glasses of vino I was out of bed at 7am to head off and retrieve the slightly battered car. I'd done this run from Bronte to North Sydney before and it's a nice scenic route. Down to Centennial Park and through the middle of the park and up to the gates on Oxford Street. Running down Oxford Street can be interesting as you have to avoid the clubbers staggering home. I got some abuse from some delightful drunks in a cab who decided to shout and swear at me while I was waiting for the lights to change.. nice. Into the City and up Macquarie Street brought back memories of the half marathon. Then it was up onto the Cahill Expressway and over the bridge. It's quite a hill going up that section I was quite relieved to be going downhill on the other side. Good thing there is such an amazing view from the bridge that it takes your mind off it. That hill has nothing on the Pacific Highway though and my car was half way to Crows Nest. I must ask my friends if they wouldn't mind moving somewhere a bit further down the hill. Run time 1 hr 25 mins and I think about 13.5km.It's great being able to do this run. A few years ago I couldn't run around the block and so it's great to be able to cover this sort of distance. You get a good sense of how far you can run when you do a point to point course like this, rather than a circular route which I would normally do. Of course there's also the added benefit that both Mr Lulu and I can enjoy a few glasses of wine, abandon the car and go and fetch it the next day. It used to be Mr Lulu's task to retrieve the car but now we can share the fun!The car survived a night on the streets of North Sydney but didn't survive a trip to the movies in Randwick.. can you believe that after yesterdays crash someone else decided to drive into our car. When we got back to the car from the movies there was a nice new dent in the driver's door. Of course they hadn't bothered to leave their detail... what is wrong with people that they think this is acceptable behaviour.. a very expensive trip to the movies and we can't even blame the damage on yesterday's bump...not happy.
Being a bit slack and a crash!
Despite going out for a run on Wednesday I haven't been able to get myself motivated to get up and go out for the rest of the week. The cold bug has left me feeling very flat and so I've been resting up.. well it sounds like a good excuse anyway. I'm planning on doing a long run on Sunday because we'll be out to dinner in North Sydney tonight and so we'll abandon the car and I'll run over in the morning and get it.On my way to do some work this morning with my business associate and someone decided that pulling out from their parking spot and doing a U turn without warning was quite acceptable driving practice. Despite my sudden breaking and horn blowing I still ended up with our poor car's nose embedded in her drivers door :( Fortunately, no one was injured and I had pretty much managed to stop and so the damage doesn't look too servere. Still extremely annoying and she had the cheek to get stroppy and say she didn't have time for this! Well lady, why don't you look where you're going next time and save us all a lot of time and money!
Keeping moving
Nasty cold is not so bad today. I waited until the sun was up and the temperature warmed up a bit before heading out for a short run. Dosed up with some sudafed and disprin... those drugs certainly help! Decided to take a nice slow run along the coast up and down some hills and so went down to Clovelly and along the coast path towards Bronte. Coming up from Clovelly beach I heard a runner coming behind me and I decided to try and hold them off on the hill. Pushed a bit harder and yippee she didn't catch me! Most be those Sudafed.. no wonder they're a banned substance. Down to Bronte beach and then up through the gully to the bottom of the steps where I ran up the first section and then walked the rest of the way up before running again on the final bit of hill up Evans Street. Not a bad effort considering the cold.
