drills

Another Adirun tonight but with a bit of a twist. They had the 7km option...or speed drills. I wasn't sure about running the 7km and getting back to the shop in a reasonable time so I went for the speed drills session. We ran for a little over a km and then in the courtyard of a beautiful old church we ran some drills. I was able to do some of the drills bt others I knew were going to put strain on my achilles and knew that Simone my physio probably wouldn't be too thrilled. The heel is feeling heaps better than it has been but I know that its not quite there and would HATE to undo all the repair work over the last few weeks. When it came to the hill sprints I did the opposite to everyone else. I walked uphill and ran down. Then we did 30/30 which was basically running between two points as often as possible in 30 secs, then you get 30 sec rest and then go again. We did it a total of 6 times and then ran back to the store. It was a great workout. The heel is a little tender now but I have a few more activities in my tool belt to help with the fitness etc.

On another note, the info came through today for the Taupo based Kayak weekends...exciting :)

Kayak Grade 2 Training

Today is a good day. I have just booked my place in the Grade 2 River Racing Training course that Canoe & Kayak North Shore run. It consists of 3 weekends, one here in Auckland and then 2 in Taupo on the river. I'm pretty excited. It is the Kayak component of the race that gives me the most anxiety. I am hoping I have given myself enough time to get race ready.

The first weekend is happening in 3 weekends time and then 3 weekends after that is the first river weekend in Taupo. Then I will have 3 months before the final weekend and the test for the grade two certificate. I wanted to give myself as much time as possible between the 2nd weekend and the test.

It is a bit of a financial stretch - moments like these I wish someone wanted to sponsor a no name tryhard like me! lol....but it is definitely worth it and really the only way I could even consider getting myself race ready.

So here's to learning to Kayak grade 2 rivers and hopefully having some fun while doing it

Post Race run...

This is the aftermath of my 1/2 marathon on Sunday. That will teach me for wearing cheap socks! Yesterday I was feeling pretty good, although a little tight in places, so rather than head out for a run I jumped on the bike for just a quick cycle on the wind trainer. Then I treated myself to a bath with muscle soak - bliss!

Today, being Tuesday was adirun. I wasn't too sure how I would go. Would the blister get in the way too much? Would my muscles be too sore? Or would it be my mind that would pack a sad after working so hard on Sunday to keep pushing through the pain.

I'm still on restrictions (walking the uphills) and the adirun tonight is about 1/2 uphill so it was a case of power walking the hill as much as I could. I enjoyed the flat and downhill run and when I got back to the Adidas shop I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I had shaved 3 mins off my time from last week.

I learnt something on Sunday that I put into practice today and it worked. I think I have generally begun runs at a slow pace because I don't want to "run out of juice" - but I think what it means is that I finish runs with juice still in the tank. On Sunday I ran at a faster pace than I would normally for a 1/2 - and it paid off...a personal best. Tonight's adirun I started out faster than I normally do, and was able to use the uphill walk to recover so that I could make the most of the downhills and flats.

Its all a huge learning curve for me as I figure out what I am actually capable of. It's encouraging to have moments where I out do myself.

The blister is still there but those blister healing band aids are fantastic for protecting the blister and reducing the pain.

And I'm one week closer to my free tee-shirt too :)

Huntly Half

I came away from physio on Thursday with strict instructions - NO running uphill. This confirmed that the Huntly Half was not going to be about my original goal of aiming for under 2 hours but was instead going to simply be as good a training run as I could make it. My previous best time for a 1/2 marathon was 2:27 (a kinda slow time but considering the training I had put in it was a fair time).

It was a foggy start to the day but by the time 10am came round the fog had cleared and it was a good looking day. I lined myself up somewhere ahead of the 2:30 sign (my previous 1/2 was a dismal 2:37 so was definitely keen to do better than that. It became a rather frustrating experience having to walk each uphill but my achilles was keen to remind me why this was necessary, feeling pretty tight for most of the run. I was running at a pace much faster than what I would normally run these races but I was keen to make the most of the flat and downhill as I could.

There was a little old lady (who honestly looked like she was in her 80's) who would pass me each time we came to a hill, and then I would overtake her again on the downhill. As we were heading up a hill just past 1/2 way she was like "c'mon you can do it, you're over half way now." I hope I am still running when I am her age.

The 13km mark saw my heel pack a bit of a sad and I had to stop and try and stretch it out. I was secretly grateful for the chances to catch my breath in the uphill.

As I turned the last corner into the grass home stretch I thought I would kick into full throttle and sped my way to the end, overtaking a few along the way. I think I was running too fast for the photographer as there's not the standard finishing run pic :p

My time was 2 hrs 19 mins and 6 sec. Very happy with that - 20 mins faster than my last race and 8 mins faster than my previous personal best. Considering that I walked the uphill bits I am stoked! I wonder how well I would have done had I been able to keep up my hill training and run the hills on the day.

Well I guess the Huntly Half 2012 will show me...

The Coast to Coast Movie - A personal challenge

Tonight I went to the screening of the Coast to Coast movie - a personal challenge. It was filmed at last years race. Its about 50mins long and give you a great understanding of just what the race is all about. It was incredibly inspiring and funny and most definitely scary in places (the kayak for sure!).

I bought a copy of the film and I think I will be watching it on a regular basis to remind myself what its about. It was great to hear the chatter of people talking about their own race experiences and even better to hear that some like me are tackling it for the first time.

I had a kayak lesson this morning and while by the end of it my arms were tired I felt much more confident on the water than last time. I have decided I will look to do a kayak package of training weekends. So now it is about saving all my spare cash or finding someone to sponsor me!

I"m excited and more determined than ever to give this my best shot. And I can't wait to see Robyn again next year when he hands me a ginger beer as I cross the finish line!

whiteboards are not good for training..

I was shopping for whiteboards at a certain store that will remain nameless. I took the first board off the shelf with no problems. When I went to get the second board the box hadn't been taped shut and it slid out of the box and landed on my big toe. Now you might never have had a whiteboard fall from a height and land on your toe. Let me tell you that it hurts! It hurts to the extent that I had to control myself from yelling (for a good 4 or 5 mins).

I struggled to walk to the counter to purchase my goods. I struggled to drive my car back to work. I feared the worst - that the toe was broken. I have previously broken it by kicking the weighted end of a boxing bag. When I got back to the office I found an icepack, took of my shoe & sock and discovered that my toenail was already turning a lovely bluey purple colour....great!

Its been sore all afternoon but I was eager to go for a run and test my toe. It felt ok....so I'm really hoping its not broken, just bruised (although its kinda throbbing now). My achilles was causing me more trouble than the toe....but I have physio on that again tomorrow.

So as long as I can keep clear of whiteboards and other dangerous office stationary I will hopefully be all go for the huntly half next weekend.

Adirun

Tonight I went to Adirun for the first time in 5 weeks. I have missed the last 4 runs for various reason. This was the first adirun have done since daylight savings. It was a new course so that in itself was going to be an interesting run. It was a hill run which concerned me slightly, especially after the physio's advice of walking any hills I run. I shadowed a lady who was running at the back of our pack and that was helpful because the course did take one or two odd turns. It was a slow run tonight - a combo of my heel, wanting to run with someone who knew where they were going and it was rather dark in places which made it tricky to navigate the footpaths. But all in all it was a good run out. And the best bit is I am 1/2 way to earning my tee :)

registrations are open!

The email has arrived to say that registrations are now open for the C2C2012. I have printed it off....yet to fill it in. Having been at this point before I am feeling a mixture of excitement, anticipation and nerves. My biggest fear is the kayaking. That was the hurdle I couldn't overcome last time and I really don't want to find myself stuck again. Big challenges ahead over the next few months for me I think.

I have been at the physio this morning and it turns out I have torn my achillies tendon (which I had kinda guessed). There's some scar tissue from when I injured it playing rugby a few years ago which doesn't help. After a heat pack and a painful massage its feeling like its on fire...but it smells delicious. I have exercises to do and another appointment on Friday. At least I can keep running on it, but I have to walk the uphills for now until further notice.

Huntly Half is less than two weeks away.... is that enough notice?

"The Legend"

This morning I got up early after having prepared the maps yesterday and headed off to explore "the legend" marathon course. If you haven't heard of it check out www.thelegend.co.nz for all the details, background and maps. Basically Arthur Lydiard is a running legend and this area of the city was where he would train his athletes. Friends from Auckland who have done the C2C have talked about running up these hills as good training for the day. So I thought I better go exploring...

It is an amazing course (to drive :p). Once you get out of the built up suburbs you start heading up into bush like area that is stunning. As I drove it I thought to myself...could I ever run this whole thing? Well lets hope so or race day is gonna be pretty tough. There were various runners and cyclists out on the road and so it was great to realise I can also use this course to cycle on too...some killer hills that I know I will come to have a love hate relationship with.

After driving the full, I went back and drove the 1/2 course - this is the one I am intending to run on race day in September as I have the Auckland Marathon in October. The two courses start differently then have a section that is the same, and ends the same but the 1/2 skips the big chunk of hill in the middle.

So with all that driving around I thought I best get out and actually run some. So I did the first 7km loop that the full does. I have come to the conclusion I need to stop being an idiot and make my way to the physio. This achillies is not getting any better, in fact its probably getting worse. Thankfully I have a physio right next door to work so I should be able to get an appt.

I'm looking forward to Saturdays when I will train on the legend course and Feb 2012 when all this training will come together on race day....until then its gonna be a lot of sweat, definitely some tears (of the watery kind not the muscle kind) and hopefully not too much blood!

the cost of cookies...

I have struggled with keeping my runs up over the last couple of weeks. My achilles heel is playing up and there are days when its painful to walk let alone try and run on it. This is really frustrating when the Huntly Half Marathon is just a few weeks away. While I have been struggling to pound the pavements I've also been struggling to resist the cookie! Subway is close to work and even closer to home and I have a fatal attraction to their chocolate chip cookies. Well today I went for a run up Mt Eden and then towards the city before heading home. The heel was sore at first, loosened up and felt ok and then began to hurt again on the homeward stretch. The downside of the last couple of weeks is that my fitness feels like its taken a backward step, and those darn cookies have taken over my body! As I got home today I became aware that I was sweating way more than usual. Hopefully I was sweating out those cookies once and for all lol. So here's hoping I can get back on track with the running, find the resolve needed to JUST SAY NO to the cookies and survive the 1/2 marathon.....and if I can I might just celebrate with a roast chicken wrap from Subway (and only 1 cookie)