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)

Running helps..

Do you ever have one of those days or weeks or seasons of life where you find yourself asking "Why The Face"? This morning as I woke up I really didn't want to spend another day asking any kind of questions which are met with silence. So I decided I would take out my frustrations on a run. I googles how far the course would be and set off. My destination was One Tree Hill Domain. I have normally driven, parked the car and run around and then up to the summit. Today I ran from home, around the bottom and home again. I have no idea how far it is around the base of it but the return trip there is about 12km.

When I run I have time to think, and when I feel frustrated I run extra hard. Today was a hard run...I was pretty frustrated. At the end of my run I felt great...so much so I borrowed my neighbors lawnmower and mowed the lawns! The circumstances in my life are still the same as when I woke up but I feel a little less wound up and able to enjoy this beautiful day.

Running really does help...

Auckland Marathon

Just a quick note to say that yesterday I registered for the Auckland Marathon 30th October. It will be my 1st marathon. According to the website it is happening in 190 days time...best keep up the running then LOL

water water everywhere

I forgot to blog about my run last Saturday so thought I would do so tonight. When I started out on my run it was just a light shower bt I felt well prepared with my skins on and a light jacket. I decided to run to the adidas shop in newmarket and then complete my 5km track and then run home again from there. It got pretty wet and I did walk a few times along the way, mainly up the hills or when I was trying to navigate my way through the crowds who were shopping. But on the run home the heavens decided to open up just as I was running past Epsom Girls. There was crazy surface flooding so every time a car drove past the excess water sprayed up. The gutters were blocked so the water had nowhere to drain to. As I ran past my whole shoe would go under water. It was intense. By the time I got home I was totally soaked through. Water was running down my legs from the water that my shorts were holding and my shoes were squelching all over the place.

Now normally I am a lazy runner in that if its raining I think of excuses as to why I can't possibly go for a run. But I remembered the conditions from the race in 2010 and thought I need to be prepared to run in all sorts of weather. I think it was one of the most exhilarating runs I've ever done. it felt good to be running in the midst of the rain and not letting it win. And the bonus was that I wasn't hot and sweaty when I got home :) Just in need of a hot shower and dry clothes.

No more excuses for not running in the rain now I guess...