Take it easy

Now that Jabulani is over it's time to start thinking about the next few months..I have 2 races on the calendar...pub2pub (13kms) in 2-3 weeks, and Blackmoore's half in a five weeks....

I need to make sure I do a proper rest over the next seven days if Im am to get rolling for these..my legs feel pretty worn out still and so I plan to do all my scheduled runs but only at a very easy pace..Ill even avoid the Bushrunners this Sunday if they are still not right to make sure

Next four Thursdays after that will involve a long run 0f between 17-20kms, plus one killer bush run and 2 recovery runs per week.....Ill try and run the long ones at the pace i need to do a 1:55 Half marathon, one minute better than my last one..

Hopefully i have learned my lesson since Canberra marathon where i went straight back into training right afterwards, smashing out fast runs after two-three days off..ridiculous

Injury-Free Hills!!!!

Great run today with the Warriors, my first in 4 weeks with no ankle pain and first with no strapping....ran a roller coaster route with 8 steep hills and only about 3 out of 10 kms on the flat.....nice and rainy with many testing themselves for the 10km Homebush run in a few weeks...had that feeling driving home like "did I just run ? did I dream it ? have I woken up yet?"....ate a bucket full of oats molasses and sultanas after weighing myself this morning and finding out i was losing more than i want to....time now for coffee, the paper and maybe even back to bed..



Ran to an old school play list, including this classic from Humble PIe's brilliant Smokin' album (the band that spawned Peter Frampton)..one of the best lesser known classic rock acts of all time ?!

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE RUNS OF ALL TIME ?

Last night was one of my favourite runs off all time, mostly because it was back to pace and longish (over 11.3kms) for the first time in four weeks, the longest break Ive had since I started 18 months ago.

It started at 7pm with a complete downpour with very heavy rain, which combined with Public Enemy on the ipod and no pain in my ankle or knee was a pretty irriesistable combination...plus the fact that most of the superfast runners in our group didnt show so me and one other runner had the rare pleasure of taking the lead...kept a pace of 5.4 for about 10kms, very hilly, then slowed down in the last km after a very slight twinge in my ankle from a steep downhill....

....other favourite runs ?

1. 10kms in the Blue Mountains Three Sisters to Leura Cascades
2. 15kms Avalon to Palm Beach and back
3. A bush bashing run out the back of Pennant Hills with my butcher-friend
4. 12km beach run at Manyana South Coast

What about you ?

Why Do Injuries Improve When You Run ? Any ideas ?

The body is a strange and unpredictable thing. Im trying to work out some strange happenings with mine ?

Why does my sore ankle get better when I run ?

How much of pain is real vs psychological ?

Is there a link between worrying your injured and being hypervigilant and careful leading to more injury ?

I hurt my ankle again slightly today running hills and tried an experiment. Later in the day I stopped off at an oval on my way to pick up the kids and ran round it once...hey presto..no more pain...what the ?...how come..am I stretching it....are the remnants of an injury tightness ?

Any thoughts?

Finally Back to Running

After nearly three weeks off due to ankle and knee problems im finally back having run two ten km runs in Melbourne around the Tan track...the interesting thing was that it actually took running to complete the recovery as the pain only finally went away when I got fed up waiting and just got out there courtesy of strapping and a light knee brace...after a few kms all niggles went away and havent really come back...why is this ? I was in danger of thinking it would never heal but was lucky enough to have a running friend tell me her similar story...anyway what a bloody relief after lots of angst...three weeks off, however, can really take fitness away, ive been aching like crazy even after a ten km run.....the kind of pain Im loving!

Slow Return

Its been 2 weeks since I ran and if you add the Half marathon taper a long time since i did any decent running...the good news is my ankle and knee are totally on the mend, Im back to cross training and cycling for this week then ill gradually increase over the following 2 weeks until im back to where i started...god its good to have a physio who tells me not to run and to come back slowly....he has explained how ankle injuries relapse if you dont wait long enough and it makes total sense...

For the time being Ive lost another kg, probably because ive been overly concerned about putting weight on without running...plus ive been fair to my upper body which has missed out on an equal share of exercise time over the past year...

Looking forward to the gradual return.....now off to Melbourne for a week...

Not Much Progress

Its been 10 days now since i last run and getting frustrated....my physio said to cycle and use the gym cross trainer but this seems to be aggravating my knee......so all I'm left with is upper body weights and swimming in the hope that this will settle everything down.......my ankle 50% better but i can still feel its potential to come undone again......this is a very irritating process although I know i need to learn its all a part of being a runner......physio Friday where Im pretty sure he'll prescribe more rest.......feel like I have ADHD at the moment.

Breaks Are Good!!

After some days of grief given my injured ankle and knee things have changed quite abit. Firstly, I definitely on the mend and should be right for a test run in 7 days. Secondly, to my surprise, Im really enjoying having a break. Im hopping on my bike more, cycling to the pool or the gym and generally feeling like it's a well earned change of scene.

Its funny how obsessed you have to get while training for the Half, but now I plan to come back slowly over the next two weeks, get my new robot style running down and drift gently into full marathon training which should start mid November.....if the physio is right I should eventually come back more efficient and a little bit faster so theres nothing to stress about....

My Lesson From the Half Marathon: Plan Ahead and Fight For Your Time

After 7 days of recovery time from the half marathon and two easy gentle runs it was time to take revenge on the road for giving me a time i wasnt altogether happy with last week.......after the euphoria of actually surviving last week I have thought through what I learned and whether or not i was ok with the fact my time was around 8 minutes slower than in training. My concluson was that I was happy but that I needed to plan my races a little better, not just listen to music and see where it takes me....

We planned a 10km today defined by one or two complete bastards of a hill and some lovely long stretches......I visualised in my mind a fast start, taking it slow and steady on the hills and then running hard from the 7km mark.........it worked and i did my record time for this course at 53m55secs.........the music....RAMMSTEIN

The Half Marathon Grimace: Stingey Photos

Yes, after 5 days im back to normal, Monday was a day of broken legs, Tuesday of a gingerly-excecuted 5kms that surprisingly eased the pain and Wednesday a proper but slow 8km run.....normally I probably wouldnt have but I was spending the week in Canberra, well renowned as the most boring but flattest city on the planet.

I've dragged these photos accross from the Marathon Photos site but if they sting me for it (which I seriously doubt) I have bought one but wanted a hard copy version..please look closely at the "giving birth' grimace I like to hold whilst running ? It's a mainstay of every run...

Im looking for further recovery hints ? Massage ? Swimming ? Yoga ? Nothing ? Sex ?
Chocolate ? Top Gear ? Visiting Canberra ? Let me know !

At the moment the Warriors are planning which races to do in the Winter Season....the Hunter Half in June ? City2Surf 14km ? Blackmores Half ? Bay Run 7km ? We'll see what the consensus is....