Longest run for me today and biggest running week

...and I am shattered.....!!!

The run was Woodford - Gates on the Oaks Trail - back up to Woodford.  Hills, hills and more hills.  Hardly any flats.  Up or down.  Lots of hills.  Many hills.  Did I say it was hilly?

Anyway, ran with Miss Beautiful Bernadette, and really wanted to make the most of the day.  However ankles had other plans.  We ended up finishing 34 very hilly kms in 5 hrs and 2mins.  I needed to stop every now and then to adjust my ankles, let them out of their shoes, unravel my bandage and stretch, etc. 

I won't lie and say the run was fun.  The run was freaking hard and I was in pain for about 70% of it.  However the company was awesome and the kms just kept racking up.  And it is good to hear how others train, and it was heartening to hear that it is not all running that makes you stronger.

Straight afterwards I felt good at finishing my longest ever run and my biggest ever week (81km).

However I realised today those ankles need a break if they are to recover.

So AT LEAST a week off,  maybe two.

When I came home, I actually swore that I would never run again, so sore were my ankles.  Voltarin and icing and compresssion socks weren't helping and I actually spewed and I think it may have been from feeling sick from the pain.  God that sounds dramatic.  But it wasnt very nice.

So, I hung out till the clock said 5pm and poured a glass of red.  After the first glass, the pain subsided.

I was planning to drink enough red so that I could not feel my legs, but having a couple of medicinal glasses has helped....no need for desperate measures.

This blog is very serious.  It is not like me at all.  I wonder if I should just pull out of this freaking race.

But then my determined little inner voice says DON'T GIVE UP!!!  So I will wait and see how things go.  No giving up yet.  Getting orthotics Thursday.  Should help.  Fingers crossed. 

The Week So Far

Sunday = 18km in National Park.  Slow as something that is very slow indeed.  Painful on ankles.  Felt like I was running on the spot.  Not ONE km was under about 7.5 minute kms.

Tuesday = another 18km in the National Park.  Even slower than Sunday, ran with uninjured faster people, got disheartened and cut my run short.  Ankles very pissed off indeed.

Friday =  hill repeats on Hare Street with Simon.  Ankles revolting.  Ice bath for feet whilst putting makeup on.  Could have ended in disaster had my straighteners fallen in the bucket.  Iced ankles with frozen onions in work.  Bandaged ankles tightly for a while.  Rubbed voltaren into ankles.  Took voltaren tablets.  Elevated ankles.  Did calf raises. 

Terrified beyond belief that they will play up tomorrow.  Have 35km in National Park planned.  Bernie G (fast runner, salt of the earth) is coming up and we are running (and walking) from Woodford to the gates on the Oaks Trail and back - a 35km round trip.  GREAT training for North Face as it is hilly, and trail and the like.  Bed very early tonight.  If I manage the 35km tomorrow, it will be my biggest week of running (around 81.5km), which is not bad considering I FEEL like I have done nothing much.  I guess that is because I haven't run the 35km yet.  Slaps head. 

Better, better, better

 Temperatures in the Blue Mountains dropped about 15 degrees since yesterday (yesterdays temps maxed out at 43.3 degrees in Sydneys west - yucky poo poo).  My eyeballs dried up when I went outside yesterday, hence much palaver about crap training, no long runs, blahdy blahdy blah.


Today, woke up and lo and behold IT WAS COOL!!  Yahoo!! Running shoes promptly donned, iPod charged up with this, amongst other things:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oW3a8ZcAek

(how cool a song is that?)

and out the door to the National Park for 18kms of trundling along contemplating my navel amongst other things.  

Came home feeling much more positive about training, the scary climby race thing and life in general.  


Oh and went to the party last night, drank four bottles of sparking mineral water, kept away from hammocks and cigars and in bed by 10pm. 


WIN!


Tomorrow the plan is to do the Lovers Walk 10km loop with the horrible stairs just to get the quads ready for the 30km Australia Day run.  


This week will actually be a biggie in terms of kms, which should be good for the old confidence.  


Thinking about it on my run today, I bet my ankle woes not only stem from me being "put together wrong" as the nice physio described it, but from the type of training I was doing.  I was running to work three to four times a week and that was all I was doing.  Now the run is downhill or flat.  No uphills at all.  I wonder if I have built up strength in the quads and suddenly when I am off at Xmas and start doing hill training, my calves have gone "but hang on, we don't normally do any work, we are going on strike".  Or whatever calves might happen to say, could calves, of course, speak. 


Anyway, will try and even up the uphill and downhill running to sort that out.


Was thinking my next long run could be from Woodford, down to the gates (17.5km) and back, all up 35km and hilly hilly hilly, and no real danger of snakes as the path is nice and wide.   Mind you, having said that, wait and see, my next blog report will involve a death adder on the Oaks Trail.

Juggling Jogging

I have no excuse!!  I haven't been training as much as I should this week!!  I have spent far too much time on "social" endeavours and far too little time on the pavement.

The last couple of weeks went something like this:

After the Six Foot Track Snake Episode, I expected to be half crippled the next day, as I usually am after a long run.  However, praise be to God I was feeling really well, no sore back or hips, just that really heavy feeling in the quads (I blame Nellies Glen) but a "nice" heavy feeling where you know you worked hard.

So the next day I went out and bought my bike and thought I would be a smarty pants and train on that so's not to totally trash my ankles to allow for long weekend runs etc.  So that weeks training was really centred around cycling and swimming, with a few short but hilly runs.  Very short if memory serves me well.  Who am I kidding?  I am not training for a bike ride, or a swim.  I am training for a very hard, very hilly, very climby, very freaking scary race.  It is time to extract the digit.

Anyway, last weekend I did not do ONE run.  Not one. 

Saturday was Curtis' 18th birthday party.  Gawd, teenagers.  They can talk a lot of shite.  And make a big mess.  No running Saturday.  Mind you I had no excuse not to get up early on Saturday morning and run.  I just didn't.  Slack. Some thieving little shite stole my iPod too, which pissed me off no end.  The iPod itself had a bad attitude and to be honest, it and me had been at loggerheads over the menu button, which refused to work after a particularly sweaty session in the sports bra.  I might add this is my fourth iPod to come to a sticky end in the space of ONE YEAR.  I think I hold the record for owning the most iPods ever.  In my iPod owning history, I have blown one up by pouring coffee on it, put two through the wash, and killed two, maybe three with excessive booby sweat.  Anyway, I didn't really like this one, as I said, it had a bad attitude, but I LOVED MY PLAYLIST.  I had perfected it over weeks and months and really believed this was the BEST EVER running playlist, with loads of rocking tunes to keep me amused.  Anyway, I have bought another patriotic GREEN one and am trying to recreate the perfect playlist. 

Sunday we caught the train to the Big City and spent a lazy afternoon listening to Jazz and catching up with friends from Belfast, there was much consumption of fizzy, beer flavoured drinks.  Which led to a total lethargy on Monday and therefore no training Monday either.  Are you starting to see a picture forming here?

So....Tuesday I got up at sparrow fart and ran 10km round the local streets, incorporating one of the big hilly streets at the end.  Ankles and achilles in particular were somewhat stunned and protested loudly.

Wednesday I didn't manage to get my backside out of bed for an early morning run, so waited until after the sun went down for my run, which was just as well because I felt like I was running with a club foot, so sore were the ankles.  Managed 7km and came home very dejected.

Thursday ran around the lake at work in 37 degree heat which again zapped any enthusiasm or self confidence.  We stopped at the pontoon and swam 800m then ran / walked back.  Combination of heat and wet clothes made it feel pretty yucky and to be honest you couldn't even count this as a run.

Friday was the Big Day Out!!!  Plan was to get up early and run before the day got too hot and run then.  By the time I got up the day was already 35 degrees.  No running.  Big Day Out was hot and frankly, rather nasty, due to weather conditions.  Muse were absolutely brilliant though.  Worth sitting for 6 hours in 40 degree heat with no breeze for.  Well worth it.  They played all my favourite songs, the light show was amazing as was their performance.

So this morning I had a good look at myself (not like in the mirror or anything, but figuratively speaking).  I might add that I did actually look in the mirror this morning and feel quite depressed.  I dyed my hair what I expected to be a dark stunning brown.  It turns out to be an Ozzy Osborne black.  After seeing a transexual Ozzy look alike with no knickers on in the Ori at lunchtime a few weeks ago, I was quite depressed to note that I actually looked a bit like him / her.  But that is by the way.

What a freaking disaster the last two weeks have been training wise.  So after I dropped Curty at work, I decided to run the river run.  Today is 43 degrees.  I managed 4km all up, I was finding it hard to breathe and run although on the plus side, my ankles were FINE!!!

So, if this weather continues I need a plan of attack.

Early nights so that I can resume running to work, it is the only way to get a decent workout because it is still cool enough to run early in the morning - AND there is no way I can cut my runs short because I actually have the purpose of getting somewhere.  I love that.

Social events are going to have to wait until after this race.  Well social events that include staying up to 2am drinking beer, swinging from a hammock and smoking cigars.

Food - the plan was to lose a few kilos in the hope that it might make me faster.  Whahahahahahahahah!!!

Been trying to lose the same 5 kilos for about ten years now.  Still, I have got to stop putting crap in my mouth, namely beer and wine.

I guess there is nothing stopping me from doing shorter runs but trying to get out twice a day, might help with the ankle situation.  If it cools down tonight, I will head out for another short one.   We also have a party to go to tonight, so I am going to drive, drink mineral water and stay away from hammocks.

 

First Week Of Training for Scary Scary Event just got even Scarier

Me - after a very hot and long (6 hours) run / walk on the Six Foot Track - 31km

(yes it shouldn't take one 6 hours but it was hot, we ran out of water, so we walked the last 14km - and besides, our legs were jelly, you'll see why)

This hasn't been a bad week of training, despite being "injured" - i.e. having a very sore achilles, and knowing that I have to keep it happy but keep it moving if it is to get better.

Sunday morning started with a swim at Glenbrook Pool.  30 laps but slow slow slow.

Monday - decided after icing the living daylights out of my ankles that I would try a little 5km run in the afternoon, took it really slow, deliberately didn't take iPod so that I could concentrate on keeping really slow and threw in a few local hills - by 5km the achilles was nagging but not shouting.  Felt better for doing it.  Stopped thinking "I will never run again".

Tuesday - knew I shouldn't run again but managed to persuade Himself to accompany me on a bush "walk".  Chose one that featured the stairs that are in the actual race - all 910 of them - the famous Giant Staircase that leads from Echo Point down to the base of the Three Sisters and along the Federal Pass, then back along Federal Pass and back up the stairs. 

Tourists who saw us climbing up the stairs turned back in horror.

We were sweaty and cursing lowly under our breaths. 

Felt amazing to get to the top.  Could not sleep that night for fear of what I have gotten myself into.  Achilles niggled like mad tonight, despite icing icing and more icing.

Wednesday - local 10km loop incorporating more hellish stairs, Lovers Walk from Emu Plains to Glenbrook.  Had to walk home, achilles again unhappy, got caught in the rain, didn't have my compression shorts on under my running skirt and felt fat and floppy post Christmas.  Not my finest training session, but at least I was out there.

Thurs and Friday - nothing!

Saturday - 31km on the Six Foot Track - totally brilliant, totally horrid in equal measures.  We ran the first 14km, we were on track to stop at Cox's River, have a swim, eat a sandwich and run back.  About 500m from the River we came across a very large and very aggressive red bellied black snake.  In fact, as Helen was running, and put her foot on the track, it too was heading onto the track and so they sort of collided.  Thankfully Helen was in front of me (not thankfully for Helen though). She quite calmly (in her rather posh English fashion said "snake!" - I screamed and ran the fastest I have ever ran in my life. 100m record on the Six Foot Track.  I was yelling at her to follow me, but she just seemed to be standing there.  Note to anyone who knows me - don't call me in an emergency.  Running and screaming are probably not the best reactions to large, unhappy snakes.   Helen eventually ran too.  We decided at that point not to continue down to the river.  I have never been so keen to get home in all my life. Both our legs went to jelly and we found it hard to run.   I found myself a stick and carried this until we got onto open trail again.  

Despite this (and another much smaller sighting of a red bellied black snake), this is the furthest I have been on Six Foot Track and the scenery around the farms on the Megalong Valley are just gorgeous - worth coming back for - in winter when the snakes are all having a nap!!

We ended up spending 6 hours out there, with breaks to dip our feet in the river, have a sandwich and at one stage just to cool off in the shade.  It was 37 degrees on Saturday and we almost ran out of water.  The plan was to refill the camelbaks at the campsite at the river but because we were too scared to pass the snake, we turned back without a refill.  A lesson there - to be prepared for any eventuality on the trails. 

Luckily I had planted a frozen bottle at the 25km point (about 4km after we ran out and by this stage it was 3pm and hot as hell) and then at the base of Nellies Glen we filled up from the stream. We guzzled from the stream.  No ill effects to report either, the water was sooo clear and tasted like the best water I have ever had in my life!!   A very tired Sonia and Helen at the end, but really happy to have made it safely.

Woke up with an amazingly well body apart from very sore quads.  Normally after a long run my back and hips are really unhappy.  Today there was none of that which has really encouraged me that I can train for this event.  Have I mentioned that I wake in the night with sweats thinking about what I have entered?  

So this morning I went to Glenbrook Pool - 20 laps to limber up the muscles.

This afternoon went to test drive the bikes the bike shop had ordered in for me. 

Ended up buying one and taking it for a 15km ride this afternoon.  My quads!!  Oh boy are they sore.

I am in love with my new bike. 

Here it is:

Still feeling scared, frightened, apprehensive etc about North Face, but this week has shown me that I don't have to run 70km at 6 min km's to get some good training in - the steps are a must for this race, the terrain is a must and the mixture of swimming and biking on top of the running are a must or else I will end up totally banjaxed.  Also spending 6 hours out on the trail like we did on Saturday is really important to get my body used to just being on it's feet for that length of time.  So, despite the apprehension, I am pretty happy with this weeks training - hopefully it can only get better!!

The biggest thing that happened this week is that I got my licence back after being disqualified for SIX MONTHS for losing all my points.  I look upon this as a positive, because it was really because of this I started to run to work, and I am now very conscious of the speed limit.  It felt totally brilliant to drive up to Katoomba early on Saturday morning, in fact it felt a little like the whole world was my oyster.  Which, of course, it is.  Kilpatrick.

  

Entered, Training Started. Sort of.

Well hello.

Since last blog, my achilles has gone to pot and the irony of it all, is that on New Years Eve, as a kind of encouraging momentous last gesture of 2009, I entered The North Face (that 50km mountain run I was going on about in previous posts).

So now I am wondering if I will get value from my $300 entry fee.  But it is wayyyyy more than that for me.

I have had the belief that I could do things, only to get injured, get sick or get the lucky draw prize of a trip to Ireland contracting the worst of the latest pandemics known to man.


However, I need to hold on to that belief.  


That I can actually achieve something.


So, our entry is in (we are doing the marathon pairs), and I need to run 54 km and my partner needs to run about 50.  Maybe 46.  He will work it out!


He is marathon fit, bike fit and gym fit.


I am slow, prone to injury and frankly, quite ancient at 42 to be getting into this sort of caper.  I also tend to fall over a lot on the trails these days.



However, today I researched 50km trail running race training plans.  I freaked out a bit over the weeks past week 11.  Week 14 has a 39km run on the Saturday followed by a 10km on the Sunday.  I am wondering where I am going to find reasonable enough routes to satisfy my training plan, not only from a distance perspective but also from a terrain perspective.


So today I bought the "Blue Mountains Best Bushwalks" book (Sydney Morning Herald, $29.95, from all good bookstores).


Tomorrow, John and I are both off work, so I told him to take his pick of routes.  He looked pretty happy until he realised I was talking about bushwalks. 


We will only be walking, as I want to suss out terrain, and anyway, my programme says a 3.2km run tomorrow.  The more time I spend on my feet out and about on bushwalks the better.  And with a still upset achilles, I cannot afford to run up big hills as yet.  


I took it (my achilles) for a short but undulating run this afternoon, only 5km, slow, and it felt better than it has, but still sore.  I am on Rob Standens (my physio's) waiting list, after freakily running into him at Glenbrook Pool yesterday - poor guy was hoping for a quiet Sunday swim and ended up giving me a half a consult.  Nice guy.  I have faith he will help show me what I need to do to get it better.



Good ideas I have had for midweek runs / climbs are running to work and running home again (a moderate climb up Mitchells Pass) and Lovers Walk steps 10km return.  I know I will struggle with the longer runs on the correct terrain and fear I will either spend all my time on Woodford to Glenbrook or doing reps of the Kedumba Pass, which, quite frankly, fills me with dread.


I guess I can venture on to the Six Foot Track but my memory of the first 8km and return is not that challenging (apart from the steps at Nellies Glen).  Perhaps I need to start at Megalong Road.  I am scared of doing all these things on my own, but I am sure I will be fine, work it out and find some other eejits to come along for the ride!



Anyway, I have 18 weeks to work it all out.  Here I am stressing about the whole thing right now. It will evolve, I am sure of it.  Just have faith, stick to the plan, do the training. 



However feel much better with a plan, it will test me. I am lucky to have lovely people up here who are happy to run with me on the trails and some special people who have been very encouraging on my quest!!!  They know who they are!!  

This is what the first 18 weeks of 2010 are all about for me.  A test.