Trifecta

Who knows where the time goes but I have done 3 runs since my last entry and have not been able to find a window of opportunity in my day to write about them.........................until now....................... So in summary.............................it is 8 weeks today until I run my next marathon and the number of run sessions each week are increasing.....................long runs are back on the program and I really enjoy just getting out and running...................anyway I have clocked up just over 87kms in a week and that is even with missing one run session! Looking at my program for the next fortnight it won't surprise me if I clock up over 100kms each week..................just in time for school to start back!

PS........Shoes: I am still without a pair of red Mary-Janes but I am hopeful that a pair will find me soon.
PPS.......Feet: have taken immediate action to attempt to restore my gnarly toenail-less feet to their former glory.

Australia Day

Public holiday = no work = little sleep in = running as the sun comes up.....................glorious morning along the Bay with lots of people taking advantage of the public holiday to continue shananigans from last night and/or set up on the beach for today's shananigans! Have a fabulous day everyone.....I have completed one run (60 minutes) this morning and have a second session this afternoon.

Up and Down

This morning's session was up hills and down hills and up more hills and down hills for an hour. Hills didn't beat me but I wasn't necesarily on fire. All that I keep in my head is the thought of having a marathon to run before my next lot of school holidays!

Warm Up

Today's 2 hour 10 minute run was a warm up in a couple of ways........................firstly it was warm. I am used to running before the sun gets up so starting today's run @ 8ish was a shock to the system! Not only was the temperature higher than I am used to but the sun was out in all its shining gloriousness!
The second reason it was a warm up was because my triathlete and I ran a section of the run that we will both undertake in the marathon (as part of the Melbourne Ironman event) in 9 weeks.......so let the fun begin!

Not on the plan

Today I opted to do a 90 minute hill run over a 40 minute tempo run.......................not sure what Caoch Tippett would have to say on the matter so I won't ask him. Think of the song lyric 'everyday I'm shuffling" and you will have the visual of my running action this morning..........well kind of :) BTW no hill in South Yarra got the better of me. Next run on Thursday morning (because this is a recovery week) so speak to you then :)

My Clayton's Trail Run

Today was the day for the Two Bays Trail Run.............................except for people like me who did not register in time...........so today was my Clayton's trail run....................Coach Tippett instructed me to do the 28km run on soft surface.......................so 28km I did but on a mix of soft and hard surfaces that took me from Port Melbourne, to Albert Lake and onto The Tan returning to Port Melbourne two and a half hours later or there abouts. I purposely did not focus on my pace and just went out and ran and a sensational run it was.

(The pooch did not join me as we have since discovered that cramping is a known issue for border terriers and it is thought that extreme exercise aggravates the condition).

Glorious day.........................hope that you get out to enjoy it :)

Collapsed Canine

Happy that this morning's session was fast and short........a warm up, 3 x 3 minute intervals @ race pace with 3 min float jogs to break it up and then a 10 minute cool down.................took the pooch with me and all was fine and dandy until I started the final interval.....Chicko was lagging behind me (on the lead) and I told her to move it along...........I looked over my shoulder to see the little pooch's back legs under her belly with me essentially dragging her along. I stopped running and scooped her up off the path. when I put her back down her back legs were unable to support her....................doing my best to stay calm I scooped her back up again (yay for small pooches) and started walking back towards the car only pausing to put her on the grass once to see how she managed. She walked in an arc and then stumbled.........................scooped up again my mind raced as we got closer to the car - was there a 24 hour vet hospital, if so where? I placed her into the car and headed for home..................when I opened the car door she bounded out and waited for me to reach the front door, that, once opened she raced inside and stood expectantly waiting for her post run treat! Was she for real?!! It would appear so!

Vet verdict: she most likely suffered a cramp!
And the Oscar goes to Chicko!

It's in the stars!

What more can I say?

A pair of shoes can change your life. Just ask Cinderella

This week I have been spring cleaning cupboards and clothes and today I got to my shoes...................it is unfathomable to think about ditching shoes but I needed to put away the shoes that I had bought on our trip interstate where I set myself the challenge of a new pair from every state (btw I easily achieved this challenge but the only state I didn't get shoes from was my state of excitement!).

Opening each shoe box was like opening Christmas presents all over again...........some shoes I had forgotten about (easily done) and I felt excited about my re-discovery.................and others, well that is when I realised that some needed to go...............that their usefulness had expired...................the number of shoes to go.........................(guess)...........................4 (now 3). Trust me it was a difficult decision and just before writing this entry, I put one pair back on the shelf to live another day :) So...................................... I am doing away with a lovely flat pair of casual black mules, open-toed mules with a kitten heel and an embellished strap across the foot (noice!) and a dearly loved (and well worn) deep red Mary-Janes :(....................I have already spied a replacement pair of M-Js :)

Winter run

You could be forgiven for thinking that summer and autumn had been put on fast forward and once more winter was on the doorstep.....................a chilly morning meant that I snuggled under the doona longer than I had planned..............not even the pooch wanted to leave the house.........she was tucked under the doona and dug her paws in when I clicked on her leash, refusing to come for the run..............by the time I got to The Tan it was a busy scene. Today nothing hurt.........not my feet, not my knees and my breathing was settled so before I knew it the hour interval session was finished.

Off the plan

The run I was scheduled to do was different to the run that I actually did............why? Well it was a case of not feeling up for a 2 hour run (number of reasons).............................my options were to stay in bed or to go on a hill run in South Yarra (with my triathlete) and at least get a run in..............my thinking being it was better to do something than nothing....................

What a dick!

Ok I had said I was going to do the Two Bays trail run (28km) this January (http://www.twobaystrailrun.com/). I had it in my head that it was late in the month and when I was looking over this week's training schedule I saw that Coach Tippett had written it in the slot for Sunday........................the trail run this Sunday.......surely not.........surely yes it would appear so........I checked the website for the run and realised that I had been looking at the back up date instead of the actual date! Eeekkkk!

My brain went into overdrive - I hadn't bought my camel back water pack yet let alone train with one (I personally was not looking forward to running with one as I detest the sound of sloshing water when I run!). Each runner takes their own water as the drink stations are about 10km apart. Then I read the participant's requirement list: a compression bandage in case of snake bite (OMG I hadn't considered that possibility.......I know the trail run is in the bush and snakes live in the bush but they really hadn't come into the picture for me!). Another requirement is a mobile phone with good coverage as well as a map in case you become lost.......mmmm my orienteering skills aren't honed...................a severe case of doubt washed over me about my readiness and I sent an email to Coach Tippett concerned about injury, snake bite and getting lost!

Spoke with the Coach today and he allayed my concerns about getting lost and about the kiss of death from a snake.......he did say that I would be quite sore for about a week because of the rocky course.......righto I decided that I was ready to take this on........
I went to register for the event only to find out that the event is sold out and there are already 100 runners on the waiting list! I am a dick!
So I will make contact with the Coach and get in early with my registration for the run in 2013!

Back to business

This entry is in a couple of phases-pre run and post run.......or really pre-pre run, pre run and post run!

Pre-pre run: looked out the window (as my triathlete left on a 6 hour group ride) at the weather-wind and rain.......my two most favourite weather conditions to run in....not......welcome back to Melbourne! So I lingered under the doona a little longer and checked out a post made on Facebook by a friend who works for lululemon about female athletes.........ok now I am motivated and ready to take on the wind and rain.

Pre run: out of bed and getting organised and I caught sight of my body in a mirror - I had to have another look.....the relationship I have with my body is not the best and I beat up on it often, regularly discounting the amazing things it can do........was that really my body looking back at me? If so, I was a little impressed.......and even more so when I jumped on the scales and realized that even with some indulging over the break and a few missed run sessions, I am still a couple of kilos lighter than before! You go Leanne!.........motivation goes up a notch.........

Post run: once I had started and said some mantras to myself I finished the short run session feeling like my day had got off to a good start!

May your day be chockful of goodness :)

My body really isn't interested in running today

Truer words have not been uttered before! Perhaps the very fact we kept hitting the snooze button every 10 mins for an hour and a half was signal enough that neither of us was particularly keen to get moving but needless to say we got up and ran by the water in Ballina. Session had some speed work in it.......I was more into the session about halfway through the hour-was that because I knew it was almost over or was it because I was warmed up and in a rhythm? Double thickness dog coat doesn't suit the climes of northern NSW so the pooch was drenched under showers and in the water at regular intervals.

Headed into Byron for breakfast and a day on the beach and whilst we were waiting for breakfast to be delivered, I felt a pull to the shoe shops.......what a disappointment! Not a single pair shuffled on the shelves urging me to take them home :( I crossed the street into another shoe shop...........oh my! I really thought I would be leaving empty handed.......however one shop closer to the breakfast cafe, a rack of gorgeous dresses teased me to enter..........into a fabby eclectic Aladdin's cave and there on the back wall was a pair of tangerine laser cut wedges that winked at me..........I slipped them on and was sold! A red canvas bag and a woven leather bracelet and I was ready to eat!

Reunion run

An hour and 40 minute interval session around dad's neighbourhood done before the sun had enough sting to create yet another tan line and before packing up the car to start our journey south. Pooch ran with us, partly because she had told us that she had missed us but more so because we wanted to wear her out so that she slept in the car. Not sure I will have the chance to buy a pair of shoes before we cross the border but We are meeting mum for a coffee in Currumbin and you never know what is around the corner :)

West Coaster

After a whirlwind visit to Perth I am sitting in the Qantas club attempting to capture my last run in brisbane on the morning we flew out and my two sessions here in Perth.........flying out of brisbane early meant an early rise but with a run to complete it meant an even earlier get up -try 4.30! Although the session was short it was a sweaty run through the streets around dad's place. We arrived in Perth on the 28th Dec and went directly to an extravagant 5 year old's birthday party.........it was a hot welcome to the sunny state and secretly I enjoyed being thrown into the water after the party had finished! Heading to bed much later than my body is used to, we got up and I ran from South Beach through the city of Fremantle, found an ingenious spot to wee and cursed myself for not getting up an hour earlier to run to avoid the intense heat at 6.30am!

We had a sleep in the next morning and my second run yesterday was a hard run-sensational scenery running along the Swan River but my god it was hot and without any water along the running tracks I was as dry as............(you fill in the gap)

In the back of my mind is the fact that I am supposed to be doing a 28km cross country trail run later this month..........not feeling the love just yet :(

Has been a great trip back to Perth - full of friends and good times........heading back to Melbourne via Brisbane means getting back on the food and drink wagon.