One foot in front of the other

We got up.
We got dressed.
We drove to South Yarra.
We ran hills for 70 minutes.
We were both tired.
We did not talk much.
We got back into the car.
We arrived home.

The End :)

Doing a dump

Wretched migraine that wiped out my entire weekend.......woke with it on Saturday and my magic migraine pills that normally make them disappear quickly had little impact and I spent the weekend shrouded in darkness and quiet..........................and Monday is Migraine hangover day..................joy! I was supposed to run in a Sri Chinmoy event (15kms) yesterday.................all part of the marathon preparation...........................am feeling pretty flat about not running that, as well as feeling like I am letting my IronMan team down...........................I know I need to put some stress management in place because feeling like a tight rubberband is not living at all...............................Cue Coach Tippett pep talk...........................he talked me through how I was feeling and gave me some strategies to help change the way stress affects me.............................one of them is dumping (or maybe it was bumping but I going to stick with dumping).....................and not in that way! It's about having a visual (and for me it is a tennis racquet) and as the things that stress me come up (which is far too much too often), allow myself to see me dumping it behind me with a hit of my tennis racquet.............he said that initially I may need to move my body to do the action but over time I will be able to 'see' myself doing it and it will be just as effective............so if you see me throwing myself around with an air racquet and grunting, grab a front row seat and feel free to cheer me on!

Mantra

And as if by magic, this quote lands in my lap.........................Lacking Confidence? Remember the most successful run you had. It could be a race or in training, but remember how you felt. Repeat this mantra, 'I've done this before, I can do it again. I'm strong, I can finish'.

Success

This morning's 1hr 45minute interval session was a success......................as far as toe pain is concerned. Today I did not need to stop to take my foot out of my runner and massage it before continuing my run..........this is fantastic progress.However in terms of my thinking and head space, I am not convinced that I can do this (even though I have run 2 marathons already), I am exhausted and down on myself............................my triathlete gently reminded me that thinking this way about myself is usually my default position......................so whislt my body has been training for this marathon for about 8 weeks my thinking really needs to be spoken to!

PS today I was at a leadership summit and one of my colleagues came up and asked me why I had such sensible shoes on............I love that people notice my shoes :)

Pre dawn observations

Nothing cerebral or profound but these thoughts were thunk when my triathlete and I were running hills in South Yarra @ 4.30 this morning.......................

• Fancy houses still have smelly rubbish
• It is not OK to leave your pooch in your car overnight - even if your car is a Mercedes
• You can sneak up on possums, even in a vehicle
• Window shopping is enjoyable at anytime of the day.....shiny shoes catch my eye anytime, anywhere
• Older women have unique ways of wearing an afro
• People in the shower need to be aware that you can be seen through the transluscent bathroom window, particularly when it is open
• Habits die hard, even if it is before the sun comes up - man spotted in his sleek sports car checking for small change in every parking meter
• A man sitting in his van listening to loud opera music @ 4.30am is usually included in a crime movie plot
• Bananas give you legs
• There are more bats in Melbourne than in Gothic City 

What have you seen today?

Size really does matter

It appears that the root of my little toe issues has been my shoes....................running shoes to be exact! The shoe mode,l that has been fit for my foot, has been superseded and so I upgraded to the new version a couple of weeks ago (check out the sales line.............The 18th version of ASICS’ flagship Structured Cushioning model continues to offer top of the line technology while maintaining the classic ride and comfort that has made the series an icon)..........after the painful run yesterday, I spoke with the Coach and he theorised that the issue sounded like my toes were under pressure............................my triathlete took some measurements of my new runners and compared them to my worn out superseded runners.................the new runners have a difference of 4mm less area across the top of the shoe and owuld be squishing my toes...................this morning's run was a bit of an experiment............................I wore my old model runners and VOILA..........................I ran relatively pain free..................now the mission is to find some of the 'run out' model shoes in time for me to break them in for the marathon..................5 weeks and counting!

Toe Squared

I found a pair of shoes in my collection that I was able to get my foot into yesterday........I was able to walk without so much as a limp as there was no pressure on my little toe..........the saviour was a pair of square toe loafers with a small heel. However putting my foot into runners this morning was not easy, even with encasing all toes in lube......my two hour run was interrupted with frequent stops to undo my shoes, massage my toes and slip them back in again. At one point the pain was so excruciating that I had some tears but figured I needed to get back to the car somehow and running was quicker than walking. I thought about whether I need to go shopping today to find another pair of square-toed shoes because I know that somewhere there is a law that states wearing the same pair of shoes several times in a week is likely to cause widespread devastation in the natural world........and I wouldn't want to be knowingly responsible for that. Tomorrow's run session may need to take on the form of deep water running.....