Gently, gently……..

Ooooooh, ooooooow, ouch……..That was what I sounded like getting out of bed this morning. I felt like I imagined a 90 year old would as I hobbled to the bathroom. I was feeling the after effects from yesterday’s kiss the dirt episode and I was not liking it very much at all. It felt as though all my ribs were bruised and certainly I have the faint purplish discolouration in the area to indicate that, as well as grazes all up my right side (which usually cops the brunt of my falls). But I had a run to do so slowly I changed into my running gear and headed out the door. It seems like everything I was going to do today would be in slow motion! And it was cold! About 1 degree if that and I didn’t really warm up this morning – probably because I was running too slowly to generate any heat. And for some strange inexplicable reason, only one of my fingers on my right hand lost all feeling from the cold, the rest were fine.

The run was a bit of a plod to start with but I did eventually ease into something resembling a jog, and managed to do 4km before heading home. Tomorrow is another day and hopefully I won’t be feeling as fragile!

Only 3 sleeps to go before I’m WA bound – going home (sort of) 🙂

Doing a CJ

It was a beautiful morning for a run. Today was the vet’s monthly run – a 10km run at Majura. It wasn’t as cold as it has been other mornings recently. It looked to be a really good turnout today (a long course, short course & a walk). Everyone making the most of the pleasant weather before winter really sets in. I started in group 31 (reluctantly – I still don’t believe I’m a group 31 runner) and set off at a comfortably slow pace. there were runners & walkers doing the shorter events already returning to the start/finish. About the 1.7km mark I turned my ankle. #%^*! I continued running, focussing on my ankle & hoping I hadn’t done any damage. About 100m on it happened………….face plant #%^*! Actually the face was fine, but not both hands, both knees & right elbow. Grazed skin, gravel & blood – not a good look. After letting those who were behind me (thanks Roger & Debbie) that I was fine, I walked a little & then started running again, albeit slower. I continued on & after the 5km turn around I figured that if I ran faster I would get help to clean the injuries sooner ( I know, amazing insight!). So I increased my pace & tried to ignore the stinging and soreness I was feeling.

I finished in 65th position, made sure to record my result & the first aid guys found me & escorted me to the 1st aid tent. Seems like I wasn’t going to get away even if I was so inclined. I wasn’t the only one to fall this morning – there were a few of us. We certainly became a talking point & spectator sport for others! Thanks to friends who came & checked on me – you know who you are 🙂
So I’m patched up & have been to the chemist to stock up on supplies of waterproof dressings. I imagine tomorrow I am going to feel very stiff & sore. What am I saying? I do now!

Run #152 executed in typical CJ style!

Random run

It was a foggy start to the day. I had an idea of the run I was going to do today before I left home. It was going to be an out and back course – down to the lake and then back home again. I was starving hungry and wanted breakfast so I didn’t want to spend too much time out running. Also I have the vets run tomorrow so a short run was the plan. It had briefly passed my mind that maybe I could run later in the day but I quickly squashed that thought. Better to get it over and done with first thing.

I headed down to the lake, the fog getting thicker the closer I got. People would appear out of the depths and then disappear just as quickly after passing, back into the fog again. It was all very peaceful. I stopped to take a couple of photos down by the water’s edge and then decided that, rather than turn and head back the way I came, I would continue on and run the loop that takes in the cycle path on the other side of Florey, parallel to Ginninderra drive. I hadn’t done this run for probably close to two years. Then, just to mix things up, I would turn down random streets, not really sure where it would take me, but knowing I was still heading in the general direction of home.

So it turned out to be very much a random run this morning.  I didn’t follow the planned route that I thought I would do. Instead I made it up as I went and it was a lot of fun never really knowing where I was heading. Total distance: 11km. Sometimes randomness is a good thing 🙂

Its a beautiful day

Some days you just don’t want to end. Today was one of those days. It began with an early start – a 5.30am run as I needed to be at work by 7.30am. Because I was finishing at lunchtime today I had a day’s work to do before then ;). The price I pay! But the pay off was that I was visiting a very good friend who had a baby recently and this would be the first time I would get to see him. Plus I had been on a bit of a shopping spree buying baby stuff. I had forgotten what fun it is to shop for baby stuff 🙂 Then after the visit I was off to the hairdressers for a couple of hours of pampering.

Run #150 was uneventful. It was a short 4km around the streets – I started and finished in the dark. Can’t believe I am still running injury-free after 150 days of consecutive runs but I am. Not that I have high expectations for my runs or for the events I do – just doing them is reward enough.

Work was a blur but it kept me out of trouble. I didn’t have time to talk to anyone – it was head down, bum up, to get my work done before I left for the day. Then I was away – heading waaaay down south to visit my friend and her baby. He is gorgeous and slept for most of my visit, only waking as I was ready to leave. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay too long as I had my hairdressers appointment waaaaay back in Hawker. But can I say he is just gorgeous and I’d forgotten how little they are!  He is 15 days old.

It really was a beautiful day 🙂

 

What day is it?

Having a day off in the middle of the week really throws me out. Yesterday I kept thinking it was Saturday so I had to keep reminding myself that there was no sleep in this morning but rather it was business as usual. Then this morning as I was driving to work, I was thinking it was quiet traffic-wise for a Monday. It didn’t help that my section manager also kept referring to a meeting that we went to Tuesday afternoon as being on Friday. At least I know I wasn’t the only one afflicted by mid-week confusion due to a public holiday!

I dressed warmly for my run this morning after consulting the weather app – seems like it was only 3 degrees at 5.30am. However I overdressed as usual and ended up removing my spray jacket halfway through the run and tying it round my waist again. Still I’d rather that than not wearing enough warm gear and being cold on my run. It was also misty/foggy across the paddocks and was getting foggier as the sun came up.

Tomorrow – its day #150 of the running streak! 🙂

Lest we forget

Henry Burge Newman

Service No: 2751

Rank: Private

Roll title: 28 Infantry Battalion – 6th Reinforcements – 51st Battalion/13th Brigade/4th Australian Division

Conflict: World War 1 – France

Date of embarkation: 2 November 1915

Place of embarkation: Fremantle, WA

Ship embarked on: HMAT Ulysses, A38

Received the Military Medal

Promoted to Lance Corporal: 12 January 2017

Returned to Australia: 19 April 1919

He was 20 years old when he went overseas and 24 when he returned.

He is Mr N’s grandfather.

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Paleo Anzac biscuits

 

I hadn’t intended baking biscuits today but I saw this recipe for Paleo Anzacs and couldn’t resist giving it a go. Normally Anzac biscuits are off the menu because they contain a) flour and b) oats – both ingredients that are a big no-no to coeliacs.  However this recipe uses almond meal, coconut, flaked almonds, macadamia nut oil, honey, and bicarb soda. I didn’t have any honey so used maple syrup instead. I halved the recipe because I didn’t think the two of us needed to eat 22 biscuits! And also, because I didn’t have enough flaked almonds for the complete recipe 😉

The end result was a biscuit that tastes and looks like an Anzac biscuit, and very moreish. So its lucky that we only have 11 biscuits to pig out on. I had one after my 8km run this afternoon – the verdict: it tasted delicious.

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Afternoon run

It was freezing today – so decided against a morning run in the hope that maybe, just maybe, it might warm up by the afternoon. No such luck! I kept looking out at the big black clouds gathering overhead and the chilly wind that cuts right through you, and debating when I was going to venture outdoors. I was not looking forward to this run at all. However I eventually realised that delaying the inevitable was just……delaying the inevitable! So out came the following:

• headband
• spray jacket
• long-sleeved top
• short-sleeved top
• leggings
• warm socks
• shorts
• cap

I was hoping that this would be enough to keep me warm but as I stepped outside I realised that nothing short of ugg boots, scarf and big woolly jacket was going to keep me warm….initially anyway. I could not feel my feet for the first couple of kms and my legs didn’t want top cooperate. I kept telling myself, keep running. Don’t focus on the cold. Just keep running. And slowly I started to warm up to the point that I stopped at the halfway mark, removed my spray jacket and tied it around my waist. My running on the return trip also felt a lot easier and smoother. And then I noticed another runner coming towards me – initially I thought, another crazy runner out in this weather. Then I realised I knew the other ‘crazy runner’ – none other than the lovely Kelley, out with her gorgeous girls. We stopped for a brief chat which also gave me the opportunity to grab some photos.

 

Counting the beat

I run with music. It’s usually music that has a fast beat and features on Triple JJJ – that’s my kind of music. BUT I do have some old stuff that has some meaning for me. Some of it might be corny but that’s fine – it’s not meant for the masses but for my ears alone, while I’m running. So what are some of my favourite running songs?

Bat out of hell – Meatloaf. I was a big fan of this album back in the 70s. Bat out of hell was my favourite track and still is today. (But no comment about his woeful performance at the AFL grand final last year).

Woodstock 2008 – Bliss N Eso. Its cool.

Black Night – Deep Purple. It was one of dad’s favourites and it reminds me of him.

Right here, right now – Fatboy Slim. They played this at Ironman before the start of the swim. Despite my nerves (what am I saying – the sheer terror I was experiencing at that point) I still remember hearing this music.

Dog days are over – Florence & the Machine. Love it!

Sweet child o’ mine / You could be mine – Guns n Roses – oldies but goodies.

Walking on sunshine – Katrina & the Waves – a long story but basically it reminds me of when a friend and I did lots of early morning cycle training during a freezing, foggy Canberra winter in the lead up to my half Ironman, and we would sing this song (along with other songs about sunny days) as a psychological diversion from the bloody freezing cold weather!

Alright alright alright – Mungo Jerry. So seventies.

Welcome to the black parade / Teenagers – My Chemical Romance. Just because…..

Time Warp – Rocky Horror Picture Show. I saw the stage show back in the late 70s and then a couple of years ago. Danced this at our wedding reception in full bridal regalia – was a hoot!

The Streak – Ray Stevens. Was big in the 70s when streaking was all the craze at cricket and footy matches! I was at high school at the time. Doesn’t matter how bad I’m hurting in a run, if this song comes on it always brings a smile to my face!

Lift – Shannon Noll. Another song that always plays when I’m in a world of [running] pain – spooky. And I do lift……

Beautiful Day – U2. Another song played at Ironman. So many memories that day.

There are lots of others, way too many to mention. Some music I may only listen to for a couple of months but others I will always have on my iPod for the memories they invoke whenever I hear them.

And in today’s Canberra Times, in an article “Beat the clock with rock”, a Dr Costas Karageorghis, an expert on the effects of music on exercise, claims that “music is a legal drug for athletes”. He claims that listening to music while running can boost performance by up to 15%. He does say that the faster you run the less effect the music has on your performance. And the reason for this is because runners tend to be either associators ie tend to focus inwardly when running (many elite athletes are in this category), dissociators ie look for stimulus and distraction from what is going on around them, or somewhere in between. So an associator will tend be more focused on how they are feeling and their pace rather than tuning into external distractions, such as music.

Whatever. I’ll continue to listen to my music and if you happen to see me having a bit of a chuckle while I’m running, it could be because The Streak is playing on my iPod! 🙂

So what are some of your favourite running songs?

Mondayitis

aka CBFitis and I suffered badly from this syndrome today. I don’t know what happened between going to bed Sunday night and waking up this morning but I really needed an attitude adjustment, which just didn’t happen today.

1. Woke up at 5.30am to a cup of coffee. Time to get out of bed and go for a run – CBF. Had to ignore that little voice pleading to stay in bed, and get up and head out the door.

2. Add some hill repeats to run – this should not have come as a surprise as I had planned this over the weekend – CBF. Agreed to do one and if it really was that bad, call it quits. One became two then three and finally I did the 4 I had planned to do. Ended up doing an 8.5km run but it took a lot of cajoling to eke out those kms.

3. Remember to stretch after the run – CBF.

4. Had a shower, prepared brekkie, read the paper, time to get ready for work – CBF. OMG, was it going to be like this all day?! The inner teenager was really stamping the foot this morning. No bargaining this round – ignored the voice, got ready for work and left home.

5. Have several pressing deadlines this week so needed to get stuck into my work – CBF. Talked to co-workers, made a coffee, talked some more, made a green tea, completed some non-urgent work tasks – procrastination was my middle name this morning. Eventually focused on what I had to do, knuckled down and completed it.

6. Write up this entry – CBF. Does it matter if I miss a day? Well, actually, yes it does – to me. This was a personal goal for 2012 and a CBF attitude wasn’t going to jeopardise this. So deal with it!

And then I read Ange’s post for today and it seems I was not the only one to suffer from a case of the CBFs! Made me feel a whole lot better 🙂

It’s all in the timing

Sunday – a day of rest…….not likely! I still had to do my daily run but not at the crack of dawn. I usually enjoy a sleep in (unless there is an event on), meander over a delicious breakfast (today it was banana bread, toasted, and topped with ricotta cheese and grilled figs – to.die.for) while reading the Sunday papers, shower and do some shopping. And then spend the rest of the day being bothered by thoughts along the lines of, I should really go for a run now, I’ll do it after lunch, maybe I’ll have a coffee and then go for a run, and so on and so on. The advantage of running early in the morning is that its done and I can get on with the rest of the day.

For today’s run, #145, I went for a 6km run before having my lunch. It had been threatening to rain all morning and every now and then there was evidence of raindrops but nothing much more. It was a cruisy run and I was surprised by my pace, once I’d finished – its nice to have little surprises every now and then 🙂 I had a massage late yesterday afternoon and she had managed to ease out all the little tight spots including a very tight right hip flexor.  It seems to have worked a treat.

Weekly stats:

Total for the week – 35.1km

Year to date – 837km

Since the start of the running streak (30/11/11) – 1,028.1km

In my happy place

For the first time in over a year I returned to one of my favourite off-road running routes. It takes me behind the suburb of Hawker and into the Pinnacle nature park. When I do my looooong runs, this is really only the start (and almost the end) of the run, as I continue over behind the adjacent suburbs of Cook and Aranda (through the bushland) and into Black Mountain nature park, where I can choose any number of trails to follow. Why do I love it? I think it’s because it has variety – there are hills and flat bits, its through the bush, has great views across to the Brindies, and there are not usually too many other people out there.

I have to admit that at times it is a love/hate relationship especially near the end of the long runs, when I’m tired, lacking energy, and really struggling to get up the hills. Those are the times when its tempting to ring home and get someone to come and pick me up. But that has only happened once and that was because of an ITB problem, I literally couldn’t take another step. All other occasions its been a case of suck it up and struggle on, doing a mixture of shuffling and walking. But it’s also those times that builds my resilience and is what gets me over the line when it counts – on race day.

This morning, however, it was a pleasant 8km jog, reacquainting myself with familiar territory and reminding me why I love to run that particular route. I also had a close encounter with a kangaroo – I think it was as surprised as I was when we almost came face to face. I had been listening to my music when I looked up and looking back at me, at very close quarters, was a startled kangaroo, who had been interrupted while grazing on grass. We briefly made eye contact then he/she bounded away, over the fence and into the adjoining paddock.