Strategies for keeping warm in winter

Wed AM: 11K @ 6:08

Last night I jumped on the scales for the first time in weeks.

Oh my giddy aunt!

83.2Kg. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a culprit for the slower
times. I have been in the good paddock. In fact, were I not a vegetarian
I could be accused of eating all of the cows in the good paddock.

So diet will become a big factor in the five weeks running up to the
Gold Coast. I hope to get down to about 78kg, but I've said that before.

Strategy one for keeping warm in winter: Carry an extra stone (6.3kg) of
superfluous flesh.

Yesterday became a sort-of rest day - I did a short Pilates DVD session
in the morning. I did, however, locate a shower at work.

This morning I used the knowledge I'd gained yesterday, and drove to
work in trackies and a jumper and did a running tour of Milperra for 11K
this morning. I felt really rusty for the first 4K, but then I hit a bit
of rhythm and I felt I had a bit left at the end.

I did find it hard to stay at my target pace of 6:15. I just seem to
want to run at 6:00 or 6:30.

The shower at work was great. Now I just have to remember to bring a
towel. I dried myself with a spare t-shirt.

Strategy two for keeping warm in winter: Run at 7:00AM instead of
5:30AM.

I have decided to stop riding on the roads. I've never felt particularly
safe out there - I'm an uncoordinated person at the best of times, and
DJ has always been pretty nervous whenever I've been riding on the road.
DJ also worked with John and we've both been shaken a bit by his death.
I'll get a wind trainer soon, and we will be moving to Homebush Bay in
July, where the bike paths make for safe riding. In the meantime, I
might get back into the pool or hit the M7 cycleway and the regatta
centre.

RIP John Wethered

Mon: 5.5K @ 6:30
Tue: 7K Run @ 6:30
Thu: 5 * 1K Intervals @ 4:50
Fri: 7K Run @ 6:15
Sat: 36K Ride @ 26kph
Sun: 15K Run @ 6:30
Mon: 5.5K @ 6:30
Tue: 10K @ 6:08
Thu: 7K @ 6:15
Sat: Coolrunning 5K Challenge 25:25
Sun: 17K @ 6:28 - messy
Mon: 5.5K Slow

On Sunday a cyclist was killed in a training accident at Engadine. That
cyclist was John Wethered, an Ironman triathlete and a really nice guy.

I worked with John for a couple of years before I really started getting
into running, but I was clued in enough to know he was serious about his
training the second I met him - Polar don't make wristwatches.

I still exchanged emails with John occasionally and at the odd social
gathering or race we would exchange training stories. John always took
an interest in how my running was going and I really appreciated it. The
world will be a poorer place without him.

My training has been solid in the aeons since my last blog entry. I've
been enjoying the slower training of the new approach, but I have
noticed that the two speedwork sessions I've done have been very slow. I
don't know if the new approach isn't working for me or I'm still just
digging myself out of the hole that I've been in for the last couple of
months, but I'll stick with it. KT's phrase that "we are all an
experiment of one" still rings true - the statistician in me does not
yet have enough data to draw a meaningful conclusion on the
effectiveness of the new approach.

Last weekend was a good one. I ran the CR Challenge with Deidre, who I
ran with last month. I stopped for a shoelace 1500m in and caught back
up with her, and we were on 25 minute pace 3K in. Unfortunately the
catch up had taken it's toll and after 3500 I told her to go on. I
limped in on 25:25. We have made tentative plans to attempt 24:45 next
month.

The highlight of the day for me was the fact that I was able to catch up
with The Owl, as we hadn't spoken for months. It turned out to be a
great day for catching up - I tracked down a uni friend I hadn't spoken
to for 5 years in Canada later in the day and we spent half an hour on
the phone.

My Sunday long run was a bit messy. I ran on the M7 bike path between
Elizabeth Drive and Wallgrove Road. I did some 6 minute K's early in the
piece, which is a bit quicker than I should be going. That shouldn't
have
Stuffed me, but stuff me it did. I was feeling well and truly buggered
by 17K and had some very ordinary kilometres late in the run, which
averaged to 6:28. It wiped me out for the rest of the day.

Oh, and I did buy the Skins. I'm wearing them after every session and I
think they are effective.

Back into it

Thu: 6.5K Slow
Fri: 5K Slow
Sat: 36K Ride @ 24.5kph
Sun: 10K Slow

True to my word I have eased slowly back into my program. We were at
Homebush on Thursday morning, so I ran slowly around my favourite 6.5K
loop taking a 100m walk break every 2K. It felt RUSTY.

Friday was a slightly less rusty run around the golf course at
Luddenham, but still not great.

The weekend was a brilliant microcosm of my new lifestyle. On Saturday
morning I got out for a lazy 90 minute ride out to Kemp's Creek and then
back to Penrifff, where I caught the last half of the elder twin's
netball game. The ride was a comfortable one - I didn't push it and I
felt pretty good on the bike. I've slowed my riding a little bit in the
whole "take it a bit easier" push, but I reckon I wasn't going overly
hard in the first place.

From there we spent the middle of the day plotting our escape from the
outer western suburbs before attending my Mum's birthday bash. The twins
seem to enjoy hanging out with my family, and that is making me very
happy. I knew there was never going to be an issue with DJ and my family
because, you see, DJ has a long history with my family. DJ was a
personal assistant to both of my parents for about five years - which
puts a whole different twist on the "parents of the boyfriend" thing. Up
until January my parents were a bit like an uncle & auntie to DJ, so
it's been a different type of awkwardness, as you could probably
imagine. Everyone's pretty much used to it now.

Sunday was pretty cool. After the present opening ceremony the twins and
I teamed up to cook breakfast for the lady of honour, and after cleaning
the substantial mess from said cooking I was able to sneak out for a
lazy 10. I felt a bit heavy, but not too bad. I think had I tried to run
at 6 minute pace or faster the whole thing would've been a disaster, but
at my new standard pace (6:15-6:35) it all went fine.

I pulled up a little sore in the legs. I've been feeling this a fair bit
lately, and after viewing some discussion on Coolrunning today about
Skins, I'm having a lot of thought about it (particularly considering
it's payday today).

This morning was a similar slow cruisy run. I'm getting used to running
slowly.

Me poor froat

Since my last blog entry I have done zip. Nada. Nothin'.

On Wednesday I went down like a sack of spuds with tonsilitis. It got so
bad that I couldn't eat any solid food for a couple of days. I took
Friday off work and had an exceptionally lazy weekend.

There is always an upside - and an excuse to eat nothing but ice cream
and gelato is a bloody big upside. So is being nursed by DJ :)

The recovery has been slow. Even now I am still finding it a bit tough
to get through the day at work and I have been taking Nanna naps at
lunch time.

The plan at this stage is to get out and have a short jog on Thursday
morning and take it from there. I really don't want to push myself too
hard, as I think this has hampered my recovery from illness and injury
in the past, so although I might be OK tomorrow morning I won't run
until Thursday.

Even Slower

Sat AM: Coolrunning 5K Challenge: 25:40.
Sun AM: 15K @ 6:30
Mon AM: 5.5K @ 6:30
Mon PM: 20m Pilates session
Tue AM: 10K @ 6:05

The 5K Challenge is always a hoot. Not being anywhere near fit I decided
to run 26 minutes, so when a new runner was asking about how the race
was organised and saying she thought she could run 26-27 minutes I said
"Follow Me!". Her name was Deidre, and she now has a 5K PB and I have a
solid 25:40 5K hit out under my belt.

At the post-race breakfast I had forgotten about the size of the Grind
pancakes - I had helped someone finish one in the past. This time it was
me who had ordered one, so my PB for the morning was eating about a
cubic metre of pancake in one sitting.

Highlight of the morning: Welcome back, Jen. It was fantastic to run in
the same race as Jen after so long on the sidelines.

Since then I have been revelling in running slowly. My Sunday long run
was slower than I have run for over a year, and it didn't knock me
around half as much as much as recent long runs. The 301 HRM is too
erratic to take much notice of, but I believe I was running at around
75% MHR, and although I was passed by an old lady on a walking frame at
one point, it was very enjoyable.

The two runs since then have been of a similar vein. If nothing else, I
am enjoying the training a lot more on the new regime. I'll start
building the volume from here at about 10% a week. This week it will be:

1 * 5.5K Recovery run (Done)
2 * 10K mid-long runs (1 Done)
1 10K Race
1 * 16.5K long run
1 Cross training session
1-2 Pilates sessions (1 Done)