Not really, but it is a rest week. I must speak to the person that wrote my program, my rest weeks should be in bed, with my feet up and some cute man-maid at my beckon call! No, she wrote my program for the rest week with running in it still! (Stupid me eh?!) The rest weeks in my program are at 70% of the distances of the week before the rest week; and today all I had to do was run 6.5km! The alarm went off at 5.30am (a 20 minute sleep…bonus!) and I thought to myself…”Self, I am so sick and tired of getting up early!” I just want the weather to cool down enough so that I can sleep until close to 7am and be able to run in the evenings! I guess that time is not too far off, and soon enough I’ll have to run in the rain some days…but for today I was sooking and didn’t want to get up. I checked my RHR, surely I must be coming down with something…anything…that could mean I was too sick…cough, splutter… to run today! No such luck, so I just did the lazy thing and said “I’m not going!” Which of course really means “I’m going tonight instead”!!
Saturday morning had started with a sleep in, until 6am; so why am I complaining?! I was on the scooter by 7am and heading up into King’s Park for a one hour run with BGal. Last time I ran with her I had my full pack on and was weighted down by over 4 litres of fluid. This time I opted for the complete opposite and wore my fuel belt which only holds 4 x 150ml bottles. As it was only a 60 minute run and I was hydrated beforehand, I figured this would get me through. It did, although I lost one of the bottles; it quietly bounced off my back and although BGal suggested going to look for it, as we’d already run 40 minutes who knew where it would be. As we came down the last hill I commented how “friggin’ fantastic” I felt and we’d run 10kms. I felt energized and my leg was great. She commented she wasn’t surprised as I was running light-weight today.
On my way home from King’s Park I headed past a team member’s house to pick up some raffle tickets. I did mention I am doing the Relay for Life, didn’t I? It’s in 3 weeks time and I’ve got to do my share and sell some raffle tickets. As I came to the team quite late in the picture, like last week, I haven’t been involved in their major fundraising activities. I will punish myself and make up for it by moving on the track for the entire 24hours, thus enabling some of them to sleep in their own beds instead of having to take turns at staying on the track through the dark hours of the night! All of this is mental training for me, to make sure I can stay upright for 24 hours and keep my legs moving. I am nowhere near ready to be able to run for that period, but I will mix it up with walking and running; hopefully I can cover 100kms+ in 24 hours. It is also an opportunity for me to practice with my pack, and hydration and nutrition. Unlike the Death Race, there will be music and company and flushing toilets to keep me comfortable!
I got home before lunch to briefly cross paths with MGirl while she dropped home for a shower and headed out again. I had a quick lunch and shower and headed out again before 1pm for a haircut, on my way to Scooters 4 Hooters! It’s always a good look to get a haircut and then slam a motorcycle helmet onto it and go out into public with flat hair! But it was all for a good cause. The aim of the charity scooter ride was to get 1000 riders to join in to raise funds for breast cancer. They fell short, with only 150 riders attending, but hopefully they will get bigger numbers next year. It was a lot of fun, but be sure to steer clear of people on rental scooters…they aren’t pretty good at driving in a straight line. The only down side was a really scratchy cough later on Sunday from inhaling all the exhaust fumes!
Sunday morning was another early start, up before 5am, leaving home at 5.45am for a group run in the hills. A new location, which is good for me to learn all these new routes and have different options for running. We all met at “The Dell”, which is a parking/picnic area located along the Mundi Biddi mountain bike track. A group of 6 of us headed off, and I quickly remembered I’d had my shoelaces tied up in driving-mode (ie. loose) and I’d forgotten to tighten them. That was my first mistake and I was quickly 100m behind in the time I took to tie them properly. My 2nd mistake was lagging further behind in my effort to catch up, and turning left when I should’ve turned right. At this point the group was nowhere in sight and I was trying to negotiate my way following the bike trail markers. I later found out that one was missing where I zigged and should’ve zagged. Which would explain why I never picked up the trail again, or caught the group. I tried to keep calm as I was somewhere completely foreign, though I still had phone coverage which was a good thing. I decided to look upon it as an adventure and checked my watch to see how far I still had to go on my 10km out and back (for 20km) run. I’d gone about 7km so was looking for another 3 when I came upon these massive power lines which carried over the hills and I couldn’t see an end. Bingo…out and back along here for 6km and then home the way I’d come and I should be back to the carpark without a fuss!
The run along the power lines was really enjoyable; great big undulating rocky trails that went up and down, up and down! I stopped at the turn around for a quick snack and a bigger drink; though I’d been downing gels and electrolyte tablets all along the run already. I then headed home, confident that I could find my way. I’d come about 12 minutes along the road before I turned down the power lines, so I headed back looking for my turnoff back to the single-track. The climb back up the fire trail road was a mean hill, as I’d suspected when I’d gradually run down hill over the km or so on the way out. It was heating up and not much shade on this part of the road, and to be honest I did walk a little!! I reached a tarred road? It wasn’t there on my way out and I became disoriented thinking how could I have taken a wrong turn…there was no turns to take! A ute was parked by the side of the road with two mountain biker’s standing over their bikes. I quickly asked about “The Dell” and they pointed in the direction that I’d come from. I was really confused and didn’t understand what I’d done wrong? I know my internal compass and N S E W bearings aren’t that great, but generally I am very good with “turn left here, take the 2nd right, etc” directions. They gave me directions back to the Dell via the roadways and I thought that means I have to run the entire length of the road I’d just come up! Thinking I was entirely lost I thought I had no option if I was to see my car again and I headed off the way they were pointing and back along the road which I’d just run down. I’d gone less than 100m and I realised where I was, picking the turn I’d missed in my climb to the top of the road. How could I have missed that…that is scarey! I am going to be bear fodder and or cougar food in Canada for sure! I hope they mark the race trail really well!
Back on track I headed back for the car with my eyes up and brain awake making sure I picked out all the trail markers and didn’t miss a turn. Thankfully I managed to arrive back at the car park for 21km in 2 hours 25mins; not bad I guess including time for getting lost! I had a stretch and a drink and contemplated texting the group that had lost me in the first place…LOL…to let them know I was safe. I figured they’d see my car gone and know I was safe and had headed home; they knew I was only running 20km to their 30km. I’d packed a snack box with banana, a marmite sandwich and other things to make sure I ate within the allotted 30minutes. It did pay off, as this week I am much less stiff than I was last week, which I attribute to better recovery fueling for the muscles. All I need to do is figure out how to keep ice frozen for 3-4 hours in the car so I can ice my legs immediately!
After I’d been home for about an hour I got a phone call from the group asking if I was ok. When I mentioned about my car being gone and assuming they’d know I was safe, they commented that another car had taken my place and they couldn’t quite remember what car I drove. Nice of them to worry, I hadn’t thought about that. They apologised for dropping me when I didn’t know the area, that’s when I found out about the missing marker. They had even come back for me for about 1.5km when they wondered why I hadn’t caught up; at that point they knew I was lost as I was nowhere to be seen! No harm done. I got my run in, thought the intent was to have company. Next time I’ll just have to run faster to keep up!
I was quite pooped after that run and tried to have a nap without much luck. We ended the day by attending a sundowner of players and family members for MGirl’s state netball team. It was a really lovely evening with fantastic food that was hosted by the manager of the team. We were so full, and the plates kept coming. She did such a fantastic job. We arrived home by 8pm and I think I was in bed and asleep by 9pm!
Monday was my day off and the evening was spent walking FD#1 around the ovals while CBoy attended ultimate frisbee training. And I was in bed, again, by 8.30pm. I am turning into such a nana!
Today I have some exciting news. I’d spoken to a friend about talking to the radio stations about my plans. I’d already spoken to NOVA and while they were initially enthusiastic, I can’t seem to get any more response from them. So yesterday I wrote up letters and posted them to about 20 radio stations across Perth and WA asking for their support in publicising my race. First thing this morning I have heard from Curtin FM and they want to interview me a little closer to the quiz night and a few weeks before the race! Yeah…and all you have to do is ask.
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