Saturday morning and a big weekend ahead, so I wanted to take this time to update the blog with the week that has just passed. As I said Sunday’s run was lack lustre to say the least. I probably could’ve pushed on to the 10kms I was hoping for, but mindful of not doing too much more than a 10% increase on the week before. Also, I was tired. I felt proud that I’d made the effort though; dare I say I felt dedicated?
Saturday had turned into an enormous day with the 36km only being a part of it. Laying down for a nap after lunch, I think I’d just fallen asleep when my phone rang. Frustration at being woken soon disappeared as the caller chatted on. Geoff Smith from Capitol 101.7FM called as he’d received my letter. He is the presenter of the Saturday morning sports program and was keen to have me on-air for an interview. He also suggested that the station would run details of my run in their “community noticeboard” announcements. Also, he personally offered to MC the quiz night for me!!! I was left feeling so excited when I’d originally wondered if sending out the letters would be worthwhile. So after Easter I will be sitting down with some friends to organise the quiz night...so watch this space.
Monday was a rest day, thankfully. It’s sad, in a way, that all the “extras” I had written into my program (weights, swimming, cycling, etc) are quickly falling by the wayside. I just don’t have the time in the day or week to fit them in. As I’m becoming increasingly tired it seems more important to be rested enough to accomplish my running goals, plus I always have to fit in my kids as well...so all the extras seem to be relegated. I did get up early and walked FD#1, who is also relegated lately, and she loved it!! Monday night was Frisbee and MGirl dropped CBoy for me as I had to go to a meeting for the Relay for Life, where I also got to meet most of the team. After the meeting they headed to the pub for dinner but me, the Queen of No Time, only stopped in briefly as I had to collect CBoy from Frisbee. Thinking I had 30 minutes to sit and chat...I got a phone call from MGirl to say she’d locked her keys in her car at netball! So 30minutes turned into 15 and I jumped in the car, zoomed past CBoy to pick him up early and headed off to netball to let MGirl into her car.
Tuesday...run day. With a cooler day on the cards I decided to have a sleep in and run after work. I convinced CBoy to come with me on the bike and keep me company. I gave him my headlamp to wear hoping it would make it more interesting for him. He trailed me on the bike and as it got darker he turned on the lamp. I had a fully lit path...awesome! I had to ask him to stop with the experiments though when he started moving his hand quickly across the path of the light to make the beam flash. It was making me dizzy! I gave him a couple of options to cut his ride short and head home without me, but he stayed with me all the way. Loved having the company and I suggested he come with me later in the coming months when I have programmed a couple of sessions of 8 hour walk/runs. He said he was busy on that day!
Wednesday morning was another FD#1 walk...lucky girl. Frisbee match on Wednesday night at 7.40pm meant another late dinner. Now all I need is someone special at home to have dinner ready for us when we get in, instead of eating after 9pm. Perhaps he could do the ironing, washing, housework and mow the lawn also. My house is in a constant state of bordering on untidiness...chasing the dust around from room to room. That’s when I wish I could afford to work part-time, to make more time in the day!
On Thursday morning I was lucky enough to have a run with a new friend in a different location. I’d contemplated backing out of the run as of the run as it meant a 4.30am start and I think I’m going to run far enough on the weekend; I’m glad I didn’t. I met Brett Saxon, the secretary or AURA (Australian Ultra Runners Association) at the South Perth foreshore for a run around the river. Brett was here on a family holiday and we’d been emailing back and forth about my AURA tshirt I was waiting for in the mail when he suggested he’d bring it with him. I then suggested a run! It was a gorgeous morning that started in the dark with the city lights spectacular before sunrise, very pretty. I had a vest on as it seemed a bit nippy to me but everyone else out that morning was in just a tshirt. I quickly discovered I’d over dressed and Brett tucked my vest into the back of my Camelbak pack. We completed our run, with a couple of photo opportunities for the visitor, in good time...I think a PB for me. I was very happy until I swung the pack off my back to get my vest, where I’d put the car key into a zippered pocket, to find the vest GONE! Panicked I realised it was the only key I had to the car and the only option was to each run in opposite directions and hope that the vest wasn’t too far away, and that someone hadn’t already picked it up as abandoned! I headed one way, Brett the other, hoping it didn’t involve another 10km circuit. I ran on, Ipod in, and after about 5 minutes I heard “Karen” quietly from behind me. It was “quiet” as I was listening to music and Brett was 200m back and huffing and puffing from his sprint to catch up with me; arm waving with vest in hand! Yeah...he’d only run 200m back the other way before he found it. After a quick run back to the car, we chatted for a while and parted company. A great way to start the day and I headed back to work for a shower and to get ready for the day.
Thursday night was shopping and stocking up for things for the Relay; eggs, potatoes, Coke...all the things I thought I might need to get me through 24 hours. Friday was a normal day, though an early start with washing, vacuuming and folding clothes; all before the kids got up. I had to quickly help MGirl finish a uni submission that she’d basically pulled an all-nighter for. I was gluing while she was getting dressed and cursing herself for falling asleep at 4am and not getting up again at 5am to finish. I’d woken her at 6am to ask whether she got it finished and she went into a flap. We got it done and she called later that morning to say she’d got it displayed in time and all was well, thankfully.
Friday night I pottered about sorting out my things for the Relay. I am really excited about the challenge ahead and spending time with new friends, all for a good cause. I have to admit though, a few little doubts are creeping in about my ability to keep going for 24 hours so I will have to ignore them and just keep going. Other than mum, I also have quite a few friends who have, or still are, battling cancer and their challenges last far longer than 24 hours so I will just have to bring them to mind when times get tough over the day ahead. Check back in next week to see how I went.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
April 13th 2011 – Promises, promises…
So it’s Wednesday and there went the idea of three blog entries this week! Sorry…this is a mammoth entry!
As always seems to be the case when having to spend money; after bra shopping on Thursday night a catalogue arrived in the mail yesterday telling me the bras I bought were now 25% off! Arrggghhhh!!! After shopping with MGirl to buy the necessities, I didn’t think I was going to be able to stay awake long enough to get the food shopping done. I was waiting for her at the shopping mall and found myself nearly asleep on my feet; which is not a good thing when a bench is nowhere in sight. I was waiting right near a mall display of a company selling treadmills and cross trainers and the like. Why is it that the people that stand there and try to sell you exercise equipment look like they’ve never used it themselves? He sounded more like a used car salesman with his smarmy chat directed at any person who tried to walk by. I prayed that he didn’t speak to me, as I kept my back to him and I was literally standing with my eyes closed. I think if he’d spoken to me I may have over reacted a little as I found him really irritating, probably just because I was so tired.
MGirl arrived and I escaped by going to numerous shops and contorting my ample bosom into bras designed to strangle me! I hate bra shopping at the best of times, but sports bras are even worse. The best support comes from racer-backed designs (in my experience) and getting yourself into one is always a challenge. I am not sure why it is that for a bra to fit sufficiently well once on, it feels like it is two sizes two small as you try to wriggle it over your shoulders and into position! I am yet to find the perfect running bra and often dream about reduction surgery so that I can fit regular bras. It dawned on me on Friday morning, while on my way to the physio, when I saw a young 20something woman jogging. I thought she looks fit, do I look fit like that? Only difference being is she was nearly flat chested which added credibility to her athletic physique! I know it’s not the same when you see someone running with larger cup sizes! I chuckled though, because I am sure the flat chested woman bemoans the lack as much as I bemoan the excess!
Physio went well on Friday morning; the original area of complaint is fairly non-existent now. She still poked a few needles in for good measure. I was just telling her how I would make the next appointment for one month’s time for a tune up when she managed to find some lovely knots in my left ITB. I did know they were there, but nothing ever hurts as much until someone starts fussing with it. So she stuck some needles in there for good measure too and I left with another appointment for 2 weeks time! I have been on the foam roller every day now working on the ITBs…it is pain in its truest form! I can only manage a few minutes before I have to stop.
Friday night MGirl headed out for a girlfriend’s 18th birthday. Luckily for me the birthday girl’s father offered to pick up and drop MGirl home so I didn’t have to stay up late. CBoy and I had home-made pizza and I was in bed nice and early after organising all the things I needed for my run the next morning. I set the alarm for 4.15am and woke up to find the lights I’d left on for MGirl were still on. I checked her bed and she wasn’t in it!!! I sent her a text message asking where she was and stomped about the house getting ready for my run! I got a text back quickly saying she was at the end of the street. A few minutes later she rolled in the door. A few cranky words were exchanged and she explained as it was EGirl’s 18th she couldn’t say “I need to go home”. Likely excuse, I think she enjoyed staying out that long. My normally responsible daughter is turning into a normal teenager…oh no! As it dawned on her I was up for the day I grounded her for a month, and gave her a curfew of 2am for any future outings! Later I realised she would have been stuck, much to her delight, and I may be somewhat negotiable about the month’s grounding, but not the 2am curfew!
After she quickly dropped into bed, as she had to be at baseball training by 9.30am, I finished getting ready for my run. A big run…50% more than I’ve run on my previous long runs. I know it wasn’t ideal, but I was looking forward to the challenge anyway. I’d organised to do a recon run of a trail that I have to run in about 3 week’s time in order to qualify for my first ultra on June 5th. Technically it is the 2nd one I’ve entered, but will be the first one I run. Anyway, the qualifying run is at night on May 7th and I’ve looked at the map but am still paranoid about getting lost, which isn’t an option when I have a 5 hour time limit! So PMan (who I’d never met) agreed to join me to run the major portion of this section of the race as he’s done it before. This meant over 30km where I’d previously been running about 20-22kms. I was up for it and I was really planning on challenging myself by carrying my pack as well and working on eating regularly.
PMan and I met at Mundaring, our ultimate finish, and parked one car and drove to the start at Mt Helena. PMan was to be my guide dog…even though he allowed us to go off track a couple of times…LOL. PMan wanted to cruise at about 6:30min/km which was fine with me; finally someone who didn’t run faster than me! We headed out at a nice easy pace and before we knew it we’d covered the first 21kms in 2hours11minutes, much quicker than 6:30min/km. I was really pleased with this as I had my pack (about 5kgs) and also really needed the toilet for the whole way. I can manage a bush piddle, but that’s as far as it goes, I am still a lady after all. It didn’t become a pressing matter until the last 5kms, and I think our time would’ve been closer to 2 hours had I used the toilet beforehand! I did actually try the loos at Mt Helena, but the plumbing for the water into the toilet had been pulled apart by vandals; meaning it would flush but water would go all over the floor! So I thought surely there would be another toilet somewhere along the way. I was wrong. Lesson learned is use a toilet when you find it, as you never know where another will be! We did find one past the 21kms mark and only because PMan got us lost for about 150m, so I considered it divine intervention so I could find the toilets at the old quarry.
Feeling kgs lighter we headed back 150m to where we’d diverted and got back on the trail. This portion of the trail from here back to Mundaring was all climbing. By now I’d realised my shoes needed replacing, again, and the soles of my feet were feeling decidedly flat. It only took another 5kms or so for the thrill of feeling so good after 21kms to disappear and the running turned into all hard slog, one foot in front of the other style. PMan led the way, he was more used to this part of the run than I (in terms of past 2.5hours) and I fell in behind. I did find it tough to watch his feet as it rather made me dizzy; so I tried to look up to the trail ahead as much as possible which wasn’t that successful either. I really had to focus on continuing to eat and drink because when you get in that shuffle zone, it takes all your energy to maintain forward propulsion especially when climbing. (I disappointedly asked a friend a few days later about the elevation gain on that portion of the run up the Darlington hill – her comeback was “not much, about 300m”!!) 300m in 12 or more kms doesn’t sound like much but it was challenging and only left me thinking about the reported 10km climb on the Death Race where we gain about 2500m!!
I felt like I was reaching my physical limit; we hit a road at about the 33km mark and I asked if we could stop and walk. PMan suggested we run the next 400m it took to get to a round km mark and then walk. We reached that mark and then the trail flattened out. It was there I heard my delirious self say something like “Oh well, if it’s flattening out I guess I can keep running”! PMan replied “that’s the ultra-runners spirit”! Did he just call me an ultra runner?! That spurred me on a little but I was more than happy to stop as the car came into sight! There was some debate about distance as my watch (foot pod) said over 37kms and PMan’s said 35. As his is a GPS watch it is likely more accurate; as I’ve been running off mine all along I decided to split the difference and call it 36kms!
I had just run 36kms in 4 hours! This was so exciting for me, especially after I did the first 21kms in 2:11…this gave me new hope of being able to run a sub 4:30 marathon (on the flat) which has been another goal in the back of my mind. Maybe with a couple of year’s fitness under my feet I could focus on a 4 hour marathon!!! That was for another time; for the moment I knew I’d run 5 kms short of the run I have to do on May 7th and I still had another hour to run it in. And by the time May 7th comes around I will be fitter and stronger (and way more tired) and I feel confident now of qualifying for my first ultra, the Kep Ultra on June 5th. Watch this space…
I received a phone call during my recovery nap on Saturday afternoon; after an ice bath and a spa (neither of which were very satisfying!) from a man named Geoff Smith from 101.7 Sports FM (as a result of the mail out I did last week). Geoff was very interested in my story and plans and was very supportive and offered to interview me on-air in the not too distant future for his Saturday morning sport’s show. He also personally offered to be the quiz master for the quiz night, questions and answers supplied! I was so beside myself, such generosity. You never know what lengths people will go to until you go to those lengths yourself. So with the help of some team mates from the Pyjama Gang (Relay for Life) we will have a meeting after Easter and get this thing organised!
I did try to back up Saturday’s effort on Sunday with a 10km run, but fell short and tired with only 5km. At least I went out and made the effort. I will fill you in on this week and the coming weekend tomorrow! This is already way too long…
As always seems to be the case when having to spend money; after bra shopping on Thursday night a catalogue arrived in the mail yesterday telling me the bras I bought were now 25% off! Arrggghhhh!!! After shopping with MGirl to buy the necessities, I didn’t think I was going to be able to stay awake long enough to get the food shopping done. I was waiting for her at the shopping mall and found myself nearly asleep on my feet; which is not a good thing when a bench is nowhere in sight. I was waiting right near a mall display of a company selling treadmills and cross trainers and the like. Why is it that the people that stand there and try to sell you exercise equipment look like they’ve never used it themselves? He sounded more like a used car salesman with his smarmy chat directed at any person who tried to walk by. I prayed that he didn’t speak to me, as I kept my back to him and I was literally standing with my eyes closed. I think if he’d spoken to me I may have over reacted a little as I found him really irritating, probably just because I was so tired.
MGirl arrived and I escaped by going to numerous shops and contorting my ample bosom into bras designed to strangle me! I hate bra shopping at the best of times, but sports bras are even worse. The best support comes from racer-backed designs (in my experience) and getting yourself into one is always a challenge. I am not sure why it is that for a bra to fit sufficiently well once on, it feels like it is two sizes two small as you try to wriggle it over your shoulders and into position! I am yet to find the perfect running bra and often dream about reduction surgery so that I can fit regular bras. It dawned on me on Friday morning, while on my way to the physio, when I saw a young 20something woman jogging. I thought she looks fit, do I look fit like that? Only difference being is she was nearly flat chested which added credibility to her athletic physique! I know it’s not the same when you see someone running with larger cup sizes! I chuckled though, because I am sure the flat chested woman bemoans the lack as much as I bemoan the excess!
Physio went well on Friday morning; the original area of complaint is fairly non-existent now. She still poked a few needles in for good measure. I was just telling her how I would make the next appointment for one month’s time for a tune up when she managed to find some lovely knots in my left ITB. I did know they were there, but nothing ever hurts as much until someone starts fussing with it. So she stuck some needles in there for good measure too and I left with another appointment for 2 weeks time! I have been on the foam roller every day now working on the ITBs…it is pain in its truest form! I can only manage a few minutes before I have to stop.
Friday night MGirl headed out for a girlfriend’s 18th birthday. Luckily for me the birthday girl’s father offered to pick up and drop MGirl home so I didn’t have to stay up late. CBoy and I had home-made pizza and I was in bed nice and early after organising all the things I needed for my run the next morning. I set the alarm for 4.15am and woke up to find the lights I’d left on for MGirl were still on. I checked her bed and she wasn’t in it!!! I sent her a text message asking where she was and stomped about the house getting ready for my run! I got a text back quickly saying she was at the end of the street. A few minutes later she rolled in the door. A few cranky words were exchanged and she explained as it was EGirl’s 18th she couldn’t say “I need to go home”. Likely excuse, I think she enjoyed staying out that long. My normally responsible daughter is turning into a normal teenager…oh no! As it dawned on her I was up for the day I grounded her for a month, and gave her a curfew of 2am for any future outings! Later I realised she would have been stuck, much to her delight, and I may be somewhat negotiable about the month’s grounding, but not the 2am curfew!
After she quickly dropped into bed, as she had to be at baseball training by 9.30am, I finished getting ready for my run. A big run…50% more than I’ve run on my previous long runs. I know it wasn’t ideal, but I was looking forward to the challenge anyway. I’d organised to do a recon run of a trail that I have to run in about 3 week’s time in order to qualify for my first ultra on June 5th. Technically it is the 2nd one I’ve entered, but will be the first one I run. Anyway, the qualifying run is at night on May 7th and I’ve looked at the map but am still paranoid about getting lost, which isn’t an option when I have a 5 hour time limit! So PMan (who I’d never met) agreed to join me to run the major portion of this section of the race as he’s done it before. This meant over 30km where I’d previously been running about 20-22kms. I was up for it and I was really planning on challenging myself by carrying my pack as well and working on eating regularly.
PMan and I met at Mundaring, our ultimate finish, and parked one car and drove to the start at Mt Helena. PMan was to be my guide dog…even though he allowed us to go off track a couple of times…LOL. PMan wanted to cruise at about 6:30min/km which was fine with me; finally someone who didn’t run faster than me! We headed out at a nice easy pace and before we knew it we’d covered the first 21kms in 2hours11minutes, much quicker than 6:30min/km. I was really pleased with this as I had my pack (about 5kgs) and also really needed the toilet for the whole way. I can manage a bush piddle, but that’s as far as it goes, I am still a lady after all. It didn’t become a pressing matter until the last 5kms, and I think our time would’ve been closer to 2 hours had I used the toilet beforehand! I did actually try the loos at Mt Helena, but the plumbing for the water into the toilet had been pulled apart by vandals; meaning it would flush but water would go all over the floor! So I thought surely there would be another toilet somewhere along the way. I was wrong. Lesson learned is use a toilet when you find it, as you never know where another will be! We did find one past the 21kms mark and only because PMan got us lost for about 150m, so I considered it divine intervention so I could find the toilets at the old quarry.
Feeling kgs lighter we headed back 150m to where we’d diverted and got back on the trail. This portion of the trail from here back to Mundaring was all climbing. By now I’d realised my shoes needed replacing, again, and the soles of my feet were feeling decidedly flat. It only took another 5kms or so for the thrill of feeling so good after 21kms to disappear and the running turned into all hard slog, one foot in front of the other style. PMan led the way, he was more used to this part of the run than I (in terms of past 2.5hours) and I fell in behind. I did find it tough to watch his feet as it rather made me dizzy; so I tried to look up to the trail ahead as much as possible which wasn’t that successful either. I really had to focus on continuing to eat and drink because when you get in that shuffle zone, it takes all your energy to maintain forward propulsion especially when climbing. (I disappointedly asked a friend a few days later about the elevation gain on that portion of the run up the Darlington hill – her comeback was “not much, about 300m”!!) 300m in 12 or more kms doesn’t sound like much but it was challenging and only left me thinking about the reported 10km climb on the Death Race where we gain about 2500m!!
I felt like I was reaching my physical limit; we hit a road at about the 33km mark and I asked if we could stop and walk. PMan suggested we run the next 400m it took to get to a round km mark and then walk. We reached that mark and then the trail flattened out. It was there I heard my delirious self say something like “Oh well, if it’s flattening out I guess I can keep running”! PMan replied “that’s the ultra-runners spirit”! Did he just call me an ultra runner?! That spurred me on a little but I was more than happy to stop as the car came into sight! There was some debate about distance as my watch (foot pod) said over 37kms and PMan’s said 35. As his is a GPS watch it is likely more accurate; as I’ve been running off mine all along I decided to split the difference and call it 36kms!
I had just run 36kms in 4 hours! This was so exciting for me, especially after I did the first 21kms in 2:11…this gave me new hope of being able to run a sub 4:30 marathon (on the flat) which has been another goal in the back of my mind. Maybe with a couple of year’s fitness under my feet I could focus on a 4 hour marathon!!! That was for another time; for the moment I knew I’d run 5 kms short of the run I have to do on May 7th and I still had another hour to run it in. And by the time May 7th comes around I will be fitter and stronger (and way more tired) and I feel confident now of qualifying for my first ultra, the Kep Ultra on June 5th. Watch this space…
I received a phone call during my recovery nap on Saturday afternoon; after an ice bath and a spa (neither of which were very satisfying!) from a man named Geoff Smith from 101.7 Sports FM (as a result of the mail out I did last week). Geoff was very interested in my story and plans and was very supportive and offered to interview me on-air in the not too distant future for his Saturday morning sport’s show. He also personally offered to be the quiz master for the quiz night, questions and answers supplied! I was so beside myself, such generosity. You never know what lengths people will go to until you go to those lengths yourself. So with the help of some team mates from the Pyjama Gang (Relay for Life) we will have a meeting after Easter and get this thing organised!
I did try to back up Saturday’s effort on Sunday with a 10km run, but fell short and tired with only 5km. At least I went out and made the effort. I will fill you in on this week and the coming weekend tomorrow! This is already way too long…
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