Thursday, October 21, 2010

Juliet Came To Visit


Popped in to say hi and now we're doing her a Blog.

Monday, October 18, 2010

More Than I Thought

I ran down to meet Mrs G at about 6:50pm and then we walked through New Lynn to Titirangi Road. We added on a couple of extra streets to throw in the hills and reached the corner of Margan and Hutchinson before going our seperate ways. I ran home. We estimated about 8 - 9ks and I measured it when home to find we had covered just under 10kms.

I'm pleased with that. My muscles are a little stiff from yesterdays run but all in all I felt fine. I get butterflies thinking about the distance and know that I'll enter unknown territory as I have never entered a marathon without putting in the right amount of training. Time will tell...

Feeling nervous!

Having just read the Auckland Marathon latest news letter I am now feeling nervous about the event. I want to run it! How can I with NOT NEARLY ENOUGH training? A gentle jog, maybe...

I have a friend who can't do the Auckland half marathon and wants to sell her ticket. Let me know if you know of anyone that wants one.

Less than 2 weeks to go. Note for self: Book the following Monday off work.

Heading out in a moment for a walk with Mrs G.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

A Bit of Both

Last Monday I went for a walk with Mrs G and we walked for about 1.5hrs. I appreciate our walks together more for the catch up but with the added bonus of a wee bit of exercise. With a couple of hills I broke out into a little sweat but nothing too hard. I hope that we can go again next week.

Mrs G is such a supportive friend as she has offered to walk some of the marathon with me and along the stretch towards Mission Bay. From memory of my last 3 marathons it is this stretch that I found the hardest as it is over the half way point but the body is aching and runners have already reached the turn around point and are on the home stretch of about 10ks while I am still struggling to reach the turn around. I get to see how good/bad they are and yet I know I haven't even reached their distance yet. Not good! Mrs G will be with me this time and so it will help me stay focused and keep going (that's my hope).

Today's run was about 18ks and included 4ks of walking. It was up hill for 50% of the run and down hill heading home. I ran with Michelle and co again and I noticed that they recovered much quicker than me on the hills and maintained stamina. Over this distance I was able to keep up although struggled at about 10ks. I was determined not to stop this time and tried hard to keep up with them.

I am delighted for the girls as they have kept up with their training and are looking good. I know that they are a little apprehensive, even now, about going the distance but I can't help but believe that they are well prepared. I find this quite inspirational and I am grateful for having them to run with. They are motivated runners and are already planning events beyond the marathon which will help me to stay on track.

2 weeks to go my friends and it will all be over.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

An Attempt to Run

As mentioned, I went out for a long run with Michelle etc last Sunday. We were to do the 32km run to cover some of the route of the marathon, along from Pt Erin to St Helliers and back.

I reached 16kms of the run in good form and felt fine but at the turn around point I realised that this was too big a run for me and that my stamina was not there for such a distance. At 20kms I was hopeful that I could keep up with the girls but was beginning to slow down and at 22kms I encouraged Michelle to keep up with her buddies and not to wait for me. Off they went and as the distance between us grew I wished that I had managed to keep up with my training. I could see through them how the training really pays off. They could go the distance while I was fading fast. At 24kms, enough was enough. I talked myself into walking and used the excuse that my plan was to run/walk the event anyway and not run the whole thing. I fought with this for another km before finally giving in to walk. I met the girls as they looped around town to ensure they made 32kms and they showed me the short cut back to the car. With my throbbing head down and muscles screaming in pain I walked back to the car.

I reflected on my performance today and while Michelle and co used very encouraging words I felt like I had let myself down. I couldn't go the distance and the reason for this is that I didn't keep up with my training.

I had such a busy day planned for Sunday but instead, after the run, I headed home with my head pounding and my body a tad worse for wear and curled up on the sofa for a LONG sleep. There I stayed for 6 hours!

With a trip to Christchurch the next day (for a 4 day conference) I needed to pack my bags and I had a function to attend on Sunday evening, plus a house to organise for the boys in my absence. I couldn't really afford to sleep for 6 hours and I didn't feel the benefit of it when I woke up. That, my friends, is testimony to the importance of training and building up to the longer distances.

A week on and NO TRAINING runs all week, this marathon is not looking good for me. I may yet explore the possibility of selling my ticket on the internet. What's a girl to do? Where to from here? Stay with me to find out...

Saturday, October 2, 2010

On Again, Off Again, On Again - Marathon

Hi all,

It has been a while since my last post, mainly because I haven't done a great deal except work on my house which is still weeks away from the finish but hey ho, life goes on in the fast lane. At least now I have internal access to downstairs which is where the laundry is. Prior to the stairs going in I had to walk all the way around the outside of the house, through the mud and in through the back door. We are slowly but surely getting there.

It looks like I am doing the marathon again. My friend didn't realise that I was trying to give her my full marathon ticket, her preference was for the half marathon and so short of selling it on the Internet I can't waste it. That means I have to do it myself. The moment that I made the decision to do it, I felt great and planned my next run but with only 4 weeks to go I will not be ready. I am going for a big run tomorrow with Michelle and co, 32kms (20 miles). Will let you know how we go...

Some more news, my son, Luke, was selected for the U14 Auckland West rugby team and they lost the first 2 games. However, they beat the team that will be in the final tomorrow and so not a total loss. He was made captain too and so we are very proud of him.

He's the green number 5.