Retrospective post: 31/12/2010

Run: 56m 12s | 8.70 kms | 06m 28s/km. The awesome thing about being down the coast is that I'm in very close proximity to friends who are also pretty keen to get out and run. So I met M at 7:30am for our last run of the year. The track was packed, it seems a few people had the same idea. Ran with M for about 20 mins before she turned back, I continued onwards because I really wanted to run more than 50 mins. The pace without M was a touch slower, but I met her partner P with 1km to go and he encouraged me to pick up the pace a touch. All in all a satisfying run and not a bad way to see out the year!

Retrospective post: 30/12/2010

Coffee outdoors was our reward for a morning ride. C had a three hour ride on her program, given it's been a while since I'd been on my bike I opted to join her for the second half. I could certainly feel the lack of fitness, my higher than average heart rate certainly confirmed that she definitely pushed me, which is always a good thing.

The road to Portsea isn't on of my favourites, the quality of road is quite poor. But having someone to chat to certainly helps to take one's mind off all that.

Ride: 1h 26m | 37.5km | 26.16 km/hr

Retrospective post: 29/12/2010

Finally summer seems to have arrived. And summer for us equals time on the coast. The free days that stretch ahead means that there's plenty of time for exercise and best done in the morning before the heat of the day kicks in. I can't say I felt awesome today, so much so in the middle of the run I sat on the beach for about 3 mins and enjoyed the simplicity of boats bobbing on the water.

Run: 34m 56s | 5.5km | 06m 21s/km

Post Christmas

In my younger years I've been known to get out for a run or ride on Christmas morning. This year I could have made time but I didn't. Opting to drink coffee in bed with the man while swapping a few presents. We swore by a no present Christmas, but neither of us could resist a little something.

Christmas day was spent with my parents and bro in the city, then we headed down to the beach for Christmas night with the man's family. Good times. We retired relatively early which meant I was awake early and feeling refreshed. And the sun was out. There was no excuses it was running time and I was excited.

Felt so good not to have to be anywhere by a certain time, so I could just run. And while I didn't feel great (dehydrated towards the end), I was pretty happy to have a gorgeous morning to myself. And the people on the peninsula are so nice. Almost everyone I passed said 'good morning'!

Run: 1:09:15 | 10.5km | 06m 36s/km
Thursday commute: 40m | 7km | 14km/hr. Christmas eve errand running. Taking the bike was a godsend because you couldn't park at the supermarket!

Sunrise

I got up in the 4s to meet a couple of my work buddies for a jaunt around the lake. The light was gorgeous. Running with others pushes me to run slightly faster that I would usually do on my own, which is not a bad thing. Not a bad thing at all.

Run two for the week done and dusted! It's a good feeling.

Run: 50m 22s | 8.4km | 6m/km

Note to self: get organised!

I cannot run on an empty stomach or if I'm hungry. I get that whole faint headed feeling which I don't love while running. Thankfully I found the Gu in my bag and a post work run was had. I am not on top of the food thing at the moment, I need to stock up on fruit and veggies pronto so I can fuel properly.

Generally if I start the week off with exercise I'm more likely to see the week out with training. Goal for this week is three runs. Should be do-able particularly as the weather is set to improve.

Run: 33m | 5km | 06m 25s/km. Lap of the Tan from work. HRM wasn't working, but I felt like I worked hard for this.

Race photo

This is a first, a photo where I actually look like I'm running. It was the only pic from Sunday that I appeared in. Let's face it, I'm not that upset. Oh and I don't have that much hair, nor did I mean to sport a beehive.

Run: 32:35 | 5.1km | 06m 20s/km. Head said no, heart said yes. Battled to get out there and like always don't regret it now. One lap of the tan, up Anderson St hill. Hope to run it a few more times prior to the Jan 2 race, which has a pretty epic hill I'm lead to believe.

Sri Chinmoy Williamstown 10km

I woke this morning with a start, I thought my alarm hadn't gone off and I missed my race, but that wasn't the case turns out it was just super sunny. Oh and windy, which isn't ideal for a run along the beach.

Breakfasted on an english muffin and honey and made my way to Williamstown. Having not actually checked the location of the start line it took me a little longer to get there than I'd anticipated. But in the end I had enough time to cloak my bag and get to the end of the running queue.

I was a little anxious about this race given my preparation hadn't been ideal. I had two low volume weeks followed by a week off due to asthma, travel & rainy weather. My goal was to endure, remain positive and just be happy to punch out a 10km.

I confirmed what I suspected what as been true for a long time, my polar is well out on km markings! It suggests I run slower than I actually do, which is preferable to indicating than I'm faster than I actually am.

The run was two loops of a 5km course. There were plenty of runners doing the 5km and starting at the back meant I was able to pick people off (which is seriously unusual for me, I'm usually the one being passed). The second lap saw significantly fewer runners. Just after 5km I caught up with the two runners you see in photo 2. At about 7km I made a break for it, I heard the guy say I'm going to try and stick with her. We were running into a headwind, I could hear him drafting off me, it made me more determined to hold him off. We made a turn with 1.5km to go and finally had the wind at our backs. I pushed on, he pipped me with 5m to go in the finishing straight. We had a laugh over the finish line, knowing he was there totally pushed me.

According to my watch I ran a sub 60 min. 59:15. 45 sec off my 10km PB. I couldn't be happier.

We were given chocolate at the finish line. Certainly my preference over a medal!
The queue for the pancakes was getting long by the time I'd got my bag, I didn't have time to wait, nor could I justify another breakfast in between the breakfast I was off to have with my girlfriends!

I really like the Sri Chinmoy races, they're inexpensive, friendly, smaller, well organised with plenty of volunteers, water stations and post race food. I'm hoping to run quite a few in the new year.

Williamstown run: 59:15 | 10km | 5m 56s/km
Thursday run: 42:42 | 6.6km | 6m 28s/km. Lunchtime training run. Sluggish to say the least.

Saunter

In this heat, all I can do is take it easy. So that I did. One easy lap of the Tan. The shade of the trees provided some welcome relief. But it was one of those days that as soon I stopped running I started dripping like a tap. It's a good look at work. Even better that I don't have to think about it for the rest of the day.

Run: 33:07 | 5.14km | 6m 26s/km

Variety Santa Fun Run

The man runs twice a year. Initially it's a jaunt around the lake to make sure he can still run, then it's the Variety Santa fun run. And the emphasis really is on fun. It's a non timed event. Initially I'd signed up for the 10km, but the physicality of running in a felt suit did nothing for my body heat or release of. I was so hot. So 5km was enough today otherwise I would have been in the running for heat exhaustion. I'll save the 10km for next weekend.

Run: 5km | 28 min | 05m 36s/km. I think the course was shorter, or I should run with the man more often! I don't usually run that fast.

Monthly totals: November 2010

Not quite a productive month as October.
The major positive was that I got in the pool again.

Bike: 11h 17m 42s | 196.8 km
Run: 7h 06m 21s | 65.64 km
Swim: 1h 05m | 2800 m
Bike Trainer: 1h 15m
Walking: 55m