8km out and back - atawhai

Its a beautiful day. Nice white frost on the ground but full sun and no clouds or breeze! Picture perfect in fact.

Its an 8km for me today and I am to take it easy and not push too hard. I have the quarter marathon on this Sunday and am hoping for a good time....but I have also been told its meant to be raining..so will wait for the day.

There are a lot of road works out along the main road and along the walkway so I had plenty of comments from the workers as I walked on past.

I started out and felt great....at the first km mark I had to stop and set my watch up to mark of the kms..I had forgotten to unset it from the track. I noticed the time and thought to my self that I had better ease up a little or Jim would be getting a little cross with me. So I eased up and enjoyed the walk, I was not breathing hard and my arms were just loose at my side....so basically just ticking over.

I had not looked at my watch again until I hit the stop when I was finished and I was most surprised to see the time that I had done. I didnt feel like I had gone that quick so that is a good sign of my fitness.

total time was 46:38 with avg heart rate of 154

8km out and back - atawhai

40min eliptical

Its x-train day today, so I picked the elliptical. Its pretty mind numbing boring but at least its something. I did think about going out for a mountain bike but to be honest.......and this sound so precious.....but I dont want to risk an injury and it would be just my luck to fall off!!!!!

The funny thing about this is the distance my watch says I went. I hung my watch on the stationary part of the frame.....so how I managed to walk .49 or a kilometre is beyond me lol

To keep me company, my hubby hopped on the treadmill beside me and walked too. He put a program on the tv in the wee room and we plugged away to that.

I set my program up to hills 1 and lifted up the resistance. I tried to keep the same step count even as it got harder as it climbed the hill but I couldnt get my heart rate up.

So for my 40mins I had an avg heart rate of 128

40min eliptical

5 x 800m track

Its a yucky day. We had a good storm come through last night, gale force winds but no rain. It was pretty nippy this morning and my fingers just couldnt get warm. I got home from work and decided to suck it up and head to the track. The track is not protected from wind so I figured it was going to be a hard walk. As I figured the wind was coming across the track so the only place I got any gain was down on the home corner......GREAT.......

I did a few laps to warm up and after 5 mins I started to feel my fingers and toes. I kept my long sleeve on and decided to head into it.

My first 800m was great as there was a good lull in the wind and I got some good speed out. But the rest were more of a struggle as the wind really picked up. The best thing of this walk was the rain held off until I had got back to the car. The other good thing was no pain in my foot!!

so here are my 800's each with a 2mins recovery between them.

1st - 4:08

2nd - 4:13

3rd - 4:16

4th - 4:19

5th - 4:18

I feel pretty good about this walk. This is my quiet week and the lead up to the quarter marathon this Sunday.

5 x 800m track

10km monaco test inserts

I have had a great Easter Weekend. Sunday I had Teagan, Josh and Katie-May for the day and also my best mate from Blenheim came over to visit along with her gorgeous kiddies. So I had a full house and it was awesome! Josh spent most of the day upgrading my lap top.....yay! While Rach, Teagan and I all chatted and caught up.

By about 3pm I felt the horrid stirring around my left eye. I tried to just put it out of my mind but the aura was there........a migrane was brewing. Sure enough, by 10pm I had to take my pain meds........to my horror it was then that I discovered that I only had 2 left......GREAT!!!!

I woke up Monday morning and just lay in bed until 10am......I had to do 10km today but it is my easy week and the chance for me to try out my new inserts. I have had a sore left foot now for a couple of weeks....feels like the arch has collapsed in my foot. So I was not to fussed about my time or heart rate today.......it was just a stride out and try to adjust to the inserts.

By the end of the first km my feet were hurting, I had kicked my ankle so many times and nearly foot tripped my self TWICE.......yep this was going to be one of THOSE walks....by the 3rd km I couldnt feel my migrane any more so the endorphins had kicked in (which they can often do) but I was still struggling with the inserts. They changed my foot placement so much that my left foot felt like I was landing with a flat foot and my right foot was coming off the ground in such an odd angle that it shot the foot directly into my other foot. I tried a burst of speed, but it felt like I was wearing steel cap work boots and I just couldnt get anything to work right.

It had been raining for the last two days and I had expected it to rain this morning but instead the cloud lifted to a fog and then it got really muggy. I stopped breifly at the 5km mark to take my long sleeve top off and tie it around my waist. Wow, 5km in 31:37.....oh well back home now.

So I turned and headed back home. My left foot started hurting more and more......it was getting hot under foot. Where the rise was built up in my insert was right on the spot my foot hurt so each step had me pushing down onto it. I am really not sure if I will get used to these, and the Dr told me these were the softer ones....they felt pretty hard to me.

So total time was 1:05:19

10km monaco test inserts

5km Nelson Mail - Atawahi

I so wanted to do a good time today. Its my first chance of actually trying out race pace in a race rather than bursts or 1km reps on the track. Could I sustain a fast pace for more than 1 or 2 km.....I was not so sure.

Today I woke up and did all the things I normally do before a race. I had two bits of toast for breakfast and then made a good strong coffee about an hour before the race. I am not used of eating prior to racing and so even though this was a mid afternoon race, I choose not to eat again. If I was going to push hard that last thing I wanted was to start feeling sick part way through.

Turns out the 5km walkers were to start with the 10km runners at 3pm so I arrived early but it was nice to chat to everyone and to watch the 10km walkers head off. We lined up at 3pm and off we went. I trailed the 10km runners with one runner that sat behind me until I turned at the 2.5km. I train on this walkway most days so I know it well. The one section that I dont like is the 250m just prior to the turn and then back.....this is a section of road that is uneven, narrow footpath and an odd camber to the road.

I was breathing hard as I turned to head back. This was going to be the hard part as I had no runners to try and catch and no one chasing me from behind. So it was grit my teeth and hammer it home. I am trying hard not to look at my watch so I had no idea of my time at this stage, I had decided I wouldn't look until I had 1km to go. I would be so rapt if I managed a very low 28min. I crossed the road (thanks to the volunteers controlling the traffic) then I looked at my watch and quickly tried to add 6mins to the time.......yep I was on track for a 28......I dug deep and pushed hard. I was breathing hard and just starting to struggle, I crossed over the rail line and new it was only 300m to go. Today I found my top gear and hit it for the last 300m (I know this as for the last km my heart rate was over 170) As I came down to the finish I got the thumbs up from Pete who was time controller (he knew I wanted 28mins) I so hope I get a pb today...how cool would that be. I crossed the line and stopped my watch ..... I had to look twice to check the time and even went back to Pete and asked what was the official time....it was 1 sec different to mine.

It was a PB alright..........by just over a minute!!!! I actually officially did 27:16 avg heart rate was 160......yep I was really giving it my all.

I am just so so rapt......thats my best every and I cant believe I finally got it!!!

5km Nelson Mail - Atawahi

16km stuck in first gear!

Since my track workout on Tuesday I have been struck down with a runny nose. A really runny nose!!!!! I tried to waitress tuesday night but spent more time out the back setting meals up rather than taking them out as I just couldn't go a minute with out blowing my nose. I get this often after hard exercise and I had assumed this is what I had. I have NO other symtoms that could point it to being a virus or a cold. Day 3 of this and my nose is just red raw and it is finally starting to ease up. But I feel physically drained today. I spent all morning fighting off sleep. I just felt so fatigued. I had 16km to do today and I was happy enough to head out and do that. I had planned to keep my heart rate at 140 and just tick along. I have a race tomorrow that I am really hoping to do a very good time so also didnt want to wipe myself out too much in this walk.

I headed up on to the walk way and started off up the road. By the time the first km clicked over I knew I was in trouble. I felt as if someone had pulled my clutch out and left me with only 1st gear!!!!! I just couldn't get any rhythm going or any speed. Even down the hill on my 2nd km is painfully slow to what my normal time is. As I was continuing on my walk I was thinking of turning back at 5km.....but I got to 5km and thought ... no Coach will be cross...keep going....so on I went and the slower I got. I felt like my battery was slowly draining and by 10km I was actually concerned that I would even make it home. I couldn't even get my heart rate up. By now the back of my left knee was sore and also my left quad.....I had already figured out that it was due to me walking too slow and not getting my stride right. I got to the walkway that heads up over the motor way and to Beatsons road and just walked normally up it and carried on my slow way home.

All I could think about was how embarrassing this is going to be if this happens when I am over in Melbourne or in Sacramento. I could feel a little dark cloud brewing above me and can even picture the wee lightening bolts that kept zapping from out of it. No matter how hard I tried to think positive the little black cloud would envelop me again. I can only hope that a good night sleep will see me right and I will be back to my normal self and have a great race tomorrow.

When I got home and spoke to shane about how I was feeling - he suggested that as I have been taking hay-fever tablets to dry up my nose that perhaps what ever is in them has also not helped, plus the stuff I have been squirting up my nose....my stationary tubes are blocked (making my ears squeak and pop when I blow my nose) so they effect balance....so he feels I am being too hard on my self and that I just need to park up and get a good nights sleep. (gotta love that man!)

so total time was 1:44:11 avg pace 6:30 avg h/r 129

16km out and back - Monaco

7 x 1km track

this was tough!!!!

I went down to the track and again unlocked all the rails. This time I had company with a runner doing 1km reps and our top sprinter doing 200m reps. Temp was nice ... about 12degs ... it was sunny so I was still comfortable in my short sleeve top and shorts.

The first km I felt good and strong but I had forgotten to set my watch from auto lap to manual, so the 1st km rang out early and I pressed lap as I crossed the line. Oh gosh that was way to fast......its going to make the rest very hard. I rested for 2 mins and in that time I reset my watch so it would read right. the next one was just as fast but it was starting to get harder now. On the 3rd km the council guys drove across the track and started spreading fertiliser across the grass and made lots of dust. I struggled a little with the dust as I was breathing hard now. I could feel my self getting slower and slower on each km. A couple of my 2min recoveries were a little longer just out of curtousy to the other runners on the track coming through to finish or pass over the start/finish.

I did feel great once this walk was done. It had been tough and I was pushing hard to get the most out of it. I know that I really pushed by body as during the warm down lap I started to sneeze and then my nose started running .... ( and has not stopped!!!) I suffer from this all the time and it drives me bonkers!!!! but there is little I can do to stop it or ease it. I have to work tonight too.... I just hope I can get to tissues quickly.

So here are my 1km splits as the watch data is not the easiest to follow.

1st km - 5:14

2nd km - 5:13

3rd km - 5:18

4th km - 5:21

5th km - 5:29

6h km - 5:29

7th km - 5:27

7 x 1km track

10km out and back atawhai 10min

Todays walk ended up 27 seconds slower than last week but I did have a pretty strong head wind to punch back into .... so in truth I am happy with it.

I was meant to have done 2 x 10min bursts of race pace.......and I guess its sort of meant to be done with one in the first 5km and the second in the last 5km BUT...as soon as I started out I knew that there was little chance that I could walk at 5:50 pace on the way home. So I figured it was better to do both in the first 5km......my coach might disagree with that but its done now.

We had a good dumping of snow up on the outter ranges and so with the wind today there was a good wind chill in the air, so I decided to wear my long skin pants and a long sleeve top. Within the first 2km it was the wrong thing and I was over heating. I got to the 5km turn point and stopped briefly to take my top off and wrap it around my waist. I noted it was 29:27 for the 5km.......nice.....I had enjoyed a nice tail wind on the way out and now knew I was faced with punching into it all the way home. UGH!!!

I tried hard to keep up my pace but it was all I could do to maintain 6km pace. I still managed to get back for a total time of 59:45 avg heart rate is 144

10km out and back atawhai 10min

NZ Masters Uniform

I have had a few people ask me what the NZ Masters uniform looks like.  So I dug it out and got a couple of shots taken.

On viewing these....gosh I really need to get some sun on my tummy!!!!!  and oh.....do I actually post this.....but until now I would never ever dared to bare my tummy but after loosing a couple more kgs I am very very slowly warming to the idea.

I like the little crop top (I wore this in Townsville for the Oceania Masters - only cause no one knew me so I didn't care what they thought) but if it is likely to get very warm in Sacramento then it would be better for me to wear the crop top.

So as promised here are the photos of my NZ Masters uniform choices.

This has NEW ZEALAND in white across the back.

there is a small silver fern on the shoulder strap on the left.  

20km out and back - monaco

20km today. Its a perfect day for a walk. Sunny, calm and mild temp of 14degs......

I had got up and read Tammy's blog and was on such a high for her. She had just completed a half marathon and had achieved a pb too!!! I headed out the door and struck out on my 20km. I was feeling good and not too tired. I suddenly realised that I had forgotten to take my iron tablets....for the last couple of weeks.....bugger..mental note to self .... set alarm on cell phone to remind you to take them!!!....... anyhow.....I was most surprised to see I had completed my first km in 6:17....I would think that is my fastest yet. I turned at the end of the track and zoomed down Beatson's Road. I reached the 5km mark in 29:27 and was pleased with that. I didnt take a drink with me today as I figured I would get a drink at the water tower. Well that didnt turn out how I planned. As I came up to the tower I noted it had been blocked off and that a new path had been made to divert around it. I decided to push on but that I would jump the fence when I came back as i really needed a drink. I got out to the 10km turn in 60:07 and stopped briefly to adjust my clothing and then I turned and started the journey home.

I spent the next couple of km's pondering my up coming races, thinking how I will try to get some sponsorship, wondering how Maryanne was getting on with her 50km race today and Sarah who was to be racing an hour race. But I was most pleased for my friend Tammy, I knew she needed a really good boost and today she well and truly got it.

Before I knew it I was back at the water tower. So I stopped my watch and found a gap in the fence....zipped in got a drink and zipped back out again. The new path that they have made is really steep. The is no way I could race walk up it.....it might only be 5 mtres long but it was a short sharp rise. It will be a shock for those doing the half marathon in a couple of weeks as I think the changes may shorten the course....only by 2 or 3 metres but still......for those that are very serious about distance etc....that is 2 or 3 metres too much. Plus that rise is going to feel like a mountain second time over it. It will be tough enough for me doing it just once.

I was really pleased to pass through the 15km mark in 1:30:44, hmmmm if I didnt have the 2km of rise to go back up I felt I would have got a 2hour 20km today....I almost spun around then and continued the 5km on the flat......BUT.... I am not meant to be worrying about time and pace for my long walks.......heart rate is more important!!!! so I carried on and headed up the hill and on to the walkway back to home.

I still managed to get home in my fastest time yet for training on that course or just 20km training full stop. 2:02:01 with an avg heart rate of 145

I felt really good about this walk.

20km out and back - monaco

12km kickdown - atawhai

I woke up this morning at 5:30am and made hubby breakfast before he went off to work for the day. It was pouring with rain so I figured I would head back to bed and get some extra sleep. 9am I was woken with knocking at the door and it was a lovely surprise to see my daughter standing there. She had popped in for a quick visit. It was still pouring out side....ugh....this is not looking good.

I had a very quick chat to my coach.....thought briefly about doing the walk on the treadmill and pretty much canned that idea as so as I voiced it. Plus reading my friend Tammy's blog and seeing she did most of her walk and it was snowing......a bit of rain was not really going to hurt me that much. So I sucked it up and got changed.

I drove down to Atawhai and sat in the car looking out at the rain. It was pouring hard and was starting to get cold. I put my jacket on and set out.

Today was to be a kick down. So my aim was for 4 kicks and I was aiming for these paces:- 6:05, 6:00, 5:55 & 5:50......but this didn't quite work out today. I felt great when I started out but by 4km I was wet and cold and struggling to get some speed going. I turned at 6km and headed back. The rain was starting to ease and I was starting to warm up a little too much. I was pleased to see the last 2 kicks were pretty much the time that I had wanted.

Total time for the 12km is 1:11:10 for an avg pace of 5:55 and avg heart rate of 145

12km kickdown - atawhai

3km, 2km & 4 x 500m

I must have been going fast as I was sure fast driving home........or so the police officer told when he pulled me over and gave me a ticket for $120!!!!!!!!!! going 66km/hr in a 50km zone............BUMMER!

This was a tough session.  After having the stomach issues on my 10km walk I discussed what I should do with my coach and he suggested I swap my 12km kick down for this track session.  Both of them were going to be tough but I liked the fact that I get to stop after 3km for a moment and also if I was to end up in pain again, my car was right there and I could just leave.

I got to the track and all the construction workers were all there again...more this time!! but the roof is on the stadium and the track now has a fence around it.  But lanes 1 & 2 had been blocked off, they had pulled the rails out over the track and locked them........................lucky for me I have the master key!!!!  so I walked around the track and unlocked each of the 8 rails that protrude out over lanes 1 & 2.  Sneaky ay...lol

So after a couple of laps to warm up I decided to just get on with it.  First thing I did was as I passed over my 1st km I hit stop not lap....doh!....so I waited until I had completed a full lap before hitting start again.  So my first 3km is separate (below) so that I could still work out what time I completed the 3km in - as I can use the time I started and stopped to work it out, plus I was doing an avg of 2:10 per lap.  The first 3km went well and I was not too tired and had not pushed too hard.  I took a 3min rest (this is on the second lot of data and is how I started it)  I couldnt remember if I was to have a 3min rest or 4min rest.....but after 3mins I was feeling ok so started in on the 2km.

The first half of this I felt great and the pace was nice and strong...again not pushing too hard....but it didnt take long til I was starting to feel tired and the last km on this set I was working hard to keep a steady pace going.

Now I just had the 4 x 500m.......I can never work out where the 500m marks are on our track...there are so many different coloured lines and marks around the curves that I usually end up guessing....so who knows...one may have been 10m short and another 10m longer??? lol  But by the 2nd one of these I was really feeling it.  I was tired.  My legs were dead and I was struggling.

All in all I am really pleased with my times.  They are nothing earth shattering but they are good for me.

I have worked out the times and will list them below as the watch data is a bit odd to figure out.  (NOTE: now that I am home I see that my recoveries were too short.)

3km = 16:24  (5:25, 5:27, 5:32)
3 min recovery  (should have been 4 mins)
2km = 11:01 (5:26, 5:35)
2 min recovery (should have been 3 mins)
500m - 2:39
1 min recovery (should have been 2 mins)
500m - 2:42
1 min recovery (should have been 2 mins)
500m - 2:40
1 min recovery (should have been 2 mins)
500m - 2:46

My heart rate sat around the 160 mark for most of the fast stuff and dropped pretty quickly between each rest.

3km on track (missing one lap) 

2km & 4 x 500m

10km out and back atawahi

Its a lovely day. Nice warm and sunny. Todays walk was to be 10km with 2 x 10min burst of 20km race pace.

I picked the Atawahi Walkway for this one as it is the flattest walk that I have available to me. I started out and decided to to do the first 10min burst straight away. First thing I noticed was how tired my legs were feeling. My body felt heavy and tired. I warmed up after the first km and my pace picked up a bit too. I kept pushing along and happily eased up alittle after the 3km mark. Walking along the 4km segment there are a couple of wee rises in the walkway....nothing much just about 1.5m in height but they feel steep when you are tired. I walked the second rise and felt a familiar pain start in my stomach. It has been a long time since I have had a bout of my gastro problem during a walk and it was unsettling to feel it gurgle now. As I came up to the 5km turn point, I had a few more sharp pains but then right as I turned the pain really set in. I had to stop and fast! I was doubled over (pretending to stretch) and all I could do was wait for the cramps to pass so that I could stand straight again. They passed and I set off back towards the car. Could I make the 5km back? I almost pulled the pin on the whole walk but I still also had to walk the 5km back....better I get back faster than slower. I was having waves of cramps and again had to stop at the 7km mark. I kept reassuring my self that I would be ok...its just 3km to go. I tried to pick up the pace when I was feeling ok and I think I just managed to get about 8 mins of race pace. I could see the 10km stop point ahead of me and just pushed through the cramps I was getting. I hit my watch and kept going till I got to my car. I got my car key off my shoe and quickly got in and sat down. Oh it felt so good to have my knees up. When I get these pains its all I can do but just lay in a fetal position unitl they pass. The cramps are mid belly button and are caused from pockets of air being trapped as my inside twist up. It normally goes away after a few hours and today was no different. I got home curled up on the couch and up loaded this. with in a couple hours it had passed and I was feeling much better. Why do I continue to walk when I am in pain........cause if that was a race there is no way I would stop, so if I can walk through it in training...then I know I can walk through it in a race.

So time for today is 59:17 with avg heart rate of 148 (2 bursts of race pace - 1&2km and again at 6&7km)

10km out and back atawahi

20km out and back - monaco

I really didnt want to go out and do this. I wanted to stay in bed and sleep in....... so I compromised..... I slept in til 9am and then got up an went out.

I have had a runny nose for the last couple of days - a common thing I get when I really push myself. But when I woke up I had a sore throat too...I sort of hoped it was just from snoring during the night .... lol....turns out it was. Its ok now.

As I went to head up onto the track I saw my old training partner jogging up the road. He stopped by and we had a good quick catch up. Then he continued up the road and I onto the track. The only thing with bumping into Pete, was to remind me how lonely it is when you train on your own all the time. ok there are some benefits to being on your own...... you do go at your own pace and dont feel held up or that you are holding up another. It also hardens you mentally. But there are days when just having someone there ... to help when you get tired and to chat to when you are just cruising, is just sooo nice an comforting.

Any how..... I set out and had decided to just take it easy today. I was not feeling overly energetic and I was to try hard to keep my heart rate in check. Before I knew it 5km had come and gone in 29:47 and then 10km in 1:00:34 and I figured then I had gone out a bit to quick. A couple of times I caught myself picking up the pace and I would have to ease up and slow down.....then I would slow down too much and have to pick up again. I reached the base of Beatson Road and realised then that I had completed a fairly quick walk and so was happy to just walk up. Part of me was wanting to get a good time and the lazy part of me thought oh pox on it......the pox on it won over and I just walked slowly. I reached the top of Beatsons and knew it was just one km to home and it was mostly on the downhill part of the walk way.....so I pushed hard and headed for home.

I was pleasantly surprised to see my time was a little quicker than last week. I feel I am definitely improving and am very curious to see what I capable of in a race.

Total time 2:03:25 - avg heart rate 144 - avg pace 6:10

20km out and back - monaco

10km Fartlek - atawhai walkway

OMFG!!!!! I am sorry but there is just no other way to explain this or express this walk!!!!!!

I dread my fartleks and kickdowns......cause I know how hard they are and how much they hurt. But funny thing, after you finish you are on such a high that you wonder why you dreaded it so much. Today was one of those days.

I had decided that I would try something different - instead of using one of my out and back 10km courses, that I would try to find a short 500m stretch and just go up and down on that. I picked the atawhai walkway for two reasons. 1st - its nice and almost flat and 2nd - no houses, road crossings or people. I feel sort of silly going up and down on a little stretch and having people stare at me wondering what on earth I am doing.

I waited until 10am so my breakfast could settle and so that it would warm up a little. Its a beautiful sunny day with NO breeze and about 15 degs. Perfect. I started out on the walk way and got my 1st km fast out of the way, I then continued up the walkway for 500m and turned....I used this 500m for my up and backs as it was nice and smooth, flat with no rail way crossing or road crossing. I was feeling pretty good and did my first km in 5:20. Wow, this might actually be a quick one. I turned and returned back for the recovery. I found that it made the walk go very quick and actually almost made it easier....as you were only ever thinking of the next 500m and focusing on that. I got to 5km in 28:12 and started wondering if I had gone out way to fast and could I continue at this pace. I did notice I was starting to slow up a little. My recoveries were getting 1 or 2 seconds slower each time.

I had the company of a Council worker how was riding a big mower. He was mowing along the edge of the walkway and he starting racing me in the big mower each time he saw me coming back at speed. He joked that it was unfair that I was still beating him and I was only walking. But I am sure he was finding it very entertaining. He came up when I finished and said he would have been carted away in an ambulance if he had tried to do half of what I was doing.

Any way.......with each up and back I would count it down......3 more to go ... 2 more to go..... and then it was the famous "last one"........we all know that "last one" feeling.....the sense of relief its almost over, achievement that you have done it and that moment when you let yourself calculate what your finish time just "might" be. Well that's what I do. I gave it my all on the last 500m......my legs were tired, my lungs were tight and my thoat burning from breathing so hard. But I so wanted a good result for today. Well I got it.......................I stopped my watch and let out a huge "OMFG!!!!! yahooooo" did a little happy dance ......

My time was 57:11..........................a pb for 10km by a MINUTE!!!!!!! Thank god tomorrow is a rest day!!! yayayayaya happy dance and high five!!!

heres my data all recorded in 500m segments......my recoveries were all around the 3:04 mark....... which is good. Avg heart rate 155 max heart rate 176!

10km Fartlek - atawhai walkway

15km out and back - monaco

Was so not in the mood for my walk today. I knew I had to do it but mentally I would have been happier to curl up with a book.

It was overcast and I expected it to rain at any time. So I dug out my long compression pants and put my long sleeve top back on. It didnt take long before I was pretty toasty and started regretting putting the long pants on. The further out I got the better my mood started to be. It was a bit breezy around Manaco but I was pleased that my foot was not hurting and I was feeling pretty ok, body wise. I still felt like I was ticking along really slowly today and expected to be much slower than Tuesdays walk. So was pleasantly surprised when I was pretty much exactly the same time.

Total time 1:34:00 avg pace 6:16 avg heart rate 141

15km out and back - monaco

15km out and back - monaco

Its COLD......well its cold to me. We had a pretty good storm go through-with thunder and lightening and so it brought with it our first really brisk and chilly morning. It was raining pretty steady all morning and was cold. At work I have a small wee office and I was frozen. I even got the wee blow heater out and cranked that up. By lunch time it had stopped raining but I still had NO feeling in my hands and the tips of my fingers were blue!!!! But as I start to have a wee complain at my first cold day I think of my mate Tammy and her heading out into snow!!!! I quickly shut up.

I came home and got changed. Rain or not I was going out......thankfully the rain did stop but I still choose to wear along sleeve top. As I started out it was in the shadow of the hill and the shock of breathing in cold air had me coughing. By 3km I was finally starting to warm up, my fingers were getting some feeling back and my toes didnt feel so frozen. It didnt take long till the sun started to shine again and it got much warmer. It sort of went from 10 degs to 14 degs.

After the treadmill yesterday I decided to do some foot P/T exercises to try and get some more movement into my feet. There is so much scar tissue at the base of my toes that I really just dont know if it will ever get movement. I didnt do too much......just a couple of toe lifts and then sitting on my toes. My foot felt great last night and today at work but during the walk, it started to hurt. It got more and more painful as I went on. I was trying to leave my left foot behind me for longer, but that ended up aggravating my foot. So about the 12 km I gave up and just walked. Focusing on my hips and getting them moving. I ended up just power walking up Beatsons Road as I was tired and my foot was quite sore.

It was a good walk and a lesson to me to harden up alittle....that it is going to get much colder and I will still have to get out and walk.

total time for today was 1:33:57 (avg pace of 6:15 and avg h/r 139)

15km out and back - monaco

10km Treadmill

today I was to do 10km with 2 x 10min burst of race pace but...........when I got home from work the weather set in.  It was pouring and very gusty.  I got changed and opened up the front door to have rain get blown into the lounge.....I struggled to shut the door turned to hubby and we both said "treadmill"

Ugh.....10km on the treadmill was not my "ideal" but it beats getting totally soaked and blown around.

Just as I had started my walk I suddenly thought I should start up my GPS as it can still read my heart rate and I can click off the kms.  So I called out to hubby and he got it going for me but this was about 7mins after I had started.  So as in photo below, I did 10km in 59:16 and I have noted my kms as per my watch below.  Avg heart rate was 151

This was harder than I thought it was going to be.  I quickly worked out the 10.5km worked out to 5.44 per km so for my 10min bursts I set the treadmill speed to that and for the rest I had it on 10km.

1 - 6.20
2 - 6.10
3 - 5.44
4 - 5.44
5 - 5.54
6 - 6.00
7 - 6.00
8 - 5.44
9 - 5.53
10 - 6.06

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/77125864

20km out and back - monaco

Yesterday I had a short gym workout - I learned from my last one so kept it simple this time.

I did one leg deadlifts, air squats, hip hikes, glute press, leg raises, curls, tricep kickbacks and lateral raises.

Then we decided to have a naughty tea and ordered fish n chips.........neither of us expecting it to be as huge as it was. Our two bits of fish each filled our plates, they were HUGE!!! but very yummy. (I ended up pulling most of the batter off mine as it was a little too greasy for me) It was pretty much the equivalent of all the food I had eaten in the last week. But I managed to eat it all like a greedy little gannet that I am....lol....but man was I FULL after.....lucky I had my stretchy fat pants on ...hahahaha

So I woke this morning feeling slightly out of sorts. It was the end of daylight savings so our clocks went back an hour. I got up and decided to make a really strong half cup coffee to drink before going out. (Not something that I have ever done but hubby suggested it) Well, I dont know if it was the coffee......the extra fat from tea or the couple of kg's lost during the week............but my walk felt GREAT!!!! and its not very often you will hear anyone saying they enjoyed a 20km walk.

I was a little worried about my left foot. My Peroneal Tendon is hurting again, and I was massaging it last night to try to ease the pain in my foot. When I started out it did hurt for the first 3km and then after that if just felt hot...but not sore. My coach had asked that I use my heart rate as my pace guide and that in the mid 140's would be a really good spot. This was easier said than done. I got into a nice rhythm that felt good and figured that I would stick with it but my heart rate was too low (then I realised I was on the slight down hill) so I kept going but then it went too high. In the end I figured if I am feeling good and strong, I am not breathing hard and the heart rate was showing 150....so I decided to stick with what I was doing.

I stopped at each 5km to take a drink which I was had tucked in my back pocket, but I cant drink from the bottle on the move, more of it ends up my nose!! When I turned at the 10km and was heading for home, I was thinking how good this was feeling. I was thinking that had this walk been totally on the flat I probably could have ended up with a close 2hour training walk. I am now feeling much more confident that I will get my sub 2 hour this year!!

I really hope its when I am in Melbourne as I will be racing on my Dad's birthday and he will be there to see me race for the first time. It would be totally awesome to podium finish in this race but more important to me is to get that sub 2 hour.

So even with coming back up Beatson Road and over the over pass I did a really good time of 2:03:54 with an avg heart rate of 145.

So I am very rapt with that but am currently sitting with ice on my foot. Now that the walk is over my foot is throbbing! Might need hubby to get his thumbs into my calf later.

20km out and back

8km out and back - Atawhai

After being unwell for the last 4 days I really wanted to go out today and have a good walk. I was not sure how I would fare as I was still not eating and still feeling very nauseous.

The weather was perfect. Overcast, no wind and mild temp. I started out and quickly settled into a good rhythm. My tummy was holding out well and I checked my time as the watch chirped at the 1km - 5.50 - hmmm so I decided that I would try to push on this walk and see what I get back. Now again, after telling my self the whole way down to the walk - to change my data recording back to 1km laps - I forgot again!!!!! so the data is in 2.5 blocks. But those like me that prefers to see 1km reps I have worked out what mine were.

So while I was feeling good I pushed. I was breathing quite hard, not gasping but definitely feeling the pick up of the pace. Funny thing, I reached 5km in a faster time than I did the other night in the 5km race......go figure.

As I was on the homeward stretch I felt a grumble in my stomach......I remember telling my self to hold it together. By the 3.5km mark I had the awful urge........we have all experienced it - the OMG I need the toilet NOW!!! urge. All I could do was hold on and try and make it back. I broke out in a cold sweat and the cramps were awful. Obviously what ever bug I had experienced had worked its way down past my stomach and was now threatening to cause me great discomfort.

1km to go. I was really struggling now, I new I was on target for a really good time but it was getting difficult to racewalk . (in my data under the player you can see my heart rate spike up and stay at 170 and my speed go totally erratic for the last km, shows how distressed I had become)

I dont think I have ever been so pleased to finish a walk. I looked at my watch.............looked again.............and let out a very loud "wahoooo"

total time for the 8km is 46:23

1km - 5:50

2km - 5:50

3km - 5:48

4km - 5:52

5km - 5:48

6km - 5:42

7km - 5:48

8km - 5:45

8km out and back - Atawhai