I am so so sick of walking in the heavy rain where the walkways get totally flooded so that it is over my ankles for most of it. I was meant to do 15km but with a sore throat, sinus and a blocked ear...I decided that it was probably not the most ideal weather to be walking in. So I tried to contact my coach but with him out in the whop whop's in America I was unable to reach him. So decision was made. TREADMILL but for only 10km. Plus I put the air con on so that it warmed up the room to give me a feeling for some heat training.
I took it easy and set my pace to 10:00km and started out. I made sure that I concentrated hard on my style and tuck my hips in and made sure I used my glutes. The walk went really well. By 5km I was sweating LOTS and the warm air was getting harder for breathing.
I have decided to find a sauna to use next week.....maybe two or three time. I was planning on doing some star jumps or jogging on the spot while in. I dont breath well in sauna's and with our races being moved now to some of the hottest times of the day I now need to adjust and fast.
I had sports clinic today....things are working well and progressing nicely.
After that I came home, got changed and headed out the door for my 10km. I was to do 2 x 6min race pace bursts. So I picked kms 4 & 5 & 6 for those. But.............always a BUT..............I was feeling awesome and was having trouble pulling my pace back...once I got started I was just feeling great and got into my zone and away I went. My heart rate shows that I was not pushing hard (avg 144)
Today I showed Deb that I was really dipping well on my left side. So I am sure that mastering the dip and working my glutes has really brought on the new found speed.
So today ended up being my fastest 10km time for Beatson Road by 1min 11secs - total time 58:28
I really dont like these workouts.....but funny enough when its done I feel great!! go figure.
it was perfect weather today, not too sunny with cloud. So it was about 13 degs today and after my 3km I ended up stripping my long sleeve top off. I actually cant believe that its mid June and I am training in short sleeves and shorts......
Today was my fastest 3km on the track and I felt great. This continued for the whole work out .... only trouble was me hitting stop instead of lap so even though I actually did do 4 x 500m only 3 have been recorded.
I felt like I was getting faster and faster and a couple of times took stock of my self as it was feeling effortless and I was worried I was breaking style...but then I realised that for the first time I was actually rolling off my feet and using my glutes. What a HUGE difference.
Wouldnt ya know it........its RAINING!!! and not just light rain...its pouring down. Yuck Yuck Yuck!!! (even a little foot stamp in there too)
I got up and dug out my jacket. First up I had to go for a blood test....it had to be a fasting one so no breakfast or morning coffee for me. I said to the nurse that I had to go out and do a 20km walk but her reply was ...not for at least another hour I hope. Hmmmm I had planned to go direct out from this.....but she said nope, you have to wait at least an hour.
Well ok then, lets hope the weather settles a little before I head out.
11.30am and its still pouring.............POX!! plus I had not eaten anything yet, so I grabbed a teaspoon of honey (it was the only sweet stuff I could think of) put my jacket on and a hat.......off I went.
The first km heading up the track was pretty slow....it takes me a couple of km's to get used to rain.....that awful cold drip as it snakes down under your jacket, your hands almost retract up your arms as they get cold and wet and the slow feeling of water creeping into your shoes. YUCK YUCK YUCK....comes to mind again. Anyhow....I settle into my pace at about 3km and spend most of my time listening to my music and trying hard not to think about the rain. The annoying thing when it rains is that the walkways get flooded really fast. So it didnt take long for huge puddles to form and they are deep so I couldnt walk in them.....so I tend to jog through them or jump from shallow spot to shallow spot.
As I passed the 7.5km mark it was sooo tempting to just throw the walk in and turn back to just do 15km......but.......I have not done 20km since slipping over and I only have 2 long walks left before I leave. So it has to be done. About now the rain actually lifted and stopped....arrhhh nice, but it was short lived as by 15km it set in again. By now I was soaked through even under the jacket. I think that jumping through all the puddles I may have landed funny as my right ankle was starting to hurt. So as it was only 3km to home and this is always pretty slow as its all up hill....I just took it easy.
Not much to report for this walk. I was to just do a gentle 10km recovery walk.
First up I had a Dr appointment so headed off to that. All is good and had a few little niggles checked over. My biggest concern is my left hand.....I suffered nerve damage from the brachial neuritis that I had 5 years ago...and it would appear that the damage has spread to more fingers in my left hand. Dr seems to to think the waitressing has aggravated it as that plates we carry are very heavy and cumbersome...plus I stack and carry on my left arm. I have lost alot of strength in that arm. I am hoping it will pass as I really dont want to experience pain like that EVER again.
So once back I headed out to do my walk. It was alittle more brisk today so again I wore my long leggings...took till 3km to warm up today....my feet felt like concrete blocks. lol
I took it nice and easy today and just cruised as I have 20km on the cards for tomorrow and its meant to be raining.....UGH!!! oh well.
Not much to report for this walk. I was to just do a gentle 10km recovery walk.
First up I had a Dr appointment so headed off to that. All is good and had a few little niggles checked over. My biggest concern is my left hand.....I suffered nerve damage from the brachial neuritis that I had 5 years ago...and it would appear that the damage has spread to more fingers in my left hand. Dr seems to to think the waitressing has aggravated it as that plates we carry are very heavy and cumbersome...plus I stack and carry on my left arm. I have lost alot of strength in that arm. I am hoping it will pass as I really dont want to experience pain like that EVER again.
So once back I headed out to do my walk. It was alittle more brisk today so again I wore my long leggings...took till 3km to warm up today....my feet felt like concrete blocks. lol
I took it nice and easy today and just cruised as I have 20km on the cards for tomorrow and its meant to be raining.....UGH!!! oh well.
I took a rest day yesterday. That was a little naughty as I was meant to do 15km.....but.......I had woken up with a sore throat and a runny nose that didnt get much better during the day. It didnt get any worse either, which is good. I also got rung in for an early start to my night job which was not going to leave me much time for a walk. So I figured that seeing as I was already tired and not feeling the best....it would be better for me to take a rest day. I am really pleased that I did as I didnt get home until 11pm from work and I was totally shattered by then.
So today I decided I would give the kick down a try. I really dont like these walks. I just cant get my kicks right...I am either starting way too slow and finishing way too fast....or I am all over the show. I was trying to figure out what my splits should be today. I decided to try for 6:00, 5:55, 5:50, 5:45......but i forgot to take my watch off auto lap so it has ready each km....makes it hard to work out my km splits.
I am now trying to wear more layers...not only because it is getting a little cooler here but so that when I warm up ... I over heat!....as in Sacramento it is going to be around 30 degs most days....and especially for my first race. Today it was only 5degs when I started out but it didnt take long til the sun came out and it warmed up nicely and sure enough...I got hot. First thing I noticed was I didnt feel good today.....I didnt feel right. I had a niggling tummy pain that I couldnt shake or figure out what it was. The further I walked the more it annoyed me. My first km was a little to quick and my second one a little too slow...sighs.....but I carried on. I got the hang of the pace and ticked along in my grove....getting a few toots and waves. By the time I came to the last 2km my tummy was hurting....I had narrowed it down to be my bladder.............and wondered if I might be getting a bladder infection???? so as soon as I got home I made an appointment to go see the dr. So I will get my bloods checked too and check my iron etc.
Any how......I pushed hard for my last two km and just tried to ignore the pain in my tummy.......I managed to pick up the pace and got a good drop for my last kick. From what I can work out here are my kicks.
2.5km - 14:52 avg per km = 5:57
5km - 29:31 avg per km = 5:52
7.5km - 44:11 avg per km = 5:52
10km - 58:31 avg per km = 5:44
Total time for 10km kick down was 58:31 which is my fastest 10km kickdown.
I was very lucky to have had the best sports reporter write my story. It took pretty much the whole page!!!
I have had awesome feed back from this story and a lot more tooting!! which is wonderful.
Here are the photos that were in the article and then a copy of the article as per the Stuff.co.nz site.
photos as per Colin Smith / Nelson mail
As per Wayne Martin Nelson Mail June 13th 2011
Nyle Sunderland recalls giggling the first time she saw race walkers on the television screen.
Still a kid back then, she was at home watching Olympic Games coverage with her parents many years ago and remembers being amused by the wiggling walkers, never for one moment imagining the path her competitive athletics career would ultimately lead her down.
Yet in four weeks time, the now 43-year-old champion race walker will be competing at the world masters track and field championships in Sacramento, California. She'll have turned 44 by then, having just returned from a gold medal performance at the Australian masters 20km road championships in Melbourne, where she recorded a smart time of 1hr 57min 26sec.
Sunderland's now passionate about her sport and under the guidance of her new coach, Australian Jim Leppik, is looking to take her individual performances to even greater heights.
However, she's still able to keep her sense of perspective and humour. She knows race walking looks odd to some people and acknowledges the stigma still attached to the sport.
"Even when you go overseas and compete internationally, everyone has their own style," she says.
"Even now, I'm a race walker myself, but I look at some of the styles and have to have a bit of a giggle. Some of them really exaggerate the wiggle to the side. They're using too much energy for starters."
While her own style is a little more restrained, she still attracts her share of attention.
"Every time I go out and walk, I get laughed at, I get tooted at. It looks like you have a carrot somewhere where you shouldn't have a carrot.
"I used to give them the one-fingered salute but I've given up on that now. It doesn't look good for me either. Now that I'm recognisable, I just give them a wave and keep going. Usually I'm that focused or have got a head set on, I don't hear much. A lot of it's tooting and clapping and that's fine, I don't mind that.
"You feel silly sometimes, if you're walking towards a group of people, you sometimes do take a check and make sure you're not wiggling around too much. But once I started winning things and started getting medals, I started being a bit more proud about it and got over it. There are a lot of race walkers who won't train on their own, they'll go out in groups or they'll run."
Originally from Blenheim, Sunderland moved to Nelson as a 19-year-old, dabbling in powerlifting and body building among her early sporting interests. Competing in the under-60kg class, she finished second at a South Island body building competition and third at a national event before eventually giving the sport away.
"I looked like a skinned rabbit," she jokes. "But I couldn't handle the diet, I couldn't face that again. I still gag when I think of eating tuna and egg whites."
She didn't become interested in race walking until around six years ago. Even then, it was almost by accident.
She admits to becoming something of a "couch potato" and it was only after some enthusiastic prompting from close friend, Jo Rawlins, that Sunderland agreed to compete in the 2006 Taylors Nelson women's triathlon. The event involved a 3.5km run-walk, a 14km cycle and a final swim leg.
"I didn't really think I had that competitive edge, so I said I'd walk with her. The gun went off and she said that was the last she saw of me, I was off. Something clicked.
"I think I got ninth in my age group overall, it wasn't a stunning event or anything like that, I just really liked it. And when I finished, and like all the other women, it was like `wow, I did that'."
She'd competed as a recreational walker, knowing nothing then about the techniques involved in competitive race walking. It was stored somewhere in her consciousness, though, eventually rising to the surface.
"I remember seeing a chick [race] walking up and down the Railway Reserve and can still remember giggling away, never in a million years thinking that that was one day going to be me. I started trying to teach myself. With race walking, you've either got the swing or you don't and I didn't. And it didn't matter what I tried to do, I still looked mechanical, it just didn't come together at all."
Gradually, her association with established Nelson race walkers like Sharon McDonald, Wendy Healey and Yvonne Shaw and the arrival of experienced coach Stephen Farquhar from Dunedin finally gave her an insight into the technical aspects of the sport.
Farquhar officially became her coach in 2008 and that was when, she says, she "really stepped into the race walk realm".
She gradually developed her own style and technique, but says she's constantly thinking about fluency and rhythm in her stride.
"When you get your style and you're doing it properly, it's very fluent and you're actually skimming the ground. When I'm doing a 20km, I'm not breathing hard.
"You just get in a rhythm and it feels great. And the hardest thing of all is just keeping that rhythm in your head, because the moment you allow any distractions to get in your head, you just lose it and it's really hard to get it back again."
Since 2008, she's consistently won medals at New Zealand and Australian masters championships and the Oceania and World Masters Games, plus a myriad of local club and regional titles, including the Buller half marathon twice. But despite her healthy stack of gold medals in both 10km and 20km events, including three golds at the 2008 Oceania Masters Games in Townsville, ironically it was her silver medal performance, behind Australia's Fiona Porley in the 10km at Sydney's World Masters Games in 2009, that she remembers most fondly.
"We'd battled backwards and forwards and that, to me, was a race. She collapsed at the finish line ...that was my personal best time [59min 50sec] at that time as well and I was so disappointed when she didn't front up for the 5km.
"Out of all my races, that would have been my most poignant race, because we really raced, we really pushed each other and really gave it our all."
She was disappointed to miss selection last year in a four-person New Zealand team for a trans-Tasman test match in Hobart, finishing fifth at the trials despite recording a time nearly five minutes below the qualification mark. However, she noticed that on their return, the New Zealand team members had all added former Institute of Sport coach Leppik to their Facebook accounts. Sunderland's interest was stirred, eventually getting in touch with him.
She'd reached a point where she wasn't making any significant competitive gains and, with Farquhar, at that stage, struggling with serious health and personal issues, her choices became obvious. Eventually she signed Leppik as her new coach, introducing her to a "revolutionary" new style of coaching.
"I thought, `my god, I've never trained like this before'. I was doing fartleks [a Swedish training approach] and kick downs and interval training and my times dropped really quick."
The consummation of their new arrangement remains a standing joke between the pair.
"At the time I had artificial nails, you know, the girlie thing, and they were exactly the same price [as Leppik's fee]. Needless to say, no nails. But it was a sacrifice well worth making. You don't need nails for race walking. That's sort of been an in-joke between me and my coach now. Fifty dollars a month, that's all he cost me. That's so cheap for what he does and that's what he does for all the race walkers."
Leppik radically altered her technique.
"It took a month before I was able to do a whole walk with the new style. It was little things like just tucking your hips under, tucking your bum under. I always thought you walked with your legs, but you don't, you walk with your glutes and I didn't use mine. It just felt so weird so it was just learning how to do that and not leaning back but leaning forward from your ankles.
"He literally just stripped me down to bare and rebuilt me and within weeks, my times just started dramatically dropping."
She'll compete in the 5km, 10km and 20km events in Sacramento and, with Leppik's help, is looking to achieve a personal best 1hr 55min or better in her favoured 20km event.
"The 20km seems to be where I'm at my best. It's a long way and it's intimidating when you're on the start line or you're thinking, `oh my god, 20km'. But when you get out there and start blasting into it and start counting down the kilometres, I don't ever look ahead and think, `oh I've got 18km to go', I think, `I've done 2km'."
My first decent speed workout since my fall. I was feeling good when I got to the track until I got out of my car.................it was really windy!!!! so I said a few curses....ok...alot!!!
I was meeting Sharon McDonald today and I was looking forward to having someone on the track to chase and pass and again it proved to me that I need to have more practice with this.
I opened up the rails and did 3 laps to warm up. My feet were a little cold as the wind had a really good nip to it....about 8 degs...(yeah I know Tammy lol) So I started out on my first one ...it was ok but the wind really knocked me up the back straight so I slowed a little knowing it would tire me pretty quickly. I was part way through my second one when sharon arrived so she waited at the finish/start for me. I had a 2min recovery so I was able to explain what I was doing so she said she would just cruse around for 5km. She started ahead of me for me to chase...............and thats exactly what I did. I totally forgot I still have 5 more km reps to do and took off after her making it a crusade to pass her as quickly as I could..........BIG MISTAKE...............I did that km in 5:02................OMG........I was breathing really hard and my legs felt like jelly. The next km felt really hard and it just got tougher and tougher for each km...plus the wind picked up making it hard going when punching into it. BUT this will make me stronger.
I have to say I was really pleased this one was over. It was tough tonight. I had wanted to do each km under 5:20 and I nearly achieved that. Only 1 was over that mark.
I was tired today. I wanted to just stay in bed and sleep. But by 10am I was laying there feeling guilty so I got up and got changed. It was overcast and I knew it was going to rain at some stage of the walk.
I was a little nervous about doing 20km today, my hamstring was still pretty tight and I was unsure how my hip would hold up. As I started out up along the walkway I could feel my hamstring pulling so I slowed down and just took my time. Coming down Beatson's Road I made sure I was careful and slow, then I leveled out onto the flat and settled into a steady pace. I felt stodgy and heavy. I was tired and my legs had not recovered yet from my track session.
With only 3 weeks till I fly out for the States, I spent most of this walk just working on arm placement and tucking my butt in so that I was using my glutes??? well I think I was.
As I was nearing the 10km turn around I looked ahead and saw 3 girls standing on the edge of the motor way trying to hitch hike. As I got closer to them I stopped my watch and asked if they were ok. They were foreigners and had a map in hand trying to figure out where they can hitch into the city. So I explained that it was illegal to stop on the motor way and that they needed to walk down the walk way go under the under pass and over to Stoke Main Road...they would get picked up there. I think i was at 8.75km mark so I left them and headed on up to the 10km turn point....about half way up I noticed that my watch had not bleeped for 9km???? bugger, I had not started the darn thing. So I started it there and when I got to the 10km turn point I waited until the watch clicked over to the time I had estimated to have reached 10km in .... 60:45 and it also showed up at 9km in distance. Because I knew it was exactly 10km i was not too worried about the distance on the watch heading back home.
The 10km walk back home was uneventful. I was just tired and so I ticked along and kept checking my style as I went. It just started raining 2km out from home, so I didnt get too wet.
total time for the 20km was 2:03:19 I must admit to being surprised as I felt much slower than that while out walking.
Its pouring with rain....ugh.....and its about 10degs. I am so not going to enjoy this walk but it has to be done.
My hamstring is still tight and sore in the centre and so I put some antiflam gel on it before I headed out and I pretty much figured I would take it easy on it and stop if it hurt.
I walked around the track unlocking all the barrier arms and decided that for today that can be my warm up. I was already wet and my hands were really cold. I started out on my 3km and for the first km I could feel my hip and my hamstring, but nothing bad enough to warrant me stopping. By 2km I was warmed up and there was no pain. I was feeling tired on my 3rd km and was breathing alittle harder than I liked. But seeing my time gave me a boost of confidence and made me feel alot better. 15:59 for 3km is GREAT!!!
I had my 4 mins recovery break and headed out on my 2km. My legs felt a little more tired this time but I managed to maintain a good steady pace. I then stopped for a 3mins recovery before heading out for the 1km. I couldnt remember if I was meant to do 1 or 2 so I figured that I would just do 1 today as I really didnt want to put too much pressure on my hip and by now I was soaked through and getting cold. I tried to push harder on the 1km but I was feeling pretty tired by now and was able to maintain the km paces for the previous ones.
Now I just had 2 x 500m to go...these hurt as its pretty much a sprint. The track was wet and slippery and I was cold and wet. I just wanted them done!!! I started out and made sure I pushed hard for the last 100m of each one. Mentally trying to push my self each time. In fact I took a word out of a new friends blog post......FOCUS!! I was starting to have negitive thoughts....thinking of ways to shorten my workout and just quit as I was cold and wet.......but then I thought of how Sarah is struggling with the same and tells her self to FOCUS............so i gave myself a telling off and focused on the task at hand.
I am really pleased with my splits today......It proves to me I have not lost too much from the fall. The best part of the whole morning...was catching up with a good mate and having a yummy vanilla latte with her in her nice warm office......nothing like having girly time and company.
So far I have missed two workouts......I dont want to miss any speed walks so I am going to do my track walk tomorrow so that left me with what do I do today.
So I decided to do 10km and depending on how it felt I would add in the 2 x 6min bursts of 20km race pace.
Its a mild day...about 14 degs with high cloud so to me it felt a little chilly as there was little sun about. I headed off up the track and took it easy for the first km. Then slowly picked up the pace as I came down the hill. I was feeling good so when I got down on to the flat I pushed a little and picked the pace up for the next km to get in my first 6min burst. I reached the 5km and was pleased to see my time was under 30mins......so I turned and just kept up with a comfortable pace on the way home.
I was careful going up Beatson's Road as that did pull on my hip a little but when I got up on to the track I push harder to fit in the last burst of race pace.
This ended up as one of my quicker walks for this route so I was relieved to see that the accident last week has not taken too much away from me.
total time for the 10km was 1:00:11 with an avg heart rate of 144
Today I was to try and do a 5km walk. I was nervous about this, I was worried I would get so far and that it would start hurting and then I would still have to walk back home.
As it turns out I ended up having my whole day flipped up. I had an interview with the sports reporter that went for over an hour and then I found out that my sports therapy appointment was for 2.15pm today and not Thursday as I had thought. I also had to met the sports photographer at 4pm on the track for some action shots to go with the article for Monday nights paper. Phew it was going to be a busy afternoon.
So I decided to do 4km on the treadmill as at least on the treadmill I could control my speed and keep it low and also I could stop and get off if it hurt. That way I could go to the Sports Therapy and be able to tell her how it felt after training.
The great news............yes it hurt a little for the first couple of km's but then it just stopped and I was able to walk and up my pace a little. I did 4km in 25mins.....nice and slow.
Debs gave my hip the once over and found that the spasm in the back had pulled the hip back out. So we reset my hip and I was given some new exercises to do. I felt great when I left and headed off to met up with the photographer. But I got there with plenty of time to spare. I had a good 40mins so I decided to continue my walk and head up the walk way for 1.5 km and turn back. I wanted to see how it felt after Debs had worked on it. It felt great and I was trying to take it nice and quiet, I kept my pace low and was again surprised to see that it was still under 6min/km pace.....nice. Total time for the 3km was 17:10
I made it back with time to spare before the photographer arrived. Then we spent an hour with me walking back and forth along the walkway while he took a huge amount of photos with different lens and different effects. Giving photos a blur so as to give movement to the photo plus we did some head shots while I chatted to him (he like how animated I am when I talk lol) so at the end of it all I felt rather "rockstar" from it all..
I cant wait for the Monday Nelson Mail to come out.....I just hope they dont alter too much of what I said and make me sound like a dork.
Friday night and I am at work. Its a quiet night with a table of 20 deciding to be sitters........(sitters are people that finish up their meals and just sit and chat......until mega late) Its 10.00pm I had already reset the whole restaurant for breakfast and was now just bumming around waiting for the 20 to leave. Its really boring, trying hard to find little jobs to keep you busy so I decided that I would clear some of the coffee cups as its 10.30 and I really want to be home by 11pm. The kitchen hand also wants to go and had been washing flat out out in the kitchen. I had noticed that the floor was getting really slippery and made a mental note to take it easy when walking through the kitchen.
So I clear this table and head back to the kitchen with an arm load of cups and sauces. When you enter the kitchen you push the door open with your right hip and roll the door around your butt as it opens and then step in. As I stepped into the kitchen I placed my right heel and went to step in but my right foot went straight out from under me and down I went in a smashing heap. Left leg smacked the table leg, left arm hit the napkin bin and the right leg got all twisted under me and I landed full weight on my right hip.
All that could be heard in the restaurant was the smashing of 6 cups and saucers and a very loud "insert swear word here"!!!!!
The Maitre'd came running and the kitchen hand nearly crapped himself. They all thought I had broken something or was really badly hurt. I just sat there and asked them to leave me for a bit. I wanted to slowly move and figure out where it hurt. My biggest concern was my knee. .... but amazingly it was fine. My shin was hurting lots but it just had a good bruise on it....then my butt....it really hurt around the back of my hip. I got up and limped about for a bit. I still had to stay at work and wait for this table of 20 to leave.....took them a further half hour before they moved. So I got home at 11.30 and first thing was to get some ice and put it on my hip.
I woke up and felt much better.....I went to the track to met up with Raylene and Sharon for a track session and I thought I would give 2km a wee nudge to test out my hip. I did 2km in 11:41 and was pleased with that but I could not have walked any further and on hind-site probably shouldn't have walked it all as I am now very sore to the front of my hip and in my lower back. So its a phone call to physio on Tuesday and a couple of days off. Lets just hope its only bruising and nothing more.
30 days to go til Sacramento ... so this really BLOWS!!! I am hoping it will only be a couple of days off and I will be back into it just as strong.....
Brrrr......Winter raised its sleepy head today and let us all know that it was lurking. Considering that New Zealand has had its HOTTEST ever May on record it is no surprise that we have not adjusted to the fact that is meant to be winter. Today was 2 degs when I got up to go to work and then got up to a nice balmy 8 degs ... when I left work to head to the track I was just frozen .... going from 20 deg days one day to this the next is just a little much for my girly wee senses.
I was pleased that today's track was just a short but sharp one. I knew it was going to take quite a few laps for me to warm up and be able to even feel my feet let alone move my feet. I did 3 laps to warm up...but it didnt make too much difference, my feet still felt like concrete blocks. So I decided to just get it over with. My first 200m was done in 58sec ...oh I thought....thats nice and quick then I crossed at the first 400 in 2:04...nice I thought. I finished my first 800m in 4:09 and I didn't feel totally exhausted. I was pushing hard and breathing hard...but I felt good. This continued for each of the other 800m's in fact I got quicker and quicker with each one.....probably the fact that I could feel my feet by half way had a lot to do with it.
so here are my 800m splits
4:09
4:07
4:06
4:05
4:04
total time for 4 km is 20:31 - Now lets see what the coach has to say about it.
First stop for the day - Sports Therapy Clinic for Debs to do her thing. I have to say she is a legend!!! She has tweaked me and stretched me in ways I didnt know I could...BUT...the change in my body is amazing. I no longer have sore backs EVER!!!! and now we are working on my glutes so that I can get my hip dipping properly and my walk coming from my butt. But best of all is that she gets it!! She actually understands the dynamics of race-walking, it is so nice to know that if I say this hurts...she instantly knows why and how to combat it. So I cant rave enough about her help.
After our session today I was to do another 10km and again its meant to be at recovery pace. My glutes were feeling a little tender after she had released my pirafomas (yes Jim she even used her elbows....no Jim she didn't enjoy inflicting pain on me like you did! lol)
I started out and could feel my glutes working or was it just cause they were sore and I could feel them, any how I decided to go out around Atawhai today as its more scenic....but it does feel longer. I was really enjoying my walk. I was listening to my body and every time I heard my watch chirp off the kms I would concentrate on dropping my left hip. I was pleased to note that I could feel it dropping this time and my speed did pick up when I concentrated on tucking bum under and dropping the left hip. I turned at the 5km mark and was surprised to note that the time was 29:22
I was feeling so good and was really enjoying my walk. I know it was meant to be at a slower pace but I was not pushing myself. So I headed back to the car and just kept at a pace that I felt comfortable at. I had no tweaks or pains and was feeling great. I have to say I really enjoyed todays walk. It was even nice and sunny again and temps still around 15 degs.
Article that was printed in the Nelson Evening Mail - centre back page.
Early on in the course - passing the drink station and heading away from the start/finish.
Out on the feild - Heather is behind me here so am picking this is around the 10km mark. I have just crossed the start/finish line and about to turn into the start of the Y of the course.
My medal and my sponsorship shirt.
Here are photos from my awesome weekend away in Melbourne. Such a great time - Seeing family, racing and sharing my Dad's birthday. Loved every minute of it and now I turn my full focus to Sacramento and I will make sure that I have a repeat performance at each race!
Here is my dad and I - Great genes ay...... I swear my Dad has found the fountain of youth!
Here I am having just been awarded my GOLD medal for the W40-44 20km Australian Masters Road Walk
I have 4 weeks left to go and its time to get really serious. I have some minor tweaks to make to my body but these will take time. The biggest being sorting out my glutes and my lower back. Cause I have had this problem for years and years I have one glute bigger than the other (I dont normally do things half arsed!) So physio is really hammering my right glute. Making sure that when I finish a walk that I go direct to the single leg squats that just sit.....so your glute just starts screaming.
But todays walk was my recovery 10km and I went out and felt great. So I went as fast as my body wanted to. It was a beautiful day and it is so hard to believe it is winter. Even though it was a chilly start to the day it was still 16 degs when I went for my walk.
The Nelson Mail ran the article about me today and I would guess that a few people must have seen it as I had a number of people tooting and clapping and one car even pulled over to say congrats and good work.
So I pushed harder up Beatson's Road and zipped along the walkway to home and was a little surprised to see I had done 1:00:06 ummmm opppppss that was meant to be a tad slower but I did feel great when I was out there.
RACE DAY!! it was meant to be 16degs and sunny. Nope.....it was about 10 degs and cold!!!! It was also my Dad's birthday today and I really wanted to do well for him.
I had no pain in my back but the pain in my feet was back again and they were feeling pretty sore this morning. We got to Albert Park at 8.30am just as Jim was arriving...meeting my coach for the first time and I was rather nervous. We went off to warm up for the race and for Jim to check me out. It is pretty sad when you only get out 4 steps and Jim's going ok stop right there........oh oh.........sure enough...I was doing lots wrong. So we went over the things he saw and I tried hard to adjust to them. Now it was David's turn and sure enough he got the same treatment!! lol so we head to the start line and I am nervous and possum eyed, there were so many walkers.
The gun goes off and we are away. I felt great and Jim said after the race that I look totally different when I race to when I warm up....but he did notice that I "sat" again...not as bad as before but I was still doing it. I passed David and headed off after Heather Carr and caught and passed her by 2km. My km splits were pretty quick and I did wonder if I had gone out a little too quick but I carried on and kept up the pace. I went through the 5km in 28:08 ( a new pb) and through the 10km in 57.38 ( another new pb) but my 10th km the pace had dropped and I was struggling a little. I also noticed that Heather was gaining on me again. At 14km I tried to pick up the pace as I could really feel that I had dropped off pace, my back was hurting but the worst was the pain in my feet and down the sides of my legs. I HURT bad.....at 15km Jim called out that I was still on pace for a 1:56 just pick it up a little he asked. Well I tried but ended up getting slower. I literary had gotten a flat tyre. I had no drive and my pace was creeping up to 6km pace. I pushed on and was bouyed by my Dad and Jo-Anne cheering me on. I gritted my teeth and thought come on dig it in......but try as hard as I could I just couldnt get the pace to pick up. (I know now why) David was also struggling and we would encourage each other when we passed down the lanes, at one point I thought he had pulled but no...he was struggling with stomach pains. It was no only 2 km to go.......and I was going so slow...I was so frustrated at I always have a strong and fast finish. Normally picking up the pace for the last 3km easily.
I still had Heather in my sights but she was too far away for me to gain much on her. She beat me by a minute and gained herself a new world record in her age group. When I rounded that last corner I gave it all I could and crossed the line in 1:57:26 Winning me GOLD and an aussie title.
this is a new PB for me and I know that once I get my Psoas sorted out that I could have had a good crack at 1:55:?? today.......so that is now my goal for Sacramento.
the next best news......................NO marks on the dq board!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and just one warning on the course. Whoop whoop.......
After the race Jim came back to Dad and Jo-Annes and went over the race with me. He said that he could see that with my sitting the issue is with my Psoas and he gave me lots of exercises to do to help stretch and strengthen it. Plus my glutes are not working. He was generally pleased with my walk but wants to see a change in my Psoas. He even gave me a quick sports massage after the walk on a table outside the club rooms............OUCH..............I am sure I will be bruised tomorrow, but once he had done it he noticed a difference in how I stood. So I have lots of work a head of me.
the splits in the gps are wrong. I just let it read its on every km but they were out by lots.
Have had a great day. Melbourne was a little cold this morning but it looks like it will be fantastic weather for tomorrows race.
My dad and Joanne took me into Melbourne so I could check out the course, its really nice and flat. Will make for an exciting race for sure. We stopped off at the market and did a little shopping. :) My Dad and Joanne brought me an awesome cabin bag with WHEELS...yay .. no more lugging bags around.
Once we got home, it was have a snack lunch and then I went out and walked around the lake for my 4km stride out....it felt nice and easy....but I see my time was pretty quickish.
My back pain has gone totally.....although I am not sure that is a good thing as with lugging around my carry on luggage for two hours....I think that compressed my back again as once I sat down for the Auckland to Melbourne flight the pain was there in my feet for the whole flight.....it is still in my feet but I am totally fine with that as I know I can walk with it like that. Will address this once back in NZ with the physio.
I went to physio today and was told that everything happening with my back is normal and very good. She was very happy that my back is hurting more as it means that the pain has moved up from my feet and back into my spine....she is confident that in the next day or two it will go completely. She also got very hands on with my Psoas as that had gone tight again but this time we both felt it release.
I went to the track and was nervous of how I would go. It was only a short 5km fartlek but with a sore psoas and back....hmmmm what would I be able to do.
The weather was packing in again and I really hoped to get it all done before the rain started.
I started out and felt good. I had a good rhythm going and there were no pains. I looked at my time and thought wow that was fast......I think that was my fastest 1 km yet???
I carried on with fast and slow.....everything was feeling good but I noticed a niggle in my back on the 4th km and when I started the fast 500m on that km the psoas started hurting me abit....so I slowed up. I did try to finish nice and strong on my last 500m but I was out of ommfff by then.
but I am very pleased with my effort today.......total time was 27:33
Ok......not wanting to rant here ... BUT ... my back HURTS!!!! or more my Right leg hurts from nerve pain.....my right knee and right hip feel like I am getting electric shock therepy.
I am trying to be positive and as my PT told me....it shows the pain is moving and that is a good thing..... but 4 days out from a big race!!!!! this is so NOT FAIR!!!
So my walk today was AWFUL......I felt great for the first 3km and then the pains started...first in my right hip and then it would zing my hip and shoot out in my knee......by 8km I was struggling to walk....I was not able to lock my right knee due to pain. By the time I got home I was angry and sore.....there were many swear words ... and yes there were tears!!!! tears of frustration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have done so well and come so far.....have put so much work into my training...... and now this................
it SUCKS~~~
so time for my walk was 1:16
and now I am off back to the Sports Clinic to see what is going on....
I had another session at the Sports Clinic today. She is happy with how things are progressing........I am not.....but only cause its hurting. She did warn me that the pain would move up my legs and it has.....my right knee hurts ALL the time.....even when laying down, so it kept me awake most of last night. But she was pleased at the progress, she also had a good go at my left knee. She could feel that my posterior ligament was very tight and was stopping my knee from locking. So she worked on releasing this and did get a small amount of movement back. Lucky for me todays work out was an easy one as she didnt want me over doing it.
So today was 5 x 1km at 85% with a 3 min recovery. I got to the track and found that I had forgotten my heart strap...after all the drama of the morning...I was not going back home for it. So I used my breathing, my body and whether I was pushing hard or not. I found I had to keep easing back on the pace as I would naturally just get quicker.
I found this one really easy today...no wind and high cloud...so it wasnt to hot.
I was not feeling to confident about my walk today. I had spent all day yesterday doing back stretches every two hours and sitting up right in an office chair for the evening...by the time I went to bed my lower back was just aching. I woke up at 7.30 and decided to take some anti flam and went back to bed for a little bit longer.
I decided I could procrastinate any longer and got up. I thought I would wear my new top to try it out. That turned out to be a wrong thing to do. It is the best top I have ever worn...I didnt over heat once, even when it did get hot with temp up to 18degs I still felt cool. Only trouble is the top is designed to pull sweat away from the body...but my patches with the logos on are made of cotton ....so they got soaked with sweat and some of the fresh printed logos have run. So I will have to redo them.
So back to the walk......I decided that I wouldnt look at my watch at all today. That I would just walk at a pace my body felt good at. Once I got started and warmed up ... I felt great. I settled into a good pace, I was not breathing hard and was not pushing hard to keep the pace steady. Around the 3km spot I hit stop as an old work colleague was biking towards me and stopped to catch up. I carried on and noticed that I was getting alot more attention to what I normally do....I guess the logos really stand out on my shirt. I heard my watch chirp for the 10km and I stopped my watch again to have a stretch. The physio said that she wanted me to do 10 back stretches at the 10km mark and I new I needed them too as not long after the 9km mark I started getting pains in my hamstrings...which she said I would. So after the stretch I headed back for home. I did feel much better too. I was still feeling good, was not breathing hard and felt like I could have chatted to someone if I had company.
As I came up Beatson Road, I turned my watch back around on my wrist so I would see the display when I got to the top...as I would only have 1km to go. I gave the watch a quick glance but figured I must have read it wrong. I pushed for the last km and stopped my watch.........I had to look twice to see I had read it properly. I had not intended to beat any of my other 20km times nor had I wanted to go pushing myself today either and I dont feel that I did. I stuck to a comfortable pace.
I want to take a moment to thank my sponsors. With out them I would not be attending two events. My first being the Australian Masters 20km Road Champs on May 29th and the second being The World Masters Track & Field on July 3 - July 18th
Health 2000 Ltd
Bio Paints Ltd
Thelin Construction Ltd
Exide Batteries Ltd
Sports Therepy Nelson
McLay Auto Electrical Ltd
ET Engineering Ltd
Nelspecs Nelson Ltd
Today I spent the day sewing and making up all the logos for the above and then sewing them onto my new shirt. One of my sponsors brought me an Icebreaker Shirt to train in and I love it!!!!
So my part of the deal is to wear this shirt every time I train....and I will also wear it when I go out and about most of the time for casual wear. Any medals that I win...Health 2000 Ltd will display them in their store and I will also be putting a big THANK YOU into the local paper for all of my sponsors.
It is so windy today.....I thought it was bad on Tuesday but today really let rip!!! Looking on the weather site it said GUSTY S/W 35km with gusts of 50km.
I walked around the track and unlocked all the rails but two of the rails didn't have padlocks so I had to hope they would stay open.....they didn't!!
I started out and was instantly blown down the back straight and got to the 200m in 57secs but when I rounded to the home straight I had to really punch into the head wind and it took me 1min 10 to get that 100m done.......and it remained like this for the whole work out. When I stopped for my first km I had to quickly walk up to the next rail and push it back open again....I found a stick and put that into the lock hole and that did keep it open and out of my way....until the 6th km when there was a huge gust of wind and it pushed the rail open snapping the stick and of course this happened just as I was walking past it so I had to duck across the track and jump the lower part of the rail or it would have hit me right at shin level.
Some of the gusts pushed me around on the track with a couple of times nearly pushing me off the track on the corners and feeling like I was walking at normal walk pace while walking into it!!! But it was not cold....it was the same temp as the other day but not so much wind chill this time....but still cool enough that I did keep my long sleeve on. I would have liked to have done all the 1kms at 5.20 or less....but with the wind I figured keeping them under 5:30 would be ok....and I did manage that all bar 1km which was the gusty one with the rail being blown around.
i woke up at 2am.....lay there like a possum until 4.30am.............I was sneezing and having to blow my nose, I didnt feel to flash at all. All through the day I was feeling more and more tired with achey muscles. I refuse to get a cold. So I started chewing vit C tablets and drinking more water. I got home and even though the thermometer says its 16 degs out side it sure didnt feel like it as we now have a nice layer of snow on the surrounding hills and the chill in the air was pretty cold.
I got hold of my coach and ran it past him. I had 15km recovery walk to do and I didnt not want to do it....I just was worried this close to Melbourne would I be risking more by being out side. Its possible that my throat is sore and my nose running from all the wind in yesterday workout...but.....if not..... so Jim said 10km on the treadmill. I also had been feeling very light headed all day, feeling faint when standing......it was while I was chatting on the phone to Jim that I took notice of my heart rate.............as he had called just as I was dressed to go out for my walk...so heart strap was on and watch was going....................my resting heart rate while talking on the phone was 42bpm......hmmmm that really does seem very low............
So treadmill it was to be and so that is what I did. I put on the music channel on the TV, cranked up the fan and set the speed to 10km/hr and I stuck to that until 5km and then slowed it down for a little bit as I was not feeling too good.....head was aching and I was feeling a little light headed....but by about 8km I had settled again so I put it back up to 10km/hr.
Total time for 10km on treadmill is 60:33 with avg heart rate of 132
I also jumped on the scales this morning and was surprised to see I have reached my goal weight for Sacramento. I have lost 8kg since December when I started to up my training and watch what I ate....now the trick will be to maintain it and not lose any more!!!
It is blowing........like major windy!!!!! the track is not sheltered at all............ GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
Ok so I had my wee tantrum in the car ... sucked it up and just got one with it.
Weather forecase was for GUSTY westerly winds of 26km/hr .... Oh joy ..... plus it was blowing down my the mountains and it was cold. Yes the sun was out and it was nice and toasty when you were out of the wind. But I also knew that after two laps for a warm up I was going to end up stripping off before long and sure enough 2km in and I am ripping my top off while doing a recovery.....much to the delight of the construction workers.
So I had a full on head wind coming up the home straight and a back wind going away.....sigh..... first km I was holding back a little as I knew this work out was going to drain me and quickly. So it was done in 5:18 then I tried to be fairly consistent. There was no thinking of keeping recoveries to under 3mins as by 3km the wind had really picked up and I was struggling to walk at all into it...let alone with any speed. But as per always...for as much as I hate this type of walk...it is over with pretty quickly and you feel so good once its done.
I managed to keep my fast 500m to between 2:42 to 2:49
and my recovery 500m to between 3:01 to 3:06
Total time for the 10km fartlek was 57:54........in that wind I am very happy with that.
Today was my 12km fartlek day. But I woke up with a sore neck and a very stiff back. So back to the chiropractor. I rang and got an appointment today so that meant juggling my walks. So I swapped my 10km for my 12km fartlek.
The only problem with this is that by the time I got home from work my back was really sore. So I figured I would try to do 10km but if it was too bad I would turn back.
I started out and after 100m I felt great.....fine....strong......my pace picked up and I was thinking....this is going to be ok. I got to the 2.5 km mark and thought that I can keep going and try for the 10km, but not much further on I felt the first ping in my back by the time I reached 3km it was hurting. I had sharp pains centre back and down my legs. So I turned back and eased up on the pace.
So total time for 6km was 35:30...which in its self is a good time.....just it hurt. I am hoping the chiro will fix me again.
I woke up today with a very stiff sore back. It was just muscular but it was sore. I put some antiflam gel on my lower back before starting out.
I took it easy on the first km and then slowed up on the down hill of Beastons Road. I was feeling good every where else but my back was still sore and when I reached the 5km mark I nearly turned around to come back home again. But it was such a beautiful day out with no rain or wind that I didnt want to waste it either. I carried on and reached the 10km turn...I stopped and had a stretch and then turned for home. I popped out on to the motor way and ahead of me I saw two walkers fair steaming towards me. As they got closer I recognized the racewalk styles and saw that it was Raylene and Sharon. So I stopped to chat....(yay, as I really needed to stop)...we are all meeting tomorrow at the track and they are going to do their first 3km fartlek. We said our good byes and I carried on to home. I passed the Honest Lawyer and came close to just stopping and calling Shane to come and get me. By now my back was very sore. I knew it was muscle pain...not an injury.....so I made sure I took great care with my style and just slowed right up.
I got home and Shane rubbed some ice gel on my back for me and as I type this he is making me some scrambled eggs for lunch. I am so lucky to have such a supportive hubby!!
So total time was 2:06:36 very slow.......I still have one more 20km to walk before my race in Melbourne.....to be honest...I dont want to do it but I know I have to. I really dont want to be this slow the week before a race.
Just a 10km recovery walk.....nothing flash in my time but I did have one of my funniest moments ever.
As I was heading back up Beatson Road, I saw ahead of me a lady and her son feeding about 5 or 6 hens on the side of the road. As I walked past them I suddenly heard the lady call out...."quick grab Jim....quick grab Jim, he's after that lady!!!!" I turned about and saw JIM............a two foot orange rooster!!!! and he was making a fast bee line for me.......so I picked up the pass and took off up the hill with Jim and the boy chasing after me. The boy caught Jim and took him flapping angrily back to his harem of hens......leaving me giggling to my self all the way home.
For those that dont know....my coach is Jim and it was just so funny that was also the name of the rooster.
Track today and the good news was the storm that came through last night has blown through it is ended up a really hot sunny day. I cant believe that I am walking on the track mid may still in my shorts and track top. This time last year I was in long pants and long sleeves with hats and gloves.
Plus I had invited another walker down ( my old training partner who first started me out in my walking) Sharon. It was so good to have another walker on the track. I had some company and some one to chase on the track. Sharon started out ahead of me and I followed after her. I had the 3km then 2 x 2km and lastly 2 x 500m
I was feeling great today. My legs were a little tired from yesterdays walk but after a few laps to warm up..they freed up nicely.
My first km felt good but felt a little too quick but I carried on managed to keep the pace up for the rest of the 3km. I took my recovery and started out on my 2km again. My first km was again quick but I started to feel it and slowed down for my second km. I was catching sharon just before my 2km which was great. But the next 2km set was getting harder. I was feeling slow and sluggish....the price for going out way too fast. I tried to pick it up again for the last 2 500m.
Upon getting home and looking at my data I am realy shocked to see that my first 3km was done in 15:57. I had NO idea I had done this....as my watch was still set on recorded kms and so I to press lap at the actual km mark and so my km splits were woggy to look at ... it didnt feel like I had gone quicker for the 3km splits.....must have been having some one to chase!!!
So this was a fantastic walk and one of my best ever!!!
oh I was stiff when I started out. 15km was on the cards for today and I was keen to get this done. After a fast and hard track session I was not sure how I would fare on this walk. I wanted to try and keep my pace in check so that it was at recovery speed and to make sure my heart rate was around the 140 bpm. I started out along the track and wouldnt you guess it...............it started to rain. Not just a little rain but heavy rain. I only had my long sleeve top on and its not water proof at all. I thought that I might turn back at 5km and shorten todays walk to 10km.
I could feel my hips pulling as I was walking. I figured it was due to the down hill gradient and thought I would reassess it when I got onto the flat again. By the 5km mark it had stopped raining and my hips were feeling better. My legs felt much better today with only a few twinges here and there. As I reached the 7.5km mark I turned to head back home the rain came down again. It poured down with big puddles forming on the walkway again. I had slowed down a little bit as I felt that I was walking way to fast for a recovery walk. I was soaking wet and feeling cold....I just wanted to get home to a nice warm shower.
As I came to the underpass and the start of the up hill grind up over the motorway and then up Beatson Street. I actually felt like I had more energy and I power walked my way back up and over and then pushed hard for the last km along the walkway to home.
total time was 1:32:16 - turns out this was my fastest 15km today.........a little naughty really as I am meant to be taking it easy as I have a pretty tough track session again tomorrow.
I have had two days off to rest my Psoas muscle. I have been having pains in my legs, glutes and feet and it all seems to be coming from my back and my Psoas. I went to the chiropractor yesterday and she tried to release it and also clicked my back a few times. I am not sure if it worked or not. Last night my feet were the most painful they have been yet...so perhaps it flared up a nerve?? My feet feel as if someone is running a flame up and down the outter sides. Hurts lots and it doesnt matter what position I put my feet on the ground or up on the couch. But ,....anyhow......its only two weeks til Melbourne and I am trying very hard to not focus on any of this and to just get through it.
So instead of a 12km kick down my coach suggested I do an 8km fartlek in stead. I decided to try doing this on the track and today I actually managed to find the 1500m and 100m marks so the splits are right.
The weather was perfect. It had been quite cold all morning with a light drizzle but when I got to the track the sun was out and it was about 12 degs. I warmed up as best I could. My feet were still cold and stiff but not much I could do about that. I started out and felt very stiff. I think I was a little nervous to push my hips too much. But my first km was pretty quick - 5:19
I would have liked to have had all my recovery splits under 3:00 but sadly that was not to be. By the 5km splits my legs felt like lead and I was quickly running out of momentum. Mentally I started to panic as I thought my Psoas was going again. I had no drive, my legs were hurting and my feet were so sore. I almost stopped when I saw my fast lap had jumped to 2:46 and I still have more to go. I didnt feel I was going to be able to finish. So as I went into my recovery lap I decided that I would not focus on my recovery time and I would just let my body recover...I managed to pick up my times a little on the next couple of fast laps. All in all it was a good 8km fartlek and one of my fastest 8km but my body felt awful. I need to figure out what is causing the pain in my feet.
I woke up today and I was sore. My legs felt like they had been stomped on!!! I cant understand why as I had done less km's this week than others?? Had I not recovered from the Quarter??? I have never had sore quads before and I am trying to figure out why I would have and how I could have hurt them???
Outside it was pouring....not just pouring rain but torrential pouring rain...the kind that your wipers in the car dont work with!!!!! yep I am going to get wet....very wet! I dug out my jacket and got dressed.
The first thing I noticed was the pain my quads....especially on my right leg as I lifted my leg to come through and lock and my left glute was letting me know it had been worked too. ugh...its not even a km and I have pains. I carried on hoping that once I warmed up the pains would go away. They were not bad enough pains to make me stop but they did concern me. I got to the 5km mark - by now I was totally soaked through. Puddles on the walkway were getting deeper and deeper, in fact I had not seen it this bad. The pains had pretty much gone away...I would get a twinge now and again. I think that I am trying too hard to change my left hip movement and it is buggering up the right side...so I tried to just walk and not think too much about changing anything for the rest of it.
I got out to the 10km turn around and I was well and truly over the rain!! It had not eased up once but I was pleased there was no wind. I had been trying to walk around puddles, up along banks to avoid puddles and even weaving and snaking along the walkway between puddles but by the time I turned to come back it was pretty much flooded and there was no dodging any!!! in fact by now most puddles were small creeks and well over my ankles in depth...some puddles being 100m in length and it was so hard to continue race walking that in the end if I hit an area that flooded and that deep I just jogged through it.
I passed through 15km and didnt even bother to look at my watch. I already knew it was a disaster time wise and I was over caring by this stage. I was soaked and uncomfortable, with the water dripping down my neck into my jacket and down my sleeves to my elbows....every now and then I would straighten my arms and the water would drip from the sleeves. But on a positive note......I DIDNT MELT!!!!
I was so pleased to see home and hear my watch chirp for 20km. My legs felt like they had been through a wringer and my feet were hurting lots........(after taking my soggy shoes off, I had blisters all over my toes from wet socks!!!!) so I am taking a rest day tomorrow!!!!
Its a overcast but muggy day. As I had missed doing a 15km this week I thought I should try to make it up. I chatted to Jim and we decided I should do 12km.
I got up and headed out to try and do some door knocking and get some sponsorship for my up coming trips. I got a few no's but I did get more ....come back on Monday and we will do something for you. Plus I got a cheque from a couple of places straight off. So my job for the weekend will be making the patches to sew onto my top.
I decided to take it easy today as it was a recovery walk and I have been doing these way too fast. Again I see my heart strap has played up again as it shows my heart spiking at ridiculous rates at places where there is no way that would happen. I have yet to go out and get a new battery as I am very hopeful that is what is causing this.......I dont even want to think that it could actually be ... my heart......
So this was a very slow and gentle walk. My quads are very sore and tight so it was nice to just slowly stretch out. I have 20km tomorrow and the club 6km walk in the after noon....so a busy day for me!.
I hate this type of workout with passion. I dont really know why as its over with fairly quickly but I feel I dont do very well at it.
I was lucky with the weather today. It was meant to be raining still but instead it was muggy with low cloud and half way through the walk the sun came out and it got really hot.
I was feeling very stiff and sore and it took a couple of laps to warm up and get moving. My first km felt nice and solid but after that I slowly unwound and got slower and slower. My legs felt really pumped and heavy and I just had no "get up and go". It has been a big week for me and with lack of sleep on top of it I was feeling a little lackluster about it all.......but as we all know, race walking is therapeutic and by the end of the work out I was feeling better mentally.
Well I had the day off yesterday...I was meant to do 15km but as it was the last day I would spend with Teagan and Katie-May, I was able to take it off. Of course I felt guilty as about not doing anything but I did really enjoy my time with them. I woke up at 2am to the sound of torrential rain and wind.......we were taking them to the air port at 6am and I was very worried that their flight might have been delayed or cancelled. Luck enough it wasnt and they all got away on time......but the weather was still roaring and there was no way I could walk in that wind.
As I had 10km for today I opted to do it on the treadmill. Its not my favorite option and I dont think my coach likes it much either.....but there was NO way I was taking another day off. The weather forcast is for this weather to stay like this for another 5 days!!!!! UGH!! I have a hard track session on for tomorrow and regardless of how bad it is it will have to be done on the track.
So to try and make it as close to a normal walk I adjusted my speed up and down from 10.00 km/hr to 10.05 km/hr and this gave me fluctuating km splits.
I think my heart strap is starting to fault - perhaps it needs a new battery as during the quarter it shot my heart rate up to over 180 and today it also spiked it at 178...which there is NO way I was working that hard. Mid 140s yes but not above 150's....
My hubby was kind enough to bike around the course and take video and photos of this race. Here is his video of the race. Taken more so my coach can see my style and offer some much needed advice.
I woke up to a perfect day for a race. High cloud, NO Frost and very mild/warm conditions. It was 11degs when I headed out for the race and 19degs when we finished.
I was nervous.....I was pacing around chatting to friends. I wanted the course record but it was a big ask. 1:01:36 was my target. 2 years ago I had walked this in 1:04. My coach was confident that I would get that easy and had joked that I would even go under the hour.........Yeah Right!!!!! was my reply. So I had this in the back on my mind as I waited for the race to get underway.
9:15am and we are off, first up I get held up by runners as they sort them selfs out. I look over on the bank and Shane is up there filming me but I zipped past before I could say anything to him. My first km bleeped off about 20m a head of the marker cones but it was pretty quick and I thought then I had better settle into a pace and soon as I still had to push up through the railway reserve. I hit the 5km mark in 27:58 and new then I was ahead of my time and was pleased that I had a small buffer. I knew that I had to hit the 10km cone in 58mins if I was to have a shot at the record and at this pace it was looking good.
I popped out on to the little walkway that is beside the motorway heading towards Monaco - it is narrow and not very nice underfoot and I was worried I would lose some time here. I had a couple of runners just a head of me and I had been slowly gaining on them, to their disgust I passed them at the 9km marker and continued to stay in front right to the end. As I rounded the big curve that leads you back up to the finish, I started pushing hard. I could see the 10km cone and I glanced at my watch as I went past - 56:57 I picked up the pace and when I was 100m out from the finish I saw the clock tick over to 59:00 and then I really pushed it and heard myself saying "come on come on".......I wanted to make it under the hour
Well I can say that there is a new course record and I have a new pb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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.
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.
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.
