The young at heart

I adore having my grand daughter come to stay. Its just often a mission to find the right night as I am usually competing, training or away, so a week ago I rang and booked it in that I would have Katie-May on Saturday Night. I didn't intend on getting sick or still being sick when she got here, but she is the best medicine money can buy.

How can any one feel sick when you have this gorgeous wee face giggling at you while coloring in on the floor?

We have spent the morning building huge towers with her blocks, colouring in Dora the Explorer, playing hide and seek and Rollie Pollies in the lounge.....(she won that one)

what a waste of a week!

I HATE being sick....in fact I loath it.

I woke up last Monday with a runny nose and refused to concede that it could be a head cold. I went out training on Tuesday and pushed myself through to complete 8km, but did suffer for it that night. On Weds night I went out to the Weds Walk Series and pushed myself along through that but by 2.5 km had to pull up and admit I didn't feel well. Since then I have spent Thurs and Friday at my new job feeling miserable!!! It is just a silly head cold.... I have a runny nose, body aches and my forehead/sinus's feels like I have been sniffing petrol.

Its Saturday and I thought I would be able to do a gentle 3km today, but there was no way. My nose is not running anymore but I feel faint .. ALL the time, I struggled to walk to the letter box and back inside. So it is day 3 with no exercise for me.

I feel wracked with guilt, I feel like I have let my self down, my coach down....I feel awful. Plus with the scales kindly saying to me today "one at a time please" didn't help. So I have been in a bad mood ALL day!!! a real black cloud over the head with wee lightening bolts type bad mood. I actually think that tonight was the first night my husband was pleased to be working a night shift.

Since I took the job at Norris Management my diet went out the window and my weight went sky high. Since then I have struggled to get it back under control. I was shocked when I weighed in this morning. In the last 5 months I have gained just over 5kg....that's nearly a stone!!! No wonder I feel so sluggish and yucky when training. I am pleased that with my new job, I actually get lunch breaks and that I can make something healthy or I can buy a healthy sandwich from the bakery on the way to work. So I am sure it will all work off soon enough, it was just a shock that I really didnt want to face up to this week.

Sorry for taking my bad mood out on you who read this but there was no one else around to vent to....even the cats have kept their distance tonight.

8km - Monaco out and back

Today was 8km but to practice new style for each 1km. I was not feel to flash today and many times today thought to flag the walk completely. My nose is still running and my head feels like its in a vice.

I sent my hubby a text and asked if he wanted to come along too and ride his bike beside me. He brought some water with him and I was so pleased to see that he did. It was really hot again (25deg right now) I really wanted to go out and walk though as I had just got my new GPS with the heart strap and I wanted to see how it worked.

Well it was not a flash walk but it was done. It was very hot and dry and I was so pleased Shane brought the water. 50:47 for an avg of 6:20 per km so thats ok too. Avg Heart Rate was 149...I thought that was a bit high but will have a google on what is good and bad.

Still have a very runny nose and feel very tired. Might be an early night for me.

here is my data.
8km - Monaco out and back by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

5km fartlek - Atawhai Drive

Last night I did a very gentle and very slow 3km. During this I was to concentrate on my new style for the whole distance. I felt very awkward and slow but did persist in sticking to it for the 3km. My glutes did feel used when I had finished. So I headed for home as we were doing a BBQ for tea. Got home took my shoes off and headed inside - just as the cat and dog were headed out side. We had a good collision in the door way with me connecting with both animals and also the door jam. With much swearing and jumping about with me holding my foot....I sat down to check the damage. I had a good tooth mark in the top of my foot but where I had slid down the door jam on the bottom of my foot there was a big black bruise forming already and it hurt!! So I grabbed the ice pack and arnica and tended to my foot while Shane cooked the BBQ - Yummy.....blue/rare steak for me and salad.

So this morning for my training it was a 5km fartlek. My foot feels sore and stiff but once I got shoes on it was much better. (I actually didn't feel it when I was racewalking) It was also not as hot today. It is over cast and gusty winds - but still shows as being 22degs, just no sun. I felt great this morning and was really looking forward to putting in a good time. I wanted a sub 29 or as close to it. The wind had stopped when I drove down to the walkway and I hoped that it would stay that way for the next 30mins.......that's not too much to ask I felt.

I did a short warm up and then went for it. 1st km was tough (it always is) I was breathing hard and just begging the k marker to bleep on my watch. My first Km was 5:29 and I was not gasping for air like I was a month ago .. I was rapt. Now I was into the 500m section, I like this part better. So I eased up to get my breath back, went for it again (with a road crossing in this fast section - but the cars stopped for me today) Everything was going great. I turned at the 2.5km mark and punched it again, I was about 100m away from the 3km marker when the wind started up and it gusted!! It was a head on wind and it knocked me around and it was here that I let myself down cause I mentally gave up. The wind continued to gust giving me moments of calm and moments of a good gust. I tried to keep up the pace and push through it and by the 4km marker I was fair telling my self off. So for the last km I tried to dig it in again. I did manage to get 29:51 but I was hoping for a much better time than that.

But as I sit here coughing away (due to the exertion) I know that this is just the start of it all and that I will have great days and I will have bad days, the key to it is to own the bad days and not lay out a million excuses. So my lesson for today....wind blows...it blows all the time, I just need to stay focused.

My data for anyone keen to peek-
5km fartlek - Atawhai Drive by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

10 km Training around Monaco

Tonight I was to do 10km. I was to practice my new style for 400m and then walk my old style 1600m....

Well I started out from work thinking that the Monaco course (used in the Nelson Half Marathon) would be 10km...turns out its only 9km. Today was one of our hottest days so far. It was 23 deg with humidity of 84% and tomorrow its meant to get to 25 deg. Our heat is scorching. Today I forgot to put sunscreen on and being out there for an hour I am quite sun burnt. Silly me. For the first 2km my calf was really sore, in fact I thought of stopping and walking back to work at one stage. But I pressed on and it came right by the 4 km mark. It was getting hotter and hotter while I was out walking and I was struggling a little on the last few km as I had not carried any water and there is no where to stop and grab a drink on this loop. (note to self....carry water from now on!) My toes were starting to hurt by 9km and I really just wanted to stop, specially when the 9km was right by my car....but I pressed on for another 500m before turning back to make it a full 10km. It was an ok walk. Still adjusting to the new style, with now having a slight sore back and calf. I am sure these are just settling things and muscles adjusting to the changes.

Talking of changes, my daughter Shakara has just been offered a job in Cairns Australia. She has accepted and heads away in Jan next year. Gosh thats only 8 weeks away.....SOB!! It is a huge step for her but I will miss her lots. Lucky for skype!!!!


Garmin Data here:-
10 km Monaco Loop by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

5km Series - Champion Road

I had a small disaster last night. My Garmin GPS decided to die on me. I got changed at work and was all set and ready to go and I went to fire up my watch and .... bang...no watch. (Told my hubby when I got home and he promptly brought me a new watch as he knows how much I need it............then wouldnt you know it...two hours later I get a facebook message on how to fix it....and it did!! so now I will have a flash new watch with heart rate and shane will get this one.)

I still went out and walked for 45 mins....I was to practice new style and old style. It was an ok workout, nothing flash to report other than I somehow aggravated my calf injury. Later that night my calf was throbbing so I massaged some voltaren into it and it did feel better.

So for tonights 5km race I had decided to take it easy. Champian Road is a good course. A slight rise around the 2km mark and a couple of wee dips then down hill for the last two km. But I knew that with my calf still tight and sore that I shouldnt push too hard. So I went out and sort of cruised around it, and was very surprised to see I did 30:12. I had not felt I was going that fast nor did I plan that. My calf held out but it is feeling very warm and tight, so I will ice it and rub it again.

training data below.

5 km Series - Champion Road by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

5km Series - Otia Drive

Tonight I decided to go out and do the 5km series. My legs were feeling pretty good, it was my body that was not. After eating way too much junk food over the last 4 days I was feeling a tad "stodgy"

So I thought just go and have a nice walk and enjoy yourself....in fact so much so that I was half way out when I realized I had left my Garmin watch at home. So gentle it was going to be.

Otia Drive is a chunky course with the first 2 km being relatively flat but the last 3 is up and down and up some more. So I opted to walk beside Pete, my old training partner and we chatted as we went but there was a brief discussion on who would cross the line first but with him stopping dead at the finish line, meant I bet him lol.

So time for the 5km was 32.05 which is not too bad as my fastest time on this course was 2 years ago at 30.54

Waimea Half Marathon 2010

About a month ago I asked a friend of mine if she would like to enter as a walking team for the up coming Waimea Half Marathon. I had not decided if I would do the full just yet but doing it as a team is great fun. We discussed names and finally settled on "Pink Panthers" so we went out and brought pink wigs, pink tee shirts and pink tights. As I love to do make up I opted to do us both up.

At the last minute I decided I would walk the whole event, which meant that I started first (tagging my team member at the 10km mark and taking off my team number)

The day was a magic day. Super hot with start temp of 16deg and climbing up to 22deg but with no breeze it was very hot. 8am came and the walkers were called to the start line. There had been lots of banter about our costumes and a few who didn't recognize either of us hehe. They counted down and the race started. Wendy bolted from the start as she always does and so I stayed close by but was not to bothered as I had my own race plan and was going to stick to it. Basically - settle in to my race pace and stay consistent throughout the race.

This course is a 5km loop that takes you down a 1km straight, turns and goes up a wee rise then weaves you in and out of big pine trees and then along the beach edge to join back up with the original long straight. By the time we rounded our first lap and came back through the timing shoots, Wendy would have been a good 1 min a head of me and seemed to be pulling slowly away from me. I checked my GPS watch and saw my pace was still around the 6min/km and I was happy with that. I ticked along keeping an eye on the time and the people around me. Runners had started by now and so the banter and encouragement was great. By the second lap I noticed that Wendy seemed to have slowed a litte as I had gained some ground on her. I was really pleased that Wendy had changed her mind and decided to enter this event, as I prefer to have someone to chase rather than be chased. Plus Wendy is a very fast and experienced race walker that I have yet to beat.

I came through the shoot and tagged my team mate and then quickly ripped off my team number and headed out again for the next two laps. I started taking note of how close I seemed to be getting to Wendy and by the 12km I had come up right behind her, she could hear me as I was scuffing my feet quite badly. She surged off and I decided to stay at my pace and follow as it was too soon from me to chase. She pulled away from me by about 20 meters but the gap never seemed to grow. We came through the shoot for the last time and headed out to complete our last 5km lap. I didn't expect to catch and pass Wendy at all...let alone at the 15km mark but its the way it happened. So with my kick down training I figured just go hard now and try to put a gap between us. I have no idea when she dropped off from behind me, I dont think I looked back once. I was so sure she was only 10 meters or so behind me. I rounded the beach and up the last rise to head back up the 1km straight to the finish. The last straight always feels like it takes for ever and the finish line has never looked soooo good.

I crossed the line in 2:09:58 Yay oh Yay, I took 1.5min off my person best for 21.1 km and I think I may have the course record too. I walked around and got my drink and then came back to the start to wait for my team mate to finish - she rocked in winning us the team walk event. So proud and it was great to call out to each other on the walk "think pink" ... soon others were doing the same to us too. So we both walked back over to our bags and sat down with the others while we waited for prize giving.

We were given a team sport prize while we were sitting in the sun, which was a nice surprise. Then the prize giving started. I won the Individual Half Marathon, we won the team walk and we won the best dress team too!! Then they drew out the major spot prizes and I was the last name they drew out ... OMG...so I also won a pair of Ascics Shoes which I needed desperately as my normal walking/running shoes were old. So all in all a FANTASTIC DAY!!

Race Start - Gillian, ? , Nyle & Wendy

Maree and Me - Pink Panthers

Me out on the course - coming through the timing shoot

Me - We had the best day.

here are my lap splits and race details.
Waimea Half Marathon by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

20km Long Distance Walking Champs & 10km NZ Road Champs

This is the event I have been waiting for. It would be my first time entering plus I get to met back up with my good friend David Smyth from Australia as he has come over for it and is rooming with me at the motel. Along the way we also picked up an extra roomy, with Rosie from Dunedin joining us too. We all arrived into Hastings on Saturday afternoon and spent our first night chatting about all things walking and also the next days event. Lights out by 10pm and it didnt take rosie or david long to be happily sound as sleep........ME on the other had lay there wide away like a wee possum until 2am then I fell asleep for about an hour as I woke at 3am and lay there again till 4ish waking again at the alarm at 6am!!! Peachy I thought....I really needed a good nights sleep and was reluctant to take a sleeping pill the night before.....(hindsight is a great thing I now know what I should have done) So we all got up, dressed quietly...each with our own minds on the days events. Taxi arrived and away we went. Rosie was set on winning the 15km Open Womens, David set on getting his first NZ Road Title and also completing the 20km event and Me on winning my first NZ 10km Road Title and also winning the Masters 20km.

We arrived at the location. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky nor a breath of wind. It was going to be a hot one!!! Just as we arrived we got to watch the start of the 50km Championship walk - all men today. (cripes I would not want to be doing 50km in this heat) We grabbed our race packs and laced up the transponders. With Athletic NZ putting the Road Champs on as well it meant many more walkers entered so I think we had the largest met of walkers seen in a few years. With a 1km loop course it meant you could always see what was going on and you always had someone just in front or just behind you...It was great!!!

So its 8am and we line up. I had been told to settle into my race pace as quickly as I could so when the gun went off thats pretty much what I tried to do. I let all the quick ones head off early as most of them were also only walking 10km so I didnt want to go at their pace. But it wasnt long before I slowly started picking them off one by one....before long I was leader of the 20km walkers, I had Sue Hoskins hot on my heels with her only being 20mt behind me at the 8km mark. At about 8.5km my knee gave out.....I have no idea of what happened but it felt like something had peiced me behind my knee. It hurt to bend or straighten it, I was guttered. I slowed up my pace a little which helped but that also meant Sue got past me. I struggled through the 9km loop and contimplated pulling out at the 10km but as I came through to cross for the 10km my knee was no longer hurting and I was able to carry on. (again I have no idea what happened and it has done this too me during my training walks of late too) So I saw that Sue was about 40mt ahead of me so I picked up the pace and caught her up but then she also picked up the pace so I sat on her heel for a couple of laps as I didnt feel I had it in me to hold that pace for the next 8km....so I pulled back and let her go again....giving her a 15m lead on me. At around 14km I slowly gained on her again as she had slowed down but rather than go then I chose to sit right on her heel and see what she would do. But over the next 3 km she was slowing down so much that I figured it was time to make a break. I had already worked out that I was off my pace so I was now trying to pick a good time to make the break so that I could hold my pace. I picked 17.5k mark.....I stepped to the right of her and just pushed hard. When I crossed the 18km she was a good 40mt behind me and the gap grew to about 100m or so very quickly. So I tried to push hard and pick up my pace. All I wanted to do was finish in a time faster than any of my training times. So when I crossed the line in 2.05 I was thrilled. It was not my fastest time but it was not my slowest time either. Besides it was sooo hot out there. The heat off the tarmac and between the huge storage sheds was so intense. I have no idea of what the temp was but it felt like a good 30degs.

So I won two golds for those races. But sadly due to an admin error they didnt have the medals for the 40 - 44 age group for the Road Champs, so myself and Katie T didnt recieve a medal (they will be posted to us soon)

I will up load my data from my GPS when I am home but the splits were all wrong, by 3 km mark they were off by 50mt and it just got worse, but I do have my " offical " splits.
1 - 5.55
2 - 6.05
3 - 6.06
4 - 6.05
5 - 6.02
6 - 6.08
7 - 6.09
8 - 6.13
9 - 6.25 (this is the lap my knee went)
10- 6.16
11- 6.16
12- 6.11
13- 6.21
14- 6.27
15- 6.31 (sitting on sues heels)
16- 6.25
17- 6.31
18- 6.23
19- 6.18
20- 6.16

So all in all a great day and a great race!!!!

Today (Monday) I am not feeling too bad but my left knee is very sore, so I do think I have tweaked it a little and will go and get it checked out tomorrow.

5km Series - Fartlek

Tonight was the Wensley Road course. It is an out and back up over the switch backs. (Two sharp hills) So trying to do a fartlek was a little tough as the first km where I was to go fast was partly up hill and I also struck the same when I reached the switch backs. The start and stop of my fast and slow was either side of each rise so it is very hard to see that I speed up or slowed down.

I was really thrilled to have gone under 30mins for this course and with that type of training. Total time was 29:52 I felt awesome. No niggles or tweeks anywhere. So I am feeling very confident about my upcoming race on Sunday. I am not going to post a time as I dont want to post to high or too low. I am just going to give it my all and be very happy with that.

The weekend after is the Waimea Half Marathon and I have entered to walk the Half and also be part of a team. So I start out and wear two numbers and then Maree starts out at the 10km mark. Our team name is "Pink Panthers" and we will be decked out in Pink tops, shorts and pink bob wigs......I will make sure we take some photos.

Here is my garmin data for anyone interested.

5km Series - Wensley Road - Fartlek by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

10km Kickdown

Well today was to be a great day all round! First - I got the job I had been hoping for at Contour Roofing and Second I had an awesome training session.

I decided to go out and walk on the Atawhai Walkway as that was one of the flatter areas. I was going to be doing a 10km kickdown (4 x 2.5km) So I decided that if follow these paces it will work out just fine. 6.30, 6.20, 6.10 and then 6.00

Now my watch is set up to auto lap each 1km so its a little hard to see the actual pace marks but my first km was too quick and my second km too slow as I tried to slow down and settle into it. 4 & 5 km were a little better and I had picked up the pace a little by then but when I turned at the 5km I felt great and headed for home with gutso. To see my pace for kms 8,9 & 10 ... I was rapt!!! I was tired and my legs were sore from my 15km but all in all I felt awesome and thrilled to be out. My hubby had come along on his mountain bike to keep me company, as we got to the walk way it started to rain (he was not as thrilled to be there then lol) but once we got going it passed over and ended up a nice hot day. He brought the video camera and filmed me. I will up load that to YouTube and link it to here too. My style is still very stiff and heavy looking but I am getting faster again and when I slow the video to frame by frame I am legal for knees!! that was my biggest fear. I dont think I will ever have a style that has me lifting or looking light on my feet so I concede to work with what I got.

and here is the youtube site for my video


My Garmin details are here.

10km Kickdown training by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

15km Training Walk

 I went out for a short 8km training walk on Thursday and it felt awful.  I had no energy and my legs were so heavy, later that night I felt my aura in my left eye and knew I was in for a migraine.  So that was the end of my training for the last 3 days.  I woke this morning and still felt foggy headed.  The pain was nearly all gone but I knew I would be ok to walk with it.  The weather decided to really test my dedication though, it was very windy and raining but at least it wasn't cold....its about 13deg which was actually quite mild.

I decided to head out on the same course that I had used on Thursday but to carry on for 7km  then turn and make up the extra on the return stretch.  I was feeling pretty good which surprised me, the wind was behind me and so it felt nice and easy.  I thought I would get 7km out before I turned but it instead ended up being 6.5km........and it was then that I felt the wind.  It didnt feel like much of a tail wind but when you turn and walk into it....well it felt pretty strong to me ..hahaha.. plus the rain was stinging my face so I just put my head down and gritted my teeth and punched into it.  So my pace dropped for the return kms.  When I got back up on to the walk way by my home I knew it was only going to make the walk 13km so I decided to carry on past and walk out and around the school and come back to home on the road.  So I used the last 2km as a mini kickdown and pushed hard to finish them with a good solid pace. 

It was an ok time, not as fast as my 16km pace the week before but then it wasnt windy or raining either.  So I guess that evens it out.  So 1:35:36 for my 15km with an avg pace of 6:22/km

 Heres my Garmin data if anyone is curious.
15km training walk by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

5km series Olympus Way - fartlek

Tonights 5km was meant to be Churchill Ave....it was going to be challenging enough to try and do a fartlek on that course but when I got to the event and found out it was the Olympus Way course, well lets just say it was going to be a whole lot more challenging. Olympus Way is the stair case course. The first 1km is a slow climb to reach the stairs and then its 96 steps straight up. The course then winds around the back streets of Richmond climbing gently as we go. At the 1.5km it starts the downhill section.....(right where I was to slow and take it easy for 500m) then it continues flat for another 1km before climbing sharply up and winding back up the streets. My last 500m slow walk timed in perfect with the steepest part and I was able to slow power walk up this one. Then the last 1km was and up and down to the finish.

I tried really hard to push for this one but the first km was steeper than I anticipated and so it doesn't show how hard I was walking.

So for anyone who is curious to check my lap splits , they are set for 500m laps.

I was to do 1500 fast, 500 slow, 1500 fast, 500 slow and 1000 fast. (so laps 1,2 & 3 are the first fast section, lap 4 my slow etc......) Lap 2 & 3 were the stairs which I tried taking 3 at a time.....that got the heart rate up quick lol...But my last lap was a nice fast one so I was pleased to finish this course tonight in 30:50

5km series Olympus Way - fartlek by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

El Taverna 10 miler (16km)

I got up at 5am this morning and made myself some breakfast (a weetbix and milk) and then went back to bed until 7am.  At 7am I got up got dressed and then race walked down to the start as my warm up.  The start was about 3km away from where we live.   It was quite nippy this morning and when I got to the start I still had 15mins mucking around and quickly cooled again.

After chatting to the other walkers for a little bit and jittering about to keep warm we were finally taken down to the start.  7.45 am for the walkers and 8.30am for the runners.  With little formality we were given the count down and we were off.

Heading up onto the railway reserve, as I knew it has such a climb I held back a little as I figured there was no point using up all my energy on the first 3km and that I could easily pick up the time on the down hill section.  As we headed from the road onto the track my watch beeped......"bugger I thought, it was still set on 500m auto record" so I fiddled around with my watch and set it to 1km....thinking it would auto correct.  No it didn't, it started the lap scoring from that point but my watch would bleep at me in between saying true to its original settings.  Oh well I was not going to bother to much about it as it would still give me my distance and time, the splits were here nor there for this race and it was handy when I got a little message telling me what my last 1km split was.

I was feeling great and when we reached the down hill I decided to let fly and use it to my advantage.  The course uses part of the Half Marathon course and some extras thrown in too.  I went through 5km at 30:44 The section that takes us out to Monarco is probably the worst part.  The road has a bad camber and is very pitted, but it is the same for all of us.  As we loop out of Monarco we hit the 10km mark, I went through at 1:01:25 .... its my fastest 10km time in a wee while.  My body was feeling good, no aches and pains, breathing was under control...all in all I was feeling strong.  I looked a head and saw that Wendy was about 500m in front of me and figured that she has slowed as I was pretty sure she was at least 800m earlier.  So I picked up the pace (so it felt) and put chase.

Pushing hard as we hit the main road in Richmond, 1km to the finish and tried hard to pick up the pace.  I wanted to beat my time from two years ago.  I had finished in 1:48 and I felt confident that I would finish around the 1:40 mark.  Lucky for me the traffic lights changed in my favour just as I came to them and I didnt have to waste time waiting for a safe time to cross, I pushed hard for the last 100m to finish in 1:39:28......a much need confidence boost as that is an avg of 6:09 per km.

This is a little video taken by my hubby as I passed by our house.  Its taken from our camera so its not the best quality.

Here are my lap splits - a little confusing as I mixed up the first 500m.
Eltravena 10miler by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

4km along railway reserve

After coming down sick yesterday I felt sure that my 16km (10miler) race was out. But thankfully it went as fast as it came on. Triple dose of vit C, fluids and sleep sure helped. So tonight I went for a very short walk along the railway reserve behind our house. I took it very easy as I wanted to see how I felt plus this was going to be the start of the race tomorrow and I was very curious to actually measure it out on my GPS and see the elevation as I already knew it was steeper than I first thought.

On the data below the best way to figure it out is to take it from the 1k through to the 3k......as we start from home which is approx 1km from the end. But I worked out that from the very start of the track it is 28 meters and then by the first km along the track it has risen to 54 meters and by the time you make it to the end of the track (another km as the track is 2km in length) it is 84 meters. Thats huge....no wonder I am pushing hard feeling like I am crawling in speed. Thats a total gain of 56 meters in 2km.......yeah quite a climb.....and I have that to look forward to again tomorrow.......

again.....blonde moment.....I have still not changed the settings on my watch and it was reading each 500m....the first two km I had hubby jogging beside me and then I carried on by myself.
4km along railway reserve by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

A walk up the Grampian Hills behind our house.

Well tonight was a x-train so Hubby and I grabbed the dogs and chose to walk up the Grampians behind us.  We used to do this every night last summer and both of us got very fit very quickly.  Its not a huge climb but when unfit its a good 35 minute walk but when fit we would blast it out in 20 minutes.  Tonight it was a 35min walk as we and our dogs are not so fit anymore and surprisingly it was me who felt the effects of walking up hill....by 3/4 up the hill my calf's were really hurting and when we walked down I had to stop twice to stretch them out as they kept cramping......"old age is what my hubby muttered a couple of times"..... hes such a funny man!! lol

The path up is just a dirt path amongst ferns and high trees with a bubbling brook running by the path, something our dogs loved lots.  When we got to the top I wandering to the look out and took some photos but sadly as the weather was just starting to turn it was sort of foggy so its not Nelson at its best. 

I have put little comments on each of the photos.....I have zoomed in for these as it seemed to make the photo clearer.  The port shot shows the 1km loop I used for my 20km walk and my 10km kick back.  Nelson's port is one of the busiest in New Zealand.  Then we look straight down and can see our house and the walk way that I start and finish most of my walks on.  (This will be the start of the 16km on Sunday.....straight up the 45m gradiant...ugh) Also had to put one photo in of our dogs....dont have any kids at home any more so we spoil these guys rotten in stead.

A close up of the Port and Marina....also shows where I have been doing my 1km loops.

 Looking down on our house and Railway Reserve

 Looking out over the Port.. and part of residential Nelson

 Hubby and our dogs at the top.....letting the dogs get their breathe back - trixie was sniffing for rabbits....

 this is a section of the track (I stole it from the mountain bike site....shhhhh)

5km Series - Hart Road

Tonight was a nice and easy 5km with the club. Every season from October through to end of March the Waimea Club holds its 5km series, there are 9 courses that we usually end up doing 3 times. They are varied in difficulty - meaning hilly......not so bad for the runners but not always that suited to any walker. But still its very social and alot of fun. There is always a time keeper so its up to the individual to make it what they want....they can either race themselves or others.

I can see by my splits that I had not changed the settings on my watch from my fartlek so it recorded in 500m segments...lol

I was told to take it easy tonight and so I did. When we were told to start I just headed off at my own pace not really worrying about who was in front or behind. We headed up Queen Street and turned into Hill Street (aptly named for its 3 large curves) then we turn down into Hart Road and then back towards the finish. I look at my splits and chuckle to myself....I sort of did my own sort of kickback as I got faster per km .... lol....so reverse splits is a good thing. I really enjoyed this walk but my legs were very tired and I dont think I could have pushed much faster if I had wanted too.

Tomorrow night I have decided is a rest night so I will grab hubby and the dogs and walk up the grampian hills behind up to the TV tower. I will make sure I take a camera and post some pics of the views over Nelson.

Here are my splits for the race
5km Series - Hart Road by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

10km fartlek - Fail -

After a very very gentle 30min race walk on my tread mil for Mondays workout I was all set for the 10km fartlek......

I was really amped to do this work out. I felt it was going to be a great challenge and I was so up to it......yeah right!!!

I did my usual....and bolted for the first km doing it in 5:35, my lungs were burning and I was struggling to recover. I completed the next km and was having trouble with my breathing for the fast 500m, when I turned to come back and do the 3rd km, I knew I was in trouble. I just couldnt get my breathing to settle and when I had to pick it up for the 500m I was really struggling. But me being me decided to punch on through it and force myself....big mistake there!! as my watch beep for the 3km I managed to hit the stop button just as everything started to spin and I had to stop.....I was gasping by no air was getting in...it felt like an asthma attack...I had to concentrate on slowing my breathing down and getting it under control. It took about a minute to gather myself and then I started out again, but I did pull back the pace and never really regained it. I had hoped to do a sub 30 for 5km and hit the 60min for 10km.........but obviously my fitness is just not there yet...its getting better........plus my legs were still feeling the 20km walk too. My poor toe nail is black and blue now, I am sure I will lose it soon.

I hit 5km in 30:35 and then total time for 10km ended up being 1:02:27 I am a little disappointed about this but I guess these work outs are very new to me and they take a bit of getting used to....it was only my second time and it was over 10km.............ok enough excuses!!! roll on the next work out. There is the start of our clubs 5km series tomorrow so I might go and stroll around that.

here are my splits for anyone that is keen to peek
10km fartlek by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

20km - 1km laps

Today I was to try out my new shoes and do 20kms. It is tricky to find a good course as no matter which way I head from our house, it is always up hill back home. So I thought I would find a nice 1km flat section of road and do 1km loops.........the race I have coming up is over 1km loops so may as well get used to it now.

It was a wonderful day. Not a cloud in the sky, not a breath of wind and 22 degs C (72F) defiantly a shorts and tee shirt day!! I picked Atkinson Street down the port as it is not a busy street and it has been built on reclaimed land so and flat as I can find. Plus nice views of all the boats and birds as I walk back and forth.

I started out a little too quick. I found that my head just went into "race mode" and really had to fight with my self to pull back...so doing 5km in 30.40 was not the plan but its what ended up happening. The idea was also to push for 2km 3x during the walk. I made my first attempt at the 7km mark but as soon as I pushed my knee would tweak....so I eased up. I stopped briefly at the 8km as I needed a drink and I put some anti flame on my knee (which made a helped lots) I also found one of my Power Gels and sucked on that quickly as I had not had breakfast and was feeling the effect of no gas in the tank. So I started out and tried to keep to a fairly steady pace, I did try to push again and managed to made a small dent in my pace time but the tank was empty. I passed many people out walking their dogs and by the 15km mark had my very own cheer leading squad calling out from the boats in the Marina. There are a large number of live a boards in our marina and so I caught their eye. My cheer leaders had brought deck chairs out on the deck of their boats and were sizzling steak on a bbq and having a quiet drink. Smelt so good too.

My shoes were awesome. No complaints there at all. I did however get a lot of chaffing under one arm and had put Vaseline on before going too. I just didnt expect it to be so hot.

As I turned for my last 2km I felt such a releif that I had actually completed it again and the body had held together. I pushed hard for the last km and had hoped for a much faster time than a week ago. I was a little disappointed that it was not as fast as I had hoped but still it was a little quicker than last. I finished in 2:06:41 about 1 min faster. So I will take that.

This was my view heading back to the start of my one km.  Great walkway - smooth and flat.

Heading up off the walkway onto the road for about 200m then I would turn and head back again.

The live a board boats in our Marina - My cheer leaders are on the first boat on the left side of picture. You can see them posing as they thought I was taking their picture.

Here are my laps for anyone who would like to view.
20km - 1km laps by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

Shoes!!!

Yesterday I went out and did an 11km kickback. One thing I didn't mention in my quick post was the sad demise of my favorite training shoes. During my walk I noticed that my big toe on the left foot was feeling hot??? odd I thought. I carried on but for the last three km it was actually really hot and just starting to hurt, by now I had thought I must have a stone in my shoe. When I got home and took my shoes off I was shocked to see the I had "walked" out of my shoe. There was a hole right through and I had worn a hole in my sock plus I had a lovely looking blister. Cant say I don't push off now!! lol But this brought me a new problem. Do I use my racing shoes to train in or dig around in the wardrobe for an old pair that still had some life left in them.

Here are my retired Saucony Type A2 shoes that have done 893km (that I have at least recorded in them, probably a whole lot more)

My wonderful husband came to the rescue and marched me off to the Shoe Clinic (Nelson major training shoe store) to get some new shoes. There was not much to pick from as racing flats are not that popular so I got some Nike Zoom Speed Lite x2. I will use these for a few days to break them in and then they will be come my race shoes and my race shoes at present will swap to be my training shoes. But we have found the same shoe for sale on Ebay and will probably buy another pair in a month or so.

NEW SHOES!!!!!!  

So needless to say I didn't train today as my foot was very sore and also when I woke this morning I was very sore on the inside of my Thigh/knee?...just very tight when straightening the leg (the down hill section I may have stretched out too much) so I opted to ice my foot and my knee and they feel so much better now. So will head out in the new shoes for a 20km walk tomorrow....unless I am told other wise by my stand in coach/friend who is helping me out.

11km kickdown

Tonight I was to do a 12km kickdown .... altering my pace at each 3km segment...going from slow to med to fast.

I choose to go around our big block and for some reason I thought it was 12km but turns out it was only 11km. Oh and on that note......I should have thought more about this course as the beginning has a slight down hill gradient (which I made sure I was slow on) but the last 3 km is slightly up hill. Not overly noticeable to the eye but you can sure feel it when you walk it. So sadly, even thought I was pushing hard, my splits for the last 3km dont look like it. Trust me on this though, I was sure breathing hard and for the last km I went all out and my poor lungs sure felt it.

Here are my splits for those that are curious.
11km kick down by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

Ugh....Insomnia....

Warning..........This post is written by a sleep deprived rambling blonde!!! read on at your own risk....

For years I have had sleep issues......for some time every one thought I suffered from sleep apnia, but after taking the plunge and going to a sleep clinic I now am told by a specialist that...and I quote "Nyle is a highly intelligent women with an over active brain".......ok there's a surprise!!! he can offer me no reasons other than I suffer insomnia there is little can be done. I have good spells where I will sleep all night for about a week, then I will have weeks were I wake three or four times a night.......but then I have the really bad weeks where I will either lay awake for hours or worse, wake at 1am and stay awake until my alarm goes off. Yes I can take sleeping pills but I would rather not......I have tried many relaxing techniques.....Rescue Remedy is one that I am yet to try.

The last 3 days have been one of the really bad weeks. With the stress of the loss of my job, not being able to get interviews to even try to gain a new job, to training daily, study nightly for two huge legal exams in two weeks, Long Distance walking champs in 3 weeks .... plus putting up with a stressed out manager who has only just realised that in three weeks he will have NO staff and there is lots still to be done for many months to come. But I am afraid I am way over caring.

But enough said......My training has taken a big nose dive.......I tried to do 10km on Weds but I never made it home until 7pm from work and only lasted 3km on the treadmill....I started feeling faint and it dawned on me I had not eaten since lunch time. So I gave up.....

Tonight, tired as I was I fully intended to walk the 10 to 15km but Nelson had a huge storm last night and most of the roads are flooded and closed so I only ended up getting 5km in before succumbing to the rain and cold.

So below is my rather sad 5km for the night. Heres hoping I get a good sleep and can attempt my 12km kickdown....its a tough one...but I will sure try it.


5km loop waimea then vanguard by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

My first 8km fartlak

Today I was to do my first 8km fartlak; This was to be done in 500m segments.
I am not sure that I completely understood the concept and I feel I may have done something wrong. I think I was too slow in my recovery 500m's and perhaps too fast in my fast segments.

BUT....mental note to self.........DON'T GO AND DO A 10KM RUN ON YOUR X TRAINING DAY!!! I woke this morning with very sore muscles and thought to my self...oh oh....this is going to be a painful 8km.

The weather was against me tonight - not that I am offering excuses...but it does explain why the fast segments going out were not as "fast" as the home stretch ones, as I had a tail wind on the way home. I found that this workout went really fast. By watching for the 500m to chirp on my watch my work out went by extremely fast. I did however bugger up my watch again at the 3km mark as I stopped briefly to put something in my daughters letter box.....another note to self...when stopping .. PRESS the STOP button, not the lap button, I think I had a moment of delirium again and completely forgot what button to press, but I got it sorted and carried on.

Sore legs and all I actually felt really strong tonight and surprised myself with my fasts 500m....will be great when I can carry on that pace for further than 500m. Dont get me wrong, I certainly felt it when pushing but my lungs weren't bursting as bad as a week ago so I do feel fitter and that adds to my confidence alot.

Total time for my 8km was 49:20 avg was 6:10/km

Tomorrow is an easy walk and then Friday is another kickdown of 12km

My Garmin Data with lap splits
8km fartlak at atawhai by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

15km Kick down

Well after a lengthy chat with a very knowledgeable australian coach....I woke today feeling ampted to try a new kind of workout.

I was to try my first kick-down. It was our daylights saving night last night so when I went to bed I put all the clocks forward one hour. Meaning I get one less hours sleep, so I woke today feeling tired and very sore from my 10km yesterday. I must admit that I didnt want to go out and do 15km at all and was wondering how I would go with this new walk.

But, I put on my music and headed out the door. I was to take it easy for the first 5km....warm up the body and get in the swing of things. Then after that every 2km pick up the pace for two km then ease back for two km. Well actually it was meant to be 15mins but I found it easier to follow doing it by kms....sorry sir..... now this all went to plan until I stopped at 8.66km to grab a drink from the fountain. I paused my watch.................then started off again and about 600m down the road I realised I had not started it again.

I can now see from the km splits that it did effect how my watch read the data. I added on the extra distance by going past home unitl my watch beeped at 15km....but my watch also would pop up a split time when it would have been the km marker.....................so alll my effort for the last half of this walk if all mixed up. But I know I did stick to the plan and I must admit that I am really pleased I did it.

I am sore and tired but I can see how this workout will defiantly help me. Tomorrow is a x train day so I may just go for a nice 10km jog.

So if you do look at my splits you can see the pace drop for the 6 & 7 kms.......but after that its hard to see as they have become in twined with the half a slow and one fast. But 15km for 1:38 is ok.....


15km Kick down by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

Last of the 10km Series

Well it has been a hell of a week.

First up - My coach is admitted to hospital and then diagnosed with phenomena and a cracked rib. (He has cracked a rib in his back from coughing) Poor guy is so misrible and sick.

Second up - Myself and 1 other staff member were given 4 weeks notice on the day that the other two staff were already leaving.

My dream job very quickly turned into a nightmare. Not only has it put a large dent in my aspirations to be a Legal Clerk (I will still complete this course...just take a little longer now) but it has caused so much damage to my sport. My times have dropped dramatically. With not being able to train with the group due to irregular hours my boss demanded from me, from his smoking around me either at work or in a work vehicle and from stress placed on me by his unrealistic demands. I am a very reactive person and if I am in the company of a negative person it rubs off on me and I too become very negative. It has been a struggle to pull myself out of this rut and say...."on wards and up wards, its a new day with new challenges and opportunities!!!"

So today was the last of the 10km series and I have said all along that I would not race in these, that they were for training only. So I went out to do just that. To enjoy this walk and not focus on my time or pace. (easier said than done)

As per normal....I took off like a cut cat when the gun went off but soon ran out of steam at the 2km mark, it even took till the 4km mark for Pete to catch me up. I have been struggling with my breathing and today was no different, so Pete pulled up beside me and said .... hey I'm walking with you and I am shattered, shall we meander.. so we did just that. Turned at the 5km cone in 31.20 but then chatted the whole way back and finished in a relaxing 63.42 giving me a 6min 20 avg per km.

Tomorrow I am to do 15km at 92.5% pace so I am going to enjoy that.

Heres my garmin splits
10km Sprig & Fern 10km series by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

A great 20km .....finally!!

Today was one of those....I want to stay in bed days!! I knew that I had to do 20km today and my body just didn't want to. With the NZ Long Distance Champs only 4 weeks away I really needed to know now if I could do 20km and what sort of time I could be aiming to achieve. I have not walked 20km since April this year....in fact I have not walked much further than 10km. So with only 4 weeks to go I needed to know for my own sake of mind that I could at least make the distance.

It was a gorgeous day, actually perfect for training. Its our spring, so it is not too cold and can drizzle at times during the day too. It was 10deg c when I started out at 9.50am and it was sunny, so I wore my shorts :0) My aim was to head out to Richmond and back as I had guessed it would give me 20km BUT when I made it out to richmond it was only 8km so I turned and made a few detours on the way home to make up some of the extra km's needed. At 10km it started to rain a little which was great as I was just starting to get hot...lol.. I made it to 10km in 63 mins so was feeling pretty good pace wise. I was not pushing too hard today...I really just wanted to find a pace I was happy with and get the distance done. I passed through 15km in 1:35 and was thinking...hey its going to be an ok time!! then I realized I had to go back up the hill to home .. hmmm that slowed things up a little. The next 3 km slowed up pace wise as it was uphill and I was getting really tired. My legs were feeling very heavy and my shoulder was starting to ache. I was actually surprised that I didn't hurt anywhere else. My hips felt great, my knees felt great and best of all my calf didnt hurt at all.

As I walked along the track above my house the distance was 18.5km and it was so hard to push past the path down....but I convinced my self that I had to know my 20km time. By now my shoulder was really sore??? I am not sure why this is but it was hurting ALOT.......I knew it was not injury pain...just muscles not used to such work but only on one side was driving me nuts. I was so pleased to hear my watch beep at the 20km marker and even more pleased when I looked down and saw my time of 2:07:28 I chuckled to myself and thought "well I still qualified for the NZ team" hehe

I rang my coach and told him the task had been completed and when I told him my time he was just thrilled as he had me down for 2:15 or longer, I am so glad I can still throw him a curve ball from time to time.

Here is my garmin details for anyone interested.
20km Walk to richmond by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

Race wobbles???

I have been bombing out in my workouts and I dont know why? There really seems no rhyme or reason for it. I know that the earth quake in Christchurch rattled me, but that was almost two weeks ago. I just cant break past the 10km mark.

I have 5 weeks left until I fly up for the NZ Long Distance Walk Champs and I am so not ready. In fact I should not even be considering this event but I had pre booked my flights when they were cheaper. I hate entering competitions and not beating my previous times or at least coming in extremely close to them. I was so hoping to beat my 2 hour time but I know that I would be kidding myself to hold on to that goal.

I feel like I am getting slower and slower. I am trying so hard to change my style that I almost feel like I have gone back to the beginning...grrr...and its so frustrating.

My new dream job has turned into a nightmare and I am guessing that this is my main problem and the reason why I cant get my head into my sport at present. We have been given two choices - 4 weeks notice or take a reduced salary with less hours. So I am job hunting as fast as I can. Hopefully if I can find a stable work environment it will settle my head and I will get past this "mood".

On Sunday I had intended to do 15km on the track. I prefer to do long distance on the track as it is easier to get pace judgment and its flat! But unfortunately when I went down there are a pair of nesting Spur Winged Plovers that other ideas. After many close calls from the diving bombing pair I decided it was impossible to racewalk while constantly watching out for 2 birds that would attack from behind and the side. Plus it was also pouring with rain...but that is character building so my coach tells me. I packed up and went out to the Atawhai Walkway, were it cleared up and I set out to do 10km. I was hoping for 61mins instead I ended up with 63.21....its not bad but I felt that I was flogging myself the whole way....not one part of it was easy. So it was a quick trip to my coachs for a motivational pep talk and then home to ponder.

My Garmin data of my 10km Walk
10km Atawahi drive by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

PS....as a side note to myself - by Sunday night I had the start of my migraine which at day 2 is still throbbing and has robbed me of a training night, so this may have had a big impact on my training Sunday morning.

Christchurch Earthquake and NZ Road Champs

What a drama to get to this event. I really wanted to enter the NZ Road Champs so that I could get in front of judges and have my style checked. To start with the plan was for me to fly down on Friday night and my coach was to pick me up from the air port and then we would share accommodation, race and then drive home after the race. However....his wee girl had been sick for the last week and his wife was not so keen on him going away, so on Thursday he rang to say he was unable to go. A moment of panic and I was on line booking a flight home, changing my accommodation and finding transport from the airport to the cabin.

Friday comes and I fly down to Christchurch. It had been sleeting and was freezing cold. I was told that as I was coming in after hours the motor camp would leave the key and a map out for me so my hubby made sure I took a wee torch with me so I could find my way around. When I did get to the camping ground the lady had waited for me and while I was checking in she mentioned that 3 other walkers were across from me. So the first thing I did was throw my bag into my wee cabin and then rock over to see who it was. Turns out it was Terry and her husband and another walker, john. So I stayed and chatted to them until 10pm and then headed to bed for a good nights sleep. Or so I thought.

4.35am and I am awoken as I am thrown from my bed. I hit the floor wrapped up in my sleeping bag...everything around me was shaking and rolling. I tried to stand up and get to the door way but it knocked me over again and so I crawled to the toilet door way. The doors were swinging back and forth and slamming against the wall. There was a huge crack and smashing sound (ended up being the toilet cracking) The noise was deafening...the jolting suddenly got faster and harder, so I clung to the door frame. Finally it stopped. It was a 7.1 earth quake. It felt like it went on for a good minute maybe two. I instantly flicked the lights on and they didn't work. Then I remembered my wee torch so I felt around and found it. I grabbed my cell phone but the camping ground is in a dead zone and had zero coverage so I couldn't call anyone. I opened up the slider door and stood semi outside and semi inside. Not really knowing what to do.....I could hear people calling out for help and dogs were barking manically. Car alarms were going off and people were slowly surfacing. About 10 mins passed and then another shake and with that I up and raced out the door and over to the unit with my friends. So we all sat like frightened possums until day break. There were many many after shocks...many were 4.5 and 5.1 on the reciter scale. We had a little radio and we listened to reports coming in off collapsed buildings all through the city and roads ripped up and huge holes appearing. It all seemed surreal to us.

We got dressed and decided to head to the race (not realizing it was canceled) as we left the camp ground we came face to face with the damage. The road had huge ripples in it (some pointed up half a metre) There was no way the event could be run as you couldnt drive to it nor could you walk or run on it.

We talked to many people and learned of their experiences and then at 11am with no water or power we decided to try and find some food and drink. All of Christchurch had no power or water. Water mains had burst all through the city and sewage pipes had also burst so people were asked to not flush toilets etc. We heard on the radio that the air port was still closed and that power had been restored to New Brighton. We drove carefully to New Brighton and found a cafe that was making coffee with what little water they had left. Much needed food and coffee. Just about every house we passed had damage in some shape or form...either flooded, filled with silt or cracks. Most chimneys had fallen in or off houses. The city was shut and locked down so we ended up heading to the air port where we were able to finally enter and sort out our flights.

The event was canceled and yes I am hugely disappointed about that, but I am unhurt and when I look at the photos on line I can hardly believe that I was a part of it and came out ok.
here are my photos - taken from my cell phone 1) this was the walk course

2) this was a small part of damage to the road

3)This is looking over the running course to where the walk would have turned.

10km Walk

Well I have had such a frantic day at work. To top it off we made the front page of the local paper...and not for anything good!! so pressure is now on and we are all told to prepare for damage control tomorrow. So I really needed to blow some steam off. My training program had me down for a 10km at 92% so about 6:25 pace....I didnt really feel like doing a walk at all as my body was rather tired from the last three days and all the stress at work, but I figured just heading out was better than no walk.

I decided to walk around the waterfront again...I love this walk as the sea de-stress's me..even with the uneven foot path and odd camber I still enjoy this just for the scenery and the smell of the sea etc. It was a nice mild evening, had just stopped raining and was perfect for a walk. I headed out and was nice and slow for the first km as I was just letting the body warm up and stretch out, then I started feeling pretty good so I picked up the pace and just went with the flow.

I am really happy with my time. Its nothing flash but 61:59 is acceptable.

10 km training data and 1km splits
10km Kfc and port walk by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

I also managed to get another appointment with the Foot Doc and have now got my inserts. They will take SOME getting used to and I don't think I will be racing with them just yet. My feet will defiantly ache while getting used to them. But just standing in them was odd as they lifted my feet up and straightened up my legs and knees, so it will be very interesting to see how I go with walking in them.

8 km training walk

Well after totally busting my gut on the 5km last night, I was not expecting too much for tonight's 8km. My prog had me down for 10km tonight but I finished work late and I didn't want to be out in the dark on my own tonight so I opted for 8km.

I figured the best route was - out from home to 4km and then turn and come back, but the light was going pretty quick so I made the choice to turn around at 3.5km and make up the extra 1 km around the block near home so I would at least feel safer. I made it in 50:43 .... my avg on my prog was to aim for 6.25 pace and I did it in 6.20 pace..so I am rapt.

so here is my data with my km splits.
8 km out and back along the railway reserve by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

It was a hard slog home as once I turned around it was all up hill the whole way home but even so I am pleased that with tired legs I still felt ok. But I am going to have to have a very long and vocal talk to my boss about his smoking. Its not major but he lights his smoke in his office and then walks out side with it. The residual smoke is minimal but annoying and if its raining he smokes in the smoko (lunch) room which means I cant go in there as I can smell it and it chokes up my lungs. I am noticing it when training now so I plan to in force the NO SMOKING policy....wish me luck.

Finally a good walk

I cant believe I actually entered myself into the NZ Road Champs. I must have had a very weak moment. I have been plagued with injuries, have done almost zero training and its only two weeks away.

Ok its only 10km, but so far my few and far between walks I have been struggling to stick at 6.20pace and so my best 10km time so far is 62 mins....

I know my coach has said it will be good to get in front of judges again and I am meant to be starting my training for the 20km Long Distance Walks so its good to get some feed back on style etc. But I am really nervous about it this time. I have been slowly tweaking my style, plus with my calf and ankle hurting there has not been much chance to go and do too much.

But tonight I went out quickly and zipped around the block. Its a 5km course with a short sharp hill/rise that flows into about 1km down hill then its 2km home on a slight uphill rise. I did my fastest time around it tonight. I got it done in a speedy 30min 8secs. I can go to work tomorrow and say that the pie I ate for lunch was not so bad for me after all...hahahaha

So this quick little walk gave me a much need confidence boost.

Now its time to give myself a good telling off and hit the road every day to build up my km's and my fitness for the Long Distance in October.

10km Waimea Estates - Race two

Today was Race 2 of the 10km Series - Waimea Estates (and is known for its hilly sections. Today was freezing, we are expecting a storm to pass through tomorrow and the temp was showing that. It was over cast and had a real chill in the air at a guess about 8 degs

I have decided to use this Series as training walks..there is just no point to me trying to push to get race pace when I am unfit and recovering from an injury. So I thought I would just go out and enjoy them, push when I felt like it but basically just stick to my training pace.

This course would have to be one of the most confusing ones I have raced on. It sorted of doubled back on itself and to see it here written down made it even more confusing. But to see it on my Garmin print out it was easy...go figure.

THE COURSE

The course has been measured with a wheel so is accurate as we can possibly make it. Start in Bateup Rd (near Collins Rd) left into Wensley, right into Chelsea, left into Squire Way, becomes Middlebank Drive, left into Blair, right into D'Urville.left into Washbourne, right into Farnham, left into Hunter, right into Queen, right into Hill, right into Hart, right into Wensley, right into Chelsea, left into Squire which becomes Middlebank Drive, left into Blair, right into D'Urville, right into Washbourne, right into Hill, right into Brenda Lawson through walkway into Wilkinson, left into Chelsea, left into Wensley, right into Otia, left into St. James. The finish is just @100 meters before Bateups Rd. You go past the Richmond Cemetery 3 times Sounds a little complicated on paper, a course map will be available at the start and as long as the front runner knows where they are going you should be fine.

So we all walked down to the start line and chatted away happily to each other..each of us trying no to focus on the course at this point. The set us on our way....as to be expected Wendy went out like a rocket and remained in that mode for the whole 10km. The first km is a very subtle uphill grade and I felt great. No calf pain yay!! Rounded into Chelsea and again climbed but still subtle, but enough to feel it now, next corner (2km) and its up and round, down and up (short sharp uphill and down hill) these were No goes for racewalking and it was a power walk up...Along Hill street (aptly named) it is a long straight almost 1.5km and has 3 rolls in it...again short and sharp but by now I was down to a slow power walk up but zipped along happily on the downs... :0) the course continues like this and I was pressing my lap at each Km marker rather than letting my watch do it automatically......interesting to see the difference as this was a measured course so it is correct. I was pleased to pop through the 5km in 30:40 but I knew the next 3 km were part of the steepest and so would slow my time down.

The very last two km were the best, pretty much a gentle gradient down hill, so you could stretch out and catch your breath. I was so pleased to turn down were I knew the finsh was and saw Wendy having a drink.....yes the finish line must be near!!! So I finished in 62:33 and I was happy with that. Wendy smoked it in 58:16 wow is all I can say!!!

10km Waimea Estates Series by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

So now my training starts!!! I have 2 months to get super fit and finally post a sub 2 hour for 20km!!!! I can do this.

Testing ones fitness

Today I decided I would get a gauge on where my fitness is. I have had a long lay off that has lengthened due to a nagging injury in my calf. It has frustrated me no end and has hindered my usually positive attitude add that with gaining 4kgs and you get a very unhappy camper!!! So after jogging around the cross country course, which was also near the track....I decided it was time to head down and see what damaged has been done. I have never like pyramid training (400, 800, 1200, 800, 400) so I thought I would give fartlaks ago.....I dont really know how they should be done but figured if I go fairly hard out for 400m and then gently for the next etc....It would give me a base idea of where my fitness is. I also thought that my training twice daily on the treadmill will have helped me but I have not budged the weight nor my fitness.....odd.

So I started out doing a few laps to warm up, some drills and some stretches and I felt I was ready for it. I was also thank full I was the only one at the tract too.

My first 400 was in 2:05 (my lungs were burning so badly I barly made the 400m)
so it was then a really slow 400m to recover 2:41
My second 400 was in 2:10 (didnt feel as bad as the first one...ok 5secs slower but didnt hurt as much)
then another slow one but I forgot to hit lap on my watch when I started on the fast but I know from looking at the split
My third 400 was in 2:06 (My breathing started getting really hard around the 300m mark and I was really pushing hard to keep it up to cross the 400m)
once more I slowed it down to try and recover....I dont think I had recovered from the first one...
My fourth 400 was in 2:13 and it hurt!!! I was had it and really breathing hard and new I didnt have it in me to try another so I slowed it down for a recovery lap and then decided to restart my watch and walk for 2km at training pace to recover 12:12 and managed stay fairly consistent in my laps.

Some where over in the corner of the track are my lungs...probably still making whimpering noises....BUT the good thing to come out of this is I know have data to compare to each month. I have 2.5 months to get back up to speed to race in the 20km long distance champs and I WILL BREAK MY 2 HOURS THIS TIME!!!! I have alot of hard work ahead of me but I will do it!!!!!

heres my data for the fartlaks
400m fartlaks by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

and for my 2km cool down
2km cooldown by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

Club and Tasman Centre Cross Country Champs

Last year I opted to run beside my husband when he entered the Cross Country Champs. As he was a senior man he had to run 8km so I entered the Senior woman's grade so that I could run with him. Unfortunately he only made one lap and pulled out due to an injury leaving me to run the way by myself. Any how that run won me the Club cup as NO women from our club had entered that grade. So it was a big joke that me the walker had won a running cup.

So when I saw the event come up again I thought I would run it again only this time stick to Vet Masters which is 6km. There was a walk section but seriously.....race walking is for flat smooth surface courses...not off road, mud and banks. So again I opted to run/jog this one.

Today was perfect for any kind of race. No cloud, sun and no breeze...about 15degs so long shirts were off and it was actually just right. The laps were 2km - so I only had to go round 3 times. I was not sure how well I would do as a runner I am not and with my calf being touch and go most days...but we set off. I stayed at the back and ticked along slowly with a few others that were taking it easy. By the second lap there were only 3 of us jogging merrily along watching the others way ahead of us. The course was a mix of flat and rises with a bit of mud about. As it had not rained the night before it was not too slippery and the little banks had no water in them. By lap 3 my legs were feeling heavy and my calf was starting to hurt. I had toyed with the idea of doing the senior distance but when I saw the finish line I was just pleased to run into the shoot and end it. Final time for the 6km run was 31:31 not to bad for an overweight walker. Infact I cant wait until I can walk 6km in that time!!!

I am not sure yet what time the walkers finished in. They too did 6km on the same course. I know Pete finished in 38 mins and that Wendy was a good half lap ahead of him. She was fair flying.

But a it was a fun race to do...its not often I get to run and its nice to not have all the rules to be mindful of.

Easy 10km Training

Today's training started out as a shambles. My Coach and I were to head out at 10am, but after a fun night out at a fellow walkers 60th Surprise birthday party.....well needless to say my coach was still asleep at 10am!!

So when he finally arose and said you go....I headed out at 2pm. By this time I really didn't have the heart for it so decided it would be a gentle walk for some fun and enjoyment. Plus I wanted to take it easy on my calf and test it over the 10km distance. So today I decided to drive down to Anzac Park and head out along Rocks Road. This is a really pretty walk as you follow the sea the whole way, the only down fall is the heavy traffic and the much tooting and cat calling.

The day was beautiful, hardly any cloud or wind...in fact it was actually quite hot, so hot that when I made it to KFC at Tahuna (the turn around point) I stopped for a drink at the fountain and took my long sleeve top off (something I never do as I feel the cold terribly) So with my head phones blaring rock music, sea gulls calling and the waves splashing against the walls I was walking on...I happily walked back to my car....making a small detour down Atkinson street to help make up the distance. The funnest site on my walk was a lady that was much more happier than I was to be out.....she was dancing along Rocks Road....and I mean DANCING....high kicks and hip shacking and arms rocking.....was the funniest site!!

So I was very pleased to finish up in 1:02:47
Rocks Road 10km by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

I thought I would include some photos - I have not taken these, I have borrowed them from others. :0)

This shows the Haulashore Island and the edge of Rocks Road - this section has a bad camber but you dont mind slowing down along here and looking into the rock pools or just watching the sea.



This is a view along Rocks Road showing a popular Cafe called the "boathouse" the houses here are mostly historical and are protected. This is one of the most expensive areas of nelson...even though the houses are old the view is worth every penny.



This is our famous "Fifeshire Rock" It used to have a small tree on top but a drunk youth on a dare rowed out one night and cut it down....it caused such an outrage!!

Dovedale Hill Climb 11.1km

It was the perfect day for this race. It was not like last year....where it was torrential rain. Instead, it was a frosty but nice sunny day.

I drove out to Wakefield, which is about a half hour drive and met up with everyone at the car park. I have not done this race before and I honestly thought it was an up and back race. I was curious when I saw groups of people disappearing in their cars but all returning in just one car. It was about now I was told that it was a one way race and that most were either running back or catching a lift. So I quickly found myself a seat in a van for the return journey. I was not sure if my calf would hold up and to be honest I had not even thought about the uphill part and how much that would put pressure on it.

The walkers headed over to the start line. Walkers always start 30mins a head of the runners. We started off at 2pm and I zipped away from the start line too quickly so after 500m I had to reign myself in and make sure I had some gas in the tank for the up hill grind. The course was well marked with Km markers and I was finding my GPS was beeping 20mt after the markers. (I have found out that the markers were perfect, so my km splits are out) I was pretty much sticking to 6min kms for the first 6km as this was fairly flat with a gentle roll over country roads. At about the 3km mark I noticed that Wendy didnt seem to be pulling away from me like the other weekend. I was sure she was just cruising too but I did start noting her time as she passed each km marker and I was only 1 min behind her. We stayed like this until the 9km marker.

As we went from tarmac to gravel it was at the base of the hill. The frost was heavy on the ground and the road frozen. My feet were skidding and slipping so badly that I had to walk in the deep gravel to get traction. My main problem was the camber of the road. As we were walking on the right hand side so we walked into the traffic the cambers on the dirt/gravel road falls sharply to the right....it is my right calf that is hurting. So as you can imagine by the time I made it to the 9km mark..my calf was burning. It was too steep to really racewalk so I was doing a mix of power walk and racewalk. From the 6 km mark we climbed from 150m to 340m .. it was pretty hard going and my lungs knew it.

I was very pleased to see all my km splits under 7km but I have learnt now to use the manual splits on these races and not trust the gps so much. The actual distance of this race was 11.1km not the 11.03 that my watch has said. But 71:21 is a fine time and I am very happy with it. Wendy pulled away after the 9km marker and bet me in a time of 69.36 (click the title to go to the Waimea Site for results)

So it was head for home and curl up with an ice bag for the night. Which did help but its time to get this looked at. So I am off to my coach's partner for her to work her magic on it. She does massage therapy etc...

BellGrove Hill 11 km by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

This is a photo I have found of the road leading up to the Dovedale Hill. It is really lovely country side. The road rolls along like this then dips down for the start of the hill.

Swan Trophy by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details

The Swan Trophy is a race held yearly but the local Athletics Club. It is 10kms and caters for runners and walkers. Today they even put on a 5km for the newbies.

As per the Club rules, walkers start 30mins before the runners. So we were to all line up at 2.30pm. There was only a small group of us today, about 15 I think (results are not up yet) with about 5 race-walkers in that group. The day was a cool calm day. Bit of wind here and there and when the sun went down behind the hill it got very cold very quickly. I opted to keep my long sleeve top on and wished I hadn't. lol

So we started off. I was not here to race, it was a training walk for me and to see how my calf/Achilles held up. Wendy and her father bolted from the start and Pete and I ambled off after them. I was feeling really good and was testing out the new style and was very surprised to pass the first km in 5:51 as I had not intended on being that fast. I said to Pete that he could head off as I was going to reign it in a little as I had not walked 10km in a few months and didn't want to shatter myself to fast. Plus its up hill the whole way up. (69 metre gain over the 5kms) I was happily ticking along at just under 6km pace and I caught up with Wendy's dad, Roger. We stayed together for about a km and then I decided to pass him. It was a little hard climb and my time had dropped a little (4km mark) but it was just here that I smacked my toe on a rock that was sticking out of the tarmac. I thought I had broken it and I nearly fell. Lucky for me I righted myself as Roger would have walked clean over the top of me haha, but he did get past me again. So that slowed me down pretty quickly dropping to 6.30 for the next Km. The turn always looks so good as you know on this course that its pretty much down hill from here. I had a pretty good walk back down but had run out of gas and honestly felt like I was flogging my self the whole way. I stumbled again on the uneven ground which set my toe off and it throbbed the whole way back. I passed Roger again and stayed in front to the finish. I was pleased with my time as I was quicker than my training pace set for that day and on the whole my fittness was not too bad. I was not breathing too hard at anytime. My coach still feels I am dehydrated and that is why I run out of gas half way through a race.....he is probably right as I know I don't drink enough water at the best of times.

I cant believe that two years ago I did a 58:20 on that same course....but it was just after I got back from the Oceania Masters so was still on my peak. So being only a couple of minutes of my best time during my lay off is not too bad.

I am not sure of the finishing times of the others. Wendy's time was 57:?? and Pete I think 58 or 59

For those interested here are is my data from my GPS...on an interesting note....this would be the first race my watch actually got the km marks as marked and the distance perfect. So I must have walked on the line they mapped out.


Swan Trophy by kyisis at Garmin Connect - Details