10 km QRWC Club Championships Open/Masters

Usually this race is run in a very different fashion.....up until today it has had the following rule :- Trophies will be awarded to the first three placings in each age group (male & female) and medals in the Masters age group. For Masters athletes please note that the first three finishers in Open races will be the Open placegetters and the next three Masters Age competitors to finish after that will be eligible for Masters medals.

So the Masters Womens Record was always going to be out of my reach.  I had made it a secret goal of mine to try hard to gain a club or state record for masters in this winter season.  So today when we arrived to race and discovered that it was only Denise and myself racing in the Masters and were also the only ones that could also enter the Open ... I decided to question the above rule as it just made no sense to me.  To my surprise they decided that we could choose which grade we wanted at the end of the race.

We all lined up and the race got underway.  By the 2km mark my right piroformus was causing me alot of pain.  I had sadly pulled this again last week due to poor form during the last race and still being sick this week I have had little training.  I kept at it and had already decided that if it was hurting too much by 5km that I would pull out.  I noticed that my times were remaining steady...and my glute was not getting worse.

I hit the 5km mark in 28:32 ... so I knew if I could keep going at this pace I was on for a good time....perhaps a sub 58:00  

My breathing got a little messed up today and I found I was shallow breathing....while I was keeping my shoulders low and my stride nice and long, my breathing was holding me back.  One of the older walkers John mentioned this me as I passed him and he reminded me to slow and control my breathing...get some deep breaths in.  This helped immensely, and I did concentrate on this for the last 3 km.  I did how ever get myself in a mental state by miscalculating my laps.  I set up my watch quickly today and decided to use the Lap Time, Lap Pace and Lap Distance....but I didnt realise that I should have had total laps in their too.... for some reason at 7km I thought I only had 2 laps to go and so decided to try and push then....so got all in a fuddle when I was told I had two more to go when I thought I only had one.  Such a simple thing...but it can really throw you.

I crossed the finish line in 57:22 ( meaning my second 5km was 28:50 so not that much slower than my first 5km) 

Once Denise had crossed the line....they asked us to have a think about what grade we wanted.  Well that was a pretty quick and simple desion................Give the Open QLD Champ trophy to Denise and I will take the Masters 10km medal and the Masters record which was 59:55 ... so a win win all round. 

10km club champs Kallinga Park

Qld Masters 10km Championship Race - Murarrie Course

Waking up at 4.30am is not my idea of a fun Sunday.  I drove into Murarrie today and picked up Kay and Denise on the way.  I have been unwell for the last 3 days.  My stomach has been playing up and I have been suffering diarrhea and bad stomach cramps, so I was in two minds to flag this race.  I tried to walk to warm up and I had sharp pains in my lower stomach.  It did come right so I figured I can start the race and pull out if it got too bad.  In this warm up I also noticed my 2nd problem.  I had grabbed the wrong socks...my left foot sock had slipped down into the shoe and I knew it was going to rub.

I am also testing out my 2nd Garmin....so far its just not working for me.   Gun goes off and we are away.  Pete and Dean were doing the 20km while the rest of us were walking the 10km.  My first km and the garmin watch chirps 25m before the start/finish line....GREAT!!! so now all my pacing on the watch is going to be out.  I also made the mistake of pressing the stop and not the pause....I discovered this about 2mins later.  So I lost 400m in my distance.

By 4km I was having lots of problems.......I could feel my foot rubbing against my shoe and new I had a beauty blister forming.  I was also getting sharp stomach cramps every 5 or so minutes and was struggling to remain upright as they cramped.  But instead of stopping I kept at it and just kept walking.

Each of my km splits were around the 5:50 - 5:52 and seemed consistent - which surprised me for how I was feeling.  I was even more surprised to finish the race in 58:17

Garmin Data here - note....while the data says 10km my time is only 56:00 so my garmin is measuring everything long.
10 km data

Cairns - Great Barrier Reef Masters Games

It was not a great start to the day.  My boarding pass was misprinted and I ended up missing my flight, cost me $100 to change my flight to the later night flight.  Arriving into Cairns at 8pm - Robyn and I rented a car and headed off to find our accommodation.

Our first race was at 9am on Saturday - 5000m.  It was so humid and this was going to make it a challenging walk.  There was only two women and 5 men.  We all lined up and headed out.  It took me a couple of laps to get into the swing of it but I kept my pace steady for the whole 5000m to finish in 28:04  After we had finished the CH9 news guy arrived and we joked with him that he had missed the best race.....so he got me out on the track and filmed me walking and then interviewed me.  It was to play on the local TV this week so I wont get to see it.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the track and then we headed out for dinner that night.  We were all tired so didnt stay out late, just headed back home.

Sunday was a morning at the track for Robyn and I went and hung out at the car show in the grounds next to us.  We then spent an hour walking around the markets around the lagoon.  It is really pretty there.  We headed back to the track for our last race which was at 3pm and was the 3000m.  I was feeling fantastic for this race.  We all lined up and I set off at a great pace and kept it up the whole 7.5 laps.  Finishing in 16:26 which is my best Australian time for 3000m.

While my trip didnt pan out the way I had hoped, I have come away a stronger person.  I have closed the door to a part of my life that needed to be closed.

5km recovery walk

I wanted to test out the gps again.  So I decided to record my 5km in two parts.

1st x 2.5km was done with the GPS setting - SMART recording on.  I walked along the walkway and out onto Hedges Ave until I got to 2.5km.  I wish I could remember where my other watch measured it to.  But I do think it was the corner I got to.

Time - 15:07

2.5km smart recording

I then turned and headed back along the walkway.  I had changed the settings on the GPs to record every second.   Every now and then I would check my pace and it seemed to be recording ok......I had the odd strange reading.... but nothing to odd.  I felt a little faster on the return and turns out I was 15 secs quicker.

 Time - 14:43

2.5km with record every second

I felt really good on this walk.  Legs were not sore or heavy.  Total time for the 5km was 29:50  avg heartrate was 144 which shows I was nice and relaxed.

5000m club race at St Lucia

It was another early start.  We all met up at Movie World carpark and carpooled with Paul into Brisbane.  It was going to be a gorgeous day.  I was excited to start this race.  I wanted to see how I was getting along with my training and my B complex shots.  Plus I get to test out my new watch.

I went out and did the 800m the watch needs to calibrate the foot pod...but in hindesite - maybe I should have turned off the gps ??  it seems to have screwed with it.

Race starts and the young ones took off as to be expected.  Paul shot past me and I thought...YEAH...we are going to have a great race today....but about 800m I past him and quickly settled into my pace.  I felt comfortable the whole way.  I was annoyed when my watch chimed the first 1km mark......about 100m away from the 1 km mark.  But I had turned off auto lap and so I pressed the lap button...only I didnt press hard enough.  My first km was 5:35.......the watch then chimed for the next 1km mark only this time it was 200m early......oh man...even my other watch was not that badly out on the track.  I made a mistake on the laps and pressed lap 200m early...but that was easily fixed.

I was thrilled to finish the race in 27:55 - this is my fastest 5000m since moving here.  the annoying thing is my watch tells me that I walked 5.76km so all my avg pace is out.  My lap splits are there BUT if I go into the player......it reverts back to the gps measures.  .....  I still need to look into the settings I think.

SIDE NOTE:  I turned off GPS and set it to read off my foot pod and walked the 2km broadwalk course...the gps measures it short by at least 10m per km....the foot pod measures it LONG...so the first km the watch said it was 995m.

5000 m race

10 km along a new pathway

Day Two - post Bcomplex injection and I have to say WOW!  I had a crappy nights sleep but I woke up feeling awake but most interesting was my legs felt fresh - not zonked after the fast 8km.

I had decided to drive up to Main Beach and head along the walkway there out to the Spit.  This would give me the first 2 km on paved pathway and approx 3km out to the spit on the packed gravel/sand bike ways.  Turns out right at the spit I had to detour at 4.3km to the road as there was a movie being shot with army and police shooting each other....I didnt feel like getting shot today.

I started out and slotted into a nice easy steady pace.  I took no notice of my watch as today was to be a nice recovery walk so minimal effort.  So I was rather surprised to be feeling fantastic and to see my first km at 6:08 .... hmmm coolies.  I kinda figured I would fatigue fast as this is the normal .. especially at the 4km mark but NOT today.  Today I remained feeling fresh and strong the whole walk.  Infact when I had to detour on to the road and it was smooth tarseal.....I found I was really zipping along and was shocked to see my 5 and 6th kms both recording 5:35 and 5:47 - for little effort!!!!!

I loved this walk....it is by far my most enjoyable scenery wise todate!!  the mountain bike section while yes was packed dirt and gravel was still easy to walk on and much nicer than concrete.  I had birds and butterflys flitting around me and the sea to watch as well.  Yes it had rises all along but they were not too hard to go up and over.....it just made the whole walk so much more fun and one that I will do more often now.

So now I am home after my walk and I still feel energetic ... I dont feel like I need to nap or my eyes are out on stalks.  Ok so its only 10am but this is not what I normal feel like...right now I feel GREAT and its really making me see how crappy I was feeling.  Man why did I not ever get this checked in the past....why do Dr's just assume its iron and only test for that????  I cant wait for my second shot next week.  If I feel this good already and its only day 2....I am going to be AWESOME in two weeks!!!!

Total time for 10km is 1:00:27
Avg pace = 6:03
Avg Hr = 151
Avg SPM = 86

10km data

a fast 8km first thing in the morning

I had my first B Complex injection last night and will be getting another next week...then a fortnight after that.  The dr said I should notice a big difference in a few days.   Yay cant wait as I am over feeling so fatigued all the time and I just put it down to stress and not sleeping properly.  He recons I have been low in B12 for at least two or three years.   wow.

With my new job comes new hours.  I will be working 9am to 5:30pm so that puts training at night out completely....so its morning training for me.  Eeekkkkk as I am NOT a morning person.  While I am training I am doing 10 to 4 so I thought I would start today and easy my body into earlier and earlier.

so at 7.30am I headed out to do 8km.  I started out at 85% and felt good.  It felt easy but my legs felt pretty heavy and empty.  Still they were turning over and thats the main thing.  I also decided to walk to the km splits going by my GPS today rather than the marks on the walk way.  I will calibrate my foot pod on Sunday and I am interested to see how it measures then.

At 4km I turned to do the next 2km back along the path way and I was feeling tired but noticed that I was doing just under 6min pace.....hmmm ok.... maybe the kms are a bit short???? so I thought I would push hard for my last 2km and see how my body responds.  I was pretty amazed that it responded well and my legs didnt feel so dead anymore.  I was starting to breath harder ... Not gasping ... just working it.  For my last km I was giving it 100% effort.  Now to see how I go during the day and how I feel tonight.

Total time for 8km was 47:01
AVG pace = 5:52
AVG HR = 153 (max was 174)
AVG cadence = 88 steps per min
Training effort = 5 (definitely agree with that!!!) lol

8km data

Whats been happening and an 8km walk

So where do I start.  For some time I have felt tired and have been struggling with my workouts.  Some days are great and some are really bad.  I only train about 4 times a week and I just couldn't work out what was going on with me.  I used to train 5 - 6 days a week and walk up to 50 - 60 km per week and here I am struggling to get out 30????  One of my friends in USA discovered she was very low in B12 and has started in on the slow recovery by taking oral B12 tablets.  At this time I thought I would google what B12 is and noted that I had almost 3/4 of the symptoms and I remember discussing this with Jim and Tammy at different times......and so I started taking B12 as well.  Didnt think it could do me any harm.

So needless to say the whole stress thing at work was probably manifested and made worse due to the fatigue I was constantly feeling.  I went to the Dr last week and decided to get a full blood work done.  I just was really feeling off colour.  I got my results back today and the word pernicious anemia was said a number of times.....and I was told to stop taking the B12 as my body was not absorbing it.  My B12 level was 267 which is VERY low.  My iron is 10, my calcium is below base line and my liver function is not good.  So first course of action is to start me on Bcomplex injections starting on Monday.  I am told this will be almost instant and I will feel 100% better in just a few days.  I will need to have these once a month at least for a few months.  He is also checking my vit D too as that is needed to absorb calcium.

So a few life changes coming up.

I then went out and brought a new Garmin 610 and got to use that tonight.  This was my present for myself as I also just landed a new job.  I really like all the new features but it will take some getting used to.

Tonight I did 8km with kay and paul as this would be my last walk with them.  I wont finish work now til 5pm ... by the time I make it to the walkway they will be half done.  We all enjoyed our walk and chats and the walk was a nice easy one.
Total time of 56.54
AVG HR = 117
AVG Pace = 6:59
AVG SPM = 81 (cadence - steps per minute)
Training effort = 2.3

3000m Sunshine Coast University

I got up at 5am and quickly dressed and headed out the door to collect Robyn and head off to Sunshine Coast.  Its the furthest I have driven since being here and I was a tad nervous of this.   But turned out that was not needed and we got there in quick time.... 1.5 hours :) and NO speeding either.

It rained on and off along the way and we both were not overly thrilled about the prospect that we might be getting wet.  We signed up as soon as we arrived.  It was nice to met new people and when they called for the walkers we giggled that it was again pretty much Gold Coast walkers there.

As we were about to start, a very large WILD kangaroo slowly hopped through the open gate and proceeded to hop half a lap around the track.  The officials red carded it for lifting/loss of contact and helped to escort it from the track.....to which the kangaroo just "hopped" right over the fence and hopped off to the near by paddock where there was a joey and 3 others waiting.

Our race got under way after that.  I went out a bit quick and felt it at the second lap.  First lap being 2 mins and my lungs were burning.  I was working hard and I quickly accessed that I would blow up very fast if I didnt ease back a little.   That helped alot and I was moving freer now and starting to smooth out.  On the 4th lap I started to lap the others which surprise me alot and I used them to help me keep pace.

The last km was looming and it was now that my legs were fatigued and I was starting to struggle.  I tried to hold in my core and tuck my butt under but I cant say for sure that I managed it now.  I crossed the finish line in a respectable 16:40:04 and I am very happy with that.

Lap 1 - 5:26:01
Lap 2 - 5:37:08
Lap 3 - 5:36:02

 

Me on lap 3 or 4 - walking strong 

Medals!!!  

3000m data

10km along the walkway

Wow......I bombed today.

It was 19 degs out side.  A BEAUTIFUL day and I while walking down to the start of the walkway couldn't feel my toes or my fingers.  They felt like they would on a frosty cold day??? what is up with this?  I started out and instantly felt like my feet were concrete blocks.  I was slapping down on them, my shins were just screaming at me and my legs were DEAD.  Not sore.......just totally dead.  I felt tanked!  At the end of the 2km walkway I stopped and stretched out my shins and then got my thumbs into them.  I figured if they were still this sore when I got back to the other end I was going to pull the pin! ..... 12:45 for 2km....UGH!

So back I went....there was an improvement and so at the end of this 2 km I stopped and stretched again and figured I felt ok and the shin pain was going....I was just starting to feel my feel and hands.....was kinda like pins and needles.....So I started back out again.  I went through 5 km in about 31:35 I was putting in about 70 - 80% effort so my breathing was shallow I was not struggling.....I just had nothing in my legs to give?  Have I walked too much this week...... It is more in total kms than I have done for some time.....but I didnt think it was that bad.  It is day 2 from my faster 8km...so maybe they were just a little thrashed from that.

I continued on and managed to get out 10km.  I didnt feel good at any point of this walk......not bad as in pain or injury.  I just felt off.  The zero energy threw me a little but I guess we all have days like this.  Plus my GPS decided today it was going to read different to the markings on the walkway.  I did do 10km only...but my watch has gained me an extra 100m  So my km splits are out by a good 3 secs

Total time for my 10km is 1:03
10 km data

The week so far......

Well - Monday started off on a roll with me being made redundant.  Oh Happy Joy!!!

Tuesday - I woke with a very sore lower stomach...deep core? perhaps I had over done it with the core exercise's the night before.  Felt like I had twisted an ovary!!!   So I decided to head out before lunch and do a gentle walk so I invited Cat to come along.  She jogged along beside me while we were doing 500m start and stops.  In total we walked 4.5km   Cat and Nyle 4.5km

That night I met Paul and Kay and we walked the walkway deciding to do 8km and as both had said to me they want to get fast I suggested that I up the pace to help them.  So we did up the pace sitting on 6:52 per Km as opposed to 7:15 per Km.  Total for that walk was 55:00   Kay and Paul 8km

Wed - Woke up and tummy was feeling alittle better so decided to head out for a training walk.  It was 15 degs...just perfect.  I had planned on 10km but I turned at 4 km because my TFL was just starting to get grumpy and my shirt was chaffing me under my arms really badly.  So I decided it was better I stop so I finished up at 8km and was very happy with my time.  I would guess about 90% effort in this walk.  Total time for this walk was 47:52 and my heart strap seemed to work today....so the avg 152 is not too bad.  I will take it.   8km walkway just me

the one DOH thing that I did do.  I discovered as I uploaded my data that I had not changed the settings on my watch.  So I didnt record any lap splits.  Oh well, the overall is the most important at the moment.

My total kms for this week
Sun = 10km
Mon = 0
Tues = 4.5 + 8 = 12.5
Weds = 8

Total = 30.5

5km training along the walkway

I got up today and decided to train in the morning.  I was still feeling alittle bit stiff and sore but I really needed to get out and have a stretch out.

I still dont have a heart strap ... mine has well and truly broken now.  But I kinda gauge how I am by my breathing.  I was not gasping and felt pretty good.

It was about 17 degs so just perfect.  I started out and felt good straight off.  I decided to just walk and not push to hard.  I worked on using my upper arms and shoulders and the push off today.  I think I kept my butt tucked the whole way.

I was feeling pretty good....while I was not pushing my self I certainly didnt feel I could have gone much faster if I had wanted too.

Total time for the 5km was a quick 29:24 and I am VERY happy with that.

On a side note.  My head is finally starting to clear and I am feeling much better.  My anxiety is fading and I am sure I am going to be ok to cope at work again.

5km data

10km Qld State Champs

I have been off the grid for a wee bit.  Just reassessing my motivation and myself.

Today we headed in towards Brisbane for the Qld State Champs.  It was raining and rather miserable.   The way my body was feeling I knew it was going to be a hard race for me.  I had done a speed session on Friday and then gone to dance for an hour.  All day Saturday my glutes were aching...they had been well worked - as I am a 2 day DOMS girl, I knew it was going to be a painful race.

Sure enough, when I tried to warm up I could barley stretch out and walk.  Even the judges all commented that in the first km I looked terrible, very still and sore.  I started to come right about 5km but by then my glutes were totally fatigued and it was just a matter of hanging on to the finish.  My only goal for today was a sub 60min.  I managed that JUST.

Finishing in 59:15 - the course is a punishing one and not for fast times with two rises in the middle as it comes up and over the cycledrome.

Side note:  I was told I should have received a new number with laurals up the sides as I had won this race last year and also won the 20km.  When I asked about it they realised that there had been an error and so I will be recieving my State Champs new race number with laurals up the sides.....cant wait for that.

10km race data

5km treadmill

Its raining....not the drizzle it will be ok rain but the torrential soak you to the bone in 2 mins rain!  We have a  weather warning out for today and I can see why.  So its back to the treadmil for me.

I had a very busy and stressful day at work so desperately needed to walk.  I really wanted the zone you get into....own space, own thoughts etc.

So I went downstairs and jumped on the complex treadmill.  I was pleased that I could get it cranked up fairly quickly and it felt comfortable.  After 2.5km I started ramping up the pace as I strode my anger out.  I was really pleased that nothing was hurting.

I ended the last km on 10.5km/hr and was still feeling good.

Total time was 30:03  even better!!!!

5km treadmil kick down

Its pouring with rain.  All the others had bailed on me and I thought stuff getting soaked on my own...so I came home and headed down to the complex gym and jumped on the treadmill.  There were a couple of guys mucking around on the gym equipment and they chatted away as I set the treadmill up.

its takes about 50m until the treadmill is up to speed and I can turn my watch on.  I set it to 9.5km and ticked along happily....each km I would click the speed up one but with two km to go I clicked it up to 10km and then for my last km I had it up to 10.5km.

I felt great and had no pain in my hip or glutes.  My shins are pretty sore but I think that is more from the speed session.  The two guys thought I had my music on and I could hear them talking to each other....said one guy to the other....far out I cant even run that fast!  tee hee always makes you feel good.

Total time for 5km was 30:19

5km treadmill data

3km Fartlek

Tonight I thought I would try a short speed walk.  I figured a 3km fartlek would be a good distance to test how the body goes.

I used the first km on the walkway as  my warm up.  I hit the start and pushed off.  The walkway was busy and I was having to weave between kids and people.  I got the first km done in 5:36 (hmm thought it would be faster than that)  in my error I hit stop and not lap......  I turned back for the next 500m but just as I was about to hit lap I realised my watch had not changed time and I had accidentally hit stop.  Doh.

So I hit start again and away I went for my next fast 500m.  I was breathing hard but feeling ok.  Nothing was hurting.  I was not feeling so smooth today.  Alot was on my mind and I was struggling to push it to one side and focus.  Next 500m was the recovery and I knew I was going to slow but its my first one in a while so I was trying not to stress too much about it.  

Last 500m and I tried hard to push for this but I was a couple of seconds slower.

first km = 5:36

500m = 3:12

500m = 2:43

500m = 3:10

500m = 2:45

total time is 17:26

3 km fartlek

5 km Corporate Challenge

This is the last race in the Series.  There are 5 in total and I have done one other.  I kinda look back now I think I should have done all 5 races but that is something for next year.

I didnt fancy driving into Brisbane on Saturday for a 10km race so I opted to race in the last 5km.  It was a chilly morning today.  Was 11 degs when I got to the park.....yes I know that it is WAY colder back home lol....but I have finally climatised.  I warmed up with Kay and Paul doing 3 laps of the track, then headed out to the start line.  I did opt to take my jacket off and walk in bare arms ...it wasnt too bad once I had warmed up.

The race started and I hit out fast.  I was trying a faster turn over with a shorter front stride but longer at back and gosh it felt fast.  After a couple of km's I noticed that Paul's wife was jogging not far ahead of me and so I decided I would try to catch her.

It took me another km to get within 2 metres of her and just as I got close enough to touch her she switched from the road to the foot path with out noticing that I was there.  LOL  As we went up the stop bank she pulled away from me.  It was now 1km to the finish.  I was feeling great.  Nothing was hurting and I still felt reasonably fresh.  Again I closed the gap but as we hit the track and started on the one lap around the mondo track....she found some new speed and was off again.

We crossed the line with in seconds of each other.  I had runners coming up to me after the race saying how great it was to pace off me.  It was funny as I was doing the same to them.

It was a great confidence booster......I had no idea what my time would be today.  It was nice to see it was faster than the last time which was 28:41 so it was a vast improvement.

Total time for 5km was 28:09  (my watch says 28:12 but my official time is the 28:09)

5km data

5km - starting to feel the benefits of the strength training

Well its week 2 and while yes I have dropped back on my mileage and speed work - I have had no pain!

I am doing strength Pilates every second day and will now try to do them every day.  I am so pleased to have walked with no pain for my last few walks.

I did catch some kind of a stomach bug this week and it has made walking a tad difficult.  I did go out on Thursday and walk 8km with Paul and Kay.  Very slow and steady pace but there were two emergency loo stops.

Today I was starting to feel a little better.  No more flying dashes to a toilet or curled up with stomach cramps.  So I decided to head out and do 5km.  I felt good and kept to a steady pace.  I was not pushing hard and was pleased to see that after my first warm up km the rest were pretty much 6min kms.

Before I left for my walk I had changed the battery in my heart strap and when I finished and saw that my heart was 251 beats per minute ... I knew I had fritzed my strap.  So I googled it when I got home and found that you are meant to wait for a minute between battery change.  Well there you go.....it works now :)  Yay

Total time 30.15

5km data

5km - testing out new shoes

I finally got the chance to head out and test out my new shoes.

 Adidas Adizero Feather 2 and at 5.6 oz they are my lightest shoe yet.  I also fitted a half size smaller too.  I had tried them on the treadmill last night at the gym I really wanted to see how they went on the road/walkway.

I started out and quickly settled into a steady pace tonight.  My shoes felt good...a tad stiff but that is to be expected.  After a km my left foot, second toe (which is longer than my big toe) was just rubbing a little.  Enough to annoy slightly but not enough to say ouch.  My hip/glute and ITB all felt good tonight but at about the one km mark that familiar knot in the centre of my hamstring was there.  

I kept going at the pace I was doing as it felt ok.....if I slowed it still hurt so I just stayed as I was.  I felt about 85 to 90% effort tonight.  I did try to slowly pick up the pace per km.  Looks like I did but nothing to dramatic.

I am pleased my heart rate seems to be settling and sits at about 169ish for most of my walks....much better than the resent 190's .... geeep  As my Cairns races are only 3000m and 5000m I am not too worried about my distance work at present.  I am just trying to walk pain free.  

I have the Gold Coast Half Marathon coming up soon but I intend to be walking that very slowly.  There is a 3 hour cut off so I am in no hurry.

Got home and had a good stretch session.  Will do my pilates strength exercises soon.  
Total time for 5km was 30:17
5km data

4km to test the hip

I really needed to get out today.  Since hearing the first news of my friend Lesley, I have not walked.  I found my self lost and drifting....wrapped up in disbelief and then grief.

But, sadly.....life does still go on and I have slowly exited from my state of grief and felt that pull to walk again.  With injury's that just wont heal, I have been taking it very easy and so I decided to just do 4km today.

Its a good enough distance to get a good sweat up and to keep concentration up on style.

I felt good which surprised me and I kept up a pretty good pace for all considering.  The stretches and strength exercises I have been doing seem to be working.  I stopped at 2km to stretch and then continued back.  I felt a small discomfort on the way back in my glute but nothing to rate as pain.  A vast improvement.

Total time for 4km was 24:00

4km data