Glasshouse Pics

CoolBaby Sam (Shane's son) giving us some pre race advice "now, when you get to the bottom of that first hill .....".


Chelle, Tesso & Lizzle at second checkpoint.


Tesso, Lizzle & Chelle about 2k from the finish. That's Mt Tibrogargin in the background. We didn't run up it but felt like we had!


Some of the gang at the end.

Beerburrum to Beer World

The trip to the start of the Glasshouse 24k at Beerburrum State School seemed much quicker than the 45 minutes it took. Glenno drove so Clairie, Lizzle and I were able to yack the whole way. It was a bit of a CR 'who's who' up there - Runner-Bee (working on regos), Shane, Chelle, Karisma, Hannah, Langy (RITH), Lady Jove, Vegie, Davo ... the list goes on. And then there were more out there who'd started earlier to run the 50k (Tanky, Run67, AB, Hermie, RMC, Boony etc). And these days no race is complete without the ever faithful cheersquad of Shane's wife Cass and CoolBaby Sam.

Not being a big fan of trail running, and having had a long and tough session on Friday, the Glasshouse 24k was always just going to be a 'fun' training run. At the start line Clairie, Lizzle, Chelle and I decided for a laugh we'd scare some of the fast looking girls in the field by sprinting the first 100 meters. Then for an even bigger laugh Lizzle, Chelle and I whispered to eachother we'd jog it and let Clairie go on her own ... which she did :-)

We didn't really see Clairie again until the end, I think she kept that sprint pace up the whole way, whereas the other three of us kept our jog pace going. Even not racing it sure was a tough run, plenty of hills and a fair bit of mud to contend with. We got through the whole run with just one wrong turn, thank goodness others that weren't too far behind give us a hoy before we'd gone more than about 100 meters. There were a number of close calls after that but at least one of us would spot the huge white arrow or the signs (usually not me though!). At checkpoints we stopped and talked to the helpers and refilled out water bottles. And we stopped at other spots just to take piccies.

As much as I really enjoyed the company of the girls this is one race I was happy to see the finish line of. Our time was about 2h 14m (excluding stopping for water and taking happy snaps). I reckon another few kms and I surely would've hit the dirt or twisted and ankle on a well comoflaged little rock.

It was great to hoe into the yummy burger and fruit (all part of the entry fee) while cheering in others including the ferel ultra runners, especially fellow PCRG member Steve L (CR Bribie Boy) doing his longest race to date.

The drive back to Brisbane was a laugh, each of us recalling our adventures. Then to top off a great morning we dropped into the fantastic new liquor barn at The Regatta. What a sight, four skanky, filthy, smelly runners wandering around perusing fine wines and checking out their huge array of imported beers. A few purchases were made :-)

****

Sunday morning I had thought about heading over to the BRRC 10k but the legs were a little weary and muscles sore. It was lunchtime before I finally got my act together and ventured out. Although I wanted to do a bit more I only had time for a cruisey 8k run as I was heading to Suncorp Stadium to see the Broncs play. I should've kept running.

1k Reps

I am car-less for a week after a great big dirty 4 wheel drive got a too bit close for comfort to my little Echo. There's just a little damage to the back bumper, not sure why it takes so long to repair.

So the only way to get to Pat's this morning was on foot ... in the rain. Before our 3k warmup to New Farm I'd already run 5k, which I hadn't done slowly as I left home a few minutes later than I should have. Oh well, I was warm :-)

With just 11 of us there it was like the old days when I first joined (three years ago). Guess the rain kept people away - some Brisso's are so soft!

We had 4 x 1k reps, with a 60 second standing recovery. Ally and I stuck together for all of them, with Andy S nearby. Those two are much stronger than me on hills, so I used them to drag me up that little rise before the 500m turnaround.

Times were ...

3:52 (yikes!)
4:06
4:11
4:13

It really was a tough session. We did go out a bit fast in that first one, but its good to know I can run a sub 4 again, even if its only one. Having Ally beside me was fantastic, we really worked off eachother. There's no way I could have done those times without her. Thanks mate :-)

Luckily Ciaran was there today and was able to drop me at the top of Sylvan Rd, so I only had to run 500m rather than 5k to get home. All up that made for a 16k morning. After that the 24k at Glasshouse tomorrow is definitely just a training run!

Secret Training

Years ago when my running buddy Glenno was also a shift worker we used to get together at The Ship Inn on a Wednesday morning for a longish run. We called it The Shiftwork Shuffle. We started late (7.00am or so) because we could. As others (non shifties) heard about it they joined in, but because they worked normal hours they talked us into altering the start time to 6.30am. Then to 6.00am. Then eventually to 5.30am. This totally defeated the reason we did the run in the first place! Anyway, that one is no longer on the agenda.

The way my shifts go I only ever do two 12 hour night shifts in a row, but between them I feel pretty crappy. The thought of any sort of exercise doesn't appeal. This week and last week I've forced myself into going out for a cruisey, untimed, 'no distance in mind' run on those days, and found it really helps clear the head and makes me feel 100% better.

Yesterdays was particularly good, I threw quite a few hill reps in. I headed out toward UQ so the warm-up wasn't exactly flat. Coming back down Sir Fred Schonnell Dve I found a couple of good hilly sidestreets and ran hardish up and slow down. Then at the bottom of it I turned into Douglas St. My massage guy put me on to this one, he takes his tri squad there. It has ten decent hills running off it, five on each side. I did six different ones before calling it a day and running home. It was somewhere over 8k all up at a guess.

So the Shiftwork Shuffle has been re-invented. But I'm not telling anyone else about it this time.

At Sixes & Sevens

Things are almost back to normal post GC at PCRG. Pat took us out to under the Story Bridge on Tuesday and said we were doing 6 x 500m reps, finishing with a run up our favourite hill. The reps are run out and back, and the hill is at the other end to where we start. While I was still doing the out/back count in my head and wondering how it would work, Clairie declared we'd just have to do 7 reps to get to the bottom of the hill. D'oh, of course!

There was a bit of conjecture about whether the 500m was actually 500m, so I didn't bother timing them. Stupid really, I should have done so just to be sure I was running consistently. Instead I thought I'd just try to stay as close as possible to the usual suspects, and managed to do that. Still a little behind where I was PI (pre injury) but progress has been made.

The seventh one was a killer, for some reason the legs started complaining before I even hit that hill. And trying to run up it I was reduced to a shuffle. Did I say progress had been made? C2S is gonna hurt :-(

After all the 500s the group had become pretty spread out. The faster runners had already got to the top of the big hill before I got to the bottom and some came back to do it all again, encouraging others on their way up. Once I made it to the top I turned around and did the same. I ended up doing another three halfs.

Went and saw Mark the Massage Man in the afternoon. I told him about the recent quad pain and realised then that for the first time in a couple of weeks it hadn't played up at all in the morning. So I thought his pummelling of it wouldn't hurt too much. I was wrong.

BRRC 15k

200th blog post - and its a 'happy run' one :-)

*****

Tanky asked what gym I belong to. Its Fitness First at Toowong. I didn't really want to support them but its just so convenient (500 meters from home) and I got a pretty good membership deal, just $26 per fortnight. Though that limits me to just the Toowong gym. So I can go at lunchtime I'm thinking of extending it to include one of the city gyms. I guess that means lots more $$$. I'd be interested to hear what others pay for those sorts of memberships.

*****

With the Jetty to Jetty 10k on yesterday there was a much smaller turnout for the BRRC 15k, there seemed to be as many volunteers as runners.

We had a little cheersquad with Shane's wife Cass and CoolBaby Sam there on the sidelines :-)

Clairie and I had a plan for the race - run the first 5k loop at 4:45 pace and the next two at 4:40 pace. We always talk about doing a warmup and warmdown at these events and this time actually got around to doing a decent 2k for both.

We started the race a little fast (a 4:27) but then settled down. Just after the 2k mark some funny crap started going on in my right leg, not the ITB but the quad at first and then pain shooting down to my ankle. Must book in for a massage this week and see if that can sort it out. Anyway, it wasn't that bad but I told Clairie to run on and not worry about me. I found slowing down didn't help, so picked up the pace again. Soon enough the pain was manageable.

The km splits weren't as consistent as I'd hoped, but I still tried to stick to the plan. Meters before the turnaround just before the 11k mark My Evil Twin snuck past me. For about a km I was happy to let her go but then thought I'd have a crack at going a little faster and passing her. Once I got in front of her I wanted to stay there.

Clairie was only 20 meters or so away so I was using her as a pacer, just trying to keep the same distance behind her. But at 14k she suddenly pulled up! She said she was going to run in with Jo, who I had passed a minute or so earlier. Why would she do that, she was in 3rd place? Why? Because she is so thoughtful. She felt bad about Jo being behind us (Jo is a 3 hour marathoner on the comeback trail). And if she did that I would come third :-)

1st 5k - 23:30 (av 4:42s)
2nd 5k - 23:10 (av 4:38s)
3rd 5k - 22:50 (av 4:34s)
Total - 69:30

Very happy with both overall time and with being able to increase the pace each loop, which was what Clairie and I basically set out to do. With not going totally flat out and doing lots of stretching at the gym later the legs feel pretty good today. Could be a different story at 7pm after sitting at the desk for 12 hours.

Easy Eight

Its not so hard running straight after a night shift if I don't have to work again that night, but in between two its always difficult physically and mentally. That was the case this morning. So I delayed going until this arvo.

I just ran a cruisey 8k or so, posting my Glasshouse entry (24k on 29th July) along the way. I wanted to enjoy the run rather than putting any pressure on myself so I didn't wear a watch or look at the time before I left. I did look at my wrist a few times while I was out there though :-)

Comical Imbalance

There was a smaller than usual crew at Pat's this morning. Maybe everyone has heard that on Fridays there are less people and are going then. Which means that tomorrow will be crowded. So then they'll switch back to Thursday. Which means next Thursday will be crowded. So maybe next week I'll go Friday. I think I can keep on top of this game :-)

Today was - 1 x 4 min fast, 30 sec jog, 1 x 2 min fast, 30 sec SR, 1 x 4 min fast, 30 sec jog, 1 x 2 min fast. Then there was one last sprint over the Goodwill Bridge and up the hill to the traffic light. As the final person was coming in to do that hill Donna (my C2S team mate) and I joined in and ran it again - our dedicated training has begun!

It was a great session, I'm starting to feel a little speed coming back into the legs. I'm not quite at the same place in the food chain that I was pre-injury. Getting there though. Today I was forced to run as fast as I could as I had Simmo nagging me most of the way. Its gonna be a long 3k TT if we stick together ;-)

I'm being inspired by other bloggers and the cross training they do so headed to the gym mid-morning for my first ever Pilates class. But the instructor had hurt her back (not doing Pilates I hope!) and it was replaced by Body Balance.

I was the absolute worst in the class by miles, how do they balance on one leg and hold the other one straight out to the side??? Then there's the flexibility stuff ...

Bend over and put your hands on your shins, now slowly move them to the floor and rest them there, now move them back to your shins.

My hands never left my shins in the first place!

Suicide Pact

It was great to see a huge roll up at Pat's this morning. Seems everyone has recovered from their Gold Coast races and is ready to get back into things for the Bridge to Brisbane and Noosa Half, and for some Sydney or Melbourne Marathons.

This morning was the first real speed session in quite a few weeks, no wonder it seemed so hard. Perhaps the legs were a tad weary from yesterday's 16k too. We had 8 x 1 minute efforts, with a 45 second standing recovery. I certainly felt like I was off the pace and think it will be quite some time before I the legs start turning over at a decent rate.

But I'm not too worried about it. I'm pretty happy with how my longer runs and races are going and am confident I can knock a minute or more off my GC Half time at Noosa on August 20th.

Still, I have to keep working at the short fast stuff. Simmo and I made a (red wine fuelled) pact at the PCRG dinner on Saturday night - we are going to bust a gut and go for 12:05 at the next 3k TT. Yikes! Thank goodness common sense prevailed and he said today we'd aim for a slightly less ambitious time of 12:06 :-)

The Buzz

The way my shifts go this week a longish mid-week run would be doubtful so made the most of the day off today and set out for 16k.

I'd preloaded the iPod last night but for some reason this morning I felt like listening to Boz Scaggs (go figure) and so dusted off the old Silk Degrees CD and loaded it up along with other stuff. I actually remember sitting in the car listening to this album the first time it hit the airwaves (on 4IP I think it was) one Sunday evening in Brissie back in 1976.

With the knees whinging a bit of late I avoided hills and just stuck to the bikepath and ran out towards New Farm and back. The first couple of kms were a struggle as usual but after that I was able to lift the pace. All up the 16k took me 1h20m so that's averaging 5 minute pace, happy with that.

I didn't start until 9am so there weren't many others out there. Though I spotted Tank Girl zooming the other way on her bike :-)

Saturday Socialising

Tara & Ciaran had planned to do 24k on Saturday morning and I contemplated hanging in with them. But they had issues with thier alarm clock and weren't at The Regatta for the 6am start. Tori and Jan were doing the Story Bridge loop (16k or so) which sounded good to me.

It was really fun, just cruising along chatting. Sheryl caught up to us eventually and then coming back along the bike path towards home we bumped into Radar and his dog Darcy The Chick Magnet and so we had the pleasure of their company for a while. They diverted up over the Vic Bridge and next thing Clairie loomed up from behind and joined us.

I left them all at The Regatta and continued on out towards UQ and back (just over 4k). This meant a few little hills. Friday my left knee (the so called good one) had been a bit sore and at this stage of the run both of them were feeling the impact :-( So I don't think I'll be doing much, if any, specific C2S training. The sub 67 goal has been revised to sub 68.

*****

Last night was the PCRG annual dinner. And what a fantastic night it was. After the huge build up to the Gold Coast it was a good opportunity for everyone to let their hair down, or, in some cases, put it up :-)

Clairie & I with Pat

And the tradition lives on ...

PCRG Dinner 2005

PCRG Dinner 2006

Jog Blog

Just a 'jog' on the menu at Pat's this morning. To make it a little different we headed over to New Farm via the Story Bridge. The pace until the bridge wasn't too hectic but then Pat caught up with a bunch of us and started talking so next thing we were hooting along trying to keep up with him.

I got a couple of hundred meters from the Bowls Club and told Toasty, who was running beside me, that I was turning for home and intending to slow down a little. The bugger decided to come with me so that was the end of the slowing down idea.

He reckons we were actually going faster on the way back. I suppose I should be grateful to him, not sure I was at the time tho. We ran past a couple of workmen and one of them who had seen him Tuesday commented about him wearing a different pair of fancy pants this morning. I think he has a fan :-)

We were out there for just under 52 minutes and ran around 10 1/2 km or perhaps a little more.

A Positive Negative

I made the most of my day off today and had a wee sleep in before getting out the door for a run around 8.30am. Maybe shift work isn't so bad after all :-)

I was thinking about doing a short river loop (about 20k), or trying to do about 15k at a decent pace. Still undecided I just headed outbound.

I was really struggling, the cold air seems to slow me down. According to the trusty Garmin the water stop at the swings at Graceville was spot on 7.5km (39 mins) and by then I'd had enough so turned for home and make it 15k total. It wasn't until I started heading back that I finally felt like I had warmed up and was able to do the journey home a little quicker (37 mins).

So all up 15k in 1h16m. In the first half I had a couple of kms closer to the 5:30 mark (one was even over it) but average pace was 5:05s due to that nice little negative split.

Over The Hill

A couple of people asked about what I'd consider to be a 'reasonable' C2S time. The goal at the start of the year was to better JD's PB of 61:48, a feat that would force him out of his self imposed C2S retirement. What with my recent injury and lack of speed and hill work I don't think he'll be packing away the tambourine just yet :-)

In 2004 I did 65:05 and in 2005 it was 63:30. All things considered I'd be happy with sub 66.

And thanks for the comments on the modem crisis. I wish it was as simple as converting to broadband but I already have it (ADSL). Another call to 'The Desk' this morning got me no closer to resolving the issue.

*****

I think I'm getting to old for shift work. After working the overnight shift I was totally drained of energy and couldn't drag myself to PCRG this morning. This is the first session I've missed since returning from injury. Pat still has everyone in recovery mode anyway, and it was just going to be a steady run. Funny, if it was a tough session programmed I probably would have made the effort.

To make up for it I went for a run this arvo. Still feeling washed out it was a warm up (aka slow slog) to the Goodwill Bridge for some hill reps. I did 5 on the bridge and then headed in to The Gardens to do another 3 on the short steep grassy slope at the River Stage.

This is the first hill session since the ITB injury and my knee seemed to be holding up okay. After the River Stage reps I went further into The Gardens to where we do our long hill work and do a few more but just running down it there was the slightest niggle in my knee so I didn't risk it and headed home (an even slower slog than the warm up).

Hmmm, I think I'll revise that sub 66 goal to sub 67.

BRRC 14k - Seizing The Moment

It was a cold morning at West End yesterday for the BRRC 14k race. I can't believe Shane turned up for duty wearing short sleeves! Lucky CoolBaby Sam was all rugged up. Being just one week after the GC, but there wasn't a big crowd at all, lots of the main players were absent.

Just after the race started I pulled in beside Jo S, a 3 hour marathoner who's just getting back into it after not doing a lot of training lately. The new 7k loop was the basic 5k loop but extend out to the CityCat Terminal and around the corner a little. We were the leading ladies until about the 1 1/2 km mark when we were passed but somebody I didn't recognise. I hung in with Jo for a while until she took off to chase down and pass the front runner. I figured if I could keep the pace going (hovering between 4:35s and 4:40s) I might be able to hang on for 3rd.

By 6k I had passed both girls. I was now the first lady - yikes! At any moment I was expecting either or both of them to zip by. Neither had by the time I got to the turnaround (9k) and in fact Betty (known in some circles as my evil twin) had moved up and passed the mystery woman.

Next thing Jonesy appeared, out on his Sunday run, and he turned around and joined me. I turned of my iPod to say hello and gasped "I'm the first lady". He asked if I wanted to win. Dumb question :-) He said he'd run with me and I told him I wouldn't be able to talk. He said that was okay and to turn my music back on and hang in there.

We maintained a similar pace, and running along he pointed out six people we had to pass. I think I got five of them. I wasn't sure how far back the other girls were and with about 200m to go snuck a quick look over my shoulder and realised I had it in the bag. I crossed the line in 65:01 and received a lovely mug for my effort.

Although very happy to win (its been a while) I was hoping to be slightly faster. The average pace was actually one second slower than for the GC Half the week before, but it felt way harder. There's lots of work to do if I want to run a reasonable C2S time.

Green Light Go

Been pretty busy this past week and haven't had much time to blog. Also my modem is playing up like a second hand lawnmower and will only co-operate every now and then. The Help Desk at Telstra should be called The Desk.


TUESDAY
Had my first post GC Half run on Tuesday. JD and I hit the bike path and were cruising along at about 5:10 pace. We crossed the Goodwill Bridge and ran back through South Bank then over the Vic Bridge. 3k from home the pace picked up to a sub 5, then the next one was even faster as he egged me on to chase a girl in front. The final one was 4:29, it was a bit tough as he stirred me up to catch up and pass another girl. Hmmm, I'm thinking alteria motives here ;-) All up 10k in just under 51 mins. The quads were a little sore from Sunday's effort, but not too bad.


WEDNESDAY
Just for something different on Wednesday we headed in the opposite direction up to UQ. The pace was a little slower than Tuesday, but its a hillier run. We ran right to just beyond the end of the outside track - now called the Vat Track in honour of who else but Vat (he trained on it on his last visit to Brissie in the build up to his sub 2:48 Gold Coast Marathon). This took us past the site of the Go-Betweens Bridge currently under construction. Sadly that name didn't make the short list but I reckon we should all call it that anyway.


THURSDAY
Pat's session was just a steady run. I ended up falling in with Jules who is newish to the group, though not newish to running. She's training for Melb Marathon and would like to run sub 3:30 so is my sort of pace. We got as far as New Farm Bowls Club (in 27 mins) before turning back. I think that's a round trip of just over 11k.


SATURDAY
With Vlastik passing through Brisbane we changed our regular Saturday start from The Regatta to New Farm Park. With plans to race at BRRC the next day I was just after a 10k run so hung in with Lizzle and Jenny (from Pat's). We got just past Newstead House before turning back. It was a lovely run, nice and relaxing, and a great opportunity for a chat with the girls.


SUNDAY
BRRC 14k - report to follow. I'm gonna publish this post while my modem lights are still green.


PS Spellchecker wanted to change 'Telstra' to 'tailgaiter' - ha ha, just as annoying :-)

Gold Coast Half Marathon - 2006

With not a lot of running and just a month of speed work in the lead up I wasn't putting a lot of pressure on myself for the GC Half. Four weeks earlier at Doomben I'd run 1:44 and so I figured I should be happy with anything under 1:40 and set myself an A goal of 1:38 and a B of 1:42.

After tossing the bag into the PCRG tent and catching up with lots of the gang it was almost time for the start of the race. I got a few dirty looks as I weaved my way through the crowd trying to reach the cluster of CR caps belonging to JD, Aunty Karin, Kit and Bernie G. A minute or so later we were off.

The first km it was hard to get moving freely, JD and I were running together and we caught up to roving reporter Plu who was speaking into his collar something about just passing the 1k marker. That split was just over 5 minutes so I was already behind the eight ball pacing wise, but not too concerned. The crowd thinned within another km or so. From there on I just tried to maintain a steady pace. JD was somewhere behind me, I wasn't sure how far back, but as tempting as it was didn't look to see just how far.

I had such a great mix of music for this one, I must use it more often. It was punk or crazy upbeat covers of all sorts of songs including Stand By Your Man, Leaving On A Jetplane and Beauty School Dropout. Very entertaining to say the least.

Fast forward (well, not really fast forward, more steady forward) to around the 17k or 18k mark and who should pull up beside me but JD. He'd been about 5 meters behind all that way. We ran together for a little while and then he upped the tempo slightly and tried to get me to come along but I didn't have it in me. And I was worried that even a small increase in pace would wipe me out. I'd have to let him have this one (and he did by 10 seconds). Plenty of time for revenge :-)

What a hoot it was to pass the first CR cheersquad and then the next one a little further down the road. Those guys are faaaaantastic. How spoilt are we CRs!

Coming down the home straight my eyes were on the clock as it ticked over 1:37.51, 1:37.52, 1:37.53 etc. I made one final desperate sprint to get over the line before 1:38.00 and as I did the guy just in front of me put his arms out sideways for his finishing photo - I had to slow down ever so slightly to avoid running into one of them.

Gun time was 1:38.00, net time 1:37.29 :-) Very happy with that. Its almost 3 1/2 mins slower than my PB, but a 7 minute improvement on the Qld Half four weeks earlier. And as an added bonus I came third in my category - no bling though.

Splits ...

5:02
4:37
4:33
4:27
4:34
4:31
4:34
4:34
4:34
4:36
9:07 < 2 kms
9:15 < 2 kms
4:36
4:35
4:39
4:43
4:37
4:38
4:41
0:25

Had to spend a little time in the medical tent afterwards. Not for me, but Clairie who had truly given her all in the race. The attendant thought we were related, she said we had the same mouths. I told her Clairie's was louder :-)