Friday, September 23, 2011
Woo! My first decent distance week in ages. On Sunday I ran the Half-Marathon. I was sore Monday, but not too bad considering the cramping. I actually did a Spudds class Monday night and kicked some butt on the rower. Tuesday I walked to work in the morning. Wednesday I started my new Fitness Class (more on that in a minute) and consequently ran 2.88km before work. That afternoon I walked another couple of km's across Sydney while lugging a heavy suitcase. Today I did my second Fitness Class before work, and then I walked to my office. Hooray for lots of exercise! It really, really helps my mood. Sep. 18: 21.6km Sep. 20: 2.72km (walking) Sep. 21: 2.88km Sep. 21: 1.99km (walking) Sep. 23: 3.54km Sep: 23: 2.63km (walking) Total this week: 28.02km (17.5mi) Total in 2011: 853.29km (533.3mi) So, the Fitness Class. This is a thing that RunKeeper does. Ailsa and I were talking after the Half-Marathon about our plans, and I said that my goal for the summer was to cut back my distance per week but work on building up some speed. A couple days later, she suggested this Jeff Galloway class which trains you to run a 30:00 5K. There are three runs per week: a tempo run, an interval session, and a long run. The long runs actually build up to 7 miles, which is perfect considering our next race is the 10K Run4Fun in November. The Snook joined me for today's interval workout, which involved 4 x 400m repeats at faster than goal pace. We managed it, but man, it was tough. I'm looking forward to seeing my progress and hopefully I'll score a PR at my next event! Wednesday, September 21, 2011
 Blackmore's Half-Marathon 2011 Race ReportRemember how last year I said that the half-marathon distance was CURSED for me? The streak continues. This past Sunday was the 2011 Sydney Running Festival, where the two of us were toeing the line for my fifth Half-Marathon and the Snook's first. Our training plan had went pretty well, with the exception of me spraining my ankle twice and missing a couple long runs. I felt pretty good on the day though, and we soon found ourselves at Milson's Point getting ready for the start. (I took a quick photo just to prove that this year I didn't lose my iPhone.) We started at the back of C group and we planned to do 2:30/45s intervals from the start. I didn't want to aim too high given the state of my ankle, but I had hopes that a PR (around 2:30) was possible. From the start, we were flying. We were going under my PR pace, but I didn't feel like we were going too fast. It was great. Here's the cursed part: It was an unseasonably HOT spring day. We were wearing sunscreen and hats, but there's only so much you can do. I wore my water belt, but I could tell we were hitting it hard. When I had my first Hammer Gel at 45 minutes I felt briefly light-headed, almost like I might faint. (Thankfully the feeling passed.) We hit 8K at the one hour mark, and that's when it all started to fall apart. My lower legs started to cramp. We extended a few walk breaks, thinking I could shake it out. I had already been taking Endurolytes, so I also started hitting the Powerade at each aid station. It didn't help. I ended up battling cramps for the entire second half of the race. Every 5-10 minutes they were back, first one leg and then the other depending on the camber of the road. Sometimes my shins, sometimes my calves. It SUCKED. Snookums tried to keep my spirits high, but I was in a lot of pain. My dreams of a PR slipped away. It was just about surviving to the end. My face was gritty with salt and my shirt had white patches on it. It was so hard. Eventually I limped my way across the finish line, a full 20 minutes slower than I'd hoped to run. I was so glad to be done. I wasn't the only one having problems; we'd seen the medics treating a LOT of people out on the course. And the poor marathoners! I was glad I hadn't picked this one for my first 42K. Anyway, we collected our bag and met up with the fabulous Knitabulous, who ran her first half-marathon as well. And hey, that's the important thing! Rodd and Ailsa ran their first HM, and that's AWESOME. I'm just glad I got to come along for it! We actually got some pretty good race photos this year. Have a look...                Friday, September 16, 2011
I've been a bit slack about updating my distance numbers lately, mostly because they've been so disappointing. I ended August with a week's vacation, and while I got a lot done, I didn't do much running. Then on August 4th, we went for our last long run of HM training: 20km. And 10km into it, I rolled my left ankle AGAIN. This was the third time in two months, and it hurt a lot. I managed to finish the run, but I ended up resting it the whole next week. I've only done two runs since then: an 8km with the Snook, and a 5km on my own today. I've been making an effort to get in some walking though, which was helped with the stiffness. I really have no idea how Sunday's Half-Marathon is going to go... Aug. 31: 6.02km Sep. 4: 20.52km Sep. 11: 8.16km Sep. 16: 5.10km Total for these three weeks: 39.8km (24.8mi) Total in 2011: 825.27km (515.8mi) My goal of running 1200km in 2011 looks like it's slipping away from me. I should be at 854km right now, so I'm officially behind the pace. Going to be a challenging Spring, I can tell!
Looking at Amazon's Return Policy, I think I'm out of luck as I'm outside the 30-day return window and I don't have the original packaging anymore. I've just emailed both Amazon and Mizuno Australia to see if they can help. Right now I'm reluctant to train or race in those shoes if there's a chance there's something wrong with them. (Also, the squeaking noise is kind of annoying and embarrassing.) Any other ideas? I can't see anything that's making the noise, so I don't think fixing it is possible. I really don't want to chuck these if I can avoid it... Update: Holy crap, that was fast! Amazon just replied to tell me to go ahead and send them back and they'll refund them. That's fantastic service right there. |
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