3k TT PB & a blogging challenge

This blog was going to be about how I got out of bed this morning, ran a bit quicker than the last TT and then went to work... however I was presented a challenge via email before I had chance to write that particular version of events, the challenge was as follows;


How about a stirring, no holds barred insight into your Sub 13 Run this morning which took you into "another world"!!! :)

Your run this morning deserves the kind of inspirational writing that makes the reader wanna exit the office immediately and go for a run, regardless of the fact that they've already trained this AM!!

So, I'm feeling the pressure now, but as the request came from my very favourite pacer, I feel obliged to give it a go.....

With barely seconds to go Matt offered to pace MJ & myself to come in sub-13mins. My previous pb was 13.02, but this had been a flat-out effort to obtain, and with Touch the night before until 10pm I was feeling pretty tired and flat this morning, so any help I could get was going to be great.
Matt was still explaining to us as we started off what the splits were going to be... never ran with a pacer before so this was all new and exciting, took my mind off the fact we'd started off pretty fast, well took my mind off it for about the first 500meters till we reached the hill, then it started to hurt.
As we neared the ended up the first k, someone shouted out '4 mins'. I was sure our first split was meant to be about 4.10, that gave me 10seconds to get to turnaround point, which I couldnt see at that point as a car was in the way... made it, just, wasnt quite sure how I was going to get the second, let alone third k done to come in under 13mins, was feeling pretty tired at this point. As we approached 1.5k and got over the top of the hill, something kicked in. I dont know if its because I knew I was half way, because Matt was yelling out us (nice stuff of course) or because the lead group were beginning to pass us on their way to the finish, but I found some extra speed. Feeling strong I concentrated on the 2km marker. This is my third TT and on all three I have found the last K home actually the easiest, I think its because you can 'almost smell the finish'!
1km to go and I really wanted to make sure I was going to be under my sub-13min goal. How much did it hurt running up that hill for a final time!! I was running ahead of Matt now but could still hear him yelling out encouraging things to me. Sights firmly fixed on both the group in front (they weren't going to get away :-) ) my stopwatch and the nearing finish I pushed towards the final 500meters. I could hear Matt yelling at me to dig deep in the final 400meters. I could hear the guys at the end by this point, I could also hear MJ coming up close behind me again & Matt was still yelling out encouragement! I was pushing too hard to look at my watch, but I knew Matt was running a sub-13 so as longs he didnt get ahead I was still on target.
I entered the funnel and crossed the line at 12.49! Whooo-hoooo, goal obtained. I'd only been there a second and Tess came over and started jumping up and down around me... I would have loved to have joined her, but I dont think there was a bit of me that wasn't hurting at that point!!
How I am going to better that time I'm not sure, but hey, I always liked a challenge!!!

Late night Touch

Late night Touch game (ending at 10pm) not what I really wanted the night before a time trial, but I guess we'll see if it did any damage in the morning!

19km long run - 6 mins quicker

I'm a bit behind in my blogging, so just a quick post:


Saturdays longrun was from the Regatta, I can't remember the last time I met at the Ship Inn as I've had a few race meets on recently, anyway... I had been hoping to do 20km this morning but the group was down on numbers and as my run scheduled for 1.40mins I decided to just try and knock a couple of minutes off of my 19km time, which I had run at 1.53mins two weeks earlier.

I couldnt find my rhythm for the first few km's, in fact, it took me until I reached the end of the Botanical Gardens to really feel comfortable. By the time I hit the river walk though I was feeling good. At Southbank I started to get a bit of a niggle in the same knee I always do but it got no worse, not even when crossing the Victoria Bridge and by the time I was up by Coronation Drive I'd forgotten all about it and was heading for home! I left the two guys that I had been running with and picked up the pace. Feeling good I finished back at the Regatta at 1.47mins; 6 mins quicker than my previous longrun time.

Thursday morning session

This mornings session was only okay I thought. We had to do 2x2km efforts, followed by a 1x1km effort. I was a bit off with my times, but hopefully I will rest up okay and be good for Tuesdays time trial.

Cooooooooooooooooold early morning run!

Just a gentle run this morning. 42 mins around the streets, nothing too special. Was too cold to notice anything anyway!!

Early morning session & group award!!

Pats session this morning which is on the back of Warwick at the weekend and Touch Footy last night, definitely felt some tightness in my legs, hopefully that'll be stretched out and gone by Thursdays session.

This mornings session was 6x500metre efforts, followed by 1x1km effort, with 1min SR in between. My splits went as follows; 1.58/2/2/2/2.04/2.04 then 4.26 for the 1km. We have the 3km time trial next week, ideally I'd like to aim for sub 13mins (12.59 will do!!), so hopefully I'm almost on track for that on this mornings times.

I also got awarded the group award this morning, mainly due to my effort on the weekend. That was a really nice suprise, so many other people are doing so well also, I'll have to make sure I keep voting for them so they get that nice feeling of recognition also.

What I learnt from Warwick

I've been thinking about what I learnt from my weekend away, I've decided to blog it for future reference!

Racing with music. I normally do my mid-week run with my mp3 player but have never raced before with it. However, for this particular 10km I felt it could be really hard work and in a smaller field than I'm use to running with I could spend a lot of time running solo. I am SO glad I choose to take it with me, it really helped take my mind off the hill ahead. I'm not sure about using it for the GC, I reckon I'll carry it in my fuel belt again though, just in case I end up needing it. Will seriously be thinking about using it for the Doomben 10km

Things I forgot. I was in a bit of a rush when I packed, and while I remembered everything I needed to actually run in, I did forget a couple of things that in future I will try and take;

• tape/bandaid
• vaseline/bodyglide
• long-pants to keep warm prerace
• spare battery for mp3 player
• check charge on camera battery

Things I might need to buy for Warwick/multi-race events. Being fairly new to running still I dont have as much gear as perhaps some of the runners do, so if I were to go to a multi-event meet again I think I would need to get extra;

• socks!
• shorts
• more energy bars/drinks etc

I'm sure there are other things, but I will add them if I remember what they were!

Warwick - Day 2, 10km ascent, 1500meters

My turn has come around! After watching the guys do their running yesterday and itching to get out there, I was feeling suprisingly unsure about this, this morning. I've never done more of a hill than the Goodwill Bridge before so really wasnt sure what to make of a 10km ascent!

The morning was cool, but by 8am when the race started, the sun was up and it didnt take long to warm up. I was aiming for about 5min/k, not really sure just how much the hill was going to take out of me, but I'd heard it was fairly flat for the first 4km. My aim was to get to the 4km water stop in about 20mins, and then just cruise up the hill in as long as it took to get there!!

By 4km I was actually feeling quite good, I'd gotten in to a rhythm and was enjoying running through Kilarney, taking in the sights and listening to my mp3 player. At the water stop I took some Endura and a bit of water, walked while drinking it then rounded the corner to see the 'real' start of the ascent! EEEEkkkkk, a hill and I had to run up it!! Well, there was nothing for it other than to start.. I got to the top of the first bend and felt suprisingly good, got a bit scared by this and decided to try and slow up a bit so I could make it to the top. Got to the 6km marker and over the cattle-grid and realised that my last 2 kms had been quicker than the previous (flat) two. I was still feeling good, and having passed the half way mark I decided to leave the stopwatch alone and let my body do the dictating on how fast to run. At 7km & 8km I was still feeling strong and had even started to pick people off on my way up. I could see the 9km marker in the distance and decided to pick up the pace, the end was near and I'd heard that the last 100meters or so was downhill.
I finished with a time of 56.37 (I think) and felt great. My aim was to finish, I had no real time in mind so I was pretty happy with this. My first ever 10km run, with no training 10months ago was 57mins, this was a completely flat course, so it just goes to show what training can do!! :)


Back at the motel, a quick shower, energy bar and coffee later and we were heading out of the door again. 1500meters this time, I've not run this distance since school, so had no real idea how I would go. The gun went off and everyone flew forward, by the second corner thoughts of slowing down were going through my mind, by the third corner I was getting taken by quite a few people... Then the 1km marker came up and I felt I was almost home.... knees up and digging deep I started to catch up with the group ahead. Fourth corner, Tess took me, still looking strong!! One more corner and I could see the finish, I crossed with a time of 6.07, which I was really happy with.


I ended up with a second place in my category for the 10km and first for the 1500meters. Felt a bit of a cheat though having not run the previous day. Still, it was a great experience and I am really keen to go back next year, with a bit more training and some long runs under my belt and do the full two days!! :)

Warwick - Day 1, no running

'Nice' early and cold start this morning. Someone mentioned 4C and that certainly felt about right at 5.30am!

I wasnt doing any runs today, having only done a longrun of 19km recently and spending so long aiming for the GC Half, I didnt want to end up injurying myself. Gee it was hard sitting on the sidelines watching the others run though... I wanted to be running too!! :)

I was on the 8km water stop for the Half, I was so proud for all the guys that were taking part, all of them came past smiling and looking like they were having fun. Once the end car went past for the runners, we packed up our water table and drove past them all to the end. They were all still looking really strong, and although the leaders had spread out about 8km ahead of the back of pack everyone was still smiling and seemed to be enjoying themselves.

At the end there were a few PB's and it was so good to see people completing the first leg of the Pentath-run. It was back to the start though then for a quick shower and change for the runners, then off to an Equestrian Centre for a 4.6X-country.

At the X-country I had camera duties, and did my best to take at least one photo of everyone I knew out there. There were some superb efforts from the runners, I couldn't believe how well they were backing up their runs from the morning... I think the half alone would have had been done for the day!

A couple of hours after that there was a 5km road run. Again, huge efforts by everyone, they made me feel quite tired just watching them.... I was SO tempted to join in for this one, but my ankle had been feeling a bit sore (my own fault for wearing stupid shoes probably) and I made myself stick to the original plan.


Saturday night and we all went down to the WIRAC for a pasta/red rooster dinner and trivia. It was great to talk to some new runners and hear their experiences. I talked to a lot of experienced runners too and it was so interesting to find out hints and tips and learn from what they've done!

Big day tomorrow, 2 runs for me - seems nothing compared to the five so many people were doing, but I'm just planning on using it as a training run, the hill should be good experience too... never ran a hill before!!

Rest day & arrival in Warwick!

Well, I had every intention of getting up this morning for a 30mins run since I would be missing my Saturday longrun to go to Warwick, but after a long walk last night and running short on time to pack for the weekend the run was given the flick...

At 3pm MJ picked me up from the City and we headed off towards to Warwick. I've never been away before for a run, always got up that morning and driven to the start, so this was a real adventure!

We arrived in Warwick just after 5pm, checked in and headed to the pub for dinner with some of the other CR's/Buddies. Even just in our small group the atmostphere was really good and I was keen to start the weekend in the morning!

3mins out, 3mins back AND 6xhills!!

I think this is actually one of my favourite sessions, even though on paper it sounds horrible!
3mins out, then 3mins back * two. Then 6 hill sprints with JR back to the bottom. This mornings session was finished off with an extra hill on the otherside of the Goodwill Bridge as well.
I am getting a bit more nervous about Warwick now too. I'm only doing the Sunday events, but dont really have much (any) experience will hill running.... it will be interesting I'm sure. I'll be making a full report back on here Monday morning!

Got a CR visor in the post this morning - I'll be taking it to Warwick with me, so at least I'll look the part of a runner, even if I dont feel like one once I reach the top of Kilarney! :)

short slow run

Following my programme, todays run had been cut back from 1hour last week, to 45mins this week. In the end I did a loop that lasted just over 35mins, so cut back on it again. Not ideal but I promised myself to work extra hard at Pat's session in the morning!!

First morning session missed

For a couple of reasons, which have nothing to do with running, I couldn't get to the training session this morning. My first ever missed session! I've vowed to try and do the 8*1min efforts that the other guys did tonight to make up for it - dont think it'll be anywhere near as much fun by myself.

Touch season starts again

Monday has just become my X-train day again, as Touch starts tonight!!

Inspired run!

Turns out I have inspired a friend, who although active has never done more than a gentle jog before in her life, to take up running! Apparently my enthusiasm has rubbed off on her, which has made me feel really good. So many people were helpful to me when I first started and encouraged me along, I'm glad that I've done the same for her. To celebrate her new starting to run, we did what was truly fitting, and went for a run!!

She's aiming for two runs a week on a 3km circuit and going to build up from there. Tonight I ran the 3km with her, and plan to on as many Sundays as I can do. She/we made it back in 19.38 and now have a goal for future runs which is great. Sunday is a X-train day for me, so a gentle 3km should fit in okay I hope :)

19km long run!

Well, I'm now just 2.1km away from reaching my target - though I dont want to run the full distance until the GC, as tempting as it is.

I ran 19km this morning and although it was done slowly and the last couple of km's did get become hard work I felt good when I finished it and was able to chat away the whole way around.

It took us 113minutes to get around, so quite a lot slower than I'll be hoping for at the GC overall, but with 7 weeks to go I am happy with my progress so far at least!

rest day - longest run ever planned tomorrow!

Nothing today, a lie-in till 6am in fact!! Tomorrow I am planning on running far far far (not quite sure how far at the moment, but more than my previous 17km I hope!!)

Got a 'bit' wet!

Title doesnt really give justice to how wet we were this morning.. I'm so glad I got out of bed and went though. I dont know whether I just had supernormal energy this morning, or maybe the rain made me feel like I was at home, but I felt I ran really strongly.

We had to do 4x4min reps; 2mins out, 2mins back and then 1min SR. Usually I feel pretty tired on these after the first couple, especially on the 2mins back and find myself bunched in and overtaken by the faster guys. Today I was picking the guys at the back off and up until the 3rd set came back in first for the SR.

Running in the rain was great, once you're wet through it doesnt make a difference - though I was sooooooo happy to get under a hot shower at the end :)

mid-week run, one hour

A whole run in the dark this morning, I actually quite enjoyed it. I find it easier to run by myself if I can switch off from everything else, so with my mp3-player and the blanket of darkness this was easy this morning!

I had an hour slow run to do, which is a new time for me mid-week so decided to try a new route out. Usually I do a loop, but I was unsure of an hour loop so I did an out and back. The first 15 minutes were flat, followed by a couple of long downhills, then when I got to a suitable point (a roundabout!) I turned around - would have been about 28mins. The two up-hills weren't too much of a struggle and I actually got back dead on 56mins, so a nice even run.

Felt a bit of a niggle on my knee this morning, an old hockey injury which I'm hoping isn't about to rear its ugly head again... will take it easy in tomorrow session and go from there. Heard too many horror stories recently about ITB etc to take my chances though.

Offical 8km time is 1minute less!

Well I'm not sure how it happened, but I've just received my official chip time for the 8km through and it was 36.48, virtually a minute less than I thought.... I'm not convinced its right, surely I couldn't have misread my watch by a minute could I - going to have to do some further investigating before I start celebrating that one too much :)


[edit] I've gone over the finisher list, and a couple of other people who I know were running times are up there, and they seem to be what they thought. OMG, I didnt take 79seconds off my pb, I took (starts adding up on fingers......) 137seconds off it! Wow! If thats really the case, and I still can't believe it, yaay me, and yaay the chocolate coated coffee beans!!

Hills - need I say more

Today was a repeat of my first ever Pat Carroll session, 15mins of hills. Up and down I went, and although I was lapped I felt so much stronger than I did 7 weeks ago on my first attempt of it. I hate the hills, because they hurt, but I love them, because I know they're so good for me and I feel great afterwards.... albeit quite a little while afterwards :)

I think I'm set to do an hour run tomorrow - that'll be my longest run mid-week so far, will be interesting to see how I go with three 5am starts in a row!!

Rest day after MDC 8km

I was all set to go and do a bit of Body Combat today, because Monday is usually a X-train day, but then I realised Pat had me down as rest.... far be it from me to change the programme ;-)

Mothers Day 8km - new PB!

Short version: broke my LWF 8km pb on Sunday by 79seconds.

Longer version: I was really hoping to cut down on my LWF time of 39.05, certainly sub-39mins, but really hoping for at least 4.50min/k and perhaps even push myself to 4.45's where possible. I started off fairly fast, as I was aiming for the 4.45's, but when I got to the 1K marker I'd made 4.30. I was feeling pretty good about this, but didnt want to burn out so tried to drop the pace back a bit, only discover my 2K time was even quicker and 4.10. I really concentrated on getting in to a more even pace, apart from theoretically smashing my pb at this pace, I would probably end up exhausted by half way. My next splits were much better, averaging around 4.5o as planned. By 5km I was still feeling good, noone was passing me and I was gaining on the small pack in front; I picked up the pace to 4.45. All I had left was 3km and I was digging in deep, concentrating on my running and remembering that LuckyLegs had told me it wouldn't hurt to try for the 4.45's! :) There didnt seem to be a 7km marker, so probably with about 800meters left to go I lifted my knee's up, lengthened my stride and put everything into it. I crossed the line with a time of 37.46 (TBC), breaking my previous pb by 79secs! I couldn't believe it, I felt like I was starting to get 'real' runner times.

I'm sure sooner rather than later my improvements will start to plateau, but at the moment I can feel myself getting better and am enjoying running more and more. I think there's 8 weeks to go till the GC and I'm planning on putting 100% effort in for those weeks, so that when I cross the finish line I will know everything went in to those 21.3km's and have no regrets about wishing to have pushed faster and harder - just as I feel I did on Sunday.

rest day - getting ready for the race

Day off today as I ran yesterday and will be running in the Mothers Day Classic 8km tomorrow.

Got to meet some more of the Brissie CR last night which was great. Spoke to Ironbee who hopefully is going to be pacing the GC half for either 2hours or 1.50 so I'm thinking I quite fancy doing my first half with a human-sized bee, could be the go :)

Slow run

Following advice from Pat Carroll a couple of weeks ago, I have been taking my mid-week runs very slowly indeed. Certainly I was finding that speed sessions on Tuesday and Thursday, with a run on a Wednesday were leaving me feeling very flat. Slowing down the pace seems to helping, obviously not covering as many K's, but feeling better about the ones I do cover and I guess thats what counts!

Missing my long run tomorrow and trading it in for the Mothers Day 8km run - I'm really keen to knock a bit of time off of my LWF 8km time, exactly how much I'm aiming for I dont know. Im the LWF I wanted 5min/k and ended up running 4.52k average, think I definitely want to try for 4.50, maybe 4.45 though I'm worried that might be pushing it a bit too much??!!

Feeling better, back to running!

Definitely needed an alarm to wake me up this morning, was in a very deep sleep. Nervously tried to swallow and found that my glands were no longer size of golf balls and I could spring out of bed quite easily!

This mornings session was at New Farm. 4x2min efforts, 1x3min effort and then a no watch 1km once we'd gotten back to the Gardens. I was feeling much better with myself and my running this morning, back to enjoying it again!

Tested my new shoes out this morning also, bit of a mistake since it was raining and they slipped everywhere. Hopefully another run and they'll get a bit more grip and they weren't a dud buy!

Sick day :(

After managing to drag myself out of bed yesterday for the 3k time trial, there was no way I was getting an early start today! (another story) but I had to pick up a rental car on my way home from work, so with this delay by the time I got there I decided to give todays run a miss. Shattered and feeling well below par, an early night is on the cards!!

PB for 3k time trial!

Funny how I almost didnt even go running this morning. I'd woken up with a sore throat and swollen glands and really felt just like rolling back over again when my alarm went off, but it was time trial morning and I really did want to see if I'd improved at all over the last month.

Even the warm-up down to Westend felt a struggle this morning, my legs felt like lead, my head was killing me and I could barely swallow. I was so tempted right there and then just to sit the time trial out and do it by myself when I was feeling better. I did the sprints to warm up my legs, felt a bit more energetic and decided to do the 3km, if nothing else it would be good exercise.

The first 500meters were really hard, I wasnt sure I was going to make it to the end of the first 1km, let alone the 2 after that. I dug deep and told myself I just had to hang in there for another 10mins or so. It was at this point I also realised that my stopwatch hadn't started properly - it really didnt feel like my morning so far. At about the 1.5km I was feeling fairly comfortable, I'd settled in to a good pace, and even was beginning to feel like I'd be able to scrape off a few seconds from my time... there must be something psychological about turning around at the end of the 2km and heading back down the finishing 1km as I found something I didnt know I had. Kicked in really hard and tried to think of everything I'd learnt over the past month.. I didnt just want to scrape a few seconds off, I wanted 10 or 20. I focused on the runner in front of me and managed to get ahead of them, only for them to fly past me with 20meters to go - it didnt matter though, I'd held in and dug hard and finished in 13.02, a PB by 46seconds!

Next time trial goal - sub 13mins! :)

Just a walk today....

I headed up the coast to Bagara for the long-weekend, so this morning I just went for a walk along the beach. My legs were still feeling fine from Saturday, even after the hour walking.
Tomorrow is my second 3km time trial, so hoping to take a little bit off my previous time of 13.48.

Still on my longrun high!

Its amazing how putting one foot in front of another can leave you feeling so good 24hours after the event! I woke up this morning and was still feeling happy and proud that I'd managed the 17km so easily. I'm running in the Mothers Day Classic 8km this weekend, so hoping to better my LWF time and also perhaps be able to kick up to 19km the week after as easily as I did upto the 17km after having a week off the longruns!!