Bay Run 2007

Well folks- I did it- I've done my first running race! I completed the Bay Run this morning. It was an early start, with the women's race starting at 8:15am, so Scoop and I were up for 6! On a Sunday that must be illegal! We made our way across to Iron Cove in the cold (as you can see from the photos below) and waited for the start. The race was pretty good, quite well-organised with the bus lane closed across Iron Cove bridge, and lollypop men stopping traffic for the couple of roads we had to cross. I suffered from a couple of stitches in the race- which is weird for me, so it must have been nerves. I used a lady who was always slightly ahead of me to set my pace by, so whenever I dropped further behind, I upped the pace. In the last km I put pedal to the metal, and got a time of just over 43 min (have to wait for the official results to come out to find out for sure!). So was pretty pleased that I got a time that I expected- definitely a worthwhile race! Scoop said he reckoned I would have come about a third of the way through the pack in the women's race, so thats pretty good :)

Me at 6:15 am in the morning: never a good look, especially some one taking a picture!

Walking up from the car to the starting area- taking advantage of a good picture opportunity!

Looking unimpressed by the cold/another unwanted photo!

Piccie of me with the view of Iron Cove- looking decidedly cold!

Racing towards the finish line!!

I did it! I finished my first race!

Stretching my glutes :) Thanks again Scoop... :P

No Scoop, the ambulance isn't for me!

I hurt bad after the race, especially my left hip flexor, but a big long soak in a hot bubble bath and lots of stretches soon sorted me out!

In other news, I did put on 0.5kg this week. The lesson I learnt this week was that a big run doesn't give me a licence to eat loads of junk food! As my mate Jenn is struggling was perserverence as well, we've decided to start a "Back to Basics" challenge. I'm gonna switch my weigh-ins to Monday to coincide with hers, and to keep me on the straight and narrow on the weekends as well!

Watch out C2S

Well, I did it! I did my big run- but I didn't just settle for 13km- I did 14km... the length of the C2S. I did it in 1hr and 32min... so its slower than my 9 and 11km pace (9.1km/h versus 9.4km/h) but my excuse is blisters. Big blisters- in fact blisters on top of old blisters on my foot arches! I managed to run the distance with them, with the pain kicking in at around the 5km mark. To add to my list of pains, I also had groin pain, hip pain, a little bit of knee pain :) So yesterday I was a cripple, and hobbled around like the old woman I have been behaving like, but today? Quite good suprisingly!!! Nothing creaked as badly as it was been doing. So maybe all this stretching and manipulating is starting to pay off. So I have some good news to report to the physio when I ring him. Maybe I won't have to give up running just yet!!!

My weekend has been not bad... I've had a couple of afternoon naps. I needed to as recovery from my big run! Last night Scoop and I went a local Indian restaurant which was delicious, and full of Indian families having catch-up and celebratory meals- it's gotta be good if Indians eat there!!! I tried this different type of entree: "bhupari" which is meant to be a "popular street snack"- it was like spicy Rice Bubbles!!! Very different! And mains was delicious, but will have to remember to come with a very empty stomach next time... nearly had to roll us out the door we were that full!

My body

I had a loss of 1kg this week, which has really surprised me! Why? Because I am consuming more calories than what I was before my UK trip! So I've been thinking about why I might have had such a good loss. It could be that I did a 11km run last weekend, or the fact I am eating completely different foods to what I normally do, so the variety is keeping my body on its toes! More than likely its a combination of those things. I feel really good at the moment, other than the fact my body feels sore and battered from all the running :)

My orthotics gave me big blisters on my foot arches when I went for 7km run on the treadmill on Wednesday- not fun! They seem to have healed up pretty quickly, but the big test will be my 13km tomorrow- I'm trying to prepare myself for the possibility that I may not be able to hack it if they start to blister again! And my hips are still sore despite all the stretching and manipulation I've been doing. I'm hoping then this is a slow fix- I hate to think it was all for nothing.

I've already decided that after my "running season", ending with the Bridge Run, I'm gonna cut it right back. I know my body needs a break from the pounding on the pavement. I'll still do a regular run on the treadmill every week, to keep that side of my fitness up, but I think maybe I should take on another challenge- swimming. I am a useless swimmer- and swimming will be much kinder to my body. My family is full of people whose bodies are a wreck: my Dad needs knee replacements, my Mum has had spinal fusion surgery and still spends many of her days in bed, and my sister has dodgey knees and has had knee surgery. I don't want to join the list of casualities! I started running to help push onto my goal weight, and thus improve my health- it seems a bit silly to insist on continuing running if it means I'll be a cripple. I love running, and how it has made me feel if I can achieve with my running I can achieve with anything. But I hate the fact I am in pain the next day and hobble along holding my hips like an old lady!

Hips don't lie

Well, just come back from the physio and have a plan of attack to sort out my sore hips. First thing the physio did was get me to take my shoes off- and then he looked at how my ankle and arches all lined up. I have functional collapses in my feet, so I tried out a few different orthotics to put in my shoes. So hopefully thats now sorted! Then he went through a bunch of stretches that I have try and do 3 times a day! He joked I may have to revert to part time work to do all the stretching needed :) Then it was time to have a look at my hips- I almost jumped off the bed in pain when he manipulated my iliotibial tract- the tendon that runs down the outside of your thigh to the outside of your knee, from your hip. So he worked on trying to release that, while I tried not to yell in pain. The side that I have had the worst pain in was the side I had to ask him to stop, I was in that much pain. He told me I needed to work on releasing that muscle while in shower by pressing my knuckles into the tract moving my knuckles in an upward direction only.

The good news- he didn't say to stop running!!!!

So fingers crossed I will be in fine form again soon!

Officially back on track

I weighed in today with 2.5kg loss- so back down to 70.5kg. I feel in a much better place to keep going onto my goal now. A few weeks ago when I weighed this weight, I didn't try to overcome any temptations, as I still wasn't in the right headspace. I feel much more confident that I can improve on this weight next week. I'm not going to stress myself out about it, like I did leading up to the UK trip. I'll be happy to chip away at it 0.5kg at a time. So that should have me at goal in 5 weeks time. I hope though it will be a little faster as I get right into my training for the next couple of weeks for the C2S. But on the other hand, I don't want to starve myself during this time to get a big loss if it means I'm not fuelling myself enough for my training. One of my workmates today told me she is so worried about how little I eat that she reckons one day she'll have to do first aid on me! I told her not to stress, as I am consuming more calories now than before the UK trip. I am also trying analyse my diet to address any deficiencies. I realise since I've been doing weight-loss for so long, I am probably quite low with my essential fatty acids, so this week coming I plan to eat some nuts and salmon to try to address that. I am probably low on iron, so looking to increase that as well. So see if that helps me feel a bit more lively!!!

Weight-loss is such a balancing act... I guess it comes down to making sure that everything that you put in your mouth is going to do something to contribute towards your nutrition. The other balancing act for me is with exercise- trying to increase my fitness without wrecking my body. I am suffering chronic pain in my hips, and have done for several months. It has increased in intensity as my running intensity has increased as well. So I am taking myself off to the physio next week to hopefully start finding a remedy for it. I just hope they don't tell me to rest for 6 weeks, since I have gone and put my C2S entry in.... fingers crossed!!

This time I know its for real...

Crunch time finally arrived- yay!!! I've been waiting for that spark of something to ignite my desire to be at goal again, and it finally arrived on Friday. My weigh-in day. It was a terrible result, but just what I needed to give me back my steely resolve. I weigh 73kg. Bloody awful- 5 kg from goal! Up till yesterday, I just wasn't bothered. Just ate what I feel liked, when I felt like it. It hasn't helped I was ill last weekend I guess, but now I feel great, and I am ready to rip into it. I've set myself the challenge of a perfect WW week. Its 2:15pm on Saturday, and so far, so good. If I can get through tonight without giving into temptation, I'll be doing ok! Its when you have a few and then go... I'll just have this chocolate bar from the vending machine, or I might have some cake from the bistro, that things start to unravel! It helps that I am broke- the week before pay day is always a great means of avoiding indulgence!

Today, I bought the tools by which I can get back into my running with avengeance- a treadmill and some new joggers. My old ones have done a great job to cop the abuse I gave it this last year and a bit, but they have started to rub, and so I thought better to get some new ones this week, so they are broken in for the City to Surf. Speaking of which, I put in my entry for the race yesterday... I told you my resolve and determination has come back :) And with a treadmill at home, it means Scoop doesn't feel so neglected by me going off to the gym every night, and he has the means to start getting fit as well! Its win win!.... Maybe not for my credit card....