Still stuck in NZ

Crappy day, crappy weather and having a crappy time.

Have not been able to run which could also be part of my crappy mood.

Flight back may not happen until Thursday which sux. Fingers crossed for better and more active day tomorrow.

Running, gym and more shopping

Well the run didn't quite go as planned, I ended up out there for about 1/2 hour before it started raining and got very cold. So... headed back to the hotel gym where I spent a very boring hour on the treadmill and using the weights. Felt great afterwards but as I said, it was pretty boring!

There was a Chinese New Year festival on down at the wharf. I saw some of the shows just before my run, it was fantastic! Lot of fashion parades, kids dancing and generally lots of fun. With a coffee in hand, a good book and some sunshine, it made for a very enjoyable morning.

Tomorrow morning is another run and hopefully a swim in the evening. Hopefully tomorrow I can confirm if I can come back on Wednesday, it might be a very long day/night tomorrow but getting home early would make it worth it!

Hoping other CR's are in for the triathlon on Saturday - it starts at 5:30 in the evening which is a bit different for me. I am used to extremely early mornings for these things. I am also hoping my swimming and cycling buddy Bec is competing also. Bec is very fit and I think did her last sprint distance in about 1hr 20 or something. I will be chasing her that's for sure!!!

Off to do some work now and get set for tomorrow. Looking forward to hearing from NTR and hearing how his run with Chunderbolt went today. We have also been invited to Des's baby shower which is very exciting. I will have to go shopping for some cool baby clothes/toys, but it will be lovely to see them again before "digger" is due :)

Dinner tonight was butter chicken which was great but I am feeling very heavy and like I need ot run it off! Will have to stick to healthy food tomorrow to get back on track I think. Also bought Ian and the kids some presents today - I can't wait to see them!! In a spur of the moment online shopping frenzy I also bought the Nike sport kit for my ipod along with the sport armband. I am very excited. I know they are not nearly as accurate as my garmin but it will be perfect for me. I am giving the garmin to Ian to help him train for Canberra and hopefully six foot in 2008.

I am such a proud girlfriend - he is just doing so, so well with his training. He must be a very natural runner as he really doesn't train all that much but he is killing his PBs every time he runs. Well done babe!!

Shopping, working, running in Wellington

Well, it is Saturday night and I am heading off to bed soon so I can run around the water in Wellington tomorrow morning. I have been for two runs so far this week, I found a great hill to do hill reps on and NTR found me a track along the water which is lovely and very beautiful. Hoping to do around 1.5 hours tomorrow, depends how far I get before I get too hungry I think :)

Wellington has been lovely, it is always hard working away from home but the freedom is great and running has been a wonderful way to see the city! The run tomorrow is all around the point and some bays and the scenery is spectacular. There are huge, gorgeous houses on the hills and heaps of little cafes and restaurants beside the water. I am really looking forward to getting out there tomorrow.

I have my first sprint distance triathlon next Saturday evening, hopefully Ellie80, Wildthing and Tiger Angel will be there also. NTR has a photography course that day so he will probably miss my event which is sad but I am trying to lock in my parents for some moral support on the day. They have not watched me run or compete in sport for over 10 years so it should be a great evening.

Hoping to finish up work here on Tuesday and head home Wedenesday instead of Friday as originally planned. I miss home, Basil (our dog), NTR, the kids and my family. Travelling for work is great for a day or two but it gets pretty lonely. I am trying to use the time to relax, exercise and get myself organised for the next few months at work, but it's hard not to get down when you need a hug and can't get one!

Plan for this week is as follows:

Sunday - long run and swim
Monday - hills
Tuesday - short jog and swim
Wednesday - home!!!!
Thursday - AM swim
Friday - spin
Saturday - triathlon
Sunday - Macaroni and cheese and movies :)

This semester I have uni on Thursdays so can't make it back to run club but I will have to head down next Monday, I found it so helpful when I was going regularly. Saturday will also be my last triathlon for the season. I think I am going to join the Hills triathlon club so I can train during winter and get ready for the next season of sprint tris in September. It seems like a long time away but I know September will be here before I know it and I want to be as prepared as I can be for next season.

Well it is time for bed, will update tomorrow on how the run went and what gifts I have found to bring home - I do love to shop!!

And babe, it is only bad if you miss the runs more than the hugs :) I will be back soon and you will be back on track with your preparations as I resume my housekeeping and babysitting duties!

feeling sick, but thinking of cities marathon....(by NTR)

Another week has passed, and i am feeling pretty ordinary at the end of it...had today off with i guess is a cold, and i think I tipped the scales yesterday by doing a 6km run for Police Games. Did it in a modest 29:xx, and got a medal for coming first, in my category of one! Nice medal though, my kids are impressed :-) There were atleast 5 CR's there - active and dormant members, who used to contribute when CR was "good"? Each to their own... I get lots of value out it, and hope sometimes i put a little back too.


Slept for 3 hours on the lounge today - woke up to the phone ringing, but must have been in a deep level 5 sleep, as it took about an hour to wake up fully from it!

I had a good chat to Mark Gibson yesterday from Blacktown Council who organises much of the Cities Marathon. I am thinking seriously in entering ( assuming i pull up from Canberra OK ) for a few reasons:

1. It is a local run - it finishes about 2km from home, and goes within 400metre of my house
2. i have run about 10km of the track a few times already
3. i can easily train on the track ( m7 )
4. last year there were only 107 ( i think ) entrants. No, i don't think that improves my chances of winning at all, but i do think the event warrants more support then that
5. the price is great - $50 entry fee, no accommodation fees, air tickets etc.
   

Apparently he has a few hassles with the website getting updated, but all other plans are on track for it.

Mouse is in NZ for work for 2 weeks - i wish she was back home for a hug!! Not only do i miss her company, but miss being able to get out for a night time run! ( is that bad??? )

...the lure of lunch time and handball ( by NTR)

Its Saturday night, and I am getting my gear ready for SMC tomorrow - 25km, hopefully all at my target marathon pace - see what happens.

Had two runs this week - hill rep ( not reps ) and a fast run. Both were tough. The hills/asthma got me, and I only did one run up the hill for reps, and bailed. :-( Then on Friday, I was planning to go to Parramatta Park Runners, and just as I was leaving, got a call that my daughter was in the school sick bay with a sore tooth, so i ditched the parra park, and raced to school. I get there, and find out that the tooth was cured by some kind words and the lure of lunch time and handball!! ( that would still work for me too!! )

So i did an out and back the same distance as parra park but on the M7 at 1:30pm - it was hot and humid, i walked stacks, but still managed a reasonable time of 44.41.

Honestly, some weeks are just tough to run in, and this felt like one of them. I think i need to look at my sleep and diet...stress at work has not helped either i guess... Mouse had personal training this morning - she is so good at sticking her plans lately, its great!! She is going out tonight though, but still plans to be at SMC for the 10km tomorrow....

Too much swimming

I missed RunClub last night. So much for my eventual return, but dinner with nite_time_runner was too good to pass up. We were finally able to eat dinner together at the same time (albeit not til 8:30pm!!) so I went straight home and enjoyed that whilst watching episodes 7-10 of Heroes. I stopped at 10 as we only have episodes 11 and 12 to go and I don't want the withdrawals of waiting for more to come from our friends.

So, after feeling a little guilty for not runnign last night, I woke this morning way to early and stumbled to the car to drive to Baulkham Hills pool to meet my friend Bec for laps. Bec was a bit late so I jumped in a did 400m easy to warm up. I decided today I was going to do some fast stuff first, then a long swim, then some more fast stuff to finish. I did 2 x 100m fast with 30sec recovery then swam 1km pretty steady and finished with another 2 x 100m fast, again with 30sec recovery. Funny but I actually felt better doing the last 100m fast (maybe because I knew it was the last one!) than I did doing the first one. All in all a good morning and a great way to start my Friday.

Lucky I swam this morning as today is an eating day. I have a work lunch and then a work dinner with drinks - yum, free food is the best!! I even bought clothes to change into for this evening including my gorgeous silver stillettos which are impossible to walk in but look fabulous. They seem to end up in my hands by the end of the night every time I go out but they are so gorgeous they are worth the pain :)

Tomorrow should be a long ride with Bec and her boyfriend Ian (I still think it is hilarious we both have partners called Ian, makes for funny conversations) but depending on how good the sangria is at the spanish restaurant this evening will determine whether I ride or not... At the very least a ride/run combo will be completed by dinner time tomorrow.

1st post and triathlon update

Well... Here we are, after almost 2 years of running we have decided to start our own blog. 1st up on the Agenda is the Women's triathlon I (mouse) went in at Penrith yesterday.

We arrived at about 6:30am, not that early compared to other early starts but I still managed to nap on the way (and no, I was not the driver yesterday!!). I saw Tiger Angel whilst registering which was lovely and eased my nerves a tad. Registration was easy and I pretty pleased to see I got a t-shirt and a towel chamois thing for my entry fee. I was also feeling very pelased with myself having bought a new outfit for triathlons. I have discovered the Speedo "Swym" range and they rock - my light blue ensemble was just the thing to get me motivated! I also noticed sfGnome had his camera out, I was quite happy he had captured my outfit's first outing.

Onto the more serious race stuff... I was 7th out of the water, 14th finishing the ride and 21st finishing the run. As nite_time_runner pointed out, I lost 7 places in each leg - at least I am consistent! I felt fine when I finished and still had a lot left in the tank this time so I definitely need to step it up. Main outcome is I need to work on my riding and running, swiming is coming along nicely with very little training but I know I can also knock at least a minute or so off that easily once I start more serious squad training. Final time was 43:57 which was a minute quicker than last month.

All in all it was a great day and the macaroni and cheese nite_time_runner and I had for lunch afterwards was fabulous.