Sunrise

Yesterday I got to see the sunrise. I miss it during the week because I get home from my run before the sun is up.

5km Sri Chinmoy race

Today I did a 5km Sri Chinmoy race. I love these races, not just because they give you pancakes afterwards, but they have a small friendly crowd... and for the past 3 I have been to I have got a placing either outright or by age catagory :)

Today for the first time it was not my heart rate holding me back. This time my legs were ticking over as fast as they could and for the first time ever, they actually felt fatigued from hitting the ground so fast and hard and often (although of course my fast is many others' slow). This is a new breakthrough in my fitness levels. Recently I noticed my resting HR has dropped 8bpm from last year, my metabolism is on fire, and I am feeling fit to go hard for anything up to 25k.

So anyway, my time was 23:47 and I was 3rd in my age catagory.

I wore my Five Fingers and although I could feel a bit of strain in my achillies from yesterday, it felt good. As usual they brought interesting conversations after the race. I always tell everyone how great they are, but I don't even know if they are available in Melbourne yet so I don't think people can even check them out in any shops after my rave reviews.

Today was also the day of the Coburg 6hr track race. I really wanted to do this but it was just too hot for me to get any long runs in over summer. I could have run for 6hrs today if I wanted to, but it would have been tougher than it should and I wouldn't have gone as far as I would have liked... And it would be detrimental to my new found fitness levels while I recovered for a few weeks after.

I don't know what's next. The Coburg 24hr track race is in about 4 weeks but I don't think I'm ready for that. There could be a marathon in Marysville in May to get people back into the community after the bushfires. Otherwise there is the Sri Chinmoy festival in May. I really wanted to win a 5k there before I focus on 10k+ speed but that May festival would be a good chance to test my half marathon pace or even marathon - although the course might be a bit uninteresting to be out there for that long.

Exploring unmapped trails and 2 river crossings - great start to the weekend!

I had a great run this morning. I love exploring new places and love discovering new trails especially when they are close to home.

A CR member said it was possible to cross the Plenty River at the old pipeline and follow some trails and end up at Blue Lake. So I was now on a mission - to locate these trails and river crossings and have a good run! This is not marked on any map and I knew it would be hard to find but decided if I made it to Blue Lake via the roads, then I could look for the trails there and head towards the main Plenty River trail. I have seen mountain bikers there in the past so I knew there would be some good places to go.

Blue Lake is an old quarry site and on a nice day it is a lovely turquoise blue colour and you can swim in it. Today it was cloudy and the lake was green.

I saw some families of kangaroos, including a mum with a baby in her pouch. I also saw a few black wallabies. These creatures are strange. I think they are quite rare. I have never seen one hanging out with other wallabies and I think they look a little strange. They scare me. But fortunately I scare them more because they always hop away at lightning speed.

I ran part way around Blue Lake thinking there would be a trail and a river crossing on the other side of the lake. I have seen mountain bikers on the other side there in the past. There was nothing there except another scarey black wallaby so I ran back and followed another trail. I bumped into a couple of mountain bikers there so I knew I must be going the right way.

There were some short steep hills, some nice open grassland, and some scrubby areas too. It is great knowing this place is so close to my house and I don't have to drive to get there.

After a steep downhill I got to the river and the first river crossing. It was great - I knew I made it!

On the other side of the river there were so many trails going in all directions. It was fantastic. Of course, I knew I was only a few kms away from a housing estate so I kept to the trails that did not lead in that direction. I ended up near the old pipeline and there is a river crossing there which leads to the main Plenty River trail (and home). I have wanted to cross there from the main trail because I could see the trails on the other side but I had never got a close look until today. It really is a genuine crossing with steps leading down to the river. I can't believe I have run past there so many times and never looked closer until now.

So now I have future missions to explore all those trails between the pipeline and Blue Lake. I will have to see how long I can run in the trails without ending up in the housing estate.

Incidentally I had NO achillies pain AT ALL for the whole length of the run today even though I didn't even bother warming up. This is the first run since maybe June last year that I have had a whole run pain free. Although I feel it now afterwards, I am optimistic that I am finally getting over this pain.

I wore Nike Frees minus the insole today. They are sturdy on the trails but they are a pain because they collect a lot of rocks and get heavy in the mud and after getting wet. Once I am confident I am injury free, I will reward myself with some flats for the trails. The Adidas PR looks good to me. I am also looking forward to being able to increase frequecy of running in the Five Fingers again. I will be doing a 5k race in them tomorrow.

Mornington foreshore run

We spent this weekend in Mornington for some relaxation and laziness but of course I had to bring my running gear. So yesterday I went for a 10k tempo run along the foreshore.

There's a nice trail, like the Rat Run in Sandringham, in between the road and the beach. Fairly flat, nice gravel surface, and good for going fast.

After a warm up, startling a family of foxes, scrambling over some rocks, and getting my feet wet in high tide, I managed a fast finish which felt really good. I love it when hills don't get in the way of a good time!

Although it was overcast, the sky was clear and on the horizon the city sky line could be seen:

I know my photos look bad, but it's just my phone's camera. I'm sure my phone contract is up some time this year and can't wait to get a new phone - this time I'll pick one with a good camera, even if the phone itself looks ugly.

Stretch - it works!

Day after Tabata - my abs hurt from the sit ups! I did over 150 in total and didn't really notice it at the time. Now I notice it. I should have stretched after.

While out running this morning I think I figured out why my achillies is feeling better. I haven't done aerobics in a few weeks. Damn. I love aerobics. It's bad for me though.

Achillies and Tabata

My right achillies seems to be mysteriously getting a little better. I'm not sure if it's because I've taken out the insoles of the Nike Frees, or maybe I am stretching more than I think I am, or maybe my biomechanics are falling into place with weekly intervals in the Five Fingers. It has its sore moments, especially up hills, but it has felt about 50% better this week.

Yesterday I had to be somewhere at mid day and did not want to eat all the food was there so instead of my planned 30k I did 15k in the hope I wouldn't be so hungry during the day, and also with the plan of doing another 15k today. It didn't work. First morning in a week that I had a chance for a sleep in so I took it!

Instead I did a Tabata workout. The idea is you pick an exercise and do 20 sec HARD, 10 sec off x 8 (total = 4 mins). A Crossfit twist is you can count the number of reps or distance (depending on exercise) and the lowest number you get in a 20sec round is your score.

I chose to do situps, squats and pushups with 1 min rest between tabatas. For situps I scored 18, squats 13 and pushups - let's just say after round 4 I maxed out - and they were girly pushups too!

It was a great QUICK workout - 12 mins in total. My legs were shaking after the squats and my arms were shaking after the terrible pushup attempt. I will do some db arm exercises to build strength so I can work up to 8 rounds of pushups!

This form of exercise is great because you can apply the method to almost anything - sprints, cycle, row, lunges, plyometric lunges(!), db exercises, deadlifts, burpees - anything you can measure. This means your workout is limited only by your imagination and you can track your progress. It's a complete workout - you can do cardio and resistance at the same time - great if you favour one over the other so you can find something to enjoy about it. It's the ultimate fat burner. You feel great afterwards because although it is an intense burst of pain, it is over quickly but you still feel that great feeling of a good workout afterwards. Those 10 seconds rest are really short!

I will keep up Tabata workouts. I run in the mornings and no longer have any evenings free for an hour workout so to fit in something in under 20 mins is perfect.