Monday 25th April - Anzac Day, middle of a very long weekend.  I had one of the best runs I've ever done this morning.  Not the fastest nor the furthest.  Just 70 min of easy jogging at 11km/ h around the outlying areas of Kingscote, Kangaroo Island.  I ran along the beach until I got to the estuary which was just one step too wide for me to leap, so doubled back a bit, then through the golf course to the road for a loop back towards the caravan park.  But even the scenery - 5 black swans serenely gliding by, a couple of pelicans, a stingray slowly sweeping by, the early morning sun rising on another glorious 'Adelaide' autumn day.  My soundtrack this morning was the podcast of a lecture that Gill Hicks gave in Adelaide this month.  What an ispirational woman.  Or perhaps more to the point, how she has handled her situation, how she has used it to redefine and strengthen her life is amazing.  I laughed and cried as I ran.  What she has been through is appalling.  What she has done since is amazing.  The honesty, the humour and the courage in her talk lifted me up.  I will listen again.  Thank you, Gill Hicks.  (click on the link and download it to your ipod and listen in the car, while walking or running sometime when you have 72 mins to listen.  It's worth it)

Tuesday - packing up, getting home, tidying up.  No training. 

Another good article on the hazards of sitting came up via facebook, though.  Here is the link.

Wednesday - I had 3 nieces to stay last night, so 6 kids aged 5 - 10 in the house.  I got up early to do my session - out the door by 5:30 and only Luca knew because he was already up!  No one else awake until after I returned.  So in the very dark, I did my cruise interval session for the morning - 3x 5mins at slightly below race pace (for these purposes, 4:30 min / km is race pace).  I still have trouble maintaining a really consistent speed but it was a good short session.  I must have looked a sight, iPhone in hand, occasionally trying to focus on the bright screen, or use the light from it to read my HR watch.  Just as well there were not many people around, and they couldn't see my face anyway!

Thursday - no training

Friday - Sprint session.  To fit it all in, I was up at 5.15, but because sunrise isn't until nearly 7 am, I had to find a nice straight bit of road to do my 200's and 600's on.  There tends to be an bit of a slope everywhere around here, so I ended up on the road behind the oval.  My 4x 200m were run downhill (of course!), and I did my first 600m there, then went to the track once it was a little less dark.  Sprint sessions are hard to start, but great to finish.  I was still buzzing several hours later, well into my work day.  Even did some stretching and foam roller work as recovery later in the day.  As an aside, although my knee doesn't like prolonged sitting (and therefore being flexed), it isn't waking me at night anymore.  Yay - all that stretching, hip ER exercises and massage is helping.

Saturday - no training, but a good stretch out in the Strong Core class at work

Sunday - Greenbelt Half Marathon.  Turns out, the first 3 km they had us running up stream before we crossed the river and started the downstream trip.  It was a blast!!  I started myself in the middle of the pack and spent most of the run overtaking people.  I decided to start out at a HR of 165 - 170, aiming for a finish somewhere in the 1.45 - 2 hr range, so around 5 min / km pace.  Fortunately, the speed work is paying off because that HR had me at 4.50 pace for most of it.  I made sure to maintain my stride length going uphill where most people really shortened up, so most of my passing was uphill.  Sometimes I was then passed on the high flat bits, and once I was passed going downhill which just reminded me not to shorten up on the downhill sections - you can end up holding back against the hill instead of taking the opportunity to kick out and lengthen the stride again.   

I went through the 10 km mark in just over 49 mins, significantly better than my 10 km time trial a month ago (50 mins 46), and my average pace at that time was still 4.52 mins/ km.  I felt a bit slow and heavy around the 15 km mark, but had decided that with 5 km to go, I would bring the HR up to 170 - 175.  With 3 km to go I was aiming to keep it up over 175.  I never found the wall, so I guess I m still working to easy on myself along the way.

I finished in under 1 hr 44 mins, still on 4.53 min / km pace so was very pleased and proud of myself.  But I still don't think I am aiming for a 3 hr 30 marathon - I just want to have fun on that day in November.

But the training is going really well for me, I am getting much faster and more comfortable and I can see how people get addicted to running.  It was fun today, pacing, passing, listening to some good music (and working out what needs to get dropped from my playlist - there are a few), getting a chill with some of my tunes (Pulp's 'This is Hardcore' is one of my alltime favourites and it came on with 3-4 km to go, just when I needed it, and around another couple of blokes I went).  Apparently, I was around the 20th woman to finish the event.  Very satisfied today :)