Spinach: the multi-purpose food

Good for eating AND good for applying to sore lower legs as an improvised ice-pack!

I have also decided that you can't say you are into running training until you have your first real chafing experience.

There aren't photos. I wouldn't do that to you.

Let's just say that I am in love with band-aids that can be cut to an appropriate size, and have also invested in some anti-chafe stuff.

More running

I ran over 26km on this four day weekend. I did one long run and two easy runs, and one of what was pretty much a pacing run.

The good news is that I'm getting faster. The bad news is that I'm still slow. I'm getting down to 6:30min per km, which is slow in the scheme of things but a lot faster for me. When I could run for 5km non-stop, I started in the high 7's. I could cut another 30 seconds off that for a few minutes, and hopefully I'll be at that point in a month or so when I get my fitness up and some more strength in my legs.

My aim for this year is to run a 10km race in under 1 hour. When I get to that point, I'll enter a half-marathon and see how it goes (after appropriate training, of course!).

I would love a pair of those awesome strong runners legs, with decent calf muscles. I have always had wimpy legs. Maybe Santa will have brought me a pair by Christmas this year. ;)

Twilight 10k

I ran my first proper 10k on Sunday night. It was the Twilight Running Festival (nothing to do with sparkly vampire-wannabes) and was along the river as the sun set.

It was humid but pleasant (mid-20s), and the atmosphere was amazing. There were teams manning the water stations and cheering everybody on, and they all wore costumes.

People whose homes were along the route put their chairs out on their front lawns to watch and cheer.

Some nice family put a sprinkler onto the road so that runners in both directions were sprayed and cooled down. The run was a circuit, and I am still quite slow, so at the end I was overtaken by the leaders of the half-marathon, who were running 21k rather than 10k. They absolutely fly along! I will never be that fast, but one day I won't be overtaken by the end of my race. ;)

The face finished on the athletics track under the stadium lights, and there were people milling around everywhere and cheering the finishers on. It was a wonderful feeling to be cheered by people who had finished the race and other supporters. I indulged in many fist-pumps as I did the final lap and when I crossed the finish line, I had both arms in the air.

I was so high and felt wonderful for hours afterwards. I had never run 10k before, even in training, so I didn't know if I could do it, but I managed it at the same pace that I do 5k, so I was ecstatic.

It is quite a funny thing. I gave up alcohol for Febfast, and haven't started again. I have taken up running and doing quite a few fun runs, and with the weight loss and feeling better in the mornings and more alert when I go out socially, I'm not inclined to start drinking again.

It is easy to say no to a drink when you have a big run the next morning or the morning after that.

Anyway, I am following a training plan courtesy of Run Coach on my iPhone, and am training to be at peak for the 10,000m at Doomben on the 6th of June on the same day as the Queensland Half Marathon. There are other races that I'll be doing before and after then, but that is the one I'll be aiming to improve my time.

After that, the next goal for improvement will be the Bridge to Brisbane on the 29th of August.

It is really nice to have found something that I am REALLY getting into that is healthy and gets me away from medicine. I'm loving it. :)

Clem7 Run

I ran my first 10k event today - well, I ran the second half because I spent the first half walking with Mr TGWTBS, but it is still a milestone for me. :)

It was extremely humid and we were running through a big tunnel underneath the main river in town, so the air wasn't great, but I am still proud of running the second half.

This is a new traffic tunnel beneath the river, and they opened it today for a fun run (10.4km, roughly) and an open day afterwards.

It seems a little backwards, doesn't it? Normally I would think that novice runners would run until they run out of steam and then walk most of the course. However, I spent the first half being social, as this was a special event that I pushed Mr TGWTBS to go in because I wanted us both to be able to say that we had walked the length of the new tunnel. When we got to the half-way mark, I felt really sweaty and warm, but I knew I had a lot more in me, so I kissed Mr TGWTBS goodbye and ran the rest of the way.

The conditions were quite punishing, so I have learned a few valuable lessons for the first time I enter my 'proper' first 10km, like bringing a little bum-bag with a bit of water in it and hydrating properly before the event. I didn't collapse like a LOT of other people (particularly in the last 2km, which were all uphill) but I was very dry and overheated by the finish.

Still, I am very happy to have taken part. :)

Devil's advocate

Is it wrong to want to crash-tackle a tiny female runner to the ground/trip her and sit on her (because I could do it) when she lapped me during a paced training session (because she could) so that I can strap a good 70 pounds of weight around her neck and see how bloody fast she could run then?

Sometimes I am not a very nice person. ;)