Street-O @ Camberwell Central

Not Happy Jan.

Very long C Course - 9.0 kms. And given that C course is supposed to be ~6kms, I really can't see where I could save 3kms in my route choice. The As and Bs said their courses were long too - it's as though the course setter set it for a normal scale of 1:10,000 when this particular map is 1:12,000.

Ankle held out okay, although the right knee was complaining (hilly course), and my energy levels were very saggy. I actually got the sugar shakes when I got back in, and it took a muesli bar and most of my bottle of water to feel human again.

Average pace 7:09 m/km, average heartrate 161 bpm.



Bit worried about my knee.

Weary Tuesday

Weary womble this morning. 4.2 kms. No residual Bad Bits from last night's run apart from general tiredness. As I was getting into bed last night though, I noticed that my ankle had turned into a ping pong ball. So I wore my neoprene compression bandage overnight, and this morning it was back to normal.

Also forgot to mention yesterday's womble of 4.7 kms. Slight knee tenderness on downhill bits, but again, everything behaving okay.

Street-O @ Endeavour Hills

Very Hill-O

Up and Down-O

Legs of Jell-O

Out of Puff-O

Hard Work-O

Sore Legs-O

Ankle Okay-O :-)

Took the world's worst route choice for 6.3 kms. Average heartrate 158 bpm, max 186 bpm! Average pace 7:42 m/km, max 4:22 m/km. Lucky it doesn't record minimums.

Lazy Sunday

Slept in, and did nothing more energetic than walk to the shops to buy a Sunday paper and a bunch of yummy fruit and some Nestle chocolate (on special). Yum. :-)

Weekly wrapup

Weight	74.3 kgs ▲
Walking	16.0 kms
Running	20.4 kms
Weights	2

LvSR @ Sherbrooke Forest (DRNP)

Ventured back to the scene of both ankle injuries, wearing my "unlucky" running tights, compression stocking on the left ankle, ankle braces on both feet, and with the right knee taped. Thus armed, I planned a couple of loops from Grants Picnic Ground - one loop down to Micawber Tavern and back up Coles Ridge, and a second loop down Lyrebird Walk and Neuman Track. The Gizmo turned into an expensive wristwatch as soon as I was under the tree cover, but my string measurement showed that I covered 10.0 kms.

Perfect weather for a long run - cool, maybe 16 degrees, and overcast.

Wore the HRM, with the aim of keeping my heartrate within Zone 3 - which I mostly achieved with an average of 147 bpm (zone 3.7), and a max of 167 (4.7).

Probably ran (shuffled) about 80% of the way, walking up the steep un-runable bits, and one long walking break on one long uphill slope. Running VERY SLOW, but was comfortable, and the only ache came from my shins on the first long downhill. And I've figured why my inner thighs were sore - because I'm running so much slower than before, my legs aren't moving as much. So my strides cover a much shorter range of motion, which doesn't let the muscles stretch out. Towards the end of the run, I was a bit achy at the top of the legs, and really wanted to stretch out and go for it - even though it was an uphill section!

Soon.

Went for a remedial massage at my old gym this morning (before the above run), and got yet another new person. This one didn't really understand "sports" massage, and the only remedy she exacted was to lighten my wallet. So I ended up covered in oil (including in my hair - ugh, glad I didn't wash it last night like I'd planned to), smelling nice, but no better off than I was before. I might try the sports clinic where my physio hangs out - I'm pretty sure they have a massage therapist who should be able to do me a "butt and back" massage.

Threw some weights around last while watching The Biggest Loser. I don't generally like reality shows, but ones like this are good motivators!

rest dayz

Had trouble getting out of bed this morning, so skipped the morning walk for the second day in a row. Did a short weights workout last night, while watching the gymnastics and then some kid who wants to be a Line Dancing star. Guess I should have gone to bed earlier and saved myself the achy breaky heart...

Ankle was swollen last night too, and didn't want to stretch out. Possibly because I spend about 3 hours yesterday in boring unproductive meetings in boring uncomfortable chairs with no opportunity to move around and keep the blood flowing.

Park-O @ Yarra Bend

Stayed entirely within Yarra Bend Park, so the terrain was a mixture of hard-packed paths, grass, and lumpy stuff (taken carefully, so as not to upset the ankle). Started off slowly again, but after the first few controls, I had warmed up, and the aches went away.

I wore the HRM, and you can see from the half-way point in the graph below where I stopped watching my heart rate, and started watching the clock! Average HR for the run was 164 bpm, peaked at 181; average pace (including stops and walks) was 7:13 m/km.

5.64 kms in 40 minutes.



Was "sharing" my aches (and running progress) with Eric and Robyn afterwards, when Eric suggested a bath to ease my sore quads and dodgy knee ligaments, and Robyn suggested Radox. So I did... Had a lovely soak for half an hour. :-)

Tomorrow will be a REST DAY.

Wobbly Wednesday

Walked 5.0 kms this morning. Wore the HRM, and had trouble getting it out of Zone 1! Didn't have the energy to do anything too "brisk".

I'm full of achy bits - I presume as a result of Monday's trot:

• twingey right knee (last appeared in March); so it's taped already for tonight's "run". It's not really knee pain though... it's more like nerve pain when I swing my lower leg sideways, swivelling from the knee (does that make sense?);
• sore inside thigh muscles, like I've been doing side splits or something. This one's got me - I have no idea what's caused this (no, nothing kinky happening in the bedroom), and I've never had it before (unless I've been doing side splits);
• but the ankle's okay. :D

The knee's a bit of a worry, but it's a score event tonight (by time, not distance), so I'll go out for a 45 minute C course and see what happens.

oh, and had a d'oh moment last night. I was playing with the Gizmo through the Training Center (telling it my new Max HR) when I dragged the screen to a larger size... and noticed the graph appear at the bottom of my runs (the top window took up the whole space). Now, I've always known the graph was there - because I also have it installed at work. But the one at work is the beta version (since removed from the Garmin website), and the one at home is the version that came with the toy. I always assumed the graph was part of the beta version only. *slaps forehead*

Thoughts on heartrate training

Following on from this thread on heartrate training: for a while now, I've been meaning to wear the HRM on my morning walks, to see what HR a "brisk walk" generates. I then want to keep the same level on a "slow run"... so, in theory, I can continue slow running for as long as I can continue brisk walking.

Hitting the web for a Max HR for my age and gender (220 - age doesn't work for me), I found this one: 205 - 1/2 age plus 5 if female = 191. This site says to add 5 to 10 beats if elite or accomplished runner, so I'll keep that in mind for when I become an "accomplished runner"... :-)

I also need to "teach" the Gizmo what my Max HR is. I used the HRM a bit when I first got it, but I've since upgraded the software, which zapped all my history.

Tomorrow, if I remember.

Tired Tuesday

Morning plod took longer than expected - so I guess last night's run hadn't left my legs yet. 5.8 kms (in 68 minutes).

Just tired though, no pain and no swelling, so all is well in the world.

Street-O @ Glenfern *Run*

I RAN! I ran I ran I ran... ha ha ha. I'M BACK. *huge grin*

Short for a C Course - 4.7 kms - and it was all over in 36 minutes (average moving pace 7.36/km), but I managed to run the majority of it, even up that nasty hill, heh heh.

My goal was to run low and smooth, to keep the pounding to a minimum. Wore the compression stocking and the ankle brace, and the ankle never even twitched. The foot held out okay too - a bit uncertain at the start, but no pain, and no noticable swelling an hour and a half later as I write this. Tomorrow will tell the full story though.

Also went out for an hour's walk this morning for 5.1 kms. Very chilly 6.4 degrees.

In denial

So there I was, Friday night, sitting on the couch watching TV, when I notice that my left ankle is very swollen. Huh? What? How? Nooooooooo... no no no!

So the compression stocking is back on, and the swelling has gone back to "normal."

I will be running soon.

SATURDAY: long walk around Seville, taking in the Chandler Road loop plus the Howard Rd deviation back to Warburton Hwy. 7.8 kms.

SUNDAY: drove into Mooroolbark Heights to set a Street-O course for next month. Walked three separate sections looking for cool places to hide controls. 7.6 kms in total.

Weight	73.2 kgs
Walking	37.1 kms

Street-O @ Mt Eagle

After last night's "feel good" event, I decided to do another Thursday (northern) event. We all got a bit of a shock when the A3(!) maps were handed out. They're normally A4, and the scale hadn't changed... fortunately only the middle part of the map had been used, so just a cumbersome waste of paper.

Did the equivalent of a C course again. 6.0 kms. Came in with 40 seconds to spare. :-)

Foot seems a bit swollen, but maybe just because of the heat. Couldn't be bothered going for another little run - no energy, and I've developed a blister on my right/other heel. I never get blisters! Not on my feet anyway. Maybe my socks are too worn. Maybe too much walking in my running shoes.

Can't wait to start running!


Lots of dark alleyways and narrow walkthroughs. A fascinating corner of suburbia.

Does anyone know how to nudge Google Earth back onto the tracks? I wasn't really walking through houses and snake-infested grass.

Street-O @ Wattle Park

I feel so much better after this. It's amazing what a brisk walk will do for you! On my way to the event, all I really wanted to do was to go home and crawl into bed. Afterwards, I felt almost normal!!

5.7 kms. Ran out of controls, and came in 5 minutes early. Average pace 9.51 min/km. I wasn't pushing it at all - just walking at a comfortable, albeit "brisk" pace.

I even went for a little run after I finished - just to the toilets and back - to see how the foot felt. The ankle is fine - the foot is still sore. There is some swelling deep within the joint, and this is what hurts when I put more than my bodyweight on it.

However, it looks good for an attempt at C course on Monday. I actually did the equivalent of a C course tonight - 11 controls. So I know the distance is do-able, even if I have to walk lots.

Saw paulc in his CR cap in the crowd at the beginning, and saw a motorbike heading off as I came in. Was that you, Paul? Silver helmet. I didn't recognise the bike - but it was low and it purred. :-)

Wednesday

Still feeling very flat. The drugs combination of sudafed/telfast appears to be holding the worst of my symptoms at bay, although my nose is still congested. Didn't do anything much last night: did a bit of sewing, a bit of bird watching, a bit of cat chasing, and a bit of tele watching (CSI was a repeat). In bed before 9:30pm. Slept like crap - woke up at 2am, and stayed awake until 5ish. Then slept through til 7:30am. Cold: ~6 degrees. Hurry up and get better.

Tuesday

Where do birds go when it rains? Most birds seem to find a dry tree or something, but the very wet, bedraggled pair of galahs on my deck this morning were a sorry sight.

I opted out of my morning walk. It was still raining, and I woke up with a cold. My nose is all stuffed up, and my throat is still sore.

All winter, I didn't get so much as a sniffle, and now my body's defenses have gone haywire because some stupid plant is flowering somewhere. Ugh.

Apparently, I'm not alone though. When I came in early at Street-O last night and made my excuses, several of the others mentioned that they'd been sneezing a lot and had scratchy throats too. Great, but I'm kinda over it. I'd like my body back thanks. By the time I got home, my nose was out of control and my whole face was itchy. And my arsenal of drugs wasn't working.

Street-O @ Rowville Lakes. 5.1 kms.

Had a dentist's appointment this morning to replace a couple of fillings (one of which had chipped). I was tossing up whether to postpone or not, given my current unpleasant state. But it's amazing how the body reacts when it has something more interesting to stress over. My nose was fine, and the only tingling on my face is the anethestic wearing off.

I have the morning off work, so we'll see how it behaves this afternoon. I have something new to go to tonight, but I might skip it until next week if this hayfever/cold doesn't subside.

Introspection

I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't lose any weight last week. If I'm walking off 900 calories (with I think is overrated, but never mind) on any particular day, then that's... 900 calories at 9 calories per gram of fat... 100 grams of fat, right? So why aren't I 100g lighter?


And... *laughs* ... this injury has finally made me take notice of what I eat - specifically how much JUNK I eat. My diet has been a LOT better in the last 7 weeks. Oh, except for right now where I'm eating a Boost bar because I feel ratshit with hayfever. Have just taken a sudafed on top of the telfast I took this morning. You're probably not meant to mix the two, but right now I don't care. I just want to chop my nose off. Would look prettier than the red mess it's turning into.

Mondayitis

Major hayfever attack on Sunday night (same as last Sunday - coincidence?) which didn't respond to drugs. Then woke up at 3am this morning with a really sore throat. Urgh. No better at 7am when I went for my walk. 5 kms. 8 degrees. brrr.

Oh, and then the bloody car wouldn't start. Again. grrrr. Fortunately this time, my wonderful mechanical neighbour got it started with his superpowered battery. The car obviously doesn't like being started (yesterday), driven for about 30 seconds (to move it out of the way), then stopped. Something electrical perhaps...?

Weekend Wrap

FRIDAY: our work Xmas party. A cocktail party at the Rialto, with live band, free booze, bad finger food, and a dance floor.

My ankle held out perfectly in my 2" heels. I'm very impressed with it - it feels so strong, even though I was being carefull on the dance floor. It's currently at the 7-week mark, and I think I'll start some slow runs at 8 weeks (shhh, don't tell Andrew).

Little black dress: $130
Hairdressing: $50
The look on people's faces when they recognised me: priceless


sorry about the focus. It's hard to take pictures in the mirror!

SATURDAY: moved rocks.

SUNDAY: dug out a small corner of the garden (where the rocks were), and finished the last of the mulch. Short walk around Seville. 3.4 kms.


I'd moved this feeder to the deck, and the lorikeets were letting me come within 1m!

Oh, and I am winning the battle with the neighbour's cat. Turn the garden tap to "Nuke", dial the trigger attachment to "Jet", and from the deck, I can reach the far corner of the garden. Nyah, nyah, nyah...

Weight	73.2 kgs
Walking	37.2 kms

Street-O @ La Trobe University

After deciding that I needed to stay in bed for a bit longer this morning, I thought I'd go to Street-O tonight to make up for it.

The La Trobe map is always "interesting." It's a love/hate relationship really - fantastic map and area, a real bitch to navigate in! Had to abandon my hunt for control #8 after I took a short cut (hah hah) and wasn't exactly sure where I popped out. And with only 5 minutes to get back, I didn't have the luxury of hunting around for it. Raining off and on all evening, and fairly chilly.

5.7 kms.

Taking it a bit easier to let the ankle recover from the last few efforts. I need it in tip-top condition for tomorrow night.


nice to finally get a map that's within the hi-res part of Google's Earth.

Street-O @ Ringwood Wilds

oh, oh. I've become a Competitive Power Walker, lol. Nothing casual about this stroll in the wilds. 6.6 kms, average pace 9.17 min/km.

11.9 kms for the day, 952 calories.

Wednesday wobble

Problems getting out of bed this morning. Eventually stumbled out the door and plodded around for 5.3 kms.

I went down a dead-end road that looked like it might join up with another dead-end road. It did, but the houses along this road are amazing. At the "good" end of the street are houses with huge cottage-style gardens, meticulously kept, and really stunning to look at. And as you get towards the rough end of the street, the houses get more and more derelict, until you get to the last one - sitting on probably a couple of acres of prime real estate, with a hillbilly-style ramshackle patched weatherboard house, a barn at a crazy angle, and about a dozen vehicles ("cars" is too polite a term) in various states of disintegration. I have to confess to just staring at all this for a few minutes before moving on.

And then there was the late-middle-aged woman on the Warby Trail, with a late-middle-aged german shepherd plodding quietly by her side. She started talking to me when we were about 10 metres apart, and I didn't get away from her for about 5 minutes! Is it going to rain today, did you hear about the raids in Sydney, shocking, how can people think like that, they view women as objects/slaves, don't like the West because women are equals, and so on and on and on... I guess she was an active feminist in her youth, *shrug*, now she's probably just lonely.

mud fingers

I'm testing my willpower. I'm sitting at my desk at work, and I have half a chocolate mud finger in front of me. How long can I hold out before I eat it...? ha ha.

Walkies this morning: 4.3 kms. Slight drizzle. I ran a few steps across Warburton Hwy this morning (damn traffic), and IT DIDN'T HURT quite as much as it did the last time I tried it.

Physio Andrew says that the pain is coming from the residual swelling deep within the joint - so I'm not doing anything bad to my ligaments, and the only reason that I'm not allowed to run yet is because my balance isn't good enough. Oh, and the reason that my balance is shot is because I tore all the nerves along with the ligament, and it's the nerves that give you the sense of where you are in space (ie, they tell you to land on the bottom of your foot, not your side, for eg). And nerves don't regrow once you've cut them, you have to grow new ones. Hence the balancing act to train the new nerves in what to do.

Street-O @ Clarinda Circuit

am: walkies - 5.3 kms

pm: massive powerwalking PB at Street-O: 6.5 kms, and back with 20 seconds to spare. Raining at start, and included a toilet stop near control #9 - so thoughtful of Steve to include conveniences on our route! AND... a single-digit average pace (9.45 min/km).

11.8 kms for the day (977 calories). WOW!

Gallery-O @ Flinders

What? I hear you ask. Well, "Gallery-O" is an excuse to travel to Flinders to visit the art galleries. The "O" part is an informal Metrogaine/Street-O set by Judy on a Melways map. Followed by lunch at the Bakehouse Cafe.

The walk was good. It was Q&A style, so no one had to put out any controls. I did 5.2 kms, and the ankle was happy the whole way around.

By lunchtime though, it was all starting to unravel. I had a slight (dehydration?) headache, which didn't help my mood much; and after I'd had my sandwich, I developed a clogged throat feeling that I get sometimes when I've eaten something my body doesn't agree with. It feels like a huge blob of something stuck in my throat, yet drinking fluids doesn't do anything to "push it down". So opted out of gallery-hopping and drove home. Flopped onto the bed for a 90-minute nana nap, then had a massive hayfever attack. Really explosive sneezes, and a nose that stuffed itself as soon as I'd blown it. It eventually settled after bombing it with various drugs. But I feel wrung out, and completely incapable of doing anything more energetic than veging out on the couch.

weekly wrap:

Weight	73.2 kgs ▼
Walking	23.4 kms

Physio Visit #4

We have attachment! Andrew tells me that the 3rd ligament is now nicely attached back onto the bone where it should be. He's also happy about the occasional puffball effect on those hot summer nights. He's not so happy, though, about my shocking stand-on-one-foot-with-eyes-closed performance this morning. My goal is to stand on one foot, on a cushion, with my eyes closed, for 30 seconds. HAH. My few attempts at this feat (feet?) without the cushion and with eyes open have highlighted how much leg strength I've lost over the last 6 weeks. I stand on one leg until my quad screams enough, then I swap legs.

Then spent a productive afternoon in the garden. I finished forking over the last of the weeds, then (after lunch and a nana nap) went for a walk past the local shops. I'd noticed the Seville garden centre was still open, so I called in to order 3 cubic meters of mulch. Would I like it delivered today? Sure! So I walked straight back home again to lay out a tarp on the front lawn. Half an hour later, I was shovelling mulch onto the garden. I'd done about 3/4 of it, getting more and more tired with each barrowload, when I stumbled and landed on my bum. And called it a day.

Friday walkies

Thurs pm: dug dirt for an hour

Fri am: walkies. 4.5 kms

It occurred to me that I've been making too many excuses about why I shoudn't go for walks in the morning. There is no good reason why I can't walk the morning after a Street-O walk/run - I can cut it short(er) if required, but the ankle is a lot happier in the morning coolness than it is in 30 degree temperatures after work.

I'd bought a new bird feeder a while ago for the sunflower seeds. It took the birds a while to figure it out, but the lorikeets have taken to it with enthusiasm.

Street-O @ Bellbird Dell

It must be the heat that's making my foot swell (well, d'uh. *rolls eyes*). I'd worn sandals again to work, but also wore the compression stocking underneath - trying not to look too dorky.
:-)

At lunchtime, I gave the foot a careful rubdown - no swelling. By 6pm though, it was swelling a bit. By 7pm, it was decidedly puffy between the top of my running shoe and the strap of the ankle brace.

Not as sore as Monday, but I still came in early again, for 4.0 kms. Very hot: ~30 degrees.

Horse race holiday

Woke up far too early, looked at the fog outside (no birds), and thought no way is it going to reach the expected temperature. At 4 o'clock, it was 34 degrees on my deck, and 35% humidity. Spent most of the day on the deck chair reading (resting foot!).

Headed out the door at 5pm for a "long, slow, walk" I was out for 70 minutes, and covered around 3.5 kms. Including photo stops.