Mosman Reversed

Sunday December 28 (LSD - 30km)
Glorious morning for a long slow distance run on one of my favourite courses, starting from Balmoral Beach. As we drove to the start, the view out towards Middle Harbour and the Heads was stunning.

Considering the weather prediction was originally for wet and rainy day – I was happy to see the pink of the early sunrise and it promised to be a great morning for running.

Planned to run 30 km with the option of short cuts if it turned ugly. Started with a group of about 18 runners at 6.00 am and ran with Robyn, Mike and Lee for most of the way for a total of 30kms. The scenery along the course provided a distraction from the discomfort especially towards the end.

Cool breeze at the start kept the humidity down but by half way the sun was out and I was glad for the shade provided by the trees in sections of the run. My longest road run for many weeks and except for an ugly few section around 15km I felt great most of the way. Pleased to finish with a cool dip in the ocean. Average pace of 6.15 min/km. Days like this make me feel great to be alive.

Misty Marsfield

Saturday December 27 - (Trail 12km)
Curious fog has rolled in early this morning. The air was still and humid even at 5.00 am when I was getting ready to leave. I woke up later then planned but still had time to take a picture of the earie but strangely beautiful morning light.

About 25 of us turned up at 6.00 to run the bush trails from Waterloo Park behind Macquarie University. What a discovery this area has been for me. It is in the middle of built up urban Sydney yet once you start on the trail you could be anywhere in the bush.

Ran with Brian most of the way discussing our various injuries and goals for the New Year. The humidity made the hills much harder to run than I remembered. Stopped a few times to regroup and make sure we did not get lost. Soaked and slightly exhausted got back to the car in a 1:17 for an average pace of 6.29min/km. Happy to have run and worked off part of the Christmas cake.

Running on empty

Coming close to a year end, it is surprising to see so many people out and about running on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. I did not feel compelled to run on these two days as I have developed flu like sneezes, sore legs and overall lethargy which I figured may have been brought on by the stress of Christmas. Making sure Christmas lunch goes well for family took its toll and I am enjoying a glass or three of French champagne. Now that the hurly burly of Christmas is over my thoughts again turn to the training program. Since the last post I have run in some new and interesting places.

Tuesday December 16 - Church Point Challenge (LSD 20 km)
Started predawn at 5.00 am with Mike and Stan from home, ran to Bayview, Church Point, Mona Vale and back home. The moon was still shining bright as I was lacing up my running shoes. I think I was up before the birds this morning. View from my porch this morning.

Great scenic run one where you are never too far from water. It is one of my favourites. I love getting to the Pittwater side with the moored boats and stunning houses such a contrast to the start - ocean beach and ordinary houses in my suburb. Ran 20km in 2 hours – developed sore shin which was too painful to put weight on towards the end.

Thursday December 18 – Rainbow Beach, Port Macquarie (Easy -9km)
Visiting family at Port Macquarie, ran with Mike to Rainbow Beach and back to the family farm. Great to run in a new place, although in sections of the run there was not much shoulder on the road. Quite scary with cars whizzing past. Obviously the local through road was designed for cars only. Rainbow Beach seems to stretch for miles and with so few people around early in the morning it looked stunning.

Easy run just to get out and stretch the legs. Loosened the shoe laces seemed to relieve the stress on the lower shin and I did not feel a thing. Great way to start the day. After the run we went blueberry picking, visited a winery and had a leisurely lunch at Lake Cathie. The weather turned nasty very suddenly and by the time we got back to the house you could barely see out of the car. Trees were down and power was out for a few hours.

Saturday December 20 – Quarry Road (Hills - 25 km)
Back home in Sydney for two loops of the Quarry Road at Hornsby. Tough hilly run which I also ran last week and the memory of the discomfort I felt was a bit daunting this morning. It was perfect conditions for running – cool and overcast. I felt terrific on the first lap and ran strong to the end. I am very pleased with the effort today - finished 15 minutes quicker then last week. The profile of the run makes the hills look very steep. Certainly felt steeper on the return of the 2nd lap.


Sunday December 21 – Dee Why Dash (LSD - 20km)
Another great day for running – cool morning and sunny by the time we finished. A group of about 10 runners set out from Dee Why Beach and by 7 km we were disassembled into smaller and smaller clusters. Finished running the last 5 km with Leonor on an average pace of 5.45min/km for the whole run. Very happy with the pace and how I felt throughout. The run was followed by a lovely breakfast with Matt and Brig at Dee Why.


Wednesday December 24 – North Head (21km)
Wow - what a great scenic course. Started at 5.30 am with Mike and Matt from Shelly Beach to North Head then out on the Manly to Seaforth trail. Found a trail around the Artillery School at North Head which takes you off the road. Incredible to have such stunning views across the harbour and yet you are in a natural bush setting. I did not run all the way to Seaforth Bridge – part of the way I turned around and came back. Certainly felt my glutes towards the end of this run. The swim in the ocean at Bower Street stairs was great at the end to cool the legs but pretty soon I was shivering and could not get warm for ages. Food preparation for family Christmas for the rest of the day.

Farewell- a great runner

This week my running life has been a bit blue since the news on Monday that Australia’s premier female distance runner has died from breast cancer. Kerryn McCann has died at age 41 only 14 months after giving birth to a son and only two years after thrilling the nation with a gutsy performance in the Commonwealth games marathon in Melbourne.

Despite being a national representative she was also an enthusiastic participant in many fun runs and a great ambassador for the sport of running. She was an inspiration to many. As a survivor of this terrible disease I feel lucky to have the gift of life. Being awake in the quite of the predawn and seeing the sunrise most mornings is a reminder that I am alive for one more day.

Determined to get out and make the most of my running life, this week has been my second week of stamina training. I managed to run on five out of seven days for a total of 83 km. I am spoilt for choice of fantastic scenic courses to run on. The weather has been unseasonal and cold all week with one hot humid day on Saturday. The mist rising over the ocean early on Saturday looked beautiful.

Tuesday 9 December ran 10 km including 2 x 2.5 km tempo run at a pace of 4.40 min /km. Wednesday ran 21km over hills at Newport at an average pace of 6.45 min/km. Thursday a 7 km fartlek to Narrabeen followed on Friday by 24 km hilly trail run on the Quarry Road track at Hornsby with Mike. We don’t often run together so it was nice to get out and run this course together in the holidays. It rained throughout the run and was cold towards the end. Rewarded by a lovely coffee and cinnamon bun at Patterson’s at St Ives on the way home. Saturday was a Christmas gym class with Circuit and Pilates for 2 hours. Sunday was the last formal club run for the year, 20 km on the Bay run in Sydney’s inner west.

Ran most of the way with Al, who normally runs at a much quicker pace. The pace was around my marathon pace and it helped to have a quicker runner pacing you to the finish. I feel like I am getting stronger and am reveling in the freedom I feel in my life and my running at the moment.

Brutal But Beautiful

All of my runs this week, but particularly Otford to Bundeena, reminded me of a quote I read in an article about a Norwegian runner Tor Aanensens “Train in a place where the land is brutal but beautiful. The terrain strengthens your heart and legs. The place strengthens your soul. You’ll need both to win”. From "Tor Aanensen - From beginner to world champ in 25 years”.

Although I will never win any running races, I love running, enjoy feeling fit and healthy. I do not want to take my health for granted. I want to create a store of memories of running in beautiful places to strengthen my soul and sustain me should I ever again be in a position where I need more than physical strength to endure what life throws at me.

I ran five out of seven days this week for a total of 78 kilometres, running mainly coastal runs at Bayview, Newport, Mona Vale and Otford, finishing the week with a road run around Sydney’s northern harbourside suburbs.

Tuesday, December 2 2008 (Physio)
Every time I have to see the physiotherapist I dread that she would tell me that I have to stop running. Fortunately the visit on Tuesday confirmed that I was on the mend that it was only the ramping up in running distance that was beginning to expose my muscle imbalance and hence pain in the hip. With the exercises I have been given I feel that I am getting on top of the problem. The focus of my running program at this stage is building stamina. So I have focused on hills and lots of them this week.

Wednesday December 3, 2008
On Wednesday morning I ran 15 km with a small 3 kg pack and included hill repetitions on Cabbage Tree Road, Bayview. It was a warm day with high humidity and at the end of the run I was rewarded by a cooling swim in the ocean. In the evening Iwent to the gym did a spin class, a gravity machine class and Pilates. Was stuffed at the end of the day, crawled home ate and fell into an uneasy sleep.


Thursday, December4 2008
Thursday morning ran 7 km up Myola Rd, Newport. Had planned to run about 10 km but felt tired so cut the run short. On Friday a short 5km recovery run at an easy pace to refresh the legs for Saturdays' adventure.

Saturday, December 6 2008

After much anticipation I finally got to run the Otford to Bundeena trail run with 25 others from my running club. The trail should be renamed to B3 (Brutal but Beautiful)! It had everything – challenging terrain, stunning scenery and one of the hottest days we have had for some time. Temperatures got to 350 C on the day. The trail traverses over mostly exposed coastal tracks with little shelter from the sun. The Otford to Bundeena trail is located inside Sydney’s oldest National Park with limited vehicle access to only a few of the beaches we passed.

I felt comfortable and ran reasonably well for 20 km in just under 3 hours. Despite carrying 2 litres of water, I ran out of water with about 6 km to go. I was reduced to walking and relying on conversation with runners around me to distract me from the rising waves of nausea, parched mouth and the searing heat. This last 6 km section took about 50 minutes walking . I knew I would make it; I just had to limit the damage. Saw a few runners around me throwing up and in acute distress at the finish. With a cold can of coke and soak in the ocean at the finish, the endorphins started to kick in and the pain of the run started receding.



Sunday, December 7 2008
Recovered well from Saturdays run and decided to run again on Sunday. Ran a long slow distance pace run over 25km around Middle Harbour. Cooler day then yesterday but still very humid. Undulating terrain with a few challenging hills put my now wide awake glutes to the test. The run covers some beautiful parts of Sydney’s lower north shore with stunning harbourside mansions. Crossing the Spit Bridge and looking down I was struck by how clear the harbour water was this morning. Great scenery combined with chatting with my running companions made the two and half hours fly by. Although I have to admit I was glad when we finished.

Summer days are made for running

Sunrise for the first day of summer, taken from my back porch. After a long cold winter which always makes me depressed and recovering from a second stress fracture in two years I am finally back running.

I have just had the best week of running for the year. A total of 75km over trails and roads. To celebrate a significant milestone in my life I have entered the Paris Marathon next year in April and this blog is a record of my running adventures.