Sunday, June 24, 2007

Wellington 10km race- 2nd women home

Well last weekend my coach decided that I should run the Wellington 10km race this weekend. I had a pretty light week of training as it was a recovery week and I had been experiencing some foot trouble so I really wasn't sure how it would go. I bought a new pair of running shoes on Friday to race in as my old ones were looking a bit worn so I was hoping that this would minimise any foot discomfort that I had been getting.

I woke up on race morning to totally awful gusty north-westerly winds which was always going to make the run tough going, especially on the return leg.

The course is an out an back course from the Wellington Stadium, around the bays with the turnaround about 300m past point jerningham.

I started the race a bit too fast, doing my first km in 3.39! But I slowed down and settled into a nice rhythm not long after that! I ran the first 5km in 19.40 and then hit the full force of the wind on the return leg! So the second half was a bit slower! I came home in 40.52 which is a personal best for me by 50 seconds which is cool.

The other good news is that I came second women overall to Sarah Christie and second in my age group (18 - 34). I came away with $150 of shoe clinic gift vouchers and a voucher for a pair of Thorlos socks (worth $32.50) for the days efforts. So all in all a good days work! Hmm I only just bought a pair of shoes on friday! I have decided that I am going to use my prize money for a pair of racing flats (lighter weight shoes).

Looking forward to lots of good food and a good nights sleep tonight! The awesome news is my foot didn't trouble me at all during the run either so buying the new shoes (and wearing them for the first time in the run paid off!

Yay so another successful weekend! Next weekend I don't have a race, which is the first weekend in a long time! So I will be aiming to get a good long off road run in!

Thats all for now!

Look out for the photos, I will add them once available (probably Wed/thurs this week).

Monday, June 18, 2007

Weekly round up: 11 - 17 June

Well Jason and I had a busy week last week, some key highlights were:

Thursday: my favourite ever swim session- a power set which included some 50m sprints with pressups between them! Hard but really awesome (my muscles did hurt for the next few days though)
Friday: Natalie's birthday drinks and dinner

Saturday: Club handicap race (I got the fastest women's time on the day over the 5km course in
a time of 19.53, I was stoked with this as it included a hill and a run along the sand at Days Bay). Followed by an awesome spa at Kedal's parents place and dinner and the rugby at the lifeboat out in eastbourne

Sunday: Triple Peaks race. The peaks for this race were Mt Crawford, Ataturk memorial and the View Rd lookout. I finished this in 1 hour 57 mins (FYI: The Wellington Triple Peaks series is a great way to combine some good running with exploring new ways to the tops of the hills around central Wellington. The Three Peaks series comprises three events, in late May, June and July. Each is over three hills. It is up to the runner how many peaks are climbed, and in what order and what route). I came in first female in this event as well, so now have an 8 minute lead in the series!

On Sunday Kevin (my coach) decided that I should do the Wellington 10km race next weekend so I have an easy-ish week's training this week to recover from the last few weeks and to semi-taper for the 10km. The goal for the 10km will be to work on my pacing and aim for a negative split (this means to run the second half of the course faster than the first half).

Looking forward to this week:

I have birthday drinks on Friday night for Nicole (work buddy) and the 10km race on Sunday, which will no doubt be followed by a yummy brinch/lunch out somewhere. Other than that it is a pretty quiet week for me.

Jason has just two weeks left before his training starts in earnest so he is making sure that he enjoys the rest!

Thats all for now! Till next time!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

The mighty Dorne Cup



After a bad stomach reaction to some panadol on Thursday, very little food and a day and a half in bed recovering I wasn't feeling 100% for the Dorne cup.

The Dorne Cup (as described by the hosting club) is a "flat cross-country event around the picturesque Trentham Memorial Park and the Hutt River stop banks"... hmmm I didn't notice the picturesque surroundings while I was slogging it out around the 1 1/2 lap 6km speedy run! This run hurts (as do all cross country races) and it doesn't suit my natural strengths as it is a fast and flat course. Although as the photo shows, I must have been enjoying myself as I am smiling...or is it a grimace!!

Last year's Dorne cup is better forgotten so even though i was sick this year I was expecting to come in a reasonable amount faster than 2006. I finished in 25.35, about 1 min 45 sec faster than 2006 so I was pleased with what I would call a solid effort!

I was the 6th Scottish Woman and 15th overall. Natalie was first for Scottish, 9th overall and Kendal 2nd for Scottish and 11th overall so a great outing for them!

We (Kendal and I) backed up yesterday's race with a 2 hour hills run this morning with Kevin and Johnno, we ran to the wind turbine, Wrights Hill, the Karori cemetary, crofton downs and Tinakori hill. Lets just say we enjoyed the cafe stop after this run! The good news is I can finally eat properly again today so am busy re stocking my fuel stores!

Jason had a very quiet weekend, taking a well earned break between his nationals last weekend and his impending training regime for the Lake Taupo swim challenge.

I am looking forward to next weekend where I race the Novice Cup (a 5km Scottish handicap race in Eastbourne) on Saturday and the second of the Triple Peaks series on Sunday. That means some research time this week on www.mapmyrun.com to ascertain the fastest time around the three peaks: Mt Crawford Prison, Ataturk Memorial and the View rd lookout.

That's all for now...

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Queens Birthday weekend round up...

Jason played the Canoe Polo national league finals on the weekend and his team came 2nd overall to Christchurch's A team: Justice. Jason also coaches the Wellington Women's team, they came third overall. So all in all a good weekend.

Individual game results will be published once I get the information.

Now that the Canoe Polo national league is over, Jason will be switching his focus to his swim training. He still has another month before the swim training starts formally though so his focus for now is to just add a couple of extra swims per week.

There were no harriers races this weekend (which was nice) so my weekend's training consisted of:

Saturday: swim 1 hour, bike 3 hrs, run 1 hour
Sunday: run 3 hours in the hills (was only meant to be 2 hours but we managed to get lost in Belmont regional Park!)
Monday: Easy recovery swim- 40 min and running drills- 30 min.

My hamstring strain seems to have sorted itself out which is good, so back to training at 100% this week. I have the Dorne Cup this weekend which is a 6km interclub Cross Country Race at Trentham Memorial Park, starting at 1pm). The course is over flat grassland, plus a grassy stopbank or two. I raced this last year (not one of my better races for 2006) so I am looking forward to a much better performance this year!