Back on my feet

Two weeks ago, during a tempo run I felt a slight twinge in my calf as I set out. It wasn't overly painful, just a little tight so I didn't think too much of it aside from mulling that I would probably miss the evening recovery run. Well, I missed a bit more than that. After the run, I felt a bit more stiff but not in too much pain or discomfort, but as the day wore on, I felt a bit more sore. Definitely wouldn't be doing that evening recovery, I decided.

The next day, I woke up quite sore. I'd arranged to run with Shan and since it was a gentle 8km, I thought it would be a good opportunity to test if it was a real issue. It was pretty sore for the first 5km, though not excruciating, and for the last few KMs it eased off. I was very hopeful that it might just require a few days off. The next day, off I went to Jacinta - who will leave for an exciting new life soon but leave us without her healing touch. She was optimistic, too. I still had decent range of motion. Her advice: three full days with no running and also a couple of days of real rest and then a short, easy run on Sunday. I therefore did nothing Thursday or Friday and just a gentle bike ride to keep David company on his long run on Saturday in Denmark (for just the first 20km). Sunday was D-day, and off I set on my 25 minute run. It felt a bit tight, but not horrendous, so I was hopeful I might manage another 20 minutes the next day. I made it less than two minutes down the road from our place in Denmark before turning around and walking back. Two days later, I tried another little run, again 25 minutes, and again the pain was there but not severe. However, I'd learned not to try two days in a row so decided to leave it at that as the next day, Thursday, we were heading back to Perth and I was due to see Jacinta again on the Friday.

By the time I got to see Jacinta I was way more sore than I'd been a week earlier and it seemed not from the run, but from 4 hours in the car! Turns out I'd developed some nerve spasms, most likely triggered by a combination of the injured calf and the glute exercises I'd been doing that had inflamed my piriformis. It was time for some nerve gliding exercises, plenty of treatment and a bit more rest. I was allowed another small run on Monday, 25 minutes on the flat - hence on a treadmill. I saw Jacinta again that day, and there'd been a fair bit of improvement, but still angry nerves, so the prognosis was another day of not running and then try again. Instead, I decided to spin on the Tuesday and water run on the Wednesday to allow two days off. Today, I tested it out again with a run around the river, just under 10km, in a very slow 59 minutes. And voila, I seem to be pain free - a little tight still, so no tempo or speed work for a bit, but hopefully fully on the road to recovery.

Thank you Jacinta, and please come back soon ...

Variety is the Spice of Life ...

It's certainly been a week of variety on the running front. Aside from a couple of recovery runs close to home on Tuesday and Thursday (and even there I managed to find something completely different to do, meeting David and Zoe at the park one day and doing the loop to home on another), no two runs were the same this week.

Wednesday I headed over to Shannon's place for a lovely 8km run from her house, down past Burswood and along the river, then back for an excellent coffee, chez Coates, before heading back for a busy working day. Thursday, I had the pleasure of Kate's company on my Mona's run around the river. She is amazing - she held on so well given the massive KMs she is running right now. I'll have to enjoy it while I can; in a couple of months when she's back speed training I'll be lucky to hang onto her! Thursday evening was one of my home recovery runs - a busy night at work meant no going out to play :(

After a recovery day on Friday, we got up super early on Saturday morning and headed down to Busselton to watch the half ironman (Sas, Jo, David and I on a caffeine boosted road trip). Jo and I were joining Shannon on part of her long run - she started earlier and did 14km then we joined her for the another 14km, parted ways with Jo and Shannon and I then finished off the final 6km to make it 34km for her and 20km for me. That was followed by a lovely day watching some great athletes complete the ironman. We saw many friends cross the line in fine form - I'm amazed at their stamina and great attitudes. It almost made me want to do one (almost - I still have to get over my fear and loathing of bicycles). We headed home about 3ish; not being able to stay for the after party meant there was little reason to hang around once all our friends had finished their race. So we said farewell to everyone, loaded up with more caffeine and began the long journey home. It was surprisingly quick on the way back - I suspect it was the good conversation that made the time fly.

Sunday, David and I joined the incredible distance runners in the Relay for Life. Francis had put together a team to do the 24 hour event. Most had camped over and Kate had done the toughest stint - 10pm to 4am! We rocked up at a civilized 7.45am and David did his hour at 8am. I followed, with plenty of company (funny, no one seemed to want to run with Sugar - was it the deodorant or the pace, we'll never know ...), then after a bit of fun and chats, David and I did another five laps with a bit of entertainment thrown in for good measure.

This morning's run took us back to King's Park and I have to say hills were very welcome after two days of flat running. Becks surged ahead and the rest of us - Jo, Gina, Joe, Kate, Shannon and I trotted along until the first hill, when we let Jo and Gina take off, with Joe just behind them. Kate, Shannon and I, weary from many KMs (well, Kate and Shannon weary from many KMs - my excuse is perhaps down something entirely different) dropped back a bit and trundled up the hill. But it was a gorgeous morning and a lovely run to do. As you come up the hill, the sun starts to rise and there is the most amazing view of the city through the trees. It's hard to beat that!

Autumn sunshine

It's been a pretty good week of running, overall, with a few notable exceptions, but let's not dwell on the negatives.

Last Sunday, Jo, Viv and I did a little 6km recovery run in East Perth before the all important breakfast. It felt particularly hard that day, but then the day before had been a tough run, with 6km of down hill to finish - always murder on the legs.

Monday's KP run was a little more up-tempo. Becks and I ran together for the first 4km then when the hill hit I just hung in not too far behind her. The main goal was no stopping and keep it under 6 minute KMs, which I did without too much difficulty, averaging around 5.45 pace.

Tuesday morning was my 4km recovery plod - it ought to feel very easy, but sometimes it's the last thing I feel like doing. Later, it was off to JK's session - my first visit in ages. Traffic put an end to my long warm up plan and so I had to do the session on just 7 minutes of warm up. As it turned out, I felt pretty reasonable and managed to improve during the session. I did feel compelled to do a reasonable cool down, though, after missing the warm up so forced myself to run around and around the track (it being dark by then) at least five times! It's not exciting, I have to say.

Wednesday is spin day normally, so the legs get a break from the pounding but still have to work hard on the bike. It's quite a fun little session, but who told the instructor Country Roads remix was bearable! I want to leap out the bike and smash the stupid CD player. Good grief!

Thursday was a gentle jog in the morning for 7km with the plan to do the 5km in the evening. This was probably one of my worst runs of the week, and realising there was no point flogging a dead horse, I pulled the plug at 3km. It was 7 1/2 laps of solid wheezing - no way to run!

Saturday's run couldn't have been more different. We started off downhill so the pace for the first 5km or so was fairly brisk, but I felt pretty good. I had great company, chatting to Kate for about 8km and completely forgot where I was. The stretch from Pechey Road to John Forest is pretty exposed and on a windy day can be tough, so I took advantage of the four well-build guys who were running just ahead and used them as a windbreak for most of that section - I hope they forgive me. The last part was Becks, Viv and I. Viv wasn't feeling too great so Becks and I went on ahead. It was great until the haul up Park Road, but even that wasn't too bad. We then had a lovely social run back down the hill to complete a very pleasant 20km. Making it even more appealing, Jo had a birthday breakfast booked at a nearby cafe. Fabulous food and company made for a wonderful morning. It doesn't get better than this.

Sunday I decided a lone run was in order. We'd had a latish night the night before and I didn't want to commit to getting up early. I ran from home around 8ish for 9km, doing it at easy pace rather than recovery pace (5.45). I felt okay for this, which is good after a long run the day before. I knew Monday would be difficult to get much of a run in as I was helping at the 32km - well done on this Kate, it's a huge job and you did really well! I managed a 4km in the afternoon, but really struggled through it with a stitch. Once I'd managed to get rid of it, the run was fine, but talk about agony!

This morning it was back to tempo running. I probably should have had breakfast and gone a little later, but I wanted to get going. So I set off at 7.25am with just Sustagen to keep me going. About 20 minutes into the tempo part of the run (35 minutes into the run) I was battling, I pushed through to 30 minutes, took a quick break and then forced myself to do the final 10 minutes of tempo to make a 40 minute tempo. The jog home was tough, too, but all in all I managed a 1 hour 5 minute run, with 40 minutes of tempo and the KM or so before being easy pace. It will be nice to have a few recovery runs now!

Late start long run

It was a wonderful treat today, starting a couple of hours later and still getting to do a good long run. Becks, Viv, Rod and I headed up to the Discovery Centre, courtesy of a lift from Sugar, where we waited for the Yummies and C Team. The plan had been to join Jane and Kate and others on the second half of their 38km run. Poor Jane was really ill today and the thought of another 17km (for 34km) was worrying enough. Fortunately, Sugar was doing a run from Mundaring so she just had to get there and wait for him to finish. Great to have that option!

So the four of us followed the C Team speedsters, keeping them in sight for long enough to know the way. The start of this run is fairly tough - up and up until you get to Ian's hill, which is one tough hill! Becks and I trotted up in silence, but doing okay and then kept going to the store (where the longer-distance runners were buying coke). From there, the four of us headed onto the trail, waved to Becks as she sped down the hill with the speedy boys and enjoyed a lovely, gentle run. We caught up with Jane at Mundaring, who was looking a lot better now that she had rested a while - she just had another 25 minutes or so to wait for Sugar, so we headed off down the hill again.

The run was lovely and Viv and I were getting into a fabulous groove, when a rock jumped up and tripped Viv up. She is a tough cookie and was up quickly and after just 30 seconds of walking was ready to run again. We joined up with Rod at Glenn Forest, got Viv's wounded knee washed and took off for the last 3km down the hill.

It was one of the best runs I've had in the hills in a long time. Perhaps the later start, with breakfast beforehand, was the key. At any rate, I'd do that again anytime.

I'm very glad not to be in Europe now - we just heard that Damien, Emma and co. are stuck at Stansted Airport, unable to get to Nice for their half marathon. What a disappointment that must be! I hope they at least get to have some fun in the UK!

A fresh, new start

Okay, it's not like I haven't been running, I've just been very slack on the blog front. For someone who writes for a living, this regular writing stuff is not always tempting, but I'll give it a go.

I've hired a coach - I pay him with dinners and walks with the dog - and have a programme under way to get me to New York fit and raring to run.
With the Master's Nationals out of the way (a PB and last place in the 800m - what can I say, I'm a champ!) it's time to get the distance up. Things have begun in earnest this week. After a 17km struggle in the hills in Saturday, made lovely in the end because of a fabulous catch up with 40Miler legend Kate, I headed to the Gallipoli run on Sunday and struggled through a bit of a tempo (nothing left for racing). The time wasn't great, but I did a reasonable effort. I'm happy about that as I felt sick most of the weekend (I suspect side effects from the flu shot I got last Wednesday).

Monday was recovery run day with a nice, gentle 8.4km run around King's Park. I actually felt pretty good, though talking went out the window when I hit the long hill on Forest Drive - sorry for the 5-10 minutes of silence, Damien. Still, I never felt the need to stop or walk, so that's a good sign.

Coach Sugar has me doing twice daily runs twice a week, and the first of those was on Tuesday. The morning was a gentle recovery run of just 4km (25 minutes is his edict) and the plan had been to go to JK's session in the evening. But with the weather looking ominous, we both decided to head out for a Mona's session before the worst of the storms hit. It was pretty windy, but it didn't feel unpleasant, probably because it wasn't too cold. I started with a 2km warm up towards the Scout hut on the freeway, then turned around (with the wind behind me - yes!) and did my session. It's a fantastic session - 20 minutes of effort. I felt pretty good until I got to the Mount Henry bridge when a headwind (and lunch) reminded me of my fallibility. A short walk and then back into it for the last couple of minutes before a 20 minute cool down. The rain came down pretty heavily in the cool down, but it was kinda pleasant, even into that strong northerly wind. But by the time I'd got to Rookwood, I decided a short steep hill was preferable to going the longer way home and took a bit of a short cut. Still, it was close to 9km in total, which added to my 4km in the morning meant a good session.

Wednesday is currently cross-training day, so I head to my luxurious Next Gen gym in KP for a spin class. After Tuesday's effort the legs had gone into a full sit-in protest. When we hit the climbs, they just refused to go any faster. I tried to push them and though the lungs were fairly willing the legs weren't budging. I gave it all I could, but couldn't muster the sweat I normally get from that session. Oh well, there it is.

Thursday is the next double session day. This morning I headed to Mends Street where Sugar and I met up with Viv and Becks. Sugar does his recovery and Becks joins him in a bit of a tempo, so Viv and I set off together and a reasonable pace. The goal today was to sit on marathon pace and do a few sprints. It started off okay, but I think I struggle to really know what easy/marathon pace is and ended up doing the second half a bit fast. That's okay, but I don't want to burn out. Average was 5.38 pace, which is great if I can comfortably sustain that, but I suspect 5.45 might be a more comfortable marathon pace run for me. We'll see as the year progresses. Tonight I have a 4km recovery run in the offing. I'll aim for a break in the weather ...

I do seem to enjoy playing catch up with this blog - must have too much life to keep it up :)

Anyway, Saturday we did the Park Road loop again. I must say, I felt a lot more tired this week - probably down to the tough Thursday session on top of going back to intervals on the Tuesday. Park Road nearly finished me off and even the climb from Midland to Pechey Road was a tough one. But I got through it okay. I felt pretty tired the rest of the day, which meant my body was crying out for a rest, but tough luck!

Sunday, as I had promised, I turned up for the Women's Classic. Turns out it wasn't necessary as none of the people I was supposed to run with were there, but I felt I might as well head out since the weather had turned out glorious. No chance of racing today, but I pushed a little harder than I planned and finished in around 55 minutes - nothing earth-shattering but a decent tempo given my long break from tempo runs (track aside). The rest of Sunday was taken up with a fabulous afternoon/evening at Trish's, including massage and BBQ - makes the pain well worth it :)

Monday I took my much needed break and enjoyed a session at the steam room, and then this morning (Tuesday) I met Kate for our Mona's session. I felt pretty good on this today, so the day off did some good. We kept all our intervals faster than 5 min KM - not earth-shattering, but good and steady, and we did it all without any stops, which is even better. I had hoped to head to the gym for a pilates later, but work was a bit busy so it will have to keep for another time.

Wednesday I decided not to run as I knew Thursday was going to be a tough day; instead I went to the gym and spend half an hour on the bike, did a few light weights and lots of stretching. Thursday morning I woke to the sound of rain. I kept an ear out for my mobile, half hoping Shannon would text to call off so I could go back to bed and avoid the rain. But I turned up as did Shannon and many others, despite the awful weather, and we ran the bridges loop. I kept my pace really slow to save myself for track in the evening - 6.26min pace - not sure if I've run that slow in a long time, but it did feel rather nice. Shannon is coming back nicely with her running and pushed on, which was great to see.

Later in the day (helped out by a recovery session at the gym involving a steam room and cold showers) I headed to the track with Sugar. The plan was for a 3km and a 1km. After last week's 14.57 I was looking to take my 3km a little faster. The conditions again were perfect; clear, cool and very little wind. I set out at my goal pace, slipped a little in the second lap, but managed to pull it back a bit and hold on reasonably well. I finished in 14.42, which I'm very pleased with - a 15 second improvement over last week. I was well out of breath when I was done and couldn't imagine doing the 1km, but there was a good gap, so I decided to front up. Having never done a 1km race before I had no idea how to pace it. It really showed as I realized too late that I was feeling way too good for a 1km - with just 400m to go I had a lot in the tank. I pushed much harder, but too late and ended up with a time of 4.39. I know I could have gone under 4.30, so I guess next time I'll have to hurt from the start! Still it's a learning curve and I'm very pleased with what I did tonight

Back to JK's intervals session today. I felt pretty relaxed going into this, forgetting how hard it is. Got there early and did a 10 minute warm up, then a bit of stretching with Jo as we waited for the session to begin. JK had a fun one in store for us - 1200m with 1 minute rest, then 400m at a tougher pace, then a 3 minute rest, then do it all again another two times. That was a total of 4.8km and an incredibly tough session, but great to be back in the groove. I was pleased that my 1200s got a bit faster each time, though the 400m seemed to slip a bit, which is disappointing. I guess it means I'm better over distance, which is hardly surprising.

Okay, I'm finally up to date again! I ran today in King's Park - the first time since mid-June. I do love that run and it's so nice to see the sun getting up a bit earlier again. We had a lovely little group this morning - Damien, Jo, Shannon, Gina and me. I felt quite good so managed to keep up with Jo and Gina (having said that, Jo was doing her go slow run for me - if she had wanted to do her pace I wouldn't have been able to keep up in a million years!) We finished with a coffee at the Next Generation gym, which I joined recently. It's such a great gym - I've been using it for recovery a lot, which I think has really helped my running.

Saturday 1st August was an auspicious day - my birthday and the long run in the hills. What a perfect way to spend a birthday (that and the perfect evening later with friends and great food). A large group of us - 10 in all, including Shannon and Kate and myself - headed out on the Midland to John Forest National Park run. I wasn't sure how I would go, given that the previous week I'd done 17km on my own in Denmark and struggled a lot with the last 5km of that. But I felt fantastic. Though Park Road was tough as always, I managed to get up it without too much difficulty and certainly without stopping. What helped the run was not stopping in Midland. I find that stop really kills my momentum as you've just finished the downhill and are starting to climb. I find continuing the climb is so hard after a stop. But the run was fantastic, the company great and the scenery splendid. We spotted 4 kangaroos on the run through the forest - they stared at us before taking off. I guess they're thinking "crazy humans"! We finished as always with a coffee/tea in the bakery. It's freezing there, but somehow it always seems worth it as the conversation is so good.

Rather than do one long, long catch up saga, I felt it best to break into bite size pieces, so onto Wednesday 28th and Thursday 29th. Wednesday was a morning recovery run on my own. Felt fine but was glad to finish. Despite starting later it was still incredibly cold. Thursday morning I met Shannon, Kate and Wendy and co. for the 6am run. Did a lovely gentle trot, which was so enjoyable and social. I didn't want to push it as the evening I planned on doing track. Of course, this is days later so Thursday has passed and we're onto the evening for the track session. I was unsure how I would cope given track has been a problem for me and the marathon was just over 3 weeks ago, but I was very happy with the outcome. I stuck with the 3km, not wanting to overdo it at this stage. I managed to keep it more or less on 5min KM. At the last lap I was 13.02, so pushed it a bit harder and finished in 14.57. I'm so pleased with that and hopeful I can start to build on it

It's been so long since I updated, I don't quite know where to begin. Let me see, last entry July 16 ... since then, running got a lot tougher and now it's starting to feel really good again. I had a holiday in between - Margaret River and Denmark - with some good running and some not so good running and plenty of fabulous food and some good wine. All resulting in a very relaxing time. Got back on Monday 27th and on the Tuesday I joined Kate for our regular Mona's session. It was a bitterly cold morning and the warm up felt tough because of the cold, but I began to feel good by the time the session started and really enjoyed the session. We had a great time catching up as it was really our first run together since the marathon. It's good to see Kate running so strong - she is incredible preparing for 2 marathons in the next couple of months!

I took a couple of days off running - Tuesday and Wednesday, hitting the steam room and a 1km swim on Tuesday and a 5km walk on Wednesday (work not allowing me to get to a pilates class as I'd hoped). This morning, I headed out for my first slightly longer run - 9.5km. It was great to run again with Shannon - it's been so long. We did it nice and easy, though the far side was like running on the spot with the wind. We started out with a big group and ended up with Shannon, Delia and myself, going around at a pleasant 6 min KM. Aside from a slightly tight right calf, I felt pretty good (though I think if we'd tried to run faster my body would have protested). It's a great first step, gives me confidence that I'm coming back from Perth without too many problems and can potentially aim for a decent Rottnest. I'm taking it slowly, though, and will aim for 12km in the hills on Saturday.

The great part of the run was being able to really catch up with Shannon and hear how she has been going. She was nervous about pace, but she managed it so easily that I think it won't be long before I'm pushing to keep up with her. But we'll be rebuilding at the same time, which is great. And Trish and Kate and Viv will also be rebuilding now, so we'll have a wonderful running group again. The joy of running returns!

This running stuff is hard! Trish and I went for a little 5.3km trot in King's Park. In our collective wisdom we decided to run the Wally Cairns circuit - as in soft dirt and long hill. Just 8 days after the marathon and it felt like a way longer, tougher run. We were giving it all we had and we averaged 5.57 min KMs! You have to laugh; we looked like a couple of newbie runners out there. My calves are tight as, but otherwise I must say I did recover from the strenuousness of it fairly quickly. Tomorrow, we plan on a really tough session - steam room and pool saunter :)

A new dawning

Perth is now done and I need to put that one behind me (and probably avoid boisterous, fast dogs) and get on with the next one. All being equal, I've set myself Rotto as my next goal. It's hard at this stage to know for sure what time to aim for, but conservatively speaking I really think it makes sense to aim for a sub 4.15. If the training goes brilliantly and all feels right to bump it up a bit, I'll do so, but baby steps to start ...

I began with my first run yesterday, a very, very slow and gentle 5km. I bumped into Tim early in the run and had a lovely run with him, completely taking my mind off the fact that this was the first run back. I felt pretty good, though was glad to keep it short. The TAs are quite sore today, but they do seem to warm up as the day progresses. Today, I'll meet Trish for a gentle 6km or so in the park so I'll get more of a feel for how the TA is holding up. Then a couple of days off and another run on Thursday. For once I want to be really sensible about the return; plenty of time to start ramping things up a bit more from next week

The marathon is now done and some disappointment left out there. I had a struggle from the start - pain in my TAs after 1km. This has happened before, but usually sorts itself out after 3 or 4km. This time it was 7km before it eased. By the time I got to 5km, the tightening had caused me to start dragging my right leg. I was not sure how I could keep going for 42km. Luckily by 7.5km it began to ease, but by then I'd lost momentum and a lot of energy just trying to work through it. I kept going okay until 23km and then began to struggle. I did manage to keep myself reasonably focused and to keep running until 33km, then I just had nothing left. Too hard to struggle from the start. David (Sugar) was waiting for me at 33km and he walked with me as I battled pain, exhaustion and mental demons. Then Gary and Geraldine came past and buoyed me up with a, come along, we're just shuffling back. I kept going with them for 2 1/2km more, then had to stop for another short break (2 minutes of walking), then more running, walking, running, walking. I finished running getting up to a cracking 6.30 min KM in the last KM! It was a terribly tough day, but I'm pleased I persevered. Sugar was a champ, I don't know how I would have done it without him. The supporters were amazing. A special thanks to Wendy and co. who yelled and cajouled me at Mends Street. They got me going to the finish!

A few things went wrong. The biggest was the dog accident - once my back got injured I just couldn't keep the speed training going. I could no longer do tempos, intervals, etc. and I lost a lot of momentum with that. The other is I think I'm really a less is more girl when it comes to distance running. I must remember this for the future and stick to 3 or 4 longer runs and keep them to 34km maximum. Much though I loved the 38km it took way too much out of me, and if I really want to do something like that again, it has to be 6 weeks or more out, with an easy 25km to follow the week after. Rest is as important as training. I will worry about more quality and less quantity. I think I need to go back to Monday tempos, which I was doing before my last marathon. That meant I could do a marathon-pace long run during the week (14-16km), which I think worked to get me used to the pace. It's all a learning experience and I don't regret anything about the training (dog accident aside). The best part was preparing with my friends for this and watching them do so well at the marathon.

I'm so happy Trish got her sub 4 hour. She so deserved this and has worked so hard for it. Kate will be next, I know. Whether I do a sub 4 or not, who knows; it doesn't really matter that much. I just want to make sure I cope better with future marathons, and next time aim for a more conservative goal - maybe a sub 4.15 :)

Well this is it. What began in April in chilly Philadelphia is about to end - my first running blog. Yes, I'll update after the marathon, but the lead up is pretty much done. I ran today with Kate - it's been lovely doing our Tuesday morning runs and I look forward to many more of those and lots of other runs together and with all my great running buddies after we have recovered from our little run on Sunday. We did 10 minutes warm up and then 20 minutes at marathon pace, followed by 10 minutes cool down. The way out was great - wind at our backs; then we turned around. Oh my, talk about a brick wall. The wind was unbelievable. I sincerely hope it's nothing like that on Sunday. But we had fun and I'm glad I did it. Because of the back injury, I'm stopping the running a little sooner than I normally would have. I'll bike, walk, swim in the next few days and let my back recover as much as possible to give myself as good a chance of doing a good marathon as possible. On Sunday, I expect a sub 4 hour will be tough. I do think my running buddies will do it, though. They are definitely ready. I'll be thrilled if I come close, but of course I'll give it my best shot.

I've been a bit slack with my posting so I have some catching up to do. Last Monday I decided to do nothing after the half. I had considered the pool, but ended up not going. Tuesday, a group of us met for our 5.30am Mona's session. I found the pace running hard on my back and felt quite sore afterwards - it's a worry this close to the marathon. On Wednesday, I decided instead to go to the gym. I hopped on the bike for 30 minutes, then did 3km on the treadmill - it's interminable!

Thursday we did the track and I really wasn't in shape for that. By lap 3 I was already struggling and it took all my willpower to keep going. It was probably the one time I should have withdrawn, but I was worried about how that would make me feel ahead of the marathon. I pulled up really sore after track - my physio says because it involves going left the whole time, it requires your right side to do most of the work as that's where you're leading from, and as it's my right side that's the problem that really exaccerbated things.

Saturday I did 40 minutes and it was really painful. The rest of the day I was in agony, I couldn't sit in the car so had to cancel a visit to see my Mum. I decided to take an anti-inflam and some panadol. I think it helped a bit, because I was less sore by the evening (some good stretching helped too).

I was really nervous about Sunday's run - 15km! I took anti-inflams, got Sugar to strap my back and wore compression tights. It all helped quite a bit. Aside from when I ran across the Windan bridge (solid concrete), I wasn't in much pain, though when I hit the concrete in Ascot, my right quad began to tighten and I started running as though with a limp. I really hope this is sorted by marathon day, or it will be a long, long day!

Two-weeks and counting. Today was a bit of a dress-rehearsal for the big day. We wore the outfits we'll be wearing on marathon day and definitely all looked the part - Trish, Kate, Viv, Rod and me all turning up in our Simon Says Sub 4 shirts (Mary-Anne will make our group 6 on the day). The run went okay - had a few struggles during the tempo phases with tight calf muscles (looks like because of my back problems), but managed okay and after a stretch I was able to keep a comfortable pace all the way back. Trish and Kate came home in a handy 1.56.50 odd and Viv was just a bit behind (after a pit stop) in 1.57 something, then came Rod and I ambled in at 2.02. My biggest concern now is how sore my back is after the run. Monday I decided not to run or even go for a swim as it really has been hurting a lot. A physio visit was really necessary and hopefully will see it settle tomorrow. I'm concerned as it seemed to be getting a lot better last week and now seems to have regressed a bit - I guess it didn't like the concrete pounding during the half. Now I just have to hope it heals before the 5th!

I woke up earlier than I had intended, and knowing it was going to be a really blustery day, I decided to head out promptly and try to beat the weather. After much scoffing from Sugar, who was sure I'd get caught out, I set out around 6.20am for a 45 minute or so recovery run. I had the wind behind me on the way out and knew it would be a tough return. After 4km I turned around and while it was blustery, it wasn't as bad as I had expected. I hit a few high wind pockets, but overall it wasn't too bad. I turned up the road to home and felt the force of the wind then, but since it's just a couple of 100m I wasn't exactly bothered. I got home, was inside doing a stretch when I heard the rain begin and the winds really pick up. I dodged a bullet again!