Why we do this thing called running ??

Well I guess I'm going to comment on why *I* do it.  And maybe I can speak for hubby too.  See this little guy.  He's one of the big reasons why I wanted to lose weight.  I got to be a nanna year before last, now we are Nanna and Grumpy to both him and his little brother.  So we want to make sure we are around for a long long time to watch them grow and learn and become fabulous young men.

I just long for the day I go to his school sports and Saxon says to his friends and he points to me ... "that's my nanna, she runs marathons".  How cool would that be?  Well I still have to get to the actual marathon stage, but to a young kid a run to the shops might be classified as a marathon so I'm not going to split hairs here.

So back to this little guy here.  We had a family gathering as his great grand dad plus his mum were having birthdays.  And when he saw both of us when he got there his eyes lit up and he said "nanna" for the very first time.  I near on melted into a puddle on the floor.  Then he points at Mike and says "gumpy gumpy gumpy".  And the more he saw us getting excited, the more he said it.

What a great day.  So yep THIS is why we both want to get fit and healthy and yes the running is a major part of that, it's keeping us young.  For this little guy.  And all the little guys in our lives that come after him.

So roll on Sunday and we had an Aths Club meet.  6km.  It was chilly, but perfect running conditions, no wind, overcast, and there were about 70-odd taking part.

One of my friends wrote on facebook that we are aging backwards.  What a kind comment.   This pic was actually taken after the run, let me roll back a bit.

Today was going to be the day, I really wanted to go all out with this run.   Being a handicapped race, Mike was off on zero, he took off with another girl and I actually had a handicap again, I was off on 3 minutes.  Soon enough I overtook the other lass and after a while I caught up to Mike, and I could see he was struggling with his jacket.  My fair weathered runner wanted to run with his jacket on which he soon got hot, and he yelled in answer to me as I ran passed that it was slipping around his waist so he had it tied over his shoulders and it was flapping just like flipping superman.  Yes the jacket happened to be red.

Well I ran my heart out in this race and I got to the bollard to turn and no one had passed me.  As I headed back in the direction of the clubrooms I saw some runners coming up and there were some high fives and call outs, but still I was in the lead.

Back along Pertobe Road and almost to the roundabout and a chap passed me.  Hmmmm, was he a recreational runner out for a morning run or part of the club, I didn't recognise him.  Until he called out to me "do we turn here".  Darn, he was one of us.  I was in second.  Back to the roundabout and crossed the road and a lass passes me.  Gaaah, into third spot.   I got all along the dirt track all the way back to the clubrooms ready to do my lap of the oval, and then an avalanche of runners took me over.  I had held them off until about the 5.3km mark.   Ecstatic doesn't even come close.  Especially when I saw this ... Wooooo hooooo!  

So waiting as other runners came back to the clubrooms and then the lap of the oval and then I saw Mike.  He was getting what I call the "Sally treatment".  We have a super fantastic runner in the club who is so motivational and just a wee bit scary!!  But she will often run with some of the runners in the last lap if she sees them struggling, calling out to keep going, catch the person in front, don't stop, faster faster.

Well Mike was running with Sally until she broke off in the final sprint and arms over his head he started flapping his coat like Superman.  Oh yes!

Through to the end and over the line big smile on his face.  And then he drops to his knees.  Everyone thought he was a hoot and still carrying on (as he does!), except I could see he was struggling for breath and wheezing and quickly found his asthma pump in his pocket.  Things turned a wee bit serious for just a moment.  A few quick puffs and a drink of water and he was okay.  But heck he scares me when stuff like that happens.  

And best part of Aths Club is catching up with my running mates.  Don't ask me why I'm standing like a dork here, I think my feet must have been glued to the ground.  Got to love our club colours hey, recognisable from both the front and back.

Best thing I ever did was join Aths.  Keeps me running all through winter with no excuse. 

Postie's here!!!!

AKA my online orders have arrived.  Yipppppeeee!  Actually it's kinda bad when you have ordered something and it arrives and you forgot you even ordered it, haha!

First things first, I hadn't forgotten these babies.  Checked out my wonderful new running tights from Run Amok Tights.    Made by a runner (and an awesome one at that) for runners.  And well you know the fascination we have for cow print from our online 12WBT Runners Connect group.  Char was gracious enough to source some rocking cow print material for us too.

As soon as I opened the parcel I quickly put them on to take them out for their maiden voyage.  A run - sniff - pee - walk - scratch - hang on what was that - go backwards - nope nothing interesting - keep going - and repeat with Lucky!  tee hee.  We start off running but well it is what it is.  He was happy, look at that face.  He's saying "one more sniff pleeeeeeeease mum!"

Dropped him home after doing the 1.5 km blockie that we do.  I have learnt not to take him over 2km.  Once he hits the 2km mark he just knows and that's it, no more, carry me the rest of the way.   Then I hit the road myself for a run.  Yep these are the bomb.  They are silky smooth so my spibelt did ride up a bit, maybe I don't have so much of a spare tyre these days to hold it in place!!  I'll tighten it a bit more next time and see how that goes.  Plus they are 7/8 length.  I don't believe I've ever owned tights in that length, mine are usually 3/4.  And I'm liking that little bit extra now that it's coolish.

Trying to get a pic of myself !!

Check it out, this cow just stood and looked at me (I'm going to say) in awe thinking I've gotta get me some of those tights for winter!  hahahaha   Heck I love living in the country, I can run to the end of my street and around the corner and see sights like this.  Superb.

My neighbours saw me as I got home from my run and called out "Good on you, supporting the dairy industry".  They had noticed the tights (I mean really, wouldn't wouldn't notice them!!)   I just nodded, it's easier than explaining the fascination for cow print.  And yes, I completely wholeheartedly support the dairy industry, I know too many dairy farmers going through hard times.  

So that's not all, my other package was some new socks.  Which I had forgotten I had bought, so this was indeed happy mail.  I'm alternating between Balega and Lightfeet at the moment.  I like the extra padding that both socks give.  So these were on sale so I got three.   I wonder if red will go fast!!

And so tomorrow I have my Great Ocean Road half marathon present to myself - an hour long relaxation massage is booked at my favourite spa in town.  Everyone does this don't they?  Give themselves a congratulatory present after a big big event?  Yes?  Please tell me you do.  And if you don't, please don't tell my husband! ha.

Yahoooo GOR photo day!

Got to love it when the official photos come back after a big event.   And I always factor in the cost of the photos because who knows how long I'll be able to do this running gig right?   I want to remember every moment while I can run.

Great Ocean Road half marathon - We got some fun photos at the start at Kennett River taken, I like this one in particular at the start line, complete with photo bomber walking behind us! haha  All ladies from our fabulous 12WBT Runners Connect group and "Pepe", Rachael's other half.

The field soon spread out, amazing how quickly that happens.

Thousands of runners went whoosh!

It's more fun at the back of the pack anyway!  ;-)

Thumbs up for the race photographer, the sun was out, what's not to love!  

A smile on my face, I'm running on the famous Great Ocean Road, yahooooo!

It was great to be alive, we'd had wind but at least it wasn't raining!

Whoops spoke too soon.

5km to the end we were pelted.  My clothing was water laden.

My top seemed to get lower and lower! 

But I love all my finish line shots.

You can't see it but I had a young lass to the left of me 

and we were both racing to the finish as hard as we could.  

AIR SHOT !!  

I felt like I was flying.

And my favourite finish line photo of any race.

Despite the weather.

Maybe because of the weather.

 And there you have it.  Has it really been a week?

It took 6 days but I finally went out for a run/walk with Mike for 4 k's on Saturday and then continued on for another couple of k's on my own when he headed back home.

And then today I decided before I had lunch about 11am I went out and did 10k.  In the wind.  Go me!!   And then in my wondering what my next event could be, I decided to enter Run Forrest.   Check out the video at this link - how superb does it look.  I'm in for the 10k.  Readers of this blog may remember a couple of years ago I entered this event and our car broke down on the way and we had to limp back home amongst my tears.  With a big fat DNS against my name in the results page.

I have unfinished business to take care of!

GOR (a bit more than a) Half Marathon!!!

So unless you've been living on the moon, you may be aware I was doing the Great Ocean Road Half Marathon last Sunday!!  Or I should say "a bit more than a" half marathon as it is 23km as opposed to the usual 21.1km.  I will admit I did wonder if I had that extra 2km in me.  Turns out I did!

So sit back for a read, this is a photo heavy post as a picture tells a thousand words, and I'll just narrate the other thousand!!

Last weekend was full of running and friendships and enjoying like minded people who love this running caper just as much as I.  Our beautiful girls from the 12WBT Runners Connect Group were out in force over the weekend running the various events - the 14km on the Saturday and the Half and Full Marathons on the Sunday.  It was a time of renewing acquaintances, making new friendships and drinking in the atmosphere.

Saturday the weather was amazing and it was wonderful to see my friends Kellie, Alison, Mel, Jane and Anna running the 14km.  Many meet up photos were taken as we found more people.  We come from far and wide here - country Victoria, Melbourne, even beautiful Melissa from Tassie was over for it.

The sensational Warrnie crew.

So for those of us running on the Sunday and beautiful Floss (the cow!!) who came to support, well you all know of our group's cow fetish right?  We had important cheering to do to bring our girls home.  They had no idea we would be half way down the road as you came back into town with our signs and cowbell ringing and hooting and hollaring.  Floss blew us away, she brought so many smiles on people's faces, she would run alongside those who were walking and in pain getting them running again ... or maybe they were running way from the crazy cow, who knows!  We had a ball.

After the 14km race had been held we wandered back and celebrated with the 14km runners and looked enviously at the beautiful finishers medal they had received knowing the job ahead of us the next day to be worthy of our medals.   Trina and I had been looking at the gorgeous blue sky, would it bode well for the following day?  We kept checking various weather apps until we found one that made us feel a little better.  But we knew we were in for a wild day with 35km/h head winds forecast.

We had rented a house between five of us so checked in and Sue, Trina and I decided to head down to the beach to paddle and stroll, not being too strenuous on the legs though, before sunset.  It was beautiful.  

The evening was sensational.

Sue's exuberance of getting into the water suckered me in.

I rolled up my trousers and all was fine until a wave came in!

Sunday morning we were up early the five of us - Sue, Trina, Jane, Shev and I did our ritual pre-race morning routines and breakfasts. Well Jane had already done her hard work on the Saturday at the 14km so she pepped us up. We walked a block to the busses which were well organised and said goodbye to the Marathon girl Sue who was catching a different bus to Lorne, and made our way to Kennett River, the start of the half marathon.  In the dark as the bus was travelling I was trying to mentally feel the hills as we went up and down and I swear we must have been on the wrong bus as it was a never-ending drive. 

We got to Kennett River and Shev had us organised as she'd done this before, bag drop, loo stop, sunrise, greeting friends, photos.  It was a beautiful morning, what on earth was the Willy Weather app talking about.  Surely the weather man had got it wrong.

Runners milling about on the beach capturing the beautiful sunrise.

Trina and I saw a couple of crazy Scots - yes they run in kilts and horns - take note Mike!!  And we had to get our pics taken.  We had already bag dropped at that stage with our warm clothing to be taken to the end, but ah ha!  I had a couple of disposable throw away plastic raincoats we could pop on to keep warm - they actually do keep the chill off.

I saw my Warrnie buddy Leah, a sight for sore eyes.  Just seeing this beautiful girl who inspires me so much set my racing mind to rest.  Shev in behind us here too.  Both these girls are gun runners that I'm so lucky to call my friends.

A bit excited I needed a start line pic before things got too crazy.

  

We all needed start line pics - Jacqui, me, Trina and Rachael.  
Jill came in later but I don't have a pic of that one.

They kept moving us back as more and more runners got ready, self-seeded.  And even in amongst this throng of people there was a kind of calm in knowing we had quite a number of our 12WBT Runners Connect group out there on the course.  Waiting for the start amongst the crowd of runners lined up, I feel a hand slip into mine and I looked at Trina.  We were full of anticipation ready to take on this beast.  And before we knew it the race had started.  It would be starting simultaneously at 8am - us at Kennett River, the Marathoners and Ultra-Marathoners at Lorne.

I just set off at my own plodding pace knowing there were two big hills to start with.  I kept thinking of my training runs up Cairnlea Lane or Mount Leura or Lake Pertobe Road.  They stood me in good stead.  I see somewhere waaaay over int he distance where we would be running to.  Heck, what was I thinking.  But I was planning to take it just 1km at a time, be mindful of the beautiful scenic surroundings, when on earth does a person get to run along the beautiful Great Ocean Road free of traffic.

This was a blessing and I was taking part in something so much bigger than just a run - this was a beast of a run and it would take every strength of mental toughness I could muster.   I stopped a couple of times along the way for a quick pic, walked a little, ran a lot.  It was spectacular.  I think I was at about 13 or 14km when the eventual marathon winner passed me.  Yes he started at 8am and had run about 35km and caught me.  Crazy stuff.  It was thrilling to see. Not to mention he is the fellow who fitted me for my last pair of runners at the Running Company!

This is a bit of a lonely run, other than the runners alongside you.  There's not much audience participation at all until you get to Skenes Creek.  There was one farm where the farmers were down at their gate handing out snake lollies to runners.  He saw me coming and yelled out "here's a green snake to match your shirt".   It's not until you get to the odd water stations along the route and then Skenes Creek where you really get a bit of audience participation, people were cheering.


Mother Nature decided that we were going to earn this medal today and she threw everything at us - we didn't just have to contend with rolling hills, but the sunshine soon turned to 35km/h head winds, then some wicked cross winds, then we saw the most glorious rainbow.  But with a rainbow there's rain and soon enough we saw the clouds covering Apollo Bay and the rain started.  Showered for a while and then it bucketed down with about 5km to go.  

Just knowing that everyone was in the same boat, hat down I just kept plodding.   Seeing Floss and Jane (pic below) was a highlight.  OMG what a lift of spirits seeing these two crazy cows jumping about cheering and clanging their bells. I was so proud to call out to the lass next to me "they're my friends" she said "you're lucky". Yep I know.

I had been tag teaming with this young girl we were chatting. She said this was her first and last half marathon and I told her by next week she'll be looking for her next one to enter.  She looked at me like I was crazy, I hope she remembers that conversation.  We got to the first lot of buildings in town and I said to her no more walking let's own this. There was no one in front of us at that stage and I told her to soak in the cheers they were all for us. The people were lining the streets and yelling and clapping it was a great feeling.  I called out to her to bring it home strong and from somewhere we both found something and sprinted to the finish line joyous. 

I was given my finisher's medal and I popped it over my neck and took a photo elated and if I thought it had rained before the heavens then opened up as I walked through the chute. I was already saturated so just stood in the rain drinking my drink and eating my banana so happy and thankful that i had the ability to do this. 

3 hours 2 minutes 41 seconds

My goal was 3 hours but maybe next year, although as the great Leitchy has mentioned I did stop for photos so I probably did run the 23km in under 3 hours.   The actual 21.1km mark (official half marathon timing) was 2:50:47, so considering weather conditions and the hills I'm really happy with that.

I ran into Shev at the finish who had obliterated the run with her speed, and she was heading out to give support to our two Marathon girls Sue and Melissa.  So I headed back to the house which was only a block away from the finish line to dry off and change, I found Trina and we then found our bovine friends (giggle) !!

It was here we did our important cheer leading duties.  Oh my goodness what fun.  Floss and Jane brought so many smiles, they were in so many selfie's that runners took, or go pro videos, there was even a runner who came back after the run to ask "why cows?" as she was a dairy farmer!   It was an awesome experience cheering on the runners - by this stage the half marathon runners had long since finishes and we were cheering the full marathon and ultra marathon runners.  What stamina.   Sue and Melissa came through to riotous bell clanging and cheering from us.  It was a great feeling being part of it.

This was truly the most amazing event I've ever been a part of, the hardest race I've ever run, the toughest conditions I've had to endure - and you know what - I'd do it all again in a heart beat.  Roll on next year.

These are the beautiful girls I shared this most magical weekend with - I will call us the Fabulous Five.  Between us five we ran 127 kilometres.

That night we went out for a beautiful meal, although our dear friend Shev had to leave early to get home, the rest of us were staying an extra night.  We drank champagne, wore our medals all night and finished up the evening with Baileys hot chocolate.  Yep we know how to party alright - we were all in bed by 9pm!!!  hahahaha  Exhausted.

And of course Monday morning look at the weather - I took a few quick pics at the beach prior to going home.  Typical!  What a difference a day makes.

Until next year GOR, I'll definitely be back to conquer you once again.

Mothers Day Classic 2016

So I best do a recap of last Sunday's Mothers Day Classic before we head into this weekend.  And yes PINK for breast cancer awareness was the order of the day.  What we didn't order however was the rain.   For long time readers of this blog you may remember last year's disastrous weather.  Well this year was not much better!!

Despite the rain mum dressed up like a pink musk stick, pink from head to toe, except you couldn't see it under her duffle jacket.  At least she stayed warm and dry.  I knew I'd have to wear a hat so that it would keep the rain out of my eyes, and I have a large supply of these throwaway plastic raincoats now.  Perfect.

Although as we walked down to the foreshore before sun up, trying to put it on, in the dark, with the wind blowing, was a wee bit too much to handle.  I was flailing about everywhere until I realised I had it on back to front with the hood up against my face.  Doh!  With that fixed I realised I'd lost my spibelt and had to double back and find it.  And finally we were set.  It was still drizzling and everyone huddled under the various tents that were set up.

Near to start time I left mum sitting under some shelter and headed to the start line.  Yep, still raining.  And cold.  I had braved it though and tossed the rain coat.  Whilst there were some people running in them, I could think of nothing worse.  It was mainly to keep me dry prior to the start.

The 8km is a great course, leaving the water front and running up to the Eastern Gardens, this is the place that every Geelong kid learns to drive!  Two laps of Eastern Gardens and then back to the water front again.  Every kilometre marker there was a different sign.  And yep, still raining!

I don't know if it was the rain or what, but I was feeling strong.  There were a couple of girls that I had been cat and mousing with the whole race, but with 2km to go I kicked it up a notch and took off.  I never saw them again.  Yeeeee ha!   I run along the water front and through to the finishing chute and there's mum yelling out yahoooo.  She was so proud.  A kind lady took this photo of us.   Yes mum is that short!  4'11" !!

OFFICIAL TIME :  54:09

Another PB !!  By 2 mins 28 secs.

We didn't stick around for any of the entertainment, the 4km was about to take off and so did we.  It was too cold.  Mum's coat was drenched on the outside but thankfully still warm and dry inside.  We went home and I had the most magnificent hot shower and breakfast.   Later on at lunchtime we enjoyed our beautiful Mother's Day special lunch at Empire Grill.   We've gone there for the last five years for their special lunch, the three course meal is always spectacular, they have a piano playing in the background, they give you a rose and a little box of their special house made chocolate fudge.  It was once again a perfect lunch.

After this I took mum home and then went up to visit my mother-in-law's grave and lay flowers.  Then took the 2 hour drive home.  Full as a goog !   At home I was presented with this card.  What a clever little dog and cat to write it for me  ;-)   Even more clever is that they gave me a box of Lindt chocolate.  Well done menagerie!  

Speaking of which, our beautiful Bo Bo has been very sick during the last week.  Initially we thought she was being finicky with food which she can be from time to time, until we realised she wasn't eating at all.  We brought out the big guns - BBQ chicken, tins of sardine in spring water, anything to tempt her.  She'd sniff but walk away.  She was losing weight at an alarming rate and we had her in at the vets last Friday and he wanted to admit her and take blood tests and get her on an IV to rehydrate her, despite her drinking water by the bowlfuls at home.  We were worried it was kidney problems.  Blood tests came back and it was something to do with her white blood cells and her little body was desperately fighting an infection but it wasn't kidney.  It took a couple of tries on different antibiotics before she started coming good.  She finally came home on Monday, she's taken a week to get back to herself again and now she's eating up a storm so getting more meat back on her bones.

So it was a good Mother's Day indeed having our little girl on the mend again.

Sooooo ready for tomorrow.  I'm off to Apollo Bay to embark on the longest run in my life.  I've rented a house and we have a houseload of runners from our Runners Connect group staying there.  The Great Ocean Road Half Marathon on Sunday is a cheeky 23km.  I've never run over 21.1 before.  Plus the weather forecast for Sunday is 35km/h WNW winds and rain.  Oh joy, we're running INTO the wind!  With hills.  Crazy much?!!  I've come to realise that no matter how many times I refresh the Elders Weather website, it aint changing!!

Catch you on the flip side.