I Ran the Gap !!!!!!!

What a terrific morning I've had.  Absolutely sensational.  Run the Gap in Halls Gap in the Grampians, which just happens to be my favourite place on earth!  I signed up for the 6km run, there was also an 11.5km run but I'm just not ready for that yet.

We set off at 5.15am with Mike driving on kangaroo watch.  With sunrise timed for 7.30am, it was dark the whole way.  I, on the other hand, was out like a light with my trusty pillow.  We got up there and it was PERFECT running conditions.  It was chilly I'll grant you that, but it was still, there wasn't even a breeze.

Before I go any further I just want to mention my fabulous husband, amazing one-man-cheer squad, proud papparrazzi and incredible hat wearer!!  It's great knowing that someone is cheering me on when I run, gives me that extra impetus to go the distance, and knowing he's there cheering as I come over the finish line, proud as punch, it makes a world of difference.

It was great to meet up with some of the girls from the Warrnambool & Surrounds 12wbt crew before the race.  Pictured here with Rebecca, we were pretty pumped.  Note the guys in the background with t-shirts on, hmmmph I think they were just showing off, it was freaking cold !!

My good friend Lynn who runs with her whole family, she is such a role model to her two children.  She did run behind me for a lot of the race, she said she was checking my butt out, but secretly I think she was hoping that I would find all the rocks to trip over before she did!  Ha.  I did nearly go arse over turkey at one stage and saved myself before completely tripping and ending upface down in the dirt.  Lynn and young son then overtook me at the 4km mark and ran off into the (well I was going to say sunset) but misty distance will have to do!!

The papparrazzi action shot ... how happy do we look.  About to run out of town and then up into the bush tracks.  It was sensational smelling the gum trees and the fresh bush smell, and hearing the kookaburras and cockatoos.  I think our thunderous thumps may have scared the kangaroos away, they probably thought there was a herd of elephants running out of town!!

Oh I hesitate to show this.  How some people come over the finish line and look so fresh and elated is beyond me.  I have a look of utter exhaustion when I finish a race.  Now don't worry, I didn't do the 6km in 8 hours 40 minutes and 1 second!!  That was the actual time at that moment.   I've just checked the race results online.  I ran the 6km in 40 MINUTES 24 SECONDS!!   Not bad considering I was hoping for 45 mins.  Not only that but I came 142nd out of 202 runners in the 6k run.  I'm absolutely elated with my results.

I might have looked exhausted crossing the finish line, but my recovery time is getting better.  This is a few minutes after I finished.  Still exhausted.  But HAPPY !!!  (and BUSTING to go to the loo!!)

Catching up with friends after the race.  Trish on the right looks amazing having just finished the 11.5km.  It was actually really great finishing the 6km and being able to watch the 11.5 km runners come in and cheering two of our girls back home over the finish line.

Done and dusted.   The obligatory finish line shot!!  Ready to go and have brunch.  Kudos to the organiser, they put on a complimentary brunch for the runners afterwards (with a gold coin donation from non-runners).  Hamburgers, sausages, eggs, baked beans, tomatoes, followed by fruit baskets of watermelon, bananas and oranges.  Absolutely terrific.

After the presentations and we said our goodbyes to the girls, Mike and I decided to go walking.  The idea originally was that he wanted to get some landscape shots to assist in his oil paintings (yes, he is a man full of surprises my husband!!).  It kind of wasn't to be.  We drove up to the car park at Mount William - you drive up 10km and walk the remaining 1.8km up a very steep bitumen path and we knew we were sunk when the top of the mountain was shrouded in cloud!  Not to be outdone though, we decided to go up as far as we could before visibility got too bad.  

Mike however thought I'd taken him to boot camp with the pace I set going up the road.  He had to have a little sit on one of the thoughtful chairs placed on the first incline.

Me on the other hand, I was ready for anything.  Hills?  Bring them on.  Ain't no mountain high enough, okay well I'm getting a bit carried away there, but I was still on the runners high.

Now I know there's a mountain range out there somewhere !!!  This was the view that we were getting.  Now unless Mike was hoping to paint a canvas all white a la a snow storm, we weren't going to get any landscape shots at all.

Crazy stuff, we were way up in the misty clouds, Mike's moustache was even going frosty!!  My hoodie was sodden with the mist, and it was cold.  We decided to call it quits before we got to the pinnacle with the promise we'd come back and do it on a visible day.

Everything was wet!  And getting wetter by the minute.

Someone was VERY glad to be heading back down, made it in record time too!   With the promise of the thermos of coffee in the car.  :-)

What a day! With the alarm going off at 4.30am, it will be early to bed for me.  

A Head Spin for sure !

Well I had a bit of a mind blow out head spin today, so thought I'd share. 

I'm doing the Run the Gap on Sunday, ooooooh I'm so excited.  My favourite place on earth is Halls Gap.  My favourite thing to do now is run.  Combine the both ... a fun run *AT* Halls Gap and I am one happy chicky!!!!  

But I am presuming it is going to be waaaaaay cold up there first thing in the morning so I went to a sports store today looking for a long sleeve running shirt.  I ended up being the only person in the store with two male attendants which made me feel uncomfortable anyway having a strange guy help me pick clothes.  I'm old fashioned like that.  I was going to take flight but for whatever reason, I have no idea, I threw caution to the wind and went with it rather than walk the other way. 

Told him what I was after, we found a couple of shirts and we were sorting through sizes and he asked what size I wanted and I just said 16 (puffing my chest out quite proud it wasn't the old 18 to 20 I'd be asking for).  He took one look at me and said...

"Get out, that would swim on you, you'd be... (sizing me up) ...I reckon a size 12". 

Holy shit are you freaking kidding me???  You know it's one thing to TRY to believe it in my head and still not quite making the connection, even though my friends and family and of course Mike tell me I look so different, I've come so far, yada yada yada.  And of course I see it in the photos but I still sometimes FEEL FAT, if that makes sense.  But to have a complete stranger tell me, he had no idea I had lost 30-odd kilograms, he had no idea I was having body issues, he had no idea I worry about my lumpy and bumpy bits, but for him to tell me I was a normal size, made me stop in my tracks.  

THEN to have it fit as well, well I must admit I nearly lost it there and then in the change room, I had such a head spin.  I might finally be at a point of it sinking in.  I didn't have long to be lost in thought though as he started handing me more tops over the top of the change room.  He had turned into a regular girl !!! (or a very astute salesperson) ha.  I had 10 tops in there trying them on.

I found a mean looking black Puma long sleeved top, in breathable fabric, and it was so light, but at the same time warm.  Plus it had retro aqua stripes on the side which I'm sure will make me run faster.  :-)

It has kind of messed with my head today, in a good way though. 

Night Running ... eeeek !

Night running ... love it !  Now before you tsk tsk and think I'm being dangerous or putting myself at risk or being fool hardy, remember I live in a very small country town where just about everyone knows everyone else.  Maybe not EVERY one but you get my drift.  I think I could quite happily say I know families in a number of houses in every street in town, so if I got into trouble there would be help at hand very close by.  Plus I carry my phone and a torch that could send a mighty whack.  So I'm quite sure I'm not going to be splashed across the evening news that something drastic has happened to me, lest I fall over my own two feet.  

So I'm lucky I have the opportunity here that just because day light saving is well and truly over, that I can still get out about after I get home from work.

It can be cold, I'll grant you that.  On nights that I'm not at the gym, I get home from work, get changed and it's dusk by the time I go out.  You can see I take precautions by wearing a fluoro vest with reflectors front and back.  And trust me, if my husband thought I was in any danger he'd be stamping his feet and telling me not to go.

Now these photos looks like it's pitch black when I get home, it's not THAT dark, I think it's just the focus on the camera.  I can still see but your eyes do need to adjust and yes the sun has gone, street lights are on and it is dark but not pitch black,  and I do use my torch.  Particularly as we don't have many footpaths in town so I run on the verge of the road and the odd times a car comes the other way I shine the torch on my vest and move over onto the naturestrip.  I don't like running ON the actual naturestrip for any length of time though because they're so uneven.

Some pics here setting out and getting home.  Oh and these photos were not taken tonight, they were from last week.  Tonight's run I hobbled back home running like the Hunchback of Notredame ... darn blister!

So I am very fortunate I know that I have the freedom to run at night and not feel any trepidation in doing so. Put me in another environment and I'd be a scaredy cat, trust me, and no way I'd be out there after dark!!  

Oh and I swear there is a wolf in town.  I am sure I hear it howling as I run.  Even though I know there are no wolves in Australia.   Funny though how sounds are amplified in the dark.  Probably one of the odd people in town howling at the moon! ha

The kindness of runners

I received a lovely parcel in the mail today from a runner who I find very inspirational.  Hearing of my continuing blister plight (yep, I can't stop talking about it!!) she kindly sent me some Body Glide to try out and a pair of great running socks.  Thank you so much D !!   This is definitely a pay it forward type moment for me, and hope that I will be able to reach out to someone in their hour of need (or blister desperation!) also.

I did realise though tonight I need to wait until the poor old skin on my foot has completely healed before the Body Glide has a hope of working.  Hence my running like the Fluoro Hunch Back tonight!!

Was this really me before 12WBT ?

We've had quite a few new local people join 12wbt this round and it's great to see the camaraderie already developing in our little Warrnambool & Surrounds 12wbt crew.  A number of us 'oldies' ... well who knew I'd still be hard at it a year down the track, normally I'd have given up by now ... recently displayed our before and (well I'm going to say) 'during' shots (not quite an 'after' shot for me yet) in an effort to bolster up hope and enthusiasm and get the fire in their bellies as to what can be achieved.

Now I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the WWW is just not quite ready to see me in my undies.  It's all very well that the administration at 12wbt get to see it, but that's as far as it goes.  Maybe one day, who knows.  Then you can compare apples with apples, as when Mike takes my 12 week photos he makes sure I'm standing in exactly the same spot holding the exact same pose each time.

So until then, undies shots aside, I went delving through my photos to find a before shot, and it was like a slap in the face when I found this one from a month or so before I started pre-season Round 2 of 2012.  It's hard to even remember looking like this any more.  My eyes look so small on my face, because my face was so round.  I remember this day, it was a presentation at my work and I thought I actually looked alright.  But right now it is actually painful for me to look at my before photo and it hurts me, and I'm actually quite angry at myself to think how much time I wasted.

Oh yes, there's a smile on my 'before' face, but it's only a surface smile, it doesn't quite reach my eyes.  And sitting here at the computer looking at these photos side by side it has brought me to tears.  I actually have a pain in my chest looking at it.  The feelings of being uncomfortable, tight chested, self-conscious, awkward, and just plain heavy are all flooding back.  It's a very sad feeling.

This is going to be my wake up call, any time I start to get complacent with my exercise or if my calorie intake looks to be in excess during the day, I'm going to flick out this side by side photo and it will be enough to steer me back on the straight and narrow.

Another PB if you please  :-)

Hubby has been away camping  this weekend with his gold detecting group and a year ago when these weekends rolled around I would get in the comfort food, visit the road house for hot chippies, chocolate, you name it, sludge around on the couch and not do much at all.  Not any more.  I cook something amazingly healthy and enjoy it.  I exercise. I play with the animals.  I get out and about.  I drink my water.  I get through the weekend with so much energy.  This weekend was no exception.

I bounded out of bed on Saturday morning knowing I wanted to go for a good run.  And I did it again, my longest non-stop run to date.  10.6 kilometres in 1 hour 17 mins.  I must admit though the last 2 kms were not pretty, not by a long shot.  About the 7 km mark I developed a blister on my right foot, always in the same place on the inner side of my foot just down from my big toe.  I persevered but when I got near to my house there was no way I was going to do another blockie and try to make it to the 11km, so I called it quits at 10.6km.  Still so incredibly proud of myself.   Couldn't wait to ring Mike to let him know.  He was whooping and hollaring on the phone.

But now I'm nursing a blistered foot yet again, only the right foot this time.  Must get it better for Sunday, I have another fun run on the horizon.

Do tears count as Calorie leakage??

I wonder, because if so I lost a stack of calories in bucket loads tonight.  My mum has done it again, reduced me to tears.  Yep we've certainly had our ups and downs over recent years since my dad passed away, but we are most definitely making huge leaps forward on the way up and continuing on this path over the past year or so.

I got home tonight from work and there was an envelope on the table.  That's my mum for you.  She doesn't have the internet, can't work out how to send sms's on the phone for the life of her, but loves to sit down and write handwritten letters.  That and send every cut out and tidbit of news from the local paper down there to me.

So anyway I open the envelope and there's a card inside.  I started reading and cried like a baby.  How is it that I get to 48 and yet words from my mum can turn back the clock and I'm a young girl once again getting praise from a parent?

But it's all good and I'm still tearful and smiling just reading it again.

In case you can't read her little writing here in the pic, and I'm sure she won't mind sharing, here is what she wrote:

"Dear Carol

I am so very very proud of you.  From where you were to where you are now.  You have achieved so much.  To see you run was so emotional and to see you finish was so great.  You have made such great friends on the way and you look so fantastic.  Keep up the good work.

All my love, Mum. xxxxx

PS.  Dad would also be so proud of you xx"

I knew she had a great morning at the Mothers Day Classic, and I was excited that mum was going to see me run for the first time, but I didn't realise just how proud she was of me.  And I just know that my dad would have been looking down at me and whooping and hollaring with the best of them urging me on.

Okay off to go sob some more.  Photo here taken by the ME Bank (sponsor) photographer.

Now, go hug your mum, or say a prayer for your mum, or ring your mum.  She's probably feeling the same way about you as mine is about me right now.

(on second thoughts, don't ring her RIGHT now, it's late and she'll probably be pissed at you for getting her out of bed!!)

By the way, first weigh in today and I'm off to a cracking start.  800 grams gone.  Considering the last 12 weeks I lost a sum total of 3kg, I'm feeling pretty darn positive with my first week's weigh in of the round.

Weekly Challenge - Inspiration Board

I am going to make a concerted effort to join in more challenges this round, just to ensure I embrace everything.  I want this to be the round that I seriously kick butt with myself, ha!

So the Week 1 challenge was to create an inspiration board.  That is to collate images, words, phrases and objects to inspire me to reach my goals.  Well I've done that in previous rounds, but this round I wanted to take a different tact.  I have achieved a lot of goals over the last 12 months and I want to celebrate that.  I want to bottle the enthusiasm I feel when I am out there and achieving.  Wouldn't that be great.  Bottle it, take a swig any time you needed, for a pep me up and spring in your step.  But seriously, I've climbed mountains, I've lost a huge amount of weight (sure, there's still some to go),  I've run fun runs, I've taken part in exercise challenges,  I've changed my whole look, hair, colour, clothes, I've moved into a new position with my work, I'm more confident, I'm more accepting of compliments and nice comments that people are making, I've made huge inroads into a new me.

So I wanted to celebrate it, remember it, remember how I have gotten to this stage, and keep motivated to continue on this path.  So this is my inspiration board.

This would have to be my most favourite photograph ever that Mike has taken of me.  It was just as I had arrived in Noorat for the Noorat to Terang fun run.  I was chomping at the bit to get started.  Life really is just the best!

The Results are in !!

Found out my official race time for the Mothers Day Classic 8km run.

I was aiming to be under 60 minutes, so I'm thrilled to find out I did it in... (drum roll please) ...

• 56 minutes and 37.3 seconds.  Yahooooooo!

• Overall placing in the 8km run was 663 out of 735 runners.
• 108th place in the Female 40-49 age group.
• And 468th female over the line.

The last two out of how many I have no idea, and no inclination to count through the people under my name on the list.  :-)

This quote pretty much summed up how I felt on Sunday.  For sure.

And a new round starts...

Day 1 today, I'm feeling so positive this round.  I have two main goals for the next 12 weeks.   

Firstly my mini-goal is to get into the 70's.  I will be thrilled the moment the scales say 79.999999999kg.  It's kind of like a ledge to get over, if that makes sense.

My major goal for this round is for my weight to be lower than Mike's, for the first time in our relationship.  He's hovering around the 75-76kg mark.  I figure if I just keep buying him icecream for dessert and Turkish Delight chocolate (which I won't come within six feet of) I should have this in the bag!!  ha!  Only kidding about the icecream and chocky, I wouldn't do that to him ... although ... wistfully looking out into the distance.

OH AND A PS:   I did wear my MDC princess sash to work and I'd still be wearing it right now if I hadn't left it there! tee hee.  I'm getting mileage out of being a princess this week.