More running for Tania

#runfortania - day 3 (Monday)

Well while Tania is still out in the Simpson Desert running her 250km, I kept slogging away at my miniscule runs!!  What a beautiful evening it was.  Seems like I haven't run in Warrnie after work for ages, mainly because it gets dark too quick, or it's too freaking cold or windy in the winter!  But tonight I had my gear with me so trotted out a weekday 4km.  Yep, told you it was miniscule, ha!   But I'm not as comfortable to run in the dark in Warrnie as I am here at home.

#runfortania - day 4 (Tuesday) - as in tonight!!

It's been one of those days.  Just couldn't get up for a morning run before work and thought yep I'll do it after work when I get home.  Got home and and there was a bit of misty rain, my hips were a bit hurty from the every day running which started before this challenge, I've run every day since last Friday!!  It was cold.  I had dinner to make.  I trudged through the back door and then hubby kicked my sorry arse into gear and told me to lace up and get out there with Lucky at least.  I can't start a flipping challenge and then pike on it while the rest of the group are out there doing it.  So okay it was only 1.5km joffle ... haha I #joffledfortania but it was something.  Even in the dark Lucky still wanted to pee everything he could so there was a lot of start/stopping.

But done.  Yay, I haven't let myself down.

And Cat patience grasshopper, once this #runfortania challenge is over, I'll tell you about my NEXT.BIG.THING!

#runfortania

Sooooo a friend of mine, well an online running buddy from our awesome 12WBT Runners Connect Group, is doing the Big Red Run at the moment.  What's that you might ask?  Well it's a grueling 250km from the Birdsville Pub, across the Simpson Desert in six days.  WHAAAAAT???!!!  Crazy crazy stuff.  You can read more about the Big Red Run HERE

So because our online running group is so awesome and so supportive and well yep, so awesome (tee hee!!) sooooo many of us have pledged to #runfortania over the six days she's running.  My pledge is to run every day, oh Lordy Lord I hope these knees hold up!

#runfortania - day 1 (Saturday)

I took Lucky for a 1.5km walk, pee, scratch, sniff, pee, joffle, pee, did I say pee?  How much pee can a little dog have, honestly!

   

Then followed it up with another 3.5km run myself.  

Where this awesome cow, or maybe it was a bull, posed for me.  How idyllic.

And quite frankly what a different winter's day from yesterday!!

#runfortania - day 2 (Sunday) - as in today!!

We were going to get up early this morning and go for a run and get it out of the way.  But at 7am the weather app on my phone says it was 2 degrees outside, feels like -2.  Errr, the doona went flying back over me.  It was Sunday, there was no hurry.

At 8am the temp had dropped to 1 degree.  This is celsius for my USA friends.  Nope, still not going out, made some porridge for brecky instead!

Mike and I ended up heading out at 11am where it was a more civilised 6 degrees.  Oh my fair weathered running husband, he came to the back door wearing long trackies, a jacket and a beanie.  Like really, it was okay out there, ditch the beanie man!  He conceded and wore his running cap.

Don't ask me what was going on with my hair, it wasn't even windy!  

Good grief!!

Mike is still wringing his hands together, we'd already run a km!

We ran to the footy oval.

Mike did one lap and then headed home.

I did four laps then took the long way home.  Another 6km on the tally.

And I am !

First run back!

Going stir crazy here I did my first run in 11 days on Friday.  Which happened to be one of the coldest, iciest days of winter mind you.  It had showered on and off all day and I decided now was the day, I had long tights, long sleeved shirt, raincoat, I was prepared.  In between showers I slipped out.

I could see the weather coming across with the next showery squall about to hit, surely I could make it.  Hmmm nope.  Half way up the stock route and down it came.  But I was happy as a lark, hat down, I kept on.  Only 3.2km and I know I know, never say only.  But it felt so good to be out.  And my shower proof jacket obviously is just a bit rain proof, because I was nice and dry.  Awesome!

It's so soooooo good to have that first one done.  I have another 12 week plan about to start, more about that later.  Hmmmm wonder what it could be!!??

Running week fail

Sooo finished Run Forrest last weekend and I hate to even say this out loud but that was my last run!!!!!

I started getting a scratchy throat on the Sunday night but not enough to not run.  But I've had a few huge days at the start of the week and so planned to run Wednesday night.  But got home from work exhausted.  Re-planned Thursday early morning but hit snooze and had CWA straight after work.  Re-re-planned Friday  after work but by then the runny nose and sneezing had started.

Why oh why - a firm lesson in don't put off until tomorrow hey? 

Both Mike and I have been down for the count, no running this weekend despite being great running weather.  Waaaaah!   

Cabin fever got too much today and I managed a slow 1.4km big block walk around here with the boy.  Popped the duffle coat on to keep warm.

Now winter cold ... be gone!! I have running to do.

Run Forrest race recap

So a couple of years ago I entered Run Forest - and the car broke down one the way.  Dodgy brakes and the drive down the Otways do not mix!  So we limped the car back home.   So this was my 'unfinished business' event.  No way was I going to get that big fat DNS next to my name again.

Mike was initially going to come but got boxed into doing something else here in town, so I went down solo, knowing I had a number of friends from our 12WBT Runners Connect group going to be there too, as well as some Aths Club members.    Forest is about an hour and a half drive away but in case there was fog I left early and of course no fog and I got down there waaaaay too early but I'd rather be there then than not.  Parking was around the town and being that Forrest so the early bird gets a good park.  I walked down to the race village with another lady and we chatted, her hubby was running the HM.  It was soooo cold.  I had my gloves and woolly beanie and long tights.

Got to the race village and people were milling around.  There was cruisy Jazz coming from loudspeakers in the trees.  A couple of fire pits burning, I got my bib and gravitated back to the fire.   Shorly after I met Annette from the group and embarrassingly I didn't recognize her, I saw this woman honing in on my fire spot and was ready to give her daggers! ha.

Soon enough my buddies Trina, Jane and Jacqui Veal were there, we took pics and started getting excited.  There was quite a buzz.  Mind you we weren't leaving our spot by the fire!!

The 5km kids took off, then 5km adults.  At 10am the 21km started. The race briefing warned us it was slippery and there were spots where there had been work happening on the trail where there was clay and they hinted we should stay high as it was mucky.  One look down at my feet and so glad I had these new trail shoes on.

10.30am approached for the 10km and I braved the cold and off came my jacket and beanie.  I was running in a tshirt, long tights and gloves (the gloves eventually came off and tucked into my belt). Trina, Jane, Jacqui and I milled about with the starting participants and then held hands jumping up and down excitedly.  This was going to be fun.  The air was so clear it was sweet and the scenery was beautiful in this area.

Just a tad excited!

Race started and soon enough there was a dirty big hill to scale.  Ouch.  Then we ran through such amazing bush.  Lots of damp leaves underfoot, undulating up and down, this wasn't too bad.  A lady in front of me took a spill and the runners around her made sure she was ok and we helped her up, she was all good.  So head down continued on.  We ran across a bridge, I guess it was like a damn or weir bridge, the view was amazing.  

Then back into the bush and lots of downhills I felt like I was flying.  It was awesome.  There was lots of strange orange mushrooms around, some as big as plates.  Then it got tricky, we hit the clay and mud and slip sliding, losing grip, but I didn't fall.  Lots of "whoops" and squeals were being called out as people almost came to grief, but the fast HM runners were catching us and they just barrelled through the clay using momentum.  It was hysterical, doing the clay slippy slidey dance, I had half the Otways mud on my runners.

At about 7.5km and you pass back by the race village and then do a big 2.5km loop out around the area and then back to the finishing area, down through the chute and I see Trina and Jax who were super faster than me, along the sides yelling out.  Finished and felt so alive, it was SO.MUCH.FUN!

No bling but we got a sticker!! I guess that was the 'race momento'.   Water, Gatorade, bananas and oranges at the end.  And quickly back went the beanie on the head.  Getting cold after the run and weather was no warmer.

Goodness when I looked at the GPS map afterwards we did do a lot of criss crossing, I had no idea.  

My official time was 1:22:29 

and I'm thrilled with that due to the slow muddy sections.

Quick goodbyes and Jane, Trina and I wandered back into town to the Otway Soup festival and market area.  Bought some goodies at the market, hamburgers for lunch as the soup line was too long and then Trina got to hold a flipping big snake and we heard her reach a top C when she screamed when the snake was getting friendly with her.  A woman of a thousand faces that's for sure!

Would recommend this event in a heartbeat.  Doesn't matter there's no bling, it was fun and there was such a buzz.  Awesome day!

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.