Running With Dogs

I’m preserving my shin for the run next Sunday, so my plan for the week is an elliptical trainer (known as the bike!) session today, a 5km run on either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning (depending on whether or not Roseanne is well enough for Tuesday night) and a bike session on Friday morning. We’re hoping to take the dogs along the beachfront atRedcliffe, it’s a pretty spot and well lit.

I put on my new Queen in concert at Wembley Stadium DVD and worked out to Freddie Mercury. That man is a showman through and through! I did 45 minutes, I’m hoping the bike will keep my leg strength up while I’m not out there running. My cardiovascular fitness is fine, I think my biggest limitation will be my legs.

As it says in the title - I am going to somehow organise, or get my hubby to organise :-), a fun run for people with dogs. He’s got people at his club who run with their dogs, and I’ve got Sinner, until he takes him back when Guinness is old enough, and Roseanne has Jaydee…. the RSPCA does the million paws dawdle and it’s nice, why not get a run underway?? Watch this space!

I went out with Sinner this morning for my run, and my shin felt really good. I stayed on the grass as much as possible, and I had planned to do another 4.5km just to be sure I could manage on Sunday week. Well, I’d done 4km and the last km didn’t feel any worse than the one before, so I thought I’d push on and just see…. sure enough, the trusty Garmin ticked over 5km, in around 32 and a bit minutes. I will admit, the last half km was very slow, around 7 1/2 minute per km pace, and it was a bit trudgy, but it’s done. My shin felt good, it was twingy but I pulled up very comfortable. I guess I have officially finished the C25k program.

I’ve been mulling over what made it work this time, given I’ve read the C25k program a couple of times in the past and never really been inspired to start. I think the biggie is having a running buddy, even though we didn’t run much together, we did the program together and shared celebrations and commiserations. There was also the feeling that if I didn’t do it, I’d be letting Roseanne down, and that kept me getting up in the morning when I really wanted to sleep in. Another biggie was having a goal, we’d publicly announced we were going to enter the Bridge to Brisbane run, so there were people watching, and that’s a push too. We’d spent $25 to enter the race, which was another commitment. It really helped me a lot having a decent pair of shoes, I didn’t have the knee pain that had troubled me every other time I half decided to go running. And, my hubby who was so keen for me to run but tried so hard not to be pushy, and really was ever so helpful. 

 Where to from here? You just thought you’d not have to read this blog any more, eh? My plan is to keep running 3 times a week for now, and only going a max of 5km. I want to get comfortable at the distance so I don’t tire so much at the end, and when I’m doing that, I’ll work on increasing my speed. Eventually I’ll see if I can find a 5km - 10km program and maybe have a go at that. We’ll see.

Today I was back to the elliptical trainer, just to try and save my shins a bit of pounding. I watched one of those morning shows while I was riding, but it was dead boring. I only lasted half an hour as the natives (the children) were restless. Was chatting to my hubby and we’ve decided that I’ll have one more run this week, then next week my three sessions will be bike, run and bike, to leave me comfortable for the B2B. It’s all good.

This morning I headed out to tackle Week 8, day 2.  I found it the hardest run yet.  I’m not sure why.  Right from the start my legs felt like lead and I was really having to push myself.   Hubby took the kids to the park and I was going to meet him down there.  This is not the direction I normally go, and I had a few nasty hills to tackle.  I was hanging out for the podcast to announce that I had hit the halfway mark and was wondering how I was going to handle another 14 minutes.  I was under a bit of pressure as my hubby had to get ready for a physio appointment and he was getting anxious that he would be late so I was watching my watch and maybe I was trying to run faster even though I realised that I was running for a set time, not distance.  To make it harder Jaydee kept pulling against me, wanting to go and play with the kids.  As I headed home again the second last hill I had to conquer almost conquered me.  I really had to push myself to keep going and almost stopped several times.  By the time I got to the top I was mighty close to vomiting!  Things soon settled down once I was heading down the other side and I was able to keep going.  I would like to have been able to measure the distance I ran to know if I was running faster than normal.  I really hurt bad today and I was so glad when I had finished.  A few seconds into the 5 minute cool down walk and Jaydee stopped to do what doggies must do and doggie owners must pick up.  I was pleased that he had waited until I had finished the run or I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to get going again.

When I got home I realised that my watch was 20 minutes slow.  No wonder my hubby was getting anxious about missing his appointment.  I hope my next run will be easier.

Sunday morning I dragged all the family out of bed nice and early to head down to Redcliffe so I could sign up for the 3km Jetty to Jetty fun run.  Jaydee got so excited and lined up at the car hoping that he was coming too.  He was most upset about going back into his crate and being left behind.

It was overcast and the breeze blowing in off the water was freezing.  After registering we headed back to sit in the car until it was time for our run to start.  The kids were a bit grumpy about the cold until they caught up with Audrey’s kids and then there were no more grumbles out of them.
My hubby and kids lost sight of me at the start of the run - not because we took off too fast but because they were watching the wrong pink hat in the crowd and by the time they figured it out and found me, I was almost out of sight.  They went off for an ice-cream hoping to be back in time to cheer me across the finish line but they got there too late.  They felt totally ripped off when they realised that they had missed out.

I was glad I had Audrey to keep me going during the run.  I had to push myself a few times to keep up the pace.  I didn’t have any specific hurt, just found it a bit of an effort.  I felt good when it was over and am looking forward to the next one.  The kids are keen to go and use the donut king vouchers we won in the random prize draw too.

After leaving Redcliffe we spent the afternoon at the Samford show.  All up it was a great day.

I figured I’d recovered enough from the J2J run and headed out to restart week 8, which was a 5 minutes warmup walk, 28 minute run then a 5 minute cooldown walk. I felt pretty sure I could do it, the only limitation being my shin. It was overcast and a bit cool, but a lot warmer than last week or the week before. Sinner was keen to get out with me, he’s not been doing much running since I’ve been taking it easy and hubby has had a bad cold.

I stayed off the bitumen to try and protect my shin, and it was okay. Uncomfortable towards the end but not agony, which is good. My right knee was a bit sore too. But, in the 28 minutes, I ran 4.17km (thanks to hubby’s Garmin!). I was feeling okay, so I thought I’d try and push on and do the 4.5km, which I did in just under 30 minutes. So, I’m going to be confident of finishing the Bridge to Brisbane run, I just need to mind my shin between now and then and not overdo it. It’s all good!! Nice birdlife again today, quite a few corellas and a spoonbill and heron in the lake.

Audrey

It was absolutely freezing yesterday morning in Redcliffe. I was so wishing I’d stayed in bed. We got to Redcliffe nice and early, and after we’d collected our numbers, we sat in the car for a while. I thought Roseanne would have a mobile with her, and when I didn’t hear from her, I figured she’d just stayed in bed. Sensible idea! However, when we headed for the start line, there she was with her family as a cheer squad.

Fortunately it started to warm up as we started our run. My hubby and kiddies walked the 3km, and Roseanne and I managed to run it in 18 1/2 minutes, which I didn’t think was too shabby. The course followed the coast and looked out over Moreton Bay, and had a fe gentle hills. I was pleased to see a couple of my friends from the pipe band playing for the runners - Roseanne commented that they were playing a funeral dirge for us, haha. Afterwards, Roseanne and my hubby did well in the random draws, coming home with gin, wine, donuts and a month’s gym membership. Roseanne headed off after that, and we went and had some coffee before making our own way home.

My knees were a bit sore during the run, but the good thing was, my shin felt fine. I iced and strapped it when I got home, but it’s been no problem. My hubby is so keen on me running that I reckon I could sit down and claim a running injury, and he’d do the laundry, the washing up, the cooking…. oh, hang on, he does most of that anyway!

All in all, a fun morning, and we’ll probably do it again next year, maybe the 5km or, if we’re really adventurous, the 12km. Our plans are to do the 4.5km Bridge to Brisbane on the 5th August, and then a 5km run in September. After that, who knows? I’m thinking I’ll keep going at 5km for a while until I’m really comfortable with it, then start going a bit further. I’ve found a program that will take you from 5km to 10km, but it has no podcasts. That’s okay, I’ll make my own, probably won’t have the same type of music that Robert has, some of those tunes are a bit ummm strange…

Jaydee was full of beans and keen to get going today.  As usual, I let him out for a wee while I finished getting ready and before long my 9 year old sons came in  to tell they  had just seen our dog running down the road.  He must have decided I was taking too long and he headed off without me.  The boys just took his ball out to the fence, called him and tossed the ball in the air.  He can’t resist a ball to catch and came bounding home again. 

 Week 8, Day 1 and we were facing up to a continuous 28 minute run this morning.  I figured 28 minutes wasn’t much more than 25 minutes so wasn’t intimidated by the prospect.  I started out just fine.  Jaydee was pulling hard ahead of me and I took off at a significantly faster pace than the usual plod.  By the time I got to the top of the first hill I was puffing hard and had no trouble falling back into the steady pace I’m used to.  I was cruising along thinking how amazing it was that I was pain free this morning,  not even a twinge in my knee or ankle.  At around the halfway mark I felt a sudden, sharp pain just below my left knee.  By the time I got down to the last minute my legs were really hurting and when I finished running and started the 5 minute cool down walk my legs felt like jelly.  I think that next time I’ll be sure to take it steady from the outset.

 I haven’t registered for the Jetty to Jetty fun run yet, but plan to get up bright and early on Sunday morning to be there in time to register on the day.  I received my information pack for the Bridge to Brisbane.  I can’t believe how fast the time has gone!

Well, I’ve entered the Jetty to Jetty online, and have entered my hubby and two children too. I don’t know how that will go cos hubby has been sick these last two days, and may not feel up to walking 3km. My 7 year old daughter asked if I minded if she ran on ahead of me with Daddy! She must really think I’m slow.

I still haven’t been running, to save my shin, and I think I actually miss getting out there with Sinner. I spent 40 minutes on the elliptical trainer tonight, so my legs should definitely be strong enough to do 3km. Yeah, it was boring, but I had a great dog training video to watch, it’s got me inspired to teach young Guinness a few tricks.

I’m planning one more session on the elliptical trainer on Friday afternoon and that’ll be it until the run on Sunday. It should be a nice morning, Redcliffe is so pretty.  If my shin pulls up okay after the run, I’ll see about starting back out on the road next week. Sinner’s a great dog but boy, I’m looking forward to getting Guinness out, he’s such a smooth mover. That won’t be til next year tho’, he’s only 4 months old.