One of those rare creatures

Part the bushes of centennial park on a sunny day between the hours of 1pm and 2pm and you may just be lucky enough to spot the rarest of creatures, a runner without a Garmin!

Its me! I admit I have no Garmin :( Now I hear good things about them and I'm sure I would find it very handy but one of the reasons I got into running is that its meant to be a cheap sport and as far as I know they are $300 +. I say this because today I attempted a speed training session and it was a bit of a disaster. I set off thinking I would run fast for 2 minutes and then walk for 2, I managed this about 3 times before I was done in!
So I really need to look into how to do speed work, if you don't have a garmin how do you know how fast to go? I don't have a heart rate monitor either, thats probably quite poor for someone training for a marathon, maybe I will look into buying one.

So this weeks total 24 kms. I slightly cheated and did my long run today instead of yesterday. It was pouring most the day plus I had been kayaking and quad biking on Saturday which I was aching from.

Gosh I really need to put aside some quality blogging time, two posts a week is very slack! I promise to try harder.

Chubby Katie

Brentwood 1/2

I would like to congratulate my dad on his 2nd 1/2 marathon. He did it in a pretty respectable time of 1hr 52, although he was a little disappointed to only equal his pb not beat it. I might do a little Q & A with him to see how it compared to others and also get some pointers for me.

In other exciting news it looks like I might be ok to do my half marathon in May, the other thing I had planned looks like it might move!


I stole this photo from the official site and then clicked a couple of their ad links to make up for it!

Weekly total - 18km

I know I know a shockingly low total last week! I am embarrassed! I would like to say that life got in the way but really my lazyness and inability to get out of bed early got in the way. I promise to make up for it this week and actually brought my running stuff into work and dodged the rain at lunch time to do 5kms.

I was up at Port Macquarie over the weekend and I managed to get Michael-clease out for a run, we did about 8km which I classed as my long run. We also did some bush walking so I might count that, it included some hills.

Michael-clease and I entered a 1/2 marathon on Friday and straight after entering I realised I have other plans! It cost $89 and they don't do refunds without a doctors note. I am hoping either my plans move or I manage to sell my entry. That or I am going to have to injure myself somehow without damaging my marathon training. Hmmm maybe a broken arm? or a week long flu?

I'm still planning on doing the 1km shark island swim on Sunday although I think the boys may well pull out. We are out on Saturday night and I think if I register it will mean I am forced to not go too crazy at the weekend.

Chubby Katie.x

Virtual runs

There are so many virtual runs going on at the moment that I can't keep up! Here are a few that I stole from the lovely blogger Feet Dominating Pavement:

All year Run for the Bling of it! (Any distance)
March-April SparkPeople Virtual Run (run/walk any distance)
March 12-13 Run for ChristChurch (Any distance)
March 14 - 26 Cupcake Run (Half Marathon or Full, can be spread out over several days)
March 17-20 Shake your Shamrock Run (7k or 14k)
March 19 Life's a Wheeze 5k

Plus of course the CK Virtual Run

So far I not raced for Run for the bling of it in March and I am running out of time! I nearly signed up for the Shake your Shamrock (that seems like such a cool theme) but I am going up to Port Macquarie for the weekend and even though I intend to run I can't guarantee that I it will be 13km and I might not have internet access to enter my results. I should really do the Lifes a wheeze 5k but as thats what I do most of the week it doesn't seem so much of a challenge. Oh my life is so tough ;)

I didn't feel like getting up early this morning so I am running home from work, unfortunately as I am away for the weekend I need to run tomorrow morning as well.

In exciting news I think Michael-Clease might run the 1/2 marathon when I do my full one! He said he needed some motivation to get him out running and I said he needed to sign up for an event.

I hope to make some pumpkin soup tonight so stay tuned for the results and if successful the recipe.

Chubby Katie.x

10% rule

I've always known about it but since I am properly training now I should really think about the 10% rule. As I mentioned I ran 25kms last week so this week I should only run 27.5km max. Check out this blog for some great running style tips - Becoming an Ironman I didn't run this morning, Michael-clease and I were both a bit tired, him from soccer and me from my 10k yesterday, I might do it when I get home or I may just wait till my rest day tomorrow.
Its a short one today, our veggie box gets delivered though so thats exciting :)

Chubby Katie.x

Weekly km = 25

For the past week I have been struggling on my morning 5k runs, it was beginning to worry me that, even though i still had 18 weeks until my marathon, I shouldn't be struggling so much. I had to keep reminding myself that I still had a fair bit of training time left and also that I tend to run first thing on an empty stomach which is bound to make things harder.

Saying that I am quite a believer that training the body in tough conditions i.e in the heat, without food etc means that when conditions are at their best it should be a piece of cake. I think I read somewhere that Chrissy Wellington (my triathlon hero) does some training session on limited water to get her body used to dehydration!

Anywho today I ran 10k and really enjoyed it and felt good, despite having a few beers last night and a MacDonalds breakfast. I did 10.6km in 1hr 5 which is ok, not my fastest but it was a hot day.

That make 25km this week, not bad but needs upping quite quickly I think.

I have just discovered the mcmillan running calculator you can put in your time over a bunch of different distances and it will calculate you time and pace for other distances. For example I put in my 1 hour 10km and it gave me a marathon time of 4:41 at a pace of 6:41 minute kilometers. I will work on getting my pace quicker as I am hoping to do a sub 4:20 marathon but the calculator is really handy to see what stage you are at and how you are improving.

You might have realised that I have not mentioned the triathlon that I was meant to be doing this week. Well the fact is I didn't do it! It wasn't very near our house so we would have had to stay the night down there, I haven't been out on my bike for ages, it would have cost quite a lot (especially when I haven't really trained) plus I didn't know anyone else doing it so Michael-clease and I would have had to go alone and he would have had to wait around for me, all these excuses added up to me not competiting. In short I would rather do a race that I have trained for and feel confident about.

I do intend to still do the 1km shark island swim in two weeks time despite my swim training suffering a little recently.

Well that is about it for today, early to bed I think so I can get up bright and early for another week of training.
x

Trail running

I have just arrived back from my Sunday long run and it was great! I got up early (well for a Sunday) and got the ferry to Bundeena in the Royal National park. After a bit of a shaky start, where i went the wrong way, I got onto the Jibbon track and ran/walked it round back to Bundeena. I think at one junction I took the wrong option and so ended up doing a 8.7km route although.

The track was mainly sandy paths and in some places was quite soft sand, hence my run/walking. It also got a little warm in the sun so took of my t-shirt and ran in my bra top until I saw hikers then I quickly whipped it back on.

As I was running along the sand and up and down the rocks I started thinking that maybe a doing my long runs on trails is not the best training for a 42km road run. I think I will limit my trail runs and only do about 1/4 of the long run on trails. The good thing is that the Hunter Valley Marathon is not all tarmac roads, there is also some gravel roads and grass trails.

I felt very safe on the run and knew I was very unlikely to get lost. There was enough people around but not too many to ruin the peacefulness. 

I finished off my run with a celebratory coffee before jumping back on the ferry, after running for about 1 hour. If you live in NSW and like running or walking in the national parks I really recommend the Wild Walks website.

In an earlier post I had mentioned that I was on the look out for a crop top. For a while I had been looking on various websites, never too sure if any of them would like what I was after, and checking out shops but not being willing to pay the $50 that they were asking. Yesterday I popped into Target and found these babies!

 There were just what I was looking for and were $20 with 30% off! When I got them to the till they came up as $11 for the purple one and $3 for the orange one, I have no idea why. They are just what I was looking for and I wore the purple one today. I just hope now that it says warm enough for me to get some wear out of them.

Chubby Katie.x

Parks and vegetables

I was planning on giving you an update of my veg box challenge but we ended up eating out last night so the vegetables are still sitting in the box. We will have a little bbq tonight so I will update you with how that goes. While we are on the subject of food I was checking out the tri Marni blog and she had some tips for healthy eating which I thought were very sound advice:


* Take pride in preparing meals and give yourself the proper amount of time to do so.
* Be creative with your meals and snacks
* Purchase useful and fun Tupperware and dishes
* Aim for less than 5 ingredients for at least 75-80% of the foods in your home
* Take time to eat your meal, with little to no distractions (ex. computer, TV, phone)
* Enjoy occasional desserts and sweet-treats, without feelings of guilt
* Spread your calories throughout the day
* Look forward to one item at every meal
* Focus on variety throughout the day
* Bulk up your meals with plant-based foods
* Try to consume at least 3 servings of fruits and veggies before dinner
* Plan for snacks between meals, as well as pre-meal snacks, while preparing your meals
* Plan pre-and-post training snacks
* Drink plenty of water
* Get a restful night of sleep
* Eat for fuel, not for a number on a scale 



I didn't get up early this morning, after a week of 6am starts I really felt like I needed a bit of a lie in. Instead I will run home from work, I have a 5km route planned (even though my training schedule only says 3.2km!). On Sunday I have my long run, we live really near a national park and I am thinking of doing it in there around the Jibbon loop. I can run to the ferry hop on board to the national park, do the loop which will probably be about 6.8km and then hop on the ferry home. I would need to take water, my phone, money and a map but its not too far from civilisation so i'm sure i'll be ok. 


Oh gosh I have just realised this is my 50 post! Happy Anniversary Chubby Katie.


I will tell you how I get on.
Chubby Katie.x

A-z of me!

(A) Age: 28

(B) Bed Size: Double, Michael-clease keeps moaning that we need a bigger one but I think its just fine!

(C) Chore You Hate: Pretty much all of them. 

(D) Dogs? Would love one but can't in our apartment, have to play with the in-laws staffies instead.

(E) Essential Start Your Day Item: Shower, plus I can't go the day without a descent breakfast.

(F) Favorite Color: Pink and yellow....but not together

(G) Gold or Silver? Gold.

(H) Height: 5ft 5in ish

(I) Instruments You Play: I am really not very musical! Although I did have brief piano lessons.

(J) Job Title: Production assistant/image co-ordinator.

(K) Kids: Nope.

(L) Live: Cronulla, NSW.

(M) Mom's Name: Linda - hi mum

(N) Nicknames: Haven't really had one since school, I was often called Davie.

(O) Overnight Hospital Stays? Only when I had my adenoids.

(P) Pet Peeve: People who say "thats hilarious" but don't laugh. People who use the word literally incorrectly. People who say they have the flu and its only a cold.

(Q) Quote from a Movie: Mother always taught me: "Never eat singing food" - Muppets Christmas Carol

(R) Right or Left Handed? Right.

(S) Siblings: One younger sister - hi Caroline.

(T) Time You Wake Up? About 6am.

(U) Underwear: Umm pretty standard underwear I think??

(V) Vegetable You Dislike: Parsnips.

(W) What Makes You Run Late: Not getting out of bed earlier enough. 

(X) X-Rays You've Had Done: I forget, none since I was about 8. Maybe one on my chest and one on my wrist.

(Y) Yummy Food You Make: Michael-clease loves my hake in thai sauce and I have been told I make a mean lasagna.

(Z) Zoo, Favorite Animal: Haven't been to the zoo in ages, lions and tigers are always cool but i'm not sure how I feel about them being kept in a zoo.

A few bits and bobs

For the second day in a row I have managed to get out of bed at 6am, well just past but i'm proud of myself though, i'm sure I can build up to a bit earlier.
Michael-clease and I went for a swim, we should really have jogged to the pool and back as it took about 15mins to get there and back. It was really busy in there, I think maybe as the mornings are getting light later everyone wants to go at sunrise. Anyway that counts as my cross training for today. My legs are aching a fair bit, I think as I haven't run for a while.

I was watching biggest loser the other day (i really love that show) and one of the trainers said "train the mind and the mind will train the body". I was a little inspired by that. I know that people are all ways saying that marathons are 40% physical and 60% mental but I think maybe in my case it is even more mental!

We have just had our first fruit and veg box delivered, it is very exciting! It arrived last night and I was amazed at the amount that was included. There is nothing too exotic in there, bananas, plums, grape, potatoes, beans etc but I think it will be quite a challenge to get them all used before they go off.
Talking of food I have realised that I eat pretty healthy during the week and then it all goes a bit pear shaped at the weekend, or should that be beer bottle shaped!

I think that is all I have for now.
Bye.x