This will be a baby race report mainly because I am quite busy but also because there isn't much to say.
On Sunday Michael-Clease and I did the Lake Macquarie running festival 10km run. There was also a 1/2 marathon but with very little training I didn't think that was wise.
We drove up again the night before to Newcastle and stayed with Michael-cleases lovely Grandma. Got up early has we hadn't yet registered.
Everything was pretty smooth, no problems parking, registered easily and went and bought a cheese roll and powerade while we waited for our race. The start was little crowded and there was the usual issue of people not self seeding very well. Especially the walkers who for some reason thought it was fine to start right at the front and stroll along in rows of 4.
The only thing problem was Michael-cleases shin splints. They started causing him problems at just under half way and never really eased up. We slowed down a fair bit and took extra long walks at the drinks stations. We crossed the finish line at about 1hr 1min which was no PB but I am happy to have taken this one easy.
I think I will do a post soon on shin splints, do a little research into the causes and possible solutions, if there are any.
Chubby Katie.x
Wednesday 31 August 2011
Monday 29 August 2011
Hunter valley marathon
Race report:
Michael-Clease has family in Newcastle so on Saturday we drove up to the Hunter Valley with plans to stay in Newcastle for the night. We drove straight to the Hunter Valley Gardens. All went well, collected my pace pack, got a free t-shirt that disappointingly only mentioned the running festival. When I run a marathon I like to advertise the fact by wearing the t-shirt!
We drove back to Michael-cleases grandmas house (got lost on the way) and she very kindly put us up for the night, thank you grandma!
I had a dinner of soup and rolls which in hindsight probably wasn’t the best pre race dinner. I did have lots of noodles the night before but maybe a few more carbs would have been good.
After not a great night’s sleep Michael-clease and I rose at 5:30 to quickly eat our porridge and banana (breakfast of champions) and were out of the house by 6am.
When I was lining up I took a look around and realised there were only about 100 people doing the marathon, that scared me a bit. I was sure I would come last.
The route was two laps, quite near the beginning I started chatting to a lady, we came up to a humongous hill and she told me she always runs half way and walks the rest. I reckon that if she hadn't told me that I would have been ok but in the end I walked a little of it. Then I had to do it on the second lap and again struggled.
I'm not a big fan of gels, I struggle to get them down. Some people can't stomach then I know but with me its fine once they are down its just getting them past my taste buds. I had one gel before I started and another at 15km. I planned to take the last one at 30km but annoyingly they water station had run out of cups and I had to go to 35km before having the final one. I also ate some jelly babies which I think was more of a placebo and a distraction than anything else.
There isn't really to much to report about the race, towards 35km I started to struggle a little and the gel didn't really seem to help - I guess it would have been worse though if I hadn't eaten it. 35k to 40km I started doing a little run walking but managed to run the last two ks.
The 6km fun run started at about 10am so by the time I came up to the finish line I had lots of, shall we say, less fit runners along side me. In one particular photo I am running next to a 10yr old girl! It was nice when one volunteer cheered "well done marathon lady"!
At the end we were herded into a pen to remove our timing chips and get our medals. Unfortunately all of seats were taken up by chubby kids who were waiting for their parents so I had to stand while Michael-clease helped remove my timing chip. Then there were no medals left :( although the organisers kindly sent mine in the mail a few days later.
Over all it was a good run, nice countryside (saw a few kangeroos!) and well organised. I don't think I would do the marathon there again due to the double loop but can imagine doing the half.
I took the next day off work and was pleased I had. Nothing to major but my legs were very stiff.
The route was two laps, quite near the beginning I started chatting to a lady, we came up to a humongous hill and she told me she always runs half way and walks the rest. I reckon that if she hadn't told me that I would have been ok but in the end I walked a little of it. Then I had to do it on the second lap and again struggled.
I'm not a big fan of gels, I struggle to get them down. Some people can't stomach then I know but with me its fine once they are down its just getting them past my taste buds. I had one gel before I started and another at 15km. I planned to take the last one at 30km but annoyingly they water station had run out of cups and I had to go to 35km before having the final one. I also ate some jelly babies which I think was more of a placebo and a distraction than anything else.
There isn't really to much to report about the race, towards 35km I started to struggle a little and the gel didn't really seem to help - I guess it would have been worse though if I hadn't eaten it. 35k to 40km I started doing a little run walking but managed to run the last two ks.
The 6km fun run started at about 10am so by the time I came up to the finish line I had lots of, shall we say, less fit runners along side me. In one particular photo I am running next to a 10yr old girl! It was nice when one volunteer cheered "well done marathon lady"!
At the end we were herded into a pen to remove our timing chips and get our medals. Unfortunately all of seats were taken up by chubby kids who were waiting for their parents so I had to stand while Michael-clease helped remove my timing chip. Then there were no medals left :( although the organisers kindly sent mine in the mail a few days later.
Over all it was a good run, nice countryside (saw a few kangeroos!) and well organised. I don't think I would do the marathon there again due to the double loop but can imagine doing the half.
I took the next day off work and was pleased I had. Nothing to major but my legs were very stiff.
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| A couple of photos of me not looking too bad, buy photos from marathon-photos.com folks! |
Monday 22 August 2011
Hi!
Hi everyone, I am back! I’m sorry it has been so long, I have been uninspired and lazy. But now I am getting back into my updating in a real attempt to get some exercise structure into my life.
What with summer coming up I need to sort my bikini body and am really keen to get into some more ocean swims and bike rides.
So I think I need some aims and goals….
2. Join the local run club to run on Thursday mornings
3. Improve my diet, in general I am a healthy eater but I am letting the evening beer and dessert take over a little
4. Train for the MS Gong ride
5. Train for Manly open water swim and the Shark island swim
6. Train for the Kurnell triathlons
7. Do some weight training once a week
Well that should keep me busy for a while.
“Whats been happening while you have been away” I hear you ask! Well I have completed the Sutherland to Surf and the Hunter Valley Marathon, I will write a separate race report.
Other than not too much really, the dark mornings and nights and the chilly weather have kept me snuggled up inside. I feel like a bear slowly coming out of hibernation searching for spring!
xx
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