The English woman who went up a mountain and came down.......a mountain

On Sunday we did the Camden Haven King of the Mountain.
As stated in a few posts back I like to have my pre-race routine and get a little panicky if I cannot stick to it.
This is often trickier when you are away from home and even harder when other people are cooking for you and providing food.

We were staying at my grandparents in laws and this is one reason that I didn't go into the run with any expectations or goals, that and the fact I hadn't trained!

We woke on the morning still a little sure whether we'd go ahead with it. Registration was on the day so we had nothing tying us in. We managed to get out of bed through and after a bowl of Nurti grain (not my usual "breakfast of champions" porridge) headed to the start.

Registration was quick, we had grabbed an old banana from the house but it was a bit too mushy for my liking.
We were told to self seed ourselves:
Group one were the elite who were hoping to be in with a chance of being king and queen of the mountain.
Group two were the under 17s who were hoping to win prince or princess of the mountain.
Group three, which we put ourselves in, was people who knew they wouldn't win but where hoping to run most the way.
Group four were the back of the packers.

Michael Clease and I started together. It was straight into the hills! It wasn't long until Michael Clease headed off in front of me.
It really was one big hill! I thought there might be a few flats between hills and maybe even a little down hill but no, just one consistent long hill.
After about 10minutes I realised I was going to have to do some walking, I started doing a few minutes walking and a few running, most the people around me where in a similar position and after a while I got into a bit of a "race" with a guy in Vibrams. He'd run past me as I walked and then he's have to slow right down while I walked and ran past.

Thankfully the end 500m was flat and I was able to run into the finish. I finished in 42:44 and Michael Clease in 40:29. Somehow I managed to finish 6th in my age group out of 38!!!
With a bit of training I probably could have come 3rd in my age group but the winning female did it in 30mins so I'm not sure I could beat her!

View from the top, taken from Wikipedia

 We hung around at the end for a while wondering what the deal with the bus was. Supposedly the bus took everyone back down to the bottom but with nearly 400 people we wondered how it was going to work.
They had suggested at the beginning that some people might like to run back down the road but that sounded a bit boring to us.
After a while of hanging out and checking out the view we saw some people walking down what looked like a track.
We decided to go for it and spent a fun 20mins scurrying down a slopes, stairs and rocky paths. I figured it would be good training for the upcoming Fitzroy Falls Marathon.

A new obsession

I have a new obsession! Its reading up on ultra running trail events. Things like The North Face 100, which is a 100km run through the Blue Mountains. There are lots of race reports out there on the world wide web as well as discussions of kit (possibly the cause of my obsession is the potential opportunity to buy new clothes!) as there is a strict gear list. One day I hope to by able to compete in this race although I do wonder if I have the motivation for the training involved.

But to matters a little more realistic.  I have the Camden Haven King of the mountain coming up, I touched upon this in an earlier post. Its this Sunday and it is a 5.5km run up North Brother mountain, a small mountain in the mid north coast of NSW. It will be tough, I'll probably walk some of it! Its a small town run with not a large entry field, I therefore allowed myself to consider the possibility of being first female (and maybe Michael Clease as first male) until I read a newspaper article that said the winner in 2010 finished in 23:13! And the first female in 28:48! Blimey I can only just run a flat 5km in that time!!

We will be doing it, however, while up visiting Michael Cleases grandparents, Michael Cleases granddad makes homebrew beer! I have not tried running 5km after a night of homebrew beer....I wonder if it will pass the drug test? Race report to follow.x

City to Surf number 3 - Race report

I am becoming a little fanatical about my race day morning ritual, if my porridge doesn't have sunflower seeds in I may as well not even both turning up! Ok slight exaggeration but I do like to stick to my tried and tested routine.
Thankfully Sunday morning went to plan, I got up with plenty of time, had my race day outfit planned already and had a leisurely breakfast.
We were collected at 7:05am, about 5minutes late and I stressed a little as we had to then catch a train but we made it with plenty of time.

There was six of us in our group but unfortunately due to some entering later than others we were spread over different groups.
The City to Surf advertises itself as the worlds biggest fun run and this year it had 85,000 spots available. Due to its huge size it has around 7 different start groups with each taking about 30mins to go over the start line. This meant that despite our friends being in the group behind us our gun time was 8:30am and theirs was 9am.

We stayed with them right till our gun was about to go off which meant we were practically at the back of our group, presumably with about 12,000 people in front of us! 
The City to Surf is notorious for being so crowded that you have to dodge and weave to get past all the people slower than you. I have heard it called the Sardine to Surf before!

However what it lacks in room to move it makes up for in entertainment on route. People who have houses on the route set up breakfast bbqs, pump up the music and generally entertain themselves watching everyone go by, one pub has a band on its roof playing everything from Kiss to YMCA and there is always a great brass band made up of old guys near the end. Thankfully this year was glorious weather, with a top of 23C I believe. 

It was a tough run, surprisingly heartbreak hill (no need for any more description) did not test me as much as I was expecting, it must have been due to the hill training I did the week before but I really felt the small inclines. 

From the beginning I was aiming for a sub 80mins. I knew roughly what time I needed to each km but hadn't worked it out precisely. I am very pleased to say I came in at 79mins15 with an average speed of 5m39 kilometers. Michael Clease ran with me most the way (in his usual forcefield kind of way) and sprinted to the finish for a 79min09 time. 

 Once we'd hung around to cheer in the rest of our group we headed to the pub for a burger and beer to celebrate. 

Embracing my inner hippie

My mind is a little all over the place at the moment, i'm struggling to concentrate at work, i'm sleeping all the way to work on the train, my weekends are feeling like they go by and i've achieved nothing. I think its time to give my mind a little kick start and hopefully it will improve my general health too.

I've decided to try a meditation and yoga class. I've tried a little yoga in the past and meditation is something i've always wanted to learn. The first class is on Monday. I'm hoping it will free my mind for an hour or so and then help me think more clearly after.

I've also been looking into raw food a bit recently. I can't say I altogether agree with the idea of not cooking anything but the way I see it is that it will just force you to eat healthier, less processed foods and more fruit and veg. There are countless raw food recipes online and with a bit of browsing you can find things that aren't too scary!

Something like this doesn't fit the usual raw food stereotype and looks pretty damn tasty. Although it suggests using a dehydrator (like lots of raw recipes do) it gives you the oven option too. I might give it a go this weekend.
http://www.rawfoodrecipes.com

Whats your style

Michael Clease calls me the tractor, i have quite a slow steady pace but manage to still power up hills at that same pace. The negative is that I tend to not speed up much as I go down the hills.
Michael Clease was described the other day has having a forcefield, whenever someone gets near him he picks up the pace. Thats why he always seems to run 5 metres in front of me!

Despite my ability to plod up hills, with the city to surf fast approaching, I decided a little hill work might be beneficial.
I've never done specific hill training, in fact I tend not to do much specific training for my marathons. I do the required long runs and try and fit in as many of the shorter ones as I have time for but I never do tempo sessions or recovery runs or those technical sounding things.

Luckily (or maybe unluckily) we are at quite a low lying area so there are lots of up hills nearby. I chose one just round the corner and set about running up it. I managed the first up and down in around 7mins 30 so I gave myself the target of 4 reps to equal 30mins session. I was a little worried that if anyone was looking out their window or walking on the pavement that they might think I was strange so for my second leg I switched road sides, unfortunately there wasn't much of a pavement so I was slowed a little looking out for tree roots etc.

I'm pleased to say I managed all four up and downs and the last one I did at a 5.5min per km pace.
Maybe i'll managed to sneak in a tempo session before Sundays City to Surf.

With my mind on the Fitzroy Falls fire trail Marathon I am thinking about all things trail running. I have my birthday coming up soon and I'm wondering what sort of trail gear I can get for it??? The obvious thing would be some trail trainers but I don't know if they are really necessary. I do quite like the look of these inov-8s!

I also found this online today http://www.chslsc.com/king-of-the-mountain-fun-runwalk.html Its pretty much a run up a big hill but I reckon its good training for FFFTM.

Oh I do like a bit of trail running!!

The Blerch

This was brought to my attention the other day. For me it is very funny because it is so true! The whole cartoon can be found here The Oatmeal

This morning Michael Clease and I tried to get up for a run, I believe the blerch may have been hiding in my mattress. His fat little body plumping it up to make it even more comfortable whilst whispering in my ear about the importance of sleep!
Needless to say the blerch won! Michael Clease is obviously strong, or maybe has a weaker blerch!!

Sutho to surf - race report

Hello hello, I am on a bit of a race high at the moment!
Yesterday I ran my second Sutherland to Surf, we had a great day and I achieved my goal time. 

Prep started on Saturday evening. I planned what I was going to wear, made sure it was clean and made what is becoming my go to pre race carb loading dinner. Pasta, chunks of sausage, vegetables and tomato sauce. Its quick and easy, tasty, easy to knock together if you are staying away from home and something that most people will happily eat. 

Sunday morning we woke at 6:30am and ate 'breakfast of champions' - porridge, banana, a little honey and some chia and sunflower seeds. 
One of Michael Cleases friends came round and we drove to the race, collecting another friend on the way. 
It was cold! We only arrived about 10mins before the start but even then our hands were going numb.

A common complaint for the Sutho to surf is that there is no encouragement to self seed, it means some of the walkers and slower runners end up near the front and some of the faster runners nearer the back, like me! I don't really have a problem with this as I feel the dodging between people is quite a distraction and makes things a little more interesting but I can understand that it is considered by many to be a safety concern. 

We agreed before the race that we not try and stay together so about 50metres in Michael Clease and I took off a little faster. Its fairly down hill at the beginning and pretty fun. 
After about 3km Michael Clease was pulling ahead, looking round occasionally but it became clear that he'd be going faster and so he took off into the crowd. 

I think there were three water stations in total, I only stopped at one. It wasn't very warm so it wasn't an issue. I kept an eye on my watch. I knew I had to do each km faster than 6minutes if I was to achieve my goal of under 1 hour, 5:23 to be exact. I was going pretty well for the first half but into the second the hills seemed to get bigger and my time slowed a little.

Into around 9km there is a big down hill followed by a flat, both times i've done this race I've under estimated the big up hill into the finish. I'm pleased to say I managed to keep quite a steady pace and then a fast finish. 

I finished in 56:57mins, Michael Clease finished in 54:17. I'm still a way off the fastest females time of 37:52 but very happy to have finished in the top 12% of female entrants and top 25% of all entrants. 

(I started it a little while before we crossed the start line
hence the slow beginning)

I ran with my phone and set the mapmyrun app to record my speed. As you can see the race is very much downhill, it really felt more uphill than it looks though!

Goals

I thought it was time that I gave a little update on my goals. Sutho to Surf and City to Surf have both been entered.
My goal for Sutho to Surf is sub 1hr. The race is 11.2km. I make that a 5.26minute kilometers that I need to do. This is quicker than I usually run and so in theory I should have been working on my speed but guess what....I haven't!

Michael Clease and I have also been thinking about another marathon. Looking back we really enjoyed the training and without a large end goal we tend to get a bit slack.
I came up with a little criteria from which to choose a race:

• Near sydney so we don't have to fly or stay in a hotel
• One I haven't done before
• A decent price
• Something fun, I struggle if I get bored
• At the right time if we have a little holiday in September
• Close enough that I should start training now

So far this one is in the lead http://www.fitzroyfallsmarathon.com/ Its a trail marathon so should be fun, not something i've done before but i've had some trail practise and i've heard there is nothing too technical.


I think i'll scrap the Sydney half that I have planned on my schedule and replace it with the Sutherland half. The Sutherland half is a trail race, a little sooner and a little cheaper. Its also a local race so I like to support that.

In other news after a few runs in my new trainers I have to say i'm not in love with them. I feel very conscious about how i'm placing my feet and I don't feel like a smooth runner. I think I will do the Sutho to Surf in my trusty Nike frees and keep testing out the Kinvaras.

After a couple of weeks of unhealthy eating and general chubbiness Michael Clease and I are back on the health band wagon!!

I put some new shoes on and everybody's smiling

I've been feeling a little ill recently. I think I might have had very mild food poisoning. I had some left overs and them despite feeling rough I ate the same food again for another meal. So my trainings not been going so well.

To make mysel feel better I bought some new running shoes!

These are the babies. I chose them for four reasons

• The colour (they're actually a little greener than they look)
• The price
• The heel drop (I'll explain below) 
• The brand - as I think I've mentioned in a previous post I enjoyed the book "just a short run around the world". Saucony provided Rosie, the author, with shoes for the run. I like to do my bit by helping companies like this to help other people. 

As the barefoot trend has progressed trainer companies have started (when I say started I mean probably the last four years) selling shoes in the minimalist catagory. As I understand it a barefoot shoe, such as the vibram five finger has a 0mm heel drop. This means that the heel is no higher to the ground than the toes, as if you are wearing no shoes and your toes and heels are both touching the ground. Obviously with barefoot shoes for only have about 3mm of rubber between your toes and the ground and your heels and the ground.
With minimalist shoes you can have a little more rubber and in the case of my Saucony Kinvara there is a 4mm difference between the toe - ground distance and the heel - ground distance.

I tried to find something to explain a little better than I can but I can't! So I hope that makes sense.

They had their first outing on Saturday and so far so good. I wore them on a 7km run and with no socks. This was probably a bit risky for the first time and although they were rubbing a little on the back of my heel by the time I got home I was generally very happy and comfortable in them.

I'll keep you updated on my progress with them.
CK.x

Drill it....just a little bit

So once again I didn't make it to Park run. I had a bit of a disturbed sleep and it was a grey day. The rain came over about 9am so I probably would have got caught in it anyway. I know I know I shouldn't be worried about running in the rain, it just something you have to deal with as a runner/triathlete.
In fact on a side note during our stay in the Great ocean road it bucketed down on the Saturday, Michael Clease and I did discuss what we would do if it rained like that on the Sunday. Of course we decided we hadn't spent months of training, hundreds of dollars and taken a day off work to let some rain stop us but we definitely considered it for a moment.

Anyway enough digressing. With no running done and not wanting to cycle in this rain (again I know I need to be able to cycle in rain but at the moment I am so unconfident with my cycling that I worry I'd slip and fall off!) I decided to go for a swim. It's an outdoor pool but obviously that doesn't matter in the rain. Having been the last two weeks in a row I thought it's time I think about some drills rather than just bashing out lengths until I get tired.

I found this site with some drills that though I'd give a try out http://www.trinewbies.com/tno_swim/tno_swimarticle_14.asp

• Drill 1 thumb to thigh. 

This one is simple but makes a lot of sense. It's aim is to have the most efficient stroke by not cutting it short. Start by standing up, with your hands by you side. Measure where your thumbs naturally sit against your thighs. As you make your stroke in the water you want to make sure you thumb lightly brushes against that area on your thigh before bringing it up out the water. 

• Drill 2 touch and go

So this one is about making sure you stroke at entry to the water is efficient. Some people have quite a bent elbow as the arm enters the water. For this stroke you keep your arm extended while the other arm completes the stroke so for a second you two hands are outstretched in front of you. 

• Drill 3 closed fist

This ones quite self explainitory, you swim with your fist closed. The logic behind this one is that your palm is not the only part of your body that is being used to pull you through the water. Swimming with you fist closed makes you aware how much the surface of your arm is working and should help you engage this extra bit of power. This one sounds hard work to me!

• Drill 4 balance and rotation drill

Ok this one sounds tricky! There are four different parts to it. You only use one arm, the other should rest at your side. 1. Swim using your left arm, breath to your left side. 2. Swim using your left arm, breath to your right. 3. Swim with your right arm, breath to your right. 4. Swim with you right arm, breath to your left. Hmm I'm a bit worried about this one. It's a 50m pool, I may well tire before the end. 

Right so this is what I planned to do:

Four lengths warm up

Two length on drill 1

Two lengths of drill 2

Two lengths of drill 3

Four lengths of drill 4 (one length per part) 

Two lengths drill 2

Two lengths drill 1

Two lengths cool down

I found drill 4 very hard, I did two lengths and then gave up. I think I need to go back and reread about that. Drill 2 was harder than expected but I managed and it made me feel like I was getting stronger. Drill 1 was good but felt like I was doing a normal stroke with a good technique. Obviously nothing wrong with that but it didn't so much feel like a drill. 

Drill 3 wasn't as tough as expected but I could feel the benefit. 

I enjoyed doing drills, it really mixed things up and made 1km a lot more interesting. I'm going to look for some more and also try and perfect 4!

X

Park life....i mean run

Okey Pokey, this weekend is operation get me to Park run!

Have you heard of Park run? Its growing quite quickly so you might have. Its a weekly 5km run which is organised on Saturday mornings by volunteers in a number of countries around the world.
You get timed and hand over a bar code at the end and they keep a record of how your doing. Its a great way of getting races in without having to pay the $30 plus that others often charge.

Our closest one is in Sydney Park in St Peters. Its not so easy to park there and the train from my place to St Peters is quite painful so I have devised the plan to run to the station, get the train part of the way, run to the park, do the race, run back to the station, get the train and run home!

The race starts at 8am. If I get the 7am train I can get to a nearby station by 7:39am. And then the run to the start is around 2.5km. So 1.3km to the station my end each way, 2.5km the other end each way and a 5km jog is 12.6km all up! It should be a good little warm up and cool down if I take my time and then really go for it on the 5km.

What do you think? Will I make it? Will I actually get out of bed in time?

It would be good to cycle to the park, great triathlon training but I think i'll build up to that ; )

Check it out http://www.parkrun.com/

In other exciting news I bought myself a exercise jackety thing, you know the thin fabic colourful tops that are in lots of shops at the moment. I'm sure its no good for actually exercise as it was cheap and doesn't have any wicking fabric but will be good to get to and from the gym and to go for pancakes after. he he!

Right i'll update you on Saturday about the run, assuming I make it.
Chubby Katie.x

Swim Swimeroo

On Sunday I had my first experience in Caringbah public pool and it was indeed a positive experience.
As i've mentioned before we have a number of good ocean pools in my area and so i've never really felt the need to pay to use the public pool. With winter here though and also with my intention to up training I decided to venture to the 50meter outdoor pool.

Sorry for the crappy little photo, its the largest I
can find without pulling them off a schools website!

Being the anxious person I am I roped in my sister-in-law to accompany me. It cost $5.20 but if you buy 10 or 20 tickets the price comes down. 
Luckily the day we went it was warming and the sun was coming up. We arrived at about 8:20am and I didn't struggle to much with stripping down to my bikini.

http://missironman.com/blog/march/
(I plan to check out this site soon)

The water is heated to a good temperature, its warm for swimming but once you stop you start to cool down, this makes it excellent encouragement to keep going!

I aimed for 20 lengths so equaling 1km. I managed this fine although I did around 4 breast stroke lengths. We had a warm shower and then headed back for a tasty mango smoothy!

It got me planning my schedule to include morning swims, including some drills and maybe using some of these bad boys to strengthen my shoulder, although judging by this mornings attempt to get out of bed at 5:50am when its dark and cold and misty i'm not sure how often i'll actually make it to the pool!

Backwards triathlon

OK this is a really short post, its short because it is something that has just popped into my head. 

I've always thought it would be a good idea to do triathlons backwards, it would be so nice to jump in some cool water after the run and bike. 

Now this is probably obvious to everyone else but it has just occurred to me. Its because it would be really dangerous! Imagine people who were struggling due to improper training, nutrition or just having a bad day and had to try and swim in deep water.

Like this woman! Julie Moss, a woman of Ironman legend. As part of her exercise physiology thesis she took part in the Hawaiian ironman, without adequate training and led most of the way until around two miles from the end until this happened...... 

Oh I struggle to watch it! I can just imagine that being me. Eeeeep!

A belated race report - The MS Gong ride

This post is as much for me as it is for you dear reader. 
I enjoy riding my bike, sometimes I need reminding though. Sometimes I sit at home and think about all the traffic around me when I cycle, I think about how it would feel if I fell off and skidded a long the tarmac, I think about the tough up hills and forget about the down hills. 

Thats why I wanted to write this post, to remind myself that cycling is fun, it can make you feel alive, its a different sort of effort than running, one where you can take it pretty easy if you desire. 

Back in October 2012 I did the Sydney to Wollongong MS bike ride. I did it with 5 other people and we decided to do it as super heros. I don't really train much for bike rides so I did this without much proper training but with a good base from running and some cycling at the gym.

I had planned on wearing my Wonder Woman costume that I wore for the Tough Mudder but the day before I got it out and realised it was in a pretty miserable state. I set about knocking myself up a Super girl costume, it wasn't great but at least it was comfortable on the bike.

The Gong ride is 90km and you start at the park in St Peters, we got the train down and met the rest of the guys. Despite the suggestions on the website that you could wear costumes there were not a lot of other people dressed up and so we got quite a few stares!

From St Peters we went through some quite boring residential/industrial type areas, then we got to Bright Le-Sands which was nice as we were riding next to the ocean. We then headed into the Sutherland Shire, I especially liked this bit as its by home turf and although we didn't ride past my house its always nice to see the areas you are so familiar with. 

At one point we got split up, three of the boys were up ahead, Michael Clease and I were in the middle and the girl dressed as Wonder Woman had got left behind. When I noticed this I told Michael Clease that we should wait for her. After a couple of minutes she caught up. As we headed out of the Sutherland Shire and towards the Royal National Park there was a big down hill. 

We went down quite fast and the next thing I knew Wonder Woman had hit the curb and skidded to a crash! Not being able to stop in time I squealed to a halt hitting her slightly and fell to the floor.

Well luckily Michael Clease was not too far ahead so he came back, Wonder Woman was cut and grazed and had injured her thumb. Later we found out she'd broken it and would need surgery!

She was helped by some kind volunteers and made it to the first rest stop at Loftus were we met with the other three in the team. Wonder Woman and her husband Batman pulled out of the ride and got a family member to pick them up. 

By this time we'd lost about an hour and were some of the last to leave the rest area.  

Next it was onto the Royal National Park, usually I'm a little scared about cycling in the RNP due to the cars, narrow roads and hidden bends so it was nice to have the roads clear. There were some big up and down hills but I am pleased to say I survived them. At one rest stop people were asking to have there photos taken with us!

There were a few steep down hills that tested my nerves and Michael Clease raced paced me. The last few ks were undulating through the outskirts of Wollongong and into the park at the finish.
My only gripe was that apparently we one first price for our costumes but as we arrived after the ceremony they gave it to someone else!
I had a great day, there were some awesome views, I was glad to get on the train at the end but I would definitely do it again.

http://www.gongride.org.au/

The next plan

This post has taken a while to write, it has been drafted a number of times.

When you train for a big event like a marathon afterwards you can feel a range of emotions as time passes, these are what I can up with in my head last night as I was lying in bed: relief-that you made it, euphoria-when you get your medal and what you've achieved sinks in, contentment-as you sit down for some food and maybe a beer, medal round your neck knowing you don't have to run for at least a few day, pain (I know not really an emotion!), satisfaction-that your race went to plan, pride-telling your friends and family about your day, and depression.

Depression can come about from the lack of no longer having an end goal, not feeling like you have anything to train for. You can fall into a habit of eating and drinking badly on the premise that you deserve to relax but this will no doubt make you feel worse. The post race blues.

I think the major way to dispel these blues (apart from eating healthily) is to plan your next challenge. During my run I remember thinking if i'm struggling now there is no way I can complete an ironman, however the day after we finished Michael Clease and I were already discussing which one we would do next and the possibility of a half ironman.

The reason i've taken so long to do this post is that I wanted to have my race schedule locked in and be able to write it down but it takes so long to think about. I am currently studying race calendars with idea of shelling out a few hundred dollars.

Our local run, the Sutho to Surf, is on in July and goes right past our little house so thats a must! Then there is the City 2 Surf, the huge Sydney fun run which usually attracts around 70,000 entries.
I'd like to do a couple of ocean swims but they won't be on again till Spring. 

I've been considering the Port Macquarie half ironman, its in October. That should give me enough time if I get my act together. I reckon I can do it, i've done the ocean swims in the past, i've done the 90km Sydney to Wollongong bike ride and obviously the marathons. But cost is a major issue! both entry and equipment. 
There is another in Forster in November but we have the wedding of Michael Cleases best just before which obviously isn't the best preparation. 
And then I think maybe I should do a couple of shorter races before hand but PM really is the beginning of the racing calendars.

Oh....do you see why it took so long to write! Maybe i'll just cure the blues by buying some new trainers  :)

Almonds Almonds, Almonds for me. Almonds Almonds make me happy

Michael Clease gets a little eczema. Recently we bought a book called the Healthy Skin diet, it contains advice for lots of different skin conditions and one thing they mentioned was dairy food being an eczema trigger. Actually loads of the things that Michael Clease likes are bad for it: dairy, chocolate, bacon, cheese, red meats and alcohol!!!
Over the last few months we have been trying to reduce his intake of them rather than completely cutting them out and he has noticed the difference.

We both tend to have at least one coffee a day and Michael Clease has been having soy milk in that. The health experts seem to be a little undecided about soy products at the moment. One thing does seem clear though is that with its popularity increasing more soy trees are needing to be planted and so rainforests are being destroyed to make room. I'm a believer in mixing thing up, I don't think Michael Clease should feel too guilty for having soy milk in one coffee a day and I don't think he should panic about his eczema when he has a little milk but still I decided to looked into alternatives.

Rice milk is on the supermarket shelves with the soy milk but i've heard that that contains very few nutrients. Another one I spotted was almond milk so we gave that a go and its not so bad. I had a browse online and it seems loads of people make their own and its really simple.

I've made it a few times now and its really good. The only thing is you probably should only keep it for about 4 days so you have to be organised if you want it on your breakfast every day!
Heres my receipe, its probably not the most professional or maybe even the nicest but I like it :)

• Take around two small handfulls of raw almonds
• Put them in a clear jar, cover with water and a lid and leave on the window sill for a day or two
• Empty the water, put the almonds in a blender and add about 1 cup of water
• Blend for a good few minutes. You should be able to judge the consistency, you want it a little thicker than milk, more creamy. Add more water if its too thick.
• Put a strainer over a bowl and more the almond/water combo in
• You should be able to leave it for 10minutes and a lot of the water will drain through. Then grab a spoon and smoosh (technical term!) it through the strainer. You can buy almond milk bags to use instead of strainers, i think it gives you a smoother finish but I'm not too fussed.
• Ta da you should have a bowl of beautiful almond milk. 

 I have seen people add dates and/or cinnamon to theirs, I guess this depends on what you will be using your almond milk for. I usually add ours to our porridge and that already has dates in so I don't worry. Dates are great through for some healthy sweetness.

You'll have all the almond pulp left over. I mix mine into our porridge but I did see one recipe where they add some chocolate chips and honey and ate it as a dessert!
By the way I have spotted the irony of putting the almond milk and almond pulp back together in the porridge, you kinda think why not just put almonds and water in your porridge but I promise it give the porridge a great creaminess this way!!

The final result, sorry for the poor quality and lack of 'step by step' shots!

Give it a go and let me know what you think.
xx

Great Ocean Road marathon 2013 - Race Report

We woke at 5am to kindly be taken to the airport by Michael Clease's brother for our 7am flight. The woman on the flight next to me was very irritating, she kept knocking me with her elbow, flipping pages of her book very loudly, texting!!! and was writing in three different diaries each slightly larger than the last! It sounds so petty now but when you are cramped in a little box its very frustrating.

When we landed it became clear that a lot of people were heading to the running festival. Lots of legging, trainers and I even heard one woman in the toilet talking about wee colour (as in trying to check it to make sure she was fully hydrated). 

We collected our hire car and set off. Michael Clease was keen to check out Bell beach, location of the surfing movie Point Break. We did briefly but it was cold and windy so we were quickly on our way. 

As we got onto the great ocean road we soon saw the amazing views that it is so famous for, rolling green hills, crumbling cliff edges and blue foamy shorelines. 

The day was cold with on/off showers and we checked a number of different weather websites praying that the conditions would improve for Sunday. 

Our accommodation, the Claerwen Retreat, was slightly out of Apollo Bay, up a windy, gravelly, hilly road but once we saw the amazing views I was happy to see we'd made a good choice. 

We decided to make dinnner in our room and have a very quiet evening. Michael Clease knocked up a quick pasta with sausages, veg and tomato sauce. Thanks to the early morning I was falling asleep at 9pm while watching Harry Potter. 

View from our room at Claerwen retreat, it really doesn't do it justice.

We woke at 5am for a second day in a row, dressed, ate some porridge and drove down to the coach collection for a 6:15am pickup. 

When entering online you could specify that you'd like a coach trip from the finish line in Apollo Bay to the start line in Lorne. There was I expecting one coach maybe three quarters full but with the help of the half marathoners there must have been about eight coaches waiting. 

We arrived at the start line at 7amish which I thought was a little early but by the time we'd been for a wee, drunk a Gatorade, pinned on our numbers, gone for another wee and put our bag in the bag van it was nearly time to start. 

Just before the start

We started slow, in training Michael Clease has been setting off quite fast and I was very conscious to take it easy and not get carried away as I have in past events. We decided to have our gels at every 10km and so the provided energy drink at every 5km. This strategy worked well and thanks to some new gels I have discovered called Torq I was actually looking forward to using them. There isn't much to say about the run, the uphills were quite tough, the downhills were very welcome. At around 30km I began to struggle but that is to be expected I think. We reached the marathon mark at 4:24, roughly a ten minute pb for me so I was chuffed. I think we saw Toadie from Neighbours which was pretty exciting for me! Michael Clease had a little banter with him.

Due to the location of the towns this marathon is a little different to most in that they give you a time for the marathon and then you have to continue to the finish line totalling 45km. I was originally worried that this would be a mental struggle and once I got to the marathon mark I would not have the motivation to keep running. This turned out not to be the case, I had mentally broken down the race into nine 5km portions which I think helped, and we crossed the finish line in 4:37. 

Originally we had planned to grab a beer and some food straight after but we really felt like going back to our room for a shower and a rest. 

Much to his reluctance and my encouragement Michael Clease showered his legs with cold water before the hot shower, I did the same after. I don't know if it was due to this or the beers after but we pulled up quite well the next day. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the race, it was really well organised, the views were spectacular, the crowd at the end was really great and I think having Michael Clease with me really gave me encouragement. I'd definitely do it again, maybe not next year due to the cost in getting and staying there but if you live near by its a must!

Now I am just waiting for the official photographs.

Chubby Katie.x

The thin end of the wedge

Well I am at the thin end of the wedge now in terms of my marathon training. 
I'm not sure that phrase is entirely suitable for me. I think in race terms it usually is used to describe the elite athletes rather than the middle of the roaders, the back of the packers but what I mean is I am in my taper and counting down the hours almost till the gun goes off.

Yesterday Michael Clease and I did our last training run. I've got to say I felt really good. It was only 10km but we managed to do it in a decent time and pretty much negative split.

In case you don't know what negative splitting is its when you do a race faster in the second half than the first. The logic being that most people go out too fast and then can't keep it up, if you negative split you have "saved enough in the tank" to power through to the finish line. Negative splitting means that you have paced yourself well, haven't been swept up the atmosphere and should finish feeling strong.

The last two marathons I have done I definitely haven't negatively splitted (splat?). If you've read my race report of the Sydney marathon you'll know I got carried away and started running with the sub 4hr group! This time I feel I have learnt so lessons, my strong run yesterday has left me feeling positive. All I have to do is make sure Michael Clease doesn't get carried away (I think he is a faster runner than me) and keep my fingers crossed that the forecast rain doesn't show itself till after midday!

I thought of a couple more tips recently. These are Chubby Katie tips rather than Real Buzz but they are really common sense. 

• Cut your toe nails/have a pedicure a week before the race.

Its a good idea to have neat short nails before the race, hopefully in an effort to keep as many of them as possible! Cutting them a week before hand means if you cut them a little close they shouldn't be sore on race day

• Tie your shoe laces well

Oh how I have made this mistake! Many a time i've had to re-tie my laces. Chances are they'll come undone at the start ruining your momentum. Theres a chance they might come undone nearer the end, by then bending down to tie then might create its own issues!

• Do a little warm up jog before you start

The main reason I do this is not for warming up but to make sure everything I am wearing is comfortable. As discussed in the last rules you shouldn't wear anything new but you might not have worn all your items together before. For example I will be wearing a running belt to carry gels, this sits at different positions round my waist depending on the shorts I am wearing. My hair is also sometimes an issue, doing a little job will ensure its fixed in place. I cannot stand bits of hair that keep falling into my face!!

Well thats it! One more day till the big day. I shall be sure to take lots of photos and give a full race report.

Chubby Katie.x

Marathon tips part 2

Ooh so I've just been looking at the posts that I started drafting and never finished. Back in April 2011!!! I wrote a marathon tips one and never finished maraton tips two. With less than a week to go before my next one it seemed like a good time to share it.
Just a reminder that I found these tips on www.realbuzz.com

• Resist the urge for a toilet break

Yes I reckon this is a good idea. Most the time it is just nerves making you think you need a wee or looking for a reason to take your mind off the race. You should also resist the urge to drink for the sake of it. If you have planned your nutrition and hydration well you should know exactly how much to drink. A trick I am trying this time is to hydrate a lot on the days leading up but then not too much on the day.

• Do a body scan during the race 

I've heard this before. Chrissie Wellington suggests doing it. Essentially you just cast you mind over each part of your body, make sure you aren't tensing, that you are relaxed and sticking to the form you have been practising.
I have tried this a few times on longer runs. Usually I will only remember ones but hey thats better than not doing it!
Start with your eyebrows and work all the way down to your little toe, if nothing else it should take your mind off giving up for a few minutes!

• Stick to what you know

Oh this is a biggy! Never do a run in any new clothing or with new nutrition that you haven't tried in training. If you've practised it or worn it there is less margin for error on race day. It can be tempting to treat yourself to something new and shiny with the aim to look your best for the big day but if after 10minutes your new shoes start rubbing you'll be kicking yourself.

• Watch your running step

This just means to watch where you are going. Look out for things like plastic cups, especially round drinks stations, gel packets and curbs. I feel over when I did the city to surf a few years ago. I got swept along with the rush, some guy was messing around in front of me and over I went. 
Try to stay out of the big crowds, don't hug the curbs too much and don't go faster than you have prepared for. 

• Talk to yourself while you run

This is an interesting one, one that I haven't really tried.  Usually its more like my body telling my brain "this this is crazy, you could easily stop, whats the point of putting me through this pain". I guess the trick is to tell yourself the opposite. "This is good for you, don't give up you've trained so hard, the pain is small compared to the disappointment you'll feel if you stop half way!"

• Enjoy the race!

Well this might be easier said than done. You've trained for this for ages so may as well enjoy it right! Really savour the highlights of the run, whether its running accross the harbour bridge, tower bridge or just the beautiful Great Ocean road scenery.

Compression digression

Oh my goodness! I have just looked up compression clothing on Wikipedia and it seems to know even less than I do. I especially liked this line:

In those situations, athletes wear compression shorts under the skirt so if they fall over and their skirts ride up, their underwear will not be exposed. 

Michael Clease has just purchased some some and I don't think this was his reasoning! (I shall endeavour to get a photo!)

Anyway I next went onto the Australian Sports commission website. It seems there hasn't been a lot of conclusive research into the benefits of compression wear but of course the manufactures are raving about it.
Compression wear is regularly used in hospitals and by frequent flyers to reduce the risk of blood clots in legs. Here are some of the potential benefits:

• enhancing blood circulation to peripheral limbs
• reducing blood lactate concentration during maximal exercise bouts
• enhancing warm-up via increases in skin temperature
• increasing vertical jump height
• improving repetitive jump power
• reducing muscle oscillation upon ground contact
• increasing torque generated about joints, improving performance and reducing the risk of injury, for example, assisting the eccentric action of the hamstring at the end of the swing phase in running
• enhancing recovery following strenuous exercise by aiding in the removal of blood lactate and improving subsequent exercise performance
• reducing the effects of delayed onset muscle soreness in the days following strenuous exercise
• increasing feelings of positive leg sensations both during and following strenuous exercise

For my birthday in September I received some 2XU leggings and I wore them after my second marathon in Sydney. I'm not sure if I recovered any quicker but I must say my legs felt much better when I put them on. I find the "reducing muscle oscillation" an interesting concept, my understanding is that the muscles don't move around as unnecessarily when they are hugged tight in these, or wobble factor as I like to refer to it.  When I put them on my legs felt much more secure and firmer. Its a strange thing to describe but it felt good!

The Aus sport website also sites positively influencing psychological factors which may well turn out to be the main benefit. Still I shall duly put them on after my third marathon on Sunday and be content in the fact that if nothing else the compression gives you a more purt bum!

Let me know if you have any compression garments and what you think.

CKx

For reference here is the Aus sport website: http://www.ausport.gov.au/sportscoachmag/sports_sciences/compression_garments_do_they_influence_athletic_performance_and_recovery