24km on the road this week!

It's 2 days away from the end of the year and I have to say the above statement sums it up for me! Today I completed a 10km run in 1hr 4mins with an average pace of 6.30 mins per km! I'm VERY happy with that. This week is my longest week out on the road so far with a total of 24km! I've decided though that I am going to invest in fuel belt because I think some water mid run might make a difference to how I feel when I'm out! I will soon post about 2013, but right now I am enjoying a good running end to 2012! 2012........ a year of many ups and downs will be covered shortly! Until then, may 2013 bring you good health, happiness, and may all your dreams and goals come true xxx

8km complete!!!!

I headed out this morning at 5.30am with the temperature already 29 degrees! When I got to the 7km mark I thought the last km was unachievable! Its a good thing I was in a remote place because my grizzle, breathing and grunting as I ran would have been scary!!!! I have not been doing as much cross training - I can feel it! Time to work on my overall fitness! Average pace 6.20 mins per km Time 50 minutes Distance 8km! :-)

Tomorrow I will RUN 8km!!!!!

Clothes are out! Shoes are at the door! Tomorrow morning I am heading out on the road for an easy paced 8km - my longest 'long' run so far! Bit excited! Tomorrow I will run with my phone because my run watch has gone off to the Garmin Doctor to get fixed! I hope it comes back VERY soon! I'll post again tomorrow after I have done the run!

I'm still here......

Right now I am right here at the Carnarvon Seachange Apartments staying in an apartment on my way home (bit over 600km in the car tomorrow) from a trip to Perth (1600km from home). I drove down 10 days ago to get my car fixed, catch up with some friends, do some Christmas shopping, see my running coach and do some activities with Mr 3 and Mr 8.

I visited my friends at The Running Centre and picked up these shoes for my longer runs that commence very soon. These shoes provide a little more support to my feet compared with the Saucony Kinvara 3 that I posted about the other week. I will still use the Kinvara's for my short sharp interval and tempo runs. I had the chance in Perth to attend two of my coaches run sessions at an oval in North Perth. One session was an interval run and the other was a threshold run. I was VERY impressed with both of my runs but especially the threshold run where I PB'd a pace of 4.53 mins per km!

We made quite a few visits to this beautiful beach in Cottesloe while we were in Perth. Both Mr 3 and Mr 8 ar fish in the pool, but had not had many swims at the beach until now. Both but especially Mr 8 were old hats at beach swimming - diving under waves and swimming just like they would if they were at the pool!!!! (Photo Source). It's time to put my boys to bed! They are both very excited - Mr B has picked his mum up at the airport at home tonight and the boys are very excited to see Nanna. I'll post some more updates about my love of 'running' really soon xx

Mondays Run

53 minutes (10 warm up and 10 min cool down included) 8.04km Ran on average at 6mins/km today Knee...... FANTASTIC My knee is great while I run. Its even better when I do a great recovery session - stretching, icing, stretching, icing ...... off and on for around 6 hours post cool down! I am in Carnarvon (660km from home) on my way to Perth. Approx 600km again tomorrow!Mr 3 and Mr 8 were little super stars in the car today. No we don't have a DVD player to cope with the distance - they enjoy the simple things in life..... reading, singing, talking to me and playing with small cars etc. I took some recovery time in the pool once we arrived here this afternoon! The water was much cooler than at home but that was a pleasant change! Post again soon! xxx

2 Birthday Parties, Packing and Rain!

Hi what a busy day! A great day all the same! This morning e drove 10 minutes and took the two little ones to a friends birthday party at a local pool. They are both fish and love the water and at 8 and 3 are both very competent swimmers for their age! Mr 3 can swim and dive down on his own with no floaties or swim vest and Mr 8 is just amazing in the pool! They had a great swim for over an hour! We then drove another 35 minutes to a second party at an indoor play centre! Yes by the time we finished there 90 minutes later we had two tired boys! This afternoon I have been getting ready to start to drive 1700km to fix my car! Luxury brand vehicles and remote places don't mix! I'm looking forward to the drive with Mr 8 and Mr 3 - tomorrow around 680km to cover! In between packing another swim with my boys at home - yes they LOVE the water! Its cyclone season here and we are a bit chuffed tonight because tonight we have had our first downpour for the season. No not a cyclone but some nice wind and some rain as well! VERY exciting, BUT .......Mr 3 is very observant and was UNIMPRESSED by the noise from the thunder! Will we have an extra little man in bed tonight? No miles on the legs today xx

Maryanne returns!

Hi all, Yes I'm back and I'm going to attempt to regularly blog again! I have a new love and some goals associated with this so I have some interesting stuff to blog about! I'm back to running on a regular basis (3 runs a week)! I love to run and the freedom that it provides. Nothing is quite like the feeling of going out the gate and hitting the pavement and returning, hot and sweaty with awesome numbers on the Garmin. For my first blog back I'm going to showcase some of the 'equipment' I use when I put some miles on my legs!

I run in these shoes. These were fitted at The Running Centre and are a Kinvara3 - you can read a bit more about these here. I highly recommend the staff at the running centre to help you out with all your running requirements!

They can be viewed here.I run in these sports bras - they are fantastic and stop any bounce through the girls!

I run with this watch It gives me all the details I need. It's great to get home and upload all the information and then see how I went!

I run in these capris - they are from moving comfort. They can be purchased here.

I either run in these calf sleeves or I put them on when I get home. They are available here.

I use these ear phones with my iPod! I find they don't move at all and are comfortable in my ears. They are available here.

And last but not least I run in these glasses. They are Rudy Project and are amazing. They came with three sets of interchangeable lenses that just pop in and out for varying light conditions and like the ear phones they don't move at all. Thats a good overview of my run kit! This morning I did a 7km run with an average pace of 6.10 mins per km! At 6am in 30 degrees (yes you read right) it was a little warm! Its good to be back! xx

Challenges

Tomorrow I have my next physiotherapy appointment - I think she is going to be suitably impressed. each time I go I am prescribed a new challenge and each time I achieve this with flying colours. They are challenges because at the appointment I initially struggle to done repetition, and by the time I return after hard work and dedication I can perform 3 sets of 20 reps.

Since my last appointment I needed to walk up the steep hill in the picture below and back down with an even pace - ACHIEVED! I also had a new step exercise also ACHIEVED!

On thursday I am going to attend my first ever Pilates class (approved last time), but today I prescribed my own exercise by attending the following class........



Photo credit

A description about the class can be found HERE

I felt like I did quite well and whats more i have some small goals to work towards in that class over the next few weeks / months. I did surprise myself in performing planks on my toes!

I'm looking forward to seeing what the next fortnights challenges are!

I'm back

Hi all,

WOW - so long between posts. Im going to try hard to get back to regular blogging again....... I know I know i have said that before, but I am feeling a little more organised these days and lets give it a go!

I am now four and half months post operation from my big knee op - what a journey it has been! I can definitely see light at the end of the tunnel. I now have a much brighter green light to get back to some more training. Today I walked up the tank hill here at home in Wickham and took a few minutes to enjoy this view before I walked back down. This felt like a huge achievement considering 2 months ago walking alone was difficult let alone walking up a steep hill ad back down agin.




Photo credit

As well as hill walking I am able to do narrow and wide stage body weight squats, dynamic forward and revere lunges, and many varied step exercises (some of these prescribed exercises are harder than others)!!! I am well ahead of schedule in the rehab department and i think this has come about because of my determined attitude. I am VERY determined to be able to run again - the surgeon okayed this as long as it didn't hurt - the hardest thing is to evenly distribute the weight through my two feet and to stay light on my feet - unfortunately i can't do either just yet! It's an important goal for me right now.



Thats enough about knee rehab............

We have just come home from 8 beautiful days in Broome ( 800km drive up the road)
My two beautiful little boys are growing up way too quickly!
The eldest of my two fur babies is turning 12 tomorrow
The weather is stating to cool down so it s getting easier for lots of plays at the park and afternoon walks
I have been doing lots of volunteer work at Mr 7 school this year
A bit like Kerryn, I am going to start some yoga / pilates - I will keep you posted!!!!

I'm going to wind it up there - I don't want to bombard you with a mile long post for my first post back!

xxx