Half Marathon Report

The most important part of this post is "Yay! I did it!"

On Sunday, 17 May 2009, I managed to finish the 40th Canberra Half Marathon, with a gun time of 3:01:20. Considering my pre-race goals were to (a) finish it and (b) get there in approx 3 hours I'm pretty happy with that result. Mind you, it took me a while to realised that I'd achieved my goals. Even after all the training I managed to crash and burn at the 15 km mark. The last six kms were simply horrendous at the time. Funnily enough, when I look back on it, they're the six kms that make me proud because I got through them.

Lots of great things happened on my journey to that finish line. Realising that I could run the distance after I made it around West Basin the first time was a wonderful moment. Knowing that TB was cooking me pasta on Friday and Saturday night to help me fuel up for the race made me grateful again for having such a wonderful partner. He remembered that we'd gone to a pasta night the year before, when Jess and Nicole ran the half marathon, and decided to make sure that I had plenty of carbohydrates before I ran. I made some new running friends too, which is always a bonus.

On the morning of the race I was keen to get there. TB offered to drop me at Lennox Gardens, but I assured him that I'd be able to find parking without any trouble. I told him I'd be home around one and headed off in his ute, after checking that he didn't need it. Driving to a half marathon in a V8 is quite motivational. All that power under the bonnet!

Parking wasn't as easy as I expected. There were people and cars everywhere. I found a park and was on my way out through a gate when somebody warned me that they were locking the gate shortly. Thank goodness I was still there and could move the car. I relocated myself to the other side of Commonwealth Avenue and walked a bit further than I'd planned. I was on my way to meet the other five (Krissi, Lola, Julie, Amy and Laura) when I passed the queue to the toilets. I reconsidered, joined the queue, and finally got myself to the meeting point with a few minutes to spare. Krissi had been starting to panic that I'd decided to pull out. I have to admit, when I saw the crowd the thought did cross my mind. "What am I doing?" I thought. "Why don't I just run 21.1 km another day when there's nobody around?"

Lola, Julie and I were running together. This is us before the race. Don't we look fresh and happy?

The other three were planning to run much faster than us. While they moved off into the crowd of runners waiting for the start we found ourselves a position at the back of the field. I think we enjoyed the start much more than they did because we had a lot more room to move. It was hard to hold back when the crowd of over 800 runners headed off into the distance, but we managed to run the first section quite sensibly. Here's us at the start. Lola is leading the way.

We were running a bit ahead of schedule but we were soon left well behind everyone else. There were a few people just in front of us and a couple of ladies who were walk/running who kept passing us briefly and then catching us up. A race medic on a bike came to check out how we were going at about the 3 km mark. He encouraged us to keep a steady pace and told us he'd check up on us again about half way.

At the 5 km mark we were still ahead of schedule. We expected to run about 8:30 mins/km over the race but we were averaging at about 7:45 mins/km at that stage. We were averaging around 8 mins/km at the 10 km mark which surprised all three of us. After the half way point I started to fall behind but I was still feeling good at the 12 km mark where I was pleasantly surprised to see TB waiting for me. I really hadn't expected him to be there so it was a huge morale boost. He jogged along beside me in his jeans for a short while, then headed off home to hang out some washing, with the promise that he'd be there to meet me at 12 pm, which is when I expected to cross the line. At that stage I had started to have visions of being there 10 minutes earlier.

I was starting to feel the run but I was still confident of managing to run the whole way around. I stopped for a badly needed toilet break, which took me 90 seconds, and then headed off again. Fontessa, a new running friend I met through Krissi, had offered to run part of the way with me. I met her at about the 14.5 km mark. I was struggling up that hill, which wasn't all that big a hill, so I was delighted to see her. Then I don't know what happened. I saw the 15 km marker and I broke. I just couldn't run past it. I dropped to a walk. I managed to get myself running again, but only for a short distance.

Mentally I was a mess. I didn't say much to Fontessa about it, because I didn't want to ruin her day, but I was in the depths of despair. For some reason I decided that I wasn't going to be able to run another step. I worked out that it would take me an hour to walk 6 km to the finish at my fast walking pace. Then my maths brain went to mush and I decided that I wouldn't be able to finish in anything under 3.5 hours. In fact, I was sure it was going to take me 4 hours. I just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. In fact, if Fontessa hadn't been there, I think I would have.

I came up with all sorts of solutions. Maybe I could call TB and he could pick me up. Maybe I could suggest to Fontessa that we run back to her car and drive around to the finish line. Maybe I could ask one of the officials to give me a ride back with them when they packed up. In the meantime, Fontessa was coming up with all sorts of encouraging suggestions. Perhaps setting a goal ahead to run to would help. "I don't think so," I would reply in what I thought of as a sad pathetic voice, suitable for a loser who couldn't run any further than 15 km. She'd jog along beside me as I walked. I'd try to run again, thinking darker and more desperate thoughts. I felt guilty because I was ruining Fontessa's run. I felt guilty because I was going to be late to the finish line. I felt guilty because I was letting everyone down by failing to run the whole way. I felt guilty because those walk/run ladies were now out of sight somewhere ahead of me.

I realised that I was last as there was an official riding a bike just behind me. I'd been so sure that I was going to finish ahead of the walk/run ladies.

Then a light dawned. I used to be one of those walk/run ladies. I used to push myself through walk/run intervals. Maybe I could do it again. After all, my goal was to finish the half marathon. I'd vowed I'd get across the line even if I had to walk the last few kms.

I started running for a minute and then walking for a minute. Fontessa kept encouraging me and trying to distract me with general chatter. Somewhere I changed from running a minute at a time to running to a tree or a signpost. I told Fontessa that her goal idea was working for me and she started setting the goals for me, a little further than I would have set them, but I dug deep and headed for her goals. After a couple of kms of this I tried to run a bit further than the goal each time. I made it past the point where we used to meet to start our long runs and I came to a halt again. "I can't run any more," I said. "I'll walk from here."

Fontessa stopped jogging and started walking with me. We turned a bend and I saw a lovely long flat stretch of bike path beside the lake. I started to run again, telling Fontessa I was going to make it to the official at the foot of the Commonwealth Bridge. She started jogging with me again, encouraging me all the way. On that stretch I decided that I was going to walk up to the highest point on the bridge and then try to run the rest of the way. I managed to get myself going again. Fontessa chatted away, distracting me, and I kept running.

I saw TB sitting on a bench a short distance before the finish line. I was so glad to see him. I just wanted to run over to him, hug him and burst into tears, but I wanted to finish the run more. I knew he'd be disappointed if I stopped so close to the finish line so I said a quick hello and kept going.

On my way to the finish line I saw another running friend, Michael. He was yelling out encouragement. I didn't say anything to him. I had my eyes on that finish line. Fontessa stopped running with me and let me run towards it by myself. As I ran up the grass I could hear my name being called out by other running friends. Even crowd members were yelling "Go Kathy". I could hear the announcer encouraging me. I heard a squeal and then saw Krissi tearing down beside the ropes to scream encouragement at me. On the inside I would have loved to do the whole arms in the air and enjoy the moment thing but I just put my head down and ran to that line. I was never so glad to stop running in my life.


That's me, a moment after I crossed the line. I'm amazed that I don't look like I'm about to collapse. I saw the 3 hours on the clock and I heard people yelling "Three hours, well done!" as I passed them, but it didn't register that I'd made it in the time I'd hoped until about half an hour later.

I found all the girls I'd trained with and congratulated them. I said hi to the running girls who'd come out to the finish to congratulate Lola and I on our first half marathon. I found Fontessa to thank her and TB found me and gave me a huge hug. I did all that in a daze of disappointment. I was trying so hard not to let people know that I was miserable. I was smiling and thanking people for their support and being pleased with their times and all I could feel was an overwhelming sense of failure. I really couldn't leave there fast enough.

I was dropping Fontessa back at her car before heading home. TB had magically managed to park next to me, so we walked over to the cars together. I'm glad I didn't park further away! He offered to drive Fontessa back for me, but I wanted to thank her again for all her encouragement so I took her. It was something Fontessa said, although I don't remember what, that made me realise that I had indeed achieved exactly what I'd set out to achieve. I think maybe that the sugar from the fruit juice they handed me with my participant's medal had kicked in to, and that my brain was finally starting to process information again. I suddenly snapped out of it and realised that I had done it!

It wasn't until much later in the day that I finally asked TB if he thought I'd come last. I was pretty sure I had but I needed to check. He laughed and assured me that I had. I asked him how he knew. There might have been a runner another five minutes behind me. "The fire truck took off when they saw you were ok." I hadn't realised that the firemen had also been keeping an eye on me. Fontessa had remarked that she hoped they were cute but I didn't have enough energy to check them out when we went past them.

The provisional results are out now and I definitely was last. I came 843rd and I'm so proud that I achieved a placing instead of a DNF.

All the training paid off. I was a little sore after the run but I recovered even faster than I did after the last long run before the race. The next morning, when I was driving to work, I decided that I'd run in next year's half marathon. This time I'm going to cross the line in less than 3 hours!

Training update

I realised a couple of weeks ago that I achieved my running goals. As you will see in the side bar, my current running goals are: 1. Have fun 2. Run without injury 3. Run three times a week, including a long run 4. Run outside at least once a week 5. Run for longer.

Now that I'm training for the Canberra Half Marathon, on 17th May, I've managed to achieve all of these goals. I'm running on Tuesdays with Krissi, my trainer, and Lola, who is sharing Tuesday's PT session with me as we both train for the half mara. On Thursdays I'm running on my own, to work when I'm in Canberra, and in the general vicinity of the hotel when I'm working in Melbourne, and on Saturdays I usually do my long run with Lola and Julie.

When I first started running I would think up my blog entry as I ran. I still do that, but I don't get online often enough to spend time updating my blog lately. At most, I change my facebook status to mark achievements like this morning's run of 17.7 km, and then I read all the blogs that have provided me inspiration over the years.

Seeing that I am online today, I thought I'd try to capture the key changes in my running.

- The first few km are still the hardest, but I am running them with much more confidence in being able to keep going. Most of my "what am I doing? why am I out here when I could be in bed?" conversations happen before I get to the 3 km mark. Nowadays I seem to be able to ignore the voice that says "stop" more easily, although there are occasions when it still wins.

- I've learned that I'm more likely to run when I either (a) have someone to run with or (b) have a purpose to the run like getting to work.

- I'm getting better at ignoring things like the weather. I know I'll warm up after a few km, that I can survive running into a head wind for a while, and that light rain is my friend.

- I don't worry so much about minor problems such as blisters. I tape them and run again. Minor niggles such as stone bruises might hurt but they can be ignored for km at a time.

- I recover really well, particularly after a long run. I've realised that I'm extremely lucky in that regard. To my absolute delight my dodgy knee is holding up well. All that strengthening work I've done with Krissi has paid off.

With regards to other training, I haven't been doing much. I have my regular Friday PT sessions with Krissi. We've been concentrating on leg exercises - squats, lunges, hamstring curls, calf raises, leg raises, etc. For a change of pace yesterday we did boxing. I'd forgotten how much I loved it. I'm feeling it in my back today. I did have quite an amusing moment yesterday; when Krissi complained about how hard I was punching I reminded her that she was the one who'd helped me build up my upper body strength. She laughed and stopped complaining.

My workmates are doing another six week bootcamp and have inspired me to get myself back into the gym. I'm not going to renew my Fernwood membership. The Civic gym worked really well for me when I lived a couple of blocks away but I don't get myself there since I moved away. I thought about it and have decided to see what sort of programs they have at the gym at the bottom of my street. It was closed for a while because of a fire but it's re-opened recently. I was going to stagger down there this afternoon after my post-run hot bath but TB saved me the trip - they open Saturday mornings. I'll have to call in one evening next week.

I'll be sure to find the time to post an entry on the half marathon. Hmm, I wonder - will I need to find myself some new running goals?

Weekly update

Well, it's been a great exercise week, even if I have been recovering from my wonderful holiday in China. We arrived home at 1:30 pm on Monday and I was out running at 7:30 am the next day. It sounded like a good idea at the time, when I organised it with Krissi a few days earlier, but it certainly did not seem sensible when the alarm went off on Tuesday morning. I was really tempted to pike out on my first half marathon training session. Fortunately I thought about (1) how good I'd feel after getting out there and running; (2) how one more hour's sleep wasn't going to make that much difference; and (3) how guilty I'd feel if I missed out on the run. After I finished running I felt great!

Although I was up in plenty of time, I ended up being late for the run. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. I think it was me who was moving slowly! Krissi and Lola were just about to leave when I arrived. We ran along the bike path towards Lyneham. It's a familiar run, which made it a lot easier for me. I was able to chat away about China as we went. I think people will find that my China trip improves their running speed, as they frantically try to get away from me!

I wasn't too worried about the time, which is just as well. We ran about 5.3 km in just over 45 mins. As we went, Krissi chatted about our half marathon training program. My personal goals for the half are to enjoy the run, to complete the distance and to run as much of the way as I can manage. I'm not too fussed about time. I know I can run 8 min kms fairly consistently, so I'm expecting to get around in under 3 hours. How much under, I don't know or care at the moment. I guess I'll have a better idea after we've done some longer runs.

Lola had arranged to run with her friend, Julie, on Thursday. She kindly invited me along, which solved my "get out of bed and run on your own" problem. I met up with them at Lake Ginnenderra at 7 am. It was weird. I felt like we were running so slowly. In fact, I was wondering if running with the others was such a good idea, as it was a major effort for me to keep back with them. When we finished, I realised we'd covered 6.3 km in 49 mins. We'd actually run a little faster than we'd run on Tuesday. I must have been tired on Tuesday morning!

It was a pleasant chatty run. I've run around the lake a few times, doing the ABS fun run and the Ben Donohoe fun run. It was good to run it again. The last time I did it I really struggled to get around. This time it seemed easy.

I don't remember when I've looked forward to a run so much. Lately it's been a real struggle to get my butt out there, but this morning I was keen to go. I bounded out of bed enthusiastically.

One thing about running with other people, the time just flies. I also find that it's easier to stop and stretch properly as I'm still chatting away at the end.

We're running again on Sunday - 10 km. We're going out and back along the lake. I'm pretty sure the route has been chosen so that we are running up University Hill at the end, when we're tired.

This morning (Friday) was my usual PT session with Krissi. It was good to be back to normal. After 15 mins on the stationary bike (a great way to catch up on all the news) and some stretching we moved on to squats. Normally I do three sets and then move on to something else. Today I did 12 squats (30 kg on the bar), then 12 lunges on the step, then 12 hamstring curls, then repeated the set. I remembered Lola saying that Krissi had caned her legs on Wednesday at her PT session so I figured she was doing it to mine too. After that we did some floor exercises that had my legs crying! My abs got a workout too. Some upper body work and then some side bridges. I suck at those. I have a feeling that Krissi is going to make sure that I don't suck at them soon.

I'm in the middle of decision mode at the moment, working out whether or not I'll play hockey this year. My club isn't fielding a grass team. The advantages for me of playing grass are (1) it's social, so you don't have to train; (2) it's grass so it's slower than turf; and (3) I don't have turf stick skills as I never played on turf back in the old days. If I decide to play turf I'll have to train. Mind you, because I'm going to be running more I'll be the fittest I've ever been for a hockey season. That would be novel. Tomorrow is grading but I have been invited to a friend's wedding ceremony at that time. I'd like to do both. I guess that grading is really only important if you're trying to get into the 1sts. I'm pretty sure that they can grade me within 5 minutes of my showing up at training. My other option is to play with a different team in the grass competition. Decisions, decisions! I'm leaning towards playing turf except for fitting training and playing into my schedule.

One thing for sure, much as I loved my holiday in China, it's good to be home and getting back into my exercise routine!

Two good exercise sessions

On Friday I did weights with Krissi in the morning and then weights with Allan in the evening. I'm not planning to do that on a regular basis. I just didn't manage to sort out a schedule before my holiday. I thought about cancelling Allan's session, realised that I'd be missing my PT for three weeks and decided to chance the DOMS.

I love the session with Krissi each week. It was pretty much the usual session, a warm up on the bike, squats, hamstring curls, chest presses and abs work. I am squatting a little more weight now, my hamstring curls are getting better (yes, there is always another form improvement available) and my chest presses were fantastic! Yay me. LOL. I worked out that I've been chest pressing 32.5 kg, as the collars weigh 2.5 kg. On Friday morning I managed to do three sets of 12 presses. That's the best I've ever done. Mind you, it was really 11 and a half on the third set, but Krissi told me that she thought I could count it. I was amazed to make 12 the first set let along the second and third.

For abs work, it was crunches, standard, oblique then reverse, followed by a 1 minute bridge. I remember when I couldn't manage to get a single set of 10 crunches done, let alone hold my legs up in the air for 12 crunches. I managed the 1 minute bridge quite well. We're now going to work on my form. It's better than it was but my backside could still come down a bit.

After work I headed off to Elite Physique for my session with Allan. I told him what I'd already done, and he modified my program for me. We started off with shoulder presses. He had me pressing 15 lbs, which is more than I've ever done. I managed the three sets ok. Then he took me off to a machine for more shoulder presses. I was hopeless. There was nothing left. I gathered, although I might be guessing, that we went to the machine to squeeze out as many presses as possible. Because the machine holds your form for you, my arms weren't going to be wobbling all over the place and Allan could work out how much I had left. Mind you, as I said, I could be wrong about the motivation.

We then headed off to do dead lifts. I figured I was up for them. We did the first set with 35 kg on the bar, then we did three sets with 45 kg. I was expecting just two more sets. On the last set, I had to set, then take up the tension and then power up. It was really different to what I'm used to doing.

After that we did leg presses in a machine, then biceps work in a machine, then more walking lunges. It was a good workout.

I'm not sure how much exercise I'll be doing in China. I expect we'll be doing lots of walking. I gather the Wall might be a challenge. Should be fun.

I'm not expecting to get my blog updated over the next three weeks. All the best to you all. Happy running, exercising, and enjoying life in general.

Running and PT

Yesterday was one of those days when I felt like I was back to being the 'old' me, as in the 'I love to exercise' me, not the 'I've been sitting on a couch for the last 10 years me'. I love the way I feel after a good exercise day.

In the morning I went for a run with Krissi. She wasn't feeling too well, so I was doing most of the chatting, to keep her distracted from her upset tummy. I felt like I worked really hard, but I managed the run and the chatter. Mind you, the few times we sped up to catch a pedestrian light, Krissi was still running much faster than me. I think she'd have to be a lot sicker before I had any chance of keeping up!

I had my usual 'feel good all day' feeling after the run. You've got to love endorphins.

In the evening I had PT with Allan. I realised that one of the reasons I'm enjoying this so much is the rapid improvement that you get whenever you do something new. It will be interesting to see if it's as much fun when the gains are smaller. Mind you, I'm determined to enjoy it!

It was pretty much the usual session. I started with dead lifts. A warmup set of half a dozen reps with 10 kg on the bar (35 kg total), then three sets of 12 reps with 20 kg on the bar. It felt really comfortable. I knew what I was doing, I was setting myself up for each lift properly and I didn't need to keep looking down at the bar. Mind you, I was glad we didn't add more weight, as I was struggling to hold the form by the end. My arms were tired and I was finding it hard to concentrate.

After that we did squats to the box. I did the first set without a mirror to watch. It seemed a lot harder, but it made me realise how much I needed to concentrate on how the exercise felt. I was getting up off the box much more easily, particularly when he suggested I concentrate on the bar and lifting through that with my upper body rather than on my legs. It sounded silly but it was much easier when I was doing that. Weird.

More chest presses. I was pleased with how those went. We skipped the lat pulldown and headed off to do walking lunges. Three sets of those holding 10lb weights. The technique is easier. Allan explained some of the science of it to me, which I really enjoyed. I don't care what the muscle is called, but I do like to know what's going on that makes doing it this way feel stable and doing it that way hard work.

I've got that kind of tired but good feeling today. My muscles know they worked. My legs are tired. All I really need now is a nap!

Oh, I went to the doctor today. No drama, just a routine test. Sonia checked my blood pressure while I was there. It was bang on 120/80. You've got to love it.

I picked up our visas today. Woohoo! Only three days to go now.

Weekly update

Another weekly update. It's been so hot in Canberra that I really haven't been outside much this week. On Tuesday I had double PT, Krissi in the morning and Allan in the evening.

I went for a run with Krissi. I had absolutely dreaded it. I was tense before I started. I was telling myself that I wouldn't automatically get a migraine every time I ran, particularly as I now knew to hydrate properly. I also had a protein drink before I went, which was a good idea when I was drinking it but felt like a really bad idea when I continued to taste it. That problem was solved by brushing my teeth again.

Krissi had lots to tell me about her trip to Japan, which was distracting. It was a slow run but at least we were out there. My running form was all over the place, probably because I'd been so tense when I started. I didn't realise for a while - I just thought I'd forgotten how to run. On the return trip I could see my shadow. I looked like an old lady shuffling along. After a conscious effort to relax my upper body I seemed to run a bit better. Of course, the added incentive of needing a toilet break after my protein drink probably helped.

My Garmin knew I wasn't running all that hard. My calorie burn was down to about 2/3 of the usual amount. It seems technology doesn't take mental fatigue into account. Funnily enough, even though I suffered through the run I felt fabulous all day.

It was a hectic day. TB and I were dropping off our visa applications for China and the ute was going in for a service. I dashed home, showered, and then we headed off to the Consulate. Our invitation letter didn't quite cut it, so we weren't able to submit our applications. TB dropped me at work, then headed off to his work. Meetings all day, and then a taxi to the service station. Yep, I got to drive the ute! I don't get the opportunity that often any more. V8's are a lot of fun after driving around in a granny-mobile. I dashed back home to send an email to China, asking for a more formal letter of invitation, then hurried off to the gym. Of course, in the ute it felt as though I cruised over there.

Allan took me through my routine. It was busier at 6 pm on a Tuesday than it is at 5 pm on Fridays. Lots of people in classes, kids waiting to be picked up after martial arts etc. There was a real buzz in the air. We still managed to get whatever equipment we needed. That's an advantage of having your PT with you.

The difference with this session was that Allan was starting to increase the weights I was lifting. He was really happy with my form (I've been well taught) and I'm happy too with the way he describes what he wants me to do. I learned that the bar weight 20 kgs and the collars weigh 5 kgs. I'm squatting with just the bar at the moment. Allan is making squats more difficult for me by lowering the box height rather than by adding weight. With the deadlifts, I was lifting 35 kg, which we increased to 45 kg for the last set. I was really able to feel that I was using my legs with the additional weight on the bar.

We moved to the 'light' gym, where I did chest presses. I warmed up with just the bar, then Allan added small weights. I really struggled with those, so he removed the collars. Much easier. After that some lat pulldowns. They were easy. He increased the weight a couple of times. I think he's realised that I'm stronger than I look.

Walking lunges were next on the agenda. We had to do them in the hallway, which seemed so much longer than the class room. Probably because it was. I was still able to do walking lunges so we concentrated on my form. I hadn't realised just how much I was favouring my left knee, even though it's so much stronger than it was. I can see that this exercise is going to be so good for my overall lifestyle.

I didn't exercise on Wednesday or Thursday. Friday morning was my usual weights session with Krissi. I warmed up on the bike and told her about seeing Allan. She was really cool with it. We did the usual workout. I hadn't done this workout since before Christmas. It was good to get back into it. As ever, I really enjoyed the session.

Next week I have two sessions with both PT's and then I'm off to China. I'm hoping to do lots of walking there and we're planning to use the gyms in those hotels that have them. I'm not so sure about running while I'm there. I did notice that some hotels advertised jogging tracks. Not any of the ones we're staying at, but I did wonder why the hotels felt the need to advertise them. I guess I'll know in a few weeks. :-)

Weekly update

I made it to the gym three times this week, which I was pleased about. I'm just about back into my normal weekly routine after Christmas and the holiday period. Of course, we head off to China in two weeks, but at least I'll be getting my exercise done for two weeks.

On Tuesday I went to Fernwood and tried to do the weights routine that I'd done with Allan at Elite Physique. I had thought about driving over there, but I was a little intimidated by some of the equipment. I had to modify a few things. For example, Fernwood doesn't have the box gadget that I was squatting down to, and the benches were too high. I'm not complaining - if Fernwood had all that hard core weight lifting stuff I would never have walked in the door in the first place.

I was able to practise a lot of things. With the dead lifts, I used a 25 kg bar. The key difference was that it was a pretty little thing that had small compact weights on the end whereas the other one used large 5 kg weights. Not an issue, although the tip Allan gave me to stand a certain distance and then set my starting position so my shins were leaning on the bar just did not work with the Fernwood bar. Still, I was pracitising, which is what the session was all about.

For the squats I didn't try to do a similar weight on my own. Instead, I grabbed a 7.5 kg bar and practised holding it in the new position I'd been shown. My upper arms were quite tired, but it gradually felt more comfortable. I was particularly glad I'd done that one when I trained with Allan this Friday, as the whole position felt much more natural.

It was funny trying to do the lateral pulldown. We use Nautilus equipment at the Fernwood gym I go to. The lateral pulldown machine is usually set up with two grips. There are a couple of bars, one short one and one longer, that lie on the floor beside the machine. I think I've seen someone use them once before. Anyway, I wanted the longer bar, so I picked it up and then was left wondering how to attach it. I finally worked out something. I don't know if I set it up right but it seemed to work ok. I pulled it all apart and put it back to its usual setting when I finished. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been at all surprised if nobody had used it for a while.

I did the chest presses and overhead presses without any trouble, and I did one set of walking lunges. I figured that we'd only done one set on Friday so one set was enough. I hate walking lunges.

I wanted to go for a run during the week but it was just so hot. Not as hot as Melbourne or Adelaide, but still hot. Instead I went to the gym and did cardio. I did 20 mins on the treadmill and 10 mins on the bike. I was dripping sweat by the time I finished and the gym was airconditioned! I had intended to run for the whole half hour, but I caught sight of my face before I started. I was bright red, just from the drive to the gym and walking a couple of blocks. I decided discretion was probably the better part of valour in this case. I did a walk 1 min, run 1 min, to make sure I was able to drink while I was on the treadmill. I really haven't mastered the art of running and drinking at the same time. I managed to do a 6 km/hr, 7.5 km/hr pattern, with a few 9 km/hr minutes thrown in. Not many, but a few.

On Friday it was my PT session with Allan. I arrived in a rush. The gym is 20 mins from work, which really means 25 mins door to door. The car I'm driving doesn't have airconditioning, so I was pretty hot by the time I got there. We skipped the warm up and went straight into the 'heavy' gym. Squatting onto the box was the order of the day. I was lifting the bar without any weights added, so it was 20 kg. The box seemed a long way down.

(Late edit: This post has been sitting in draft for the past week. It's not that I've not been online. I've just been busy.)

Since it's been so long, I'll add a summary and skip to the part of the session that I was most excited about.

After the squats, more deadlifts. With and without shoes on for both squats and deadlifts, which was interesting. It's easier without shoes. Chest presses and something called a mid-row. A chat about nutrition. The exciting bit was that I finally got walking lunges. I've been doing them for nearly three years at the gym, at bootcamp etc, and it's been a struggle every time. Allan mentioned centre of gravity, I put it together with something Billy said which helped me do hip flexor stretches better, and all of a sudden I was "walking and lunging" instead of stepping, lunging, stepping, lunging. I was so excited that I came home to show TB, but I'd cooled down by then and couldn't make myself do them. He was rather amused but kindly took my word for it that I knew how to do them.