Halfway through the year

In the first half of the year I accomplished several of the goals I set for the entire year.

3km - goal 13.30 - ACHIEVED 13.03 (although I've run faster but not in a race)
4km - goal 18.00 - ACHIEVED 17.05
5km - goal 22.30 - getting close 23.05
6km - didn't have a goal - best 26.54 (very happy with that)
8km - goal 38.00 - closest 40.00 not a distance I race much
10km - goal 47.00 - getting close 47.12
15km - didn't have a goal best 1.16
21.1km - goal 1.44.00 - ACHIEVED 1.43.30

Now for my goals for the second half of the year since I achieved 3 of them

3km - goal 12.30
4km - goal 17.00
5km - goal 22.00
6km - goal 26.00
8km - goal 37.00
10km - goal 46.00
15km - goal 1.10.00
21.1km - goal 1.40.00

I've set what I think are really tough goals. I am thinking right now there's no way I could achieve some of them. I guess I'll see how I do at the end of the year. Some of the distances I don't race very often, however I put goals down anyway.

Last home Phoenix game ever

Last night was the last game at the State Netball and Hockey Centre for the Melbourne Phoenix because of the new Trans Tasman Competition coming in next season (*roll eyes*). It was also the last Melbourne derby against the Melbourne Kestrels. We desperately wanted to win as there was no way the Phoenix could lose their last ever game together at the SNHC. And no way could we lose the last local derby, especially because the Phoenix have won 18 of the 22 played. The first quarter was really nerve-wracking but we soon started our domination. In the second quarter we really broke the game open and the Kestrels had no chance. But in the end we only won by 10. It was a good game though and a great way to end it. I thoroughly enjoyed singing the song for the last time. There was also the last ever after match function and it was a really good one. I'm VERY sad that I'll never see the girls play at the SNHC again, but it was definitely a good one to end on.

We have one more game in Melbourne in a month but it's at Vodafone. Expect the tears to flow.

Post Run to the G training

I'm going to try and stick to a new training program to build a really solid base to go under 100 minutes hopefully in the Burnley half or Melbourne half. This is what it will look like

Monday - rest/cycling
Tuesday - Speedwork AM (about 10km total), Running club 3km PM
Wednesday - Rest/cycling/short run
Thursday - 4-8km
Friday - Running club 3km
Saturday - netball/cycling
Sunday - long run - starting at 10km and building up very gradually to a regular 16-20km
Total starting at 30km minimum and hopefully building up to about 45km, depending on how well my body recovers.

It's very hard to find time to go for bike rides, especially now when it gets dark so early. I might have school athletics training on Monday and Wednesday mornings next term which is on my rest days so it should be ok. I can always cut out running club on Tuesdays and Fridays (especially because it's often cancelled). I'm just going to try and stick to this plan for as long as possible. We actually have to design training programs in PE at the moment and I'm mainly just doing running and speedwork.

I bought a pair of aqua capri Skins for $70 and I got them today, they're very nice! I also bought a pair of Nike Free 5.0 for $85 and I can't wait for them to arrive!

Run to the G

I woke up at 5.40am yesterday morning to get ready for Run to the G. I was ready by 6am and had to wait till Karen picked me up at quarter past. We drove into the city and picked up Ally at the St Kilda Rd Police Station. Ally took ages to come out and I was getting really nervous. Fortunately they went away when Ally came out. We parked near the Shrine and walked to Fed Square. I had to pick up my number as they didn't send it out. But my name wasn't on the list. Luckily I printed out and brought with me my confirmed entry form. I picked up my bib, went for a quick whizz and found a pole to tie my jumper to. I lined up at the start between the 1.45 pace balloon and the under 1.50 sign. That was my realistic goal time - between 1.45 and 1.50. It took ages to start and I was reading the 7 news headlines (including Adelaide defeated Kangaroos!) above the Young and Jackson hotel. We finally started and it was a slow start for about 200m. I ran along the footpath which was pretty clear. I got into my rhythm easily and early. I didn't see a 1km split sign which really annoyed me as I like to know what time I do my first km in to know what pace I'm going at! I was very daunted by the long distance but I felt fine for most of the way. I thought doing two laps would kill me but when you know you have to do two laps it's not so bad. The 1.45 pacer was about 200-300m behind me for the first lap. There wasn't a drinks station until the 6km mark which surprised me. At the 8km mark my hips started to get sore which was slightly worrying. Although they were sore, they didn't get any worse. My km splits (the ones I saw) were about 1-1.30 minutes off 5km pace (eg the 8km would have been about 38.30) and I was hoping I could maintain that. If I couldn't maintain it then at least I had room to move with my times. When we passed by Fed Square for the 2nd lap I saw my mum and chucked my gloves at her which I had taken off at the 3km mark. I was still cruising comfortably for most of the second lap. I noticed that for the whole second lap I rarely saw any women, I was surrounded by men. By the 16km mark I was tiring and I could hear the 1.45 pacer behind me. I really didn't want him to overtake me because by that stage I was really hoping for sub 1.45. He overtook me at the 19km mark and that killed me. But I didn't try and keep up, I just stayed at my own pace (mostly coz I was getting very tired). The 1.45 pacer stopped at about the 20km mark because he must have been too far ahead. The last km killed me, especially when they had signs saying 500, then 400, then 300, 200, 100 metres to go. I managed a little sprint at the end but I was really buggered. Of course, I was overjoyed to see my time - 1.43.31. I had broken my PB by over 9 minutes!!! I managed to find Mum who had also found Ally and Mum took a photo of us together. Ally had done around 1.44 - I had beaten her!!!!!!!! Although she had run straight off a night shift. I was hoping to see Karen but I didn't - she came in at 1.54. I got my showbag and tried to find my Dad (Mum was doing the 10km walk). I was hoping to see a few people I knew doing the 10km but I didn't. I did see Christie Malthouse though (one of my heroes). I had to work at 12pm and that killed me.

I looked at the results today and I CAME FIRST IN MY AGE GROUP! And I was the 72nd woman! I thought I'd be about 200-300th in the women. Woohoo!

I don't want to be 17!

I have one year until I can no longer race as an under 18. Scary thinking about it!

Saturday off!

I had my first Saturday off netball since April and I had grand plans. I was looking forward to going to train with the girls from Richmond Harriers at the Tan. Unfortunately an unplanned late night meant I was way too exhausted. I read in the paper this morning that Ben Cousins was seen running the Tan yesterday morning!!!! I was going to go to my favourite class at the gym if I didn't go to Richmond training but I was too exhausted to get up in time for that too.

Later in the afternoon I left to go for a bike ride/run. I couldn't decide whether to go into the city to do the Tan or to ride along the Yarra and run to Fairfield boathouse. I eventually decided to go into the city and I'd come back along the Yarra if I had time. So I rode into the Tan and did a lap and a bit (about 4.5km). Then I rode into Port Melbourne and did another 4km there. After that I went for a walk along the beach and then rode home. I went straight home the quickest way because it was getting dark and I was so exhausted and hungry coz I'd been out for more than 3 hours. In total I did about 8km running and 40km riding.

Plenty of time for running in my week off

I've had almost the whole week off because it's exams week but I only had one exam. So on Monday I went for a run into the city with a running partner. We started in Kooyong and went along the bike path to the Tan, then did two laps of the Tan and back to Kooyong. It was about 18 or 19km. It was a beautiful day and a nice course. It was my last long run before the Run to the G half marathon and I felt really comfortable for most of the way.

I actually recovered from Monday really well so yesterday I rode into the Tan and did another run there. I did about 3 or 4km warm up, then I alternated between 500m in 2 minutes and 500m in 3 minutes so I ran fast, then jogged, then ran fast etc. The markings on the Tan are so handy! Surprisingly, I wasn't feeling any stiffness from Monday's run. I then ran over to Vodafone Arena and the MCG. I did a lap outside the G (get into the mood for Run to the G and Melbourne Marathon). Then I did some 'stairwork' on the steps outside Vodafone. I'd heard from a friend that they are a killer. However, I kinda had to make up how to make them a 'killer'. So I ran up and down them, ran to a nearby lightpole and then ran up them again which took about 45 seconds. I then walked down, back to the lightpole and back to the bottom of the stairs to do it again (75 seconds). I did this 5 times. It was fun but not really very hard. I guess you have to do them again and again. Afterwards, I ran back to my bike parked at the Tan and rode home. Altogether, I'd done about 11km and 25km on my bike. I wish I had the time to do that every week, it was really enjoyable. Unfortunately, especially this time of the year it's only possibly to run at the Tan during holidays.

I've been eagerly planning all my runs this week. I want to run to Fed Square (15km from my house along the bike path) tomorrow because I did the same time last year and it was the first time I'd run anything anywhere near that far. But I think I'll just go do the circuit class at the gym because I don't want to run too far in the lead up to Run to the G.

Exams

Exams are almost over. I quite enjoyed them and I wish we had them every term. Last Wednesday we got a whole day off for 'study day', however we had a PE SAC so I had to go to school for that. Then on Thursday I had English (boring) and Chemistry (easy). On Friday I had Maths Methods (easy) and GM* Maths (surprisingly easier than methods). So now I had today off, tomorrow off (although I have to go to my PE class period 1), Biology on Wednesday, and then Thursday and Friday off. So I just had to do 5 little exams and I get 7 days off school (plus birthday holiday next Monday).

Sandown Photos

I found heaps of photos of me from Sandown on Sporting Images. Here are my favourites. I'm going to order one of them.

Sandown

After netball coaching and doing homework, instead of heading off to netball I headed out to Sandown for the big 10km. I arrived just in time to see the juniors finishing which was good. Definitely wish I was that fast! Our race was due to start about half an hour later so I went for a warm up with some of the other Richmond girls and we were pretty much ready to start. I found both in this race and the Latrobe race I wasn't ready to start, there was a whistle out of nowehere. But that doesn't matter in a long race. The women started up a ramp (yay, downhill) while the men started on the main track. I planned just to go quite slowly and leave as much as possible in the tank for the first 6-8km. I got into a rhythm early and found by 2km that I was going at a pretty quick pace. I couldn't really slow down though, I tried to but it didn't work. In the 2nd/5th/8th kilometre there is a 'hill' which looks almost flat until you have to run up it. We had a major headwind and of course it is strongest up the hill. Luckily I wasn't getting dust in my face like yesterday. Just before the 4km mark I got lapped by the wheelies and then at the 6km mark I got lapped by the first runner. Boy was he travelling fast! It killed me that he had almost finished and I still had a lap to go. I've never run a 3 lap race before but it wasn't as bad as I thought. The straight was so long and it was hot with the wind behind. I started to hurt (probably from yesterdays x-country) at the 7km mark and I started to worry I wouldn't get in under 48 minutes. At the 8km mark I started to really want to get in under 47 minutes. That meant running 9 minutes for the last 2 kilometres - something I thought I could achieve. I pushed it and felt comfortable up until the 9km mark and the back straight. I started to get a stitch and felt really uncomfortable. I had to push though and with about 100m to go I could see the clock ticking over to 47 minutes. I kept pushing and managed to get in at 47.12. That's a PB by over 2 minutes. I wasn't really that happy with it but according to McMillan's it pretty much fits in with my other PBs so it was a good run. I guess I enjoyed the race and I hope Richmond did well.

Splits (very approximate).
1km Didn't see marker
2km 8.14
3km Didn't see marker
4km 18.00
5km 23.16
6km 28.00
7km 32.35
8km 38.00
9km 42.54
10km 47.12

Championship Cross Country

After waiting excitedly all day we finally headed off to cross country at Bundoora Park. The juniors and intermediates had already run by time we got there so I was really annoyed as the best part of cross country is cheering the others! We arrived about 25 minutes before we had to run so I quickly changed into my shorts and we warmed up and then had to line up on the start line. It was so squishy, 240 girls from 24 schools lining up to race. The schools next to us hadn't left us any room which was really unfair. The start was the most horrible start I've ever done. I was trying to overtake many people (so many slow people sprint off at the start) and I was running on the outside of the course. There was a massive headwind and dust got in our eyes and mouths. We were to do two laps of basically a massive oval and the first third of each lap is gradually uphill. I was just cruising because I didn't want to be too tired for Sandown. I was feeling really comfortable and the first lap went really quickly. The field finally started spreading out and I could run properly. I don't have much to say about the race just that I felt really comfortable and it seemed to go very quickly. On the second lap with the headwind I didn't draft behind anyone coz it just doesn't suit me so I wasted a lot of energy. I was rounding the corner to finish feeling really good and all of a sudden a girl comes sprinting past me. I realised it was a girl who's in my netball team and who I really didn't want to beat me! She was a few metres ahead of me but I managed to come in just behind her at the line. My time was 17.05! But I wasn't really excited because I was annoyed Elise had beaten me (even though I was holding back for Sandown) and I had no idea what place I had come or what anyone else had come. I was second out of our girls. I reckon the course might have been shorter than 4km. I'm sure it wouldn't be though.

Unfortunately our school came 3rd in Div 2. That's not too bad I guess, but I really hoped to win.

I'm not really sure what time to aim for at Sandown tomorrow. Maybe somewhere between 46 and 48 minutes.

Cross Country

Championship cross country is tomorrow! I'm really looking forward to it. My borrowed PLC athletics uniforms today from the PE department (coz we're supposed to wear it) and they only had an XS and S left. So I got the XS and I thought it probably won't fit and I won't have to wear it. It did fit though but it stunk of BO! I shoved it in my locker and thought I'll just wash it but I opened my locker later and it had made my whole locker stink! Anyway when I borrowed my top my PE teacher told me I should just buy an athletics uniform. But I only wear it for 2 cross country events per year and I finish school next year. Then she says "oh but you can wear it for all your half marathons!". As if I would want to wear my school athletics uniform when I'm running a half marathon (it's so gross). So I told her "but I've got my own athletics uniform!". :) Anyway I'm REALLY hoping to run sub 17.30 coz I never run 4km (so this is my only chance for a while) and I was only 8 seconds away!

Coburg Fun Run

I've had this race on my calendar for a long time but it almost didn't happen as I have a VERY sore calf. I woke up this morning and could barely walk, but I didn't have the heart to tell my dad because then he would have woken up early for nothing. So we went anyway. I was tossing up between the 6km and the 12km but I guess my decision was made for me (the 6km). We arrived with 10 minutes till the start as we got every red traffic light on the way. That didn't matter though - it meant I didn't freeze (well I still kinda did). The turnout was BIG - I was number 87 and there were probably a few people after me. There were lots of people wearing dark blue t shirts, I'm guessing from some sort of personal training or beginners running group.. I started off quite well and left most of the field behind. My calf didn't hurt much at all - I'm really lucky it seems to be a muscle that isn't really used for running. After the first kilometre or two I settled behind a man and woman and another man who kept overtaking them and then dropping back. So I was kind of in a 'pack' and they were pushing me. At the turnaround I noticed I was the fourth female and I really wanted to come in the top three. I made sure I stayed behind the woman in front of me. My time at the turnaround was 12.48, it's supposed to be 3km but I'm not sure how accurate that is. At about 5km we went up a hill and I started to drop off the 'pack'. I was really disappointed as I really wanted to come third. When we came in on to the track for the last 400m, I noticed I was slowly closing the gap between me and the couple in front of me. With about 100m to go I overtook them and sprinted away. I was so happy. However, they kept running (they were doing the 12km) so that's why they didn't sprint at the end. So I was the third female in a time of.......... 26 minutes and 54 seconds!!!!!! That's 4.29 pace for 6km! I never thought I could run at 4 .30 pace for that distance! At the end I was so, so tired I was out of breath for about 2 or 3 minutes! That's a PB of 2 minutes and 20 seconds!

Cross country

We qualified first in Division 2 for GSV Cross Country, which means we have a good chance of winning Division 2. It was funny to see the mixed reactions - we just missed out on Div 1 but we have a chance of winning Div 2 - which is better?

Unfortunately I only miss english (although that's a good thing) for cross country on Friday week.

Preliminary GSV Cross Country

This afternoon we had school cross country - the preliminary carnival against 7 other Girls Sport Victoria schools. There's 3 carnivals, all at Yarra Bend park and 8 schools compete in each to separate the schools into division 1, 2 and 3 for the championship carnival. Last year we came fourth in division 2. Unfortunately, our school was in carnival C, which means we were competing in the afternoon (better than in the morning I guess). Although it did mean I missed double Maths Methods. We were against Genazzano, Sacre Coeur, OLMC, Lowther Hall, Firbank, Star of the Sea and Tintern.

The Junior (years 7 and 8) race was first and they did 3km. We had a girls come 2nd, 3rd and 9th which was great! PLC came 3rd in the junior division. Intermediates (years 9 and 10) were next and they did 4km. We had Penny who is awesome come first (in 15.10), Grace 2nd and Mandy 4th. We also had another come 9th. The intermediates won their division and got a trophy which is almost unprecidented for PLC.

Our race didn't get started till 2:50pm and none of us Seniors (year 11 and 12) could be bothered! We were so short for people we had to get a couple of my friends who really aren't runners. I was the only year 11 who wanted to do it. I started off really slowly as I was trying to make sure I started my watch. I was stuck behind lots of people. I didn't mind too much though because I always like a slow start. There's only one hill in the course and it's in the first 100m. It's very short but very steep. The rest of the course was completely flat. I spent the whole race overtaking people because of my slow start. I really enjoy racing that way. In the last kilometre I started getting closer to Nicole (Laura was way ahead). I almost overtook her and was about 5 metres behind her for the last 500m. I didn't really sprint much at the end but I'm so glad no one overtook me. Unfortunately, at the finish I accidently pressed stop on my watch twice which deleted my time! Luckily one of our teachers was taking down times - he said my time was 17.38. I came 15th out of about 80 girls. It's very competitive because it's the best girls from each school. So I was very happy with my result. I've taken almost a minute off my 4km PB from last year and I achieved a goal of getting under 18 minutes. In the senior division, Laura came 4th and PLC came 5th which isn't too bad. Overall, we came THIRD out of the 8 schools we were competing against. We'll possibly be in division 1, but I'm hoping we're in division 2 as we may have a chance of winning it.

The thing I found really hard was running on grass. I'm getting used to running on the footpath and racing for roads. The track was mostly on gravel and only some on grass. I was really unco on the grass and I was hanging out for the gravel track!

It started raining just after we'd finished. We didn't end up leaving till 3.45pm and I didn't get home till almost 5pm!

The Championship Carnival is on the 25th May, unfortunately the day before Sandown. As I don't race 4km very often, I really want to get under 17.30 then.

AV race - Latrobe

The results came out for Sunday's AV race. I came 13th in the U18 5km (out of 19) in a time of 23.12. Only 7 seconds off my PB!

AV race - Latrobe Bundoora

Today I made my official AV debut for Richmond Harriers. I woke up this morning feeling crap coz I'm getting a cold (everyone at school is sick!) and I got home at 2am because I was babysitting (so I had less than 5 hours sleep). Plus I have had a sore quad the past 2 days. Mum tried to discourage me from running (pffft!) but I just ate a little bit of breakfast and Dad came to pick me up. We got there with plenty of time and I found the rest of the Richmond Harriers straight away. Dad and I went for a walk to look around because we had 40 minutes till the start. We came back and I did a short warm up and put on my bib. I had to buy a black pair of shorts so I splurged on a very very nice pair of nike shorts which are made from super comfy fabric (it says polyester on the label). I was looking forward to racing in my brand new shorts and club singlet.

I wandered over to the starting line to queue up for the start of the junior race. I was in the U18 5km. I was right at the back. I was hoping to not come last (although I knew I wouldn't). I started out slowly, letting all the little kids sprint off. I was probably in the last 10 or so runners for the first kilometre but after that I kept overtaking all the people who had gone out too fast. I kept an eye on my splits. At the 3km mark I thought "Wow only 2km to go, this is so easy!". I wasn't trying to go too hard, I was just keeping a steady pace. I ended up finishing at around 23.16 although I may have to readjust that because I didn't stop my watch straight away.

My splits were:
4.32
9.16 (4.44)
14.11 (4.55)
18.48 (4.23)
23.16 (4.32)
So I'm not very consistent! That doesn't matter though. Amazingly, I was only about 10 seconds slower than my PB of 23.05 (this is the second time I've raced 5km). I really liked the distance, it's long enough to get into it but you don't get too tired. I really enjoyed the race and I look forward to racing for Richmond again at Sandown.

VO2 Max Test

On Thursday we went on a PE excursion to Monash University. We were in the exercise research area. In the first hour we had a lady reinforcing what we had learnt (well kinda repeating everything we've learnt). She has a good knowledge of VCE PE though and she kept reminding us how to answer her questions the way the exam markers will want the questions answered. It was good coz we only have 9 in our class.

After that we moved into another lab. My class voted for me to do a VO2 max test and an anaerobic test. So after I got weighed (with all my clothes on!) and measured I did the anaerobic test. I had to run for 45-90 seconds on the treadmill. The treadmill was set to 15.4kph (can't remember the gradient though). It was a stupid test coz it didn't test anything except mental strength. I decided to stop at 85 seconds because I moved my head and felt dizzy. My legs struggled to keep up with the pace coz they're too short but otherwise it wasn't too hard. It left me a bit drained for the VO2 max test though.

I had to wear a HR monitor and breathe through a tube with a peg on my nose for the VO2 max test. The guy started the pace at 9kph and then it went up 1kph every three minutes. I think the guy got a bit bored coz I was cruising at 12km/h and so he jacked up the pace to 13km/h and 3% gradient. I got tired after that coz it took me a while to adjust. The he kept increasing the speed and gradient until some figure reached a certain point. My VO2 max ended up being 51.8 ml/kg/min (55.4 if he hadn't weighed me with all my clothes on) which is ok. I probably should have got quite a bit higher. Doing the test made me realise how inaccurate it is. It was a good thing to do though.

In the last 24 hours I have run 17km and done 4 runs.

Last night I had to drop a form over to the Richmond president's house so that was about 4km.

This morning I did about 2km then I came home coz I needed water and a pee break.

Then I headed out and did 6x4oom with warm up and cool down and recovery in between - total 8km.

Then I did running club at lunchtime - 3km at a good pace.

Then tomorrow I am actually going to school cross country training for the first time ever. It's at the Tan so hopefully it'll be fun.

Then on Thursday I'm doing a VO2 max test in PE (of course my class voted for me to do it!) so I might run between 3 and 6 km then.

Senior House Cross Country

Yesterday we had senior house cross country (year 11s and 12s). I knew I wouldn't be able to beat 2 of the year 12's - Nicole and Laura, but I was kinda hoping maybe I could come 3rd (best case scenario). Worst case scenario I thought would be 6th or 7th. I was really nervous as I put a bit of pressure on myself to do well.

I was very glad when the race started before I had a chance to get really nervous. Crystal, who's sports captain was telling Nicole to watch out for me and trip me over coz I was a threat to her. I thought no way I'm not even going to be close to Nicole! I was in about the top 5 from the start but I knew one girl who went out fast would quickly drop off the pace (I was right). I got a bit anxious when I heard fast footsteps behind me, however it was just Mad Dog who'd come for a chat (I didn't mind too much if she beat me). Mad Dog dropped off soon and it was just Laura and Nicole way in front with me 3rd. I was very happy if it stayed that way. I couldn't hear footsteps behind me so I was sure I was at least 100m in front of the next runners. At the halfway point I had taken about 6.15 minutes so I was happy with that. I was still in third place. Just after halfway, Nicole was about 30m in front of me and she dropped her ribbon and I picked it up. From then on I could see her in the distance and I was slowly closing the gap. I noticed a sign that said 1100m to go and I was running a really good time. Not long after I overtook Nicole (shock horror!) and gave her her ribbon. I definitely expected her to chase me down again. I realised about 100m from the finish that there was no way she could beat me. I tried to do a sprint finish but my legs wouldn't push harder so I just cruised to the end. I think everyone at the finishing line were so surprised to see me come in second as Nicole just doesn't get beaten. I ended up finishing in 13.04 which I'm happy with as it's 4.21 pace.

Some of my friends did a great job with Mary Ann in 7th and Tessa, Groundzie and FanDog all in the top 20 or so.

There's a PB meet on Friday after school (4km) and I'm hoping to reduce my 4km PB (currently 18.30) to under 18.10.

At school today everyone kept mentioning cross country (and calling me a freak for beating Nicole).