Half Marathon Training: Seven Weeks Down

Seriously, is it really seven weeks since I started to train for this event? Phew! That's almost two months. It's hard to believe it's been that long!

I think I'll put off a major retrospective of stats etc until the two month mark, but it certainly has been gratifying to see an improvement in performance this week, compared to last week. Since last week was something of a recovery period, this is hardly surprising, but pleasing nonetheless.

Highlights of the week: an easy 13km run last Sunday - it was just such a fun run, hills and all, and so wonderful to feel a return to full form after last week's recovery.

Lowlights: um ... definitely yesterday's Fartlek interval training. Ugh. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times (usually when my body starts screaming "WHY? WHY?" as my phone is ordering me in an infuriatingly calm voice to "Increase pace to Yellow Zone for One Minute"): I'm not built for speed. Still, I bow to those who have more knowledge and experience than I do, and submit to this discipline in faith that the pain will provide some gain ... somehow.

Today is the first day in a long time that I've actually felt really happy not to have a run scheduled. Is this a bad sign? I'm not sure. Perhaps it's still a reaction to the trauma of those Fartlek intervals yesterday! But, never fear: I'll be back in those runners and pounding the pavement tomorrow morning. I'm going to do some steep hill climbs, I've decided.

Finally, this is where I spent my lunchtime today, between clients:

This is in a part of Melbourne I've never been to before, and it was really beautiful - a truly refreshing break in the middle of a busy day. Sadly this is too far away to make running here a practical option, but I might treat myself one weekend! So now, lungs full of fresh air and head cleared of cobwebs (though thighs still a little sore), I'm off to work again.

Vivaldi images: a departure from form ...

Today I’ve been listening to Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in A Minor (RV 356) and seeing a series of ... well, it’s a bit embarrassing, but ... farmyard images. Considering Vivaldi usually makes me see/feel mathematics, this is quite a departure from form!

The first movement (Allegro Moderato) with its orchestral ‘Greek chorus’ and repeated, sequenced themes had me thinking of a chook house, with its pecking order and flustered clucking responses ... also, perhaps a little unkindly, of gaggles of large-busted late-middle-aged women of a certain age who parade their busts before them, buttressed with formidable underwear and swaddled in either synthetic blazers or cardigans, depending on the locality – geographic and socio-economic. Like hens, flustered cackling and following the leader are good survival traits.

The Largo movement’s wistful strains and mild, almost-melancholy cadences found me, unobserved, behind the farmhouse window. I’m watching a child sitting and quietly humming to herself. Absorbed in her own world, she’s playing with strands of grass, lost to a personal grief, unintelligible to an adult.

Finally, the Presto – in complete contrast – had me thinking of kelpie-collie sheepdogs, whose purpose and joy is order and energy: the cheerful greeting of their little pack’s alpha, the farmer; the ultimate high of bringing that chorus of bleating sheep to the farmer’s order; the ecstasy of running to exhaustion at the end of the day.

[Recording: Pekka Kuusisto & Virtuosi Di Kuhmo]

Ethical Considerations

These are the ethical questions which have been on my mind lately:

1. How long is it morally acceptable for a driver to hold up a queue of traffic because theywant to do a right hand turn? At what point should they just give up, turn left and pull a U-ie or go round the block?
2. If a runner participating in an event tosses an empty drink container at a bin and misses, should they turn around and re-bin it?
3. Are you obliged to respond to every single "like", "poke", "comment", "message" or "request" sent your way on facebook?
4. Is there a certain timeframe within which you should return emails, phone messages, etc? Are there different times for different media?
5. Question 4 relates to the realm of manners/politeness: is this an ethical realm, or separate?
6. If someone wants to talk to you on public transport, ought you participate in conversation? (What if you're the only person who'll talk to them all day? You just don't know!)
7. How guilty should you feel about overdue library books?
8. What is the proper and ethical response to someone who suddenly comes to a halt in the midst of a crowd of running people, causing inconvenience?
9. Are you obliged to move earthworms stranded on the footpath after rain onto the grass? Does this moral obligation change if you're in the middle of a run, as opposed to just going for a walk?

Half Marathon Training: Six Weeks In

This week has been something of a 'rest and recover' week after doing the 10km event last Sunday; not that running 10km is, of itself, anything unusual - but running it that quickly is, at least for me!


Preventing injury has been a big focus this week. I was nursing a tender calf muscle after Sunday, which is why I've been swimming and doing classes at the gym (yoga, Body Balance) instead of running.

I've only done a few runs: a very slow half hour on Monday, which really only served as a warm-up to a much needed stretch session; an 'assessment workout' with miCoach on Wednesday; and an easy 50 minutes today. Well, it may have looked easy from the outside (if easy = slow) but it didn't feel easy! The first fifteen minutes, my body had that "I'm a clunky old car" feeling about it, and I don't think I did the Fartlek intervals justice - but the important thing is to have completed it, and returned home without injury.

Needless to say, my stats have been shot to pieces this week, with average pace times decreasing for the first time since I began this training six weeks ago and low km's run. A numbers girl, I don't like this. At least it'll make the next few weeks look good in comparison!

So the next two challenges, as I see them, will be: a) getting back into the rhythm of running training (it was surprisingly difficult to get motivated for the 50min run today!) and b) not psyching myself out of doing the half marathon in October. I felt pretty intimidated arriving at the starting line last Sunday, and 10km is a distance I run regularly! I think I'll need to be doing plenty of self-talk over the next few weeks to raise my confidence levels again. After all, I have no reason not to feel confident: I have set a realistic goal; I have a balanced, realistic training regime; and I have already completed a run amidst a large crowd of people.

And, the bottom line is what I know to be true: "my strength as a runner is that I just keep going." Hang onto that, Catie.

Celebration of Discipline

Yes, I have shamelessly stolen the title of Richard Foster's iconic book as a heading for this post. (Foster - there's no point in suing me - I have no money.) But the matter of discipline has been on my mind this week, as I've exercised discipline in many different ways - and sometimes, of course, failed to do so!

My "thinking about thinking" has been dominated this week by running. During that 10k event last Sunday, when things got tough, I'd put my head down and repeat what I know is true: "My strength as a runner is that I keep going." A different type of self control was required in recovering from that event.  During Monday's jog, having pushed my body harder and faster than usual the day before, I had to not stretch out into my usual lope, but keep things firmly under wraps: very slow, very steady, nursing that tender calf muscle, just plodding along in order to warm my body up for a very good stretching session afterwards.

Yesterday's discipline was one of busy-ness: I had to be in what my husband and I call "Go Mode", functioning at a high level, in order to get everything done. It was great to reach the end of the day having achieved everything I wanted to do, a long list which ranged from two school visits to remembering to tell the insurance company that I've changed my car number plates over to Victorian ones. (Seventeen weeks, five days today since the move!)

Today, I've had a cancellation, which leaves the whole day open to prepare my tax information for the accountant tomorrow. I loathe accounting! And bookkeeping: Ugh. The discipline required today will be using psychological tricks to actually stay on task and not drift off to other things. I can do this, I will do this; and, as I must do this, it will be done.

Finally, there's that ever-present but oft-ignored pressure which seems to originate about an inch above the base of the back of my neck: "write, Catie, write, Catie, WRITE..." I have a few projects on the go at present, but as the deadlines are wholly internal, the writing simply hasn't been happening. Today, if I can summon the discipline, I should be able to get some good work done on at last one project.

I can savour the pleasure of choosing which piece to work on as I endure my bookkeeping ... think I'll have another cup of tea before starting.

It's a Sibelius day today

There's been a return to the romantic in Catie's car over the last twenty four hours. With a couple of long drives yesterday afternoon and this morning, I've been able to listen to Sibelius' Violin Concerto in D Minor (Op. 47) three times in just over twelve hours.

I am so fortunate! What an age we live in; when the first version of this piece was originally performed (in 1904), not only would I not have been able to listen to a concerto at my convenience inside my own, personal vehicle - but I would not have had the social freedom, as a woman, to live my life as I choose to now.

Back to the music. My head is buzzing - there is just so much which I could write! I'll limit myself to one comment on each movement.

I remember writing about a year ago 'somewhere' (facebook? an email? I can't recall) that the first movement ("Allegro moderato") brought to mind the Australian landscape, with its sweeping broad openness and sometimes-bleak beauty. Then, a few months ago, I decided that was all rubbish. Today, what strikes me is its otherness: the soloist takes us on a voyage to a land that is almost alien in its soundscape, but safely brings us home.

The third movement ("Allegro Ma non Tanto") has always been a favourite of mine, hope springing from a dark place ... though sometimes the heaving waves of sound three quarters of the way through make me feel a little seasick!

And the second movement ... ah, that's what caught my heartstrings this time round. This "Adagio di Molto" seems to me to be speaking of love, reminding us that all love - even deeply, heatedly passionate love - is essentially a question asked and, if we are fortunate, answered.

As I begin to engage once more with Mark's gospel, this time from a radically different perspective, this reminder of "love as question" will give me yet another lens through which to regard that most dearly beloved text.


Endnotes

1. After drafting this, something good happened: listened to the second movement again, then went to yoga class. Catie's recommendation for today's transcendental experience.

2. My favourite recordings of this piece:

• Pekka Kuusisto (no surprises there!) with Leif Segerstam and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
• Viktoria Mullova with Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The story of my first public run

Yesterday was the day, my first "public" run since I was a kid! I entered in the 10k event of 'Run Melbourne' as part of my preparation for the half marathon in October.

I entered in the 61+ minute 'wave', along with literally thousands of others. My aim had been to finish in seventy minutes or less, but as we all headed out - packed flank to flank like cattle in a run - my heart sank, as I thought, "well, there goes my chance to achieve my time". Still, I did a bit of ducking and weaving to get nearer the front of the group.

I could tell from my heart rate monitor that I was running a bit harder than usual, but not drastically so, so I kept it up. About 2km in, I hit my sweet zone. Of course, the biggest hassle in an event like this is finding your way blocked by others - for a lone loper like myself, this is very frustrating! However, as you are constantly being overtaken by faster runners from behind, and constantly overtaking slower runners who started ahead of you, at least the kaleidoscope of backs you face constantly changes.

I must admit (and these are not honourable thoughts!) that I did particularly enjoy running past very athletic-looking people wearing Lycra who'd run out of puff!

My strength as a runner is my persistence; I knew I was going a little faster than usual, and began to feel it, especially around the 5-6-7km zone. But whenever I felt that way, I just looked at the road, and drew on what's true: "My strength is that I just keep going." I zoned out the people who were overtaking me, focussed on the people I passed (who usually returned the favour within a few minutes!) and concentrated on running my own race.

I was able to grab a mouthful of water, without breaking pace, at the halfway mark. I may not have desperately needed it, but since the opportunity arose to grab it without slowing down, it seemed silly not to take it. And I made sure my paper cup ended up in the bin, not on the road, you naughty runners! Speaking of etiquette: if you must stop suddenly, please try to do it on the side of the road; I nearly ran into a few people from behind like that. Also: flinging out your arm to show a friend something on the side of the road is a definite no-no - almost had my nose broken ... Finally, I observed a clever little trick: if you really want clear space on the road ahead of you, be a very obese person shuffling along in the middle of the pack. Everyone else parts around  you like a river around a boulder and you're left with empty asphalt ahead. Sweet.

Having run quite hard (for me), I was really glad to reach the 8km mark. 2km to go: that's the distance from the bus stop near the local Monash campus to my place. I began to visualise where I was in relation to home, and therefore how close I was to the finish line.

Towards the end, everyone sped up, of course; but there were some people who turned on a terrific turn of speed over the last km, including some whom I'd seen walking earlier. I couldn't understand why, if they were capable of that, they were part of our wave: why not run earlier? Or why not put in a more consistent effort? Each to their own.

The last 300m I ran with a huge grin on my face. At this stage I still thought I had probably run slower than my hoped-for time, but I was just so happy and proud to have done it! As I crossed the line, I stopped my monitor and running program, and that was when I saw it said 1:05. Very happy. As it  turns out, my official time was 1:04:20, a PB over this distance. My previous PB over 10k was 1:06, I think, and that was part of a longer run.

So ... half marathon in October? Yes, I still think so. On the plus side, there's still lots of time to continue to prepare. On the minus side, I nearly psyched myself out of running today - but did it anyway ... we'll see.

Well, that's the story of my run! Thanks for sharing the joy.

The night before the "event" (not calling it a "race" anymore)

Well, it's the night before my first run 'among many' since I was a kid. Despite being probably the least athletic child in the small country town I grew up in, I seem to remember placing in a local fun run once and winning a gift voucher to the local hardware store. I bought a yellow broom :) goodness only knows why! Actually the memory is returning - I think mum was with me and perhaps suggested it after I'd been looking around for something, anything, appealing among the nails, coils of electrical cord, chook feed, rat bait ...

It's a weekend of firsts; I was invited to brunch with another writer's group today (not the one I already attend). The people I got to speak with were all very interesting. I do love good conversation.

Anyway, returning to tomorrow morning. We live so far out of the CBD that we'll be getting up at 5:30 tomorrow ... *ugh* for me, a return to normal scheduling for my early bird husband who's been on holidays. The run is billed as a "race" but as, for me, it's not about speed I've re-termed it simply "event", at least inside my head. It'll be curious to see how running alongside a whole heap of other people goes ... will I be tempted to go out too hard at the start? Ah, it'll all be fine. It's just 10km.

So, here's the party line: I'm not anxious about a race, I'm curious about how I'll react to an event. Yeah - I can sell that to myself.

Half Marathon Training: Five Weeks In

This week, I've felt as though I have not been running as well as the last few weeks, however this may be a subjective thing - I have had some slow runs, and some 'hard' runs, but overall my average times are down (slightly) on previous weeks. Not that I aim to run fast! I'm just such a numbers girl that I can't help making the comparisons; if the numbers are there, I'll look at them: not always a good thing, methinks.

Anyway, these feelings have brought nutrition back to the forefront of my mind - a good thing: being vegetarian, I have to keep that protein intake before and after runs up.

I've also started experimenting with breathing during running. If I'm having a 'hard' run, it's because my muscles are groaning, not because I run out of puff. I did an 11km run yesterday and, just for fun, did something different with my breathing during the ninth kilometre. I breathe in time with my feet (musician - can't help it) and generally by that stage of a run am breathing "two in, two out". After changing to "four in, four out" I noticed my muscles relaxing and stride length increasing. We're not talking heroic improvements here, but anything which helps, right?

Am taking part in a 10km race tomorrow. Well, for me it won't be a "race": speed's not the name of the game; I'm doing it because I haven't taken part in anything like this since I was a kid, and I don't want my first run with a bunch of other people to be my first half marathon in October!

I'm curious to see how running as part of a crowd affects me, as I'm usually a lone loper ... it'll be interesting.

Vivaldi: Finding mystery in the familiar

So ............ I'm a bit of a Vivaldi freak at the present. I'm going through this 'phase' where I'm craving certainty, the comfort of 'knowing', and am harking back to my days as a practising mathematician, those good old days where I once spent a whole month working on a single problem ... and ended up solving it one Friday before morning tea. It took me the rest of the day to write out the solution, but I got there in the end, and it was complete, and it was beautiful.

And, as part of this 'phase' of finding comfort in the certain and familiar, my favourite music's been on high rotation. In particular, Pekka Kuusisto's recording of The Four Seasons (with Virtuosi Di Kuhmo) has been right up there, a familiar companion during long drives through Melbourne traffic. There's a phrase which gives me great comfort, around a minute in to the sixth movement (i.e. third movement of Summer), a simple tune but with shifting harmonies underneath. I played it for a friend today - just said, "I've been wanting all week to play this for you; this is what it feels like to do real maths". I think he got what I meant. (Who can tell when you're trying to convey your inner world?)

But - a little to my surprise - I've discovered ambiguity in this very familiar music, mystery amidst the oh-so-well-known. Not in the movement I just mentioned, but the tenth (first movement of Winter).


Somehow, this seems to matter a lot: does that fragment of music have a happy ending, or not? Does the individual survive against the pressure of the masses, or is subsumed? Who wins here? I don't know. Perhaps the answer depends on my mood.

It bothers me. I wish I knew more about what Vivaldi was on about. There's just so much to learn in the world, so much to understand, and sometimes I feel there's so little time to do it in!

But sometimes 'knowing' ("book learnin'") is overrated. I guess it's my default position: want to know something? Read about it, study it, pull it apart cognitively. Perhaps, for now, I can keep this little mystery to myself. Who cares what other people have written about this scrap of music? It's a mystery to me, an enigma, something which tugs at my mindstrings, and the mystery persists even though I could probably write the whole movement out by memory. The notes mean more than their composition.

Unlike maths, there's not going to be a final reckoning here, a last line, a sense of completion.

Live with it, Catie.

Now a confirmed Mike Carey fan

Have just started Mike Carey's second Felix Castor novel, "Vicious Circle". I am a confirmed fan! Really loved the first - "The Devil You Know" - and already the second is living up to its promise of taut, gritty and witty writing. If you haven't tried urban fantasy, Carey's a great place to start; and if you have, you'll probably really love him! The joy of reading something great on a cold winter's afternoon ...

Half Marathon Training: Four Weeks In

Well, lack of motivation hasn't become an issue - which is fantastic, because as everyone in south eastern Australia knows, the weather has been inclement. (I had been concerned that having started this 'project' with zeal, my motivation might fade a few weeks in.) I'm finding that I continue to genuinely love running, despite the massive increase in training compared to my former routines; the thought of the endorphin rush is enough to get me out the door, sleet and gale force winds notwithstanding. Also, I can be a determined person - OK, "stubborn little bugger" in the vernacular - and once I start a run, I am going to finish it: no matter what!

Took a brief break from training on Sunday/Monday due to some twinges down right leg - clocked up some k's in the local pool instead of risking an injury, and really enjoyed Tuesday's run, even though it incorporated the dreaded sprint intervals *ugh*.

Think my body's completed its major muscle growth period, and it's craving less protein now. Am keeping up protein-rich pre- and post-run snacks, but am not always constantly hungry, a pleasant change from the last few weeks.

Not much other news, except to say that I haven't had any more near misses with cars this week - something I'm very happy about!

I've discovered wombok!

Yes, I must admit, I thought a 'wombok' was an Australian native animal until just a few months ago. Perhaps something between a quokka and a wombat? (Embarrassing, huh?! And she calls herself Australian!)

But now it's a staple of my diet: thinly sliced and stir fried over high heat with a dash of soy sauce and honey, it's my 'quick snack' during the daytime; or, for dinner, prepared with other vegies, egg or bean curd ... yum.

It's possibly the most conveniently shaped vegetable I've ever come across. All that green, leafy goodness crammed into one healthy, dense cyliner! Slice it down the middle and it lies neatly on the chopping board, waiting for the breadknife to neatly shave each nutritious portion: how efficient is that?

Yes, I'm a fan.

Half Marathon Training: Three Weeks In

Three weeks into the training programme for my first half marathon, and the biggest news this week is that I seem to have a better grip on the nutrition side of things. I must admit a couple of times during my first week of training I'd become a little light-headed, or head out with a leaden stomach, but now I've become much better at the timing and composition of meals to meet my body's needs.

I've become used to pace-based training with miCoach: this is fantastic news, because it makes achieving running-Zen-state possible, despite the instructions issuing from "the little black box that tells me what to do"! Having the confidence to tell it to get stuffed helps; I'm no longer phased if I'm running up a hill and it tells me to speed up, or if after 14km it suggests I go a little faster. I know I can go the distance, and that's what counts.

A highlight of this week was completing some quite long runs, and - today - seeing a dramatic improvement in my pace. I'm not particularly interested in speed, but it's nice to see those numbers coming down.

A lowlight has been the arrogance of two motorists who narrowly avoided hitting me on zebra crossings in broad daylight. "Might I suggest you review your road rules, my dear?" was what I calmly and politely mouthed to each of those charming individuals. (Of course that was what happened. No revisionist editing here!)

I've signed up for a 10km run in a couple of weeks' time, just to see what it's like running with a whole heap of other people, which is something I haven't done before.

Now that the novelty's worn off, I'll be interested to see how my motivation holds up. I've begun this project with great zeal: will this persist? Perhaps this will become more of a challenge in the weeks ahead.