Yay - after nearly a week of not running the drought was broken yesterday. Duck's half marathon training plan for me has moved into the next phase - speed. I knew this was going to be hard! Yesterday we spent an hour in the aerobics studio at the Terrace gym doing circuit training. I was sprinting up and down the room, using powerbags to do walking lunges and upright rows, sets of press ups and sets of sit ups. Towards the end of the class Duck was getting me to do pushups while she pressed down on my shoulders. We finished up with a thirty second hover, again while Duck pushed down on my shoulders. Feel the burn honey, and get hard! There's no point sitting there discussing and admiring the Combat instructor's gorgeous arms (and the purple hair - I do like purple hair) if you're not prepared to do the work. Nausea is your friend.
As if that wasn't enough, last night the jog squad had a circuit training session around Frank Kitts. We jogged around the waterfront, mixing in some sprint intervals, more pushups and more walking lunges.
At the end of that my knee was still intact, and I was feeling well and truly trained. I got back to the gym and, given that I still had fifteen minutes till our stretch session, took a quick look at my mobile. Just as well - turns out Hamish had free tickets to Handle the Jandal, the music video awards. Soundline was one of the sponsors this year. So there was no stretching, no shower and no dinner. I threw my work clothes back on and hurried to the Embassy. As if I wasn't feeling grotty enough, we ended up seated behind a bunch of immaculately made up and cute-little-dress wearing blonde Red Bull rent-a-chicks. Sigh!
Dinner ended up being popcorn, sauvignon blanc and Goody Bag M & Ms (in a little Resene Paints test pot). That model of of healthy training diet was followed by two-minute noodles at 11pm. Still, it was worth it to sit in the Embassy's comfy leather chairs and watch the cream of up-and-coming Wellington music video talent. Go the red teddy bear!
Ironcially the video that got the biggest cheer of the night wasn't even one of the finalists, but one of the almost-rans that screened during the interval. The storyline consisted of a rather depressed, hunched over and shabby old guy slowly walking away from his run-down villa on a farm somewhere unknown. As the song progressed he slowly straightened up, his face developing life and hope. As he walked he pulled off his trousers, shirt and singlet (dig the baggy y-fronts). Finally he arrived at an old hay barn. Inside the hay barn are two elderly but attractive women sipping champagne in a spa pool. The video concludes with the now rather smug looking old guy smooching his two female acquaintances in the pool.
Back to reality today, and galeforce Northerlies. I spent the whole day debating the should I/shouldn't I running question. Did I really want to run in that wind, and did I really want to risk stuffing up this knee again. In the end I had a rather rotten day and needed to go out and tread the pavement for a while to get my head straight.
I left the Terrace at around 5.30, running up Molesworth, down Tinakori, and along Old Hutt Rd as far as the turn-off to Khandallah. I then returned via Thorndon Quay, Bowen and back to the Terrace. All up it took 53 minutes. I ran at a steady pace, but certainly not my fastest. My breathing remained easy, my quads didn't tire, and I felt really good. Certainly I felt I could have kept going for another 50 minutes or so. Psychologically it was a good booster before Saturday's 100 minute run. My knee isn't even that sore, though it will be interesting to see what the physio says tomorrow.
And in other news, I've booked a swimming coach for next Thursday at Freyberg Pool. I'm waiting for the fear to kick in. Right now there's just a calm determination to do what needs to be done.
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