Challenges, Shoes & Questions

Visiting Kingscliff parkrun - unfortunately didn't get to run as Dean forgot the pram wheels!

Once again, things have been go go go since I last checked in - and I've had a few ups & downs on the running front.

Thanks to taking part in the Run Down Under, I've been really diligent in tracking my kilometres each week, with a goal to run between 45 and 50km.  Up until last week, I'd managed to hit the target every week.  So I guess a "down" week was probably inevitable.

Sunday afternoon running group at Shorncliffe - love this running community!

I've had a bit of a struggle with some new running shoes I got a few weeks back.  I just haven't worn them in well, and after a 10km last Sunday and a 7km the next day, I had a fair bit of pain in my lower leg.  I'm still not quite sure what to do about them.  I know shoes take some time to adjust to (and this is my first new pair in almost a year, so my old ones are VERY well worn), but I just don't know how much more time I need to give them!  They're a really similar shoe to my old ones, so I'm not sure why they're feeling so...different.  Anyway, I set out to do 10km again last Wednesday, but the leg pain pulled me up short at 5km.  The rest of the week was interrupted by sickness, birthdays, heat and busyness, so I only managed 12km in total.

It didn't bother me too much...I always feel I need a short week after several long & consistent ones, so it's all good.

Today was one of those tough ones that I knew I needed to just dig in and get done.  With Dean away, I pulled out the Croozer for my first pram run in several weeks.  It was stinking hot today, but I haven't run in 5 days, so I was pretty desperate to get out there!  Thankfully, by 4:30pm when I headed out to the waterfront, the temperature had dropped quite a lot.  The first 2.5km were a real struggle with the headwind and adjusting back to pram running.  Then I decided to do hills.  Ouch!  It was HARD!  I've been doing hills at least every fortnight for the past few months, so that's nothing new, but pram hills just take it to another level.

On top of that, I was pushing the world's most inquisitive 2-year-old and his sleeping, 4-year-old sister. I guess I should be grateful there was no fighting or whining, but let me give you a selection of the questions I was asked while sweating like a pig, about to die, pushing a pram uphill with over 32kg of children in it...
- what's that tree called?
- what's that other tree called?
- why is that tree broken?
- what's that house called?
- what's that fence called?
- what's that lady's name?
- can we play at the playground?
- can I go to the toilet?
- can I have a drink of water?
- where's my other water bottle?

I think you get the picture!  Let's just say I got by with a lot of one-word answers or grunting "I'm not sure".  Anyway, 7km hill session done, when I was fairly close to talking myself out of it, so I'll take that one as a win!

Serving up cake to vollies Jo & Chris at Sandgate parkrun!

The plan this week is to get back to my 45-50km target and step up my training a bit in preparation for the Twilight Half Marathon, which is now just over a month away.

On top of that, I'm preparing for the Bust A Move event, happening next month.  We had a fantastic group training session down at Sandgate last week and I'm pumped to take part - and am also trying to raise more funds!  So if you're keen to support it, here's the page: https://bustamovebrisbane.everydayhero.com/au/vanessa

Happy Running!

Training up for Bust A Move!