I felt the "buzz"!!

10km this morning. I'm pretty pleased with that. It was a run/walk and it took me an hour and 35 minutes but at least I covered the distance. Percy tells me I walked 6.3km of it. LOL!! My running is so slow it registers as walking speed!!! I thought about changing the configuration of the speeds but it might be nice to gradually see the change from walking to jogging. I have not ever registered a "run" so that will be nice too.

I'm feeling a lot more confident. I just need to be patient, and I will begin to see changes. I just need to think about where I was in terms of running and I realise I have come a long way.

Today at about 5-6km I was feeling really strong. I looked down at Percy and noticed I was running at 8.6km/h. Now I realise that is very slow for most, but I am used to seeing 6.7km/h or SOMETIMES 7.5km/h. Certainly nothing with an 8 in front of it!! And I felt good. My running felt easy and it was wonderful! It didn't last long. After about 6minutes I had slowed down but man, during that 6 minutes I wanted to take on the world! I want THAT feeling all the time!!!

I have to keep an eye on the weather for my runs in the next week because we are getting a cyclone. We expect to be put on cyclone watch tomorrow and then cyclone alert on Tuesday. One thing about cyclones is that you generally get plenty of warning. Not like earthquakes or something. Hubby went around the house yesterday and secured all the cyclone shutters over our windows. We've moved the outdoor furniture either inside the house or into the shed. All we need to do is put the pot plants into the shed just before we get hit. Last year we were a bit more organised and had cyclone stores in the cupboard (emergency food and water) but this year I think we have been a little complacent. We went to the supermarket and stocked up, like a lot of other locals. There are no baked beans left and little bottled water!! I'm not sure what the deal is with baked beans, but it seems to be staple food during a cyclone. If the cyclone brings rain we will probably be cut off from the world so there will be no food for about four days, so we need to make sure we've got stuff especially if we lose power. All we can do is sit back and hope like hell we don't get a direct hit. It's a big state, plenty of coastline for the cyclone to cross - we'll be right.

Per popular request....

This is where I run:

The blue squares at the top left are the salt flats. It looks very green in the photo, but I can assure you there is no green here at the moment!! The little red square in the middle is my run, but I thought it might be interesting to show you the neighbourhood.

This is my run in more detail. Again, I don't know when these photos were taken but I am guessing they are years old. The area in the bottom right which looks kind of brown is all rocky outcrop. You can hike there but it is not an easy hike. It is called the Jaburara Trail if anyone is motivated enough to look it up! There is ancient aboriginal rock art on the Jaburara Trail but the best stuff is located on the Burrup Peninsula (top picture, just above the salt). We've been in the news recently because the Environment Minister Ian Campbell has just approved the destruction of the 20,000 year old rock art to build industry. Unbelievable. Money certainly talks up this neck of the woods. His reasoning - there are no native tribes left who "belong" to the art. (This is because white man massacred the Jaburara people to extinction in the 1800's.) And also because there is a lot of art in the area, so destroying some won't make much difference. (Despite the fact that it is because there is a lot of art that makes it a sacred site!!)

I'm a bit of a rock art advocate but I'm a minority. Industry runs the area up here - and rightly so, they contribute more than 30% of Australia's GDP just from the North West! Still, wanton destruction is wanton destruction. Don't get me started....

Another beautiful day

Another beautiful day in the Pilbara. No wind, cloudless and hot! I did 5km this morning. Makes up for my false start yesterday. I went out yesterday evening for a 3km walk but it was more of a slow stroll because I went with my husband. So it doesn't really count.

I had just started out this morning when I saw a man, clearly drunk, staggering along the path. I was on my warm-up where I walk for 5 minutes. I said "good morning" and went to go around him. He responded by swearing at me. So I jogged to get past him as quickly as possible. He started CHASING ME!! He was swearing and shouting, fairly incoherently. I started sprinting and he sprinted too. He was barefoot, and drunk, so I was never frightened. I knew he was in no condition to last very long, and in the space of about 50m he had fallen over. I kept running as fast as I could to get some distance between us and then I slowed to a walk. The thing is, it upset my warm-up and that put out my whole run! I am NOT a sprinter!! I was puffed for ages!

I don't scare easily and I know how to defend myself, but I would much rather avoid a confrontation in the first place. Still, a bit of excitement for the start of my run.

I had Percy with me, and we were planning on running the same course as Boxing Day. I had the Virtual Partner set and by the time I got to my "starting" point (after my warm-up) I was already 3 minutes in front of the time! But I was puffed, so I elected to do a run/walk along the same route. I kept in front of the time the whole way round, but I was run/walking. I ended up finishing about 5 seconds quicker than when I last ran the course - so Percy gave me a little beep and told me I won.

I'm not sure what the better training is - to run a route without stopping, or to do it in the same time but as a run/walk.

False start

I was due to have a 5km run this morning but I had a bit of a false start. I set out, lasted 6 minutes and needed to go to the toilet, badly. No choice but to turn around and go home. Percy was NOT impressed. I thought about going out again, but it was already late when I left and the sun was up, and hot. I spent the afternoon outside yesterday and I'm feeling a little over-sunned. I didn't want to sun myself any more. Tomorrow is a rest day, so I might run tomorrow instead and have a rest day today. Depending on the heat, I may even go out this evening.

I think my body just wants to remind me about how badly I treated it over Christmas!!!

If I can still do four runs in the week I'll be happy.

Woo Hoo!! Christmas!!

What a great Christmas!!!

I got a Garmin 205! I was not expecting it at all! I had asked for it, and written down all the details but with one thing or another, I just didn't think I would get it. I was so surprised and pleased that I burst into tears!! My husband was concerned he had bought the wrong one! I also got a running hat from my mother (again under instruction) and it is very schmick. A grey and white Nike dri fit cap. I also asked for a running shirt but I was not specific in my details. My husband bought me a Puma t-shirt, bless him. That's a sports shirt isn't it??? It's bright yellow so people will certainly see me coming. Add onto that the running shoes I bought myself and I had a VERY good Christmas!!!

My Garmin is called Percy. When I was in high school I was in a play and my character was Percy. Then I got an award for perserverence so I became Perservering Percy. Now, anytime I think of perserverence I think of Percy, so Percy has become my new training partner.

Percy and I went for a walk yesterday to get to know each other, but I took him for our first run this morning. He is wonderful!!!

This is our run from this morning. I haven't worked out the map thing yet (or maybe there are no maps this far away from civilisation), but I am amazed at the variety of my pace. It feels like I just plod along, but really I am going up and down in speed all the time. I pushed it hard at the end and surprised myself by getting up to 10km/h!!! There's hope for me yet. All up 5km in 42 minutes which includes a 5min/500m walk to warm up. I have set this run as a course so I can use it as a virtual training partner. Very exciting.

I'm still not too worried about time, but I like to know the distance and my pace. So now I know that for me 7.5km/h is OK. Clearly I AM getting better - because I just did 5km (well 4.5km) without stopping. That's pretty cool.

I ate too much food, but I had a wonderful time doing it! Christmas is pretty much the only time of the year where you can get away with it. Back on the straight and narrow for me! Now just to get through the leftovers....

Overcast and windy

Did a slow 7km today. It was great! At one point I felt like I could keep going forever! But then I realised I was probably going slower than walking pace. Ah well. Speed will come. Got to be able to make the distance first, before I can get faster!

It was overcast and windy this morning. Still a lot of flies except they didn't just land on me, they slammed into me! It was unusual enough weather for me to jump onto the BOM website when I got home to check for cyclones! None in the next three days, thankfully. So it's just overcast and windy. Weird. It's still hot but I don't think it will be a scorcher today.

Food, food, food today! I'll try and be good but it's Christmas! We celebrate a Danish Christmas so we eat our Christmas dinner today instead of tomorrow. Long day in the kitchen ahead!

Pleasant run today!

I had a wonderful run this morning. Lots of flies buzzing around but they all seemed to miss my mouth and eyes. 5km in an unknown (and don't care) time. I had one brief walk break about 3.5km when a Micheal Jackson song came onto my MP3. (How did HE get on there????) It coincided with the sun breaking over the hills and the full heat hitting me. Stopped me dead until I flicked onto the next song - aahhhh Dire Straits, give me Mark Knopfler any day.

I really enjoyed my run. I wanted to keep going but it was too hot - had I left half an hour earlier I might have tagged on an extra 2km. I'm motivated to get out there over the next couple of days!

Message to Em - the Pilbara is absolutely beautiful! The harshness of the climate means the landscape is ruggedly spectacular. I don't think you can truly experience it unless you live here. I whinge and complain about the heat, but I genuinely love living here. I wish it was cooler (and perhaps a few less cyclones) but there are not many places where you can see the desert meet the ocean. It's been amazing here and I'm glad to have had the opportunity. I don't know that I would recommend a move here to runners though.....

Another advantage to daylight savings

Short 3.5km tonight. Hot and lots of flies but not too bad. I'm still getting out there at least. I slept in this morning (bliss!) and then felt really guilty for not running so forced myself out this evening. It's 8pm, still a little bit light and I haven't even thought about dinner. I like daylight savings! Apart from being able to get up in the morning (or not) at a decent time, I feel less like eating a big meal at night. So many advantages!

Now just to get through Christmas.....

Treadmills are not for me

Thank you to all the supportive comments and PM's. I am not giving up running. I've come too far to let it go.

In an attempt to compromise and escape the heat, I opted to go to the gym and run on the treadmill. One thing I will say about treadmill running is that you can't cheat. At all. But the good thing is it is accurate in terms of speed and distance. I did a 5 minute warm up at 6km/h and then cranked it all the way up to 7.2km/h for 4km. I did 4 km in 32 minutes. The bloke next to me was running at the same cadence as me (our steps were at the same pace) except he was running at 13km/h. I don't like the treadmill. If you want to think about how slow you are going, or how far you have yet to run, then maybe the treadmill is a good idea. Those red numbers ticking over slowly were mesmerising. Worse than me and my problem with checking my watch. It was cooler, maybe. But I can see I would become very bored, very quickly. Still, I gave it a go. And I did 4km - in 32 minutes - which is about what I run normally. At least now I know for sure my pace and the accuracy of the distance, so the run was good in that respect. But I will stick to the outdoors. Summer will end.

Motivation, despair, motivation

I find I have to keep my goal in mind because today, mid-run, I lost motivation. I was up an hour before dawn planning to run/walk 10km. I stepped out into the muggy darkness and had to put on my fly net immediately. I haven't seen the flies that bad in the darkness before. I had been hoping for a couple of k's without them, but not today. I ran 3kms and felt lethargic. It was very hot. By 5kms I had finished my water bottle and I stopped. Just like that. I turned around and walked home. All up 7kms. I was over it. Over running. The thoughts going through my head were negative. I've picked a silly place to try and become a runner. I counted 18 flies sitting on my fly net in my field of vision. My feet hurt. And then I thought THIS must be what it's like to have a bad day. More like absolutely crappiest of the crappiest days. So as I was walking home I decided I would stop running. Maybe keep walking but give the running a rest for a while. Then I thought that would be a waste. I've worked damn hard to get to where I am - and I can run 5km!! 8km on a good day! By the time I got home, had a shower and a big drink of water I was feeling much better. It's still bloody hot, so maybe I need to modify the running somehow to make it more achievable. Maybe I need to keep the distances more realistic while it's so hot. Stick to 4 or 5km during the week and maybe 7km for the long run. Anyway, end of the story, I'm not giving up. I'll keep going, plodding along and I will eventually get better and faster and stronger.

Nothing like a bad day to bring everything back into perspective.
Top 10 reasons why running is great in Karratha:
1. I have no injuries.
2. I can run whenever I want (pending the heat and sun of course!).
3. I have a wonderful pair of shoes.
4. The dawn reflecting on the red rock is spectacular.
5. As distasteful as it is, I DO have a fly net - which is better than not having one.
6. There is a small stretch where I get to see some grass as I pass through a Council park (and I look forward to that part! It's the only green I see - everything else is red, grey or dead.)
7. The sky is always clear and it is NEVER cold.
8. I can breathe comfortably when I run now.
9. I have a wonderful online support network.
10. Did I mention I have a wonderful online support network?

Crisis at 2am

My house is at the end of a cul-de-sac and we only have neighbours on one side. On the other side is a footbath and drain that runs along the back of all the houses and provides pedestrian access between our street and the cul-de-sac on the other side of the drain. Last night about 2am we were woken by a loud "pop" and fizzing noise. When we looked outside we could see a bright red glow. I went into the back yard and saw that my neighbours roof was on fire. I'm not sure how I did it (I can't remember!) but somehow I was over the fence and banging on my neighbours doors and windows to wake them up and get them out of the house. They woke up and called the fire brigade but the firies are a volunteer service up here and we knew they would be some minutes away. I got the neighbours hose and started to hose the roof from the backyard - not an easy thing. There was smoke everywhere and we thought the fire must have been inside the roof cavity. Then we couldn't see the flames anymore. The neighbour went into his manhole but couldn't see any fire - and no smoke. We became very confused. I was standing in my neighbours backyard at 2am hosing their roof (and no fire) wearing only underpants and a t-shirt and bare feet. The ridiculousness of the scene was not lost on me! Then the smoke was gone from the backyard too. Steve, the neighbour, finally was the one to do some thinking and worked out it was a flare that had been set off. The pop and fizz and bright red glow all made sense. It had landed on my neighbour's roof and burnt itself out. I sort of felt a bit silly after banging on their doors and windows like a goose at 2 o'clock in the morning. But at the time I really thought their roof was on fire. Then the police and firies arrived - but it was all over by then. By 3am I was back in bed but sleep was a long time coming. My feet were bruised where I had jumped the fence and landed on gravel. I'm a big girl and I still don't know how I managed it. I know you don't muck around with fires (the house on the other side of the drain burnt down a couple of months ago - the charred shell is still there) so I acted immediately. Kind of good to know I was able to think semi-clearly at the time of a crisis. I didn't wake up again until 7am - too late for a run!

That's my excuse for missing my run.

This morning we found the flare container in our backyard. It had been fired from the laneway by the drain and flown over our house to land on the roof of our neighbour. It could have landed on something more flamable and then we would have had problems!

*edit*
The police just arrived again at the neighbours place. I gave them the flare container. They said this type of activity was common because nearly everyone has a boat and the flares are left in the boats where they are easily accessible to youngsters who want to cause problems. They inspected the damage to the neighbour's roof and there IS a hole in the roof from the flare. My hosing HAD stopped the flare burning the roof cavity. I feel kind of vindicated.

New shoes

Had a great 5km run this morning. I ran my new route again and I still haven't quite worked out the km markers, and because I am not timing things anymore it has not been important. There is one part of the route where I can add on an extra block to bring the total run to 7km, but I was feeling kind of lazy so decided to only go for 4km.

When I got back and looked at the map I printed off gmaps I realised I had run 5km! A nice little surprise - especially since I have only been getting nasty surprises in relation to my distances lately!

I felt sort of semi-strong and managed the distance without stopping. Of course I expect to cover these distances without stopping now, but it is still a satisfying feeling to actually make it.

I had a couple of weird days Tuesday and Wednesday with work and stuff and only managed 2.5km on Wednesday which was supposed to be a rest day, but then did nothing on Tuesday. So I supposed it evens itself out - and I'm back on track today.

I have a new pair of shoes! I really wish I had more experience in these things because I don't know if the shoe shop diddled me or not. I am very excited to report I am the proud owner of a pair of Asics Kinsai but my husband was very distressed to find out I paid $300 for them. I hope they are worth it!!! They are certainly very comfortable and I run without pain (but I had no real injuries to start with so that's no indication). Add onto that a $30 pair of Thorlos. I never knew socks could be so expensive. I haven't told my husband how much the socks were! All of this seems extrordinarily expensive. I don't know how people have pairs they rotate! I am going to wrap the shoes in Christmas paper and put them under the tree! (But I get to use them before Christmas too!!) I suspect Santa will no longer be bringing me my Garmin :(. Oh well, by next year I'll be well and truly ready for it!

I am going to record the distances in my shoes and see how many kms I get out of them. Starting to sound like a real runner, hey.

Another 10km

I ran/walked the same 10km route as last week this morning. I didn't time it - not even taking my watch. I ran when I wanted to run and walked when I wanted to walk. It was great! I managed to leave very early and ran the first 4km in the dark. It was so lovely and cool. There were no flies either - bliss! Then the sun came up and the flies woke up. I had almost forgotten about them in the dark, but they were out with a vengence. I swollowed the second fly that flew into my mouth (managing to spit out the first one) - I'm still gagging to think about it. That slowed me to a walk for a few minutes while I coughed and spluttered. It was enough to make me put the fly net on and I ran the last 6km wearing it. The sun was fully up for the last 2km and by then I was running maybe a minute at a go. But I definitely ran a lot more than I walked and I enjoyed it!

Scott, I didn't see any other runners this morning but there were a couple of walkers. Sometimes I will see one or two other people running but not often. Yesterday I saw a fellow running in the afternoon! It must have been 40 degrees. He looked like he was struggling but good on him for getting out there I guess.

Walk today

Sometimes it is just nice to walk and not run. This morning I went for a 5km walk and I really enjoyed it. I like running MORE but it was a nice change. I can put the fly net on and not worry about my breathing, and I seem to sweat less. Obviously I am not working as hard.....

Today I went to buy a new pair of pants for work. I am usually an 18 and sometimes a 20 *shame* but I had to buy a size 24 today. Quite a slap in the face really. To add insult to injury the lady had to hunt for that size and then told me (quite politely) that she was sorry but that is the biggest size they make. She tried to make me feel better by telling me that manufacturers make different sizes and even SHE has to go up to size 14!!! Humph! It's one thing going from a 12 to 14 but quite another thing to struggle to find anything in the shop big enough. I tried on other styles but their 24's were too small!! Narrows down the choices when you are limited to the only thing in the shop that will fit.

I've learnt not to go into "real" clothes shops because they only stock size 8 and 10, but I thought a workwear shop would be a bit more realistic. Anyway - I'm on the journey and I'm heading down! I'll keep running and watch the food and hopefully my size 24's will be too big soon!! One day I'll go into a regular shop and buy what I damn well please!

Cooler weather

I don't know if it is me getting up earlier, but it has definitely been cooler for the last week or so. This morning I did 6km (including a short walk break) and there was one stretch where a cool breeze hit me! I remember being surprised and I wonder if that is what it is like for "normal" runners (who live in "normal" places).

I am hoping to get to Perth in the next week and I am looking forward to going for a run! I'll be able to compare temperatures then.

Today I ran my new route again, and was intending on trying for 7km but about 4km in, I felt a niggle in my right calf. Like any good runner, I kept going hoping it would go away. When it didn't go away, I stopped and walked for a while, deciding to go for 6km instead. The niggle went away and I forgot about it and started running again. It came back again just before I finished, so I stopped again and walked home. I made sure I stretched really well (of course that could be the WORST thing I could have done!!) and it seems OK now. Tomorrow is a cross training day and Saturday is a rest day - so I reckon I'll be fine come my next 10km run on Sunday.

I passed an old man walking today. He could hear me coming behind him. I was on the road and he was on the footpath. He thought I was on the road to go past him so he got off the footpath for me. (I was on the road because it is easier than the footpath.) When he realised I was taking a very long time to catch up, he hopped back onto the footpath. He turned around again and saw I was still trying to catch up so he stopped and gestured that I should have the footpath. I smiled and said thanks and told him I was on the road deliberately. He was being nice, but it just reinforced to me (again) how slow I am going!! Sigh.

I hope this beaut weather holds for a while longer.

Another new route

Another new route today - and no watch. It's a lot more relaxing for me when I run, but I worry that I will take it too easy because I don't know how far I've gone or how long. I find I underestimate these things.

I measured today's route on gmaps and it is about 5km. OK I guess, but the microwave tells me I was gone almost an hour. Not sure how that happened. But I'm still getting out there, so I will continue to improve I guess.

Daylight savings is great in the mornings, but a pain at night! My body is not ready for dinner until the sun goes down, so by the time we eat it's like 9pm. Then I want to get up early to go for a run so I like to go to bed by 10pm but I'm still full from dinner. I'll have to get into a new routine. Mornings however are wonderful. Up at 5.30am for a run in the coolish pre dawn.

10km run/walk

Well I was true to my word. I ran/walked 10km this morning. I'm not sure exactly how far I ran and how far I walked, but I know I ran more than I walked. Even though we are not timing these things, it took me an hour and 44 minutes - but I didn't look at my watch once during the run! And the time is only for future reference. Since I don't know how far I ran or walked, I can't work out my speed - so it's all good.

I left early this morning and it made a difference. Also the new route is fun! There is one stretch where I have to run up and down the same road for about 8oom each way and that is a bit boring, but the rest is cool because it is all one lap.

I got overtaken by a kid on his bike who was being stupid doing wheelies up the gutter and riding with no hands. He rode really close to me to get past. I say kid, but he was probably closer to 16 or 17. He was about 50m in front of me when he tried to jump up the gutter with no hands and he came off - hard. He was still on the ground when I caught up to him. He was hurting but he was too embarassed to show it! I asked if he was OK and he said he was fine. His bike, however, was not. He limped off pushing his bike (and was still going faster than me, but we are not concerned about speed anymore are we?) but I'm guessing he was heading straight home! Poor bugger.

Plus - we are now on daylight savings!!!

Reality Check

Thank you to everyone who has been so encouraging throughout my journey so far. I have been feeling very sorry for myself, and extremely frustrated for the last day or so. Let me tell you why.

Someone on the forum posted the gmaps website, and I was very excited as I measured my normal route accurately for the first time. It turns out that I have been running 3.5km and not 4km as I thought. So my very slow 9 minute km's are even more appalling. Horrified at my shocking progress, I sulked all day yesterday. I didn't even go for my scheduled run - I piked. It is the first run I have missed since I started this. I was little Miss Cranky Pants.

But then I figured it was a good reality check. It gives me a greater appreciation of what other runners are doing without even thinking about it. And I realised that I REALLY have become obsessed with times - and that is not what running is all about, at least that's not what I wanted. So instead of feeling sorry for myself any longer, I jumped back onto gmaps and measured 10km along a completely new route. Tomorrow is my long run. I was hoping to do 8km, but the 8km I THOUGHT I was going to do, is more like 7km. So I am going to set off on my new 10km route and run until I hit the 7km mark and then I'll walk home. And I don't care how long it takes me!!

At least I'll have the satisfaction of knowing the real distance I have covered - and no watch. I think I need to get rid of the watch altogether - yes I'll probably count paces, or guide posts or something else, but no matter. I want running to be about running. I don't want to worry about times - I'll leave that for the races!!

So I managed to dig myself out of the hole I put myself into, which is a good thing. I will improve as I am meant to improve - I can't expect to run 7 minute k's just because others can. I'm still a ton overweight so I've got to expect some wind resistance! I will take my watch once a month - as a reward - and see if that makes a difference.