Training Log Archive: Lizzie

oooh no. I think i can feel sickness coming on. Had nagging pain in my temples when chewing so far today. And now there's a pain in my throat when i breathe deeply...
I can't even remember the last time I was sick beyond a mild cold? Here's hoping it's nothing

morning stretches. too tired/spent too long eating desert to do more in the evening

garr i hate it when people play without positions, they always encroach on where you're trying to play!
but that grumble aside, good game. we managed to sort out team positions at half time and it worked wonders. Completely dominated 2nd half.
3 girl goals gave us a 6-0 win, which is a bit harsh on the other team to be honest.

Needless to say I didnt score :)

C • Did this 2

well, not strictly soccer. 10mins warm up/down on bike 5mins warm down jog, on which my knee stiffened up :(

Got home to the end of the postgrad halloween potluck so gorged out on desert, plus nicked an awesome looking cupcake for morning tea tomorrow :)

another good ride on blackie and bruce ridge.

went past some girls out walking on my way onto blackie, who all warned me there were snakes up on the tracks. But I was feeling pretty badass with my tats still on from the halloween party last night, so wasn't deterred by the thought of snakes :) (funny aside - got asked by the principal of the college this morning what the significance of my pirate ship tattoo was. He was a bit disappointed when i told him it was a fake, although i thought the glitter would have given that away...)

Anyway, I spent the next 20mins playing stick stick snake (think duck duck goose, but with a twist). Pretty lame game though, never saw a snake. (analagous to when some kid goes around the circle like 5 times, only saying 'duck')

So yep, good ride. Tried to shoulder charge a tree at one stage. I've already learnt that this has little effect on the tree when you're running, but thought I'd give it a try on the bike. Same result unfortunately, except for a larger bruise on my shoulder.

Kate and Rassface's strength. Dear lord it hurt. Back and arms especially. ouch.

C • no pain no gain ;) 2

1st twilight. Shadowed mo around. She's pretty on to it really. But provided me with one of my funniest moments out orienteering in a long time:
"Why isn't that freaking huge man made object marked?!".
"uh, which one?"
"That huge concrete obelisk type thing over there!"
"..."
"Oh wait, it's a tree." (apparently aus trees look different to american ones)

Yeah it was funnier at the time. had me in stitches for the next 2 controls.

Anyway, knee still isn't happy with plain running, even at a slow pace. Or maybe especially at a slow pace? hmmm. stink anyhow.

let's see if i get some interesting dreams tonight, left the exercises late again!

morning stretching and a couple of exercises. Shoulder is better this morning, was a pain all of yday. Must have landed awkwardly on a jump while biking on Sunday. (not surprising given my general unco-ness)

Eventful evening. lost 10-6, but given we were 4-0 down after 10mins that's not bad at all!
Scored my first point :) And my 2nd, and my 3rd. Thought I'd have a break, but then got beaten up by the oppositions 3yr old mascot on the sideline, so went back on the pitch just to get away from him! My shirt now has some little kid bite marks on it :s

Celebrated our loss with carrot sticks and jelly snakes afterwards. Interesting combination, not bad.

To and from Dickson oval. Passed Nick and his broken bike on the way out. Cruised home with Evan and a bag full of cheap bread afterwards. Could have done with a similar ride to warmdown from soccer yday. Will remember that next week.

evening exercises

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUwYtQIb8Mw&feature...

aaaaah anticipation!

word's cannot describe how good it felt to be playing on a full sized pitch again! Took a bit to get back into the flow of things, but was playing better by the 2nd half.
Guys are hard to play against though, too big and fast!

So much fun, and not hurting nearly as much this morning as i thought i might. Plus the knee was sweet as, iced after to be sure

3.5 hours walking around testing a treasure hunt for the german embassy. Proof that treasure hunting is NOT orienteering : I sucked so bad at it! That could have been cos the clues were in german though...

Good one on blackie and bruce. Was pretty stoked to find a rear light on the way home...then realised it was mine and had fallen off on the way out. guts.

C • Haha 1

post match.

phoenix lost 1-0 :( Strong showing though, best away form for quite a while.

nice easy run (or would have been if it weren't for the heat) with sah and bun by the lake. Knee was pretty ave, a lot better than 2 weeks ago, but still not right. Back to biking for the time being i think.

here and there. Saw a couple of teenage magpies who had presumable fallen out of their nest (no idea where the nest was though, no trees around). Anyway, they were lying on their backs waving their legs in the air while their parents tried to roll them back over. LOL ROFL etc etc

Was going to get up early and go for a ride...yeah that didn't happen.

Been having some pretty trippy dreams the last couple of nights. Mike would be jealous. No cheese inducement involved though!

C • Maybe it's the core workouts.... 5

C • !!!!! 4

Good group tonight. Golly it was warm, felt like lying down on the grass rather than playing again! Knee was all g

Resisted the strong urge to go running. Knee is sweet most of the time, but still feel it occasionally going down stairs, or when turning sharp right. Was too scared to try it running and couldn't get the motivation to take the bike for a spin.
On the plus side didnt feel my thigh at all today, not that I did much!

Sick of doing nothing on these beautiful evenings but didnt want to risk 2nights running in a row on my knee and thigh.
just around the back of blackie on the single tracks which totally count as formed vehicle tracks, which bikes are allowed on...

Proved to myself that any finesse on a mtn bike that I had previously acquired has evaporated in the 5 months since I last rode. Managed to stay on atleast.
Broke my sunglasses though, that's the 2nd pair in a month :s Only ones left are my WOC party ones now, not sure how they'd go with biking!

ice massage is about 1/10th the pain it was last week, which can only be a good thing.

To and from Dickson Oval. Via the supermarket on the way home, where I impressed myself by fitting a loaf of bread (only marginally squashed), bacon and cheese rolls, 1kg of apples, a broccoli and a pack of jelly snakes, plus my soccer boots, spare shirt, bike pump wallet and keys all in my small backpack. Win!
(i'd have just eaten half the rolls on the spot if they hadn't fit)

Became one of those annoying frisbee players responsible for bilbies having to move location in spring (sorry devil!)

Good fun, not that I really knew what I was meant to be doing half the time. Didn't help that I played for the opposition cos they were short a girl. Actually, maybe it did help my team.
Knee held up for the most part, subbed off the last couple of plays when i started feeling it more.

Swiss ball arrived today. Yay. Such an amateur on it though. On the plus side my side planks are getting better. Abtastic

knee is feeling a lot better 95% of the time. Give it a couple more days. Biking should be all good though, once I get off my butt and get a new inner tube.

Also, keep having to side step dead rabbits around uni. Obviously the eradication program is working :S

out to pool/tennis/bbq in watson. Beaut day for it. Unfortunately the pool wasn't actually open yet. But icecream made up for that.
Then in to town to watch the (rugby) game.
Only way the day could have been better was if we'd had live coverage of the phoenix game at the bbq :)

haven't picked up a tennis racket since 7th form. And it showed.

poor wales.

2nd wiggle order of the week done. :)

barely registers on the effort scale really. 3 on 3 after work. Knee was pretty good but I didn't run much at all. Infact sat down on the job a couple of times, and spent more of the game trash talking than actually playing.

swiss ball in the post, yay (though it is Aus post so who knows when/if it arrives ;) Also did a bit of retail therapy on wiggle. Had to refrain from doing a second order today too. Will wait til next pay day I think...

And what is it with aussie birds?! walked out of the house this morning to find this midget stalk thing in a stand off with an even smaller bird. Then it saw me and started striding purposefully towards me! REckon I could have taken it, but I let it have its ego trip and retreated towards my office.
Then got to watch amused as the magpie by south oval dive bombed three consecutive cyclists. And then watched the magpie get swooped in turn by some smaller birds who obviously felt they're territory had been intruded on.

Even the pukekoe here try to stare me down! Atleast the rabbits (or the ones that havent fallen for the poisoned bait) don't chase me. They just sit and look cute.

Also. I did some core exercises. :)

3 days off running and I'm completely restless grrr. Shame that biking aggravates the knee nearly as much as running :s

But no, lots of core. good stuff.
Also, had a brain wave concerning the massaging - i mean usually you massage towards your heart right, to get the toxins out? But as my problem is tightness and pulling in a tendon by my knee, surely i want to massage and roll out the ITB from the hip down towards the knee, not vice versa?

thoughts, knowledgeable people?

C • hmm 3

Not sure which hurts more, side planks or massaging with a frozen coke bottle. death on a stick.

Really enjoyable weekend (or two) and pretty happy with my results. Just annoyed that I couldn't run to my full potential with a rusty gate for a knee. However it should come right within a week or two, and I need a rest anyway.

Lots of stretching, icing, massaging and exercises to come!

Then I'm keen to head back out to Badja for training...

C • yes! 5

turns out side planks are death in disguise (a pretty weak disguise)

C • I forgot to mention that. I... 7

trying to warm up with a bung knee. Had Mike perform an excruciating massage the night before (cheers mike! and tessa for holding me down :) But didn't seem to help, in the short term anyhow.
Was on the verge of not running, but then Mike came to the rescue again and wipped up some awesome taping that got me through. chur bro!

Mind really wasn't engaged for this one as I was concentrating too much on my knee. Lucky the few controls were straight forward then.
Sweet until 4 (enjoyed the nz-esque hill climb up to 3), but by then the taping came loose. Got really annoyed at other runners who would punch the control in front of me, and then stop dead at the control, blocking my way! Seriously, just move 2-3m so you're not blocking the control!

Anger/pain distracted me on 5 then (silly stuff) and I got caught in rocks and undergrowth. Got my direction wrong and ended by the wrong clearing. Then recognised the control as no.1 from the long. Didn't help me spike it though.

Motivation flagged until7, then reminded myself I was still running for NZ, even if we were out of the running for the win. So bucked up, did my best to ignore my knee and started navigating again.

Tried to chase down a southern arrows top on the penultimate control and finish chute, and we were even at the finish line...but then i missed the freaking punch! Didn't matter though as she wasn't in my grade, or was 2nd leg, or something.
Pretty ave run all up but atleast I got out there :)

To and from bbq in Hackett. Felt good at first to spin out the knee, but then just got worse and worse. Pretty happy to collapse in bed at the end of it all!

knee was being a nuisance on the warm up so I knew it was going to be an uncomfortable race. Hoped that I wouldn't notice it so much once I got going.

limp of a warmdown with kate after.

Very happy with how this race went. Navigation wise went really well, with only a couple of small blips. Noticeably when my concentration dipped or i doubted myself.
Good clean start through to 4. Then headed out to the marsh, intending to go leftish/straight to 5. But saw a nice clean running route to the right, so switched across. In the end my split was similar to the other girls, but I feel I had a safe approach to the control. Would have def been the right route choice i feel, if i'd taken it straight from the control. Lack of reading ahead let me down there, 30s dropped.
5-6 I got caught in the rocks and concentration dipped as I caught susanne, got dragged high and lost another 45s or so on T-dawg.

Then got into the swing of things and felt really good through to 13, where again concentration started to dip as I knew I was having a good race (should never happen!).
Had picked the track route to 10, knowing it was reliably fast running and decent entry to the control. The open strip to the right was tempting, but you're never sure just how runnable it will really be. Unfortunately couldnt stretch out to full speed on the leg, with my knee feeling like a rusty gate the whole way :s Realised why there was a crossing on the fence 10-11, as I got caught in about 8 places by the barbed wire on the way through. cockies top still intact though. phew.

scratchy 13-15, just not being clean through the circle. Then out into the open until 18(?), kept the directions accurate and hit the controls fine, again just couldnt get the speed I wanted with my knee. Back into the forest for the last little loop. Mis read things heading into the circle at 19 and ended up doing a little loop. then slow to 20.

Then lost my nerve, knowing I'd had a decent run and that this was the final control to navigate on :s Went really slowly and unsurely, despite deep down knowing I was doing the right thing. Rounded the rocky hill before the control...then no control?! Stopped dead and tried to calm myself down, then heard someone behind me, turned around and there was no.21!
No Idea how i'd overshot it though, i'd only just come around the hill and it should have been 100m further than the hill...in my mind anyway. So lost a minute there, but atleast it wasnt a big blow out. Still. Confidence!

Pleased with the result, 1min behind Jo on Badja isn't bad at all.
Knee seized up afterwards and I must have looked like a cripple limping around! Weird thing, sometimes I'd get up from sitting and it would be fine, but others it just wouldn't work at all!

Event: Oceania Sprint, Aust Long & Oceania Relays
 

decent warm up. few tweaks from the knee but no biggy. can't remember the warm down but I know it happened.

Awesome forest sprint. can't remember the last time I did a non-urban sprint!
1:5000 map was insane, by the time you'd read the leg you were already 3/4 of the way there. Also very easy to make mistakes if your bearing was a little bit out due to the very short legs (as i learnt the hard way)
Also also, was very hard to keep a high intensity and speed with all of the rubbish on the ground

But despite or maybe because of all that was super fun. Unfortunately my mind didnt really engage. First few controls were good, got brought to a standstill by a branch that just wouldnt give on the way to 4, which lead to a few comical moments running on the spot against the branch til it let me through :)
lost 35s on 5, got my direction wrong and ended up in the thicker green on the wrong cliff. Should have realised sooner :(
Hesitant on 6 after that.
Then lost another 30s on 10. Decided to stay out of green but went right rather than the sensible and obvious left option. Punched a wrong control, despite reading the number and knowing it was wrong! Then headed the wrong way to correct. Then realised I was being stupid as I'd already been past 10 on my way to 6! garr!

So all up really enjoyed the race, but you can't make over a minute of mistakes and still expect to win a sprint, whether it's in a forest or not. Deserved victory to Grace. Goodbye Oceania Sprint Title, it was nice knowing you, hope to see you again in a couple of years :)

Did some mean massaging of the ITB last night. Pain. Chowing down the anti-inflams and some nice muscle rub stuff. Plus Icing.
Knee is a lot better this morning, but still painful going down stairs or after too much movement. Maybe I'll stay in bed til Friday and hopefully it's good to go?

managed to get down 4 flights of stairs with minimal pain. First two were sweet as, then realised I'd left my icepack in the common room fridge, so had to go back up. Second time round the knee starting aching a bit. But got home much more comfortably than last night! (didn't have to drag one leg behind me, comic styles :)

Also managed 20mins cycling to Braddon and back for a dinner party no problem.

Not sure about running though?

easy as run wit bun on little blackie. In retrospect really not a great idea, knee was pretty much agony all afternoon afterwards. had to hop down stairs :(
Took me forever to walk home in the evening, lucky it wasnt raining!

But the run was nice :)

Threw a frisbee around with bianca afterwards as I've joined an ultimate team for the spring league. Reckon I'm gonna get a pretty sore forearm! Looks like I'll be the one in the team who does all the running...

C • :O 2

C • Saw you ... 1

C • Forearm 2

Knee painful going down stairs. Went for a spin on the bike, just into town, around and home. Such a beaut day, why couldnt it have been like that over the weekend?!

Knee stiff on the bike but not too bad.

Had the starters packing up the start behind me as I went through, and then as I headed to the start triangle, heard the starter give a whoop of joy at being finished for the day! Bit rough!

Let myself get into the map on 1 and spiked it fine. Apparently I wasn't really into the map though as I then went and lost a minute on 2 (stupid clearing AGAIN!), Should have gone wide on 3 and 4 but went straight and made mistakes at the end. Especially on 4 where I did a very circuitous route into the circle.
Picked it up from there though, just started having more confidence in the terrain. Took the track route on 6, then slowed down and made sure I got the right gully. Very hesitant on 7 and stopped one gully short, but reading the tracks set me right.
Again careful on 8, then realised it was a huge rock you couldnt miss! Silly miss on 9, but small. 10 fine, 11 not sure mine was fast route. Came through the spectator to absolute silence, had to yell at people to get out of the way as they ignored me and kept walking across the run through!
bit low to 13 but ok, picked up Tessa here who said she'd had a horror no.13 (she really had, when she explained it later! :)
sweet through to 16. But then went up the wrong gully at 17, despite knowing it was the wrong one, had the old 'it might just be round the corner' thought. So lost 30s there, bit low on 18 but spiked 19 and had a massive sprint up the finish cheered on by all the kiwis :) thought it must have been a real tight finish cos they were screaming at me to sprint hard, so i poured my guts into the sprint!)

So not a clean race by any means, but managed to hold it together and not have any large blow outs. Would have been happier with a better first few controls, but stoked that I've got it right in a middle for the first time since last Oceania champs :D

Once again direction and confidence are key. I'm getting there :)

C • Yeah... 2

warmup on the model map. Then realised i didnt have my gps on. So went and retrieved it from my bag, only to find the organisers hadnt locked it and it had turned itself off! So had to figure out how to turn it back on or if it was dead.
Managed to get the concentration back after that though.
Knee was horrible warming and ibuprofen didnt seem to help, but once i was reading a map I forgot about it.
Bad again afterwards though :s No warm down cos it was pouring with rain again and i didnt fancy getting soaked prior to a 4hr drive home

Event: Oceania Long & Middle Distance Champs
 

lip bleeding its contents out on the warm up (held my number in my mouth before pinning it on, and it kindly ripped open my lower lip on removal)

knee complaining like anything on warmdown. :s

Got myself nice and hydrated and into the right mindframe to start with, so better than last week already. Good start, taking the first few carefully. Lost a bit of time through 4 and 5. low on 4 and stuck in rock to 5 nothing major.
Executed long leg to 7 well until the end. Was always a risky entry with my route (up the gully and along the ridge), and the clearings were my downfall (as they were all day), stopping one too short and losing a minute wondering what i'd done.

8-9 was a dangerous leg, which i executed well, navigating straight to the control circle. However then it fell apart. I doubted myself, as there seemed to be far more clearings and bare rock on the ground than on the map. So 5-10m short of the control (on the other side of a rock from me), I decided I'd overshot the control. cue 5minutes trying to figure out the clearings etc. (no way i could make them fit but they were theonly thing to go off on such a vague hill side!). Eventually relocated off the top of the ridge and some knolls and came back to where i'd been. sigh.

Over compensated speed wise to 10 and didnt navigate as I should. Then setlled down and concentrated on going hard in the green light sections and slowing down close to the control. Worked well enough until 18 where i got my direction slightly off and started mixing up clearings again.

Relocated off the only rock around, as i'd lost faith in the clearings and eventually found the control 3-4mins later than i should have. Eased it into the finish, but not before aggravating something in the side of my knee, which felt like collapsing down the finish chute.

So what it comes down to again is direction and self confidence. Mainly the latter. 90% of my mistakes are unnecessary, i usually start off in the right place but doubt myself into making mistakes.
Pleased with how I started the course, and how I made up time after my first mistake (apart from 10, shouldnt have let my anger get the better of me).
Next weekend is all about self belief and confidence :)

C • Pretty sure 2

Course 3 - Splits