17k run... ouch!

Yes, it was a long one today. And really slow too, took us (James and me) over 2 hours. Considering Run for the Kids took me 1 1/2 hours for 15k, that puts us at a super-slow pace for this one.

Scotchman's Creek Trail, highly recommended by Dan. Thanks, it was beautiful! We ran from Blackburn Rd (near Waverley Private Hospital) along the trail to East Malvern train station and back.

My left adductor or one of my gluteal muscles or something back there was aching a lot even before we hit the halfway mark. Will see how I pull up tomorrow. Lots of stretches are in order, that's for sure.

Run with Nyasha

Went for a run with Nyasha again this morning. We met later than normal seeing as neither of us had work to get to.

Distance was less this time, but instead we did some hills, including Blackburn Rd hill and Holland Rd hill, both twice. Good job, Nyash!

Anzac Day Casual Run

Went for the usual run with James today. Took it at a mild to moderate pace, probably could have gone harder but knew I'd be going for a second run right after this one.

It's nice running on public holidays - have I mentioned that before? No morning traffic noise and all that.

Upper Body Weights

I love weights sessions at the gym. But I much prefer daytime to evenings. More space, less equipment being used by others. The evenings don't even make for good socializing time because the aerobics music is typically blasting so loud it's like being in a club... only with weights instead of drinks.

Did my usual half upper body session today - BB bench press, DB incline close, BB bicep curls, DB bicep curls. Threw in some Swiss ball exercises that I learnt last night including the push ups with feet on the SB. Those were difficult! But got a good ab and chest workout from the exercise, for sure!

SB curls, when done properly, hurt like anything! SBs are definitely a great investment of time and money.

Swiss Ball Exercises

I didn't go to the gym today, probably a good thing too because the Swiss ball class tonight was a toughie. Marietta, the lecturer, was great. And definitely a strong woman. She worked us hard. I learnt a lot of new exercises and proper SB technique, looking forward to applying my newfound knowledge in training sessions.

Speed Work

Everyone at Running Group must have been having one of those days. We all just seemed a little tired and not feeling like giving it our all. The session was still good though - every time we have one of these speed work sessions I feel it pretty quickly, and yet at the same time I can tell I've improved.

I think it's these sessions that have improved my running stamina dramatically in the recent months. Thanks, Brett, for setting us up with this form of training. It is certainly a valuable tool for the training kit.