Change of plans...

Being sick sucks. Here is what I had planned for my weekend, and the current status of each activity:

Friday night
Collect Charlie with Steven, have a nice dinner, watch a DVD.
Status: cancelled, because I don't want to pass it on to Charlie.

Saturday morning
Training run at the Glasshouse Mountains.
Status: likely to be cancelled, as I'm not as well as I should be, yet.

Saturday afternoon/evening
Bowls with Lotte and Paulie, followed by dinner at their place.
Status: cancelled, because Lotte can't really afford to get sick at the moment.
Back up plan to run in the QA cross country race
Status: not a chance.

Sunday morning
0530 MTB at Daisy Hill, followed by a race at Mt Cotton if I felt confident.
Status: I can't make Lotte sick, and I probably won't be up to it anyway.

Sunday afternoon
Trail run with River City Runners or road ride with Steven.
Status: seems unlikely. In fact I'm probably not even up for pilates.

No one wants to hang out with me, lest I infect them. Grumble, grumble. Being sick sucks.

Not feeling well...

I still haven't finished my race report, have I? Well, too bad. I'm not feeling well. I spent yesterday in bed, and most of this morning. For a while I've been feeling a bit run down, mostly underslept, so I'm not all that surprised. It is a shame I won't be able to mountain bike tonight though. I was looking forward to that and even remembered to charge up my lights. I reckon I'll be going home soon for more sleep.

Confusion...

If the Commonwealth Games sport that got me more fired up than any other sport was boxing, does that mean it's time to quit all the running and cycling nonsense, and make my comeback?

I should have done this a long time ago...

You really must check out the videos available on, particularly the aerial skating and tissu videos that you get to through the "acts" page:

http://www.aerialexperience.com/

I figured it out!

I felt like a bit of a Luser (hehe ;-) tee hee) when I figured it out, but I'm glad I did. So what did I figure out? No, I did not suddenly figure out where my Six Foot Track race report was hiding *cough* but rather I figured out exactly what it is I feel when I see Steven.

I feel pure delight!

So even when we have the worst weekend ever, I'd rather be having the worst weekend ever with Steven, than sit at home on my own like I will be doing this weekend (when not working). Aaarrgh, I am SUCH a Luser! Well, hopefully I've really embarrassed him. He's cute when he's embarrassed.

Good luck to everyone competing at Mooloolaba tomorrow. It'd be a great event, if it wasn't by USM.

Existence and uniqueness theorem...

This is an except from an article ABC NewsMail last night, headlined "Tourism ad restrictions 'reasonable'."

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation says a segment showing a person buying and drinking a beer is unacceptable for family program times.

Federal Tourism Minister Fran Bailey says the advertisement was never intended to be shown to children.

"Because it's actually designed for their parents, designed to convince adults that we've got such a fantastic array of unique experiences to offer here in Australia," she said.

I have to say that buying and drinking a beer is certainly an experience that I would consider unique to Australia. Not.

RPM class - a.k.a. spin

This class used Schwinn bikes which are not (in my opinion) as good as the Lemond Revmasters. Both brands have adjustable seat height and setback and handlebar height but the Lemond handlebars are also fore-aft adjustable (i.e. change stem length). I think the crank width or something is also wider on the Schwinn (i.e. feet/knees aren't as close as on road bike).

The class was good, it's always stinking hot to cycle indoors. I don't think it's much harder than a windtrainer session. I worked a lot better than a windtrainer session alone but probably not as hard as the time I did a windtrainer session when Steven was watching and I didn't want him to think I was soft. I found it very difficult to pick what intensity I should be working at, to keep my cadence up but still work hard. Having no numbers on the intensity dial makes it hard to stay consistent. I guess it's something you get used to though.

We do "racing" i.e. high speed, "hill climbing" i.e. hands further forward and out of the saddle, "recovery" sitting up no hands, "easy" hands near centre and easy spinning, "seated hill climbing" which is sliding back in the saddle and grinding with heels down. I fell into the habit of thinking of them as "Jan and Lance reps" so we would do a minute of Jan climbs and then a minute of Lance climbs, etc.

One interesting thing about the class is that, because people can't see what intensity you're riding at, you really can't tell how good someone is. You can spot the cyclists because their butts are glued to the saddle and they've probably got knicks on, but two people could be sitting side by side, spinning away, one using twice as much resistance as the other and you'd never know. It's kind of cool, provided you're motivated enough to work hard and you're not just going there to look good. (Don't laugh, I see people pulling sh!t like that all the time at pilates.) This is very unlike bodypump where everyone can see exactly how much (or how little) weight you've got on the bar.

There was one girl who insisted she knew how to set up her bike but unfortunately had her saddle too high and then didn't have enough resistance. She looked really fast but nearly bounced right off her bike, so I guess she just didn't get it.

Hey, getting to uni at 0525h meant it was easy to get a park, but it was still dark. *Yawn* Is it my bedtime yet?

My miserable weekend

Here is a list of things that were good about my weekend:

1. I got to spend time with Steven.
2. Dinner etc on Friday evening was lovely.
3. Steven really enjoyed his race on Sunday.
4. I got to catch up with Adam H, Kenny, Gilly and Adrian at the race on Sunday.
5. I had sushi and then Guinness on Sunday night, and Steven was in a better mood after his race.

Here is a list of things that could have made my weekend better:

1. Steven being less of a sook about his eye infection. (Men always do this when they're sick.)
2. Steven being more organised to race. (Disorganisation was largely due to the previous point.) Especially with respect to nutrition, spares, and packing the car.
3. Me being able to bear the smell of Subway, instead of feeling sick.(Never been to that store before.)
4. Jim's mowing not visiting the backyard while all the wet washing was hanging up, thus spraying cycling gear and work clothes with grass seed, to which Steven and I are both allergic.
5. Sizzler bringing out the dinner rolls when they said they would, so mysoup wouldn't get cold.
6. Charlie throwing fewer tanties, and especially fewer tanties in the middle of the night in a hotel room.
7. Me having time to eat breakfast on Sunday morning while it was hot (see comment about disorganisation above) instead of just making breakfast for Steven and eating mine at the race.
8. Me not feeling crook on Sunday morning.
9. Steven and I not getting sunburnt. Next time I try to borrow someone else's sunscreen, remind me that it might not work.

Fast walking...

Jane Saville won the 20km Walk event at the Commonwealth Games. She did it in 1:32:46. Her pace is 4:38.3 min/km.

My 21.1km running PB is 1:35:25 which is a pace of 4:31.3 min/km and I used to be proud of that, but know I realise it's just walking pace ;-)

Grrr!

I did all these Caboolture stats, and they won't appear, because Blogger's not letting me publish. Grrr! Anyway, keep checking, because they'll be up soon, lots of graphs and stuff to go with the race report.

I'm clever and witty... or something

Sick of all the tripe posted by ignorant rev-heads, and sick of the way no one listens to the well-researched facts that so many cyclists reply with, I posted this on a Courier Mail blog called Viscious Cycles:

Being far more intelligent than the average motorist, I have identified that the real reason motorists get angry with cyclists is because we are better than you and you are jealous of us. If you want to be like us, get off your fat butt and go buy a bike.

Hehehehe.

This morning I went on a group ride with the usual gang, and it was pretty uneventful, as far as group rides go. I had a delicious breakfast at Peloton after. Steven joined us for the entire ride, which was fantastic, as I hadn't seen him since last night, when he sent me home late after we stopped for a quick beer, which turned out to be a pint of Guinness.

Race updates...

... not to be confused with a race report!

I just found out from World Ultra News that the Canberra 50km (combined with the Canberra Marathon) is the AURA 50km Road Championship. And there I was, thinking I was paying plenty of attention to all the races. I would have won that, you know, possibly in world record time! And now no one will ever know!

(Okay that last bit is complete crap, as I wouldn't have even come close to being a strong finisher, let alone a placegetter - but I would've liked the points for the AURA points competition! Hehehe)

I take this as a sign from the God of Ultra Running (place your nominations on the comments page) that I'm meant to stick to the trails, and he/she/it would prefer I stay in Brisbane, participate in ARQ Round Three at Mt Coot-tha, and work on my MTB skills in preparation for the 24 hour race.

Hey, I just found info about kerbside rubbish collection! The schedule is available too. If you find a step-through/shopping/women's bike, please let me know!

Not a race report...

Sorry to disappoint. That comes later.

This morning I went to tea at Government House, and got presented with a certificate for the Audrey Jorss Fellowship that I received from the Australian Federation of University Women - Qld Inc.

The drawing room, our morning tea venue

Her Excellency, the Governor, Ms Quentin Bryce, AC, is such a lovely woman - I wish I could capture how delightful she is but (shock! horror!) I don't have the words for it. My advice is to go check out Government House on one of the open days, and meet her for yourself.

Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce, AC
Governor of Queensland

The evidence...

Here is a link to the official race photos from the Six Foot Track Marathon. If you're a bit of a weirdo blog stalker, you might like to buy them, and pretend you know me. Otherwise, you might just get a laugh at me falling over in the creek, or admire the way I've managed to get caught at the precise moment when both feet were off the ground, crossing the finish line.

I've converted another one!

Steven sent me this bit of news, but I'm not sure where he got it from, so I'll have to reference it later:

Aldag trades bike for running shoes

Former T-Mobile rider Rolf Aldag has retired from professional cycling, but he hasn't given up sports. He announced yesterday that he will run the marathon in Hamburg, Germany, on April 23. "A professional cyclist, who rides in about 100 races a year, ought to be able to come in with a time under 2 hours and 45 minutes, with a little training," said Aldag. He is currently running between 100 and 140 kilometers a week.

Courtesy Susan Westemeyer

Ball games by Lotte...

In the space between finishing the Six Foot Track and writing a race report for it, I have included a little amusing anecdote by Lotte...

"See that's where I differ - I don't understand contact ball games much at all. It would be much easier if they each had a ball. At least they wouldn't be fighting over one ball. If there happens to be a football game on TV, Paul and I take turns in doing voice overs. I think it's hilarious that they call the group hug a scrum. Bwahhahah!"

That's not a hill.... THIS is a hill! - Race Report: Six Foot Track Marathon

The journey commences...

After a tense lead up week during which I only managed a 40 minute trail run and a 20 minute road run, yet still somehow managed to upset the club organiser, it was a relief to arrive at the airport, check in for my flight, and grab a coffee and a bagel. Of course, seeing as I was flying Virgin, my flight was delayed for half an hour.

I was well prepared for the flight, with books and magazines and snacks of both the savoury and sweet varieties and even a juice. I even remembered to pack my jumper in my carry-on baggage this time. Aside from the initial delay, the flight was uneventful. CR Darkie picked me up from the airport and drove me to Katoomba, which was wonderful. He dropped me off at the Edge cinema, where I picked up my race kit, chatted to lots of CoolRunners, and even took a nap. I got some small samples of BodyGlide that I figured would be perfect for carrying during the race lest my wet shoes weren't so comfortable. I walked into town proper to grab a salad and some drinks for lunch, too.

I also got a phone call from my boss, asking if I could go to Melbourne on Monday... I agreed. So it was all on... eventually Adrian brought the bus full of River City Runners to collect race packs and me, and off we went to the house. The house was pretty simple and had heaps of rooms and beds. I was to share with Siri, which was cool. I can tell she's done about a million marathons by the way she doesn't even get any of her gear ready the night before. She's so quick to get ready that it doesn't matter. We also checked out the race start, and walked down the loose, rutted ground to the stairs. I was thrilled to bits to see how rough it was. All the training I had done was perfect for this terrain, and I would be a fleet-footed mountain goat down this slope.

Rachel leads the way up the steps that we would run down early the next day...

After a beer or two, We all went out to dinner at one of the local pubs. I was horrified to find that there was no pizza on the menu. I settled for a steak sandwich and chips, but I have to say that the absence of my pre-race standard was a little disconcerting. It also happened to be Digger's birthday, so we all watched him unwrap his presents, and we got to sing, and we even ate cake. We went around the table saying what our hopes were for Six Foot Track, and we put some money in the pace predictor challenge. The people at the next table also told us what they were hoping for, which was uber-cool!

The River City Runners team

Back at the house there was not much to do except prepare for the race and watch running DVD's. Topher Gaylord in the Western States DVD got a bit of a ribbing... Siri swears that Topher is a valid nickname for a Christopher but the rest of us reckon "Topher" is the new "wanker"...

Anyway I got my gear ready as best I could and then went to bed. I was up about an hour before Siri and I felt as nervous as all hell. I had to eat vegemite for breakfast because there was no peanut butter, but that was okay. It nearly fell apart for me, however, when I discovered very unceremoniously that Digger et al had purchased decaf for the house. Noooooo!!! Fortunately, Don Wallace (race record holder) had a small stash of real coffee in a vitamin jar, and he donated some for my sanity.

I got ready as quickly as I could, which was still far slower than Siri managed. I let her (and the others) convince me that gels were my best nutrition option. They weren't telling me to do this - but they were doing it, and they're all better runners than me... Now this was very silly of me, because I should know better than to adopt someone else's nutrition strategy. I'm a bit of a weird one, because I can run on a full stomach. Eating helps me to rid myself of stitches and cramps and nausea. It's really a blessing. However, it means that I shouldn't attempt to eat gels alone!

So we rocked up on race morning and parked near the start - the benefit of being in a team, where everyone else takes care of you. I had everything organised and ready to go, it was just a matter of finding the loo, parting with my oh-so-warm tracksuit, and of course trying to scoff some more hot coffee! And seeing Emma Murray and taking the opportunity to wish her a good race - I even touched her arm! She's so amazing... Then I was meeting all sorts of CoolRunners that I didn't recognise, who knew who I was. It was such a culture shock, compared to my previous trail ultras, where there were fewer participants.

Siri and I at the race start

Thinking back to our walk the previous afternoon, I positioned myself on the right hand side of the starting group. I then attempted to pee in the bushes while the race brief was happening, but I guess I got stagefright. I figured I'd have to take a break later instead... I was still pulling my pants up as they were giving us the final call to race! Oh well, I suppose it's better to be well hydrated...

Off we went! And there I was, the fleet-footed mountain goat, descending like a floating goddess amongst the thundering herds of elephants... Okay, well, not quite. But it didn't take me long at all to pass Siri, and I was quite far forward when I got to the steps. Going down the steps was great fun, and the single track leading out to the fire trail at the bottom was even better, with lots of mud and ducking around trees and all that sort of excitement. I could have just run up and down that section all day, it was so fun! Anyway, I held my own through the single track and only paused to let a handful of runners through, and I passed a handful of runners as well. It wasn't until we had been on the flat fire trail for 15 minutes or so that AB passed me, and then Siri. AB had been one of the first people in the second wave. He's a much better runner than me, but I was in the first wave - I probably won't get that honour ever again! Anyway, it just goes to show how strong AB is, to catch us so soon, and to pass me before Siri did.

Some time soon after, Rolf passed me. I found the fire trail sections boring... not too bad, but rather like fire trails anywhere. I've just gotten so into single track, I just want to ride and run it all day long! Oh well... I took it easy up all the hills from the start. When we arrived at the first checkpoint, with a fence and a small ladder going over it, I had a chuckle... there was a large sign hanging on the fence, telling runners to use the ladder. It must have been Rob's Fence - when Rob first ran Six Foot Track, he wondered why everyone was detouring, and headed straight for the checkpoint, resulting in his being strung up like Wile. E. Coyote on the fence! Rob, you've made an impact on the race ;-)

As we approached Cox's river crossing, I passed Verity Tolhurst. A few times actually, and she commented on that, wondering aloud whether I was the same girl in River City Runners colours, or we were a bunch. I had a quick chat to her, and then she passed me up a little hill, but down at the river, she took the high path to keep her feet dry, whereas I charged straight through the river. Now, who pays all that money to do a trail race and then bothers with trying to keep clean and/or dry. It's about the dirt and the wet, people! I even fell over like a gumby girl (where is my fleet-footed mountain goat now, eh?) but was still smiling for the cameras. I haven't downloaded the video... but maybe I should. I don't know.

Here are our splits at Cox's river crossing, which will explain to you why I blew up so badly later in the race...

AB 01:15:52
Adrian 01:18:19
Rolf 01:23:15
Siri 01:24:29
Me 01:28:57

Anyway, she was only four seconds ahead of me coming out of the river at the 15km mark - and this is a woman who runs about a 1:15-1:20 half marathon, yes, about 20 minutes faster than I do! Obviously, my downhill training was paying off. I headed up to the toilet here, and queue jumped in front of some tourists, begging quick loo access on account of being in a race. I was very grateful. I went back down to the checkpoint to get some water and take a salt tablet, so by that stage I was probably wasting about 4-5 minutes, but it's all good. I also saw Terry around then.

When we started going up the hills, I started to sour. I hadn't practised enough continuous walking! I was slow on my walk breaks and it was killing my back. The hills weren't so bad... but the hills I had trained on were all too steep or not steep enough! It only took the descent from Mini Mini to realise that the gels were a bad idea... I started to feel very nauseus and I was getting gut cramps that made it very hard to keep flying down the hills with my brakes off. I wondered briefly if the altitude was a bit of a problem for me, as my asthma was playing up, and I felt a bit lightheaded. Someone later gave evidence supporting this theory, though I'm not sure what it was. Basically, 1000m is a lot higher than 300m - that may have been the gist of it.

I walked most of the way up the Pluviometer... why? I was scared. I didn't want to blow up later. When I got to the drink station that had coke, I was thrilled to bits and started shouting it out to other competitors. Somewhere at the Dusk to Dawn, I became a Coca Cola addict. When I got to the top, I thought, "Is that it?" but it was. I mean, the rest of it was still uphill... but that was the worst done with. My back was killing me... later on I said, "Well, I was a Six Foot Track virgin, then the hills raped me, and I ended up with shagger's back!"

Somewhere after Pluviometer I ducked off into the bushes to answer the call of nature. I got down low, behind shrubbery, and though no one could see me, I could see them all running past... that was a bit upsetting. I could've beaten them if it wasn't for being a victim of my own body! Grrr...

Around the 39km mark, I was still running quite strong, when I stacked it. Some bastard at the drink station had said, "Gee, you look clean, haven't even fallen over yet," and sure enough a few minutes later I stacked it. No one was around. I just looked at my watch or something, and hit something, and the quads were getting a bit sluggish and I couldn't recover. In those final single track stages, I noticed people were getting greedy and stupid and not letting people through. It annoyed me but there wasn't much I could do about it. Then, when we reached the final massive descents, my left quad started to give out. That was when I really needed to be a mountain goat... but my stupid quad was hurting so bad. I kept going anyway, and soon enough I found myself at the bottom of the hill and at the finish line!

My time of 5:46 isn't brilliant, but it's well under cutoff. The boys also said it compares to a Glasshouse 50km time... well my GH50km time was 6:48 so I'd say that's a vast improvement. After showers, we stayed around for the presentations and it was great to chat to all the CoolRunners and to find out how well everyone in my group did. Siri was still running around like an idiot and had way too much energy - I swear, she's half 3-year-old! Dinner was giant pies at another local pub, and lots of beer, followed by DVDs and then bed...

Beer for breakfast...

The next morning I had my first beer at 0900h, which was 0800h Brisbane time... I had niggles in the left knee and quad and in the right ankle, so I didn't run with Siri (who went with the boys despite struggling to walk) or even with Mark, Adrian and AB who went a couple of kilometres. We did some sightseeing after breakfast before hitting the airport. My throat was sore but at least I had no chafing or blisters to worry about.

Govett's Leap

The Three Sisters, Katoomba

It was a shame to come home (including the bit where I found out I was no longer going to Melbourne) but I was exhausted after my huge weekend and I had a bag of stinky running gear to take care of. My Mizuno Wave Mavericks had done the job but now they reeked. (They will forever be trail shoes, now...) I was sore for a week after that race, but gee it was good, and hanging out with the River City Runners is always tops.

Product review: Home made gel #4

This gel was created when I walked past the glucose syrup in Woolworths and was amazed by it's crystal clarity. I mixed it with a dash of almond essence, a pinch of salt, a pinch of citric acid, and some water to thin it.

The taste is quite nice, although I think I'll use a slightly reduced "dash" next time. It's about as good as the cordial gel, but obviously very different.

Again, I didn't test this gel in training, but I think it has potential. I look forward to making them all again and I'm very opposed to tipping the honey/molasses gel away.

Product review: Home made gel #3

This gel is a very simple 7 parts maltodextrin to one part Army ration pack cordial, which is salted. I thinned it with water. I think I put in too much Army cordial (which is probably like Tang) and it's quite strong, but it's reasonably well salted.

I didn't get time to test this on a run before my race, and I'm not really willing to try it during a run the day before the race - mostly because I'm worried about it fouling.

It doesn't taste as good as the honey/molasses blend but provides a nice variety and I'm sure the maltodextrin base is good.

Product review: Home made gel #2

This is the gel that got a test this morning. It's 7 parts honey, 1 part blackstrap molasses with a pinch of salt and some water to thin it.

I didn't really add enough water, so it didn't come out of the flask very easily, but it's not thicker than GU. It is, however, far yummier than GU, even early in the morning - not too sweet or salty.

I got this recipe from some MTB website and I'll post a link later.

Lazy bugger finally writes a race report...

Okay, a Caboolture race report is now blogged! It's only a draft so I'll post if there are any changes and I'll let you all know when the graphs and piccies are added.

Quick news!

I have to get out of here but first...

I am in the first wave for the Six Foot Track Marathon! This is baffling but good news!

Also, I went for a 20min run this morning. Yes, then I stopped. I tested out my honey-molasses-salt gel and will do a full report later, but it's yummy! I even got a massage today and I am in good shape (so no excuses if I suck on Saturday morning).

Finally, in the Bicycle Queensland newsletter, I discovered that I'm not allowed to ride with my bum off the saddle - yep, not even on hills, according to the road rules. I think this must have been misinterpreted.

Okay, I'm off to buy PowerBars and snacks for the flight, pack my bags, make recovery pants (more on that later) and then finish my Caboolture race report...

My new home...

As of next month, I will be spending lots of time here...

Product review: Gaiters

This morning I continued my multi-month Mt Coot-tha exploration, hitting one of the sections of single track that I had spied previously but not yet travelled. In hindsight, I should have tried the other new section, as this one pretty much followed the main track. My favourite single track appears to be getting wider - I'm not sure if it's deliberate trail care or if it's just getting more use, but I'm not so happy about it. It stays wet for longer and I had two minor slips this morning - one where I rolled my ankle and the other where I wrenched my knee - but nothing severe and I kept running, glad to be wearing my trail shoes. I took it nice and easy and only ran for 40 minutes.

I must be such a loner. Mark cancelled on me but it didn't deter me at all. I decided to text Siri, rather than call, so I wouldn't wake her up if she wasn't keen for a run, but the message didn't send, and I decided it'd take her a while to get there so I should just run alone. And so I found myself at Mt Coot-tha with nothing much else to do except try out my new trail-ultra gaiters, which are available for $2.99 at BiLo. I bought the work-green ones, but you can also get work-blue ones. For some unknown reason these gaiters are marketed as work gaiters rather than trail-ultra gaiters.

I didn't wear longer socks so the gaiters' elastic tops left little marks around my ankles, but I got zero grit in my shoes, which was a welcome change. I didn't have to stop once to remove a small forest from my shoe. However, I did get tied up in Spiderman's House of Bungee... I ran into a spider's web that was so big it covered me from my head to my knees, was so strong that it literally cut my momentum, and was so sticky that I had to really peel it off, and even then I didn't get it all off! I was thankful that I'd worn my clear-lens glasses. I had grass seed and bugs stuck to me for the rest of the run and ended up rather itchy - it didn't help that I'd worn a small singlet and therefore had more flesh exposed than I normally would.

Fsck it's cold in my office today. I'm wearing ugg boots and am up to my second cup of tea. (No coffee yet, though.)

The verdict: The gaiters were good. I'm not sure if I can bring myself to wearing them in public, though. At least, not until I get the button-up shirt and legionnaires cap to go with it.

Product review: Home made gel #1

This gel is mostly maltodextrin in water, with a pinch salt, citric acid and pectin and a dash of Frangelico (hazelnut liquer) for flavour. I heated it in a pot to blend it together and evaporate the alcohol, then tipped it into a Juice Pops flask and chilled it.

The gel has a very nice consistency - liquid enough to get out of the flask easily without being particularly runny. It did, however, have miniature bubbles of gel throughout, which may be due to too much pectin or something.

I may have gone a bit overboard with the pinches as the gel tastes quite salty (though this may be a good thing in the later stages of a race). Maltodextrin itself doesn't taste very sweet, so maybe a small addition of sucrose would help.

I certainly went way overboard with the Frangelico and it's a pretty revolting gel flavour. It tastes almost medicinal, like a cross between cough syrup and gastrolyte. In 40 minutes of running, I only managed to get about a teaspoon of it down my throat, so I can't really comment on its effectiveness.

The verdict: the basic mixture seems to work well but may benefit from less salt or sweeter sugar. Frangelico makes a bad flavour additive and I'll try something else next time, like espresso, chinotto, honey or citrus.

I'm as fast as a cyclone! Race Report: International Women's Day Fun Run

Last night and this morning I pondered: can one catch a cold via the internet? Has Tesso infected me through her blog? Is there a whole new world out there, where one can catch BTIs (Blog-transmitted infections)?

I woke up at 0500h still feeling like poo from last night, when my guts were cramping, my throat was sore and my head was kicking. Somehow I managed to take a quick shower and put on my running gear, including my jacket - it was very wet and windy outside. I grabbed a PowerBar and a bottle of water and ran to Southbank (about 8km).

It took a really long time because I had to take a few walk breaks when I thought I would lose my guts. I considered ducking into the bushes but had forgotten to bring any toilet paper. I took a nice long break at Mowbray Park to relieve my guts somewhat in a very messy manner and packed some toilet paper on my way out, just in case. (I had plastic bags for my wallet and phone.)

I got to the Cultural Forecourt at 0640h, precisely the time when they were supposed to stop handing out the free t-shirts. There was a queue of about 200 people, so I went to the front and asked one of the volunteers if they would still be handing out the free shirts after the race. She completely ignored me - she didn't even acknowledge that I'd spoken. So I cut through to the other side of the queue, at which point a woman in line gave me a hard time, "Sure, just push in, luv." I was still only trying to ask a question.

The guy who eventually answered said sure, he'd save one for after the race. Then he decided it'd be better to give it to me then, so I did queue jump. If it wasn't for that nasty b!tch accusing me, I wouldn't have, but I hate to make a liar of people. As I walked back past the queue, I told people to start pushing forward, so the queue could move faster. (Up the front, the volunteers had pretty much nothing to do!)

I found Bec near the start line and we had a quick chat. She's my boss and I think she's pretty awesome. You couldn't really ask for a better boss. As she went for the warmup, I went to put my gear in the gear tent - I always carry a pre-numbered plastic bag to save time.

I also found Hannah, who is one of my heroes. She's such a gorgeous girl, and she's taken such a strong grasp on her life and steered her destiny to where she wanted to go. A lot of people make excuses for falling short of their own expectations, and a lot of people lower their expectations to avoid falling short. Hannah has done neither and is a truly inspirational young woman.

I also saw Matt just before the start, who laughingly told me he thought the race was a bit short for my liking... Damn straight, buddy! That's why I ran to the start.

The rain was starting to pick up as I lined up near the start, having lost Bec but maintained a firm awareness of Hannah's location. I realised we were right at the back and decided to move forward. Hannah said she was experiencing some slow legs at the moment (which is allowed occasionally, especially seeing as we all know she's an ultra runner, after Caboolture...) so she didn't follow. The front wasn't as far away as I thought, and seeing as it was very wet (slippery) and windy (cyclonic) I figured it wasn't a day for a PB anyway, so I didn't bother pushing further forward... and then Bec found me!

I decided to run with Bec, but that plan lasted about 8 seconds. We got completely separated as the crowd of runners veered in all directions, splitting and converging and at one point I think they were even running in circles. It was pure insanity. There were people right up the front who were incapable of better than 5:30 pace and while I'm supportive of everyone getting in there and having a go, it should be pretty obvious that you should keep to one side, pay attention to where you're going, avoid veering without checking, and if you're slow, don't hog the start.

Rounding one bend, a girl pulled right across in front of me, clipping my toes. I nearly fell, and threw an arm out for balance. I nearly slapped the girl behind me and so I called out an apology. The girl in front told me that was okay - which cracked up the girl behind - so I explained that she should shoulder check before changing lanes (maaaayte).

In the wet conditions, everyone had to slow down for some cobblestones, including coming off the bridge near QUT (which is a shame, because it would've been a great lead into the hills). My guts started feeling ewky around the 2km mark, but I figured I might as well just keep going. We did a lap of the City Gardens (instead of a West End loop like we used to) and as we came down the hill near Alice St, I just had to thank the volunteer who was standing out in the rain, cheering us on. As we approached the river, the wind fell to zero, and then as we turned the corner... BAM! I nearly got blown over.

It remained wet and horrible - in fact I think the conditions worsened - and people kept veering unpredictably. I was really happy to finish in 22:15-ish, even though it's more than 2min off my PB, and I skipped the race pack collection to go straight to the gear tent (where Clairie was working) to get my rain jacket. I went back for the water bottle I had left near the start, but it was gone.

After the race, I met up with Steven and Charlie, and we had breakfast with Bec at Star Cafe. The food was great, but I think they were busier than they had anticipated, and they took a few goes to get our coffee orders right. The coffees were good when they came, though, and as far as I'm concerned, that's what matters. Bec and I talked shop a bit, mostly about getting our work running team organised and approved.

I needed a snooze afterwards. I'm about to head out to get some echinacea and see if I can stave off this illness.

You know, it's been a month now, and I still haven't done a race report from Caboolture. When Matt saw me after the race (to let me know my picture will be in the next R4YL magazine), he asked how long I waited for my first training run after Caboolture, and it made me think that I should really get around to writing that up.

My week was pretty unexceptional. I went to uni on Monday. On Tuesday I went to work very early. I fixed Bec's bike (rear derailleur was so far off course that I had to undo the cable and the brakes were just not good) and took her for a skills ride, which got interrupted by the rain. I worked really, really late, and it wasn't much fun. It was however very rewarding, because one of the girls who hadn't passed a fitness assessment in a long time asked me to pace her in the run. I cheered her through her pushups and situps, and then ran with her on the run, and she passed it all - with a minute to spare on the run!

Then on Wednesday, I cancelled my Mt Coot-tha run because of the wet, and because Tom and I were so damn tired from both working late. Instead, I rode to uni (and it didn't rain on me) but then Bec called in a bit of a panic. So I rode over to work (and it didn't rain on me), worked until after 1900h and then rode home (and it didn't rain on me). On Thursday I went for a fantastic run at Mt Coot-tha, where I got lost trying to find some of the single track, and nearly fell down the Chapel Hill Rd Track, because it's been regraded. I then went looking at accommodation with Steven, and took the rest of the day off to have a sleep and get some work done. On Friday I rested because I didn't feel great, and I wanted to get work done.

Jane and I discussed our adventure racing options, but I've decided not to do the soonest one, because Steven is racing that day and I'd like to go support him after he was so good to me at Caboolture. So we will race next month instead. I think it's at Mt Coot-tha, so I'll have a home ground advantage.

Okay, best get to that Caboolture race report now...

Scary survey!

This got sent to me on ABC NewsMail, Monday, 27 February 2006. I found it very scary that despite the fact that heaps of people are obese, quite a lot of them haven't noticed. How can they take action and make themselves healthy, if society is intent on reassuring these people that they're not overweight? Read on:

*Aussie adults getting fatter, survey finds*

The latest national health survey from the Bureau of Statistics has found Australian adults are getting fatter.

The survey shows 62 per cent of men and 45 per cent of women now fall into the overweight or obese categories, up about 10 per cent since the mid-1990s.

But the survey found while obesity is on the rise, only one third of adults actually consider themselves fat.

The number of Australians who drink dangerous amounts of alcohol is also on the rise, up 2 per cent in the past three years.

The number of adults who smoke has remained unchanged since 2001, with one-in-four admitting they still smoke.

Two thirds of adults say they exercise and about half the population over 15 has private health insurance.

Cycling tip-of-the-day...

Smelly gloves should not be stored in a clean helmet.

I always slow down when coming off the cycle path and back onto the roadway at Toowong/St Lucia. This morning it saved me. I shoulder checked to see a w@nker in a Range Rover come flying around the corner despite the fact the driver would have seen me. (Said w@nker pulled up
about 500m down the road to pick up a friend.) My reduced speed and shoulder check meant I could steer onto the foothpath further and rejoin the road at the next driveway.

Ride safe, people.