RUNNING MUMS AUSTRALIA

Well HELLO everyone. Yes, I have been missing in action. My last blog post was yonks ago and for that I am truly sorry, however I have been one very busy lady of late and something had to give. This blog was the first thing. The thing about this little space of the web of mine is that I come here to write when I have something special to share or say, or an amazing recipe I must deliver. It's not that there hasn't been many wonderful things to share with you, there has, but there has been little time to share them, and some things I have been leaving to share until I saw that they were well and truly success stories. This blog post is just that. It is a success story that I want to share with you all.

Last September I ran my first full marathon in Sydney. It was one of the most amazing days of my life, and something that I have wanted to do for a very very long time. On that day I not only ran that marathon, I overcame things that I thought about myself. Things like that I couldn't do it, that I was not worth much and that I really didn't have anything much to give to this world. It lit a spark in me that I can't explain. It helped me to see my worth and that hard work and commitment reap a magnificent reward in the end. Yes, I am a mum, but I didn't want that stereotype of a 'just a mum' staying with me for one second longer. I wanted to do something worthwhile with my life and make an impact.

One night I was sitting on my couch and an idea popped into my head. I could start a running network just for mums. These special mums would be in Australia from all kinds of places and we would share and connect with one another, we would meet up at events and encourage one another. We would work with brands and events to let everyone know that mums are amazing and they have a lot to give and a lot of commitment , especially in the fitness industry where running is concerned. We would come from all walks of life and from every state in Australia and we would be one of the faces of Running Mums in this amazing country. We are the role models if you will for our children. That is not a small task. When we are fit and healthy, our children see that and hopefully they follow in our footsteps.

So what started as an idea and a couple of key people that I added to a Facebook group has grown into almost 300 members since August! Every day new members pop up to be added to our membership. They see us on instagram, on the street running in our awesome singlets, they see us pop up on Facebook, they meet us at events. We are slowly taking over the world ....hahahaha.

Only joking.

The most amazing thing about this lovely network is that it is supportive. There has not been one negative thing said in there since it began. Its the most supportive environment I have been part of. The aim of the group is to share and be encouraged, offer advice and support and give tips on running and exercise. We have also set up a blog at www.runningmumsaustralia.wordpress.com where we share our news, reviews, events, programs etc. Many exciting things are in the pipeline.

I have found my passion or should I say it found me. The women I have connected with on the journey are amazing. One thing we all have in common is that we are all mums. And we love to run. Why don't you join us?

I can't wait to see where we end up next.

Believe in you…..

I have been struggling a lot lately with my feelings of wether or not I can accomplish things. Hey, I just ran a full marathon just over a month ago and I don't know why my brain is so stuffed up that it doesn't believe that I can accomplish something I put my heart and soul into. Something is seriously wrong there.

Just after my marathon my friend asked me if I would do a half marathon that was yesterday. I stupidly signed up for it as I was still on a runners high and forgot about it until this week when the date was looming.

There had been no training for a half, actually there has hardly been any running since the full, only a few 10kms here and there and a few other slow runs thrown in for good measure, but none the less I said I would do it and before I knew it it was two days before the race.

I thought I should treat this just as a fun event and not too serious. I did enjoy carb loading and resting the few days before (as I always do) but I was SO anxious. I think because I feared that I wouldn't finish. After all I was still recovering from a marathon and I was CRAZY to think that I could run and run well, a half marathon 5 weeks out. But I went in with the view that I would take it easy and just run and finish.

Come race day I was excited, not the nervous wreck I was the days leading up and the only thing that worried me is that I got my period the night before the race and I had been sooooo tired leading up that I wondered if I could even finish. After all I hadn't run more than 10k since the marathon and this was 21.1km.

I met a lovely member of my Facebook running group and was running with my friend Luisa and her friend Alex. Luisa inspired me to run. This was her FOURTH half for the hear after having a really tough year. If she could run after what she has been through, I certainly could do it.

We lined up and the gun took ages to go off. There was some kind of hold up and it made me so nervous. I just wanted to get it over and done with already. The gun went off and Luisa, Alex and I took off. I had decided that I wanted to go out at an easy pace and then try and run a negative split and I didn't really have a time in mind except to see the finish. At about the 10k mark I decided no, I don't want to just finish this race, I want to smash it so i kicked it into gear. I really wanted to beat my previous half time. Something in my head told me to go for it and that I CAN and so I did.

The funniest thing happened as we were running, I opened my zip slightly from my fuel belt to grab a jellybean and out flew a BRIGHT ORANGE tampon. I said to Alex…."well, there goes my tampon" and it was so funny. We had a chuckle and even the girl next to us said "I hope you have one in!"….Oh my goodness, what a scream, and how embarrassing. And seriously, I almost stopped to pick it up if it wasn't for the fact that I wanted to smash this race, I would have hahaha. BRIGHT ORANGE I tell you!!

I lost Alex somewhere after the 14k Mark as I grabbed a drink and so I didn't have my little pacing buddy anymore, so I relied on my garmin to keep me above pace. Everytime it beeped to say below pace I surged to keep above and I was not going to go below. I managed to keep it there until the finish which was pretty amazing running into ANZ stadium and to see that I managed to beat my previous time by about 30 seconds, especially so close to running my marathon.

No matter how much I dissect it all I see is that I can do things I never thought I could. Running frees me. I may not be the fastest but I know when I want it I will go after it and I will achieve it. I believe in myself so much more now than I ever did.

Do you believe in yourself?

Have you had an embarrassing running moment?

Marathon preparation - 30KM recap

I don't pretend to be a good runner. I am really just an average runner. I am not fast. I am an average jo pace. I like to sit around 6min/km and take it easy. That is why I am good at distance running. I always have been. Some people are built for distance. Some people are built for speed. Speed and I don't go together. If I have to sprint somewhere, I feel as if I am standing still. I just can't go fast enough even if I give my 100%.

Back in school days I was always last in the 100m events at the annual athletics carnival, but put me in an 800m or a cross country race and I would excel. Thats because I can pace myself and build up for a long period because my body works aerobically well, not anaerobically like a sprinter.

About three years ago I got back into running where I left off years ago and I enjoyed it. I competed in my first half marathon last year and I made my goal of finishing under 2 hours. My time was 1.57 and I think that was great. I was even out injured the whole 3 weeks before the race and didn't even know if I would even make it the distance but with hubby by my side we did and I was stoked.

This year  I made it my goal to run a marathon. I don't know why I had this crazy thought, but I have always wanted to do one and I thought well, I will just put in the training and see if I can.

I said to my running buddy that if I can reach 30km in training I will register. Last weekend I reached that 30K mark and so that night without any doubts I registered for the Blackmores Sydney marathon on the 22nd September. About two minutes after I pressed "pay" on the credit card I felt ill and was doubting that I can do this.

For the last day I have been stretching and wincing and rubbing deep heat on my thighs through the pain of running 30km and what that does to your body. Today I had to get back into training yet again and do a round of sprints on those tired old legs.

Complete.

I show myself every single time that I can do it, even when my mind says that I can't.

I know that this is going to be one of the hardest things I will ever do. It requires ALOT of stamina and training, something I am quickly after about ten weeks becoming bored of, but it also requires alot of mental toughness.

I know that the last ten kilometres of this race is going to try to break my spirit. It is going to hurt like I have never hurt before. I am going to have to dig deep and find strength from the deepest places in me. I will be thinking of my family, my children and the best that I can do for them is to give everything a go and show them that any dream is possible.

So, sunday was like any other day except that I was up for my 30km training run. We are 7 weeks out from race day and Sunday was the 'long run day'. I hadn't run past 15.4km for the past two weeks as a long run as I had had my surgery, so it was a big jump from that to 30km after a few weeks out. My long run before the 15.4km was 24km so I knew what I was in for.

I bought a running belt the day before and I filled those three water bottles with gatorade and my pouch with jellybeans. I also took a GU in lemon/lime flavour to try at about the 20k mark and ate my banana sambo about an hour before and off I went.

I planned an in and out route for this run as I didn't want to be close to home and want to give up. The route was perfect. Just the amount of hills and flats that I needed.

I felt really really good for most of the run and stuck around the 6:20 pace for the first half and then down to about 6:10 for the second half. By about 27k I was tiring but I was good physically and my feet felt great. My legs were beginning to get sore around my quads, but nowhere else. Mentally I was ready to stop though but I pushed through for the next 3k's.

The feeling when I had done it was amazing. I was so proud of myself. I did it and all by myself. Normally I run my long runs with my friend but she is out due to injury so this run and the rest of my training will be all by myself. Its harder by yourself to keep going.

I spent the run praying for people and my family, listening to my favourite tunes on my iphone and looking around me taking everything in. I passed four people I knew in the hours I was out there and each one made me want to keep going.

The run took me 3 hrs and 7 minutes and I am happy I made it back in one piece. I filled my water bottles once again and I ate a jellybean each km and half the GU at 20k.

This weekend I am due to run 30 again. This week I hope to experiment a bit more with the GU and my pacing.

Each day that gets closer to race day makes my heart skip a beat out of nerves and excitement.

Can I really do this? We will just see........