Hill Intervals and time trials

Okay ladies and gents, its confession time.

I didn't go for my long run on the weekend as originally planned. My bad?

Me & My Gorgeous Girls at Derby Day

Saturday there just wasn't enough time, I was up early to get ready for the races and had an awesome day thanks to my 12wbt girls. Who would have thought six months ago I would have made such a lovely bunch of new friends. You girls rock. Once I got home, it was time for a quick bite to eat, then shower, refresh and head out to a friends farewell drinks in the city. It was midnight by the time we got home and I honestly don't know how I lasted the day.

I had every intention of going for my run on Sunday instead, but I was that exhausted, I pretty much crashed out on the couch all day.

Soooo, today was all about making up for it, and that I did... Hill intervals and my first 12 min time trial before Round 4 kicks off next week. I've decided that now the weather is getting better and since I work literally across the road from Treasury Gardens, I really should use them more often! Would be nice to mix it up rather than using Maribyrnong River all the time. 

In other another news, I'm bit disappointed with Running Fit as it's now been over a week since I first contacted them in regards to coaching. If I haven't heard by the end of the week I'm giving up and going else where. Most annoying... Oh yeah, and I finally brought this foam roller to help get rid of those niggles

My new Foam Roller - it's Pretty and Purple :)

And finally to finish off here's some more foodie pics for you. Night all xo

Sweet and Sour Pork

Thai Pumpkin Soup

Striving for Progress

"Strive for Progress, not perfection"

Thank you 12wbt for tweeting this in the last couple of days. I could really relate to it and hence have decided to make it my motto! 

After my efforts on Saturday, I've taken the first step and made a couple of inquiries about hiring a running coach. I really believe it will help me overcome my mental barriers and improve my speed and technique. Also, it's another motivation and someone to meet for a workout. I seem to train so much better with other people and enjoy it so much more.

My Run Tonight

The good news is I kicked butt again with my running group tonight. 8km in 54 mins...  Still need to work on pace, but like I said, Progress is my new best friend, not perfection.. I will get there.

The girls I run with suggested trying the radio to help with distraction instead of music. Will definitely have to give this a go on Saturday when I next tackle the lap on my own. Great idea! 

Oh yeah and on the food front I was little bit excited when i re-created a yummy breakfast dad and I ordered at one of my favourite cafe's not to long ago. It was a Tuscan style scrambled eggs with scrambled eggs. I simply just scrambled eggs as normal, tossed through some diced sundried tomato then added some Tuscan seasoning mix and wallah! So yummy and still under 300 calories per serve. 

My Awesome Tuscan Scrambled Eggs

I'm so looking forward to Round 4 starting next week and getting a whole new bunch of recipes, but In true Sarah style, here's a few foodie pics of some of my fav's I've been re-visiting over the week!

One of my fav 12wbt lunches - the Ploughman's Lunch

Naughty But Nice Nachos is always a repeat - so quick and so yum

Another Favourite - Thai Kangaroo Larb - but with Beef instead of Kangaroo!

Night all,
(that is if I can get of this couch!)

Pain and Mind Games

Yesterday's run didn't quite go to plan. I was ready and raring to go after my 8km run on Wednesday night and also brought new runners on Friday night. I so dearly wanted to tackle the 8km lap again on my own, but broke down around 4km.

My new runners felt awesome,  but I struggled with stitches and have never know the best way to battle through them. It was then I decided to do interval training for the remaining km's instead. 

It was still a good run, but it was a struggle.

My Hot New Runners

Why do I find running on my own so mentally exhausting? I know I can do it, and have proven it with my running groups. It's so frustrating. What I need to do is upgrade my heart rate monitor so I can see my pace, because as you can see with my splits, I come out all guns blazing then tire really quickly. I'm just not good at judging it by myself and really need to work at this.

My Bad Splits

Everything hurt, my shin splints which have been so good lately, came back to bite me as well. But it's the stitches that seem to be my greatest concern and it's for this reason, I'm looking into getting a running coach. I'm hoping they'll be able help my with my technique and give me tips as to how best battle through!

I thought I was doing really well, but clearly, on my own is a much bigger challenge and I've got a long way to go if I'm ever going to get to half marathon.

Hot and Buggered.

Here's hoping for a better run next weekend.
Night all xo

Jumping on the Half Mara' Bandwagon

I'm Ba-ack...  As most of you know, I recently came back from conquering the mighty Inca Trail in Peru. It was challenging both physically and mentally and the whole reason I joined 12 wbt. Since coming home from my amazing holiday I've been worried about slipping back into bad habits and have been on the hunt for a new goal and something to focus on to keep myself motivated...

So ladies and gentleman - drum roll please.... 

With a little encouragement from running pals, I have registered for my first ever 10km fun run in December! And with any sort of the luck, if that all goes well, I hope to go onto a half marathon in July and compete in the Australian Outback Marathon around Ayres Rock. If not, then there's always a Half in Paris in October. The possibilities are endless.  But then again, if my bank balance doesn't allow this to happen I'll happily settle for the Run Melbourne or Melbourne Marathon as well. (I'd be interested to hear what your favourite fun runs are too).

My 8km run last night 23 Oct '13

Crazy you might say, I know, but I'm excited.. I've even started a running group and also going to Luluemon's free running group on Saturday mornings. For each run I do, I intend on taking a photo of my GPS / HR monitor to track my progress and report back. I think it's the best way to make me accountable and see where I can improve.

So starting with my PB 8km run last night...  Still a long way to go and need to work on the pace, if I'm gonna crack the hour time for my 10k.

And of course my blog wouldn't be a blog without my foodie pics, so here a few of my latest.. I've been re-visiting some of my 12wbt fav's...

Vegetarian Taco's

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

French Toast

Bimbap Meal

Baked Beans on Toast

Rocket Pocket Breakky

Enjoy and nigh night xo

The Mighty Inca Trail

Firstly, apologies that's it's nearly been two months since my last blog - my bad?

I've got a pretty good excuse though.. As most of you know I was busy trekking my way around Peru and in particular the Classic Inca Trail. The 4 day / 3 night trek was by far the biggest challenge I've ever set out to do both physically and mentally and was truly a once in a lifetime experience that I'll never forget.

The start of the trail (Im in the middle)!!

As we trekked our way along ancient and original stone paths, walked through cloud forests and ruins after ruins we were rewarded with the most breathtaking panoramic views and unless you can experience it yourself, no photo can truly capture, the beauty that surrounds Machu Picchu.  

As I look and sort back through all my photos I thought it was timely that I give you an in sight into what the Inca Trail was really like. Well at least according to Me.


DAY 1: Ollantaytambo to Wayllabamba
Distance hiked: 12 kms

As excited as a little girl on Christmas morning, myself and the rest of our group eagerly boarded our bus from Ollantaytambo and made our way to the starting point of the trail. We got all our packs ready for the porters and walked to the check point. With another stamp on our passports and a group photo done we made our way across the bridge and begun the amazing 4 day journey to Machu Picchu.

If you look at the photo on the left it shows the starting bridge and trail on the left hand side we had to climb to start the trek. Believe it or not, but this was nothing compared to what we going to face come the next few days.

The Steps

We arrived at our first camp site, to find the porters had already beaten us and set up our tents and had organised buckets of warm water for us.  It wasn't too long before we were sat down and treated to a 3 course meal. The porters go to so much trouble and even presented our dessert which was poached pear with pisco poared over it and lit on fire. During our intimate 3 course meal a Thunder storm and rain set in, so it was off to bed early to take refuge in our tents and get an early night for our biggest day ahead.

DAY 2: Wayllabamba to Pacaymayo
Distance hiked: 11 kms 

The second day was definitely the day we were all dreading and by far the toughest. We were woken at daylight about 5.30 am by our porters with a mug of cocoa tea and made our way to breakfast. Omelettes - YUM!!

Battling the weather

We were on the trek by 7am as it was going to be a long day ahead. My little legs struggled to keep up with the rest of the group, and the thin air made it extremely slow. I was stopping every 5-10 steps just to catch my breath so the pace was about 1 km an hour.  Most of the day was spent climbing up hill and battling step after step and the forever changing weather conditions.

Me at the top of Dead Woman's Pass (highest peak at 4200m)

Eventually, I reached the highest peak at Dead Woman's Pass which was 4200m around mid afternoon. This is also the first major milestone of the trek. I was lucky enough that the guide stayed back with me as most of the day I was left on my own as I was about 20 mins behind everyone else. He even carried my pack for me for some of the more the trickier bits !! I was also pleased I had my ipod with to me keep me entertained along the way otherwise I think I definitely would have lost it. 

DAY 3: Pacaymayo to Winay Wayna
Distance hiked: 16 kms 

During the night temperatures dropped to -8 degress. Thankfully again, the porters woke us up with hot cocoa tea to warm us up for the big day ahead.

That morning we were finally introduced to all of our porters.... They each told us their names, if they were married and had childern and how many years they'd been working in on the inca trail. It was our chance to say thank you. Each day we would cheer them on as they passed ran passed us, they would run along the trail with 20 kilo's on their backs, and have our campsites set up and meals ready by the time we arrived. It really made us think twice before we complained again.

The 3rd day was also the longest day, but I really enjoyed it. Most of the day was down hill and I was able to keep with the rest of the group. Don't get me wrong it was still as challenging as the day before especially on your knees, but walking through rainforest, mini caves and more ruins, made it all worth while. We joked along the way saying how much we missed our luxuries of pizza and red wine, but little did we know that that was exactly what the porters had prepared for our dinner that night - you can image our excitement...

Oh - Sorry, I almost forgot to mention that Day 3 included our first and only sightings of Llamas along the trail. 

Our reward at the end of DAY 3

DAY 4: Winay Wayna to Machu Picchu
Distance hiked: 4 kms

At the Sungate watching the Sunrise over Machu Picchu
(Our first sightings of the famous ruins)

The Peruvians definitely know how to save the best for last. We were woken at 3.15am but sadly this time round with no coca tea. We had to quickly get ready and get to breakky where we scoffed down some yummy pancakes and then had to race towards the check point. Amazingly we were the first group there.

We got to the check point around 4 and had to wait for an hour for it to open... As we waited we were treated to the most spectacular shooting star show I have ever seen. One after the other they shot right across the sky. The stars reminded me of something that you'd see in Central Australia but I've never seen shooting stars quite like that. It was so special.

When the check point finally opened around 5, we got another stamp on our passports and it then became a race to be the first at the sun gate and get the best possie to watch the sunrise over Machu Picchu. It was about an hour to the sun gate, and given it was on dusk we all started off with our head torches and had no choice but to keep up with the pace and try not to lose our pole position.

It was our first sighting of the newest wonder of the world and wasn't it something special. As we sat and watched the sun creep over the most famous ruins, it was also the first time we could sit and truly appreciate what we had achieved over the 4 days and celebrate it together.

I MADE IT !!!

After the sun rose, we were on our way again and enjoyed about another hours walk down to the ruins. Once we arrived, we had our photos take on the famous spot and then had to line up and get our passports stamped again. It was soon 8.30 am and we decided that since we'd been up since 3, had hiked 2 hours, it was surely time for a beer. So that we did and enjoyed a couple of celebratory beers cause surely it was beer oclock some where in the world. We were then taken on our own guided tour and got to know the history of the Incas before we headed back down the hill to the little township of Machu Picchu for lunch before eventually making it back to Cuzco around 8.00 pm.

Exhausted and after 5 days of no showers our hotel rooms had never looked so good!! It truly was a once in a life time experience and if it's not on your bucket list then it should be!

Nothing beats beers at 8.30am!

Simply Beautiful

And last but not least - a bit shout out must go to my girls Kristy & Bri. Thanks for sharing this amazing journey with me. It was something I'll treasure forever.
xox.

Me, Kristy & Bri hanging out in the Sacred Valley

Lululemon Running Group

If you haven't heard of Lululemon, you have now and need to jump on their bandwagon. 

Not only do Lululemon have the most awesome range of athletic wear, they offer free Yoga and Running Groups as well.  I've been thinking of joining a running a group for a while now, and thought since it was free why not if it a go, and I'm so glad I did.

About 6 of us met outside the highpoint store, signed a waver form and we were on our way. For the middle of winter we were lucky it was the perfect mild evening for the 4 km run along the Maribyrnong River. Whilst it wasn't a long run run, our leader set us a great pace and surprisngly I was able to keep up.

It's amazing what you can do when you're in a group being pushed a long and outside your comfort range. Normally I plod along around 5.5km per hour, but I managed to keep up an average speed of 7.5km per hour. Was quite pleased with that!

I was also extremely lucky as whilst I was out enjoying the run, my boy was a home cooking my dinner. Baked Salmon and a "man salad" as he calls it on the side, Yum! What a lucky girl I am!

If you're interested in joining the fun, check out the notice boards inside all Lululemon stores or sign up to their mailing lists. At the moment this group meet every Monday night at 6pm at the Highpoint store.

Nigh Night all - I'm exhausted x

PM's Baked Salmon and Man Salad with Walnuts and Orange

The Battle of the Snooze Button

Firstly apologies for being so long between blogs. It's been a big month and to be honest I haven't really found anything to new to blog about. 

Anyways, enough excuses here we go! 

Every Friday morning my alarm goes off at 5.45 am and I bounce out of bed. I go meet a friend at the gym and we smash out a training session together. I love it - it feels great afterwards and it's so nice getting it out of the way early, leaving me feeling energized for the rest of the day and knowing that I can just sit back and enjoy the day, cause all my hard work is done.

But do you think I can do this for myself? No. It's so frustrating. Every night i go to bed with good intentions. I lay out all my gym clothes, I set my alarm for 6. But alas. As soon as 6.00 comes along, I hit that snooze button, roll back over and go back to sleep.

Why?

Why am I so reliant on having to meet people for training?

I get so annoyed on myself, but I'm sure I'm not the only one out there doing this. Everyone keeps telling me, once you get into the routine you'll be fine. I guess I'm just wondering how does one start breaking old habit? Maybe I need my own Commando to blow whistles and horns and yell at me to get out of bed.

Unfortunately not many foodie pics at the moment - a lot of repeat recipes and nothing new to get excited about.  

Mexican Shepherds Pie - a winner!

Nigh Night x