Andrew is getting fit

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed and see some of my favourite posts! Thanks for visiting!

Today I participated in Race 3 of the Run Auckland series.

The race briefing email stated that there was no parking at the actual event as they’d blocked off all the parks so that we could run freely. The organisers recommended that we parked next to a local high school and take the track that leads down to the starting area. So I thought I would take their advice. I thought I knew which track they were talking about but I went to the wrong one and ended up being about 2 kilometres away from the start. This wasn’t a problem however as it was a nice morning for a walk.

I had planned on arriving at the venue about 45 minutes early as I had to pick up my timing chip before the race started. I made the cutoff time with plenty to spare so headed off to use the facilities. One advantage of the venue was that there was heaps of public restrooms. Race 1 only had 3 portaloos which wasn’t really enough.

The course today was flat and straight. A nice run alongside the beach. Up the beach and down again was 2.5 km. We 5Kers had to do two laps and the 10Kers had to do 4.

The 10Kers started at 9AM and once again most of the participants appeared to have chosen to compete in this event.

We 5Kers were due to start at 9:20 in order to give the field time to spread. This was actually quite nice as we got to see the 10Kers running. The really fast ones did 2 laps before we even started and they were mighty impressive. One of the highlights was seeing Nina Rillstone who is representing New Zealand at the Olympics this year competing in the 10K - she finished it in 33:29. I’ve never seen a lady that skinny yet muscly before.

My best time in a 5K race was 31:01 which I set in my very first race. In my misdirected second race I set a time of 33:48 but ran an extra kilometre as I took a wrong turn. For this race I was hoping to set a PR. I kept telling myself that anything under 28 minutes would be great but secretly I was hoping for around 27 minutes. My fastest times in training have been around 28ish and I’ve always felt I could go a little faster in an actual race where I would push myself harder than I do in training.

At 9:20AM my race started and I was off. I actually had a great starting slot this time as there weren’t as many people doing the 5K event. I was in the second row which was great.

At the 800m mark we ran past a cafe full of bemused looking people. I could just see them thinking look at all these crazy buggers. Part of me longed to be in the cafe having a moccachino and a croissant.

I did my normal trick of starting really fast! Big mistake I know. My first kilometre was my fastest kilometre ever at 4:45. I was thinking uh oh, I’m going to die on the last leg. I MUST slow down! In the finest tradition of ignoring that little voice inside of you, my second kilometre was my second fastest ever at 4:59.

I hit the second lap and my legs were starting to let me know that they weren’t too keen on this running business. Why the hell are we doing this? We could be at home in bed. I slowed down quite a bit but was still on record pace during my 3rd and 4th kilometre. The last kilometer was tough but I kept thinking RUN YOU BASTARD! and so I did. I kept trying to overtake the people ahead of me as a means of motivation.

The finish line loomed and as I started to sprint I got chicked! A young lady zoomed past me and there was nothing I could do to haul her in. I tried hard but she crossed the line a good two metres in front of me. I pressed stop on my Garmin and looked at my time. 25:18!!! I not only beat my expectations I smashed em!

Unfortunately I couldn’t celebrate as I was trying hard not to throw up. I’m not quite over that cold yet.

I then had the long walk back to my car. One thing I failed to mention was that my car was parked at the top of a cliff and there were stairs leading back up to it. I hadn’t really noticed them coming down. But I noticed them going back up. 116 of them. I really noticed them going up!

Overall a great race and a great day. According to the provisional results I’ve finshed 6th in my age group and 18th out of all the men. I’m not too fussed about that but I will treasure my PR which is actually 25:17 according to the official results! .

Tags: Milestones, PR, running by AndrewE
40 Comments »

It’s funny but over the last few weeks I’ve noticed a few annoying things about losing a lot of weight.

• The first and foremost of these is that I’m so cold! I used to sleep with a window open in the middle of winter as I was always feeling hot. Now, I’m wearing vests under my shirts during the day because I’m cooooold.  And it’s not even winter yet.
• My wedding ring is loose and falling off my finger. It is in desperate need of a resize.
• My clothes don’t fit! This is a real problem for me. Pretty much 95% of my clothes are too big now. I don’t really want to spend more money on clothing as I’m still losing so I’m a bit of a baggy mess. Thankfully I have some jeans that fit (bought the wrong size by mistake years ago and much to my joy I’m finally wearing them!) and of course my running gear fits.
• People telling me I’ve lost enough weight. This is very annoying as well. Fair enough I’ve lost a lot but I’m still quite overweight by any objective measure.  I’m on a roll folks, stop telling me to stop!
• Let’s not talk about the floppy belly skin.
• People not recognising me.  I was at an alumni reunion on Tuesday and it was a really good night.  The only problem was so many of my former students didn’t recognise me.  Come on folks I’ve only lost 90 odd pounds and grown a beard since you last saw me!

Then again, why am I whinging complaining? All these things are aboslutely brilliant! Visible signs of success. They’re still annoying thought. How about you guys? Anything that particularly bugs you?

In other news, I’ve got a busy day ahead of me so I thought I would get a morning run in.  I got up at 5:00 AM got dressed and had a smoothie then headed out the door.  I did the same loop that I did in my night run the other day and I’ve reached the conclusion that I need to find another loop, especially while I’ve still got this annoying cold.  The first mile of the loop is uphill and it gets me really tired before I’ve even started to really run.  I think it was exacerbated today by my cold and lack of fuel.  I don’t think the smoothie was enough.

And did I mention that it was pouring down with rain?  One of my worries has been running in the rain but it’s no problem at all.  With my cap on I can run just fine.  The glasses haven’t been fogging up yet so it’s all good.

Two more days till my next 5K race!

Tags: Life, running by AndrewE
53 Comments »

The plan today was to do a nice big loop around the waterfront then back through the city. I was hoping to do about 8 km. The run down to the waterfront was great. I don’t know why but I was running quite fast (by my standards) and had to make a concious effort to slow down. I think I was just really in the mood for a run and was glad to be out and about! Once I got to the waterfront I ran around the Hilton again and then headed off into the Viaduct area. The plan was then to head around the waterfront to the Harbour bridge and then cut through the city to the finish.

However, I took a wrong turn somewhere and while I was going in the right general direction I wasn’t 100% sure where I was. I saw a promising looking track and headed off down it. It progressed for about 50 metres and then there was a sharp turn and what did I see. A staircase! I don’t know why but I seem to have a talent for finding staircases. This was no ordinary staircase. There was a big sign at the bottom saying Jacob’s Ladder. Boy it was steep. It went up about 90 steps and I did not enjoy it! The only picture of it that I could find was here.

I then ran through suburbia looking for a street that would take me back to the shoreline. I finally found one (after running through many hilly little side streets) and it took me into Westhaven Reserve. There is a great track that runs along the shoreline and under the Auckland Harbour Bridge. The track then runs into Westhaven Marina and the thousands of boats moored there. I could definitely tell why they call Auckland the City of Sails as I ran past all the boats. I then ended up at the point where I had made the wrong turn earlier so I decided to just go back the way I had originally come.

At this point I had already done about 7 km and I was still 4 km from where I wanted to be. I decided I would change my run to a 10K run and use the last km to cool down.

Those last three kilometres were rather tough but it was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and I just kept going. I’ll freely admit that I was sorely tempted to pull into one of the many cafes in downtown Auckland and get a Mocha but I didn’t.

I did 10.29 km in 1:01:29 which means my average pace was 5:59 per km which is my fastest yet on a 10 km run. I actually hit 10K at 59:45 which is my first sub 1 hour 10K run. Funnily enough I thought I was going a lot slower than the other day when I thought I was going fast. Maybe my Garmin was is playing tricks on me.

Not long to go till my next 5K on Sunday. I’m really looking forward to that.

Tags: running by AndrewE
17 Comments »

I have my next 5K race on Sunday so in order to get all my runs in this week I need to run Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  I like to have at least one day off between each run.

As such, seeing as today is Monday, I needed to get a run in.  Unfortunately my schedule was pretty full today so I had to run after dinner.  This was the first time I ran in the dark and in the rain. Truth be told it was rather nice.

There is a 5K loop very close to my house that my wife and I often walk and I thought it would be great to run it.

The first half of the run was uphill and the rain started just when I really needed it. I was all hot and already tired from running uphill and a gentle drizzle started to come down and it was great as it cooled me down very nicely. A few minutes in and it got quite a bit heavier but it never bothered me at all. I didn’t even have my running cap on as I’d left it next to the front door (so that I wouldn’t forget it on my way out…).  Turns out the fogging up of the glasses only happens when you stop running.

I don’t know why but I felt really fast today. The run went really well and I was really enjoying it. However, when I got back home and checked the Garmin it turns out that I was going a lot slower than I thought I was. I guess the uphill in the first half took most of my energy. I did 4.7 km in 27:53 so it wasn’t too bad. Why only 4.7 km instead of 5 km? Well I was going to do a loop of the cricket grounds at the end of my run but it had turned into a mudpit so I thought bugger that for a lark and just ran home instead.

I’ve got an alumni event at work tomorrow and it should be really interesting. I’ll be meeting a lot of people who haven’t seen me since I was 42 kgs (90 odd pounds) heavier than I am now. Should be fun.

Tags: running by AndrewE
28 Comments »

I’m participating in the Runner’s Lounge Take It and Run Thursday session. This week we have to post questions on our blogs. So here are mine:

Winter is looming for us Southern Hemisphere types and if I want to continue running outside I’ll have to run in the rain.

What wet weather gear do you recommend?

And for those runners who are optically challenged: How do you stop your glasses from steaming up?

Tags: running by AndrewE
27 Comments »

Remember how I posted I had a cold on Monday? Well today is Friday here in sunny rainy New Zealand and I’ve still got it and it’s damn annoying. Work has been incredibly busy this week and I haven’t gotten home before 9pm the last 3 days.

I managed to get a run in yesterday as I was feeling real antsy as I hadn’t done any exercise this week. I managed to squeeze in about 3.8 km in 21 minutes on the treadmill so it was just a quick little blast. The treadmill is a little boring but good for maintaing a steady pace.  Oh well, the weekend looms and I’ll have time to do a nice long run outside.

Tags: running by AndrewE
9 Comments »

As mentioned previously, I had a weekend away in Napier. While there I managed to get in two runs.

The first of these was my long run for the week. I wanted to get in at least 10 km as that is what I did last week.

I had gotten up at 5am and then driven from 6:05 till about 11ish as I had driven from Auckland to Napier. The drive itself was fine. However, about 3 hours in my baby daughter woke up and then verbally expressed her displeasure with being strapped in for the next 2 or so hours. So needless to say it was a bit tough.

We met up with our friends in Napier and then had an enjoyable afternoon visiting wineries and having lunch etc. We had hired a house for the weekend and we got there about 3:30ish. I started off for my run at about 4 after unpacking and seeing that my wife and daughter were settled in.

Truth be told my physical condition was not conducive to a great run. I was tired and sore from sitting down for most of the day. Having said that it felt really good to be outside by the beach and running. For the first twenty five minutes or so. Then it became a bit harder. Then a lot harder. Not so much physically, but much more mentally. I started playing little games with myself. I’d tell myself I’ll run for the next 500 meters then have a rest. Then when I got there I’d say 500 more! and so on.

About 6km in I made a big mistake by heading down and running on the beach for a bit. As you can see from the picture on the right, it looks really great but it’s actually a gravelly rock beach so it’s actually really hard to run on. I stuck with it for about 100 meters but it was just too hard so I headed back to the grassy verge next to the road.

I was really feeling it then and had to resort to more mind games in order to continue running.

About 7 kms in I hit Meeanee Quay. How appropriate I thought. My body reckons I’m being a meanie by making it run today. I turned around at this point and started heading back to our holiday house. For some reason the running is always easier when you know you are heading home.

I got back and boy I felt great. The runners high kicked in when I knew I didn’t have to run anymore!

I managed to do 10.2 km which I was really pleased with. It took me 1:02:42.

My second run was a bit more normal. I woke up at 5am to give my daughter her morning bottle and decided that it would be nice to be out and running when the sun came up. So I had my breakfast and then headed out at about 6ish. It was a beautiful morning and I really enjoyed the run.

I took it easy and did a nice 5.1 km in about 30 minutes.

I know I can go faster now so I’m looking forward to my next race. Two weeks away on a nice flat course.

I was particularly pleased that I ran while I was on holiday as well.  As a matter of fact I really, really wanted to run and for me that is something special.  I have turned running into an addiction habit and that can only be a good thing.

Tags: OHR, running by AndrewE
19 Comments »

When I got up today it was raining so I didn’t think I’d be running outside. However, about a half hour later it wasn’t looking too bad so I thought I might as well give it a go. I was supposed to meet up with my colleague who I ran with before but he was a no show today so I went by myself.

I didn’t really have a fixed route in mind today but then as I got going I decided I would head off into an area I had never been before even though it is very close.

I started off in the Domain which is where most of my weekday runs start as it is very close to where I work (red dot on the map). I headed into Parnell and then ran down St Stephens road (past many million dollar homes) until I arrived at Pt Resolution.

Pt Resolution is a tiny park on top of a cliff looking down over the harbour. The views are absolutely stunning from up there and I was just sorry I didn’t have my camera with me. Next time I’ll bring along a small camera as the views are tremendous.

There were quite a few stairs going down the cliff which I negotiated rather gingerly as they were very wet. I’ve marked that point with a yellow dot on the map.

I then ran around the waterfront (into a very strong headwind!) and headed back up to work as the rain started to fall again.

I did 6.13 km in 37:24 so it was a nice gentle run.

Work is offering free flu jabs today so I’m off to get one. I did a cholesterol test last week and I’m hoping my results arrive today. I’ll let you know how I did once I know.

Tags: OHR, running by AndrewE
14 Comments »

I had my second 5K race today. It has been raining all week in Auckland so I was a little concerned that it would be a wet race but the day dawned crisp and clear and frigging freezing! 8 degrees this morning apparently.

The race was Race 2 of the Run Auckland series as was held at Harbourview Peoples Park (there’s a communist sounding name if ever I’ve heard one) in Te Atatu. There was a great view of the Auckland skyline from the course.

There were over a thousand entrants but, like last time, most of the entrants were in the 10K race. We had about 300 or so in the 5K event. I got a good spot near the front this time as I was held up a lot by walkers last time as I had started near the back thinking that I didn’t want to get in the way of the faster people. This time I was determined to set a personal record. I was aiming for about the 30 minute mark but was hoping to go slightly faster. My official time from the first race was 31:01 and I’m definitely fitter than I was then.

The gun went and we were off. I started off way too fast (again!) as I did the first kilometre in 5:18 which is faster than I have ever gone before. The ironic thing about this is that I spent a good deal of the drive to the event telling my mate that I planned to do the first kilometre slowly as last time I had gone out too fast. Damn the adrenalin!

The second kilometre is where everything went horribly wrong. We arrived at a fork in the road and the marshall was missing. So the leaders took the wrong fork as they could see the 10K folk in the distance up that fork. About 500 metres in I decided that we had gone the wrong way and turned back. I kept telling everyone around me and most of us turned around. I never did find out what happened to the leaders of the pack. I guess they eventually realised and turned around. The official results will make some interesting reading as I’m fairly sure all the faster folks went the wrong way.

The rest of the race was good. I did great times at every split and hit the 5K mark at 27:45 on my Garmin which is a new personal best.   Every single kilometre split was under 6:00 min/km which means I would have made my goal of beating 30 minutes quite handily.

Unfortunately I still had about a kilometre to go and as I knew my chance of a official PR was gone I just took the last bit real easy and jogged back slowly. My overall time was 33:48 for 5.95 km which I feel is still a great time overall.

Once I was done I went back looking for my mate and found him about 12 mins behind me. I jogged the last 500 metres of the course with him to cheer him on and then we celebrated a great event. We’d both finished and we’d both had a great time.

Here’s a photo of me afterwards looking mightily pleased with myself:

I figured there was no point getting annoyed by the poor marshalling of the event as I still had a great time and still felt that I had run better than ever before. My next race is in 3 weeks and is supposedly a flat and straight track that is designed for setting personal records! I’m looking forward to that one!

As an aside, it is my blogging buddy Marshmallow’s birthday today. Happy birthday Marshie!

Tags: running by AndrewE
22 Comments »

Today’s scheduled run (OHR program) called for a run of 38 minutes. I decided that I would be a bit ambitious and try to run up one of the volcanic cones that is quite close to my workplace - not the same one that I ran around last week.

Auckland is built on top of a volcanic field so we have a lot of volcanoes (all extinct I think) around the place.

I started off in the Auckland Domain and headed up Mountain Rd towards Mt Eden. Mt Eden is the volcanic cone I wanted to run up. I should have realised that a road called Mountain Rd would be all uphill but it wasn’t too bad.

I arrived at the bottom of the volcano and that’s when I realised how steep the climb was. I ran most of the way up it but the last 200 metres or so were too damn tough were stairs and it was slippery so I walked them (that’s my story and I’m sticking with it). The view from the top was great and I felt rather virtuous having made it up. Running down it wasn’t bad at all as it was all downhill.

I then headed in towards the city and decided I would run a different route back to my starting point. Unfortunately the run took me past a lot of little cafes and bakeries and the smells were making me really hungry. I was thinking some fond thoughts of a custard pie. Fortunately I left my wallet back in my car so I wasn’t overly tempted.

I ran over the motorway and saw hundreds of people sitting in their cars not really moving much and it felt so great to be outdoors and running.

I arrived back in the domain and was supposed to end my run but I was really enjoying it so I decided I would run a little longer and added an extra loop through Parnell which headed me back towards work.

If you click through to the actual map you will notice that I ran over 10 km today! That’s a personal best and a major milestone for me. It took me 1:09:11 which includes a short walk up the stairs as mentioned earlier.

I probably shouldn’t have run that far but it just felt good today so I did.

Some of you may have noticed that my traineo counters on the right have also hit another mini milestone. This morning I hit over 90 pounds lost. That means I am now just over 75% of the way towards my goal.

Since I started running this year I’ve lost 30 pounds and done 132.5 km worth of running. Not bad if I say so myself.

That is week 05 of the One Hour Runner program completed. Hmm - I ran for over an hour today but I still have 5 weeks to finish the program!

Tags: Milestones, OHR, running by AndrewE
24 Comments »