Ahh, trackwork done and dusted, yeewww! Feel like I smashed it this morning. Well, for me personally anyhoo. This morning was a 1.6km warm up, then 6x 1.6 at VO2max pace (between 3:45-3:55 for me) with 3 minute rests and then 1.6 cool down. Felt really strong and much better at this workout than two weeks ago, so wow, training must be working hey. Who knew?! My fastest kilometer according to trusty Garmin was 3:47, woohoo! Last time it was 3:55. And my fastest mile, although I don’t work in miles so this is fairly meaningless for me, ohwell, was 6:05. I still very much needed those 3 minute rests though, and walked to recover during those delicious 3 minutes.

 

So, training for this week = very much on track = happy Lou J

 

Another thing making me happy this week = finally having found a wine that I love here in China – and it’s only taken me almost 2 years to find it, haha. It’s a Chilean Sav Blanc that one of the bigger supermarket sells and is slightly pricier than the Chinese reds we usually buy, but sooo much nicer and one bottle usually lasts me three days, so I feel fully justified in this purchase.

 

So, another sunny but hazy (polluted?) day here in our part of China. Kind of counting down the weeks now til AUSTRALIA!!! Just a bit excited. Then it’s our Chinese road-trip to Inner Mongolia straight after that! Roll on July. Have a GREAT day everyone!

Frosty this morning, but still no snow. Booo... Weather report lied to us. BUT, no rain, and there was blue skies and sunshine late yesterday arvo.

This morning's run was an easy usual riverside route, shorter route than on Tuesday, but bliss just the same. Yesterday was a cross-training day and I did some strength training. Nothing much to report other than STILL haven't started that ab work I was on about last week, and this week is now shaping up to be busier than previously thought, what with a still-ill husband layed up in bed, a visiting mother to introduce to the students and centre the lessons around her visit, coaching some students for the finals in an English contest, preparing our performance or program for next week, trying to show Mum around town in between teaching and planning weekend trips while she's here, AND a call late last night for some last minute translations/proof reading of about 8 essays for today's coaching of said students. In the words of this awesome little parrot dude, WTF?!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbfzahtZsN8

Maybe we'll see this view tomorrow morning, c'mon the snow!:

Pissing down rain here at the moment, so had a wet/slippery, but awesome, run this morning. One of my usual routes down by the riverside. Just under an hour's bliss to start the day. The weather forecast said it was going to snow, so I was looking forward to a white, picturesque run, but no such luck yet. It's cold enough to though, so if it's going to be this cold then it may as well be beautiful and festive feeling!

So, bit apartment-bound at the moment, which is such a shame as we want to be showing my mum all the beautiful parts of our city, rather than just the school grounds. Hey-ho, only day 2 of her trip to this city, so fingers crossed the weather sorts itself out this arvo.

Got a question to pick your brains with this morning: Husband and I have to perform a 'program' soon (get up on a stage and make 'laowei' fools out of ourselves for the amusement of the government people hosting an end of year party). Something like this:

Last year we performed that Aussie classic 'Waltzing Matilda', and when I say 'we' performed it, it was really Husband singing and me waving the Australian flag. But, they have said we cannot do the same program this year! Nuts. So, any ideas for songs we could sing? I am thinking some kind of duet - I like the idea of Human League's 'Don't You Want Me', as it's kinda more spoken than sung and we both have our definitive man/woman part to sing.

Any good duets that you can recommend? Cheers!

Morning! (Or evening depending where you all are). I'm still on the face on this planet, just haven't been able to log on and write on here due to Shanghai shenanigans and welcoming my mum to China. But she has arrived! Just got back from this beautiful city yesterday:

I will post more pictures soon (this was taken two weeks ago when we were there for the marathon, but hey-ho, pretty similar still).

So, my posts may be few and far between, or maybe just short and sweet but will try my best to keep you updated during this month. Got a shortish, easy run in yesterday, along the riverside / The Bund in Shanghai. Love that city, but not the smog.

Now we're back in our own city - pissing down rain and windy! Nice welcome for Mum hey :) Oh, and the speech has been postponed AGAIN due to weather (will it ever happen?). No run today doe to weather, and not sure if tomorrow's the go. May have to focus more on cross training this week.

Ok, must go and sort some things, but I hope wonderful weeks are on the cards for you all.

After yesterday's freezing cold morning (yep, these three layered runs are becoming a bit of a regular thing now), it actually turned into a gorgeous, sunny (almost hot) day here. So, after work we headed out on our bicycles to a local park so that Puppy could run around and we could lay on the grass for a bit (felt SO good hey). We realised as soon as we got out the door and into the glorious sunshine that her newly purchased, super-stylin puppy jacket wasn't needed, but here's a couple of 'just-because' shots of her in it (just because she's so f'kin cute!):

As soon as we could, our respective jacket/shoes/boots came straight off for some prime time feel-the-grass action:

Seriously. Haven't tried just lying on the grass lately? Give it a whirl. Feels pretty amazeballs.

Here is Puppy expressing just how good it feels (we call her the dog of many faces - here's her best 'pissing-myself-with-laughter-as-am-thrilled-to-be-at-the-park' face):

And yes, an extra 'just because' shot of the autumnal colours of the leaves changing colour (had to get this before it is too late and they start to fall):

And back to some running musings now: Today I ran a 9km (ish) endurance pace run. It took 40 minutes. So, think that's roughly the same pace as yesterday's run. Hopefully, I can repeat this on race day. Felt pretty strong today and like I could have kept on running for many more kilometres, so that's a good sign. Also, I read a great quote yesterday, and wish I could remember who by or where I saw it, as my paraphrasing of it here is going to be much less eloquent, but here goes: it was something along the lines of that humans need and love to 'play' and that running is just a form of play, even when we try to be really good at it. This concept really made me smile at points during my run this morning, and I reflected on my 9km of playtime before the day really starts. This is getting added to my mental log of running mantras now, and whenever things seem tough or I get a little tired, I'll try to remember that it's all just playing anyway, and not to take it so seriously.

So, have a fookin fantastic Friday everyone, filled with fun times and PLAYING.

Feeling the cold here now. Wore THREE tops to run in on my long run this morning, plus the usual gloves and long running pants. Still cold now (having not moved much since I returned - trying to psych myself up to get into our cold, uninspiring bathroom). The weather report for the low temperature today says this:

But it feels more like ZERO methinks.

Still, it was nice: crisp and fresh on my run, not wet, which was a blessing, and there was the beautiful, big, orange orb of sun rising up as I ran past the eery, completely still river with its ghostly fog hovering just above the surface. However, it was not my best run. Had a lot of (womanly) pain for most of it (whoever said that exercise made it better??) but those excellent endorphins kicked in at about kilometre 15. An elderly gentleman speeding past me in the opposite direction gave me a hearty thumbs up as he went, to which I eagerly responded with my own thumb of course (the equivalent of a Chinese runners' high-five perhaps?), so this gave me a well needed boost. As did seeing a former student of mine near the end of the run and hearing an enthusiastic 'Hello Louise!'.

So, another week's training done and dusted = feeling awesome. :) Time for zao fan (breakfast) and probably more exploring/cycling, shopping and lots of COFFEE this weekend (once I get back up that is).

Have a great weekend everyone! And all the best to those running in a race tomorrow (i.e. Maggie! All the best for the marathon! What a great birthday present to yourself hey!).

Boo... Rainy and cold here today. This means: 1) I did NOT go for my training run as planned this morning, but chose staying put in my warm, comfy(ish, well ok, rock-hard Chinese) bed with Hot Husband (you know I would chose you over a run anytime Lovely, if you're reading this!); and 2) now I will get the joy of a track workout run this arvo/evening in what looks to be an all-day raining session.

However, one big perk of this rainy, average Tuesday, is that now we can stay inside in the warm and dry thanks to a mid-term exam that all the students are having today. I arrived at my lesson this morning to be told this news. Love these surprise holiday/resting days! So, fingers crossed that by this evening it has cleared up enough for me to not pussy out of heading to the track.

What's on schedule for today is: a 2km warm-up, 8km tempo at half marathon pace, and then 2 km cool down. Hmm, now if I had been a bit less lazy this morning, then I could have run the 8km portion outside on one of my riverside routes, as it would have been early enough to avoid the crazy traffic (both vehicles and people traffic), however now I am resigned to the track, especially as it will more than likely be dark for some of my run (and I've well and truly learnt my lesson about running in the dark, after a sprained ankle earlier this year, owing to my stupidity when I thought going for a run in the early morning, in the dark, along a boardwalk on a beach, in a new city, was a good idea. It was a bad idea and I fell off the boardwalk, d'oh).

So, this is pretty much the view here today (yes, not my own picture, but you get the idea):

This change in the weather (i.e. it is now the COLD you would expect from November) has meant that I have rediscovered my porridge (or Oatmeal to those American readers) addiction. Seriously, it's turned into a staple food this past week. Does anyone else go through food phases and have mini-addictions? Am I the only one?? It usually turns me off the food for a while after I've had a few weeks of it though, so maybe my body knows and wants to let me know, 'ok Lou, move along now, nothing to see here, you've had quite enough porridge/toastie sandwiches/cereal/insert addictive foodstuff of the moment here'.

So, back to lesson planning / internet research for me. I know it seems I am very happy to get my lessons cancelled, but actually this is not the case (well, maybe half the case). The same thing happened with the same students last week, so by the time we see them again, they will be two weeks behind all the other students with our lessons. Hey-ho, will they remember our names?!

Have truly terrific Tuesdays everyone! :)