6 weeks and 2 days to go

With only 43 days to go until the 2011 Perth city to surf and me barely walking right i am wondering how i will go to manage the 12km city to surf. But thinking about it, this time last year i was still in Europe on holiday sitting on buses, sight seeing and eating too much glorious food and in no shape to run a good 12km run, but only had 5 weeks training when we got back and managed to run 53 and a half minutes for the 12km! So considering i am trying and going for bike rides and cross training there is still hope :)

I have been looking at the city to surf 12 week training guides and i am a little behind in terms of fitness training on hills and doing intervals but feel i could do the majority of the training with 4-8km runs each day. I love quotes and motivational sayings, so i am going to write down the ones on the city to surf training guide to always have with me in order of their weeks...

Week 1: Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal - anonymous

Week 2: If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon - Emily Zatopek

Week 3: Run the first part of a marathon with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart - Mike Fanelli

Week 4: Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it - Oprah Winfrey

Week 5: To win means nothing without the will to prepare - Juma Ikangaa

Week 6: Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?' - Peter Maher

Week 7: Ask yourself, 'Can i give more?' and the answer is usually 'Yes' - Pail Tergat

Week 8: In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that - Fred Lebow

Week 9: The miracle is not that i finished. The miracle is that i had the courage to start - John Bingham

Week 10: Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself. - William Faulkner

Week 11: You only ever grow as a human being if you're outside your comfort zone - Percy Cerutty

Week 12: There's no longer any room in your training plan for hard, fast or long runs. Forget them. If you run anything at or near race pace, don't run far. Strides can be enjoyed the day before a long race which are controlled sprints at a race pace but only by definition, short 150m at most. Soft surfaces are best and instead of jogging between strides, walk. In the race - apply everything you have practiced and don't throw away what you have worked for by going out too fast, listen to your body and stick to your training principles.

For me today, it was a rest day which also coincided with a mother and sister trip to Perth, so no training for me today.

Meals:

Breakfast - apple, orange and green tea

Lunch - Chicken, pumpkin, avocado and cous cous salad (from Sumo salad)

Afternoon - banana smoothie (made with real banana's from Pure and natural)

Dinner - carrot, pita and hummus, cheese and chives bread, chicken and a cupcake at a 21st party

Supper - green tea and piece of dark chocolate

Foot status - less painful and less hobble (yay!)

Just as a little calculation - in order to run 50 minutes for the 12km i need to run each kilometer in 4 minutes and 9 seconds. That is running at a pace of 14.5 kilometers an hour... hmm that will be a challenge! Last year rounding it to 54 minutes i would have been running about 13.5 kilometers an hour, that means if i was racing against my shadow i need to be almost a whole kilometer in front of myself last year... challenge accepted! Please heal quickly feet please!