January 2006 Archives

that's what I looked like after my long run on Sunday morning.

I have never run for that long (12 miles) and the rain never stop or even ease up. It was mild out maybe 3/42, but once your are soaking wet and the wind is blowing you can't get warm. And when I say soaking, I could actually rink out my sports bra, which was below a t-shirt, long sleeve shirt and jacket.

things you learn when you are out in the rain for 2 hours

... I use too much tide, my clothes started to foam up

... when my leggings start to collect water, I really start wondering if I peed my pants

... all parts of me start to shrink, but everything I'm wearing gets bigger ... and heavier

... getting warm again is actually painful ... like standing under a hot shower, you start to itch and want to rip your skin off

... I could actually pour water out of my shoes like a teapot!

On the bright side ... it was an awesome run time and speed wise, pretty close to a pr for me, 1.54 for 12 miles, and only one stop at an organized waterstop.

I was incredibly busy last week ... no time to blog and missed a couple runs. I promise this week things will be better, I am also more motivated due to a definite improvement in my time, speed and endurance.

Speedwork on Tuesday was tough but it didn't kick my butt like the week before. We did 4 x 800 with 200 rest lap. It was still tough but I think I paced myself better than I did for the 600s.

Thursday night we had 8 miles on the schedule, I left my watch and garmin at home on purpose, so I would just have a slow pressureless run. I ran with people who are a little slower than me, and I think it was actually harder to run slow than push myself. By the time we got to 3 miles, I just didn't care about the run and wanted to go home. We took a walking waterstop break I after that I could barely get my legs to move again.

I missed my normal Saturday morning run due to lack of sleep. Yes it was self inflected, I went out for a few drinks after work on Friday night and finally got to bed at 5am ... but it was a great night

I have been so busy at work I haven't had time to blog ... outrage!

Sunday's run was fan-bloody-tastic ... if I had of done 10 miles, but I did 13, it is amazing how the 3 bad-tired-sore miles are what I remember. We did north street, which after doing around the bay, this hill is slightly bigger and longer than the beast that awaits me on March 26. The hill was no problem, nor the down hill back to the park ... wooo hooo yippppeeee downhill. But the last three were brutual. That's the longest run I've done since Chicago, last weeks 10.5 miles was the longest before Sundays run.

It seemed to happen really quickly too, one minute, oh look at me, flying along ... then BAM ... legs 248 lbs heavier, feet burning.

When I woke up Monday morning I was greeted with the feeling that felt familiar yet strange. and when I say strange I mean PAIN. Holy Hip Flexors ... you go about you day to day life completely unaware of what a muscle actually does ... then you realise it makes walking possible!

after speedwork kicked my butt on Tuesday night I felt a little dishearted about my progress. I was still tired on Thursday so wasn't looking forward to that run either. Thursdays 6 miler turned out to be awesome. Just what I needed to boast the running moral. It was a hilly route ... the general theme of all our group runs from now til Around the Bay ... preparing us for those 10k of rolling endless hills. I know I will be thankful in March ... right now it just seems like a lot of *&@#ing hills!

Saturday we did an easy 3 miles with the 10k group, who aren't doing around the bay, so they picked the route ... hmmm .... hills, after the first one, D and I detoured and did several loops of the local park, the local flat park!

On Saturday evening one of the runners in the 10k through a get ready for Vegas party. There are 20 or so of the group that want to run the vegas marathon. It was a lot of fun, complete with black jack and roulette tables.

I was so inspired by last weeks speedwork session, I thought I owned that track ... this week ... not so much!

Firstly, I will blame everything but moi. I didn't want to go to speedwork last night, when I left work it was pouring with a mix of rain and ice rain. Quite frankly dangerous, or also know as a night to get take out a movie and veg on the sofa in comfy cozy clothes under a blanket. To make it worse, if possible, the workout doesn't start til 8pm, so I have 3 hours to create an excuse not to go. Anyway, I finally covinced myself to go, physically I went, mentally I was still at home.

You know it's going to be tough workout out when the warm up laps exhaust you!

The workout was

5 x 600m with 200m slow jog lap between each.

I was consistent for the first 3, about 63 seconds per 200m, around 3 min 9 seconds per 600m. Then came the 4th one. First lap on pace 63 seconds, second 200m, 80 seconds ... not sure if I blacked out or pasted through a worm hole but somehow gained 17 seconds ... I felt like I was running at the same speed. Didn't make any time up on the last lap. The final one came in on pace, but only because it was the last one!

This is the first mentally negative run of the season, there are other factors that affect a run, time, what you eat, sleep etc. But I really do think if you aren't there mentally it is alot harder physically.

All that being said, afterwards I felt great, a ton of energy and I was really happy I went.

Today my legs especially my IT Bands are tight ... must do some stretching after work. Going to see The Family Stone tonight.

It was a great week, I got all but one run in, sacraficed a run for a weight workout at the gym. All the runs felt great, so getting back into the routine of training without any problem ... just tired. You know the tired that when the alarm goes off it takes a while to figure out what the noise is, you hit snooze and don't even remember, that sorta tired.

Thursday we had an 8 mile tempo run. I'm not good and tempo, I just run at the speed I am running at and that's it. I am making a effort to check my time at the half way point and compare the first half to second half of my run. Thursdays run was a tempo run! Mainly because I felt like crap for the first 3 miles. I really didn't want to do 8 miles, I was thinking 6 was good enough, then D gave me the look ... the guilt we are in this together look ... so I caved and pushed on. Turns out once I got past 3, it felt pretty good.

Saturday did an easy 3 miles ... easy because that what it's called on the schedule ... but it was windy and cold, not a pleasant experience at all.

Woke up Sunday to freeze temperatures of - 14 ... brrrrrrr. Immediately thought this is going to be a horrible run. Stopped and got a coffee on the way to the run. D always drinks coffee before his morning runs, I have been scared to try it in case it doesn't react well with my stomach, but I found last year during long early morning runs that I would be tired and be dreaming of the coffee awaiting me at the end. So experimented today. It worked, no bad side effects, no emergency potty breaks. I felt awake throughout the run.

We did the Springbank route, so there were plenty of hills ... will be ready for Around the Bay. I lost a glove somewhere between mile 2 and 3. Back tracked, but couldn't find it. Figured I wouldn't need it anyway cause I had taken my gloves off. Saw Pat at the waterstop and she had two pairs and offered me one, no I'll be fine. 5 minutes later ... holy crap, my hands were like ice! I had a neck thing on took it off to wrap my hands in like a muff, because it was around the back of my head, the short hair had sweated, it was a block of ice back there.

I saw this on Susan's blog and Deene's blog ... loved it so I have stolen it ...

Four jobs I've had:
1. Communication Officer
2. Graphic Designer
3. Event Planner
4. Ice-cream scooper

Four places I've lived:
1. Ireland ... born there
2. Trinidad .... from I was 4 - 9
3. England .... from I was 22 - 31
4. Canada .... where I live now

Four movies I could watch over and over:
1. Finding Nemo
2. A Fish called Wanda
3. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation
4. About a Boy ... when they sing with their eyes closed ... kills me

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Amazing Race
3. Seinfeld
4. ER

Four websites I visit daily:
1. weather network
2. bloglines
3. bbc news
4. work homepage

Four of my favorite foods:
1. french fries
2. seafood ... any and all
3. dips and things you dip in them
4. wine

Four places I've been on vacation:
1. Egypt
2. Kenya
3. St Lucia
4. Amsterdam

Four places I'd rather be:
1. england
2. at a pool bar in the caribbean
3. in bed
4. with matthew mcconaughey

Four albums I can't live without:
1. dido's life for rent
2. bon jovi .. any
3. bette midler - best of
4. meatloaf bat out of hell

Four vehicles I've owned:
1. honda civic
2. mazda miata
3. 10-speed bike
4. running shoes

last night we had our first indoor track workout of the season

It is a bonus having the speedwork indoors this time of year, cause you can wear shorts and t-shirts instead of 22 layers! The workout was pretty simple, 5 x 400m with one lap slow jog inbetween each 400m, then 200m, 200m rest, 200m. I haven't timed myself since October, so I wondered how much my months of doing not alot would effect me. Turns out, everything is working fine, if not better than normal

400m - 1.58
400m - 1.59
400m - 1.56
400m - 2.01
400m - 1.53

200m - .52
200m - .47

The last one was nearly the death of me ... hello dinner ... almost! Felt great afterward, sleep well, but struggled to get up this morning, like in a coma tired. Calves are tight today, not sure if I will run after work ... oh ... here come the excuse ... one, it's raining, I know I won't melt, two, calves are tired and tight.

and I haven't missed a training run yet! Okay so it is only day 5 ... but still.

Saturday morning we had 3 miles to do, I met the 10k group downtown at the market. The snow was back, which made the footing really slippery and totally affected everything from breathing to speed to motivation. Got the distance in thanks to running buddies, I think if I had been by myself I would of walked or abandoned the run altogether.

Sunday was a much better day weather wise, it was sunny and mild in the morning. The sun makes such a difference in your energy levels. We have been sun deprived here for weeks. It was our first long run and my first long run for about 6 weeks. It started off good, a little fast which I realized around 2.5 miles when I was huffing and puffing. At mile 3, D wondered if he was having a bad day or was just unfit ... we decided we were both having a bad day, the route was hilly and we were running way too fast about 9 min/mile. We normally run around 10 - 10.30.

Around 3.5 miles we slowed down and this helped til about mile 5 then my quads tightened. I had completely forgotten what high mileage feels like ... it hurts! Not that 5 miles is high, I'll look back at this posting in a month and laugh, but when you are only running 10 ish miles a week ... So what happens when I feel tried, I take a water break (aka stop and walk and pretend to rehydrate) D is very supportive off water stops and he stops too.

I do feel guilty ... I posted I would stop this ... it was goal number 2 ... we start running again. The last mile is down hill, we pick up the pace and finish strong, which felt great. First long run ... 7.25 miles done. It was tough, but figure about 2 weeks from now, my body will be out of shock from no training to training and all will be good again!

The winter 2006 marathon group started last night. We had a brief talk from the coach about the next 18 weeks, then we were given our planners filled with quotes, projected times, tips and of course all the runs we are expected to do.

We had a 4 mile run tonight, it was mild, and all the snow that got dumped on us in december has melted, so we could run on the sidewalks without any problems. It was a great run, the fastest and hardest I've pushed myself in months. Today my quads ache ... but it is a wonderful, I remember those muscles, haven't felt this for sometime ache .... oh I did miss it!

Day off today, then an easy 3 miles on Saturday morning, then a long run ... 9 miles on Sunday, should be ready for nap Sunday afternoon, haven't run that far since November.

no more ...
hitting snooze on the weekends
having 4 days off in a row
sitting on the sofa instead of running
substituting coffee, pop and alcohol for water
cancelling a run because ... it's cloudy, dark, cold, raining
pain free walking up or down the stairs
staying up late on Saturday nights
sleeping in on Sunday morning
.... excuses

yipppeeeee