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Milton, Ontario, Canada

Monday, November 30, 2009

And so it begins...

Goals do a wonderful thing to motivation.

Last week I ran a total of 20.5km.

I'm sure this is a record for me.

I'm very proud of that total even though it is no where near to the mileage that some of the 'serious' runners I 'know' do every week.

This time last year, I would have been happy to run 12-15k in a week. Now, just over 20k doesn't seem like enough.

I'm having a hard time fitting it all in, but the point is I'm fitting in runs where and when I can. Last week I ran Tuesday and Thursday evening and did a longer run with Sarah on Saturday. I had great plans to begin this week with a 4-5k run on Sunday but to be honest, my feet (the bottom of my left heel to be exact) were hurting badly.

Sarah thinks that it is time for me to purchase new shoes. I'm assuming she's right. My shoes were purchased over a year ago and have logged over 100 trips to Curves and over 400km. Currently I have New Balance (737's I think) and I like them. I have orthotics, so I need shoes that allow the sole to be removed and in the past 3 pairs of shoes, NB's have never let me down. I think a trip to a specialty store is in order though. Why not let the experts fit me correctly instead of buying the NB's that are on sale.

So, depending on how cold it actually is tomorrow at lunch (and how busy I am), I'll either put another dent in the remaining 94k or I'll shop for shoes and run on the treadmill after dinner. Either way, the 500k goal has re-ignited the motivation that was sorely lacking for a few weeks.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Okay, so I'm not teh krazy...

There is no way on "God's green earth" (do you remember my love of Survivor? That's a quote from this past week) that I can run over 200km in 38 days.

It was a good thought this afternoon and it got me off of my ass tonight and plowed me through 6.1km on the treadmill, but really?

I can't do it.

I'd likely injure myself.

That's not the real reason though.

The real reason why I can't run over 200km in just 5 weeks is because of two things that are directly related:

1) I like to drink
2) Tis the season

Now don't get me wrong, I can not drink. I mean, I made it through a pregnancy and a year of breastfeeding, but when the reason isn't the health of my kid, I don't like to give up the grog.

So, I've revised my goal.

I will run 500km this year and I started tonight.

I have to run just over 2.9km every day for the next 37 to meet the goal. This means that if I run 6k every other day, I'm gold. If I get out on the weekends for 10k runs, I'm way ahead.

And, I can take those nights off to enjoy the wine/rye/gin etc of the season as well.

I like this plan. I can't wait to see it happen.

Motivation?

If I run 5.6km/3.5mi every day for the rest of the year, I’ll hit my 600km goal.

Maybe that’ll work.

Back on the ... treadmill

I managed to put another 5k on the treadmill last week on Thursday as planned. I had eaten an enormous lunch so did not need dinner and managed to run at 7pm after a small snack. It was a great time to run because I had no time to relax after work. I’m having a hard time determining how I was able to get so many miles on the treadmill last winter. What motivation did I have a year ago that I just don’t seem to have now?

Sarah and I had originally planned to run on Saturday, but she cancelled due to prepping for her kid’s birthday party (silly gal was trying to do it all). While I should have taken the opportunity to get out on my own, I decided to sleep in instead. I missed any chance to run that afternoon as we had a dinner party that night that I needed to prep for. Sunday was a write off as we went to see family.

In other news, I’m trying to decide if I want to close out 2009 with a race. I’m sure there are a few 5 or 10k’s I could make but I just don’t know if I want to. Even if I could get out for mid-day/morning runs, I do not want to brave the cold. Brr. And yes, I know we’ve had crazy high temps for November.

Ah well. Still trying to get my mojo back, maybe an impending race is just what I need. The plan is to begin ½ marathon training in January so at least I’ll have some motivation then.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

(no title)

I had a hard time coming up with a title for this post. I didn’t want to fall into the old trap of writing, “Finally” or “I’m back” or “It’s been a while” or anything like that. Suffice to say I haven’t blogged in a while.

This means I haven’t run in a while.

In fact, I have not run since October 31st.

And that one was a shitty 7k in HIGH. SPEED. WIND. WARNINGS. With Sarah.

I took a week off due to illness and then, I took a week off due to lethargy.

Yep.

Good ole, “I don’t give a flying fuck right now so I’m going to sit on my couch with booze in my flannel PJs and watch reality TV” (everyone has these weeks right?).

So.

That pity party ended on Sunday when I took my willpower and vitality back (you go girl) and decided that it was time to hop back on the treadmill/paths.

Yesterday I worked from home and after a look at the sun shining outside and a peek at the Weather Network, I decided to power up the treadmill and step on it for 50 minutes (I know! The real runners who are reading are groaning at the fact that I turned down a perfect, sunny, fall day of outdoor running to enjoy the drudgery of the basement treadmill. But, I watched the Tyra Banks show while running – surely that makes up for something). The first 25 minutes flew by (and trust me, Tyra was not that exciting). I clearly remember thinking, “Wow! I didn’t loose as much as I thought." I got through the next 25 minutes pulling 8 and 1s, keeping my pace a steady 5.4. I ended up running 6.92km and am very happy.

I shall run again tomorrow night.

Except this time I will have Jeff Probst to keep me company.

Friday, November 6, 2009

I've been sick all week

Not with the H1N1, but I've felt like crap all the same.

Ran with Sarah on Saturday afternoon (Oct 31st) and could barely do 7k (yes there were 60-80k winds and a warning from Enviornment Canada).

The plan is to keep mending over the weekend and attempt to restart Sunday or Monday.