About Me

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Milton, Ontario, Canada

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

What I ate Wednesday


Hosted by the very lovely and talented


Peas and Crayons
All food was consumed on Tuesday!

Breakfast: Cheerios and half a banana with milk

Once at my desk: Coffee and water



Snack before my run: Granola bar and yogurt

Lunch after my run: Homemade sweet potato soup, hard boiled egg, half a bread stick and chocolate milk

Afternoon snack: 3 squares of Lindt dark chili chocolate. Trust me and try it!

Dinner: Mum's homemade beef and rice cabbage rolls with potatoes and carrots. I forgot to take a photo, but the meal was awesome!


I hope you enjoyed a great day of eating as well!

11 Randoms

I was tagged by Robin and Caroline and here are my answers!

Here are the rules:

1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!

So, 11 Random things about me:

1. I’m growing out my hair and CAN’T wait until I can put it in a ponytail again. I always lose my hair post partum so I always chop it off.





About a month post partum with great hair (before it started falling out)



By five months, my hair was all gone!




My last haircut - in December!


2. I used/use cloth diapers for my babies – our favorite brand is Fuzzi Bunz
3. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts from York University – my major was Theatre history, theory and directing with a minor in Film and TV history and theory
4. I work as a media strategist at a big Canadian bank
5. I played zero sports in high school but was a competitive dancer, attending tournaments in Las Vegas and Florida
6. The longest distance I ever ran before I took up running at age 30 was 800 meters in grade six
7. Recently I’ve reduced my make up to just mascara and powder (because I have blond eyelashes)
8. I rarely wear make-up Friday-Sunday unless we are going somewhere important (grocery shopping doesn’t count)
9. I only JUST bought my first lululemon running item (long sleeved top) and I LOVE IT!
10. I love major league baseball – go Jays!
11. My dream job would be to work in the marketing department of the Toronto Blue Jays

From Robin:

1)What is the worst thing you've ever eaten? I can’t really think of anything right now – I tried quinoa as breakfast last week and it was gross despite the brown sugar and cinnamon
2) What is the most exotic place you've ever visited? Hmm – I’ve been to New Zealand and I’ve been to Australia, but I’m going to go with the Carcross Desert in the Yukon
3) If you won the lottery what would be the most important thing you did with the money? I’d do something that would help children – especially hungry children
4) Biggest pet peeve? People who show up at a meeting late – always
5) Are you a commuter to work? Yes, I take the Go Train – Whee 3 hour commute a day in total.
6) Favourite TV show? I love Amazing Race and Top Chef
7) Do you get enough sleep? Not lately – Fergus woke up at 4am today (I did lay on his floor until 515 though)
8) Have you ever experienced what you think is a miracle? – I’ve had two kids
9) Biggest goal for 2012? – Finish the Mississauga marathon
10) Winter or summer? Fall
11) Favourite person – My husband and my sons – a three way tie

From Caroline:

1. What is your favorite brand of running shoes? I’ve only worn New Balance
2. Favorite book you have read recently? The Hunger Games Trilogy
3. Letterman or Leno? Letterman, but I never watch – I’m in bed by 10pm
4. How are you today? Tired!
5. Who is someone you admire? My neighbour Vivette – she’s amazing
6. Reality TV: yes? no? if yes...confess the worst...I won't tell anyone Yes! I like Survivor, Amazing Race, Top Chef, Chopped
7. What makes you laugh? My kids
8. Why are the Kardashians famous again? No idea - I’ve never watched those shows
9. Favorite Olympic moment? – Crosby’s goal
10. What is something you cannot stand? People who are always late for meetings
11. When is your next race? March 4th! Chilly Half Marathon

I will not be tagging anyone as pretty much every blog I read has been tagged!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Mississauga Marathon Training - Week 4!

WooHoo! Yet another great week of training!

Monday: Rest Day.

Tuesday: Treadmill tempo during my lunch hour. This just felt good. I did the typical: 12 minute warm up, 20 minutes at 5:25/km pace and cool down to round out the 4 miles. 6.44k, 37:40

Wednesday: Ah-MAZ-ING ten k tempo. It was just a great, great run and it was a wonderful way to celebrate Robbie Burns day. This run was 15 minute warm up, 20 minutes at 5:25/km and the rest to cool down. Around 17 minutes, the clinic leader came up on me and I managed to gasp: "Don't push the pace. Three minutes. Left. Temp. O." He glided along with me until I was done and we ran the rest nice and easy. 10.12k, 59:12

Thursday: Official clinic night. We had a great injury prevention/stretching talk and then headed out for 8k easy. My legs wouldn't stay slow for this one. 8.24k, 50:53

Friday: As I had the Robbie Burns race on Sunday, I decided to do my long run on Friday as I work from home that day. It was a snowy morning, but it wasn't cold out and the snow was sticky, not slippery. By the end of the cut-back LSD my feet were soaked, but I was very happy to have finished the run:

16k, 1:39:51.

Saturday: Rest

Sunday:
Robbie Burns 8k race. A great, great day for a great, great run!


8k, 44:58.

Total KM: 48.8k
Total Time: 4:52:34
Average pace per KM: 0:06:00

The next two weeks will be key in keeping up my mileage as we are heading aboard this for a week of fun-filled family time February 12-19:


That's the Disney Wonder and we sail from LA to Mexico and back. It will be our first cruise, our first time in Mexico and our first family trip!

This is the first week when my LSD run actually matched that of the group and that my total distance is what it should be. While we are supposed to stay at 16k this week and head up to 23k the week after, I'm pretty sure I'll hit 18-20k this week and do my final long run before the trip on February 11th in honour of Sherry Arnold.

The weeks are flying by for sure!

How is your training? Are you heading on any winter holiday soon?

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Robbie Burns 8k Race Report

I hope you're rrrrrr-olling your RRRRRsss when you are reading the title!

What a fantastic race! I honestly don't think I could feel better about it at all.

Here's how it went down.

Kerry and I texted back and forth on Friday and Saturday and we decided to go out at marathon race pace (She's aiming for a 2hr half at Chilly - so am I, plus I'm training toward a 4hr marathon). She felt that it may be a bit too much for her for the entire 8k, but I knew that 5:40/km should be easy for me. We agreed that we'd evaluate as we went and cut each other loose if need be. It felt great to have a plan.

Race morning came late for me! I was just getting out of bed at 0630 when usually I'm almost on my way out the door for my long run at that time. Ahh, sleep! I got dressed, went downstairs to join my boys who were all already awake and ate my usual peanut butter and bagel. I even had a small coffee! I was feeling some stomach nerves which I thought was pretty odd as I was very confident that I'd have no problem with this race. I had such a bad pain in my left ribs when I was buttering my bagel that I had to squat down and do some Lamaze breathing to get though it (I guess you do use that stuff more then once twice). Once I ate, the pains went away though and I'm pretty sure it was just nerves. CRAZY!

I picked up Kerry and we were on the way by 0750. Traffic was non-existent and we were quickly at the high school start with Kerry exclaiming on the old building (she's a high school Phys. Ed teacher) and me smiling at all of the kilts. We got our race kits, and got our bibs on. I decided not to wear a fleece layer (thank goodness), but did add the socks my husband wore at our wedding:



I got a lot of smiles and encouragement when people saw my get-up and it felt so fun to be dressed up and ready to enjoy the race. I mean any race with this guy has GOT to be good, right?








Soon, we were being told to head out to the start and as we did, we got to pass by the Halton Police Pipes band:
There were great and set the right tone for a fun, great race.



Soon, were were hearing the final countdown and were off! Kerry and I were pretty close to the front, but it was still very congested. I asked if she wanted to wait until things cleared out a bit or weave and get on pace. The answer was weave and we did until we were settled in with people running at the same pace as us. At 1km, my garmin lap showed 5:41 and I gave Kerry a thumbs up, letting her know we were bang on pace. 2k and 3k went by much the same way and I said to Kerry - "Only 5k left! Piece of cake; we'll be done in half an hour." Kerry was pleased to hear it and I was thrilled with my ability to keep the pace around the mark we set, adjusting for the slight downhill as we ran on toward the lake.



I can't really explain how great this race and pace felt for me. I actually felt the exact same way I did when I ran Mississauga: I was having fun, I was feeling great and I was running fine. At 6k, I asked Kerry how she was doing and she was struggling a bit. I told her how amazing she was doing considering she had not done any speed-work in her training cycle and that there were less then 2k to go! She told me to go on without her and I said I wasn't ready yet. We ran for a bit more before she told me that she'd have to walk soon and when I looked at her, I knew she needed the break. I told her that she could totally do this and then bid her goodbye as I picked it up for the next 1.5k. I was flirting with my pace around tempo for the last bit of the race and really turned it on in the final 1k. It felt hard as I kept being hit with winds when we crossed streets but I knew that the race was almost over and that there was no point in slowing down. I finally finished a race passing people in the final kilometre! Before I knew it, I had turned the corner, and was running to the finish, smiling all the way. I realized that I would finish right at 45 minutes and was happy with the effort and my ability to control my race from start to finish.



Final Time: 44:57



Per Garmin; 5:41-5:40-5:34-5:38-5:35-5:42-5:37-5:14-4:14 (last 70m)



I'll be heading back to the race next year with an 8k PR goal for sure!

Friday, January 27, 2012

RRRRAAAAAAAAAAB-BIE BURRRRNS race goals

“Ah wad some power the giftie gie us
To see ourselves as others see us.”
― Robert Burns


This will be my very first 8k race.

I'm not really sure what to put down as a race goal.

I can aim for 10k race pace (5:31/km) and a time of 44:06.

I can aim for MRP (5:40/km) and a time of 45:20.

I can decide to run it with my friend Kerry at whatever pace she wants (I have no idea if she's even wanting to race it).

Either way, I've got to get 16k in either today or tomorrow and that may be the deciding factor on how fast I run (or not).

Well, that and the kilt I'll be wearing!

Here's tae the heath, the hill and the heather,
The bonnet, the plaid, the kilt and the feather.


Say "HI" if you see me!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

What I Ate Wednesday!

Hosted by the very lovely and talented


Peas and Crayons!

All food was consumed on Tuesday!

I started the day at 6:15 with Quick oats with brown sugar and frozen blueberries. I also took my Immunity drops with cranberry juice:




Then once I got to work at 8am, one of the best parts of the day:

10am snack time brought me some yummy fruit: pineapple and a clementine:

Post tempo run lunchtime: Mixed greens with quinoa, cherry tomatoes and balsamic dressing and a cheese string (I buy these in bulk so I'm not stealing them from my kids):

2pm snack time brought a 100 calorie granola bar (again, purchased for children, but finding its way into my lunch), and some water (I drank 4 of these glasses while at work):

And supper: Tex-Mex Fusilli:





And a final snack while watching the hockey game:


What did YOU eat today?

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Week 3! - Mississauga Marathon Training

Another fantastic week!

Monday: Rest. I did spend about 15 minutes doing some push ups, crunches, dips and planks. I need to do more of these.

Tuesday: Treadmill tempo during lunch hour. I hit the pace perfectly and felt great. 6.44k, 37:53

Wednesday: Group free run, 10k with Tempo. This run sucked. But as Lindsay pointed out, it was likely mental as I did most of the tempo at a pretty good pace. 9.63k, 56:40

Thursday: Clinic run. The schedule had us down for 8k, but the leader only had a 6k map. I wanted to stick to the schedule so I did the run and then tacked on the extra 2k from the store. This easy run felt great! 8k, 50:34

Friday: Rest. Man, I needed it!

Saturday: This was a beautiful day! The sun was shining, even if the sidewalks/roads were snowy due to a nighttime snowfall. I met with my friend Kerry and we ran together in the wonderful sun. 9.6k, 1:03:31

Sunday: I had a goal to run 30k this weekend which meant a 20k run on Sunday. I was scheduled to meet with Alison from the clinic and her friend Sarah in town for our run, but they were going shorter distances then me. I got around this by leaving my house at 0640 and running 5k before meeting with them for 14k more, plus 1k home after I left them. Another wonderful morning with clean roads. It feels so AMAZING to get back home before 9am knowing that the group has only run about 3-6k. 20k, 2:08:25

All in all, another great week minus Wednesday! I missed my highest mileage week by 2.45k, but I know I'll break that soon enough. Next week will be a cut back week as I'm racing the Robbie Burns 8k race on Sunday.

Total KM: 53.77
Total Time: 5:37:03
Average pace per KM: 0:06:16

Friday, January 20, 2012

When it just doesn't work

Wednesday's run was a really crappy run for me.

I went into the group run already thinking that I wouldn't do my tempo portion even though it was scheduled (and I'm pretty big on keeping to the schedule). I figured that I could do the run as easy and get the tempo in on Thursday or Saturday. I was so tired as my youngest son has been walking up throughout the night again and is up for the day around 4am (He was awake today, Friday, from 3-6 and then fell back asleep leaning against me on the couch. Yawn). I was not enthusiastic at all about running.

When we started the run, I ended up alone (again - that's what SUCKS about a small group - no one is at my pace) and I had quite the internal discussion going on about running the tempo versus saving it for later in the week (saving it! HA! Like its a treat or something!). The store manager who is running with our group doubled back from the front pack and we talked for a bit about it and while he didn't say anything one way or another, he pretty much agreed that if I was feeling okay, I should probably just get it done.

At 15 minutes into the run, I hit lap on my Garmin and picked up the pace to my McMillan target of 5:25/km (Running Room has me doing tempo at 5:44/km and has me racing at 5:42/km - that just seems wrong to me, thus McMillan who agrees that my Mpace should be 5:42 to achieve a 4 hour marathon). I felt pretty good for the first 10 minutes. I was alone (boo), but managing my internal chatter to keep motivated (the usual - "you can do anything for 20 minutes." "do you think running a MARATHON will be easy?" "Suck it up, macnic"). The sidewalks were icy in parts so that slowed me down and made the run a bit harder I think. I did manage a thankful thought as I ran by my childhood Church (where I was married) and thought about how lucky I was to even be out and running.

But then... then...

My tired body and legs just caught up to me. I had caught up to the speedy runners in the group and passed them as they were done their tempo and just... crashed and burned. I hit lap at 15:56 into my tempo portion and walked for a full minute. The speedy group passed me. I caught them again at a light and said I was sticking with them now (YAY! Friends!) and managed to run another 4km with them at a punishing 5:52/km average pace.

When I finished I just felt like crap.

Ya, I did the (almost) 10k and I pretty much did a the entire tempo run, but it just felt like crap. There was no fun in the run.

Thank goodness I know that this does happen from time to time and my next run will be better (and it was).

What do you do when you're in the middle of the run and you realize that its just not working?

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

What I Ate Wednesday!







Once again, hosted by
Peas & Crayons,


I bring you my new favorite post to write: What I Ate Wednesday!
(Note, all food in this post was consumed on Tuesday!)

6am Breakfast - Yogurt with 1 tsp of fish oil stirred in and a homemade whole wheat, oat bran and flax blueberry muffin (those are ice crystals on it, I make a batch and freeze them so I have breakfast options)

Shared with this guy (who was awake at the un-Godly hour of 0400.


THAT'S FOUR AM PEOPLE!):




8am, once at work (I like strong coffee and I always get a bold at the 'bucks. I don't mind Tim Horton's, but it is not my absolute fave):

It was a busy morning, so this snack of cantaloupe was eaten between 11 and 12:20 before I went for a run:

1:40pm lunch, mini quiche, mixed greens and cherry tomatoes with balsamic dressing and carrot sticks with hummus:

6pm dinner. Homemade turkey pot pie. Yes, we still have turkey in the freezer from Christmas. This was made with the turkey, a can of low fat cream of chicken soup, some s&p, some dried rosemary and frozen peas, carrots, corn, peppers and asparagus. It was so tasty, but I limited myself to the one piece:

Cranberry juice. Taken just to get those immunity plus drops down. Man, they are alcohol-y! (I also drank about 4L of water throughout the day):

9pm. Oreo truffles. Again, these are from Christmas and reside in the freezer. I should just bring them into work and get them eaten. So easy to make and so yummy!
I can offer the recipes for the muffins, the quiche and the truffles if anyone is interested. Just ask.

I must say again, that I love this post! It really makes me think about what I'm going to eat that day and reading all of the posts that get logged on the Peas & Crayons site gives me all kinds of ideas on new things to eat.

What did you eat today?

Monday, January 16, 2012

Weekend shopping trip!

I may have had a bit of a schizophrenic shopping trip on Saturday:



Yes, I spent the same amount on booze as I did at the health food store buying supplements.

What I bought:

LCBO:

Kahlua, Bailey’s, 1664 Blanc, Sapporo.

The 1664 Blanc is a wheat beer with a citrus flavour that should be served with a wedge of orange. This is the first time I’ve tried it and I really enjoyed it. Plus the bottle is a really cool blue. You can only get this at the LCBO (in Ontario).

Sapporo is the oldest Japanese beer around and is now brewed down the street in Guelph at the Sleeman Brewery. It’s good beer, but this purchase was for my husband.

Kahlua + Bailey’s + Coffee + Whipped Cream = cottage coffee. Otherwise known as a great post-run afternoon treat!

Health store:

Probiotic pills – I was out

Immunity Plus drops – The pharmacist (? Is that what you call them) at the store said to drink some juice, shoot a full dropper down my throat and chase with juice. This was fine. The taste is a bit alcohol-y (not that I have any problem with that – see above). I’m taking this at her suggestion instead of oil of oregano to help keep me healthy as I spend so much time sweating outside these days.

Pure Essential Greens Concentrate – I noticed last week that I had full days where my ratio of fruit to vegetables was really off. I love smoothies and figured that with all the goodness that I add to my smoothies, I could likely choke back some greens added to them as well. When I opened the container, I almost gagged as this stuff smells like fish food. I made my smoothie (frozen strawberries, banana, kiwifruit, yogurt, milk, protein powder, (took some out for Fergus, 17 months who is OBSESSED with smoothies), ground flax and fish oil) and added the concentrate. My older son, Alasdair and I were amazed by how green a scant teaspoon of this fish food concentrate turned the smoothie. It tasted fine to me, but there was a bit (a tiny bit) of an odd aftertaste. I think this is a good compromise to getting more greens into my diet though.

How was your weekend? Did you make any neat purchases?

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Week 2! Mississauga Marathon Training

After a great first week, I was ready to head into week two with continued enthusiasm.

The first day went great!

Monday: Rest - DONE!

Tuesday: Tempo run at lunch time on the treadmill. This was a good run. I used my goal race time (4hr marathon) to pick a tempo (5:25/km or 8:42/mi) to start with and pushed myself through 20 minutes at Tpace while watching Food network. 6.44k, 37:40.

Wednesday: Mid-long tempo run with the group. Well, the group and I ran the same route. Well, we all started and ended up at the store. I met up with the group and got the 10k map. I asked if anyone was going to run tempo per the plan and two ladies who had never run tempo said, "Why not!" I was pleased that I'd have partners as Tempo runs can be very challenging at the end (if you're doing them correctly). After a 15 minute easy run with the group, the ladies and I started. Within a minute, one had dropped out. We got stopped for a light at 3 minutes in and the next one was also history. I guess the pace was too much for them (though the lady who lasted 3 minutes wants to BQ with Mississauga at a 3hr40min, so she should be able to hit this pace right now in my humble opinion). I didn't let the lack of company keep me from staying with the 20 minutes of tempo. I WAS surprised that the clinic leader didn't come with me for a bit, but oh well. I ended up missing a turn in the dark, but make it back to the store and got the 10k in as I know the neighbourhood well. I perfectly hit my pace at 5:23/km for the 20 minute tempo part even though the last four minutes almost killed me. 10.15k, 1:01:25.

Thursday: Group discussion about shoes that ran the gambit into barefoot running! Then we were off for 6k easy. I took it easy, staying with the same four people from my half marathon group. 6.15k, 40:08.

Friday: Rest! I had my final physio appointment in the morning and it felt great to get my quad and IT band worked on. My knees have made great progress with the increased and new stretches so I'm going to (hopefully) only use physio strategically now around/after races for massage therapy.

Saturday: This day could have ended up being a gong show of running, but it wasn't. I had planned to meet with Alison from the group in our town and get the LSD in. But she forgot about her son's gymnastics class that would have conflicted with our agreed upon time. I couldn't go when she was free as my oldest had late hockey practice. Then, there was the weather. It was the first real cold, windy day and I didn't really feel like running outside at all. I had decided to do the shorter run of the weekend and almost went to the gym, but managed to suck it up and get outside. I was rewarded by being perfectly dressed and being able to run in the glorious sun! 8k, 49:39.

Sunday: Dawned early as Fergus, 17 months, was up at 0530. Sunday's are my day to sleep in, so I stayed in bed until 0615 and then got up, got dressed, ate and got out for my LSD. As the temperature was the same as Saturday (-15c), but there was no wind, I wore the same thing as the day before. I also wore my brand new 4 bottle endurance belt that I picked up in the States at TJ Maxx for $3!!! I loved running with this belt! It made me run a lot straighter as I had the reminder at my waist. The run sped by as I thought of the million things and the nothings that you think about when you run alone. I only needed one GU and had more than enough water. I was super frosty by the end with snow on my hat, gloves and coat and my legs were cold as I only had on one pair of winter tights, but I was fine otherwise:

18k, 1:55:46.

So, that's week #2! 16 more to go!

Are you training for anything right now? How is your training going? Do you ever rethink your run distance or place based on weather?

Total KM: 48.74
Total time: 5:04:38
Ave pace per KM: 0:06:15

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

What I Ate Wednesday



This post is inspired by Marlene who borrowed it from Peas and Crayons. Without further ado:

6am Breakfast (Toast with cashew nut butter and yogurt with fish oil stirred in)




8am, once at my desk



10am snack



Lunch - Hard boiled egg on toasted English muffin with cheese



And dessert



3pm snack and water. I drink about 3-4 of these glasses throughout the work day.



5:30pm dinner with mum and dad (I eat at my folks on Wednesday's in order to make it to run club on time. Nope, eating before a run doesn't bother me at all). Pork tenderloin, homemade scalloped potatoes with cheese, broccoli.



Post run snack. I didn't like this as much as I liked the Chocolate Almond Fudge Clif bar, but it was okay.




What did you eat today?

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Back in the saddle again – Marathon training, week 1

Last week saw the start of an eighteen week journey towards finishing my very first marathon on May 6th, 2012.

The week went very well.

We got an introduction email from our clinic leader, Chris early in the week and I was pleased to see that I had already completed the first run correctly without even knowing it: 6k tempo. 6.44k, 37:40.

This run was done at the gym while my kids were taken care of by the in-gym daycare. I decided to run tempo only because I had forgotten my ear buds and was so bored by running with nothing but visuals to distract me. It turns out that the quicker run was good because my youngest cried the entire time at the daycare.

On Wednesday, some of us from the clinic decided to meet at the store for the free run and we ran almost 10k. It was a slower run for me, but that was fine. The weather was beautiful and I was over dressed for this run. Somehow I ended the run with Chris and he pushed the pace from about 7 min/km that I had been running to 6:15 min/km. He doesn’t wear a GPS watch and just runs by feel. I’ll have to ensure that I don’t get sucked into running with him in the future or I could hurt myself.
9.73k, 1:06:18.

Thursday was the official start of the clinic and we got to hear a little more about Chris and his background (he’s run 21 marathons and is aiming for 19 more in the next three years to hit 40 by the time he’s 40) and the goals of each member in our clinic. As there are only 11 of us, it was nice to start off with hearing about what everyone wants to get out of the next four and a half months.

I was interested to hear that some of the faster people from the half marathon clinic I had been in were targeting a full marathon time much slower then me. It was great to hear one lady who’s goal is to run a Boston Qualifier time 3:40:00 (even though she’s never run a sub-2hr half marathon – however she’s also never following a training program and she’s FAST) and it was cool to hear about a tri-athlete dude who is looking to improve his running so that he can run in the Tremblant IronMan in 2013 looking toward Kona.

I was disappointed to learn that the Running Room no longer gives out the little digest sized books with the training programs in them – you have to go online to get the schedules now. I was also upset to hear that Chris wouldn’t be offering any speed training (only tempo and hill runs). I quickly decided that I’d have to build in some speed workouts on my own.

We ended up running a nice 6k and I quickly discovered that the people in our clinic are TALL. SUPER TALL. I was at least four inches shorter then the next shortest person. Oh well, I guess I’ll be building speed no matter what. 6.34k, 38:05.

Friday brought a rest day (and my last day of vacation!). I took the kids swimming for an hour in the morning, meaning I bounced around the water holding on to Fergus and kept an eye on Alasdair so that he didn’t hurt himself. I was tempted to put this “workout” on DailyMile, but resisted the urge to do so.

Saturday was a beautiful day (seriously, January has been so nice!) and my parents where over at my house to help with the kids as my husband had to work. So while my dad took my oldest to hockey practice, my mum watched my youngest and I went out for my scheduled run. It was really lovely in the sunshine and I was dressed perfectly. I daydreamed about the weather being so nice for the Around the Bay race at the end of March. 6.25k, 38:09.

For Sunday’s LSD, the clinic was meeting at 8:30 and running 10k. I quickly decided not to join in with the group as I wanted to get the run done by that time and I wanted to run further. I connected with Alison from the clinic and my friend Kerry to plan to run together. Kerry and I met Alison around 3k and ran a bit of a fast run with her for the next 8k or so. Kerry ended up having trouble with her IT band and I looped back to get her after Alison left and we held a slower pace for about 2.5km, walking when needed. I left her with about 2.5k to go as I knew she was close to home and I was actually getting a bit cold at that time (after stripping off my wind coat early in the run). I finished strong, struggling to keep my pace at the easy 6:22 min/km instead of hitting 5:55s. 15.5k, 1:44:28.

In total, it was a wonderful first week and I’m really excited about how my body responded to the return of so much running. My legs were a bit sore on Friday, but I had no problems otherwise. To put it in perspective, I ran 46% of my total December distance in one week last week! I’m so happy that training season has begun!

Total KM: 44.26
Total Time: 4h44m40s
Pace per KM: 0:06:26

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Happy New Year!

Hello 2012.

Or, the year of the MARATHON!

I know it has been way too long since I last posted, but the month of December was very busy for me and I didn't run a lot due to my knee. I did manage to get a nice 16km run in on Christmas Eve morning and ended up topping out the month at 96km run (um, wow! I didn't realise I had run that much!) and 10h16m48s. I didn't run any races in December but finished the month (and year) with the annual resolution run on New Years Eve out of my local running room. I ran with my friend J who was running her first official anything and took my time and stayed with her through the end. She was amazing and never stopped!

In terms of 2011 as a whole, it was an AMAZING year of running for me! I completed my first and second half marathon and managed to get some very nice PBs in the shorter distances of 5 and 10k. In total, I ran 1427km without ever setting a goal in that department (something I'll be sure to do in 2012). I managed to keep my love of running and joining the community at the local Running Room and on DailyMile has really helped with that. I'm really looking forward to the year ahead.

Speaking of which, Marathon training started today! I hit the treadmill at the gym while my kids enjoyed the child care services (well, my 5 year old enjoyed himself, my 16 month old cried pretty much the entire time). I forgot my earbuds so decided to keep the run interesting by throwing in two 10 minute bursts of tempo at 5:17 pace per km. I felt good and it was a great run.

Tomorrow I'm heading to the free run at the RR and we'll run 10k (let's hope this -21c weather goes away) and on Thursday, the clinic officially begins when we have our first clinic night.

The marathon isn't my only goal for 2012, but it is my first half goal, so I'll talk about what I want to do after May 6th sometime later.

In the meantime, get ready to hear more from me as training ramps up again and I discover the joys of long-long runs!