WIAW!

Here is another look at what I ate on Tuesday! Total Calories: 1,545, Carbs: 179 (gotta start upping those due to the half marathon race this weekend), Fat: 56, Protein: 87. I love My Fitness Pal!

I started the day in a super yummy way with a toasted English muffin topped with PC Organic crunchy peanut butter and banana.


I had a meeting with a director and we went out for coffee (this is my second tall of the day), then I quickly downed this yogurt before heading to the gym for my tempo run.


My lunch may not look like much, but it was so good! I was having a hard time taking my time because everything tasted so good (I guess that's what happens when you put in a decent run before you eat). Carrots with roasted garlic hummus, a hard boiled egg, a cheese stick and some deli ham (all served on a super ugly work kitchen plate!). YUM!


My afternoon snack was a super yummy white grapefruit (with no sugar) and a handful of almonds.


Dinner was yummy panko and herb crusted tilapia with oven fries and corn (which was supposed to be peas, but my husband grabbed the wrong bag from the freezer).

Mississauga Marathon Training Week 8!

After a wonderful week away, I started last week determined to get right back into the swing of things. I wasn't disappointed as I was able to put in my highest weekly mileage ever, a great tempo run, my first hill session of the training season AND my longest ever LSD!

WHEW!

Monday: Rest I decided to get out on Monday for a mid-distance LSD as it was the Family Day holiday here in Ontario. The weather was nice and even though my legs were still a bit wobbly and I was a touch jet lagged, the run went very well. 12.25k, 1:16:31

Tuesday: Treadmill tempo day! I ran a 10 minute warm up, ran 20 minutes at my 5:19/km tempo pace and the rounded out the four miles by cooling down. This pace felt comfortably hard for the tempo part which is the point. 6.44k, 36:58

Wednesday: HILLS! I missed the first week of hill training while I was away, so this was my first chance to reacquaint myself with the old Thomas Street Hill in Streetsville. As usual, I didn’t love the up and down while I was doing it, but I got through all five maintaining a strong effort (though not a tempo effort) and was happy to see the back end of the fifth repeat. 7.85k (5x500m hills), 47:54

Thursday: One of the best parts of my job is getting invited to all kinds of events. I was invited to watch the Leafs game from a party box on Thursday night so I had to return to the treadmill for my easy run. It was an easy treadmill run. Man, the treadmill makes me sweat like a pig. The Leafs lost. The food was awesome though. 8k, 50:07

Friday: Rest (thank goodness!)

Saturday: Despite getting a full 8 hours of sleep, I was super tired all day on Saturday and just not feeling 100%. I usually run 8-10k on this day, but I just was not into it. I decided to stick with the plan which called for 6k and got out into the wind to do so. I'm glad that my last 2.5k loop saw the wind at my back (a good plan by me!). 6.27k, 38:36

Sunday: LSD day. I had missed the last two LSDs due to a storm and our trip. The last long distance I had run was a 20km run that went well. I had planned to start to run with the group on Sunday's as we got past this distance, but my older son had a birthday party at 11am and I had to bring him to it. This meant that I had to tackle the 26k LSD on my own. Thank goodness that my friend Kerry was willing to run about 10k with me mid-run. I headed out at 6am and ran my usual 16k route which took me past Kerry's house. I was doing well, trying shot blocks for the first time and trying not to get too worked up about the total distance I was running. I picked Kerry up right on time and we headed out for another short loop.

By the time I hit about 19k I was starting to feel tired, but I think it had a lot to do with the thoughts that I still had 7k to go. I kept chatting with Kerry and she was great, letting me walk to take shot blocks when I needed. At one point I realized that I would have to carry on without my partner so that I could finish the run. By this time, I was over 21.2k and closing in on my longest distance ever (>22k). Kerry and I said our goodbyes and I continued on. I took a walk break at 23-24k for a full minute but it totally revived me and allowed me to finish strong. I can't describe how I was feeling. My legs were DEAD, but they just kept turning over at pace. It was like they had a mind of their own. I can see why 25-30k is a dead zone in a marathon and am looking forward to getting the longer distances behind me to break through the mental barriers.

When I hit 26k, I stopped and walked the last few metres home. I was tired, but pleased at accomplishing a run that was a full 4km longer than any that I had ever run before! I did some stretching and came in to plug my Garmin in to load the data. I was disappointed that it didn't show my KM splits via the download (as they are on the watch) as I'd like to see how those last few KMs worked out in terms of pacing for me. Just as I was starting to fiddle with the watch, my stomach turned over and I had to RUSH to the bathroom. I don't think it was the shot blocks, as I felt fine on the run. Sometimes I just have to go after a long run no matter what I've eaten or not. I made sure to down a poweraid, but skipped the planned ice-bath.

I'm very proud of this run and can't wait to tackle the 29k planned for two weeks from now. 26k, 2:48:09

Total KM: 66.81, Total time: 6:58:15, Average pace per KM: 0:06:16

So, that's week 8! Week 9 brings the Chilly Half Marathon! Goals to come!

Mississauga Marathon Training Week 6 & 7 and vacation photos!

Here is a condensed post because there was not a lot of running in these two weeks.

Week Six
Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Treadmill Tempo. I upped the pace to 5:19/km and added a bit so that I could get a good cool down in. 7.24k, 41:28

Wednesday: Treadmill part two. I couldn't get out with the group on this day and I was very tired because Fergus was up at the crack of dawn (before my 5:20am alarm), so I just ran a bit of a ladder on the treadmill with a 1.5mi tempo in the middle. 9.7k, 55:33

Thursday: A super easy and fun run with the group. 8.07k, 51:15

Friday: Rest Saturday: 23k LSD Rest due to snowstorm Sunday: Sail away!

Total KM 25.01, Total time: 2:28:16, Average pace per KM: 0:05:56

Week 7
This week was spent aboard the Disney Wonder, sailing from LA to Mexico and back. It was an amazing trip and I got two runs in:

Tuesday: 5ish km, 29:39
Thursday: 5.35k, 34:44

Total KM 10.35, Total time: 1:04:23, Average pace per KM: 0:06:13

Views of the runs:






The trip was so worth it! We all had an amazing time and will be going back again when Fergus is a bit older. Here are some more photos for you to enjoy!


On the plane!


Pirate Night!


Character breakfast! Fergus loved everyone!


Formal Dinner!


Dancing before dinner (we did this almost every night).


Valentine's day brunch (post run). This is the adult only restaurant and was well worth the extra $20 per person.

As you can see, we had a great trip and there wasn't much time for running! I'm right back at it this week though and I've racked up my highest mileage to date (to be detailed in another post).

What I Ate Wednesday!

I totally meant to photograph one day of eating on the cruise last week, but I forgot! Oh well, here are my regular Tuesday eats.

Oatmeal with flax seed, brown sugar and frozen blueberries.

Time again to be a loser daily!

Pre-run snack.

Post-run lunch - sweet potato soup, crackers, water and a red grapefruit (no sugar, I just cut it up and eat it.

Dinner - with homemade ground beef and veggie sauce - peppers, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes.

One of these tasty wee things.

My snack once I was on the couch. I can't have chips in the house without eating them. They are almost gone and I'm being good by portioning them out.

Happy Wednesday. Training updates to come!

WIAW - Superbowl edition

It is another round of What I Ate Wednesday. When I headed over to Pea's and Crayons to get the logo, I discovered that it was "Love Your Veggies Month".

WHOOPS!

Today's post is brought to you by Superbowl Sunday, so I'll have to get on that theme next week (all food was consumed on Superbowl Sunday)

Breakfast is a recycled photo, but the point is there. Oatmeal with brown sugar and frozen blue berries.

Post run lunch was an amazing tuna sandwich on toasted white bread with loads of iceberg lettuce.

Pre-game snacks - Chips and salsa and pretzels.

Fergus LOVED them too. He thought the salsa was "Chetchup" though.

What is a sporting event without beer? And lots of water to keep hydrated.

Amazing dinner! Our salad was a mix of iceberg lettuce and baby spinach with peppers, green onions, croutons, grape tomatoes and shredded carrot. My husband made pulled chicken in the crockpot and I made this super easy one pot mac and cheese.

During dinner beer, with desert, tea.

This cake (which looked bad and didn't photograph well) was lovingly made by my older son and I that very morning. It is an amazing recipe that my brother in law shared and never fails to please.

Especially when you get to lick the icing beaters.

I hope you enjoyed a fun filled weekend!

Do you like to make BIG occasions out of bit TV events like the Superbowl or the Oscars or Election night?

Mississauga Marathon Training – Week 5!

Rolling right along…

Monday: I did some core strength and inner thigh strengthening exercising while watching Top Chef Texas. I’m trying to get much better at getting this workout in.

Tuesday: Treadmill Tempo Tuesday! Another brilliant run on the treadmill at a 5:25/km pace. The pace is feeling easy and I’ve been running it for five weeks now. I’m going to increase (decrease?) it to 5:20/km starting in week six. 6.44k, 37:32

Wednesday: Free run night at Running Room. We had 10k with tempo on tap and I blasted through this tempo run, hitting 4:XX/km way too much and ending the tempo part with an average pace of 5:16/km! 10.15k, 1:00:19

Thursday: It was clinic night, but I ended up being stuck on the GO train for an extra 45 minutes as something was blocking the tracks. I missed the clinic and ended up putting my kids to bed before I headed out for an easy out and back run along Derry Road. I didn’t want to go, but I felt great running and was very happy that I stuck with the plan. 8k, 50:18

Friday: I’ve decided to work on stretching and strengthening to help me complete the training cycle and the marathon as best as I can. Based on this and the fact that I work from home on Friday, I was able to fit in an early morning BodyFlow class at my gym. The class is a combination of yoga, Tai Chi, and Pilates and I felt good to add this into my training.

Saturday: My husband took the kids and went to visit his parents in Cobourg and asked that I complete my long run while they were away. I was lucky that my friend Kerry also wanted to get her long run in on this day and we agreed to meet shortly after noon. I was a bit worried as I’ve never completed a LSD run mid-day, but I didn’t have anything to worry about. I was fueled perfectly having eating a croissant and peanut butter for lunch and I was dressed perfectly in a long sleeved top and vest (this February weather is AMAZING!). I didn’t take any of the gels I had packed and just drank a bit of sports drink near the end. Kerry joined me for 16k and I was able to get my full 20k in. 20k, 2:08:36

Sunday: Another brilliant day! I wanted to be sure that I got the kilometers in per the training plan so I executed my first ever recovery run post LSD. I started less then 24 hours after I had completed the 20k the day before but felt GREAT for the entire run. I concentrated on keeping my pace nice and easy and on running tall. 8k, 51:33

This was another great week of training. I’m actually starting to feel the need to run most days which is a nice feeling at this stage. Week six will see me run my longest LSD distance ever! Stay tuned to see how that goes!

Total KM: 52.59
Total Time: 5:28:18
Average pace per KM: 0:06:15

January Recap!

What a great first month of MARATHON training!

# of runs: 21 (I didn’t skip a single one!)

Longest run: 20k on a lovely Milton morning with Alison and Sarah

Races: One: Robbie Burns 8k


Total KM: 202.01 – beating my previous highest month by 20.98km

Total time spent running: 20h56m54s (Holy CRAP!)

Average pace per KM: 0:06:13

I’m super happy about the way the training is shaping up! I’m sure February will be a lower mileage month due to our trip and the shorter month, but I’m going to do my very best to keep up with the program! My next race is the Chilly Half Marathon on March 4th and I’m really looking forward to it!

The best part of this month was ending it knowing that I can start to run my tempo runs faster. Currently I’m aiming for a 5:25/km pace which I get on the treadmill without problem (of course), but the last two outdoor runs I hit around a 5:16/5:18, so I’m upping my goal pace to 5:20/km. I’m happy to see where I am in another six weeks and I hope I’ll be faster still! I’m planning on keeping my long runs around 6:25-6:40/km though. No sense in changing that seeing as all of these paces are within the same program toward a four hour marathon.

I also joined MyFitnessPal this month and am really enjoying the accountability it is giving me toward healthier eating especially with so much training. I’ve never loved hard boiled eggs more (HAHA!). I’m hoping to loose a bit of weight before the marathon, but I’m also working hard to eat all of my calories every day so that I’m fueled enough to get the work done that I need. I also love the WIAW posts for the very same reason!

How was your January?