To say I've been busy would be a massive understatement. Moving sucks. That's it and that's all. While I've been running, blogging has taken a back seat as all day, every day is so busy, busy, busy. Sigh.
Week 7:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Up at 0455 to get to the gym and on the treadmill for a tempo run. This was the usual warm up and 20 minutes at 5:02/km before a cool down. 6.44k, 35:33
Wednesday: We returned to the Thomas Street Hill for hill repeats on this night. We did 4x 500m (give or take) repeats with a warm up and cool down. I did okay in terms of pacing, but want to try to run these a bit faster/closer to marathon race pace in the coming weeks. 7.15k, 43:27
Thursday: I skipped as Fergus was under the weather.
Friday: Work from home day and I was able to run during my lunch hour. I put on my first pair of non-New Balance shoes (Brooks Ravenna 4s) and hit the dry roads in town. 8.15k, 48:23
Saturday: This was a busy day as we had so much going on as a family (tumbling, hockey, packing and moving). I ended up running an out and back in pleasant weather and felt good to get it done. 6.01k, 35:26
Sunday: Long run with the marathon group. As usual, Wayne and I stuck together and battled through massive, horrible winds to finish the LSD. I was happy to have my face mask and no exposed skin as Wayne had tears freezing on his cheeks (from the wind, not from the distance!). We still managed an okay pace. 24.01k, 2:32:01
Total KM: 51.76, Total Time: 5:14:20, Average pace per KM: 0:06:05
After that LSD, I went on to begin moving stuff into our new house with the goal of starting to live there on Monday (which was the Family Day holiday). We had dropped the kids at my folks for Sunday-Monday so we didn't have to worry about them. So on Sunday, I moved and packed stuff.
Monday: The movers came for the big stuff and I continued to move and pack stuff, set up my kitchen and unpack the boys rooms. Plus stuff like put up shower curtains and make sure there was soap in bathrooms etc.
Tuesday: I was off work to ... continue to move stuff to the new place. My legs were dead. I didn't even think about running. Oh, and Fergus? Ya he had the runs (not the enjoyable kind) since Thursday. So he was home with us. I took him to the doctor who couldn't tell us anything without a sample. Thank goodness the mere thought of mummy trying to get that sample was enough to block him up again.
Wednesday: Nothing like getting back into things with a lovely 5x500m hill repeat session! Strong winds and some ice patches on the hill forced me to slow down, but this felt good. 8k, 48:41
Thursday: Clinic night with a great guest speaker who talked about core and glute strength. Then we were off to run. I decided to do 3k easy and then 5k at half marathon race pace as I'm racing the Chilly Half Marathon on March 3rd. Target was 5:27/km. My 5k shook out like this: 5:20-5:12-5:15-4:59-4:54. Hmpf. I hope my last 5k at Chilly look the same. 8.5k, 47:25
Friday: Rest. Work from home (unpack more crap).
Saturday: After Fergus' tumbling class we headed across the street to the in-grocery store gym with daycare and I paid $5 to leave him with the daycare while I ran as close to race pace as I could on the treadmill. 8k, 44:12
Sunday: I dropped the kids at my folks again and ran the group LSD with Wayne. This was a personal distance record for him and the splits show it. We ran mainly under 6min/km but had a few later KMs at the 6:30s. No problem at all and the challenge is always good. 26k, 2:37:07. Then I went home and ... you guessed it, more moving crap (we have our old house until April).
Total KM: 50.5, Total Time: 4:57:25, Average pace per KM: 0:05:53, total moving time: too many hours to count. #@$%!
I'm hoping that this week is the final one for moving stuff! I also am running the Chilly half marathon this Sunday and while I'll write a post about it, I think we all know what my goals are (they have been the same in the last two HM I've raced).
Monday, February 25, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Mississauga Marathon Training Week 6!
Another week blew by. It was a lower mileage week because I missed a run due to the dumping of snow we got on Thursday/Friday.
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: treadmill tempo. I was up again atthe crack of all hours unholy 0500 so that I could get my run in without worrying about trying to get it done after work. We had our lawyer come over so that we could sign the rest of the paper work on our house that night, so this was the only time that I could run. 6.44, 35:14
Wednesday: Run club night at the Running Room. I headed out and asked Wayne if he wanted to run tempo with me. He was game so we ran 2k warm up, 2k tempo (5:03, 4:54), 1k easy (where I noticed Gerald's 12 year old son had decided to run with us. He was barely breathing. Meh. Youth), 2k tempo (5:00, 5:04) and the rest easy back to the store. 10.5, 1:00:03
Thursday: Was a crazy day. We were supposed to close on the house on Thursday. On Wednesday we got a call and were told that the seller didn't have paperwork ready and needed another week. Fine by us, our house doesn't sell until April. On Wednesday I had to call all of the utlitiy companies etc again to change the date to the new closing date. Then at 4pm, I got a call that the seller was now ready to close. That day. W. T. F. After some very bad words to my real estate agent (who was totally on my side), and advice from our lawyer, we decided to close the house on Monday the 11th. By the time I got home I was livid and the snow storm looked like it was getting worst. The last thing I wanted to do was rush around to get back to Meadowvale to run 8k. So, there was this instead:
Friday: Schools were closed, but I work remotely Friday anyway. Remote working was difficult as so many people were doing it that the system kept crashing. My excellent friend Jenn (who is a teacher), picked up Alasdair (Fergus still went to preschool as Ken went to work) and took him sledding and to McDonalds so that I could deal with the 4 conference calls I had that day. I spent an hour at noon shoveling. The night ended with this:
Saturday: The roads were still a mess and they didn't even plow our street until 2pm. Alasdair had a birthday party in the afternoon and I had arranged to sell some cloth diapers so was meeting the buyer at 3:30pm. Ken worked out a plan which allowed me to run my 6k at the gym while he did party drop off before I had to met with the diaper buyer. This run saw me put a 1% incline on the 'mill for the first time in ages and I could have kept running and running. 6k treadmill, 35:58
Sunday: I joined the marathon group for the first time for the long run. I knew that Wayne and I would run together and hit around a 6:00-6:10 pace per km overall for the run and we did exactly that. We spent most of the run chatting and I think that my sarcasm may have been lost on Wayne at times. Whoops. I didn't run with my iPod and only ran with water (which froze as I didn't put it under my wind coat). The run was really nice and I'm ready to tack on 4k this weekend. 19k, 1:55:46
Total KM: 41.94, Total Time: 4:07:01, Average pace per KM: 0:05:53
The marathon is 81 days away! Hard to believe I'm still going to race a half and run a 30k before then!
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: treadmill tempo. I was up again at
Wednesday: Run club night at the Running Room. I headed out and asked Wayne if he wanted to run tempo with me. He was game so we ran 2k warm up, 2k tempo (5:03, 4:54), 1k easy (where I noticed Gerald's 12 year old son had decided to run with us. He was barely breathing. Meh. Youth), 2k tempo (5:00, 5:04) and the rest easy back to the store. 10.5, 1:00:03
Thursday: Was a crazy day. We were supposed to close on the house on Thursday. On Wednesday we got a call and were told that the seller didn't have paperwork ready and needed another week. Fine by us, our house doesn't sell until April. On Wednesday I had to call all of the utlitiy companies etc again to change the date to the new closing date. Then at 4pm, I got a call that the seller was now ready to close. That day. W. T. F. After some very bad words to my real estate agent (who was totally on my side), and advice from our lawyer, we decided to close the house on Monday the 11th. By the time I got home I was livid and the snow storm looked like it was getting worst. The last thing I wanted to do was rush around to get back to Meadowvale to run 8k. So, there was this instead:
Friday: Schools were closed, but I work remotely Friday anyway. Remote working was difficult as so many people were doing it that the system kept crashing. My excellent friend Jenn (who is a teacher), picked up Alasdair (Fergus still went to preschool as Ken went to work) and took him sledding and to McDonalds so that I could deal with the 4 conference calls I had that day. I spent an hour at noon shoveling. The night ended with this:
And this
Saturday: The roads were still a mess and they didn't even plow our street until 2pm. Alasdair had a birthday party in the afternoon and I had arranged to sell some cloth diapers so was meeting the buyer at 3:30pm. Ken worked out a plan which allowed me to run my 6k at the gym while he did party drop off before I had to met with the diaper buyer. This run saw me put a 1% incline on the 'mill for the first time in ages and I could have kept running and running. 6k treadmill, 35:58
Sunday: I joined the marathon group for the first time for the long run. I knew that Wayne and I would run together and hit around a 6:00-6:10 pace per km overall for the run and we did exactly that. We spent most of the run chatting and I think that my sarcasm may have been lost on Wayne at times. Whoops. I didn't run with my iPod and only ran with water (which froze as I didn't put it under my wind coat). The run was really nice and I'm ready to tack on 4k this weekend. 19k, 1:55:46
Total KM: 41.94, Total Time: 4:07:01, Average pace per KM: 0:05:53
The marathon is 81 days away! Hard to believe I'm still going to race a half and run a 30k before then!
Friday, February 8, 2013
January Recap!
Well, January started off right with an awesome vacation to Jamaica with my husband (and without the kids!). When I came back, I started my marathon training in earnest and enjoyed great success with getting back to a five runs a week training schedule which includes speed work and increasingly longer runs on Sunday's.
# of runs: 18
Longest Run: 16k LSD run which I completed during the lunch hour (and a half) while I worked from home on a Friday.
Races: Robbie Burns 8k!
Highlight run of the Month: It would have to be the first clinic run in the snow:
Or maybe the night I became a ninja due to the cold:
Total KM: 160.98, which is my highest monthly mileage since August 2012!
Total time spent running: 15h45m26s
Average pace per KM: 0:05:52 - I'm getting faster!
The goal for February is to keep building on distance and speed and avoid injury!
# of runs: 18
Longest Run: 16k LSD run which I completed during the lunch hour (and a half) while I worked from home on a Friday.
Races: Robbie Burns 8k!
Highlight run of the Month: It would have to be the first clinic run in the snow:
Or maybe the night I became a ninja due to the cold:
Total KM: 160.98, which is my highest monthly mileage since August 2012!
Total time spent running: 15h45m26s
Average pace per KM: 0:05:52 - I'm getting faster!
The goal for February is to keep building on distance and speed and avoid injury!
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
What I ate Wednesday
Time for another round of What I ate Wednesday thanks to Jenn!
I started the day with a tempo treadmill run which lasted 35 minutes. I ran 4miles with 20 minutes in the middle at tempo pace (8:06/mile). I've been getting these runs done early every Tuesday (5:30am) and am loving it. After my run, I enjoyed a late breakfast!
I didn't eat the Clif bar, just had the poweraid.
Once at my desk!
I had a lunch date!
And a simple, kid friendly supper!
Treats after the kids went to bed. And I wonder why the scale isn't moving!
Sometimes, the night needs to end like this. Yes. Work is crazy.
Hope you all had a great day!
Monday, February 4, 2013
Mississauga Marathon, Training Week 5!
Again, I can NOT believe I'm already into week five of training! Probably because the first week I was away and the second week I only "caught up" with three runs. So really, I don't feel like I've been training that long.
Famous last words I'm sure. Ask me how I feel about the training come Easter.
Of course, there is SO. MUCH. going on right now what with work that is teh krazy busy and trying to pack a house and still feed a family and keep laundry folded and clean etc... Phew. I really feel like a hamster on a wheel or like groundhog day so often. Anyway, enough with the pre-able. Here is how week five shook out.
Monday: Rest day.
Tuesday: Tempo day! I was up again at 0500 and headed to the gym for a treadmill tempo run. I've discovered that I vastly prefer running tempo on a treadmill. You have way more control over the pace and you don't have to continually adjust when you're going too fast or too slow like how you do when you're outside. So I hit the treadmill and was sluggish. After 10 minutes of a warm up, I did bump the pace up to tempo pace (5:02/km or 8:06/mi) but I only stayed there for 10 out of 20 minutes. I rounded out the run at easy pace again and decided to cut the run one kilometer short due to time limitations (I needed to get that 0703 train to Toronto). 5k, 28:42
Wednesday: Bliss. It was 12 degrees Celsius out! Simply amazing weather and I was eager to run. I had enjoyed a great lunch at the Beer Bistro which included an amazing beef burger and two Cooper's Sparkling Ale's so I didn't feel like running tempo. Combine that with the fact that I had run a PB just three days before and I gave myself leave to run easy with Wayne and Steph and enjoy the balmy weather. I did also get in the kilometer I had missed the day before. 11k, 1:08:09
Thursday: Clinic night! We had a yogi in to talk to us about breathing. It was very interesting and something I should think about for at least five minutes a day. It really can make a difference to a run. I know that if my breath gets away from me on a run, I tend to freak out and think that I'm going to die, so being able to calm down and relax makes a huge difference. After the talk, we all headed out for another easy run even if the weather was back to winter temperatures. 8.5k, 50:31
Friday: Rest. I did have to take Alasdair for a check up for his hip and the doctor told us that he was fine. And very bright. Aw, a mum's pride knows no bounds.
Saturday: My husband had to work wot the only way for me to ge a run in before noon (which is what I prefer as I run in the morning on Sunday's) was to set the alarm for 6am and get going. I didn't bother with breakfast and just found my way throug a most blissful run. Yes. I big puffy heart running! 6.25k, 38:23
Sunday: I had made plans to meet up with Ali and her husband Colin to run the last 10k of the Around the Bay route and then back again. We all started up chatting (well, Ali and I were chatting and Colin was hanging back keeping quiet) and I found it a bit difficult to keep my pace at 6:50-7:00/km that Ali wanted. I quickly adjusted to pace as I was more interested in running with her then worrying about fast of slow. Very sadly, Ali hurt herself/ had IT band problems and ended up with her worst run to date. She told Colin and I to keep going and we did, picking up the pace to about 6:05/km and tackled the hills, including Valley Inn and then back again!
On to week six! I've already started rest day right... with a big glass of Beaujolais!
Famous last words I'm sure. Ask me how I feel about the training come Easter.
Of course, there is SO. MUCH. going on right now what with work that is teh krazy busy and trying to pack a house and still feed a family and keep laundry folded and clean etc... Phew. I really feel like a hamster on a wheel or like groundhog day so often. Anyway, enough with the pre-able. Here is how week five shook out.
Monday: Rest day.
Tuesday: Tempo day! I was up again at 0500 and headed to the gym for a treadmill tempo run. I've discovered that I vastly prefer running tempo on a treadmill. You have way more control over the pace and you don't have to continually adjust when you're going too fast or too slow like how you do when you're outside. So I hit the treadmill and was sluggish. After 10 minutes of a warm up, I did bump the pace up to tempo pace (5:02/km or 8:06/mi) but I only stayed there for 10 out of 20 minutes. I rounded out the run at easy pace again and decided to cut the run one kilometer short due to time limitations (I needed to get that 0703 train to Toronto). 5k, 28:42
Wednesday: Bliss. It was 12 degrees Celsius out! Simply amazing weather and I was eager to run. I had enjoyed a great lunch at the Beer Bistro which included an amazing beef burger and two Cooper's Sparkling Ale's so I didn't feel like running tempo. Combine that with the fact that I had run a PB just three days before and I gave myself leave to run easy with Wayne and Steph and enjoy the balmy weather. I did also get in the kilometer I had missed the day before. 11k, 1:08:09Thursday: Clinic night! We had a yogi in to talk to us about breathing. It was very interesting and something I should think about for at least five minutes a day. It really can make a difference to a run. I know that if my breath gets away from me on a run, I tend to freak out and think that I'm going to die, so being able to calm down and relax makes a huge difference. After the talk, we all headed out for another easy run even if the weather was back to winter temperatures. 8.5k, 50:31
Friday: Rest. I did have to take Alasdair for a check up for his hip and the doctor told us that he was fine. And very bright. Aw, a mum's pride knows no bounds.
Saturday: My husband had to work wot the only way for me to ge a run in before noon (which is what I prefer as I run in the morning on Sunday's) was to set the alarm for 6am and get going. I didn't bother with breakfast and just found my way throug a most blissful run. Yes. I big puffy heart running! 6.25k, 38:23Sunday: I had made plans to meet up with Ali and her husband Colin to run the last 10k of the Around the Bay route and then back again. We all started up chatting (well, Ali and I were chatting and Colin was hanging back keeping quiet) and I found it a bit difficult to keep my pace at 6:50-7:00/km that Ali wanted. I quickly adjusted to pace as I was more interested in running with her then worrying about fast of slow. Very sadly, Ali hurt herself/ had IT band problems and ended up with her worst run to date. She told Colin and I to keep going and we did, picking up the pace to about 6:05/km and tackled the hills, including Valley Inn and then back again!
The hills are no joke, my friends.
We ended up catching back up with Ali who had called for a ride by that point and there was nothing left for Colin and I to do but to keep running back to the cars. As I was worried about Ali, I started to pick up the pace and kinda forgot about the silent Colin who was running a personal distance record and doing double duty on the hills as well. When I heard him breathing a bit heavier, I looked at my watch and whoops we were running at 5:40/km (or my target marathon pace). I reeled it in and we chatted a bit about food (a fave subject of mine in any circumstance but especially during long runs) and how to fuel for running in general. I made a point of telling Colin that I usually wasn't very hungry on Sunday's but was generally starved on Monday's following a run. Well, as the day played out, my stomach made me a liar and I couldn't stop eating. The same thing happened the last time I ran these hills with some friends. What is it about Burlington hills anyway?
Colin stopped at 19k with 1k to the cars to walk and cool down. I wanted to get to the cars and picked up the pace to 5:21/km for the last kilometer (very nice considering my target winter half marathon pace is 5:27/km). Just as I turned into the lot, so did Ali's brother with Ali freezing in the car. It was a sad panda day that she got hurt and we couldn't enjoy running together again, but I don't think we've seen the last of each other. With son's the same age and so much in common, I'm sure we'll be hanging out again soon.
20.01k, 2:14:17.
Total distance: 50.76k, Total Time: 5:20:02, Average pace per KM: 0:06:18
So, it was a slow week. But as quoted in my Daily Mile above and in the words of my other musical boyfriend Dave Matthews;
What's the use in worrying?
What's the use in hurrying?
On to week six! I've already started rest day right... with a big glass of Beaujolais!
Friday, February 1, 2013
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