8 weeks in: The Bad, the Ugly and finally the Good

Week seven was an amazing week for me. I ran a record 71 kilometers.

Remember, I'm not in training for a full - just a 30k easy pacer race and then some fall half marathons. That 15k run on Tuesday was tempo with 5k easy at the end and I consistently nailed the pace (5:55-5:53-5:55-5:55-5:56 - my pacer pace is 6:00/km, but I will likely target around 5:55ish due to water stations). The 26k was with Sam with tempo as well which was tough but amazing to complete. I rode that 71k high into week eight, that's for sure!

Well, I've had lots of good, heck, great runs in the past and very few poor ones. Nothing quite as bad as last year's Niagara Fall's Half Marathon has happened to me in a very long time.

Until week 8.

Monday was fine with an easy 10k at 4:45am. Tuesday I took off because I had to be ready for a big meeting at work and needed to take the first train in.

Why yes, I do believe I will put a fancy work clothes photo in the middle of this post. You're welcome.

On Tuesday after my lunch of salad (but before my big meeting), my stomach started to bother me. I quickly chewed down some cherry pepto (seriously, they don't taste that bad!) and got through the meeting fine with kudos from my boss, the president and the CEO who took us for a glass of wine. So I didn't run.

Wednesday, I woke up at 4:30 and ran 10k. I had missed interval training on Tuesday so I decided to run at least 4k of tempo but my stomach wasn't having it. I managed to finish the run, but my stomach just hurt. No, I did not have to go poo. I did not have my period. I AM NOT PREGNANT. My stomach just feels like a rock of gas. Its hard to explain. That was the bad.

Anyway, I spent the morning chugging sports drink and chewing pepto and I felt a lot better. So, I decided to stick to the plan which was to run my 28k long run on Thursday morning before work. Marlene does it all the time and I knew I could do it as well.

I packed up all of my gear the night before and headed to bed.

Judge on the "Blurred Lines" download if you must.

I got up at 4:00am (yep the clock sees 4 twice in one day) and ate a banana and half a clif bar. I was feeling a bit odd, but I decided that it was adrenalin due to the excitement of the pre-work run and the fact that I had told the world (you know, Facebook, DailyMile and Instagram) what I was going to do. I could feel people sending me positive running vibes.

Everything was great! I took some time to get used to the hydration pack and discovered that a V-neck shirt was the wrong way to go (is that neck chaff or are you trying to get pregnant?), but I was clicking along a bit slower than normal. It was super humid out and I kept thinking that the pack had started to leak, but that was just my sweat making the fabric wet (quick, look at my fancy work photo to take that image out of your mind).

For some reason, about 6k in, I decided that I'd run a figure 8, passing by my house in the process, instead of the loop route I had planned.

The mind must know.

At 9k, my stomach just got hard. And hurt. And UGLY.

Like Coyote Ugly.

Yes, If my stomach was an arm of a one night stand, I'd have chewed it off.

I digress....

I had moments of good where I thought, hey! I can go on! And then my stomach was churn and I'd walk and I knew it wasn't going to happen for me that morning. I hurt so bad that I ended up running (around 7min/km) just to get home.

Where I didn't need to use the bathroom or pee on a stick or call the Camp Gyno

It was just an UGLY run.

Srsly. 12.7k and look at how sweaty I am!

But all is not lost! More pepto, more sports drink, loads of salt on my baked potato at dinner and some plain chips and I woke up on Friday feeling good. I had planned to meet up with Richard for a Toronto lakefront run and was worried that my stomach would keep being an asshole but it didn't! Richard and I ran together for about 10k along the lake and it was just enjoyable (though hot) in every way! We are planning to get more of these in for sure!

On Friday afternoon, we headed to the suburbs of Ottawa because it was our nephew's first birthday and we wanted to be there to celebrate. We got into our hotel room around 8:30 and crashed. Saturday we swam and hot-tubbed (twice) at the hotel and spent some time at the party and with Ken's sister, her husband and our nephew. I set the alarm to wake up on Sunday for a short 10k run from the hotel. My brother-in-law (who is a runner, but laid up with a stress fracture right now) had told me that I'd likely hit the Trans Canada Trail if I just ran straight and sure enough I did.

Before I knew it, I was 7k in and hadn't turned around yet. I came to this road and it seemed like a sign to get back to my family:

I did, but overshot my exit of the route. I found another runner to show me the way and before I knew it, I was back at the hotel, 16k completed.

Funny about this run - I had done it with only water. No food before, no gels, no sports drink and just 8oz of water which I conserved. It was only 13c when I started and the trail is shaded which helped but I bet I could have run up to 20k that day. Funny how it all comes together.

The awesome thing was that I hit my target and got this run done at almost perfect pacer pace

Obvs I'll be writing a goal post about this Saturday next

So, week eight ended with the Good.

68 days until the goal race.

Expect to see a lot more good from here on out.