Ottawa Marathon Training Update: Weeks 5, 6, 7!!!

Wow! Its been a while. I'm sorry to have been away so long, but its been a very crazy time at work and with my son's hockey! The additional entry Milton Winterhawks are now 16-0 in Ontario Minor Hockey Association playoffs and are one win away from winning the whole damn thing. Its a super exiting time!

He shoots, he scores!

The plan is going to plan. I've gotten in long runs, I've run hills. I've gotten in cross training and weight lifting. I even got out on the mumbike last Monday!



Let's see. My tempo work has not been the best. I've been super frustrated. First, I just couldn't push through on the treadmill without stopping from time to time to take 15 second breaks to drink or breath or get my mind back together. Then, finally, FINALLY, I was able to get outside last week for a planned 11k run with 9k at tempo (4:55-5:05/km) and it really sucked. The melt was frozen still in a lot of points on the paths, but I was able to get in 6k at tempo pace (instead of 9k). Phaedra has been very kind about my lack of suck-it-uppage and is trying to work out a solution which will do the work that I need while keeping my confidence from sinking into the ground with the melting snow.


Of course, a lot of this confidence problem stemmed from not having the best day at the Chilly Half Marathon. I owe a race report and that's next on my list, but let's just say that I had a cold and after nailing the first half, I was over come with dizziness and the last half was a huge suck. UGG.

Now for the good news! Phaedra has given me pace goals for my past two long runs. The first was a 26.5k effort along the Northshore hills at a goal of 5:40-5:35/km. I was lucky to run with Ivanka again, and  Sam, and Emma as always. Even with the rollers of Northshore, we NAILED the pace at 5:33/km on average. If nothing else, I think Emma can be sure that she's going to SMASH her goals at Around the Bay.

The sign is from a wedding. The bride and groom are fellow hockey parents.

This past Sunday brought my longest run since A Midsummer Night's 30k run and Phaedra dropped the pace again (target: 5:35-5:30/km). Emma needed to run 21k at that pace and Sunday worked better for her so she joined me in Milton and we ran the Milton Half Marathon route together with me running 8k alone first. I'm thrilled to announce that we NAILED this pace at 5:29/km on average, despite some brutal headwind.

In week 5, I ran 47.3k, in week 6 it was 54.5k and last week was 58.1k with 10.3k on the bike.

Things are going generally well. Now its time to start nailing some speed and increasing that confidence.

First up? Let's win that OMHA cup! The next game takes place on my birthday and I honestly can't think of a better present than having my son win the championship!

Hope things have been well for you! Is anyone in the final stretch of training for Around the Bay?! That's my next race and I'm excited for it!

2014: The round-up

Well, its safe to say that 2014 did not go as planned.

At all.

The big plan was to qualify to run the 2015 edition of the Boston Marathon. I got a big, fat fail on that one.

However, there were highlights for sure! Let's take a look, shall we?

JANUARY 

I started week six of marathon training and enjoyed a long run of 20.14 with the #burlingtonskirtbrigade and then some. One thing that I really relished in this year was the continuation of the friendships I've developed from DailyMile and Blogging. 

Group selfie!

We also left on our second Disney Cruise aboard the Fantasy. This time, we'd be joined my my BFF from highschool and her family. 

Waiting to board 

Disney owns a private island in the Bahamas (obvs) and while at port there, they hold a 5k race. A free race on a private island in the Bahamas? Yes please!

Skirt to represent, yo!

We are hoping to get to another Disney cruise in late 2015 or early 2016, but it will really depend on other travel plans for the first half of 2016 (BOSTON, PLEASE!!!)

I ended the month setting a 5 second PB at Robbie Burns in the freezing -24c temps. I didn't really try to PB this race and it wasn't until the very end that I realized that if I pushed, I'd have it and so I did. Sadly, Robbie Burns is not in the cards for 2015, but I have a feeling I'll be back in the next few years to really lay out what I can do on that course.

My custom race shirt makes its first appearance. 

FEBRUARY

Well, February brought a huge, huge month. 267k run in total. But it also brought the return of stupid-crazy Polar Vortex weather and stupid-stupid Plantar Fasciitis. But hey, Canada won a crapload of medals at the Olympics including the coveted hockey gold for both the men and women. I watched a lot of the Olympics in the early mornings while running on the treadmill at the gym. I ran a lot of treadmill miles this month.

There was one day that I got to run in the sun, but the run sucked. Thank you, PV and PF.

MARCH

Well, March brought the return of my two favorite winter races. The Chilly Half Marathon and the Around the Bay road race. 

Chilly was not going to be a PB effort for me, rather it would be a test to see if I could maintain BQ pace over a half marathon. Ideally, I would have gone out and run 5:06/km consistently, but my Evil PF was saying, "NO!" In the end, I decided that I'd run with Emma in an attempt to get her a PB of sub 1:51:24. With tough conditions (snow, slush, -20c), we pulled out a nice 5 second PB for her that day.

If I'm pacing you, you're always finishing first

So next up, after a few more weeks of peak training, PF treatment and not really hitting tempo paces was Around the Bay. I had decided to race it for the first time ever. The route had changed this year and it added in rollers in the first 10k which were difficult to say the least. And I was over dressed (as always!). However, somehow I pulled out a 10 minute 51 second PB. So, that was good. HA.

I"ll be back, ATB!

APRIL

Last month to give'r. Except, man. I was not feeling it. Ongoing PF and a 23 week plan just drained everything out of me. I put on a brave face and tried my best to conjure up a positive attitude, but in all honesty, it was all a big, fat lie. I was NOT feeling it at all. There were highlights, of course.

I was able to hit my fundraising goal for Wishes for Olivia and Make-A-Wish Canada. In total, I raised $3,705 for the fabulous cause. Now, don't worry if you missed contributing last year, you can surely contribute  again this year! (Get it in now for a final 2014 tax benefit!)

And Alasdair ran his first race at the 1k Good Friday Kids race. I also ran the 5k in perfect marathon pace (and my second of 3 runs for the day). Obviously we HAD to wear the custom race shirts.

Booking it

MAY

Marathon Day. Preceded by First Communion Day. I'm going to suggest right now, that there should be no hosting of a major life event the day before a major goal race. None. Even if it involves good food and company and dressing up. Nothing I could have done about the dates though. Instead, I enjoyed and the family looked good.

Marathon day brought stupid winds, breakdowns and no PBs or BQs. Instead, it involved character building, wind, great friends, a cute skirt and wind. To be honest, I'm not sure I would have finished if it hadn't have been for Peter. 

After the marathon, I took a week off. My PF flared big time. HUGE. I was a mess. However, more treatment, time on my mum-bike and a easy return to running and I was ready to conquer my first trail race - the 25k at Sulphur Springs.

Emma, me, Sam and Bridgett. Stock photo, right?

JUNE

In June, I started the month by returning to pacing. I ran the amazing Niagara Falls Women's Half Marathon, leading the 2:05 group and coming in at 2:04:54. I loved this race. LOVED. I've been in contact with the race director who read my blog post and will be back to pace in 2015 for SURE. LOVE!!!

OMG, I lurve this race!

Then the very next weekend (my third in a row for racing), I ran the Bread & Honey 5k. This is another traditional race for me and originally I had thought I'd attempt a PB and podium finish. However my stomach acted up so I paced my friend Kerry through her first post-baby race. 

Applauding Kerry's finish from behind.

Finally, I set the fall plan in place. The plan was supposed to set me up for my first ever Gran Fondo (80k) and a PB attempt at the Oakville Half Marathon in September. On yer (mum) bike!

JULY

Holy crap did I ever fall in love with cycling. Despite the fact that my mum-bike was the shittiest in our peloton while I was on group rides, it didn't matter. I got faster, I got better, it didn't hurt my Evil-Stupid-Stupid-PF and man, there are planned stops for coffee and donuts. Cycling is a total win. WIN!

Kimberley, me, Emma, Sam

Sam, me, Irina, Emma

Photo Credit: Irina (mad cycling selfie skillz)

Running was running. 3 times a week. No speedwork. Evil-Stupid-Stupid-PF and all that Jazz. But the CYCLING!!!!

AUGUST

I think by now, I knew that there would be no Fall PBs to be had. Evil-Stupid-Stupid-PF wouldn't really go away and I was focusing on the bike and pace work to get ready to pace the 3hr gang at A Midsummer Night's Run. I had a fantastic time at that race and finished in 2:59:24! A huge redemption from 2013 where I was over time and I still managed the #runnerd photo at the end (obvs)

SEPTEMBER

Things hit the fan in September. My husband has surgery on September 5th to remove a rather large Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans from behind his knee. On the 7th, I took part in the Epic Tour as planned and it went well. It was hilly. Lots of hills. Holy crap, I thought Halton was flat. Its not. FYI. I'll be back for 110k in 2015 with a road bike.

Right after that, the focus switched to running. I had Oakville, Niagara Falls Half (pacer) and potentially Hamilton half to run along with the 25k at the Run for the Toad. My foot was feeling good! YA!

#seenonmyrun

On September 17th, my husband drove himself to the hospital with a heavy chest and the taste of blood in his mouth when he coughed. He was still on Oxy and got shit for driving, but kudos for paying attention to his body. In the morning, he was still waiting to get confirmation of what was wrong, so he told me to go to work. Around 1030, I got a text that he had a blood clot in his lung. Guess what guys? That shit can be fatal. 

Alls well that ends well anyway. Because he listened to the "not right" feeling he was having, Ken got to the hospital in time and a few nights there allowed them to treat the worst of it. He's been on blood thinners ever since, but he takes his last ones in January. He's already planning his first drink. 

The highlight of September was being in Windsor with my son for his first rep hockey tournament. It meant I had to miss Oakville and had my first DNS, but you've just gotta roll with life sometimes.

They won the whole damn thing

OCTOBER

Things settled down. Ken started to recover (at this point though, his life involved getting his leg dressing changed daily). We settled into school, work, hockey. Rinse and repeat. Don't hurry to grow up folks, its pretty much the same damn thing every day. 

Evil-Stupid-Stupid-PF continued to stay away and I got in 163k with two quality and fun races: Run for the Toad 25k and the Niagara Falls International Half Marathon, where I was the 1:55 pacer. Both races were treats to run:

Getting ready to toss my long sleeved top, its that warm (TOAD)

This is what happens when you fall on the trail

Niagara could not have gone any better

I still continued to LOVE the bike and in fact, planed my first metric century ride with Emma and Sam for the Friday before Thanksgiving. What a beauty that was. 

NOVEMBER

I started this month with the very last race of the year. The Hamilton Half Marathon. The plan was to pace Emma to a sub 1:50 and end the 2014 season in glory. 

It didn't quite work out that way as I just didn't have the fitness to keep the pace after 12k and had to wish Emma well on her own. Instead, Sam and I finished together for the first time ever in an epic battle of best tights of the year (obvs, mine are)

Enhanced only by my sweat stains

In November, I decided to get a Coach for the 2015 season and put my hand out again to support Wishes for Olivia (donate by clicking the link). 

The month ended with Evil-Stupid-Stupid-PF deciding to show up again and I took the reality seriously. Back to PT, back to massage, more rolling, more heat pads, more stretching. Despite this, paces continued to drop. I can now run a 5:30/km pace easy for at least 12k.

Emma and I also snuck in one last outdoor ride on the 8th, going for a short but lovely 36k around Milton and Burlington.

DECEMBER

I averaged 60-65 hours per week at work in this month, including one epic 17 hour day. I ran, I saw PT twice a week. I let my Evil-Stupid-Stupid-PF heal (heel? HAHA!). I caught a lung infection and took a 10 day hiatus from all activity. I got fat (whoops). Two weeks ago, I started running with more regularity and things have been okay.

I've found a new morning run partner in fellow hockey parent, Lindsay.

In the middle of all of that, we've had hockey

Baking

Christmas

Family time

My sister, mum and me

And an 8th birthday

I will finish the year with 1,150k on the bike in 53h41m39s and about 2,130k running in about 205h58m27s (I still have to get 10.57k in to hit that total). 

I raised $3,705 for Make-A-Wish Canada. 

I made new friends and was able to extend other friendships. 

We end the year with everyone healthy and happy. There is nothing more to ask for. 

Onward to 2015!

Update on the Bike - weeks 4, 5, and 6

I guess I've been a bit of a slacker over here in blog land. Things have not been very happy on my runs. I will have to give you separate updates for running and cycling. Today will deal with cycling.

Simply put, I am really LOVING the bike.

Of course, it helps that putting skinny tires on my bike has increased my speed significantly. Now I'm always over 20km/h speeds and in fact I've topped out on rides at an average speed of over 25km/h.

Get this girl a road bike!

Obviously, I don't have a road bike yet. I've looked at one. My husband has done some research as well. It is doubtful I'll get a bike in time for this season, but I may be joining the masses at the Fall Toronto Bike Show to see what's what.

Its not just the speed. Obviously, there is rapid improvement with the bike as its a new sport and I'm just learning how to crank it. Best of all, I'm loving the freedom to get out there and move and explore.

Skinnies on the #mumbike

After my solo 50k ride, I went into two down weeks which coincided with pre-vacation and actual vacation. I cranked out 20k in week 4 on the stationary bike at the gym but that was the longest I was able to bike that week In total, I managed only 64k between running and cycling, but I was happy with what I did fit in.

While I was on vacation (week 5), I mananged another 20k out and back ride from our campsite in Ipperwash Beach to Forest and back. The day was gloomy, and a bit windy, but it didn't matter. I loved the open country road with no potholes and limited traffic. It was a beauty ride and one that I'm proud I did. The fact that I was back within an hour made it all the better as I didn't take too much time away from my family.

The day stayed gloomy though, so I ended up taking the older boys for a 5k round trip bike down to the beach where they skipped rocks into Lake Huron. It was fun to have my own bike gang.

Vacation week (5), ended with what will be my lowest mileage for this plan at 34k combined. I don't mind. That's what vacation is about.

Week six started with a need to refocus. The run is where my difficulties lay right now, but that's a topic for another post. This week had its own challenges as my husband was travelling for work, and I had to cut out one planned ride, so instead I upped my Monday distance to 16k (which felt awesome and allowed me to hit an average pace of 24.4km/h) and planned another distance record ride of 65k for Sunday:

 

The day dawned with perfect weather. Little wind, cool and overcast when I headed out shortly before 0600. I decided to keep my route pretty straightforward and rode out to Meadowvale, hit Brampton and headed back into Milton along Steeles road. I took a break to eat half a Clif bar at 31k, in Hornby.

There was work on this ride, especially with some rollers once I was back out of the urban part of Milton heading for home. Tremaine Road from 3 Side Road to Steeles is particularly rolly, with inclines that still head up even when they are going down. However, this is good practice for the GranFondo which will see similiar (and worst) climbs over the last half anyway.

The reward of sticking with Tremaine was immediate upon taking off from the stop sign at Steeles though. Heading downhill, cranking hard I was joyful, singing along with Dave Matthews band at the top of my lungs. Glorious in the summer morning, feeling all of those awesome endorphin's of a good athletic effort and simply, being alive and able to do these things.

It was a good ride.

And now, the big bike update.

Mum-bike or no, solo or with friends, I'll be tackling a (metric) century ride this summer for sure. I figure, with the right course and conditions I should be able to finish in under five hours.

And I know, I'll love every minute of it.

Fall Training Update - weeks 2 & 3

Last I posted, I told you all about my fall plan and the fact that I've decided to add cycling into the training regime this time around.

The cycling has been going really well!

I quickly went from a 25k personal cycling distance record to a 45k record in the next week when I joined Irina and her husband and a bunch of other people for a group cycle from Burlington to Stoney Creek and back again.

Spot the mum bike. Photo from Irina

Sam's to my right and Emma is gazing into the distance. That's also Patty's bike in the front (we battled down for best mum bike around!). Patty was the first to turn back after about 12k as she was just learning how to bike and after that I was the slowest, but it didn't matter, Sam, Emma, Irina, Zindine and Kimberly all stayed back with me while I puffed away trying to maintain 20 km/h on the old mum bike. It took my 2hr20min to get through the 45k, but it was a great ride and I can't wait to join the big group again.

I also managed to fit in a real brick with 12k on the bike and 1.5k run right after. WOW. Do the legs ever move off of the bike. My fears about running in the diaper shorts were unfounded, but they DO heat up the ass some!

This past Saturday, I got skinny tires or slicks put onto the bike. I promptly set out to bike 50k on Sunday morning at 0630. WOW! What a difference those tires make. Plus, I finally put my chain and the big ring and plowed away. My top speed (downhill obvs) was 59.9km/h! I can't believe it! I even clocked along at 30km/h on my own power (but um, with a backwind!). In the end, I finished the long solo ride in 2h19m so you can see the improvement the gear has given me.

Boom! Bike Record!

On the running front, things haven't been as good. I've hit my runs with 24k this past Saturday (alone and with at 0530 start), but I haven't felt strong. I've talked myself out of tempo runs and feel like I can't even maintain a sub 6:00/km pace anymore (which isn't good considering I'm the 3hr continuous pacer at the MidSummer Night's Run in August). I've decided to force my mind through the blahs though and just HIT the tempo or try my hardest to do so. I have a lot of time before the Oakville Half Marathon which is now 100% my "A" race as I got the good news today that I will be the 1hr55m continuous pacer at the Niagara Falls Half Marathon in the fall. Let's hope I have another great pacer experience when running by the falls!

Happy with my longest solo run done before many are awake on a Saturday!

So, week one saw me hit 83km in total. Week 2: 100.35km. Week 3: 109.11km.

And sleep. Lots of sleep!

This is a cutback week for cycling and next week is a full on off week as we are on vacation camping. I'm sure I'll still cycle and run while we are away, but the distances will be short and the workouts easy.

The Fall 2014 Plan

Well! I figure as I sit here after the first official training week for the Fall that I should likely share my fall plans with all of you. Of course, as I learned this week, I can not be 100% in anything I've not yet signed up for as my oldest son has made the Rep Hockey Novice team and thus hockey and tournaments now take precedence over everything (kinda).

So, the fall plan has been written. Here are the first few weeks

The red box is when we are away for the week. I don't force myself to stick to the plan during this time.

If you click, it will go larger. As you can see, there is an equal number of bikes and runs during the week!

I KNOW! That's because I had to write my entire fall plan around The Epic Tour Halton (September 7) where I will be riding the 80k distance with my co-worker who talked me into it. Of course, I have this sweet mum bike to get me through and I've gotten speeds up to 22.2km/h thus far. Don't be too jealous! 

But what else am I doing? There is quite a bit of running on that plan as well. In order, here is the plan:

A return to pacing and the awesome 30k at A MidSummer Night's Run (August 16) (I'll pace the 3hr group, join me!)

This may happen again

Next after that, I'm hoping to run the 10k at MEC Race 4 (September 6). This comes the day before the Gran Fondo, so we'll see what happens. This 10k is also the basis of all of the early speedwork for the summer. Like during the summer of 2011, I plan to return to the track in order to gain the grounding in order to toe the line at this race hoping for a finishing time around 48 minutes. Sam's keen on the same goal, so we're using the same basic running plan.

After my Gran Fondo is in the bag, the plan ups the ante with four run days and one bike day a week. I also begin to add some goal half marathon pace into the long runs. There won't be much time to test out my newfound speed over distance though, because like Sam, I plan to take my first stab at going sub-1:45 in the half at the Oakville Half Marathon (September 21), after all, I had a great time running with Sam and Richard during the last 5k in 2013. This race conflicts with my son's first tournament. The tournament was supposed to be on September 12-14, however they had to change to September 19-21 and will be in Essex. I signed up for the race and the next day, the tournament got changed! My husband and I have chatted though and he's fine with me doing the race as I can't get a refund on my bib. 

Skirt power with Sam at the end of Oakville last year

After Oakville, Sam, Emma, Bridgett and I will reunite for another 25k trail race, Run for the Toad (October 4). I'm hoping we can produce more awesome tampon commercial worthy photos

Finally, finally, there will be the now traditional, Road2Hope half marathon on November 2nd. Unless a hockey tournament conflicts. My backup in that case is the weekend before at the Niagara Falls half marathon. I've also put my hand up to pace Niagara, so we'll see what happens.

As you can see, I have a VERY full plan on the go. Of course, in my first week of training I've been able to get every workout in and have hit 83 combined bike/run kilometers for the week. This meant I was in bed at 2115 on Saturday night. Turns out massive amounts of physical activity and a party lifestyle don't really go hand in hand. But I'm okay with that. I think the biking will really help me keep my Plantar Fasciitis in check, plus everyone keeps telling me it will help with my running. 

And who knows? I may just become a multi-sport athlete before you know it!