Week Seven: Festive Special

Well, it turned out that week seven ended up being a bit of a reduced week. I didn't realize how busy I was at the tail end of the week and as a result, I was not able to hit all of my workouts. I spent a good amount of time celebrating the year with friends though, so that is always a plus!

On Friday night, some of the mum's I've met through my older son's hockey teams got together for dinner and drinks. The company was awesome of course, as was the food, but the restaurant took over 2 hours to bring out our mains! Unfortunately, quite a few ladies didn't make the trip down the road to the bar for last call. But I did!

Long run may not go well tomorrow. #drinkingmanhattans

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Dec 18, 2015 at 8:41pm PST

Saturday evening, we had our team hockey Christmas party. It ended up being at our house and it was so much fun! At one point, almost all of the kids (and parents) were pulling out their "Whip-Nae-Nae"

Hockey Party. #merrychristmas

A video posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Dec 19, 2015 at 5:20pm PST

As a result of two big nights (aka not a lot of sleep), I didn't get in any swimming this week! And I also didn't do any strength training, not even a single push-up! I'm finished work on the 23rd though and don't go back until January 4th, so I hope to fit in a lot more during the office closure period. Here's how this week shook out:

Monday: Off
Tuesday: 8 minute test on Trainer Road. My FTP went from 160 to 193. I'm ready to work! 21.9km total in 1hr
Wednesday: Off - my calves were sore in the AM and no time in the PM/at lunch
Thursday: 9k in the AM, running and 45 minutes with Goddard (17.3km) in the PM as I wasn't sure if I'd fit it in on Friday before my dinner with the ladies.
Friday: I got home early after driving downtown to work (and paying way too much to park for six hours), so I asked Zindine for an easy TR workout. He came through with Carter. Except I picked the +1 version and made the 45 minutes a lot harder on myself! I rode 45 minutes for 17.6km
Saturday: I fit in a 7k run, mid-morning between hockey and shopping and cleaning up a bit before the party
Sunday: More hockey for both boys and a mission to get my nails done resulted in a "long run" of only 9k. But my nails look good!

Christmas nails > long run. 🎅💅 #justrun #likeagirl

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Dec 20, 2015 at 2:18pm PST

Totals for the week:
Run: 25.1km
Cycling: 56.8km

Total: 81.9km, 4h51m25s.

Despite the fact that its Christmas this week, I think my mileage will see increases for my last off season week! If my calves cooperate - they are so tight. I need to ensure I get on fixing that before more problems (PF!) arise!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday's to everyone!

The Off Season!

Oh hey!

It's the off season!

Yep. I'm done for 2014.

My next race isn't until March 2015!!!

I can hardly believe it myself. I won't be in formal training for anything until January when my cycle kicks up again. This doesn't mean that I'm going to take any time off, but I am going to to ease myself along without worrying too much about hitting ALL. THE. WORKOUTS.

Off season? New SHOES!

Let's be honest. I was burned out last year when I started my plan at the end of November. I was eager to start and hit workouts but by March I was DONE with training.

And of course, let us not forget the Plantar Fasciitis which was the biggest KILL-JOY of the entire season.

Speaking of which, this past Sunday, I felt the foot flare up again. Nothing too bad, but something to get checked out. I spent last night with my heating pad and I'm going to try to get into physio this week for sure.

I took the entire week off after Hamilton and hit last week eager and ready to train again. And I was super surprised with how it all turned out:

Monday: 7k in 38:57. Okay, a lovely little pace. Must be the early morning or the week off or the cold or something. Core work in the evening.

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 5k at Goodlife after a day long off-site meeting and before a Leafs game in a corporate box with my client. I kept increasing the pace ever km and ended up with my final KM at sub-BQ pace. 27:11

Thursday: Rest

Friday: NO MEETINGS!!! The return of the lunch run. I hit the gym again. Ladder up: 8k with each mile faster: 6.4, 6.6, 6.8. 7.0, 7.2. Things felt great. Right where off season should be.

I need to cut my bangs or grown them or just rock this awesome ponytail forever

Saturday: CRAZY day, hockey, hockey pictures, hockey game, surprise 40th party for a friend. I fit in 5.15k around the block after watching KONA and I almost managed a progression: 5:35-5:24-5:20-5:06-5:08. Total: 27:19. Feeling so good!

Sunday: MORE HOCKEY PHOTOS. Then my mum fed me breakfast. Then, fueled on bacon and eggs and pancakes and memories of KONA, I went out for my long run of 11k. I realized around 9.5k that if I pushed, I'd finish in an hour. I pushed harder, ran a 4:59 final KM split and finished 59:33. Then I went to our town Santa Parade and then grocery shopping. Its all so EXHAUSTING

Off season week one: 36.16k in 3:18:18 and one session of core. I hope to get in more this week. In fact, the rest of off season looks like this:

Click for larger

Oh, you probably want to know about my 2015 plans too, eh? Well, come back again sometime and I'll tell you. Likely within the next week. Let's just say that this Saturday's workout will set up a lot of them.

Taking the week off

Take a look at my week in running last week. 

Yep.

I didn't run at all.

On Monday, I did the "Hot 100s" (100 seconds of plank, 50s each of side plank and 100s of wall sit) and then I started to get a cold. 

By Wednesday, it was a full on, horrible cold.

I decided to take the entire week off of any kind of exercise and to just be.

I haven't done this since last November after I hurt my knees on the downhill at the Hamilton Half Marathon.

It felt great to not have to worry about fitting in a run and to just let go.

Do you know what else felt great?

This morning's run:

That's 5:46 in the AM people!

Woo! Back at it!

It sucks that I wasn't well, but I think the time off has refocused my off season. I'm looking forward to keeping the mileage up in the coming weeks.

Olympic Running!

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be invited with a select group of colleagues to participate in a very unique run.

I got to run with two multiple Olympic medal winners from Canada.

Simon Whitfield was scheduled to show up for an easy 10k run with the select group after a speaking engagement with some VIPs and our organization the night before. Simon won the Gold Olympic medal in the Men's triathlon in Sydney (2000) and the Silver in Beijing (2008). He was the 2012 opening ceremony flag bearer for Canada in London and was one of our hopes for a gold medal at these games, but he crashed at the beginning of the bike part of the race and could not recover.

Before Simon spoke at the evening corporate event, he came in with his medals (including his Gold from the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games; he's lost his bronze medal from the 1999 Winnipeg Pan Am Games) to meet with our department, speak a little and pose for photos:

Simon insisted that I hold the gold medal

He was so down to earth and very funny (and let's not lie here - he is very easy to look at). He spoke lovingly about his wife and daughters and in response to a question, said his best relaxation includes tooling around on his bike with his daughter(s) in the bike trailer behind him. He praised his wife's commitment to his pursuit of Olympic excellence showing the understanding of how difficult it was for the family to have him away and training so much in the past number of years. In terms of his past, when asked, Simon said his best sport as a kid was, "Endurance. I wasn't very good at shooting the puck, but I could play every shift. I wasn't the best person to kick a soccer ball, but I could play forward and defense." He first realized that he could make a career out of triathlon in his late teens and dropped out of university to join a club from France.  Simon praised his parents here stating that the only thing they wanted from their kids was 100% commitment to what they were doing. When he told his father he was leaving uni and heading to France, all his dad had to say was, "You better work hard. Every day."

The next morning, when we arrived to the scheduled group run with 24 others, we were told of another special guest: Adam van Koeverden, the Canadian Olympic sprint kayaker was also joining us! (Gold, Athens 2004 - K1-500, Silver, Beijing, 2008 - K1-500, Silver, London 2012 - K1-1000, Bronze, Athens 2004 - K1-1000). 

The story goes that after Simon's speaking event, he called up his buddy Adam to go for a drink (Adam lives in Toronto). While they were catching up, Adam lamented his fitness level and stated that he needed to get "back into a routine." This is when Simon asked him to come along with us at 8am the next day. And he did!

The run was a nice one from the financial district through to Cherry beach; out 5k and back again. I had run that part of the path during Midsummer so I didn't have a problem with the route, but MAN, this group was FAST! At one point, the smaller trailing group got stuck at the lights at Jarvis and Lakeshore and when we started up again to catch Simon and the lead group, we were running in the mid-4:XX per km. I kept my head and my speed in check and got to run a bit with Adam (didn't talk much, but shook his hand at the halfway point) and then spent a lot of time chatting with Simon's agent who was a fantastic guy! 

The group waited for us laggers at the turn around, but it was clear that there were a few of us that couldn't keep a pace of about 5:10/km and so we lagged again. No worries, at the end of a brilliant morning run, I was able to catch both Olympians for a photo opp:

Adam, Me and Simon. They are only 5'11" and 5'10". I AM that short!

It was such a great opportunity to run with these guys and I'm grateful that I got the opportunity. Not only do I have a great story to tell people, the run itself made me realize that a quick and enjoyable run before work is totally doable on Tuesday mornings when I have no childcare responsibilities. I think this realization will come to serve me well in the future and for that, I doubly thank Adam and Simon for the continual inspiration, even in areas they wouldn't have anticipated.

And, let's be honest - they're both very easy on the eyes, don't you think?

Hey! I just met you...

While the title of this blog denotes that I like to join things, I would suggest that I am not one to branch out and create my own meetups or events.


This is why I am forever grateful that the running blogs I read began linking to dailymile early last year. Those links allowed me to go down the rabbit hole of the niche social media sites on the internet to find a community of (mostly) runner’s combined with a data store for all of my running activity.

Fast forward to over a year later and I have managed to amass 96 friends on DM. Some are real life friends, others are bloggers I follow, there’s my brother and sister in law, but the majority of my friends are strangers. People I have never met in person. People, who like me, run for pleasure and fitness. People who are goal setters and/or racers. People who love the functionality and social component that DM has to offer.

This past weekend, I took a step towards the merging of the relative anonymity of the internets and planned a DM meet-up for all interested to run the Milton Half Marathon route.

Three stranger friends showed up.

Emma, Alan, Phillip and me quickly fell into an easy paced run along the sunny sidewalks in Milton and were able to easily chat about life, running, food and build up those friendships that were previously stuck behind screens and confined to keyboards.

I love this community and its spirit. I love that three people were brave enough to meet me IRL (but honestly - how is a 5ft nothing, 35 year old suburbanite, mainly seen grinning like a fool with a thumbs-up in photos, scary?). I love that I now feel that much closer to three of those 96 people whose runs and fitness I read about daily to offer encouragement to them and myself.

And I really enjoyed Emma, Alan and Phil. I hope that these types of meet ups can continue and friendships can be created to expand beyond the wires of the broadband.

I encourage you to do the same. Join a running group. Plan a meetup. Because if someone is offering you some kind of value through 10-point font, chances are, they will offer you value in person as well.

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?

Vastus Intermedius

No, no, I haven't started to speak/write in Latin. Rather, I've found the cause of my knee pain. After a wonderful physio session on Friday, the diagnosis is that I have a very tight muscle in my quad which is causing pulling on my knee which in turn is causing the pain. The therapist didn't feel any "clicking" or "crackling" like last time which means that the knee isn't damaged in the same way it was after the Bread and Honey 15k race. She did admit that my charge down the Red Hill Valley Parkway likely didn't help me at all.

So, with my therapist's blessing, I'm going to keep running. I'm very sure I'll be able to end the year at 1400 if not 1420km which is obviously my highest mileage ever for a year. I mean, in 2009 I wanted to get to 600 and had to give up when I keep puking during every run (I was newly pregnant at the end of that year).

This morning, I enjoyed a solo 13km run around town in the freshly fallen snow. I left the house just after 7am and enjoyed watching the sky brighten and being joined by other runners, dog walkers and church goers from time to time. There is something so fulfilling about being outside in the still morning and reminding yourself that you're alive (through running and a bit of knee pain!). I'm especially proud as I didn't want to get up when the alarm rang at 0630, but instead of using all of the excuses I came up with, I let the truth get me out of bed: I would have felt so guilty for missing the run.

By the time I was following my footprints back home like a breadcrumb trail, I was very happy to have gotten out of bed and out the door, even if my knee was feeling some of the effects of the 13k.

Totals for the week: 3 runs, 24k, 2h33m running.

When you don't want to run

I didn't want to run last night. Not at all. I was tired after spending a lot of the afternoon outside yesterday and generally from fighting a cold all the while being woke up 1-2x a night by the baby.

At 7pm, I nursed the baby to sleep and almost joined him.

Instead, I resisted the urge to curl up on the couch and watch TV and got out with my tunes and shoes, settling in for 7k. It was pretty crazy. I was tired and sluggish, but I couldn't keep my body from running fast. I don't know if it is because I only ran one 3k stretch of tempo this week or if it was because I was only mentally tired, but at the end of the run, even after doing my best to run conservatively, I had held a 6:20 pace on average (my half race pace was 6:23).

I'm going to get a quick tempo in tomorrow and then a 12k long run on Sunday. My goal for Sunday is to keep my pace at 6:50. I've got to slow down. I don't want to end up back in physio.

Do you have any tips for keeping it slow?

Discharge

Yesterday I was discharged from Physio! Yippee!

My knee is on the mend, but I need to ensure that I keep up the stretching and strengthening routines that I learned. My knee is still "tracking" slightly off, so I need to get back in to see the therapist at the first sign of something odd to ensure I don't end up with a very bad injury. He also suggested that I ice my knee after every run whenever possible.

I'm also back in the running game! According to Daily Mile I ran 32k last week (M-Su) for a total of 3h32m spent running over four workouts. I'm very pleased to see those numbers! I ran my LSD on Saturday morning as we were attending a party later in the day and sleeping over so I wouldn't have been able to get it in on Sunday AM. This strategy worked out well for me and I didn't feel one iota of guild as I loaded up on the 12 kinds of amazing salads on offer at the buffet (or the piece of chocolate Canada Day cake!).

I kept up the early morning routine this morning, heading out the door at 0715 to start my day with 5.7k around my neighbourhood. It took me about 2k to get my legs working and less stiff, but it was great to get back in the house knowing that I got the workout in (I have baseball tonight, plus both of my kids are home with me now that school is out and it is really hard to run with the jogging stroller and my four year old on his bike!).

I'm eager to put some speed work back on the plan, but I'm unsure if I could handle a tempo run so early in the AM. I guess I can test the theory tomorrow morning as I think my husband is off for a bike ride tomorrow evening, meaning I can't run once the kids are in bed (as he'll be gone).

This weekend is also the Warrior Dash, but that will be more about the post-race drinks having a great time, then racing. I'll write about that one later in the week.

Back at it

Nothing much more to report.

After getting the all clear at Physio on Thursday, I'm back on the running train. I ran 5k on Friday and 10k on Sunday. Both were meant to be easy paced runs.

The 5k was a 6:50 pace - perfect.

The 10k was a 6:35 pace - too fast (my Mpace is around 6:23).

The knee was fine after Friday and a bit touchy yesterday, but I iced it twice and its fine now.

I am supposed to run for about 10 minutes and then stop and do a series of dynamic stretches before continuing my run. I don't like it. It totally ruins my momentum and messes with my head. I think I'm going to have to do a bunch of jumping jacks at home, then the stretches and then run. I don't want to mess up my knee again/further, so I know I have to stick with the suggestions they gave me at Physio.

All in all, I'm happy to be back on the road. Hoping to hit 5 runs this week (with one already completed yesterday).

Long run alone

Well, here I am two weeks after completing my first ever half marathon and I've recommitted to a Sunday morning long run (and so has my awesome husband).

Because I don't want to put my family out too much with my running, I've decided not to join in on the long runs with the Running Room for the time being and will instead be doing them all by myself.

This morning I set off at 9:10 and ran a 12k route through my end of town. It was a good run as it didn't rain, it wasn't silly humid and while I did fail at keeping my pace at 6:50/km or slower, I felt good.

I decided that I'd run with a sports drink in my handheld for the first time along with my water bottle and felt okay taking that. I doubt I'll ever race with sports drink as I do find it sweet, but I sweat like crazy and I want to be able to replace all of the salt I loose when I'm on these shorter long runs.

Before I knew it, I was back in my subdivision and heading for home. I am glad I got out there for the longest distance ever run alone in my life.

12k, 1:19:40, 6:48/km

24k last week (w/o May 23), aiming for 35-40 this week.

One week until the Bread and Honey 15k race. Goals to come

Avery's Bravery 5k Run - Report

Today, I supported Sick Kid's hospital and Avery Bond running the second annual Avery's Bravery Race. Avery was born in Rockwood in March 2009 and underwent life saving heart surgery at 13 days of age to repair a Coarctation of the aorta. Avery also has Turners Syndrome, which causes several other health complications, but Avery is doing well and celebrated her 2nd birthday on March 13.

The goal for this 5k run was to use it as a long tempo run and PB with a time of sub 30:11. The course was through Rockwood Conservation Area and some surrounding streets for a 5k loop. What interested me the most about the run was the location as we camp every father's day at Rockwood and are already booked for this coming June. It is a lovely spot for a weekend or a day and I thought it would be very neat to run through a (mostly) empty campground.

I got to the race with lots of time to spare and enjoyed watching the kids participate in the 100 metre heart pumper dash. The run was very small, but very organized and we actually began about 2 minutes early.

I started out fast per my plan as the first kilometre was downhill and I wanted to bank some time here. Unfortunately, my pants had other ideas as they kept falling down! I had to stop to re-tie them way tighter but I did so quickly.

This however was a complete crap run for me. I was ready to pace at around 5:55 per KM and get in a longer tempo run to PB, but with my pants falling down, I got all messed up. I ran out way too quickly afterward and ran the uphill too aggressively. The course had very gentle rolling hills (a typical campground that heads to a beach) and lots of pot-holes and the terrain was far more challenging for me then it should have been. I resorted to walking up one hill but wouldn't allow myself to do so a second time. I also didn't eat properly for the 10:30am start and I was STARVING by 3k. I was actually thinking that I'd have to stop on the way home, least I pass out (no worries though, the race gave out water, banana's and granola bars to all finishers; it was a well run race).

I met my goal and PB'd, but I'm not happy with the way the run went at all. I'll being doing another 5k after the half marathon with the goal of running a smarter (and faster!) race:

1KM: 5:02
2KM: 6:27
3KM: 6:03
4KM: 6:01
5KM: 5:12

Total: 28:44 (per Garmin)

It wasn't quite the high note I wanted to go out on in April, but at least I did PB.

April totals: 162km run, 18h21m running.

Tomorrow we will complete 21.1k easy.

20k Practice Run

Complete!

On Sunday, our group headed out to meet at the Sheridan Running Room location to run a practice half marathon route for our long run.

The planned route was 19.4k with the last 15k being the Mississauga Half Marathon course (somehow, C and I ended up running an extra 600m loop).

The plan of attack was to run easy for the first bit and then to run the last 60-80 minutes at race pace. After discussion with the ladies who I normally run with, we discovered that there were two race paces, the 6:28 min/km that C and I were prescribed and the 6:40 min/km that CH and N had. Thus a strategy discussion took place between C and I (and some early morning math!) and we decided to hit up the last 13k at race pace.

While it started out seemingly cold and rainy, it actually ended up being the perfect morning to run. We started out easy and before long, we were running along the U of T Mississauga campus and close to 6k. C told me that "the hill" (the one and only true hill in the course) was coming up soon and so we'd hit race pace after that. We agreed that no matter what, we'd talk after 7k.

7k came and we hadn't hit the hill yet, so we decided to just go for it increasing our pace from about 7 minutes per km to our race pace. It felt easy and I was glad that I had someone to run with who had done the race before because she was very knowledgeable about the course.

KM 1: 7:17
KM 2: 7:13
KM 3: 6:51 (half a GU)
KM 4: 6:49
KM 5: 6:50
KM 6: 6:46 (half a GU)
KM 7: 6:42
KM 8: 6:22

Based on my garmin, we actually hit the hill around 9k. There have been rumblings about the hill in the clinic group for a few weeks, but the consensus from the repeat half marathoners was that if you could run up our training hill, you could do this one no problem. This turned out to be the case for C and I. We put our heads down (figuratively of course) and took the hill in stride (sorry, I love a cheesy pun).

KM 9: 6:41 (2 GU Chomps)

Right after the hill, we saw the next pace group stopped to take off extra layers and take gels etc. C and I didn't stop. It was almost an unspoken agreement. Even when she took off her coat, we keep running along with me holding her water belt while she figured out her garmin and coat. Then, our speediest clinic member came up behind us (he was running a slightly longer course) and congratulated us on actually taking the hill really quickly (then he sped away!).

I was practicing a new fuel strategy on this run as I felt that the full GU's sat a bit heavy in my stomach on the 18k run the previous Sunday. My plan was to fuel every 3k, but to keep my stomach in mind considering the er, bathroom problems I had experienced earlier in the week. I also decided to try the GU chomps and rather liked them.

KM 10: 6:28
KM 11: 6:25
KM 12: 6:18 (one Chomp)
KM 13: 6:27
KM 14: 6:32

I think it was during the 14th kilometer that C and I got a bit mixed up on the map and actually paused for a few seconds before deciding which way to go. The run was going well and my only concern was the fact that I was rapidly running out of water (I had a 10 oz hand held and a 500 mL bottle in a belt). I was taking water every kilometer, making sure my stomach was feeling okay and that I was still sweating. I'm not worried about race day because there will be water on the way and I plan to take advantage of it. The other bothersome thing was the little black "noseeem" bugs that were EVERYWHERE on the water front trail. It was gross! C resorted to running with the map held over her nose and mouth least she take in extra protein along the way. There was also a biker that told us we were running along the wrong side of the road (we run into traffic) and called us "Stupid Effers", but I guess the Easter Bunny wasn't that good to him that morning.

KM 15: 6:25 (half a GU)
KM 16: 6:27
KM 17: 6:15 (I have no idea what made us speed through this part)
KM 18: 6:30

I was planning on taking the final half a GU at this point, but I had no water and I was feeling okay. Based on what happened during the last two kilometers I will be taking it for sure as I needed the boost and I'm sure to have water left.

KM 19: 6:35 (we see our group at the parking lot and just have to run to them!)
KM 20: 6:25

Total: 20KM: 2:12:26, 6:37/km pace

Oh man, I was spent.

SPENT!

I was very tired and very proud! Of course I didn't know how good were were at hitting the race pace in the final 13 or so kilometers (as I wasn't up to mental math at that point), but I knew we had done it pretty bang on! I spoke briefly with Bing as he was checking me in and could barely get any words out telling him that we ran, "20 minutes in 2:12" to which he gave me a crazy look and I just said "You know what I mean."

This run confirmed a lot to me. I'm fully confidant that I'll be RACING the half marathon on May 15th with an actual goal time in mind instead of just aiming to cross the finish line. I'm aware of what a good fuel strategy is for me now (every 3km worked very well as did taking the Chomps in the mid section). Finally, I'm very happy to have run the course because it is a long run down Mississauga Road and that can get very tedious mentally (especially because Bing is quite a fan of twisty routes).

I'm actually still on quite a high from finishing the longest distance run of my life at a great pace (or maybe that's just my tight hamstring talking!).

How did you spend your Easter Sunday morning?

Better now

Then three weeks from now.

This past week, I caught a slight bug which caused me an upset stomach for three days. This means I missed our last hill training night (9 hills) and an easy run on Thursday. While I felt pretty darn guilty about missing these runs, I'm glad I focused on my health especially when Bing's email came yesterday and told us that we have done enough work to be able to cross the finish line in three weeks!

Today, I tempted fate and other things and took advantage of the beautiful late morning to run 9.2k. It went very well and I felt really good! I didn't look at my garmin much and ran by feel and clocked the run in at one hour even.

Tomorrow is our long run. We are running 19k and doing the last 15k of the half marathon route. The last 11k is an option to run it at race pace.

I'll be taking the option baring an upset tummy.

21 days!!!!

I'm starting to formulate plans and goals and will share them soon!

Tempo

Nicole, I think you're running too slow. You shouldn't be laughing and teasing me. Tomorrow, run with the 6km/min group.

And so I did.

And so I experienced a real tempo run.

But let's back up a bit, shall we?

Tuesday night yielded the first night I got out with my Running Room group to run Tempo. It was a deceiving night, weather wise. We thought it was going to be nice and warm and it seemed that way, until we got out there and felt the wind blow. No matter, after 10 minutes of easy running we were warmed up enough to tackle the 6:14/min KMs assigned to us.

Running tempo with the group was great! I loved the warnings as we approached the end of the 10 minute warm up. I loved that everyone fell silent and just RAN as hard as they were supposed to. I loved just RUNNING without worrying about running too quickly as all I had to do was follow the leader.

We completed the first 10 minutes of tempo run and slowed down for the two minute rest. I felt great! When it was time to kick it up again, my leader told me to follow someone else; her knees were bothering her. So I did and ran with the same freedom as before. It was near the end that Bing came back to us and asked how we were all doing. When a few of us answered easily and joked with him, he quickly told us that we'd be moving up a pace group the next night. He was so serious! But it was fine.

So last night, I was determined to keep up with the new group, but to not KILL myself in the process. I'm happy to report that I was able to do it. In fact, we averaged 5:57/km (perhaps the crazy wind helped us when we were not heading into it). This was the nine out of ten effort that Bing spoke of. I still enjoyed the run for the fact that I DID IT, but it was hard. There was effort. Effort that will be rewarded on May 15.

Next week: Hills!

"You're running too fast..."

Those are words I never thought I would hear, but I heard them yesterday during our Sunday "easy" run.

It was a beautiful morning for a run, if a bit windy and I somehow ended up right at the front of the group when we got to the start point, so I just started running. I knew fairly early that I was running too quickly, but I kept concentrating on my breathing and it seemed to me that I was doing okay.

Finally, some people passed me (I prefer trailing as then I can get a better sense on how fast I'm actually running), and I slowed down a bit more but continued to run alone.

Bing caught up to me and we began to chat. He kept looking at his pace watch (he's putting us into pace groups next week). I told him how I had finally figured out a pace on the treadmill and he cautioned me about going too fast during our easy runs. He reminded me of our first clinic topic about stress and injury and slow/fast twitch muscles. He also kinda scared me, hinting that if I keep running easy runs too quickly, I may have nothing left in the tank in 89 days. Finally, he drove his point home with the following:

You're currently running a 6:45 (min/k). This means your tempo pace is 5:15 (min/k) and I know you don't have that in you.

Um, no! I could likely run ONE kilometre at 5:15 with Bing running beside me pacing me, but an entire tempo run? HAHAHA!

Anyway, in light of the fact that I don't have a pace watch or a garmin and I don't plan the routes, I guess the only thing to do during group runs is to just run slower. The runs are feeling easier, but I think I'll take the advice of the leader.

Anyway, yesterday I did 7k in 45:10 for 6:27 ave/km. I'm averaging a 6:55 pace on my runs, so I know that Bing was right. Tuesday, I will go out with some ladies who I was finishing with in the early runs and having them near me will keep me on track. I'm sure they'll be in my pace group anyway.

I'm still loving the training!

Resolution Run Report

I showed up to the Running Room with plenty of time to pick up my bib, go to the washroom and hang around, outside wit the other 75-100 runners.

The weather was AMAZING for December 31st in the GTA! 9 degrees with no wind and a fine mist at times. I had brought the Resolution Jacket that we got as part of the kit just in case, but I didn't need it at all. In fact, by the end of the run, I was feeling very hot in my brand new warm running tights and a tank top, long sleeved dry-fit top and wind jacket. I'm glad I wore a baseball cap instead of a toque.

The run was through a subdivision and it was tough as there were many, many, many slight variations in the grade of the road which meant a bunch of up and downs. I powered through most of them though and only ended up walking three times.

I finished in 34:45 which is awesome as it means I cut 4 minutes from the Jingle 5k 20 days ago!

I now have to decide if I'm going to join the running room's half marathon program targeting the Mississauga half marathon or if I'm going to do it on my own. In the meantime, the goal is to run 20k a week in the next few weeks until I'm forced to make a decision.

You may have noticed...

My cheesy ticker at the bottom of the page.

And the fact that it went up by 10.5km on Saturday.

Yep.

Longest.

Run.

Ever.

Have I mentioned I am loving this warm, sunny, DECEMBER weather?

Sarah and I took advantage of Saturday afternoon and the weather was PERFECT.

500k, I'm coming for you.

When does the wind die down?

GAH!

The last number of outdoor runs I’ve had have been brutal due to wind. I know it is due to the season (it is fall here in Ontario), but I’m wondering when does this wind die down? I’d like to keep running outdoors throughout the winter, but don’t know if I’ll make it in this wind.

On Tuesday, I suited up for a lunch time run. My intent was to run the usual along Queen’s Quay in Toronto in an out and back for a total 5.5k run. Easy-peasy: a scenic route with a respectable distance that leaves enough time to shower, change and get back to work within an hour-ish.

When I turned west on Queen’s Quay at Yonge I almost died! There were tall men walking faster than I was running (I’m only 5 ft). I did chug it out for a bit, but then had to turn north. I ended up running an unplanned loop that saw me complete 4.11k which isn’t actually that bad. However if the wind doesn’t die down soon, I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep going outside (I know, running outdoors will make me stronger and the half in May will likely be windy – but BAH! I’m a wimp!). I’m forever glad that my friend Sarah keeps me going on our longer Saturday runs.

I must say that this 500k goal has done wonders for my motivation. Knowing that I’m only 89.77k away from the goal (3.1km per day) is awesome. I need to run 22.44km each week in the next four. I know I can do it and the feeling is awesome! Now, if only the wind will cooperate so that I can do some of it outdoors!

Headwind

Okay, so I’ve never run in a headwind like the one I ran into on Saturday afternoon. After a busy morning doing mum/suburb/kid things (grocery shopping/driving kid around to lessons/going to a bank opening for a pumpkin decorating gig), I headed out at 2pm to take on 8km. I was already tired and not feeling it at all, but I forced myself off of that couch (which the husband was snoring away on!) and got to it.

By the time I hit 2.5k, I decided to turn north and cut my run to 6k instead of 8. I was heeding John Stanton’s advice (paraphrased), “If you don’t feel like running, get out there for 10 minutes. If you’re still feeling punky after that, you probably are too tired to run, so turn around and go home. The beauty is, you’ve gotten a 20 minute run in.”

I was doing okay-ish, chugging along, looking at the lovely fall colours and fighting to keep my ball cap on when I saw a friend of mine driving. He stopped and yelled, “Get back to your side of the tracks!” (I do live west of the tracks from him). That completely threw me off. I tried to get back into a groove, but then that blasted (hee – pun!) headwind basically sucked my will to RUN.

I’m ashamed to admit I walked.

For like 1km.

Fortunately, that is all it took for my shame to win over and I completed the rest of the run in fine form and did the whole thing in about 40 minutes (insert standard second hand watch comment here – blah blah blah). So coupled with the headwind, I went out VERY fast (for me). It must be the cool, crisp air that is helping me speed along.

This week I’ll be on the treadmill with perhaps a Wednesday lunch time run. I got the latest issue of Canadian Running magazine and there are some treadmill training runs in there, so maybe I’ll do one of them and let you know what I think (foreshadow – I’ll think they are EFFing HARD).