Off Season Update

For the first time in three years, I've not started January with a new marathon plan! Instead, I've extended the off-season and don't begin training until January 26th! Phaedra has already sent me the first three weeks of my plan and as a result, I've decided to try to mimic what's going to happen so that I'm ready and able to hit the training ground running (so to speak. HA).

The most important thing I decided to do was return to Tuesday Treadmill Tempo runs! I haven't run a tempo run in ages. Seriously, likely not since September have I had the desire to speed up. In fact, I've been worried where I'd land when I got back into serious training and I've been happy to note, that certain things are coming together nicely.

I've been smart as well! I started slowly with just 2k at tempo pace as seen above. This week, I increased to 3k. Next week brings 4k at 8:00/mi (5:00/km) and that should set me up nicely for the first official week of training for the Ottawa Marathon.

In other proactive news, I went back to the Physio office and had a visit with the massage therapist there. Its funny, most people heard I was going for a massage and were jealous. Little did they know how painful this type of massage actually is. Despite that, I'm committed to going to see Katherine at least once a month to ensure that I can keep my Plantar Fasciitis at bay. We all know that I don't need another season devoted to injury.

This week, I finally, finally hit all of my planned workouts!

Monday I hopped on my home spin bike (boring as it was!) and got a 30 minute ride in with some spurts of hard tension and standing riding. After that, I threw down 3x10 military push-ups in my bedroom. Project Guns is ON!!! For real this time. HA!

Tuesday was the treadmill tempo as described above with 3k at pace, Wednesday I got in an easy 5k (on the treadmill again) before girls night. Thursday was an unplanned rest day just due to having so much to do at work, and with kids (and the fact that I rolled over and reset my alarm for an hour later). That meant that on Friday, I got another 5k easy after work and followed that up with a bunch of upper body weights. I'm not lifting much yet (10lbs, 15lbs), but I don't want to hurt myself so I'm going slow. I finally got out on Saturday morning. I was planning to do my long run, but the weather was -20c and I had a lot going on (hair cut, Alasdair had hockey, some friends coming over for dinner), so I decided to switch up days. This run felt like complete crap, but no matter what, I couldn't slow my legs down and ended up with a 5:30/km pace on average. Switching runs was an easy decision as I knew that Patty had planned to do her long run on Sunday as well.

I met up with her at 7am this morning with a slight hangover and very little clothing (it was 6c!!!) and we ran a lovely (if slippery due to black ice) route of Burlington Trail and Road. What a way to cap off a great week and finally get to 40km again!

Runners Make the Best Friends!

This week, I still hope to get all 8 workouts in, but I may cut the long run distance slightly. It will really depend on how my foot holds up (so far, its okay. I'm a bit sore after long runs, but nothing more). I'm excited to be back into a routine and am really looking forward to the plan and working with Phaedra soon! This means that I shall return to this blog with more regularity!

I hope you've also enjoyed the beginning of the year and any training plan you are (or are not) working on.

Don't forget to click the LINK to donate to my Wishes for Olivia campaign to raise money for Make-A-Wish Canada.

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!

Mississauga Marathon Training Week 19!

Week 19!!! Four weeks to go! 26 days according to the marathon site. I knew this week would start difficultly with recovery from Around the Bay, but I also knew that I needed to ensure I was set up to gain some confidence along the way. After my non-race pace performance at Around the Bay, I'm worried about hitting the ultimate goal of this training plan.

Monday, March 31st: Rest. Man. It was a tough day of just general walking. Stairs? Killer.

Tuesday, April 1st: While I worked a long day on Monday and didn't get home until about 2130 that night, I still wanted to get some kind of run in to loosen my legs. I woke up before five AM with a goal of about 8k. That plan went out the window when I took my first step down the stairs and my quads were still screaming. I decided not to make the early wake up go to waste and slogged my way through 6k. 38:22 I then spent the day travelling to and from Ottawa with a 1.5 hr meeting in between. I took a fab photo out of the plane window as we were landing though:

Wednesday April 2nd: Poor Alasdair wasn't feeling well, so I stayed at home with him. He was quite surprised that being sick meant no computer time, but he was quiet and I got lots of work done. I was able to get out before dinner once my husband was home for an 8k that felt a whole lot better on my legs than the day before. 8.01k, 46:07

Thursday April 3rd: Running Room night! We just chatted randomly about everyone's Around the Bay before heading out for a nice 10k with two loops around the lake. This is one of my fave routes and I started really quickly with Chris, Gerald and Claudia and had to back off about 2.5k in. I spoke to Chris about my plans to add Marathon Pace work to Sunday's long runs and he agreed, though he cautioned me that, "if you can't run 5 minute kilometers for 30k right now, you likely won't get you Boston Marathon time." I've decided to ignore this. 10k 56:57

Friday April 4th: Rest day! I'm guessing I'm already in a mini taper as all of my peak weeks are done! This means only 5 days a week of running! WooHoo!

Saturday April 5th: Ken had to work, and my dad was sick, so both kids joined me at the gym and went to the daycare ($7 for two hours for two kids! Amazing), where I ran 5k easy warm up and 7k a bit faster. It was a good run. 12k, 1:09:59

Sunday April 6th: Showed up for the Running Room group run and learned that the route was 32.7k. I had already decided to run the middle 10k at marathon race pace, but wanted to start slower. So I started with Erika and Claudia and we hit 10k in an hour. Then I ran 10k in 51:30 which is a 5:09/km or 8:18/mi pace which will get me my Boston Qualifying time. I was alone for the last 23km, battling headwinds and some long, slow rises, but I toughed it out and only allowed myself to "walk with purpose." This meant that I only walked if I need to shove my bottle back in my belt, or if a light was changing, I'd slow/walk in order to avoid being stopped. We ran near the marathon route, so it was exciting to see that the signs are now up telling of road closures! All in all, a beauty day, despite the headwinds and one of those runs which make me recall how much I just LOVE to run. 33.01k, 3:09:40

Total KM: 69.02 (42.89 miles), Total Time: 6:41:05, Average Pace per KM: 0:05:45 (0:09:21/mi)

Next week is more of the same, but with more marathon pace work and we'll run the last 33km of the marathon route! Then: TAPER!!! So close now!!! I hope you had a fab week!

Mississauga Marathon Training Week 15!

Well, well! Week 15!!! Only 8 short weeks left until the marathon! I can hardly believe it! Of course if Winter keeps sticking around, it will feel like those weeks will last forever. I also fear the icy rains that are sure to come. Likely during Around the Bay. (That's right, you heard it here first). Week 15 was another peak week of 85k (52.8mi) on the plan, but I almost didn't get it done. Almost.

Monday March 3: Rest. That's right, I'm now doing long runs on Sunday's which make Monday's rest days. I miss Sunday rest days. Monday "rest days" still mean I have to go to work. Sigh. Where is my winning lotto ticket? I did go to physio for my PF and got treatment and a massage.

After the ultrasound and laser, its all ice on the foot, heat on the calf.

Tuesday March 4: Early o'clock wake up (0440) and I hit the gym treadmill to get the 10k in. Basic run and everything felt good. Wore the Man-Shorts and took a photo for the skirt girls. 10k, 58:08

Wednesday March 5: I was supposed to do hills with the group on this night and run about 14k. But after a 0830 dentist appointment for me and the boys stretched to almost noon, I ended up working the rest of the day from home and ran a glorious outdoors run instead (I have a cracked tooth and something growing under a cavity. Gross. The good news is, I'm getting it fixed. Two days before Around the Bay. HA.). 10k, 56:34 (always amazing by how much faster outdoor runs are.)

Thursday March 6: No worries on missing some mileage the day before. I decided to run a double on Thursday, one run in the AM on the gym treadmill, one in the PM with the Running Room group. Then I ended up at work until 20:00. Sigh. On the plus side, the 6k I ran on the treadmill was my 75th run of the cycle; my foot hurt though and that sucked. 6k, 35:45

Friday March 7: Oooo-KAAAyyy, Today will be the double day! I still hadn't given up on my 85k goal, so I set the alarm for 0440 again to get in about 10-11k. Except I set the alarm for PM, not AM and woke up just before 0530!!! I decided that I could afford to be a little late to work as I was there the night before for an additional 3.5 hours (aside  - I was all of 8 minutes late). I ran 9k in the morning and nearly froze my quads off. Then, after dinner I hit the road for an additional 10k and it was amazing! Nice and warm and I was over-dressed! 19.02k, 1:50:30 (run one at 5:48 pace, run two at 5:49 pace. Not bad).

When the perfect night comes together!

Saturday March 8: My running room marathon coach, Chris always tells us that the Saturday run is married to the Sunday run. You should always do some easy mileage the day before the long run so that your legs are a bit tired. It helps on marathon day when you've been in the taper. I've taken this advice to heart for the past two years, so I headed out in the glorious weather to get my 11k in. Everything felt good and I was able to avoid most puddles (I'm NOT complaining! I'd rather have puddles and warmth than ice and snow). It was so nice I started to plan a skirt outfit for Around the Bay! 11k, 1:04:10

Sunday March 9: The plan called for 29k. The weather took a turn for the worst and it was about -8 to -10 at the start of our run, but with a promise of sun. I dressed perfectly for this one and gladly hit the road with Yan and Ivanka to conquer the distance. The route was one I had run before as a 26k run with Chris and I hadn't enjoyed it at all. Probably because my foot was a mess. On this morning, I proactively took two Advil prior to the run and the foot was okay (I'm not saying I'm out of the PF woods, but I am considering making this week's Physio and treatment my last one until after Around the Bay). Yan had to run back around 15k due to hip pain and Ivanka and I settled in and got it done. Our total time and pace reflects the few walk breaks we took to take gels (two) along with the times we had to slow or walk over ice. This was a distance record for Ivanka who is targeting 4 hours for her first marathon and in my opinion, she's in a great place based on this run, which was way more challenging than the Mississauga Marathon course. 29.01k, 2:52:47

It takes a lot of directions to run 29k. And an apple waiting in the car after is a must!

WHEW! 59k in three days, but I got the distance DONE! Next peak week comes during week 18 and will end with Around the Bay!

Total KM: 85.03k (52.8mi), Total time: 8:17:54, Average Pace per KM: 0:05:51 (0:08:55/mi)

Obviously I'm getting excited about my next race now that its only 20 days away! I'm thinking that I may go for it this year and actually race, but in reality the state of my foot and plantar fasciitis will be what makes the final call.

I hope you had a great week!

Mississauga Marathon Training Week 14!

Well, week 14 was always meant to be a cutback week. I knew I had the Chilly Half Marathon on the plan and the original goal was to make this a goal race and go for a new PB. As I stated in last week's Goals Post that plan went out the window, but I didn't decide to go easy either. The week ended up short by almost 18km, but I'm not going to sweat that. I really took care of my plantar fasciitis this week which resulted in less mileage.

Monday February 24: Rest after the killer 26k the day before. Both myself and my foot needed this. My footware of choice this week were my running shoes. Which look so weird with the black laces! My other footwear due to Polar Vortex also shown. Sigh.

Tuesday February 25: Back to the treadmill at the gym (still avoiding the dark, cold and uncertain footing). My calves were really tight and my ankle was a bit sore. I ran an easy first 5k, then 5k at the proposed Chilly Race Pace (which felt easy!!!) and then cooled down for 2k. Good, good all around. I had physio in the evening. 12k, 1:07:15

Wednesday February 25: Hills, hills, hills. Back to Thomas Street and Streetsville for 7x up and down the hill. Not as busy this week and I was done without any problems. My approach to hills this year has been odd. I'm not really attacking them the way I've done in the past. I'm just going to assume they are still doing their job without worrying about paces. 12k, 1:12:20

Thursday February 26: I was planning for another 12k, but then Fergus decided to join me in bed which basically means a super light sleep for me for the rest of the night. I decided to "sleep in" a bit until 5:30 and then I got the first train into Toronto and went to the gym from there before work, where I ran into one of my staff. Who loved my skirt. Obvs. I ended up with just 6k, 35:22

Fergus is damn lucky he's so cute!

Friday, Saturday: I actually took Sam's advice and rested. I wanted to run on Saturday but didn't find time.

Sunday March 2: Chilly Half Marathon with Emma and Sam. Race report to come. A very good day. Strong running, great friends, funny moments, peed my pants. You know. The usual. 21.17k, 1:51:13 per Garmin.

Total KM: 51.17 (31.8mi), Total Time Spent Running: 4:46:10, Average pace per KM: 0:05:36 (0:09:00/mi)

Week 15 is another 85k week and it starts tomorrow! Running the half yesterday gave me all of the push I needed to attack this week strongly. I had a leg massage and PF treatment today and hope that I continue to see improvements to see me to the end of the road. The marathon is now two months away! I just hope I can continue to hit the runs and build that confidence. 

I hope you had a great week as well! 

Mississauga Marathon Training Week 13!

A tough week after the glorious last week of hitting the major milestone (HA!) of running over 50 miles (85k) in one week. I was tired and things hurt. But there are reasons for each of those things.

I'm tired because the hormone levels in my thyroid are all out of whack. Yay for hypothyroidism. I'm not that bad and I'm on a small level of daily medicine, but it could take SIX WEEKS for it to kick in! I hope its a hormonal problem and not just a I-work-full-time-and-have-two-young-kids problem. I'm getting at least 7.5 hours of sleep a night, plus napping twice daily (on my 1 hour train commute to work).

The hurt.

Well, I'm pretty sure that Sam gave me her plantars faciitis.

Haha. Just kidding.

But the fact is, that after years, YEARS! With no flare ups, I've been struggling with pain since October. I got new orthotics and some treatment, but my right heel has not resolved well at all. So, I'm back to a twice weekly physio appointment with laser and ultrasound and massage along with a wish and a prayer. This week, baring client meetings, I will also be wearing my old running shoes (with orthotics) everywhere (except outside where I'll still wear my Sorel's (with orthotics) because its freaking freezing. AGAIN.

Anyway, a tough running week and I was 6k short on the overall goal. I'm not going to worry about it.

Monday February 17th: Family Day in Ontario meaning a day off. A glorious day off where I could run in sunshine and not worry about regular demands. Oh, it was freaking -20 with wind chill. I set out for the out and back, clear roads 10k route from my house and just couldn't feel it. I bargained with myself for the whole run and ended up with 6k, 35.23.

Look at that big blue though. 

Tuesday February 18th: I got up at 0430, battled the fresh snow to drive to the gym. The 24 hour gym.Which was freaking CLOSED. re-opening at 0600 as Monday was considered a weekend and they don't really open 24 hours on the weekend, they are really only open 0600 Monday (on non holiday Monday's that is) until 2359 Friday. Bah. Back home, shower and get to work before 8am. Can't run because I have meetings all day and then physio at 1815. Assessment (Yes, you have really tight calves which is leading to the pulling on the faciitis and the pain), laser, ultrasound, ice and rebook for the next few weeks.

Wednesday February 19th: Well, doubles aren't that bad anyway, right? Woke up and got to the (now open) gym. Ran 10k with Olympic Curling. Dirty, dirty curling. "Just tickle it. TICKLE IT!!! Yup. YupYup. YEP. Hurry. Hurry Hard! HURRRRREEEEEEHHHAARRD!!! PUT IT ON THE BUTTON!!!" Whew, I need a cigarette. 8k, 48:47. Then, after work, it was time for Thomas Street Hill. And it was WARM! Like +1c!!! Amazing! Up and down x 6 hills. Whee!!! 10k, 1:01:03

Thomas Street Hill. 25 runners went up and down on this night

Thursday February 20th: My foot is a throbbing mess of horrific pain. Physio in the PM. Got some exercises to do which pretty much amount to, "how much can you pick up with your toes?"

Friday February 21st: Back to the gym for an early morning treadmill run. All systems go and Canada picks up gold and silver in women's ski cross. I'm feeling good. I feel like I'll be able to hit some pace work during the long run on Sunday. 10k, 58:29

Saturday February 22nd: Again on the gym treadmill. This time after Fergus' tumbling class, so he was treated to the in-gym daycare. I ran a ladder because I was feeling so good. 1 mile at 5:50/km, 1 mile at 5:39/km, 2 miles at 5:29/km and back down. Felt easy. I've got the pace work tomorrow. Then we went grocery shopping. Because I cooked an amazing Indian Feast for dinner that night. 10k, 56:30

Homemade Saag Paneer and Aloo Mutter with rice, samosa and butter chicken 

Sunday February 23rd: My first planned run with the marathon group out of the running room! Except I was the only one who showed up! There were a lot of the Around the Bay group there, but they were doing 29k and we had 26k on the plan. We started out and I asked if anyone was around a 6 min/km pace and Chris quickly came to run with me (he can run easily at a much faster pace, but didn't want to have me run alone - thank goodness!). I was streaming the hockey game so we chatted a bit and I gave him updates but it wasn't an overly chatty run (which is odd for both Chris and I!). I allowed him to push the pace quite a bit considering how easy I've been running my long runs, but the wind plus the hills plus my PF telling me that it was NOT completely better made my slower and slower throughout the run. The first 10k, we averaged 5:36/km, the next 10k (hilly bit) was 5:52/km and in the last 6k, I only had one KM under 6 min/km and averaged 6:15/km. This also included a 7 min km walking on a complete ice path in the forest. I should have stopped my watch. At the end of the run I was sore and frustrated as all get out. I know that there is no magic trick to getting the PF better, but running in pain and COLD and WIND. SUCKSSSSS. 26k, 2:32:01

Total KM: 70 (43.5mi), Total Time Running: 6:52:13, Average pace per KM: 0:05:53 (0:09:29/mi)

So this coming Sunday is the Chilly Half Marathon. I had hoped that at the very LEAST I could run this as a test run to see where I was for the big BQ attempt come May. As it stands the weather is going to be crap and I'll likely be high on coffee and advil just to get to the start line. I've asked Emma if she wants to try for a 1:50, which would be a PR for her and the slowest pace I could maintain and still BQ but at this point, we will see. Weather and pain will likely be the deciding factor for both of us.

And I didn't even take the leftover Indian! I let my husband have it.

How was your week? Are you running Chilly this week? Let's all do the Sun-make-it-0-degrees-please dance, mmmkay?

Mississauga Marathon Training Weeks 10 & 11

Well, well. Last week was a busy week and although I had every intention of getting around to a recap, I was unable to do so.

That means you get a double recap this week. Lucky you!

Week 10 was the second week in a row where I had 76k on the plan. I was a bit tired and my planter fasciitis was hurting a bit. I took charge and decided that I'd make a better effort to roll and ice. I also wanted to get back to basic core work. I took care of the foot, but not the abs. This week. I swear!

Monday January 27: I was supposed to do 10k, but I got out of bed, put on my clothes and when I got outside it was snowing and blowing. Oh well, no sense in turning back, might as well try to get at least 5k in. I hit the road because there is no way I'd have any chance on the un-plowed sidewalks and trudged through a slow 6k. 37:37

Tuesday January 28: I was supposed to do 14k with intervals, but I just couldn't get to sleep on Monday night. Even though I went to bed at 9:30pm, I was still awake at 11pm. It made my alarm at 4:30am VERY early. Ugg. No way to not run and no way to fit it into the work day, so I hit the gym anyway and did 10k easy. 58:10

Wednesday January 29: I don't know if you can believe it, the guy I announced almost four years ago, heads to kindergarten in September! I had to register him and that started at 9am in town. I was able to go the the gym at the late hour of 6:30am and attempted my 5x1000m intervals at 4:26/km This was a very difficult run, with lots of jumping off during the hard parts and I cut it short after 3 intervals and then did 4x1000m at race pace (5:02/km). I finished off the 14k in a reasonable time. 1:17:12

With Princes Anna from ... Frozen? (we haven't seen it)

Thursday January 30: Running Room clinic night! Because my plan calls for more running than the standard Running Room plan, and because I missed 4k on Monday, I hit the streets in the early am for a nice, but slippery 6k in 36:25. Then, after a day of work and no real dinner, I joined the group for 8k in 44:31. The difference in these runs were night and day. The first was cold with difficult footing and alone. The second had good company, easier, clear footing and it was warm (at -5c).

Friday January 31: Another early morning 10k in sloppy, sloppy conditions because of the mild temperature of -3c! I ended up running on the roads in the early morning and saw my paces improve by as much as 30 seconds a kilometre as a result. 10k, 1:02:36

Saturday February 1: Sam agreed to come out to Milton to start a run at 6am on a Saturday morning and keep me company. God bless her. While tempo was supposed to be part of the plan, I couldn't keep it up. Sam listened to my breathing and counseled me that I may want to get that looked at. It sounded like asthma to her (I've had this difficulty breathing in the cold since my lung infection in the fall). As a result, I've taken my puffer before every run since and have had an easier time with my breathing. Anyway, Sam and I had a great chat if not great conditions to run in (we stuck to the road the whole time) and we got 22k in, even as Sam said, the time was depressing considering what we were throwing down in the summer; 2:11:02

We are still happy to be DONE though

Total KM: 76.02 (47.23mi) Total Time: 7:37:33 Average Pace per KM: 0:05:53 (0:09:41/mi)

Week 11. CUTBACK WEEK!!! WooHoo! Only 60k on the plan this week. The winter finally broke me this week though. I did plan at least one run outdoors with the running room, but as you'll see, Old Man Winter had other ideas.

Monday February 3: Rest. I just took the day off even though the plan was 10k.

Tuesday February 4: WooHoo! Less intervals. 3x1000m which I did on the mile at 4:26/km pace. I so wanted to stop after 10k, but knowing that I had already missed my Monday run, I pushed through to finish the 14k per the plan: 1:19:19

Wednesday February 5: The plan was to run 10k with the Running Room free run as Thursday my husband had to use my car as his was to be in the shop. Although I knew that there was snow expected, I didn't quite realize that the snow would come down all day long. We got an email in the afternoon from Chris saying that they were calling off the run due to conditions. I knew I HAD to get a run in though, so I headed to the gym and pounded on the 10k on the treadmill in my new shoes which were $40 off! 58:14

Thursday February 6: The plan called for 8k. But um, I decided that my low VW Jetta wagon would be able to back through the plowbank and well, it didn't. Let me tell you, Ken was super happy with the pre 5:30am wake up of: "My car is, um, stuck." He dug me out and I still went to the gym and ran 6k. The Olympic coverage made it all okay. 34:46

Friday February 7: I had to run another 10k because of missing some mileage the day before. No worries, treadmill and Olympics and a pre-5am gym call and I got it done. I even ran two miles at 5:15/km just because. 56:18

Saturday February 8: What a day. 8am: Alasdair hockey practice, 9am: Fergus tumbling class, 10:30: Fergus birthday party, 2pm: Alasdair birthday party. Ken has to work 10-3 and my folks were off to visit my sister. No problem. I get up at 4:30am all week long to run, I'll just do it on a Saturday. Because I was SO OVER winter and the sidewalks still were a mess and because I had 6x6mins of tempo on the plan, I decided to go to the gym and run on the treadmill. When I got to the gym at 5:27am. It was closed. Even though there is a huge sign saying "OPEN 24 HOURS!" Not on Saturday. Nope. On Saturday it opens at 7am. Bah. Because I'm over winter, I go back home and climb back into bed. I take Fergus to his birthday party. As I arrive, I realize that that parking lot of the party place is very empty. I check the email invite. The party is on Sunday! When I get back home, my folks let me know that they don't plan to leave until 4pm. AWESOME. I go into replan mode and my folks don't mind watching the kids while I book it to the gym and pound out a very sweaty 20k (complete with 6x6min tempo at 4:46/km pace) in 1:49:30. Thank God for parents.

Total KM: 60 (37.28mi) Total Time: 5:38:07 Average Pace per KM: 0:05:38 (0:09:04/mi)

Well, that's the last two weeks. This week, week 12 is my first 100% week. Maximum mileage. 85k. While I'm still over the cold and crappy footing, I will be outdoors this week because hill training starts on Wednesday and I plan on running on Saturday in Burlington with the girls. For the other runs? I see no sense in turning away from the treadmill. It has served me well this winter.

And sometimes it gets so good....

I have often equated running to golf.

I haven't played a lot of golf and I don't play well, but when I do, I usually end up having that one shot that is so spectacular that it ensures I'll be out again when asked

The same goes for running.

Not every run is great:

Some really suck!
  
But this past week, I was able to kick through three awesome runs which allowed me to build up my confidence and set my mind once again to the goal for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon.

The first was a 5am Wednesday treadmill run at my gym. I decided to go old school, or running room style and run 10 minutes warm up, 20 minutes tempo and the rest easy. I struggled just a bit with the 20 minutes of tempo at 4:46/km pace (7:41/mi) but after about 4 minutes at easy pace, and just reaching 4 out of the 5 total miles I wanted to run that day (8km total), I couldn't take the easy any longer so I kicked another half mile at tempo pace. I felt strong and proud!

The next day was supposed to be a rest day with my run on Friday AM, however I had planned an early coffee date with my former colleague instead so I decided to go for a rare evening run. This was really nice as I got to see the route I normally run in complete darkness. I was having a really pleasant run, just easing along but decided to try to kick out the 9th and final KM as fast as possible. I was rewarded with a 4:22 KM (7:03/mi). I felt amazing!

Finally, on Saturday, Sam and I got together for our long run which was supposed to be 20km with 10k at half race pace (for the target half - STWM as mentioned above). We decided to run the Milton Half Marathon route again and did 3km warm up, 10km at half race pace (aiming for 5:04/km or 8:10/mi) at the slowest and the rest easy. It was difficult to continue to keep up the pace and I would likely have split the 10k if I had been on my own, but with Sam there, I persevered and managed to run the 10k in 51:03 total. Not bad at all and a true confidence booster for this coming weekend when I'll run the Milton Half Marathon and for October 20, which is the A-goal race.

GUILTY!!!

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.

Four Weeks In (Photo Friday)

Hey-Yay!

So how's it all going with you out there? Things here are going well! Tomorrow marks the end of the fourth week of my fall training plan and I'm feeling good so far.

I have missed ONE run!

That's it, that's all!

I know! WHAT! That's super amazing for me! I totally, totally chalk it up to setting the alarm for stupid early o'clock 0440 and NOT hitting snooze!

Of course, morning running leaves a lot to be desired in terms of my clothing choices, but hey, I really don't care that early

I've been doing really great in terms of hitting tempo runs on pace (and then being super scared because tempo pace is only slightly faster than targeted race pace and OMG!) and so some smugness has crept in:

I was humbled this week though, when I attempted my first Interval paced run of 5x1000m at Ipace (4:30/km). I had to abort the plan in my fourth repeat and only barely hit pace once (at 4:33). My run-keeper friend Zin (one of my two active RK friends - the other is Zin's wife, Irina) suggested that I should attempt this on the track next time. That's an idea, but the next time I'm supposed to attempt this is next week and we are away camping, so I'll see.

One of the goals this cycle is to lose some weight and finally get down to 125lbs. This morning I was at 131.1. My body lurves the 130s. Of course I could eat a hecka lot better

In all, I'm happy! I've been able to hit hot yoga once a week as well and I've gotten my arm workouts in once a week too! And yes, I still hold down a full time job and have a family (see how I wake up at stupid o'clock?). Longer term plans are of course forming because this cycle is really the ramp up to my first BQ attempt cycle, so I'm toying with going for a different coloured medal at the 2014 Around the Bay. Time will tell if this will be a viable option.

I hope that your training is going as well as mine! 4 weeks down! 14 to go!

Catching up!

Hello! I feel like it has been forever since I've had the time to sit down and blab all about what's been up with me. Pretty much the usual has kept me from blogging: Crazy work and family time!  So here's what I've been up to in a nut-shell!

Training Plan

The plan kicked off last week with a 10k Monday morning run, then a 10k Tuesday morning run with tempo! I got both in, but decided to take Wednesday as a rest day and forego yoga as well because my calves and shins were bothering me. Not painful, just tight. I spent some time with my foam roller

 and things seemed okay for the rest of my week which included one more easy run of 7.5k (again at the crack of dawn) and one long run, done on Friday morning after I dropped my son off at school:

Out of the planned 54k for week one, I managed to get in 45.5k. Not bad as I skipped one run of 8k and only ran 7.5k instead of 8k for an easy run.

I enjoyed my first cold water bath of the training cycle after the 18k. Maybe one day I'll add ice...

Family Time

The reason why I had to shorten the run week and why I had Friday off was because we spent the weekend camping at Rockwood Conservation Area with some great friends including my best friend from high school. Friday was great and it rained most of the day on Saturday:

But we were able to get to the beach after dinner and spent another four hours on the beach on Sunday before heading home. I love camping at Rockwood because it is at most, 30 minutes from home. 

Morning Runnig

Look at that time of day! As mentioned, I am attempting to get 4/5 runs done in the early morning before work (and done before 0600). This means that I'm up with the alarm at 0435 and out the door while the time still shows 04XX. I've enjoyed this routine so far because I'm getting some good quality runs in and getting them out of the way without compromising everything else I want to do in the day. Plus its hot out.

Even at 0550 in the morning, the heat is killer! I had to miss my morning tempo today because I had a big meeting at work and had to leave the house by 0615, so we'll see how the humidity treats me around 2000 tonight. 

Work

Has been busy, but joyful. Today is my three month anniversary here so YAY! end of probation and bring on the benefits! Because I've been running so much in the morning, I'm embracing my natural frizzy wavy/curly hair and am actually loving it

So, that's life in a nutshell! Hope you've also been keeping well. 

Tell me, do you work out in the morning? What is the earliest you'd be willing to wake up to get that workout in? (for me, it is 0430). Any frizzy curly hair tips?