Catching up!

Hello! So much to catch up on! I've been absent the past while due to vacation. First, there was the hustle in getting ready to go on vacation, then the vacation itself and finally, being back at work and settling back into a routine. That's been tough. I haven't even grocery shopped yet, so I've been stealing enjoying my kids lunchtime snacks as my own (goldfish crackers and cheese strings anyone?).

We are on the #disneyfantasy #disneycruiselines #mywintervacation

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Jan 30, 2016 at 9:51am PST

That's about half of our 22 person group, ready to cruise on the Disney Fantasy (Yes, we were on the sailing that had mechanical problems and skipped Castaway Cay). The trip was awesome! This is was our third sailing with Disney and even before the discount we received as a result of the malfunction, we were already thinking about our next trip!

Let's catch up on running a bit, shall we?

Week 5 went well, very well. I ran 73.94k over 5 runs, including my long 24k run with Amy. It was a great run, but unfortunately, we saw a coyote hit by a car right in front of us and die. We stopped and called the humane society and they came to pick up the animal. the driver didn't even stop!!! There was a lot of damage to the front of the drivers vehicle as well, so I'm shocked that they just kept driving! I also hit the trainer for one ride, putting in 17.6k on Carter +1.

#seenonmyrun #nofilter Worth the early hours.

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Jan 22, 2016 at 6:49am PST

Week six was the week were leaving on vacation, driving to Buffalo on Thursday evening, flying to Orlando on Friday and sailing on Saturday! I front loaded my week, but running the first half marathon pace run on Sunday which allowed me to take a bit of pressure off. In the end, I only fit in two runs, a 12k and a 26k, but that 26k was an epic run: All Treadmill! The last 16k was done at pace and the run actually went amazingly. I got a whole lot of support for this run from Emma and Sam which also made it easier. I couldn't quit as people were waiting for me to finish

 Then, we left on vacation.

Dry month also came to an end!

For the week of vacation, I ran three times! They were all on the boat and they all felt great!

Can't beat these views (Tortola)

Cool map from my 5 mile run as we docked in Tortola

While we were unable to make it to Castaway Cay, we still got a chance to run the race, around deck 4 of the boat on the running tack. I started with the first wave and even though I had no pace feedback from my garmin (it would pause and not track things correctly, for example a 4 mile run became 19k!), I still managed to run faster than half marathon pace for first place female!

Not quite the view I had hoped for upon finishing my second Castaway Cay 5k, but I'll take close to PR effort and first female. Thanks for the great shirt @redshirtrunning #mywintervacation #disneyfantasy #disneycruiselines #justrun #likeagirl

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Feb 5, 2016 at 6:04am PST

We got home last Saturday night and I still managed to fit in a short run on Sunday, even though I could really feel that my "land legs" hadn't come back yet. That 6k brought my weekly total up to a respectable 25.5k run on the week! 

And now, we are back home and I'm tackling week 7 of the plan. With the success of the 26k treadmill run and the 5k at faster than half marathon pace behind me, I decided to pull the trigger and finally signed up for the Goodlife Toronto Marathon. Whew! In 78 days I'll toe the line at marathon #5 and BQ attempt #3. Let's hope this one sticks.

In the meantime, I'll continue to bask in the memories of another awesome family vacation as I run through cold, wind and snow.

What a good looking MacFamily. #mywintervacation #disneyfantasy #disneycruiselines

A photo posted by Nicole (@macnic05) on Feb 5, 2016 at 4:25pm PST

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?

Vacation photos and 2013 Plans!

Oh hi! How are you? Yes, I know, we are now two weeks into 2013 and you haven't heard from me in forever. Well, I spent the first eight days of the year in Ocho Rios, Jamaica and the next seven catching up on everything else.

We did not take our kids.

Thus, the house keeping staff made some holiday suggestions for us:

It is amazing what a $5USD tip gets you!

Plans for 2013

My race schedule is an exact duplicate of 2012!

January 27: Robbie Burns 8k!

March 3: Chilly Half Marathon!

March 24: Around the Bay 30k!

May 5: Mississauga Marathon!

With the exception of Around the Bay, I will be pushing hard for a PB in each race. Training started in earnest last week, though I did run twice while in Jamaica.

My other goal for this year is to get my weight down to 125lbs. In November, I was around 129-131lbs, but today I'm 136.8lbs. I have recommitted to the love of salads and oatmeal and food tracking and know that I can get there. I just have to stop enjoying stuff like this so much:

I hope you all enjoyed a great New Year! What are your plans and goals for this year? What is your favorite libation? 

Mississauga Marathon Training Week 6 & 7 and vacation photos!

Here is a condensed post because there was not a lot of running in these two weeks.

Week Six
Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Treadmill Tempo. I upped the pace to 5:19/km and added a bit so that I could get a good cool down in. 7.24k, 41:28

Wednesday: Treadmill part two. I couldn't get out with the group on this day and I was very tired because Fergus was up at the crack of dawn (before my 5:20am alarm), so I just ran a bit of a ladder on the treadmill with a 1.5mi tempo in the middle. 9.7k, 55:33

Thursday: A super easy and fun run with the group. 8.07k, 51:15

Friday: Rest Saturday: 23k LSD Rest due to snowstorm Sunday: Sail away!

Total KM 25.01, Total time: 2:28:16, Average pace per KM: 0:05:56

Week 7
This week was spent aboard the Disney Wonder, sailing from LA to Mexico and back. It was an amazing trip and I got two runs in:

Tuesday: 5ish km, 29:39
Thursday: 5.35k, 34:44

Total KM 10.35, Total time: 1:04:23, Average pace per KM: 0:06:13

Views of the runs:






The trip was so worth it! We all had an amazing time and will be going back again when Fergus is a bit older. Here are some more photos for you to enjoy!


On the plane!


Pirate Night!


Character breakfast! Fergus loved everyone!


Formal Dinner!


Dancing before dinner (we did this almost every night).


Valentine's day brunch (post run). This is the adult only restaurant and was well worth the extra $20 per person.

As you can see, we had a great trip and there wasn't much time for running! I'm right back at it this week though and I've racked up my highest mileage to date (to be detailed in another post).

Vacation and Tempo Run

So.

I've been away with my family since Saturday morning (and when I say morning, I mean 4:30 AM). We spent some time at the resort of Mont Tremblant thanks to some friends who have access to a family condo there and we had a wonderful time (side note, four kids 4 and under are a LOT to manage!). While I had all kinds of notions of running while staying at Tremblant (especially as I was not going to ski), I didn't get out once. I'm sure everyone will agree that family time trumps running, even when you are training for a big race.

On a positive note, we stopped in Kanata for the night at my husband's sister's place so I was able to get out for the Sunday LSD run with the Kanata Running Room. While their half marathon group was only going 7k (I should have ran 9k), they had already broken up into pace groups, so I just had to follow my appropriate pace leader, which was easy to do as he had a NYC Marathon jacket on. We did 7k in about 51 minutes and this group employed the 10 and 1 training method that the Running Room favours.

I didn't like it. Not at all. I felt that as soon as I got into a good grove, we were walking. No matter, my usual group does not use this method (shh, don't tell John Stanton), so I'll be back to the normal way of running that I'm comfortable with this Sunday.

Today (Friday), I ignored the "rest" day scheduled in my training (as I had rested from Monday-Thursday) and did my first ever Tempo paced run (my group did two of these this week, Tuesday and Wednesday). I did it at the gym, on the treadmill and call me crazy, but I LOVED it.

I loved increasing the speed and pushing myself and also getting a 5k in rather quickly. I liked the challenge and feel that I could have ran a whee bit faster than I was supposed to, but I'm sticking with what Bing has prescribed for a few weeks to see what I think overall and to see how I feel when I do these runs outside.

In case you're wondering, Bing has me paced to complete the half marathon in 2:26:48 (which is what I calculated using his M-pace of 6:41). My Tempo pace is 6:14 with my easy pace being 7:20 (all per KM). I'll be very happy to finish under 2:30:00, but of course the competitor in me will likely set a more aggressive A goal closer to the date.

In all, the vacation was good, but I'm also glad to be back to training.