Ottawa Marathon Training week 10!

I know!  I missed week 9,  but really the things that happened in week 9 can be summed up as such:

1) FINALLY had a GREAT tempo run

2) Raced Around the Bay

Week 10 started with a renewed energy after Around the Bay, even though that race didn't go exactly to plan. I feel like things are coming together and even though I have a number of tough weeks coming up, I'm eager and willing to take them on.

Monday: Rest day. I didn't really need it as my legs felt fine, but I wasn't one to argue with Coach Phaedra

Tuesday: 6k easy running. This run was fantastic for a number of reasons: I had new shoes and I got to wear the Man Shots.

Wednesday: I took Wednesday off. I set my alarm wrong and there was no time once I got home to fit the run in.

Thursday: 13k moderate pace. Except, I decided to just run this as it was, nice and easy. The weather was awesome in the early morning and I was able to run in crops even though I started before 5am. The pace was slightly off, but still respectable. 13k, average pace 5:36/km

Friday: Alasdair and I ran the Good Friday Road Races again. He ran the 1k in about 5 minutes and I ran the 5k in 25:27. The run felt good despite the Northshore Hills and the headwind and once again, I was so proud to see my son running.

Saturday: I met up with Sam at 7am and we ran a double out and back from Port Nelson Park in Burlington. We ran 33k in 3hr2min39 sec. Sam is a true trooper as she had a horrible, hacking death cold, but still got the run done in good time and great pace despite it all. In fact, I had to hold her pace back in the last 2k as she kept speeding up. And really, any run that starts with the beauty sunrise is worth it.

Sunday: Phaedra has put in a recovery run or spin on Sunday's. I'm not one to normally run a recovery run, but it is nice to get things moving. While the kids were up too early (0630), it allowed me to get a load of stuff done (including going to 9am mass with the kids) and so I got on the road around 1pm and ran a very nice and easy 4.4k with the big snowflakes falling the entire time. I got home and threw down some military pushups and ab work afterwards. I need to get back to doing these on the regular. Then, I ate an amazing Easter dinner with my family. A perfect holiday Sunday!

In all, I ran 61.56KM (38.25mi) in 5:37:37. That's an average pace of 5:29/km (8:50/mi).

Also, I was able to get over the halfway point in my fundraising for Make-A-Wish Canada in support of Wishes for Olivia. Please consider clicking the link and donating even $5 or $10 which will truly make a difference in the life of a deserving child.

In all, a great week! I looking forward to the hard training ahead. I'm fully comitted to getting to the start line of the Ottawa Marathon with a sure shot of hitting my BQ goal and these next weeks will ensure I'm able to do so.

Ottawa Marathon Week 8!!!

Time is just ticking away and I can honestly say that this week was amazing! I had emailed back and forth with Coach Phaedra at the beginning of the week, saying that I'd have to move my long run to Sunday as my son was still playing in the OMHA finals on the weekend. The Milton Winterhawks were up 2-0 and if they won on Saturday in Alliston, they'd win the entire championship! Then, the team organized a bus to take the team and family members to the game. And Saturday was my birthday (38! Last chance to get to Boston in the under 40 club is this year)! Then, my husband and I decided to invite the entire team back to our place on Saturday night win, lose or draw!

So... I took Friday to work from home and Phaedra moved my week around so that I could run long on Friday.

Which turned out to be a great decision considering this:

The team won in overtime, due to a shot MY SON took while dumping the puck and heading to the bench. I seriously wish I had worn a heart rate monitor during this game because I totally had my heart rate over 200 BMP at times. It was super exciting!

Anyway! On to the week of training.

Monday: I did NOT want to get on my spin bike for the my 45 minutes of cross training, but I did. I felt much better for it after!

Tuesday: This was a recovery week! So I "only" had to run 10k at a moderate pace. The goal was 5:25-5:30 and I was amazed when I hit it even after the first 3k were slow.


Wednesday: Hills! Back to Thomas Street for the first time in a year and I went up and down 7 times. It was awesome! I can't believe how fast I was! My average pace was 5:39/km for the 12.15k

Thursday: Rest day! Don't mind if I do!

Friday: Long run! It was going to be an early one and also a challenging one as it was my first time running such a distance alone (27k), and I was determined to hit the paces Phaedra had prescribed: 5:30-5:35/km

BOOM! 5:33/km on average and I felt good throughout. Confidence grows!

Saturday: Rest day. Birthday. Championship day.

Sunday: My fitbit tells me I slept 6.5hrs. I sure as heck drank a lot on Saturday, but I must have also followed up with a lot of food and water because I woke up absolutely fine. I spent the morning tidying up the house (which was actually pretty darn clean, just FULL of empty bottles, LOL). Then, my champion Alasdair and I went and took care of one of the things he wanted to do the second the hockey season was over:

Finally it was time to run. Man, I was tired and did not want to. But the day was glorious and sunny if a bit windy and cold. Off I went. I played wind roulette and won! And I ended up with a progression 5:46-5:43-5:35-5:32-5:22-5:13. I'm still not quite sure how the heck that happened, but man it feels good!

In total, I ran 55.18km in 5:06:35 with a 45min spin and a 46:30 minute heart rate busting final game. What a truly fantastic week!

This week brings Around The Bay! I can't wait. I love this race. Considering the long runs I've put together in the past three weeks, I'm looking to go in and own the plan Coach Phaedra gave me for this one.

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

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

He shoots, he scores!

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



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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ottawa Marathon Training: Week 4!

Oh week 4! A beautiful rest week with a small cutback in distance and an actual cutback in tempo! It was also a short week as we had a holiday on Monday (Family Day), so it was win, win, win all around!

Monday: 45 minute spin in my basement at the glorious time of 10am! I love statutory holidays! Then, I did AllTheLaundry and baked bread. Beauty!

Tuesday: Treadmill Tempo, but a cut back. I actual wrote to Phaedra in the training log, "OMG, I love you!" The total was supposed to be 9k, but the gym didn't open until 530a, so I cut it short to 8k. I did the 5k in the middle at about 5:03/km and it felt great!

Wednesday: Easy running - 5k in 28:50. I wanted to add in ab work but the gym is replacing the carpet and there was no space to do them in the regular "stretching" area.

Thursday: Return of the hills! It was my first time running hills on the treadmill as I couldn't make it out to Thomas Street that night. This ended up being for the best as it was stupid cold by the end of the day. I ran 3 hills at 6% incline for 3 minutes each. Normally, I'm running on the treadmill around 6.5 miles per hour, but I had to reduce the speed to 6.0mph for the hills. I didn't mind being on the treadmill for hills, but I can't wait to get back to Thomas Street (yes, I've clearly gone mad)

 Friday: Rest day. Okay then! And my new toy came:

Saturday: I was supposed to run 20k with a local friend who I met on DailyMile, however I woke up with a stomach ache that didn't resolve so I called off my run with Phaedra's blessing. I started to feel a bit better and I had to go and grocery shop anyway, so I decided to hit the gym above the grocery store for an easy spin on the upright bike. I ended up riding 16k in 34 minutes and kept my heart rate under 140 beats per minute. I was happy that my stomach stayed okay throughout.

Sunday: When I cut on my run early Saturday morning, I quickly reached out to Emma who I knew was planning a 30k run for Sunday morning. She was willing to take me out for about 22k of her run and we agreed to meet up at La Salle Park as long as she didn't make me run the "butch" hill up to the park (what my phone corrected bitch to). The weather was chilly, but we were both dressed well and Emma planned a fantastic route that took us onto the multi use trail in Hamilton to avoid the cars and take advantage of clear-ish paths. Emma was supposed to target a 5:50/km pace and I'm thrilled we ended the 22k almost bang on at 2:05 and 5:48/km pace. Did I mention it was cold?

Thanks for the photo, Emma!

In other news, my son's rep hockey team won their first semi-final game against a tough team and not only did he score a goal, he won the "hard hat" for defensive player of the game

Finally, my Wishes for Olivia campaign continued its positive momentum and has reached $1,245.58 raised!!! That's almost 50% of my goal! If you haven't had a chance, click on the link and please, donate if you can!

Total KM Run: 42.6k, Total time on the run: 4:04:40 (neat!), Average pace per KM: 5:45

Total KM Cycled: 16k+, Total time on the bike: 1:19:04

I hope your week was just as good!

Next Sunday brings my first race of the season, and Phaedra's got a race plan that I'm ready to tackle. I'll swing back sometime this week to lay it all out. I hope you do too.

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.

Hug your loved ones

Nothing about running or food in this post.

Just a simple reminder to hug your loved ones close and cherish the time you have with them. Remember that it can be short.

A friend of mine had her five year old, healthy girl go to bed on Christmas night, never to wake again.

God Bless Olivia, my she find comfort and peace with Jesus.

Please send a thought or prayer for my friend Jennifer, her husband Glenn and their one-year old daughter Aurelia as they find their way through this difficult time.

Milton Half Marathon - Best Race Moment EVER!

Running with my kids!

This is the 10k mark and without a doubt the best moments of ANY race ever.

In the blink of an eye

Two years really do fly right by:

August 15, 2010

August 12, 2012

Happy Birthday to my Fergus.

Foto Friday

Camping at the Pinery!

Ha! This was the tent we bought as a "play" tent for the kids. My four year old couldn't even stand up in it.

The Beach was beautiful!

And we all loved it.

Conversations in Gear with a 4-year old

Alasdair: Mummy, what's this?

Me: It's my running bra.

Alasdair: Can I get one for when I go treadmilling [running on the dreadmill]?

Me: No, boys don't need them. Boys don't have breasts.

Alasdair: Oh. When I get older, I'm going to put breasts on my Christmas list.

Me: I'm sure you will

A runner is born!

Tonight, my husband was home from work early and I was cooking prime rib for supper,

(What? doesn't everyone have prime rib on Tuesday? - It was still frozen solid when we tried to have it Sunday and Monday nights are a write off due to lessons)

so I was able to jump on the treadmill for a 30 minute run without having to watch the monitor for a crying baby the entire time (whee - I could enjoy "Say Yes to the Dress"). Needless to say, I was stoked to be able to hop on and bang out 30 minutes doing 3 and 1s.

What I didn't count on was my own personal cheering squad:



You guessed it. My almost four year old son decided to come down to the basement with me to watch me on the treadmill. I didn't think he'd last five minutes (as our basement is an unfinished abyss without toys or anything fun), however he spent his time alternating between cheering me on ("Go Mummy, go!"), "running" beside me and playing with the cat (I do think he watched a bit of "Say Yes to the Dress" as well). When I was finished, he jumped on the treadmill and banged out a minute at a 1.5 pace, "jumping" to the sides to have a drink and wipe his sweaty face.

I can't wait to race with him.

Nov 9: 30 mins, 3 and 1s, 3.7k
Nov 4: 30 mins, 3 and 1s, 3.7k

Endurance

I have lost quite a bit.

I ran 8.3km this windy, cold Sunday morning with Sarah and I sucked it! It was the first time I had run in 8 days (ran 8k with Sarah last Saturday). This week was just horrible. It was filled with lethargy and drinking.

(Quick aside: I'm trying to have kid #2. I have been for a while - not a long time in the grand scheme of things, but long enough. I thought this was the month. It turned out not to be and well all motivation turned to lethargy. Boo hoo. I'm not here to write about that stuff though and so, on to running).

The drinking was fun. The lethargy was paid for today.

I'm not sure how I'm going to get through the zoo 10k next Saturday or what my plan is. I WILL run it, that goes without saying of course. It'll be the first time I run 10k. Ever. I'll guess I'll set goals along the lines of finishing and not dying! HA!

So, I've had enough of feeling sorry for myself and am now back to running and writing about it. And reading about people who do the very same thing.

PSA - Never run with heartburn

You know I never, ever experienced heartburn until I was pregnant. And when I was pregnant, for a long time I didn't realize that the burning in my throat was the much discussed heartburn. It wasn't until I described it in detail to my long suffering husband, that I was diagnosed. By my 41st week (oh yes, The Kid was late), I couldn't even drink water without suffering the burn.

Once I gave birth (or, if you prefer - once I had the surgery to remove The Kid from my uterus and body) and lost the 50 odd pounds gained over 10 months, I went back to my non-suffering ways and in the past 31 months have only experienced heartburn a handful of times.

Tonight was one of those times.

I met my husband at the local pub after picking up The Kid and we decided to stay there for dinner. After a craptastic accident from my potty-training 2.5 year old, I drowned my sorrow in a lovely pint of Harp and a plateful of nachos (thanks to small favours, we did have a change of underwear for The Kid - no wipes, but the husband did what he could).

After the first two sips of his third pint of the afternoon, my husband turned to me and said

I can't drive home!

No problem! I declared.

I would run back (3.5k) and pick up his car. A very good plan that 1) stopped me from having a second pint (sob), 2) ensured I got some kind of run in tonight (I DID go to Curves at lunch).

So, I headed out 45 minutes after we left the pub. 45 minutes after I got the most out of my $13 plate of nachos (jalapenos and all) and drained every last sip from my pint glass.

I ran outside wearing shorts for the first time because it was hot.

HOT.

I set a great pace and knew that I'd have no problem with the distance. I was only really worried about the heat. I took a different route than my normal 5k run which lead me through mature neighbourhoods and allowed my mind to drift and sing along with the tunes on my run list as my feet hit the sidewalk. I noticed that younger men also seem to smile and wave at runners (must wear shorts more often). I scared the crap out of an older couple walking a dog and taking up the entire sidewalk by yelling "LEFT" at them as I passed. Things were good.

Then.

Oh then.

Probably around 2.5k I started to have this BURNING feeling in my throat. I couldn't fathom what it was. I figured it was some toothpaste stuck in my throat so I took a swig of water and swallowed hard.

Nope, still burning.

Hmmm.

I did the same again, but this time I spit.

Nope.

Shit!

Its bloody heartburn!

From that point on, I used all my mental power just to make it through the last km. As I have never run this particular route, I wasn't sure where I was or how long I had to go before I got to the car, so when I rounded the corner and saw the main streets leading to the plaza with the pub, I was never more grateful.

The husband is quite happy not to have his car left in a pub parking lot all night either.

Lesson learned: Save the pubs for post sports like all normal people.

3.5k, 22 mins.

The one where life gets in the way

I set up the treadmill at 8:30 tonight to run just over 7km in an effort to gain more miles and work my way up to a 10k race sometime at the end of the summer. This was my first time back to any kind of running since the Bread and Honey 5k because last week just left so little time for running.

I couldn't get on the treadmill until that time for two reasons: 1)the kid is not going to bed as easily as he once did at 8pm, so we are allowing him to stay up until 8:30 and 2)the husband was out shopping.

With 1.8km to go, the husband came down to the basement and asked if I was almost done. I let him know that I'd be at least 10-15 mins (I had a horrid/tiring run tonight) and he gave me puppy dog eyes. He had said he'd head over to a buddy's house for a beer, so I cooled down, ran the time to 45 minutes and completed 6.1km. Not bad, not what I wanted to do either.

I have found a race that I will be doing for sure next year. The GTAA Runway Race . How cool would it be to run 5k down the runways at Pearson while fighter jets and commercial airlines are buzzing overhead? Having grown up at the edge of the airport and having spent a year there working in Customs, I must do this race next year!

Plan for the week:
Monday: Curves, Baseball (we won!)
Tuesday: 6.1km - treadmill
Wednesday: Curves
Thursday: 7km - outside!
Friday: Curves/Treadmill (I'm booked in solid meetings on Friday so I may not get Curves in)
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 5km run with my ladies running group

Not Everyone Hated the Water Belt

The kid was quite impressed.

Jan 22-24/09

I'll try to do what I can remember... It may not be much.

Jan 22
B: Cranberry Almond Crisp cereal, Coffee
L: Turkey Soup - Homemade
S: Yogurt and Grapes
D: Leftover veggie pizza
S: 1 pint of beer
H20: 2L

No exercise because I could not fit it into my work day and I had a meeting with my ladies softball executive in the evening so it was too late to run once I got home.

Jan 23
I was in training all day and then went out to a concert. It was bad.
B: Fruit plate, yogurt with granola, mini croissant, 2x coffee
L: Salad and veggie lasagna, 2 small pastries
D: Poutine made with rib meat and blue cheese! MMMMMMMMM!
H20: 1.5L

1 shot tequila.
Say 8-10 beers. I'm not sure because I had two of those MASSIVE beers at the ACC.

Jan 24
B: Small bowl of Cheerios, banana, coffee
L: Pea Soup, 1/2 granny smith apple
S: 2x Lindor Lindt
Ex: 20 minute Yoga program - better than nothing!
D: Homemade hamburger and fries and caesar salad. Glass of milk and 2x ginger cookies!
H20: 2L

Today was a great eating day for my kid. Normally he will not eat veggies or meat and today he ate pea soup, some granny smith apple, 1/2 a hamburger and homemade fries which were more like wedges! I'm so proud!

Tomorrow, I get back on the treadmill.