Last night's run was short but sweet. I battled through rush hour traffic and made it to one of my favorite trail systems, Shubie trail. I only had 45 minutes to run before I needed to be home to relieve my husband who had been home all day and tidy the house before his sister came for a visit (my husband and my opinion on tidy is slightly different lol).
The trail was really busy, especially in the off-leash dog areas. Thankfully all of the dogs I encountered were happy to ignore me so it didn't interrupt my groove. I really enjoyed the scenery of the trail. This one has some old rock foundations and walls along the trail so it makes it more interesting to look at, if you get tired of admiring the fall leaves on the trees. Having not run this trail in a awhile I had forgotten how hilly it really is and struggled through the second half of my run. I overcame it though and finished the last 2km pretty strong. My knee held up great but did twinge a bit after I was finished. I still find climbing hills is my biggest challenge. I try to switch up my gait so it takes the load off of my knee but so far I haven't figured out a way to get my butt up the hills without getting a few shots of pain.
So, my short and sweet run went well and I'm looking forward to today's run. I started reading Relentless Forward Progress again, especially since I'm eyeing the Waskally Wrabbit for next spring, it's a solid training book with an aggressive 50km plan. If I can work up to and stick with that plan I should be in great shape for the race come June 2017. At the moment my goal is to simply run more, (with the aim of running no less than 40km a week) and run lots of hills. So far so good.
Friday, September 30, 2016
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
On to bigger and better things
Since the half marathon I spent the week running recovery runs and simply trying to get my workouts in my schedule. Back to school for my kid, back to competitive dance (for her)/carpooling (for me) and everything else being a full time working Mom, wife and part-time dance mom entails left little time for really great training. My phone's health monitor told me on Sunday I could do better, so this week I'm trying lol.
So far I've managed two solid runs. Monday's was a run commute but I managed to tack on an extra 2km to it, so I was pretty satisfied with that. Yesterday was a rainy day. I was totally going to bag my run in favor of a strength routine but fate got in the way and due to an armed standoff I couldn't even get close to my home (my kid was at dance practice and hubby was at work). Thankfully the standoff ended peacefully and before I needed to carpool three pre-teen singing girls home from dance. But it left me stuck. Run in the rain or bag it altogether? I decided to run. It meant I had to get changed from my work clothes into my running gear in the back of my suv; thankfully there was only 1 other car in the parking lot and I had enough coats and gear to cover the windows! In the end it was an awesome run. Truly. I got totally soaked but I had the trail to myself and energy to spare. I scrambled up the hills and jumped from rock to rock to avoid the small rivers caused by the rain. It was glorious.
The drive back to pick up the girls though was not. My knee spasmed and felt like one part of the muscle above my knee was twisting inward and the bottom was twisting the opposite way. OUCH. Clearly I pushed it a bit too hard lol. Then my knee went into full-on movie goers knee and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to straighten it ever again. Thankfully some slow breathing helped and the pain eased off, and I could extend my leg. Crisis averted ;-)
On my run I had my usual mix of passing thoughts; my to-do lists, things happening at work, home etc, but then I thought about a recent conversation with my mother. She had congratulated me on my recent half marathon and made a comment about how my body had betrayed me, after I was injured (and how great it was I had overcome that). I thought about that a lot. She had actually asked me if I felt like that a year prior and I had said no. I still feel that way. I don't feel like my body betrayed me when I cracked my knee and caused this OA. It was an accident and more than anything I am pissed off at my thoughtlessness which led to the accident, not my body. I thought about why she would think that way and why I didn't. Then I thought about my running and how a lot of runners talk about their body and their mental state as two separate things. To me, they are intertwined. I can't imagine getting through a 50km race fighting with myself. Sure, races have a huge mental aspect, but the mental state must cooperate with the physical state or you're finished. So to feel like my body betrayed me seems like I'm separating the two halves and I don't think I could go long if I felt that way. Our minds and body must work in concert, rectify any issues they might have at a given moment and move forward.
So what's my next goal? I'm toying with the idea of the half marathon in October. It's on a trail and it's a small race so both are big draws for me. Aside from that I'm going full force into preparing for the Wraskally Wrabbit 2017 edition. I've been away from my favorite race for 2 years and I'll be damned if I'm missing a third. Time to get stronger and eat some hills!
So far I've managed two solid runs. Monday's was a run commute but I managed to tack on an extra 2km to it, so I was pretty satisfied with that. Yesterday was a rainy day. I was totally going to bag my run in favor of a strength routine but fate got in the way and due to an armed standoff I couldn't even get close to my home (my kid was at dance practice and hubby was at work). Thankfully the standoff ended peacefully and before I needed to carpool three pre-teen singing girls home from dance. But it left me stuck. Run in the rain or bag it altogether? I decided to run. It meant I had to get changed from my work clothes into my running gear in the back of my suv; thankfully there was only 1 other car in the parking lot and I had enough coats and gear to cover the windows! In the end it was an awesome run. Truly. I got totally soaked but I had the trail to myself and energy to spare. I scrambled up the hills and jumped from rock to rock to avoid the small rivers caused by the rain. It was glorious.
The drive back to pick up the girls though was not. My knee spasmed and felt like one part of the muscle above my knee was twisting inward and the bottom was twisting the opposite way. OUCH. Clearly I pushed it a bit too hard lol. Then my knee went into full-on movie goers knee and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to straighten it ever again. Thankfully some slow breathing helped and the pain eased off, and I could extend my leg. Crisis averted ;-)
On my run I had my usual mix of passing thoughts; my to-do lists, things happening at work, home etc, but then I thought about a recent conversation with my mother. She had congratulated me on my recent half marathon and made a comment about how my body had betrayed me, after I was injured (and how great it was I had overcome that). I thought about that a lot. She had actually asked me if I felt like that a year prior and I had said no. I still feel that way. I don't feel like my body betrayed me when I cracked my knee and caused this OA. It was an accident and more than anything I am pissed off at my thoughtlessness which led to the accident, not my body. I thought about why she would think that way and why I didn't. Then I thought about my running and how a lot of runners talk about their body and their mental state as two separate things. To me, they are intertwined. I can't imagine getting through a 50km race fighting with myself. Sure, races have a huge mental aspect, but the mental state must cooperate with the physical state or you're finished. So to feel like my body betrayed me seems like I'm separating the two halves and I don't think I could go long if I felt that way. Our minds and body must work in concert, rectify any issues they might have at a given moment and move forward.
So what's my next goal? I'm toying with the idea of the half marathon in October. It's on a trail and it's a small race so both are big draws for me. Aside from that I'm going full force into preparing for the Wraskally Wrabbit 2017 edition. I've been away from my favorite race for 2 years and I'll be damned if I'm missing a third. Time to get stronger and eat some hills!
Monday, September 19, 2016
Maritime Race Weekend - Race Recap
I came, I saw, I ran. I ran faster than last year but not enough to make my goal of under 3 hours. There is just something about this race where I cannot get a decent time, no matter which distance I choose. It might be the insanely packed traffic for the first 3km, or it might be the hills, oh zee hills that never end. Either way I clearly have some work to do in the coming months. It has also strengthened my resolve to run another race in October.
The morning started out with a bit of a hiccup. I thought I could catch the last transit bus to the start line but in the mystical wisdom that is Metro Transit, the bus never came. With 45 minutes to go I started speed walking to the start, thankfully only 3km away. When I got there I meandered around, passively looking for a porta potty but finding none. I lined up behind the 2:40 Half pace bunny, optimistic about my chances. After a minute or so of standing around I got a sharp poke in my back. Turning around I saw a women with some of her friends staring back at me. "You know you're supposed to wear your bib on your tummy or it won't read the chip." I looked down at my bid, pinned to my shorts (like usual). "Oh?" I said, half amused but also slightly irritated, "I haven't heard that one before. I'll be fine, this isn't my first race." then I turned around. Holy hell I thought. Who bothers to be such a busy-body? Then I wondered if she was going to pay such a public service to the people wearing their bibs on their backs? By then the cannon had gone off and we were setting off up the road. I kept pace with my 2:30 pace bunny (I was getting really ambitious), but by the 4km mark and a huge hill, I fell back with the 2:40 crew. I didn't manage to stick with them longer than a kilometer but by then I ran into my husband and daughter who were cheering from the sidelines. I gave them a kiss and kept trucking. Since the first big hill I had developed a side stitch. It stuck with me for the next 4km but slowly went away at the 10km mark. I met up with my family again at the 10km mark, were I got a much needed apple sauce packet. From there my time slid and I started feeling the distance in my legs. By the 13km mark I was really struggling to keep a good pace going. But I rallied and tried to stick to my pace as best as possible as I climbed hill after hill. I saw my family one last time before I headed back up the long Cow Bay road towards the 18km mark. I was glad to see the last aid station as it was being manned by some of my fellow dance parents and their kids. One of the kids even ran me through the last aid station and kept my spirits up just as they were starting to get a bit defeated (I thanked her Mom later). Then it was all downhill to the shore again. With 3km left a lady ran up beside me. I decided (and I think so did she) we'd run together to the finish. We chatted about the race, about some of the faster runners and how short both of our training had been over the summer. She was a really nice lady from Bridgewater. We stuck together right to the finish line. Those race friends are always a treat to have, especially at that point when you just want someone to take your mind off of the discomfort and the distance. Cheers, lady from Bridgewater, I'm sorry I didn't get your name!
The best part of the race was that my knee didn't hold me back (much). I only felt pain around the 18km mark, when suddenly my kneecap felt like it doubled in size. It didn't really do that, it just felt like I had two kneecaps. I tried to block out the sensation since it wasn't causing me pain. My short, tired stride at that point must have helped.
Overall it was a good race day. The weather couldn't have been better and the course had lots of support. There were a few issues I hope the RD looks into for next year; namely that start when you have all 4000 people running through a very narrow road for 3km. Maybe stagger the start so we aren't arm wrestling at aid stations or spending 10 minutes zigzagging through crowds? Also, what was up with NO fluids at the finish? I mean that's kind of dangerous isn't it? I walked around looking for something to drink but was only offered a sample of pickle juice (um yeah, I passed on that). The only post-race food I could find was some dry bagels and samples from vendors. Thankfully someone offered me an apple and it was the best one I'd ever had. For the cost of the race some H2O at the finish would have been appreciated. But like I said, no issues came up that ruined the day. I'll still be back next year, trying to better this year's time.
The morning started out with a bit of a hiccup. I thought I could catch the last transit bus to the start line but in the mystical wisdom that is Metro Transit, the bus never came. With 45 minutes to go I started speed walking to the start, thankfully only 3km away. When I got there I meandered around, passively looking for a porta potty but finding none. I lined up behind the 2:40 Half pace bunny, optimistic about my chances. After a minute or so of standing around I got a sharp poke in my back. Turning around I saw a women with some of her friends staring back at me. "You know you're supposed to wear your bib on your tummy or it won't read the chip." I looked down at my bid, pinned to my shorts (like usual). "Oh?" I said, half amused but also slightly irritated, "I haven't heard that one before. I'll be fine, this isn't my first race." then I turned around. Holy hell I thought. Who bothers to be such a busy-body? Then I wondered if she was going to pay such a public service to the people wearing their bibs on their backs? By then the cannon had gone off and we were setting off up the road. I kept pace with my 2:30 pace bunny (I was getting really ambitious), but by the 4km mark and a huge hill, I fell back with the 2:40 crew. I didn't manage to stick with them longer than a kilometer but by then I ran into my husband and daughter who were cheering from the sidelines. I gave them a kiss and kept trucking. Since the first big hill I had developed a side stitch. It stuck with me for the next 4km but slowly went away at the 10km mark. I met up with my family again at the 10km mark, were I got a much needed apple sauce packet. From there my time slid and I started feeling the distance in my legs. By the 13km mark I was really struggling to keep a good pace going. But I rallied and tried to stick to my pace as best as possible as I climbed hill after hill. I saw my family one last time before I headed back up the long Cow Bay road towards the 18km mark. I was glad to see the last aid station as it was being manned by some of my fellow dance parents and their kids. One of the kids even ran me through the last aid station and kept my spirits up just as they were starting to get a bit defeated (I thanked her Mom later). Then it was all downhill to the shore again. With 3km left a lady ran up beside me. I decided (and I think so did she) we'd run together to the finish. We chatted about the race, about some of the faster runners and how short both of our training had been over the summer. She was a really nice lady from Bridgewater. We stuck together right to the finish line. Those race friends are always a treat to have, especially at that point when you just want someone to take your mind off of the discomfort and the distance. Cheers, lady from Bridgewater, I'm sorry I didn't get your name!
The best part of the race was that my knee didn't hold me back (much). I only felt pain around the 18km mark, when suddenly my kneecap felt like it doubled in size. It didn't really do that, it just felt like I had two kneecaps. I tried to block out the sensation since it wasn't causing me pain. My short, tired stride at that point must have helped.
Overall it was a good race day. The weather couldn't have been better and the course had lots of support. There were a few issues I hope the RD looks into for next year; namely that start when you have all 4000 people running through a very narrow road for 3km. Maybe stagger the start so we aren't arm wrestling at aid stations or spending 10 minutes zigzagging through crowds? Also, what was up with NO fluids at the finish? I mean that's kind of dangerous isn't it? I walked around looking for something to drink but was only offered a sample of pickle juice (um yeah, I passed on that). The only post-race food I could find was some dry bagels and samples from vendors. Thankfully someone offered me an apple and it was the best one I'd ever had. For the cost of the race some H2O at the finish would have been appreciated. But like I said, no issues came up that ruined the day. I'll still be back next year, trying to better this year's time.
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