running is fun!

So, I woke up this morning and didn't move...nothing hurt...then I moved...ow.

It got better as the day went by and by the time I was on my way home, I was itching for a run. Took the dog for a walk and then went outside. It sure is hot out! Okay, well its only 15 degrees but that felt hot to me. It was great to actually have to wear sunglasses.

I just went for a short run around the pond and back - about 3K - and there was lots of activity around. The cool thing i LOVE about running is that people who are walking move outta my way! This makes me go faster, which I llloooovveee, but then I get tired so I have to slow down. Holy cow I just realized I have a 5K in like 4 weeks and I would like to run it in like 26-27 minutes which is speedy for me, so I need to work on going faster for longer..and when the weather is like this and the people are moving out of my way, its really fun to work on speed!

Today was supposed to be a day off from running, but the sunshine convinced me to get out and enjoy! Tomorrow is 5K Tuesday - YAY!

This is not how today was supposed to go...but

Today has been a lesson in many things. Things such as dealing with unexpected changes on race day, realizing what does and doesn't work, and learning and moving on. 

Today was supposed to be my first marathon, and it started out that way..until I was directed down the wrong road, and then got very turned around, lost, and finally decided to pack it in. 

During the race and the morning, I had thought I had made a wrong turn, but didn't really know how as things seemed fairly well marked and there were volunteers ushering runners everywhere. I saw later through the help of my Garmin, that I was directed to continue down a street and then turn, when I should have turned at that street. I continued running down the wrong street and ended up at a park, the route didn't show a park at that spot, and I could not figure out my way back onto the course and lost a ton of time, so I DNF'ed and called it a day. 

Good Things About Today:

- I found out my water bottle holder is awful and will not use it again.

- Up until the point I got lost, I was having a blast!

- I was on pace and felt great

What I Learned About Today:

- Walk/drive/bike ride/etc. the route prior to running it if possible, or carry a more detailed map than the one I had.

- I choose the perfect clothes, even after agonizing about it and changing my mind several times!

- I WANT TO DO THE ENTIRE RACE AGAIN. But of course I cannot do that until next year, so next year I will get it right and it will rock!

Next Few Runs Are;

- StarBucks Run For Women 5K on 06/23/12

- Stampede Road Race Half - 07/08/2012

- Dinosaur Valley Half - 09/09/2012

This is actually happening

haha, I have a bit of a funny story:


A few weeks ago, I made the decision to not run this upcoming weekend's marathon because I didn't feel I was ready for it. I had done great with training November-March and then totally done not-great with it as life got in the way, holidays came up, switched positions etc at work...basically I allowed myself to make excuses for why I didn't prepare as I should. So, I decided to register for the 10K instead. 


Then the confirmation emails/lists came out. 


I was on only one. 


The Marathon


So..I pondered this for several days and finally decided "LET'S DO THIS THING!" so on Sunday, I am running in my first marathon, in my home town, and I think that is awesome! I KNOW I will be sore, and it will hurt, but it does for everyone and if my legs hurt more than someone else's, how am I going to know that? 


Since I have made this decision, probably about 24 hours ago, I have not been nervous at all, which is a SUPER rare occurrence for me! I am contemplating what to wear as the weather is going to be weird I think. I have my food/water for the race down pat so that's no biggie. I am leaving the after-the-marathon-plan until, well, after the marathon, and I will see how I go. 


I don't have a time goal in mind. 


I am reasonably sure I will cry at the end, maybe in the middle too.


I MUST remember to bring lip gloss


My Garmin is charged, my iPod is charged. 


I still have three full days to wait!


I am excited. 


:) 

I'm Still Here!

Its been months since I have blogged, and I am committed to getting back on the blogging bandwagon. Today I am planning out my Summer/Fall running goals, and looking for a marathon in Nov/Dec/Jan that I can set my sights on.

My May Marathon prep crashed and burned, I let life get busy and didn't get the long runs in, so now I am not prepared, putting things off, and kicking myself in the butt lots for being a procrastinator.

Moving on...time to find some cool races, and figure out a plan.

Laters Baby :-)

Food

As I sit here, my stomach is growling. Its 1:50PM and I am starving! So far today I have had a bowl of Honey Chex, 2 oranges, a tomato, and about a litre of water. I have a pot of water on the stove and am making alfredo because I can't stand the grow lies anymore.

This whole weekend has revolved around food (that's typical of most weekends actually) It started Friday with a trip to the grocery store where Nick and I were both hungry. We did good though and didn't buy any junk food, we did buy a lot of food though!

I had spaghetti sauce started in the crock pot so we ate that for dinner (I finished the leftovers the next morning for pre-breakfast) Saturday we had Chicken for dinner which was awesome, and Sunday was home made pizza. Both Saturday and Sunday morning we made crepes and now its Monday and Im still eating like a crazy hungry person.

oh well, whatever food is fun.

February

10K on the treadmill, 3K walk X 2 with Lilo

Its been a while since I have updated so here I go!

Into my third week of marathon training and it is going AWESOME! It is amazing how much stronger I am feeling. The first week, on my first Sunday long run of 9K, I was DONE and so sore the next day, and then the 5K on Tuesday just felt brutal. This Sunday the long run was 18K and I was tired out (even took a nap!) in the afternoon. The next day though, I felt awesome, and yesterdays 5K was SO FUN! Such a difference in just over a week..so I am sold on this training plan as it seems to be working well so far.

I have ordered two pairs of shoes and am really excited for them to arrive. They are ones that aren't available in any stores in Canada yet, and the one place that I know is getting them in late February will sell them for much more than what I was able to order them for online, including the shipping. Here is what they look like

women's asics gel neo 33

women's asics gel excel 33

Both seem to be great shoes, not sure which is the best for me as I haven't been able to try them on. I am a neutral runner though so both are applicable to how I run. Cannot wait to try them out and see how they feel :-)

I topped out at 160K for January and by following my running schedule, will do 230 for February. I decided to do the St.Patrick's Day 5K in March which will be my first non-virtual race this year..haha and a 5K which is not my thing! I seem to take between 5 and 8K to get into my groove lately, so heres hoping in a month and a half I will be a little speedier at the shorter distances!

For February my plan is to keep doing what I am doing. 

- I am at a point where I am SO excited about my running and feeling all sorts of little wins, I am working this month on focusing on the bigger picture as well since I know those wins won't always be so easy to find once the mileage cranks up and life gets a little busier. 

_ I have been doing Monday-Thursday training in the evenings, and then Sat/Sun in the mornings. I would like to do Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday in the morning, and then Wednesday in the evening since its a bit of a longer run. This may not always work with my schedule, it is still a goal though so I can get my body convinced this is a good idea for when the weather & sunrise does allow for running in the mornings. 

- There are 2 trips planned with work for this month, so I will be doing one workout on a different treadmill, and then another one outside. Feeling good about this actually, taking in scenery I haven't seen since Summer, in Winter, will be great! Plus, the treadmill at the one place is right next to the pool...that is fine by me!!!

- Don't eat like crazy! I am ALWAYS starving after a run, so I am focusing on remaining aware of the fact that if I burn 900 calls on the treadmill, it doesn't give me license to eat whatever I want to for the day..everything in moderation. 

My favourite distance right now is 8K. its long enough that I feel like I did something, and short enough that I can push myself without worrying about giving too much effort and nixing a workout further on in the week. Also, its a distance where my time is not great, so theres the continual need to improve on the last run which is a great motivator. 

Question: What's your favourite distance and why? 

1st Training Week Done!

Run: 10 miles

So, first week of marathon training schedule is over! 26 miles this week on the schedule, I did 25 as Monday I went 2 miles rather than 3. I have to say, I am looking forward to having tomorrow as a non running day - not used to 6 days in a row for sure!

For this week, I am going to go slower Tuesday to Thursday to save some energy for Sundays run as it was certainly a challenge today!

I was looking over my schedule & noticed I started it a week early -oopsies! So I was able to tone down the week we are in Dominican, without losing too much overall so I feel REALLY good about that.

Tomorrow for cross training I am going to do yoga, need to stretch everything out & really prepare for the week. I did 2 ice baths this week & they helped soo much. Super not loving them, but the benefits outweigh the uncomfortable minutes for sure. My toes are the problem! The cold water makes them hurt SO much!!!

Happy with my results in the Twitter Road Race! I finished 14th in my age category & 35th overall female, that adds up to awesome in my books!

That's it for now, have a good evening all :)