Kooks

I had many excuses to not run this morning, and believe me, they ALL went through my head. It's -13C outside! I'm tired! It's bound to be icy! And the biggest one of all...uuuuggghhhh!!!
But I left my excuses in my head where they belonged, layered myself up, and forced myself out the door before any of those excuses reached my legs.
I went back to the good ole Running Room. It was weird being there and knowing hardly anyone once again. But fortunately for me one of my friends showed up and - with the same goal in mind - off we set on our little 5.5k loop.
Our goal was to run a slow, easy, 6.30min/km steady pace. We did get down to 6.30 every once in a while, but for the most part we were quite comfortable going around a 6-6.15 pace. And boy, was it nice to have such a short run!!!
On the end of our loop we came across the crazies running the Hypo Half Marathon. And I went a little crazy myself.
As my friend would later tell me, my pace picked up and I was quite the sight flapping my arms around and cheering in a loud voice for the racers going in the other direction. From my perspective, I noticed my friend lean away from me and pull her hat down a little further over her eyes.

I couldn't see myself, but I imagine I may have looked something like this...

...which would explain why a few racers gave me a startled, "deer-in-headlights" look as they ran by

What can I say? I love cheering for my fellow racers! The morning was quiet and very few people were on the course. I know that for me, having someone cheer me along can make a huge difference in my race. I will go from feeling tired and uncomfortable to proud and happy with just one person who encourages me along.
So yes, I will be that person who flaps her arms and cheers loudly at all the passing racers, thanks. I will always be that person.
After we finished our lovely 5.5k loop, we stayed out a bit to cheer on many other racers as well, numb faced and all.
And the best part was when my friend decided to join in my kookiness and cheer as well. Two cheering kooks are better than one!

The Long Road Back

At the start of the New Year, one of my running friends twisted my ear and dragged me into this fitness challenge. The challenge is relatively straight forward: for 90 days we work out twice a week with a personal trainer at a gym, and there is 'before' and 'after' testing to measure our fitness levels.
I was hesitant to join up, but in the end I thought it would be a good kick-start back into running...or another activity.
You see, I still haven't decided if I identify as a runner any more, now that I've moved back to wintery Canada. I only started running seriously in Australia, where the running community was huge and involved - like a fun family gathering early in the morning.
But since I don't really identify as anything else right now either, it is safe to presume I am still (buried deep, deep down) a runner.

But I digress.

Part of the fitness challenge is a 3k time trial. In the pre-testing I was a "speedy" 18minutes and something. Yikes!

Knowing that I can typically run a 1k interval consistently around 4.45-4.50min (when I'm fit), I made the lofty goal of running my post-challenge 3k time trial in under 14.30minutes. (This equals 4.50min/km for the 3k). And while lifting weights and doing lunges are all fine and dandy, it really isn't going to help me run that 3k any faster unless I actually practice running.

So today I dragged my dad out to the gym bright and early so I could get some intervals in. My goals were ambitious: 4 x 1k intervals (while my dad did his own work-out) then a 3k time trial with my dad conveniently available to help me count the laps. Counting past 5 is not my strong suit when it comes to laps, and this would require counting to 15!

On my first 1k rep, I decided that I really shouldn't have eaten chocolate for breakfast, even if it seemed like a brilliant idea at the time. Time: 5.11min
On my second 1k rep, I thought maybe this wasn't so bad. I can do it! Time: 5.07min (note this is still much slower than the 1k time trial I did about two weeks ago which was 4.50min).
On my third 1k rep, I was exhausted and loathing every lap. Time: 5.23min
On my fourth 1k rep...oh wait. I didn't do a fourth 1k rep! Instead, I met my dad downstairs where he was just finishing up his own workout.

I didn't quite whine. I didn't quite tell him that I didn't want to do the 3k time trial. But with the gleam of self-pity in my eye and the drag in my footsteps, he told me (later) that my reluctance was quite obvious. But when neither of us offered me a reasonable excuse for me to back out of the time trial, off I started far before I wanted to but long after I should have.

I took the first 1k slow, finishing in 6:09 (lap splits averaging at 1.14/200m). I wanted to pick up the pace with each km rather than burning up at the start. My second km split I did in 5:59 (lap splits 1.12/200m). The final lap my mind said burn it but my legs said jog it. I finished the third km split in
5.37km (lap splits 1.05/200m). My total 3k split time came down to 17.45min, or 5.55min/km. Keep in mind that just last October I ran a half marathon at an average pace of 5.52min/km. Hmm. It is going to be a long journey back to fitness!