Four Hills on Seven Hills

Total distance: 3km
Time: 18.38min
Pace: 6.12min/km
Heart rate: 154bpm (79%); max heart rate 187bpm (96%)

4 hill repeats up "Seven Hills". This hill was short and steep...my favourite! I ran all four. I was slow enough that one of the guys in the group could power-walk it at the same pace, but I was pushing myself! My legs felt pretty tired by the end.

I had been worried about my knee, as it felt tight at the start, but it was no problem the entire way through. Sweet! I've been getting mixed messages from my physio about what is wrong with my knee. Ultimately, I've decided I need to take a break from the strength training to give my body the rest it needs, and I'll just focus on the running aspect.

Energy Needs

Electrolytes are not the same as carbohydrate. Now that I’ve stated the obvious, here’s why it matters:

I’ve been running with an electrolyte drink for my long runs. I love it. It tastes refreshing! What I hadn’t thought of was that I would still need to some carbohydrate (and specifically, glucose) to energize me for those runs. In the past I did use energy gels, but I’ve found them sticky and – when I’m really tired – hard to swallow. So I haven’t been using them. But I noticed a strong trend in this Sunday’s long run that couldn’t be ignored: while keeping my heart rate within “zone 2”, my pace began to suffer towards the end.

1-12km – my pace was between 8-8.15 min/km

13-19km – my pace was between 8.30-9.05 min/km

I didn’t feel hungry. I didn’t feel like I was struggling (which makes sense since I kept the same heart rate), but the proof is in the numbers.

But wouldn’t you know it, we just had a talk on running nutrition last week! And when I returned home from my run I saw that my aunt had sent me an article about running nutrition! Talk about timing! After careful calculations, I’ve now come up with a Plan to get more carbohydrate in me during the run. I don’t know how well it’s going to work, but that’s why the long runs are all about experimentation!

Total distance: 19k

Total time: 2.40.26

Average pace: 8.27min/km

Average heart rate 134bpm (69%)

Two Tempos

Tempo 1: 6k

Total time: 36.11min
Total distance: 5.98km
Average pace: 6.03min/km
Average HR: 171 (88%)

Right on target! I did a fairly good job of going between a 5.55 to 6.08 pace. I should have slowed down more in the last km, but I was running with a lovely person and couldn't bring myself to do it! I watched my heart rate creep higher and higher, but decided it was worth it for the companionship.

Tempo 2: 10k

Total time: 1.03.48 min

Total distance: 10.2km

Average pace: 6.15min/km

Average HR: 171 bpm (88%)

This run was poorly executed, on my part. Again, running with people is my downfall! I just love it so much. I watched my heart rate creep up and I had the strength to tell my running pals I was going to slow down. And they were just so lovely, of course they kindly slowed right down with me! And I was so happy. But then it happened again...my heart rate just wouldn't stay in that 80-90% zone! And my mind was saying go, go, go, and my heart rate was saying, slow down just a bit more. And in the end...I compromised. I got slower every km, but not slow enough for my silly heart. And I couldn't bring myself to slow down more simply because I was having such a lovely time, and the other two girls were all too lovely!

Here is how I got progressively worse with my pace:

1km: 5.50

2km: 5.58 (climbing up the hill)

3km: 6.03

4km: 6.19

5km: 6.23

6km: 6.23

7km: 6.11 (going back down the hill)

8km: 6.27

9km: 6.34

10km: 6.36

Siiiiigh! My husband asked me the other day if I was noticing improvements. As much as I would love to see instant improvement (and therefore, receive instant gratification), it appears I'm in it for the long haul! Clearly, I have a long way to go. Someone asked me if I was planning to stick to it. And I answered, "what have I got to lose?" My other training has left me quite stagnant in terms of times, so might as well give something new a try. And it would be foolish to give up trying less than a month of starting it.

Climb Every Mountain

I managed to complete my 16k long run! All by myself, too.

But the really challenging part was keeping the heart rate stable. Why? Because I was running while on vacation in the mountains! Yep, my husband and I spent our long weekend up at Panorama (a ski resort) in the Rockies to get in some quality hiking. So when it came time to my run, everything was on a hill. And a fairly steep hill at that! This gave me two options for my run: 1) run R-E-A-L-L-Y slowly on the uphill or 2) walk.

The distance from one end of the ski hill to the other (while avoiding the steepest of hills) was about 3.5km, meaning at least half of my run would be a ‘walk’ if I chose to walk up the hills. So I ran. V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y. Ugh! It was embarrassing how slow I had to run up those hills to keep my heart rate down! But on the plus side, I got to pick up my pace when going back down the hill. Not too fast, though, as sprinting downhill is a great way to wreck the knees, and my knees are not in top form these days. To give you an idea of how hilly it was: my km averages varied from 7.33 per km to 12.33 per km!

Total time: 2.29.51

Total distance: 16.05km

Average pace: 9.22min/km

Average HR: 133 bpm (69%)

Pride Goeth Before the...Yay! A FRIEND!!!

I was ready to start heart rate training this week. I was mentally prepared for a long, serious slog by myself for 16k.

I got up super early...3am to be exact. Not specifically for the run, but because I had insomnia. When 8am rolled around, I strapped on my trusty heart rate monitor and headed out the door.

I warned the group that I was going to try and stay in my "Zone 2" for the long run. I told them so that they wouldn't feel obligated to turn back and look for me at the 1 minute walk break.

We started off together. Eager to get going, I started at the front of the pack, only to find that - with my excitement - I was already in Zone 2! I slowed down. Then slowed down some more.

Then slowed down even more.

With sinking pride, I watched as the entire pack of runners shifted ahead of me. First by a couple of feet, then a couple more. Within 1km, they were out of sight around a corner. Ugh! What a kick to my pride. I wanted to be there with them, chatting away.

I steeled myself for what was to come...but then who came around the corner behind me but Dave! Good old Dave, who was also heart rate training. And wouldn't you know it? Our goals kept us around the same pace! Certainly I was not expecting that.

While Dave was going with a time goal (2 hours) I had a distance goal (16km). Before long we decided to journey together. I suggested we just head back for 2 hours, and then I could make up whatever distance I needed.

Around 5km we came across our running group again. Say WHAT? It wasn't long before we compared distances and realized that I had gotten the two of us turned around...they were at their 7k mark, while we were only at 5k. But no worries! Easy enough to tack on at the end.

One interesting thing with heart rate training: you don't really do a 10:1 run:walk ratio. It just doesn't make sense. It's more about keeping your heart rate in the right zone, so we walked parts of the hills (as needed), and did short power-walking breaks when that heart rate crept into Zone 3...never too long. Maybe only 10-30 seconds long. Sadly, the power-walking was just as fast as our run, but still effective at slowing down the heart rate. Yep, we could have walked the course in the same time! Depressing, but apparently that's normal at the beginning.

In the end, Dave decided to do the distance with me. We even ran a bit over, which was fine.

Total distance: 17.5km

Total time: 2.33.30

Average pace: 8.45min/km 

Was it easy? Yes. Did I feel incredibly lucky to have a running buddy for the whole thing? Yes! Am I prepared to do this for the next 3 months, even on the days I don't have a running buddy? Absolutely! We'll see how it goes...if I don't get better at this my 32k LSD are going to feel tortuously long!

6 + 4 = 10

We started with a steady 6k (and of course, I practiced my new heart rate training at 70-80% of my heart rate). Our clinic was joined by another clinic and suddenly we had about 8 people in our group!
Then at the end I turned around to do another 4k as per our training schedule. And wasn't I surprised and touched when I was join by three other wonderful people! All part of my new clinic, too. How delightful to meet some new running friends! They didn't mind at all my scattered, "I'm just planning to go out 2k and back 2k. I don't have any set route in mind" sort of attitude. We had a lovely time!
It is going to be a fantastic 3 months...

Run with Heart

I finally got to hear a talk on heart rate training! This is something that has been a longtime interest of mine, as I know so many people who swear by it. But I admit that it does scare me. Why does it scare me? Because – as I strongly suspected – I’m running too fast! Even though I feel slow, apparently I need to go even slower to get faster.

Ugh!

Long runs: 60-70% of my max heart rate (Zone 2). 116-135bpm. I’ve been doing them at Zone 3 and even bordering Zone 4 at times! Much too fast. Bummer.

Steady runs: 70-80% of my max heart rate (Zone 3). 136-155bpm. I haven’t been doing this type of run – not intentionally.

Tempo runs: 80-90% of my max heart rate (Zone 4). 155-175bpm. Honestly, I’ve been fairly decent at this, but sometimes just a bit too fast.

Speed runs: 90-100% of my max heart rate (Zone 5). 175+ bpm.  I’m good at doing this! ;)

The goal with heart rate training is that it helps you recover better, as most people (myself included) run too fatigued, which isn’t efficient. For me, I’ve always wanted to improve my endurance. I guess I’ve run out of excuses! This is going to be tough. But since this is my first marathon, now is the time to practice the training. Slow down to speed up, eh? They say the definition of crazy is doing the same thing and expecting different results. And I’ve been doing the same thing for years now without the improvement I was hoping for. I guess it’s time to stop acting crazy!

Skateboarders!

On Friday I was run over by a skateboarder. True story.
Now wait, I hear you asking, what does this have to do with running?! I'll get to it, I promise! But first, back to the skateboarder.
I was heading home from work and hit a cross-path in the sidewalk. I saw him coming and stopped to wait. He saw me stopped and (I think) assumed I was about to cut in front of him, so he swerved right into me. BOOM! We collided, and down I went with him landing on top of me.
In the movies the heroine would have some quip to say that would make viewers laugh. In reality, I lay there and tried to catch my breath while doing a mental tally for injuries (and trying to decide if I'd ripped my favourite pair of work pants in the fall...thank goodness I hadn't!), then started crying from the shock. Fortunately, outside of some scrapes and minor whiplash, I was okay. Badly shaken, but rather uninjured. Once I had recovered*, I went on my [less than merry] way.

Fast forward to Sunday. My co-leader is racing this morning in her half marathon, so is unable to come to the group run. I'm not so keen to go myself, as my right neck is super stiff and sore. But I'm committed! At the very least, I tell myself, I'll meet up with everyone and send them on their way. But then I think, maybe the run will do me some good. I'll just start with everyone, take it slow and easy, and see what happens. And besides, it's not my legs that are sore! Off I head to the Running Room store to meet my group. One of the clinic members showed up, and two more runners joined us for the 6k slow run. Now, my original plan was to lead the group on the 6k, then turn around and run another 7k to make up my distance of 13k (the distance the full marathon group was doing today). That was before the skateboarder.

The first few kms of the run were uncomfortable - my bruised legs were feeling the jolt of impact, and my neck ached fiercely. But then things started to get better and calm down. My neck even loosened up! That being said, I did decide at the end of the 6k that I didn't want to push it. I was worried that if I did too much, that would cause me to stiffen up further. So, no 13k run for me today. Just a nice easy 6k recovery run.

Total distance: 5.97km
Time: 41.26min
Pace: 6.57min/km
Average heart rate: 153bpm (79% of max)


*The skateboarder did stay to make sure I was okay, and as the event was witnessed by two of my work colleagues and a nurse coming off shift, I was well looked after.

Oh, The Runs I Have Run!

Well, my computer may have stopped, but my running hasn't!

Since the LSD Half Marathon of a few weeks ago, I have been on a few runs!

To recap:

-6k tempo run: the "let's find a route that avoids the rising waters so we can run on dry ground but it's not as scary as that sounds it's more about getting a bit creative with the route" run 

-4.5km of speed: the "oooof! Tired legs! How can 6 repeats of 30second sprint / 15 second recovery hurt so bad?" run

-12k LSD: the "ranfaster than I wanted to go the first 6k, then when I veered off on my own I found myself trying to train for heart rate and keep my heart rate under 70% of max only to find it a near impossible task! Ugh, so slow! We're talking almost 8min/km! I now appreciate what the 'SLOW' means in 'LSD' " run

-7k tempo: the "no one showed up for my clinic so I jumped in with another clinic and ended up going WAY faster than I was used to, running 7k at a 5.15min/km pace and oh wow, if I only kept that up for another 3km I would have hit a 10k pb! Jeepers, was I ever shattered at the end of the run only to hear others [who finished just ahead of me] talking about how it was nice to 'take it easy and go slow tonight', and meanwhile I was struggling to breathe so hard I couldn't even spit" run

And last but not least:

-6k steady: the "first run of the year in the rain! Although it only rained for a few minutes. And then I apparently dropped my hat but a kind clinic member recognized it as mine and returned it to the store so I can pick it up later, and I made a new awesome running friend" run.

And that, my friends, is that.

The 7k group run where I was too tired to spit! But was still proud enough that I suggested a jump shot at the end. That's me in the orange shirt, looking like a startled red panda...

LSD Half Marathon!

[Sorry this is quite late...my computer had crashed and we had to re-upload Windows and all the programs...]

Only training, but still. This is the first time I’ve run a half marathon [distance] since my race in October 2014! That’s a fair few years ago.

I couldn’t stop smiling when I looked outside, because the day looked wonderful. The sun was shining brightly, and there was barely any snow left on the ground. Sure, the wind was strong and freezing cold, but considering all the other weather we’ve been running in, I didn’t mind a bit of wind.

We kept it nice and easy. The pace felt a bit fast, but since nobody in our group seemed to mind I decided to go with it.

Total time: 2.31.28

Total distance: 21.1km

Pace: 7.11min/km

Average heart rate: 159bpm (82%)

Definitely a bit fast for a long run! I would have liked to keep my heart rate under 80%. The wind probably didn’t help either. It was a challenge, as not only did we change direction as we journeyed around the route I’d planned, but the wind changed direction constantly as well, meaning it was hard to predict when it would be in our favour. I’ll tell you what: Idefinitely noticed the times the wind was NOT in our favour. It often seemed to be pushing hard against us when we had a hill to climb…

In any case, fast or not, we did it! The half marathon crew will be pulling back the distance in preparation for their race, and I’ll be pulling back my distance for a few weeks until the full marathon training gains momentum in June. Looking forward to doing some “short” 12-16k runs once again!