20 minutes is 20 minutes

 I've started into a comfortable routine of getting up around 6am and going for a 20min run 2-3 days per week. It's not much, but it's something. 

Why 20 minutes?

20 minutes allows me time to get up with my husband at 6am, get out the door, run, cool down, stretch, and shower before he leaves the house at 7am. I need to be back on time because kids. And I don't want to get up earlier at this point because lazy.

The other nice thing is I remind myself  that I'm ONLY going for 20 minutes, which gives me the motivation I need on some of those more challenging mornings. But, 20 minutes is 20 minutes. That's a full hour of running a week! I've worked up my speed so that I'm now running roughly 3km in that time, which is satisfying. And the best part is I'm not too sore after, so while I'm still only aiming for 3 days per week, this doesn't wreck me for walks or other activities I want to do with the family.

As things improve and I re-establish this running routine, I'm hoping I can increase up to 30min and maybe even 5km (a slow runner can dream, right?). Maybe I'll even start training my way back into a 10km or even a half marathon and try to relive my glory days of when I was [still slow, but] running for longer distances.

But for now, 20 minutes is 20 minutes. I'll take it.

But Did You DIE?

 My husband Russell has a shirt that has big block letters on it reading, "BUT DID YOU DIE?"

I couldn't help but think of this shirt a lot on my first run in almost 2 years. My goal in 2022 to run 50k in the year...didn't pan out. What can I say? I gave birth to kiddo #3 in 2023 and I traded out my running goals for stroller walks and lazy days playing with the kids instead.

But last night I realized: spring is finally here, and there's no better time to get back into it, right?

My A Goal to run 30min of 10:1 (10min run to a 1 min walk) quickly sputtered into a B goal of 20min of 5:1 instead. 

Total distance: 2.5km

Total time: 22min

It's going to be a long slow journey back into fitness. I'm not committing to entering any races yet. Nor am I committing to any long-term goals over the year. Right now I'm just settling for taking this one trudging step at a time.

At the end of my run, I reflected on the previously mentioned question: but did I DIE? No, I did not.

Did I literally give myself a high-five at the end because I was so proud of myself? Yes. Yes I did.

What Shall We Do With The Lazy Runner?

 (Sing to the tune of "What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor")

What shall we do with the lazy runner?

What shall we do with the lazy runner?

What shall we do with the lazy runner?

To get her to run again?

Set up a goal to run 50k

Set up a goal to run 50k

Set up a goal to run 50k

Total in the year.

Now that it's June it's almost halfway

Now that it's June it's almost halfway

Now that it's June it's almost halfway

So how is she doing?

She has run just over 10k

She has run just over 10k

She has run just over 10k

Total since the year began.

But she'll run more now she's started

But she'll run more now she's started

But she'll run more now she's started

And because it's summer!

Positive Regressions

Things are definitely regressing with regards to my running since I started back up a couple months ago, but I can't say I'm all that upset about it!
I am no longer maxing out at 5k. Now, I max out at around 3k.
I am no longer running at a 7min pace. Now, I am running around an 8min pace.
I am no longer joining in with the 10k group, nor even the 5k group. Now, I am joining in with the Learn to Runners, and it has been lovely and welcoming the whole way through!
And I'm still getting out there...at least a little bit. My walking gait has definitely started to change (less forward, more sway) so I'm being extra cautious that I don't injure myself.

Adjustments

Now that the secret is officially "out", I can be a bit more honest about my running plan for the year!
Laura's 2019 Running Goals: Run for fitness and health for as long as it is safe and comfortable to do so. (I know...snore, right? Where are all the exciting racing goals and time goals?!)

My New Year's Resolution that I made for my husband to run his first 10k race* has been cancelled by me, as well. I was planning to help him train for it with the goal of having him run in the Edmonton 10k race mid-August. But I just don't think that's going to happen this year, since I'll be 8 months pregnant when that race comes along!

A couple of weeks ago I ran a long, slow 7k with a lovely group of running friends. The pace was slow, which was great, but at 5k I realized that I'd reached my limit. The last 2k were a bit of a struggle - not a bad struggle, but enough of one that I felt I should scale the distances back even more. So, this week I decided that I should keep my "long" runs to between 3-5k for now. My pride is struggling with these shorter distances, but I keep telling myself - and ALL my running friends - about my excuse, which makes me feel a bit better.

I joined in with the 5k group, who were running around 3-4k in distance. Alas, my poor Garmin watch was acting up so I couldn't enjoy the satisfaction of knowing my pace/time/distance while I ran. I've sent my Garmin to the Garmin Doctor (aka, it is in the other room charging) to see if it gets better, although so far it's not looking good. I may have to either send it to the Garmin Hospital or accept that it's gone to the Great GPS in the Sky. I'm very, VERY grateful that this happened post-marathon and not at my marathon!

But I digress! The paths were flooded in the typical way of spring, so we carved out a route along the flood-free trail up towards higher ground. The 5k group split off partway through the run and I turned back with the first group rather than continuing on with the second group. Again, I wanted to keep today's run at easy not challenging. We were gone a total of 26 minutes and ran about 3.4km, according to one of my new running friends. The best part was that at the finish line I felt not in the least bit tired. It's a good feeling to know that I could have pushed myself more. But I chatted with the very knowledgeable 5k leader and we both felt the smarter choice is for me to stick with their group for now. A lot of clinics are starting to gear up in distance and speed, so it won't be a bad thing for me to stick with the shorter distances and keep things easy.


*yes, you read that right! I made a New Year's Resolution for my husband instead of myself. Making NYR for yourself is so old school! So much more fun to make them for other people!😉

Spring Fever

The arrival of the glorious "+" in front of the temperature along with the melting of the snow has given me some spring fever. Specifically...spring fever to get back out and rejoin my running group friends for some runs!
Although I've been keeping fit over winter with indoor strength training, I know this "running fit" is different than "other fit". As such, my first run back I wanted to keep it really, really easy. My plan was to join in with either the 5k or 10k group, and do no more than 5k total.
I met up with the 10k leader who was doing 3-4k of intervals. That sounded easy! A warm-up, a cool down, and 6 sets of 1 min run, 1 min walk. Nobody said I had to do a FAST interval, right?
It ended up being just the two of us, and let me say that the leader and I were in two very different levels of running fitness.
Me: first run back since October. Which is a whole 5 months ago!
Him: currently in training to complete over 30 races this year, which will culminate in the 300-mile winter Yukon Arctic Ultra along the former dog-sledding tracks.

In the first km warm-up I wondered if I hadn't made a terrible mistake by joining in with him. Maybe the 5k group would have been more my pace...?
But fortunately for me, he was pretty easy going about everything. The intensity of his training regime meant he'd already been on his own trail run before he met up with the group. So when the time came to decide on whether we wanted to turn around for a 3.5k completion or push further for a 5k loop, he didn't argue when I insisted on making it 3.5k! Despite the easy pace and interval running, I was pretty tired by that point.

I'm getting older, I know! I remember a time when I planned for a 12k and wound up doing 19.5k instead. But maybe I'm also getting wiser, and learning to ease back into running after a break rather than taking a giant, flying leap into the unknown with a loud "boo-yeaaaaaaaahhhh!"

Either way, I'm back at it!
For now.

Many A Run Has Been Had

Many a run has been had since September.
Many a run, indeed.
But while we've been running, I've not been blogging!
A point to which I concede.

Russell and I have increased our run times.
We now do 10:1, 10:1, 5
We warm-up and cool down and focus on finishing
And gosh, do we feel alive!

And as for myself? I'm back with my group.

Though not as much as I should.

I'm keeping my fitness through simple, short runs

Up to 10k, which is good.

I'm enjoying the nice relaxed runs that I do

With no racing goals in my sight.

For now it's for fitness and fun and for social

And right now, this feels just right.

The Edmonton weather has thankfully warmed
No longer in winter are we.
We're enjoying a brief spout of autumn for now
We'll run til it's cold, then we'll see.

For winter is coming - oh curse that cold darkness!
I doubt I'll run this year through.
I've had enough frostbite in 2018, thanks!
And there's other fun things to do!