Wardrobe Misjudgement

On Saturday morning I decided it was time for another run. I really miss my 1k repeats, so I thought they would be a good choice. As it was cold out, I put on a pair of long pants and a light jacket. Then, off I went. My aim was to get in 4 solid 1k repeats...maybe 5, if I was feeling strong.

It became clear to me within the first 50m that I had not chosen my pants wisely. They were comfy yoga pants that were by now a few years old, and the elastic had lost a bit of stretch. Good enough for a walk or everyday things, but when doing a fast 1k, I regretted the choice in wardrobe.

Lucky it was bright and early in the morning and no one else was awake! As it was, I spent most of the km ensuring that my pants stayed covering my butt. During my recovery, I wisely tucked my shirt in to try and bulk my waist up a bit so the elastic would hold better. I wished a bit for safety pins.
Total time: 5.02min (yes, this is significantly slower than my normal 1k repeats. I will get back there! I WILL get back there!)

Then I started my second km repeat. My pants were holding up (better), when my shoelaces came undone. Gaaa! Fortunately it was only in the last few metres, so I waited until the next recovery to re-tie my laces, re-tuck in my t-shirt, and re-pull up my pants.
Total time: 4.57min (on the right end of the 5-min marker, but still much room for improvement)

The third km repeat my shoelaces stayed tied, and my pants stayed on (with extra help needed).
Total time: 5.04min (siiiigh)

I was not only unfit, but the cars and people were starting to come out and I was rather sick of having to constantly pull up my pants in the middle of my run. So I called it a day.

Note to self: get better pants to run in!
Double note to self: do more 1k repeats to get back to previous fitness level!

Marathon of Hope

There is one runner who - in my opinion - stands in a class of their own. I'm talking of course, about Canadian icon Terry Fox.

Terry Fox is a man who left a legacy that inspires us all. So when I found out that today was the Marathon of Hope, I jumped on board and signed up. It's not an organized race, or even a marathon. It's just a bunch of people committing to run a certain distance in memory of this great man and what he stood for.

There were officially 1k, 5k, or 10k distances. But you could also commit to running any distance you wanted.

I opted for 10k. The day was sunny (but eesh, what a cold northern wind!) and the group smiling. I went out with the 10k group who were only running 8k, so I planned to add an extra couple of k's on at the end. Fortunately for me, one of the other gals was in the same mindset, so off we went. The last few km's went quickly. Tough, but quickly since I was trying to keep up with my running buddy.

Two days of running in a row...hooray! I'm starting to find my feet again. And the running shoes feel great.

And throughout the entire run today, tickling at the back of my mind were thoughts of Terry Fox. He may not have won any races, but he won over a nation.

I admire the speedy runners and envy them (gaa! How can I get faster???). But my favourite thing about my fellow runners? Their strength of character. Every one has a story. But few are quite so well known as that of Terry Fox.

Push Challenge Post-Testing

As I may have mentioned, one of my running friends and I took part in a 3-month fitness challenge at our local gym. It got us out training twice a week lifting weights. Weight training is good for runners, after all. Or so I keep hearing.
I was minimalistic (to say the least) about running this spring, but I did go to the gym faithfully to meet up with my friend and lift weights with the help of a fantastic personal trainer. I don't think I could have done this on my own, but having a friend there with me was fantastic.

What does this have to do with running? Well, as part of the "testing" we did a pre-challenge 3k time trial and a post-challenge 3k time trial. I was curious to see if my times would improve just by doing the weight training. Okay, I was planning to run as well, but that didn't seem to happen as much as it should have.

Having done weight training before Christmas with another friend and skiing throughout winter, I had thought myself in fairly good condition.

Pre-test 3k: 18.27min
Post-test 3k: 15.28min

I was a bit surprised. 3 minutes off my time is not too bad. Not great, but not terrible either. My pass was exactly 1min faster per km. With 5 laps around the track to a km, that's 10 seconds faster on each lap.

I did meet my goal time, in a way. Although I had been really hoping for a sub-5min pace, I knew that wasn't in the cards due to my lack of running fitness. But, I thought, if I can run a sub-15.45min pace, I would be okay with that. And so I set myself up from the start to do 1.02min per each lap (15 laps in a 3k). And while some laps I was a little slower and some laps I was a little faster, that's the pace I kept up the entire time. I was hoping I could speed up the last km of the run, and I was able to do so just a wee bit.

There's one thing to be said...I really miss the training I did in Australia. Every Tuesday we'd do repeats between 800m-3k. It made for a tough morning, but I loved every minute of it...in a love/hate sort of way.

PS - for interest sake, that wasn't the only part to the challenge. My before/after results for the other aspects are as follows:

Wall sit: 1:12 / 4:04
Plank hold: 1:06 / 3:11
Supine back row: 8 / 13
Triple jump distance: 13.8ft / 17.2 ft (why they felt the need to use the archaic Imperial system for this is beyond me)
8kg medicine ball throw:  142 inches / 151 inches (again, Imperial system?!)

Some of these felt a bit meaningless. The run was important for me. But how far can I jump 3 times in a row? How far I can throw an 8kg weight? In what world would that be important?

Potential

Ahhh! Spring is in the air. The weather is warming up and the snow has melted. That can only mean a new running season has started!
Technically, it should have started in February as it usually does for me. But snow + cold + running is not an equation I can easily master in winter.
But the start of a new season also means...new shoes! There's something about new running shoes that feel like potential. They are fresh and ready to hit the pavement...ready to fly as fast and as far as I dare take them. It's a nice feeling. Getting new running shoes always fills me with hope.

Yes, they really are this outlandishly amazing.

Yep, after dusting off a nice easy 6k (but when did 6k start feeling like a challenge?!), I bought myself some new running shoes for the year. It's time to retire my old ones into faithful walking shoes. They've done me a great service in 2014. But now it's time to look forward to the new season.
And with those shoes I had the chance to sign up (for free) to the Half Marathon clinic starting in July.
I have no half marathons in my sights for this year, but you never know! I might just find one that suits my fancy. And even if not, there's something so joyful about accomplishing those long Sunday runs. As hard as they are, as long as they are...I miss them.
This season is filled with potential and possibilities. And the best part is, it's only just begun!

Stretching Assistance

My life has changed rather dramatically since the last post. I got a puppy!
But that's no excuse, right?

I missed a training session with a friend last night, so I decided to do my own "punishment" to make-up for the missed session. My punishment was HILL REPEATS! Ugh! As punishments go, I thought it was appropriate (even if the workout I missed was upper body).

My ambitious goal was to do around 10 hill repeats. Ha! Deep down, I knew that would never happen. My dad and I drove out to a nearby park and did a warm-up jog together. Then, while he walked around I did my hill repeats. I only had 15 minutes, so I thought 5 would be an achievable goal.

I overestimated my fitness levels.

Rep 1: 48 seconds. I made it my goal thenceforth to do ever rep under 1minute.
Rep 2: 60 seconds. Boom! Just made it.
Rep 3: 54 seconds. I focused on "Quick Arms; Quick Legs" and moved my legs really fast. Really fast. I was impressed with myself. My legs were starting to shake quite a lot, but more than halfway done!
Rep 4: 67 seconds. After this rep I kept circling the bottom of the hill like a conflicted vulture wanting to eat dead prey but seeing hyenas nearby. Finally, I saw my dad at the top and new I had to face the hyenas. Upward!
Rep 5: 67 seconds. My legs were shaking the entire way and at just under halfway I knew I couldn't possibly run the entire way up the hill. So I made myself run the entire way up the hill. (Well, when I say "run", that is open to interpretation).

We didn't jog back to the car as I had thought we would...my dad walked and I staggered beside him feeling slightly sick. I knew I'd eaten too many cookies this afternoon!

I got home and collapsed on the floor to slow my heartbeat. My puppy may not be great at running with me, but he's good at helping me stretch.

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!