Sunday, August 28, 2011

Dammit.

Alright, so it was go time today. It was a fresh week and, while I'm still fighting back a few sniffles and general malaise, I was ready for a decent 3ish mile run/walk session to get me into the swing of things. I didn't expect anything special from today and it was going to be a very easy run.

The Weather Network is not usually known for its accurate forecasts, so it was my fault for planning an outdoor run today. Friday's forecast for Sunday: 25C, sunny. Saturday's forecast for Sunday: 22C, partly cloudy. Saturday night's forecast for Sunday: 20C, cloudy with showers. In the end, it was generally overcast and hovering around 17C. Kind of perfect for running, if it wasn't for the 40kt winds gusting through. I work at the airport, so it's not like I'm in a nice sheltered area with lots of protection via buildings. It also felt like a day in October. Kind of nice, but reminded me that I have to go back to school and have yet to figure out Carleton's WebCT and how to watch my classes on demand. Anyway, back to the point of this paragraph: it was a treadmill run.

I started off the run at 4.0 mph. It was FREEZING in the building. My work always blasts its a/c way too high, but it felt even colder knowing that outside was about the same (if not warmer) than my work. Seriously, I do not want to see their hydro bill. It was so cold that I "warmed up" for half a mile. It took me that long to even just feel like it was room temperature. I had originally planned to do a very easy 4.0-4.5-5.0-5.5-6.0 interval set, but when I hit 4.5, my peroneal started hurting a LOT on my right foot. I increased the speed hoping it was just the awkwardness of that half walk/half jog pace. It eased up a little bit, so I decided to ditch the original plan for a 5.0-6.0 set with a 0.1 mph increase every 0.1 mi (the usual). I made it to the top, and halfway down before I had to give up. My tendon was really pissed off at me.

I'm absolutely gutted about this. I was forced to take a week off from running because of a cold, so I was hoping the tendon would settle down with some rest. It's super tender to touch right now and I'm really worried that I won't make my mileage this week. I can't have injuries bothering me already... it's only been 6 weeks since I started my training plan! Luckily (or not so luckily), it's an existing injury so I'm hoping that once I get back to my weekly treatments and take the exercises for it a bit more seriously, things will start to feel better. This has me really worried for my 5K, though. I was planning to run a 3K this weekend (choice between 3 or 8 km, and given that I haven't run for a week and my tendon is killing after a km, I'm choosing 3), but I think I might have to ditch that idea.

After mulling the idea for a few minutes, I took off my shoes and tried "barefoot running" on the treadmill for 0.1 miles. Now, granted, I "ran" at 4.2 mph. It is very different to running with shoes, and my feet felt heavy and clumsy slamming down unprotected on the treadmill, but I am officially intrigued. My tendon didn't feel as sore when I was running with my bare feet. I might consider a pair of minimalist shoes. Definitely not something I'm going to attempt for long/hard runs at the moment, but people have been singing its praises all over the place. We'll see. I'm due to get my orthotics this week (supposed to be last week, but I was sick and didn't make it to the appt), so I'm hoping that they help a little bit, but who knows. This could get interesting...

I'll see how the tendon feels on tomorrow's run. If it's still really bugging me, I might just have to make this week a cross-training week and work on building up some strength. I will complete the 14 mpw soon, I promise!!

As it is now... 2.6 down, 11.5 to go.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

*Sniff*

Knew it was going to be an easy week, but didn't expect to be this sick this soon after first symptoms (last night at around 1 am).

So, it's an off week for me. Boo. Update when I'm better.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Blowin' in the Wind

I had picked my boyfriend up from the airport yesterday and was just in some sort of weird funk. I think he could sense the bitchiness coming on, so he was more than willing to crash in bed while I went out for a quick 3 miler. I decided to do a neighbourhood run since nothing outside of Barrhaven (Woodroffe/Fallowfield/Prince of Wales) is 3 miles. I could've potentially done a Fallowfield and Merivale out and back, but it was rush hour and I didn't feel like having a large audience.

I started out at a slow jog, which I think was a big mistake. Usually I walk for a bit before starting the jog/run, but I knew I was crunched on time. My left Achilles tendon was a bit tender and the peroneal was sort of sore as well. I carried through at a slow pace but things definitely felt like they were unraveling a bit. By the end of the run (which ended up being 3.6 miles due to a slight detour), my left knee was giving me trouble too. I'm hoping the aggravation had to do with the fact that a major portion of the run involved going on oscillating sidewalks.. up, down, up, down. I generally run flat or gradual uphill/downhill, not pavements. The wind was also ridiculously strong (gusting to 30 kts) and it felt like an uphill the entire time! I guess people don't get fit from running flat courses constantly, though. It was tough to come to terms with.

I took an ice bath when I got home which seemed to help the initial pain, but a day later, things are definitely sore. I wish my massage therapist was in to do some tendon work but she's on vacation in Vancouver until the end of the week. Sigh.

I went to the Running Room tonight and stocked up (finally) on a pair of new split shorts, a hydration belt, some new socks and an Achilles support, as well as an IT band support. I'm guessing that the knee pain was IT band related, so I'll see if any of this stuff helps. I've decided to finish my mileage for the week, and then do a week of cross-training only. I remember Stew Smith's plans involved a cross-training week about 4-5 weeks into a program as that's the time people get injured the most and I think I've hit that week. I may even just finish the rest of the week cross-training if nothing feels better and restart the 14 mpw goal in 2 weeks.

As an aside, I finally got my surgery date: September 29. It's a lot sooner than I was planning, but I guess it's better to get rid of the pain while I can. I'm going to try to hit a comfortable 15 mpw by the time I go into surgery. I reckon I'll have about 2-3 weeks recovery time, so the goal is to start back out at 10 mpw, increase by 2 mpw for 3 weeks (to 16 mpw) then continue on the original plan. Of course, all this is very up in the air, but that's the plan for now.

We'll see how tomorrow's run goes. Aiming for a short 2.5 mi run on the treadmill to not stress the tendons too much, but I do want to test out this new "hardware".

Update soon! x

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Lucky Number Thirteen

I was really pleased to have completed my mileage for the week last night. I was working some overtime at work and called it quits around 7:30. I decided to measure the path that my coworker E and I run pretty often. I'd only done it two or three times and most of the time, I run with another coworker W -- an older guy with bad knees. I didn't really have the stamina to keep up with E or D (other coworker that also runs, but is pretty intense) and I couldn't finish the full out and back. They said it was 5K, but I measured it last night and it was just over 4 miles, so it's closer to 6K.

I brought my waterbottle along for the ride last night but am getting really sick of holding onto it when I run, so at about mile 2, I tucked it behind a fencepost and finished the route along to the traffic lights at the end of the path, and then came back and picked it up. It actually worked out well. Without the swish swish swish of the waterbottle, the run was very serene. It was a cloudy night so any sort of twilight was essentially blocked out. The path is really straight but runs parallel to a main road that is now very well-lit, so I picked out shadows from the lights and said "I'll run to this shadow". When I got to one shadow, I said "okay, I'll run to that fencepost". It made the run go by so much faster and I was chilled out by the end. Although, that last km is brutal. The entrance to my work involves going up a hill and it definitely deserves the nickname Heartbreak Hill. I just focused on putting one foot in front of the other and I made it up. I've definitely decided to invest in a hydration belt ASAP.

All in all, I added the 4 miles from last night to my weekly total and I'm now on my 14 mpw week! Awesome!

I was planning to run tonight but the eating schedule got a bit messed up and I'm not up to running at 10:30 pm when tomorrow will be a busy day. Hopefully the weather works out and the boyfriend can make it up. We have a family dinner at 5 pm, but maybe can squeeze 3 or 4 miles in around 9ish. I'm definitely starting to notice the mileage now. It's starting to involve a lot more planning and I've essentially ditched cross-training, which is not a good thing! I'm thinking of designating at least one day a week to dedicate to x-training. It's an extra day of workouts but even if it's just easy 30 min on the elliptical, I'm gonna need something. My tendons are starting to hurt again and I just can't risk getting injured again. I've decided that once I hit 20 mpw that I'll only increase my mileage by 1 mile every 2 weeks.

I'm glad the mileage and watching what I eat has paid off though. I woke up at 164.2 lbs this morning, which is the lightest I've been since I had the norovirus in February! And that involved throwing up for 5 days straight! I'm glad some results are finally showing, especially since my diet hasn't been tweaked too much, but I guess it was enough for my body to notice. That means only 14.2 lbs to go 'til my April goal weight. Very reachable.

Toodles!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

'Til I Collapse

Today I had what I can only describe as the first second weekly personal training appointment. I usually go to a private fitness facility once a week to do personal training and get really hardcore and awesome workouts. I can only liken them to Crossfit, but with that one-on-one attention that really pushes you to the edge. I've upped the intensity for the next month as I'm going to a wedding in New Jersey with my boyfriend and have two wardrobe changes -- one dress exhibits my ridiculous long legs, and the other shows off my arms. While both are fine-ish (legs are good), I really want to get into tip-top shape before winter hits and I have to cover up.

I had a killer workout with my trainer and was feeling pretty tired, but decided to go for my run tonight so I could make tomorrow a rest day. Boy, was that a good decision. I got on the treadmill as it's relatively humid out and I just didn't have the energy to make it through a hot, humid 2.something mile run. My goal was 3ish miles, but I eventually settled on a goal of 2.3 miles since I wanted to leave 5 miles for my long run on Saturday. I guess going to bed too late and being lethargic all day wreaked havoc on my thinking because I only realized after the run that 6.7+2.3 = 9, sooooo I guess it's a 4 miler for me on Saturday. I don't really mind. I'm not at the point where I'm doing 5-7 miles all week then some crazy 12-13 miler on weekends yet. The different between my long run and short run is less than a mile at this point, so whatever. As long as I get my mileage in. I was hoping to do my 5 mile trail run (which is only actually comprised of maybe 1.5 miles of trail -- the rest is on flat boring roads), so I might try to map the mileage if I just did an out and back on the trail instead of a loop and get the 4 miles in that way.

The run itself was fairly painful. I literally could feel my legs going "f--- this shit, we're out". 6.0mph is my normal jogging pace and I was panting my way through a few intervals with that as my "fast" pace. It was brutal, but I did stay in the 5-6.5 mph range for the full 2.3 miles, so it wasn't too bad, but I'm glad I'm affording myself that day of rest tomorrow. My muscles will thank me.

For some reason, during the run, I got super hungry. This happens fairly often as I usually wait too long after lunch to run and end up with a grumbling stomach, but tonight I ran at 5 pm, so I'm not sure of the deal with that. I think it had to do with just being excessively tired, physically. Tonight is Boston Pizza night and I've been debating between the Spicy Garlic Chicken Pizza and the new Mexicali Pizza. They're both the low-cal individual ones, but the Mexicali is thin crust and bigger, while the garlic chicken is thicker, but smaller. I'm also allowing myself to share a dessert with my mom tonight. It's exactly one month to the wedding and I've decided to give up store-bought desserts for the next 30 days, so I may as well go out on a high note. I would give up desserts altogether, but that would mean going through both my dad's and mom's birthdays without cake. Not cool! Instead, my boyfriend and I are going to be doing some healthy baking. I have some good low cal/fat recipes for cakes and icing and he loves my 100-calorie brownies, so I think I'll survive. Even if someone does buy a cake, at the very least I can portion something equivalent to 100 calories so I know what I'm taking in. It's those Moxie's/BP/etc desserts that are bad! Those, and the random muffins I keep eating at work that are just not helping my case!

I'm also in dire need of new workout clothes. I have two pairs of shorts that I really like to run in -- one pair I've had for a minimum of 3 years now. The second pair I must've got 2 years ago and I love because they showcase my legs VERY well, and I really like my legs. They're that type that sort of moves with your legs as you run. I'm going to try to find a picture of them. They're harder to find now because they made a lot of women uncomfortable. Understandably. If you're not 6'0" tall with mile-long legs, they probably wouldn't look all that great. I'm not bragging... I'm literally all leg, which means that my torso is short and stubby and doesn't lose weight very easily. I was running tonight in these Nike shorts that totally bunched up at the front and were not flattering at all. Couple that with my usual grey (or blue) "Just Do It" tshirt and high temps and I was just feeling disgusting at the end of the run. You would've thought I took a stroll under Niagara Falls. I'm thinking of going to lululemon. While I'm not big on the overpriced hippy stuff, I do remember buying one of my very first workout shirts there when I was 13 and they were just some tiny store in Westboro, and it was a really great shirt that lasted for years. I also heard they have some good bras as well for women of my, er, endowment, so I might pay a visit this weekend.

I'd ordered "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall on Chapters.com and it just arrived today. I'm really excited. I'm hoping to read some of it before I have to start uni! I generally don't like reading "for fun" when I'm studying, since I don't really consider reading a fun activity, and it's certainly not fun to take a break from reading law material to reading another book (even if the content is less intense). The book is actually about a tribe in Africa and has a decent story and documentary feel to it, rather than just some biomechanics book. I'll let you all know how it is.

Anne

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Daily Digest

I finally managed to get a run in today after some afternoon delay. As I wait for my gallbladder to be taken out, I'm often treated to some gut-wrenching (pardon the pun) stomachaches. Unfortunately today's hit me pretty hard in the early evening and, after a visit to my potential future workplace, I finally hit the treadmill at 9:40 pm.

My boyfriend and I like to do things together when we're separated, so I had promised him to run with him after work today as I'm trying to get him on the fitness bandwagon (and more importantly - the running bandwagon). I felt bad that I had to bail, so told him to go as far as he could and whatever he did, I would double it. Well of course, tonight was the night that he decided he was going to blow past any sort of PR on the treadmill, and fit in 2.28 miles. Amazing for him, dreadful for me. I don't mind doing a 4.6 mile run and now that I'm making gains in my endurance, I need at least a 4 mile run to feel like I've even worked out, but when I stepped on the treadmill, I was just not feeling tonight's run. I knew I had to do it though. My 3-day total of the week was all of 2 miles and there's no way I was going to hit my 13 mile goal this week (in a healthy injury-free way) without running tonight.

I hate doing anything more than 4 miles on the treadmill, but a lot of good-ish shows are on TV at 10 pm or later, so I actually was fairly entertained for the whole run. In total, I ran 4.7 miles (which included a 0.3 mi warmup and 0.2 mi cooldown). I'm debating now if I should keep warm ups and cooldowns separate from my runs. My time for 4.7 miles wasn't all that stellar (just shy of 50:00), but I also was walking at 4.0 mph for 0.5 of that whole run. So really, it was a 4.2 mile run and a 0.5 mile walk. I may have to throw that question up on the Runner's World forums. Add up a few 0.5 mile walks in a week, and I may only be doing 10 or 11 mpw as opposed to 13. Not a huge deal, but if a training plan is geared to a certain mileage, I want to make sure I'm not biting off more than I can chew. This is especially the case if the plan is for speed, though I guess I only have gains to make if I'm doing a 2:00 half marathon and that includes walking time!

Thoughts from tonight's run:
  • Why are all the judges on America's Got Talent not American? Just saying.
  • Need to cut toenails -- forgot how much it sucks when your nail is a little too long for the shoe on a long run.
  • Hoping my orthotics fix the wonkiness in my feet. I started getting pain in my right foot, on the left side, between the ball and the arch, shooting a little into the toe. I hope this doesn't have to do with the supposed fracture I have that no one seems to be contacting me about.
Sweet! 6.7 miles down, 6.3 to go!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Going, Going, Gone

I am a major control freak. My boyfriend will 100% attest to this fact. I literally have spreadsheets upon spreadsheets for very mundane activities. For my running routes, I have columns for different mileages, followed by course description and a mappedometer.com running route link so that I can actually view my course.

I'm really stoked about training, though sometimes I think I let that controller part of me take over and I end up over-controlling my life, including my runs. I panic about what to eat for dinner, or when to eat dinner, or when to run, what route to run, how many miles to run, will tonight's run conflict with another run, should I do sprints/easy/long/hills... this just goes on forever. It seems that whenever I get focused on something, I get too focused and it screws me up.

Case in point: tonight. Today seemed like a pretty chill day. I had no evening activities planned except for a 4:00 pm personal training session (which kicked my upper body's ass, awesome). I was debating on a bunch of things in my head... do I do dinner at home? Do I go out? Should I run right after the session at 5:00ish or wait til my preferred time of 7:30-8:00ish? But then it's too late to have dinner after... so many things to debate! I actually ended up coming home and going for a "quick nap" that lasted until 7:30 pm (oops). I hadn't eaten or ran yet. I went out for dinner and, due to letting my stomach/intestines work their magic, I didn't get my run in until 10:30 pm. Because it was so late and I had only eaten about 2ish hours beforehand (I generally run 3-5 hours after eating), I only pumped out an easy 2 miler, when I'd planned for a good 4-5 miles at least.

On the bright side, it's a dent in my mileage for the week. I'm getting to the point now where I think I'm running more than I did before I started tracking mileage... it's becoming more of a challenge to figure out when to run. I know, I'm at some really low number, but I'm still a bit confused as to how to do my runs. The mileage is so low that I can't really say I'm doing my "long" run because really, the long run is only a mile longer than the normal runs. I don't want to overtrain, yet doing a few three milers a week is pretty much no strain on my body whatsoever. I think my mind is just panicking... it's like "wait, I don't run this much!"... I do need to fit in at least one day of x-training, though.

Argh, it's all so much to plan! A wise person once said that training is just "miles, miles, miles. Training for a marathon means you run so much, it borders on compulsion". Maybe I just need to get out there and run and not even think about it. That is the best type of running after all.

Anne

Monday, August 15, 2011

Don't Tread on Me

People always gave me that bug-eyed look when I told them that I exclusively ran on treadmills.

"Why on EARTH would someone want to run on one of those all day?"

Yes, admittedly, treadmill running can be a bit of a bore and a bit of a chore, but it was always my "home". I started out running when I was in middle school. I was sick of doing the elliptical and I had really high aspirations of being in the military. I was convinced that I was going to join the US Air Force (despite being Canadian) because they had cool jobs that I wanted. The 2-mile run in around 23:00 scared me though (standards may have changed since then, FYI). To me, that was the scariest thing on Earth. I was always the chubby kid that could never run. All the cross-country team members at my school were naturally really skinny. Me? I was the star water polo player on selections for the Ontario team. I was in hardcore amazing shape and could swim 2 miles probably faster than I could run them. Actually, I could swim them a LOT faster. But that made me a total tank and I knew that if I wanted any chance at being a solid soldier, I needed to get my boots on the ground and shed a few pounds while getting my body into running mode. So I ran on the treadmill. My first run wasn't even a run. I just wanted to get to a mile and say that I did a mile that night, so I found a way of pulling one out of me. Ever the planner (still am today), I decided to be organized in my training. I was going to walk for three of the little digital bars on my treadmill, then run for one of them. I think my running speed was somewhere in the 5.5 mph range. In what seemed like forever, I finally completed that mile, and I've been logging them on treadmills ever since.

Until now.

If you asked me to name some of the best runs of my life, I could name a few.

There was that week in Cuba in 2004 where my mom, along with one of my best friends and her mom, went to the Caribbean for Christmas break. It was loads of fun, but I loved my "escape" before dinner. Around sunset, I'd set out for a run on the sprawling all-inclusive hotel grounds, listening to my CD player (yes, CD player), which was playing either my new Avril Lavigne CD, or a Kenny Chesney one (I was going through my country phase). I loved it. Some summer nights when it's hot and sticky, I just want to go for a run and take myself back to that hotel.

There was a run, just 2 weeks ago, that took my breath away. It was just some lame run in West Ottawa where I nearly got hit by a car, but I was jogging and while "Lifesong" by Casting Crowns was playing, two birds flew alongside me down a road that led through some fields.

There was that run, last weekend, when I was in Dallas and was feeling gross from driving halfway across the USA and wanted some alone time, particularly to avoid an awkward situation with his roommates, who aren't really my biggest supporters. I guess his area isn't that great, so I ran around the complex area. It was only about 0.62 miles around the complex, but it provided a nice up and down course and the weather was just fantastic. It was around 90 degrees and humid, but I love running when it's pitch black and super warm, so it was my ideal climate. My shadow strode alongside me in the middle of the concrete road and, after getting a surprise spray from a sprinkler, I reached out my arms to the sides like a bird, and ran through a series of them, pretty much soaking myself entirely (especially from the knees down). Still not satisfied with a few laps of the complex, I picked a line that divided the concrete slabs of the road (Canadians won't be familiar with this) and took 20 long steps, hoping it was 20 metres. I set my water bottle down and switched on the RAF's beep test.
"The multi-stage fitness test will start in 5 seconds.... ready...."
I got to level 5, which is significantly solid for a night where breathing was near-impossible. A neighbour across the street probably thought I was stalking her as I ran back and forth between my water bottle and this line on the road so, breathlessly, I shouted, "Just doing a fitness test!". She laughed and said she wanted to join me.

This seems like it went on a big long tangent, but it really hasn't. Some of my best runs (these were the top 3 I could think of, but there are many others) came outside. The details, the events, they all happened outside and, most importantly, they were all so very different. Even if I run the same route, I never have the same run. I absolutely remember a lot of my treadmill runs. Some very GOOD treadmill runs. But the Monday I sprinted for a mile to Bury Your Head by Saosin blends in with the Wednesday I sprinted for 0.50 miles to Bury Your Head by Saosin. I still love running on the treadmill, and I still love the metrics that it provides and the ability to project races and see improvement, but I think while the Canadian summer is still rolling along, I might try to go for a few more memorable runs.

I still enjoy a few sprint sessions on the treadmill, though.

Anne


Saturday, August 13, 2011

Post 1, Week Whatever

Yeah, okay, so it's another blog. I know. No need to tell me that I start stuff and never continue with them. I've also never started a marathon plan I was serious about but after about 2 months of mileage building, I'm thinking, "Um, maybe I am sort of serious this time?". When I ordered two running books off Chapters.com and decided to invest in a hydration belt and reflective arm bands, I knew it was on. That, and the fact that for the first time in the 8 years I've been running, I actually prefer running outdoors to on a treadmill.

I'm going to try to update as often as I can but I make no promises to update every workout. I know I'm dedicated enough to keep up with my log that I keep in my workout bag, so I feel no need to regurgitate the details of every run to the internet world. Plus I don't want to broadcast my shiteous days.

So basically, I've always used running for fitness but as I kept reading Runner's World, I was like, "What's this whole miles-per-week thing?". I mean, I know I run, and these people don't look super fit and they're doing 20 mpw so I've got to be doing something close to that. Yeah, no. I did maybe.. 9? At most? Maybe more, maybe less. Not consistently though. Granted, I rowed, I biked, and I ellipticized. So despite the fact that I would go to the gym or work out in general 5-6 days/week, I just didn't run as much as I thought I did. Definitely not enough to qualify myself as a runner.

I really wanted to improve my running, and after seriously thinking about it, I decided that I was going to aim for a half marathon in May, 2011. I haven't decided yet, but I'm thinking either the NJ Marathon in Long Branch, NJ on May 4, or the Ottawa Half Marathon, which is the last weekend of May. We'll see how it goes. If my tendon injuries hold up and I'm feeling good, I may challenge myself with a full marathon in October or November, but let's just take it a step at a time here! The marathon may need to wait until 2013.

The reason this race is such a big deal to me is that I've done a half marathon before. My time was so bad that it's actually a fairly average time for a FULL marathon. My idea of training was going for a 3k run the night before on a bum peroneal tendon and a hope and a prayer. The fact that I finished is shocking enough, but I was so embarrassed to be beaten by several septuagenarians and actually got to the water and gel stations after they'd run out (of the stock of 30,000 that they started with, naturally). I have been petrified of races ever since. The prospect of a 2K race this May, yes, a 2K, was too much for me to handle. I run 3+ miles regularly, and the 2K scared the crap out of me. I'm already an anxious person, and I'm already a perfectionist, so the fear of repeating that failure over and over has just been too much. I want to beat that fear.

Another reason that I want to do this race is that I draw a lot of parallels between running and my life. I've been very successful in the small number of years I've been on Earth, whether at school or work or personally. I appreciate my success to the full extent however, I feel like I've gotten to a point where everything is just ALMOST good. I've put myself through a lot of hurt, a lot of pain, and a lot of pressure to get to where I am, and now that my future looks bright, I feel like I'm at that last push of a sprint, where you see the seconds on the clock dwindle down to zero and you're like, "Do I bail? Or do I push?".. I always push. I just feel that training for this race will help me push myself in my running goals, and in my life goals.

The best thing so far about training has been the alone time with my thoughts. I've had to face some hard questions that I avoid when I'm not running. I usually distract myself with The Bachelor. The fact that I've been listening a lot to my Christian music playlist while running has really helped me. The music can be so uplifting, whether or not you're a believer, and it's made me realize that you just can't go through life always thinking the worst. I've learned from a young age to think the worst of situation, places, and people, and running is starting to free me from that. I get a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach thinking about how hard it will be to turn around and trust people and situations again, but I also know that forgiveness is the key. I'm looking forward to saying it and meaning it.

My last, and very vain, reason for running is that it makes me look hot. I have a few weddings in the future to attend and I have some very short dresses that I will be wearing. 'Nuff said.

Alright, so enough with the "why I run" spiel. Tonight I did a 5-mile run as my long run. It's not the longest run I've done in recent memory, but it's the longest I've done outside and done as a specific "long run". I ran from my house (Fallowfield/Woodroffe area), down Woodroffe to the railway tracks, where I got on the NCC path. It's a lot longer than I expected to be and it got dark quickly under the canopy of trees. I'm glad that, for the most part, it was an open trail surrounded by cornfields. It was very serene running along there and I plan to take my significant other through a run there the next time he's in town. I continued onto Merivale Rd (where the path ends), headed south on Merivale to Fallowfield, then back west on Fallowfield to the Woodroffe/Fallowfield junction, and then back home. Good run. I vow next week to start timing things but since I don't have a digital watch, I stayed away this time.

My Thoughts from Tonight
  • There are snakes in the fields outside of Barrhaven. And they hang out on the trail.
  • Running after 8:30 pm isn't an option anymore unless I'm on a well-lit sidewalk.
  • Drivers are complete idiots. I'm running along a wide shoulder, keeping far away from the road, and I'm getting high-beamed constantly. It's like "Oh look, a runner, let's blind them!"... assholes.
  • Everything by Lifehouse is still my favourite running song.
  • 4 hours is the perfect time between eating pasta and running.
  • It was super cool running in the "hole" between the storms to the south and to the north. Lightning was lighting up the sky on my last stretch along Fallowfield, yet it was so calm and clear where I was. I loved it.
  • Tonight's run officially graduated me to 13 miles per week. I'm proud.
Happy trails,
Anne