tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85612448279387080592024-03-13T15:13:46.774-04:00Step by Step: My Training BlogJust taking it one mile at a time.EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-58408887128552470442014-01-01T12:41:00.001-05:002014-01-01T12:41:33.316-05:00I Picked The Wrong Day to Start StreakingI got great news about my liver tumours a few weeks ago which basically meant I can go back on pills so I'm not a hormonal nightmare (and I don't have to constantly think about how my workouts are affecting my cycles) and I don't feel as shady drinking. I really don't drink and I really don't like to drink. It's empty calories and unless I'm drinking to get drunk, it's pointless to me. I've been exhausted lately and just wanted a night in but a colleague and friend of mine went through a rough year personally and wanted to have a girl's night. With standby flying a bit dodgy for New Years Eve/New Years Day, I weighed the possibilities and went over to my girlfriend's place for a few NYE cocktails with the ladies. Well, we're all from aviation so this degenerated into rants about our company and ATC/flying stories and the vodka/rum/wine flowed. I woke up at 8 am in my friend's 3 year old son's race car bed with a massive hangover. I'm nauseous, my head hurts, I still have a dry cough that tastes vaguely of Bacardi lime daiquiri and I have aches/pains that I'm not entirely sure how I got. <div>
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All that being said: Today is a bad day to start my mile run streak. Pray for me.</div>
EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-52445950729899055122013-12-28T19:38:00.001-05:002013-12-28T19:38:58.136-05:00Holiday BluesAfter another horrid round of bronchitis (that is still lingering -- 4 months on! Is this normal?), I thought it would be a pretty sweet idea to train for a Half Ironman. I really needed the cross training so hey, why not, right? Right? Wrong. Here's some reasons why my 70.3 was (and is) a terrible idea:<br />
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1. The race is in Syracuse. Syracuse is hilly.<br />
2. The race is in June. Water is cold in June.<br />
3. As a result of #2, I would need to purchase a wetsuit.<br />
4. I have never swam in a wetsuit outside of SCUBA diving.<br />
5. June is not an appropriate time to swim over a mile in a wetsuit for the first time and does not afford me much time to get any practice in whatsoever.<br />
6. I can't run more than 3 miles still without my lungs burning and/or injuries flaring up.<br />
7. I really hate swimming still. Like really hate it.<br />
8. I also suck at biking still.<br />
9. I actually suck at running, biking, and swimming.<br />
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See the issue here? Granted, yes, I could probably get into good enough shape to complete a 70.3 in 2014. It likely would not be the Syracuse race and that's fine, but really my biggest issue:<br />
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10. I'm not motivated to do a triathlon.<br />
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I would love a kick in the pants to start cross training heavily, but that's what my trainer is for. Not to mention that Ottawa is a big tri city and I have no issues with running a local sprint or hell even Olympic distance tri. I commit myself to so many things that adding in "driving up to a lake to practice open water swimming at 6 am" falls reeeeally far down that list. My summers are so jam-packed as it is that if I'm honest with myself, the triathlon is not realistic.<br />
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So -- what <i>is </i>realistic? I always love making lists of goals and I always hate reading how horribly I've failed at them. I'm not motivated by hard dates or numbers like some people are, but a good general guideline helps me (and gives me wiggle room). Some general "goals" for 2014:<br />
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<li><b>Sleep</b>: My ass can't survive on 6 hours of sleep/night and that's becoming more and more apparent. My current issue is that I'm so used to getting little sleep that I don't break habits, despite promising to every day. This will change in 2014. I do not have time for afternoon naps and to be honest, I just miss out too much on the day and life when all I'm doing is either day-sleeping, or zombie-ing through the day.<br /> </li>
<li><b>My Workout Program: </b>I have an awesome personal trainer. He's actually so awesome that I got my husband on board with working out with him too. He creates great workouts for me and I always e-mail him back at the end of the week going, "Weeelll, I had an exam aaaaand I didn't sleep a lot aaaaaaand my tummy kinda hurt sooooo I only did 3 workouts and skipped most of the cardio. Is that cool?". NOT happening anymore. I paid good money for these plans and the only person losing out is me.<br /></li>
<li><b>Planning My Meals: </b>This one has been a bit tough because I <u>do</u> have such a busy life that often my meals are unexpected, unforeseen, or unplanned. It happens. The main problem I'm having right now is planning some great meals with good intentions and then my husband comes home and not only do we eat out the days that he's home, but the food expires in the fridge or on the counter. In order to save money, eat healthier, and not let thing spoil, I'm hoping to plan our meals out for the week. Knowing my life, I will mainly be focusing on good "day food" because I will more or less always be at work, but I'll leave some options open for the evenings. The goal is to use the same ingredients in different dishes. <br /></li>
<li><b>Streaking: </b>My husband and I are planning to take a tropical vacation in February. I've always been intrigued by Runner's World's "run streak" between US Thanksgiving and Christmas (or New Years? Something like that), but I'm realistic with myself knowing that I likely wouldn't be able to do it. The streak entails running 1 mile every day between the two holidays. Since we plan to go to the islands in mid-Feb (16th-ish), I have a plan to "streak" between Jan 1 and that date -- whatever date it is when we book the trip. It will keep me going to the gym and getting workouts in. My bikini body needs it!<br /></li>
<li><b>Yoga: </b>Finally -- yoga. I love yoga and I haven't done enough of it lately. My studio is in a neighbourhood that is really quite far from my workplace and my house, but they are amazing and I need to go more. I have great gear, I plan to buy a great new (and big!) mat, and my husband even notices the difference when I do hot yoga a few days a week. I notice too, and the injuries are far more manageable. <br /> </li>
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Finally, I hope to <b>blog </b>all of this.<br />
<br />EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-44399976315574790432013-05-12T01:28:00.003-04:002013-05-12T01:28:58.316-04:00Race Report: Day Before Mother's Day 3KIf it wasn't for the fact that I shattered my 3K PR, I would be really unhappy right now. I have <i>numerous </i>gripes with today's race -- all of them were logistical.<br />
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1. The race kit pick-up was at the most inconvenient time last night (4:30-6:00 pm). There's no reason to have a pick-up literally across town in the middle of traffic. No way was anyone from west of downtown going to make it to that. Instead, we had to show up almost 2 hours before race time to get our kits day-of.<br />
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2. The pick-up was at a middle school almost a km from the start line. It was kind of good in that it was a bit of a warm-up to the race but it seemed really disconnected. You crossed the finish line and just sort of had to stand there. The paths were muddy from the rain and the area around the course was way too small for the amount of people there.<br />
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3. Don't have 12 year olds working the chip tent. They can't answer questions and after my mom and I picked up our chips after finding them ourselves, some little shit working there took them from us and put them back. We told her that we needed them and she said "Oh... I thought you were done" in a snotty voice. And I said "No, do we need to sign them out?" and she's like "No.. uh.... just go away". WTF!<br />
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4. We got crappy-ass finishers medals. The 5K/10K people got nice big flashy ones. We got generic ones about one square inch with a listing of races on the back of it and <i>our race was not even on the list. </i>They wouldn't even give my mom a Mother's Day flower at the end of the race because she hadn't done the 5K or 10K.<br />
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5. My chip didn't work. I went to check my results and my name was missing from the list. I knew my time had been 15:29 because I started my Garmin right as I crossed the start line. It read 1.87 miles as I finished (marginally longer than a 3K). They add my name to the list and I get home and my time reads 16:04. That's when it dawned on me that we never crossed start mats for our chips. My mom and I started waaay back because we were doing the smaller race and didn't want to get caught up with the hordes of U14 soccer players. Turns out this cost me 35 seconds on my official time. If I had started with everyone else, I would've been in 4th place OA women. Now I'm showing 15th. Kind of frustrating.<br />
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To summarize the good:<br />
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The race was on the Rockcliffe Parkway which is always a nice run. It's got a great river view (a little Scottish-like today as everything was wet, sky was grey, and the water was even kind of grey-looking) and it's a relatively flat course. The cold front moving through meant some high winds on the way back which made my second mile around 20 seconds slower than my first split, but it was alright. For the billionth time, I went out way too fast and struggled a little towards the end. My pace was only 4 seconds/mile slower than my PR 5K so I was expecting a bit more from myself given the 3K distance. I'm running another 3K next weekend so I'll try a bit harder there. I'm happy though.. my goal was to break 16:00 and I did that just fine, even if the official results don't agree.<br />
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Some pics from the race:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D-rG0X8Ec78/UY8nru8U99I/AAAAAAAAAJw/s1IP1h2vP0A/s1600/AnneMothersDay5K3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D-rG0X8Ec78/UY8nru8U99I/AAAAAAAAAJw/s1IP1h2vP0A/s320/AnneMothersDay5K3.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was running in some pretty serious 80s gear. I completely forgot I had my new purple rain jacket, so I wore a bright neon orange (in real life it's literally pylon-colored) shirt with some blue and highlighter-yellow Lulus. I actually like this pic... it shows how much better my stride is than it used to be thanks to the double ankle bracing, and I've got a stronger kick at the end of the race than usual. This is also the least-embarrassing photo of my hair.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CroEqOK65_Q/UY8nsat2MII/AAAAAAAAAJ8/KSPJZTIGNlo/s1600/MothersDay5K.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CroEqOK65_Q/UY8nsat2MII/AAAAAAAAAJ8/KSPJZTIGNlo/s320/MothersDay5K.jpg" width="231" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After finishing my race and getting my finisher's medal, I walked along the course until I found mom and jumped in to finish with her. Don't we look related? </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UGITQluOm3w/UY8nskRMKiI/AAAAAAAAAKE/WrGX6r38NT0/s1600/MothersDay5K2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UGITQluOm3w/UY8nskRMKiI/AAAAAAAAAKE/WrGX6r38NT0/s400/MothersDay5K2.jpg" width="276" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My mom's face cracks me up in this. She came in first in her age group (1 of 1) and told everyone that she was a gold medallist. I think she really liked racing!</td></tr>
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So that brings me to my next point... I need to lose some freaking weight. I'm hovering around 164 lbs which is only about 5 lbs heavier than this time last year, but I haven't been keeping up on my cardio like last year, mainly due to the fact I have about 3 simultaneous lower body injuries. It's really not an excuse... I can do things other than run. My muscles are quite a bit stronger than last year due to the workout plan I'm on but I haven't seen the benefits because I haven't been as diligent with my cardio. I'm having a beach wedding shortly and I really want to look as good as I can for that, in addition to being great for race season. Here are my goals for this summer:<br />
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1. Lose 10 lbs by July 1. On the Canada Day Road Races, I'd like to weight in at 155 lbs. It's a good racing weight for me and I feel confident.<br />
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2. Stick to my training plan. I've made too many excuses... too tired, I've got class, etc. It's only an hour, I can make the time.<br />
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3. Add a bit more cardio. I have a solid training plan but I need some longer easy sessions to get the heart/lungs stronger.<br />
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4. Hot yoga twice a week. I've been going consistently on Thursdays for the past 3 weeks, but I'd like to add a weekend class or something to the mix.<br />
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5. No desserts until Goal 1 is complete and I'm in maintenance mode. It's harsh <i>but </i>I will allow myself some frozen yogurt now-and-then. It's my favourite dessert and I would gladly give up cakes/brownies/muffins for life if I only was allowed fro-yo.<br />
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That's it. Very simple, very achievable. I do sometimes get anxious when I think of losing weight because I really don't want to slip into the bad habits of my past, but I know I won't. My husband wouldn't let me and I need too much fuel for my workouts. I'm hoping that, as usual, when the workouts are good, the eating's good, and it continues in a cycle. I will just have to make sure I'm eating to lose a couple pounds and not for maintenance.<br />
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'Til next weekend!<br />
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- AnneEHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-24108163957833670452013-04-28T16:21:00.002-04:002013-04-28T16:21:29.949-04:00Race Report: Manotick Road Races<b>Today's Race: Manotick Road Races (5K.. or so they say)</b><div>
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PS: Pics to be uploaded when they're posted.<br /><div>
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I was super excited to run the Manotick Road Races. It had the makings of a pretty sweet race. It's a relatively flat part of town, it's 10 minutes from my house on a slow day, and the 5K had the odd start time of 10:50 am (the 10K and 18K races started at 8:40 and 8:30, respectively). I had driven by the signs on my alternate drive to work (the route I take when traffic on the Hunt Club Bridge is insane) and kept counting down the days to run a good local race.</div>
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Time-wise, I was pretty confident too. Thanks to Stew Smith's personalized program, I was running sub-8:00 miles on the track and ran a 12:04 1.5-miler the other day. I was also avoiding injury despite a twinge now-and-then in my left Achilles and the hip/core work seemed to be going well. I checked last year's results. Despite not copping to be a race cherry-picker, I do analyze the field from the previous years in the hopes of seeing how I would potentially place. Ever since my first-place finish last year, I've been eager to taste sweet victory in at least my age group. With my goal of running a sub-26:00 race, I would have landed at around 2nd AG last year. I knew this year's field was bigger but I was optimistic. </div>
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Depending on race location and date, either my husband or my dad comes to the race with me. There's a strategy behind this: Kevin keeps me calm, is really supportive, and I can actually feel he's proud of me when he sees me run. With Dad, well... Dad doesn't give a rat's ass how I do. I kind of like that too. Dad is a physicist and refuses to spend a penny on anything. He sleeps on a second-hand Salvation Army bed from the 1970s. His frugality really limits our activities together and I usually have to con him into going somewhere before he goes and admits he enjoyed it. Even when he admits he enjoys something, it's not obvious he's admitting to anything, or enjoying anything. In last year's Canada Day Road Races, I found him reading a book on the Theory of Relativity on a knoll 50 ft from the finish line. He had no idea I had finished, but he happily sat and watched my purse and let me do some cooldown stretches before heading out. Local races have become our thing... he likes seeing me run as it was a pastime from his childhood in Scotland and he's usually willing to go because it's free. On Sunady mornings, however, he visits an elderly family member and, due to the late start time of the race today, he couldn't make it with me. So that left me with mom... within a few minutes of picking her up I was yelling "for F*CKS sake!" because she was shouting that I missed a parking spot and told me to rush to get it. I was already tense. Mom is a good cheerleader but she is a very stressful person to be around and, combined with the cup of coffee I had just downed, the knot in my stomach was getting bigger.</div>
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At around 10:40 am, they called us all to the narrow start line. My iPod Nano (4th gen) tragically died in an Iced Tea accident in my purse last week, so I had to make do with my iPod touch. I have a supreme hatred for touchscreen devices. They are not made for runners (as the dismal failure of the Garmin touchscreen GPS watches will attest to). I made a quick race playlist and jammed the clunky device in my Lululemon crops. I wasn't sure whether or not to wear shorts as the thermometer was already hitting 20C and climbing, but my lack of hot yoga and true endurance cardio in the past few months has left me a little more self-conscious about my legs than I'd like to admit to (this will change!). I thought about taking the iPod out and pausing the tunes for a few minutes since it didn't seem like the gun was going to go off anytime soon, but the gaggle of pre-teen girls in soccer uniforms singing Taylor Swift songs made me reconsider. The second song on my playlist, "Hallelujah" by Paramore, had just finished playing as the gun finally went off and I started running to "Last Train Home" by LostProphets. </div>
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The first mile started out just fine. I caught a glimpse of my watch that flashed "7:06" as my pace and put the reigns on my legs. I settled into a solid 8:10-8:30 pace. It wasn't a sub-25:00 pace (my goal for this season) but it was enough to potentially get me a PR for this race. The race was well-marked and my watch read 0.62 as the 1KM sign flashed by. I was optimistic as I hit the 2KM mark at 1.2 miles on my watch. "Finally," I thought, "a race that's properly measured". At 3KM, I generally hit some sort of wall. Today's race was no different, though I noted that I hadn't hit the 9:00-min mile pace on my watch yet so even though I was feeling tired, my "slow pace" has noticeably gotten faster. I gave myself a bit of a boost when I was 2.4 mile on my watch and told myself I only had about 3 laps of a track to run before I was done. </div>
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This is when it all fell apart. My watch creeped closer and closer to 3 miles and I kept winding my way through local roads, with no finish line in sight. I had pumped my legs like a maniac to try and finish on a high note and realized that not only was I now exhausted, but I still didn't know where the finish line was, and there was a (relatively) large hill looming directly ahead. My watch now read 3.2 miles and I was just starting the climb. I'm used to races not being exactly 3.10 miles and I try not to rely on the Garmin too much. With such a curvy race and weaving in and out, I don't expect to run 3.1 miles on the dot, but having gone 0.1 miles past that and still quite far from the end, I started to get disheartened. My watch ticked by 27:00. My goal for the race was gone, as was my goal to place. I had been mentally keeping track of women who looked like they were 20-29 and saw the 3rd person jog by me right around that 3.2 mark. I slowed to a walk near the top of the hill where I noticed parked cars. A good sign. We were near the finish line. My watch was up to 3.3 miles now.... by the time I crossed the finish line, it was at 3.4 miles on the dot. </div>
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I thoroughly believe that the 5K is the hardest distance to run. It's the "beginner" distance, but those beginners usually move on to 10K, half marathons, or even full marathons. Very few people stick around at the 5K and try to get faster. 5Ks toe the line between sprint and paced run; between middle and long distance. It's difficult to settle in for the long haul in a 5K, because by the time I've "settled" (usually around a mile in), I'm a third done. You really give the end your all in a 5K because those few seconds make a big difference when you don't have that many minutes or seconds to play with in the first place. I felt like today I gave it my all, and instead I was met with a course that was a third of a mile too long (adding on a solid 3:00 to my time) and a hill. My intuition was right... I was 20 seconds away from a Top 3 finish. I'm pleased with my overall result (4 of 39 in the age group), but I'm disappointed with the race overall. I think the fact that I did train, I did race smart, and I did give it my all, and lost out due to things beyond my knowledge or control just made me a bit disheartened.</div>
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I have my sights set on one local race (Carp) next week or, if I can convince him and give him huge puppy eyes and lots of kisses, I'd like to go down to Washington DC with my husband and run in one of the 5Ks in the Dulles area. I always seem to do better at "away" events. </div>
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I did, however, get some cute stuff from Lululemon after the race. And I have made it my goal to take yoga/cardio a bit more seriously... I'm embarrassed with my body's shape (not necessarily my fitness, though). Onward and upwards.... just no more hills, please!</div>
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<b>TODAY'S RESULTS</b></div>
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29:35 or 8:42 per mile</div>
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4/39 Age Group</div>
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59/261 Gender</div>
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136/418 Overall</div>
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EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-26378706643820262512013-04-10T17:35:00.002-04:002013-04-10T17:36:32.737-04:00Tom Scott Race Report and Injury UpdateIt's been a little while! A few things to get to today...<br />
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<b>Tom Scott Road Races</b><br />
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I went over to Scotland last week to visit the family and run in the <a href="http://www.tomscottroadraces.co.uk/">Tom Scott Road Race</a>. My uncle is the race director and had mentioned last February that I should come and race. Given my fortunate ability to fly internationally for not a lot of money, I took a look at the flights for around April 7 and decided that I should go for it.<br />
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I sort of had an idea that races in Scotland were different. Looking at 2012's results, it was obvious that I was not going to be in the top 20% (where I normally hover in North American races). The age groups are different and people race for clubs, not for themselves. You can kind of tell by looking at this picture:<br />
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<img height="101" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/431739_263169577098820_1799843924_n.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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Racing is a serious thing over there and there doesn't really seem to be a thing called a "fun run". Anyway, I was glad I registered for the less-competitive 6K for both the fact that the guy who came in <b>last place </b>in the 10 mile race was averaging an 11:00 mile (think about it, this guy was running at around 5.5 mph and came in <i>last</i>), and my knee started to give me a hard time after 3 miles anyway.<br />
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After staying at the Holiday Inn Express right next to Strathclyde Park in Motherwell (where the race was being held), my husband and I headed over to get registered. Turns out my uncle had recruited most of my family to work at the registration desk so I got a nice visit in with my cousins while prepping for the race start. I was cold and miserable pretty much the whole time in Scotland, so I was bundled up despite the 8C temperatures, and made the mistake of wearing a purple UA t-shirt, my bright Lululemon long sleeve shirt <i>and </i>a new jacket to the race. Some guy from the Motherwell club said that I'd be boiling... he was right. Around a mile in, I was already dying of the heat. You can tell in pictures that I tried to unzip my jacket, but failed miserably when I realized that my race number was pinned to the jacket.<br />
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My uncle had advised me that the course was "flat" and I didn't have to worry about hills. Well, this is the same uncle who says "It never rains in Scotland" and 10 miles is "not far". The first 2 miles were admittedly pretty flat and the views around the loch were pretty. I was very grateful to not be running in the rain. However, after 2 miles, the path winded in all sorts of directions, including up (luckily it also went down at some points). I was already exhausted with the heat, so the hills didn't help. I've decided that whenever I get back to running, hill training will be required.<br />
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While I had been passing people for the first two miles and holding a steady 8:30-8:45 pace, it dropped off dramatically towards the finish and I struggled to hold a sub-10:00 pace for the remainder of the race. Luckily I broke out of the trees and hills enough to see that I was getting close to the end (and more importantly, that the rest of the course was <i>flat</i>) and I did a little sprint towards the finish line.<br />
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<img alt="0_0.jpg" height="300" src="http://f1631.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=2%5f0%5f0%5f1%5f2652046%5fAN%2fsHkgAATyjUWXVpQtLo1khMhU&pid=2&fid=Inbox&inline=1&appid=YahooMailClassic" width="400" /><br />
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<i>Never thought I'd be that warm in a Scottish race</i></div>
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All in all, I was pleased with my overall time of 34:31. It was slightly less on my GPS watch (I think there was an issue with the chip timing - I didn't see a mat at the start of the race). Turns out I came in 2 of 6 in the FSNR category. I don't know what it stands for other than the F is female. I didn't get a prize, though. Overall, I was 12 of 28 women and 37 of 63 runners. I was expecting a lot worse so I'm pleased with my result. And check out that pretty stride!</div>
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<b>Injury Report</b></div>
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Well, if you can't tell by the three (yes, three) braces I'm wearing in the race photo, I've got a lot of work to do injury-wise. My trainer kind of chewed me out for not doing non-impact stuff but the truth is, I really wanted to not suck at this race. Now that it's over, I'm a little bit more accepting of the fact that I need to tone down the running and turn up the cross-training/strengthening. I'm okay with that -- any exercise is good. I still want to sneak in some runs on the weekends, whether it be a race or not (to keep the competitive fires burning), but it's going to be 90% cross training at the moment. My left Achilles still gets "twinge"y even when just biking or doing elliptical, which kind of sucks. Right now I'm just focusing on strengthening, starting a new non-impact plan through my trainer, and getting ready for summer where I can hopefully run. Given that we're getting 20 cm of snow on Friday, I guess I'm not really missing out on the outdoor running.</div>
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<br />EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-60478375055430233172013-03-26T00:04:00.002-04:002013-03-26T00:04:40.505-04:00Brace YourselfI'm running out of clever post titles.<br />
<br />
After a few weeks of grappling with the fact that my running season may be over with this knee injury, I had an epiphany. I've always sort of wondered why my left knee had bothered me, but my right one didn't. My right IT band has always been tighter than the left, and I had so many peroneal tendon injuries on the right side that it just seemed that if I was going to have knee pain, it would be in that knee. Thinking back to my crappy 5 miler a couple of Mondays ago, I remember looking down at my left foot and seeing just how crooked it was (you can see this in a photo I posted a little while back too). My right foot would strike the ground at almost a perfectly straight heading. Yes, my knees do cave in and I've got the knock-knee thing going, but the foot issue seemed a bit unrelated. Why does my left foot hit the ground at this weird angle? Then it hit me... the brace. I've been running with a $50 6-year-old brace on my right ankle for years now. It was originally due to the torn peroneal tendon, but I've come to rely on it (I know, this is a big no-no in sports but I can't help it). I had just bought a new brace while picking up a knee brace at Kinemedics in Ottawa, so I had a second ankle brace floating around. It's old and ratty, but it still worked.<br />
<br />
So this weekend I went to Washington DC to escape the cold and try a run. I strapped my right ankle brace on, then my left knee brace, then my new left ankle brace, and I took a bigass long breath and prayed for a miracle. Well, that miracle lasted an entire 4 miles. I had mapped out a nice 2 mile loop near our hotel and figured that if I got pain, at the very least it would be a short(ish) walk. I managed to do it twice (I'm glad I mapped the loop regardless... I had to make a pit stop before my second loop!). It felt amazing... there were hills, sidewalks, trails, curbs... all sorts of things that would make my knee cringe. And I did it... pretty much pain free until the last 5 min (and even then, it was a twinge, not a pain).<br />
<br />
Today I'm facing a different type of pain. For me, it's waking up to find that you've ballooned up about 2 dress sizes. You're busting out of your bra and you feel bloated all over. This started a couple of weeks ago but I guess my body finally caught up to the fact that I had cut back on so many workouts. I actually obsessively took pregnancy tests cause the big boobs and bloating seemed to come out of nowhere (women, you have permission to hate me: when I gain weight, the first place it goes is my boobs... and that's the last place I lose the weight). Now, I finally have the ability to run again, but I'm in a crappy place physically. The burning in my throat is still there on some of my cardio sessions. I've felt so busy and have had such a hard time scheduling workouts that I keep missing things I'd like to do. I know I want to avoid being in the past, but I wish I had the same discipline as last year... I wish I had the <i>motivation. </i>I think a lot of it has to do with the weather up here. This winter has dragged on longer than expected and I just want the heat to be turned on. I think once it's sunny and I can get out and suck in some warm, non-gym air, things will improve. Luckily I managed to keep a 9:00-9:30 pace with the injured leg(s) and on a very hilly route this weekend, so the Scotland race isn't going to be a huge write-off, but I do wish that I had discovered this sooner so I could've prepared better. Oh well, will just make my race in 2014 all the more impressive.<br />
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<i>My TWO best friends... </i></div>
<br />EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-12547969611940424382013-03-14T08:13:00.002-04:002013-03-14T08:13:20.917-04:00New Shoes and a New SportI went out for a 5 mile run on Monday night to try to get back in the groove. It was warm out for March (around 7°C) and I was so exhausted that I was hoping some fresh air would wake me up. My iPod has been injured for a little while, so I was pleased when I got it working without any static for my run. I got really inspired running to Selah's <i>I Turn to You </i>and felt like I was really starting to get on a roll. I kept up a sub-9:00 mile pace for the first 3 miles. Then everything hit the fan... the light ache in my knee turned into a world of hurt. My Achilles in my left ankle started screaming at me too. I limped home (doing my very pace to maintain a 4+ mph pace). Somehow after walking for over 2 miles, I still ended the session with an average pace of 11:30. My knee always gave me problems in the past, but it was on long (6+ mile) runs and as long as I kept my runs to a shorter distance, I never had an issue. This whole experience made me reconsider.<br />
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<img alt="http://www.saucony.com/commonimages/saucony/zoom/20140-10_1_1200x735.jpg" class="decoded" height="195" src="http://www.saucony.com/commonimages/saucony/zoom/20140-10_1_1200x735.jpg" width="320" /> </div>
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<i>My new best friends?</i></div>
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On advice from a fellow <a href="http://www.atlantarunningmom.com/">blogger </a>, I bought a pair of Saucony Guide 5s, men's 10.5. While tying them up in the store, I had my doubts... they felt a little weird. It was only when I stood up and started trotting around the store that I was convinced to buy them. They felt light as air, especially compared to my Rides that currently have clunky orthotics in them. I'm a little worried about the toe box being too small, but Sauconys are definitely the best for width in that department. I guess my first run will tell. I plan to take them to the gym tonight for a short 1 mile warm-up and cool-down for a strength session. Fingers crossed.</div>
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In the meantime, my injured self has been on a bit of a running diet. With Monday's run solidifying that things needed to change, I started focusing on strengthening my leg muscles (especially the non-running ones) and aiming to do a few more hot yoga classes. I made my way to spin class last night dreading the burning in my throat that I got last time. That problem was fixed pretty quickly. I realized that my resistance wheel thing had gotten stuck during my last spin. When I thought I had turned my resistance all the way down, it was still around 3 full rotations on. So when the instructor had everyone increase their resistance, my bike was a full 3 turns ahead. Spinning with the <i>right </i>resistance was ten times easier. It turns out that the burning in my throat <i>was </i>due to me working out too hard, but I had no idea just how hard it was. Thankfully, the class was manageable, I felt good, and I just bought a 30-class membership to my new cross-training activity. Hopefully if I combine it with hot yoga this summer I'll be in a nice position to do well.</div>
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Anne</div>
EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-13537916078440290172013-03-11T14:04:00.000-04:002013-03-11T14:04:19.350-04:00Spinning Out<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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I'd been having something of a mental breakdown for the past few days which
was really a reflection of the past few weeks/months. Aside from a fitness kick
in Dominican Republic,
I really haven't had much in the way of training since I came down a really
crappy flu back in December. To be honest, I haven't felt like my normal fit
self since last August, when I came crashing like the Kool-Aid man through a
wall.<br />
<br />
After sleeping lots and lots this weekend (and I mean lots), I decided it
was time to drag my butt to the gym for a solid workout. That solid workout
turned out to be an hour-long spin class of death. I'd gone spinning years ago
when I lived in Toronto and it was always a
decent workout, but when I moved back to Ottawa,
I could never find the right class for me. I went to a place in Ottawa called Inner Soul after
seeing that it was the only place in the city with a Sunday evening spin class.
It started off well enough. The bikes had digital monitors which was a good feature
(I started spinning in the stone age of spin technology, I guess). Things started
to go downhill the minute we started going uphill. The music was pumping, the disco
ball was turning, and I was feeling good… until I got the burning. It felt as if
I’d swallowed a tube of Bengay. I was gasping for air and trying desperately to
figure out where the burning was coming from. I know I have been getting over a
cold for the past few weeks, but I wasn’t sure if this was even in my airway. This
has happened to me twice in the past week and both times have been around 2 hours
after I ate and then did vigorous exercise. I have a very slow digestion time… a
lot of people can run/work out 1-2 hrs after eating. I need usually at least 3,
if not more. I’m trying to figure out if this was exercise-induced heartburn, or
if it is a respiratory thing. I’m really hoping it’s the former because I think
I’d just punch someone in the face at this point if I had to be sidelined from exercise
again.<br />
<br />
<br />
Tonight is Day 2 of Week 1 of my Stew Smith workout plan. I’ve been doing this
workout plan for the past 4 months and I’m still on Week 1. That’s how terrible
my training has been going. Oh well, one day at a time…<br />
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<![endif]-->EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-85295103411374681032013-03-06T16:48:00.000-05:002013-03-06T23:52:25.542-05:00Dallas Form Follows Fitness 5K Recap<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Dallas FFF 5K was a spur-of-the-moment decision for me. I had run two races this winter (both in not-so-great times) and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to run, but my husband was down in the DFW area for an appointment on a weekend and EWR-DFW loads were very, very good. It also helped that we had just gone through a cold snap in <u></u><u></u>Ottawa<u></u><u></u> and I was ready to get out of the frozen tundra. My original plan was to run the Cowtown 5K. Unfortunately for me, online registration closed on the Wednesday (when I hadn’t decided if I was going or not) and there was no race-day reg. The only time I could register would’ve been on Friday evening. I arrived at midnight on Friday night/Sat morning, so it was the FFF 5K for me. As a matter of interest, I dropped my 5K results from the FFF 5K into the Cowtown results and found out I would’ve placed 11 of 183 in my age group.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The weekend started out promising. I got on a flight from <u></u>Ottawa<u></u> to <u></u><u></u>Newark<u></u><u></u> that was supposed to have no seats on it and still managed to score the exit row. I had packed half-thinking I wasn’t going to make it but I’m glad I threw my running gear in there. There had been weather all over the place and every flight from <u></u><u></u>Ottawa<u></u><u></u> to Washington and Chicago had been cancelled, so I’m surprised I made it on a plane at all. I was a bit panicked once I got on the <u></u><u></u>Newark<u></u><u></u> flight, but some Red Mango tart frozen yogurt at the airport helped that! Man, I love fro yo. I got into DFW around 12:30 am, stopped at Whataburger, checked into the Sheraton downtown with the hubby, and passed the f--- out! I’d been having trouble sleeping all week and I was stressed that the ~5 hrs of sleep pre-race coupled with all the insomnia was going to wreak havoc on my race (not to mention my stomach had been sketchy all night and Whataburger wasn’t going to help).<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I woke up, grabbed a coffee, and headed to the race. Note to self: Make SURE you have cash before going to a race-day reg! I tried pulling cash out from an ATM at the airport when I landed <i>and </i>when I was at the hotel, but both were out of service. I ended up having to run all over downtown trying to find an ATM. All the office buildings are closed at 8 am on a Saturday so I was grateful that there was a Chase ATM just around the corner from the race. I literally had just enough time to pay, stick on my number, and go.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started middle of the pack since it was chip-timed and I didn’t really care where I was positionally. Apparently a lot of people had this mentality… there were way too many walkers ahead of me and I spent the first mile dodging people left, right, and centre. I think this took a bit off my time, which is a shame. I settled into a good pace (around 8:30) and appreciated a nice downhill section after the first mile. At around 1.6 miles I started to realize that my time was on PR pace and I had strong legs.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Running strong at around mile 2<u></u><u></u></span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had a good pace going towards the end of the second mile, but saw a hill (which was more of an on/off ramp) ahead and tried to slow down my pace. I saw a ton of people sprinting up this hill and I thought to myself “man, they’re going to be tired”. Turns out they were just smart and looked at the course map before running the race. The finish line was literally RIGHT after this hill. I only realized this when I rounded the crest and saw some pylons funnelling everyone into the finish line chute.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some more evidence of my really messed-up stride.<u></u><u></u></span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I gave it my all when I saw the clock ticking towards 27:00. I completely forgot the race was chip-timed and got an extra 30 seconds on top of that. I finished in around 26:50 clock time, and had an official chip PR of <b>26:22. </b>I managed to come in 6th in my age group (of 43) and 50th women overall of 450.<u></u></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was right before I ran into the photog. Who stands in the middle of the finishing chute??!<u></u><u></u></span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Props to my husband for sitting in the cold for a half hour waiting for me. It was a very chilly morning and not what I expected for <u></u><u></u>Texas<u></u><u></u> (it hovered around freezing). I’m glad I had my gloves. Speaking of clothes, isn't my Lululemon getup adorable? I got ribbed tremendously for wearing my bright neon orange jacket to work, but it did a great job of keeping me warm, yet cool in the right spots, during the race.<u></u></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">$40 entry fees should always mean free beer<u></u></span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #fff2cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The race felt really good and, if I had known the hill was near the finish line, I would’ve gotten a few extra seconds. Combine that with the slowpokes up front slowing me down for the first mile and I think I would’ve been well into the 25:00 range. I also ran on no sleep, had Whataburger the night before and just a coffee morning-of, and I hadn’t been training too hard since I had dealt with the bronch/injuries right up until February. It really is mental! Sub-25:00, here I come!</span></div>
EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-28219730502316859492013-03-05T23:40:00.003-05:002013-03-05T23:56:30.471-05:00And she comes crawling back...So I came back to this blog yesterday because I somehow managed to catch a cold around the same time I had bronchitis last year, and I wanted to see how slow my progress was back then. Believe it or not, how I was feeling March 5, 2012 was almost exactly how I felt March 4, 2013. After a bit of convincing from my husband, I decided to come back and blog again. He's promised me the readership of at least one (him), so I guess that's good enough -- though I have so many injury that I'm sure I'll be a great hit for all those Google searches. So to recap my race season so far:<br />
<br />
I PR'ed in the Dallas Form Follows Fitness 5K on February 22! Yay! Race blog will be posted tonight/tomorrow.<br />
<br />
Everything else has been shit, shit, shit. Well, that's not true... I managed to do a few nice sub-8:00 miles and I'm pretty sure I held a 7:45 pace in the 5K for a bit (before they made us run up an on-ramp in the final quarter mile stretch... WHO DOES THAT?!), but these injuries have got me going ballistic.<br />
<br />
I noticed after a nice long illness/bronchitis spell at Christmas/New Years that my foot got numb when I ran. I noticed this even more with a pair of new shoes (I am attempting to "recreate the magic" I felt with my original Saucony Rides... so far the men's Ride 5 is a lesser equal). I was running in the women's version - which has a small toe box - and my foot just went straight-up numb. Couple this with the fact I was running on a 300m indoor track at my university and I felt like crap... the constant turning aggravated my knee injuries. I went sulking home with a numb foot and a busted knee.<br />
<br />
I got back into things a little more and kept running with my too-worn Rides. I'm having a different type of buyer's remorse.... not buying enough! Should've bought the store out of those shoes when I had the chance. Anyway... the numbness issue continued, but to a lesser degree, so I kept the runs going. I know that I have the "sweet spot" of 6 miles before my left knee starts to give me shit, so I decided to finally do something about it. My wonky race pics didn't help. I might be flying like the wind, but I look like I'm taking fartleking to a whole new level:<br />
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<img src="http://cache03.zoomphoto.ca/i/16742/16742-101-16815709.jpg" /><br />
<i>WTF is wrong with my leg??!?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
See how my knee caves inwards?<br />
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<img src="http://cache03.zoomphoto.ca/i/16742/16742-101-16815714.jpg" /><br />
<i>And there goes the ankle kicking out...</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Yes, that picture was on uglyracepics.com ... My husband always says he never worries about me picking up guys at the gym because I'm just really not that hot when I workout. I think I have to agree.<br />
<br />
Basically, my biomechanics are f***ed. You can even notice on the above photo that the left foot that is on the ground has a weird angle to it... instead of my toes pointing straight forward, they're almost turned to a 350-degree heading.<br />
<br />
I finally picked up the orthotics that are at least supposed to help with part of this last week. I did my first "run" with them tonight but my feet were soooo sore. I kept getting pain on the outside of my foot. I'm not sure if it's because they're not broken in, my foot is just used to no support, or what... but I really hope it goes away.<br />
<br />
On top of that, the numbness is coming back and I got diagnosed with Morton's Neuroma in that foot, so now I'm on the hunt for a shoe with a bigger toe box to stop the pinching.<br />
On top of <i>that</i>, I'm hesitant to go for a neutral shoe (was going to try the Saucony Kinvara). I am somewhat considering a stability shoe and ditching the orthotics.<br />
On top of <i>that</i>, my gait is so screwy that I'm doing two physio sessions a week to try to correct all this wonkiness.<br />
And on top of <i>aaaallll that</i>, I need to lose 15 lbs in the next 2 months to be at my goal race weight for the summer (150 lbs).<br />
<br />
Phew. There's a lot of nonsense going on and a lot of decisions to make. I don't even want to begin thinking about the amount of money I spend on running. Between races, shoes that may or may not fit, orthotics, physio, Lululemon.... Oh dear.<br />
<br />
So here's my plan:<br />
<br />
1. Keep going to physio.<br />
2. Research physio places in Ottawa that might specialize in runners. I want to walk into an office and go "Fix me!" and they hook me up to a ton of machines, make me run, make me fast, etc.<br />
3. Research shoes and get some opinions on stability vs. neutral. Neutral accommodates orthotics... stability might be nice to run in without orthotics, but in years past they gave me nasty-ass blisters.<br />
4. Get my food shiz together and get a proper workout plan in place by next week (this cold is still lingering). Thankfully I have some great workouts provided to me on a weekly basis so I have the framework, I just need to not get sick or injured for once!<br />
5. Get a new iPod.<br />
<br />
Umm, I think that's it?<br />
<br />
Oh and I should start getting more sleep. So that's what I will do! I will do my best to blog the Dallas race tomorrow!<br />
<br />
Good to be back! Lots of thoughts from tonight's run and I'm glad I can get them down somewhere again. Sorry if this one sounded so frazzled... to document every injury/thought/plan from the past year-ish into one blog was hard.<br />
<br />
AnneEHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-22143281598459860002013-01-08T23:55:00.001-05:002013-01-08T23:55:20.207-05:00This is Gonna Be HugeFirst and foremost, Happy New Year to my 4 subscribers and random readers who accidentally get a twenty-something's blog about running instead of what they were actually searching for.<br />
<br />
2012 was a big year for me...<br />
<ul>
<li>I set a new "PR" (23:55 in the "5K" in Manassas.. which was short by 0.3 miles) </li>
<li>And I set a new PR (26:52 in the Canada Day Road Races -- this is the race I'm ACTUALLY counting as my PR). </li>
<li>I got a competitive spark by winning my age group in a race (yes, I actually got 1st.. of SEVEN. Not like 1 of 1...) </li>
<li>And I managed to throw it all out after racing a bit too hard on back to back days on back to back weekends. </li>
<li>My summer ended with me getting a concussion while wakeboarding and spending the following months recuperating, only to be taken down by something else (ITB pain! Knee pain! Kidney infection! 3-week long flu!). </li>
<li>I rediscovered how much I <i>hate </i>swimming after years of competitive swimming and waterpolo </li>
<li>I got a running coach that was, how shall we say, not the right fit</li>
<li>And I got the best coach I could hope for... the guy that got me into running and fitness 10 years ago (Stew Smith)! </li>
</ul>
<br />
It was all a very interesting time for me.<br />
<br />
Well, time to move on, so here we go... my big goal of 2013:<br />
<br />
<b>RUN A SUB-25:00 5K (for real -- no short courses)</b><br />
<br />
2013 has been the year of 2-milers so far. I've done three 2 mile-ish runs this week and they've all been horrible in their own fashion. My first one was not too bad. I'm recovering from a flu that has staying in my throat/chest for the past few weeks and, given my lessons learned with my bronchitis last year, I opted to take it easy. I did 15 min of walking, then a walk/jog combination 'til my 30 min was up (which equaled a little over two miles).<br />
<br />
My second run of the year was terrible. I was on my university campus and my class had ended early (I'm taking evening classes to finish my degree). Since I'd paid for parking and I really wanted to check out the Carleton track, I headed over. I got into the women's locker room with my gym bag to discover that I'd forgotten jeans. I practically live in yoga pants and the one day I decided to wear jeans was the day I needed my yoga pants! With the urge to run at peak levels, I headed to the university bookstore and grabbed a pair of Carleton basketball shorts. It was only when I got back to my gym bag that I realized I'd also forgotten socks (and the thermal ones I was wearing with my boots were NOT going to work). I figured my running socks are thin, so running without socks can't be that different -- right? Well... the first mile was okay. By the time I started to work on my second mile, my arches were KILLING me. The blisters that I suffered years ago were back in place on my arches. Owwww! I cut the run short after 2 miles (despite being able to go longer) due to the pain. And you can't push through blister pain.<br />
<br />
My run tonight was a little better, and a little worse. I did 20 min of elliptical before heading onto the treadmill. I did my first mile at a comfortable 6.0-6.5 mph pyramid that felt pretty decent cardio-wise. I was determined to run more than 2 miles tonight, so I decided to up the speed to get the run done faster as the blisters were really hurting (even through the bandaids on my feet). I managed a nice 7:55 mile somewhere in there but I was gasping. I don't know if it was the lack of any real cardio in the past month or so, or the leftovers from the flu, or both, but I was puffing and wheezing by my second mile.<br />
<br />
It was tonight that I realized that dreaming about sub-25:00 5Ks and winning age groups and all that was all well and good, but it's just that: a dream. I want to be able to do this stuff this year and I know I can, but going "oh yeah, I can run a 7:30 mile right now" and going and doing it are two very different things. I realized that I need to take my health seriously, and that includes easing back into things. Not only did the breathing feel crappy, but my left knee started to hurt 2 miles in... this is something that used to happen about 6 miles into a run. I'm not sure if it was indicative of my loss of protective muscle, or bad form, or both, but in that moment I just felt completed deflated. I get so caught up in my own competitive streaks that I sacrifice the one person I'm trying to please the most: me.<br />
<br />
I'm planning to attend hot yoga a bit more this year, especially in the next few weeks. The main reasons are:<br />
1) It won't bug the blisters and give them a chance to heal<br />
2) It won't bug the throat/chest and it'll give that a chance to heal<br />
3) It's a 90 min sweatfast<br />
4) My Greco Yoga prepaid classes are about to expire<br />
<br />
Yoga really boosted my fitness last year. I'm hoping that my runs, coupled with Stew's workouts, and some yoga thrown in there will really give me the jolt I need to meet my goals.<br />
<br />
Here we go! <br />
<ul>
</ul>
EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-17740659455058975302012-12-22T13:13:00.001-05:002012-12-22T13:13:52.659-05:00Long Time, No Run!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Ah, holy
crap! I knew the wheels would fall off this blog sooner or later. Really, it
was my wheels that had fallen off. Let’s see, what has happened lately…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Well, I:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Got a concussion.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Got an Achilles tendonitis
flare-up</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Got a kidney infection</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Got another concussion</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Got a really bad cold</span></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">I think
that accounts for the really terrible statistics I’ve had running-wise in the
past few months. I’ve been well enough to start a new program, only to get a
week into it and have something happen. My weight “ballooned” up to 165 lbs a
couple weeks ago before I had to give myself a mental note that I can’t eat
like a runner when I’m not running. Everything still fits, but I’m just a bit…
soft. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Right now I’m
still battling a cold, but I am planning to start back up on Week 1 of my Stew
Smith workout plan. For those who don’t know (and I’m sure I’ve mentioned this about
a hundred times), Stew Smith is the #1 reason I even consider myself a “runner”
today. Around 10 years ago I was a chubby kid who really liked sports but just
couldn’t get the whole diet and exercise thing in sync. With a bit of help from
StewSmith.com, I started to run on a treadmill every night with my dad at the
local rec centre. I was obsessed with the military (I was in air cadets at the
time and had this huge dream of being a fighter pilot), so I knew I had to be
fit to pass my PFT. I ended up aiming for the USAF fitness requirements despite
being a Canadian. Once I “beat” the required times for that, I went on to the
Navy, then the Army, then the Marines, then the US Army Rangers. Before I knew it,
I was running 7:30 miles. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">When my
training season was left dead in the water after I pushed it way too hard
racing, I wanted a coach. I first tried an Ottawa coach (whose name I will withhold) who
was absolutely <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">terrible. </i>I had little
online support, my run instructions were “Run 45 min”, “Run 30 min easy, then
go harder”, “Run 60 min”. This worked for about a few weeks before my injuries
flared up. I get some serious tendon pain after 6 miles, so the 60-75 min runs
left me hobbling home. With an ice pack on my knee, I contacted Stew. I knew he
did personal training and I could never bring myself to pay for it, but his
articles had helped me so much and the training program was perfect for an
injury-prone klutz like me. He’s been fantastic and very patient with me as I’ve
had to battle things non-stop since the summer. I’m hoping for a turnaround
after this holiday season.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">That’s it
for the update right now. I’m back to Week 1 of my 12 week program. I took some
“Before” pics and I’m hoping for some good “After”s. My goals with Stew are:
sub-25:00 5K in 2013 and a sub-20:00 5K <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">one
day. </i>It will happen!</span></div>
EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-73519991663527008972012-03-05T22:03:00.002-05:002012-03-05T22:29:41.793-05:00The Other "Wall"<span ><span style="font-size: 100%;">When I've been overtraining, I often hit "the wall", as many people do. It's a certain point where you step on the treadmill, or get on a bike, or hit the road and within a few minutes, you know it's just not going to work out. Easy things feel laboured and not in a good way. Your body is just screaming at you that it wants to lie down and rest, even if you got hours of sleep the night before. There's nothing you can do at this point. You've hit the wall.</span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; ">For me, I feel like I've hit the wall on the other side of the room. The inactivity wall. The undertraining wall. It's a strange concept, but I know many people who understand this. For me, my appetite drops a lot. I assume this is due in part to me burning fewer calories and therefore my body craving fewer calories, but it feels like when I eat a meal and don't have a run to send it through the digestive system, everything just kinda hangs out and I feel full all day. I start to feel the backs of my legs go first. The once-tight hamstrings are just a little softer. My glutes get a weird burning feeling if I've been sitting down too long. I get moodier. I get more anxious. I get lazier with everything (schoolwork, cleaning up the house, etc). It's really the wrong wall for me to hit, and I feel like I finally hit it.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%; "><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%; ">Last Friday, I woke up in the middle of the night with a horrible dry coughing fit. I had done a few gym sessions that week and I began to worry that I maybe overdid it (even if it was only 3 easy gym sessions). I used that as an excuse to slack for the rest of the weekend. It's obviously not slacking in the normal sense of the word as I did have a legit reason, and lungs are one of those things you don't mess with, but I feel like I'm ready to go. Tonight was the first night where I felt I should've ran, and I didn't.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><span style="font-size: 100%; "><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><span style="font-size: 100%; ">I'd like to add an excerpt from a post I put on a running forum. In my downtime and being removed from my "2 more seconds til I run a sub-8:00 mile" or "I <i>need </i>that long run on Saturday" mindset, I was contemplating the goals of running. What do I want to get out of running? This is what it led me to:</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><span style="font-size: 100%; "><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">In my downtime, I've had some time to reflect. I had a massive plan laid out for me to do my half marathon "right" the second time around and I had training days, paces, goals, etc. The half is still a little over two months away and I haven't lost all of my fitness, but I've come to terms with the fact that I probably won't run it in the time I intended to. I was thinking that even training for it, my injury-prone body may not be able to keep up with a spike in mileage now that I've lost that extra month to build up.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">What my thoughts eventually led me to was why I even bother to race... why don't I just go for runs for fitness? I'm not fast, but I'm competitive -- generally with myself. I guess that's what drives me to do races. But sometimes that leads me to overtraining, injuries, etc. and, while I love my runs, the "pressure" of beating a PR or a race looming ahead can sometimes take the fun out of running and make it more of a chore than my fitness activity.</div></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >I do still plan to run my half marathon in May, but I'm wondering how I should approach the goal of racing. I have my whole life to get better, and I get very caught up in plans. My life revolves around little numbers on a calendar. Some of my best runs were when I was tracking my mileage without any set goals. I felt confident enough in that training "plan" to go out and race. I'm wondering if it would be worth just running for the sake of running, keeping a mileage goal for the week, and maybe increasing it over time, and just letting my legs do the running -- not my mind. Should I focus on one goal that maybe isn't race-related? I would like to hit the 7:00 mile mark and I've found a very good basic outline from Stew Smith - one of the people who got me into running 9 years ago - that doesn't demand a set amount of miles on certain days. It'd be a good plan.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >To be honest, I find it very hard to imagine myself doing workouts without some sort of end goal. It's that fine line between keeping running and fitness as your recreational hobby that keeps you active, and a chore. I want to feel okay about it if I decide to skip a workout. I want to feel like there's no pressure to work out all the time, but at the same time, when I do work out, I feel 100x better about myself and that competitive instinct kicks in and I end up in that racing mindset yet again. </span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >I've considered my limitations on mileage for a while now and I know that long distance probably isn't in my future. I do plan to keep my longest runs at 5-7 miles. Do I step on a treadmill every day without a plan and do what I do? Live for that day? Do I live in the past, and count up miles from days before to make sure I hit my mileage for that week? Or do I live in the future and set a goal for the week? Even if the goal is the same (hit 20 mpw every week)/ </span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span ><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span >My legs need to start running so my brain stops.</span></div>EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-31031320228302962572012-02-26T15:50:00.002-05:002012-02-26T16:14:25.341-05:00You think YOUR commute sucks?Well, this weekend was pretty much a disaster. Let's start with running news.<div style="font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; ">...</div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; ">That's my news. This bronchitis is really taking its toll on me. I ran for about 4 minutes on Friday but I could feel wheezing in my chest and I knew I wasn't there yet. This isn't an average flu, and it's hard to keep that in mind when I'm in the midst of half marathon training. I've learned my lesson too many times about pushing myself when I'm not well or injured, so I immediately got off the treadmill. I went to do some weights but I think the run had me freaked out a bit and I just left. I've lost almost 7 lbs since Scotland and, while I admit my eating has been admirable in that I haven't overdone it or got into the "I'm on a break, might as well take a break from healthy eating" mindset, I know a big portion of it is muscle loss. I look killer in my jeans and tops right now, but when I sit down, I feel my butt is just a little more cushy than I remember. I'm planning on doing some light lifting and hoping it doesn't aggravate the situation. I feel stupid in running so much in Scotland when I clearly wasn't well. I think it made the bronchitis worse and is therefore making the healing worse. The fate of me and my half are up in the air at the moment. May have to shoot for a fall run, which is fine by me... I prefer summer training anyway!</div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-weight: normal; ">Okay, so NRR:</div><div style="font-weight: normal; "><br /></div><div>I f***ing hate my boyfriend's job some days. Honestly. Do you know the swiss cheese theory? It's a little theory that's used in Safety & Quality and is used a lot in accident investigations. Basically, imagine you have about, oh, 10 slices of swiss cheese layered on top of each other. If you look at it from the side, you probably won't see through the holes because the chances of them lining up are extremely slim. But do this a few thousand times, and probably one of those times, all those holes will line up. This is what happened this weekend. The boyfriend has cut most ties with Dallas, but he did have to get his FAA medical there this week. Of course he left it to the last minute so it HAD to be this week. He changed his schedule so we'd have the weekend at home together (Fri-Sun) as opposed to his original (Thurs-Sat). What he didn't realize was that a snowstorm was tearing through Chicago on Thursday, and hitting Toronto/Ottawa/Montreal on Friday. Flights became a disaster. It was a crapshoot on where to go. Pretty much every city from Chicago east was affected by this system, whether it be snow, winds, rain, or all three. Cancellations galore. He decided to take the DFW-ORD-YYZ-YOW route. Long, but YYZ is a good bet to get to Ottawa. For starters, there's 15 flights a day (vs 3 from IAD and 4 from ORD), they're bigger planes, and Air Canada will fly in just about anything. Even with a few cancellations, he was likely to get on. Except for this week. Noooo, this week was one of those *dreaded* weeks for travel in Canada... it was university reading week. Of course, I should've known since it's <b>MY </b>Reading Week... but being a part-time student now, it's not really as significant as I still had to go to work for 9 hours/day every day during RW. The flights were a mess. On top of that, Air Canada's booking system crashed, so when he did get to YYZ, he couldn't get on the planes because he couldn't list. Gate agents were useless. Hotels were full. I squeezed him into a room for him to try on Saturday. He gets up, and every Ottawa flight for the day is full. So I suggest Montreal... and then I look outside and it's snowing/blizzarding like nothing on Earth. Crap. I can't drive to Montreal. Trains were at bad times (he'd get home at 5 pm). Okay so.... go to Newark and visit his mom instead of coming home. Newark had high winds and got a 2 hour delay. Okay so... go to Dulles and figure it out from there. He goes. As he's flying, I decide that <b>I </b>would take the plunge and fly to Dulles and meet him. It's a hotel and it's not home and he's frustrated and tired and I'm frustrated and tired but dammit, I am <b>NOT </b>going 4 weeks without my boyfriend. I booked him at a hotel and I grabbed the 7:30 pm to Dulles. Which was, of course, delayed. I didn't get in until 10:30 pm. We got dinner/drinks and relaxed. And then we realized that every flight to Montreal and Ottawa for today (Sunday) was full. Crap. So much for us sleeping in. I had to get up at 6:30 am to make an Ottawa flight and hope for a seat. Of course, delayed. I eventually hopped on a Montreal flight, took the plane to Montreal, took a bus to downtown Montreal, and took a train to Ottawa. Soooo we probably spent a combined 60 hours trying to see each other for 8 hours.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ladies and gentlemen, this is true love right here.</div>EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-34650766561889600912012-02-22T14:39:00.000-05:002012-02-22T14:58:27.639-05:00Would you like tea or coughy?So, I was really really excited to run in Scotland. Really excited. It was forecasted to be about 10C for the week, my Forerunner 210 was charged up, the hills beckoned... it was going to be a good trip.<br /><br />Going to be.<br /><br />My first day there, I was a bit tired from the flight, so I took a nap. It was my birthday, so we ordered in some takeaway (Indian) and I had Costa Coffee with my cousin at Tesco. A very British start to my vacation. Figured I would get up and run on Friday. <br /><br />I did, and it was 2 miles of me going "shit I'm out of shape". Loads of hills, loads of heaving. In my previous post, I said I felt better later on that week. Well I did... I had ONE good day (evidently that day). I figured I'd beat whatever that sore throat thingy was, so I aimed for another run. I actually ended up running right to the gym in Rutherglen and did a bit of weights and stuff. I had run a little over 2 miles that day as well, plus weights. Remember, it's all hills so I'm reckoning it was like 3 miles. <br /><br />The day after my good day, I woke up and that's when shit hit the fan. My health rapidly decreased. I went for a run that morning, and desperately made it through yet another 2 miles before I had to go for an appointment for a facial. As I was speaking to my cousin in the car, I noticed that I felt like coughing a lot. Like I had a weird tickle in my throat. Not sore, just... maybe super dry? I got some water at the spa but this weird coughing feeling didn't go away all day. Then my nose started to run. By the end of the day, I felt like total crap. Of course, that's when my cousin suggested we hit the gym. <br /><br />I decided to go along... I figured maybe the outdoor running was a bit too much, so I'd run inside. The gym was mobbed and getting a treadmill was a challenge, so I figured I'd show off just how strong I was by doing some weights and calisthenics. Nothing against Scottish people, but me being a 6'0" tall girl doing 25 lb bicep curls made me the strongest/biggest person in the gym. I'm guessing the fish & chips diet isn't the best. You can tell everyone there looked really malnourished. Not fat, not thin, just... they needed a good salad and some fruit and veg. None of them looked like they chugged protein shakes after a workout. I felt pretty hardcore when I saw these guys staring at me... turns out that my Brooks split shorts were a little too "split" for them. Even though I have a liner in them (and was wearing underwear), they were actually complaining that they could see up my shorts. Ah! Mortified!! Embarrassed, I slinked away to the first available treadmill. I did a grand total of about 6 minutes when a pain in my side (from dinner perhaps?) stopped me. I stood around the gym, and I realized that I felt like total crap. I told my cousins I was running home, and I ran in the dark back to my aunt's house. When I got in, I showered, collapsed on a chair, and drank tea.<br /><br />At this point, it was so hard to breathe and I could hear myself struggling to inhale and exhale. My other cold/flu symptoms were full blown at this point. I eventually went to bed and nearly cried myself to sleep... I just wanted to go home and was not looking to the 12 hour ordeal I had to go through the next day.<br /><br />The flight was probably one of, if not the worst, flight of my life. I had breakfast at the airport (porridge, toast, and tea... naturally) and grabbed a bag of Walker's Sweet Thai Chili Sensations crisps, as well as a stack of trashy mags. I regretted not bringing my Air Transat blow-up pillow and blanket. I was a bit disappointed that my 20 min conversation with the flight crew did not result in me getting another goodie bag. This was the one flight I needed it. A little boy had taken my window seat and I just didn't care. The aisle was a better idea anyway.. more legroom and it turned out that later in the flight I needed it. As soon as we departed, I closed my eyes and fell asleep for an hour. I woke up to food being served and realized that the thought of food made me puke. I passed it up (for like, the first time ever). I tried to get through some of my trashy mags, then tried a lecture... I couldn't focus and my whole body felt in agony. 2 hours to go in the flight, and I started to go to the lav. Numerous times. So sick. :( Good thing I got that aisle seat.<br /><br />When we landed in Toronto, I headed for customs and nearly died walking there. At this point, my voice was completely gone, I could barely breathe, my nose was red raw from the 50 Air Transat napkins I used as tissues, and I felt like death warmed up. I choked down a small caesar salad while waiting for my Ottawa flight. I was hungry but food itself just turned me off. I was lucky enough to have a row to myself on the WestJet flight and I sat there in agony praying the plane would land sooner. I grabbed a Booster Juice and headed straight to the doctor's.<br /><br />After all that, it turns out I had rather severe bronchitis and have been relegated to using an inhaler and am on antibiotics. At this point in time (nearly a week later), I'm still sniffly, and I went into a coughing fit last night. I reckon it'll be another 2-3 days before I can hit the treadmill. Weight was 160 on the dot when I landed, and it's creeped up to 162 now. I doubt the week will have a major effect on me, but I emotionally need the gym. As much as I dread runs some days, my life feels so empty without them.<br /><br />Will have to reassess the running plan when I get better. I'm aiming for 3-5 mile runs during the week, and a specified long run on the weekends.<br /><br />Oh, and I'm NEVER going to Scotland in the winter again. Scotland's weather and viruses have defeated me 7 of the last 8 visits. We're through.EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-16716807087076488522012-02-13T16:56:00.002-05:002012-02-13T17:06:21.574-05:00Sickly Scottish StridesHow's all that for alliteration, eh?<br /><br />I travelled to Scotland for my cousin's wedding on Thursday (wedding was Saturday). I had intended on loads of hill running as I was really looking forward to using my new GPS watch (Garmin Forerunner 210XT), but my Scottish tradition set in... I woke up on Friday morning with yet ANOTHER sore throat. Thankfully, it didn't progress into much else (usually the sore throat is a precursor to a full blown flu). I snuck in a run on Friday... a very slow 2.5 miles. I was feeling rundown and it didn't get much better on Saturday. My plans for a pre-wedding run were scrapped.<br /><br />Today I woke up 10 times better... it was likely because the sun was out for the first time since I landed. I am almost 100% convinced the flu symptoms are due to the weather. I'm literally allergic to Scottish weather. I started a long run but I ended up running by the local gym, so I went in to inquire about coming in for the next few days. They said it'd be 5.10 (pounds, can't find the symbol) so I ran the half mile back to the house to get money, then back to the gym. I was so excited to do a weights session... full body, too! It was quick, but I got it done. I did about 2.5 miles of running again, plus the weights. It's been an easy week to say the least. Luckily things still fit and I'm doing my best to eat healthy.<br /><br />Going back home on Thursday!!<br /><br />xx AnneEHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-25425545660362336232012-02-06T08:46:00.002-05:002012-02-06T09:22:49.665-05:00Easy RunI am happy to say that this post will be a very <strong>positive </strong>post!<br /><br />First things first... Last week, as I was griping about, my tendon pretty much decided to rebel and emancipate itself from my ankle. It took a bit of rest and I had to convince it that it was better off helping me out instead of going rogue, and it seemed to listen. On Friday, I went for a nice 3 mile run at lunch, keeping a beautiful chilled pace (6.0-6.5 throughout). It actually did feel "easy".<br /><br />After Friday's run, I decided to go to Ogdensburg to pick up stuff that I had shipped to the UPS Store. I was super stoked to pick things up... I had ordered two pairs of Saucony split shorts, my Garmin Forerunner 210, and my boyfriend's GoPro camera (early V-Day gift). After cursing the skating rink of a parking lot, I hobbled into the store and picked up the items for the low price of $15 (considering the $200 I saved shipping to the store). After slipping and sliding my way back to the car, I realized that there was a shady little sports store beside the UPS Store called Olympia Sports. On the hunt for a good pair of running pants to bring to Scotland, I figured it was worth a gander. The lake effect snow had already been coming down a bit in Ogdensburg and I was not a fan of the idea of trekking down a one-lane hilly state route to I81 and through the treacherous snow, just to get a Dick's Sporting Goods. I went inside and took a look at their shoe collection. While not as extensive as other stores (and with an obvious focus on "flashy" Nikes that the homies would love), I did notice about 4 pairs of Saucony shoes. I know I sound like I'm a brand loyalist by always making a bee-line for their products, but for some reason, they just seem to fit me the best, whether it be shoes or shorts. For the record, I have owned New Balances and Asics as well.<br /><br />Anyway, I took a look at some of the supports of the shoes and noticed most of them were more stability shoes than anything else. Then I saw it. The one neutral shoe. It wasn't the Echelon or any others that I had tried on at the Ottawa Running Room. It looked slightly wider than the Echelon (one major issue I have with my current shoes is that they feel too narrow through certain spots), so I figured it was worth a shot. The shady little sports store even had a 10.5 Men's. I tried them on and felt it was just too good to be true. No way could these fit. I've battled for nearly a year trying to find a good replacement to my current shoes and you're telling me that the sketchy Ogdensburg store has the one pair that fits? I even put my orthotics in just to be sure. I had found my match. Riding on a high from the shoes (and the fact they were $70!!!), I went on a bit of a sports binge. It felt like this little store had EVERYTHING. I bought a pair of Champion running pants, 3 pairs of new socks, a pair of Adidas track pants, and an Adidas sweater. I am so excited to use my new gear in Scotland! I feel completely decked out now... clothes, shoes, and my Garmin (I have yet to test it still).<br /><br />Saturday night was my early V-Day dinner with the boyfriend. Since I'm leaving for Scotland tomorrow, we unfortunately miss my birthday and Valentine's Day. I had a long day trying to non-rev (fly standby) my way to Harrisburg. The flights were not too bad loads-wise, but I had to go via Chicago, meaning that it was going to take me about 9 hours just to get there (and an addition 1.5 hours before the boyfriend met me in Harrisburg). I could've driven faster! Luckily I had loads of lectures to do for school, so I got <em>something </em>accomplished. For some reason, I don't raelly recognize that even though it's a Friday night, if I have to be up at 7:00 am the following day, I need to go to bed early. I stayed up until 2:00 am because "it was a weekend", meaning I got around 4.5-5 hours of sleep. Boo. I caught a nap on a flight for about 20 minutes, but I was really starting to drag. By the time we arrived at our uber-sketch Holiday Inn at around 7:00 pm, I was ready to crash, not run. Luckily, I had just given my boyfriend his GoPro and he was in no mood to nap after getting his toy, so it meant I basically had to go for a run. The hotel was inundated with Hispanic people there for some sort of conference, so of course all the teenagers were at the gym having a hang out and messing about. I managed to get on a treadmill that faced outside so I could tune them out. The reflection of myself in the window was sort of inspiring (it was at an angle where I could see my full stride, which spurred me to run a bit harder), so I kept up a very nice interval run for a little over 2.5 miles, before time constraints made me quit. I lunged down the hall (literally doing lunges) back to my room to squeeze the last few bits of the workout in. I eventually ruined it all (and then some) by eating at The Melting Pot... but it was soooo worth it.<br /><br />Plan is to perhaps run tonight (but maybe just make it a weights/x-training day), and do a combined run/x-training day tomorrow before my flight to Toronto. Since I have around 8 hours to kill before my wake-up and my flight departure to Scotland on Wednesday, I'm going to have that be my random long run day.<br /><br />My biggest debate right now is whether or not I should bring my new shoes and risk having them be a bit sore (they're not broken in), or take my older shoes and risk my ankle getting sore. Leaning towards the older ones, but I guess we shall see.<br /><br />AnneEHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-35881707253915645942012-02-03T09:13:00.003-05:002012-02-03T09:37:57.357-05:00A Break from Running (11 Randoms)A break from running and a visit from Mr Blog Chain Letter.<br /><br /><strong>The Rules</strong>:<br />Post these rules<br />You must post 11 random things about yourself<br />Answer the questions set for you in their post<br />Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer<br />Go to their blog and tell them you've tagged them<br />No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!<br /><br /><strong>Eleven Random Things about me</strong>:<br /><br />1. I love the view from my office window. I look out over runway 14/32 of the Ottawa Intl Airport. I always watch for the United Express planes that come in and try to guess loads.<br /><br />2. I have worked 3 different jobs within the same company in the past year. Being a perpetual trainee sucks!<br /><br />3. I always eat sweets by breaking off pieces (muffins, brownies, cookies), rather than taking a bite.<br /><br />4. Until I was about 18, I would buy Old Spice deodorant and shower gel. I thought smelling like a guy would make me hit the gym harder.<br /><br />5. I was never a major coffee drinker until I started air traffic control training. Now, if I have to be at work before 9 am, I crave coffee (but still only have 1-2 cups/day).<br /><br />6. I'm a really bad cook.. but have an incredible ability to find the healthiest treasures in supermarkets, and sometimes combine them (ex. PC Blue Menu chicken fillets + low sodium marinara + skim mozza and parm = 350 calorie chicken parmigiana). I have a hard time eating "healthy". My BF and I are really two morbidly obese people in athletic bodies.<br /><br />7. I can't eat iceberg lettuce, green olives, souvlaki, roasted garlic potatoes, or creamy garlic dressing anymore after catching the Norwalk virus twice and having to puke up all those food items.<br /><br />8. 90% of my playlists on my iPod are running or exercise-related (ex. Cardio, Sprint Days, Intervals, Outdoor jogging). The oher 10% are relationship-related (Boyfriend, Angry Breakup, and Mellow Breakup).<br /><br />9. I've always been the youngest person in my workplace. The only time I'm not is when summer students come in. And then it's back to being the youngest (by about 7 years).<br /><br />10. Even though we live an ocean apart, I usually see my Scottish cousins a minimum of twice a year (for 2-3 weeks at a time).<br /><br />11. I'm about to buy my first home.<br /><br /><strong>Questions for Me</strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><em>1&2) What did you want to be when you grew up, and are you that now?</em><br />It always changed... meteorologist was a big one for a while.. but it always tended to go back to aviation. I wanted to mainly be either a pilot or a "navigator" (modern-day ATC). I would say yes, since I did train as a controller... and I have a very in-depth aviation job now. I will hopefully get another chance to go back and train as an enroute controller.<br /><em></em><br /><em>3) What is your favorite month of the year?</em><br />For some reason, I really like May. It can be cold and rainy sometimes, but you have the excitement of the summer coming up (and Victoria Day weekend).<br /><br /><em>4) What quote would you want people to remember you by?</em><br />I'm not sure... I don't really have any special quotes. Some sort of variation of "break the rules" or "don't take no for an answer". This does not apply to crime, however. Be law-abiding rulebreakers.<br /><em></em><br /><em>5) Sweet or savory?</em><br />I really can't deny that I have a horrible sweet tooth.<br /><br /><em>6) Do you like to celebrate your birthday or do you keep it quiet?</em><br />I celebrate by getting the same birthday cake from Loblaws that I've gotten for over 20 years now. If the opportunity to celebrate presents itself (like this year), then I'll go out, but generally it's just chill.<br /><em></em><br /><em>7) Where is one place you’d dying to visit?</em><br />I really want to visit the Canary Islands. Some of the Mediterranean islands as well (Malta, Sardinia, Crete)<br /><em></em><br /><em>8) Right or left side of the bed?</em><br />I usually sleep on the left side when my boyfriend is home, but if we're staying at a hotel or elsewhere, it's really interchangeable.<br /><br /><em>9) Dark, milk, or white chocolate?</em><br />Anything but white chocolate, really.<br /><br /><em>10) Name one thing on your bucket list. </em><br />I really want another chance to check out.EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-76053582037824718772012-02-01T12:41:00.002-05:002012-02-01T13:00:21.889-05:00Running out of LuckAfter last Friday's massage, my ankle went down the shitter and really hasn't been right since. I became extremely aware that I run on the outside of my foot (especially on the right side), which prompted me to get on my podiatrist about getting those orthotics adjusted. My running has taken a bit of a hit as a result of the extreme tendon pain. Saturday's long run was a struggle through 5 miles. I made it through the last mile by attempting to run it sub-8:00 (I ran it in 8:06). I had to take 2 days off from running as opposed to just the one rest day. Yesterday I only managed to do about 2.5 miles (one mile was 7:58 though... amazing!). Tonight's plan is elliptical and weights... no running.<br /><br />These issues have forced me to take a step back and look at my running goals. I've registered for the half and I do plan to do it (unless I'm very injured), but I just don't think I'm a distance runner. I'm not built that way. I actually love long runs outside and I still plan to do a few, but every physio/massage therapist/doctor has remarked that my tendons are too long and the fact that one has already been injured just makes the possibility of never running again that much more plausible.<br /><br />So I've re-vamped my running philosophy... I feel good from 3-5 miles. Sometimes 6 or 7 if I'm outside. Any more miles regularly and the tendon starts to hurt. For me, the 3 mile runs just aren't long enough time-wise... so I've decided that I will be doing a bit of everything for my workouts now. 30 min run/30 min elliptical, row, bike, spin, yoga, etc. Last week I had a crazy workout... 3 miles, then 1.5 hrs of yoga. It's time to branch out. In terms of running, I plan to keep doing it, but with a focus on speed improvements, rather tha5n distance. I'm hoping through time and training, that 5Ks turn into 10Ks and I have a bit of variety with distances and races. But I can do hills, trails, sprints, long runs. There's loads to look forward to. And another 50 years of future running is more than 26.2 miles and giving it up for injuries.EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-20033061864336470422012-01-26T22:53:00.005-05:002012-01-26T23:37:41.587-05:00DessertedOkay, so quite a few updates... here goes!<div><br /></div><div><b>Wednesday:</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Wednesday called for 3 miles pace and a hot yoga session with Tony Greco. If you don't know Tony Greco (and you won't unless you live in Ottawa or pay very, very close attention to personal trainers in People magazine... he was the trainer of she-who-shall-not-be-named), he's a personal trainer who started a chain of gyms in Ottawa and is famous for conditioning pro-athletes, mainly members of the Ottawa Senators and a few other Sens traitors who married country singer whores. Sorry, I don't know where that came from. <i>Anyway, </i>he was doing a hot yoga seminar on Wednesday at the newly opened yoga studio in Centretown/Little Italy. It was $20 (most yoga drop-in fees around here are $15-16), which included mat rental, towel rental, a t-shirt, and a Fuze juice at the end. It was actually shockingly worth the price... Greco's is notorious for charging a fortune. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, I show up and right away I should've put two and two together: the studio was in Centretown and it was Greco's. It's not quite Westboro or New Edinburgh on the hipster scale, but it's up there. There were certainly way more yoga aficionados than I expected. Decked out in their lululemon gear and being all stretchy. Damn them. And of course, the Greco's part... well, Greco's just attracts the elitists. When the class is actually taught by Tony Greco himself? Yeah, it's way elite.</div><div><br /></div><div>I start noticing some minor Ottawa celebrities trickling in. Someone from a local news channel. Pierre Poilievre also showed up. He was the MPP for Ottawa South (which includes Barrhaven) at one point and is now an MP (Member of Parliament) in the House of Commons. Sort of like a Senator, to those US blog readers. Very odd doing hot yoga with a government official. What's even odder is that he's not French.</div><div><br /></div><div>So you go in this room and it was like, a billion degrees. I noticed it was hard to breathe from the start. The class was crowded which I think took away some of the positive effects, but it made it harder for Tony to pick me out as being the class moron/inflexible non-hipster scum. He added a bit of cardio to this session, which is just absolutely ridiculous. The room is 100F (literally)... I don't need to go for a run in that with 30 other sweaty people. Pushups galore. Sit-ups. My toes started cramping from this downward dog thing. My hamstrings were tight as anything. I loved the sweat dripping off me though and feeling my muscles really stretch. Somewhere in the midst of all this, I realize that he looks and sounds exactly like Ronnie from Jersey Shore and therefore I just can't take him seriously anymore. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9S7Wps7HVII/TyIl4O5xYKI/AAAAAAAAAH4/FRGt-Cs1pgk/s1600/tony_0.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9S7Wps7HVII/TyIl4O5xYKI/AAAAAAAAAH4/FRGt-Cs1pgk/s320/tony_0.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702161726207778978" style="cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 320px; " /></a></div><div><i>Tony...</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_56QJ7cVg2Y/TyIl-CGdjnI/AAAAAAAAAIE/fKayfcgajGo/s1600/ronnie.jpg"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_56QJ7cVg2Y/TyIl-CGdjnI/AAAAAAAAAIE/fKayfcgajGo/s320/ronnie.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5702161825850560114" style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px; " /></a> </div><div><i>"I want you to just focus... breathe deeply... relax"</i></div><div><br /></div><div>The class began to wind down and Tony starts saying that we're going to meditate (aka lay on our backs and fall asleep) for 10 minutes. So I start chilling and he starts saying "Listen to the sound of my voice". I'm about to lose it. He's got this strange Italian mobster/Staten Island/Jersey Shore/guido accent that I just can't pinpoint, but either way, the relaxing pretty much ended at that point.</div><div><br /></div><div>All in all, I'd do hot yoga again. I'll probably try it in Barrhaven since it's a little closer to home, but it was worth the experience.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, and I did the 3 mile pace run too.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Thursday:</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Today I'd volunteered to sub on my supervisor's ball hockey team in the Ottawa Sport & Social Club (OSSC). I've been meaning to join it - particularly the dodgeball league - but keep missing the deadlines. It was another 3 mile run today, but I figured I would just do the ball hockey and take it easy. We played for an hour and it was relatively intense, despite the small gym. The problem with playing ball hockey in a rec league in Canada is that the rec players really aren't rec players. I'm really, really awful at ball hockey. Especially non-contact ball hockey. Hip checking is all I have! There are people in that league who grew up playing hockey... probably 90% of the people playing either currently play hockey, or once did. It's just a Canadian thing. I unfortunately suck. Oh well, it was a workout.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the way back from the school that we played at, I decided to stop in at Snap and crank out my 3 miles while watching the NHL All Star Fantasy Draft. Midway through the miles, I then decided that it would be a good night for a leg workout. Why I thought that was a good idea, I have no clue. Either way, I did squats, lunges, hip ab/adductor stuff, calf raises, and some other crap until my legs screamed at me to quit the torture. I obliged. My whole body is a wreck now after working out 6 days straight. A good wreck. But a wreck.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lastly, I've held you all to the end of this to explain the title of the post. In a previous entry, I'd written that I <i>thought </i>I was eating well, until I realized how many desserts I actually eat in a day. Not a lot of desserts, or pick portions, but a Timbit here, half a cookie there, a bit of muffin, a sliver of cake. I love my sweets. Well, I realized that those little bits here and there are adding unneeded calories and sugar to an otherwise healthy diet. Until at least my cousin's wedding (and except for perhaps a small slice of birthday cake), I've given up desserts. The only thing I've eaten resembling a dessert is a frozen yogurt pop that's 90 calories and 7g of sugar. Given that a Nature Valley bar has more calories and sugar than that, I'm letting it pass the test.</div><div><br /></div><div>But that's it! No more work muffins or splitting desserts with family/friends. It's over!!! I WILL TRIUMPH!</div><div><br /></div>EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-61056959111764513052012-01-24T22:33:00.003-05:002012-01-24T23:09:51.155-05:00Flopping Like a FishLet me give you a back story to Anne and Swimming. I used to be a competitive swimmer and water polo player... and I <i>hated </i>running. I would do sports like soccer and basketball, but really despised any drill that involved loads of running. With waterpolo, I cranked out laps like there was no tomorrow. We basically did just a ton of freestyle (head up and normal) so I got fast enough to be competitive in that stroke and I got picked up by a local competitive swim team (in addition to the water polo team I played for). I dreamed of being an Olympic swimmer until I was stopped dead in my tracks... at age 14, I was required to swim a minimum of 6 times a week. Given that the practices were in the morning or evening (you could pick them), I figured this wasn't so bad. By the time I was 16 though, I was required to do a minimum of 10-12 practices a week. 2 hours of swimming per practice, morning and night. Forget it. I quit competitive swimming and my water polo days also drew to a close when I started getting bruised bones and emerged from the water bleeding from various places after a shift. No fun. I basically gave up swimming altogether after the competitiveness ruined the sport for me... the nail was in the coffin when I tore my peroneal in 2007 and the motion of flutterkick was agony. <div><br /></div><div>Fast forward to 2012 and I'm back in the pool. I can't remember the last time I went to Walter Baker for the purpose of actually doing a lane swim, but it must've been a while ago because they've managed to renovate the renovations. Unfortunately the one massive downside to being the only sports complex in Barrhaven (Sportsplex doesn't really count since it's outside of Barrhaven's borders) for the better part of 40 years is that over those 40 years, Barrhaven has gotten HUGE. The pool was jam packed. I remember adult swims being a lot quieter. To be fair, there was an Aquafit class on until 8:30 pm and the deep pool was being taken up by synchronized swimmers. Even the shallow pool was closed because they were short on lifeguards. So maybe it was a bit of a skewed evening, but it was busy nonetheless. I took a glance up to the exercise room that overlooks the pool area. I ran my first real mile up there. It was a bit of a touching moment, really.</div><div><br /></div><div>I started in the "fast" lane. I figured I probably still had it in me. At the risk of sounding racist, there were a lot of slow-moving Asians there, so the slow/medium lanes were out anyway. I figured a 2000m swim would be doable in 45 minutes. I did about 2 laps before huffing and puffing and feeling a huge burn in my arms. Am I <i>really </i>this out of shape? But I run 26:00 5Ks! This can't be! I was like a 200 lb whale when I swam before. I guess whales are good swimmers, after all... </div><div><br /></div><div>I swam for about 30 minutes, alternating different strokes. The 400m IM plan went out the window. I just did whatever I could struggle through. It was humiliating. I got lapped by a bald fat guy. I gave in at about 8:40 pm. I'd had it. I started making my way to the changeroom and then took a glance at the now-free portion of the pool that the Aquafit people had been using. <i>Maybe I could go for a run...</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>I sometimes do shallow water running when I'm at WBSC, but since the shallow pool was closed, it hadn't crossed my mind to try it elsewhere. It went well, for about the first 10 metres. The 25m pool at WBSC starts shallow for the first 10 metres (about 3-4 ft), and then steadily drops to about 7ft midway through the pool, then in the last 4-5 metres, it rises back to a depth of around 4 ft. In my 10 metres of 7 ft water, I basically looked like a dying fish. I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I don't do deep water running and it sure as hell sounded a lot easier than it was! I could only do what felt something like a cross between kicking and running. I wasn't quite sure what the point of it was, but dammit, it was better than nothing. I completed about 6 laps of this, which was a really big feat because it took a solid 2 minutes to get across the pool. I could see the lifeguard eyeing me, unsure if I was a distressed non-swimmer, or just a moron. I assured him it was the latter.</div><div><br /></div><div>I tip-toed (NB: bring flip flops) back to the changerooms after my little session. I'm still questioning whether or not I got a true cross-training night in. I did do about 40 minutes of activity, and I've always found it hard to gauge whether or not I'm having a tough workout in a pool because you can't really tell if you're sweating, so I'll call it a mediocre win. I have higher hopes of tomorrow hot power/hot yoga/hot pilates/hot martial arts session with one of the Senators trainers in Little Italy. I may give the swimming thing a go again, but will perhaps try the Sportsplex (though, Walter Baker has always been "my place"). I figure there are so many cross training activities for me to try that I might have to keep swimming a non-regular thing. I just wasn't "feeling it" the way I used to. I'm a bit disappointed that the fire wasn't re-ignited.</div><div><br /></div><div>Up on the docket tomorrow is a 3 mile pace run, as per Week 2-2, plus the aforementioned 1.5 hours of death. I don't even know how to dress for yoga. This is going to be a spectacle and a half...</div>EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-19067126347838344352012-01-23T13:13:00.001-05:002012-01-23T13:13:55.359-05:00Aw, Shoe-tI suppose this will be a positive and negative blog post. I’ll start with the good…<br /><br />I completed Week 3 (aka Week 2-1) of half marathon training this week, and I’m steadily on schedule to complete Week 4 (2-2). The current schedule is working out just fine so far. I did an extra x-train day yesterday (Sunday), which was a scheduled rest day, but it was just an upper body workout with no cardio, so it shouldn’t have a negative impact on running. In fact, the only thing that seems to be negatively impacting my running is my diet. I’ve had far too many “cheat days”. I was hardcore frustrated a few nights ago that I really just felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere in this “shaping up” process. I’ve lost about 5 lbs over the course of a year (and really, that was only triggered by getting an organ removed). I thought I was doing everything possible to lose weight – after all, I eat healthy ALL the time… right? I noticed last week that in one day, I had 4 desserts. If you know me, you know I enjoy a good smorgasbord vs. one big piece of something, so it was half a cookie from a guy in the office, half a muffin, a small slice of (rich) cake, and a few pieces of chocolate. I’ve also had an insatiable onion ring craving, so even 10 of those is a massive setback. My mileage has barely increased right now… I’m probably burning an extra 500 calories/week at most and just can’t afford to have 4 desserts in one day… even if they’re little ones! I’m hoping to become a bit more aware of my eating, especially with my cousin’s wedding 2 weeks away. One massive advantage of going to Scotland for a wedding is hill running! I think that might offset some of the wedding cake.<br /><br />On to the negatives… the shoes. As I mentioned in a previous post, I bought a new pair of Saucony Progrid Echelons last week. They’re the exact same as the ones I currently own, so I figured they wouldn’t have any issues. I took them for a spin on my long run on Saturday and was shocked to feel that my left foot felt like it was halfway over the sole of the shoes, spilling out into the narrow arch area. Basically, the inner wall of the shoe was supporting my arch (rather than the shoe). I hadn’t realized that over a year, I’d broken in my shoes to the point that I was running on the inside of it, and not the actual shoe. I also became hyper-aware of the outer part of my right foot (where the pinky toe is) was pressing against the side of the shoe. I realized that this just wasn’t going to fly and I either needed a wide, or a different shoe. Unfortunately the Running Room doesn’t carry wides in 10.5 mens in the Echelon. The guy at the store suggested I bring them back and try out a New Balance one (which I think I tried and didn’t like last year) and an Asics one. If there’s still no luck in there, then they’ll order me a wide.<br /><br />Here’s my major dilemma:<br />I had orthotics prescribed to me a few months ago. I tried them out and the left one is definitely just way too strong. I gave up and just continued running in my neutral shoes with only inserts akin to Smart Feet in my shoes. My peroneal injury has gotten WAY better since I stopped running with orthotics (I had older orthotics that I ran in up until 2010). I get “creaky” here and there (sometimes tight calves or glutes), but I haven’t had a nagging injury that’s put me out of commission in almost 2 years.<br /><br />Do I get my orthotics fixed and THEN buy a new pair of shoes? Or, do I just give up on getting orthotics that work (it’s taken 5+ years to find anything and nothing’s been successful), and maybe look at more supportive shoes?<br /><br />I’m going to give the orthotics one last try since they felt “almost” right. If there’s no dice, it’s time to retry stabilizing shoes!<br /><br />AnneEHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-62710693764798318362012-01-20T08:15:00.003-05:002012-01-20T08:33:16.687-05:00Bringing ItTomorrow's long run will be the conclusion of Week 2-1. I can't believe how quickly training is progressing. With all this treadmill running, I'm actually really looking forward to March (or April... hopefully March) and getting back out on the roads. I'm hoping by then I will also be the proud owner of a Garmin Forerunner 305, but it's getting tougher to find a decently priced one. The cheapest I'm seeing north of the border is $250, and south of the border it's $199. Rumour has it that Costco is selling them for $150, but I don't have a membership so I'll have to see if someone is willing to go for me before it's too late.<br /><br />Made a few purchases recently in terms of workout gear. The biggest was a new pair of Saucony ProGrid Echelon 2s. These are the same ones I've been running in for a good 1.5-2 years and, while they're not quite perfect in terms of foot shape, they've kept my injury rate going on a steady decline. I didn't realize just how badly I needed a new pair until I took a look at the treads on my shoes and compared them to the new pair at the store. Eesh.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mOB7aDnN1bs/Txlr0bengII/AAAAAAAAAHc/gRARbaFpoqk/s1600/Saucony-ProGrid-Echelon-2-Men-SilverBlackRed-044793.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 260px; height: 260px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mOB7aDnN1bs/Txlr0bengII/AAAAAAAAAHc/gRARbaFpoqk/s320/Saucony-ProGrid-Echelon-2-Men-SilverBlackRed-044793.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699705351887618178" border="0" /></a><br /><br />My second "major" purchase was two more pairs of the Saucony Ignite split shorts. Split shorts are hit-and-miss with runners, particularly females. They're very short and they expose right up to your liner line mid-stride. I love them because they give me a lot of freedom of motion and don't bunch up in the front like other styles do, but they're not great if you're self-conscious about showing a little too much leg. I really only consider these a major purchase because I had to ship them to Ogdensburg, NY. I literally could not find one Canadian retailer who carried them through the winter (Running Room had them, but only in the summer), and every US store I tried refused to ship to Canada. So, it's a great deal, but I do need to drive 45 minutes to get there. Still, they were nearly $40 when I bought my pair in-store, and they were $19.99 each this time around, so even with a bit of gas money and the bridge toll, I'm still getting my savings in!<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SVJ6PKa1MaY/TxltALql6ZI/AAAAAAAAAHs/1h1grE-dt-o/s1600/splitshorts.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SVJ6PKa1MaY/TxltALql6ZI/AAAAAAAAAHs/1h1grE-dt-o/s320/splitshorts.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699706653312936338" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Ta-ta for now!<br /><br />AnneEHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-33254730135285272032012-01-17T05:52:00.000-05:002012-01-17T06:11:25.256-05:00FrozenThe good thing about going to work for 5:00 am is that by 6:00 am, you only have 6 hours to go (I'm working through "lunch" to get the heck out of here before this snowstorm gets any worse). I'm conflicted about these days where I have to drop the SO off at the airport to catch his 6:00 am flight. On one hand, it gets me done early, there's no traffic, and my siesta time starts when people are taking their lunch breaks... on the other hand, I'm freezing, my eyes are droopy, and my muscles feel like they've been working on overdrive and it's a hassle to even walk across the room... It's not even the 4:00 am wakeup that bothers me... it's the fact that we're 2-for-2 on attending Ottawa Senators games the night before one of these 4:00 am days... Last night we both resolved to spending one entire day at the house with zero plans. Well, zero plans except for my long run.<br /><br />I shockingly nearly stayed on schedule this weekend. I kicked my long run over to Sunday instead of Saturday, which left me in fear that the rest of the week wouldn't work but it seems to be unfolding nicely. I likely won't be able to do the Sat/Sun flip for long runs as time progresses (without really messing up stuff), as I had to run 4 miles Sun ("long" run), 3 miles yesterday, x-train today, 3 miles tempo tomorrow, 3 miles on Thursday. Luckily today is my x-training day, so it will be elliptical at, like, 1 mph. After a very, very long nap.<br /><br />Already onto Week 2-1... yikes. Last week's mileage total was a fairly decent 13 miles (if you include Sunday as "last week"). This week will be 14 miles, plus a tempo run.. but I always end up running at near-tempo pace when I'm doing 3 milers. They're too short for me to get into that zoned out frame of mind, so I just want them over ASAP, which always makes me run them too fast. Yesterday I ran about a 29:00 3 miles and that was my slowest all week, and that was 90% due to the fact I had just run a long run the day before, and my work gym has no fans or air circulation, and had 8-9 people in it (it's not very large in the first place). It was a good 25-30C with a humidex factor in there I'm sure.<br /><br />Anne xEHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8561244827938708059.post-51934369672613501972012-01-12T23:10:00.002-05:002012-01-12T23:19:40.060-05:00Truffle ShuffleSo, I'm on Week 1-2 of Hal Higdon's Novice II plan. Thanks to my inability to go to bed on time, I had to slightly shuffle my schedule this week so as not to run on 5 hours of sleep. <div><br /></div><div>Tuesday was a 3 miler at lunch. Laboured, kinda shitty. Resolved to attempting to wear orthotics on the next run.</div><div><br /></div><div>Tonight (Thursday) was another 3 miler (I have one more 3, then 4 on Sat or Sun). It went far better than Tuesday's run. I ran about two thirds of a mile in my orthotics before having to switch to my regular insoles. Some muscles/tendons/whatever were tight in my left ankle, but tight as in "never been used". I'm wondering if it's an issue with the orthotics, or just my feet finally getting the support they need and my stride changing. Either way, I plan to try out the orthotics again, but probably just use them for a warm-up/cool-down session before weights, or at the end of a run. The fatigue in those rarely used muscles nagged me for the rest of the 3 miles. I finished strong though, with my remaining 2.3 miles (after I stopped to switch insoles) clocking in at 20:41. </div><div><br /></div><div>It looks like I'll be hitting up Staples for some more calendars. I was a bit presumptuous and, in my excitement of registered for the Ottawa HM, wrote out my ENTIRE running plan on a calendar. Little did I know that only a week into training, I wanted to change my program.</div><div><br /></div><div>Right now, it looks like this:</div><div>Sunday: Cross Train<br />Monday: Rest</div><div>Tuesday: 3 miles (all weeks)<br />Wednesday: 3-5 miles tempo<br />Thursday: 3-4 miles<br />Friday: Rest</div><div>Saturday: LSR (4-12 miles)<br /><br /></div><div>I'm not the biggest fan of running 3 days in a row when I'm only running 4 days a week. I'm injury prone and I think that the 3 days straight, with a tempo run right in the middle, is just asking for fatigue/overtraining. I'm doing a bit of a shuffle, so my weeks will look like this:<br />Sunday: Rest<br />Monday: 3 miles<br />Tuesday: Cross Train<br />Wednesday: 3-5 miles tempo<br />Thursday: 3-4 miles<br />Friday: Rest</div><div>Saturday: LSR</div><div><br /></div><div>Very similar, same mileage, but makes more sense for me. Sundays are generally a hectic travel day for me so they end up being my "rest by default" day. I would like to start doing some swimming for cross-training, but the adult swims I want to go to are on Tuesdays, so it seemed to just match up well. The only thing would be if I was to have to do my LSR on a Sunday, it would screw up the rest of the week, but I think I'd just do a switcheroo, as long as I fit the run in somehow.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anne</div>EHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04270944181716138334noreply@blogger.com1