Ahhhh weekends

July 13, 2014  Plan: 3k steady   Actual:  8.12 LSD

 Had a massively busy weekend ahead of us so I decided to get up super early and do my long run today instead of Sunday as per plan. One, because I prefer long runs on Saturday and two, because it's supposed to rain tomorrow and I'm what you might call a delicate flower - I avoid running in the rain if and when I can.

So that decision made, I was up out of bed at 6:30 this morning, ready to pound the pavement for a no later than 7am start.  Happy to report I just made it.

I like this route a lot - it's one I use often.  A good downhill section, nice long stretches, not too many lights given the distance, and it feels okay.  I've run it a bunch of times now.  And while the plan only called for 7 this week I knew that since I skipped one of the weekday runs and I've done this so many times before, it was no biggie to add that extra k into the mix.

Was interested to see what my HRM would tell me today so I was sure to wear it.  Thankfully the sun wasn't too blazingly hot at this time of day and I was able to spend a good portion of my run in shade which really helped.  Nevertheless, my heart rate was all over the place.  At one point I peaked at 173 or something insane like that - and this is after running down a big hill!  What gives!?

Then my HRM started playing games with my mind.  I decided that I wanted to work on keep my heart rate a bit lower where I could so I decided that every time I crossed the 170 mark I'd switch to walking until I got back into the low 150s.  Well.  You'd be surprised at how long that can take!  And prolonged walking breaks are no friend of a decent pace, and as my pace slowed down that brought on a whole new set of mind games. 

So I gave my head a shake, reminded myself that I'd been just fine all these times before and that while the information was useful in many ways, I couldn't let it take over my run.  So I switched the display on my watch and paid attention to other details for the remainder of my walk.

The highlight of this particular run was realizing that if I ran on the east sidewalk going up Garden Street I could have shade pretty much the entire way up.  No so on the west side, the side I've traditionally run for whatever silly reason.  Alas.  I guess some lessons really are better late than never.

Once I finally got home after my HRM mindfuck run, I hopped in the shower and quickly got ready to head up to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for day two (to us) of the Grand Prix.  Micheal loves race cars and racing in general and I have to admit, the first time I went with him two years ago I was skeptical.  I don't give a flying proverbial about cars so this was really me going in solidarity/moral support for him.  Luckily and to my own surprise I really enjoyed myself so this is something we look forward to each summer.

They've changed the schedule around this year so whereas in the past we would have one for a few hours on the Sunday to see the races he was interested in, now we have to go three days - Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Eeps.  He's a huge Porsche fan so was really keen to see the GT3 Cup Challenge races last night and this morning.

I was delighted because this year there were not one but two pink Porsches in the race.  Anyone that knows me is well aware of my addiction to the colour so this was just an extra sweet spot to the day.

After the race we toured around the paddock to get a closer look at the competing cars and I found one of them.  Driven by a woman (too cool) named Michelle Snow, I have to say I loved the decal on the rear bumper of her car:

Loved it so much it's my new Facebook cover picture.  And while I don't necessarily pass a lot of boys at my current running speed, I love the sentiment. 

Back to the track tomorrow if the rain holds off, then likely a late day 3k treadmill run.  Enjoy the weekend, everyone!!

In the pink

 July 10, 2014   Plan:  4k steady  Actual:  4k intervals

Lovely conditions for a short run today.  I'm still kind of hating the 5am wake up - today was truly a test of will to get my ass out of bed.   But I was supposed to be going to dinner with a friend tonight so I knew there wouldn't be time to run afterwards.  As it turned out my friend had to cancel so I could have run, but in the end it all worked out for the best.

5am is early, yo.  Like, crazy early.  Thankfully the sun is up by this time - for now, anyway - and the temps aren't too bad.  But one look at the Nike summary to the left tells the story - 10 degrees at 5:14 am and according to them, it's still dark out, hence the moon!  Eeps.  

But running in these temps with hardly anyone else out on the road is its own kind of bliss.  And today I was feeling good and really enjoyed the run.   Oh - there was a 3k run, I believe, on the schedule for yesterday but I skipped it.  Three nights in a row last week made my legs a bit sore so I decided I could go without this week and will reevaluate the Wednesday run next week.

Wore my new Saucony shirt that I got at the outlet and sweet mary mother am I in love with it!  I know that's silly to say but man, when you find a shirt you love to run it you hold on to it for dear life! 


Can't really explain what it is about this one but it feels like I'm wearing nothing at all.  It doesn't stick in weird places, the white parts (side of arms and the stripe in the back - you can see it reflected in the mirror) give me fantastic ventilation, and it's so crazy bright no one is going to miss me.

And....

...it perfectly matches my beautiful shoes.


 

Aren't they gorgeous?  I know I showed off my new Glycerin 12s the other day, which I also love, but these babies will always have my heart.  When I first got the 11s they were blue - that was the only option in Canada.  I was a mega sad panda the day I tried on those shoes.  Blue?  Nothing about me says blue!

But they feel like slippers - a veritable dream.  So I had to buy them, despair and all.  True proof that I was willing to invest in function over form!

Then I found out that they existed in pink but weren't available in Canada.  I searched high and low and scored myself a pair in the US on a trip there in early May and was like a kid in a candy store when I actually had them in my hands. 

So yeah, all that to say that I was pink from head to toe for today's run!  And it was fabulous. 

The run itself was pretty good.  I'm finding it fascinating to have this heart rate monitor. I know I've mentioned it in an earlier post but my heart rate is surprisingly high when I run.  Like, hovering between 155-164 when I'm just running at my regular slowish pace.  On my walk breaks I can get down to about 123 or so but then it's right back up.  My maximum heart rate should be 180 so yeah, 164 is way high when I'm not actually pushing myself.  I'm scared to death at the prospect of doing hill training or real speedwork - my heart will explode!

Would be interested to get any thoughts or feedback on people's experience with heart rate monitoring - are they generally accurate?  Is this something I should be concerned about?  The only real solution to get that rate down is to run slower, as far as I can tell, and I just don't think that's possible!  My pace has already slowed a lot instead of getting better over the past few months.   WTF?  Ugh.  I'm at a loss.

Now the whole thing is kind of freaking me out.  Some times too much knowledge is a dangerous thing!

Will be interesting to see how things shake out when I go for my 8k run Saturday morning.  Will report back.