Running in someone else's hood

August 31  Plan: 5k steady  Actual: 5k slow

As mentioned in my last post Micheal and I spent the long weekend (starting Saturday as my sister had guests Friday night) with said sister and her family in Waterloo. I knew I needed to get a 5k run in there somewhere so packed all my running gear and brought it along for a Sunday morning run.

We were pretty tired from the day before so I decided to sleep in a bit longer than I might for a normal Sunday run.  I took the dog out for a pee when I woke up around 7.  The skies were overcast so I wasn't worried about being beaten by the sun and the temps were supposed to say somewhat low so I figured I was good.  Which means I went back to sleep for a bit. 

Yeah. 

Should have just put my shoes on and gone at that point, because of course, as luck would have it, when I was finally ready to go around 9, the skies had pretty much cleared and it was as humid as Hades outside. 

Well done, Shannon.  Well done.

I know her area reasonably well but had no clue how to determine a route for said 5k run so it was Map My Run to the rescue.  They have a neat feature that allows you to use your current location and scan other routes that people have logged nearby.  I found a 4.93 route someone else had done starting a block or two away and figured it would be easy enough to round it up to 5k knowing what I knew of her immediate vicinity.

Well.  All I really have to say is that I'm very very glad I don't do all of my running in this neck of the woods.  And that I'll never complain about hills around me ever again.

I reversed the route from my original intent because I knew there was a long and gradual hill that I much preferred to go up than down. Which of course meant that I had a massive uphill climb on my first loop but that couldn't be avoided and was much better than the alternative, trust me!

I had to run with my phone in my hand to ensure that I stayed on track which was a bit distracting for me but gave me that sense of control so I dealt with it.  Was following along quite nicely, my wee blue dot tracking the red lines of the route in Map My Run.  And then it was time to leave the roads for some park trails.

I love running on trails.  No cars, flatter pavement, nice scenery, all that good stuff.  BUT...they don't show up properly on all maps.  Especially this one.  Which is cool, 'cause hey - it's a trail.  Follow it and all is well.

Unless you're running on park trails in Waterloo.  Trails that go every which direction over and over and over again.

It was like a choose your own adventure book at times.  I got to one split and had two choices.  Based on the direction the red line was going on the app I was reasonably sure that I needed to stay right.  So I ran for a bit, watched my blue dot, and just hoped it followed the red line on the screen.  Huzzah!  Success!  Trails won't foil me!

Then my mind nearly exploded as I rounded a corner and saw not one, not two, not even three but FOUR separate trail options unfolding in front of me.  And what made matters worse was that one was almost stacked up on top of the other...wtf was I supposed to do now?

So I did what any reasonable human being would do in similar circumstances.

I guessed.

Thankfully I guessed correctly and after an insanely steep uphill climb I popped back out on to the road, right where I should be.  Phew!


A few extra loops around the block and I was finally at my 5k mark. Knee got a bit twitchy a few times but all and all I was pretty happy with how it felt.


Thus marked my last run for the month of August.  Final tally was 86.5k which isn't too bad, considering I was on vacation for a week then sick for a portion of it, too.  Wonder how many kms September will bring???

Back to weekday runs

August 12  Plan:  4k tempo  Actual:  4k slow

Late with these updates but alas, life has been busy this week and I've been exhausted.  Good times. 

Annnnyway, Tuesday was my first weekday run in about a week and a half and it was both good to get out again and totally crappy.  Ha!  I knew I couldn't get up at 5am to run, mostly because it was going to rain in the morning and I was just too damned tired.  So after work it would have to be.

At first I thought I might have to do a treadmill run but by the time I got home the rain had stopped for the most part and the skies had begun to clear.  I got home, got dressed, tucked my iPhone into a ziploc bag prior to putting it in my fuel belt, and headed out to do my 4k run.

Plan was to do a simple out and back as I just wanted to get it done and mix up my normal routes a bit.  Barely left the house and ended up with a wicked stitch in my side that stayed for the entire run.  Delightful. 

Then, before I even knew what was happening, the skies cleared completely.  Poof - clouds just gone.  Sun beat down on me like crazy and it was surprisingly humid so that added to the fun. 

Pace was slow given the stitch and humidity but another run in the books.

See the rain cloud in the app screen shot?  Yeah, not so much.  Here's how the sky looked from my driveway when I got home.

And here's my sweaty self post this tiring run.  But done!!

The first run - June 26

June 26 - Plan:  3k steady  Actual:  3.13 steady

First week in and I'm already messing with the program.  Snicker.  I'm usually a rule follower but I figure there's lots of flexibility in this stuff so I'm just rolling with it.

Training was supposed to start yesterday but I had dinner plans with a former colleague that made running in the evening impossible and it was pouring in the morning so no dice.  I'm also keeping in mind the fact that I did a 5k race on Sunday when the plan doesn't expect me to start until Wednesday so I suppose you could say I'm ahead of the proverbial game anyway.

So. Got up at 5am to get this run in as again, I'd be out for dinner so morning it had to be.  Plan called for 3k steady so I knew I could get that in easily before I had to be home to shower and get ready for work.

It was crazy humid, even at that time of day, but I was excited to get started.

I usually run intervals...not even 10 and 1's but 6 and 1's.  I know, I know.  So many of you run steady all the time and the thought of 6 and 1's is just insanity.  But for me, running is as much a mental challenge as a physical one, and I can't tell you how badly my brain needs that run every six minutes, and every second in between them.  I may have lost a good deal of weight but I'm still hauling around over 200lbs so yeah, running ain't no breeze for me.  So intervals it is and pretty much always will be.  Hence why I don't run well with others.

Plan called for steady, however, which is, as one might suspect, steady running.  No walking breaks, just running at a well slower than race pace.  So I decided I might as well give it a shot and see what happens.  It's only 3k after all - and if I had to stop to walk so be it.  No harm done.

Well, much to my surprise and delight, I did it!!  Ran the entire way with two very short - I'm talking six strides here - walking breaks to sip some water.  I mentioned it was humid, yes!?  Oy.

Pace was indeed slower than my regular interval pace but still well faster than the recommended Running Room pace for a 2:30 half finish time (I know it'll take me even longer than that and that's cool by me) so I was happy overall.

Happy it was only 3 in that humidity though.  Yikes!  This training in the summer thing will be interesting, to say the least.