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!!

Back on the road again

August 10  Plan:  10k LSD  Actual:  10k LSD

Well that was interesting. 

It's been two weeks since I've done a long run.  One week since I've run at all. And let's not even discuss how much vacation weight/bloat I have since getting home from Mexico on Friday.

It's abyssal.  But alas.  That's vacation for you.  Back to good eating and better habits - and routine!! - right now.

I wasn't sure if I was going to go the whole 10k today given how long it had been since I'd run so I elected to go with my 8k run which I knew I could cut short if need be.  And if I felt up to it, I knew I could also add those last two k on relatively simply so I laced up my shoes and just went for it.

I told myself I was going to go slow, very slow, so that I could just get through it all.  The last thing I wanted was to hurt myself so slow and steady was definitely the way to win this race.

And boy did I set records - my slowest 10k ever!  Ha!  Almost laughable how long it took me.  But surprisingly I managed to run the vast majority of my intervals instead of adding extra walk breaks with a few exceptions in mega sunny and/or hilly spots.  I just.went.slow.  Period. 

I was breezing along until about the 6k mark, then I started to get a bit sore.  I really debated going for 10 - at that point, even my 8k route seemed long and home was far away.  So I stopped for a second, had some water, stretched out my sore calf, and kept going. I had about 1k to go before I had to decide if I was going for 8 or 10 and by the time I got there I made the decision to just go for it.

The last k was very sore as something strange happened in my right knee and I had to walk more than I normally might.  I also found myself getting crazy hungry on this run, something that's never happened to me before.  Ever.  I don't eat before I run because I hate having food in my stomach.  And usually by the time I get home I feel gross and need a bit of time before I can even consider food.  Today?  Totally different ball game.  Was starving at the 8k mark and was really regretting not bringing a Shot Blok with me for the run.  Strange!  Really enjoyed my greek yogurt and thin bagel when I got home.

So that's that.  Slowly getting back on track and looking forward to getting into a routine again.  Am hoping to get all three weekday runs in this week but the weather's looking weird so we shall see.  I've been doing okay with two week day and two weekend runs so that might be the key to getting back on the horse. 

And now it's bedtime and real life begins again tomorrow.  Fingers crossed getting back to good eating gets some of these vacation pounds off and that makes running even a little bit easier again.

Lone run in Mexico

August 3  Plan: 4k tempo  Actual: 3k steady

So yeah.  We went to Mexico.  They have a gym there with awesome treadmills where everything is actually measured in kms.  Super cool!

The plan was to run three times while I was there - Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.  All shorter runs because I hate the treadmill but hey, three short runs are better than none, right?

I felt brutal missing my long run that weekend but knew I was getting home the following Friday so wasn't missing two.  That's something.

Well, the one thing I didn't factor in was a wicked awful sunburn on my first full day in the Mexican sun.  Crazy bad.

I'm actually surprised that I made it to the gym at all on Sunday - how I put a sports bra on then ran for 3k is now beyond me because I'm still recovering from the burn.  Like, I have to wear a bandaid on a certain part of it, that's how badly damaged my skin is.

I wore sunscreen, I swear!

Anyway, I made it through Sunday's run but didn't really wear a bra after that because it hurt too much so no way was I adding the friction of bouncing up and down for 30 minutes into the equation.  Especially since the suit I was wearing during the sunburn day pulled up at the top so it wasn't even like my bra would sit on the white/unburned areas.  No dice - directly on the burn.  Sigh.

So all things considered this 3k was pretty decent.  My phone did a factory reset the day before so I couldn't listen to any of my music which was a pain but I made it through.

A quickie tonight

July 31  Plan:4k steady  Actual:  4k easy

I set my alarm for 5am this morning, truly intending to get up early and get my run done before my day started.  We leave on vacation tomorrow and I knew there was lots to be done this evening so it all just made sense.

The alarm went off at 5.  I got up. Went for a pee.  And went right back to bed.  I just couldn't do it.

So after my last day of work before vacation I laced up my shoes and did a slow paced 4k. 

The temperature was lovely, not too much sun, and there was quite a breeze to keep me coolish.  That breeze got gusty a few times but never enough to blow me off course.  I quite literally did an out and back tonight - ran into an adjacent suburb and, once my watch said 2k, I turned around and came home.

Once again and despite not having a second coffee today, heartburn found me and really impacted the last 1.5k of my run. Not sure if you've ever tried to run - or do anything - with heartburn but yeah, it's not fun.  At all.  I was cursing myself and my stupidity for forgetting as I watched my pace slow because I simply had to take more walk breaks.  I chastised myself for not having taken the pill and just under 1k from home I came up with the bright idea to carry pills with me so I could take them en route if necessary.

Then my formerly functioning brain kicked in and reminded me that I had, in fact, done just that.  And that there were two zantacs and two immodium safely tucked in the zippie thing in my fuel belt.

Well sweet fuck. 

But alas, nothing to drink it with.  Smart brain did a facepalm in front of dumb brain and reminded me that yes, I did have something to drink it with.  Water.  You know, in the bottles held by the hydration belt that also held the pills.

Not my best moment.

But in the end I was able to pop the pill in and let it start to work its magic.  Felling much better now.

Shoes and accessories are packed and at 9:05 tomorrow morning we're getting on a plane to Mexico.  Plan is to try to get in three 3-5k treadmill runs during the stay which means no LSD for me this week. I'm okay with that.

Likely won't be able to update the blog while away so see you on the other side!

I almost cheated

July 29  Plan:  5k tempo   Actual:  5k done.  Just barely, but done.

I DID NOT want to run tonight.

NOT

AT

ALL.

I knew I'd have time tonight so instead of getting up stupid early I decided to run after work.  Which I kinda hate.  And boy howdy did I pay for that decision!

Got home from work and it was crazy overcast.  Like, skies about to open up and drench the universe overcast.  So I threw on my clothes and headed out the door as soon as was humanly possible.

5k was on the plan tonight.  Okay, fine.  5k.  No big whoop.  A wee bit longer than the 3 and 4 I've been doing lately but hey, 5k ain't no thing.  I've done it a bunch of times.

Except tonight. Tonight, it was a thing.

First, for whatever reason my lower calves, kinda like where my heels meet my calves, were crazy sore around the 2k mark.  What the what? Never had issues there.  Annoying as hell.  And my knees were a bit twitchy on the outside, too.  Huh.  Maybe I didn't stretch enough after my long run this weekend?  Who knows.  All I DO know is that everything felt tight.  Ugh.

To add insult to injury I forgot to take my zantac when I got home before I headed out.  I get heartburn quite frequently and usually it's very well controlled with a simple wee pill.  One in the morning and I'm generally good to go.  Unless I have a second coffee in the afternoon, then attempt to run.  Yyyyeeeeahh.  One pill pre- run makes everything fine.  Forgetting?  Not so much.  And that's what happened today.   The forgetting.

So there I was, hobbling along the sidewalk, feeling a fiery burn in my throat and, oh yeah, that familiar twinge in my bowels to top it all off.  Good times, I tell ya, good times.  It was a real pleasure to be me earlier this evening.

Thankfully I managed to escape the rain for the most part.  Shortly before the 4.5k mark, when I was actually quite close to home, the drops started. I was in pain, had heartburn, I needed a bathroom, and now I was getting wet.  Never, never ever ever in my life, have I been so close to just packing it in and saying a giant fuck you to the running gods as I was in that moment. 

I could see my house.  Where it's dry, where there are meds and, perhaps most importantly, three toilets - one just inside the front door.  I could SEE it as I rounded the corner.

Just tweak the Nike app, the devil on my shoulder said.  No one has to know.  You work hard, you run hard, it's less than .5 of a km, you barely made it out here tonight to start off with, you should be proud that you made it this far.   Doooooooo it.

And yet I ran on, right past my house and up to the corner so I could turn around, come back and hit my 5k mark.  For realz. 

That was close.  Crazy close.  Had a horrible pace, worst in ages, but I did it.  Those 5k are real, every single step was taken by yours truly.  And hey - I didn't shit myself.   Two thumbs up right there.

Those are the wee victories I'm going to hold on to.  Small though they may be, tonight they feel mighty indeed. 

A Sunday quickie

July 27  Plan: 3k steady  Actual:  3k steady

Today I knew there was a short one on the agenda but I had no idea when I was going to fit it in.  The weather forecast was all over the place and I really wanted to sleep in so I did just that and decided to roll with the weather punches, whatever they had to offer.

Got my sleep in on (after one of the most severe thunderstorms I've ever been through!!) and hopped out of bed at 8:30.  Micheal was leaving for the day with his sisters so I knew my time was entirely my own.

I popped open the blinds and there wasn't a cloud in the sky - nothing but sun everywhere.  I waffled back and forth about when to go and decided that if I wanted to run outside I might as well go right then and there to get it over with before the temperature increased even more.  Higher temps AND all that sun?  Killer combo.

Thankfully the schedule only called for 3k so I knew it was something I could get done relatively quickly.

I donned the race shirt from yesterday, thinking it was as good a day as any to break it in.  At first I wasn't wowed by the colour but it grew on me over time.  Sure made me easy to spot on the road!

 

Was going to do a quick out and back but decided half way through to just keep going.  Actually worked out perfectly and I got back to the house just over the 3k mark.  Will have to remember this for future 3k days!

Incredible how the weather changed though.  Not a cloud in the sky just after 8:30?  Here's that same sky about 40 minutes later.  Clouds galore!  Which of course made for even nicer conditions because I wasn't being blasted by the sun. 

 

In hindsight it was the perfect time to go out for a run.  Got it done nice and early, left me plenty of room to do alllllll the errands I had to do today, and I didn't have to a) run later when it got even hotter or b) run in the rain tonight or c) hit the treadmill.  Woot!

Rest day tomorrow then back at it Tuesday night.  Hard to believe there are only two more runs before we leave for Mexico on Friday!  I'll miss my LSD on the weekend but have packed my gear so I can do at least two runs while at the resort.  I WILL do at least two.  :)

That's it for today!  See you on Tuesday.

Race report - Durham Quarter Marathon

July 26   Plan: 9k LSD  Actual:  10.5k LSD, Durham Quarter Marathon Race

Soooooo if you read my recent posts you know I've complained a lot about how my running has been lately.  I've felt slow and fat and hot and bloated and blah, many times in my past few runs, which made me a bit more trepidatious than usual going into today's race.  Not cool, my friends, not cool.

Running has never been easy for me.  Ever. You'll never see me type the words 'went for an easy 4k' because they'd never be true.  Every bit of running is hard, IMHO.  Not insurmountable hard, otherwise I'd never do it, who's kidding who, but it's mentally and physically challenging all.the time.

Part of that is because I'm significantly heavier than your average runner.  Still way smaller than I used to be but let's call a spade a spade - I'm not 140lbs.  I have way more of me to haul around.  Which makes it harder on my muscles, joints, heart, lungs, you name it.  And all that makes me slower than most people too, a fact I've come to find some strange sense of peace with, despite the fact that eventually I'd like to get faster.

 But these past few weeks took a toll on my running psyche and thankfully a great group of gals helped pull me up and out of my self induced funk when I reached out and asked for some words of support.  I held on to those this morning while I waited at the start line and they served me remarkably well.

You see, this race had pretty much every opportunity to be a disaster.  It rained, my Garmin wouldn't connect, I had 'system' issues, I was crazy stressed out about it, I was at the very back of the pack and my worst fear was being at the back, did I mention it rained?, I was worried about my new phone getting wet, my IT band started to hurt, then the sun came out and it was HOT. 

And in the end?  I'm delighted to report that none of that mattered, none of it bothered me at all. 
  
Start to 2.5k:

Micheal dropped me off at the start line and I promptly made my way into the line up for the porta potties.  Why they never have enough I don't know but I one thing I did know was that I had to pee.  And perhaps more.

Sigh.  WHY does my body have to betray me gastrointestinally with every big race!?  I'd even taken a pre-emptive Immodium last night to ward off evil and while it kicked in eventually it was touch and go there for a bit.

Finally got in for my pre-race pee, sanitized my hands, and it started to rain.  Fantastic.  Just spitting so nothing too horrid but still.  Damned weather folk - they said it wasn't supposed to start until 1pm.

Walked to the back of the pack because I knew I wasn't going to be fast this go around.  I had decided to make this my LSD and not really attempt to race it hard because, well, I'd had shitty runs lately and didn't want to put too much pressure on myself.  So back of the pack it was.  Once I got there, I promptly took my starting line selfie and pressed the button on my Garmin to get my signal so I'd be ready to go at start time.

Well damned if the satellites don't like Oshawa because I couldn't get a flippin signal.

I can't run without my Garmin now that I have it.  I NEED it like I need oxygen.  Well okay, that may be overstating it, just slightly, but still.  I need it to track my intervals, to see how much further the next km, all that stuff.  And the bastard wouldn't get a signal.

Even after the gun was fired.  We were off, and I wasn't ready.  Fuuuuuuuuck.

I started running, because that's what you do when the gun goes off, and still nothing.  So I actually pulled myself off the course, stopped, and waited for it to finally connect.  Then boom - I was ready and could finally get started.

Of course, this now left me at the very back of the pack.  THE last runner.  One of my worst running fears is to be the last person to cross the finish line.  You know, the one that the dude on the bike hangs out with the whole time?  Yeah, that person.  I don't ever want to be that person. And all of the sudden I was primed to be that person right from the get go.  Waaaah.

I gave my head a shake and started running.  And felt a bit better when I passed a few people.

The first 1-2 k were through the streets of downtown Oshawa leading us to a long trail.  Some of the side streets were closed off to us which was nice but once we hit Simcoe we had a single lane to work with which was more intimidating but given where I was in the pack it wasn't a big deal at all.


2.5k -5k:

Once we hit the trails everything changed.  For starters, the skies opened up more and the rain came down with a bit more gusto. It never got torrential but was definitely enough to get a good soaking going on.  But because we were on trails from here on out, most of the time we were saved by the tree canopy.

It's without reservation that I say this was the second most beautiful route I've ever run (the Vancouver seawall being the first).  We traversed the same creek many times by running over quaint wooden bridges.  Because I was at the back it was relatively quiet and peaceful (despite the tunes blaring in my ears) and I really had the opportunity to enjoy running for what it was in that moment - me and the pavement and nature.  Cheesy but true.

The route isn't flat but there weren't any really crazy hills either so it was just enough to keep you guessing as to what elevation was coming next.   It was pretty cool to run over this bridges and under all kinds of tunnels - including one that had us run under the 401!!! Nifty.  And noisy.

There were a few lone runners around me during this time and one of them was obviously there to encourage her friend, her much-slower-than-her friend, to keep going and finish strong.  We were generally moving at the same pace, give or take a walk break here and there, and it was nice to see just how encouraging she was to her friend - and even me on more than one occasion! - throughout the course of the race.   She helped us push a bit harder to get to the 5km marker.


5k-8k:

I was starting to feel a bit tired around this point so I popped a Shot Blok for a hit of energy.  Even if it was pure placebo I was going for it.  In this strip we left the one park and crossed over into another one on the Oshawa waterfront.  The rain had stopped, the sun was starting to come out, and rounding a corner to a gorgeous lake view was the mental boost I needed as well.

I'd never been on any of these trails or down to this waterfront park so turning every corner was a new experience which I really enjoyed.

After the 5k mark we were joined by the 1/8th marathon runners who had started relatively close by to that point.  Most of them had gone through already but a few stragglers were on the route still.  As I rounded another corner a group of girls, maybe 12 years old, where standing there with great signs ("Go Stranger, Go", "In my mind you're all Kenyans", "If it was easy, I would do it", 'Tonenails are for sissies", "Call a cab, it's faster", "Run like you stole something") which made me laugh and broke up the monotony of the run by that point.

Then shit got real.  I rounded another mystery corner and sweet merciful crap - a hill.  A crazy, nasty, straight up hill.  So much for relatively flat!  I tried to run up it but realized it wasn't going to happen so I walked my way to the top. Thankfully what goes up must come down and there was a nice downhill portion on the other side.


8k to finish:

By this point we were exclusively on the waterfront, lake to my left.  The sun came out for a bit and I not so secretly hoped for it to slip back behind some clouds because it just made everything so hot.  The benefit of being so close to the lake is a breeze so I took that for what it was worth and just kept going.

It's funny, at this point I knew I was in the general home stretch.  And I still felt great!   My legs were good and I was better able to fully run my intervals from 8-10k than I was from 3-7.  Weird, but I'll take it!  As far as I'm concerned that bodes well as I get into the longer distances to truly be ready for my half - it was great to acknowledge that my legs weren't dead by that point so I took some momentary pleasure in that.

Because I was running my intervals straight as others were starting to lag it meant that I was able to pass even more people.  Yay!  People whose backs I'd stared at a long time I was now passing.  Delicious.

With 1k left to go we rounded a corner and yet again, a killer hill.  Like really, who puts THAT kind of hill less than 1k from the finish line!?  Not fair at all!  So I pushed myself a bit until I got to about a third of the way up then allowed myself to walk the rest.  From the top I could see the finish line at the end of the winding trail so that gave me a boost and I went for home.

Micheal and Finn were there as I crossed the finish line which always makes me smile.  I eventually remembered to stop my Garmin and my Nike app and promptly downed the bottle of water a volunteer handed to me.

We stepped out of the way a bit and I got a big smooch from the husband and many muddy paws on my running pants from the pooch.

A short while later the two women I'd mentioned earlier - the one runner with her friend motivating her - crossed the finish line and walked past me.  I looked at her friend and told her she was lucky to have such an awesome cheerleader to run with her and keep her motivated.  She agreed and her friend gave her a huge hug for finishing, then turned and gave me one as I thanked her for helping push me along, too.  Gotta love runners - sweaty hugs from complete strangers are totally normal.  :)

Did some grocery shopping a la Leanne at the finish line, took a quick look around, then it was time to go. The sun had started to come out more and it was a perfect setting for the end of the race.

Once in the car I looked up my time.  It was gun timed only, so yeah, obvs this is a longer time than it actually took me to run the course because a) I was at the back of the pack right from the start and b) I pulled off for a bit to get my Garmin signal.

When I did the Sporting Life 10k back in May, my first 10k ever, I finished in 1:14:02.  Going in to today's race I knew a few things - one, I'm slower (aka heavier) now than I was then, this race was .5k longer, and it wasn't all downhill like SL was.

I told myself that I'd be happy if I could come in under 1:30, all things considered.  I'd be delighted with 1:20, but 1:30 would be okay.  Gun time, as you can see on the left, is 1:24.35.   Nike says 1:23:49 and Garmin says 1:23:25, so a whole minute less than gun which is much more realistic.  And I could probably take another 10 or so seconds off of the lower times because it took me a bit to remember to turn them off once I crossed the finish line.

So all in all, a lovely day.  I'd like to get my pace up - today was a very slow 7:57 - but I'll get there.  Eventually.  The course was beautiful, I never got completely soaking wet, I passed people that I wanted to pass, and I came nowhere close to last. 
 
Today, that's good enough for me.  :)

And if you read through alllllllll of that, thanks for reading and for all the support!!!