I suck at training alone

So, one of the reasons Jenni and I started this blog was to encourage each other to keep running from a distance because we were so good at encouraging each other when we were together. We have both been way too busy to blog lately, so this method seems to be failing. Also, I am failing at sticking to my training schedule. I had a friend in town, then it snowed, etc., etc. I can always seem to find an excuse. I haven't done a "long" training run in a while. All of my recent runs over the past month or so have been between 2-3 miles. According to my training program for the Austin Half Marathon, I should have run 10 miles today. Ha! So, it appears that I am very behind. I did run today (and two other times this week) and all three of these runs have been quite good. I feel invigorated and happy to be back running regularly. Today I planned to do 7 miles and wasn't sure if I would succeed since it has been so long since I have cracked 3 miles. But, I did it! And it felt good!

The snow is mostly gone right now, and it isn't supposed to snow again all week, so I am going to try to get in as many runs as possible before I have to retire to the treadmill for the better part of the winter. I have never really used a treadmill to train with because I find them BORING, but my dad reassures me that if there is a TV to watch or something, I will be find cranking out 10 miles on a treadmill. We will see.

Today was cold (-1 Celsius) and there were some ice patches when I was in the trails. This resulted in me doing weird tippy-toe hoping movements every so often, and if anyone was watching me, they would have thought I was crazy. I ran around the Waterfowl park for part of it and it looked really cool all frozen with the sun shining off of it. I will try to get a picture some time soon.

For now, I am going to do my best to get back on track, training-wise. I am going to do another 6 or 7 miles on tuesday, and then try for 8 next weekend. I still have almost 3 months until the race, so I am not too worried...yet.

P.S. Jenni - you need to write about the Warrior Dash!

Distance: 7 miles on pavement and trails
Number of stars: 4
Lessons learned: I suck at training alone
Song that rocked my run: The entire "All Day" album from GirlTalk 

Damn nature, you scary!

I intended to write a post with this title after a recent experience in which a moth or something like it flew directly into my face, startling the crap out of me, a pheasant ran out of the bushes when I ran by, startling the crap out of me, and then flock (gaggle?) of Canadian geese started hover over me like they were plotting to dive bomb me, scaring the crap out of me. That was a lot of scariness for a 3 mile run.

Today I set out on a 4.5 mile run. My training plan called for 5.5, but I planned out a perfect 4.5 mile route, and I didn't run all week, so I figured I could cheat a bit. (THIS IS WHY I NEED A RUNNING PARTNER!) Most of the time I run through trails near my house, but because I wanted to be able to track my mileage, I decided to try a new route. I told D about my new route and said, "Just in case I don't come back because I got eaten by a dog, you will be able to find my body."  To which he said, "Oh yeah, there are dogs up there. They stayed on their property when I went by, but they are not on a leash, and they were growling and barking." Oh great! So I set off on my run and within 5 minutes I was confronted by my first off-leash growly, scary dog. My immediate reaction was to cross my arms so that it couldn't bite my hands. Surprisingly, it did not leave its property. I wonder if they have the magic invisible fence or if it is just really well trained? Then the next house also had an off-leash dog. It barked at me, but did not move either. My route started to take me in to more remote parts of town, and some people had what looked like bear-proof trash boxes. I mean, maybe they are just to keep out the racoons, but it looked like it was to prevent bears, which made me nervous. Also, there were lots of bushes, a few abandoned houses and barns, and a large cemetery. I really started to feel like I was in a horror movie. Good thing I never watch them because my imagination might have gotten the better of me. After a couple more scary dogs, I was back on Main Street, where I could relax again.

The route was also VERY hilly, something I normally try to avoid, but which is largely unavoidable here in Sackville. I think the adrenaline from my fear really helped me because I ran up almost all the hills with no problems. There was one huge one that got me though, and I had to walk to the top. Other than that, I was pretty pleased with my hill running abilities. Jenni wouldn't even recognize me any more!

Distance: 4.5 miles on pavement
Number of stars: 4
Lessons learned: Stick to the main streets when running around here.
Song that rocked my run: Hey Ya by Outkast

running out the rage

I think I've said it before, I run best when I'm angry. Once, last December, I was in IKEA and I got a text message that filled me with rage, and I came home and ran 10 miles. Just like that. There's something about it, being so pissed off, and then just running. Running it out. You can think about whatever you want, you can play out awful scenario after awful scenario, and as you do, the miles just roll by. What happens, usually, is by the end of the run, whatever was making you so upset is also gone.

I remember one time in high school, I'm pretty sure it was my senior year, and my JV field hockey coach had us each write down one goal for the game. Mine was probably something like "stay on your man" or "stick down when you stop the ball", or some other terribly obvious thing that I could never quite do right. And she had us put them in our right shoe, and every time we took a step, we were supposed to think of that goal. And dammit, if that didn't just work well! I think I do a similar thing with running when I'm angry. I focus all of my energy on that one thing, and by the end of the run I just don't need to worry about it anymore.

Lately, I think I've forgotten this. I mean, it sounds silly, to focus on all the bad stuff. But, it's gonna be there anyway, may as well do something constructive with it. This week, the last few weeks, have been particularly bad. Personal things, professional things, things completely out of my control, things completely under my control - and I've just ignored it all. This morning I was supposed to do Wilke Hill with my group, but I didn't. I say I slept through it, and that is the truth. Honestly though, the alarm went off and I woke up. And as I lay there contemplating whether or not I was going to do this (as I do every morning), I must have fallen asleep for an hour. Because at 7:15, I was waking up again. Oops.

But, I ran anyway. Not Wilke. A new route that I've never done before. And I ran away the rage. I ran for everything that's been bothering me, stressing me out, and making me want to yell. And, it totally worked. 8 miles later, and I was feeling great.

I took LD's advice, and I switched up the tunes - a great idea. My iPod must have known exactly what I needed, because we started with some of the angry Eminem and Alanis Morrisette. But the run ended with Dar Williams singing about Better Things. Man, it was just perfect.

Song that rocked my run: Not Afraid by Eminem.
4 star run, rage gone!

W-W-W-W WILKE!

Oh man. The time has come. I just got the newsletter with our Saturday route and Ironman Janice said the dreaded word. WILKE. For those of you unfamiliar with Wilke, it's a hill. And I use the term hill loosely. It's a torturous deathtrap of a hill. One that should only make an appearance in your worst nightmares, and not in the midst of a 7.5 mile Saturday run with a group questionably too fast for your abilities!

In sum, Wilke is only 0.16 miles long, but it climbs 108 feet in elevation - a 20% grade. I totally can't wait.

Back in training

I did my first run in two weeks today. I wanted to make sure that my knees were fully functional before I started abusing them again. I have been able to walk down stairs without pain for the past few days, so I took that as a sign that I was ready to run.

Today also signals my first day on the official training schedule for the Austin Half Marathon in February. I have entered the entire training schedule into my Google calendar. Now the only hard part is sticking to it. I am contemplating posting an ad for a running partner in Sackville, but then what if someone terrible responds, and I am stuck for hours on end with this person. This would be much easier if Jenni were here.

The run today was rather painless. I am always surprised that running seems easiest when I start again after taking a couple weeks off. Today's training schedule called for 4 miles plus drills. I did the 4 miles half on the road and half in trails, and only had problems toward the end where the trail narrowed and the trees were close enough for spider webs to connect them. Fortunately it was early in the morning, so no one was around to see me flailing about after each spiderweb encounter like I was having a seizure. After the first two spider webs and the subsequent freak outs, I took to swimming through the air to knock the spiderwebs down with my arms before my face got to them. I am not sure which looked more silly.

My run ended at the high school across from my house, which conveniently has a very steep hill, and a parking lot on which to do drills without people driving on Main street seeing me. I skipped, and ran back wards and did jumping jacks and did the grapevine both on flat ground and up the hill. It sucked, but I did it!


Distance: 4 miles on pavement and trails
Number of stars:4.5
Lessons learned: I really like running :)
Song that rocked my run: Nothing in particular. I was mostly just enjoying the view.

Inspiration

I received an email from my old running group in Austin this morning with a link to this video called "My 120 pound journey". It was such a touching video. I emailed it to Jenni immediately.It was inspiring to me as a runner. Although I have never lost a pound from running, I still believe that running improves my life in so many ways. Now if only my damn knee didn't hurt, and I could go for a run.

Terry Fox Run pt 2

The Terry Fox run itself was less than awesome. I had to drive out to Confederation bridge, which is about 40 minutes from my house. Once I got close, the traffic was backed up all down the highway, and it took me about 45 minutes to go the last kilometer and get parked. I had planned on being parked by 6 am, but it was about 6:40 by the time I was actually parked (in a farmer's field) and out of my car. The last bus to Prince Edward Island (PEI), which is where I wanted to start the race, was supposed to leave at 6:45. I ran in the direction of the buses, only to find there were none going to PEI, only to the start line on the New Brunswick side of the bridge. No one seemed to know what was going on, so I took the opportunity to use the potty. While in the outhouse, I heard someone yell, "Any runners going to PEI, get on the red bus. This is the last bus to PEI!" I quickly gathered my things and ran towards the bus. Once on the bus I realized that I had forgotten my water bottle. Because I have not replaced my broken water belt, I had planned on just carrying a water bottle. So now I had no water. I figured it wasn't the end of the world though, since it wasn't going to be crazy hot and humid like in Texas. As we drove over the bridge, I didn't see any water stations as promised, which made me a bit nervous. (I found out later that I was just looking at the wrong side of the bridge.) I definitely couldn't complain about the view, though! It was beautiful.

Once on the other side of the bridge, I hopped out of the bus and onto Prince Edward Island for the very first time. It was very exciting, and really pretty. I got there right at 7 am, and the race was supposed to start at 7 am. By 7:30 there had still been no announcements, and buses were still coming over the bridge. Lots of them. At least 20 more had come after me even though my bus was "the last bus to PEI." So I wandered around and people were all chatting to each other. and laughing and hanging out. It was all very informal for a race. Finally at about 7:40 we were told that the race would be begin soon. A few minutes later, they asked us to line up at the start line and that we would be starting in 5 minutes. Three minute later, we were told that there were actually a few more buses that had just started across the bridge, so we would have to get out of the way and wait about 10 minutes for them to get across the bridge so that we could start the race. The announcer kept saying things like, "We know you don't mind waiting because this is for such a good cause." and "We have a really good reason for running late because so many people showed up to support this really good cause." That did not fly because there was no on-site registration, so they had to have known how many people were coming.

Finally, around 8 am we went back to our places across the bridge to the starting line and then it was time for some short speeches. The whole crowd groaned, and I felt so bad for the speakers. One was an MP from the area and one was Terry Fox's brother, which I think made people feel REALLY bad for groaning. Each of them only spoke for about 30 seconds and then we were off. And damn was it windy! I guess I knew that running a race over the ocean would have to be windy, but I wasn't expecting the wind to be so strong. And, those of us starting from the PEI side were running into the wind. Fortunately, though, we were running west, and so the sun was behind us and not shining in our faces. The wind got a bit better as we got further from land, and I think it was also blocked a bit because we were running uphill and the high point of the bridge might have blocked it a bit.

Picture from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pont_confederation.JPG

The first 5.5 kilometers of the 12.8 kilometer run were uphill. At first it was a fairly obvious incline, then a less obvious incline, and then a very obvious incline as we got closer to the peak. I have to say that I did the best hill running that I have ever done in my life. Ever. I just kept going. And it wasn't so bad! I think that the constant wind helped keep my body cool and made it seem like less work, even though it was more work to battle the wind. I kept thinking that once I had crested the peak that the wind would die down. I am not sure what alternate universe that I thought I was in, but the wind got WAY WORSE once I was on the other side of the peak because there was no peak to at least block it somewhat. As I got closer to land on the New Brunswick side, I really felt that at points I was running backward or just running in place. The wind was that strong. And then my knees started to hurt. BADLY. And I had to stop running because I felt like someone was smashing both of my knees with a hammer at the same time. I walked for about 3 minutes, during which time my knees did not hurt at all, so I started to run again. Instantly they hurt REALLY badly, so I walked again for 2 minutes. This time I started running and it didn't hurt as bad, so I just kept at it. Usually when I feel pain, I will stop running completely for fear of getting permanently injured and not being able to run in some future event. I figured that since my next planned event is the Austin Half Marathon in February, I had some time to recover if I did do some damage. So I just kept on running. And I am still suffering the consequences - going down stairs is very painful endeavor these days.

There was no actual finish line. I just stopped running when I saw a bunch of people standing around stretching. On the bridge there were little kilometer markers posted and I ran past the one that said 13 km, so I am not sure if I went too far, or if maybe we started after the 0 km parker or something. Either way, the finish was very anti-climactic.

Overall though, the run was amazing. How often do you get to run an entire run over the ocean. The view was was so spectacular that I often forgot that I was running and it was supposed to be hard work. I also found out that they don't do this run over the bridge every year. The last time they did it was in 2005, so I am very glad that I was able to participate in this year's run over the bridge because I might not get the chance again.

Distance: 8 miles
Number of stars: 3.5
Lessons learned: A strong cool wind keeps the body temperature down and makes for more enjoyable running
Song that rocked my run: Kiss by Prince

Terry Fox Run

Today was the Terry Fox run across the Confederation Bridge that I have been sorta training for since I got to Sackville. I was running in memory of my paternal grandparents, both of whom were had cancer. I took an old picture of them that my aunt had digitized and attached it to my shirts.

I wanted to have shirts made with the picture on it, but I couldn't find anywhere around here that did such things. I printed out one picture just on paper and put it on the back of my long sleeved shirt.

And then I took a smaller version of the picture, laminated it with tape and attached it to the front of my short sleeved shirt:

The goal of the Terry Fox run is to raise money for cancer research, and thanks to my awesome donors, I raised $560 for the run. Thanks everyone!

I am too sleepy now to write about the actual run, so I will finish this tomorrow. 

Slacker

I have been slacking on both the running and the blogging fronts. Starting school is kicking my butt! Tomorrow I the Terry Fox run across the Confederation Bridge (more about this in my next post), and I feel very unprepared. Most of the runs I have been doing over the past month have been around 3-4 miles. I only managed to squeeze in one 6.5 mile run a couple of weeks ago. This makes me nervous. I am also really excited because I miss running long distances.

Most of my runs lately have been rather enjoyable. My most enjoyable recent run was my first run in Sackville after returning from Vancouver. It was a near-perfect running day in my opinion. Of course, for me a perfect running day involves rain, so it may not be everyone's idea of perfect. This particular day was delightfully cool, but not too cold to have to wear gloves or anything, and there were dark ominous clouds hanging over my town, but with bursts of sunshine visible in the distance. The sky just looked amazing. And the route I run, down main street is on a hill above the surrounding farmland and swamp (err...marshland). The view was amazing and the mixture of dark clouds with pockets of blue sky just looked so damn cool. I was also listening to new running music because I was DAMN SICK of my old mix of 200 songs that I have been listening to since last November.  I was listening to songs from a mix CD that my BFF made me, songs I would normally not think to run to, and it was delightful. This inspired me to make a while new running playlist for my iPod, which will be tested officially in tomorrow's run.

Distance: 3.5 miles
Number of stars: 5!
Lessons learned: Musical selections should be rotated more than once per year!
Song that rocked my run: Jolene by Dolly Parton
Song that made me dance while running: Say Hey by Michael Franti & Spearhead

How can you not dance to this song?!?

shoes

The tip of the morning was about shoes, and getting good running shoes that are right for your feet. I can't stress this enough. My feet are flat, and I encountered some hip/leg/IT problems when I started running on the wrong shoes. Once I fixed my muscles and got in the right shoes, the difference is tremendous. It was also suggested to get two pairs, one for your weekend long runs, and one for your weekday shorter runs. This way, you've got two pairs that are fully broken in, but not completely shot, come race day. It sounds like an excellent idea - for those people with jobs and income and the ability to get two pairs of shoes.

What's your current shoe of choice?

In March I bought Brooks Adrenaline and have been incredibly happy with them. A friend of mine swears by them and will not wear anything else. Prior to the Brooks I was in a Mizuno Wave Rider, which was also good. Both of these don't require any additional orthotics in the shoe (for me), and have enough support and stability. I find the Brooks to be a bit lighter and easier.

AustinFit Red Group

I've run with Austin Fit before. I did it in preparation for the 2008 San Antonio half marathon. LDH and I did it together in preparation for the 2009 San Antonio half marathon. I was meaning to join this summer, but with LDH gone...let's just say I couldn't do it without her. And then I realized I was going to be out of town for the San Antonio half. So, no group for me. Combine that with this crazy heat, and here we have a poor showing for my summer, running-wise.

This morning, I dragged myself out of bed at 6:20. I wasn't totally excited, but I wasn't dreading it either. I pulled on my pink shorts and I thought, "hi shorts, haven't seen you in a while". I headed down to TxDOT to meet the group. It's not for the San Antonio race, but for the Austin race (Nanio, it's the 20th anniversary on February 20th, which seems like the perfect time for a trip to Austin to run!) I decided to join the Red running group, instead of the Orange, and run with the 10:30 pace group. I'm not quite at 10:30, but it's where I'd like to be. So I'm hoping if I start with them it will push me there.

Man, oh man, the head coach Janice - she's intense. Go ahead, please, click that link. Check out her bio. How can she not be exactly the running coach I need. It says she ran her first marathon in 2004 in just shy of 6 hours, and now she's completed half and full ironmans and is basically like the terminator.

We started today and she said, "We're going to forget the pace today" and I thought, sweet! What she really meant was, I'm going to run you up and down hills and we're still going to finish in a pretty decent time, but I want you to not think about it. She stopped the whole group (the 10:00, 10:15, 10:30 and 10:45 pace groups) at the parking lot of Joe's Crab Shack, before heading up a slight hill to Travis Heights to go over proper up-hill form. She said, LDH listen up, to look at the top of the hill and don't look down at the ground. You see, we always look down. It helps to trick us in to not being TERRIFIED of the hills. Well, Ironman Janice says that looking down keeps you all hunched over and you are inefficient and you expend more energy. It was like she was speaking straight to my scientist heart. Inefficient, expend energy - I don't want to do that. So, looking up I will do. She also says you need to shorten your stride. She had spoken a bit about running on flat ground, and how your stride should be long and you should see your feet if you look down. LDH, girls like you and I probably should only be seeing our toes, but you should see them. However, on the uphill, when you look down you shouldn't see your feet at all. Your stride should be short, your body should be straight, your eyes up at the top of the hill, and your arms pumping lightly. With this lesson, we were off.

Up Travis Heights. It was about this time that I realized there was something weird going on. We weren't stopping. There was no walking. We were just, running. I thought to myself, I'm totally screwed. I can not do this. I'm asking too much - faster pace, longer distance (oh, I haven't spilled that one yet), AND no walk breaks. But, Ironman Janice to the rescue. She then spoke about active recovery. She said to use the top of the hill and the downhills to control your heart rate. She said to take a few deeps breaths, hold them in, and slow your breathing. Holy cow, it was like resting without the walking. Don't get me wrong, the walking - way easier!

Once we reached the top of Travis Heights, she stopped us again to discuss downhill form. She spoke about keeping things controlled. She said you still want to keep short strides, but you can increase your cadence so that you are still using the gravity of the downhill to get you down faster, but that your perceived output is not greater. She even mentioned the "inverse relationship" between stride length and cadence in a downhill - Ironman Janice, you are killing me with the technical terms. Where have you been all my life. So off we went down Travis Heights. and back to TxDOT.

Now, I won't lie. I stopped to walk a few times. But only for brief spurts. And while I finished just about last in the 10:30 group, I was still ahead of the 10:45. I'll take it. in total I think we did 3 miles. But, we weren't done yet. Ironman Janice had DRILLS for us. While all the other groups were sitting around on the parking lot drinking their water and chatting the red group was off to the side. We did 4 or 5 small running drills - side shuffles, high knees, butt kicks, side lunges. But, this was not enough for Ironman Janice. We then moved to the other side of the parking lot and did 50 step ups, followed by 20 push-ups and then 20 tricep dips. (During the push-ups I was on the wall next to the leaders of my group, the 10:30 pace, and she said to me during my second set of 10 push-ups "Good for you, those look perfect, I'm about spent and couldn't get good form if I tried." I smiled inside and thanked boot camp and Jillian Michaels.)

It was at this point that Ironman Janice was satisfied, and lead us through some stretches. I think she skimped on the quad stretches though, mine are still ON FIRE! She says that we are going to do these drills every saturday for the next 6 or so weeks, and we will be working on form and building a good base. She says the miles will come easier if we've got this down. And hell, I'm not going to argue with that woman. This morning was tough - but it felt good. It felt useful, it felt like I was going to get better. And as I have joined the Austin FULL Marathon training group, I think I'm going to be needing all the help, advice, and occasional yelling, to get myself across that finish line.

The goal: February 20th, 2010 - 26.2 miles. Rumor has it LDH is going to come to Austin and run the half. I encourage anyone and everyone to come cheer us on, or run with us. And in the case of my first attempt at a marathon, bring a chair...you'll be waiting at the finish line for a long, long, long time. But, Ironman Janice assures me I'll make it.

leaving the past back there

I had a to do list. I have had lots of them. I'd say 95% of the things on there don't get done. Among them, write about some runs. There were three I wanted to write about, but they are so long ago now it's silly. So, I'm moving on (save for this post).I'll give you the bullet-pointed highlights.

- I did a run with a group of 5 (yes, five) boys. Two of them are training for the NYC marathon, one of them hopes to qualify for Boston with a time of something close to 3 hours. File that under things I do not comprehend. The highlight of that 5 miler was that I dropped behind the boys (because I run/walk), but then caught back up, and then passed them. Granted, they were running slow as molasses, but hell, I'll take it. (I think I gave this 4 stars)

- There was a second just with the two marathon trainers, but, there was nothing impressive there - I stayed with them for my 10 minutes and then never saw them again. (I don't remember enough about this one to guess on stars, maybe 3)

- And then there was the time my lab mate and I ran down to the greenbelt, hoping to find some mud to practice for our Warrior Dash. Sadly, there was no mud, there wasn't even any water. We did have a pretty unique 5 mile run through an empty river bed though. I loved this run, someone new to talk to. We didn't track distance or time. We just ran until we wanted to turn around, and then we did it. In the end, looking at google maps, I think we did a little over 5 miles in a little over an hour. I'll take it. 5 star run for sure.

Suffice it to say, my running has been sporadic and poor as of late. That all is about to change.

Running 6 miles vs. walking six miles

On Wednesday of last week (I think) I ran my promised 6 miles. As expected, it was a glorious run for the most part. I was running through farmers fields and hadn't taken my allergy meds for a while, so I had some snot issues, but other than that it was quite enjoyable. Using Jenni's new 5 star system, I would have to rank it as a 5 star run. Well maybe knock a quarter off the last two on the list. Let's say 4.5 star run.
I did it: one star
I made all my time intervals: one star
I made my set distance: one star
I made that distance in my set time: one star
It was fun/easy/good: one star

Then on Friday, I went for a walk around the Seawall in Vancouver, which is also about 6 miles. I was with someone who walks the seawall almost every day, so I was really no match for her. We were walking FAST and talking fast, and for the most part I was distracted from the burning sensations in my legs. About half way through the walk, I finally realize that my legs are getting really sore, which makes me surprised since I never get sore legs when I run unless I run really far. By the end of the walk, my legs feel like jello, and I am anticipating being VERY sore the next morning, something that also hasn't happened after running in a very long time. I wasn't as sore as I thought I would be, but still more sore than I feel like I should be from walking.
 
Before Friday, if I had to guess which was harder between running or walking 6 miles, I would have said running. Until I realized that I run all of the time, and I almost never walk, except the 1.3 kms to school. When I do walk, I walk pretty damn slowly. And apparently speed-walking and running use different muscles or at least use the same muscles differently. So, my conclusion is that walking is harder than running, especially when one does not walk very often.
 
Seven miles tomorrow in Surrey. It won't be as good as the 12 mile Tour de Surrey that I did when training for the half marathon back in January, but it will be fun nonetheless. I can't wait!

Sunny San Diego

Well, I haven't been posting much because I haven't been running much. I am planning 6 miles for tomorrow, 7 miles for this weekend, and 8 miles the following weekend. My training schedule was slightly adjusted from the Austin Fit one that has 8 miles scheduled for this weekend. According to my schedule that will get me running a half marathon in October, I need to run 10 miles this weekend. That will most likely not happen. Although, I am feeling slightly manic, so perhaps it will :)

I just got back from sunny San Diego, where I had envisioned glorious runs on the beach. Instead, I ran on a treadmill at a hotel, while looking at the beach. I have no idea why I made such a choice. It just seemed easier to run in the hotel instead of literally walking across the street to the beach. That would have involved sunscreen and sunglasses, and other sun-related accessories. The gym at my fancy hotel was not air conditioned, which made it rather uncomfortable, and I had to pay to use it, which was just absurd.

Anyway, the run was fine, and I am glad I did it. I have been starting to really crave running again, which I think is a good sign. I am going to rock my 6 miles tomorrow. I gotta feeling... (Hey, I should get that BEP song. I bet it would be good to run with.)

Distance: 3 miles on a treadmill
Lessons learned: I don't hate running on a treadmill as much as I thought I did
Song that rocked my run: What was I thinking? by Dierks Bentley (am I seriously admitting I listen to country music?)

I won't rank this run on the new 5-star system because I really had no plan going into it. I will rank my sure-to-be awesome run tomorrow.

eight miles?

LDH has been trying to following the training plan of our old running group, I...have not. I just got an email from our old half marathon training coach that tomorrow's run is an 8 mile run. Wow, am I far behind. I'm not sure I could do 8 if I tried. I'm going to set my goal for a 6 mile run this weekend.

LDH, remember when we used to be good at this?!

and, for my next trick...

My labmate, her boyfriend, one other friend, and I just registered for what appears to be my next race. It's called the Warrior Dash, and is a 5K run with 11 obstacles along the way. When I say obstacles, I mean...OBSTACLES:

*Warrior Wall - conquer the wooden barricade

* Breathless Bog - trudge through waist deep water and over the logs

*Walk the Plank - traverse the gully on wooden planks

*Knee High Hell - speed step through hundreds of tires

*Tunnels of Terror - burrow through the black tunnels

*Black Forrest - forge your way through uncharted forrest

*Hay Fever - hustle up and over giant straw bales

*Junker Jump - clamber over the rusted wreckage

*Cargo Climb - maneuver over the cargo nets

*Warrior Roast - leap over the warrior fires

*Muddy Mayhem - scramble beneath barbed wire as you near the finish

5 star system

I've devised a new system for rating my runs, which is less based on speed and distance, and more based on meeting set goals. Following this system, each run will be rated as followed.

I did it: one star
I made all my time intervals: one star
I made my set distance: one star
I made that distance in my set time: one star
It was fun/easy/good: one star

This morning I set out on a 3 mile run, hoping to complete it in 36 minutes (12 min/mile). The time was 7:30am, the temperature was 88 degrees, the humidty was 10000% (ok, less than that as it wasn't actually raining).

This run receives a 3 star rating.

Breakdown.
I did it: one star
I made all my time intervals: one quarter star (i made approx a quarter of them)
I made my set distance: one and one third star (i went 4 miles)
I made that distance in my set time: no star (it was not quite 12min/mi)
It was fun/easy/good: one half star (besides the heat, I think it was enjoyable)

Intent

Internet, you see it - right there, at the very top of my list. I had the alarm set for 615, I had my shorts and stuff all laid out, I was going. Funny thing about laying my clothes out. It took almost no effort, because they were laid out from the night before.

Two days, I had the intent of waking early to run.

It's not a lie, it's on the list.

What happened? Let's ask my alarm clock why it decided not to go off. I have no idea! Yesterday, I just assumed I set it wrong (am/pm, maybe I shut it off in my sleep...something) But this morning too, no, the fault is in the alarm clock.

Sadly, as with many things, the fault is not mine but I suffer the consequences. I did not wake up at 6:15, I woke up at 7:30. And clearly, based on this list, I had missed the alloted running time. There was no way to squeeze it in and be ready when my airport ride arrives at 9:30.


(OH, and even though this list makes it look like I need ONE HOUR to change my sheets - really, the post-run shower, dry hair, get dressed and the like were all wrapped into that last item. They didn't explicitly make the list, because I wasn't so afraid of forgetting to do them!)

Sooooo....

I did not do my run again today. I think I have a mental block that prevents me from wanting to engage in runs over 4 miles. Today I was determined not to let my excuses get the best of me. I laid out my running clothes before I went to bed nice and early last night. I woke up at 7 to tend to the fuzzy one (the dog), but I was so sleepy, so I convinced her to nap with me in the guest room before we went out for her morning stroll. That lasted all of 10 minutes until she saw someone who had the audacity to WALK PAST OUR HOUSE. There was no convincing her to rest after that atrocity. So, I went downstairs, ate my half a powerbar and drank my 8 oz of water and took her outside. We spent about 5 minutes in the back field so she could do her business, and then we went on a 20 minute walk. Great warm up for running, I thought to myself. I like to wait at least 45 minutes to let my powerbar digest, so I decided to rest on the couch for about 15 mins before I went to my run. Two hours later, I woke up. Whoops!

When I woke up, it had started raining, which I took as a sign from the universe that I really should go running. I suited up and headed out. I was hungry, and felt off, and 7 minutes into my run, my iPod died. I took that as a sign from the universe that I really shouldn't go running. So, I turned around and headed home because I suck. I did do my pilates tape when I got home. That counts, right?

Need encouragement

It is almost 10 pm in my world, and I have planned to to a seven mile run tomorrow morning. I am already making excuses. This does not bode well. Help!

A rainy, smelly run

Today I awoke with a slight hangover from the homemade wine my neighbour gifted me two nights ago. I had one glass the first night, and then the rest of the bottle last night. Oops. My number 1 rule is no running on a hangover because that would be terrible. It was, however, raining today, and we all know how much I love running in the rain. I vowed to go for a run at some point because I wasn't going to waste a perfectly good rainy day just cuz I was a little hungover. So, I grabbed a big cup o' water and began drinking to ease me out of my hangover state and into a running state. At about 5:30 pm, I decided the time was right. It was still raining, although only lightly, and it had been a safe 3 hours since I last ate. As I headed out, I noticed that the wind was blowing in the opposite direction than it usually does.  Usually the wind comes off of the Bay of Fundy, but today it was coming off of the land towards the bay, and boy did it smell like manure! At first I thought I had stepped in something, but after checking my shoes, I figured it must just be the manure smell wafting off the farms. Yum!

About halfway through my run, it started to rain really heavily, which was fun. But because I could smell manure so strongly, it kinda felt like I was eating manure flavored rain drops as they kept dripping in my mouth. I remedied this by closing my mouth and only opening it a smidge to breath out. Overall, a good run, though.

Distance: A bit less than 3 miles on pavement
Lessons learned: I still like running in the rain - even when the rain tastes like manure
Song that rocked my run: Several Girl Talk mashups

Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad run

So, I finally cranked out my 6 mile run that was a week overdue, and let me tell you, it was the worst. I hated almost every second of it. But, I did it, and I am happy that I did.

I am also happy that I overcame the excuse monster. The excuse monster was definitely on my back this morning. First of all, I started late because I was trying to figure something out on a new computer program, and I accidentally wasted 45 minutes. Then I couldn't find my inhaler, then I couldn't find my watch. And then when I stepped outside at 9:30 am it was really freaking hot. And humid. Two of my least favorite things. Even with all of these prime excuses - I decided not to go 3 separate times - I went out and ran my stupid 6 miles.  I never did find my watch, so I had to make due with the timer on my iPod. I have been running 10/1 intervals, but that makes it hard to do math without an interval timer, so I switched to 9/1 intervals. After just one interval, however, I made the executive decision to change to 5/1 intervals, which soon became 4/1 intervals because the math was easier and because the run was terrible.

I spent the whole run bargaining with myself, "If I can make it one more interval, I will just quit and walk the rest of the way." Fortunately, I had walking because it takes too long, so after each 1 minute walking interval, I convinced myself to run again if only to get the damn 6 miles over with already. I don't think I have had such an unpleasant run in over a year. I can't even explain what was so bad about it. I just wasn't in the mood or something. Now that it is over, however, I can say that I am happy I went. And even happier that I overcame my excuses to go.

Shockingly, I even went on a 2 mile walk a couple of hours after my horrible run. Not sure what inspired that, but it was quite pleasant.

Distance: 6-ish miles on pavement and trails
Lessons learned: I can overcome my excuses.
Song that rocked my run: NONE. Nothing about this run rocked.

Team Hard Coretex takes on the Metro Triathlon

Meet the team, VC is up first with the 1500m swim, then KW with the 40K bike, and then my turn with a 10K run. We are all of the consensus that our individual legs are the easiest - which I think means we are a great team!!  Follow along for a semi-live blog of the event.

12:20am - VC and I return to her house to realize that she has left her swim stuff at her office. She headed off to retrieve it while I went to bed.

5:25am - my alarm goes off, and results in only minor confusion. A flurry of getting ready, making breakfast and otherwise prepping after 5 hours of sleep. 

6:02am - and, we're off! We've heard from KW and she's off too!

6:27am -we've arrived, parked right next to KW, and head with the masses  to the start.

6:45am - we've been body marked. I'm not feeling confident in the organization of this event. Its smaller than the Austin one, and there seem to be less rules. I have concerns that there ARE as many rules but they haven't told us. 

7:17am - swim briefing. VC is ready to go!!

7:32am - VC is off!! Team Hard Coretex  is officially racing!! KW and I think VC is totally crazy and awesome. GO TEAM!!  KW and I are off for the bathroom and to prep for the biking...

7:44am - VC has finished her first lap, of two! 

8:01am - first transition over. KW is off on the bike, with only minor problems with the timing chip. Sadly, she wants it on her wrist, but they need it on her ankle!! VC finished in an amazing 29 minutes. We're off to an excellent start!

8:20am - I feel ill-prepared and nervous. I've made my mental list of things I need to do to get ready. First of which is figure out how to tape my leg, because I'm finally admitting to some shin pain that should be dealt with. Thank goodness for the kinesio tape I got in my San Antonio Half Marathon bag!!

8:56am - VC is changed, I've affixed my runner number, and used kinesio tape for the first time! We're now sitting on a grassy knoll watching the elite men who have already finished the biking. Two words - eye candy. Also, they are so fast. So. Fast.

9:08am - VC and I have made it back to transition, and I ask her if I have time to go to the bathroom. KW has given us a 9:30 early geusstimate of her arrival, and VC knows I'm prone to pre-race anxiety, so she rolls her eyes and says "plenty!"

9:19am - KW has entered transition and realizes we are not aware of it. She yells "TEAM HARD CORETEX!" and I instantly panic. I'm not wearing my belt, my head phones are tangled, I don't have the gps on on the phone, and I havent taken my pre-racing endurolytes. ACK! While I rushed off before fully congratulating her, this was HUGE! She was so fast, and so early, I think she even surprised herself. A great, great, great, first cycling race for KW!

**Format change** This bit must be done by mile, and not minute!

Mile 1 - I started off looking like a real tri-athlete, I was fumbling to put myself together while on the move. I was discombobulated and unprepared, and I felt like I was on the brink of colossal failure; did I even have everything I needed with me?! It really was what a real triathlete must feel like, not a relay triathlete, who has all morning to prepare for a single event. During this mile I saw the lead runner heading the other way, about to finish up. I believe it is important that I mention I was on the course BEFORE the lead runner finished. This is how amazing my teammates were.

Mile 2 - I'm feeling awful. I think team events are particularly hard on me, because too early I start being angry at myself for letting everyone down. I mean, I had 4 miles to go and I was already mad at my performance. I had finally gotten into a bit of a groove, but I was already feeling tired and over-worked. Does not bode well

Mile 2.5 - I check my watch, and do some quick mental math. Holy Moses! I'm not even to 25 minutes yet. No wonder this is feeling challenging. Redoing some calculations, I believe my first mile was sub 10-minute (and included at least one walk break), which means I was mo-oo-oving (at least in YJP terms!)

Mile 3 - I slowed down some, but have still crossed this at 31 minutes. Which makes me feel better for feeling tired, but makes me feel like I may have used too much too soon to make a good time for the end.

Mile 4 - This was for sure my best mile. Not my fastest, but the best feeling. I was ale to stop thinking about things and just run. I was running on my toes this whole mile, and felt great. Why is it that I need a THREE mile warm-up before I stop criticizing myself and start enjoying the run?! It's ridiculous.

Mile 6 - Yes, I'm not sue what happened to mile 5 either, but rest assured that there was running, walking, and cytomax! When I passed the mile 6 sign, point two miles to go, I was concerned that I was dragging it. By this point, I'd let the entire race pass me by, hadn't I?! I managed to eek out passing ONE woman. I'm guessing she had already passed me, so I really didn't make up any ground. I rounded a corner where some finishers were walking back my way. They stopped to cheer me along, and it was exactly what I needed. I ran it on in, greeted by the cheers of VC and KW on my way!

In the end, not my best 10K time, but still a run to be proud of. I grabbed a finishers medal, a bottle of water, a banana, some strawberries, a piece of pizza, and some weird electrolight drink with special vitamins in the cap, and sat on the grass to stretch. We stuck around in admiration of the badass people who won awards. There was a 17 year old boy who did the tri, also the winners had sub-hour bike times and runs of like...35 minutes. amazing.

11:47 am - Team Hard CoreTex was also amazing, winning first place in the women's relay division. This is all credited to VC and KW's crazy badass-ness, keeping giving us a substantial lead to start off with. Even though I let most of the race pass me by, I guess I drew the line at the relay members, as they mostly stayed behind me.

12:25pm - We've returned to the cars, with our medals, wine, and gear only to find out that in the excitment of the morning, VC has left the lights on. But, this is no roadblock for Team Hard CoreTex - the three of us are quickly able to jump start the car and head on home!

1:46pm - We have returned to VC's house, Winner's Wine in the fridge, and are basically useless. I will now go stare at the wall for a bit, and then shower.

a delightful day with an awesome team!! Yippee!!
Song that rocked my run: Keep On Keepin' On by Jack Ingram

Oh, excuses, silly little things

I would like to say that I am getting better with the excuses. And I think I can say that. I am still making them, but they are less frequent and less convincing. On Monday I did not go to the beach as planned. It was raining, and I would have had to stand in the rain post-run to wait for D to get out of a meeting and then drive home all wet for 40 minutes. This sounded like a bad idea. So I didn't run on Monday. On Tuesday, I felt the whole, "I don't have time to run because I need to go to work" feeling, so I compromised. Instead of doing my 6 miles, I just did 3 and decided to postpone my long run until the weekend. So now I am a week behind. Hopefully being behind on my training plan will light a fire under my ass and keep me more motivated.

I was talking to a friend last night who is an avid runner, and we were discussing his fairly severe addiction to running. The thought of potentially not being able to run for a few weeks because of an injury made him rather distressed. I was almost jealous. I mean, I call myself a runaholic (at least on this blog), but I don't feel his intense desire to run. I feel like that makes my runaholism even more hardcore though. I mean, I am not that good at it, half the time I don't even like doing it or don't want to do it, but yet I keep doing it. (Maybe that should be our new tag line. "Running: We aren't good at it, we don't really like it, but we keep doing it.") That sounds like an addiction to me. That being said, I do long for running. I crave it when I am not doing it regularly. So why, then, do I make so many damn excuses not to do it. Hmmm, maybe I should become a psychologist so I can study this sort of ridiculous human behavior.

Back to my run on Tuesday, though. It was actually really good. I ran at the Waterfowl Park and although it was humid as hell, I still felt good while running. No wanting to die at all! I finally saw some fowl at the Waterfowl Park, but it was more scary than enjoyable. I was running along the trail when I came across a gaggle of about 12 Canadian geese that were blocking the path. As I approached them, I made lots of noise, clapping, yelling, and stomping my feet, but they just stared at me. When I got within about 10 feet of them, I realized that they weren't going anywhere, and I certainly was not going to run through the middle of a gaggle of geese. I have heard that Canadian geese can be vicious (or is that swans?) So, I just turned around and started running the other way. When I circled back around to that part of the trail about 30 minutes later, they were still there! In the exact same formation! Fortunately there is a bridge that crosses over through the middle of the park, so I was able to avoid them without having to run all the way back the way I came. Although if I had run back the way I came, I probably would have ended up running that 6 miles I was supposed to run. I guess the geese were trying to tell me something. Oh well.

Distance: 3.5 miles - mostly trails
Lessons learned: I really need a GPS watch to accurately track my run distances
Song that rocked my run: Rag and Bone by The White Stripes

Some Sackville Scenery

After my 5 mile run last week, chronicled here, I made D drive me around so I could get some pictures of my route. He is somewhat impatient and did not stop completely at a few of the places where I wanted to take pictures, so some are a little crooked and maybe a bit blurry.

You might notice how rural it is. Most of these pictures were taken along my own street.  

I am not gonna lie; this abandoned building freaks me out just a bit. (That reminds me, I need to get a picture of the cemetary that is a couple lots down.)

These are the cows that freaked the hell out of me on my run. By the time I went back to take the picture, they were much further from the fence.

Here are some horses, too. There are also sheep at another farm on my street, but I forgot to take their picture.

Some more farms:

And the lake:

God, I miss high rises.

Excuses, excuses

I am the queen of excuses, let me tell you. I have gotten worse about the excuses as the years go by. When I first began to run, I would pretty much run whenever and wherever. I did establish a routine for my longer runs, but for shorter runs, I just kinda did whatever.

Here is my routine for long runs:

Day before: Drink lots of water, don't eat anything greasy, no alcohol, lots of sleep
Day of: Half a power bar before the run with water, nothing else in my stomach, start early (8 am at the latest).

For my shorter runs, I would usually run after school or before work if I was working nights. Keeping in mind that I lived in Vancouver back then, so most of the time it was raining or cloudy and heat was not usually a problem. Moving to Texas made things a bit more difficult since I HATE THE HEAT. I especially hate running in the heat. In Texas, for 9 months out of the year, I was only physically capable of running before 8 am. So I became a little more rigid in the timing of my runs. If I wasn't up and out before 8, it was highly unlikely that I could convince myself to run. In addition to my heat restrictions, when I started training for the half marathon, I became afraid of longer distances. Like I would try to think of any reason I could to avoid those long runs (over 7 miles). Thankfully, I had both my running group and Jenni to be accountable to, so I usually was able to get out there and do it. I remember specifically, my first 10 mile run - also known as the BEST. RUN. EVER.- when it was thundering and raining. Before the run began, the run leader said we would not go if there was any lightning during our warm up. And boy did I ever wish for some lightning. In the end though, I went and it was awesome. I have many examples like this where I was trying to make excuses not to run, but once I started (or at least once I was finished) was so happy that I had gone through with it. You would think I would be able to use these past experiences to encourage myself to run when I don't want to. That is not the case.

Now that I am on my own over here in NB, I am finding that I make more and more excuses not to run, regardless of the length of the run.  They include the following.

I drank a beer last night.
I had two glasses of wine last night.
I slept in and don't have time because I really should be doing some unspecified work.
I didn't drink enough water yesterday.
I ate too many chips yesterday, and feel gross.
I am hungry.
It is too hot.
I do not feel well for some unspecified reason.
I can't run two days in a row.

I have also convinced myself that I MUST run first thing in the morning. If something is off in the morning and I don't run first thing, I assume that I cannot go until the next day.

It is getting ridiculous.

Today I slept in until 11! That never happens. Of course when I woke up, I immediately knew that my 6 mile run was not going to happen, especially with this heat wave we are having. Then I talked to Jenni and she was going to run in Texas at 9 am, which is crazy, so I figured that I could at least go for a short run. I was really hungry, but Jenni convinced me that I could just eat AFTER my short run. I got all ready to go, walked out the door and then D suggested we go grocery shopping because he was starving. I decided that since we were both hungry, it made sense not to run, so I went back in, changed, and left for grocery shopping.

In the meantime, Jenni was out having a tough run, and reassuring herself that at least I was suffering too.  When I got home and confessed to Jenni that I had not run, I felt like a total loser. I mean, there is no reason why D couldn't have waited 45 minutes for me to have a 30 minute run and a 15 minute shower. If I had suggested it, he would have totally agreed. I was just making excuses.

Jenni suggested that I just go for a run then. Well, of course, I couldn't go for a run then! It hadn't been 3 hours since I had last ate! There are rules!

But then I thought about it. I hadn't really eaten much, and it wasn't like I needed to run 6 miles, so why didn't I just go. I could always just quit if I got a cramp or got dizzy and nauseous (which is what usually happens if I don't wait 3 hours after eating to run). What a brilliant idea! I could just start, and if it sucked, I could stop. Thank you Jenni! Why had I never thought of that before?

So, I went out and did my run only 2 hours after eating lunch. And guess what? I survived! Even better, I liked it! I am going to try to remember this the next time I start making excuses.

I still didn't do my planned 6 mile run, but now I am thinking I will go do it on the trails at the beach on Monday since D has to go to Shediac for a meeting in the morning. What a brilliant idea!!

Distance: approx 2 miles on trails.
Lessons learned: I can just stop running if I feel shitty.
Song that rocked my run: Don't Stop by Brazillian Girls

The good, the bad, the unpretty: a confessional post.

1.) I checked outside at 10:30am and it wasn't that hot; I was terribly mistaken; 3 minutes into my run I was sweating so much that it was dripping down my face into my eyes and mouth.

2.) I went to bed early last night so that I could get up early and run; I went to bed early last night after drinking beers with friends from 4-8pm; Not only did I not run early, but I ran dehydrated.

3.) I ran 5 miles; I only continued the last mile because I was one mile from home; I kept the timer and gps running the entire time.

4.) I wore my Ragnar technical t-shirt and it made me happy; I should have worn a tank top; In one of the back neighborhoods I took my shirt off to wipe up all the sweat dripping off my face and then put it back on.

5.) Mueller park is beautiful to run in; I walked most of the "running" minutes in Mueller park; Two little kids and an old man passed me up.

6.) I was running with 24 oz of cytomax and water; I drank it all before mile 3; I was spitting like a maniac after mile 3.

7.) I went running despite my arms being very sore from boot camp; I hold my arms very high snd stiff when I run; My arms might be even more sore now!

8.) There were lots of friendly people out and about; Except for the few who were unfriendly; And that one guy who was holding a chain saw that was switched on and wasn't looking around the sidewalk he was on.

9.) I ran 5 miles (did I already say that); I'm running 6.5 in a week; Two of my friends are counting on me to not suck at it.

10.) I hit all my marks during the first mile and a half; I missed every one after that; The misses were much more significant than the hits.

Distance: 5.02 miles

Time: 65:02:29

Mad props to: The neighbors who were shamelessly watering their yard during water restrictions; Because I ran through the sprinklers; both ways!

Song that rocked my run: Womanizer, by Britney Spears.

aw, what the hell - I said it was confessional. Womanizer, by Britney Spears totally rocked my run (and does most runs). I run best when I'm angry, and I can easily find 5 minutes of Womanizer moments to power me through thanks to Brit and her song!!

run, thwarted.

Yesterday I realized that the Metro Tri is a week from Sunday. That's 9 days, if you count today. And celebrations of last week kept me from running, I began getting nervous. I laid out an intricate plan to LD yesterday.
Friday am - 4 miles
Sunday am - 6 miles
Monday am - boot camp
Tuesday am - boot camp
Wednesday am - 5 miles
Thursday am - bootcamp

See, the care that went in to that planning. It'll get me ready for a 10K in 9 days - and also for a nap! In fact, I think I need one just looking at that. I'll sleep on the plane on Friday for sure.

Turns out, I'm already behind schedule. Her Highness woke me up this morning at 4am whining. This is not a new development, and I believe it's an actual problem which I will explain elsewhere, but it was 4am and I was awake to feed my master. OH LORD. When I stood up, I could count the muscles in my butt. Because every last one of them hurt. When I reached up on the shelf to get Mia's food - I could also feel every single aching muscle in my arms and shoulders. There was no way I was going to make it 4 miles. I wasn't sure I would get myself back in to bed.

Luckily, for all involved, I did make it back to bed, and opted to sleep a little later. I woke up and tried (painfully) to stretch - and resorted to the Stick for a little muscle relief. My legs feel fine now, ohhh boy my arms and shoulders are screaming. I might be able to pull out a four mile run later this evening, especially if it rains! Otherwise, I'm behind before I've even begun.

i am the winner

Yesterday morning I got up at 5:15 am and got ready for boot camp, day2. I was tired. I had come home and gone to bed at about 1am, which was FAR too late for me, but with all my friends deciding to up and move out of the city, there is a lot of hanging out to be done. But, I was up and getting dressed - and off to meet the group at Auditorium Shores.

I want to back up a second and just recap my "running" for the internet. I'm not "a runner", or at least I don't feel like one. I'm not fast. I have to work hard to pull out an 11 minute mile. There I said it. I walk every 5 or 6 minutes. EVERY five or six minutes. And I long for those walk breaks. And sometimes I walk sooner (and longer). So, the image of "runners" in little shorts just cruising around all over creation - that's not me. I love to run, but that doesn't make me "good". I have, somehow, built up some distance endurance. So I'm no longer scared that I can't make the distance of a half marathon. And, I've overcome the soreness that lasted for TWO DAYS after my first half marathon. I can now return to normal the next day, or later that night. So, I'm definitely not the beginner I was. But when I hear people say things to me like, "it'll be easy for you, you're a runner" - I feel like I've tricked everyone. It's not easy for me.

Boot camp starts with a warm-up run. We were meeting at the South First Street water coolers, and our warm-up run was to head west on the trail to riverside, east on riverside back to the entrance to the First Street parking lot, and back to the coolers. A short little almost a mile loop. There are 9 of us in that group, and at least 3 of us all took off right at the same time, the other 6 not far behind at all. In the first minute of this run, I was ahead of the pack. I wasn't busting out a fast pace, although I have a horrible time pacing myself. As the run went on, instead of people catching up to me and passing me, my distance in front grew. When I returned to the water coolers the coach said to me, with a smile, "you're the winner" - and then she went back to discussing with the other coach some plans for the day.

It was when she said that that I realized the sad truth. I'd never won. I'd never even been first to finish a run, in any group, with anyone. Heck, all through Ragnar I'm not even sure I ever PASSED anyone - and we all know I was passed at least 10 times in one leg. So, as insignificant as it seems, finishing first out of a group of 9 during a 1-mile warm up run...

I was the winner.

Keeping on schedule

I have been surprising myself by actually sticking to the schedule as set out by Austin Fit. I did a few short 25 minute runs on the weekdays and then did the scheduled 5 miles on Saturday. I took a new route on Saturday, down one of the trails in my neighbourhood (can I spell like a Canadian here?). At first I was a little nervous because the beginning of the trail was really narrow and surrounded on both sides by trees. I almost turned back, but I kept on trucking and within a couple of minutes, it opened up to a wider trail with farms on both sides. I definitely felt safer, that was until I came within 2 feet of a cow. She was standing right at the edge of the trail. Behind a fence, but RIGHT THERE! I say that I love cows, and I collect pictures and figurines of them, but whenever I have been anywhere near a real cow I am terrified! This cow was HUGE. As were all of its nearby friends. Added to the cow terror was the fact that I was running head on into the strongest wind I have ever experienced on a run. I felt like I was in a wind tunnel. I think that added at least a half a mile to my journey since the wind kept pushing me back. It was hard, too!

While running, I was contemplating about the fact that most of my runs lately have felt un-good. I just can't seem to get into the groove where I forget about time and just wanna keep running. Or at least to a point where I am not looking at my watch every 45 seconds. I miss that. I want that. What I really need is Jenni to tell me stories while I run. That always makes my runs go nicely. Maybe in addition to the blog, Jenni needs to do a podcast that I can listen to while I run. Or maybe I should just find a really interesting podcast to listen to while I run. Hmmm. Will have to look into that.

6am non-run

Well, this past week has been bad running-wise. Between the never-ending birthday celebrations, related recoveries, and subsequent 4th of July, I found little time (or motivation) for running. But, I received an email offer the other day, that may be exactly what I need. The same place where my kickball team plays is offering a summer boot camp, and the price was reduced recently. I signed up yesterday and it starts tomorrow morning.

For one month, I'll be heading down to Town Lake at 6am 3 mornings a week. I don't really know what is in store, but I do know its likely to hurt. And, hopefully, get better. I also know that I'm currently keeping a food diary, which I need to EMAIL in to the head coaches. I'm unsure which to be more embarrassed about - the small amount of exercise that is bound to make me collapse or the frequency with which "cheese" will show up in my food diary.

Here goes nothing.

Oh, and I'll be running during this time too. Triathlon is only 13 days away!

Metro Triathlon, San Jose CA

It's official, Team Hard Coretex will ride (swim/ride/run) again! Last fall my friend VC came to Austin and we put together a team for the Austin triathlon - VC did the swimming, one of my grad school friends did the biking, and I rounded us out with the running. We had to come up with a team name, and as we are all researchers in neuroimaging, and completely bad-ass - Hard CoreTex seemed appropriate.

I'm going out to San Fran in the middle of July, and my trip happens to correspond with the Metro Triathlon in San Jose, CA. We've swapped in a new biker, as our old biker won't be in SF. Instead we're picking up another neuroimaging researcher from Berkeley. I couldn't be more excited! I mean, the rest of my trip out there is jam-packed with awesome shin-digs, celebrations and activities, but doing another team triathlon is going to be so fun. And VC is such a good little swimmer!

So it's on, my training is officially behind schedule, but I think I can eek out a good enough 10K in 2.5 weeks!

speedy, not-so-speedy

I'm a slow runner, mostly by choice, partly because I'm not good enough to go faster. I've said it before, when I started running it was a complete shock to me, and I never thought I'd be any good. Lately I've been seriously toying with the idea of running a full marathon - which is something I never thought I could or would want to do. (Nanio, are we still planning for the Austin full in Feb?! I kinda am...but not alone!)

In reading up and thinking about this full marathon thing, I've decided that I really need to become faster. My reasons for this is two-fold. First, a full marathon at my speed would probably take me something like 5.5 or 6 hours to finish. That's a long time. That's a lot of singing bad songs loudly. That's just...more than I care to do. Faster means, less time spent running, less time distracting myself with mental long division problems (yes, I do this). Second, I think if I work on getting faster, I will become more efficient. Which means, it will be easier to tack on the miles. At this point I feel confident in my ability to make the distance (a half, no problem - a full with a bunch more long runs, sure). But really, how will I feel when it's all done. So I'm going to try and use this summer to improve my speed and efficiency. Which, hopefully, will just make things easier for me in the long run.

Today's Plan:	What I actually did:
20 minute warm up at 12 min/mile at 0% incline	a total of 19 minute warm up switching twice between 14 and 12 min/mile at 0% incline
3 minutes at 10.0 min/mile at 0% incline	3 minutes at 10.5 min/mile at 0% incline
1 minutes at 12 min/mile at 0% incline	1 minutes at 14 min/mile at 0% incline
3 minutes at 10.0 min/mile at 1% incline	3 minutes at 10.0 min/mile at 1% incline
1 minutes at 12 min/mile at 1% incline	1 minutes at 14 min/mile at 1% incline
3 minutes at 10.0 min/mile at 2% incline	3 minutes at 10.5 min/mile at 2% incline
1 minutes at 12 min/mile at 2% incline	1 minutes at 14 min/mile at 2% incline
3 minutes at 10.0 min/mile at 0% incline	3 minutes at 10.0 min/mile at 0% incline
1 minutes at 12 min/mile at 0% incline	1 minutes at 14 min/mile at 0% incline
Cool Down	Cool Down

I was off on the 1 minute walks because I forgot I was supposed to be doing that at my 12 min/mile pace and the 14 one was a pre-programmed button I could easily press. It was tough, but I was mostly impressed with my ability to stick with the 3 minutes and inclines. I'm generally a wuss about this. Additionally I was impressed with my warm-up, I really only slowed down twice, the first time to adjust my bra straps (I do not wear a jane strap, and the straps somehow had slipped too long - disaster!) The second time was because I was tired. But normally I run 5/1's, so getting through the near 20 minutes was an accomplishment in itself. (I only went 19 because I was just silly and read the clock wrong - I was eager to get going I guess).

Tracking time and distance seems silly for this, because we can all do math - I was on the treadmill at set speeds for set times, the distance/time is uninformative. However, the statistic I like now is Heart Rate. Here we go:

Heart Rate before intervals: 138
Max heart rate: 158 *questionably around than 80% of the max for a person of my advancing age.
Heart Rate after Cool Down: 116

Saved by the blog, again!

The fates were conspiring against me, my friends. I declared that I would run, and at about 1 pm, I decided to put that declaration into action. Unfortunately, the universe had other ideas.

First, I couldn't find my Janestrap, which is a vital component of my running attire. I was pretty sure I had put it in the wash after my last run, but it was not hanging with my sports bras, nor did I see it when I put away my clothes that went in the dryer. It is a strange article of clothing, so I thought maybe it got jammed in the washing machine or something. There was no sign of it in or around the laundry area, though. Hmmm. Closet? Nope. Exercise clothes drawer? Nope. Laundry basket? Nope. After about 20 minutes of looking, I gave up. I hate to run without it, but I did just that for the first 8 years of my running career, so I figured I could survive.

Then I went downstairs only to find that my inhaler was clogged. I have exercise-induced asthma, so I have to use an inhaler before I exercise. I started a search for some sort of needle that could fit into the tiny little inhaler hole. I couldn't find one, so I just rinsed it out repeatedly and jammed a paper towel down around the little hole. Somehow that did the trick.

Next stop was finding my iPod. I remembered taking it out before my last attempted run, so now the question was, where did I leave it? I looked all over the house and couldn't find it. As a last resort, I looked in the drawer where it was supposed to be stored, and wouldn't you know it, there it was! Apparently I have been taking my commitment to keeping things organized seriously. I will have to remember that for next time.

Then I went out to the snugly (is this word really spelled with only one 'g'?), warm garage to tell the boy that I was leaving. This swayed my resolve somewhat because here were my two choices:

Rainy, crappy day:

Or cozy, rocking-chair-by-the-fire garage:

But I was strong, my friends. I knew once I started running in the rain, my favorite type of running, I would be happy. I headed out of the garage and was pelted quite hard in the face by some fat rain. This caused me to turn around, head back into the garage, and declare, "Forget it. I will go tomorrow." Then I sat down on a stool by the fire, quite pleased with my decision. 

But then I remembered that I had declared to the internet that I would run today, and I couldn't bear another failure in front of the internet. So finally at about 3 pm, a full two hours after I began this running attempt, I picked myself up, walked out the door and just started running.

It was glorious. I loved it completely and didn't hate it at all. Even when I had to run through a shin-deep lake-puddle on the trail, I was happy to do it. It was reminiscent of my BEST RUN EVER which was also my first 10-mile run that Jenni and I and our Austin Fit running group did in the rain around the Town Lake Trail in Austin.  When I got back to my house, I even did drills. In the rain! I am so proud of me.

Distance: approx 4 miles on pavement, dirt trails and wooden bridges.
Lessons learned: I really love running in the rain
Song that rocked my run: The Skin of my Yellow Country Teeth by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Another promise :)

I have been the queen of coming up with reasons why I just cannot run these days. Either it's too hot, or too cold, or my allergies are too bad, or I drank too much beer last night, and the list goes on.

My plan when I first moved here was to follow the half marathon training program that I did last year, through Austin Fit, even though I didn't have a half marathon to run at the end of it. I was actually hoping to get down to San Antonio to run the Rock n Roll half marathon in November, but instead, my best friend in the whole wide world is coming to visit me in New Brunswick, which is WAY better. Also, Jenni will not be able to run it this year either. (That reminds me, Jenni, we should plan to meet somewhere else to do a R n R half marathon. Dallas? Nashville? Vegas? Or maybe I can just come to Austin for another half.) Anyway, my point is, that I was planning on following a training program, and I am not really doing that very well. I keep getting emails from the Austin Fit coordinator telling my what my long runs should be each week, and I consistently ignore them. Well, not anymore. I have made public my commitment to run the 13K Terry Fox Run in September by emailing all of my family members and posting it on Facebook. Now is the time to get back into training mode.

According to Austin Fit, this weekend was supposed to be 4 miles plus drills. I did not do that. In fact I did very little all weekend, except walk a lot. Today is a moderately cold, rainy day, and my best runs usually happen in these conditions. So, today, I shall do my 4 miles plus drills. As Jenni may remember, I hate drills with a passion, probably even more than she hates the treadmill, but dammit, I will do them! I have a long driveway that is perfect for hopping, skipping, and jumping all over. I am also putting the Austin Fit schedule into my google calendar so that it is there every day looking me in the face. I can't say that I will do everything on the schedule, but I will commit to doing the long runs every week, and most of the short runs.

Here goes nothing.....

A promise

Here is it, my stuff for the treadmill today! I went for an outdoor run yesterday, and it was alright. it was hot, and I was slow. Today we're going to go inside - which I've decided is better than not going.

Yesterday I agreed to do a race, and it's coming up really soon. All the pieces haven't fallen quite into place yet, and when they do it certainly deserves it's own post. But this may just be the wake up call I needed.

This week's goal: tempo work on the treadmill. As much as I hate (hate hate hate) running on a treadmill I am really terrible at pacing myself. LDH can attest to that, I have two speeds - running and walking. I'm not very consistent, nor am I able to tell if I'm starting too fast (which means I generally start too fast). If I can't have LDH to set me straight, the treadmill will have to do. Now to search for some good articles and training plans on how to actually do that!

welcome to Texas Summer

The other day LD asked if I'd run, and when I said no she said she was just asking to make me feel guilty - for which I'm grateful. I need some accountability. Sadly, though, I had very few plans to actually run this week, so I don't feel like a failure. I just feel - lazy.

Let me introduce you to my friend Texas Summer, who is here in full force. It's hot. All day. Every day. Yesterday and today the forecast has been for Thunderstorms. Mid week the forecast was for partly sunny days. In reality, the whole week has been beautifully sunny, big bright blue skies, puffy white clouds, and temperatures near 100 already.

What this means for running though, is disastrous. If you want to be outside (which I do!) you must get going and be done before 9am for sure. Even 8:30 is sometimes too hot. And the humidity, it's much worse in the morning. If it cooled down in the evening, night would be the best time to run - but it doesn't. This makes scheduling a run pretty tricky. Getting up and out around 6:30 is my usual plan, but some weeks when there is a lot going on, this is just impossible. This was one of those weeks. There was a lot going on, and running never made it on to my schedule.

Without LD here to suffer through these runs with me, I envision a few more trips to the treadmill this summer. Perhaps I can do some speed work there.

I did it! (Sorta)

Well it appears this blogging thing is actually working for motivation and accountability. (At least for me.)

Today I set out on my planned 4 mile run. My stomach was KILLING me, but I decided that a run might help. Ha. After approximately 30 seconds of running, the pain felt as though my lower intestine had grown spikes and was stabbing my stomach and other intestines as I ran. Not fun! So I quit. But then I remembered that I had a blog to report to, and I didn't want to have to say that I failed again. So, I sucked it up and started running again. Today, I went to the Waterfowl Park for the first time. There are a few trails both around it and through it. I had planned a route that went from my house to the park, around the trails and back. Unfortunately, it looks a lot easier on the map that it did in the park. I got a bit confused and ended up exiting to early, so I think I only ran about 3.5 miles.

I did not see any waterfowl in Waterfowl Park, but I did see a lot of poop that appeared to have come from some sort of large birds. Parts of the park were pretty bushy, and I was a bit nervous about running by myself in the bush. Then I remembered that Sackville is such a safe place. It's not like I was in Surrey or something! My worries were alleviated for a brief moment until a heard a loud noise that sounded like a bear. On hindsight, it was probably a car since I was running near the road and was listening to my music quite loudly, but in the moment I went on high alert looking for anything that might come out to eat me. I need to do some googling to see what kinds of wildlife I need to be afraid of around here.

After the run, I thought my stomach felt a bit better, but that only lasted about 5 minutes until I drank some water and the pain came back with a vengance.

Distance: approx 3.5 miles on pavement, dirt trails and wooden bridges.
Lessons learned: Running alone in the bush is scary
Song that rocked my run: Seven Nation Army - White Stripes

Public declaration fail

Well, this is what I get for declaring to the internet that I am going to go on a run. I FAIL.

My shin splints from Sunday were still pretty bad yesterday, so I thought I might wait an extra day to let them chill out. They are still pretty sore today, but not so bad that I wouldn't have run on them. I did, however, wake up this morning with an EXTREME stomach ache. I think it could be all of the potato chips I have been eating after not eating potato chips for years. Or it could be the anxiety of arguing with my former property management company. Or it could be the 20 chocolate covered graham crackers I ate yesterday from a large package of cookies that only cost $0.99. Cookies that cost $0.99 for 50 are probably not the most nutritious things.

Whatever the cause, my tummy hurts. A lot. And so I didn't go running. If it eases up by 5, I will go for my 4 mile run. Any later than that and I will just become mosquito food.