December 27

ok So its been a bit of a running break; but sometimes other things take over priorities!
Will get back on track asap, starting with a trip to the gym after Boxing Day. Some jogging on the treadmill, weights, and stair climber are a start at the fitness reboot.

Wouldnt you know Ive woken with a nice chest cold.

December 5

Ran again tonight while Taylor was swimming; brrr. It chilled seriously late this afternoon. I had shorts and my skin was numb.



Tried to go a little faster and have to remember to push it more every time we run. We added some of Young street and plan to add more next week. Hills are our friend.

December 1

Ran with Tonya; it was a little rough lol we are both being a little outta shape lol she better than I, I think.



New route, kinda nice down there. lol.
40 minutes 58 seconds; more or less. We walked once to stretch out soreness.

Still trying to stick with running

but it has been so hard! No time, no energy, no nothing! Ugh.

Ran tonight while Taylor swam; it was actually better than I expected, as I did almost 5 km in about 34 and a half minutes. But I did run slow and take it easy and walked the first 3 minutes of that 34. Struggling badly to find time and energy. Thinking that I need to work and not exercise. Should be doingboth.

November 17

Ran alone; wasnt sure i would as i have soccer tonight but I decided it would clear my head so I went. Even tho I thought I was putting effort into it; apparently I wasnt cause I only went 4.7 km in 34 minutes or so and there were not loads of hills SIGH at least I am still going right?

November 14

Ran with Tonya - uphill for first long while then downhill some. Short because we started later. Good run. Warm weather.

November 12

ok I totally recommend running with a buddy all the time. I had way more fun and went further and felt better. And the weather was nice. I cannot believe i am running in november in shorts.

Tonya and I went tonight from the pool; we went around town where it was well lit, and not too hilly. It was dark and there were hazards like white binding tapes that jumped off the sidewalk and wrestled Tonya to the ground.

Excellent getting back into it run :)

Friday November 7

Ran 35 minutes in the pouring rain. It was not raining when I left home. and I didnt really mind it at first. But it got very dark and I realised the people in this neighborhood drive like maniacs! Its like every corner is an opportunity to see how well the car grips the road at excessive speeds. UGH. So I was running on the side in puddles as deep as my ankles and it was NOT a good experience. When I got back to Wilson Mountain road (dirt aka mud rivers) I was just like THIS sucks. And it is all up hill and I was soaked. I was pissy. Then Scott came along home and picked me up, and I stripped and showered and felt somewhat better. not a terribly successful run. I should have waited for Saturday. Who knew? Maybe I will go again. Or to the gym. Yeah the gym. haha


Photo from OctoberPhoto from November

November 5

Did it, managed to make myself run again tonight, while Taylor was swimming. Thought I put a lot of effort into it but didnt have a great time; about 35 minutes for 5 k but I did stop and walk 2 times for a minute; Better next time :)

SO Hard to get back up on this pony

Trying to get going again after being un-running so much lately is really hard! It's almost harder than starting the first time. :( Because I know how hard it was to build up to longer and longer runs.
But Im really trying to keep going after all this time and work I dont want to stop. I need to make more time in a day. I need to work harder to get the runs done.

November 3: ran while Taylor was at swimming; did 3 10's and 1 minute walk between. It wasnt hard but I figure I should build back up again. Running in the dark was a little different and although I liked it, I might want to stick to better lit places than the trail. Almost got hit by a car who didnt stop on the cross walk. Ugh. That was well lit.

Trying again for Wednesday.

Oct 20

Ugh its been 12 days since I last ran. 12 long, sleepless days and nights. And its gotten a lot colder in those; 12 days. what a great time of year; cold and rainy; I should not complain since really our weather has been ok and it was just drizzly tonight lol
Anyway ran tonight, thouight i would do a nice short run while Taylor was at swimming; Ran around town and was thinking it would be a slow 4 km; I got to the drug store near the pool to buy shampoo for Princess and wouldnt you know it was closed so I had to run up to the other drug store at the other end of the road and added 2 km onto the run. It was slow and painful lol. Had a nice bath to celebrate!!

October 6

Ran with Chris. What IS it with him and those hills? Wood Street hill is crappy! lol or maybe I was just lacking in energy from the day before running that awesome 5 km run in HFX :)
We did about 8 km in 55 minutes 18 seconds which isnt great and includes walking on some hills and being a complete wimp. Poor Chris. I think I broke him just before his marathon this weekend.

October 8

Ran while Taylor was swimming; 7 km in 47 minutes. Not so fast :)

CIBC Run for the Cure 2008

Was a really good run for us! It was a beautiful sunny, crisp day; perfect running weather. We were not too terribly late, as we tend to be. And we found Shelley and Earl waiting for us without too much trouble, thanks to Shelley's technicolour cast.

Them waiting for us. We were not exactly early but we were all warmed up :):):)

Before the race; I gots my awesome race shirt on :):):)Thanks Shelley :):):)

Shelley resting her sore leg during the run; even just standing is hard when your cast is pulling on broken bones UGH.

Me finishing in 30 minutes 14 seconds and that includes stopping to retie my shoes and walking for 30 seconds waiting for Scott to catch up (he never did HEHEHE)


The crowd after the run thinning a teensy bit; it was a horrendous crowd with thousands making the run/walk that morning :)

And one more for the road before we left and had dinner with Shelley and Earl. Nothinjg like a run to make you wanna eat and eat lots! Didnt I have the filet mignon? hahah YUM.

October 1

Run for today with Scott - about 5 km, with the dogs. And with a little speed, for me. Going for a new best time this weekend on the Cure for the Run run, Sunday morning :)


ABOUT 34 minutes for this run today. need to pick it up a bit.

September 29

After class I went running with Chris today who runs marathons (think Boston) and kinda told me I lack the killer instinct. I was trying to get across that Im not so much trying to improve my times, as just keep going. And Im not sure He was getting that because he again mentioned my lack of a winning attitude ;) ah well
I think if I keep running with Chris I am going to get my long long runs in, whether I like it or not. CAuse I mentioned, he runs marathons. And what we ran today was A slow as turtles for him, and B likely very short. Im not sure how one does it. I mean, where do people find the time to run so far? it takes me a long time to get anywhere and I dont always have chunks of time to do that in :) So in the meantime I will keep paddling along and just keep going. I keep thinking Im going faster SIGH but Im not.
So today we ran out the trail and back up Truro Heights Road and down the connector. If we had ran right back up to my house it would have been really close to 10 km but I stopped part way up Minerva. lol
very few walk breaks also. I didnt get winded but I did get very sore hips.

September 27

while visiting in the valley this weekend I had a chance to get out for a rainy run. I couldnt remember anywhere to go! The trails are all different, even the roads are kinda different, and YAWN boring on the roads lol I kinda found some trails and ran what I could remember, ran around my old schools which are very different from when I went there, and by the time I got home I had made everyone late :)

September 24

Good run while Taylor was at swimming, so I had an hour to do it in. :) Ran from pool to Bible hill and back around park street. almost 7 km (plus walking down and back up adds almost 2 more km :))
47.49 minutes.

It Took a Week

but I ran today! With making the house ready for moving and Scott being away Ive had no chance to run! And what a time to be without running, the weather is amazing and I could really use the stress relief :) Im back at it now!
Ran to the park and then up up up through the park; a slightly different route this time but still came up behind the Junior High and came down Upham/Cobequid/Curtis and back home. Took about 41.5 minutes of running so Im assuming somewhere around 6 km more or less again. Cant really measure it through the park, unfortunately. Need to get my pedometer going! lol
Really excellent run today!

Run on Hills

Last Friday night I took a class at the gym called Rock Bottom. I wondered if that meant you hit rock bottom, or if it gives you a rock bottom. Its the latter, naturally.
I usually leave classes and the gym in general feeling like I didnt get much of a work out. That must be because I am in such superb shape.
But when I left that class, my legs were shaking. Its alllll about the squats and lunges and stepping and crunching. AND IT HURT.

Friday night my body was tired but still ok. Actually, Saturday morning it was ok too. I even went to my second Yoga class. But by Saturday night, I was pretty miserable.

So the best way to feel better, is obviously to go for a run, right? Work through the pain. The pain is your friend.
Ha
and to make matters even more rediculous, we ran the park. HILLS. Totally up down up up up down up up up...and then down.
Tonya and I went over 6 km and ran the entire way, not stopping. It was easier to keep going than to stop. And we did 5 k in about 33 minutes or so, which is a good time for both of us.

It was a great run. Im going to run more often :)

This is my photo for September:

Excuse the slant lol
this was taken in the first week of September. of COURSE I picked a flattering outfit. Sheesh. what do you expect?
hahahaa

Two catch up Blog Runs

Ran on Sept 4th with Chris et al. Thought this would be super fun! Then we went up a hill. And another and another and I thought we were going to go down for a few but then we went up more and more. HATE hills and it is painfully obvious that I need to do more of them! LOL According to Chris' Garmin we went about 7 + km. Of stinkin hill! OK there was some downhill but it was after I was MIserable hahaha

Need more hills.

Monday I did a 5 km loop in Bible Hill that is much like the Oktoberfest 5K run that i plan to do there in October. :) Practice.Also lots of hills so more practice needed.

September 3

Ran with Scott today, put a lot more effort into it hoping to get a better time. 46:43 for 6.57 km. another km of walking at start and end. Hill at the end was a little harsh.

August 31

Ran with Tonya this morning, was so nice to have someone to run with. It was a nice relaxed run. On the trail out to the 236 and back again, about 5.8 km counting walking 5 at the start and finish. We completed the run with chai tea and a cinnamon bun at Fair Trade LOL!

August 29

Time to start running again. Havent felt up to it all week, every time I considered it I felt nauseated all over again ugh. Mental Im sure.
So I thought I would go for a nice easy short run this morning :) a few hills in it.
To do my time of 3X10 minutes I ended up going 6.5 km! 5.5 km of running :) 1/2 km walk at start and finished.

The 10 K Run

was awful!
I trained; I felt very ready
And then I got it. The FLU.
I went to the run anyway. I was sure that the worst thing that would happen is I would walk some. OMG was I ever wrong.
I tried to eat some breakfast and took some medications to help prevent any issues on the trail.
Sarah met me at the house and we walked down to warm up. Picked up our race kits and checked out the start line. Lined up pretty quickly and Bang we were away.
Within a few strides I had nice stomach cramps and couldnt even pretend to keep up with Sarah.
Did my first KM in 6:24 minutes. Feeling not too bad. About 2 KM in it got a little harder. And by 3 KM I was down to 7:30 kms.
By the time we got to the Old Barns road I was feeling very terrible. Dragging dead legs.

I should have stopped then lol

But I kept running. I ran past 5 km and almost to 6. When I came past Scott again I should have gone with him. But instead I started walking. I walked the rest of the way with this lady named Lauralee or something like that lol. She was very nice and the two of us were not last lol. I was SO sick I barely remember the rest of the walk. I was SO thirsty and my mouth was stuck together. I was dizzy and nauseous. What was I doing there? Finishing the run. At a walk. when I tried to run, I was very much going to throw up (which only happened once.)

at the finish, still walking but alive! Time?? About 1:27 plus, officially. We cooled off in the breakfast area, found the prize area where I found I WON the New Balance Sneakers (what were the chances??) YAY!!!! Then we headed off walking up the hill to home.
Honest, I didnt make it up the hill. SO nauseous. Brian picked us up and drove us the rest of the way to the house where I went to bed and stayed for the rest of the day. And the next day, actually.

And Ive not run since. Tomorrow is the day for getting back at it. finally feeling a little less sick although still not eating much. Tomorrow = run and gym. Oh and work.

August 21

Did my long run this morning; was supposed to do it last night. Too tired after climbing the ladder 10 million times.
I had mapped out around 8 km but it came in at a little less than that once I remapped a change of route. I only walked 3 short times and only because I felt like I should lest not being able to go further. And when I finished I ran up the hill by the house and I feel I likely could have gone further. That's all good news for the 10 K Im running in 2 days. :)

7.77 km in 57.28 minutes.

Next run will be the 10 K!!!

Aug 20

did around a 5km run this morning, on the advice of a friend for training for the 10km this weekend; 2 short runs this week and one long one. I should have done a run yesterday, it was Run day, but I spent the day at the Ex for 4H day and it was a stinking long day, I was busy from 630 am on, and in bed shortly after 8 pm. Exhausting.

So run this morning felt pretty good but on measure was only under 5 Km I dont believe it because time wise and run wise it should have been over 5 km. took 35.5 minutes to run and mostly it was flat. The path isnt on the map so it is only a guess and Im not stressing about it being under 5 km. Obviously ;)

Sunday Run

wanting to start trying longer distances since I totally signed up for a 10 K (ugh what was I thinking) so this morning I decided to run out to the Old Barns road (should be about 7.5 K from my house and back) and I did it in about an hour with some walking out and back for warm up/cool down. Im tired, totally useless right now. Very stiff when I came home. I did 10 minute run 1 minute walk even tho I can do longer times, thought for repeating that 10 would be a good place to be right now. Havent been doing regular runs lately so backtracking a little is ok.
Im thinking the 10 K is going to kill me.

Run

Joined Nubody's in July. I decided to leave Curves due to some unfortunate behavior by some women there (Sigh, Women!) and I am just too old for that crap.
So being a nobody at Nubody's is just preferable. Although I sometimes feel as tho I am floundering not knowing what is best to do, and Will continue my runs outside, not on treadmill, for as long as possible.

I registered for the Cobequid 10K run yesterday. I think I must be freaking nuts. I cant do it! I cant run 10 K! but I suppose I can totally walk some of it and who cares if I dont run it all! SIGH. I will run at least 7 km of it. IF I do better this week than I have done in the past 3. Will continue working on it.

I ran to Nubody's yesterday, about 1.75 km; ran it faster than I usually run and I did it in about 12 minutes. With 3 minutes walking included.

Ran home slower, 14 minutes; doesnt seem like it made much difference to run fast or slow, it apparently isnt that much of a change of pace :)

While at the gym I took an orientation class and I did the circuit 2 times. Dont see that being something I do a lot.

Need to try to get to the gym tonight and do some cardio; its raining now and couldnt go out this morning thanks to the soccer jamboree. Which went on for over 6 hours :)

Running in Saskatchewan

was super hard. I thought the drier air would be nice but it was so super hot and I did find it hard to run out there.
Even so, I managed to go running 3 times :) I cannot believe I have not gone since we ran the 5km in Saskatoon tho.


I went to SK Wednesday and because of the time change, found 6 am a really nice time to go running lol. It was still hot hot hot. And I was awfully thirsty lol.
Ran Thursday and Friday mornings. Then the wedding "stuff" started and really just found I was up too late at night and didnt have a lot of get up and go in the morning on Saturday. These photos of the town or Warman where we stayed show the thing about the Prairie I think is neat; very flat, and as soon as you run past the town limits, its FARM.
The Saskatoon Road Runners Association River Run Fun 5K
Sunday mornning after we went to bed somewhere around 2 am (wedding reception and clean up) and listened to the rest of the merriment (loud drunken people stumbling in all hours) we slept for about 4 hours and crawled back out of bed, had some breakfast, water, and drove off to Saskatoon for the 5K River Run. There was also a Half Marathon and a wheelchair race going on. I was totally a wreck. Asleep on my feet. It was not the most ideal way to be running a race; Out of our time zone, in the heat, didnt run much the week before, and with 4 hours of sleep. I can see where it didnt start well lol.

The run area was beautiful. It was beside the Saskatchewan River. The flies were NASTY. There were not that many people there, there were less than 70 people total running the 5 K. And since there was no place to hide my camera, Ive no photos lol.

Scott and I started together and although I did pull away for a while, once my hip started to ache he passed me easily. He did eventually stop and walk awhile to run to the end with me. I note in the results he finished 40 seconds or so before me despite running across the finish together so I totally disregard the results. haahh

The run was up and down sloping hills the whole way with no flat. Glad I practiced all those hills :)
Finished feeling not too bad, collected some refreshments, our medals, and headed back to Trevor's house where we actually had a bit of a nap lol!!!

July 31

If I dont start getting out every second day, Im going to go nuts! LOL its awfully hard to get out of bed....while everyone else sleeps...


Adding more hills to the run, I ran down Glenwood to Willow, which is all downhill, got to the connector road and ran to Walmart which is all up hill, then down Wade street which is down hill, over to the Cobequid trail to go home, where I met Laura and she ran part way with me which always makes things a little faster.
Gotta start increasing distance if I am doing the Cobequid 10 km.

Running

So glad to have my blog back again...it was checked as spam? huh. no one even reads it, who was I spamming? ha
Not getting out every second day as hoped. Got out last Tuesday, then Friday, then today (Monday) again. Not often enough, but the runs are getting better. If I stretch during the run my hips dont hurt as bad although that doesnt always work, its something to keep up.
I only did a little over 6 km this morning. It has been extremely hot. I hope the humidity leaves soon. It can leave the hot but not the humid lol
planning to run again wednesday.

July 17

Managed to get out for a run in the morning at 7 am which is a great time to be running (although not the best time to be awake SIGH I love sleeping) but anyway it was cooler and clearer and very nice.
Had to be a shorter run because the kids needed to be to the dentist by 8 am, so I only went for 8 and 10 minute sets. Run was shorter at about 4.5 KM but still by near the end my hips were painful and dragging my feet forward was really unpleasant. SIGH.

Still good to get out for a run. Will go again on Saturday. Trying for every second day now that Scott is home again.

July 11

Aching aching hips. I wonder if I should be doing some sort of stretch that would keep my hips from absolutely killing me after about 4 km.
Not too cool this morning but better than waiting til the heat of the day has sapped all energies :)

I find running the roads I run further than I would on the trail; its just less monotonous and more interesting. PLus you take this road, and that road, and you dont stop when youre tired, you stop when you get to the end of this road. and That road. and if you need more distance, add another loop.

July 1

I didnt get a good photo for my July 1 photo this month but I do have one that will have to do ;)

July 7

Been doing a few runs on the trail since last week, taking the kids sometimes on their bikes. Getting fairly far; have issues with the trail being too flat, I am sure its going to kick my ass to run on hills.
its also gotten far too hot most of the time for running with the kids. They complain a lot lol.
I got up early this morning (ok earlt for me) and was running by 8 am and since the fog has not burnt off it was tolerable. I ran down the streets and over some nice gravel by the train tracks to get some different terrain. I also ran sets of 11, and only had to alter one for darned stop lights (I dont like running in town, it wrecks my stride lol)
I think getting outta bed and running straight away is nasty. I had a sore back and my left hip was Brutal painful almost the entire time. I need some get up and move around time.
I like running in the morning tho. It is nice.


I didnt get out of breath at all, wonderful running when the air is cooler and clear. I did however struggle with the aching body. Im getting too old for all this. I can, tho, see the 10 K in sight. :D

june 23 08

Havent had a great time since the Johnny Miles run lol
Im still sick and Scott went away and I have reached the point where if I dont keep forcing myself to run, I could very easily stop now. Its not that I dont want to go, just that it is taking time and effort and things are very busy and its hot and Im still having this cough and If I dont make time and force myself to make that time, it can get lost with so many other things we have to be doing :( I worry that without extra effort the running will go by the wayside.
Anyway I did go for a run last Thursday with Holly on her bike, my first since the JM run because Scott went away and things were just so hectic with soccer and ball hockey and everything, running didnt happen until Thursday and it got very hot as soon as I went out lol figures, chilly all day before that. I did 3 runs of 8 minutes with 1 in between and only walked 2 at the start and end, but it was a little tough.
On the weekend Scott and i went away to Inginish to see Rob and Lavinia run in the Heart of the Highlands Triathlon, and gained a whole new respect for those athletes as tho I didnt have respect before. they work really hard! I would never (ok never say never) do one of those, but I have considered how we could manage a team triathlon, with someone doing the swim, bike, and run all separately. It could be kinda fun.

So I came home again with a few tips and some inspiration and started back at it again, tonight running with the family, and I think it went well. For one, I think I ran faster than I had before. Not a lot, we are not talking Olympic running or anything lol but I went the time ive gone before, and got a lot further. And did some walking as well.
I started out at Willow street like we usually did, and walked 5 minutes to warm up, then ran 3 sets of 10 minutes run with 1 minute walk between, and made it all the way to the road to Old Barns. And ran back again. Holly kept right up with me on her bike.

It was a good run and now I need to keep it up; and if I intend to run a 10 K, I better start adding kilometers lol!

The Johnny Miles 5K Run

Was run today.
I had a rough week with the cough and my runs werent good, I didnt get out Thursday or Friday and Saturday I did a short run to Curves rather than running far, so I kinda started out today feeling stiff and sore.
We attended a wedding last night of my cousin. Luckily it was near New Glasgow where the Johnny Miles is run. We still had to get up early but we had Grammy come to the cottage to stay with the kids, and Scott and I headed over to the run.

the weather was drizzly and cool. Cold almost. Perfect for a run I think!

First thing we did was grab a banana and head to the Race Kit pick up. Then I picked up the timer, and had a wait. I planned to find Sarah and waited by the Gazebo for her.

We were surprised to see Chris C who was running the full marathon. This surprised me because although I knew Chris has been running a long long time, I didnt know he was doing Marathon lengths. He ended up finishing 23rd, out of 108 people running the full marathon!


Sarah and Laura found us and we hung out after that, warming up, going to the portapotties two times, and checking out other runners. There was a fellow in a pink skirt. We can only imagine why. Lost a bet? Laura ran the 10 K.

We saw Leanne, Delaine, Tera, and Helen.
Ran into Rob and Lavinia who were both doing the half marathon. Lavinia and her sore knee finished first lol!

Saw a friend from college I have not seen since we graduated.
Saw a lot of folks from Truro.
Saw Lori L from our Ball Hockey team:) HEY LORI! GREAT JOB!

We ran up the course a little ways to warm up, but headed right back to the potties hehehe nerves!

Then we went to the starting line.
It was a long wait for the race to begin. They lined everyone up and started at different times, so we had to wait until the 10 K started. The wait was hard on us, I kept warm by bouncing. Scott disappeared; I wanted him to take my coat but he wasnt around lol He was placed to take some starting photos!

At the start of the 10K run, Scott looked for Laura but didnt find her anywhere.

Our run went up a hill first, following the road. We ran about 2K on the road before turning in our 5 K onto a trail that followed beside the river. That was a nice place to run, not too hilly and very pretty. I walked for about 30 seconds when my calves got tight at about 12 minutes in, and then ran again because I felt loose and was breathing easy.

Gotta say tho, as nice as it was to see so many kids running, it was very irritating to be running with them. They tended to run really fast and pass you, then stop right in front of you. And when they were walking on the trail, which wasnt that wide, they were wandering around, walking three across, swinging arms around...I tripped over more than one and had to ask at least 3 to "excuse me" so I could get past. Things that break my concentration arent always welcome.Dont get me started on strollers.

This trail continued back to the starting area, went under the bridge, and down the back side of the park. This was a little more than half way.
Scott waited here to catch more photos. Sarah was looking pretty strong at this point.
I was glad to see him! I really wanted to leave him my coat lol. After going under the bridge which was slippy, I was feeling a little tired.I actually stopped to walk for another 30 after the bridge because I was thinking there was a lot of race left and I likely should; I didnt really feel like I needed to. Not winded and no stitch in my side which had bothered me all week. I had a coughing fit just before the bridge and was feeling a little shakey. Getting rid of the coat, as little as it weighed, actually made me feel a lot better.
Heading up the trail past the park at about 25 minutes, I was feeling pretty good! Easy stride, comfortable breathing, felt like I could have gone forever lol! Been looking for that feeling all week!

After the turn on the second loop we were back on the road and heading for the finish line. The road way was nice, there were a lot of people cheering and it was nice and level.

You couldnt see the finish line a long way away because of a corner and that was likely good. I sprinted the last long ways, it felt good to do that.



I dont feel nearly as ragged as I looked lol. I like the end of the race!

At the end they totally call your name as you finish, nab your timing chip, give you a medal and a water, and you are done. !
And I was very happy to be done! lol I thought the race kicked ass! Hahahah


I finished the 5K in 32:39 minutes. I do believe this is better than my college times. I dont really remember the second year lol.

158 1138 Teri-Lynn Masters 41/62 F3039 33:11 32:39 6:32

I finished 158/220 people so I didnt come last which was really my goal. Finished 41/62 in my division of old ladies hehehe
Averaged 6:32 minutes per km.
These are the times and places I intend to work towards improving as I run more this year.


the venue as we were leaving and walking back across the bridge. There were 1400 people there today I believe! it was so well run, except for the bathrooms there was never a wait or a problem! AWESOME event!

tonight

Ran almost 5 K I think Im not sure cause I cant accurately measure. It was rough. Its been cool all day but got very very hot when we went out and I have this cold...but I still did the run and made it through with a stitch in my side the whole way.
did 9 minutes 3 times. gonna walk less on the weekend so might wanna practice doing one more 9. Likely wont tho.
lol
We did the cobequid trail from Highway 326 towards Old Barns. No shade there. Kids had a good time on the bikes tho.

Our 5K Practice attempt

Likely should not have been done mid afternoon on a hot hot day.

3 minute route

April 08 Learn To Run Club

At the urging of a good friend I joined this Learn to Run club. Couldnt be a better way to run. Im sure. lol
We met once a week to run as a group, and talked about things like nutrition, running techniques, stretches afterwards. And we started with running 1 minute repeats. OH it wasnt hard hahaha I kinda thought it was a bit funny, it wasnt tiring at all. I would run with the club, then go straight to Ball Hockey practice and I wasnt even winded.
The hard part was to only run 3 times a week. I really felt like I wanted to run more, but was willing to give the program a chance to work without messing up.
Week 2, we were running 2 minutes and walking 3. Still easy.
Week three, we were doing 3 minute repeats. The kicker here was instead of walking the 3 or 4 minutes from previous weeks, our walk period went to 1 minute. That was hard. Running 3 minutes was ok, but only walking 1 minute was a switch. I actually found it easier to do this alone, rather than with the group, with my music turned up and going my own speed.

Week 4, up to 4 minute repeats. Still not too hard.

Week 5, we were running 6 minute repeats, but less of them. This was the week my allergies kicked in, and I realised how hard it is to catch your breath when you cannot get a deep breath.

Week 6, the last week. We ran 8 minute runs 3 times, with the minute in between. Now I am starting to see being able to drop the one minute walks occassionally too, because its starting to feel pretty good. We listened to a previous running talk, she was funny and talked about how you get addicted to running. Huh not me.

Did get a cool Certificate tho lol this is for my scrapbook lol!



We decided a week before to go to the Johnny Miles run in New Glasgow, not to win, but to Finish lol. I think we are really close to being there already :) 5K runs I mean. It is hard to tell, Ive mapped out on mapmyrun.com and seems we are already running 5 K quite often.

Weeks 7 and 8 we are now on our own. We`ve met at the same trail to run as a much smaller group, and it went really well IMO. Im feeling really awesome doing these runs. They arent hard and I look forward to it.

This week (8) we are meeting another place to have a change of scenery. I mapped out how far we need to go for our 5 K. We`ll see how far we get with our repeats. Last time I ran, I started 9 minute run 1 minute walk. I actually ran 10 minutes the last time to make up for a time I had to stop and put Annika back on her bike; a few minutes there. Im going to be running 9 minutes for awhile.

This weekend past I came down with a cold. I assumed it was allergies for 2 days but I had to break down and admit to a cold after the sore throat took over. :( A week before our first public run! ugh lol
I have kept up running and even added the 9 minutes but my chest is heavy and Ive got a cough that is embarassing when other people are around its loud and dry and hacking. I really hope it eases up before Sunday; in fact I hope it eases by tonight because we are running togehter again.

Scott has been running as well for about 3 weeks now. He is doing 3 or 4 minute repeats now, I dont know which. its nice that we can do that together and once he catches up, I might actually see him. At the moment we are running at the same time on the same trail lol and the kids bike back and forth between us :)

Something kinda fun and healthy that we can all do together. Taylor ran with me a few times but she isnt up to 8 and 9 minutes lol.

Now if I could figure out how to eat right...

At the end of April, 08, I started running. Something I have not done since the days of College Woodsmen when we were forced to run the streets of Truro without any training, running tips and hints, or a clue what we were doing.
Ive started again, the right way I hope, and now Im on my way to enjoying the run.

I couldnt believe it when I tried out for the Woodsmen team the first time. I wanted to chop wood and throw axes. I did not want to run! That was something I avoided like the plaque in high school and absolutely hated. It was not fun, it was an escape tactic. Ive never been particularly sporty anyway, just wanted to play a college sport. We get to try outs and the coach is like....ok go run. RUN! Omg. I dont want to do this!
I totally struggled through the first few runs. Coach Rick would say go run to THIS road and that was how far we would go that night. The worst were when we sprinted, lining up and running together, the last person in line runs to the front and we continue this way all over the campus. UGH it was awful and I couldnt keep up.
Then I kinda happened across something I could handle. It was running, yes, but I almost could have walked faster. It was more like shuffling. Carefully putting one foot in front of the other squarely so that my knee didnt hurt. And I could do it for much longer. That is how I survived Woodsmen running. It was likely very good for us, but some tips would have helped. I hear, the teams long before us ran around corn fields. IN their workboots.

I even ran the Octoberfest 5K run. Twice. The first year I managed to finish. Not last. the second year I shaved 5 minutes off my time and actually did much better.

But after I left AC I didnt take up running again. I tried a few times but didnt enjoy it and didnt want to keep it up. Ya kinda gotta want to do something like that.

This year I played hockey. In the winter. And I kinda thought this would be a good time to become fit again. Ive let it go while the kids were little, i mean, a meaningful fitness plan requires a lot of dedication when you have little kids because the time you have to eke out each workout is tiny. Ever even tried to WALK with kids? Its more like a stroll from one puddle to the next. It doesnt raise your heart beat above a nap.

So I started going to Curves with Sarah. And we have had fun there. Ive started toning muscles long not used. But its not exactly a hard workout. Doesnt really get the heart pumping. To this date Ive lost 15.5 inches all over my body. Im very happy about that! After years of being a slug, its nice to be active again.

After a month of working out and 5 inches gone, Im not seeing a whole lot of changes here. Feeling good but not seeing much difference. Clothes still fit same, looks same. This is a really bad photo, I dont think I looked this bad lol

After 2 months working out, and just started running. Starting to see some pleasing differences. Running going well, lost a pound, 5 more inches, and clothing maybe a little looser.

After 3 months of working out and 5 weeks of running, seeing big changes now. And I think it is all due to the running! lol Lost 7.5 pounds, 5.5 more inches, and now running 8 minute intervals. Its going great!

So this blog will detail the running and some of the things I hope to accomplish with running this year! For example our first 5K run is this coming weekend :) the Johnny Miles run in New Glasgow! Wish me well!