Monday, June 23, 2008

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!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

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!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

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

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

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...

Monday, June 9, 2008

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!

2012 km Goal