Friday, January 28, 2011

Something New and "old"

Monday was, as expected, extremely cold. With work being dreadful and the temps I didn't even attemp a run. And my best laid plans of an hour on the bike trainer went very wrong lol. I was charmed into comfy jammies and bed instead.

So moving on to Tuesday without a look back ;) I got up bring and early and put in a DVD...P90X is now finally started. Day 1 was chest shoulders and back, and ab ripper. I toon awhile and although I did terribly, I did the whole thing. I cannot really do a pull up without the chair and barelynwith...but I will get Better. I modified a lot of the push ups and found a lot of the crunchy things really hurt my hips and back on the cement floor. But I did the workout.

I didn't manage anything else tho lol, coming home from work early to stay with Holly, having coffee with Karen, taking Taylor for vaccinations, cooking supper, there was no good time for a run that I needed. Glad that I got the DVD in the morning done. It was damned cold anyway.

On to Wednesday and now 2 days without a run. I'm determined to not go more than 2 days without a run. Weather peermitting it should not be that hard.

Weather permitting what a joke.

I got up at 5 in the morning so I would have an hour to do day 2 of P90X before the kids got up. plyometrics. jump training. It was a lot of jumping. And squatting. And lunging. I am going to have to coordinate run days with some of these leg days.

As the day has gone on my arms and shoulders and ribs have gotten more sore. Legs so far are ok.

And last thing today before leaving work and going home, I forced, yeah, forced myself into the running clothes and out for 5 km. I so easily could have said no and gone home. It would have felt so good. But instead I got that few kms in and picked up the kids to come home. It wasn't the best run; it was cold and damp and icy and breezy but after about 5 minutes, I warmed up enough to not shiver and it got better.


Wednesday was my 38 th birthday and I found it, as usual, a bit of a hard day. I have no issues with getting older; in fact most of the time can barely believe that I am in my late 30's. It's no biggie. But for some reason I always expect birthdays to be this awesome day with people smiling and peace on earth and it still surprises me that it is just another day. Same shit to be done. Ahwell, my family always makes it super special and they are adorable so that is what counts.

After my short 5k I picked up the kids and headed home for my birthday supper and cake :) now I'm warm in a new winter coat and comfy in new yoga pants and sweater, and full of chocolate lol.

Thursday; up early for another P90X workout which was arms and shoulders this time. I liked that one. No push ups hahaha no pull ups. It was messy in weather so school was cancelled and I got the Ab Ripper X workout done as well before going to work. However with inches and inches of slush and nasty winds going on I did not make a run. Ugh.

Now it is Friday how does time fly like that?

4th day in a row of getting up at 5 am. This should make a habit eventually. I put in Yoga X without realizing it is an hour and a half! Gads no time for that.
45 minutes in I heard little feet upstairs and the coughing, gagging, vomit. Yup Annika has the stomach flu now. So no more yoga, barely out to work with some readjustment in scheduling I should get home around noon but will I get to run? It is Scott's birthday today and I cannot make him do the shopping and stuff...so I can run. But I do need to get a 5 k run in. It isn't near enough according to training plan.

Have to let this not so successful running week go and start again tomorrow; I think my training plan says run 21 km. Good lord doesn't it know it is winter in NS? I will try for 10 km right after morning hockey and see if I can fit a few more in around the hockey for the rest of the day!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Keeping Active in Wintery NS

can be challenging LOL  its cold and damp or frigid and windy or snowy or rainy but it's always interesting to see whats going to greet you when you leave the house :) 

Thursday I just could not face the cold and damp; I realise -3 isn't cold. I do.  Im not a wimp. but after spending the whole day feeling like crap, I just wanted my nice warm house. And warm, it sure was.  There's no middle ground in our house; it's either very hot or very cold.  I came home and changed and got on the bike trainer.  I lasted half an hour. It was SO boring LOL. Even tho I had a show on tv, it was still boring. And hard on the butt. And loud.  After half an hour, I did stretching and some light weights, some crunches, some planks. Yawners LOL.

Friday I took the running gear to work; weather coming was terrible, but I hoped to get out at noon while it was sunny :) And I did manage that!  5 km at tempo run pace of about 29:42 minutes.

Saturday morning was hockey; pick up hockey.  It was good :) In the afternoon, Annika's team had practice and I skated that too.  :) I had planned to go to hockey in the evening but I fell asleep and missed everything.

Sunday morning I got up early and when the kids were at church I ran around the Black Rock Road loop. It's short from the church so rather than the 12 km it was about 9; I added a bit more by running towards the bay for a bit but it was a long long downhill and I figured running back up was going to be brutal so I did turn back after a bit.  I ran to the main road and back up to the church where I arrived just as the kids were finishing. That run was particularly challenging because the dirt road loop was a sheet of ice, with tire track width gravel spots and some crunchy "groomed" patches at the sides. It was so tense; I slipped a few times and went pretty slow.  11.15 km in 1:14:42 wasnt so great for time :( But pretty good considering how icey it was. I figure running on ice should get extra bonus km points; the 13 I needed today didnt happen but 11.15 on ice should compare. It was beautiful out. But cold.  -12 with little wind chill.  Pretty good. I wore underarmour tights under my winter running tights. I wore a tech t shirt, long sleeved shirt, fleece, and my windbreaker running coat; one pair of socks and one gloves, but 2 hats; a light one to cover my ears, and a balaclava which I spent more time and energy readjusting than anything but it was really warm.  I got a sweat on for the first 6 km then was pretty wet and cold for the rest.  Ugh.  Im not sure how to avoid that.

After a bit of rest I went to our Sunday hockey game; I got 2 goals in the first 2.5 minutes, and we didn't want to totally crush the opposition so we all backed off; maybe too much since they almost tied us but we won 3-2 .

Now ready for a day off tomorrow; although I do think I will do more bike trainer and stretching and weights tomorrow evening, it's supposed to be cold with wind chill of -34 and Monday's are horrid long days for me. 

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Nice Mid Week Long Run

Wednesday I planned a relative long run (10 km this week) but wasn't sure when I was going to get this done.  I knew it wasn't going to happen Tuesday thanks to the -22 C temps. Wednesday is a very busy day at work and I dont often fit in runs, especially if I have to pick Taylor up at the pool; I find it hard to get out of work on time and get the run in by 530 when she (supposedly) finishes.  With Scott taking care of the pick ups and also getting supper picked up (thank Nanny for making soup:)) I found I did have time to get the run in.  Preferably with the +4 temps (in rain) over the colder temps forecast on Thursday.  With the weather network promising a foot of snow on Friday I was psyched for some snowshoeing!  :)

So the plan did not go exactly as I hoped with working longer than I should have and it was still raining SIGH.  I really considered going home; had had a funny feeling in my belly all day but nothing specific.  I almost went home but reasoned I would rather do 5 km today than nothing, and better 10 today in the warmer weather than the next day.  Reasoned myself right out the door; extremely damp and chilly but I knew I would get warm if I got moving so I did :):):) So glad!

the first 5 km were actually pretty fast; this very long legged very young girl passed me in the first km going quite fast and that silly competative side of me picked up the pace after I felt warmed up, as even tho I could not keep up, I didnt want to look like the plodding turtle that I am, at least not for that moment.  I chuckled as she hit the first (and only) significant hill, and started walking.  :) I love that hill, I motored right up it and made up some distance.  She started running again at the top but as she turned onto the next street with another (insignificant) hill, she walked again! I may be slow but I keep going!  :):):) I passed by her on that street; she did not like that and would not acknowledge my hello LOL.  Around the corner she actually crossed the (busy) road and passed me on the other side, then up ahead crossed back; weird huh?  I did not take up that much space!  I soon lost sight of her in the dark and turtled on. 

After the first 5, the second were a little longer and more work.  I kept to sidewalked, lit streets so there was some crossing over and repeating of streets, but I did get one more good hill in front of the college that I kept a steady pace up :) the rest of the route was rolling hills.  I very seldom walked; Ive been taking some planned walk breaks in my runs but it may be time to cut them shorter again for some real training and endurance.  I did end up going a bit further than planned, thanks to accidently shutting off the Garmin for about 10 minutes (estimate).  close enough. 

there was a point where I felt the temperature change, the wind picked up, I was quite wet, and I kind of regretted going so far when the ice pellets started hitting and the wind went through my coat (not wind breaker material but warm).  It was only for the last maybe 2 km so not so bad.  My belly felt a little squeamy a couple of times when I was running but nothing to stop about.   The roads got a little icey later on so I was glad to go home to the soup when I did :):)

After eating I did feel quite ill and had some quality bathroom time;  I went to bed early and slept off and on while the kids came in and chatted and I answered somewhat coherently.  Feeling a little better this morning but still off and kind of out of it.  Maybe I need a nap.

Today's plan was for 4X800...What Im not sure LOL gotta check the plan!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Missing a few Important posts LOL

Ive been doing the running and just have not had time for the posts about them! Guess it's better to get the runs done than to be posting about not running which would really suck.
Im still enjoying most of the weather being tossed at us but I suspect I will not enjoy the weather tomorrow; from -22 this morning to rain overnight and all day tomorrow. UGH.
I did not get to enjoy a nice snowy run last week; by the time I got out of classes, it was far too snowy to run; it was really safest to just head home. The snow came fast and very hard; bad drive home and it would not have made for very safe running :( I waited until Thursday for that.  The weather was a lot better although there was some snow all day off and on.  Roads were clearer. 
I did not have a lot of time, unfortunately; Taylor had Drama after school and had to be picked up and taken to swimming across town.  I managed 3 km warm up and only 2 300m hill repeats, a fast cool down and then picked her up. 5 km done in a little over half an hour.  I kind of intended to do a little more after I picked her up but by then it was snowing wet snow and misting and i got cold sitting in the car so I just went home.

we had a lot of plans on the weekend involving Taylor's swim meet in the Valley so while the kids were at hockey and 4H I got my weekly long run done Saturday morning after Pick up Hockey.  14 km running through Bible Hill to town and back home again was nice; I do think I am going to have to start cutting up the longer runs tho, as it was not even terribly cold and I got realllllly cold before I got home.  I figure if I need to do 16 km I can do 5, 5, and 6 or something like that?  Will see as weather comes along I guess.
The 14 km was really nice, about 7 hilly km into town, a stop at the McWilsons for a cup of water which took a really long time.....they ignored me forever.  I dont think a cup of water was too much to ask for SIGH.  Likely didnt need the ice; it was cold LOL.  Then the 7 km home which went faster although it didnt really; just felt faster. It was nice and sunny and very pleasant.  My Garmin was dead (concerns about the battery; its not holding a charge long, I hope it is just the cold sapping it) so I ran without a pace which I didnt mind but my mind wandered a lot and I found myself slowing down sometimes; estimate about 1 hour 40 minutes for the 14 km. 
Sunday for swim meet and Monday for horrific long day at work mean no runs but Tuesday morning (today :)) managed to get back out at it, despite doubts when I heard the temp was -22.  I dont mind cold but its a shock when the average has likely been about -3. LOL dressed in layers and went out but forgot the scarf. My face was hurting so much!  My lips were numb as was my chin :(:(:( Ouch.  went up the hill for 3.3 km then came back for a total of 6.5 km in 42:36. No music; the Ipods are not happy with the weather either LOL.  Very nice and sunny again :)  Rain coming tonight and tomorrow; I owe 10 km for tomorrow's run (shorted today and no run yesterday mean I really HAVE to do the 10 SIGH) May do the hill repeats called for on Thursday if the weather is super bad; then do the 10 on Thursday. 

Have a lot of concerns about the trail shoes; I know they arent really meant for pavement which is where I ended up spending most of the time on them. but my ankles and knees were really unhappy with the change; I almost wasnt sure I could finish the little 5 k I did with them; the discomfort was so much. In the snow I ran in, they had awesome grip; like my feet had magnets and were sticky; but Im not sure it's worth the strain they caused; I dont know if I run enough trails and snow. Took 2 days for legs to stop aching. The shoes are stiff and not at all spongey LOL. And might be too big?

Not sure what the rest of the sunny day will hold today :)

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Glare of Ice run 1/11/11

A little late for a mid week run but I did get out just before 8 am to run; WOW was it ever icey.  The road was icey; the side walk was worse; the best place to run was in the crunchy snow but it's exhausting. Im tense from running on the ice and tired from running on the snow.  But that 8.4 km is done!  :) 51:47, so times acceptable.  It was a good run with good temps (a little cooler so less sweat) people seem to think it's the cold that is hard to deal with; it's really the wind and the sweat LOL.  I think I like - 5 and no wind best. Snow optional :) Going to have a chance to run in the snow again tomorrow; going to use the trail shoes possibly maybe; still have not decided if they are going back or not!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Long Run January 9

After nearly 3 months of running without doing particularly long runs, I tossed in a long run today.  If I am going to follow a program I do need to begin to ramp up the long runs again. the plan I had looked at following stared off the end of week 1 with a nice 16 km run. Im not currently there. I have only really done a few 10 km runs since the marathon and I cannot remember a longer one since then; no need. But going from 8 km this week to 16 on the weekend; toooo much. I did decide I would do 12 this week, 14 next, then 16 2 weeks from now. So I did my 12 today. Almost.

We were expecting some snow today and I was just hoping it did not rain before I was finished (snow changing to rain is so our norm....it's crappy.)  Started out about 9 am (late sigh) in some very strong wind that came and went; headed up the hill; it was very pleasant and warm (-2).  The hills were ok although speed was not terribly constant or fast. By about 2 km the little flurries started; more of a sprinkle than anything else :)

Held off to about 8 km; just as I turned onto College Road I met some other runners and the snow was getting thicker; one of the ladies had on an Orange Resolution Run jacket like the one I was wearing and we had that "heyyy nice jacket thumbs up on the Res Run" moment. I wonder who that lady was? LOL  Then off again. It was about then I kind of figured the snow was no longer a flurry but more of a steady.  Still nice. I was wearing sunglasses for the bright snow and protection against wind and snow and was pretty glad of it.

At about 9 km I was thinking that was a lot of snow!  And it was pretty heavy; I felt like a little kid out playing in the snow; it was melting on the road and starting to build up on the sidewalk but still ok.
Heading down the Old Court House Branch it started to get slick on the roads and I was getting further off when a car would come in case they were being idiots and driving super fast.  Still enjoying the run although it was getting pretty dark and the snow was starting to build up on my sunglasses; I took them off and it was brighter but snowing in my eyes now; still fun!!

Across the bridge and heading up the hill towards home; it's snowing pretty hard, but im a little bit sad to see my car come along, Scott offering a drive home; I was only .4 km off the 12 k goal, couldnt see any point in not taking the drive since i was at that moment walking in a snowbank to avoid a car; but it was a fun run!


11.6 km, 1:17:18 time. Not great, but conditions were less than ideal.

I thought I would take a little time to rest before the hockey game this afternoon but rather, I did laundry and swept, and ran around getting things done :( so hockey game was exhausting :( I could barely move! :( That wasnt' the best laid plan but really, I cannot sort out what IS a  good plan for the next 3 months :(  Moving long run day to Saturday might be my best bet ;) if the kid's hockey lets me! LOL

Saturday, January 8, 2011

January 7 Run

The third run of 2011 was much better :) although it snowed all day the temperature was around freezing and it was pleasant although slushy :) planned for 8 km and despite the traffic lights 8.15 km was done in about 53:45.  Other than the car that aimed at the really large cold puddle intending to splash me; he missed (neener)! 
Hockey this morning was good; lots of work with few spares :)  Hockey with Annika was less demanding but still good exercise :)
Considering hockey this evening ;)

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Mid Week Run

Work is super busy right now and I suspect it is only going to get more busy; Im going to be putting in lots of extra hours in the next few weeks :( Im going to have to really prioritize my time and do what is most important rather than what I "want" (given the choice I swear I would sleep 12 hours a day; that never happens). 
Tuesday was a wash; everyone was tired and it gets dark so early!  It's been super cold in the mornings too, warming up to near freezing during the day then being about -15 (this morning) before sun comes up. Sun has been coming up nice and bright; the days are really nice!  Too bad Im stuck at a desk or in a classroom!  :)

Wednesday after I finally finished classes and meetings and stuff I changed into running clothes and in the dying light of the day I got my 8 km in. It was a bit sluggish; I was tired and hungry and it was cold LOL.  I took almost 53 minutes to get in those 8 km UGH not so great a time.  At least the miles are in.

Im thinking I am going to start P90X this weekend; I finally got the schedule of what to do day to day, and Im determined to get some photos and start the program.  I need something to keep focus with the bad weather that might be coming.
I also got a program for a marathon that MAY just be a little bit optimistic; It's running 6 days a week and I dont know that I have that much time to commit to the one activity, along with hockey and P90X.  Something has to give a little and I think that is going to be the 6 day a week schedule (Hal Higdon). Might hunt me up a nice 4 day a week running schedule to follow LOL.  I will try to keep updating with information!
 :):):)

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Goals for 2011

Im not great at sticking to goals but I do need a few to keep running ;)

1. Kms run: last year I wanted 1500 and I finished with about 1692.75. So this year Im thinking 1800 would be an awesome goal.

2.  Marathon.  Do I want to run another. YES. Im actually thinking one in spring and one in fall.  Fredericton Marathon is on my radar. Nothing for fall yet.

3. 5 K PR.  I want to get a PR in this distance this year.  Which means Im likely going to run more of them. :)

4. Weight; Id like to be 5 pounds lighter next end of year than I am now. That's doable right?

5.  Drink more water.
(there, water bottle filled)

6.  30 minutes or more of activity 6 days a week.  Not average; every day.


Ok i think that is enough for one commitment shy person lol









New Year Running

So far runs in the New Year have been....sparse lol. It has not taken much to put me off a run; a little snow, bad roads.  Scott didnt want me to get hit by a car ;) The drivers around here are a little nutso.

But ok maybe I should listen to "me" and have a little break.  Im not going to sweat it and Im going to do more biking anyway ;) and I do have access to a treadmill so it's not so bad. 

Sunday was hockey day and I did not get up early enough to separate the run from the game, so I didn't even try.  The hockey game was intense with only 1 spare per forward/back, so we skated a lot. That's just fine with me; I dont really get terribly tired ;) It was an easy game with 2 goals for me before we switched forwards and backs and I played defense and had fewer chances but that's all good because defence is fun and restful and it's good for our defence to play forward and know how. 
We took down the tree on Sunday and that took a lot of time before and after hockey.  There was a lot of cleaning to go along with the tree taking down, and I sort of got on a roll which is rare so lots of cleaning of things got done.

Monday, last day of break; sad sad day. I got up and dressed for a run but it was snowing great fat wet snowflakes and Scott said too many cars were skidding and maybe if I drove to town and ran on unplowed sidewalks it would be safer but I hate having to drive somewhere to run so I just changed into cleaning clothes and started in with floors and carpets and laundry....I wanted Annika to clean her room but she defied me and went out; so I cleaned her room for her. She thinks she got a great deal but she has NO idea what I threw away. And I love a good throw away session; I got rid of a bag of clothes and a whole bag of garbage. She wont miss a thing.  I organized her books and everything. She didnt learn much of a lesson because she has no idea what I tossed, but I had the satisfaction of throwing out loads of stuff so I figure we are even. 
Once she came home and I had most of the stuff out of her sight, I had her clean the rest while I went for a run. It was almost dark and I litterally tossed on clothes and ran out the door.  I tried to set up my new headlamp but I could not get the batteries in, and I figured if I had Scott help, I would never get out the door. It amazes me how people drive up that road!  And everyone was right all over the yellow line so it felt like every car was right on top of me. It was getting dark quickly and I was dressed brightly (pumpkin coat) but not enough apparently. No one took my elbow off but it was unnerving and I really need to go during daylight hours.
Despite the drivers it was an awesome run.  Jillian started a new program and claims it is 18 weeks to the Fredericton Marathon so I am kind of following her routine when she lets me know what it is; And I will cross train more during these cold months to come. I dont have time to be out running while it is light anyway; good looooord my schedule this semester is full! Ugh.  Tuesdays and Thursdays might be run days. Im determined to keep 3-4 runs a week going.
5.4 km in 33:53 minutes yesterday; not bad for snow and dogdging cars and snow banks. At one point I stepped to the side right into a very deep slushy puddle. That was....refreshing ;)  Ah well it's all an adventure!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

New Year so far looks the Same as the Last

I have no idea why we always expect a new year to look different from the last; it's shiny and fresh, but by noon time it always looks like the last one.





Did score some running treats for christmas; a fleece hat and running socks, running tights, looser yoga pants type pants, trail sneakers (might take back; do I NEED those?), a cute shirt that Scott had to mail away for and a travel mug as well. 

Accomplishments over the Christmas minivacation? None.  Christmas was accomplished, the rest was a blur.  Running accomplishments? None.  I barely got out. Not that I had a lot of expectations.
New Year's Resolutions?  I dont have any.  Im not going into some long silly list of resolutions in attempt to make myself better this year. Im going to try to keep my head above water and keep my sanity. Are those resolutions? No different from any other year.  I am going to try to do better. But it's not a resolution.

I did not get any running in on Thursday.  After hockey it was just too nice to spend a couple of hours relaxing, did some housework.  But the hockey was pretty intense LOL no spares, no breaks for an hour.
Friday hockey was also intense; I took Holly along and she enjoyed it but I think she had no idea what to do without breaks. She was tired.
The weather has been warm but it's also been wet. Warm is relative, with temps around freezing; temps I love to run in. Nice if it's sunny tho.... lol not so great if raining. I would rather run in snow than rain; it's not so nice to run in cold rains.  It has made some pretty running scenery :)

Friday night; New Years Eve :) We signed up for the Resolution Run ages ago to get the jacket; it's a super nice jacket, all but the colour; orange and black.  I love orange but did not particularly want a hunter orange running coat to sport around town ;) It is just the right weight and very soft :) Going to be a favorite winter running coat from the Running Room :)  When it came time to go to Halifax for the run we were less than enthusiastic; weather was nice, temps were perfect, but we were tired and going all that way was not so much fun now that it was time. Nevertheless we went to Halifax and picked up the race kits; including jackets. Now I do not usually wear the race stuff to the race but all of these jackets were just so funny; I had to!  all running around in matching orange coats? Hilarious.  While at the Running Room I did exchange my tights; Adidas ones for Brooks Infiniti tights which I hope are going to stay up well; the waist drawstring was a must!  :) I hate having to constantly pull up tights! They are really nice :)
The run?  It was good....very hilly, as Halifax tends to be, but nice.  Weather really was perfect although it might have been more perfect if we had run while the sun was out.  I thought we were going to take it nice and slow but the pace was speedier than I had planned; most of the way it was great but a few times I did feel as tho I was totally out of shape LOL hills are great!  Unfortunately the run was not a full 5 k (4.7) so I dont really have a good time comparison (26:11).  I think for the lack of training it is a good time LOL Im not unhappy considering I planned to go slow and conversational with a few other friends, I ended up just running off with one while the others went their own way. So much for a social New Years Eve run!  LOL
Ah well it was a good time.

No New Years Day run. how did that happen?  I suppose I could use my new headlamp and go ;)

2012 km Goal