Tuesday, November 22, 2011

A Good "Running" Week Despite

The challenges placed on a busy week could leave me completely paralysed with "I can't do it all" feelings; in fact it has plenty of times when rather than just "doing it all" I go to bed and pull my covers over my head and ask myself  "why bother when it's so comfy here and Im warm and happy". 

But it seems like a bit more of a victory to look back over a week and think " I did do lots this week. I picked it up (literally sometimes) and pulled it together and was everywhere and did all of the things and cleaned lots of the things and got the three "THINGS" where they needed to be...most days anyway lol. The weather has been mostly agreeable for November, and the days are giving us just enough daylight to still be constructive. 

So it's a victory week and I am allowing myself a little bit of a victory rest this morning. Just this morning. Im not doing nothing, Im just doing a lot of it sitting here :):) I will be up and moving soon enough :)

Monday I got myself out of the office and got my run in before picking up the kids. I had hoped it would be a longer run but I did waste enough time that I only had a bit so I took to the trails around Bible Hill (minus the little one with the stream; I assumed it would not be passable in sneakers...or a small boat).  It was a gorgeous day with the sun shining and the wind at least not cold ;) 10.4 km in 1:04:11 which was a little bit more than the time I had (sorry kids LOL).  After pick up we enjoyed some time out in the yard and sunshine :)

Tuesday I had early class and then saw my Osteo; she concentrated more on other areas and we talked about other issues that have been going on; Im hoping to see some improvement to allergies and belly pains. No run that day; I did however skate with Annika's hockey practice which was good movement and activity :) without impact for practices.

Wednesday was yet another warm beautiful sunny day and I took advantage running out the door for a "short" run which is better than nothing LOL and I did 3 Hill repeats on the College Road hill before heading around the rest of the 5 km loop for total 6.7 wonderful km in 41:05 for a 6:07 / km pace :) Nice for on that hillllll.  Hills are your friend right?

Thursday was not the day I would hoped for lol Scott was away so I was off to school early and the kids went to school with their grandmother ;) Between classes and Lab I had to run home for the dishwasher repair man, he was an interesting man, rather rude IMO and after he finished telling me our dishwasher wasnt in as "asthetically" as it could have been, proceeded to preach about college students and vets and played with the cat. All the while I was wanting to run and needed to get back to class;) ah well I did get some housecleaning finished :) After kid pick up there was supper and then Holly had hockey practice and then bed time stuff with kids as Scott still away SIGH I was SO much extra tired on Thursday, not sleepy but that weary " I cannot walk any further than I have to" day :( I also felt a bit boggy-headed and sore throat/stuffy/congested feeling; I took some Cold FX that night (3!) and then the next day twice (6!) and then another that night and 2 on Saturday and one on Sunday and amd feeling so very much better :) Back to just sleepy lol for now!

Friday AH I love Fridays lol Class was ok and after class I had a run with Dara :) We went on the trails around BH (the dry ones at least LOL) and came back up to the college with 9.3 km behind us :):) It was a good run :) Still feeling a little crappy that day so it was good to get that run in; after lab was over it was home and into bed!  Meant to go to the tree lighting in town but we were all way tired and chose instead to get to bed earlier and be able to function on a busy Saturday/Sunday.

Saturday is the first day of the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge at http://www.runtothefinish.com/  which is an activity and eating right over the holiday challenge to remind us to stay active and don't totally forget to eat well between the festivities.  Saturday was a super busy day in a super busy weekend!  It started at 7 am when both Holly and I had hockey games :) 50 minutes of sprints and crashes lol totally high impact cardio for my challenge :)  Score 5 points! 
After our hockey efforts we had a nice breakfast (not so healthy french toast ) and then headed off to Annika's game in Brookfield. She played well; she has been playing defense with the other little girl on her team and their coach calls them Girl Power :) She is getting so good at poking away the puck and has little hesitation when she is going for the larger players!  Even when she falls!  It was very much fun to watch!
The weather was amazing with full sun and cool temps (like 6 C), and after Annika's game I stripped off to my running clothes and ran from the rink in Brookfield to the rink in Truro! It wasn't that far; its relative right?  I did a long run of about 10.something km last week and thought this week I could go up to 13 since I am sort of rebuilding once again; Im not sure why since winter is about to set in and that totally limits my longer runs; ever run 10 miles at -15? Freaking brr you just cannot stay warm.  But anyway while I can I am making longer long runs again. And since I have had not a single peep from my wonky knee I thought this would be awesome. 
And it was.  I mean, how much better can it get, sun shining, not too cold but not too cold, and I don't know if it was the net downhill despite rolling hills, or the temperatures, or the slight tailwind, but it was like the fastest and easiest run ever!  First 5 km was justover 28 minutes, 10 k was under 58 minutes (fastest this year?) and 14.4 km were finished in 1:22:27 for a 5:43 pace!  I mean seriously, who expects that after a morning hockey game and on a LONG RUN?  When my pace should have been at least a minute slower? It just felt so very very good!
I did hit a truck on this run;) I saw this fellow coming out of a parking lot towards the sidewalk I was on; traffic was heavy and I could see he was not going to get out of that parking lot any time soon but he seemed to think he might have a shot lol....I knew he was not looking my way and when he stopped I hesitantly kept going but then he started coasting onto the sidewalk and still did not look my way.  So I Slapped the front of his truck hood; scared the absolute crap out of him I know!  I waved and said "HIIIIIII" and then when he was stopped and likely considering the huge load in his pants I ran across in front and continued on down the sidewalk.  I'm just so tired of people who don't consider pedestrians and  block the sidewalk or just keep driving despite the fact that there is a person there.  Sitting comfy in their warm cars with their heated seat and they cannot stop for the people on their feet in the chill because it might make them 4 seconds later to whereever they are going.  I'm glad I at least am watching out for THEM since I would be a flat runner otherwise. Multiple times.
So a total WIN on the long run this week.  Can I keep up this trend? Snow is coming soon!
After the game we went home and I rested and puttered and did some housework before supper and the Santa Parade!  The kids were all supposed to be on the 4H Clifton float although Annika decided last minute to jump off and she hung out with me instead.  We had a long walk (1 mile but with a 9 year old) after meeting the float to where we were meeting friends to watch it; the walk warmed us up considerably!  LOL.  The parade was nice, I like nighttime Christmas parades with the twinkling lights and the Sweet Candy Christmas theme was cute :) Long walk (1 mile) back to parade start and the car which was stuck on the dyke (long story) lol and then we had drinks with friends before heading home. I was SO glad we could sleep in the next morning!  Or not.
Sunday morning I could not sleep in :( I tried very hard but I just could not do it! :( So I got out of bed and sat in my living room doing bows and knitting a sock until the family got up :) We had some breakfast and then they all went to Drama/Church while I stayed in my jammies and finished up some housework/bow work and knitted a little more (I tore the sock out eventually tho).  Annika decided on Drama over hockey for that morning; her game was an "extra" and I had told her before we knew about it that she could go to Drama; she has a solo in the Christmas play and really wanted to go and practice it with the group!  She has to get a little louder tho! I really missed her hockey game but sure did enjoy the quiet Sunday morning at home. 
Sunday afternoon I had a hockey game; another 50 minutes of high intensity for my challenge!  unfortunately things did not go exactly to plan and after my second time hitting the ice with my head (thank god for helmets) I had to admit to headache and nausea and sat a shift.  A quick concussion test after the game confirmed a mild (not serious) concussion and other than some memory lapses for the time after the game I actually ended up fine (with enough Tylenol).  Annika had a hockey game a couple of hours later so I rallied for that; the bright lights and yelling were a bit hard on my head but more Tylenol had me out of the rink and off to our second soccer game which was a 1-0 loss (lazy goal went in :( we should have had it) I had a few headers which may not have been well thought out but all in all it wasnt a bad game. I was pretty sluggish but without many spares I played almost the entire game (one break).  Another 50 minutes for my challenge!

So Monday morning was a groggy morning that dawned too early with a splitting headache that the Tylenol had some trouble catching up with;  I did sleep right to my alarm which doesnt happen often; maybe that is because of the kids who were up way past bedtime and cranky? Or the one that started throwing up and missed the toilet so she sat in her little foul puddle and kept puking onto her hands and feet?  OMG the stuff nightmares are made of!  Her father dealth with the mess and I took the poor little (cleaned and bathed)creature to bed with me. That's my role. Comfort.  He does puke. I hug.  But it was a late night.

Monday I wanted to get a run in since I had not "run" on Sunday.  I had to pick up the nighttime puker from school due to a sore belly (ok she was NOT sick. But once the school call comes Im obliged to pick up.)  so I did not get a run in during the day. Before supper and when there was still an inkling of daylight I headed up the hill and OMG was immediately struck by a) how COLD the wind was...what a change from the weekend; and b) how dead my legs were. I felt like I was dragging two pieces of firewood along. or some boat anchors. It was awful!  LOL But I got those 6.6 km done in 41:27 so it was not a complete loss. My head was much better and I was just glad for some fresh air.

So that brings us up to today. Seriously it is Tuesday. I started this post on Saturday!  Gads why is it so hard to write? Because its a long post! I need to get back to posting short daily posts lol.  I will add some photos when I get back home.  Today I have a run planned with Dara (in about 20 minutes). But nothing else. Snowfall warning for tomorrow but we are already planning a pre-snow run. Thursday might not be a running day; with expected RAIN on top of the snow. I might get a  workout done at home (yoga? OH PLEASE yoga!). 

Have a great Tuesday!

No comments:

2012 km Goal