Mid Week 5 Just keep going

Into the longer runs now, and the plan is still challenging with the weather and the crazy busy schedule we keep.  But it's going well!  Still doing the runs, and had 2 really good ones this week!  :) Then a  total drag on the dreadmill :P  My brain is complete MUSH; I guess that comes with age. 

Last Friday ended up being a day that the Biking in the basement and the Date with Tony Horton did not go.  It's possible that my birthday on Saturday did have a little bit of an effect on my well being.  By the time I got home from a full day of work, the kids and everyone were fighting, it was nasty in the basement, I just felt defeated and crawled into bed.  Mental game was lost that day :(

Saturday woke up feeling "whatever". Like determined that if it was a good day or a bad day, I didnt really care at all.  Its not that simple. But I find birthdays are always stressful; high expectations and then disapointment when its just another day and you still have to clean the floors and pick up after everyone. Morning hockey was fun, it was a good game.  Waffles for breakfast, housework, then off to Annika's hockey game (Holly had a practice).  Annika had a good game; then home again and I ate and got ready for my long run; 11 miles or 17.6 km on the plan. It was pretty cold but had warmed to -8 (not sure windchill) so I dressed warm and headed off.  I ran towards Toni's house and she joined me for the middle half of the run.  I managed to get to sidewalks without being killed, and then it was easy running until the sidewalks ran out but I was only 3 km from home by then. :)
It was sunny and the sun had warmth so it was a nice run!  There were a couple of times when I thought my face might freeze off but then we would turn a corner and I would get some relief.   It was not a fast run but honestly it was pretty effortless and at the end I did not feel as tho I could not go on. 
18.16 km
2:01:27 minutes
6:44mins/km pace.
Even the soul sucking hill at the end did not ruin my run!

Saturday night my friends did throw me a sort-of surprise party (I knew SOMETHING was up) and THAT was a tonne of fun.  Too many shooters were taken in; are they carbs? ;) But I got the Long run out of the way on Saturday for a reason.

Sunday I slept in.  I was awake at 730 but dozed until 10 when I finally got up. Before bed I took Advil and Gravol and actually felt pretty human the next morning.  It was a slow morning tho, since we slept through Drama and Hockey. ooops. We spend the entire YEAR running around; this one morning wont hurt will it?

By noon things were not bad so I managed hockey, which we won, and then after a restful afternoon I did make it to soccer, which we lost badly and had no spares. gross.

Monday is the crazy day at work. I didnt even attempt a workout.  Holly was home from school sick, so she missed hockey practice but even so I still went to Debert and put her team through a really good dryland session before their practice which included

a cardio, a push up, a core strenthener. then we did another cycle.


The cardio things we did were

skipping

burpies

jumping jacks

high knees

one legged "Mario" jumps

and running



pushups; do increasing numbers of

normal pushups from your feet

diamond pushups from your knees

wide-armed pushups from knees or feet

try a few dive bombers as well



Core work, cycle through

planks

up and down planks

crunches

zombies

Crunchie Frogs



Stretches:

Downward dog

Runners Pose

Pigeon

Warrior 1, 2, 3, Reverse

Chair Pose



And dont forget Clock Lunges

I did most of these with them. 

Exhausted!

Tuesday was a better day although I had a touch of whatever Holly had and it was totally gross.  I had Anatomy lab and the Formalin just about ruined my day :P I got some Gravol and went to hockey at lunch time; I think I sweated it out because I felt better after that; this hockey was at the big arena and I LOVE skating on that big ice. I would love to do it all the time. 

Tuesday after kid pick up I headed out for a run; it was sunny and not too cold...I went up the hill and back down; when I turned at the mail box I realised the wind had been behind me and LORD it was cold!  lol  But it was a good run, 6.67 km in 40 minutes, 6 minute pace including hills!  :)

This was all before the weather changed to NASTY.  The weather on Tuesday was decent.
Then it clouded over and became less nice.  Rain started Wednesday early in the day. RAIN :( I love snow.  The roads around were bad although ours were always fine.  But it was the WIND that was nuts.  The wind was blowing very hard (still is) and Although I run in rain and snow, rain and wind is a bit much for my delicate nature.

so for my scheduled 10 k yesterday I headed to a treadmill.  Its that or dont get it done, honestly.  I hate wind.

Treadmill 10 km and I swear it is harder to run on a treadmill than on a hilly course!  I put on a movie and  I warmed up for 2 minutes and then started jacking the speed up to 15 minutes when I was running 10 minute miles.  Which I ran for 5 miles before I started easing back for the last mile.2, til I was back to running 11 minute miles. FUN stuff. Movie was only ok. I need to finish it.

10 km in 67 minutes is NOT a good time :( But the miles are done and I worked hard during them.

Today its' still windy but really super warm. Im torn between my 5 km run or my bike.  SIGH.

Still mostly On Schedule!

Near the end of Week 4

Running this week has been challenging.  The cold really set in at the end of last week and some days running outside isnt just hard, it's dangerous.  At least for someone who is as slow as I am, and sweats as much as I do. 
Friday ended up being a no run day. Schedule calls for a rest day and I guess I listened . Figured I was resting up for the next day when I intended to do a long run. 
Saturday was COLD and really snowy. It was SO cold in the morning; got up and went to hockey but near froze at that!  Hockey was fun.  Came home and redressed after some breakfast because I had to get the long run in if I was going to.  Hockey game at 1130!  It was cold, which brought up the question of how cold is too cold to run outside?  I had no other options so I headed out at -18 C with a windchill, to get in the 10 k required for the week. Actually a good time to be a step back week although it was a way big step back, its what I had time for so I did NOT add the extra km I wanted to add.  Stick within the plan! 

I did the over the hill run which is a lot of up and down; it was super quiet with few cars out and things were frozen up so there was no worry of slush and wet. That was nice. IT WAS COLD. But I was warmed up within minutes and had lots of icicles by the end.
Scott picked me up at the bottom of the soul-sucking hill because I ran out of time and needed to get ready for hockey that Holly was playing.  I got in the 6 miles (less than 10 K ) and then caught a ride up the hill. 

After hockey X 2, and a quick trip to see a calf

in a snow storm, Finally were home and able to rest; except for a bit of a walk and stretch in the snowy weather :) In the dark.

Sunday is a busy day with a long run and a hockey game and a soccer game plus games for the kids. So this week, I did that long run on Saturday and so my Sunday morning was just a game for Annika, then house cleaning and marking until my hockey game, then more until the soccer game.  Doing less always makes me sluggish, no exception here. But Monday was MUCH better this week. I was less draggy and exhausted when starting out the week.  Gotta like that. 

Monday still ended up being a rest day.  Its just way too busy, I could stress out and make a 5 k fit in but what's the point?  It would be so stressful! class and work right up to 5 then choices of events to drag the kids off to.  Tournament meeting, hockey practice, Tae Kwon Do, etc.

But Tuesday!  That was back to running (on schedule now) and it was SO cold. Something like....-25 with the wind chill. 
I wimped out. I totally bummed some Treadmill time in a friend's warm dry basement ;)

If the weather keeps it up, I might be spending a lot of time on these things. I just cannot this week face the wind chill!   I did 8 km on this beast in like 55 minutes, running on a treadmill is not nearly as rewarding as outside!  But the run got done!  And I accidently read the schedule wrong (in a hurry) and what I was supposed to do was 5 km so 8 km is just icing! 
On Wednesday walking across campus made multiple body parts scream in pain (nose, cheeks, finger tips) SO I once again retired to the treadmill for my 10 km.  I was much less tired than the night before so I actually felt tonnes better.  The 10 k was not difficult.  Still dull.  I put tv shows on my iPad and distract myself. 
Thursday; still bad weather; Windchill was somewhere around -30 C which is still beyond what I can emotionally deal with right now.  I had such a short amount of time, I went to the treadmill closest to my kid's school, and quickly counted out 5 km.  As fast as I could; it was warm; total opposite from outside, I was running beside a (toasty warm) fire and it was hot.  But so much better than running in the cold!  Frostbite is not my friend!  5 k in 32 minutes including walking warm up and figuring out the treadmill/tv.  There was surround sound; it was kinda awesome! 
Which brings us to today.  It is only - 20 today.  But last night someone signed me up for Run Nova Scotia and Tri Nova Scotia, both associations that I had wanted to join this year!  Now I guess I have!
 And now, with the new bike from last year and the TriNS membership I really HAVE to do a Triathlon this year.  Its REAL!
So I am thinking I will bike in my basement today, and then maybe I will do some core/strength training (hello Tony Horton) rather than running.  Make this cross training. Then a long run tomorrow!  I wonder what I can find to watch on tv....
Mid Week 4 almost end of week 4!!

Mid Week 3

What a snowy run I had this morning!  If there had ever been a day for Snow/Ice grippy things on my shoes, this was it!  I don't know what I was thinking.

It snowed last night. Im pretty sure that we got every mm of that 10 cm we were supposed to get!  It's awesome!  Its pretty and white and awesome out there.  I went for a run last evening in the early stages of the "storm" and it was really a lot of awesome then too!  :) OK I like snow and I have no problem running in it.  I consider it an extra hard workout; running in snow is HARD!  Its harder than running in sand because although there is the drag and the shifty running surface that drops out from under you when you go to push off....there is although the potential to slip and fall with every step.  Which I did today!  :):)  So I think of it as an extra boost to the intensity of the run.  Plus its usually not too cold when it snows, and there's often reduced traffic.  Last night we ran on sidewalks (mostly) and had an awesome time despite the snow building up on eyelashes and behind my glasses.  It was a hard run; 8 km on the schedule for day 17 but we completed 9 (can't just stop on the road because you're done;))...it took over an hour!  I have to readjust my time expectations for snow runs; they are just hard :) And slippery! 

This morning I have an appointment with my Osteopath so I needed to get my run out of the way ahead of time. I decided to go before work, leaving as soon as the first school run was done :)  And you would think people forgot that it snowed last night.

Roads were centerline bare, slushy on the rest. NBD if one just slows down. As soon as I left my driveway I questioned the wisdom of running where I was. What I needed to do was go to where there were sidewalks.  But I was in a total time crunch, needing to be back and get ready for work (And I thought I was doing the second School run) :) so I didnt have time to go to town just to run. Plus getting all sweaty and having to spend the rest of the day that way because I had already wasted too much time not running early. Either way I ran from home.

My road is quiet but the road it joins is not particularly quiet. And despite the 60-70 km/h speed limit the normal limit there is about 100. It was hardly different this morning.  I found ice within about a minute and slid 4 feet down the hill.  Where are my snow spikies?
I didnt mind stepping into snow past my ankles to give cars lots of room to pass but I DO so wish more of them had slowed down so that I felt safer doing so. Sometimes I was right on the edge of drops offs and still felt the car was going to slide and hit me.  You can see them coming towards you at high speeds, sliding back and forth like playing MarioKarts.  I was in a florescent orange jacket so I KNOW they saw me. Some even think its sport, I bet, to see how close they can come.  and the one fellow who laughed ass off while hitting his tire into the slush and coating me head to foot; I am positive he spent the rest of the day pulling the wings off of flies and stealing his coworkers lunch money.  Karma is a bitch. And dirty slush is....salty just in case anyone wanted to know SIGH.

At one point stepping off the partly plowed edge of the road into deep snow rewarded me with an ice patch and my foot slid away; I caught myself before completely falling but both hands were up to elbows in snow now :) Very graceful. 

It was certainly an adventure.  But after a snow it is so pretty, its hard to be annoyed at the run.  A bit of a wonderland, really.  The run was super slow (had to walk in deep snow in a few places) at 5.16 km in 37:27 minutes.  Ick. But it was a tough workout and its done so I can have my appointment and not owe a run.

Monday; cross train day is rediculously busy so other than a teensy amount of stuff at Holly's Dryland I did very little. I was tho on my feet for like 7 hours at work. 

Tuesday 5 km turned into 6.5 km in 41 minutes. Good run. 

Wednesday 8 km turned into 9 km in 1:01 in much snow.

And Thursday's 5 km was just that...5 km in much more snow. :):):)

Still on track!  It's easier when the runs are not so much long :( Next week these mid week runs get longer and I start to feel time straining more.  Not to mention the increasing time that will be spent on weekend long runs. Time really is a reason why some people will never run a marathon!

Week 2 is over!

And its going well so far!! 2 weeks in January with most runs accomplished is awesome :):):) its such a busy time and work is long hours and weather is so tricky, short days, plus there is something about January and February that just makes me want to go to bed! :)

I added my activities for the weekend and LORD it looks busy on a calendar.

Friday night was time for me to be a vegetable.  Totally wiped out. Scott took Annika to BBall.

Saturday morning I played pick up hockey at 7 am; cut it a little short to make it to Annika's 9 am game in Debert where we stayed until 230.  Annika's game (won), then Holly's game (won) then Annika had another game (won).  That's a lot of games. So Then I had a game at the stadium, which lasted ages because no one was after us; we played for over an hour :)  Saturday was Cross training day this week!  :):):)

So Sunday morning I woke way too early to send Scott and Holly off to Cape Breton on what was supposed to be a fun day of hockey travelling on a comfy fancy bus; the company instead sent a school bus, and therefore the parents decided to take cars instead.  The games went well but the girls were tired and lost their second game to a team they should have beat. 

I took Annika to a 9 am hockey game in Debert (tied 0-0) and then dropped her off at her grandparents house with Taylor so I could do my long run!  :):):) i had 9 miles on the schedule and decided to go run in Old Barns on the Shore Road to Black Rock.  I thought it might be icey (it was) so I used my winter shoe grippies to make it safer.  they worked so well; no slipping at all on the ice! 

I ran on main road until the Shore Road then was on this dirt road for like an hour, running towards the end until I saw this guy with a dog, and I would have to pass them and then turn around and pass them again and the dog was not leashed so I turned before I was close to them, and headed back. Turned out it was almost just right for distance anyway. 


 

I tracked the run on MapMyRun on my iPhone and it was pretty wonky; it would say I did a 10 minute mile then 12 minute mile then 8 minute mile...and I was going a pretty consistent speed.  LOL





This scenery was what I was forced to suffer through for most of the 1:39:22 and 9.07 Miles (14.6 km) I was out there. It was chilly but not Cold, I stayed bundled up but didnt feel too hot most of the way. This was actually a rolling-hills route, with lots of long ups and downs. 

That green line indicates the hills :) The blue line is speed; those peaks are the wonky!  :)

Let week 3 begin!

Little Windows

Most days I have time for some sort of activity. At different times of the day, I have little windows for different activities. Not all activities are appropriate, and these times and activities change daily, weekly, seasonally. 
I read sometime somewhere (who'd remember) something about always being able to make time to run. Ie. if you have time to watch TV, you had time to go for a run. If you have time to sit down and read, you have time to run. But it isn't always that simple.  Sometimes that TV watching is during that 25 minutes I have between other commitments.  And maybe I had time to run for 20 minutes but what I do not have time for is dressing or cleaning up afterwards to be somewhere. Some of us cannot just go on in our running clothes. Mine will be soaked, and this time if year I am FREEZING cold with wet hair and a chill from the outside.  I have to change, dry off, get dressed in warm and dry, and ideally get coffee ;) Or Tea.

It's winter in NS.  That means it gets dark by about 5 pm, and doesnt get light again until after 7 am.  I dont mind the dark but with the icy roads and snowbanks making the roads super skinny, it's realistically not always safe to run.  So my running time coincides with my working time, and unless I can steal away a bit of time to run, I am stuck with dark.  Then I need to drive, find some lit sidewalks, and hope I dont hit ice.  Its all good, most days it works out ok.
I do find that I will think in the morning "ok I can do this at this time, or that at that time, or one more at another time".  If I dont get this or that at the right time, Im out of luck for the day.  I generally do not leave my runs to the end, in case I run out of time. Because sometimes I can redistribute and throw a run in, and other times I cannot. 
Monday was my day off.  And although the plan was for Cross training, I didn't.  Friday is my day off but Friday will be my cross training day and Monday is day off now because at least for the next 12 weeks I am going to be in class from 9 until 5, on my feet teaching, no time for a run. Ah yes, there is that window between 12 and 1 that is open for a run.  I suppose I could and someone who is really dedicated would take that window.  That is where I would usually sit down for a few minutes, have a lunch, answer emails, see students, and clear my head before 2 very lnog and busy lab periods in the afternoon.  So generally I wont run, and by evening Im a wreck, tired, cranky, too many people, too much noise.  I could do something else in the evening but I likely wont. Lets be honest.

Tuesday was full of windows.  I had a few minutes in the morning but rather than run I showered and went to work.  I had a couple of hours of lab, a meeting, and had to pick up Annika by 2.  That doesnt leave a lot of time to run AND get ready for people.  I brought snowshoes and we went snowshoeing while we waited for the other kids to get out of school.  1.5 miles on some groomed and some not groomed trails :):)  After picking up the other kids and going home, rather than run I did some housework, picking up at home;  I planned to run in the evening (in town) while the family was at a meeting. Except that after a tired meltdown 2 someones decided not to go to the meeting.  I had hoped to maybe salvage a run after their father came home but I was tired and it was late and I dont always settle well after evening exercise so again, I didnt do it.  Whoops.

Wednesday was Back At it day.  Already a day off of week 2!!  8 km on the plan became pretty 8.8 km as I did a loop from work after labs were over.  Not many windows on a Wednesday although better than Monday.  There is an hour between classes, an hour lunch, and last lab ends at 3.  So 3 windows, 2 short and 1 longer. I did the longer and then went straight home.  Wednesday night was DryLand training for Holly's hockey team, and I put them through some very intense exercises.  Did not get much for myself tho. It was fun!

Thursday was warmer but a little yuckier wetter weather.  Hoped to go snowshoeing but ended up running in my noon window ;) not quite 5 km in the little time we had to go, but it was better than nothing. Only 5 km on the schedule so close enough. 

Friday is cross train day but an opportunity came up to run with a couple of other people so I took it!  I needed another run day anyway!  One person could not make it but I went with Lavinia and she took it easy on me but helped me increase my pace a bit for much of the run.  i used a teensy window between a meeting and a lab to get that run in; actually having time to properly change and comb my hair ;) 8 km in about 49 minutes with some stop light waits.  Its all good.

So where are my windows going to be put for other stuff?  I can see getting very tired of being this "active" on my running plan but I have other stuff as well!  I am going to be working on biking (bike trainer is ready) and swimming a bit for a summer triathlon....need windows for all that!  I also like hockey (cross training?) and snowshoeing (season is short), and skiing (its been ages) and and there is once a week soccer games on Sunday (long run day/hockey day ugh).  So time become very tight unless I start using some of these little bitty windows of time, or cut something out (sleep?) 

Now I have some evening stuff going on before I can climb into bed for some much needed rest!

Marathon Training 2013!

Last Wednesday I decided to check out marathon training plans and I did my week countback to the Toronto Marathon, and when should I start my plan?
Turns out, I need to start it...Monday. Of last week. Whoops.  Conveniently, Monday was a cross training day ( I played hockey) and Tuesday was a 3 mile run (I did the Resolution Run) so I sort of was on track even tho I didnt know it.  But there I was on Wednesday with -25 temps outside, being faced with a  8 km run. This is NOT far. But I was feeling fragile ;) and I had a long day; and I did not run. At all.
My plan says I should have run 5 times last week. I got 4 done. I would blame the weather or our crazy schedules but it is what it is; I will vow to do better.
Breakdown of week 1:
Day 1 Cross Training; I played pick up hockey.  It was a fast day :)  New Year's Eve means we stayed up very late and enjoyed beverages.

Day 2 3 Miles; I did 6.25 km on snow covered trails; it was slow but beautiful ;) counts for extra right? Then I played hockey that night. New Year's Day! 

Day 3 Back To Work Day :P 5 Miles: I did not do that. I did however play hockey, another fast day.  Calling that good LOL. It was cold out.

Day 4 3 miles. I did 6 miles. LOL So off plan; whatever.  10 km on snowy road/trail, it was pleasant and COLD as hell.  Good company. I was really tired from the start. I think we totally got snowed on. Oh yeah and then I played hockey. But I didnt plan to, and I only played goalie so it wasnt too hard.

Day 5 Friday was a weird day since Scott left early with Holly for a hockey tournament and I was not going. That was weird to me. I worked and picked up the kids and grabbed a coffee with a friend, then took the kids home and rushed out for a run before it got too dark. We didnt make it, it got very dark.  But where we went had lights. 7.1 km run was a good stress reliever.  After taking Annika to Basket Ball, I fell asleep on the couch. Tired.

Day 6 Saturday was rest day.  I played hockey in the morning and then we climbed into the car and headed off to New Brunswick in a snowstorm  for the rest of Holly's hockey tournament.  They won their Saturday game so we were there for the night. We went out for a hockey game and a teensy bit of shopping before heading back to the hotel; despite the excellent company I totally fell asleep so early and rather than wake me, Scott went out and socialized without me.

Day 7 Sunday which means Long Run day; these will sometimes be on Saturday but since we were in NB for hockey I knew I was not going to have to save my energies for hockey or soccer later in the day so Sunday was LSD this week.  I was in a strange town with busy roads and it was - 1 billion C so I decided to use the treadmill in the fitness room (fitness room giggle it was SO small).  I had a lot of trouble getting it going but managed to finally get it to speed up and down and got a little elevation on it so away I went.  8 Miles on the schedule (12.8 km) so I took my iPad and set it up balanced on the dial of the treadmill and put on a couple of shows (Big Bang Theory, Once Upon a time, and something else. I cant think what...Something on Global) and watched tv to fill the time. The treadmill was overlooking a window so I could watch the sun rising.  The run felt slow but hard, only 9.5-10 km/hour which is kinda slow; but it felt hard.  It took 93 minutes to do 8.14 miles, 13.1 km, which did include some walking but is over 7 minutes a km.  I do not like that pace; much nicer to run outside.  Im not sure how accurate that was anyway :)

So long run over, it was off to more hockey, and more hockey, and then a sad drive home after losing the championship game with 25 seconds left to play after questionable calls :( then a snowstorm and extended our drive to more than 3 hours :( but we were home safely and did prep for Monday/sleep :)

So week 1 is done for better or whatever ;) Im still extremely tired, not sure why. Kept thinking I would get sick, with the way Im feeling; but no sick yet. Just dead tired.  That is going to make today's 5 km run a little hard. The temps this morning were -27 or so, but it will climb above freezing soon (its already -2) and if I can get a little free time I will be able to run.  Picking up the kids from school soon tho...

2012 wrap, On To 2013 and a Resolution Run!!

It's been a long time since a blog post was made. Too long to wrap up individual runs and weeks. Just an overview;

December miles took a hit when the business of the end of semester marking/Christmas shopping kicked in. It was hard to get the runs in while attending ALL the christmas concerts and plays and practices and games and parties. Running did not stop; it simply got less frequent and shorter in distance.

December distance was 122.2 km. Not exactly nothing. Actually October was equally sucky and I dont think I felt as bad as I do about December. January and February were lower as well. It doesnt bode well :):) Cross training is going to become very important.

SO I finished the year with a total of 1977.1 km. I could have made that 23 km up anywhere in the year but not in the last 2 days. Which is when I did up the total. SIGH. I was still 177 km higher than my goal for the year, therefore the goal for 2013 is going to be....2013 km. :):):)

Since I technically started training for a marathon on Monday the 31st (cross train day; I played hockey) :) I should log a large number of km this spring. I am using another Hal Higdon training plan, Intermediate Marathon plan (between 1 and 2) :) They have 5 days of running a week, which might be tweaked to 4 over the cold months or I need to find a treadmill to run on. :P

I started off my 2012 runs with a great Resolution Run yesterday; the Why Wait Resolution Run with GoTruro.ca. It was in our local park on snowy trails and fit exactly into my marathon training plan *happy coincidence ;) 6.25 km in about 45 minutes (with stops for photos :))

nutty nuch of snowy day runners




 This counts as my first 5bythe5th Challenge Virtual Run series :):):) Possibly motivational to get one moving at least once a month ;)


Happy 2013!