Intervals

I love intervals!  Even if they are hard to get in thanks to routes and hills, I love intervals. Because there is always the promise of that break in the middle, even if it's jogging. LOL I like how I feel after intervals, tired but not wrecked, and Intervals require no special route or track or anything.  I suppose one might rather call them Fartleks if they are not on a track and perfectly paced, but call em what you want. I like them.

This is the first Wednesday run Ive had in 3 weeks!  Not sure what happened, Oh wait, Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy labs started 3 weeks ago and Ive not run since on a Wednesday.  Im busy in class in morning, lab in afternoon, and class at night. Im beat on Wednesdays!

After the (tough) long run on Sunday I took 2 days off on advice of someone who should know more than I do.  Resting the sore knee which gets a little worse every time I have a long run.  It's weird, something pulled in back of the knee I suppose but it's not bad enough to stop running, just uncomfortable.  And once the marathon is over and those long long runs are a thing of the past, the knee should be fine ;) I'll rest then.  But I did take Monday (rest day) and Tuesday (Cross Country Meet) off, and threw in a Wednesday Morning run with some intervals.

after taking the kids to school I had this teensy window of time to run. If anything had gone wrong I would have been short, and late for lecture.  Ugh.  No time later tho, to run and then shower,  so it was a must-run or forget it kind of morning.  Straight to the trail and no time wasted getting started; ran a km warm up then alternated 1 km sorta fast (under 6 minutes a km; still really tired and not pushing it) with a slightly (30 seconds) slower km between.  Finished with 3 X 50 m strides which felt awesome :):) all in all a good run, despite hot humid weather. What is with this weather?  it's 25 C on almost the last day of Sept. No complaints here, but it's certainly out of character for around here.  The sudden cold snap is going to be really hard on us LOL

Little time for stretching before getting off to work but made it, and now a lot tired while preparing for the lab this afternoon UGH.  i prefer morning workouts because this is certainly sleepy time ;)

Run tomorrow?

The Last Long Run of the Marathon Training

omgomgomgomgomgomg.

The last long run...it's done. 

What I am hoping, is that it is no indication of how the marathon is going to go.

What did I do wrong? If I don't figure it out, Im toast.

Error #1:
its been a long week.  I was very busy. I only got 2 runs in rather than the 4 that I should have.  And the last of those was 3days ago.  I needed to get out yesterday (Or even Friday) for a little run to loosen up. I was tight and uncomfortable for the start.

Error #2:
Way late start. I have decided Im a morning runner rather than the evening runner I used to be. At least for these long runs.  I had breakfast, snack, coffee....and waited. I had a bowl of cereal. and waited.  I don't really feel as tho I was properly fueled this day. Which didnt start until like lunch time.  The morning was hectic and weird and pointless.

Error #3:
run on a new route.  It had potential.  We drove around this morning making sure that the trail through the woods actually went somewhere and it supposedly did (waste of 1.5 hours but needed to know where it would end up!)
It was a beautiful wood road trail to Brookfield that had potential. I mapped it so knew which end we were better off starting at to take advantage of some long down hills.  And less uphills. We started in Old Barns and the map lied! It was a lot of rolling hills which should not shock me but I was still like..>Really? another hill? Sigh.  We made a wrong turn and werent sure about getting through to the other end of the trail but we did make it across the covered bridge and onto the little trail.  It was beautiful by this time, warm (too?) and sunny. Lovely fall trail. for awhile.

End of the trail and longer than expected because I could not run it exactly like I mapped; had to readjust and I think it was longer. M was super tired (played hockey just before we started) but luckily we were running towards her house, so she had a rescue on the road, and we parted.

Error #4:
Forgot Ipod. this is my time for enjoying some music and I forgot it!  UGH.  I was so bored.  And gads, at the end of that pretty woodsy fall road was the road to Brookfield and it was SO BORING! 

I got to the highway at a little over 20 km and stopped to eat the other half of my bar.  I had some chomps too. Maybe Im not eating enough of them?  Drinking a lot of water? I refilled my bottle from Margie's before she was rescued by I was out by this time.  Store coming up.  Bought more water.  And started back towards Truro.

Error #5:
From Brookfield it seemed like all up hill. A lot of  hills.  I don't know about a wall but I know I was a hurting unit by that time.  Hips, and really, legs, calves were tight and aching.  And the back of my left knee (and sort of the right) was very painful. I used to feel this running in college and wrapped my knee then for it. Wondering if I should get a knee wrap? and try it out this week? hmm.

That part of the run was Miserable.  I was unhappy. LOL not winded and not really tired, just very very sore.  UGH.  And still without music was bored.

Ached all the way home; called Scott to pick me up and ached in the car.  Came in and could not face standing in the shower so I caved to what Ive been avoiding; a hot bath.  NOT AN ICE BATH. LOL  too cold!  It felt super nice and i was almost human at coming out but now I wonder; how is that going to feel tomorrow?
What is the point in the ice bath?

Im wishing for a leg rub right now. It isnt coming. LOL  Im also hungry and believe I was a bit dehydrated and am drinking loads.  I dont think Ive stretched enough. Gotta before sleep which isnt coming in a hurry because Im occupied.

Did arrange rides for the CC meet this week and I was so relieved I almost cried hehehe parents are awesome!  Could have slept before, now am beyond sleep. UgH.

Doubts are starting to set in with the taper beginning. Not so much, did I do enough, but can I even complete this?  Is it going to hurt too much? I was looking forward to the longest run getting over, but now Im not filled with confidence like I was 12 hours ago lol.  Im doubtful because of the pains that set in so early. 

I did come home and see, this run was 7 minutes faster than my previous 32 km; Im also not completely confident in my time/distance assessment LOL but its all good. I certainly wasnt going for a faster time but would have liked to finish it not teary and miserable. 

Doubts are going to take over on the next 3 weeks.  Im sure of it.  PEI isn't hilly they say; it isnt terrible hard they say; Its a good BQ run they say; I would just like to finish on my feet (4.5 hours would be nice ;)).

Gotta stretch.

Park Run

The weather in the park was perfect today. It was coolish (maybe 16?) and while the wind was higher elsewhere, it was less so there.
I ran in the park before the Cross Country team got there, managed in half an hour (little more) to get 6 km in, 38 Minutes flat.  It was ok considering the hills. Started out warming up and climbing Jacob's Ladder then running up to Wood Street and the water resevoir, down Vibert Trail and towards the lower park, back up to Wood Street (oops exploring a new trail) and down to Serpentine, through another wood trail, back to Serpentine, into the lower park, around the loop and back in time to see the Cross Country kids arriving.  It was a good run and although I spent a lot of it feeling tired, and out of  breath, I still think it was a good run.  Im tired this week and thinking this marathon training can end any time ;) It's been way too busy for this sort of running; way too many hours spent when I feel I should be cleaning the house, doing more laundry...even if I do deserve the time for myself occassionally. Long runs are really long.

I got to do some stretching while talking to the Cross Country team, enticing them to run the meet next week, then sent them on a recovery run and followed along, although I took different routes to get that last bit in.  Up Jacob's Ladder, up some hilly trail and back down the Young Street side, back into the park and again back up Jacob's Ladder, down Serpentine and back to do some core work with the team before sending them home :)

The trails are super nice for running.  There were some leaves falling while I was running and it smelled like fall.  Not that I want fall LOL.  The terrain is awesome, the hills are awesome, the possibilities are awesome.  I could be swayed to trail running vs roads. 

Sore tonight? ankle sprained during soccer. Must have retwisted it LOL it's no biggie :)

First Meet

Cross Country Team had a meet this week in town, love local!  LOL  They did so well!  There were some nerves at the start while the junior girls were running, but once in line for the race they focused and got the race done with no puke and no injuries :)

The older runners being seasoned pros had less nerves. One member wasnt' even planning to run, but hopped in at the start and just kept on going.  LOL He won his race.  As did the senior female.  The team did extremely well and I really enjoyed watching and cheering them on. It was a great first race. 

Itty Bitty

Run; can be so hard to fit in the weekly ones!  After a great rest day on Monday, I had to squeeze in a run home from the pool on Tuesday to accomplish it!  lol Schedules can be so busy!
8 km in about 50 minutes (no watch). 
Wednesday run; likely not going to happen.  The Cross Country team had their first meet and it was really excellent but time consuming :)

LSD Sunday 29 km

Not much to note; nothing happened;)
started late from Old Barns since Scott's away and the kids had to be at the church. M joined me and we started off on the trail towards the church and then headed off on Shore Road and Black Rock Road.  It was a super nice 12 km loop, I'd always avoided before because I thought it hilly.  It was really nice, quiet, not tooooo hilly, dirt road run. I loved it.

Back at thein laws house M contemplated stopping, struggling with a headache and a lot of sleepless nights.  She did take a short break and we headed back to the trail to finish the other part of the run; a rather eventless run on the trail to town and back to finish at an almost perfect 29 km. 

All in all it was a good run; we were tired at times and very thirsty despite much cooler temperatures and humidity being down.  I started a little tired; ran Thursday and Friday on hills, Saturday the girls and I volunteered at a college Cross Country meet in the park, and after walking a lot of the course and staying on our feet all day, we went shopping, then to a birthday party where we were up late giggling and reading magazines and watching kid movies :) Im tired, and sore from the hills on Friday (oh and the strides geez) And feeling sore when one starts a long run is tiring ;)

 Im concerned about my scheduling lately and being really tired.  Im getting more used to the long runs and the recovery is generally  much better than it may have been at first, but it's a lot of running. It's more than a half marathon every week!  It's hours of running each week, and a big chunk is on long run day.  And now with the working full time, and coaching the cross country team, a lot of the day is full of stuff that is active and out of the house; there is little time left for home work and house work and those poor dogs ;) It's better when Scott's around because he can help get the kids, shift them from their school to their activities, and let the dogs have more play time. 

I'm looking forward to the training program ending and running having less purpose. I know it's easier to keep running when there is a goal, but I need a break. I don't want to burn out, and I dont want to stop running.  I want to just have less pressure. And the couple of winter time runs I have planned should keep me in training; the Resolution Run and maybe the Hypothermic Half Marathon (2 hours is a long time to run in minus degrees!)

Off to get more sleep and a little more tylenol for my aching hip. ACHING.  Ugh what is that?

Rainy Afternoon at the Park

Friday was a rainy, rainy day ;)  it was raining when we got up and it was still raining a little bit when we went to bed! luckily it was sunny and hot on Saturday as promised, since there wass a cross country event in town and we volunteered at it.

I wasn't sure if I was running Friday or not; I 'm tired and feeling like a little cold coming on.  I hope it's just allergies.  This would not be a good time for a cold.  I dont have time for a cold. Or an injury, as I was thinking as I was running down a hill over a wooden slippy bridge in the rain. I simply cannot imagine getting 14 weeks into a program, close to a marathon, and be injured doing something silly like a run in the rain on a trail that is slippery when Im really tired.

Started with Strides, as fast and long a stride as possible, for like 50 meters.  We did them 3 times, and jogged back to the start. they were fun! I loved doing them! LOL

Then we split into groups and one group did a run up through the trails while the other did hill repeats; then we switched and our group did the hill repeats; 6X 30 seconds up the hill at fairly hard effort. It was a good workout, despite the rain. Im still sore.
The team did core while I preferred not to lay on the wet grass; wuss I am. I know it.

A slightly unplanned workout for me; but Im so off schedule most of the time, it hardly seems to matter ;) Im getting the long runs in!