Yippee-ki-yay motherf-

DieHard 4 is still on the brain after watching it last night before this morning's fun run 5K. And I say those yippee words with joy because those were the last kilometers of the year... I'm pretty sure I'm not running tomorrow. Total mileage for the year: actually I have no clue since I haven't kept accurate records. I did a little over 500 miles last year.... so perhaps I might have logged maybe half of that since I feel like I put in a half-assed effort all year.
Today's effort was a little bit labored even if I was still smiling as I crossed the finish line. Yumke was, as usual, looking like he was in fine form. R. was in town and started the race with me, but that lasted about as long as it took to get out of the first 100 meters of cobblestoned road. My cousin didn't look so hot by the end-- she said she felt like her lungs were bleeding. That sounds like it hurts, but she's such a trooper; she didn't stop to walk and pushed through the whole thing even though she was battling a cough. Neither of us have really ran very much in the past month (okay, maybe more than a month). We finished in just over 32 minutes, which for me is five minutes slower than last year, which also sounds about right.

Just as we were finishing I thought of my sister. She would've been at this fun run with us, but she's down in Kentucky visiting her inlaws. She did promise to do her own run as we were -- I hope so, she got a lot of nice outdoor running gear for Christmas.

d'oh

On my way home from my first day back at work in what seems like an eternity, yet paradoxically still not long enough, I was thinking it's mild enough to go for a run outside. And because there's this 5K fun run I'm signed up for that's happening on Sunday and I haven't had a serious jog since before I went on vacation. I guess it's only 5K but my mental space thinks it might as well be a marathon. 

While on vacation, I managed one mile on the hotel treadmill. But I figure I did some good cross-training with two (half)days of skiing and this 2-1/2 hour obstacle course amongst tree tops (see photo). Best part of the vacation was the apres-ski -- outdoor hot tub!

But back to today's run. Didn't go. Watched a Simpsons episode while chilling after a long day at work (which included my performance review -- who gets appraised during Christmas week? Only me). And also have plans to watch The Simpsons movie tonight. With pizza. It is Thursday after all. 

There's snow. and then there's snow. (or why vacation is postponed)

This is amazing, just the sheer amount of snow that's falling right now. It's whirly, it's blustery, it's fast and slow at the same time, it's just piling on. This is great for skiing, which is the vacation plan starting today. Or should I say was. We're not at the resort yet. And after looking outside the window -- now we're going to heed some national advice to just stay in and go tomorrow.
Well, at least we're getting a white Christmas this year.

Past week's tally: three consecutive days of holiday cheer, but all preceded by good running on the treadmill (one for distance, one uphill, and one hard sprinting) totaling 10 miles.

martinis=inspiration=marathon

Not that I had a little bit too much holiday cheer last night (these martinis were like candy: goldschlager, cranberry juice, vodka) but I recall some conversation with colleague at The Office who told me she and I are running a MARATHON next September or October. And I have no doubt she's serious since she 1) she's already training for a spring half, and 2) kept using my name and the word "inspiration" and its derivatives in the same sentence.

Oh, and I got about 5-1/2miles done on the treadmill last week over two days. Which is quite an accomplishment for me since all running and strengthening exercises were done before 730AM.

If pigs could fly.....

It's not impossible.

If I can finish a marathon, really anyone can. I tell that to everyone who will listen, to anyone who says they couldn't possibly do it themselves. I repeat: If I can do it, you can too. It just takes a little bit of discipline and a plan.

So having apparently been inspired by my marathon finish last year, my sister begged me to run with her this year. And so we went on to do two 10K races this year, along with my cousin for support. My sister ran spring and fall races with great enthusiasm and always finished with a smile.

And now onto bigger things. Since I bought her a race for Christmas last year, she's decided to return the favor -- for my birthday, belatedly, she's gone and outdid me. Not only did she today register us for a half marathon, she booked us for 13.1 miles in Cincinnati, OH.

FLYING PIG 2008!

Now it's not a total surprise because she and I have talked about this for weeks now. The idea was sprung on us by her husband, somewhat in passing but enough that when he said it, he also looked it up on the web to give us more details because we were intrigued by the thought of hanging out at his family's farm in northern Kentucky, but also that the magical asparagus I've heard about for three years will actually be in season by the time the race rolls around.

I didn't want to talk about this race, make promises, just in case it turned out like the MCM in Washington. But my sister hit her Dec. 1 deadline of signing us up. It's going to be great. I'm sure this party is going to grow... I have this way of infecting people with crazy ideas like going on the road for a road race.

I'm looking forward to training for something. Hail to the treadmill!

No stam

I forced myself to go to the gym after work. Why haul all this workout gear to The Office and then lug it back home unused? Usually I feel better after a workout but today I was just not into it. I went through strength class with no will to really lift the 4-lb weights I had in each hand (yes, 4lbs! I am such a lightweight). And then the crunches were achy, the lunges were unsteady, and to top it off, the music was bad today. When the music is bad, it's going to be a bad workout. So I slipped on my iPod after class with a 5K treadmill run in mind, rationalizing that at least my personal selection of tunes would motivate me. Wrong again. I quit after 1.6 miles, of which I walked probably a third of it. I switched to the stationary bike. Nothing in my legs to pedal, and after a torturous 2.65 miles of stop-go, I halted the charade.

I told C about this pathetic gym episode during the drive home.
"I have no stam," I said.
And in a genuine moment of pure geekiness, he replied: "Well you just need a blue gem."
(It's pure nerd because it's a reference to that game we play online. Certain blue gems added to armor give bonus stamina stats. Oh, I'm a nerd too! Well, they shall inherit the Earth, so the saying goes.)

The 20-minute workout

Back in the 80s, my sister and I used to watch the "20-minute workout" (follow the link to video for trip down memory lane. Though I just don't get what's going on from minutes 06:00-06:30!) I think it used to be on in the morning while we were getting ready for school. My Tuesday strength class instructor talks about it every once in a while too, and sometimes we do some of the cool moves. No we don't.
I was thinking about the leg warmers today when I was doing my own 20-minute workout... in three phases... !
1. 20 minutes on the treadmill. 1.7miles.
2. 20 minutes of weights. 20 reps for various arm muscles, some lunges too.
3. 20-minute ab class.

One more

Race season isn't done. I've just signed up for the local fun run to ring in the new year, same as last year. Also will be going with the same friends as last year, Yumke and R. Perhaps my cousin will join up too, while it looks like my sister will be out of the country. I unofficially PB'ed at this race last year, as the 5K event isn't a chip-timed race. The entry bonus gift for signing up this year is this nifty jacket:

Guess this might come in handy for the winter training if I'm not treadmilling it... on the way to a spring half....

Belated birthday thoughts

I looked back on this blog to see where I was a year ago. It was a pretty introspective post back then. I talked a lot about the running-as-lifestyle a year and a day ago but I'm not sure I've really lived up to this mantra. I haven't kept much of a regular running routine, nor have I replaced the no-running with another activity. I've lived a pretty sedantary year compared to last year I think. Yesterday I self-tested my blood with the finger-prick, something I'm supposed to do daily, for the first time in about 2-1/2 months. The reading was a bit on the high side; though I shouldn't be surprised since I haven't been as careful with my diet in recent months. And I also only intermittently "remember" to take my diabetes drugs, the one that's been in the news as of late. I should get those replaced, see my doctor, reintroduce myself to my health log. It's my birthday, I can cry if I want to.
But enough of the pity party.
Step One is recognition. And now it's time to kick myself in the butt. So I went for a belated birthday run this afternoon, a decent 6K effort. It's wrong that it's mid-November and I went sleeveless.

The off-season

Next up: picking the next race.

It's like the end of the tv season and I left a cliffhanger in my last post about three weeks ago. And then I went on a bit of a hiatus.

Hi again.

I wasn't hurt, just away from blogger. It's been a bit hectic at work the past few weeks, and I've been heavily playing that online game again, but I haven't completely let all that get in the way of a good run. I ran 8K recently and saw a deer on the bike path in the valley. I don't know which one of us had more of a "deer-caught-in-the-headlights" look, me or the deer. I've also had a handful of treadmill efforts, nothing more than 5K. Today, I went outside again because it was too delicious to pass up. I finished work at 3, and I was home just before 4 and the sun was shining. I had decided on my way home that I'd change and run as soon as I got home, so as to not lose my nerve. If I waited, it'd be dark and cold. It was warm enough to wear a tshirt and capris, which is also another reason to go today. Who wants to layer? I didn't have much of a route planned, so I just ran. Ended up doing a big square -- 6K.

Anyways, in the last few weeks some decisions have been made but not exactly set in stone. It looks like the family experience is hitting the road in 2008.

Stay tuned...

Anniversary run

Happy Anniversary to the Chicago Marathon, class of 2006!

I celebrated with a buttery croissant and coffee at 10AM, but was thinking about my first meal of the day a year ago, eating -- more like forcing down == oatmeal with brown sugar at 5AM, with a Gatorade on the side. Reminisced with Frankie and Yumke via email around 8:30AM. Congratulated Frankie around 12:30, just before lunch today, for finishing the marathon a year ago. At this time, I would've been past the halfway mark, with another 2 hours to go! Proceeded to have an ice cream cone mid-afternoon to toast my own accomplishment one year ago. Kind of silly but true.

With all the treats today, there was no way I wouldn't be hauling my butt outside for the first time in a week. 5K around the neighborhood on a gorgeous early evening. Nice night to just think about stuff.

Next up: picking the next race.

Zoo Tour: race report

Team Family does it again!

My sister, having caught the racing bug following her first road race in the spring, chose the Zoo Run as her fall race goal not long (probably hours) after the spring race (got to love how the runner's high induces you to action). We all didn't train together like we'd hoped. My sister and I had a quiet evening last night. We ate a delicious pasta dinner -- whole wheat pasta with roasted tomatoes and garlic. Then we kicked up our feet, watched Stranger Than Fiction, and wondered how Team Member 3, our cousin, was doing (she went to a concert). I was in bed by about midnight.

I was eating toast, one slice with Nutella, the other with peanut butter, and orange juice by 7AM. I surfed the internet for a while and then revved up the ZooBus. I picked up my sister, then Yumke (nearly had a car accident in front of his parent's house... I had stopped to consider making a left hand turn into the driveway on this quiet sidestreet and I guess the guy coming up behind me didn't think I was going to turn. So when I started to turn, all I could see was this little Volkswagen coming at me. He was on the wrong side of the road. I may or may not have been signalling. There are arguments that could be made for either side if there was a crash. Anyways, there was no crash. Good, because that would be more drama that necessary before a race, thanks.). We picked up my cousin without incident. We arrived at the Zoo about 35 minutes before start time. It was cold (about 6C) and blustery. Not unlike conditions at the Chicago Marathon last year. Today I opted for the same sleeveless shirt as I wore for the half, but wore a windbreaker too. And my yellow race cap.

There were long lines at the portopotties. We girls cursed Yumke for having the ... right equipment ... to be able to ditch the potty line and find a tree with about 10 minutes before start time. Still, we managed to get to the start line on time. It took us about two minutes to cross the start line and activate our chips.

First 2K
I love start lines. There is always an electricity in the air. I gave a quick hug to my sister and cousin, and some words of encouragement. The route began in the parking lot and wound its way around the perimeter of the zoo before actually entering the grounds. Twenty days ago, my sister didn't think she'd make it through this portion. We chuckled about that.

Inside the Zoo
Cousin tried to keep pace with us, but it seemed she was always a few steps ahead. This would later stretch out into minutes. The field of participants started to spread out a little bit by the time we got on zoo grounds. I no longer felt like there were other runners nipping at my ankles and I could run in a fairly straight line without having to dodge as many for position. The first water station seemed to come really early. We walked through it sipping our drinks. I think it was shortly after we reached this point that we saw some of the elites nearly at the end of their race. We continued. I paced my sister for most of it except for the few moments when I stopped to marvel at the rhinos, the elephants, the lion, the hippo, the ape, tigers, a cheetah. I ran past the mongolian horses, an assortment of monkeys, giraffe, reindeer. Although we were welcome to stay after the race to take closer looks at the animals, and I had intentions to do so, I now figured my grumbling belly was going to win out. Best to take this whirlwind tour of the zoo now. I didn't find the hills as challenging as expected. Even the big steep one about halfway through the course that had stairs at the top! Stairs! Who has stairs in the middle of a race? Weird. The rest of the course was uneventful. My breathing was even the whole time. My sister asked me if she was holding me back around 7K. I guess I could've run faster but I didn't want to, nor did it occur to me to pick up the pace. I wasn't racing -- as evidenced by the many stops to gawk at the animals. I was just enjoying the environment, the exercise, and making sure my sister kept her smile throughout the course. I think we'd lost sight of Cousin by now. She was motoring.



The finish
Yumke from the sidelines with about 400 meters to go spotted my yellow hat (and this is why I wear it... it is a beacon in a crowd). He told us he'd PB'ed and I was so happy for him. His intense training is really paying off. He jogged 300m with us, and snapped this photo. I encouraged my sister to pick up the pace a little bit, to look for that last kick. She found something. The race announcer called her name and said we'd both came through the finish line strongly, and with smiles. We got through the chute, met up with Yumke and Cousin, then we were off for a slightly different post-race meal -- we went Chinese styles and had a hearty dish of smoky noodles, a big bowl of congee with fried dough on the side, some chilifried turnip patties, and lots of cups of green tea.

Final chip time: 1:14:37.9
Pace: 7:38/km

Unrain dance please

It didn't stop raining long enough for me to finish .... begin .... my run from last night. No matter, Team Family had our last training run before the 10K around the zoo this weekend. We ran a gentle 3K around my sister's neighborhood, after picking up our race packets. We got a nice red technical tee to add to the collection. We almost have consecutive bib numbers, which is kind of cute.

There's a chance of isolated showers on Saturday morning. Someone do an unrain dance for us, please.

386 meters

This is the shortest run in history. It's provincial election day today and I went to fulfill my civic duty. I got all decked out for a run shortly after I got home. Put my ID in my pocket and walked to the voting hall. I checked off a name, and pushed my ballot into the returns box. I walked out, reading to hit the pavement hard. It was raining.
Ordinarily, I'd find it sort of liberating to run through the rain. But with a race on Saturday morning, I thought it'd be more prudent to just dash home -- all 386 meters -- then get soaked to the bone and risk catching cold. If the weather is a little more cooperative later on, maybe I'll try again.

Pre-feast 8K

There was no freaking way I was going to sit down at the dinner table -- a spread that included by my own creation and for 15 guests, a turkey, prime rib, rainbow trout (caught by CMan last weekend), some fixins that included sweet potato mash, steamed broccoli and corn, the requisite stuffing (a vegetarian and carnivore option), and followed by crepes with berries, ice cream and whip cream -- without first running 8K this morning. My sister came along for the pre-feast guilt-ridding run. We ate like it was going out of style this evening.

Wow moments in recovery

Wow, I feel brand new again.
The day after the half marathon, I had a little bit of trouble with stairs but was otherwise feeling pretty good. By Tuesday morning, I was not longer walking gingerly and was bounding up and down stairs. I had a massage on Tuesday afternoon and my RMT told me that my shoulders felt like sand. They should feel like rubber bands, apparently. RMT also said it didn't look like I was developing carpal tunnel as I feared -- but more like I had a weak muscle somewhere in my shoulder and months of bad posture in front of too many computer screens at work (6 monitors plus 1 tv! it's ridiculous). Legs were worked on as well, of course.
I found spring in my legs again. I went with my sister on an early evening run tonight. Forty minutes, covering just shy of 5K. I had a little trouble getting started, even though my legs felt fine. I think it was the bowl of cereal that I had as a snack before the run that was weighing on me. But my goodness, my sister is a new woman. She set the pace most of the way and even made me run faster to make sure we got through stoplights! And she made it up the 1K slope without stopping. Or complaining. I'm wowed.
We stretched a bit on her living room floor. And then she said she had tried to comment on my last post but blogspot was giving her grief. The gist of her note: she thinks maybe, just maybe, and in no way is she promising anything, that maybe after this month's 10K, she could consider moving up to a half marathon.
Double wowed.

Race report: Scotiabank Half

I finished at 2:23:10.7, five minutes slower than last year and pretty much within my "whisper number" expectations that I had kept entirely to myself. I look at this timing and I think I could've done much better than this -- trained consistently, slept more last night, ate better, and all that other stuff that could've been done to vastly improve. More on that in a minute.

Waking up was a bit of a struggle. I must have fought with the snooze button at least three times. But then I had to eat so there'd be time to digest so I rolled out of bed sleepily to fix a bowl of Cheerios and half a toasted bagel with peanut butter. I have never liked eating so early in the morning. Then I packed my things and drove downtown, sipping purple Gatorade along the way. The weather couldn't have been better. I went sleeveless, capris, blue running cap, and barely needed my throwaway t-shirt (though that may have had more to do with getting to the start line -- after using The Office as my personal bag check -- about 5 minutes before the gun went off).

The race today wasn't all roses -- there were a few parts that I struggled through (mental blocks and a few times when I thought I felt twinges in knees or ankles) but mostly it was fairly comfortable. For a while, alone with my thoughts of post-race bacon and other fine foods, I wished I had brought my iPod with me to distract me. But I was content to just sing to myself, as well as enjoy the course-side entertainment and the snippets of conversation between running partners I'd hear around me.

I lost my friends Frankie and Grasshopper within the first 2K. They had their own races to run after all, and they both made their own personal statements. Frankie, who has run even less than me, came in at 1:51:15, well under his target of 2 hours. And Grasshopper, in his first road race ever and also battling a cold, had a respectable 2:11:35.

I miscaluated the last stretch. At the 15K mark, I was emboldened by my time (1:42 or so) and thought I had a chance to beat my time last year. I visualized my 5K out-and-back route to my sister's place. Only I actually had 6K to do, not 5. So I was a bit crestfallen when I passed the 16K marker and someone behind me said, '5K to go' to her partner. Had to revisualize. Then there was no 20K marker and I was a little confused but at least I knew I was close and I knew the road well. As I do with every race, the last 800 meters I find something in me to dig a little deeper and try to pick off the runners on the way to the finish line which is always a nice boost.

So started this post by saying "I could've done much better than this" but consider this from another perspective. Without doing all the (extra) training and related activities, I was only about five minutes slower. I also ran the whole distance without breaks, except to walk through the water/Gatorade stations. I ran the second half much faster than the first. My 10K split was 1:14:50, while my 12.2K split was 1:30:47 (and just for comparison and context sake -- while I hit the 12.2K mark, a little more than halfway, Yumke had less than a minute to go to cross the finish line and PB!).

Over breakfast, there were discussions about signing up for a marathon. Frankie and Yumke would like to return to Chicago. I don't know. I don't know how many marathons I have left in me (I want to do at least one for charity and if I do, I'd like for it to be somewhere in the world where I've never been, and possibly/preferably overseas).

I'll have to sleep on it. Good thing I'm already in my pjs.

i'm a pumpkin

Dammit. All I can say is that I'm mad at a certain bank for sponsoring two freaking good events that I care about. I've had far too much fun at tonight's Nuit Blanche art thing -- staying out two hours past what I had intended -- which means I've probably made it even harder on myself for this morning's half-marathon. Not only have I been walking for the past four hours, I'm now going to get a healthy four hours of sleep! Why am I blogging and not going to bed? Because I needed to confess this before sleep. And create excuses. Sounds about right. Good luck and good night.

As ready as I can be

I haven't run since that weird bout of sickness earlier in the week but for the first time in a long while that not-running thing hasn't bothered me in that guilty way that I'm so prone to feeling. It's the day before my half-marathon race. I'm ready as I can be. I'm in no way as prepared as last year but it's about having fun tomorrow. I have two friends to run with this year, though I think that while we'll start together and run the first few miles together, I'll probably end up running most of it solo -- they have a goal of a 1:59:59 finish, which I think is achievable for both -- damn natural runners! It means running 9:10/mile or 5:42/km. I haven't been able to run that kind of pace ever. My best may be 10 min mile and that was really hoofing it and in no way was it sustainable over a long distance. If I can match what I did last year -- 2:18:40 -- on the unfocused training I've done, I'll be pretty happy with that. But if I don't, I already know why and I'm okay with that too.

Intestinal Interruption

Was it the pace? Too little sleep for a too-long workday (actually it was still eight hours, it just felt way longer than that)? The sweet and sour chicken for lunch? Too much water during a break where we said a quick hello to my father at work?

I don't have the answer. All I know is that about 3/4 of the way through a perfectly comfortable early evening 14K run with Grasshopper that I suddenly needed to stop because my stomach was not cooperating. Sharp intestinal pains just crept up on me. I had to sit on a random lawn and think about how to get out of this predicament.
Thank you to the deli across the street that let me hang out in their bathroom -- without having to purchase anything -- and collect myself. I will be back to buy a lot of something sometime this week for your generosity. Meantime, Grasshopper was entertained by the shopkeeper with stories and food samples.
Anyways, departed the store and walked about half a block and the pain came back. I had to sit and we had to devise a plan. Flag a cab? Take a bus? Hospital? I'm glad I wasn't alone today. A cab came to the rescue and took me home. I felt better being in my own environment, and then I felt bad, which of course is a silly thing to think because people do get sick, for not finishing the run and "ruining" it for my running partner. And of course he wouldn't let me feel badly about it.
I'm feeling better now. I'm half contemplating a sick day. We'll see what happens when I wake up. But I'm done running for the week. Next time I run is race day on Sunday.

Related

My sister and I are definitely related, though she's a little bit more dramatic (lol). She had a mini-freakout about the ZooRun, which is 19 days away. She called in a panic yesterday, very upset about her running. (Or lack of the entire summer as she says).
Sounds familiar.
Too familiar.
To make a long story short and slightly less embarrassing on her part, I met up with her for a run today during my not-so-long effort. I ran 3K to her place and my breathing was labored the whole time. Then my sister joined me for the out-of-the-way route back to my house. She was strong. We ran 20 minutes without stopping, and she even refused a walking break. She was a little less enthusiastic during the last 13 minutes when the route was unshaded and the high noon sun was beating down. But she did it and it helped allay her fears just a bit. She's got a bit more than two weeks to get it together, but today's run was definitely a good start. Fear of failure will certainly get her out the door now. (I mean, that's what keeps me going most days).

forward, backward

I ran 4.6K around my neighborhood on Thursday, just as the sun was setting, and felt good as I began but that feeling deteriorated by the end. I ran the same route this morning but in reverse and my feelings were backwards too -- that is, it took a lot to begin -- it took me four hours to convince myself to put my shoes on -- but I was fine by the end, and could've kept going. Tomorrow, I plan on a long run but I haven't determined how far yet, whether more than last week's 15K or less. I guess I'll wing it like I have been this entire "training" for the half (next week!).

Little hill sprints

Hammies were a little bit sore post-Sunday 15K so I didn't run yesterday, but felt okay to go today. My sister, who recently picked up a Runner's World mag for inspiration on her way back from a weekend trip in New York and read an article about hill running, wanted to run some hills tonight. The ZooRun in a month features a few hilly parts. We warmed up with a jog around her neighborhood (around 1.5 miles maybe) and then did 5x10-second sprints up a hill. Actually, more like a gentle slope. Gotta start somewhere.

Back, stronger than ever

Funny, taking nearly the past two weeks off for film festival fun/work hasn't affected me. I didn't know if I could handle 15K today but it turned out to be... comfortable. I don't want to say easy, because it took some concentration. I met up with Frankie this morning, and truth be told it's a good thing both of us had agreed to this because neither of us would've run the way we ran together. That is, we made it through the entire distance with five small walking breaks over the 1:41 we were out. I don't know who was more surprised by that -- me or him, because the last time it was just the two of us, I nearly died. It was pre-Chicago and we did 7mi -- way more than I could handle, and mostly because I ran at Frankie's pace, not mine -- through my least favorite part of the waterfront, otherwise known as The Spit (one of the Toronto marathon routes goes through this, which is a key reason I won't run this one. Ever.)
Today was different. I am a stronger runner (comparatively to a year-and-a-half ago) and Frankie is less focused on training. Not to say he hasn't been training, but that the intensity has been reduced. Which means it was a comfortable run.
We had planned our route to coincide with Yumke, who was doing 17 miles. We tried to guess at which point we'd see him.. on our way out to Humber Bridge? On the way back? Before the country club? The pool? All these landmarks we passed and not once did Yumke cross our paths. Turns out he slept through our run. He deserves a bit of sleeping in.

I feel a bit more at ease after today's run. I'm not sure I could've run another 6K today without difficulty, but I'm definitely less worried about the half-mary in two weeks.

Run, Fat Boy, Run

So. Tired. I just finished Day 7 of the festival... day 8 starts in about 5 hours when I need to be at work. My movie count has risen to 17 now, and it's nearly a 50/50 split between work and pleasure.
Included in the count is a little film called Run, Fat Boy Run (click for trailer), former "Friends" star David Schwimmer's directorial debut about a loser who signs up for a charity marathon in an attempt to win back the girl who's since moved on. It's a cute romantic comedy, and I felt I could identify with some parts of the movie, ie the running bits. Some of the sequences are a bit over-the-top but poetic license is perfectly allowable -- and welcome. Just watch out for the blister on the foot scene.

I'm still at 0 miles run.

The score so far (Day 4 at the festival)

10 movies seen
7 I actually liked
1 party
2 megastars
0 miles run

Right on track....

Night running

I haven't gone running at night in a long while, for the simple reason that I prefer sunshine. But without a long(ish) run in more than a week, despite having ample opportunity all L-O-N-G weekend, I just had to make myself go out tonight for a little while. My sister and I were going to go together -- I'd pick her up along my planned 10K -- but our timing didn't quite mesh. By the time I was prepared to go, the sun had already set and it even looked like it was going to rain. I dressed in a bright yellow shirt to be highly visible and wore no iPod. Safety first! I didn't premap a route and intended to wing it all the way depending on mood/leg conditions. Got through 5 miles exactly in one hour. I thought I was running faster than that. But it's done.

Vanity run

Long overdue, yet spontaneous, I got my hair cut yesterday. Then diffused (which means my hair became all wavy-like). Which means I brought out the vanity card yesterday and didn't run so as to not ruin my new hair. (This has got to be a new one in my books.)
One day's enough though. I went out for a 5K loop around my house before company was coming over for dinner. The waviness seems to have held... It was cool enough that I didn't sweat a whole lot. Or maybe it means I didn't work that hard.

Lunchtime Loop

Time management is going to be very important the next few weeks. As I've mentioned before, the film festival is just around the corner and I've already resigned myself to starting the taper early for the half. Not that I was on any sort of formal running schedule.
At midmorning I was very low on energy and the thought of doing a lunchtime run was hurting my head. But I convinced myself to go at high noon anyway because I had other things to do after work. It was kind of stupid because it was 30C and very humid, but I didn't want to wait til the evening. I thought I was going to faint. I wasn't sure it was the heat, if it was because I hadn't eaten much ahead of the run, if it was because I'd been awake since 4:30AM because I had to be at work for 6. Pushed through 3.5mi somehow and then actually felt pretty good the rest of the day.

Monkey see, monkey do

My sister has recently been on me to sign up for the 10K Zoo Run in October. I've been inexplicably reluctant to break out my credit card for this one, and I love going to the zoo, especially to see the polar bears. My sister, born in the Year of the Monkey, has been signed up for months, as has my cousin.
My sister asked me to to run with her today. And then she broke out into hives part of the way, and decided to walk the last bit home. She concludes she may be allergic to exercise. I ran a teeny bit further, and just enough to get my heart rate up, until I reached 4K.
The bonus about signing up today is that it was also the last day before prices went up again.

35 days til the half

I got through a longish run (it's all relative) -- 9.5K -- this afternoon. Not too bad for a route I where I was just winging it. Just as a point of interest to myself, since I haven't been keeping a weekly tally: Since signing up for the half-marathon, I've logged about 340K (admittedly, my records aren't exact), about 392K since the start of the year.

Just a little bit of a reality check. The race is a little over a month away. And September is fast approaching -- which means only one thing to me: the 10-day Toronto film festival. Last year I thought I'd be able to keep up with the running between all the mad hours of movies I would take in. The movies easily won. This year, I have no illusions. The movies will win again.

Riverdale Romp or Cemetery Sideroad?

Grasshopper presented these two route options, telling me no more details except that there may be a fence to squeeze through enroute one of the two.
I chose Riverdale. Perhaps the right choice because there was no fence.

He mapped it out afterwards and said it was 3.6K. We were dismayed because we were out for around 40 minutes. Surely even I at my very slowest comfortable pace in high humidity would not take me 40 minutes to jog 3.6K, even if it included a short walking break in the middle, and with a running partner. Could it?

Replenished with water, handfuls of wild blueberries, some crackers, passed on the olives, a chocolate chip cookie, we then schemed over a cool Creemore beer about how to convince enough people at The Office to form a team and enter a race next year.

Then it dawned on us that it was 3.6 miles (nearly 6K). Felt much better about ourselves.

Strangest Question

"Do you want to be a Mormon?"

...is perhaps the strangest question I've ever been asked during a run. It was asked by one of the pair of boys just outside McD's, in my final 10 metres.
If I was as quick-witted as I was quick-footed tonight during the 4.5K, I might have said: "Running is my religion, thanks."

Focused sisters

My sister called at 6pm to say that it was windy and cold and that maybe it would be okay to skip running. I said, not an option, see you in half an hour. I stepped outside and almost turned around myself. She wasn't lying -- it was windy and cold. The clouds were dark, and there was light mist. If it weren't for the fact that I had just said "not an option" not five minutes ago, I'm sure I would've walked back into the house.
I ended up being very focused, determined even. Each step felt sure and strong. I stopped briefly at my sister's, about 3K from my home, and then we were off in a hurry. I let my sister direct the route and the pace. It was her first run in a month and she's starting to feel nervous about this 10K she has in eight weeks. She'll be fine. We did about 3K together and -- I don't know who's more surprised, me or her -- she didn't stop once.

First double-digit K run in a month

It's taken me since Wednesday's escapades to recover, sort of. Thursday was such a write-off. I almost wish I was training for a marathon (I haven't given the half marathon distance the proper respect all summer, and I probably won't start now) because maybe I'd make better decisions about what goes in my body. I didn't drink a lot, but it was a lot more than I am used to, and enough for me to swear off it for the next while. Also, I made the mistake of weighing myself the other day at the gym. I didn't gain much, but enough that I thought back to the ungood stuff I've been eating lately. Though I'm probably exaggerating a little bit -- it's probably that I'm eating about the same as I have been, but my level running has been cut in half. And then some.

I've also put in a lot of time into warcracking... that can't be helping either. But today, suffering from a little fatigue of casting spells, making potions, and killing bog lords, I went out for a long run. First double-digit K run in a month. ELEVEN KILOMETRES.

I surprised Yumke at the finish line of his 15K race tonight. I started my own run around 6:30, just as they were, and waited for about 15 minutes before I did a double-take and saw Fran whizz by. Yumke wasn't too far behind him. Both had strong finishes. Good work guys!
I had cooled down a lot from waiting around and chatting, but it didn't take me long to warm up again. I took a different route home, and found myself on a portion of the 30K race route. Thirteen runners passed me in the 1K stretch that I was on (their 18thK).

Three for three

Ya that's right: Three miles for each expected drinking establishment I expect to visit today. And just enough distance to ease the guilt...for all the work-related functions... Funny, they all represent a different part of my career.
First stop: after work drinks with the newest people at The Office
Second stop: after after work drinks with former source
Third stop: after after after work drinks, fittingly, with former boss who always liked to say "one for the ditch" before last call

If I haven't said this before, I'm glad to be not training for a full marathon. I really don't have the discipline this summer.

Recap: Haven't run since last post. It was packed with other activities (a local food festival, afternoon bbq with friends, followed by a family thing, then more family stuff, and some more family stuff after that). Then a particularly busy day at work where I felt like a zombie. Managed a small weights workout on Tuesday. It all caught up with me yesterday because after I got home at 6:30pm, unloaded the dishwasher, lay down for just a sec... and then it was 5:30AM. At least I'm rested for the bar?

Pizza Thursday haiku

Two miles for pizza
Turtles ice cream for dessert
I run so I can

Warning: Slew of bad subheads below

Twosday: It was starting to rain by the time RunClub was supposed to convene today. Which was convenient because neither of me nor L were particularly in the mood to go out today. And even though I said to her that I wouldn't go to the gym, that decision stuck for about 5 mins. Strangely I veered towards the gym, a place I haven't seen in about two months, immediately after leaving The Office. I have been missing out on my favorite Tuesday body sculpt class in favor of RunClub so I didn't want to pass up this rare opportunity. To kill time before class, I treadmilled it, getting through nearly 2mi before class. Then a whole class of ab work and a particular focus on arms today. It wasn't enough. I ran a second time, putting up 3mi while watching a cooking show about French bistro food (steak au poivre with mushrooms, au gratin potatoes, and French onion soup... mmmmm) and then half a show on low-fat muffins (not as interested).

Week in review:
Wilting Wednesday, Torrid Thursday: Having ignored the heat alert last Tuesday, decided to just take it easy.

Friday Footslog- I'm going to count towards my mileage (not that I have a year-to-date count) my 7.8K walk home from work. I don't know what motivated me to do it; maybe I had already decided it was too hot to run. Besides I had nothing else planned heading into the long weekend. It took two hours and change because I stopped in a few stores along the way (mostly for an A/C break, not because I was actually interested in any of the wares).

Saturday Sloth - Good intentions to go in the morning, bad execution. No go. But had a really nice Chinese lunch with Yumke, then had a 3-hour nap before getting up to go eat with my parents.

Bourne to run Sunday - Managed to convince myself to squeeze in a 5K between a matinee showing of The Bourne Ultimatum and making a big pot of spaghetti bolognese for KidSis who was sleeping over.

Manic Monday - Public holiday here. I repeated what I did Saturday. Which is to say I did nothing requiring running shoes. There was nothing manic about Monday, to be honest. But there were waffles.

Ignoring the heat alert

It's not like it was an extreme heat alert that was issued by the city. Today's Afterwork RunClub run was excruciatingly sticky, the kind of heat where you can start sweating even if you're just standing still. We went down by the waterfront thinking it would be cooler. It was just as soupy there. There were quite a few walking breaks and not enough public water fountains and certainly not enough shade. Somehow we pushed through about 5K.

Thai-ered out and all that jazz

I went to my favorite Thai restaurant on Friday night (an old university haunt) and instead of having one of my usual favorites, golden curry chicken, I tried something new... fish with mango sauce. As well as shared in the fish hotpot, an emerald curry, and duck in red curry sauce. On Saturday afternoon, I biked to the beach to meet up with Dad, have coffee and partake in the annual jazz festival at the beach. Then went back later that night with CMan to listen to more groovy tunes and eat pad thai among the throng.
All this means, in my usual roundabout way in making excuses, is that I didn't make it to that free tune up run I'd been planning, the one that coincided with the jazzfest. I'd signed up for the 20K distance. By Monday afternoon, I had downgraded to 10K, feeling that was more manageable by myself. By Thursday, my sister had decided that she would be lucky to complete 5K, having not run for a few weeks and still getting over a cough. By Saturday night, before I went to bed, I had decided I'd run my own tune up run. Well I didn't.

As I was stifling yawns at the Office today, I was thinking about not running and leaving it til Tuesday's AfterRunclub session. Grasshopper had other ideas. Having not done anything in a week, I figured that was just the kick in the butt that I needed. It turns out this well-meaning plan didn't work out timing-wise between us. About 10 minutes after the cancellation call, where I'd said I wasn't going to bother, I had a change of heart. I put my shoes on and ran what was probably my fastest 5K (31:16) since the Resolution Run on New Year's Eve. I wonder if this will come back to bite me tomorrow when I try to keep up with WheatiesWoman (my new nickname for Tuesday running partner. Unbeknownst to her, of course)

Welcome back: Bob, the chairman of the 2006 Chicago Marathon blog group who has a penchant for kind words and partial to haikus, is sort of back. Can't wait to hear what he's been up to. Spontaneous haiku in his honor.

Bob from Wisconsin
I so missed the dog and blog
I am so giddy

Running together but not really

Afterwork RunClub partner had her Wheaties for breakfast. At one point, she was 15 sidewalk lengths ahead of me (yes, I counted). I was having a hard time keeping up, so I just kept my own pace. There's no need to push too hard on what I'm calling my recovery run (I am still feeling the after effects of Sunday's long run -- I am just not the same as I was last summer, my legs seem confused). I apologized profusely for holding her back, half-seriously suggesting at one point that we should race -- only she should do our 10K route that is a big loop towards the north part of downtown while I should do the 5K route that is along the waterfront and we should just meet up at The Office at the end (where she would probably still be waiting at least 10 minutes for me. She was just really zipping today, making up for not putting in a long run over the weekend, turns out).
But she said she'd rather run with me, even if she's a little bit ahead. So I guess she essentially did her version of strides during our 6.5K outing while I kept as steady a pace as I could comfortably muster. I hope she gets a better run in this week than she had with me. I am pretty happy with my effort today, all things considered.

Clever plans

If it weren't for Grasshopper pre-arranging a long run this weekend, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have bothered going on my own (I've become a bad solo runner, I think). It was flippin hot today. Not the worst I've ever run in (I think that honor may go to Kentucky last summer), but I was already sweating just sitting outside before the run even began around 10AM. Before we met up, Grasshopper cleverly hid a cache of goodies along the route, at what would be the 11K mark. I thought I was being clever for planning a 15K route that was mostly through the creek and valley, and that meant water fountains along the way. Uh, not so much. We passed two fountains and neither of them were in working condition. So. disappointed. And Parched. At least there was a washroom, and running water and I made sure to drench my head. There weren't many walking breaks, not til we got to the massively steep hill. There was never any intention to run up the hill but the not-so-direct route via stairs halted our momentum. I was dragging my feet a little bit, and thought the Dairy Queen looked especially enticing today. But we kept walking, and retrieved the cache of water and cereal bars, temporarily getting an extra sugar boost to carry us another 4K. This was my longest run since mid-May, right before I didn't get into the Marines Corps Marathon in DC.
After a good stretch and replenished with Gatorade, went to work in the kitchen because the best way to end a good long run is with good food. About a half hour later, we were on the back deck dining on my cleverest idea of the day: Belgian waffles (first time using this wedding gift, thank you American family), maple-flavored bacon, fresh strawberries and peaches, orange juice... and more Gatorade.

Hat Run

My cousin and I joined in on the local running store's 20-minute challenge today without my sister (she was arguably the most excited runner of our trio since she so badly wanted to cash in on the free running hat that was being given away for participating but alas, she's been sick for a couple of days and just not up to it. It would have been her first outing since our so-sluggish-I-didn't-bother-mentioning-it 2-miler the other day). Cousin and I logged some 4miles before the fun run with at least 100 other enthusiasts (or people who wanted a free hat. I'd count myself in the latter group today). The run on the way to the fun run was a good pace, and we had enough energy to run the fun run a little more competitively with each other. Finished the night with burgers from Lick's.

This has been a good two days of running for me. Yesterday tallied 5K with RunClub partner L.

RBF: Toronto edition

Good to put faces to words. I didn't run the race that these kids ran today, but it was nice to meet Fran and Sonia, and her friend Amanda. Yumke and I already go way back. We swapped running stories over breakfast.
I was supposed to do my own thing this morning before meeting these speed demons, but alas, the open bar at the wedding reception last night had other plans for me.

Figure 8

Grasshopper and I went for a run this evening to 1) try out the new shoes together; and 2) because I had a lot of rage stemming from the day at The Office (I'm just not going to rehash it here). Since it was his 'hood, it was his choice of route -- the Figure 8. Some of the approximate 7K loop cut through my favorite street to drive on in the autumn, a few hills (ick), trails to remind me of camp, and then a part of Toronto I've never really explored, the tony Rosedale area that features million dollar homes, manicured gardens, and expensive cars in every driveway before circling back into the Cabbagetown neighborhood just before the rain hit. A quick stretch, then some gossip. All better. Rage gone. Nice shoes.

Free running

So I have the shoes now but still lacking in actual momentum in motivation. So I signed myself up for two running events (they're not races) just now, both costing me nothing but time and energy. I was mulling this weekend's 10-miler that Yumke, Fran and Sonia are doing, but I'm not ready for that kind of distance. I'll probably do my own thing that morning and try to catch up with them for breakfast if we can get something figured out.
In the meantime, I'll have to get disciplined in a hurry to be ready for a 20K in 18 days. I signed up for this tune-up run to the September race, the third in a series before the half-marathon.

(sidenote: Yes, I'm running a half marathon in two months and I've barely started training. As I was discussing with Frank, who is also signed up for the half, is that neither of us respect the distance this year for some reason. We just don't have that same fear of failure that was driving us last year during marathon training)

Perhaps I should've selected the 10K option instead but what the hell, it's about the challenge. And it's free. I can turn around at any time?
And then there's the hat run ... as my sister calls it. She likes my yellow running hat and wants one. The local running shop has a 20-minute fun run every year -- this year it's on July 18 here -- and each participant gets a hat for coming out. I think this year the hat is blue.

Adrenaline rush

New shoes! New shoes!
Went to the local running shop with Grasshopper to pick up a long overdue pair of runners. He needed a new pair, a proper pair, and I just needed to replace mine. I was thinking about buying the same pair as I'm currently wearing -- New Balance 1222 -- but when the store didn't have the desired pair in my size today, I asked the shoe expert to show me some comparables. And preferably at a slightly lower price point (the NBs being C$200 after tax). Historically I have had best luck with New Balance shoes so I was apprehensive about new brands. I was shown a pair of Nikes (front was too wide), a pair of Sauconys (too snug), and the winning pair -- Brooks Adrenaline 7. This is what the Brooks website says these babies do:

Designed to unleash endorphins in mild to moderate overpronators, the Adrenaline™ GTS 7 features a new, full-length MoGo midsole that provides super soft, long-lasting cushioning that feels as good on mile 300 as mile one. Known for a glove-like fit and smooth yet supported heel-to-toe transitions, this shoe stems from the legacy of Brooks' love of the run.

Well, these shoes felt really good during the 4.2mile smoggy run around downtown and the waterfront when I took them out right after work. Tuesday RunClub resumed for the first time in a month. I was careful not to step in anything too icky (just in case I needed to return them). I thought the shoe tongue was bothering my right foot for a bit, but I think it's actually the supercollection of mosquito bites on my feet (in addition to my legs and arms and hands) that was irritating me. I think these are keepers.

Thwarted by the rain (and my brain)

I had high hopes for Algonquin Park, hoping for a repeat performance of last year's trip, but I'm going to have to blame the weather. As well as my bad sense of direction. It seemed like it rained a good portion of the time we were there. And when it cleared up, most of my family went canoeing on Saturday afternoon. So I tried to run, and find the trail that runs somewhat parallel to the waterways they were in and peek in on them. I have done this trail more than a handful of times, but for the life of me, I just couldn't find it this weekend. After a very crappy 2K, I was frustrated because I couldn't locate this trail and so I called it quits. Yes, just after a miserable 2K. I wasn't in the mood to run anyway but I thought if I started, I'd get into it, but it really backfired on me. I'm starting to feel like I'm starting this whole running thing from scratch -- getting the shoes on is the most difficult step.
Well, I thought I could try again on Sunday morning -- my sister wanted to go too -- but the weather didn't agree. We got hit with one heck of a rainfall from 6AM til about 8. And when that cleared up, it was my turn to go on the canoe adventure. Oh well, I can always run in Toronto. Much harder to canoe here. Doable, but I doubt as enjoyable.

Heading north

It's time for the annual family camping trip. In a few hours, we'll be heading to Algonquin Park for some good ol' car-camping. We'll rent a canoe, roast marshmallows, play some cards and Trivial Pursuit, read some books, recount embarrassing stories, ride bikes, and of course, there's trail running!

Need shoes

I need new shoes. It's not even a question of wanting new shoes anymore. NEED them.
I did the same thing as last week, ran home from work. I ran the 7K a little bit faster this week -- probably owing to the perfect running conditions (low 20Cs, slight breeze, bit of sun vs 30C+ and extreme humidity and smog alert) -- and despite really feeling the unbounciness of the shoes. Indeed, I've had this particular pair of shoes, New Balance 1222s, since mid-August last year. It's time to retire these ones before I hurt myself. I already think I'm feeling something....

haiku for a long weekend

(subtitle: ode to bob .... where are you bob?)
Bad 2mile run
But at least the work is done
Quick, find me a beer

(happy long weekend to the Canadians ..)

pizza run

I'm back to WarCracking. I was able to peel myself away just long enough to run 2mi around the neighborhood and get us a pizza (it is Pizza Thursday, after all).
Now back to being a blood elf warlock.

Food for thought

I spent half a day today at the food bank as part of The Office's chosen charity thing. It was a fulfilling experience -- first of all, seeing how much food the city donates to feed hungry people. But it isn't even enough food. Makes me think more about my fridge, my pantry, my freezer, and what's in them. What I invariably waste, what I don't finish, what I sometimes don't start, what I buy because I think it's a good idea at the time but it ends up rotting in the fridge or collecting dust at the back of the cupboard. This morning, I chucked in the green compost bin two uncooked pork chops that I had forgotten in a salt brine, half a can of kidney beans, 4 gourmet brownies, some grapes. All perfectly good food at some point and it makes me sad that I waste it, and do it so often.
This is what I was thinking about as I struggled through a very hot run today. Tuesday RunClub was cancelled due to the heat and smog advisory. I went to the gym instead and did a core strength class. Then not having had enough, decided to run home. Perhaps a stupid decision -- it was 32C but it felt like 40C. But I ran pretty slowly, though perhaps the accurate word is sluggishly. It took me an hour to cover 7.5K. But I saw a great sign at a bus stop on the way home, at Broadview & Danforth: An 8-minute kilometer is just as far as a 4-minute kilometer. Run easy. (apologies to reebok if i've misquoted .. but it's great. and so true.)

Social Saturday

Managed to get nearly 2 miles in this morning before checking out various parties around town. To the north, a baby shower. East in a little while for my friend's annual post-golf tournament BBQ (had to skip the golf this year for the baby shower, but the Q is always good). At least the last party is next door. Makes the stumble home easier.

Neighborhood scenes

Afterwork RunClub was cancelled yesterday due to a ferocious thunderstorm. In hindsight I wished we had just waited out the storm because it lasted about 30 minutes and afterwards it was almost ideal conditions for a quick run. But that storm did quite a number on a house in my neighborhood. This photo, taken today during an after-work-before-I-change-my-mind 5K, doesn't quite capture the same drama from this front-page.


Scene from today's run: A couple houses north of this one pictured, a couple of boys were sitting on their porch and had all their hockey gear strewn across the lawn. Presumably to air them out. And boy did these items need to be. I nearly passed out passing the smelly equipment.

Routine Saturday

The best way to get back into routine is to dive right into it. And a great motivator is always the Saturday morning classes at the gym. Because if I do nothing else but these classes today, at least I feel like a productive member of society.
I raced against the clock to get to class on time. I was late by 10 minutes. I blame the chatty neighbors this morning who were having a yard sale and wanting me to peruse their wares (a quick glance didn't convince me I needed to go back after my run). Oh, and I was late because I'm a slow runner and I didn't leave myself enough time to cover the 4.8mi, let's be honest. But I went to class, strengthened my core. Hope to do this much more often. Gonna wrap up this blog post now -- live from the gym (!), and now I'm ready to take the subway home and not be any more productive (except have a shower).

Honeymoon is over...

No words can describe the past week. Our wedding was the best one I've been to (no bias here). Our friends and family are the most generous souls in the world, I don't even know where to begin to thank them, not just for their gifts but for actually coming -- some from very far away -- to see us exchange vows. It was surreal seeing almost everyone we love surrounding us as we said the words that have been a long time in coming (thirteen years, not that anyone is counting). The night went too fast.

The day after the wedding, we got a sobering look at the bill for our party. The restaurant held our gifts hostage so we'd come back and pay the next day (a fair deal ... who wants to look at the bill on the same night as the party?)

We left for the honeymoon destination (the mini version -- we are still debating whether the "real" honeymoon should be at his choice -- Fiji -- or my choice -- Belize ... which probably means we'll meet halfway... where does that put us? Africa?). We arrived at our Muskokan resort (pictured above) where we most lazed poolside and ate well. The Buffalo wings were especially ridiculously addictive.

Oh, and I managed to get a single run in on the first morning. Nearly 4K of undulating country road. And that was enough.

Honeymoon's over. Time to get back into the groove of things.... oh, stupid reality.

Will you Mariachi Me?

I got my toes painted today, so they're all pretty for the Big Party tomorrow night.
The nail color is called "Will you Mariachi Me"? I thought it was, therefore, quite fitting.

I haven't run since Tuesday. There's a lot of people to see and things to do before a wedding. But I'm not freaking out. And people think I've been remarkably calm. I think people are driving me to freakout status because I think I'm neglecting an important detail. My checklist says otherwise, and if something goes wrong, I never had a vision of perfection on this Big Day anyway.

So I am going to risk ruining the toe job tomorrow by running first thing in the morning. Just two or three miles to get the adrenaline going. My sister will come with me. I figure running is part of my life, and it's definitely a part that I want to take with me into the next phase of it.

Fruitful Tuesday

I knew I should have gone yesterday. Instead I opted for a cold Heineken, followed by some two hours of very unfruitful last minute wedding shoe shopping (I've had a change of heart on my shoes. Currently I have a closed-toe, kitten heel shoe. Now I want open-toe anything. In gold.)
So today I suffered a little because while the humidity had evaporated, so did 10C (bringing today's temp to the midteens), and a chilly breeze replaced the lost heat too. Brisk conditions for the regular Tuesday RunClub, but we perservered. We did a 5.6K square loop of the downtown core, heading east today for some new, though decrepitly industrialized, scenery. Three great things happened next. One, I found my shoes! (though they're a half-size too big but I bought them anyway and will think about them a little longer). Two, Emily called to say she has arrived from Ghana, via London. Three, CMan had spaghetti waiting for us when we got home.

sweet ride

Except for the 1-mile cardio warmup on the treadmill I did on Friday before weight training, I haven't run since Tuesday's 10K, from which I felt sore for two days afterwards and decided to just hang out -- sometimes on a patio with a cold drink -- rather than run. But I participated yesterday in the annual charity bike ride up and down two major highways. It was my fourth year pedalling for heart and stroke research, and the fourth year I completed the 50K route with my dad. We did better than last year -- time wise (2:35, including one rest stop at the halfway mark for oranges and water) -- and that has a lot to do with a better bike (I don't think I'm necessarily fitter).

Grasshopper

No regular Afterwork RunClub today. She forgot her shoes.
So what do I do? I convinced another colleague (henceforth, the grasshopper) to sign up for the September half-marathon and we promptly go out for a 10K jog in the valley. (1:08:17)
The cult grows. Two regular training partners. Plus my cousin on occassion (if I can peel her away from homework), and possibly Frankie.

No fretting. Okay, a little bit...

I have not run since finding out about the sold-out Marine Corps Marathon. I've decided to forgo looking for a fall marathon. I only want to go to one with tens of thousands of runners. I like the comfort of having masses of people around me. I also don't want to go by myself. Which is why the MCM was going to be fun, because I was supposed to do this with Yumke. (Not run together, but to fly and carboload, and visit R. Yumke, we should've signed up on the same day like we coordinated for Chicago!)

No more fretting about this lost marathon opportunity. There will be others. So, I'll be happy with the fall half marathon instead for this year. I convinced my Afterwork RunClub partner to sign up. Now we can train together, knowing we're both after the same goal. We're scheduled to run tomorrow, probably about 5K.

I found a couple of other things to entertain me these last few days. Like final details of the wedding (it's less than 2 weeks away now! Eek), including a last-minute bachelorette party (featuring some wicked martinis, then seeing drag queens on College St). And catching up on some of my PVRed shows (I've found a reason to go back to Lost, and ditch 24). Oh, and my new favorite PS2 game, just bought it yesterday: Guitar Hero II. I'm really digging Message in a Bottle, Heart-Shaped Box, Monkey Wrench, and Free Bird.

Too late!

So when I ignored all the warnings about the MCM usually filling up fast, I lost my chance to get in.

QUANTICO, VA- The Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) sold out on May 23 at 3:00 p.m. eastern time with 30,000 participants for the October 28 event. Thousands of runners hit the MCM website, www.marinemarathon.com, as registration opened on May 9 at noon eastern to ensure a spot on the Arlington, VA start line.

D'oh.

I'm disappointed, sure, but it's obviously my own damn fault. There's still space if I want to go the charity route, but I've always wanted to reserve the charity race for something bigger -- something overseas, like Iceland or Rome.

So it's back to the drawing board. I ran just 2.5 miles since the last post (on a treadmill because, frankly, I didn't want to be outside in the humidity. Oh the memories of last July's training sked). I still got the half-marathon at the end of September. I could upgrade that to a full distance....

It's still the weekend...

I didn't get to fit in another run on either Saturday or Sunday like I thought I would. A baby shower (mom-to-be was very surprised), a double matinee (Spidey and Shrek -- both not as good as their predecessors), and seeing the florist for wedding flowers (red roses and some kind of orchid) made for a packed weekend. Good thing it's a public holiday today, which means it still feels like I get some semblance of a weekend to myself.
And even though I didn't have to go to work today, I ran to it. Because that is where my gym is. It was a gorgeous and sunny 10C when I departed at 9:50. I figured that would give me enough time to get to the gym by 10:45 to attend the Victoria Day body sculpt class. I barely made it in time, covering 5 mi. Now I'm gonna kick up my feet.

Ramping up

I still have yet to sign on the dotted line for Washington, but if my mood and efforts this week about running are any indication, I think I'm starting to get mentally ready. And what a difference sun and positive temperature makes. If memory serves, this is the highest mileage week I've put together since... well, probably when I was officially training for Chicago last year.

Thursday - planning ahead
A beloved colleague is transferring to Paris and we had to send him off in style, or at least hungover on the plane the next day. Knowing that it was going to be a long night at the bar, I decided to run in the morning. And like I did several times last year, I packed my work clothes into the car and sent CMan ahead to his work where I would meet him about 45 minutes later. I forgot how nice it is to run outside in the morning. Mostly quiet, not a lot of cars spewing exhaust in your face. I might have to consider this option much much more. I got to thinking, if I run nearly 8K to work, and CMan drives about 6K to work, do our respective carbon footprints cancel each other out? Probably too simplistic a way of thinking about that.

Friday - tired but not hungover
So it was a late night as predicted and I had to open the office at 6:30a.m. The reality is that I'm not as young as I used to be and I actually do need a little bit of sleep. And I didn't even sleep well. Boo. Thankfully, for me and everyone involved in the festivities the night before, it was a relatively uneventful day at work. The great thing about opening the office is that you're the first one out. And on a bright sunny day, especially a Long Weekend, it feels even better. I had dragged my running gear to work, with the grand plan of making myself go for a run by the water before heading to my 6p.m. spa appointment (a pre-wedding facial! And a run before will get my face suitably grunged up to be deep-cleaned).
I started slowly and kept a very plodding pace. Every footfall felt heavy. I wasn't sure how far I was going to go, or would be able to go. Maybe it's because I associate a good chunk of this 12.6K route with Yumke so I just wanted to do well. So I had to keep moving, in case I ran into him. I wanted to be in good form!

Tally: 27.6 kilometers/17.1 miles this week (and the week isn't even done yet!). Am I ready to devote more time to get to D.C.?

Not thwarted by rain

I thwarted the rain today. Twice.
I rose at 5:45 this morning, and the lightning had just started. Then the thunder came. And whoosh, a pile of rain. I thought about going back to bed for another hour, then decided it was better to catch a ride downtown with CMan and get some weight training in before work instead of having to slog through the rain to get to the subway. Made perfect sense to me.
It being Tuesday and Tuesday being Afterwork RunClub day, I was a tiny bit concerned that we might not be able to go because thunderstorms were expected after work as well. Now I was faced with another decision -- do I stick to working on my upper body or treadmill it? (Too many decisions this morning! I also thought about calling in sick. But sore throat is just not enough in my books)
I like compromise. So I slowly got through one mile on the treadmill. Then did some triceps, biceps, push-ups, crunches.

By midmorning, the sun was shining. I took lunch outside, and assessed that RunClub could meet tonight. We left a little bit later than usual. It was humid and I thought about all those crappy humid days during marathon training last summer. Do I really want to do this again? I'm once again leaning to yes...... (!)

L and I didn't have a route planned out today. But we started off the same as usual, heading west. Since it was so nice, it occurred to me that running by the lake might be nice for temperature, for change of scenery, for a lot of fun. Another good decision, I'm on a roll! We ran farther than I thought we did over the 41-1/2 minutes we were out there... I could hear both of us breathing differently... 3.5 miles this portion = a total of 4.5 miles today.
Headed home. Walked in the door, and then more rain came.

Not enlisted yet

I opened my calendar today and there was a little notation in there: MCM registration opens.
At the start of the year, I declared my intention to run the Marine Corps Marathon in DC on Oct. 28. I declared then, and now I'm having second thoughts.... will have to defer this decision til later. Much later.

Two workouts

Worked on toning my arms this morning (yes, this arms and back exposure on Wedding Day is getting to my head). Then afterwork, RunClub with L reconvened for the first time since the end of March. She had been ordered by her doc to cease all cardio for awhile, but she said she felt good today and decided that we could just jog slowly. She also wore a heart rate monitor to make sure she didn't spike badly. She didn't. We kept a steady pace for about 41 minutes. I didn't map it, but I'm estimating that's about 5K.

The Sporting Life

It was Christmas today.
Or at least the fulfillment of a goal set around Christmas last year. My sister took her place among the other 8,999 other runners this morning at the Sporting Life 10K. It was a chilly morning, much cooler than I thought. I had 3 outfit changes before I was satisfied with a long sleeve yellow shirt, wind vest, capris and my favorite yellow hat (so fashionably coordinated, I know)

.... oh, as I was explaining to my brunch buddies post-race, is my single reminder of triumph over adversity. The hat was a reward for joining a fun run. And while the fun run was actually fun, the part that happened after the fun run was not. This was a turning point in my Chicago marathon training experience. I didn't quit, and that's what this hat represents to me....

I wasn't really "race ready" this morning. Normally I'd have my race bib pinned already, my timing chip attached to my shoelaces, and whatever else I needed all laid out. Not so. I didn't even have breakfast before I left because of the sad state of affairs that is my fridge. Not even a drop of milk, nor any sort of bread. Argh. So during the$20 cab ride to the start line I ate a mini box of Vector and washed it down with water, the whole while hoping this was going to be enough to fuel me through this race.

I spotted Yumke lining up at the 40ish-min pace marker. Wished him luck (as if he needs it) and headed further back of the line with my sister and brother-in-law. We found the fourth member of the family team, my cousin, as well as Fleetfooted Frankie (who, by the way, said this race was basically his first run since November. Ya that's right. And with zero training, he finished in about an hour) and his girlfriend.

Not that we heard the countdown, but we noticed heads starting to bob. The race was on. It took about 4 minutes to actually cross the start line, but by the time I got there, I started to feel that familiar excitement about running in a race. The wide-eyedness of my sister seeing the mass of people doing this reminded me of my first race.

I stayed beside my sister on every step. This was not about me, about me trying to achieve a personal best. It was about pacing my sister and seeing her to the finish line, to see her finish what we started, to show her that she's got the chops for a 10K race. It was about achieving her personal fitness goal.

And she did it. Ran the entire time, except at the water stations where we agreed to walk through and take fluids (we never practiced the hydrating while running drill so the walkthru was important). There were a few inclines and one legitimate hill to climb in the race (it's net downhill though) but she powered through them marvellously. (If there was one flaw about this race, I'd say it was that I forgot how to use my watch. I didn't get my splits because I just didn't remember to hit the lap button at every kilometer.)

At the 5K mark, I figured we were ahead by a couple of minutes than our usual times. One step over the 7K marker, I told her that she had officially run the furthest she had ever in her life. All she had to do now was less than 2 miles, a distance she can handily cover any day of the week. At 8K, there was a bit of a headwind and she said she was starting to fade a little bit. But she didn't stop. She got bits of encouragement from me and my cousin. She responded. My sister dug deep, kept her head high, and the three of us ploughed on. We threw the idea of sprinting at the end. My cousin and I, when we run together, have a habit of running as fast as we can. My sister never participated in that, saying that she can't. But "can't" is not a word she knows, and especially not today. I gave her easy targets to pick off during the last half kilometer. She did it with no problem. As soon as we turned the last corner, she could see the finish line.

And she sprinted. I knew she could. She even heard her name announced as she crossed the finish line, hands up in the air. I was so proud of her, I was even a little teary eyed. And, for the record: she finished at chip time 1:10:15.4; 1.1 seconds ahead of me.

Bacon always tastes so good after a race.

My sister called 2 hours ago. Guess she found that runner's high. She said the Zoo Run in October looks good.

It's a carb party. And then it was much more...

I didn't have an inkling of what was going on. I had volunteered to attend a business meeting as an observer on the most beautiful weekend day yet. I didn't know it was going to be this nice three weeks ago when I agreed to it. Since I was only there in an observer capacity, it was okay that I ditched it a little early. Just as well because I had just three more hours to pick up my race package for Sunday's 10K race. Though drained by the amount of legalese and number crunching involved earlier in the day, I was looking forward to the carboloading party agreed upon by the four-member family team I'd assembled for this race. CMan chauffered my sister and I to claim our bibs and chip.
Then we walked around the neighborhood and maybe here I should have clued in.
CMan was not complaining about shopping, about being away from Warcrack, or trying to hurry me in any way. Odd, but I didn't think hard about it.

We began the journey home. A major highway was closed for spring maintenance, adding so many more cars to the regular thoroughfares and slowing our progress at times. I made a minor stop at home and we headed to her place.

In I walk into my sister's apartment.

There is no pasta.

Instead, there's crunchy veg and dip, proscuitto and fig rolls, crackers and cheese, spinach phyllo strudel, and brownies piled high.

And almost every girl that I know is standing in the room and shouting "surprise"! I was got. They got me good. I didn't know what to say. My sister said I blushed bigtime, that the look on my face was priceless. I think I managed to say, "Girls. Not the day before a race! I thought we were having pasta!"

Teehee. We had the regular bridal shower happenings... lotta yapping, snacking, gift opening, and silly game playing. Then more eating and yakking. The girls are fantabulous, there aren't enough words to describe it.

My sister, her husband and my cousin eventually got to the pasta; whole wheat spaghettini served with a homemade spicy tomato sauce.

There is no race strategy except to complete and have fun. I ran 2 miles on the treadmill on Friday morning, just to remember what running feels like. My sister is more ready than she thinks and I can't wait to see the look on her face when she crosses the finish line.

Seven

1. Seven hours of sleep
2. 7K run with sister M and her husband along the boardwalk at Ashbridges Bay
3. 7:23/km average pace
4. At least 7 great dim sum dishes for lunch with R and Yumke
5. 7.4K walk from downtown Chinatown to Beach
6. 7:30 tip-off: Raptors vs Nets
7. 7 days to massage

Unprepared?

Stop me if you've heard this one before: I haven't been putting much effort into running consistently. Again. I haven't been keeping good records, but I think it's safe to say maybe I've gotten two efforts done in 11 days. (Not to say I've been totally lazy. Still choosing to do other activities -- like I dragged my bike out to start commuting to work this way again. Yes, all of twice so far).

I was cooped up inside a hotel during the most gorgeous spring weekend yet. I managed to get one run in -- after a panicked call to my sister, who happened to be just getting ready to go for a jog with our cousin. I made them wait for me, knowing it would take me an hour to drive across the area code in rush hour. I definitely pushed the pace on my poor family, but I figure they're better for it.

I think perhaps my sister has been the most consistent of the three of us, which she may find completely unbelievable, but more than likely true. She told me she's been running her two miles, and on consecutive days. She's not sticking to a plan, per se, but I guess at least she's active. She has yet to actually do a "long run" so I'm worried that the distance come race day will shock her. My cousin says she's having a hard time too -- she's been studying hard lately and hasn't put as much time into running; so she said her last run was the "WORST "5K ever and she couldn't breathe.
Somebody at work asked me how the running was going. Because once you do a marathon and people hear about it, they start to look at you in awe and then think you're some superhumanathlete. I told my colleague that I had become sort of disinterested this winter. But that I hoped things would turn around.
And so. Nine days away from the start line.
This turnaround better come soon.

Twice inspired

The Holy Grail of marathons happened today. If I was 80 years old, I would've qualified. And yesterday I had finally picked up my marathon plaque, commemorating my achievement at Chicago in October, from my parents place after it spent a good 4 months in a box at my brother-in-law's parents house in Kentucky after it had to be repaired for a very minor chip on the corner.

Of course I was going to run today. (Treadmilled 5K over lunch break. A little bit of a struggle near the end of it -- it's hard for me to maintain a 10-min mile pace. And so I still wonder how I finished 26.2 miles about half a year ago. Seriously.)

Busy busy busy

Life happens. Since my last post, there's been wedding invitations mailed (and a pile of acceptances sent back), a birth in the family, a dinner club formed, good career days, and a hive of real estate activity (one friend moved, one friend bought, and another couple are looking -- potentially next door -- and all have peppered me with questions about property. For some reason they think I'm like the Donald. I'm not.)

But, this isn't a list of life milestones that I'm using to say it's getting in the way of running. Life is always going to happen and if running is to be a part of it, I have to make it so. My last few posts, though few and far between, have had a decidely negative flavor. I haven't been recording the mileage that I want. I haven't had very many super running days this winter. Chalk it up to laziness? Disinterest? Mild case of the "winter blues"? I'm not sure.

Most of my running hasn't been based on distance this month, and more on getting what I can get done in 30 minutes. Because anything more than 30minutes is driving me crazy on the treadmill. So, I've reincorporated yoga into the mix, some weight training, and found cardio in the stationary bike and rowing machine.

But spring always brings renewal. Turning over of a new leaf and other such cliches may soon apply. My sister arranged for another family run for this weekend. Then she cancelled, citing leg soreness. Then our cousin arrived with her stuff, after two arduous exams, and it was decided that a run was in store -- though the decision to actually go took much longer than that. One reason was because I was going to be left out -- I didn't have my shoes. I told them to go without me.

I drove home. Without hesitation, I immediately changed shoes, found my Garmin and yellow running cap. Out the door within 5 minutes. I briefly wondered if I could run fast enough to head off the girls (I designed their route after all), but figured they had too much lead time on me (and who am I kidding? It's not like I run like a cheetah). In my haste to get out the door, before I had the chance to change my mind, I realized that I had no idea how far I was going, where I was going. All I knew was that I had to be outside. And this non-commital always turns out to be one of the better outings for some reason. I explored the neighborhood to the west of home. And 4.6 miles later, I was at my sister's looking for a Gatorade break. And peanut butter. Life's good.

April Fool

There's a pretty steady rain today.
Not doing my long run.
Funny, I'm not upset about this.

Ugly Four

I somehow pushed out 4mi today. And it was a two-parter. I promised my sister that I'd run with her today. She's was sick earlier this week (she thinks it might have been the protein bar I gave her to try but that's a whole other story) and so we were going to take it easy.
After lunch with our parents, we were dropped off at my house. The plan was that I'd run with her back to her house and then make my way back. That would be a solid 4mi (1 extra mile than scheduled)
But it turned out it was she who was running me to her place. I think she was able to quell her fears that she had lost fitness in her few days off. She was the strong one today. Me, on the other hand, was struggling. Near the end, she opened up a good gap between us, about 15 sidewalk lengths. She fed me some toast, then some Gatorade.
I was replenished enough to make the journey home. So happy to see my front door.

Wednesday + Thursday = Friday

Here's the math: No run on Wednesday + No Run on Thursday = No Rest Day on Friday.
Therefore, No 35min tempo on Wednesday + No 3mi on Thursday = 10K on Friday.
But I didn't really do a tempo run either. In fact this was my slowest 10K in quite a while (1:17:20). Also my first 10K in 38 days.
Is it bad that I felt like I wanted to vomit at the end of this? (I didn't)

P-U-R-S-U-I-T

noun
1. Striving toward; aim, goal, objective, dream
2. Activity, hobby, diversion, recreation, amusement; occupation

I think about words a lot. It's my job, my chosen career. It's really no accident then, that today, I found myself at a corporate Scrabble tournament in support of literacy. In truth, I didn't play very well -- well below personal bests -- and I never once came close to using all seven of my tiles in one turn (that's not to say that I make it a habit to use all 7 tiles, sometimes I'm just not that lucky in the draw). It's nearly impossible to score well when you're holding 3 As, 2 Os and 1 E, and an H. I still managed to win at my table, with a pathetic-for-me score of 113, built on words like "jerk", "taxa" and "sate" but without the benefit of fancy premium squares. Anyways, Scrabble is just another of my nerdy pursuits, much like Warcrack and watching comicbook-inspired movies.

But I offset these sedantary pursuits with another favorite diversion: the outdoor run. As opposed to the indoor treadmill run, which is simply gruntwork. Though both instances help to lift the semi-guilt wrought up over buttery popcorn, Coke, and Dairy Milk bars. And Pizza Thursdays.

I'm on Week 4 of Hal's intermediate half-marathon plan, after realizing recently that I had miscounted by two weeks (!) the start date of this training plan towards the Ottawa race at the end of May. I replaced the Friday and Saturday scheduled rest days in favor of 2 5K runs. The program suggested a 5K race on Sunday but I didn't even try to find one and barely went outside. I also rested yesterday (even though it's technically a stretch and strengthen day). And Afterwork RunClub is now back on track (4.2 miles today. almost 3/4 of a mile more than planned).

It's amazing how I've tricked myself into putting in the time to pursue a better finishing time in the half-marathon distance. I'm not signed up for this spring Ottawa race I keep referencing and I'm not even sure if I have the desire to go. I'll put in the physical work to achieve improvement. But it's the mental battle that's harder, and it has always been the hardest part for me. Because I am training for a false objective because it's highly unlikely I'll make this trip to the nation's capital race.

So perhaps I should strive towards something else more manageable, arguably more practical. I could stand to lose maybe a few more pounds before The Wedding Day, work on the arms and back because these parts will be exposed in my uberfabulous dress.

Some people might chase their running goals with precision, following a training plan, eating properly, signing up for practice races, diarizing every mile tread, and buying new shoes every
500 miles.

You can't spell pursuit without purist. Or ruts, for that matter......


ps: this is Post 200!

mish mash

I'm trying to get back into the early before-work Wednesday/Thursday workouts. It's nicer to stay in a warm bed an extra hour on winter mornings rather than go sweat at the gym. So, I'm 1 for 2 this week then. I didn't go yesterday morning. It was warm after work, but also raining and I didn't want to run in the rain. So no Wednesday tempo run.
But I got to the gym at 630 this morning. And to be honest it wasn't a very satisfying workout at all. I intended to get in 4 miles, going the "extra mile" that was called for, though not really since I had missed Wednesday's distance.
But. It wasn't to be.
I hate to say, but I barely made it through a mile.
Because I was overwhelmed.
Overwhelmed by the *stank* of a treadmillite two machines over. Seriously, I was starting to suffocate from the B.O. I wish I could be more charitable here, but it ruined my run. And I really should've known better. Because this same person spoiled a group class for me a year or two ago with her gagging scent. So I retreated and made adjustments. I quit from the treadmill, and opted for the rowing machine. As I appraoched 3,000 meters rowed (and I have no idea whether that's an accomplishment or not...certainly didn't feel as exhausting as a 3K run would've been), I spotted an open treadmill on the other side of the room, far away from the offensive odor. I didn't have that much time left before I had to hit the shower, but I got in another mile and a little bit of ab work.
A mishmash of a workout -- not the prettiest -- but it's done. Friday is supposed to be a rest day, but I may do some light running. It's supposed to be warm all weekend and I hope to take advantage!

RunClub restart

It's been a good two months since the Afterwork RunClub convened. There were vacations, frigid weather, general apathy, minor medical procedures, and late work nights that interfered with the Tuesday thing we had going in the waning months of 2006.
But we have committed to start again as the spring melt seems to have come. It was a fight-against-the-wind 5K but we felt good about it. Next week we hope to up the mileage slightly before we get to our target 10K.

Shhhh... it's begun

Quietly I've begun Hal's half-marathon training program. This began in the past week, on Tuesday officially, shortly before my blogpost admitting my MIAness. I had meant to follow up and mark the start (and never got around to it).

Actually, it began nicely, with a family run on a very balmy day after work. My sister, my cousin, and I met up for a 5K run. It was the furthest my sister has run (her previous best was 2mi). We pushed her a little bit, but she made it through a run 9-min-walk-1-min pattern, and 37 minutes later, we were done. (I'm very proud of her. She's gonna kick butt at the 10K race in May!) I ran the next day, another 5K, around my neighborhood. Skipped the Thursday workout and then got another 5K in (on a treadmill) before going to see Yao play against my Raptors (not a good game if you are a Raps fan). Wasted much of Saturday kicking around the house and thinking it would be a good idea to run but never actually executing.

But I reluctantly made myself go out today. Because the long run is important. Skip one of the shorter ones during the week, yes, but never the long one. Around 5:30pm, after all my errands were done (the most important one being the printing of the wedding invitations...now for the assembly), I bundled up and went out for a fight-against-the-wind 4 miler.

It totally feels like when I started training last year. The hardest part is getting out the door. Because although it was more windy than I cared for it to be, and it was still a bit nippy, and I couldn't find my hat, I really enjoyed myself once I got going.