Blitzed

I overshot my target mileage today. I thought I was scheduled for 8 miles. That's actually next week. This week I was actually booked for 7 miles. It didn't start off well. I woke up around 7:30 a.m. and did not feel like going. I needed to be around people to make sure I wasn't being a lazy runner. It already felt like it'd be one of those give-up-if-the-wind-is-blowing-the-wrong-way type days.

I pulled on my gear, made a face as the weather channel said it was 0C, but it felt like -5, and out the door I went. My iPod was dead. Of all the days that I really wanted to listen to some Incubus, Foo Fighters, and maybe some Billy Talent. I headed straight to the Beach to meet up with the Sunday running group I hadn't seen in months. I briefly thought about running with the 1/2 marathon group, which was doing 14K. But that was more than I wanted to do (calculating that it was a round trip 6K from my house to the meeting spot .... I did not need to do 20K today). So I went with group that was doing 7K.

In the summer, this is a nice route -- mostly boardwalk along the beach. In the tail-end of winter, it's icy, it's windy, and the waves (which remind me of the North Shore in Hawaii but devoid of surfers here) crashing on the rocks can actually kick up enough spray to hit you along the way. The unintentional funny thing about me running with people this morning is that I ran it alone, neither at the front of the pack or at the back -- in the middle where it was just me. I started off pacing myself behind the twins (two runners wearing the same jacket. We could have been triplets since they were donning the jacket that was given away at the Resolution Run) but quickened my pace. The fierce wind would make me feel like I was running in one spot and I almost wished for a treadmill. I completed the route in about 45 minutes. I took a quick drink and started my journey home. I won't lie, I wish I had brought my car. But my mileage wasn't done yet.

Away from the water, it was a completely different run. I stuck to the sunny side of the sidewalk and I moved with ease. There was no wind. All the traffic lights worked in my favor (today that means I didn't stop). I took a different route home and stopped at the Golden Arches to pick up hash browns and a McMuffin for me, some hotcakes for CMan. By the time I reached home, 2-1/2 hours from the time I left, I'd covered 9.4 miles/15K. Which means, I've inadvertently jumped ahead 4 weeks in the schedule.

Luckily for me, I had a girl's day scheduled today. Four of us went to take the waters, that is do the whole water therapy thing -- soak in a sea salt pool, steam, cold plunge, sauna, cold plunge, green tea hot tub, cold plunge, more sea salt. It was a perfect ending to a hard run.

Tickled pink

New shoes!
These are going to go so great with the colors at the Flying Pig in 36 days. Took these kicks out for a spin around the block. A 5-1/2 mile block. Met my sister partway, who decided she would run home from work (taking a page out of my playbook, I see). The first part of my run was good. The middle part not so much. I feared it might be my new shoes, Brooks GTS 8, which are the next generation of my current pair. Coincidentally there were hills (ok, a steady low grade incline) at this time, so I'll blame that, because I more or less sprinted the last two miles home on very flat ground when my sister and I parted ways. I'll see how these feel again during the 8 miles I have scheduled this weekend. Probably Sunday.

Old shoes

I ran an errand-based 3K late this afternoon in my old shoes. I had absent-mindedly left my running shoes at work. I had brought them in because I read somewhere that it was a good idea to bring in your old shoes when going to buy new ones but I never made it to the store over my lunch break. It's so nice out today, very spring-like, and I wished I had more time to get in a much longer run but had another commitment to attend to in the early evening. But at least I got a short one in anyway. Ran and met up with CMan at the grocery store to pick up ingredients for dinner. We've decided to open up the grill for the second time this week. Yummy burgers on the menu tonight!

Three angry miles

Without going into deep detail, let's just say I'm having issues with a certain retailer and a credit card company. The gist of it is that I've been arguing a false charge on my credit card for nearly four months now, and it is still not resolved. It's moving at a snail's pace, despite frequent calls where I have to explain the same story to a different customer service agent every time. Needless to say, I want to pull my hair out. Instead, I went for three furious miles today, meeting my sister partway on the route (lucky her to get me in a foul mood). I quickly cooled down from the angry words I had and enjoyed the warmth of the wintry sun (oxymoron?) and my sister's funny stories from her trip on the West Coast.

Double the fun with cousin

The running week is ending early. I went to the gym for the first time in months on Tuesday. I was quite a sight -- so uncoordinated on the treadmill. In fact, I misstepped half a dozen times during this very poor 5K. I was pink with embarassment at nearly falling off each time. Maybe it was the lasagna with bechamel sauce, fried zucchini and Italian donuts, that were being prepared FoodTv that caused the distraction of not running in a straight line?

But luckily, my cousin was housesitting for my sister this week and this enabled us to have back-to-back outdoor runs together, yesterday and today. It was a blustery Thursday. She pulled up to my house just as I was returning from work. It would be another 45 minutes before we could talk ourselves into running in that cold wind. It seemed no matter which direction we headed, the wind was not at our backs. It didn't stop us, we just pushed through. I steered us a little off course so that we could end the run at the local coffeeshop for a hot chocolate to warm our hands and bellies for the short cooldown walk home after we completed 5K.

Today, it took us another 45 minutes to depart upon meeting up. I used almost the same route as last Saturday, except went in reverse so the hill home was more drawn out but less steep than if I had gone the other way. It's also a step-back long run week (again, not adhering to any plan in particular. Just running what I feel like. Though I plan to reach a long run of 10 miles before the taper). We set off slowly. We both have start-issues, ie can't seem to get going until about 20 minutes in. I purposely lead us past the new cupcake shoppe and she was equally enamored by the choices that would await us... one day. I think we actually hit a comfortable stride in the second half of the 6-1/2-mile journey when the promise of hot coffee and pancakes was close at hand. (In reality, the coffee wasn't very satisfying at the diner, as was the service, but I managed to eat some of everyone's breakfast -- cousin's hashbrowns, her husband's rye toast, CMan's bacon, and 2 of 3 of my own stack of pancakes with a side of sausages).

She wins skinny jeans

I made a bet with my sister. If she finished her 5K in 33 minutes, I owe her a pair of skinny jeans.
She won. We all have our motivators.

(Actually she ran 3-1/2 miles in 36 minutes. Does she win? I'm too lazy to do the math actually.)

Springing into action

Good luck to all the leprechauns running in various St. Patty's dashes. Fitz, ya look good! Yumke, another 5K is nothing this weekend. M, you can do it. Bobby, I hope you outrun your buddy and get free beer all day.

Funny how a flurry of running activity will get me trawling the web for new races. It becomes a big calendar study and I tend to sign up only if there's critical mass amongst my running partners. Or at least one other body going. So I've just signed up for Harry's Spring Run-off. Yumke's already in. And there were preliminary talks recently with my sister and cousin about doing this too, as a Piglet (hilly course, about 5 miles, good practice a month before the Big Pig). This will be the second time I'll run this course, the first being the first race ever in adulthood (I mean, I had quite the elementary school track record. I got lots of participation ribbons to prove it!)

Hard eight on the Ides of March

It was a tough 8.2 mile run today. I remember why it's useful to run with people. It was easily the most gorgeous running day of the year. It was 3C, sun was beating down, and there was just a whisper of a wind. Grasshopper, who was booked for an 18-miler (gawd, I don't miss those AT ALL), graciously allowed me to join him for part of this epic run. It cost me a glass of water when he showed up at my door at about 12:15 pm, a little later than we'd semi-planned but that was entirely a miscommunication.

We set off. By this time I'd already redrawn his proposed route. I had to be at my sister's for 2pm before she was heading to the airport for a week on the West Coast (I should mention, she's doing a St. Patty's 5K this weekend. That is not the principal reason for going, but cool). I had shortened Grasshopper's route by 2 miles, with the expectation that after the loop down to the water and back to my house, I'd make up the balance by running to my sister's.
There weren't too many stops. A few traffic lights. A water stop and washroom break at the local running shop. A small detour into a new cupcake shoppe I didn't know about (I stop at all cupcake shops, whether or not I intend to buy something. I really wanted one, but it's not really intra-run food is it?) Note to self, stick to completely residential roads so there's no danger of window shopping.

The scariest part of the run was not the hill at close to Mile 4. It was when Grasshopper nearly got mowed down by a careless driver coming out of a driveway. It was probably a good thing that we slowed down for a microsecond to do a Jellybean transaction (he was carrying and passing one to me). The driver didn't seem too apologetic, and we just kept on going.

Eventually we made it back to my house, where I had a small costume change. I ditched the jacket and the protective pant layer (for the puddles). And we had another water break. And then off to my sister's. At this point, I was running better. Must be the flat road. I'm semi-concerned about these Cinci hills.

My breathing was pretty labored today. I struggled at times to keep up, mostly on the inclines and hillier portions. But I'm glad I had a running buddy today. I would have walked way more. And ran much slower. About 22 miles in total for the week! How's that for picking it up.... I had a nice long nap. Then proceeded to work on my taxes. Now I'm going to take a break and go run in the virtual world of Outland and kill some stuff.

performance predictor

One of the best predictors of performance is food.

You are what you eat.

Food as fuel: The bowls of pasta we eat the night before a race is there to store enough energy to get us to the finish line. The electrolyte-laden drinks and pure water keeps us hydrated. Gels give us that extra boost down the stretch. We try to stay away from binge drinking and deep fried foods during serious training periods. Eat greens.

Food as reward: For one reason or another, it's thinking about pizza that sometimes gets me through a long run. Or it's the promise of a short stack of pancakes with real maple syrup or a fluffy Belgian waffle with strawberries, either treat must come with a side of bacon, that makes many a weekend long run so satisfying (but particularly majestic post-race).

Food as motivator: It's not entirely the best pre-run meal but it's a good predetermined guarantee I'll put on some running shoes not too long afterwards. Food guilt? Maybe a little. What did I do? I went to McDonald's for lunch and it cost me 830 calories. Give me points for having a diet Coke?

And that is why I ran 3miles after work today.


......Then I proceeded to go to the bar for a going-away party, where I had one beer, fish and chips and a couple of chicken fingers.

And that is why I plan on running 8 miles tomorrow. The vicious cycle.

Lost nerve, and window shopping

Another sunny day, chalk up 4.5miles more for me. I no longer feel bad about hibernating all winter. I thought about repeating Monday's effort (like I'm sticking to a training plan anymore) but I sort of lost my nerve about 10 minutes into it. Twas windier than expected, and the chill seemed to pierce right through my jacket today and the sun wasn't warming. I decided to shorten the run and tried to remember past routes (it's been so long!). I headed toward my sister's place, that would be about 4 miles. But, I decided I should throw a hill into today's run. Because there are hills, and quite the doozies in the Cinci route I hear, and so I thought I should practice just a little. Three-quarters of the way through the run, I found myself on Queen St between the neighborhoods of Leslieville and The Beach. Lot of stores were catching my eye, not to mention many a menu of the local restos. So, it wasn't the most productive mile there, with a lot of stops. I guess I lost a bit of momentum because the last mile was the toughest -- and not just because there was a hill looming. It was a tremendous effort to just put one foot in front of the other. I ended up walking quite a bit.

But at least I ran up the entire hill.

"We had a pact!"

Somehow R. and I had agreed to not train for the half marathon in Cinci. I don't really remember why. Anyways, I broke the pact last week -- twice. So not to be entirely outdone, R. went out this weekend and ran 16.5K in one shot. Hmmmmph.
So, in the spirit of one upmanship, I made the most of the incredible sunshine this afternoon. I had bought myself a new toque during my lunch break for cold weather running (it doesn't seem like this snow is ever going to end! ....). because, you know, it was the hatless running that was stopping me all winter. The giant square route around the eastern part of the city before it becomes real suburbs took 90 minutes but I'm not fussing too much about that. There were a lot of puddles, people in the way, unshoveled portions of sidewalks, and I had to stop for about 5 minutes because I was so fascinated by the sight of snow removal by a convoy of trucks. All told, 6.5 miles (10.5K)! So I didn't quite beat R.'s distance, but maybe we'll both start getting into some kind of different groove. Ah, spring....

This just may become a habit

Jogging and blogging twice in one week? Something's happening.... a half-marathon training is in progress.

Did the same 5K route as Monday, but in the other direction. Again, it didn't look promising weatherwise this morning (overnight storm), but by the time I got home, the sun was shining and people were outside shoveling their portions of the sidewalks with t-shirts on. Also, I had to fit in a run today because my monthly dinner club is on tonight and we're going to Lebanese buffet. Mmmm, lentil soup and kebabs in an hour!

baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack-the sequel

SIXTY DAYS to train. That's enough time to prep for a half-marathon that I just want to complete, right? Right? I'm saying it more to convince myself as the winter training I thought I would do sort has just withered to nothing. One might say I never really got started. I have been so sedantary this winter I'm surprised I haven't gained much weight... Almost none.

Well, it's upon us and the time to get serious about training might be now. Or yesterday. So here I am, starting again. Because everyone else I know who's signed up for the Pig is miles ahead in training. Let there be no more excuses.

I am still not 100-percent healthy. About 98 percent, I'd say. I thought I had kicked whatever it was (bronchitis?) just out of pure stubborness, but a cough crept up on me the other day. And no, I haven't gone to the doctor yet. Still. Yes since New Year's Eve. But I do have an appointment on Thursday. Really.

It was remarkably balmy this morning and I thought to myself, okay today is the day I start over and run outside because it's 60 days before I take my place....at the back of the pack. That first half of the thought lasted for as long as it took me to take my next step because I nearly slipped on some black ice. And I proceeded to nearly wipe out another dozen times along my 10 minute walk to the subway. By the afternoon though, as I was staring out the window, it was sunny and I figured the ice would have melted by now and I'd be safe on the sidewalks of Toronto. Except for all the puddles, and patches of thick ice not yet removed by the city... and the smattering of rain and dark clouds. But guess what, I went anyway.

3.3 miles (5.2K) in about 40 minutes. Still got it.