Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 17 Recap

Ahhhhhhh.  Had a massage this morning and I gotta say...if I won the lotto, I would be gettin' one of those at least once a week.  Heck, daily.  I love a good massage, and the girl who worked on me this morning (apologies to my regular girl, but I had to get one today) was amazing...almost as good as my usual RMT, and wasn't afraid to get in there and really work the knots out.  I've tried a few other RMTs that weren't bad, but I found that they just didn't press hard enough and I came out feeling no different than when I walked in.  Just cuz I'm little doesn't mean I'm some kind of delicate Asian lotus blossom...sheesh!

Well...one more recap to go.  I'm almost a little sad because my first marathon is the premise of this blog, but there'll be other goals to achieve, right?  There are plenty of PBs left in me and lots of inane observations on life and recipes to review, so I'll still be kicking around on the interwebz for awhile.  And who knows...I may get addicted to marathoning *sneaking sideways glance at Hubs*....

Sunday - rest day

Monday - stationery bike 20 minutes
I jammed on bootcamp...my foot was still bugging me from Saturday's run, so I decided to be conservative and let it rest by doing a quick workout on the bike. 

Tuesday - rest day

Wednesday - 6K treadmill run

Thursday - 6K treadmill run
I was in Vancouver for work for a big convention, and got to stay a really nice hotel, the Fairmont Waterfront.  Now when I checked out the amenities, it said first class gym...and it actually was.  Yay!  I carted my butt up out of bed early-ish to go down and do a quick treadmill run, and then ordered up some room service as I wanted to make sure I got a good meal in rather than just grabbing some scone or some big sugar bomb as we were going to busy working a tradeshow booth at the convention.  It's funny, because I absolutely cannot go without eating breakfast anymore. I was never, ever, ever a breakfast eater, but Hubs totally changed that.  When he found out I didn't eat breakfast, he was aghast...and would have to cajole me into eating it.  Now, I have to eat something healthy and hearty to start off my day or I'm a mess.  See, even old dogs can learn new tricks!

Friday - bootcamp

Saturday - 16K 13K run, at race pace
According to our training schedules, we were supposed to do our runs this week at race pace...eek! I've not run anything remotely close to race pace in months, so I was a little apprehensive.  My overall pace for a 4:30 finish is either 6:24/km overall or 6:09/km walk adjusted (meaning that if I take walk breaks, I have to run a bit faster when I'm actually running).  Gah.  Because the Running Room program does 10 and 1's and I'm doing something more like a 20 and 1 (which works out to be every 3K where the aid stations are), I figured that my pace needed to be about 6:15/km when I'm running to average to a 6:24/km pace overall once I throw in the walk breaks. 

Hubs took off ahead of me, as he was going for a  6:00/km pace...so I started off to what I thought was a conservative pace.  As I looked down at my Garmin, I kept seeing times below 6:00/km.  It was really, really hard to lock in my target pace of 6:15/km...and by the end of the run, I checked my average pace and it was 6:14/km, so 10 seconds per kilometre too fast even incorporating walk breaks.  Now the theory goes for every second you go too fast initially, you'll slow down by double that at the end...so I really need to figure out my pacing or I'm gonna be in a bit of trouble come the latter stages of the race. 

So the big question is...how is the foot feeling?  Truthfully - not great right now.  It's sore and achy, and everything below my knee is a dull ache.  I have an appointment with my physio on Monday, so I'm hoping the last round of IMS will help release all my muscles to give me some more cushioning/movement to get through the race.  It's not unbearable, and nowhere near how it felt last year...all I need is for it to hold out next week and I'm golden.  I just have a few short runs left and then it's "off my feet" mode until Sunday.

Eight more sleeps, kids.

Bubble Girl

Gah.  Today I was feeling a bit out of control - there's a lot to do that has to happen over the next week or so...appointments (chiro, physio, final immune booster, massage), training (still have a few short runs to do), errands/clean house/prep house for family visit, last minute race prep (charge garmin/ipod, make pace bracelet, create playlist), prep Thanksgiving dinner, cook two week's worth of food (there ain't no cookin' happening next week!)...the list goes on and on.  Oh yeah, and of course work...and then at the end of all this I gotta run a marathon!  I was feeling out of sorts because I'm a "planner" so don't like the feeling of the unknown...so of course my trusty lists came out and everything started spilling out of my pea brain.  I planned out each day and what I needed to get done, so this will be my bible until race day so I don't even have to think...I gotta just do it.  I've plunked it all into my handy dandy iPhone, and will delete things off as I do them.  Ahhh...I already feel better!

So a tiny bit of a problem today but nothing major...or at least I'm not gonna make it major.  Back/neck went out again this morning...I think it's been a combo of not watching my body positioning and the not-so-hot bed I slept in on Wednesday night (I was in Vancouver for work...and saw a little group called Kings of Leon...woop woop!!  Coldplay, I still love you the most but the Kings are pretty effing awesome), and my upper back was absolutely aching.  Complete agony, I tell you.  I did a bunch of self massage, stretching and put heat on it, and last night it started to feel better until I got up this morning.  I could feel one of my ribs had come out of place as it unfortunately happens a lot, so I know all the telltale symptoms.  Nooo!  This is one of my biggest fears, as this has been so bad that I can barely get out of bed without help...so I got myself in to see my chiro today and got snapped back into place.  I booked a chiro appointment for the day before the race as a pre-emptive strike just in case...I'm so totally going to keep this appointment for sure, given what happened today.  And now I'm even more paranoid as M twisted her ankle earlier in the week, and her arch is feeling sore and bruised, poor thing.  Le sigh.

Seriously...where is the bubble wrap?

Marathon Challenge

I saw this cool video over at Jessica's blog (thanks!) the other day and had to re-blog it...it's a short documentary called Marathon Challenge done by Nova, and it follows a group of 13 sedentary people (herein dubbed Team Nova) and their journey to complete the Boston Marathon in 40 weeks.  As usual, Nova does an awesome job - they go through explaining some of the basic concepts in running and what happens in the body physiologically as health improves.  I loved it!  So motivating.

Here's the link - it's about an hour, so go get yourself a tea and cookies and make yourself comfy.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/marathon-challenge.html

PS.  10 more days.  I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

You Are My Sunshine

Is it wrong that I'm looking at the weather already?

I know the weather is always wrong...but I'm praying to the weather and running gods that this forecast is right.  It'd be better if it was just a titch cooler as well - but I ain't gonna get picky at this point and just want the weather to stay dry with no wind.  I'm full of nervous energy - I'm trying to write down everything I need to do in the next 11 days to make sure I don't miss anything.  And it doesn't help that I'm reading all these running forums, and hearing about all the horrible stories of people hitting the wall.  I'm like those hypochondriacs that read about illnesses on the interweb and are convinced that they're dying.  Ha!  I guess at this point all I can do is trust in my training and not start out too fast...easier said than done.

I get the feelin' that I'm going to be visiting the Weather Network a LOT in the next week and a half. 

'Tinis and Toes

So tonight I went to one of my besties B's house for this cool little fundraiser for the CIBC Run for the Cure called 'Tinis and Toes...it's kind of a networking/meet other women in business kinda thing, but what you do is you pay a fee but in return you get a mini pedi (nails trimmed, filed, polished), a pink martini (I managed to stay on the wagon and had cranberry juice, bah), a gift bag, nibblies and raffles for prizes.  Coolness!  I was kinda hesitant at first to do anything with my feet after my debacle with Mr. Podiatrist Man last year, but once I found out that it was basically just some filing and polish, I was in like flynn. 

See my pretty pink toes?  Look, I even have all my toenails!  And so far, none of them have turned black...yet (knock on wood).  And yes...my second toe is monstrously longer than my big toe....it's actually almost as long as my pinky.  Yep, I'm a circus freak but I like to think it helps me with my push off...well... that's my story anyways and I'm stickin' to it.

Think the pink will make me faster for the marathon?

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 16 Recap

Two weeks from now at this very time I'll have finished my marathon (I can't believe how fast time is moving)...and will hopefully be stuffed full and sleepy fromThanksgiving dinner, dessert and vino.  The inlaws are coming over to Vic to cheer me on and we've hosted Thanksgiving dinner every year for both our families for as long as I can remember, so I couldn't not host again this year as I didn't want to disappoint everyone.  It's one of the very few opportunities that we have during the year to get everyone together from both sides, and it'll be so nice to have family around to help us celebrate (or commiserate!) on the day's events.  Now before you call me nuts for making dinner after running a marathon, we're not doing a full out turkey dinner but having roast chicken, manicotti, salad and some kind of dessert...all of which is going to be prepped a few days before so all we have to do is put it in the oven and let it cook while I convalesce on the couch, sipping some port or scotch (oh sweet sweet scotch, how I've missed you so!). 

Without further delay - this week's workouts:

Sunday - rest day
Strangely, I felt pretty good after the 32K run - a little sore, but not bad at all.

Monday - bootcamp
Legs and more legs...Sarge worked us over and it was all lower body.  I think next Monday will be the last bootcamp I do and will do some short runs the last week before the race, just to avoid getting sore as my legs were pretty stiff on Tuesday.  I had my second to last visit with my physio, and once again she's pretty happy with how I'm progressing.  I had felt some pains around my knee on Saturday's run, so she did her IMS magic on me to release some of the muscles.  Still thinking about what to get for her for all her help, and I think flowers with a gift card for dinner out somewhere delicious would be perfect. 

Tuesday - rest day

Wednesday - 6K run outside
I know Hubs isn't going to miss these anymore - ha!  I actually like running in the morning when it's so quiet and peaceful, but it's pretty dark and in some sections it's hard to see the ground...this makes me nervous as I really don't want to twist an ankle or something stupid.  Seriously, I need to wrap myself in bubble wrap.

Thursday - 6K treadmill
This was hard.  I really didn't feel like getting up and running, so I made a deal with myself that if after ten minutes I didn't feel like staying on, I could stop.  Honestly, I was dragging my ass through the whole thing and was practically speed walking, but I did it.  Barely.

Friday - bootcamp
Yowza.  A tough class because I was feeling really tired and worn out, but got paired up with another girl who was faster than me so I really had to push myself to keep up.  We were doing some hill work, and there was one time where I kind of had that vague I-might-puke kinda feeling.  In the end I was glad though, because I ended up being pushed instead of dragging my butt like I did the day before.

Saturday -  23K 21K 20K
Woot!  My second to last Saturday long run.  I met up with M downtown at our office as she wanted to run the half marathon route, which was perfect.  I was supposed to do 23K, so a half marathon was close enough.  Another one of our coworkers A wanted to join us, so once we all got to the office, off we went.  We ended up running quite a bit faster than what we had been - my LSD target pace per the Running Room training is supposed to be 7:08 - 8:00/km, but I've been running in the 6:30-6:45 target range...I think for the first few kilometres on Saturday's run we ended up running around 5:45 - 6:00/km!   This was a lot faster than what I was used to...and my foot started to complain and definitely was not happy with me.  By the end, it was aching and it's been reminding me all day how unhappy it is with me right now so I'm icing, massaging and am going to take tomorrow off bootcamp and do a workout on the stationery bike instead to give the foot a rest.  I definitely don't need anything to flare up at this point!  Anyways, we ended up getting a bit lost on the route so were a bit short and ended up only doing 20K, which at this point was completely A-OK by me!  Funny, I seem to get way more tired on the shorter runs than I do the longer ones...hope this bodes well for the marathon.  Heh.

1703

Holy crap.  I've got an official bib number now.  Shit's getting real!  Apparently the number 1703 is good according to numerology...1+7+0+3 = 11, and 11 is the most mystical number of all and stands for balance, fulfillment and vision.  Cool!  I'll take it as a sign of good things to come.

Officially

Seventeen days left to go.  I am officially shitting myself now.  Don't get me wrong...I'm totally excited....but I can't believe that the day is so close!  I will admit...I felt a small frisson of nervousness today when I made the realization that the race was right around the corner.  So many things to think about!  

Deep breath.

A Day In the Life

So I was inspired to write this post by something that happened to me this weekend, when I had an epiphany of sorts.  As I've mentioned before, Saturdays are our "off" days, where we can eat what we like within reason and if we've eaten clean the whole week...after doing the Ten Pound Challenge, I've scaled these back a lot so I'll let myself have what I want without going totally off the hook, as Guy Fieri would say.  After our long run on Saturday, Hubs and I were hungry and rummaging around the house for something to eat. 

Enter Lipton's Sidekicks. 

We bought these awhile ago because if you've seen the commercials, we wanted Salty, the salt shaker...you had to buy a bunch of these things to get the UPC code.  See, isn't he cute?!

Sooo...because we've got nothing else to eat, we boil up two packs.  Keep in mind, I've never, ever had these before.  OK, truthfully?   These things don't taste that bad.  But after the first few mouthfuls, it totally hit me...people eat these things every day.  Every single day!  Full of white processed flour, chemicals and other garbage, these things hit people's dinner tables more often than I'd like to think, judging by the space these things take up on the grocery store shelf.   The thought of this actually made me sad, because convenient,  processed crap is being eaten constantly and fed to children and people think it's OK.   Hubs was grossed out, and said that we should give the remaining packages away to the food bank to which I replied that I didn't think I could as they're so devoid of nutrition or anything even remotely redeeming.  I started to think back to how we used to eat - lots of processed foods, those horrible frozen chicken cutlets (which Hubs fondly called rat meat cutlets) and nary a vegetable in sight - to current days, where we focus on eating whole foods.  That's when the inspiration hit me - I get asked a lot about what I eat, so thought what better than to post pics of an average food day:

A typical breakfast for me is usually either multigrain toast or bagel, with avocado or peanut butter and a bit of jam...

Or a package of Nature's Path organic hemp oatmeal mixed with soy milk, a spoonful of Skinny B or Holy Crap and some kind of chopped fruit.  Occasionally I throw in some peanut butter for extra protein and healthy fats.  I always have a big glass of Greens+ extra energy blend, and my daily supplements (multivitamin, fish oil, CLA, coenzyme Q10 and vitamin D)...

Mmmm...

Around 10-ish I usually get peckish, so I have a handful of nuts...

Lunch time!  Usually a whole wheat wrap with some kind of protein (chicken breast or tuna with dijon and low fat mayo), fruit and cut veggies...

Mid-afternoon I sometimes have a snack - today I had a Clif bar but most days I have a piece of fruit...

Dinner time varies a lot depending on what I've made, but today I had a homemade burger made with extra lean ground beef on a whole wheat thintini, roasted zucchini and some cherry tomatoes (from my dad's garden, no less!)...

Dessert is usually some kind of fresh fruit...strawberries today....

Yum!  And yes, that's a cookbook on the table - I bought the Best of Anne Lindsay a while ago, and was perusing it during dinner:

That's it!  I wholly subscribe to the theory that you are what you eat, and avoid pre-made, processed foods - whole foods are where it's at!  Lean protein, whole grains and lots of fruits and veggies.  Yesssss.

Spirit of the Marathon Redux

I posted this last year, but just watched it again for a little inspiration.



Love this clip...seriously gives me chills watching it.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 15

TAPER TIME!!  *in Oprah voice*

Can you believe it?!  I have 20 more days to go....less than three weeks until the race, and I'm busting right out into taper mode at the moment.  So many important things to take care of - making sure I keep myself healthy in all aspects, figuring out what my race strategy is going to be, and deciding on what I'm going to wear.  I'm praying to the running gods that we have a good day - I would be happy if it was cool, dry and not windy but we'll see what we end up getting....I just gotta roll with it.

Without further delay - this week's recap:

Sunday - rest day
Yesssssss!  Much needed rest day...I was feeling pretty tired and sore after the tough 29er that we had the day before. 

Monday - bootcamp
Yipeeee!  Glad to be back at bootcamp and see my buddy D.  Sarge was teaching...and she was on fire, I tell ya.  It was all legs...she took us to a hill and made us sprint or do exercises up and down...and once we finished the hill torture, we did all sorts of plyo, lunges, squats.  I just knew I was going to be sore the next day.

Physio that night after work - she's pretty happy with how I'm doing, but I was tight in my back so she killed me with needles all in my middle and lower spine.  I was just about to say I couldn't take any more when she finished up.  Again, I know it's all for the greater good but I'm not gonna lie - I'm going to be really, really glad when I don't have to do IMS anymore!

Tuesday - rest day
Yep.  I was sore all right.  Ha!

Wednesday - 6K run outside
Wow, is it ever dark out now.  Glad that there's only a few more weeks to go, as it's pretty hard to run when you can barely see the ground. 

Thursday - 6K treadmill run
On the road again...had to head to Kamloops for work, and had looked into the place I was staying to see if they had a gym.  Wheee, yes they did...and the website said it was first class. Excellent!   After going to a dinner banquet that was at the conference I was attending, I headed off to the gym for a late night workout.  Um....I gotta say, "first class gym" is a bit of an overstatement to say the least.  The first treadmill I got on was stuck on an incline, and it kept jerking and speeding up unexpectedly.  Grrrr.  I moved on to the other treadmill, and luckily that was better, thank goodness.  For whatever reason, the heat was just pumping in that room so I was sweating buckets, but I pounded out the run, did some pushups and tricep dips to get in some upper body work and then headed back to the room to shower up and get some sleep.

Friday - rest day
Flew back to Victoria, and was really tired after a late night and an early morning.  I was going to do a quick workout, but knew I had a big run the next day and decided to save my legs and energy for Saturday.

Saturday - 32K run
OMG...so excited that this is the last really, really long run that I've got scheduled.  Next week is 23K...but that actually feels short by comparison.  Crazy, right?  Hubs and I met up with M at 7am, and we ran the trail by our house.  It was perfect weather - nice and cool - finally!  I love the sunny weather, but it's pretty hard to run when temps get really warm.  We ran 18K with M, did a couple more kilometres to get to 20K for Hubs, and then we went back home and I finished the remaining 12K doing the loop around my house.  Now I don't know what it was - what I ate on Friday (a lot of carbs), the cooler weather or what the key factor was, but I felt good.  Even...dare I say...great?  When we left M, I couldn't believe how good I felt after having run for 18K.  As I continued on, I did feel a slight twinge on my right knee so stopped a few times to stretch it out...but still felt like I had something in the tank after finishing the run and being on my feet for close to four hours.  I've been running 6:30 - 6:45/km splits and my last few splits were around the 6:15/km range.  What is up with that?!  I walked back home (even up the monster hill!) and didn't crash like I have been in the afternoon.  Hubs and I went out and got some dinner and rented a movie that night, and it was only at around 9-ish that I got tired so we headed off to bed early at around 10pm.  I'm pretty sore today though...legs are achy, back is a bit sore, but going to concentrate on lots of stretching to stay limber.

Twenty more days to go.  I can't wait.

So True

I like this.  A lot.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 14 Recap

O.M.G.  It's really starting to feel real now...less than 30 days to go...eek!  Like I said in my last post, I'm a bundle of emotions, but mostly I'm just really, really excited and can't wait for the day to come.  Just recently I've had some support from unexpected places that's really buoyed my motivation and my spirits as I head into the final stretch.  At last week's block BBQ, Hubs was talking to one of our neighbours and for whatever reason, had mentioned to him that I was training for a marathon.  Said neighbour yells out to me and asks when I'm running my race, and of course everyone stops talking and all eyes turn to look at me...gaaaahhh.  As I've mentioned before, I don't like to talk about it except in bloggieland...I think mostly because I don't want to seem like I'm trying to show off or brag or do the whole "lookatme, lookatme!!" thing, which isn't my style. I was immediately uncomfortable and squirmy...but he was just trying to be supportive, and said that if he wasn't busy with Thanksgiving that he and his wife wanted to come out and cheer me on.  Then yesterday morning I was heading out the door to meet M for a run, and my other neighbour was just heading out the door.   We were joking around because she said she was feeling guilty that I was going for a run and she was going to be sitting in a chair getting her hair done...and she said that she thought it was great and wanted to tell me how much she admired me for training for a marathon.  Yes...I did get a little verklempt as I got in the car...kinda touching when people show that kind of support and it's so unexpected.  It's funny, sometimes the people that you think will be supportive, aren't...and the ones that you're not expecting it from, completely surprise you.  Can I say again how much I love my hood?

So here's this week's workouts:

Sunday - 6K run - treadmill
Normally Sunday is a rest day, but I was going to be travelling during the week for work so knew I wouldn't get all my workouts in if I didn't work out on Sunday.  And...I was feeling pretty guilty about Week 13's lack of workouts too, so wanted to make sure I had a good week.

Monday - 30 mins stationary bike

Tuesday - 6K run - outside
Off to Terrace for a conference for work...everything went great, except the fact that I started to feel sick when I got to my hotel room (OK, and the fire alarm that went off at 1:30am and we had to evacuate but whatevs). It was another wave of the "almost sick" thing that's been happening a lot to me lately, but luckily my hotel was a five minute walk away from a Save On Foods so I trundled off and picked up a bunch of extra strength Cold F/X and orange juice. Must have worked because I felt a lot better the next day. Yesssss.

Wednesday - rest

Thursday - rest
Went for another immune booster shot from my naturopath...much needed given how I've been feeling!

Friday - bootcamp
Been ages since I've been so felt great to get back to it.  I've haven't been for a few weeks for some reason or another, but sure made a difference as I really felt sore in my abs and calves.   Doesn't take long to lose fitness!

Saturday - 29K run
Second to last long run before taper!  Yeeeehaw.  Hubs had to be downtown at 9am so we decided to run separately - he ran the loop around our house, and I did the treadmill for 13K and met M at 8am to finish off the remaining 16K.  I won't lie, the 16K run was haaarrrrd...it was a hilly route and there wasn't a lot of cover from the sun so it was pretty hot...but glad that I did it because the Goodlife Victoria route has a lot of rolling hills so any training that might help me is welcome.  I'm glad it's over though...heh.

Right foot felt great...but left foot was bugging me this time.  Gah!  We did a ton of stairs at bootcamp, so my calves were tight and I think causing a chain reaction in my foot.  Will check things out at my physio appointment on Monday.  One more 30+ long run to go - 32K this coming weekend, and then bring on taper time!

Thirty

Whoa.

Eeeek.

Gulp.

I can't believe it.  I have 30 more days to go until the marathon.   I'm excited, scared and nervous, all at the same time.  It's weird because 30 days feels like such a short time and a long time, all at once...so much can happen in 30 days, but months seem to go by in a blink of an eye and I know it's going to be here before I know it.  Craziness.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 13 Recap

Again...loooove the long weekends.  So far, it's been a pretty laid back weekend for us...a wedding dinner last night (replete with a lion dance, no less!) and a block BBQ with the peeps on our cul de sac.  I gotta say...I love the hood I live in.  Yes, I live on a postage stamp size lot...and yes, I can practically touch the house next door to me.  But the area is lovely, we get deer/quail/bats/bunnies/you name it in our backyard, and we get together at least three times a year for various get togethers.  We all moved in at around the same time as this was a new development, so the first year we decided to get together and do a block Christmas party, and we've never looked back since.  This is a big change from where we used to live, when we couldn't sleep with out windows open at night because it was so insanely noisy and people would take my planters and smash them.  Le sigh.

Sooo...this week was less than stellar for working out...

Sunday - rest day

Monday - 30 minute stationery bike
Yep, I sluffed off on bootcamp.  My legs were feeling so tired from the last long run, and truth be told I just wasn't feeling it.  Aaaand...D wasn't going to be there either so I decided to ride the stationery bike for some cross training to save some pounding on my legs.  Now I can run for hours at a time without stopping...but I could barely keep going on the bike for more than 10 minutes at a time!  Seriously...I guess that's why it's so good to cross train as your body just gets used to doing one thing. 

Tuesday - rest day
Argh.  Woke up feeling like ass, so we skipped our morning run.  Piss me off.  Had physio and IMS galore.  Overall my foot feels pretty good, but there definitely is some residual soreness.  I'm still collapsing in on my right leg, so she finetuned an exercise she had given me the prior week even more, to really get those muscles working and so I can get the sensation of what it feels like to not collapse inward.  Seriously, it's so hard to remember all these things.  I've got three more appointments...one on the 17th, another on the 24th and then the last one on the 4th of October. 

Wednesday - rest day
IMS on Tuesday, so no running.  Which was run as I was still not feeling great.   

Thursday - 30 minutes treadmill
Finally!  Feeling better so did a quick run in the morning.

Friday - 23K run
Hubs and I wanted to do our long run early so we could chill the whole weekend.  We ran this all downtown, and I was dogging it...really tired, and my right leg was giving me some grief.  My right shin started to burn within the first 2K and I had to stop to stretch/rub it out.  Then I kept getting twinging sharp nerve type pain in my calf.  Then the ball of my foot started to hurt.  Bah!  We ended up cutting the run short because Hubs was so tired (silly goose didn't take a gel so bonked!) and it was getting dark and it was hard to see.  I think we did 21.8K altogether, so whatevs. 

Saturday - rest day

Back on track this week.  Feeling healthy again, as we've made sure to get lots of sleep this weekend.  My right leg wasn't happy with me after the long run on Friday...the whole thing ached, so I've been stretching and rollering the crap out of it.  Just three more long runs to go - 29K, 32K and 23K coming up...and then taper.  I'll definitely be running pretty conservatively to save my foot/leg, as all I want now is just to get to the race.  34 more days.

Let the Long Weekend Begin

It's done...23K finished.  Well OK...22K because poor Hubs bonked, it was getting dark (we finished at 8:45pm) and my right leg was giving me no end of grief.  Bleh.  This run was by far harder than last week's, and it was shorter!  I think it's a combo of evening run, not feeling great and just being tired.  So tired and the run totally and completely killed any appetite we had, so we both could barely eat our dinner!  No wonder elite runners are so darn skinny.  We're going to our favourite spot for a nice greasy breakfast before I go clean for this last month - I'm sure my appetite will be back with a vengeance in the morning.

Must.sleep.now.

Race Plan Take Two

Funny how things run full circle.  Today I started thinking about what my plans were for the race and all the preparations leading up to the big day so I could write a blog post about it.  As I was about to start this post, I thought I'd check out what was happening this time last year...I was curious to see what was I going through one year ago and what was going on in my little mind.  And you know what...I wrote my race plan last year on the exact same day.  Freeeakky!  Anyways, as I read through last year's plan, I thought damn...it was pretty good!  So a lot of it was cut and paste with a few tweaks...here goes:

Starting September 5th:
 - cut out alcohol completely
 - no junk food (goodbye chips and meat in a tube - we'll see you in a month)
 - cut out dairy
 - no refined sugar
 - eggs at most once a week
 - supplements daily
 - get at least 7 hours sleep a night
 - stretch/roller legs nightly
 - do exercises daily
 - 2L water daily

Pre-Race Preparation:
- 1 Nuun every day for one week leading up to the race
- Hydrate min 3L/day for one week leading up to the race
- Minimum 8 hours sleep for one week leading up to race, go to bed extra early Friday night before race (apparently, the sleep you get two nights before the race is most important)
- Cold F/X, echinacea, Vitamin C and oil of oregano every day for 10 days leading up to the race
- Last physio appointment scheduled for October 4th
- Book appointment for an immune booster one week before race

Nutrition:
- Gu gels, Espresso flavour (2x caffeine) - 1 Gu 15 mins before start, 1 Gu every 6K after
- Bring one pack of Gu Chomps (just in case I need a pick me up without needing to take a full gel)
- 1 Saltstick capsule at the beginning, 1 capsule halfway through (bring one extra)
- Get up in middle of night and eat small meal
- Banana and nutella before race

Hydration:
- Water at each aid station (approx. every 3K) - will not be wearing water belt

Pace:
- Walk through each aid station
- 6:30 min/km target - this pace should mean a 4 1/2 hour finish time

Gear:
- Lululemon Turbo running shorts
- Underarmour singlet
- iPod

Post-Run:
- go get a big hug from Hubs and maybe cry a little bit (OK, a lot)
- massage booked for three days after race
- stuff my face full of Thanksgiving dinner, at least two helpings of dessert and a celebratory alcoholic beverage
- head to Maui one week after race - HELLZ YEAH!

Verklempt

Aaaaah, Coffee Talk.  Damn, I love SNL...it's where I discovered one of my favourite words of all time, verklempt.  I admit...lately I've been getting verklempt a lot...whenever I hear anyone refer to Jack Layton's passing (hoo boy, here I go again....love, hate or meh about his politics, he was a good man), when I think about the Canucks Game 7 loss (yes people, I'm still not over it, OK?!) and today when I was talking to a coworker about the marathon. 

It all started innocently enough...she was asking me how my physio appointment went yesterday, and I said that my physio is really happy with how I'm doing and after three more appointments I should be set to race.  I don't know what it was...maybe the act of actually saying out loud that this might really happen made me get all choked up.  Sure...I've written alllll about Marathon Quest 2011...but I really don't talk about it much.  I've been so cautious and hesitant about getting ahead of myself and still remember so vividly the disappointment of last year, that I've been reluctant to discuss it with anyone.   My physio and I had a good talk about this - did I tell you she is at once, awesome and amazing?  She used to be an avid runner until she was sidelined with problems that she said were reminscent of mine, and is just getting herself back up to 30 minutes of road running after about 6 years.  She said that she is the same with her venture back into running, that she was reluctant to get too excited...just in case.  If I do this (see...being cautious again), I'm going to get something special for my physio for not only helping me complete one of the biggest and most important goals I've ever set for myself, but for being so supportive during the last year.  A lot of people may see me attempting a marathon as just the physical act of running a race, but it really encompasses so much more.  It's doing something that I never, ever would have dreamed about doing, and symbolizes how far I've come from that unhealthy (and pretty unhappy) person I was.   She totally gets that, which is so great to have that type of support system.  I'll have to do some stealthy probing to see what she likes over my next few visits with her...muahahaha.

So anyways...if you think I'm all weepy now, just wait until the weeks, days, minutes and seconds until race day....you guys ain't seen nothing yet.  Oy vey...getting all verklempt now...talk amongst yourselves...

Bugger Off Germs

The title of this post says it all, eh?  Funny how things work...yesterday I was sitting at my desk thinking "Wow...isn't this awesome?  I've run three long runs, and I'm feeling great!  I haven't been feeling sick or anything.  This time last year, I got so run down and was sick on the long weekend.  That sure was a bummer."

Famous last words.

No sooner did I get home and sit on the couch when my head started to feel funny, I felt a tickle in my nose, I had slight chills whenever I moved and my throat felt tight.  Nooooooooo!  I slammed down a bunch of Cold FX, megadosed on vitamin C, and took multiple shots of an immune booster my naturopath gave me to take for "acute episodes".  Hubs and I went to bed early, and in the middle of the night I woke up totally feeling like ass and wasn't sure if I was going to make it to work even.   And on top of that, I couldn't stay asleep because I was hungry - anyone who is marathon training ever have that happen?  After a snack, I finally fell into a deep sleep which I think was the key...when I woke up I felt a lot better.

Because I was feeling so crappy, I decided to skip my morning run...it totally pained me to do it, but I thought you know...one day off won't kill me, and the rest is better than pushing it. I totally feel racked with guilt, but I know it was the right thing to do. Gah. Anyways, for breakfast I made myself a protein shake packed full of fruit, Vegegreens protein powder (one serving equivalent to eating a whack of veggies) and L-glutamine (good for immune system plus muscle recovery), a Greens+ drink, and 13 pills to take (combo of my regular supplements and Cold FX/vitamin C et al as previously mentioned).

Must have done the trick, because right now I'm  not feeling too shabby.  Crisis averted...at least for now.

Forty

YES!  Forty more days to go until the marathon.  Five more long runs until taper.  Ten more bananas with nutella.  Twenty more gels.  Twelve more salt tablets.  One more pair of shoes.  And 185 kilometres left to run until I cross that finish line. 

But who's counting?

Dream Big?

Beth over at Shut Up and Run has inspired another post for me today.  She had this great post about times when she's been told that she couldn't or shouldn't do something...her first example being moving to Africa (which she didn't), and her second example of being told that Boston was not in the cards for her due to a stress fracture (which she did).  At the end of her post, she asked...

"Have you ever been told you couldn’t/shouldn’t do something you dreamed of? How did you react?"

In her mind, you can react one of two ways - believe them and prove them right, or believe in yourself and prove them wrong.  Hmmm...

The first situation that came to my mind was when I was in my early twenties, and admittedly pretty sheltered.  My parents were extremely overprotective, which is very typical of a strict Chinese upbringing.  I'd been floundering in what I wanted to do for school, and started becoming interested in nutrition (even though in hindsight, I knew nothing about it) and wanted to go to school to become a registered dietician.  This would involve me going to Vancouver, which my parents roundly and vehemently kiboshed.  They thought I should just stay in Victoria, and why did I need so much education?  Why didn't I just become a nice secretary for the government and work in an office somewhere?  Being so sheltered, young, and needing their moral and financial support...I caved and left my dietician dreams along the wayside.  This is one of my biggest regrets because as you know...health and wellness is something I believe in so strongly now.  But then again, my life would be so much different if I'd chosen that path and likely wouldn't have met Hubs or the friends I cherish so much now...so all is not lost, and I did come to find my passion later on in life.

The second situation that comes to mind actually happened not that long ago.  I was with a friend that I hadn't seen in many years, and somehow the topic of me training for a marathon came up.  Now I'm pretty seasoned with the "are you crazy??!" and "you're gonna blow out your knees!!" type comments, and they don't really bug me anymore because they're usually said in jest.  However, this person said "well, I mean I think it's great and all...but what on earth possessed you to do something like that?!  I mean, don't get me wrong, but why?"  Now keep in mind that the phrase "I think it's great and all" really doesn't mean that they think it's great and all...and the look on her face was one of disbelief tinged with derisiveness that I would ever even dare dream to do something like that.  Granted, this sea hag also knew me through my school years, where my athletic career was a big fat zero.  I don't know how I did it, but I managed to not drop kick her across the room and simply smiled and said that it was on my bucket list of things to do, all the while thinking in my head that I'd show her smug and self righteous ass when I post my finisher's medal all over freaking Facebook.  Maybe I'll even tag her in the photo so she sees it for sure.  Yes, I'm a little passive aggressive like that.  Heh.

Great post, Beth, you're officially my #1 girl crush.  Mwah.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 12 Recap

Week 12 - kinda can't believe it actually.  Three months of training done, and only 6 more weeks to go until I run the race.  It was interesting, when Hubs and I were out pounding the pavement this morning, I asked him if he liked running.  He paused...and said that while he didn't really like it, he does it because he knows it's good for him and he knows of so many people who have diabetes (which runs in his family) or other diseases that could be helped or prevented by exercise.  He then went on to say that while being active isn't a guarantee against disease, at least he's done as much as he can to prevent it and at the very least isn't helping it along. 

For the rest of the run, I started thinking about why I love to run.  To be honest, there are some days I don't really even like it.  It's not super fun to get out of bed at the crack of dawn, and to run when I'm barely even awake.  It's not super fun to run when the sun is baking down on you and the sweat is crystallizing on my skin.  And it's seriously not super fun to run when I'd rather be chilling on a patio somewhere with a tall cool one.  So what do I love then?  I love the feeling of accomplishment when I'm done.  I love when I feel my body getting stronger weekly and I'm going longer and longer distances.  I love the health benefits and the stress release I get by turning off my mind and letting my body do the work.   But most of all, I love that running has improved my quality of life a thousand fold and helped make me a happy and balanced person. 

So...enough of the psycho-analytical babble...what the heck did I do this week? 

Sunday - rest day

Monday - bootcamp

Tuesday - 6K run outdoors

Wednesday - rest day
Because I had IMS on Tuesday night when I went to see my physio, I couldn't work out.  I decided to take Thursday off completely as well to give my foot a rest (it was feeling a bit achy and sensitive) and I was sore from the IMS as she hit a couple of really tender spots.  Sometimes a little extra rest is a good thing.

Thursday - rest day

Friday - 6K run treadmill

Saturday - 32K run
So....how did this run go?  Pretty darn awesome!  Hubs and I had to get up extra early as he had to work today and he had 15K to run...so we set the alarm for the ungodly hour of 4:45am and were on the road running by 5:15am (see above comment about not loving the early, early mornings...heh).  Strangely...even though it was so insanely early, we both felt pretty good.  It was pitch black out so we had to have lamps on our hats as we ran, but it was so quiet and peaceful at that time in the morning...all you could hear were our footsteps and see the shadows our lights were creating.   Super cool.  I was running 18K on the little 3K loop around our house, and then heading back to the lake to run the remaining 14K with my coworker, M.  Again...it was so nice to have the company and the chatting made me forget how tired I was.  Well, for the most part.  The last 2K were admittedly really tough, and I was glad to have M there because honestly, I would have walked a lot more had she not been there.  I actually had to give myself a pep talk and had to say OK...2K is only 15 more minutes, which is nothing...right?   As they say, the mental game is half the battle when it comes to the marathon.

And good news....my foot feels great!  I was so happy...I mean they were sore from all the pounding, but nothing out of the ordinary other than normal tired feet from running for almost four hours.  And it held out after three back to back long runs, so I'm thrilled.   Thrilled, I tell ya!  I'm really starting to allow myself to feel excited now...I have a fallback week next week at 23K (you know it's nuts when 23K seems short!) then peak again with another 29K and 32K and then tapering starts.  Bring on October 9th!

The Biggie

Doing 32K tomorrow morning...up at the crack of dawn to start running by 5:20am.  This'll be the farthest I've gone this training cycle...and the farthest I ran last year before I got injured.  I was thinking about how I trained last year, and I gotta say...I didn't respect the distance.  I was pretty lackadaisical in my training compared to last year, when I think about it.  I didn't fuel properly, I skipped workouts, I didn't really put the effort in that I should have.  The one thing that I'm really hoping makes a difference injury-wise is I'm training with walk breaks every 3K (which works to about 20 minutes).  A lot of people do the 10 and 1's, but the race has water stations every 3K so thought it was perfect as I plan on walking through the aid stations.

Off to bed now!  Sleep tight.

The Most Awesome Sign

Saw this sign and thought it was totally awesome...I had to share.

I'll try to remember this when I'm in the last throes of the marathon and every part of my body is aching and throbbing.  Forty five more days to go, peeps.

A Stitch in Time....

So we've all heard of that saying, "a stitch in time saves nine", right?  I've taken this saying to heart when it comes to marathon training, particularly when it comes to seeing my posse of paramedicals.  I've been seeing my chiro every two months and my massage therapist as often as I can...but no person more than my physio.  I went to see her on Tuesday even though there wasn't anything "wrong" per se (and had seen her only two weeks ago), but I didn't want to wait until something really IS wrong.  I'm feeling like I'm on the home stretch now, so I'm taking all the precautions I can to make sure I get to the finish line healthy.

After my great run on Saturday, my right foot was feeling pretty awesome....but after bootcamp on Monday and a short run on Tuesday, I could feel some tenderness.  Nothing really bad, more of an annoyance than real "pain".  I told my physio, and she recommended that I switch up my running surfaces (I was road running only) and the chip trail that I did with M on the weekend likely helped.  I'm still striking funny on my foot - my left side is collapsing inward to compensate for my right side but the right side is now fine and looking good.  Argh!  Will I ever get this right?  Anyways, she gave me another exercise to do, stuck me full of needles and noted that my plantar fascia is getting irritated but not quite at the "plantar fasciitis" stage.  This did strike some fear in my heart, as plantar fasciitis is a really common injury that has sidelined many a runner.  Sob.

Well dammit - I'm not letting this sideline me.  I started looking on the interweb, and saw that massage and icing the area work well...and like most things, it's better to nip it in the bud than to wait until it gets bad.  I froze a water bottle and rolled it under my arch while I sat at my desk at work and it does feel a lot better.  Hallelujah!  So going forward, I'm gonna be massaging my feet and rolling the living snot out of them daily.  And the other thing I read was that wearing non-supportive shoes (guilty) and walking barefoot (also guilty) is bad for plantar fasciitis so I've been wearing my indoor treadmill runners around the house and wore runners all day at work, even though I hate it when I see people wear runners with non-athletic wear (serious fashion faux pas in my books).  At this point, vanity < marathon, right?

Foodie at the Finish Line

Do you guys know where this is?  Three guesses.  Heh.

Photo credit:  Goodlife Victoria Marathon Facebook site

Alright you cheeky monkeys...I can almost hear your saucy answers.  Minxes, all of you.

In exactly 46 days, this is the street I'm going to be running (or hobbling or crawling) down on October 9th when I'm entering the finisher's chute, and about 27.956785 seconds away from collecting my marathon finishers medal.

A thing of beauty, isn't it?  See you all there.

Whitewater - 12 for 12

So time to turn this blog to food for just a moment!  Yep...I'm still cooking my way through Whitewater, and with the exception of one week where I didn't do any cooking and relied on the bounty that was in my freezer, I've done one or two recipes every week from Whitewater.  And I gotta tell ya...you foodies out there need to get this cookbook maintenant!  Every recipe I've tried has been hit in this house - most recently I tried the Minestrone, Pad Thai Fried Noodles, Indian Chicken Burgers and the yummy dressing from the Glory Bowl recipe.  All were delicious...even Hubs is totally impressed by the number of great recipes out of one little old cookbook.  When he tried the Glory Bowl dressing recipe, he said that we'd never have to buy store bought dressing again and that we should throw out all the crap dressings that are in our fridge.  That is high praise, people.

Minestrone - 4/5 (the only thing I felt wrong with this is that it may have needed just a tiny bit more spices.  The recipe called for 3 tbsp of fresh basil which doesn't seem like quite enough)

Pad Thai Fried Noodles - 5/5 (this was better than a pad thai that I had at a very well known thai chain in Vancouver)

Indian Chicken Burgers - 5/5 (we had these with the raita recipe and jarred mango chutney (I was going to make the chutney recipe from the book but the mangoes weren't quite ripe enough, dang.  Hubs did his "MMMMMMmmmmmm!!!" happy food sound so I know he liked these)

Glory Bowl Dressing - 5+++++/5 (zomg, this shizzle is yum.  For those of you who live in Victoria, imagine Japanese steak sauce but thinner and with a vinegar-y zing.  Actually it's very similar to Annie's Goddess Dressing (which I noticed I can't get in stores anymore, wah!).  This made me want to eat tons of salad and veggies just so I could eat the dressing.  I may even have licked my plate after.  What?)

So...I've tried 12 recipes so far, and all 12 have been fantastic.  This has trumped all my other cookbook favourites and spends more time off my bookshelf than on.  I actually find myself constantly flipping through it and thinking about which recipe to try next.

Shelley Adams, you are a frikkin' food genious.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 11 Recap

Deep happy sigh.  Finally...we've had some beautiful, beaa-ooo-tiful weather here in Victoria.  Sunny, warm...and the first time we've had to bring out the fan.  Now I'm not complaining...we've had a run of fairly nice weather the last few weeks - sunny and no rain, but the nights were getting a bit nippy and it felt like Fall was near.  Last night was the first night that I could actually sit outside in a t-shirt and not be too cold.  Me likey, me likey a lot.

So here we go - Week 11 recap and 48 more days to go.  Kinda feels pretty darn real now and I'm scared and excited all at the same time!  I'm starting to think about my race plan - what to eat in the weeks leading up to the race (including going 100%  alcohol and junk food free, oh help me God) and during the race itself. 

Sunday - rest day
Oh yeah baby.  I gladly took this day off any workouts, as my legs were so, so tired after doing 29K the day before.  I contemplated going to yoga, but decided to sleep in a bit and just hang about the house and take a full rest day rather than an active rest day. 

Monday - bootcamp
This was tough.  I was still so burnt out from Saturday that I could barely run in the warmup.  My breath felt laboured and my legs felt like they filled with lead.  We ended up doing hill repeats which I was actually glad to do - shorts bursts of energy were more my speed that day, rather than long sustained efforts of running.  Afterwards I was glad to have gone, even though I was really tired.

Tuesday - 6K run treadmill
Still feel burnt out, I decided to sleep in that morning and jammed on my morning run.  However, as the day wore on I felt guiltier and guiltier about missing my workout.  I had to remind myself again - I'm seven weeks from running a marathon, and now I'm starting to sluff off on the training?  I would have given my eye teeth to still be running around this time last year when I got injured.  I decided to squeeze in a run after work and kept myself on track, but only after a sound talking to from myself.

Wednesday - 6K run outside
Beautiful morning run, but I could feel some slight tenderness in my foot.  Uh oh.

Thursday - rest

Friday - bootcamp
Stairs, lines and hill sprints.  Still could feel some achy foot business.  Damn it.

Saturday - 29K run outside
Oy vey.  Hubs had to work on Saturday and needed to run 13K, so we had to get up at an ungodly hour for the weekend and start running by 5:30am so he could get to work on time.  I did my 3am carb routine (raisin scone) and decided to start experimenting with Saltstick capsules that I had bought last year to use.  I don't really like sports drinks (find they're all sugary tasting) and prefer just plain water but still need the electrolytes so this is the perfect solution.  I decided to do one capsule before the run, and one at the half way point.

After Hubs finished his run, I ran another 3K loop and hopped in the car to go meet my coworker M at Elk Lake.  M and her hubby are running the Good life half marathon, and she needed to get in a 13K run in so this worked out perfectly!  I actually didn't mind splitting the run up, as it gave me a chance to take a short break to refuel, and I think mentally breaking the run up into 16K and 13K chunks made it seem much more manageable than 29K.  M met me at 8am, and we started off on a loop and a bit around the lake.  I'm so, SO glad that we started so early because Saturday turned into a scorcher, and it was really warm when we finished at around 9:45am.  The second part of my run went by incredibly quickly, because we were chatting the whole way and time went by lickety split.  When my Garmin ticked over at 29K, I felt pretty good and not tired.  And...the biggest thing of all...my foot felt GREAT.  No pain and no achiness.  I had purposely chosen Elk Lake as it was a chip trail so I'm sure that was a bit part of it.  I was thrilled...this time last year was when my foot gave out on my second really long run of the training cycle, and incidentally also a run with M (not M's fault though, of course...haha!) so I had some flashes of apprehension going in.

And after the run?   I can't believe it how good I felt.  Not sure if it was the 3am scone, the mid-run refueling, taking Saltstick or what the heck it was...but I felt bright and alert and came home and actually did a bunch of chores.  It was only around mid-afternoon that I started to get sleepy with the heat, and took a short nap.  Definitely liking the Saltstick though.

Next week - 32K on the schedule so it'll likely be another similar repeat of a split run.  Also have a physio appointment this week, so can't wait to tell my physio the good news!

Trusting My Training

Yeah...so I know I said I was super happy after last week's long run, and I was thinking positively, yadda yadda?  So I wasn't being totally truthful.  Yes, I was happy and ready to do a jig because my foot seems to be behaving.  I'm still fretting though, because last week was the start of three back to back long runs, and it was around this time last year when my foot gave out on me...or in my mind, my body quit on me.  In fact, it was the second long run last year where "it" happened...so I'm kinda psyching myself out about this week's 29K run. 

Well, I WAS psyching myself out, until I read Beth's post over at Shut Up and Run, about not being your own worst enemy and second guessing yourself.  This post was so timely and really hit home for me - particularly this part:

"But if you have put in your time, don’t second guess. Get behind yourself and your mental strength will add to your physical strength.  You see, it’s true what Henry Ford said, “Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right.” So, stop your questioning. Quiet your insecurities. You deserve to be at the start line of that race. You are a runner. You have put in your time. You create your outcome. Make it a good one."

No more second guessing.  At one point this week, I even started to think about the timing of things if I had to downgrade to the half marathon if I re-injured myself.  I'm stopping that kind of thinking (and I mean it this time!), because it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, right?  I'm training hard and sticking to my training plan.  I'm eating properly this go around.  I'm working with my physio and doing my exercises.  I'm working hard on my form.  I'm stretching, stretching until I can't stretch any more.  Now I just have to let what's going on in my head catch up to what's going on with my body, cuz let me tell you...it's fallin' behind.

So here I go...I'm trusting in my training and squelching the little gremlin that keeps nagging at me.  We'll see you at the finish line on October 9th!

Thanks D

Today was one of those days that I'm so thankful for friends, and in particular I'm so grateful for one of my oldest friends, D.  We go way, way back...back to elementary school, when we were wee little things and we became fast friends.  D lived down the street from me, and we ended up hanging out together all the way to high school.  As time went on, we did what a lot of friends do and drifted apart and would see each other sporadically through the years, but we always seemed to pick up where we left off.  With D, I can be completely candid and say it like it is, and I know there's no judgement.  A sign of a true friendship.  We ended up reconnecting around the time of our 20th reunion...neither of us loved high school, but we made a pact to go together - strength in numbers, right?  Ha!  D was also the one who introduced me to bootcamp, which I honestly credit with helping me change my life. 

The other thing that I wanted to thank D for is for keeping me accountable.  So often, it's so easy to blow off a workout when it's just me.  Every Sunday and Thursday night, I drop D an email and we make a date for bootcamp for the next morning, and it totally keeps me on track.  What they say about signing up for things with friends is so true - you don't want to disappoint the other person, so you tend to not jam.  I was seriously exhausted after the long run on Saturday, and would have totally blown this off if D hadn't said she was going this morning.  For the first bit when we were just warming up, I could barely move my legs...they felt like they'd been filled with lead and that I was towing a piano behind my back.  As we headed off to the hill that Sarge likes to torture us with, I was completely dragging my sorry ass.  But as Sarge made us run hill after hill after hill, I felt better and better and by the end of the class I was so glad that I went. 

Thanks D.  You're the greatest.

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 10 Recap

Hurray!  Hurray!!  Hurray!!! 

We went for our long run today and I made the whole distance without my right foot giving out!  OK, to be truthful...right now I'm half asleep as I'm so tired...but if I wasn't, I'd totally be doing a jig.  I was honestly stressing out about this all week...worrying, constantly rubbing my foot and fretting that Marathon Quest 2011 was over.  Every slight twinge was the end of my running career.  Once bitten, twice shy I suppose.  I even booked a physio appointment next week just in case today's run didn't go well...but I think I'll move it to the following week and use it as a check in session to really keep on top of things.  My foot did feel a bit sensitive and tired at points, but given the distance, I expect some soreness and am going to really keep an eye on it so it doesn't get any worse.  Eight more long runs to go, eight more weeks of training left, 56 more days until I run and put it all out there on the race course.  This is getting so close and so real, I can almost taste it!

Workouts this week?  Here goes:

Sunday - rest day 6K run treadmill
Normally Sundays are rest days, but because I had a physio appointment on Monday, I knew wouldn't be able to run on Tuesday so switched things up and ran on Sunday (with IMS, you're not supposed to work out for 48 hours after).  Speaking of IMS...after the session, I noticed that I was having a much easier time keeping my leg straight.  The other week when I was doing my calf stretches, my knee was always pulling in but after IMS, it was effortless to keep it straight.  Thank goodness for IMS - what a lifesaver...the pain is worth it.

Monday - bootcamp
Sarge wasn't teaching, but the instructor we did have was awesome as well.  He's a runner, so we ran.  And ran.  And ran some more.

Tuesday - 6K run treadmill rest day

Wednesday - 6K run outdoors

Thursday - rest
Argh.  Don't know what's up but I've been having a lot of headaches lately (prompting the whole craniosacral therapy gig) and my stomach was going crazy on Thursday.  I looked back at my food diary and there was nothing out of the ordinary - I had my usual brekkie of oatmeal and afterwards my stomach was twisting and hurting all day.  I'm sure the painkiller I took for my headache didn't help my tummy either, so was hoping it would calm down so I could make it to bootcamp the next morning.  My stomach has been great ever since I cut back my dairy and eggs, so I'm completely puzzled by what's up.

Friday - bootcamp
My stomach settled a bit and felt OK in the morning, so I went to class. Luckily for me, there wasn't much running this class so I got a chance to rest my legs a bit which was awesome given the doozer long run scheduled for Saturday.   I was also glad we didn't run much because my tummy was still sore from the prior day, so I was getting a stitch and we were barely even running.  Argh.  We did lots of upper body though so my back is feeling super tight.  Dang, I need a massage.

Saturday - 29K
I've been thinking a lot about nutrition for the run over the last while, so had read online that some people wake up in the middle of the night, eat something and then go back to bed.  Brilliant!  Running in the morning after fasting for 7 hours isn't ideal, and I'd always wondered how people eat in the morning without getting cramps, so this may be my solution.  I tested it out last night - I always wake up in the middle of the night for whatever reason, so I got up, ate a scone and headed back to bed.  Before my run I did my usual food routine of bananas and nutella, and on the run I took a Gu gel, some Gu chomps and hydrated with water with some Nuun mixed in (and hydrated like crazy on Friday - 3 litres plus of water).  I gotta say - even though by the end I was really, REALLY tired, I still felt like I had some energy left.  A few weeks ago when I bonked on my 23K run, I could barely had the energy to walk home afterwards and had to stop repeatedly to get up the hill by my house - this week, no problem.  Think I'll test this out for the next few runs so I can get a food plan going, and next week will introduce salt pills.

The other thing I noticed - lately after my long runs, I've had no appetite.  None.  Like I can barely face food...and that is so unlike me!   It's worrying me a bit as I need to eat to refuel my glycogen and rebuild muscle, so I force fed myself a recovery drink (Gatorade's new G3 recovery drink with protein - like this stuff in concept, but don't like the taste...particularly when it starts to get warm) and made myself eat some lunch.  It's our cheat day too, and I barely want to even eat dinner.  We went out for dinner for Vietnamese, and after eating a bit of my rice vermicelli bowl, I just didn't feel like eating much.  However, after dinner I did manage to eat some frozen yoghourt at a new build-your-own froyo place in town called Qoola.  Heh.

Getting My Head Fixed

OK, OK...for those of you that know me in real life, you're probably thinking "it's about time!", right?  Ha!   Even though I'm sure some of you might be questioning my mental state for even attempting a marathon, it's another part of my head that I'm looking at getting fixed. 

When I went to go see my physio this past Monday, we were gabbing our faces off as usual (I love my physiotherapist to bits!!!) and she mentioned that she was going to take some courses in craniosacral therapy.  I'd heard good things about this from my naturopath as well as a friend who had said that it worked wonders for her as she suffered from some terrible headaches after a bad car accident.  My physio had had this done, and waxed poetic about it which totally piqued my interest.  I've been a longtime sufferer of headaches which started when I was a little kid, and for the most part have managed to improve the frequency and severity through diet, exercise and regular massages but still get them way, way more often then I'd like.  I'm up for anything (wait, that sounded kinda bad, tee hee!) and try to keep an open mind about alternative therapies, so I'm going to give craniosacral therapy a whirl to see if it helps at all.  From what I've heard and read, craniosacral therapy is a gentle massage of the bones in the head that helps ease stress, improve body movement and can help with neck and back pain.  My back has been pretty good this past year, but last week my rib slipped out again (ouch!) so thought this might help with that too.  Here's a blurb that I found on the interwebz: 

"Craniosacral therapy is a manual technique that manipulates the flow of cerebrospinal fluid, a fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. In cases of injury or disease, this normal flow of fluid is disturbed or restricted. The therapist applies a gentle pressure on the client to detect the disruptions in the craniosacral rhythm. Craniosacral therapy is an excellent technique used in the treatment of migraines, neck and back pain, orthopedic injuries, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, temporomandibular joint dysfunction, and neurovascular disorders."

Apparently a lot of people fall asleep when getting this done! Sign me up, baby...sign.me.up.

Appointment is on the 23rd of this month, so you'll be sure to hear all about it once I'm done.  Can't wait.

Crossing Fingers

I'm crossing my fingers, eyes, toes and whatever appendages I can that the foot pain I felt last Wednesday was just that I overdid it by doing my long runs so close together, rather than a repeat performance of last year's epic marathon fail.  The good news is that I went to see my physio on Monday and after hearing my tale of woe which I described in sordid detail, she feels that it's probably just overuse...I was able to run on it during the weekend and not feel any pain, and it didn't get any worse.  And I'm being proactive, rather than reactive like I was last year, and seeing her when I was already in trouble and in a lot of pain.  I'm a bit of a hypochondriac right now though I gotta admit...every slight twinge in my foot and I'm freaking out in my mind that this is it, this is the end of Marathon Quest 2011, blah blah blah.  Sigh.

Anyways, my physio did her usual review of how I was moving and said that overall, I was actually pretty good but could feel that I was really tight in my hip flexors, which was pulling my leg inward and causing a lot of muscle tightness.  As per usual, the needles came out...I always have to psyche myself up for each IMS session because it hurts like stink, but this time I actually was looking forward to the pain because I knew it would help.  It was amazing...one needle that she did in in my thigh resulted in a cramping/muscle twitch that went  all the way down my leg and to the side of my foot where I was feeling the pain.  I'm hoping that this will help release the tightness so I can get the proper range of motion back.  Short run early tomorrow morning with Hubs, which will be good to test out how it's feeling...and then 29K this weekend.  Wish me (and my foot!) luck!  I'm thinking positive thoughts going forward...Marathon Quest 2011 is on!

Marathon Quest 2011 - Week 9 Recap

No excuses.  That's my new mantra until I hit the marathon!  The last few days I haven't been feeling the greatest - tired, my mind is fuzzy, and truth be told the whole foot thing is hanging out in the back of my mind.  This morning I got up and started the day off with a headache and a list of to-do's a mile long - it's been a really busy weekend with lots of socializing so I'm trying to squeeze in all the stuff that needs to get done.  Of course, on the list of to do's today was "run"...I really didn't feel like it, and kept making excuses in my head:

"I'm so effing tired."

"My foot is kinda sore, maybe I should stay off it."

"Well, I'm working out 4 days this week, it should be enough.  What's one day?  Who cares."

"My head hurts.  I don't feel good."

Then I thought about Beth on one of fave running blogs, Shut Up and Run...she has a "no excuses, stop overthinking it" approach to running.  She's out there doing a half ironman, after coming back from an injury not that long ago...and I'm whining about running 6K!  I got my ass off the couch, got the run done and proceeded to knock everything off my to do list and can go over to our friend's tonight relaxed and ready to enjoy myself.  I also had a mental talk to myself - I'm halfway through the training, and now isn't the time to start sluffin' off.

So - speaking of training, here's a recap of this week's workouts:

Sunday - rest day

Monday - rest day

Tuesday - 6K run treadmill

Wednesday - 19K run outdoors

Thursday - rest day

Friday - bootcamp

Saturday - 8K run treadmill

I'm hoping to get back on track and get over feeling like crap...going to concentrate on eating properly, hydrating lots, keeping up on the supplements and sleeping lots....sounds like a plan, Stan.

Three Things Thursday

1.  Rest Day

Took today off runs/working out and am so glad I did!  I'm still fretting a bit about the foot, but am trying to remain positive that it's no big deal and it'll all be fine.  Sometimes I forget how far the runs really are (does anyone ever drive a distance and then think holy crap, I ran that?!) and that it's a lot of pounding on the body.  I've got bootcamp tomorrow morning (will take 'er easy) and a 10K run on Saturday that I'm going to do on the treadmill as it's a bit more cushy than road running.  A little rest now hopefully will pay off as I've got some doozer long runs coming up - 29K, 29K and 32K in the next three weeks.  *silent scream*

2.  Public Service Announcement:  Please Share the Sidewalk

I don't know what it is, but I hate, HATE....it when I'm running on the sidewalk or trail and people walk two or three abreast and refuse to move (I also hate this when people do this in races, so it's not just walkers who raise my ire!).  Hubs and I run next to each other if there's no one else, but as soon as we see oncoming traffic, we move single file so as to give others room to pass.  Most people do move, but for whatever reason when we ran yesterday, there were people who refused to budge so Hubs and I had to give them a wide berth and run up on the grass.  Now is it a big deal for us to do that?  No...but what irks me is the lack of consideration or courtesy.  After multiple times of people hogging up the entire sidewalk, I decided to stay the course and keep running in my lane (moving single file in front of Hubs, of course...my momma raised me right!) and if I brushed shoulders with someone, so be it (and I was ready with some choice words if they so chose to indulge me).  I don't know what it is, but this seems to be some kind of odd North American phenomenon.  When we were in Hong Kong, which is arguably one of the densest populations in the world, I never bumped into anyone even at peak travel times.  I liken it to this unspoken understanding of body language...I remember once when we were on the subway and we had to get off but we were at the opposite side of the train from the door.  All I did was make the slightest motion to move towards the exit and everyone in our area moved inperceptibly to give us enough to pass, and as we did the space closed up behind us seamlessly.  If this were the case on the Skytrain, I'm sure it would have ended up in fisticuffs or worse.

Anyways, the message is to runners, walkers and the general public alike - please share the sidewalk and we'll all be happier.

3.  Gratitude

I know, I know...I've been sucking majorly at the gratitude thing, but I was once again reminded today of what I'm most grateful for in the world...firstly, my friends and family and secondly, my health.  I might not see friends and family as much as I like but I am so incredibly fortunate to have such a wonderful network of people who support me always.  And my health...well, it's a very, very close second.  As I said in my very first post on this blog, without your health, what do you have?   Sometimes when I hear people saying they don't have the time or want to make the effort to live a healthier lifestyle, I want to beg and plead (and maybe whine a little cuz sometimes that works too) with them that if they don't want to do it for themselves (as many people are naturally very unselfish), do it for their kids, husbands, wives or other loved ones because it's going to really suck for those people if they're left behind.  If you're not around, who's going to take care of them?  Who's going to share in their big moments?  As weird as it may sound, bulging biceps aren't the main reason why I try to maintain a healthy lifestyle (although if anyone could spare some rippling abs, I'm game!), but it's because I want to be around to enjoy what I'm most grateful for in life, friends and family.

Drained

The title says it all - I am totally drained and sapped of energy.  Hubs is back on his Saturday shifts, so because this week is a step back week, we did our switch-it-up long run on Wednesday night gig, and pounded out 19K tonight.  I actually felt pretty good for the first 10K, but I think having such a short period of time from the last long run has really tired my body out and I was tired for the second half of the run.   When the distances were shorter I think it was OK, but having just done 26K four days ago probably wasn't enough recovery time.  I managed to get through it and get it done, but I'm actually feeling kinda queasy right now and could barely choke back my dinner.  I know, crazy right?!  Me, not want to eat?!  Hubs even tried to give me a some chocolate and I turned it down.  You gotta know there's something wrong when I don't wanna eat.

And...I'm hoping it's nothing...but I did have a bit of heel pain today in my right foot.  As soon as we finished I started to massage it and it feels a bit better.  Crossing my fingers it's nothing...and have a physio appointment booked on Monday already so good timing.  And tomorrow I'm supposed to do another run since I didn't get any workouts in on Sunday and Monday because we were in Van...but ya know what?  I'm tired, my body needs a rest so I'm going to take an extra rest day and take it easy.

Nighty night!