ZOMG, I am so, so tired right now! It's been a busy week and I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to the long weekend. I think my body is trying to get used to the amped up training schedule so I feel way more tired than usual. The human body is a pretty amazing thing and it always surprises me how it adapts and changes so quickly, so I think that this tiredness I'm feeling right now will get better after awhile as my fitness level gets better.
Anyways, here was week 1 of training towards a 1:50 half at the Goodlife Victoria Half Marathon (did you all notice the law of attraction thingie I just did there?):
Sunday: Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon!!!
I've already blathered on long enough about the race, so I won't make you guys suffer any more.
Monday: rest day
Oy vey, my legs were so insanely sore the next day...specifically my quads...ow! Even one of my bosses was teasing me about how I was walking. I was glad that everything else like my calves, hamstrings, etc., actually felt pretty good but I think the downhills really trashed my quads.
Tuesday: yoga
To give the legs a good stretch, I decided to go to yoga with a coworker and man, did it feel great. Seriously, why do I not go to yoga more often?! It feels so awesome! Anyways, afterwards my legs felt so much looser, and I definitely plan on yoga-ing more. Promise.
Wednesday: bootcamp in a.m./run clinic in p.m.
Ooooh...first double training day and I started questioning my sanity for thinking this was a good idea. Ha! Both sessions were with Jason, and we did hill repeats in both classes....bootcamp was hard enough, but at the run clinic we had to do 30 minutes of hill repeat after hill repeat after hill repeat...it was pretty warm out too, and I gotta admit...it was really hard to keep going and I was sucking wind. Thankfully it went by quickly, and I know hills are good for me so I'm sucking it up...it's all the means to an end, right?
Thursday: Mindful Strides clinic
Woohoo! Had another a-ha moment...Marilyn did a new drill with us that really, really helped with understanding what we were supposed to be doing. Normally I have a real difficulty with slamming my foot down (hence my foot problem earlier!) and this new drill really made me understand the feeling of bringing my foot up. I love it when light bulbs go off in my head! This week I felt so much lighter on my feet and on one of the strides that we did, I felt that perfect balance of running on my midfoot with little effort. Now just to get that feeling while running a half marathon!
Friday: bootcamp
Thank goodness for my good friend D! We always check in with each other the night before bootcamp, and it really pushes me to go...what they say about doing stuff with a friend really IS true! If I'd been left to my own devices, I totally woulda jammed today and regretted it later, so glad that D pushes me to go.
Saturday: very slow treadmill run
Hubs was going to do a 10K run on Saturday, but his foot has been bothering him since the run on Sunday so he decided to do a bike workout instead. I was feeling really tired and wanted to give my legs a chance to recover from this crazy week, so I did a slow, slow, slow jog on the treadmill.
Plans for this weekend? Chores are 95% done, so the rest of the weekend will be some puttering at home and relaxing. Can't wait until Monday, glorious Monday...we're sleeping in, taking a full rest day, making a pancake breakfast and chilling at home all day. Ahhhh...SO can't wait.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
2012 Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon - Race Report
Second half marathon of the year, done! Typing up this post now, I realized that I didn't post any time goals for myself. Earlier this year when I was planning out my races, I wanted to at least be close to my personal best from last year's Oak Bay Half Marathon at 1:56:09 or if the planets aligned perfectly, beat that time. I didn't have a particularly fast time at the Goddess Run (even though I was happy with it, given my lack of running mojo) at 2:04:44, so knew I was going to have to really work hard to get my time below two hours, and really gut it out to hit my personal best half marathon time.
The Scotiabank Half is a smaller race with about 4000 half marathoners running, and I was looking forward to the route which starts at UBC and winds its way through to Stanley Park. Even more exciting is that Canada's Olympic marathon hopefuls Reid Coolsaet and Eric Gillis would also be running this race! When Hubs and I went to pick up our race packages on Saturday, we saw the two of them at the race expo...they were cornered by some dude, and me being a shy Asian wallflower...I couldn't muster enough nerve to go over and wish them luck in London. I know, I know! I suck. But I was excited to see them and they gave me the inspiration to run a really hard race.
The race started at 7:30am, so Hubs and I were up and at 'em at 5:45am, and headed off to UBC by 6:15am. Being so early on a Sunday, we got there quickly and stood around in the chilly morning air waiting for the race to start. Hubs has been having some issues with his right foot, so we weren't sure how he was going to do with the race...he saw his physio who attributed it to his body getting used to revising his footstrike to a midfoot rather than a heel strike, as all the bones and ligaments are getting used to things. As the race started, we gave each other a good luck hug and kiss and off we went.
0 - 7K
Within the first few steps I had my first mishap...I had packed three Gus with me, and was going to take one before the start of the race. Not seeing any garbage cans to throw the packet away, I decided against it and just figured I would take one at the 7K point and another at 14K. Um...good thing I didn't take that gel, because as I crossed over the start line, one of my Gu packets fell out of my fuel belt, richocheted off someone's foot and shot forward like a missile! Everyone in front of me was looking around wondering what happened, and of course with the sea of bodies behind me, I couldn't exactly reach down to pick it up....so buh-bye, Mr. Gu...at least it wasn't the peanut butter one! Thank goodness I had packed that extra gel. Anyways, the start of the race was mostly downhill which was good, but bad because I was running way too quickly to start and not doing a great job of pacing myself. At around the 5K mark I was feeling a little tired and hoped that I had left enough juice in my legs to hit my goals.
1K 5:31
2K 5:23
3K 5:12
4K 5:12
5K 5:13
6K 5:21
7K 5:37
8 - 13K
To be honest, I don't remember a lot about this part of the race. I was really concentrating and working hard, and even though I'm sure the route was beautiful, I was focussed. I started choosing people to chase down, and I ended up picking this girl to target because I liked her outfit. Ha! It was Lululemon, of course. What I do remember about this part of the race was that I had a really bad stitch in my side...foolishly, I'd drank some water on a downhill section and nothing makes me cramp faster than that. Argh. After awhile it went away, but it took a few kilometres of massaging it while I ran and trying to not concentrate on it. Miraculously, I somehow managed to pull the fastest splits I've ever had to date in any race, and even managed to pull a 52:38 10K split, which is the fastest 10K I've ever run! Yeehaw. I was wearing a pace bracelet as well, and knew at the 10K point that I had built about a four minute buffer for a two hour half marathon.
8K 5:10
9K 5:09
10K 4:50 ------> holy crap
10K split: 52:38 (target for 2:00 hour half, 56:50)
11K 4:59
12K 5:24
13K 5:25
14 - 21.1K
Again...this is where things got hard. This is the part of the race where I always suffer, and I'm really hoping that the speedwork, tempo and hills that I'll be doing at my running clinics will help with my endurance. I usually start floundering around now, and this race was no different. One of my goals for this year is to achieve a 1:50 half, meaning a 5:15 split...I gotta lot of work to do to get myself to that point, given how hard it is for me to hit the splits that I did...which for the most part were nowhere near 5:15. To be honest, I think a lot of it is mental...I walked a lot around the 17 - 19K point and just didn't have any fight left during these splits.
Luckily, the last few kilometres went better...I could feel myself getting excited that I was getting so close to the finish line, and willed my legs to keep moving. I knew I would hit my goal of a sub 2 hour time, but I wanted to hit a personal best and beat 1:56:09. As I came around the bend and could see the finish line, I looked at my watch and saw that I was cutting it close...really close. Mustering every last tiny bit of energy I could, I sprinted the final few hundred feet and ran across the finish line at 1:55:40...personal best, achieved!
14K 5:43
15K 5:41
16K 5:32
17K 5:46
18K 5:40
19K 6:19 ---> WTF happened here, Wong?
20K 5:26
21K 5:26
0.1K 1:47
After I ran across the mats, I started to feel a bit dizzy and could feel my legs cramp up. I actually started to feel things tunnelling in around me, so walked slowly around until I could catch my breath and get a hold of myself. Luckily, the feeling passed quickly and I waited around for Hubs to finish. He had a good race, and his foot held out which was awesome. Yay, Hubs!
Final: 1:55:40
Overall: 1357/3838
Age Group: 62/285
Gender Group: 491/2182
Pace: 5:29
So happy! I feel my running mojo coming back, and hereby commit to work hard, eat right and stick to my training schedule. 1:50 half, I have you in my sights!
The Scotiabank Half is a smaller race with about 4000 half marathoners running, and I was looking forward to the route which starts at UBC and winds its way through to Stanley Park. Even more exciting is that Canada's Olympic marathon hopefuls Reid Coolsaet and Eric Gillis would also be running this race! When Hubs and I went to pick up our race packages on Saturday, we saw the two of them at the race expo...they were cornered by some dude, and me being a shy Asian wallflower...I couldn't muster enough nerve to go over and wish them luck in London. I know, I know! I suck. But I was excited to see them and they gave me the inspiration to run a really hard race.
The race started at 7:30am, so Hubs and I were up and at 'em at 5:45am, and headed off to UBC by 6:15am. Being so early on a Sunday, we got there quickly and stood around in the chilly morning air waiting for the race to start. Hubs has been having some issues with his right foot, so we weren't sure how he was going to do with the race...he saw his physio who attributed it to his body getting used to revising his footstrike to a midfoot rather than a heel strike, as all the bones and ligaments are getting used to things. As the race started, we gave each other a good luck hug and kiss and off we went.
0 - 7K
Within the first few steps I had my first mishap...I had packed three Gus with me, and was going to take one before the start of the race. Not seeing any garbage cans to throw the packet away, I decided against it and just figured I would take one at the 7K point and another at 14K. Um...good thing I didn't take that gel, because as I crossed over the start line, one of my Gu packets fell out of my fuel belt, richocheted off someone's foot and shot forward like a missile! Everyone in front of me was looking around wondering what happened, and of course with the sea of bodies behind me, I couldn't exactly reach down to pick it up....so buh-bye, Mr. Gu...at least it wasn't the peanut butter one! Thank goodness I had packed that extra gel. Anyways, the start of the race was mostly downhill which was good, but bad because I was running way too quickly to start and not doing a great job of pacing myself. At around the 5K mark I was feeling a little tired and hoped that I had left enough juice in my legs to hit my goals.
1K 5:31
2K 5:23
3K 5:12
4K 5:12
5K 5:13
6K 5:21
7K 5:37
8 - 13K
To be honest, I don't remember a lot about this part of the race. I was really concentrating and working hard, and even though I'm sure the route was beautiful, I was focussed. I started choosing people to chase down, and I ended up picking this girl to target because I liked her outfit. Ha! It was Lululemon, of course. What I do remember about this part of the race was that I had a really bad stitch in my side...foolishly, I'd drank some water on a downhill section and nothing makes me cramp faster than that. Argh. After awhile it went away, but it took a few kilometres of massaging it while I ran and trying to not concentrate on it. Miraculously, I somehow managed to pull the fastest splits I've ever had to date in any race, and even managed to pull a 52:38 10K split, which is the fastest 10K I've ever run! Yeehaw. I was wearing a pace bracelet as well, and knew at the 10K point that I had built about a four minute buffer for a two hour half marathon.
8K 5:10
9K 5:09
10K 4:50 ------> holy crap
10K split: 52:38 (target for 2:00 hour half, 56:50)
11K 4:59
12K 5:24
13K 5:25
14 - 21.1K
Again...this is where things got hard. This is the part of the race where I always suffer, and I'm really hoping that the speedwork, tempo and hills that I'll be doing at my running clinics will help with my endurance. I usually start floundering around now, and this race was no different. One of my goals for this year is to achieve a 1:50 half, meaning a 5:15 split...I gotta lot of work to do to get myself to that point, given how hard it is for me to hit the splits that I did...which for the most part were nowhere near 5:15. To be honest, I think a lot of it is mental...I walked a lot around the 17 - 19K point and just didn't have any fight left during these splits.
Luckily, the last few kilometres went better...I could feel myself getting excited that I was getting so close to the finish line, and willed my legs to keep moving. I knew I would hit my goal of a sub 2 hour time, but I wanted to hit a personal best and beat 1:56:09. As I came around the bend and could see the finish line, I looked at my watch and saw that I was cutting it close...really close. Mustering every last tiny bit of energy I could, I sprinted the final few hundred feet and ran across the finish line at 1:55:40...personal best, achieved!
14K 5:43
15K 5:41
16K 5:32
17K 5:46
18K 5:40
19K 6:19 ---> WTF happened here, Wong?
20K 5:26
21K 5:26
0.1K 1:47
After I ran across the mats, I started to feel a bit dizzy and could feel my legs cramp up. I actually started to feel things tunnelling in around me, so walked slowly around until I could catch my breath and get a hold of myself. Luckily, the feeling passed quickly and I waited around for Hubs to finish. He had a good race, and his foot held out which was awesome. Yay, Hubs!
Final: 1:55:40
Overall: 1357/3838
Age Group: 62/285
Gender Group: 491/2182
Pace: 5:29
So happy! I feel my running mojo coming back, and hereby commit to work hard, eat right and stick to my training schedule. 1:50 half, I have you in my sights!
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Three (Plus One) Things Thursday
1. Chicago
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Wow...all I can say is that I love Chicago. LOVE. What an amazingly beautiful city...full of life and so vibrant! I don't know why I have this vision of all cities in the US looking the same, but I honestly can't wait to go back and next time take Hubs with me. There was so much to look at and do, and luckily we were staying pretty much in the heart of downtown so things were very accessible. We did a few architectural tours...one walking, one on the river, which was so interesting as I never really knew just how much work and thought went into creating a beautiful building. Seriously cool.
And the food...sigh, the food. We tried Chicago style deep dish pizza (yum!), delish fresh seafood, and on the way out of town at the airport I hunted myself down a Chicago style hot dog and had it for breakfast. Yep, you read that right, breakfast...it had to be done, folks.
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I also managed to fit in a few runs as well...thanks to Meg's suggestions, I ventured out to the lake for my long run which was incredible. Now the not so incredible thing was that it was freaking 85 degrees out at 7am (which means it felt like 95 degrees since I was running), and foolish little old me didn't think to pack a water belt with me so had to rely on water fountains. As I would come across one, I'd drink like I'd never drunk before and splash water all over myself which would inevitably dissipate within seconds. So hot. I did manage to squeeze in an 11K run though so happy with that and glad to say that I ran along Lake Michigan!
After the run, I ran through Millenium Park and took a photo of myself at the bean:
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2. Clinics
First running clinic done this past Sunday and it was awesome. Everyone was so incredibly friendly! One of the girls in my office has signed up as well but couldn't make it, so I was a little apprehensive about going on my own...but that fear was for naught. Within seconds of walking in, I was chatting with a couple who were also new, and got a few friendly smiles as I stood waiting for the clinic to start. The run was fairly short...7K for the half group (me!) and 13K for the full group. As we started out, I chatted with a few really nice people...there was one portion where there were a couple of girls running ahead of me and one of them turned around, smiled and asked how I was doing. Again, this is the joy of the running community...so inclusive and friendly...I can't say often enough how runners are not elitist. Anyways, I ended up running next to a really nice guy who I discovered goes to my bootcamp...and we chatted about his wife who used to be a 2 hour-ish runner and is now in the 1:40 range due to these very clinics. Totally gave me hope for myself that one day I could reach those speeds! Close to the end of the run, he looked at me with a sideways glance and a sly smile and said "wanna go for it?" Never one to turn down a challenge, I laughed and said "you're on!" and off we went as we raced each other back to the Peninsula Runners store! We high fived as we finished and thanked each other for the push. I think I'm gonna like this clinic business!
And tonight...our first class of the advance session of the Mindful Strides clinics. I'm looking forward to being under Marilyn's tutelage once again, and I'm hoping this session there'll be even more "a-ha!" moments that we seem to have at each level. Hubs is considering really cutting back his mileage so he can concentrate on his form/technique, which might fit OK if I end up running with my clinics...we'll see! Thankfully Marilyn was pretty happy with how we did tonight...it's been about two months since our last session but we did pretty well which leads us to believe that we might really be getting it and our muscles are actually remembering proper body positioning. Marilyn has group Mindful Strides runs every Saturday, so Hubs and I have decided that we're going to fit in a few so we can get a chance to run rather than just working on drills.
3. Scotiabank Vancouver Half
Eeeek! Second half mary of the year this weekend. I'm feeling ready, and hoping for a sub 2 hour finish. Wish me luck guys...I'll be out running between UBC and Stanley Park on Sunday between 7:30 - 9:30am...looking forward to seeing the course!
4. Back on the Wagon
Yup, back on the wagon this week - eating really well and exercising a ton! June 17th was my first clinic day so I thought what better day than to put all the debauchery behind me now that Maui and Chicago are done and get down to business. Absolutely not feeling very lean or light, so I'm committing to getting myself back into being a lean, mean, running machine. So far in my mind I'm envisioning this schedule:
Sunday: Pen Run clinic long run/off depending on Saturday run
Monday: Bootcamp
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Double day - bootcamp in morning,
Pen Run hills/speedwork/temp in evening
Thursday: Rest/Mindful Strides clinic (only six weeks)
Friday: Bootcamp
Saturday: Long run with Hubs/Mindful Strides run/off depending on Sunday run
Whew, gonna be busy! But I'm feeling ready to get back into things and gear up for the Fall race.
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Wow...all I can say is that I love Chicago. LOVE. What an amazingly beautiful city...full of life and so vibrant! I don't know why I have this vision of all cities in the US looking the same, but I honestly can't wait to go back and next time take Hubs with me. There was so much to look at and do, and luckily we were staying pretty much in the heart of downtown so things were very accessible. We did a few architectural tours...one walking, one on the river, which was so interesting as I never really knew just how much work and thought went into creating a beautiful building. Seriously cool.
And the food...sigh, the food. We tried Chicago style deep dish pizza (yum!), delish fresh seafood, and on the way out of town at the airport I hunted myself down a Chicago style hot dog and had it for breakfast. Yep, you read that right, breakfast...it had to be done, folks.
.jpg)
I also managed to fit in a few runs as well...thanks to Meg's suggestions, I ventured out to the lake for my long run which was incredible. Now the not so incredible thing was that it was freaking 85 degrees out at 7am (which means it felt like 95 degrees since I was running), and foolish little old me didn't think to pack a water belt with me so had to rely on water fountains. As I would come across one, I'd drink like I'd never drunk before and splash water all over myself which would inevitably dissipate within seconds. So hot. I did manage to squeeze in an 11K run though so happy with that and glad to say that I ran along Lake Michigan!
After the run, I ran through Millenium Park and took a photo of myself at the bean:
.jpg)
2. Clinics
First running clinic done this past Sunday and it was awesome. Everyone was so incredibly friendly! One of the girls in my office has signed up as well but couldn't make it, so I was a little apprehensive about going on my own...but that fear was for naught. Within seconds of walking in, I was chatting with a couple who were also new, and got a few friendly smiles as I stood waiting for the clinic to start. The run was fairly short...7K for the half group (me!) and 13K for the full group. As we started out, I chatted with a few really nice people...there was one portion where there were a couple of girls running ahead of me and one of them turned around, smiled and asked how I was doing. Again, this is the joy of the running community...so inclusive and friendly...I can't say often enough how runners are not elitist. Anyways, I ended up running next to a really nice guy who I discovered goes to my bootcamp...and we chatted about his wife who used to be a 2 hour-ish runner and is now in the 1:40 range due to these very clinics. Totally gave me hope for myself that one day I could reach those speeds! Close to the end of the run, he looked at me with a sideways glance and a sly smile and said "wanna go for it?" Never one to turn down a challenge, I laughed and said "you're on!" and off we went as we raced each other back to the Peninsula Runners store! We high fived as we finished and thanked each other for the push. I think I'm gonna like this clinic business!
And tonight...our first class of the advance session of the Mindful Strides clinics. I'm looking forward to being under Marilyn's tutelage once again, and I'm hoping this session there'll be even more "a-ha!" moments that we seem to have at each level. Hubs is considering really cutting back his mileage so he can concentrate on his form/technique, which might fit OK if I end up running with my clinics...we'll see! Thankfully Marilyn was pretty happy with how we did tonight...it's been about two months since our last session but we did pretty well which leads us to believe that we might really be getting it and our muscles are actually remembering proper body positioning. Marilyn has group Mindful Strides runs every Saturday, so Hubs and I have decided that we're going to fit in a few so we can get a chance to run rather than just working on drills.
3. Scotiabank Vancouver Half
Eeeek! Second half mary of the year this weekend. I'm feeling ready, and hoping for a sub 2 hour finish. Wish me luck guys...I'll be out running between UBC and Stanley Park on Sunday between 7:30 - 9:30am...looking forward to seeing the course!
4. Back on the Wagon
Yup, back on the wagon this week - eating really well and exercising a ton! June 17th was my first clinic day so I thought what better day than to put all the debauchery behind me now that Maui and Chicago are done and get down to business. Absolutely not feeling very lean or light, so I'm committing to getting myself back into being a lean, mean, running machine. So far in my mind I'm envisioning this schedule:
Sunday: Pen Run clinic long run/off depending on Saturday run
Monday: Bootcamp
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Double day - bootcamp in morning,
Pen Run hills/speedwork/temp in evening
Thursday: Rest/Mindful Strides clinic (only six weeks)
Friday: Bootcamp
Saturday: Long run with Hubs/Mindful Strides run/off depending on Sunday run
Whew, gonna be busy! But I'm feeling ready to get back into things and gear up for the Fall race.
Faith in Humanity
With all the bad shit that goes on in the world (I'm thinking Sherry Arnold and Sarah Hart...rest in peace), sometimes it makes me lose my faith in humanity and wonder what the heck is up with the world.
Prepare to at least have some of that faith replaced...go here for some heartwarming (and tear inducing...#2, 6, 19 and 20 had me extremely verklempt) photos of some of the good in the world.
PS. Just in case I don't get a chance to post another entry before Sunday (been meaning to post since I got back from Chicago...so much to talk about!)...Scotiabank Vancouver Half is on deck! Sub 2:00 or bust!!
Prepare to at least have some of that faith replaced...go here for some heartwarming (and tear inducing...#2, 6, 19 and 20 had me extremely verklempt) photos of some of the good in the world.
PS. Just in case I don't get a chance to post another entry before Sunday (been meaning to post since I got back from Chicago...so much to talk about!)...Scotiabank Vancouver Half is on deck! Sub 2:00 or bust!!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Sign Me Up!
That Goddess Run totally has my running juices flowing again! I was pretty happy with my time all things considered, and started thinking that if I really worked at it...really trained hard, was disciplined with my food (and dropped a little extra weight) and made a concentrated effort to work on my exercises and form...that a 1:50 half could possibly be within my reach.
I've mentioned before that I have a great trainer named Jason at my bootcamp...well, he's also a very well known clinic instructor in town, and I really like his style. Upbeat, encouraging but tough...I decided to check out the clinics where he works, Peninsula Runners. The summer clinics start June 13th...perfect! I'm away in Chicago next week so I'll miss the first class and have a few scheduling conflicts, but for the most part it fits perfectly. These clinics were designed to fill a gap that other clinics neglect, which is to get faster...and that's exactly what I'm looking to do...sign me up! I don't seem to be able to get out to do any speedwork or hill training and truth be told, I'm not sure what to do or how to go about things, so I decided that signing up for a clinic was probably the smartest thing to do. Coincidentally, I saw this post from Beth over at Shut Up and Run and thought it was a sign for me to just go out and do it...perfect timing.
The clinics are on Wednesday nights and Sundays for the long run. I don't seem to have an issue with the long runs and don't want to make Hubs run on his own, so I plan on continuing with Saturday long runs with him but attending the Wednesday night sessions. It'll be cool to meet some new folks too! I know it'd be easier to get to know people if I did the long runs too, but I really enjoy my running time with Hubs. I can have my cake and eat it too, right?
So tomorrow I'm getting my butt over to the store and registering. It's going to be clinic city as I start my sessions with Marilyn at Mindful Strides pretty soon too. So excited!
Oh...and Happy National Running Day!
I've mentioned before that I have a great trainer named Jason at my bootcamp...well, he's also a very well known clinic instructor in town, and I really like his style. Upbeat, encouraging but tough...I decided to check out the clinics where he works, Peninsula Runners. The summer clinics start June 13th...perfect! I'm away in Chicago next week so I'll miss the first class and have a few scheduling conflicts, but for the most part it fits perfectly. These clinics were designed to fill a gap that other clinics neglect, which is to get faster...and that's exactly what I'm looking to do...sign me up! I don't seem to be able to get out to do any speedwork or hill training and truth be told, I'm not sure what to do or how to go about things, so I decided that signing up for a clinic was probably the smartest thing to do. Coincidentally, I saw this post from Beth over at Shut Up and Run and thought it was a sign for me to just go out and do it...perfect timing.
The clinics are on Wednesday nights and Sundays for the long run. I don't seem to have an issue with the long runs and don't want to make Hubs run on his own, so I plan on continuing with Saturday long runs with him but attending the Wednesday night sessions. It'll be cool to meet some new folks too! I know it'd be easier to get to know people if I did the long runs too, but I really enjoy my running time with Hubs. I can have my cake and eat it too, right?
So tomorrow I'm getting my butt over to the store and registering. It's going to be clinic city as I start my sessions with Marilyn at Mindful Strides pretty soon too. So excited!
Oh...and Happy National Running Day!
Monday, June 4, 2012
2012 Victoria Goddess Half Marathon - Race Report
Woohoooo...first race of the season done! June 3rd was the inaugural event for the Victoria Goddess Run and I have to say, for the first year it was a great event. Patterned after runs like the Nike Womens' Half Marathon in San Francisco, the run had chocolate on the route, bling handed out by hunky firemen, delish food after the race and the camraderie of hundreds of excited women...so cool!
So initially I had no intention of racing this run due to my lack of running mojo/preparation...but that quickly went out the window when I got a wee bit caught up in all the excitement and ended up going for it. Hee hee! The race was a hop, skip and a jump away from my house which was wonderful, and the half marathon started at 9am so I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn. I knew the venue well as it's one of the locations that we do our morning bootcamps at...the main event was on the soccer pitch, and the race courses (5K, 10K and half mary) wound all through the Langford area in Victoria. I got there fairly early, checked in my stuff (Hubs couldn't come to this one, and since I was going to use it as a training run I gave him a free pass) and headed down to the starting line amidst a sea of estrogen packed energy! I have to say, it was pretty cool...a lot of fun to see all the wild and crazy costumes...sparkle skirts, tiaras, and lots and LOTS of pink. A great energy!
Promptly at 9am, we started...and oh my, what a start!
0 - 7K
Um....OK I don't know who came up with the race course, but immediately after the start there was a pretty darn big hill! I admit...I didn't pace myself terribly well this race and started out of the gate fairly fast considering I really haven't been doing any speedwork or training all that seriously. It started to get sunny soon, and it was pretty hot even at only 9am and I was glad I'd decided to go with shorts and a singlet.
1K 6:02 (not bad for crazy opening hill!)
2K 5:23
3K 5:38
4K 5:36
5K 5:31
6K 5:34
7K 5:30
So far, so good!
8 - 13K
Second hill came around at the 8K point...I managed to run the whole thing but it wasn't easy! I have to thank Jason (one of my bootcamp instructors) for all the hillwork that he makes us do because if I didn't have that, this race wouldn't have been that great. After the second hill I still managed to keep a pretty good pace, and was on target at the 10K split for a sub 2 hour finish. I have to say...the volunteers at this race were awesome...there were only a few at each aid station, but man they made you feel good! Cheering and keeping you going...it was fantastic. The other thing I really liked is that the aid stations were spaced really well. I took my own water just in case, but they were at regular intervals and well situated. Two thumbs up!
8K 6:23
9K 5:32
10K 5:40
11K 5:29
12K 5:31
13K 5:44
10K split 56:50 (target 56:52...a whole two second buffer!)
14 - 21.1K
Soooo...this is where things got ugly. Another big long hill that had three uphill portions ...and it fooled me because you'd finish the first undulation and it would flatten out and you'd think, great it's over! Then the next one would come and then you'd think, thank goodness that's done! After the third and final uphill portion, I was losing my will to live and was seriously considering running into the bushes, curling up in the fetal position and calling it a day. By the end, my legs were pretty much trashed and I could barely keep them going even on flat portions.
Luckily the rest of the course was a slight downhill, so after awhile my legs recovered a bit and I got a bit of energy thinking how close I was to the finish. As I rounded down the final 0.3K straightaway to the finish line, it honestly felt like I was never going to get there. The best thing was the people cheering me on and clapping...it was pretty awesome and I was able to find a final push in my legs and had a fairly good last split.
14K 6:39
15K 6:16
16K 6:28
17K 6:13
18K 6:23
19K 6:03
20K 5:59
21K 5:39
0.1K 1:10
Final 2:04:24
Overall 81/240
Age group: 33/92
Average pace: 5:55
Overall, I'm pretty happy with my time considering my lack of training and all the hills! This run has me all juiced up for the Scotiabank at the end of the month, where I hear it's a net downhill...woohooo! I'm targetting a sub 2 hour finish there and think I might have a fighting chance to make it.
Oh...and the bling?
Pretty cool, eh? I love it. And the firemen weren't bad either. Ha! I was a little embarrassed because I ran in on my own, and there were six firemen all looking at me and I immediately thought oh my god, how do I look?! Do I stink? I avoided all eye contact, went to the closest fireman, grabbed my necklace and pretty much sprinted away. Yup, it was awesome.
Overall, a great race and very well organized. This is definitely a must do for me again next year, and I'd highly recommend it for anyone else wanting to come visit our neck of the woods. The venue was great, there was ample parking, lots of porta-potties (important!!) and the volunteers were great. I'm sure there were hiccups as there are with any event, but the large majority of the people had a great time and pretty much all the feedback I heard was positive. And now I can tell people I'm a goddess!
Oh. And peanut butter Gu? Best.thing.ever.
So initially I had no intention of racing this run due to my lack of running mojo/preparation...but that quickly went out the window when I got a wee bit caught up in all the excitement and ended up going for it. Hee hee! The race was a hop, skip and a jump away from my house which was wonderful, and the half marathon started at 9am so I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn. I knew the venue well as it's one of the locations that we do our morning bootcamps at...the main event was on the soccer pitch, and the race courses (5K, 10K and half mary) wound all through the Langford area in Victoria. I got there fairly early, checked in my stuff (Hubs couldn't come to this one, and since I was going to use it as a training run I gave him a free pass) and headed down to the starting line amidst a sea of estrogen packed energy! I have to say, it was pretty cool...a lot of fun to see all the wild and crazy costumes...sparkle skirts, tiaras, and lots and LOTS of pink. A great energy!
Promptly at 9am, we started...and oh my, what a start!
0 - 7K
Um....OK I don't know who came up with the race course, but immediately after the start there was a pretty darn big hill! I admit...I didn't pace myself terribly well this race and started out of the gate fairly fast considering I really haven't been doing any speedwork or training all that seriously. It started to get sunny soon, and it was pretty hot even at only 9am and I was glad I'd decided to go with shorts and a singlet.
1K 6:02 (not bad for crazy opening hill!)
2K 5:23
3K 5:38
4K 5:36
5K 5:31
6K 5:34
7K 5:30
So far, so good!
8 - 13K
Second hill came around at the 8K point...I managed to run the whole thing but it wasn't easy! I have to thank Jason (one of my bootcamp instructors) for all the hillwork that he makes us do because if I didn't have that, this race wouldn't have been that great. After the second hill I still managed to keep a pretty good pace, and was on target at the 10K split for a sub 2 hour finish. I have to say...the volunteers at this race were awesome...there were only a few at each aid station, but man they made you feel good! Cheering and keeping you going...it was fantastic. The other thing I really liked is that the aid stations were spaced really well. I took my own water just in case, but they were at regular intervals and well situated. Two thumbs up!
8K 6:23
9K 5:32
10K 5:40
11K 5:29
12K 5:31
13K 5:44
10K split 56:50 (target 56:52...a whole two second buffer!)
14 - 21.1K
Soooo...this is where things got ugly. Another big long hill that had three uphill portions ...and it fooled me because you'd finish the first undulation and it would flatten out and you'd think, great it's over! Then the next one would come and then you'd think, thank goodness that's done! After the third and final uphill portion, I was losing my will to live and was seriously considering running into the bushes, curling up in the fetal position and calling it a day. By the end, my legs were pretty much trashed and I could barely keep them going even on flat portions.
Luckily the rest of the course was a slight downhill, so after awhile my legs recovered a bit and I got a bit of energy thinking how close I was to the finish. As I rounded down the final 0.3K straightaway to the finish line, it honestly felt like I was never going to get there. The best thing was the people cheering me on and clapping...it was pretty awesome and I was able to find a final push in my legs and had a fairly good last split.
14K 6:39
15K 6:16
16K 6:28
17K 6:13
18K 6:23
19K 6:03
20K 5:59
21K 5:39
0.1K 1:10
Final 2:04:24
Overall 81/240
Age group: 33/92
Average pace: 5:55
Overall, I'm pretty happy with my time considering my lack of training and all the hills! This run has me all juiced up for the Scotiabank at the end of the month, where I hear it's a net downhill...woohooo! I'm targetting a sub 2 hour finish there and think I might have a fighting chance to make it.
Oh...and the bling?
Overall, a great race and very well organized. This is definitely a must do for me again next year, and I'd highly recommend it for anyone else wanting to come visit our neck of the woods. The venue was great, there was ample parking, lots of porta-potties (important!!) and the volunteers were great. I'm sure there were hiccups as there are with any event, but the large majority of the people had a great time and pretty much all the feedback I heard was positive. And now I can tell people I'm a goddess!
Oh. And peanut butter Gu? Best.thing.ever.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
An Amazing Boy
So...I was going to post my race report for the Victoria Goddess Run that I did today, but I saw this video and had to post about it. As the video unfolded, I started doing an extreme ugly cry replete with sobbing and actually had to get up and get myself a kleenex to stem the flow of tears as they rolled down my face. So of course I have to share with you all so I'm not the only one sitting at my computer, bawling my face off. Ha!
The video is about a boy with spastic cerebral palsy who is doing a short run for his school's field day. Now I'm not going to spoil what happens, but if you don't cry or aren't at least a tiny bit touched by this video, you have no soul. It truly makes me believe in mind over matter and not giving up...this is how the world is supposed to be.
The video is about a boy with spastic cerebral palsy who is doing a short run for his school's field day. Now I'm not going to spoil what happens, but if you don't cry or aren't at least a tiny bit touched by this video, you have no soul. It truly makes me believe in mind over matter and not giving up...this is how the world is supposed to be.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Three Things Thursday
1. Clinic
Whoop, whoop! I've signed Hubs and I up for the advanced level of the Mindful Strides clinics...yay! We wanted to get back into it before too much time passes and we forget everything. I gotta admit, I've been really bad at keeping up with my exercises or practicing the moves and I can feel myself getting lax on my form during my runs....I don't want to lose it all as I know if I keep at it, the benefits will come. Anyways, I'm a little scared because Marilyn videotapes us so we can see exactly what we're doing well and not well...gah! I know it'll be good for us, so biting the bullet. It's kinda like medicine, right?
2. Too Much Pineapple
Oy vey. So in a few weeks I'm going to be going to Chicago for a conference, so I bought some new clothes as it's going to be hot down there, but I still wanted something that was suitable for work. Um...I must have eaten too much pineapple (or likely had one too many lava flows!) in Maui as stuff was not fitting well and the clothes I have now are a wee bit tight. Sigh. That's the danger with always wearing stuff with an elastic waist band or stretch, eh? Ha! Anyways...not letting it freak me out and strangely, I don't actually mind having a bit more junk in the trunk (Asian girls are somewhat reknowned for having non-existent butts!) but I thought I'd better get this under control sooner rather than later as I really don't want to do another Ten Pound Challenge because that really almost killed me the last time I did it! Anyways, getting back on eating right, drinking my water and exercising, and hopefully it should take care of my chicken cutlets aka armpit fat.
3. So Much to Do, So Little Time
There's so many things I want to try but so little time! I want to take swimming lessons this year. I want to work at improving my running, in particular my form and speed. I want to build more muscle. I want to take some personal training sessions. I want to do P90X. I want to do Insanity. I need to work on my core more. I want to do more yoga. Choices, choices, choices! So much coming at me all the time and I want to do it all. Every year after my last Fall race I like to take a bit of a break from running and concentrate a bit more on strength rather than cardio so I'd like do do some kind of 60 - 90 day challenge between October and December but not sure what to do! Anyone have any suggestions on programs that they've tried before? Would love to hear it! I've been eyeballing Shaun T's Insanity mostly because it takes no equipment other than my body weight (which is substantial, har har!) but it looks crazy. Ideas?
Whoop, whoop! I've signed Hubs and I up for the advanced level of the Mindful Strides clinics...yay! We wanted to get back into it before too much time passes and we forget everything. I gotta admit, I've been really bad at keeping up with my exercises or practicing the moves and I can feel myself getting lax on my form during my runs....I don't want to lose it all as I know if I keep at it, the benefits will come. Anyways, I'm a little scared because Marilyn videotapes us so we can see exactly what we're doing well and not well...gah! I know it'll be good for us, so biting the bullet. It's kinda like medicine, right?
2. Too Much Pineapple
Oy vey. So in a few weeks I'm going to be going to Chicago for a conference, so I bought some new clothes as it's going to be hot down there, but I still wanted something that was suitable for work. Um...I must have eaten too much pineapple (or likely had one too many lava flows!) in Maui as stuff was not fitting well and the clothes I have now are a wee bit tight. Sigh. That's the danger with always wearing stuff with an elastic waist band or stretch, eh? Ha! Anyways...not letting it freak me out and strangely, I don't actually mind having a bit more junk in the trunk (Asian girls are somewhat reknowned for having non-existent butts!) but I thought I'd better get this under control sooner rather than later as I really don't want to do another Ten Pound Challenge because that really almost killed me the last time I did it! Anyways, getting back on eating right, drinking my water and exercising, and hopefully it should take care of my chicken cutlets aka armpit fat.
3. So Much to Do, So Little Time
There's so many things I want to try but so little time! I want to take swimming lessons this year. I want to work at improving my running, in particular my form and speed. I want to build more muscle. I want to take some personal training sessions. I want to do P90X. I want to do Insanity. I need to work on my core more. I want to do more yoga. Choices, choices, choices! So much coming at me all the time and I want to do it all. Every year after my last Fall race I like to take a bit of a break from running and concentrate a bit more on strength rather than cardio so I'd like do do some kind of 60 - 90 day challenge between October and December but not sure what to do! Anyone have any suggestions on programs that they've tried before? Would love to hear it! I've been eyeballing Shaun T's Insanity mostly because it takes no equipment other than my body weight (which is substantial, har har!) but it looks crazy. Ideas?
Sunday, May 27, 2012
All Things "R"
1. Relaxed
Don't know what it was, but for some reason this year's trip to Maui was really awesome. Feeling so relaxed! It was the perfect trip...we did some exploring on Kauai for something new, but then returned back to Maui. This was our seventh trip back to valley isle, so needless to say we know the island really, really well...it really is like going to our second home.
2. Ryder
Booyah! Can we give a little cheer for my hometown boy Ryder Hesjedal, who won the Giro d'Italia today?! We've been keeping an eye out on his progress and when I was out on my long run today, Hubs texted to say Ryder had won the whole thing. I'm really hoping that they have some kind of hometown parade or at the very least a celebration for him as this is kind of like the Stanley Cup of the cycling world. I always find it amazing how hard the human body can be pushed...like these guys are riding for weeks at a time, all out. So amazing.
3. Racing
Eeek! First race of the season coming up next week...the Victoria Goddess Run is on deck! I won't really be "racing" this run but more using it as a training run for the Scotiabank Vancouver Half at the end of June, so I have no expectations as far as time...there is no way I'm posting a PB on this race so I'm going out to have some fun, eat some chocolate and get my medal/jewellery from some hot firemen. I haven't been pushing my speed as I've been trying to make sure I keep proper form we learned at the Mindful Strides clinics, so have been running slower than usual...and as you all know, you need to run fast to run fast! I'm really hoping we can continue on with the advanced level of the Mindful Strides clinics (we couldn't take the advanced level as we'd miss too many with our vacation). A little investment in time and training now could have huge benefits later on in reduced injuries and better times, so I'm thinking about potentially doing a few one on one's with Marilyn (with Hubs, of course!) to get more feedback and help on our form/training along with the advanced class. So many things, so little time!
4. Return to Running
I'm feeling the excitement of running again! My hope for the Scotiabank is to run it in under 2 hours, and then use it as a starting point for training for the Goodlife Half...my goal for this year was to run a 1:50 half, so I've gots a lot of work to do to get there. Having a few halfs under my belt as a base will go a long way...just need to add some hills, speedwork and more yoga to get things all stretched out and I think I'll be good to go. I'm not doing too bad for injury so far (knock on wood)...the foot is feeling a little tender but not bad, my twinge-y knee has been pretty good and my shoulder has been a bit sore but under control. Darn aging body.
5. Recommendations
Any peeps from the Chicago area? I'm heading there in a few weeks for a conference and will be staying at the Fairmont Millenium Park...so was looking for some recommendations on where to run! I'm doing a run organized by the conference that takes us along the river, but if there were any other cool places to run (that are safe, as I'll be running on my own!), recommendations are appreciated!
6. Recipes
Just wanted to talk a bit about a great cookbook I picked up the other day:
I had heard about this book through a local cooking store, and had to pick it up. Basically it's recipes that taste good while being good for you. The authors' premise is that flavour and nutritional value aren't mutually exclusive, and the recipes are split between those that you can eat anytime (25% carbohydrates or lower) or those that you can have if you've worked out as they have a higher carbohydrate count. All the recipes contain lean, complete protein, are in low in sugar and processed carbohydrates, focus on healthy fats and include fresh, natural, additive free ingredients where possible. Sold! I've been looking for a cookbook like this forever, so look forward to testing out recipes from this cookbook. For those of you interested, you can order this cookbook here.
Don't know what it was, but for some reason this year's trip to Maui was really awesome. Feeling so relaxed! It was the perfect trip...we did some exploring on Kauai for something new, but then returned back to Maui. This was our seventh trip back to valley isle, so needless to say we know the island really, really well...it really is like going to our second home.
2. Ryder
Booyah! Can we give a little cheer for my hometown boy Ryder Hesjedal, who won the Giro d'Italia today?! We've been keeping an eye out on his progress and when I was out on my long run today, Hubs texted to say Ryder had won the whole thing. I'm really hoping that they have some kind of hometown parade or at the very least a celebration for him as this is kind of like the Stanley Cup of the cycling world. I always find it amazing how hard the human body can be pushed...like these guys are riding for weeks at a time, all out. So amazing.
3. Racing
Eeek! First race of the season coming up next week...the Victoria Goddess Run is on deck! I won't really be "racing" this run but more using it as a training run for the Scotiabank Vancouver Half at the end of June, so I have no expectations as far as time...there is no way I'm posting a PB on this race so I'm going out to have some fun, eat some chocolate and get my medal/jewellery from some hot firemen. I haven't been pushing my speed as I've been trying to make sure I keep proper form we learned at the Mindful Strides clinics, so have been running slower than usual...and as you all know, you need to run fast to run fast! I'm really hoping we can continue on with the advanced level of the Mindful Strides clinics (we couldn't take the advanced level as we'd miss too many with our vacation). A little investment in time and training now could have huge benefits later on in reduced injuries and better times, so I'm thinking about potentially doing a few one on one's with Marilyn (with Hubs, of course!) to get more feedback and help on our form/training along with the advanced class. So many things, so little time!
4. Return to Running
I'm feeling the excitement of running again! My hope for the Scotiabank is to run it in under 2 hours, and then use it as a starting point for training for the Goodlife Half...my goal for this year was to run a 1:50 half, so I've gots a lot of work to do to get there. Having a few halfs under my belt as a base will go a long way...just need to add some hills, speedwork and more yoga to get things all stretched out and I think I'll be good to go. I'm not doing too bad for injury so far (knock on wood)...the foot is feeling a little tender but not bad, my twinge-y knee has been pretty good and my shoulder has been a bit sore but under control. Darn aging body.
5. Recommendations
Any peeps from the Chicago area? I'm heading there in a few weeks for a conference and will be staying at the Fairmont Millenium Park...so was looking for some recommendations on where to run! I'm doing a run organized by the conference that takes us along the river, but if there were any other cool places to run (that are safe, as I'll be running on my own!), recommendations are appreciated!
6. Recipes
Just wanted to talk a bit about a great cookbook I picked up the other day:
I had heard about this book through a local cooking store, and had to pick it up. Basically it's recipes that taste good while being good for you. The authors' premise is that flavour and nutritional value aren't mutually exclusive, and the recipes are split between those that you can eat anytime (25% carbohydrates or lower) or those that you can have if you've worked out as they have a higher carbohydrate count. All the recipes contain lean, complete protein, are in low in sugar and processed carbohydrates, focus on healthy fats and include fresh, natural, additive free ingredients where possible. Sold! I've been looking for a cookbook like this forever, so look forward to testing out recipes from this cookbook. For those of you interested, you can order this cookbook here.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Recharging
Aloha!
I'm sure you can guess where I am right now. Yep, back on the beautiful beaches of Maui and having an awesome, relaxing time! We started off in Kauai for a few days as we'd never been to that island before... overall it was nice, but it was a bit too quiet for us and the weather wasn't as nice as Maui. So far Maui has been fabulous...great weather, and lots of just sitting around reading on the beach and just chilling out. Yes.
So...I checked when the last time I posted and it was May 1st...almost two weeks ago. I'm going to be totally honest and admit that lately I've been in a bit of a funk which is resulting in a lack of blogging. OK, I lie...I'm in a lot of funk. While I still love to run, my heart hasn't been into the training for some reason and it's been hard for me to put my finger on why I'm feeling this way. Part of it is that I seem to be fighting niggling injuries all the time that frustrate and thwart me...it's a lot of stopping and starting which, to put it plainly, really pisses me off. The foot is feeling a lot better, but it's still there. I was doing awesome on lifting weights, until my shoulder pain kiboshed that. I've been having some weird knee pain lately and rib issues. And just when the body starts to feel OK, I've been fighting bouts of sickness lately. Arghhhh. All these things make me take time off training, and when I get into the habit of not running or not exercising as much as I like to...well, things go to hell in a handbasket. I start getting lazy, I let the food slip, I don't stretch, I start blowing runs off and I start making excuses. I know, I know...maybe my body needs a break and I've been giving it rest...but I'm being truthful in how I feel. To put it simply, I'm an all or nothing kind of girl and I've been in this weird running purgatory...this weird feeling of just not really caring or being motivated.
Admittedly, I've been somewhat avoiding blogs and all bloggieland over the last while (apologies to everyone in bloggieland, I've been really bad at reading and commenting lately!) because it was all just a reminder of my lack of mojo. I can feel the spark coming back though...we didn't run for the first bit of our vacation as there was no good place to run where we were staying in Kauai, and by the fifth day I was dying to run. Dying. I couldn't believe how much I missed it. On our first full day here, Hubs and I headed out bright and early and I could just run for the love of running...no Garmin, no pacing, no nothing...and it felt awesome to just move my body without a particular goal or time in mind. And maybe that's exactly what I need...time away to get rested up, recharge and start fresh with a fresh new outlook. So far, we've run every day we've been in Maui and I've been loving it. This vacation might just be the best medicine to let me think about what I want, how I'm going to get there and what I need to do to get rid of all these niggly injuries...and what better place than to do it than paradise on earth, right?
Year of Speed, it's not over yet.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
What Running Has Taught Me
So this past week, I've been a bit bummed because I've had to take a short break from running because I overdid things and ended up with a foot injury (hence no training recap this week either, since there was no running going on!). Good news...it's not a stress fracture, which I feared. Yay! Bad news...I had to miss the Times Colonist 10K race this past weekend. I have to admit, I was dying to race and was pretty upset I had to miss it, but my foot only started to feel better on Saturday and the race was Sunday. Oh le sigh. Hubs still ran the race, so we headed down to a sea of over 12,000 people who were running or walking the race. Admittedly I was bummed...OK, fine...I was mad at the world, but I decided that instead of being grumpy, I was going to take this opportunity to watch the race as a spectator.
Well geez. It was hard to be grumpy as I got caught up in all the excitement...it always, always amazes me how running brings people together. As I watched everyone heading down to the start line, I could see how excited people were. There were the elites, who I watched do their warm up routines and drills. There were the first timers, with their nervous energy and excited faces. People from all walks of life came down to do this race and everyone had their own reasons for doing it. Even more interesting was watching everyone at the finish line...now I can attest that the last few hundred feet are the most painful and you feel like you're never going to get there, but it was pretty cool watching the faces of these people cross the finish line maybe for the first time or maybe the zillionth time. It was awesome to be in the crowd and cheering on everyone who was crossing the finish line, and I thought you know...running really has taught me a lot of valuable lessons about life...
1. Support Others
It really was an incredible thing to hoot and holler for all the people finishing the race. The look on these people's faces was pretty cool to see, and with all the cheering I hope some of them felt like superstars. I figure you get back what you give, so if you throw out a little support to the world, it'll come back to you manifold.
2. Roll With the Punches
Yep, missing the run sucked. But I had to just go with it rather than risk bigger injury, and in the end it was pretty cool to have spectated the race. Sometimes things don't work out how you want, but it's not always a bad thing.
3. A Little Adversity Isn't a Bad Thing
Sometimes life throws shit at you to test you. Running has made me realize that I'm a lot tougher than I thought I ever was. Seriously, your mind starts going crazy at the fortieth kilometre and your quads are screaming at you to stop, and it takes everything in your power to just keep going. Sometimes a little adversity is just the impetus that pushes you to achieve what you never thought you could, and what goes in your head transcends all.
4. Nothing is Impossible
I've said it before...I was an athletic misfit as a child and teen. Actually using the word athletic anywhere in a sentence to do with me is an insult to athletes...ha! I was always the last one to come in on runs. I was terrible in sports and always the last to get picked on teams. Remember back in the day when they had the Canada Fitness Test? And you got either an Award of Excellence or a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal? Well, my results didn't even rate on the Canada Fitness scale and I got a participation pin. A participation pin, people! I sucked! So fast forward thirty years and sometimes I can't believe I ran a marathon and I love to run now. I exercise because I enjoy it and can't live without it! All it means is that nothing in life is impossible.
5. Be Grateful
It's times like this when I'm injured or sick and I can't run, that I'm thankful for the times when I can. It's hard, but sometimes on the days when I don't feel like running, I remember those times when I would have given anything to run and I drag my lazy old ass out there. This spills over into the rest of my life too, because I have so much more gratitude for my health, my family, and my friends...all the great, wonderful things in my life. Sure, things could always be better and it doesn't mean that we shouldn't strive to excel...but sometimes it's dangerous to be constantly looking for morebetterbigger and not appreciating what you have right in front of you.
6. Discipline
Good things don't necessarily come easily, and sometimes it takes work...hard, hard work. Running has taught me a lot about discipline because that's what marathon training is all about. If you don't do the runs or the workouts, you're not going to finish the race.
7. Don't Listen to Naysayers
As Racing with Babes says, be like the honey badger, cuz the honey badger don't care (here is the full honey badger series, seriously...this is brilliant and a must read!). I've had my share of naysayers...people who tell me I'm crazy for running, that I'll blow out my knees, that I'll die of a heart attack (this one in particular pisses me off), that running is dumb and stupid. Well, alls I got to say is haters are gonna hate, and this honey badger don't care.
8. Try
Yup, I've thrown out some pretty audacious goals out there. A 1:50 half marathon for this year's goals? Crazzzzy. A 50 minute 10K? Insane-o. But you know what? I'd rather put it out there, try and fail than not try at all.
9. Health is a Gift
Running is the singular thing that's made me realize how important health is.
10. Just Do It
Quit with the excuses. As the billion pinterest motivational posters say, somewhere out there who is busier than you is running. It's soooo easy to make excuses (and believe me, I make a million of 'em!)...too tired, too busy, too this, too that. Just get your ass out there and do it, and I can almost guarantee that you won't be sorry that you did.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Scotiabank Vancouver Half - Week 13 Recap
Welp...guess all of a sudden I've got a lotta time on my hands now. My boys lost this weekend to the LA Kings...and I'm pretty busted up about it. But...there's always 2013, right? I was hoping that they would be able to pull out a win this weekend as the best birthday gift ever...yep, it was my birthday, and I turned the big four three last Friday! Hubs and I celebrated by hitting the big smoke and seeing one of our fave bands, Coldplay. What a fantastic show...amazing, mindblowing...I don't know what it is about these guys, but they engage the audience like no other act I've ever seen. From the opening song to the final encores, everyone (and I mean everyone) was on their feet, dancing and singing. What a high! And what a great weekend.
Well, mostly a great weekend. The one thing that happened this weekend that has kind of bummed me out is that I'm nursing a foot injury and I'm likely going to have to skip the Times Colonist 10K run this weekend. I've been having some pain on the ball of my right foot and I guess overdid it on Saturday with a long run, our last running clinic, walking all over Vancouver and then standing for hours...yup, foot is not pleased with me and it's tender. The part that's kind of worrying me is that not only does the ball of my foot hurt, but so does the top which might mean a stress fracture. Now my heart wants to run the race because I really want to kick off the running season, but my head is saying to skip the 10K race so I don't really injure myself and have to skip the three half marys I have planned for the rest of the year. And Hubs is pretty adamant that I don't run it because we're heading to Hawaii in a few weeks, and he doesn't want me hobbling around on our vaycay. So boo...I won't be racing this weekend but will be Hubs cheerleading squad and pack horse, which I know is the right thing to do as much as it sucks. I'm staying off it this week (seeing physio this Thurs) and doing really hard stationery bike workouts to keep my fitness strong.
Anyways...enough of that. Workouts last week...
Sunday - 12K run
Monday - 45 minute run (3K run outdoors, 20 minute treadmill run)
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - 30 minutes treadmill run
Thursday - rest
Friday - 30 mins stationery bike
Saturday - 12K run/clinic
Last clinic with Marilyn. Wah! Hubs and I have our names in to go on to the next level of the classes. Like I've said in the past...it's hard work, it's tiring, and sometimes it's frustrating, but I can see glimpses of what we're supposed to be doing and feeling...so we're sticking with it. It's amazing that in 12 sessions, we've learned so much and I've incorporated a lot of what we've learned into my running.
Well, mostly a great weekend. The one thing that happened this weekend that has kind of bummed me out is that I'm nursing a foot injury and I'm likely going to have to skip the Times Colonist 10K run this weekend. I've been having some pain on the ball of my right foot and I guess overdid it on Saturday with a long run, our last running clinic, walking all over Vancouver and then standing for hours...yup, foot is not pleased with me and it's tender. The part that's kind of worrying me is that not only does the ball of my foot hurt, but so does the top which might mean a stress fracture. Now my heart wants to run the race because I really want to kick off the running season, but my head is saying to skip the 10K race so I don't really injure myself and have to skip the three half marys I have planned for the rest of the year. And Hubs is pretty adamant that I don't run it because we're heading to Hawaii in a few weeks, and he doesn't want me hobbling around on our vaycay. So boo...I won't be racing this weekend but will be Hubs cheerleading squad and pack horse, which I know is the right thing to do as much as it sucks. I'm staying off it this week (seeing physio this Thurs) and doing really hard stationery bike workouts to keep my fitness strong.
Anyways...enough of that. Workouts last week...
Sunday - 12K run
Monday - 45 minute run (3K run outdoors, 20 minute treadmill run)
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - 30 minutes treadmill run
Thursday - rest
Friday - 30 mins stationery bike
Saturday - 12K run/clinic
Last clinic with Marilyn. Wah! Hubs and I have our names in to go on to the next level of the classes. Like I've said in the past...it's hard work, it's tiring, and sometimes it's frustrating, but I can see glimpses of what we're supposed to be doing and feeling...so we're sticking with it. It's amazing that in 12 sessions, we've learned so much and I've incorporated a lot of what we've learned into my running.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Scotiabank Vancouver Half - Week 12 Recap
This is it...Boston Marathon Eve! It's like Christmas for runners...one of the biggest days of the year. Hubs has a coworker who's running it this year, so we'll be tracking his time online to see how he does...if he ends up running it. Temps are supposed to be around 32 degrees on Monday in Boston, so the BAA is actually offering participants the chance to defer until next year. Coming from Victoria, we don't get temps like that terribly often so can't even imagine trying to run a marathon in that kind of heat. We're definitely cool weather runners...whenever we go to Maui, it's all we can do to run 6K when the temps hit that range! I think if it were me (only in my dreams!), I'd still run it but I'd for sure take it easy. Anyways, good luck to everyone running Boston...will be cheering you all on tomorrow!
This week's workouts...le sigh...
Sunday - 30 mins stationery bike/weights
Monday - 45 minutes treadmill run
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - hills
Woohooo! Had a killer workout...couldn't go to bootcamp as I had to get to work super early, but got off early and decided to run the monster hill. I managed to run it five times, and was happy as the last two times I only had to stop once in the middle. Success!
Thursday - rest
Friday - off
Gah. Started to feel a bit off on Thursday, and decided to take an extra rest day so I could make sure I was feeling OK for Saturday's run as we had a busy day. I pumped as much Cold FX and other stuff as I could, but as the day progressed, the worse I felt and I ended up just lying on the couch Friday night. For anyone following the Canucks/LA series, you all know how things went that night so that didn't make me feel any better! I actually turned the TV off through most of the second and third period to get some sleep after rocking myself in the fetal position over how badly my boys were playing.
Saturday - clinic/off
Double gah. Still wasn't feeling any better, so we decided to postpone the run until Sunday morning. We did have our run clinic though, so I forced myself to go and so glad I did! I'll write a bigger post on the clinic later, but I really have to say how awesome Marilyn is at teaching and coaching. She never makes you feel like you're an idiot for nothing getting something, and you can tell she genuinely is happy for you when you do something well. So you know that thing that last week I was saying I just couldn't get? I finally finally, after working on it and thinking about it all week, figured out what I was doing wrong and this week she liked what I was doing! Yes! Small victories.
This week's workouts...le sigh...
Sunday - 30 mins stationery bike/weights
Monday - 45 minutes treadmill run
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - hills
Woohooo! Had a killer workout...couldn't go to bootcamp as I had to get to work super early, but got off early and decided to run the monster hill. I managed to run it five times, and was happy as the last two times I only had to stop once in the middle. Success!
Thursday - rest
Friday - off
Gah. Started to feel a bit off on Thursday, and decided to take an extra rest day so I could make sure I was feeling OK for Saturday's run as we had a busy day. I pumped as much Cold FX and other stuff as I could, but as the day progressed, the worse I felt and I ended up just lying on the couch Friday night. For anyone following the Canucks/LA series, you all know how things went that night so that didn't make me feel any better! I actually turned the TV off through most of the second and third period to get some sleep after rocking myself in the fetal position over how badly my boys were playing.
Saturday - clinic/off
Double gah. Still wasn't feeling any better, so we decided to postpone the run until Sunday morning. We did have our run clinic though, so I forced myself to go and so glad I did! I'll write a bigger post on the clinic later, but I really have to say how awesome Marilyn is at teaching and coaching. She never makes you feel like you're an idiot for nothing getting something, and you can tell she genuinely is happy for you when you do something well. So you know that thing that last week I was saying I just couldn't get? I finally finally, after working on it and thinking about it all week, figured out what I was doing wrong and this week she liked what I was doing! Yes! Small victories.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Running...and Hockey?
So you guys all know I'm a crazed hockey fan. Nuts kinda crazy. Like I'm living for the Stanley Cup playoffs kinda crazy. If it wasn't clear, I love me my hockey. *Go Canucks Go*
Most of you guys also know that the Boston Marathon is coming up next week. I love this time of year. Why? Because of the anticipation of this race, reading all the blogs of people who are training for this storied marathon, and getting excited with them and going along for the ride.
So imagine when I'm reading this article by local columnist Jack Knox that combines running and hockey...I was immediately smitten by this story. Everyone in Victoria knows who Geoff Courtnall is (he's a good old home town boy), and I actually remember hearing that he was running the Goodlife Marathon last year when I ran my first marathon (he killed it in 2:58...me, not so much). Years ago, one of his hockey trainers named Jock Semple (yes, that Jock Semple of I-tried-to-run-Kathrine-Switzer-out-of-the-Boston-Marathon-because-she-had-a-uterus fame) would disparage the hockey players and say that they weren't in shape until they could run a marathon, and put the little seed in Courtnall's head that he wanted to qualify for Boston before his 50th birthday.
For most people who know Geoff's story, he's had his share of demons...a dad who committed suicide due to depression, and his own struggles with addiction. The guy hasn't had the easiest life, and was forced to grow up fast and work hard. He credits running with helping him battle these demons and helping him change his life, and uses his new path towards running to help raise money for charity.
And yes, he's running Boston next week...at age 49.
Nice job, Geoff. You're an inspiration.
Most of you guys also know that the Boston Marathon is coming up next week. I love this time of year. Why? Because of the anticipation of this race, reading all the blogs of people who are training for this storied marathon, and getting excited with them and going along for the ride.
So imagine when I'm reading this article by local columnist Jack Knox that combines running and hockey...I was immediately smitten by this story. Everyone in Victoria knows who Geoff Courtnall is (he's a good old home town boy), and I actually remember hearing that he was running the Goodlife Marathon last year when I ran my first marathon (he killed it in 2:58...me, not so much). Years ago, one of his hockey trainers named Jock Semple (yes, that Jock Semple of I-tried-to-run-Kathrine-Switzer-out-of-the-Boston-Marathon-because-she-had-a-uterus fame) would disparage the hockey players and say that they weren't in shape until they could run a marathon, and put the little seed in Courtnall's head that he wanted to qualify for Boston before his 50th birthday.
For most people who know Geoff's story, he's had his share of demons...a dad who committed suicide due to depression, and his own struggles with addiction. The guy hasn't had the easiest life, and was forced to grow up fast and work hard. He credits running with helping him battle these demons and helping him change his life, and uses his new path towards running to help raise money for charity.
And yes, he's running Boston next week...at age 49.
Nice job, Geoff. You're an inspiration.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Scotiabank Vancouver Half - Week 11 Recap
ZOMG. Just had the best long weekend evar. Beautiful, sunny weather. Lots of chillaxin' with Hubs (including seeing the Hunger Games movie, woohoo!). Lots of gardening, cooking and running...my perfect trifecta. And...the best part of all...the Canucks won the President's Trophy for the second year in a row after a decisive win against Edmonton on Saturday night! Our jerseys and playoff towels are ready for a wild and crazy ride for the next few weeks as my boys chip away at the 16 games needed to win the Stanley Cup. Go Canucks Go!
Anyways, so I'm fully back on track. So how did I do in my big audacious week?
Sunday - 60 minute treadmill run/weights
Check!
Monday - bootcamp
Check!
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - hill training
Check!
Thursday - 30 mins treadmill tempo run
Check! OK...I was supposed to get up and do my run in the morning...but I was tired and decided to do it after work. Oh le sigh...when will I ever learn that I should just get up and do it? Of course, by the time the end of the day rolled around I wasn't in the mood, but because I'd put it out there to everyone I was going to do a tempo run, I got changed and blasted out a run on the treadmill. And it wasn't half bad! So a big thanks to you folks out there for keeping me accountable.
Friday - 20K run
Check! Hubs and I decided to get over run over with on Friday so we could sleep in on Saturday and just have a day to ourselves. It was a cool, crisp, absolutely gorgeous morning out when we got started...the perfect running day! Things were going pretty good with the run and I was feeling good...until about halfway through the run, I could feel something tweak in my right knee. Arghhhh. Luckily after some stretching and walking it out for a bit, I was able to resume and finished off the run. Thank goodness. It's worrying me a bit but the good thing is that I don't feel any pain walking and I did a 45 minute treadmill run this morning without any pain.
Saturday - clinic/rest day
Marilyn was off in the States for a few weeks so we had a bit of break, and Saturday was our first day back at it. Yes, I was bad...I didn't practice my drills much, but we did try and incorporate the running method in our runs. Class was great, but I'm having a bit of a mental block over one piece and I'm waiting for that a-ha moment when it clicks and I get my body moving how it's supposed to. Marilyn worked with me a lot this session and I would almost get it, but not quite. I know it's going to be one of those things where she says one thing that makes me go "oooooooooooohhhhhhhh!!!" and the penny will drop. In the meantime...back at the drills.
Anyways, so I'm fully back on track. So how did I do in my big audacious week?
Sunday - 60 minute treadmill run/weights
Check!
Monday - bootcamp
Check!
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - hill training
Check!
Thursday - 30 mins treadmill tempo run
Check! OK...I was supposed to get up and do my run in the morning...but I was tired and decided to do it after work. Oh le sigh...when will I ever learn that I should just get up and do it? Of course, by the time the end of the day rolled around I wasn't in the mood, but because I'd put it out there to everyone I was going to do a tempo run, I got changed and blasted out a run on the treadmill. And it wasn't half bad! So a big thanks to you folks out there for keeping me accountable.
Friday - 20K run
Check! Hubs and I decided to get over run over with on Friday so we could sleep in on Saturday and just have a day to ourselves. It was a cool, crisp, absolutely gorgeous morning out when we got started...the perfect running day! Things were going pretty good with the run and I was feeling good...until about halfway through the run, I could feel something tweak in my right knee. Arghhhh. Luckily after some stretching and walking it out for a bit, I was able to resume and finished off the run. Thank goodness. It's worrying me a bit but the good thing is that I don't feel any pain walking and I did a 45 minute treadmill run this morning without any pain.
Saturday - clinic/rest day
Marilyn was off in the States for a few weeks so we had a bit of break, and Saturday was our first day back at it. Yes, I was bad...I didn't practice my drills much, but we did try and incorporate the running method in our runs. Class was great, but I'm having a bit of a mental block over one piece and I'm waiting for that a-ha moment when it clicks and I get my body moving how it's supposed to. Marilyn worked with me a lot this session and I would almost get it, but not quite. I know it's going to be one of those things where she says one thing that makes me go "oooooooooooohhhhhhhh!!!" and the penny will drop. In the meantime...back at the drills.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Holy Hill, Batman
OK, that was a little hard.
Hubs and I got up this morning, changed quickly and were out the door by 5:25am. The hill takes about five minutes to walk down to the bottom from where our house is, and we wanted to start at 5:30am on the dot. Here's a pic of the hill from where our street is, which is only about two thirds of the way up...the hill actually keeps going and winds itself into a cul de sac which curves and ends up just behind our house. This monster is long and steep. Have I set the scene for you yet?
Somehow, we did this thing three times to where the picture was taken. Baby steps, folks. Each time we were able to make it up farther without having to stop, but we had to break this mofo into three chunks to be able to finish. And poor Hubs, he doesn't do hill work ever....he was panting so hard I kept asking him how he was doing to make sure he was OK. He did pretty awesome though, but when I talked to him during the day, he did mention he was really tired. Ooops.
So how am I feeling? I'm not gonna lie...I'm a little bit stiff. OK, a lot stiff. But I kinda liked it...it was an intense but short workout and I like that. One day when I'm super kick ass fit like Jillian Michaels, I want to run non-stop from the bottom all the way to the very top of the hill where the street ends. Then my life will be complete. Heh.
Tomorrow...30 minute tempo on the treadmill.
Hubs and I got up this morning, changed quickly and were out the door by 5:25am. The hill takes about five minutes to walk down to the bottom from where our house is, and we wanted to start at 5:30am on the dot. Here's a pic of the hill from where our street is, which is only about two thirds of the way up...the hill actually keeps going and winds itself into a cul de sac which curves and ends up just behind our house. This monster is long and steep. Have I set the scene for you yet?
Somehow, we did this thing three times to where the picture was taken. Baby steps, folks. Each time we were able to make it up farther without having to stop, but we had to break this mofo into three chunks to be able to finish. And poor Hubs, he doesn't do hill work ever....he was panting so hard I kept asking him how he was doing to make sure he was OK. He did pretty awesome though, but when I talked to him during the day, he did mention he was really tired. Ooops.
So how am I feeling? I'm not gonna lie...I'm a little bit stiff. OK, a lot stiff. But I kinda liked it...it was an intense but short workout and I like that. One day when I'm super kick ass fit like Jillian Michaels, I want to run non-stop from the bottom all the way to the very top of the hill where the street ends. Then my life will be complete. Heh.
Tomorrow...30 minute tempo on the treadmill.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
My Big Audacious Week
Alrighty! Now that I've put my big audacious goal out there (Char, I giggled when I saw your comment - I love it!), I'm all over it. A tiny set back today...had some issues with my neck/rib again but I think it's going to be OK. It's sore, so I'm going to skip bootcamp tomorrow to give my upper body a total rest. Instead...I'm going to do some intense hill training.
*insert scary music*
So not sure if I've ever mentioned this before, but we live on a side street just off a hill. A big hill. A big fat juicy hill so steep that our municipality makes it one of their first priorities to salt it if it snows or if it's cold and icy out. So because we're crazy like that, me and Hubs are going to haul our asses out of bed tomorrow and run this thing a few times. When I first mentioned to Hubs I wanted to do this, he kind of gave me a resigned sigh and said he'd do it with me because he needs to work on his cardio as he's starting ice hockey soon and didn't want me out there alone in the dark. Instead of whining that I was fiiiiiine, I kept quiet and tipped my hat to Sherry Arnold in my head.
Because I'm all about the accountability now, here's this week's workouts in advance:
Sunday - 60 minute treadmill run/weights - check!
Monday - bootcamp - check!
Tuesday - rest day
Wednesday - hill training
Thursday - 30 minute treadmill tempo run
Friday - 20K run
Saturday - rest day (sleeping in with Hubs - woohooo!)
*insert scary music*
So not sure if I've ever mentioned this before, but we live on a side street just off a hill. A big hill. A big fat juicy hill so steep that our municipality makes it one of their first priorities to salt it if it snows or if it's cold and icy out. So because we're crazy like that, me and Hubs are going to haul our asses out of bed tomorrow and run this thing a few times. When I first mentioned to Hubs I wanted to do this, he kind of gave me a resigned sigh and said he'd do it with me because he needs to work on his cardio as he's starting ice hockey soon and didn't want me out there alone in the dark. Instead of whining that I was fiiiiiine, I kept quiet and tipped my hat to Sherry Arnold in my head.
Because I'm all about the accountability now, here's this week's workouts in advance:
Sunday - 60 minute treadmill run/weights - check!
Monday - bootcamp - check!
Tuesday - rest day
Wednesday - hill training
Thursday - 30 minute treadmill tempo run
Friday - 20K run
Saturday - rest day (sleeping in with Hubs - woohooo!)
Monday, April 2, 2012
Back in the Saddle
So...you know how sometimes life just gets in the way of everything? That's what it's been like here. Lately things have been really busy - lots of social stuff, a bout of the barfing sickness that's been making its rounds in these here parts, and a persistent shoulder problem that's been making any kind of upper body work extremely painful. I've barely blogged and have to catch up on almost two weeks of blog reading...but thankfully life is getting a bit more back to normal and I'm getting back into the swing of things, starting with my workouts. I'm supposed to avoid lifting any weights above my head for two weeks until my shoulder feels better (rotator cuff issues which make any computer work difficult, hence the no blogging) which it is...so this week is the start of getting back into the saddle. I've got a month to go until I run the Times Colonist 10K race so I've got some work to do as I really want to run a personal best this year in this distance...and admittedly I've been a bit meh in my training.
So with that...I'm gearing myself up and pulling myself of this slump. And what better motivation than to set a goal, right? My personal best in the 10K is 54:17, so my goal for this race is to hit 50 minutes. Yes, I'm crazy. Four minutes off your personal best, Wong? To be honest, 50 minutes was my secret whisper goal but I was going to post that 52 minutes was my target time. Why? Because I didn't want to put it out there and fail. Then I thought why not...what am I afraid of? Better to put the goal out there and try to achieve it than to be safe, right? So there it is...50 minutes, 10K, one month...here I come.
So with that...I'm gearing myself up and pulling myself of this slump. And what better motivation than to set a goal, right? My personal best in the 10K is 54:17, so my goal for this race is to hit 50 minutes. Yes, I'm crazy. Four minutes off your personal best, Wong? To be honest, 50 minutes was my secret whisper goal but I was going to post that 52 minutes was my target time. Why? Because I didn't want to put it out there and fail. Then I thought why not...what am I afraid of? Better to put the goal out there and try to achieve it than to be safe, right? So there it is...50 minutes, 10K, one month...here I come.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Mental Shift
Wahoooo! My very good friend V has been doing awesome on her weight loss journey - in 7 weeks, she's lost 12 pounds and 13 inches! She emailed me the other day to tell me, and of course I was so thrilled and so proud of her. I love that she's doing it the good old fashioned way...eating healthy whole foods and moving her body. When she first told me that she was going to focus on her health, I knew she was going to be successful because she was ready to make the change and she was going about it the right way - slow, steady weight loss done through a lifestyle change, and not some crazy gimmicky fad diet. I don't doubt that that some of the latest fads result in quick weight loss and some people may find lasting success, but the results aren't sustainable and it's not a long term solution. In fact, these diets (in my not so humble opinion!) result in a vicious cycle triggered by calorie deprivation resulting in a sluggish metabolism and decreased muscle mass. OK, getting off soapbox now. Ha!
Anyways, I was so thrilled on hearing her success that I'm sure she could practically hear me squealing in excitement through her computer. She replied that one day I'd have to tell her how I got to be so passionate about health. Hmmmmmm. I actually sat there for a moment and had to think about that. When did I turn into the Health Nut Harpy?
There's no denying that when I first started working out and eating right, my motivation was all about vanity. Plain and simple, I wanted to get into my skinny jeans. Then somewhere along the way it changed...I started thinking more about the health benefits and about making this a lifestyle change. Then I got hooked on running, which completely changed how I viewed my health...if I wanted this body to carry me for 42.2 kilometres, I needed to start treating it with kid gloves. With all these changes, there's no denying that physically, I feel the best I've ever felt, bar none.
That's not it though. The most important thing that makes me a Health Nut Harpy is what happened inside...and by that I mean mentally. I no longer beat up my body with fad or starvation diets, but treat it with respect...food is fuel, and as the old cliche goes, my body is a temple. I'm no longer obsessed with the number I see on the scale...I used to be a scale addict, but I haven't weighed myself in a months. I've got way more confidence in myself and what I can achieve - training and running last year's marathon made me realize that I'm no longer the athletic misfit (ha!) I was in high school and that once I set my mind to something, I can do it. Kathrine Switzer words "if you can run a marathon, you can do anything" rings so true for me...yes, running a marathon is physically hard, but the mental part was way harder. I actually kinda like who I am now and I couldn't have said that five years ago.
So sure...fitting into skinny jeans or being able to run for hours or do a bazillion pushups is great...but I'm passionate about health because of the mental shift that happens when people make their health a priority and start believing in themselves. Everyone deserves to be happy, right? Being healthy might not be the answer to everything, but it's definitely a good place to start.
Health Nut Harpy, over and out.
Anyways, I was so thrilled on hearing her success that I'm sure she could practically hear me squealing in excitement through her computer. She replied that one day I'd have to tell her how I got to be so passionate about health. Hmmmmmm. I actually sat there for a moment and had to think about that. When did I turn into the Health Nut Harpy?
There's no denying that when I first started working out and eating right, my motivation was all about vanity. Plain and simple, I wanted to get into my skinny jeans. Then somewhere along the way it changed...I started thinking more about the health benefits and about making this a lifestyle change. Then I got hooked on running, which completely changed how I viewed my health...if I wanted this body to carry me for 42.2 kilometres, I needed to start treating it with kid gloves. With all these changes, there's no denying that physically, I feel the best I've ever felt, bar none.
That's not it though. The most important thing that makes me a Health Nut Harpy is what happened inside...and by that I mean mentally. I no longer beat up my body with fad or starvation diets, but treat it with respect...food is fuel, and as the old cliche goes, my body is a temple. I'm no longer obsessed with the number I see on the scale...I used to be a scale addict, but I haven't weighed myself in a months. I've got way more confidence in myself and what I can achieve - training and running last year's marathon made me realize that I'm no longer the athletic misfit (ha!) I was in high school and that once I set my mind to something, I can do it. Kathrine Switzer words "if you can run a marathon, you can do anything" rings so true for me...yes, running a marathon is physically hard, but the mental part was way harder. I actually kinda like who I am now and I couldn't have said that five years ago.
So sure...fitting into skinny jeans or being able to run for hours or do a bazillion pushups is great...but I'm passionate about health because of the mental shift that happens when people make their health a priority and start believing in themselves. Everyone deserves to be happy, right? Being healthy might not be the answer to everything, but it's definitely a good place to start.
Health Nut Harpy, over and out.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Scotiabank Vancouver Half - Week 8 Recap
Soooooo tired. They say that the Monday after daylight savings, there's a rash of car accidents and I can believe it! I wasn't feeling too bad on Monday morning, but it's definitely catching up with me and tonight it's been a total struggle to keep my eyes open. I think the early mornings the past few days plus the time change has really got me zonked. Thank goodness tomorrow is a rest day!
Sunday - 13K run/weights
Ooooooch! Boy, were our legs sore after this run...both Hubs and I were trying to use the form that we are being taught in our clinic (Pose method) and we were using totally different muscles than what we normally use. Most runners tend to overstride so use their quads to reach and pull themselves along, whereas with the Pose method you're using more of your calves and hamstrings to pump your legs up and down like pistons and use gravity to propel yourself along. Easier said than done, and it really required a lot of concentration to remember all the little bits and pieces that we're supposed to be doing. Due to all the overstriding, we've got super strong quads but our calves and hammies have been getting a bit of a vacation...so afterwards they were a wee bit tight and sore. Anyways, it's been great taking this with Hubs so we can talk things through when we're not getting it and watch each other's form. Hubs is naturally athletic (so jealous!) so it's been nice to be able to get his feedback as he's better at understanding the mechanics of it all than I am.
Monday - bootcamp
Tuesday - weights
Look, Ma...two weight sessions this week! Took long enough but I'm finally getting in my two NROLFW sessions per week. I'm about halfway through Stage 2 and still really enjoying the program. The one thing that I've been really trying to make sure I do after all workouts (strength or cardio) is to drink a protein shake right after to help build/maintain muscle and aid recovery. I've been a bit lax in this area (OK, a lot lax!), but have been reading a lot lately about how important it is to get that recovery drink in within a half hour of finishing exercise.
Wednesday - bootcamp
Crazy hills with J. We did a 3K run mixed in with five repeats of a long, nasty hill. Dang hills never get any easier.
Thursday - rest day
Yay!
Friday - bootcamp
Saturday - run clinic
Awesome, awesome clinic day! Slowly but surely, things are starting to click. I'm getting better at the drills and feeling a bit more confident that I'm getting it and the muscle memory is starting to become ingrained. Only four of us showed up this week which was actually kinda nice because we got lots of individual attention and feedback on how we were moving. Marilyn spent a lot of time with me working on my upper body movements as I really tend to pull my shoulders up and swing my arms high (remember Phoebe from Friends?) and tried to work with me on my stability by holding my hips still while I did my drills. I could not for the life of me get my right side to do what I wanted it to do. As always, the right leg is the bum one, and I kept wanting to cross my leg across the midpoint of my body. Gah! I made an appointment with my physio and sure enough...right leg was tight so she worked on releasing the muscles. Here's hoping that helps with this week's class!
Sunday - 13K run/weights
Ooooooch! Boy, were our legs sore after this run...both Hubs and I were trying to use the form that we are being taught in our clinic (Pose method) and we were using totally different muscles than what we normally use. Most runners tend to overstride so use their quads to reach and pull themselves along, whereas with the Pose method you're using more of your calves and hamstrings to pump your legs up and down like pistons and use gravity to propel yourself along. Easier said than done, and it really required a lot of concentration to remember all the little bits and pieces that we're supposed to be doing. Due to all the overstriding, we've got super strong quads but our calves and hammies have been getting a bit of a vacation...so afterwards they were a wee bit tight and sore. Anyways, it's been great taking this with Hubs so we can talk things through when we're not getting it and watch each other's form. Hubs is naturally athletic (so jealous!) so it's been nice to be able to get his feedback as he's better at understanding the mechanics of it all than I am.
Monday - bootcamp
Tuesday - weights
Look, Ma...two weight sessions this week! Took long enough but I'm finally getting in my two NROLFW sessions per week. I'm about halfway through Stage 2 and still really enjoying the program. The one thing that I've been really trying to make sure I do after all workouts (strength or cardio) is to drink a protein shake right after to help build/maintain muscle and aid recovery. I've been a bit lax in this area (OK, a lot lax!), but have been reading a lot lately about how important it is to get that recovery drink in within a half hour of finishing exercise.
Wednesday - bootcamp
Crazy hills with J. We did a 3K run mixed in with five repeats of a long, nasty hill. Dang hills never get any easier.
Thursday - rest day
Yay!
Friday - bootcamp
Saturday - run clinic
Awesome, awesome clinic day! Slowly but surely, things are starting to click. I'm getting better at the drills and feeling a bit more confident that I'm getting it and the muscle memory is starting to become ingrained. Only four of us showed up this week which was actually kinda nice because we got lots of individual attention and feedback on how we were moving. Marilyn spent a lot of time with me working on my upper body movements as I really tend to pull my shoulders up and swing my arms high (remember Phoebe from Friends?) and tried to work with me on my stability by holding my hips still while I did my drills. I could not for the life of me get my right side to do what I wanted it to do. As always, the right leg is the bum one, and I kept wanting to cross my leg across the midpoint of my body. Gah! I made an appointment with my physio and sure enough...right leg was tight so she worked on releasing the muscles. Here's hoping that helps with this week's class!
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