Gone Running

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Stats and Happy Thoughts

Week 4 is a wrap. Yesterday I churned out the 16km run on the treadmill and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was pleasantly surprised that my legs, feet etc were almost pain free Monday morning. I credit my husbands massage skills, he worked me over and applied a thick layer of tiger balm.

Last week I officially hit 100km for the week and I am really happy with how my body has adapted. Despite some earlier foot/arch issues I seem to have everything worked out (for the time being) as I've had no pain during any of my runs the last week. I think keeping up with stretching, massage and chiro going to be key as well as trying to run on a variety of surfaces and alternating between shoes.

All of this is new, which is why I am so jacked about it. It wasn't enough to do triathlon this year, I needed something that would challenge me in every way. Something that I had to research, learn and test myself with. I have no idea how to train for a 125km run, how/ what I will fuel myself with, what happens when I try to run through the woods at night over several mountains... but I will learn :)

Learning is the fun stuff, every week I am doing something I have never done before, breaking into new zones of discomfort and learning that I can handle more that I ever thought. Julie nailed it when she said that the thresholds are changing. This year is going to turn 40km in to an ordinary run...

2 weeks till the Frozen Ass 50km, and this weekend I have Jasper to look forward too. I am excited to get on the trails and run, x-c ski, climb hills and enjoy the rocky mountain high-ness. D left this morning so it will also be our rendezvous which is also fun to look forward to.

I am not as optimistic as Jenna, that winter is 'almost' over. But at least January is almost over, so we're a month closer!

The stats:
Tuesday:off
Wednesday: 16km
Thursday: 16km
Friday: 12km
Saturday: off
Sunday: 40km
Monday: 16km
Total: 100km YAHOO!

And the happy thoughts...Keith had this post and it seemed like a good idea. 10 things that make me happy... except I chose to do 10 things that I was happy about today.
1. Having the day off running! yahoo!
2. Getting home from spin class this morning and smelling the latte D had made before leaving the house.
3. Kicking big hunks of snow/dirt from between the frame and tires of my jeep. You have to be from northern Canada to get that I think.
4. Taking an awesome nap during my regular run time :)
5. Cleaning the house..well the after effect is the happy part more than the actual cleaning.
6. Making and eating some yummy and spicy Indian food for dinner.
7. Having H-dog to keep me company and make me laugh.
8. Receiving a heartfelt thank you email from a client.
9. Crossing a schwack of crap off my to-do list today.
10. Ordering  Brooks Cascadia Trail Shoes thanks to Dean at Ernies! Shhh....don't tell my husband. He already thinks I have a running shoe 'problem'.

Happy Tuesday!

It beats watching football

That is what D said as we were suiting up for my 40km training run. He is right, and I thought about it several times out on that run. As I was being pelted with blowing snow, running in ankle deep powder, fighting with frozen water bottles and jumping in the ditch to avoid oncoming traffic, I kept thinking "I would still rather be doing this than sitting on the couch watching football". I hate football.

The day started with preparations of epic proportions.

Well not really, but D took his support role very seriously and had the cooler ready with an assortment of beverages and snacks. The plan was to do a 30km highway loop with D parking along the way to be my support/ aide stations. He would drive about 8km, park and then run back to me before turning and running back to the Jeep to wait for me to follow. It was awesome, I have to say. If it weren't for him and H-dog out there I couldn't have done it today. For starters, my legs felt tired from the get go. Usually if I start with tired legs they come around after 5-8km. Today at 8km I felt done. But seeing the boys and knowing at each 8km interval they would be waiting really kept me trudging along. And a trudge it was. It has been snowing and blowing for the past couple days and the shoulders of the highway were covered in a couple inches of powdery snow. It was like running on sand-except under the sand there was ice! And speaking of ice, within the time it took me to run the 8km sections my water bottle would freeze to the point I could no longer drink. Thankfully D would swap out my bottle at each 'station'. He also forced food into me- important since last week my demise came from only consuming 100 calories over a 35km run. Dumb. So today his line was- eat this, eat that, you need to eat, are you eating, you need to eat..etc. And it worked since I managed to take in 500ish calories- a big deal for me, especially in this kind of weather when my face/mouth are covered and the last thing I felt like doing was chewing.
I hit the driveway in 30.4km which worked out perfectly as it left me with exactly 6miles to go. (the treadmill is in miles) Once again D had my back and had everything set up for me!

I was a bit horrified by how much it hurt, but I managed to get the last 10km done in 57mins. I was so tired, stiff and hungry I felt like..I'd just run a marathon. Except I was 2.2km short of that :) I don't normally go into marathons with the kind of mileage I was carrying in my legs so I guess that evens it out.

D took a couple of shots of me out there (you are right Jenna, no one out there to sneak up on!) before the camera died. Probably for the best since things only got uglier ;)

Thanks to my husband extraordinaire who really was the wind beneath my broken wings today! I couldn't have done it without you (and H-dog), babe.
Tomorrow I somehow have to coax another 16km run out of this old bod. Pray for me.

Motivation

I am psyching myself for the 40km run I am doing tomorrow. I love this commercial. All it needs is a shot of Julie running down the highway with a snow plow bearing down on her.

Just the facts

Week 3 running 97km total
Tues: off
Wed: 18km
Thurs: 12km
Fri: 18km
Sat: 30min spin
Sun:35km
Mon: 16km

Toughest week so far, thanks to icy trails and me not eating enough.
More stories for another day, I need sleep.

Happy Training!

A picture's worth a thousand words...

This is how I feel after today's run...

An Open Letter to my Legs

Dear Legs,
Thank you for all you have been doing lately. I really appreciate all the overtime you've been putting in and how you have been going the extra mile(s) for me on a daily basis. I understand that you are tired and deservedly took a day off today. It was not easy to run without you, but Harley and Daughtry helped me get through. I hope you are feeling more rested and are ready to get back to work tomorrow. I am really going to need you for the 18km treadmill run.
Sincerely,
Me

Three Thoughts for the Day

"There are clubs you can't belong to,
neighborhoods you can't live in,
schools you can't get into,
but the trails are always open."
Nike

'There are no accidents...
there is only some purpose that we haven't yet understood.'
Deepak Chopra

I love this dog :) 

Run...Run...Repeat

Week 2 is a wrap! I hit 94km today for the week and I am certainly feeling it in my legs. Up until today's trail run in the snow I felt great, but that pretty much beat the last of the life out of them. It was sure fun though, no regrets. I needed to get into the trees! H-dog loved it too, he was dragging me so fast I felt like I was waterskiing at times! The uneven terrain took its toll though and my calves are two giant knots.

So the week's running went as follows...
Tues: Rest Day
Wed: 18km
Thurs: 12km
Friday: 18km (on the treadmill)
Saturday: EZ spin 1hr
Sunday: 30km (20km outside and last 10km on the treadmill)
Monday: 16km
Total: 94km

After Tuesday's run the arch of my foot was bugging me a bit, I think from the uneven footing. So Wed I decided to try the treadmill just to see if it helped. Sure enough it was fine, I think running at a faster pace helped too. Sunday I was scheduled to run 16km with the 30km run Monday. I was stressed out about the 30km so on Sunday I just decided to keep running and get it over with. Sometimes you have to trick yourself! I did the last 10km on the tready and I am glad I did because it forced me to pick up the pace when I would typically be slowing down.
Here is a shot D took of my sweaty back...

One thing about all this training is that we are ALL eating alot! H-dog has run even more KMs than me this week and his appetite is insatiable. I know how he feels....

Happy training (and eating) everyone!

Grrrrr....

Jan.01, (THAINDIAN NEWS) According to Chinese astrology, the year 2010 would be the Year of the Tiger and the cycle would begin on February 14, 2010 and would come to an end on February 2, 2011. The Year of the Metal Tiger is said to bring in prosperity as well as ushers in many other positive transformations.
The Tiger represents the third sign in the Chinese Zodiac, which comprises of 12 animal signs. According to the ancient Chinese mythology, Tiger symbolizes courage and it plays a pivotal role in keeping away the three prime disturbances of a household which include fire, thieves and ghosts. At the same time, this year being at the Year of the Metal Tiger, it is being predicted that the Tiger would add the element of courage and the metal part would provide the necessary determination and resolve to achieve the goals that are set for the year. Moreover, the Chinese astrology has described the Year of the Tiger to be ‘tumultuous, hard working and vigorous year.’

In addition to being the year of the Tiger, for me it is the year of running. And snow. And running in snow.
I made it through  my first week of cramming for a 50km...Yahoo! It was tough going- the temps this week have ranged from -22 to -30 (today). We had had a lot of snow fall over the Christmas season and the trails have not been plowed so the footing has been brutal. I was so happy D did a 16km run yesterday on the same route as me so he would experience it. Now he knows why my legs are so tired!!
Today I had 25km on tap. It was -30 when I started out, but I was not cold. I had many many layers on and the only exposed area was my eyeballs. My eyelashes were forzen together but I didn't really need to see anyway. I wear my camel back under my jacket so it doesn't freeze up, and normally that works great. Unfortunately today I didn't tuck the valve in deep enough after taking a drink and it froze up. I knew it would eventually thaw if I put it back next to my skin so I wasn't too worried, but about 15mins later my ipod stopped and I realized it too had frozen up! With the prospect of no water AND no music, I decided to wrap up at 10km and do the rest of the run indoors.The last 15km on the treadmill was pretty boring, but I made it through. (thanks to 2 episodes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer on DVD)
So week one is a wrap and I am pleasantly surprised that I made it through 90km and am feeling pretty good. Hopefully this continues as the miles increase...

Uncharted Territory

I decided I needed a kick in the arse to get me moving. The Death Race is a big scary goal, but it is far enough away that my heart isn't in my throat thinking about it yet. I needed something that would scare me enough to get my butt out the door and running in the minus WTF temperatures and deep snow.

Enter the Frozen Ass 50. A 50km run from Calgary to Chestermere. Dead flat and on a bike trail (unplowed, but paved). The terrain makes it doable, but 50km is still a lot further than I have run in a while...like over a year!

So I Googled "Training for a 50km in 6 weeks". Nothing.
"6 weeks to a 50km run". Nada.
"50km training program" Great! Got a few programs there. But they are 21 weeks in duration. Dang!

Ok, I am in uncharted territory. So I did what I do best and made it up. I applied what I know about my body, training and what I have read about in the ultra training programs I've seen and I created my own.

I guess I'll find out how smart I am in 6 weeks ;)

So far this week I have done:
Monday: 11km
Wednesday: 16km
Thursday: 20km
Friday: 13km
Today was a rest day.

Tomorrow is 16km and Monday 25km. I am doing my longest runs on Mondays and will be doing 16km the day before each long run. The theory is similar to doing a long bike before a long run- to get used to running on tired legs.

I am building up to 100km/week with my longest training run at 40km. I have 2 rest days scheduled in every week, but will continue to spin as I am teaching a class 2x/week and have the Saturday spin we host in the pain cave. I am building mileage that can carry me past this race and into the training for the Blackfoot Ultra 80km (May 29) and of course the Death Race July 31.

I am running SLOW. 6 min per KM which is a very comfortable pace and will hopefully help me stay healthy through the mileage. So far so good, although the conditions have been tough! It has been cold and we have had tonnes of snow so my ankles/shins/calves are really working overtime. I keep telling myself it will just make me stronger, and all the extra weight of layers is like resistance training :)

 

I received the BEST news today! My good friend Celine is going to run the 50km with me!! I am so happy to have someone to run the race with- we have completed many miles together and I have really missed having a running partner since we moved from Calgary.

It isn't easy to find a compatible running/ training partner and the only person I seem to be able to coax into running with me on a regular basis is a bit lacking in the conversation department :) But he is always enthusiastic, and never complains about the speed, distance, or the weather!

*Gulp*

For the first time in years I stayed up until midnight on NY Eve. Not to party (although we did party a little) but to register for this.....

 Hill repeats anyone????

Happy New Year!!