HM Training, Week 4

This week, there has been 0 running. I missed my first run of the week, and it wasn't a big deal. My knees still felt a bit weird from  my 'long run' the Sunday before, so I thought it'd be best to take it easy. I missed my second weekly run because I had no time due to school work, the radio show, and placement. I figured I would do a 7mile elliptical (equivalent mileage, less impact) on Friday, but the gym was closed due to it being a holiday.
My long run will still happen tonight, there's 5 miles on the plan :)
UPDATE: I ran 5.5km and 3.3km tonight, so 5.5miles in 55mins! (Broke it up in two runs with about a 2-3min break in between to change and check the map.)

I have recently been trying to change my diet: I wanted to cut out sugar, processed foods and general junk that I don't need. I've been trying to be mindful to eat only when I'm hungry, rather than when I am bored. I also want to eat smaller portions. (I have a tendency to drag a meal and over fill my plate, as it's an excuse away from studying.)

So far, all I can say is that it's a goal and I'm continually working towards it. I've made a couple soups this past week that turned out well. After a few days of eating no junk, I experience headaches and an intense craving for candy - symptoms which I attribute to sugar withdrawal. I have always had candy/sugar available around the house, so I usually give in and have a treat. The plan was to eliminate the candy around the house, but since it's Easter, all the room-mates have brought chocolate back! So this is still a work in progress.

I have decided that I will make a smoothie with honey and strawberries every time I get a craving for sweets, as it should do the trick.

Today, I tried Gardien's Chick'n Marsala, which is made of no meat. There were two pieces and each one comes with a packet of sauce. I had it plane, with no sides, and I didn't mind the taste. I thought the texture was great but a little soft, but my boyfriend didn't like it, saying that it tastes too fake. I feel that the 'chicken' would go great as a substitute in a different meal, as I didn't care much for the bland sauce.

I would buy this again, but not every week, as it's quite expensive. I feel that I'd only use it in a stir-fry, as I'm not fancy enough to think of anything else I can cook it with. Firm tofu would be a cheaper equivalent for my needs, so I may just stick with that.

HM Training, Week 3

I've jumped into a half marathon training plan that has me running 3x a week, and 2x cross training. I have successfully completed week 3, and have 9 to go. I've chosen to do an early June race, as my past two halfs were in May, and I like having a race around the time of my birthday. I've chosen a race that's close by, and if the RD's speedy responses to my emails are any indication, should be quite small, but well run (haha, get it?).

Tuesday - 3.5miles in 37min

Wednesday - off - good thing too, as I was super busy with school and radio :)

Thursday - 3.6miles in 35min

Friday - (XT) 4.4miles in 40min

Saturday - off - good thing, as the weather was grim, cold, and rainy!

Sunday - 5miles in 52min

I felt great during my 'long run'. I had to break it up, 1 mile + 4miles, as I had to switch treadmills. I had some chafing from my cotton shirt, under my arm. It sucks, but I've learnt from it, and I'll be applying some body glide if I get an indication that this will repeat. But I wont wear THAT shirt again while running :)
My knees felt a bit rough after my run.... and I have a bruise on the inside of my right knee today. This is extremely weird. They don't hurt, but I'm worried about the bruise, as I haven't had this before. Any comments/advice/suggestions would be welcome!

I'm approaching this race with steady training. I am determined to follow a plan, but I am also ready to take it easy at the first sign of a problem. (I haven't registered for the race yet, as I think it's a jinx to have something planned before you're trained for it...)  I ran my first race unprepared, and my second injured with tendinitis. I'd like to place a goal for myself that I will run the entire distance, and then time will be a secondary goal. I've managed to do all my training runs at around 10min/mile, which is speedy for me! I hope to incorporate some Vibram/barefoot runs on days that XT is suggested, to keep my legs relaxed and have a break from the treadmill. I'm so excited to have something to work towards, and it's nice to think that each workout now has a purpose other than to feel good and stay healthy. I'm excited for this direction, and thankful that I am able to run with relatively few problems :)

Have a great week!

Forest City Road Race - Half Marathon

Half marathon #2 has been recorded!
I finished almost exactly an hour after the boys. This makes me happy, as I wanted to finish in less than twice their time (they are super fast).

Mike Faul, Steve, Me!, Mike M.

I'm very pleased with this race.
I didn't train properly, because I took time off to zap my knee with electricity. I also took time off because I went for a too-much-too-soon run in Vibrams. My longest run was probably 8k, back when it was snowing.
But I stood at the START line mostly un-injured.
By the end of it, my quads hurt, I had blisters, the soles of my feet hurt, my lungs hurt, my arms were numb, and I was soaked. Talk about an exciting race! ;)

Let's look at my goals:
1) Finish - I did this!! No DNF for me :)
2) I TOTALLY beat the cut-off time (by 15 mins). Haha, 2:45 has a nice ring to it, eh?
3) I BEAT MY OLD TIME - by about 4 mins.
4) I wanted to beat 2:30, but I wasn't expecting to. Perhaps this will be my next goal! :D


I will write a full recap in a couple days, when I get the fancy pictures back.
I also want some time to forget how numb my arms got and hurt whenever I ran. How embarrassed I felt at needing to do 1:1 intervals for most of the race... And how uncomfortable the forming blisters felt, that I took off my shoes. And then running on roads with only socks on... ouch.


PS: I LOVE MY NEWEST MEDAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tapering

Even though this is my second half marathon, I have never properly trained for a race of this distance.

It's sometimes because of motivation, but mostly it's due to injury.

For example, this time around, I maintained my fitness during the winter. I ran on the treadmill occasionally, swam and went on the bike. When it got warmed outside, I even did a few suicide runs, where my boyfriend would drive me 8-10km out and I'd run back home.

And then my knee/s started hurting. And it kept getting worse, until I went to see a doctor about it. He identified that I had tendon pain, and I took some time off and did a bunch of electro-therapy. Then I got better!

At the same time the knee was getting better, I decided to buy Vibrams. I thought the natural running pattern of the lighter shoes would force my stride to become better and would make everything better.

But I didn't factor in the time it should take to transition, and my calf got injured. (Mostly normal muscle tightness from being pushed too hard after it hadn't been run on - ever.)

So my calf hurt, and I took about 15 'rest' days where I biked and walked instead :)

Yesterday I had an amazing bike/run workout. I biked for an hour (15mi) and then went on the treadmill, with my Mizuno's. I thought I would try run for a minute, walk for a minute and repeat until I wanted to stop. But I ran for 3 minutes... nothing. I ran for two more minutes... I told myself I'd run for ten minutes and I would stop if I felt the knee twinge. I made it to a mile (11:11min) and NOTHING HURT. And of course, I wanted to keep running because it felt amazing. But I didn't want to push it, to jinx it, because I had a race at the end of the week.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that whenever I feel great, and enjoy running, I jinx it by signing up for a race. And while 'training' for that race, I destroy my enjoyment of running. On top of staying healthy, there is the added pressure of having to run a race at the end of the training cycle. So after my second half marathon.... I'm not going to sign up for another for a while.

I want to run whenever I want, for however long I want to. I want to enjoy running, I want to stay injury-free, and I want to have lots and lots of races in my future. But I have to get back to running strongly and consistently, and that hasn't happened since before I started racing.

So no more signing up for races........... (unless I'm able to run injury-free through the summer).... or at least, not months in advance! ;)

Motivation

A demo of my Paint skillz

Hi Everyone!
Today was spent studying too little, playing poker tournaments, enjoying some London Fog tea, and cleaning up the house a tiny bit. It was a fun day! :)

I wanted to talk a little bit about the power of competition and how I'm motivated to workout in order to beat my roomates :)
The two Mike's I live with have signed up for the same race I'm running on May 1st. It'll be their first 1/2 and my second. I've known all along that they'll be waiting for me at the end, having finished at least an hour earlier. And I'm okay with that.... I keep telling myself it's because they have longer legs than me.

One Mike went to spend the weekend with his parents and he's been running in order to get out of the house. He's been forming a running streak, and Mike and I have been hearing about it over here. Well, the first day we both went for a run because Mike did. And when he did it again the next day, I went for a bike because my muscles were sore.
Well, when he did another 5k today, Mike and I declared that we can't let him beat us and decided to go for our own runs today. (I was thinking of going for a swim as my calves/ankles/shoulders still hurt from my run.)
We didn't go :( Life got in the way, and that's okay for me. (The extra rest will ensure that I should be able to go out tomorrow.) But I found it interesting that we felt obligated to workout in order to keep up with him. Perhaps the competition is what the Mike's needed to sign up for their first half marathons, and we each keep each other motivated to train hard and keep consistent.

So I strongly suggest you pick someone to run with, cycle with, or go to the gym with. You'll enjoy the company and try to kick their butt :D

At the very least, being with someone else will make the time will go by faster.

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Blogs Blog Tools Allie Marie

Positivity!

Hey all!

It's 3am here in paper-writing land. I have a paper due in 12 hours and I am starting the writing stage. This may seem very last-minute but I'm calm. I've just had to wait for the anxiety to raise to a level where my MOTIVATION kicked in! I've done all my prep work, I know my paper content, and now I just need to write it all up! I will then take a quick nap, and read the paper over and tweak it in the morning/afternoon.
I'm excited! This was a fun paper, and I learnt a lot about burn-out in my field - what causes it, what can prevent it and some ways to treat it.

It's always important to PREVENT things if you can.
But sometimes you can't, and you have to TREAT things after they happen.

Such as my injury. A run a couple of months ago caused me to start crying, cut my run short and limp home. After chiropractic treatment, lots of rest and lots of worrying about my May 1st race, I dare to say I am in no pain! I've had a couple of successful test runs and a long bike-ride (my longest - 40kms!) I am excited to start running again S-L-O-W-L-Y. :)
I am excited at the idea of being able to run when I want to, without time restrictions set by my Dr or my knees. I am excited to experience all the reasons I love to run - the feeling of being finished, the feeling of accomplishment, the bragging rights, the clearness from devoting time to my troubles.....
:) I am excited but nervous thinking about my SECOND half marathon. I will set out my three goals here, for everyone to see:

1. FINISH!!!!!! [Limp and risk injury if I have to... I WILL NOT GET A DNF!!!!!]
2. Finish before the limit... which is 3 hours.
3. Beat my old time - bonus if it's under 2h 40!

I'll get back to studying now.... Here is a picture after I ran my first 21.1k

I am super excited to have all my roomates at the finish line! Because the two Mike's are a lot faster than me, it means everyone will be there waiting for me at the end :)

I just realised today yesterday that I haven't scheduled my plans very well - the day after the race I'll be car-pooling to Ottawa (9hours) and attending a conference where they make you dance as an ice-breaker! Ha!

Swimming

After my (speedy) little run last night, I had some trouble falling asleep as my knee was hurting.


Have you ever heard about Patellar tendinitis? According to Runner's World,


"Patellar tendinitis is inflammation of one of the knee-joint tendons. Tendinitis occurs when tissue breakdown outpaces regrowth, and is caused by increased mileage, hills (especially downhills), and pace. Running through tendinitis will make it worse and prolong your recovery, says Davis. But treated early, it can heal in a few weeks. Here's how: cross-train, ice, wear a patella strap, take anti-inflammatories, stretch, and do exercises to strengthen the joint and quadriceps, such as leg extensions."

As I was laying in bed, I was thinking that perhaps it would be a good idea to use some heat cream on my knees (we don't have ice in this house). Alas, I couldn't find it, but stretching and massaging a bit did help! :)

Well since my knee/s hurt, I had decided to take today off as a rest day or a cross-training day at the very most. Since my roomate Mike wanted to go swimming, I decided to keep him company.

I swam about 22 laps before I decided to quit because there were just too many people there.

I then went into the main gym and did? ran? stepped 3 miles on the elliptical. I figured low impact would get me the cardio I wanted without the force upon my knees :)

However, tomorrow I will not be persuaded to go to the gym or go on a run. It's getting cold and I will really appreciate a warm, indoor, snuggly day studying for my Friday midterm :)

I know people say you will never regret going for a run (rather than skipping it), but I really know that this is the smartest thing to do to protect my knees before they get worse.

New blog

Hello everyone!


I've just deleted my old blog and started this one. :)


My last blog saw me training badly for my first half marathon and running it close to my 20th birthday! It has seen me move houses three times, run 3 races and document my time at the gym over the course of 2 years.


Perhaps I should introduce myself:
+I'm a social work student.
+I'm very interested in health.
+I'm a vegetarian and 5 years will be marked on Nov 11.
+I live in Canada and love how many road races are put on every month of the year :D


I hear that goal setting is a good way to stay focused and motivated. So here are some goals for this blog:
+ to meet other people that stay fit through running or have similar goals to me.
+ learn about how to get faster.
+ document my journey to my second half marathon and little races along the way.
+ a place to keep my thoughts regarding running so they don't float away.


My running goals for the future are:
March 6th - Spring Thaw 5k, Windsor
May 1st - Forest City Road Race HM, London
June 5th - Trot to the Beach Half Marathon, Blenheim


And finally, here's some running stats from DailyMile, since I joined that site (jan 25th):


196 total miles, 60% of which is running.
My other miles were done walking, cycling, swimming and using the elliptical (although I mostly don't include it since it's weird mileage).