I left work today and didn’t realize the weather got a bit better today.  So I got home and went for another short run – 32 minutes doing 10 and 1′s again.  There was a nice breeze and the sun was shining but it wasn’t hot by any means… perfect weather for a run.  It seemed to go rather well, I was getting a little tired near the end and likely slowed right down but I kept going.  I love it that there is little pressure right now… I can just run for the pure enjoyment of it.  The QCM seems so long away but I know the summer will be here before I know it and I will have to start doing long runs in no time.  I will have to savour these next few weeks.  I am just happy to be back in the mood to run and enjoying it.

Holy crap!  Did I ever fall off the bandwagon!  My last blog was pretty positive with me running 20K – that was April 2/10!  Now it is May 25/10 and I can’t believe it has been that long since I wrote in my blog.  That also means that I haven’t been running… until today.  Well, I had a pretty tough month in April… mostly being sick with the flu which prevented me from running the RPS.  I also has some personal things going on which was a major distraction to say the least.  In retrospect… I probably wasn’t as mentally prepared for that race.  I like to believe that things happen for a reason so there was a reason why I wasn’t able to do the RPS.  I remember afterwards, I knew that I wanted to take a break from running as this time training was mentally wearing me down and I had a lot going on in my life during those first few months of this year.  It just felt too forced and I wasn’t having as much fun with it.  Well, I wasn’t quite expecting to take this long of a break.

I originally wanted to start running again at the beginning of May but for some reason, I just had no interest.  I felt like I needed some ‘me’ time which I guess meant doing not much of anything but eating and watching the tube!  I dunno… I wanted less chaos in my life and I think I needed that time.

Over the past few days, I have been feeling a little edgy… like something was missing.  I somehow didn’t feel quite right, a little off.  Lately, I feel a sense of serenity – I am moving forward in my life and I am happy with where I am and where I am going.  But I have started to let the little things get to me again which made me realize something was missing.  So I finally did it!  I went for a run…

Going for a run today allowed me to refocus and remember that I need to make sure I am taking care of myself – physically, mentally, and emotionally.  I think I was starting to lose that focus a bit.  But I know when I am in this zone, everything in my life seems to fall in place as it should.  I am so happy I finally got in my head today and did something that I know helps to balance me.

So, what did I do?  Well, it surely wasn’t about distance today.  I ran in my neighborhood for 32 minutes doing 10 and 1′s.  The weather wasn’t great but I was reminded of why I like running in the warmer months – the grass, the trees, the smell and sounds of nature.  I realized today I am certainly not a winter runner and likely will never try to train for a marathon in the winter again.  The reason I like running has a lot to do with being out in the greenness and sounds of mother nature that really helps me to make an inner connection.

I really enjoyed my run today for the most part.  I didn’t really struggle and felt like I could keep going.  I even passed by one lady and she said to me “good job!” – how encouraging!  However, as I was enjoying my run, I was honked at.  The man in the white van gave me a gesture that I should get off the road.  I quickly gestured him back with my middle finger.  WTF?!?  If he wasn’t so ignorant, he would realize why I was running on the asphalt road and not the concrete sidewalk – I am trying to save my knees asshole!  Ha!  I smiled and thought “yep, I am back!”

Totally not planned, but I ended up doing my long run today.  I got a decent nights sleep last night so I figured I would go to Wascana Park and see what I could do.  I was hoping to do at least 8 or 12K.  I ended up doing 20K!!!!  And now I am paying for it.  It was certainly slow too but at least I know I can do this half-marathon that is coming up in 16 days.  Here is what I did today:

5 loops around the lake at 4K per loop = 20K in 2hr 31min 19sec.  This included all of my breaks at my car and my walking.  Did 10 and 1′s for the first 12K then 9 and 2′s for the last 8K.  I wanted the time to include all of my breaks so that I would get a realistic time.  Pace = 7:33 min/km or 7.93km/hr.  Ha!  Wow is that ever slow!  Of course, I was running faster than that if you took out my breaks.  That is certainly slower than my QCM time.  Hopefully by race day I will have a bit more umph.

I am proud of myself for doing this run today though.  I haven’t been very motivated lately.  But now is crunch time.  At least I feel more confident that I will finish this race.  Can’t help it if there are bumps along the way.  I guess you learn as you go.

Managed to go for another run in the neighborhood after work today.  I really like the fact that I can just walk out of my front door and start running.  I did the same route as yesterday for 32 minutes doing 10 and 1′s.  Wish I didn’t have to do 10 and 1′s!  I still have a cold which seems to have worsened in my upper chest.  Although I could breathe through my nose a bit better today, I couldn’t get the air into my lungs very efficiently.  And my legs seemed to feel like lead.  No pains anywhere though.  I just need to get over this cold and get some more energy.  I recognize that this has been a pretty draining week for me in several ways.  I am hoping I will recover a bit given I have the next 4 days off for the Easter weekend.  But I know next week isn’t going to be much better.  I hope to get in another short run tomorrow afternoon… might go to Wascana Park for that one.  Then need to get in a 16-18K run on Saturday or Sunday.  That seems impossible right now but I hope I can do it.  Considering my setbacks with being sick, looks like my goals for this race have to change: instead of beating my time, I am now just hoping to cross the finish line.

Although it was super windy today, I stuck to my plan and went for a short outside run in my neighborhood.  I am not sure how far I went but roughly 5K.  Ran for a total of 32 mins, walked a total of 3 mins.  I was really hoping not to walk at all but my tired legs and gasping lungs told me otherwise.  Doing a lot of mouth breathing as I am still pretty stuffed up.  Kept sneezing at work today and throat is still really dry.  I have been trying to keep well hydrated and drinking more water throughout the day than usual.  Although my run felt awful and I really wanted to stop 3 minutes in, I am glad I kept going and worked through it.  I certainly feel a lot better now… a bit more energized.  I really needed that.

Well, I woke up extremely grumpy, still with a sore throat, and not feeling like going for a run.  I had only done 3 short runs in the past 2 weeks since my last long run.  This cold has really taken a toll out of me.  But I managed to get it together and go to the park.  Here is what I did:

Ended up running about a total of 16K.  The first loop had some technical difficulties but then I got started up again for a solid 14K with Tanya.  My time for 14K was 1hr 30min 10secs.  This didn’t include my breaks at the car which may have been a little longer than normal. Pace = 6:26 min/km or 9.3 km/hr.

This is definitely on the slow side for me but I knew I would be slow given the lack of being able to run lately and still feeling under the weather.  I was just trying to get through it today and glad I did.  At one point, I thought I was going to puke but that managed to go away.  I wore my new shoes – same model as my old ones.  They felt pretty good except that my knees started hurting, as often does happen during long runs.  But it was a bit more pronounced today.  Not enough to make me have to stop however, which is good.  But I do need to break in my new shoes.  They should be perfect after a couple wears.

Tanya slowed down and stayed with me the whole time.  God knows she can run much faster but it was nice that she slowed down for me knowing I am still a bit sick and run down.  I certainly don’t expect that though… but I did appreciate the gesture.  It certainly makes the run go by a bit faster.

Besides feeling tired and sore tonight, I do feel better from the sickness standpoint.  I am hoping I wake tomorrow with only a bit of muscle stiffness and no sore throat!  Will definitely be taking the night off tomorrow though – maybe vege and watch a movie.  I am hoping to go for a short run on Tuesday.

The RPS is only three and a half weeks away and I feel like I am not very well prepared.  It is not that I don’t think I can do it.  My first half-marathon was all about just finishing it and proving to myself that I can achieve something I once thought was impossible.  But this time, I made some new personal goals of trying to actually make this an ongoing thing… something that I can get better at and push myself to new limits.  Perhaps having this be my new hobby and continue moving myself forward.  Everyone has different reasons for wanting to do a marathon.  Mine are very personal as it has helped me get through some pretty tough times.  In fact, when I am feeling down, the first thing I think is, I need to run.  But while training for this marathon, I feel like there have been a few obstacles.  I have been sick twice since I started training: once in January and again this month for a week now.  Running indoors has definitely been a challenge as it takes a bit of extra effort; it would be so much easier to just put my gear on and out the door I go.  Also, doing long runs indoors is not fun.  So then comes the outdoor running in various minus temperatures which has generally been ok but again, another adjustment and a lot of preparing.  And when lots of your friends are running too, it can get a little difficult trying to coordinate with everyone and, of course, everyone trains differently, are at different levels, and have their own reasons for doing it.  All of which is fine and I love the support and giving support as well.  I just hope it all comes together in the end and I meet my personal goals for this race.  I am trying not to lose sight of that.  I hope tomorrow I am over this cold and I can start training at my maximum again.  I feel like I have little control over many things in my life; but this is something that I do have control over.  It is all about me, and damn it, it’s about time.

I can’t believe it has been 5 days since I ran last.  Unfortunately, my mom gave me her cold and I was sick all weekend with a sore throat, runny nose, and itchy sinuses.  It has now turned into a bit of an upper respiratory problem with a cough.  So I didn’t make it for a long run last weekend and thus I am behind in my training.  With only less than 4 weeks left until RPS, I am starting to panic!  So even though I am still fighting this cold off, I decided I needed to go for a run today.   Although it would have been a great day for a brisk outside run, I opted to stay indoors because of my cold.  Here is what I did at the fieldhouse:

23 laps around lane 4 as usual (ran straight) = 5.06K in 28mins 18 secs.  Pace = 5:35 min/km or 10.73km/hr.

This is my fastest 5K to date!  I was worried that my cold would slow me down as I was having trouble with my breathing.  But I surprised myself.  So I am pretty happy with that.  Let’s just hope this cold is gone by tomorrow… I still have to get in my long run.

The weather didn’t fair so well today so it was back indoors for a short run tonight.  I really didn’t feel like it after the day I had but glad I went.  Here is what I did:

23 laps around lane 4 = 5.06K in 29min 0secs: Pace was 5:43min/km or 10.5km/hr.  Did something a little different today with this run: Tanya got me to do some interval training where we would run 1 lap at 10km/hr and the next lap at 11km/hr or more.  I was dead by the end of it but I think it went well.  Thanks T for pushing me!  I need that every once in a while.  I also think this is my best pacing yet.

Hope Mike’s shins get better after tonight as they were seizing up on him.  I hope it is only a minor setback.  I have learned that your body does strange things when you start running and it can take some time to get into a groove.

Carla is also on the mend from, first of all, being sick, then some weird back/rib injury.  Hopefully she will also be back at it tomorrow.

Not something I usually do after a long run but decided to go for a run after work today since I will be busy for the next 2 nights.  Mike and I (and Maddie) went for a stroll in his neighborhood.  Here is what we did:

4.2K doing 10 and 1′s in 26mins 25secs.  Pace was 6:17 min/km or 9.5km/hr.

This wasn’t so bad considering we were both still hurting from our 15K run the day prior.  But I think Mike was cursing me in his head during our run, wondering why I talked him into it (LOL!).  Even though we decided to walk a couple times for a minute we still managed to keep up a pretty good pace.  It felt like we were running slower today but I am surprised with our actual pace.  We did well!  I am also happy we ran outside – the weather has been quite nice for running lately and really beats running indoors in circles all of the time.  I hope I am able to keep it up and I look forward to my next run, which probably won’t be until Thursday evening.