Three Cheers for Friends!!!

Joy here...Okay, I've been sick, which means that I've taken not one, not two, but THREE days off running.  Ugh!  And when I was feeling particularly down and low about myself and my running, beginning to think that I'm a big, giant loser who will never finish this 1/2 marathon and probably shouldn't have signed up for it in the first place, I read a really great comment posted on one of my recent blog entries that really made my day.  I'm reproducing some of the comments here, because I think that more people should read them (and I hope she doesn't mind!).

Lulu, our friend and erstwhile blog reader and novice runner herself wrote:  "that's fantastic joy! well done! 21k in less than 2 hours!!! incredible! you and nomi are my idols!"  Thanks, Lulu, you have no idea how I needed to read something like that on a day when I was feeling sick and uninspired.  

Now a little bit about Lulu, she's Nomi's friend and started running this past year.  I ran with her and Nomi a few times when I was in Malaysia in May.  Lulu worked herself up to 10km distances over the summer and is signed up for her first ever 1/2 marathon in December.  Here's what she wrote about a recent run she completed:  "i ran a 12km race last sunday called the 12k Newton Challenge. and what a challenge it was! the route was extremely hilly and for some reason the organizers decided to start our run at 7am!!! as you know it gets really hot at 7.30 in malaysia - and boy, was it hot that day!! even worse there was no cloud or tree cover, so all of us were trudging up and down these hills, getting sunburned and narrowly avoiding heat stroke/hospitalization/death!!! but i managed to finish the 12k and in a time of 1:24:35 :) i know its not even close to you or nomi but i'm really pleased with that. i ran at an average pace of 7min/km, which is usually the pace i run on flat roads on cool mornings :) and i managed to place 24th in my category (women's veteran....ahem). it's really amazing what races bring out in you - the adrenaline rush, the competitiveness, the camaraderie, all combine to create an experience which i'm incredibly privileged to have!"  I really couldn't have said it better myself, and so my hat's off to you, Lulu!  Congratulations!  

There's no stoppin' Lulu!

And just as I was starting to feel uplifted by Lulu's encouraging words and tireless enthusiasm with her own running, I received another cheering email from AK, a friend of mine.  Here's what she wrote:  "I see from your blog that you're feeling under the weather -- hope that you feel better soon. I always found that when I got to a few weeks before a race, my body would crumble temporarily, either through illness or shinsplints or extreme lethargy or some other fun complaint. But don't worry -- it always rallied!"  Now if she says that her body pulled itself together before a race, then I'll take her word for it and stop beating myself up for being sick.  To put this into perspective, this friend of mine is an AMAZING runner.  I mean, she's run 3 marathons - ahem, one of them being the freakin' Boston Marathon! - and I think her personal best time for a marathon is around 3:38 (which is damn fast).  She's also run a few 30 km runs, and basically she's just really inspiring when it comes to what she's done as a runner.  But then last year she had her first child, and she's grappled with her running since then.  I really feel for her.  I can't imagine how it would feel to know that you've run marathons, but then to feel that your body is not your own and won't let you do things that you know it should/could be able to do.  Talk about frustrating!  And even though I know that she's been frustrated this past year as she's struggled to manage being a new mom with getting her career and running back in order, here's what she says:  "On the running front, I pulled the trigger and signed up for the Oktoberfest 10km. It's on the 17th, so I've got a few weeks to get some good practice runs under my belt. I have yet to broach the 10km mark since my daughter was born, but I'm feeling optimistic about it."  Her 10km race is the same day as my 1/2 marathon, so we'll be running together (at least in spirit)!  I couldn't be more proud of her and excited for her!

Can't keep AK down!

So thanks to all my great friends for being encouraging, supportive, enthusiastic, inspiring, and for downright caring that it matters for each and every one of us to get our butts out the door and our feet off the coffee table and into our running shoes!

Over and out, 

Joy

Unplanned Rest Day...

Joy here...One thing that I'm learning to realize with this 1/2 marathon training, is that I don't really have control over everything.  I can't control the weather; I can't control how I feel from day to day; and now I can't control my health.  That is to say that I woke up yesterday with a nose that wouldn't stop running and a throat that felt like sandpaper.  Lucky me.

Since it was cold and rainy, and since illness had descended upon me with its aches and pains, I decided to take an unplanned rest day on Monday.  Unfortunately, today I'm still feeling scratchy and sniffly, and it's still raining outside.  But this close to the 1/2 marathon, I can't really afford to take TWO rest days right in a row, so I have a feeling that I'll be getting my sick self out into the weather later on today for a run of some sort.  The general advice I've been able to deduce is that if your illness is "above the neck" then you can still work out, but if it is "below the neck," then you should take it easy.  Well, my chest isn't filled with fluids or anything like that, but my throat is right "in the neck," so does that count as above or below?

Signing out as sick and confused,
Joy

Canadian Colours

...or "Colors" if you're American.  I'm not sure why our neighbours/neighbors to the south have simplified spelling over the years, but no matter which way you want to spell it, autumn colours are very pretty!

Joy here...Saturday was our "long run," and I figured that I had better try out my rough plan for the 1/2 marathon in order to make this "long run" work for me.  You see, with 21 kms to run, I want to know not only that I can do it, but roughly what my effort should feel like so that I don't do something stupid like run too fast for the first 10 kms and then walk the rest of the way to the finish line, or, alternatively, run too conservatively, and then feel frustrated when I have leftover energy at the end.  My rough plan for Saturday's run, therefore, was to be about 70 minutes of "easy" running, followed by 50 minutes of "hard-ish" running.  My main idea was to test out and see what energy I still had left in my legs for the latter half of the 1/2 marathon after having about 12 kms under my proverbial belt.

The day was lovely and cool-ish, and I loaded up my camelbak with 1.5 L of sports drink to last me the two hours of planned running.  My intention was to just run the first 35 minutes as an easy "warm up" not looking at either heart rate or pace, but just paying attention to how I felt.  Then for the second 35 minutes, I would try to keep my pace at around 5:30min/km, not going faster or slower.  Then for the final 50 minutes, I would only look at heart rate and try to keep my heart rate around 160 beats/min.  I figured with a plan like that, I'd be able to figure out sort of how I might feel when it comes to the actual 1/2 marathon in only 3 weeks.  At times throughout the run, the sky opened up and I would feel a misting of rain, and at other times, the sun would peek through the otherwise thick cloud coverage.  In short, it was a lovely day at the end of summer/beginning of fall.

When I first ran out the door, though, my knees were killing.  I guess after taking Friday off after the successful tempo run wasn't such a hot idea.  I felt like a granny with arthritis and just had to suffer through the knee pain until my legs were warmed up.  Then once they started to feel a bit more loose, the pain lessened and I could relax into the run.

The first 70 minutes went off pretty much without a hitch according to plan.  I ran, and I felt pretty comfortable.  The next 50 minutes, however, were a bit of another story.  I started off with gusto, stepping up my pace and having a chocolate flavoured GU to fuel me up.  But about 25 minutes into that increased pace, with my heart rate steady around 160beats/min., my legs were beginning to feel like someone had poured concrete into each and every muscle.  It became harder and harder to put one foot in front of the other, and I began to feel like some sort of Frankenstein creature with heavy shoes weighing me down.  It took all my willpower to make it the final 25 minutes, because I made the mistake of looking at my watch at the 15 minutes to go moment, and really felt my motivation disappear.  I was like a balloon deflating, and it was purely a "mind over matter" scenario to finish off those final 15 minutes.  The good news is that I did, in fact, finish those 15 minutes, and I finished the run as planned.  So know I have a rough idea of what I can do during the 1/2 marathon.  I can aim for finishing 21 kms in less than 2 hours, and I will try my hardest to finish in around 1:50.  We'll see.

For now, here are the run stats for Saturday:
-Warm Up:  Ran for 34:30:00 for a distance of 5.84km with an average pace of 5:49min/km and average heart rate of 148beats/min
-Easy:  Ran for 35:08:18 for a distance of 6:33km with an average pace of 5:33min/km and average heart rate of 151beats/min
-Hard:  Ran for 50:00:27 for a distance of 9.85km with an average pace of 5:05min/km and average heart rate of 160 beats/min

In case you're wondering, that means that the total run stats are:
Ran for a total distance of 22.02km in 1:59:38.  So that means that I ran more than the 1/2 marathon distance in less than 2 hours!  Now if only I can pull that off on October 17th...

Over and out,
Joy

Wildlife On The Trails....

Nomi says...

The way i see it, trails meant for biking and running in the jungle are sort of like roads running into the homes of various lifeforms...so, you are going to see these lifeforms at some point of time. Some are benign, some are not...
I have been running for recreation for years and also have biked a fair bit though trails, roads, fields locally and elsewhere. Luckily, i have not encountered anything four legged, six or even 8 legged that was particularly nasty. Sad to say, that the most frightening wildlife that i have encountered to date is of the 2 legged variety.
When i was younger, i would just bash through trails, without much thought for what i would see or encounter. Which is really stupid, i know. But, when you are young....you generally think that you are immortal....that you can brave through anything..

Well, i have seen some HUGE ants and millipedes on the trail...they will be in the middle of the trail, going their own business...until someone steps on them.Then, there are snakes. So far I've only encountered the green variety, which kind of looked benign to me. I just stood still, the snake decided that i wasn't worth a second glance and it slid away. Then there was a big scorpion on an uphill road that i saw once. It wasn't really bothered much either and it went about it's business. Tortoises are not an uncommon sight on trails paths. As are monitor lizards, geckos and chameleons. Wild boars....i saw one which ran across the trail in front of me at a distance....so i didn't have to worry ...it was probably on it's way to do it's groceries and was not interested in an insignificant human. Another one, i actually heard before i saw...i hears this shuffling, grunting sound and i RAN...ran..., and hid behind a tree and saw it go past me without consequence. Dogs.....they can get nasty, so i keep a wide berth or squirt water on them if they come too close. Chickens, goats, cows, ducks are not a problem...but watch out for geese...they can give a nasty peck and chase you ....for fun..to fulfill it's quota of 'nastiness for the day' . Monkeys....

depends on the type, i suppose. Dusky leaf langurs are more afraid of humans than you are of them. Long tail macaques can be real pest and the worst are the pig-tailed macaques. I was chased by one years ago. What to do? Stand and scream back at them..then you'd appear like their mother-in-law and they'd pretty much run away:) So, what to do if you see tiger prints? Well, take lots of pictures, post them on FB....of course:)
2 legged wildlife...hmmm...i guess they sort of fall into 2 categories...the Nasties and the Nice-ies.
I guess when one runs on the road or trails, there's a sort of unspoken etiquette? One runs on the left ( as you drive on the left of the road where i live), over take on the right. If you are the faster one, you give way. You try to be as unobstructive as possible.And don't try to kill anything on your way.....Nice-ies generally follow this rule...they stick to their lane, go about their own business, minimize noise pollution, run single file if they are in a group...
Now Nasties.....they loooooove to block up the whole trail, a row of human bodies obstructing  it from left to right, gossiping at the top of their voices...and when you approach panting and out of breath,,,,they do not give way...oh no!!! They glare at you, giving you pretty much the look an interrupted cow might give whilst chewing cud...and you have to weave between them. Then there are those that relish singing at the TOP of their voices regardless of the rights of anyone in the vicinity. And then there are those who do not hesitate to blow a huge puff of fetid breath into your face as you pass them....the germs....oh, the nasty bits floating in the vapor of their breath.......And how about those that do not think twice of relieving themselves at the side of a trail.....oh spare my peepers...
But then it takes all kinds of wildlife to make a run interesting.......as my friend Joy would say...onwards!!!!

Tempo Run = Success!

Joy here...Well, yesterday was the dreaded tempo workout, and I had been fearing it all day.  Tempo runs are just really, really hard for me.  I mean, how do you just will yourself to run faster?  I don't know how people do it.  I just run and hope for the best, but with this 1/2 marathon training, I'm trying my hardest to be somewhat systematic.  So for Wednesday's run, we were up for 40 minutes of tempo running (i.e. hard, sustained running).  Since I do not look at my pace anymore for any of the speed workouts, I was simply working on heart rate.  I mean, there's no point in looking at my pace when I'm running as hard as I can, only to see that I'm not running fast enough.  I figure that if I keep my heart rate in the "hard" zone, then who cares about pace?  At least if my heart rate slows, then I can reasonably tell myself:  "self, it's time to work just a little bit harder."  But if I'm running as hard as I can and I look at the pace on my Garmin, it's really hard to move my legs any faster.  So the long and the short of it is that I think this heart rate strategy works, because even though it was hot and sunny, and even though I had a stitch in my side halfway through the tempo portion, and even though my shoulder was cramping, and even though all the sports drink I was downing from my camelbak was swishing uncomfortably in my stomach, and even though The Man was about 800 metres ahead of me, I was still able to pull off a fairly decent tempo run, thus earning myself today's rest day!  Yahoo!  We'll run easy again on Friday, and then Saturday will be a long run.  I'll try to practice my 21 km 1/2 marathon race strategy then...so stay tuned to find out how that goes.

For now, here are my run stats for Wednesday's tempo run:

Warm up:  Ran for a total of 33:28:38 for a distance of 5.87 km with an average pace of 5:42min/km and an average heart rate of 144beats/min.

Tempo:  Ran for a total of 40:00:12 for a distance of 7.93 km with an average pace of 5:03min/km and an average heart rate of 162beats/min.

Cool down:  Ran for a total of 8:05:32 for a distance of 1.35 km with an average pace of 6:00min/km and an average heart rate of 155beats/min.

All-in-all, I'm going to chalk this up as a success!

Over and out,

Joy

Easy Peasy Autumnal Recovery Run

Joy here...Well, Sunday was the 5km race (if by "race" I mean meander through giant crowds of people), and so we rode on our trainers inside on Monday for 60 minutes to give our legs a break.  My legs didn't need much of a break, but I figured that there's no harm in riding the bike.  So then on Tuesday we were scheduled for an easy run.  Now autumn has descended upon us here in Canada.  What this means is that one day it will be hot and sunny; the next day it will be cold; the next day it will be cold and rainy; lo and behold, the next day will be hot and sunny again; then the day will begin with frost and end being hot and sunny...etc.  In short, the weather is entirely unpredictable.  On Tuesday, we went out the door into a clear but very windy day.  When the wind was blowing cold air on me, I was covered in goose bumps, but when the wind subsided, I would heat up.  I was wearing black running tights, and when the cold wind howled, I was glad to have my legs covered, but then when the wind died down, the hot sun was making my legs sweat (sweaty legs = sexy, I know).

In this rather erratic and strange weather, we originally planned a nice, easy 15 km recovery run.  But out on the run, we revised that to a nice, easy 10 km recovery run.  Heck, if Wednesday is supposed to be dreaded "tempo" pace, then shorter and easier is just fine by me.

Here are my run stats for Tuesday's run:
Ran for a total of 56:11:50 for a distance of 10.02km with an average pace of 5:36min/km.  My average heart rate was 136 beats/min (which is in my easy zone).

Over and out,
Joy

Treadmill Toes and Underwear Ulcers....

Nomi says.....

I started off rather enthusiastically with my almost daily gym runs. It was comfortable, not too taxing, really doable, flexible and rather enjoyable.

Nomi's Nasty Nail

Then about 2 weeks or so into running , my right 4th toe swelled into a mini drumstick and the nail turned a rather fetching shade of ripe plum...ie nearly black.
Well, turns out that both Joy and Lulu's toenails are black too.....This is the explanation as given in a recent article from Runner's World......

14 Why do my toenails go black?
For regular runners, a black toenail is not a matter of if, it's when," says Dr. Bright. Three causes of the black badge: a too-short shoe; a toenail that comes into contact with the roof of the shoe too often; and a runner who uses his toes to grip too hard. However it happens, the result is the same. Blood vessels under the nail break open, which spill blood (which looks black under the opaque nail) into the area between the toe bed and the toenail. "That area isn't accommodating to blood collection: It's rigid and restrictive," says Dr. Bright. "It builds up a lot of pressure quickly."
Running Rx If the pressure is bothering you and you can handle more hurt, press the end of a paper clip or safety pin, heated with a match, through the nail. "That's a pretty painful proposition," says Dr. Bright, who recommends the gentler touch of a doctor. Do it sooner, while the blood is still fluid. If the pain decreases and doesn't bother you, no need to take action. Either way, the skin below it will heal, the nail will die and fall off. Don't worry, it'll grow back someday.

Joy's Juniper Berry

As for myself, my shoes were laced a little too tight at the top and the toe kept hitting the roof of the shoe.I've fixed that now. However, i had been running at an incline of zero, which i later found out was not a very smart thing to do, from another friend Peaches, who is and avid runner ( well in spirit at least) and plans to run a 10k run sometime soon ( hopefully in this century). Sorry Peaches! At an incline of zero, i tended to land on the balls of the toes...and after a while it really hurt. The right second toe swelled up for about a week and would still misbehave on and off. Once i increased the incline to 1.5 -2, the right foot improved tremendously. However, i still ran with the swollen toes....and the right leg tried to compensate and land in a position that hurt the least...so i busted my right knee.

Lulu's Lovelies

When i used to run on the road, i would take small, frequent steps, with minimum movement of the arms...sort of like how a chicken would run... Now running that way caused my knees to act up on the treadmill when i run at a pace of 6min/km or faster. The feet sort of don't have time to land properly. So by taking longer strides...like how an ostrich would run....the knees fare much better.It is more tiring that 'chicken running', but much less painful.

While running on the treadmill, i tend to swing my arms more vigorously.....so i have a collection of chafe marks on the inner side of both upper arms. The sports top that i use also is also scraping the skin off my chest... I run with knee supports , so the back of the knees have ulcers as well. I know Joy has a little crater where the straps of her camelback sand papered off a few layers of skin on her back.And don't let me start on the state of the inner thighs...I'm covered with band aids:)

Ohm..........

Nomi says.....

Well, me and Lulu have signed up for this 14k off road race. And, running trails frequently or even going to the park and running there is not really feasible. I mean i'm just too lazy to haul my lazy self up and early at 5 am every morning to do that, so the next best option is joining the gym.
Well, i suppose i could invest in a treadmill, but my cats would probably piss on it and use it as a scratching post, i might use it as a clothes horse,  and a years gym membership would probably still cost less. So, i signed up at a gym near my place for convenience sake.
Running on a treadmill is pure indulgence:) The weather's good all day, all the time. It doesn't rain , it's not humid and it's not hot. All i need is about 500mls of water for a 10k workout. The treadmill comes with these nice little nooks for your water bottle, cell phone, i-pod, small towel, keys and pet dog if you so wish to bring it with you:) -  a small one mind you....
And this wonderful invention of (wo)man comes with a cutesy little TV screen too...and you've an option of watching the news, sports, a documentary or some crime flick while you run. And there are lots of buttons that tell you your time, distance, calories burnt, pace, heart rate and so forth. You can choose from a variety of workouts to suit your needs. Ahhhhh....the treadmill, my new best friend.
I must admit that my compliance has improved tremendously after joining the gym. I decided to go with Joy's suggestion of doing comfortable runs and adding a km every week. Well, what i did was start at 10km at a speed of 6mins/km, about 4-5 days per week. I slowly increased it to about  12km per run...but that got a bit too much for me. So i alternated 10k runs with my target distance runs, and ran about 5 days per week. That worked out fine. It does get a bit boring, a bit monotonous...but with the treadmill. i can just blast my music....to the max and just zone out...i needn't worry about falling, about killing some poor animal, about being stalked...just me and my music and running....I like listening to techno while running...there's a very  nice album called Godskitchen Summer Rush which is a 3 disc set : the 3rd disc is just perfect for running . I have since introduced this to Lulu...next will be Joy.Get your i-pod ready Joy....

I'm happy.....

Ohm......i'm zoning out...........

Happy Trails To You....

Nomi says....



So....i decided to hit the trails. There's a park about 40 minutes away from where i live with nice trails. It's a mountain bike park with about 70km of trails with names like 2K,Mission, Twin Peaks, Rock Garden, Clenched Sphincter, Screaming Banshee, Carnival, Bar-A-Kuda. I guess the name of the trail sort of reflects it's difficulty and the mountain biker's reaction to it...

Well, running trails is a totally different ballgame from the flat roads. It's hot in the open areas with no tree cover, humid, steep, has loads of roots, and rocks and for a relatively clumsy person like me...an accident waiting to happen.
I started off in a steep trail fondly called Carnival that was painstakingly paved by an avid mountain biker with large stones and i felt like keeling over just after 10 minutes. Firstly i had to concentrate...had to look down to see where to put my feet and make sure that i didn't fall. Then i had to look up to see where i was going..there was vegetation on both sides of the trail..I didn't want a branch to poke my eye or get swatted in the face by one. Then i had to look down again..to make sure that i was not killing some poor wildlife whose path i was straying into.And then look up to make sure i wasn't in the line of a speeding mountain bike coming in the opposite direction....Also, i couldn't listen to music, as i actually needed to hear the surrounding sounds , for example of a rampaging wild boar bent on goring me or a mountain biker yelling at me to get out of the way or the squish of something alive that i had trod on.....well, you get the picture.The good thing was that it was not raining...or it would have been a mud fest.
After Carnival, i started the painful and tiring climb up Twin Peaks...it was about 1.5 kms one way, but felt like 5kms and with weights strapped at the ankles. I was huffing and puffing and felt to out of shape..I finally reached the top without bursting a vessel and turned and came back down the same way...the next trail was 2K, but i kind of strayed into The Mission...I only ran about 6-7kms totally...but it took me at least an hour. The GPS watch wouldn't work under all the tree cover, so i had no idea about pace and distance. And, it's good to run these trails with company. Running alone is a No No.., you've no idea what 4 legged or 2 legged beasts that you might encounter and you need to go with someone who knows the trails well. To me, one trail pretty much looks like the other......And you need loads of water, and repellent and enthusiasm and sun block:)
But it was good fun. It's a different experience from the road, a whole lot more tiring and one needs to concentrate or risk injuries...ie twisted ankles..scratches...animal bites:)

I did meet a golden haired male who ran with me for the best part of Twin Peaks trail...he was good company , strong, uncomplaining, had better stamina than me...and his picture is below...

Running buddy

Can't wait to rope Joy and Lulu into running these trails with me....

More wildlife

Nomi Update

Nomi has been running indoors on a treadmill at a local gym, taking a bit of a hiatus from the blog as a result, thinking that no one wants to read about a hamster running in its cage.  

Here's what she says: 

"I haven't been updating the blog...honestly i don't know what to write now that all i do is run on the treadmill...it's pretty routine, nothing interesting...since all the treadmills face the big windows in the front of the gym, i can't even see what other people are doing.....you know, the serious exercisers, the overweight aunties, the pretty boys, the Brad Pitt wannabees....hahahaha...i'm mean:)"

5km Race...

Joy here...after flying back from my sojourn out of town for a conference, we did an easy 9 km run in order to prepare for a 5 km race that we had signed up for in our city.  This little 5 km race was on Sunday morning, and the whole point in our signing up for it was that it would give us a chance to have a race experience before our 1/2 marathon, and it would give us a gauge for our fitness only one month away from our 1/2 marathon.  Okay, so that was the rationale behind signing up for a little race before the 1/2 marathon.  Now here's what happened:

It was a cool, crisp morning, with a blue sky overhead, when we headed out our door to run to the race site.  We figured that we'd be able to warm up and be prepared for the race.  So we jogged along the canal towards the race start, and we did some strides, and tried to fit in a few minutes of tempo running to get our legs warmed up and our heart rates going.  Then...here's where things started to go wrong...I had to go pee before the start of the race.  This isn't out of the norm or anything like that, so I headed over to the port-a-potties (and the line-ups) to "do the deed."  When I emerged, The Man was nowhere in sight.  There were 14,000 people in this 5 km race, and he was somewhere in the crowds among them.  Oh well, no problem, I thought to myself; just head over to the start line, and if you don't see him, you'll just meet up afterwards, no biggie.  So I trundle over to the start...me and about a hobajillion other people.  Now this is only my second race in my whole life, and when Nomi and I showed up for the 10 km race in Singapore in May, we just got to the front-ish of the 5,000 women in the race, and were ready to start.  But when faced with barriers and thousands of runners all crammed in before the start line, I wasn't sure what to do.  Do I just push my way in?  Do I move the barrier and enter the starting group wherever I want?  Do I go to the back and try to force my way forward?  Do I just follow the crowds and go where they go?  I ended up pushing my way into the mass of people about 200 meters behind the starting line.  I tried to elbow my way forward from there, but I had no luck; I was locked in behind people.  Okay, no big deal, I thought, they don't start timing until your chip passes the start line, so it doesn't really matter where you are.  At least that's what I thought.  And as I was standing there, having those thoughts (and trying to see my husband through the crowds of people somewhere), the girl in front of me did the weirdest stretch I've ever seen anyone do.  She was just standing there, and then she bent her knee and kicked her leg back...RIGHT INTO MY LEFT KNEE CAP!  It was excruciatingly painful, and tears sprung unbidden to my eyes immediately.  She turned around to apologize, and I was trying not to respond and make her feel guilty, but my knee was screaming, my eyes were crying, and I was thinking that for sure she had just screwed up my knee after all the work I've done to it.  Then the announcer told us there were 40 seconds until the start.  So I stood there, rubbing my knee, trying to will the tears to stop, and forcing my rushing thoughts to calm down.  It wasn't going to do me any good to contemplate the fact that my knee might be screwed; I might need surgery; all my 1/2 marathon training might be out the window etc. etc.  I just had to calm myself down, and I only had 40 seconds in which to do it.

And then the cannon boomed and the race was underway!  Or was it?  Back from the starting line, crammed in like cattle to the slaughter, we weren't moving at all.  We weren't even walking.  Then slowly, slowly, and slowly, the knee kicker in front of me and the rest of the crowd started making progress forward.  Try as I might to move faster or get around people, I was jammed in like a sardine.  I wasn't going anywhere.  I figured that it would clear out a bit once we passed the starting line, and I could get to a comfortable pace and just run my own race.  Wrong.  Wrong.  Wrong again.  Basically for 5 kms I just weaved in and out of masses of people, never once being able to just hit a comfortable pace and hold it.  I dodged around mothers and their kids.  I weaved in and out of people who would just stop running right in front of me and start walking.  I ran around undergrads who were running en masse and chatting.  I ran up on the curb to try to go around masses of people.  I ran the long way around corners in the hope of getting past some people to a clear stretch of road.  In short, it was the most frustrating run of my entire life.  My Garmin pinged at the halfway point, but it still felt like I hadn't even gotten started.  When I saw the 1 km to go banner, there wasn't even room for me to open up a sprint for the final leg of the run.  I was still weaving in and out of crowds.

To be clear here, I never planned on running super fast, and I never planned on being really competitive for this 5 km race.  I always just wanted to see it as one stop on my 1/2 marathon journey.  And so in that spirit, I had hoped that I would be able to stick to a certain pace (or at least a certain effort), and then be able to tell myself during the 1/2 marathon race itself:  "Don't worry, you've been able to hold this pace for 5 kms, and you only have 5 kms to the finish line...you can do it!"  Instead, all I'll be able to tell myself during the 1/2 marathon race will be:  "Well, you know that you can weave in and out of thousands of people if you have to, without getting so angry that you punch someone."  And that's about it.  I can't say anything about my pace, my heart rate, how I felt, or even anything helpful about how to use the "energy" of a race environment.  Instead, all I can say is that on a Sunday morning in September I ran along among a whole bunch of other people also running along, and after getting kicked at the start line, at least no one trampled on my toes during the rest of the run.  That's really as much as I can say, and it's pretty darn depressing.

On the upside of things, it was a beautiful day, and there are worse things to do on a Sunday morning than go out for a run.  After the race itself, I met up with The Man (who, by the way, had a much better race, because he and our 6 foot 4 friend just muscled their way right up to the startline) and we ran back home and treated ourselves to a good breakfast.  I now know that in order to have a good race experience, you have to get your butt up to the front-ish of the racers.  It's not so much about time, but unless you're at the beginning of the masses of people, you will spend too much time and energy running in and around people, and a 5 km race just isn't long enough to make your way to some clear road for a good race.  You'll find yourself crossing the finish line with the feeling that the race hasn't even started yet, because you're still jostling for position and a bit of space.  Even while someone is putting the finishers medal around your neck, you'll still feel like you've never even begun.  That sense can tend to detract from any sense of accomplishment you might otherwise feel; so take my advice:  get yourself to the front of the start!  Just mosey on up there like you belong, and don't let anyone else ruin your race for you!

In the end, my finishing time was 26:20:09, and my chip time was 23:49:06, which means that it took me THREE MINUTES to travel the 200 meters from where I was in the starting crowds just to pass the start line!  And, of course, it's not like the pace magically picked up after that.  My finishing time put me in 52nd place out of the 1,015 people in my age/gender category.  I guess everyone else was also running through crowds the consistency of molasses.

So my fingers and toes are all crossed as I hope, hope, hope that in four weeks my 1/2 marathon race turns out much better than this little 5 km race!

Over and out, 

Joy

Travelling and Treadmills

Joy here...One thing that I have realized is that it is very hard to maintain a consistent training program (for anything - running, cycling, swimming etc.) while having to travel.  As hard as it is to be motivated to keep to a running plan when I'm at home, it's even harder when I'm not even at home.  This realization was hit home to me this past week.  I had to travel for a conference out of town for three days; I knew that I'd have access to a treadmill, and I dutifully packed my running gear, but even with the best plans in the world, my running still suffered.  Because I wasn't able to pull off a long run last week, I was intending to beat that beast while I was away.  Unfortunately, the first day I arrived was jam-packed from the moment my plane landed until the moment I crawled under the bedsheets.  However, I rallied and woke up bright and early the next day to run on the treadmill.  I had planned to run for 2 hours to make up for my missed long run, but only lasted about 90 minutes before I was (a) so bored of the treadmill that I thought I might die and (b) running low on time if I planned to shower and eat before heading to the conference.  After those 90 minutes of running, I didn't have another minute to myself that entire day.  The following day was much the same:  I woke up, headed to the conference, had a meeting after the conference, and then attended a dinner.  On Saturday - my return day - I got up before the sun, headed to the airport, flew home, and then pulled off a 9 km run upon my return.  All in all, I'm glad that I was able to do *some* running amidst the travel, but to be honest, it's very hard to keep to any sort of real schedule when real life rears its ugly head and makes its demands.

But with the 1/2 marathon only 4 weeks away, I can't afford to slip up on my training and running, otherwise, I'll find myself sitting at the side of the curb with my head in my hands instead of running across the finish line with my arms raised in triumph.  I'm looking forward to option two!

Over and out,

Joy

Do Two Easy Runs Equal One Long Run?

Joy here...On Saturday we were scheduled for our long run, and since we ran 21 kms last week, we were all set to complete another 21 kms.  We talked about it in advance and agreed that The Man would carry on and do "M" pace (marathon pace) for the second half of our long run, but I would just take it easy for the whole run.  At least, that was the plan.  Then given that The Man was feeling a little sick, and I was feeling a little lazy, so we just ran for around 15 kms at a good pace.  We were going to see a Pro Tour Cycling race on Sunday, so we talked ourselves into believing that we didn't want to be too tired out beforehand.  I mean, how would we run after and stalk our favourite cyclists if our legs were tired from a 21 km run?  So to avoid such a problem we kept our run easy.  Well...so what that means is that on Monday, after Operation Stalk Cyclists was over, we should have been able to do our skipped 21 km run with no problem.  Yeah, so much for that plan.  I hadn't counted on the fatigue in my legs after running around a cycling race trying to get the best pictures of bikes moving faster than I thought they ever could move.  I hadn't counted on being tired after the adrenaline rush of being pushed off the road by a charging pro peloton.  I hadn't counted on feeling particularly lazy after driving 2 hours to get back from Montreal where the race was held.  In short:  I didn't last 21 kms.  After about 14ish kms I pulled up and turned back for home.

Here are Saturday's run stats:
Ran for a total of 1:26:41 for 15.41kms with an average pace of 5:37min/km

Here are today's run stats:
Ran for a total of 1:19:54 for 13.65kms with an average pace of 5:52min/km

Now here's my question, if I were to add those two runs together, do you think I could count that as my long run for this week?  I somehow doubt it.  I have a feeling that I'll be pulling my body out the door again tomorrow to give a long run yet another try.

So even though today's run gets a resounding FAIL from me, I'm hoping to improve on that tomorrow.  As I always try to remind myself when I have a "blah" run....Onwards!  That's what I'm now telling myself for tomorrow:  ONWARDS!

Over and out,
Joy

**Note:  The graphic is from http://gapingvoid.com/ and is one of the cartoons by Hugh MacLeod; I found it on Michael Parekh's blog, http://mp.blogs.com/mp/2005/11/on_technoratis_.html.

Jibber Jabber Run

Joy here...Yesterday's run was just an easy 25 minute run to turn our legs after Tuesday's tempo run.  Today was scheduled as an easy 15km run; however, it was sprinkling rain outside and The Man is feeling a bit under the weather, so we opted for an easy 9km run instead.  We took it as an opportunity to simply run and chat with each other.  It was our jibber jabber hour.  We talked about our days, our future plans, our goals, our aspirations, our life together...in short, it was one of those conversations that forms the backbone of any good relationship, and we were just having that sort of chat while running easily along the canal.

Who would have thought to look for love and romance while completing a mundane run as part of a 1/2 marathon training plan?  I sure didn't.  I can tell you that I certainly didn't expect to feel like I was out on a date with my hubby while I was running in the drizzling rain, with aching knees, and my hair slicked back in a sweaty ponytail.  I guess that's what's special about love, it can jump up and surprise you when you least expect it.

So here are today's run stats:

Ran for a total of 51:23:28 for 9kms with an average pace of 5:45min/km.

But today's run just happened to be so much more than those mere numbers can articulate.  

Over and out,

Joy

Running with Heart...

Joy here...So Tuesday was scheduled as another dreaded tempo run, and seeing as my how last tempo run just wasn't up to snuff, I was a little bit apprehensive about how I'd be able to handle this tempo run.  Instead of two 15 minute sets of tempo pace with a 3 minute break in between, this week we were scheduled for two 20 minute sets of tempo pace with a 3 minute break in between.  However, because last week's failed tempo pace made me feel like crap about myself and my running, I decided that I wouldn't look at pacing at all this time.  I would run the entire run purely using my heart rate monitor.  I figured that tempo pace is supposed to feel "comfortably hard" (there's an oxymoron for you!), and it would be better if I just went based on how my running felt rather than on what my Garmin told me my objective pace was. The whole obsession with pace comes from the Daniels' Running Formula that The Man swears by, but I'm starting to think that the whole notion of taking guidance from someone named JACK DANIELS might be a little foolhardy.  I mean, seriously.  So even though Guru Jack Daniels says that our tempo runs should be around 4:44min/km, I think he should just go back to making southern corn mash and leave this Canadian girl alone!  

By ignoring his advice and instead of fixating on trying to get my pace to 4:44min/km during those two 20 minute sets, I just focused on keeping my heart rate in the 160 beats/min range.  We started off with 35 minutes of easy running to warm up, and I kept my heart rate around 147 beats/min during this part of the run.  Then we did our two tempo sets, with The Man about a consistent 500 meters ahead of me, and then cooled down with about 10 minutes of easy running.  And even though it was HOT; even though my camelbak chafed the skin on my shoulders until I bled; even though I was back to my lamaze breathing; even though a blister on my foot exploded (rather painfully, I might add); even though there were times when I wanted to quit and jump into the canal...even through all of that, I was able to keep my heart rate consistent and complete the workout as planned, which is itself no mean feat.

So my run stats for Tuesday are:
Ran for a total of 1:25:41 for a distance of 15.15km with an average pace of 5:38min/km (comprised of:
-35 minutes of easy running at around 5:55min/km
-2 sets of tempo running at around 5:00min/km for 20 minutes a piece
-10 minutes of easy running to cool down)

Even though I'm not up to Guru Jack Daniels' standards, I have to be pleased enough with that for now.  And I've learned that I'd much rather run looking at my heart rate rather than a pace that I just can't increase.  I mean when you're running as fast as you can, if your Garmin tells you it's just not fast enough, there's not a whole heck of a lot you can do, is there?  But if your Garmin tells you that your heart rate is slowing down a bit, then you know that you can push yourself just a little bit further to get it back up there.

So the moral of the story is that I think I'll just run with heart rate for the next little while, and ignore my pace until the end of the run when all I'm doing is checking the stats, for information purposes only, not so that I can try to change/adjust that pace in mid-run.  I tell you, that's just a recipe for disappointment!

Over and out,

Joy

Teeth Chattering Bike Ride

Joy here...After finishing 21kms of running on Saturday, when Sunday morning rolled around and the alarm went off at 5am so that we could get out to the park for the long bike ride, I felt like cowering under the covers and cancelling my plans.  In fact, the other women who I sometimes ride with had all bailed out on me for various reasons, so I knew that I'd be doing the loop of the park all by myself.  What better reason to roll back over and go to sleep than knowing that no one is there to hold you accountable???  But I would know.  And there's still a small part of me that's able to hold myself accountable every now and then, and luckily that responsible side of my persona had the upper hand, and so I got myself out of bed, kitted up, and ready to ride.

Once out the door, we could see that the skies were overcast and the clouds were blowing across the open expanse above us rather quickly; grey and white clouds rolled across the morning sky, and the wind began to blow.  My fingers and toes were getting cold, but I told myself that once I started pedalling up those steep climbs, I would warm up.

Wrong.

In fact, it got colder and colder the higher I went.  On one of the climbs it even started to rain, and it took all my willpower to keep going.  Every inch of me was screaming to turn around and go back home, but I somehow kept my pedals turning over.  When I reached the top where the lookout point is (and these two previous posts - one and two - show the view from up above), I wasn't able to sit back and enjoy the lovely vistas, because IT WAS TOO DAMN COLD!  I swear the wind was howling up there, and I could barely feel my fingers enough to unwrap my sandwich and refuel myself before tackling the long ride back to the bottom and then home again.  As I began the descent, my teeth were chattering so much that I was afraid I wouldn't be able to concentrate around the quick bends in the road as I just tore down the hills as fast as I could.  I figured that the quicker I made it home, the sooner I would be able to warm up, but the wind whistling by my ears and blowing against my cycling vest made ominous sounds.

So I just tried to grit those chattering teeth and push the bike homeward as quickly as possible.  In the end, even though I felt cold and tired the whole time, it took me less time to do the entire loop this week than it did last week!  I couldn't believe it when I got home, thawed off, and checked my watch.  Maybe cold is all the motivation I need...which might just be a good thing with autumn right around the corner.

Over and out,
Joy


**Note:  the image is borrowed from http://illustrationforkids.blogspot.com/2008/08/paula-on-sports.html.

The Running Emotional Roller Coaster...

Joy here...Saturday's long run went as planned.  In fact, it went better than planned.  Originally we thought we'd run for 20kms.  It would be an easy run, and I would do my best to make friends with running again and enjoy myself.  Luckily the weather was rather cool, and so as we went out the door, for the first time in MONTHS I was able to run without immediately breaking a sweat and breathing like some perverted crank caller huffing and puffing into the end of a phone line.  Since running with my Garmin tuned to tell me distance and pace has made me turn into a maniac who freaks out internally whenever she realizes that she just can't run fast, I turned my Garmin's display to show me heart rate only.  So for the whole run, I had no real idea of pace or distance, but merely kept my heart rate within the 142-ish beats/min. range.  Figuring that my heart rate goes up into the 160s when I'm doing a tempo run, the 140s would be an "easy" run.  And let me tell you, it was easy!  Before I knew it we had run 21 kms!  That's 1/2 marathon distance right now...still 6 weeks out from our actual race date.  So that's a real psychological bonus, because now I know that I can run 21 kms so long as I take it nice and easy.  

My run stats:

Ran for a total of 2:00:00 for 21.01 kms with an average pace of 5:43min/km.

I was feeling pretty pleased with myself and was high-fiving The Man on our accomplishment.  We were at the high part of the emotional roller coaster, for sure.  But then, as with any roller coaster, this one soon began to plunge quickly as we found ourselves watching a local 1/2 Ironman and full Ironman triathlon race. A 1/2 Ironman is:  1.2 mile swim (1.93 km), followed by 56 mile bike ride (90 km), and a 13.1 mile run (21 km).  A full Ironman is:  2.4 mile swim (3.86 km), followed by a 112 mile bike ride (180.25 km), and a 26 mile run (42 km).  What this means is that the competitors that we saw who were doing the full Ironman distance event were running A FULL MARATHON after completing a swim and a bike ride.  Even the 1/2 Ironman distance competitors were completing a HALF MARATHON after a swim and a bike ride.  Let me tell you, my measly 21 km run started to pale in comparison as I watched the finishers of the 1/2 Ironman event.  I mean, there were people of every age, size, and fitness level coming through.  There were people who out-aged me, who out-weighed me, and who looked like there's no way they could compete, but they were there, finishing a 1/2 Ironman.  On the one hand, it was inspiring to see so many people meeting their own fitness goals, but on the other hand, it made me feel a little less accomplished in comparison.

I suppose in some way, that's what sport is all about.  There's always the next stage or the next goal that you can aspire to.  For now, I'll continue aspiring to the upcoming 1/2 marathon.  And maybe, just maybe, one day I'll decide to be a 1/2 Ironwoman! 

Over and out,

Joy

"You Run Like a Girl"

Joy here...We went for an easy 9km run this morning just to keep our legs loose after yesterday's "tempo run" (if you can call it that).  After that I went out for a 2 hour bike ride.  The main thing that these bike rides are supposed to achieve vis-a-vis my running is that they should strengthen my muscles, which in the end, will help with the pain that I've been having in my knees.  My chiropractor who has been trying to loosen my muscles and give me strength workouts for my quads to address my knee discomfort put my knee problems simply when she told me that I run like a girl.  Literally.  What she means is that my natural body shape leads my knees to be somewhat knock kneed; I have what my mother would call "child bearing hips," which means that my hips are rounded and this natural rounding keeps my legs from being perfectly straight.  Great.  Lucky me.  The solution to this is to build up my leg muscles, which will help to keep my legs and my knees straight when I run.  

In the meantime, I just have to suck up the fact that I have a "feminine body type" that isn't necessarily perfectly designed for running.  I have to admit that such a diagnosis really pisses off my feminist self, and I'm hoping to channel that angry feminist within to help me get my training back on track.  Maybe I'll burn a sports bra or two.

Over and out,

Joy

**Note:  The girl graphic was taken from http://www.bladediary.com/toronto-star-girl/, which is a blog dedicated to showcasing the really cool street art instillations of Toronto visual artist, Postergirl.

Tempo Run? I don't think so...

Joy here...Okay, so since I've hit a running wall with my training and am doing my best to make running fun so that I don't just throw in the proverbial towel, hang up my shoes, and plunk my butt on the couch, we've altered our schedule just a bit.  The new and revised (new and improved???) schedule is as follows:
Sunday - bike ride
Monday - rest day
Tuesday - "quality workout" (i.e tempo run)
Wednesday - bike ride and/or easy run
Thursday - easy run (around 15 kms)
Friday - bike ride and/or easy run (around 9 kms)
Saturday - long run (up to 20 kms this coming weekend!)
Now the little glitch to this plan this week is that on Tuesday when we were supposed to get up at 5am so that we could get our run in before the heat and humidity of the day we turned off the alarm clock, rolled over and went back to sleep until around 7am!!!  Okay, so no problem, we figured we'd make up the run later on in the day.  Hah!  Fat chance!  The day just got hotter and hotter and hotter and hotter and hotter.  So we ended up ditching the workout all together yesterday.

So that meant that today (Wednesday) we had to squeeze in a tempo run in the morning.  We dutifully got up at 5am and were out the door shortly after 6am for the tempo workout.  So far so good.  But according to some of the running books that The Man uses as our training bibles (the Daniels' Running Formula being at the top of that list), our "tempo" pace should be around 4:50min/km.  Well, this is where the use of my Garmin is proving the adage that a little bit of information can be a dangerous thing.  I mean, imagine yourself out there running as hard as you can, but then you look down at your Garmin to find out that your pace is actually your "easy" pace, and you're supposed to be going about 45 seconds quicker.  Well what do you do?  If you're me, you have a mini-breakdown on the inside ("I'm a failure..." "Why can't I run?"  "What's wrong with me?"  "I can't do this..." etc. etc.) and then just run as well as you can and do your best to forget about what you *should* be doing in terms of pace.  In fact, if you're me, you switch your Garmin from the pace setting to the heart rate setting so that if tempted to look at your wrist, you will only see what your heart rate is (and thus avoid being disappointed by your slow pace).  I found that strategy was much more helpful (I mean "helpful" in the sense that I felt less like killing myself).  During the "tempo" sets (two sets of 15 minutes) my heart rate was 162 for the first set and 165 for the second set.  It was around 147 during the easy warm up and cool down parts.  I figured that was a better way of gauging myself instead of fixating on pace that was just depressing me.

The run stats for today are:
Ran for a total of 1:27:00 for a distance of 15.11km with an average pace of 5:41min/km (and that average pace was determined by:
-45 mins of easy warm up running at 6:00min/km
-15 mins of tempo, with 3 minute easy run break, followed by 15 mins of tempo
-10 mins of easy cool down running at around 5:50min/km)

So today's run wasn't really a tempo run, but it was a run, and that's worth something.  And it was a run based on heart rate, and if you've got your heart in the right place, you can't go wrong...can you?

**Note:  The graphic is from the University of Minnesota's website that offers information on working out in the heat:  http://www1.umn.edu/news/features/2004/UR_18942_REGION1.html