Bike Ride with a View...Part Quatre

Joy here...Today was another glorious day in the park, autumn leaves, blue skies, and sharp colours all beneath a sun-filled sky.  The air was crisp and the hues bright.  Four of us left our houses before the sun was up to meet at the bridge to cross over to the north and into the park.  As we rode the sun began to rise, ever slower up over the horizon until it was bright in the blue sky above us.  Even though there was a frost warning, and we were dressed warmly against the chill morning air, we were invigorated to be out early in the quiet morning.

We decided that we wanted to take it easy and have a casual, Sunday ride.  This meant that the men were joining my friend and I on our slower route through the park.  But since we decided to stick together - all four of us - rather than splitting into our parties of two, this meant that the guys chose the route.  Instead of taking our usual path up towards the highest lookout of the park, we went the opposite way.  I had originally assumed that one way up was just as easy/difficult as the other.  Heh heh...I was wrong.  The way that we usually go is tough enough, with some steep climbs that make my quads burn.  This way that we took today was just one, long, unending grind from the bottom up to the top.  I thought I was going to die.  I can't even tell you how many times the thought of hopping off my bike, throwing it in the ditch, and walking home in my biking gear crossed my mind.  I'm talking big, giant, hairy fit; steam coming out of the ears, arms swinging in anger, and stomping feet kind of fit.

Instead of having a giant temper tantrum that would put any two year old to shame, I just gritted my teeth and kept on going.  I clung onto the handlebars and turned my legs over and over and over while they screamed at me.  I ignored my legs screaming and ignored the three others riding up the hill ahead of me, chatting and laughing as if it was super easy.  (Did I mention that I kinda hated them at that moment?)  However, what I am proud of is that even as I struggled, and even as I tried to mind-over-matter myself, and even as I thought I was going to throw in the towel, I was still able to look around and enjoy the utterly spectacular scenery all around me.  I guess I was going slow enough that I was able to look from side to side and see just how lovely everything was.  And the plus side of riding up the opposite side than usual is that the scenery that I'm usually flying by on a descent, I was able to look around and enjoy today.

I'm also proud of the fact that I just kept on going.  I did NOT give into the temptation to turn right around, ride home and crawl back into my bed and under my down-filled comforter.  I really, really, really felt like doing just that, but I didn't.  I carried on all the way to the top, because I knew that in getting there I would get to enjoy those vistas that I've posted in previous posts (unimaginatively numbered une, deux, and trois).  And I was not disappointed.  As usual, the photos just can't do justice to the view.  The sun was just coming over the hills and the colours were lit up in places and cast in shadows in others.  The air was chill and crisp, but not uncomfortable.  And after we took some pictures and ate some snacks, we turned around and rode down and towards a quaint, little coffee shop for some chocolate and coffee, because, well, let's be frank, there's not much in this world that some coffee and chocolate can't fix, is there?

So by the end of the ride, I was feeling proud of my accomplishment, full of coffee and chocolate, and in awe of Mother Nature's display.  While one of the guy's continued on to do more loops of the park (he's kind of a maniac that way), the other three of us turned around and went on our merry way back home.  And while my legs were tired, I didn't collapse, crash, or otherwise fall over before making it home, and when I got home, showered, ate, and warmed up, I was able to feel pleased that while many people out there were still sleeping in on their Thanksgiving Sunday, I had already ridden for somewhere in the neighbourhood of five hours. And just for that, I think I deserve a glass of wine, Don't you?

Over and out,
Joy

Running back on track...

Joy here...After a few weeks of being sick (and spreading my own sickie germs to The Man) I felt like this past week was some kind of forced taper week due to illness.  To be honest, I wasn't really feeling all that great.  I hadn't made up my missed long run and hadn't felt like I had progressed at all.  But on Saturday, whether I liked it or not, I was going to be running.  So...out the door we went...

Here are Saturday's run stats:
Ran for a total time of 1:07:56 for a distance of 12.26km with an average pace of 5:32min/km and an average heart rate of 136 beats/min.

It was an easy, casual, and comfortable run, and I'm pleased with it, because I plan to run the first 12 km of the 1/2 marathon at about a 5:30min/km pace, and then pick it up for the final 9 km.  At least that's the plan.  So I'm hoping that things just might be back on track.

Over and out,

Joy

Easy Peasy 12 km Run, or Joy the Moron!

Joy here...I've been very busy this week, and while I had originally planned on joining The Man and his friend for a leisurely bike ride to a local, quaint town with a lovely bakery and autumn views, and while I had originally planned on luring my two cycling friends out with me (the ones who I've ridden with before on some of my epic rides, including my first loop of the park, and my first solo loop), in the end I bailed on these plans.  Instead of a time-consuming bike ride, I figured I'd just do a fairly easy jog and not lose all my fitness just one week away from the 1/2 marathon.  Okay, so far so good.  So I emailed these two friends to see if they'd want to join my on a run in lieu of a bike ride.  Here's what they said:

ME:  Anyone up for an easy peasy 12 km run along the canal?


FRIEND #1:  At this point in my running life 12k isn't a little run.


ME (IN MY HEAD):  Oh, crap, I hope I haven't insulted her.  She's super cool and super fit, and now she might think I'm a stupid head trying to drag her out on some super speedy, super long run.  Sh_t!


FRIEND #2:  LOL!!!!  You just had me busting a gut...  'easy peasy.... 12K?????????????? what planet are you from?????


ME (IN MY HEAD):  Hmmmm...she has a point here.  What planet am I from?


I guess the moral of this little story is twofold for me:  First, I am lucky to have friends who aren't afraid to tell me when I'm being a moron, and second, I guess all this training must have paid off somewhat.  


So I've decided that instead of beating myself up about not being ready for the upcoming 1/2 marathon and instead of assuming that everyone else in the world is way more fit, fast, and furious than I could ever hope to be, I should just start to feel comfortable and confident that I can pull this off.  


Here are my run stats for today's lone run:
Ran for a total time of 1:03:59 for a total of 11.65km with an average pace of 5:30min/km.

Me, the Moron!

Over and out, 
Joy

The Training Tango

Step together, back...step together, back...

Joy here...While these could be dance step directions, in fact they more accurately represent what my training has felt like this past week.  You know the saying "two steps forward, one step back"???  Well, that's just how I feel.  After taking such a beautiful autumn bike ride on Sunday, here's what the rest of the week has looked like:

Monday - Rest day:  feeling sick, busy, and lazy, I opted to take Monday as a rest day (even though it SHOULD have been a long run to make up for my aborted long run on Saturday).

Tuesday - Easy peasy run:  The Man and I ran with another friend of ours for an easy run, chit-chatting the whole way, and generally not taxing ourselves.  Our run stats for Tuesday are:

Ran for a total time of 53:00:01 for a total of 9km for an average pace of 5:58min/km

Wednesday - Rest day:  I'm sure that I have a really good reason for missing Wednesday's workout (even though the missed long run is still hanging over my head), but whatever that reason is, it's escaped my attention at the moment.

Thursday - Easy peasy run:  I pulled my sorry butt out out onto the canal path for a run, even though I was pressed for time and motivation.  Here are my run stats for Thursday:

Ran for a total time of 50:22:18 for a total of 9.25km for an average pace of 5:27min/km

Friday - ?????:  Today The Man has gone for a bike ride, and I've opted not to join him with the plan being that I need to get out the door and do another run in order to make next weekend's 1/2 marathon a beautiful dance of speed, agility, and fitness rather than an awkward junior high student's two-step.

Over and out,

Joy

Bike Ride with a View...Part Trois!

Joy here...After my dismal digestive disaster of yesterday's running fiasco, I was up bright and early for a bike ride in the local park.  I hadn't done the loop of the park in nearly a month, but a friend of mine who I lured out on this ride once before was game to do it once again, so I figured if I failed at running, maybe I'd be better on the bike.  And what I discovered was that the world had been painted with such colours as to make any painter's canvass pale in comparison and to make my running woes seem silly and superficial.

When the world is coloured in shades of green and yellow, bronze and gold, red and orange, beneath an ever-brightening morning sky, who can think about her failures as a runner?

Imagine:  Nature paints the most beautiful scenery before you, putting colours together in combinations that would seem garish and out of place in any other setting, but that literally stun you when juxtaposed against a crisp, clear, autumn lake creating a liquid double of your world.  And when that happens, how can you focus on beating yourself up for what amount to little failures?

I tell you, I began to feel better and better as I rode, and as every corner in the road revealed more natural beauty.

October is really the most beautiful time of the year in this part of the world, and I sure hope that I can convince Nomi, her Man, and her Kid to make the trek out here one of these Octobers.  Just imagine running in these kinds of settings, Nomi!

The pictures really can't do justice to the display of colours surrounding this azure lake:  the vibrancy of the leaves and the white of the clouds that began to blow away as our ride progressed.

My riding partner and I couldn't help ourselves.  We had to stop and take photos of the lovely autumn colours, and we weren't alone.  Usually this park is closed to vehicular traffic on Sunday mornings so that cyclists can use the roads until 11am without worrying about cars.  But at this time of the year, it's open to car traffic simply because everyone else wants to get into the park and start snapping shots of the lovely colours in the hopes of taking a little bit of Autumn home with them.

So we rode on, ignoring the burn in our muscles and ignoring the chill of the fall air, feeling invigorated by being out in nature while she was putting on one of her finest shows for us.  I mean, when a lady gets all dressed up like that, it's only polite to sit up and take notice, right?  It's only the proper thing to take photos of her in her finery and appreciate her beauty, right?  Well, we did just that.    And before we knew it, we had made it up to the top of the climb to the lookout to stare out over the valley where the St. Laurent flats meet the jut of rock that makes up one of the edges of the great shelf of granite known as the Canadian Shield.

Here are a few pictures from our view up at the top of the lookout from the same place that I've posted pictures at a few other times this year (part une and part deux):

And here are our matching bikes:

Yay Team Opus!!!

I hope you've enjoyed this little photo tour of my bike ride today.  And I hope that you've felt as uplifted by seeing the photos of the natural beauty as I happened to feel by seeing the real thing.  There are just no words to explain how a few hours out in natural beauty can make you feel that all is right with the world.

Today's moment of cheeziness brought to you by Canadiana in Autumn.

Over and out,

Joy

This Week's Running = Fail!

Joy here...So after pulling my sick self out of bed for a 3km run in the rain on Thursday, I figured I had turned a corner with both my illness and its deleterious effect on my running motivation.  Yeah, well I was wrong with such a thought.  Although I was able to pull off a relatively decent "easy" run on Friday, Saturday's "long" run was a resounding fail.  On Friday at least it wasn't raining, so I pulled on my shorts headed out into the bright blue sky with the crisp fall colours...

...and I took it nice and easy.  My run stats for Friday are:
Ran a total of 51:02:85 for a total distance of 9km flat with an average pace of 5:40min/km and average heart rate of 142 beats per minute.

So that's pretty reasonable.  I had no reason to know that Saturday's scheduled "long" run would turn out to be a big, fat failure.  First things first, we woke up on Saturday, had a nice, big breakfast to fuel us up for our long run, and then we went to the local sports store so that I could buy some winter-wear gear for Sunday's bike ride.  With the weather network hinting at frost warnings, I didn't want to take any chances.  Now it was while on the hunt for gear that things started to fall off the rails.  We had a super nice, super helpful, and super knowledgeable sales guy.  Which means, of course, that we didn't just end up buying me booties to wear over my cycling shoes (as planned), although we did get those.  It means that we also got running tights, a new hydration belt, some new shoes, and some nutrition.  It also means that we were at the store for much longer than we had originally planned on being there.  Now, follow me for a moment, we then left the store later than planned and decided that instead of going home to eat lunch immediately, we had time to go for a drive to look at houses (um, kinda because the sales guy was so good he had practically convinced us to buy his house; if you can explain this to me, I'd appreciate it, because when I try to reconstruct our rationale after the fact, I can't really pull it off).  Because what happened is that we drove

around looking at the beautiful fall colours and houses that we can't afford to buy, until it was so long past our lunch time that we were both ready to eat a small child (okay, maybe even a medium-sized child).  We had lost all good sense and drove ourselves to the closest pub and ordered greasy food with fries.  Granted that food tasted damn good going down, but did nothing for our planned run.  We were full and lethargic by the time we got back home, and even after having a post-greasy-lunch-nap, we still felt terrible.  But we dutifully headed out the door into the setting sun to pull off our "long" run for the week. And, I have to admit it:  I bailed.  Approximately 6kms into the run, my stomach was so distended with the mass of undigested unhealthy food that I looked like a pregnant lady.  And not only was this distended stomach uncomfortable (which it was), but it was also incredibly painful!  It felt like a slash of hurt right along my abdomen, and I just couldn't keep running.  So I passed the trusty Garmin on to The Man so that he could keep running, and I began to walk myself home.  Part way back home I was cold enough that I jogged just a bit, until the tummy troubles made me walk some more, but I made it home safe and sound, and felt much better when I had changed into my sweat pants and admitted that a greasy grilled sandwich + fries = failed run.  Needless to say, dinner consisted of a plate of fruit in an attempt to clear out the system.

I'm going to try to make up for that lost "long" run on Tuesday...NO FRIES FOR ME!

Over and out,
Joy

Quick, Sick Run

Joy here...After taking Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off running because I was sick, I told myself that no matter what happened on Thursday, I would be out the door with my running shoes on.  As luck would have it, I was still feeling sick - coughing, stuffed nose, and scratchy throat - and to make matters worse, it was POURING rain.  Apparently the tail end of tropical storm Nicole was raging through my town, and so it was a cold, wet, rainy autumn day, and I was sick.  But I just could NOT take yet another day off and end up sabotaging all my months of training.  In part it was psychological and in part physiological:  Psychologically I knew that if I took yet another "sick day" then I would be on the slippery slope to laziness just as the last two weeks of training before the 1/2 marathon approach and Physiologically I knew that just getting out and turning my legs would be good for me.  So I let most of the day pass before I literally pulled myself out the door and into the rain for a short, little run around my neighbourhood.  It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

My run stats for my sickie-poo run were:
Ran for a total of 16:01:51 for a distance of 3.05km at an average pace of 5:15km/min.

Today the sun is out and I'm hoping for a better, longer, and easier run, but at least I won't be convincing myself to just take another day off!

Over and out,
Joy