Abort! Abort!

Joy here...Well after throwing my proverbial hat over the fence and signing up both for the 30km running race in Hamilton at the end of March AND the half marathon in Singapore at the end of May, I went out today for an easy run.  But before I even got out the door, I had a stitch in my side, and as I ran it got worse and worse.  It started to spread to my left side and then it started to radiate pain up into my collar bones.  

The icy waters with the birds that still haven't fled south yet.

Clearly, I was in trouble.  I thought I could just soldier on through.  The weather was only about -2 C, so I figured I could have a decent-ish run even with the discomfort.  But after about 3 kms, I figured that it wasn't getting any better, and I might as well admit defeat.

For today.

I may have lost this battle, but with those races in the spring all paid for, you can be damn sure that I'm going to win this war!!

Here are my sad run stats for today:
Ran for a total of 20:01:23 for a distance of 3.2km at a slow, slow average pace of 6:15min/km.

Over and out,
Joy

Winter has descended upon us...

Joy here...For people who have never experienced autumn's transition from balmy summer to freezing winter, I think that there can be a tendency to believe that autumn trundles forward with ever decreasing temperatures until summer is a distant memory and we are all acclimatized to the coming of winter.  I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that's just not the case.

The snowy arboretum.

Autumn is a schizophrenic season, one that sometimes thinks its summer, sometimes thinks its winter, and sometimes acknowledges that it should be a temperate buffer season.  And so those of us who suffer through this season must also suffer through its wild mood swings.  Sometimes the day will be -10 C with a wind charging straight at you from the Arctic Circle, and sometimes the day will be +10 C with a clear blue sky and a warm sun overhead.  Autumn is like this - swinging from day to day between different extremes.  And so, for those of us living through it, we never really get used to the transition; we tend to think that we're still holding on to the tail ends of summer, or at least the tail ends of some kind of autumn season, when, in fact, we are plunked right into the middle of winter without barely any warning.

The semi-frozen lake nearby...

And so, with this last week of November as our "off season" before we begin full-on training for our next races (a 30km one in March, another half marathon in May, and a full marathon in the fall!), we have suffered the vagaries of this changeable season.

...a close-up of the ice chunks.

We've been trying to run in an unscheduled way that just gets our butts out the door, but let me tell you, as the wind howls, it's harder to be motivated than you might think.  While Nomi is still running in the hot, humid temperatures in Malaysia, worried about how to keep hydrated as she sweats, I'm now realizing that my concerns have to do with what kinds of winter-weight tights I can wear and what sorts of mittens will prevent the tips of my fingers from freezing as I run.  It's a whole new world out there...believe you me.

Nonetheless, Nomi and I have committed to running a half marathon together this year.  The Man and I will be heading to Malaysia in May, and he, Nomi, and I (and maybe Lulu too) will run a half marathon at the end of May.  I'm really excited about this prospect, as Nomi and I motivated each other to run our first 10km together, and now we'll get a chance to run 21kms together.  Neither of us ever thought any of that would be possible.

Our canal path...look at the snow!

So as we try to take it "easy" this week, we know that we've got some lofty running goals set up for us on the other side of winter.  We're all planning for spring, summer, and fall 2011 to open up all new terrain for us in terms of our running.  It's exciting, but it's also nerve-wracking, especially when I'm looking down the barrel of a long, cold Canadian winter.

But enough of my complaining, here are my run stats for this week:
Sunday - see previous post
Monday - rest day
Tuesday - Ran for 1:06:39 for a distance of 11.6km with an average pace of 5:45min/km
Wednesday - Ran for 1:01:23 for a distance of 11.15km with an average pace of 5:30min/km
Thursday - rest day (or rather, go-out-to-the-wine-bar-day)
Friday - rest day
Saturday - Ran for 1:21:21 for a distance of 13.87km with an average pace of 5:52min/km.

The view down the frozen canal to the Canadian
Parliament buildings.

Our "off-season" ends this week, and we'll have to figure out what our plan is so that we'll be ready to take on the world once the snow melts.  But somehow between now and then, I have a feeling that there's a whole lotta cold still to be suffered through!

While Lulu's half marathon is still coming up, and both she and Nomi will continue to run in the heat and humidity, longing for a cool breeze, my butt will freeze as autumn really does turn into winter in earnest.  I will accept the fact that it's no longer teasing me with cold days and cold winds, still allowing me to hold onto the hope that winter isn't really, truly here, but that winter has arrived, plunked itself down on the doorstep and is settling in for a good, long time.  All I can do now is work to make my peace with it.

And I better learn to do that sooner rather than later, because I don't want to find myself where I was last year at this time - out of shape and bursting out of my pants after post-Christmas eating!

Joy in action!

The Man in action!

Over and out,

Joy

Throwing My Hat Over the Fence

Joy here...My husband has this saying - "throwing your hat over the fence" - which means that you're just gonna do something.  To take the metaphor to its fullest, if you throw your hat over the fence, it means that you're committed; you HAVE to go over and get it, whether you like it or not.  I'm less clever with my sayings, and I express the same sentiment by saying "grip it and rip it."

So I've thrown my hat over the fence, and I've gripped it and ripped it.  I've signed up for a 30km running race on March 27, 2011.  I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into.  But I figure I never thought I could ever run a half marathon, and with Nomi's courage, the two of us were able to pull that off, so now let's just see if I can pull off 30kms!

Over and out,
Joy

Well...that wasn't too bad...i think i'll do another....

 Nomi says,

So...the half marathon came and went...

It was held on a bridge connecting the mainland and one of the islands...so my run started at 3.15 in the morning. Which means i had about 1- 11/2 hours sleep in total prior to the run. I had coffee and an energy bar prior to it. And decided to lug my camelbak with 1.5L fluids in it, since i didn't quite know how hot and humid it would be. I knew that there would be water throughout the course of the race, but not many stops with energy drinks.

As most major runs are, the atmosphere was festive. It was dead in the morning, and i think that there were many runners who came the night before and just camped out there.  The area was littered with thousands of runners with color coded T shirts, the color depending on the distance they were running. Some were bouncing on their feet, some just plain wiggling, some stretching,  some sleeping on the grassy areas....it was a community of people with a single purpose..to finish the race in decent time, and hopefully in an upright position. I must say though that i was one of the very, very few with a camelbak strapped on my back. Most didn't carry any fluids and some had small water bottles....hmmmm......
And then the gun went off...and the runners in my category rushed into the streets to head for the bridge. The weather was hot and humid. The air was absolutely still, despite the race site being right next to the sea.I was sweating buckets...right from the beginning of the race. Heat was radiating in waves from the asphalt that had been baking in the sun, the whole day. So i trudged on, thankful for the bountiful fluids that i had. Then i saw lightning streaking across the sky.....not a very comforting sight, i might add. After about 5kms, some runners had started to slow down, and some were walking....Flashes of lightning raced across the sky quite regularly..and finally at 12kms into the race...it started pouring cats, dogs and frogs. But it was a blessed relief from the heat. Everything cooled down and despite water beating into my eyes, not being able to see beyond a few feet in front, and being drenched from head to foot..it was absolutely wonderful!!!!!! A lot of runners stopped to walk, and i guess there must have been accidents, cause i heard the ambulance passing quite a number of times. The downside, was the shoes got soaked in water, and became quite heavy. Also, never run without a waterproof plastic bag, to keep your phone in , in case of unexpected downpours.I guess i must have been runing at about a pace of 6 to 6.5mins/km. I also stopped to tie my laces twice, walked a bit cause my right knee hurt and to waterproof my phone....

The bridge was lighted up like a Christmas tree, like a beacon in the darkness. And it was not a flat bridge. There's this elevation right in the middle of it...it rises up to a peak, and there's a downhill...like a sharp triangle right in the middle of the bridge. It looked real scary from afar, but the elevation was so gradual, that it was quite manageable. It rained all the way till i finished my run. By 18kms, everything pretty much hurt. I was contemplating slurping a power gel...but it was too troublesome stopping, and groping for my camelbak, getting the gel out...you know the drill.So i just ran without, and hoped to have enough energy to carry me to the finish line.
I finished in 2 hours 16 minutes, came 119 out of 1139 runners in the women's half marathon and 79 out of i honestly don't know how many runners in my category. Most importantly it was fun This was the first time that I had run 21kms in my life. I enjoyed my self very much, and would do it again.......

Women rock!!!

Cold November Run

Joy here...Sunday came with a cold breeze getting ever cooler.  We knew that if we were going to run, we'd better do it sooner rather than later, because the weather wasn't going to warm up any time soon.  With temperatures hovering around 0 C and a windchill making it feel closer to -8 C we knew that we'd just have to bundle up, suck it up, and make the best of the run.  Add to that the fact that we've just bought our very first house and take possession of it in about a week, and I was away for the last week, and you can just imagine the mounting stress associated with all that needs doing that hasn't yet been done.  Once you've factored in the crappy Saturday run, the crummy weather, and the moving stress, you'll have a pretty clear idea of my emotional state on Sunday morning.  So while I stomped around like a little grouch with steam literally huffing and puffing out of my ears, I forced myself out the door for a run.

And you know what?

It didn't suck.

Really.  It didn't.  Even though I'm still feeling a bit stiff and not quite as lithe as I did a month ago around the half marathon, as we continued on with the run, things started to click into place.  I wore a toque to cover my ears so that I wouldn't have to contend with the headache and ear ache that accompanies a cold November wind, and it did the trick.  By the end of the run, I was smiling and laughing, and we even ran past our new place to reinvigorate ourselves about our impending move and force ourselves to see it as a good and exciting thing rather than a pain in the butt that we will have to suffer through!

Our new house!  (We're on the left-hand side.)

So with a run under our belts and a stack of empty boxes just waiting to be filled, we can look on the last few days of November with excitement and enthusiasm rather than trepidation and stress.  At least I'll try!

Here are my run stats:
Ran for a total of 1:05:01 for a distance of 11.4km with an average pace of 5:42min/km.

Over and out,
Joy

PS - Still waiting with bated breath to hear the details of Nomi's half marathon.  I know her time, but I don't know how it all felt.  There's only so much you can find out through international text messaging when the husbands are doing the texting.

A Weak Week

Joy here...For the last week I was out of town for work (Nov. 12-19).  I wrapped up a number of work-related duties into a 7 day period which had me driving a lot and fitting a lot of socializing and working into a short period of time.  What this means for my running is, well, that I didn't do a whole heck of a lot of it.  I've written about the trials and tribulations of travelling and running, but it's worth it to take a moment to relate my tale of running woes from this past week.  On my first day out of town I was lucky enough to be staying over at a friend's house, and this friend is a runner, so she and I went for a nice, easy 5km run on Saturday morning.  However, after that, for the rest of the week, I didn't do any running at all.  Nilch.  Nada.

Which gets me to an interesting point, one of the reasons that I took up running in the first place (in addition to the fitness, health, and social benefits) is that it is the kind of sport that is easily transportable.  I mean, instead of needing to take one's whole team along every time one goes on a trip, all one needs is a pair of running shoes.  Instead of planning one's vacations based on where there's a lap pool, all one needs is a pair of running shoes.  No heavy equipment, bikes, or other paraphernalia needs to be accounted for, all one needs is a pair of running shoes.  You get my point.  However, I've now discovered that even if one has one's running shoes on hand, one little, extra bit of effort is necessary.  It's too easy to think "oh, I'll run whenever there's a break in my schedule," or "oh, I'll have time to run."  When, in fact, it's probably a whole lot more likely that you'll run if you actually take the time to put it into your schedule.  I should have planned to wake up earlier than my hosts so that I could run before breakfast and coffee.  Or I should have made firm plans to run with friends/colleagues while away.  Or I should have made sure that I was eating regularly so that if I did have an hour to myself I'd have enough energy to run.  There are so many shoulds that I won't list them all here.  Suffice it to say, I should have been a little more thorough in my plans to include running on this trip beyond throwing a pair of shoes in my car.  So the moral of this tale is that planning to run while travelling is only going to happen if there is, in fact, a plan to run, not an idea to run.  The two are not the same.

And I suspect that this is the same problem with running in general.  Until you've made running part of your weekly/daily routine, it will very easily fall by the wayside as things pile up and demand your attention.  At least that's how it was/is for me.

Now that I'm back home, I've decided that I have no more excuses, and I just have to get out there and run.  So even though I'd taken an unplanned week off running, and even though I was dead tired from driving for 5 hours to get back home, and even though I didn't feel like doing anything but curling up in bed, The Man and I bundled up to face the cold, November wind and go for a run.  Originally I thought we'd be out there for around 12kms, but HA!!!, that wasn't going to happen.  So we ran our regular, short loop around the canal, and everything hurt.  My shins, my collarbones, my knees, my quads, my arms, my shoulders, and even my ears!  But I just grit my teeth, resurrected my lamaze breathing to get through the discomfort, and kept on going.  All-in-all, we lasted just under 9kms, and I'll be getting my butt out the door again today.

Here are my run stats after a week of nothing:
Ran for a total of 52:33:60 for a distance of 8.81km with an average pace of 5:58min/km.

Over and out,
Joy

PS - Now I just have to sit tight and wait for Nomi's blog entry about her half marathon!  I won't spoil anything, but we text messaged her yesterday to find out how it went, and SHE'S AWESOME!  I'm so proud of her; she's such a talented runner.  But I (like all of you) will  have to wait for her entry to get the full details...

The Final Countdown........

Nomi says....

I think it's 4 days and a couple of hours left for my half marathon...

I haven't been training like crazy...just doing what I'm able to manage. Which is pretty much run if i feel like it, and not run if i don't. The weekend before last, I went running with Lulu's bootcamp buddies. It was a 11km hilly run. I think that some of her buddies are part human-part horse.They dashed off from the beginning of the run itself, in what must have been a pace of 4 or 4.5min/km...was lost from view in a matter of minutes and i only saw them again at the end of the run. But, it was a good run. The weather was cool, i got to see parts of the city i had never seen before....and the cool weather made such a difference to the stamina. I didn't have to drink a lot and didn't feel all that tired, despite having to run up a couple of hills.
Last Sunday, was my 1st ever 18km road run. I set off bright and early...didn't want to get baked in the hot, hot sun...and this was basically what happened:

Cool, drizzly day by the lake...

0kms: Started to drizzle...which was wonderful. The weather was cool and refreshing.
5kms: My right knee started to hurt a little....
10kms: My right knee hurt more and my right lower back started to ache, radiating down the right thigh to       the knee...
14kms: My left knee started to hurt...
16kms: Both my ankles hurt...
18kms: I think even my collarbones hurt at this point..Yay.....i was done. And i saw Lulu, doing her first 15km run...Helooooo Lulu!!!!!

It took me 1 hour and 58mins to run 18km at a pace of about 6 to 6.5min/km, with a few stops to take photos and buy drinks..I have no idea about my average pace, calories burnt or any other data..cause i still don't really know how to use my GPS watch.
But, at least i know that i have the stamina to complete 21km.Now, the pain is the factor which will determine whether i finish in 2 hours ++ or 3 hours++:) I remember Joy mailing me articles about  injuries and how to prevent them...and writing to me about her post run recovery methods. I remember another friend Peaches telling me to do strengthening exercises at the gym. Well, i sort of did do all that sporadically, but i guess it was not consistent enough.And Lulu doesn't hurt at all....wonder if i can borrow her knees for the upcoming race.....