A Slice of Reality

Joy here...On October 17, 2010 I ran my very first ever half marathon, and I ran those 21kms in around 1 hour and 50 minutes.  This weekend, on January 29, 2011 my long run was also around 1 hour and 50 minutes.  So I have a pretty direct comparison between the end of October and the end of January, a mere 3 months later.

Me finishing my 1/2 marathon in 1:49:47.

Here are some of my thoughts from that Saturday's run, my first 110 minute run since the half marathon:
-30 minutes in:  Oh my god, I'm not even 1/3 of the way yet.
-40 minutes in:  Oh look, pretty snowflakes.
-50 minutes in:  When I reach that bridge I'm going to stop and eat something before I die.
-60 minutes in:  Chomp, chomp, chomp...mmm cold, GU.
-70 minutes in:  If this was Tuesday's run, I'd be stopping now.
-80 minutes in:  Get outta my way with your stupid dog!
-90 minutes in:  OMG...huff, huff...if this were my 30km race, I'd only be halfway done.
-100 minutes in:  Okay, I'll do another five minutes and then turnaround and aim for home.
-110 minutes in:  I think I have arthritis in my hip.  Hobble, hobble.

It was a long, tough slog.  My husband is sick with H1N3 (some new variation of H1N1), so while he was at home under covers on the couch, I was out there proving that I'm not as fast or as fit as I was in October.  Yay.  Lucky me.  Great.

Here are my workout stats since Tuesday's run:
Wednesday:  REST DAY (read:  I was too lazy to get out the door)
Thursday:  Spinning Class:  Rode for 55:10:56 with an average heart rate of 137 beats/min.
Friday:  REST DAY (read:  I was nursing the sick hubby)
Saturday:  Ran for a total of 1:50:29 for a distance of 17.72km with an average pace of 6:14min/km.

So that's a whole min/km slower than in October and a good three-ish kilometres shorter overall.  If anyone tries to tell you that once you've run a half marathon (or a marathon, or a 10km or whatever) that you will just somehow magically retain that fitness, they're crazy!  It takes a lot of hard work and a lot of training to keep in shape, and back when I did that half marathon, I didn't even feel all that fit, fast, or in shape.  I guess perspective is everything.

Over and out,
Joy

When water turns to ice...

Joy here...While Sunday was supposed to be an indoor bike riding day for me, it, like the previous Sundays, turned into a rest day.  You see what happens is that my husband's cycling buddy comes over on Sunday mornings and the two of them put their bikes on our trainers, and they ride with each other, doing drills and watching cycling DVDs.  It's like man-bonding time.  While I'm invited to join them, I don't really want to intrude.  I tell myself "I'll just ride later" or "I'll take Sunday as a rest day and ride on Monday," neither of which has happened so far.  Instead, I just end up taking Sunday and Monday as two rest days right in a row, which makes Tuesday's 75 minute planned run that much harder to be motivated for.

This Tuesday was no different.

My water bottle carrier that
sits right in the small of my back.

It was cold and The Man is sick, so I'd be running alone or not at all.  Eventually, before the sun set, I pulled myself together, filled up my camelbak water bottle and put it its little holster and headed out the door.

As soon as I started running, I was regretting it.  About 2 minutes into the run I felt like quitting; then about 12 minutes into the run I felt like quitting; by the 28 minute mark I still didn't feel any better.  I was cold; my legs were tired, and more to the point, my little voice was telling me that I shouldn't be running, and that I should just sit back and take it easy.  I would have been too embarrassed to return home so quickly, so I kept going in an outward direction for 40 minutes, forcing myself every step of the way.  It's just that I knew that I had run for an hour and forty minutes on Saturday, so how could I NOT run for a decent distance on Tuesday?  It just didn't make sense.  I knew I could do it.  But knowing you can do something and feeling you can do something are two different things.  While I may have known that I could keep on runnin', I sure didn't feel like I could.

giant snowbank

But it was so cold, that I knew if I stopped running and started walking it would be worse, so I was kind of trapped.  It was like that proverbial rock and hard place.  I could keep running (yuck) or I could walk (and freeze).  So I just kept on running.  And then I reached into my holster to pull out my water bottle and have a nice, decent swig of water, only to be met with...nothing. I could feel the water swishing in the bottle, but nothing came out.  I tried to poke and prod the spout with my be-mittned hands and discovered that the entire spout was frozen solid with a coating of ice.  Darnit.

artsy fartsy tree branch pic

So I tried to take the entire lid off.  Not an easy thing to do when it's frozen.  But I prevailed against the tricky little bottle, and finally got it open.  And then I held it up to my lips while the condensation billowed around my open mouth, only to drink water that had floaty ice chunks in it - more like a slushy than a bottle of water.

That should give you a sense of what the weather is like:  If water carried right against the small of your back, soaking up all your core body's temperature, still turns to slush, then you know that it's darn cold!

poor, little plant
see you in the spring time!

After swilling some slushy ice water, I kept on going.  I reached one turn-off point that would take me back home, but I was only at about the 60 minute mark.  Now don't get my wrong, 60 minutes is a decent run, and I would have been happy to head home.  In fact, my feet turned me in that direction and crossed the street leading me home.  But then, suddenly, I was able to "mind over matter" myself and keep going to the next bridge and next turn off to my house, knowing that I'd be adding on another 15 minutes to my run.  I don't know how I did it, but those last 15 minutes actually started to feel good.  Finally I began to feel like my stride was getting loose and long, and finally I began to feel like I could just keep on running and running and running and not have to stop.  Of course, I'm sure the fact that I knew I was on the home stretch had something to do with it, but I also think that the fact that I used my will to overcome my body's natural inclination also played a part.

At least that's what I'm telling myself.

So here are Tuesday's lonely, cold run stats:
Ran for a total of 1:17:12 for a distance of 12.42km with an average pace of 6:13min/km.

And to be honest, I just couldn't be happier.

Over and out,
Joy

-17 C and 17 kms

Joy here...Saturday morning arrived bright and crisp.  And when I say "crisp," I mean crrriiiisssppp!  The sun was bright and the sky was blue and the temperature was just around -17 C.  The wind was blowing and it was DAMN COLD.  But knowing that Sunday would be -25 C (and -39 C if you count the windchill factor), we knew that we'd rather be running in -17 C than -25 C so escaping Saturday's long run was just not an option.  I mean, even if I end up skipping/substituting other runs and workouts, I really can't afford to miss these weekly long runs, because those are the ones that will help me build up my endurance for the 30km running race at the end of March.  So we bundled ourselves up, laced up our shoes, charged up the Garmin, and out the door we went.

The Mighty Running Ninja!

It was painful.

It was cold.

It was uncomfortable.

It was windy.

But we triumphed.

We planned to run for 100 minutes (building 10 more minutes on our previous 90 minute long run), so that's a run out there in those conditions for nearly 2 hours.  We each had one GU at the 50 minute mark, and I was in charge of carrying the water.  And despite the discomfort due to the ferocity of the weather,* we had a pretty good run.  We talked, whinged, complained, and generally took the time to reconnect as husband and wife out there under the bright winter sky.  And, most importantly, we were able to check off that long run on the week's list of planned workouts.

Positive Outlook Ninja!

I also decided that instead of feeling bad about all the workouts I miss or all the goals that I set and somehow fall short of, I need to focus on the successes that I do have.  It's just a simple thing, but I think it's an important thing.

Running - for me, for Nomi, for The Man, for our friends (like Lulu and AK) - is not just about getting out there and jogging, but it's also about making certain lifestyle choices and commitments.  Those can be anything from being healthier to being thinner to making time for oneself to reaching one's goals to having fun.  And I'm going to add to that list using running as a way to force myself to have a positive outlook on the world.

The connection between running and one's attitude has been documented by lots of people (think about the famed "runner's high"), and I just need to tap into that positivity and not be down on myself.  Yeah, sure, I missed some planned runs this week, but I also pulled off an hour and forty minute run in the freakin' cold, when last year at this time, I'd be lucky to pull off a forty minute run on a treadmill once a week.  It's really all about perspective, and I've gotta keep mine positive!

So here are my run stats for Saturday's long, cold run:
Ran for a total of 1:43:03 for a distance of 16.63km with an average pace of 6:12min/km.

Over and out,
Joy

*This is a quotation from one of our friends who was sitting in his office at the local university waiting for a student to show up for an appointment who opened his email to read a message from the student:  "Due to the ferocity of the weather, I cannot make my appointment."  Of course, our friend, the professor, had to battle that same weather's ferocity to get there, but I guess the weather is more ferocious when you're an undergrad than when you're a professor.

They Call it Cross Training

Joy here...So Thursday was supposed to be another double double day, with spinning class in the morning, and then a run in the afternoon.  Life got in the way of the run, so I had to settle with just the spinning class as my one and only workout on Thursday.  All of this means that after taking a week off running last week, so far I've only run once this week!  With the 30km running race that I've signed up for only about 9 weeks away I am a bit worried.  I figure that even with missed workouts and a sloppy running track record, I can still probably run the 30kms without having a heart attack and dying.  I'll just have to moderate my efforts, keep my ego in check, and run a very conservative race.  If I can finish in around 3 hours, I'll be happy.  To put it in perspective, the top 10 women runners of this race last year finished in 2:00:32 to 1:48:59.  I will be a good hour and change slower than these runners.  And you know what?  That's fine by me.  Since taking up running last year and starting this blog with Nomi, one of the most important things about sport that I've realized is being both ambitious and realistic simultaneously.  This might seem like an oxymoron, but I think that balance is key.  I set the 30km running race as my ambitious goal to get me through the winter without allowing myself to become complacent and just run another 10km, but I've had to adjust my ambitions when it comes to how that race will be run.  Now I just want to finish it.  That's it.

Unlike my half marathon training where I tried to do some tempo runs and hill repeats to build speed and strength (even just a little bit of both), this time around, I won't have the time or energy for anything like that.  I'm just working on building some nice, slow endurance.

With respect to cycling as a cross training exercise for runners, one website gives the following advice:

"Cycling exercises related muscle groups such as the quadriceps and shins, both of which don't develop as rapidly as the calf muscles and hamstrings. Cycling also strengthens the connective tissue of the knee, hip, and ankle regions, thus reducing the risk of injury."

Thursday morning torture device

Here are my ride stats from this Thursday's class:

Rode for a total of 57:24:56 with an average heart rate of 140beats/min.  

So if these Thursday morning cross training sessions can help me build muscle strength AND help prevent that niggling knee pain that plagues both me and Nomi every now and then, then those are just extra bonuses.  

But it's a 30km RUNNING race, so I better also get out there running too.

Over and out,
Joy

Climb Right Over those Fears

Joy here...After blaming last week's no run week on every excuse in the book, including SAD (not unheard of at this time of the year, trust me), I've just decided to chalk that up to an off-week and not beat myself up over it.  During the summer's training for the first ever half marathon, I sort of realized that my rhythm was kind of a 3 weeks "on" followed by 1 week "off," which basically meant that I was able to pull of most (sometimes even all) of my planned workouts for my "on" weeks, and I generally just had easy runs for my "off" week.  Maybe last week was just my "off" week a bit early.  Maybe in the winter I'l be on a 2 week "on" and 1 week "off" schedule!  Who knows?

What I do know is that I tried rock climbing for the very first time in my entire life last night.  To be clear, I've never even been to a climbing gym; I've never watched rock climbing on TV; and I really didn't know the first thing about it.  But I figured that in order to get through this winter without succumbing to those SAD blues and without feeling like our life has turned into some sort of movie in constant replay where we do the same thing day in, day out, we decided to try something new.  And climbing it is.

The Man scaling the wall!

I should also mention that The Man is terribly afraid of heights.  It's one of those phobias that he wishes he didn't have, but wishing something would be so, doesn't always make it so.  Instead, he's figured he just needs to get out there and conquer his fears, and to his credit, he was up there scaling walls, despite cold sweats and shaking fingers!

In fact, I think every now and then it's a good thing for us to get out there and do something that scares us.  Back when I was 19 I got a tattoo; my tattoo symbolizes three things for me:  fear, fire, and water.  I like to think of these three things as being both ultimately destructive AND creative.  I mean, we can't live without fire, but too much of it will burn us to cinders.  Similarly, we die if we're without water for 48 hours, but if we have too much, we'll be swept away in a flood.  On the same vein, without fear we'd do stupid things like run into oncoming traffic, but if we learn to work through our fears, to conquer them, then we can truly transcend the mundane and become something just a little more, a little better, than we thought we could be.

So hats off to my husband for facing some of his fears last night by clinging to the wall like Spiderman, and I will try to continue to face my own fears - my fears of failure - as I begin to learn that this running journey of mine (and of Nomi's and all our other friends - like AK and Lulu - running their own races) is about so much more than just putting one foot in front of the other again and again.

Over and out,
Joy

Dust Yourself Off and Get Back Up...

Internal Pep Rally

Joy here...So after taking a break from running for over a week, I felt myself backsliding.  You see, with running, there's this kind of tipping point.  When you first start running all you can do is come up with a million and one excuses to avoid going for a run.  Granted, once you get out there and are moving, the run isn't so bad, but beforehand it's like you have to have your own private pep rally just to get out the door.  Then once you're about a month into a running routine those pre-run pep talks are less and less necessary.  However, if you backslide and find yourself getting behind on your runs, then you'll be right back where you started:  pep rally central.  That's exactly how far back I had fallen this week.  The week before last I was feeling high and great - doing back-to-back workouts and hammering out all my runs - and then last week I did nothing, so this week when I knew that I had to get out the door on Tuesday, I had a million and one excuses that I had to overcome just to get out there.

But get out the door I finally did.  Tuesdays are scheduled as 75 minute runs, so whether I liked it or not, I was gonna be out there for 75 minutes.  It didn't matter that as we ran the falling snow turned to freezing rain - little pellets of ice poking into my eyes with every step - and it didn't matter that the snow was slippery - like wet concrete laid over a layer of ice.  My legs felt heavy, and it was a tough run, never really hitting my stride or finding a groove.  But at least I picked myself up after my week off; I dusted myself off; and I got back out there such as it were.

What a way to commute!

While some people were out skating on the canal, we were on the snow ploughed paths just trying to put one foot in front of the other.

Here are my run stats:
Ran for a total of 1:16:39 for a distance of 12.18km with an average pace of 6:17min/km.

And while that's neither the furthest nor fastest that I've ever run, at least I got out there for the time as scheduled on my little plan, and I'm happy with that small victory.

Tonight I'm trying rock climbing (indoors, of course), for the very first time.  Let's just hope I don't fall and break both my legs, because that would seriously put a damper on my running!

Over and out,
Joy

A Week Off Running! Gasp!

Joy here...Last weekend was my last long run, and in the intervening week between then and now, I seem to have fallen off the running wagon.  I'm sure I have a number of really good excuses ranging from the absolutely frigid weather to house guests to general laziness that would justify my lapse, but I just can't think of those reasons right now.  Somehow Monday came as a rest day, and then Tuesday was also a rest day, and then, um, Wednesday was, well, a rest day...and so on.  All I can say is that at least I got on my bike indoors a few times so that hopefully the next time I face the out of doors with my shoes laced up I won't be suffering from some kind of muscle atrophy.

While I wish I could give run stats for this past week, I'll have to settle for ride stats, as that's all I have to show for a cold, cold Ottawa week when my running shoes stayed right where I left them last weekend, inside on the mat.

Here are my ride stats for the last week:
Wednesday - easy 40 minute ride on the bike in the basement
Thursday - 60 minute spinning class:  avg heart rate 139 beats/min for a total calories burned of 450
Saturday - 55 minute ride on the bike in the basement:  avg heart rate 130 beats/min for a total calories burned of 350

I'm not sure to what extent those stats matter, but since I use this blog as a way to be accountable to myself and to Nomi, I figure I might as well put down the stats, and then if I improve (hope, hope, hope) I'll be able to gauge my progress.  And in the chance that I don't improve, at least I'll be able to scold myself for being super lazy.

Speaking of being lazy, I have a feeling that I won't be going out to run today either.  Right now the temperature is -21 C.  It's a bright, clear, sunny day, but it's FREAKIN' COLD, so I think I'll just stay indoors and hope that I can get my lazy butt up on the bike.

Over and out,
Joy