A training run my sweet pineapple !!

So the buzzer is set to go off on my alarm clock for 4:43am this morning to get ready to meet the gals, Sandra Lalonde & Regina Pehr at the spirit catcher before heading off to Sunnybrook Park in TO for the Toronto Women's Only half marathon.
I woke up before the alarm. Meh.

The ladies were punctual and off we went to the Micky D's on the 400 to pick up Deb Watson. We were off as per my schedule by 6am.

We arrived at the Sony building across from the park with oodles of time - so we warmed up a bit, changed choose, grabbed water bottles & debated clothing. I had my BRR short sleeve shirt on & debated adding my jacket. Thank goodness I didn't. It was going to be a sweltering day by the end of the run.

Now the TO Women's Only isn't my favourite race only due to the course. I'm not a big fan of open courses & even less of a fan of running through parks. Especially through TO, damn they are deceptively hilly. I'm not good with hills right now. Not enough training, however; I digress.

Sandra had managed to snaffle a spot the day before as Karen had to back out. So it was this morning that I learned Sandra was going to run with me, I thought she was joking, but nope very serious. Her goal was to run about 6min pace. Which is okay...I suppose, if you are off the DL which I am not to date. I can run that for about 15 k but that's been my longest run & we walked the big hills.
So I was a bit worried - so I made it clear that Sandra could go her own way when required. I wouldn't hold her back.

I didn't have my Garmin on purpose, I just wanted to enjoy the run. I'd use the KM markers to take my brakes.
Sandra & I were in the 3rd & final wave of the race - at the very front, it was like we were elites!! LOL. Check out the website there should be some good piccies of us posing.
We had a great pace going, it didn't feel bad at all. I used my breathing as a measurement tool & it was all good. We were ahead of pace according to Sandra, but I have no clue.
The first 6k went really well. We didn't have a walk break til 6.5 ish. Then up hill. Blech. Not a fan.
Then by 10k it was getting stinking humid and my breathing was getting laboured. I'm not sure if I get anxious and cause the issues or the breathing difficulty causes the anxiety which increases the heaviness in my chest. But we had a quick walk break at the 10k mark. I was trying my utmost to relax myself, but I started piling on the pressure to keep up with Sandra. She runs 1:47 1/2 marathons. I do not. So I kept going to my dark place & that just did me in.

By the 14k mark I waved Sandra on as we rounded the next turn. I kept her in sight for another kilometer and then I needed a walk break and lost her.
The route was filled with puddles and ladies that felt the need to pussy foot through them, REALLY.. I just barrelled though the middle of them and through the water, enough of that silliness.

Over the bridge and up more hills & by 17k I had another walk break. And my ITB was singing a very unhappy tune. So I made the decision to walk when it started to twing. I did not want an all out pain to happen. So I did a lot of walking between the running from 18 - 20 k.
I ran through the firemen for the third time which, in my opinion is rather a non-event, but the other ladies seem to enjoy it. Almost as much as the firemen.
Then through the chocolate station at 19k - now this is more for me! But I only took one Cadbury's thin. Just the one. I was running with some walking. Then past the 20k mark & I was going to run - I could run 1 k.
Then as I got to the parking lot a woman was yelling " ONLY ONE MORE KILOMETER - THIS IS THE LAST KM..." My brain just shut down. I was ticking off the meters and the thought of having to run one more k - well, it just pissed me off. So either they have the mileage markers wrong or the lady is on crack... so I ended up walking across the parking lot & started running after I hit the trail again. I knew she was off her rocker - the finish line was just around the bend and through the over pass. Geezzz I wish people would just shut up if they don't know distance.

There was one little girl at the 9 k mark saying " Great work, you're almost there" ARE YOU EFFING JOKING ME??!!! We aren't even half way yet. *shakes head*
Here's your sign.

There are way too many turn arounds and loop backs and clover leafs on this course. I don't enjoy it really. The organization is tremendous & I wonder if they might thing about finding a different venue, however; with Rob Ford's current stance on races in Toronto, I can't see it happening. I don't mind it in parks, but close it the public for a few hours & is there anyway for there to be less turn arounds & doubling backs?
Just askin.

Another day in the woods ....

Ahhhh what a glorious day, I managed to hold my tongue at work & keep the folks down south happy. Could it get any better? Why yes it could!!! I'm a gunna go a trail running tonight! YAHHOO!!

Got home in great time, took the poepies for a "quick" walk came back, got changed and loaded Mika & all my water bottles etc in the car and arrived at the forest with a few minutes to spare.
The crew showed up - most of the usual folks. Sandra, Terry, Jen, Leslie, Lucille, Lorna, Glen, Kelly, Trish & a couple of dudes I did not know. One was Neil the Bastard & the other Alex. ( I think)

Mika was beside herself with glee; a run in the woods and time away from Kees. She was in her element, tear assing through the woods back and forth between the front of the pack and the back of the pack to make sure everyone was accounted for.

Then she settled in beside me or behind me for the run. It felt like I had wooden beams for legs. Though when Sandra asked me how I felt after Sunday's run I said I probably could have done a few more Km but happy with the result. " yeah yeah sure Joan, you say that now" ahahah.. that's true, but looking back I think I would have done okay tacking on 3 more. As long as it wasn't up hill. LOL.

So I managed to keep mid pack or the at least the back of the front of the back. Or front of the mid of the pack. LOL. Trish and I traded spots back & forth. A few more stops that I would have liked on occasion but we were waiting for the back packers. I know I appreciated the others waiting - so I know why it's being done. And I stay inthe middle so I don't get lost!! ahah

I felt my calf ache a lot, but by the 6k mark it had subsided enough that I didn't really notice it. Or perhaps I just got used to it? hmm.. At any rate by about 4k we hit the end of the first section and crossed over Nursery Rd to get to the "roller coaster" that's always a good test of strength. I had commented to Sandra I could really feel the lack of strength training during Sunday's run, but I'm not ready to tackle hill training as of yet. So running up and down the roller coaster was good practise. I even managed the last steep incline well. No stopping except for at the top.
Then out of the woods a K later and only 3 more to go. Sort. The trail back to the car park always feels shorter for some odd reason. I mean much shorter than 3 k. But in actuality it's the half way mark. We finished off at 9k last night. The second half i just love because we generally come across all the mountain bikers and get to stop more often but for briefer periods of time. Just enough for me to give Mika water from her water bottle. She drinks it as I squirt it to her mouth. She's a talented doggy!! That girlie was a running fool! She was great. Waited at the road when told, crossed when told. She's a sweet little girlie.

I think at one point we were running 5:53 pace. I mean seriously?? Gawd!! These are the trails people. STUMPS, ROOTS, STONES not a good combination with blonde, however; even though I found 3 stumps/rocks/roots I managed to stay upright.

We had one woman down within the first 2.5 k and luckily there was no serious injury, just some embarassment.

Got home and steamed up some asparagus from Barrie Hill Farms, made a Hollandaise sauce & a few fried mushrooms. Yummy... Missed the carbs but I had no desire to cook anthing more than I had.
I'll get some in me today! Promise.

Tonight - a quick run as Chelsea is getting her new puppy tonight.

The long weekend... *sighs*

Ahhhh it was so nice to know it was a long weekend. Mmmm.. I really needed it after the week I've had at work. I do need to start my meditation again, but I am NOT at peace with my offices in the USA. I'll get there. I know I will.

A little meditation, some chants for wisdom & compassion & I'm sure I'll be right as rain.

I hopped it to the RR as I was running a tad bit behind ( seems to be a trend doesn't it) Oh well.
I got there and I think there was less than a half a dozen folks there. Gave Angel her well deserved pat & a big old hug.
I grabbed a Gu and chugged that down as I did NOT eat properly on Saturday night. Not even close to properly. Sandra came in and was interested in running with me again. I was planning on doing about 15-16k but had no idea of a route. Angela C was all interested in coming out as well so Sandra was in charge of the route & it was determined we would head for the 5/6th side road and do some dipsydoodling from there.

We were sub 6min / km which I thought was a bit quick for me, but I muddled along. We turned on to the 1st line rather than stay on Ridge Road... drat...friggin hills. But that seems to be the way with Sandra & I - we are off on an adventure.
I had to walk that hill on the 1st Line I didn't think it would be wise to run it. Then out onto the 5/6th Back towards Barrie. We stopped to walk so we could enjoy the nesting Herons. It's truly amazing to see the nests in the trees and these huge birds on the edge of them. I was planning on going back in the evening but alas the fog I live in ... I forgot.

Then over to Johnson, onto Hickling, dispsy doodling all the way back towards the centre of town. We somehow ended up on Oak & we were at 14.5k YEAH... a few more dipsy doodles, onto Owen and i could see the barn door!!! We did 15.5 in 1:40 our best pace was 3:59 ahahaha I wonder what hill we were running down. Our ave pace was 6:27...

I was thinking as I got to the 10k mark that I'll never get the Womens Only Half done. Then when I got to the 13 K mark I was debating not even going at all & giving the space away. by the end of the run I was almost convinced that I should, I couldn't see me racing that with any confidence. Then I remembered that it was going to be just a run, I wasn't going to race it no matter what folks say. It's an open course in Sunnybrook park. I'll be dodging strollers, dogs and slow meandering folks. My time isn't going to be important, it's going to be doing the distance & not causing more injury.

My calf doesn't get any worse durning a run, I can feel my ITB tightening so I'm going to have to get a roller for that & a bit of ART to loosen up the tissue. Man that's going to hurt. Who's going to volunteer for that!?!?!?! ahahaha

Just the facts Ma'am, just the facts.

The fact was I had no interest in doing anything tonight. I had cramps that would buckle the knees of an elephant, so I sat and watched Sex and the City for half an hour rather than cycle. Then because Kevin was counting on me, I grabbed my swimming gear and headed out the door.

I was told I probably just need a good swim to get rid of the cramps - whatever, I'm not in any mood to agree with anyone other than Ms Cadbury's Fruit and Nut or her cousin Diary Milk. ppffftt

I knew they were right, I just had the motivation of a piece of driftwood.

I met up with Kevin it was going to be strictly distance - 100 m warm up. Then a ladder 200 - 250- 300 - 250 - 200 and a cool down of 100 m. No sprints as I had eaten a couple of table spoons of Peanut Butter around 5 & I knew as such as the grass will grow I'd be bringing it up if I did sprints.
I'm so friggin clarvoient!! 125 m into the 2nd 250m stretch I could feel it bubbling up. ACK!

Kevin was a little pooped from the swim - The worst part is I probably could have pushed myself to go a bit faster, Theo would have kicked my ass for being so slow. But don't tell him. Right now I'm just helping Kevin get to the distance he needs to be at for his race June 18th.
Next week we'll bump it up another 50m per "step" in the ladder.
I'll go do a bit of spinning and core work out first.

Promise.

:)

And then there were three

Ahhhhh so after much angst about getting home on time, as I had left work an hour late, I manged to find the best traffic on the roads for 420pm and got home almost at 6pm. I couln't get the dogs out for a walk before running so... they got a stretch outside in the back garden whilst I changed for running.

It was a bit muggy out so shorts were in order & a short sleeve. Donned on my compression sleeves and a pair of socks and off I went.

I didn't ride my bike as I wasn't fancying getting caught in the rain, so I got to the RR with little to no decision on my route. I really wish I could remember the full Industrial Run route - Sandra & I did some of it on Sunday on our way back. Maybe I'll drive it on Saturday and just mark down the names of the roads. yeah yeah that's the ticket!!

Trish showed up along with Fred since he is going to start running again. We quickly decided the Church run backwards was okay. I hate Fred a lot. He ran the 6 k with out breaking a sweat and he's been off running for 2 years! Ooooohhhh..gggrrr..

It was a rather uneventful run - Trish was strong, Fred well I'm not talking about him ... I've said my peice in the above paragraph I can say though, I did tell him how much I hated him. He was at peace with that. AHAHA.

We ended up taking longer last night than last weeks run. I put it down the longer walk breaks we had. That's the only reason because our pace never fell below 6:02 when we were actually running. Most of the time it was sub 6 mins.

I'm also trying to still figure out how to train my lungs to breath at fast paces. I just can't seem to figure that one out folks. It's not sressing me out, but it is causing me some moments of distrubed pondering. The Respericare that I have is something that I should be able to take & it work immediately one doesn't have to take it accumulatively. But a lot I think is the fact that I'm a bit too tense still, I really need to relax more.

hmmmm... how to do that? Focus more on the breath like with my yoga? I'll work on that kids & get back to you.

The compression sleeves helped keeping the pain at bay. The run felt good that's for sure. However; I didn't ice my leg as per my usual routine, I walked the dogs when I got home from running as it was still dry & it was still light out. They are so funny those two. I hid on them behind a tree & Kees panics. He couldn't find me & I was down wind. Poor little sod!! Mummy was teasing him. Mika figured it out and turned around to sniff out a better object of interest. ahahah.


P.S Have a great Wedding Day Katie!!! All my best! xox.

Some things just don't work out

I managed to get out of work at a decent time - got home at 5, lots of time to get changed & get the dogs ready to go to the trails.
I pulled in the drive way & noticed my neighbour had cut my front lawn.
He was out so I thanked Dave for doing that. See my lawn mower is in dire need of having the blade sharpened. It's duller than Stanley Kubrick movie.

I tried to remove the blade last night but my wrenches were either to big or too small. Dang nabbit. So this was a treat, the dandelions were starting to annoy me.
I asked to borrow a wrench & after a few unsuccessful tries found the one that fit, a 3/4 wrench. Dave took off the blade & started grinding it with his grinder. It wasn't the worlds best job but hey it was sharper than it was 10 minutes earlier.

With that I looked at the sky & decided that chores around the house were far more important than going to the trails. Sad but true.
The rain wasn't going to hold off forever and if the grass got any longer in the back yard I'd have too weed whip it like I did a few times last year. That was not fun.
So between cutting the grass, I was on doggie do do patrol as well. I turned the mowing into a core work out as best as I could, it kind of helped sooth the fact that I was missing my run. Not a lot... but a weeeeee teeny tiny itty bitty bit.

And another great thing I was able to plug the electrical cord into the outlet on the back deck. Jim D had come over several months ago and helped me figure out what the heck I had done to my wiring to make a few of my outlets non-functioning. Who knew that extra wire attached to the wrong point would make the light switch turn all the plugs on & off... who knew? NOT ME!! Any way it was a good laugh for Jim & I & all his electrian buddies no doubt.

The grass in the back is now at a respectable height. I got my weed pully thingy out as well and started to pull the major dandelions that had sprung from out of nowhere back there. I'm not happy. I'm going to let them grow a tad & then get my "haakje" that I inherted from my dad & hack them out of the ground.

This weekend I'll have to clean the "dog pond" out for Kees. He's dying to have his wading pool cleaned with fresh water in it I'm sure. Spoiled dog. It's supposed to be for me to have a nice little fish pond. Not a pool for a pooch. ACK.

A BBBIIIGGGG Post

Seems I've missed a day or two, so ya'll be reading a bit of everything:

Thursday - Swimming. I decided to pass on the cycling because I was behind the 8 ball. Traffic coming back from work was stupid busy so by the time I got home, walked the dogs & tidied up a bit, it was very late. Cycling for 7 would have been stressful to get to. So, I just kept myself busy and arrived at the pool for swimming. Kevin & I were going to do a ladder 150-200-250-200-150 then some sprints warm up and cool down. We did about 1150 m. I cut the sprints from 4 x 25 m to 2 x 25 because I had nibbled on something before I left and it was threatening to reappear in the pool. Never a good thing. This is why I never eat before cycling or swimming or even running for that matter.
I did beat Kevin at the sprints - by about 2-3 seconds. Made me feel good! He's such a freak! LOL. BLess his little heart!

Saturday - God I set my alarm, well I didn't even have to set it, it's always at 4am, so I could get ready and help Joe with his epic run and back to Wasaga Beach. Bill and Catherine had bowed out the night before. I was all set to let Bill take on all the duties of support as I wasn't sure they needed my help just for two folks. When Bill opted out - I couldn't do that to Joe. It wouldn't have been fair to him. His wife would have come out and checked on him periodically, but in my mind I'm always thinking "what if". I know how I feel when I'm on long runs.

So I arrived by 5:10 - after hitting snooze 5 times. LOL. I kept thinking it was a week day! pppfftt ahaha.
I was greeted by several surprise runners. Well hey it'd be great if there were some surprise support peeps then!! Victoria, Donni & Keith showed up. I could see a big gap in distance between some of the runners.
And it was wonderful when Brian C showed up to do some support. He kept the front runners in sight & I kept a watchful eye on Joe.
Then when Victoria & Donni hit 30K Brian took them back to Barrie & I was trying to figure out the logistics. Then Steen arrived! The man of the hour!! He could keep the front runner in sight & I could once again keep a watchful eye on Joe.
Who knew you could get to Wasaga from back roads.
Joe made it to Wasaga & decided not to continue back. So he & I kept an eye on Keith, who made it all the way back to Barrie. 50 miles in total. Not too shabby. Almost 10 hours in the car though. ARGH.

Sunday - It was run day. I had decided on 12.5 k & I had the map in my head. Up Sunnidale, Letitia, Leacock, Fox Run, Edgehill,Spoule, Miller, Tiffin, Lakeshore done.
Sandra figured she'd like to come along & a couple of other gals, but luckily they didn't like my route, so they went their own way. I turned on Shirley rather than letitia so we had to do a bit of creative running. No biggie except that we were going UP the big hill. ack. Walked that one. Then we weaved our way onto Edgehill and kept straight to Miller. I had originally wanted the pace to be around 6:15 - 6:30/km. So that I wouldn't injure anything (seeing as my anti inflam cream is still AWOL)- ahahah. yeah right. Our pace averaged out to 6:30 with the walk breaks we took. They were somewhat extended but so what. We were running into the wind at an average of 5:50 - 6:02/ k. I was a bit winded (no pun intended) but it felt good. Sandra doesn't do 10 & 1's which was super for me. We picked a spot and we'd walk. First was only 3 k in.
Then at Miller. Another walk break on John. So three in total, but they, as I said, were longer than I normally would have walked, though I'm complaining. I needed it obviously.
We turned onto Dyment, Brock, John and then weaved back to Fred Grant Sq. for a total of 12.53k
A nice cuppa tea afterwards with Sandra, Stef & Thomas & back home to do all sorts of stuff around the house. Yeah.