Author: hoodieruns

The much awaited resolutions post

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Allie says “Arrrrrr.” She wanted to be featured on the blog this week and did her best pirate for your viewing pleasure.

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It's Chinese New Year today. Year of the Rabbit starts tomorrow. What better time to publish some resolutions than now?

In no particular order, here they are:

• This blog is supposed to be about keeping me motivated. I've been doing a shoddy job of posting to it. Resolution: weekly posts. That's only 52 posts a year, minus the 4 I've already missed.

• Get serious about training and racing. Consistently complete training prescribed by Koach Koala. Resolution: sign up for and complete 3 triathlons and a half marathon.

• Getting serious about training and racing means getting better at managing my time. Resolution: make weekly plans for work, training, activities, and meals. Follow them.

• Food consumption is rampant. Not acceptable. Resolution: keep a food journal daily.

• Take better care of my ass. Resolution: drink more water. (go see The Ass Backwards Diet at http://theassbackwardsdiet.blogspot.com/)

Pretty manageable I think.

Gung hei faat coi!

It’s been awhile…

/ hoodieruns / Leave a comment

Here it is, already the last day of 2010. This year has whipped by and the last half of it seems to have completely slipped through my fingers. I'm now sure when or how but it's gone.

I've been negligent with blogging as of late. As my motivation to workout dipped toward the end of the year, so did my ability to write about my skipped workouts. Despite the lackluster finish to the year in terms of workouts, there have been a few very big highlights.

In October, I (mostly) completed the KW Bikram 4 for 4 Challenge. I attended 4 Bikram classes a week for 4 weeks, except in the last week when life got in the way and I missed 2 classes. This experience was incredible. Bikram challenges your mind and body in ways that are difficult to describe. It sounds cliché, and I'll be the first to admit it. Bikram changed my body, making me leaner, stronger and yes, a bit more flexible. These tight hammies are hard to conquer but I made some progress. What was maybe most surprising was the improvement in the range of motion in my injured right knee. My physiotherapist tells me that she's very impressed with my progress. I am too; my knee is mostly pain-free through my activities. Admittedly though, I haven't been running or playing as much soccer.

Another highlight has been the progress in the pool. Throughout the fall, I made a few appearances at the Laurier pool. Koach Koala has been putting me through the paces and my level of comfort in the water has greatly improved. Not to mention my stamina and tolerance of laps!

Overall, 2010 was a great year – I accomplished a lot over the last 12 months. I won my age group in a duathalon and was the 4th woman in overall, I completed my first triathalon and accomplished all my goals (1. Don't drown. 2. Don't lose my shorts when stripping off my wetsuit. 3. Finish.), lost 15lbs with my training… although I've gained 4lbs back this holiday season I think!

Given this base of awesomeness, 2011 should be even better!

**New Years Resolutions post to come in the new year.**

Oktoberfest 5K race report

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before I jump into this race report, let me set the scene for you:
it’s Oktoberfest time here in KW and so I over indulged Friday night at Concordia and then there was a bachelorette on Saturday night and there was more indulgence there… and well, you get the idea I *might* have been a tiny bit under the weather.

Sunday morning rolls around and this is the dialog in our bedroom:
ME “You need to get up. We’re going to be late.”
hoodie “I DON’T WAAAANNNNNAAAA.”
ME “Get your ass out of bed. You missed the bike show yesterday because you were too hungover. You’ll better if you just get out and run this race.”
hoodie “FINE. Mom.”
ME rolls his eyes.

in the end he was right.

Sunday morning was sunny and beautiful and it was a great morning for a run. not too chilly and not too hot. the start was very slow since pokey people think they are going to win the race and line up right near the start line rather than in the back where they belong so there was lots of bobbing and weaving I had to do for the first KM. after that it thinned out a bit and I was able to hit race pace. I blew through 3 red lights under the watchful and protective eye of the Waterloo Regional Police Service (three cheers to the police women and men that kept all the racers safe!) and skipped the water table (three cheers for the race volunteers! thank you for giving us your Sunday morning!). overall, I ran a solid race but probably should have pushed a bit harder through KMs 2-4. pushed hard through the last KM but not hard enough since I a) didn’t catch Koach Koala even though I could see him ahead of me and b) didn’t dry heave at the finish line.

chip time: 25:26
gun time: 26:13
age group place: 4/55
gender place 80/525

goal for next year: hit the freaking podium.

Gravenhurst 2010 sprint du – race report

/ hoodieruns / 2 Comments

my bad kids. I’ve been very negligent. I owe you guys a race report, so finally… I’m getting it written!

LM and I drove to Gravenhurst together from Wasaga Beach the morning of the race. LM drives everywhere like her hair is on fire so it was a quick ride. good thing b/c we were both suffering from pre-race nerves and coffee related issues… read between the lines… you’ll figure it out.

we got to the race in time to see the triathlon-ers coming in from their swim. the transition area and expo/milling area was a bit of chaos but there was lots of cheering going on and the volunteers and police kept everyone safe. I love that energy of races – the crowds, the early morning, the nervousness… so exciting!

LM and I checked in, got marked up and walked back to the car to grab our bikes and gear. transition opened a few minutes after we arrived back so we set up our transition area, peed again, said hello to some friends and warmed up. my warm up was pretty weak… definitely didn’t warm up like I should have. then again I probably shouldn’t have drank as much rye as I did the night before.

we lined up in the finishing chute for the start of the du. as we were lined up, a racer from earlier in the morning was coming in and she got to run down the chute with 120+ people cheering her on. must have been a pretty cool experience!

so the race started off with a 5km run on a mostly flat course. it was perfect weather, sunny and not too hot. I finished the 5km in 27:34 (5:31/km). ripped through T1 in 1:16 and took off on the bike. the ride was 20km of a gently rolling out and back loop. I was quite pleased with my bike time, 43:29 (27.6km/hr). normally I’m the slowest at Koala’s practice so it was great to actually pass a couple people on the bike. didn’t fall off at the turnaround so that was good. last up was the 2.5k run. I rolled it up and smoked it. in the last 100m I saw a woman ahead of me that I made my rabbit and ran her down. I passed her in the last 20meters or so in a dead sprint. there were 2 dry heaves at the end of the race. and a big smile.

27th place overall
1st woman in age group
4th woman overall
5k time 27:34 (5:31/km)
T1 1:16
20k bike time 43:29 (27.6 km/h)
T2 1:01
2.5k time 13:18 (5:19/km)


			

	


			
				


			
				


	

							
a blue post
						

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I owe you all an apology for not posting lately and not updating you on my duathlon two weekends ago. unfortunately I’ve had an injury sideline me and I’m working on getting better and trying not to feel too sorry for myself. being injured sucks, especially just when I was feeling so great.


the day after I ran my duathlon (proper race report to come, along with pictures), I played soccer. it was a physical game but nothing out of the ordinary happened in it. my right knee felt funny afterwards but I assumed that it was just tight. I went for an easy run to loosen it up. everything felt fine after the run. I crashed on the couch to watch True Blood and when I got up… bam. swollen, sore, not fully load bearing, can’t full extend the leg. f_ck.


I saw my GP on thursday – he says just a strain or possibly a Baker’s Cyst, continue icing and advil. he prescribes physio at my request.

saw my physiotherapist on thursday afternoon – she says torn meniscus. f_ckstockings. continue icing and advil. NO PIVOT SPORTS. cycle and swim (flutter kick) are ok. take me behind the barn and shoot me.

today the ultrasound confirmed no cysts.


today the physio repeated: NOT PIVOT SPORTS. cycle and swim only. race on Aug 7th? don’t get your hopes up.


I want to cry.


the injury and lack of exercise is hard; you’re frustrated because you can’t workout and since you can’t workout you don’t have your usual stress relievers (vicious circle) and then all that crankiness starts to seep into other facets of your life. I’ve been feeling pretty down but was looking forward to today’s physio and ultrasound appointments. I was hoping for great news – “Wow, this is much better! Clean bill of health!” or at least “Yes, you can run again.” no luck.


so, off to Koala’s swim tonight and possibly a bike ride too… I’m going stircrazy.

			

	


			
				


	

							
dry run for Sunday’s race and the lucky green shorts
						

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last night the Koala’s had a killer workout. Koach had us do a mini du as a dry run for the team’s racing activities this weekend. several of us are racing at Bellewood this weekend and LM and I are racing in Gravenhurst. to help us practise transition, Koach had us start out running (10mins hard) and then hop on the bike for (about 45mins total) 4 x 3mins 90% effort w/ 6 mins of rest between repeats. lastly we came back and ran another 10mins.


I wasn’t sure how I’d feel given that I’d tweaked my groin in the soccer tourney on the weekend and was still feeling the effects of sleep deprivation. I told Koach that I was feeling about 70% but in the end, after a solid workout, I was feeling good. today, I’m still feeling good. no sore muscles, groin feels fine. this all bodes well for a good race this weekend… assuming LM and I don’t over indulge with the adult bevvies on Sat!


to help me put in a good workout last night, I wore my lucky green shorts. they were a reward to myself after my very first 10K back in 3rd year university. I think these shorts are a green sister pair to the Bowl Full of Sunshine Shorts worn (sported? rocked?) by Steve In A Speedo?! so to maintain a shred of modesty on the bike I wore spandies underneath. 




don’t I look like kalediscope puke?!


 


HE > will try and get my schedule posted for you ASAP.

			

	


			
				


			
				


	

							
june challenge summation
						

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here’s the summation of the june challenge:


PASS


Partial pass


FAIL


1 – 15 mins stretch, Koala’s run (scheduled: 30mins yoga, Koala’s run)


2 – 40mins swim (scheduled: Koala’s bike – cancelled, inclement weather)


3 – 45mins run (scheduled: 45min run)4 – soccer (scheduled: soccer)


5 – none (scheduled: 20mins run, 1hr bike)


6 – none (scheduled: 30mins bike, 30mins run)


7 – golf (scheduled: 30mins weights, golf)


8 – Koala’s run (scheduled: 30mins yoga, Koala’s run)


9 – Koala’s bike/run (scheduled: Koala’s bike/run)


10 – 1hr Koala’s swim (scheduled: 45 min run)


11 – soccer (scheduled: soccer)


12 – 20mins run, 40mins bike (scheduled: 20mins run, 75mins bike)


13 – none (scheduled: 40mins bike, 40mins run)


14 – 30mins weights, 30mins run (scheduled: 30mins weights, golf)


15 – 30mins shred, Koala’s run (scheduled: yoga, Koala’s run)


16 – Koala’s bike (scheduled: Koala’s bike/run)


17 – none (scheduled: 45mins run, beach vball)


18 – soccer (scheduled: soccer)


19 – 20mins walk (scheduled: easy 20min run)


20 – Waterloo Classic 10K (scheduled: Waterloo Classic 10km, 30-60mins aerobic bike)


21 – golf (scheduled: 30mins weights, golf)


22 – Koala’s swim and Koala’s run (scheduled: yoga, Koala’s run)


23 – Koala’s bike and run (scheduled: Koala’s bike/run)


24 – off (scheduled: 45mins run)


25 – soccer (scheduled: soccer )


26 – off (scheduled: run 20mins/bike 40mins/run 20mins) 

27 – off (scheduled: bike/run )


28 – 45mins run (scheduled: weights, golf)


29 – off (scheduled: yoga, Koala’s run)


30 – 35km Koala’s bike (scheduled: Koala’s bike/run)


I fell off the exercise bandwagon pretty hard on the last week of June. very disappointing. that said, the run on the 28th was pretty killer. I felt absolutely fantastic and I negative split the run. my mile splits were sub 9:00/mile except for the first one which is pretty quick for me!


overall:
I took 8 days off in June.
I worked out 22 days in June.
For 8 days out of the 22, I modified my prescribed routine.
I lost 6.2lbs in June.
June challenge = SUCCESSFUL.


July’s goal:
I’ve been asked to post exactly what workouts I’m doing in July by a friend so for this month, I’ll try to post weekly what workouts I have when and duration/intensity/details of the workouts.