Author: hoodieruns

truncated tempo – warning > this story includes dry heaves!

/ hoodieruns / Leave a comment

scheduled tempo run
7M broken up: 1.25M warm up, 3 x 1M @ 7:57 with .5M recovery jogs in between and 1.25M cool down

actual tempo run
distance: 4.93M
time: 44:30
avg pace: 9:02 (ooo speedy!)
calories: 557
splits: 1M warm – 9:32
1M tempo – 8:12
0.5M recovery – 5:13
0.73M tempo – 5:44 (I was on pace for like a 7:15 mile! this was where the dry heaves came in. I was heaving so hard I had to stop and walk for a couple mins. I felt like laying down in the snow but there were way too many witnesses for such tactic so I coughed/gagged/heaved-walked until I felt like I had control of my gag reflex and then trotted along my merry way.
0.42M recovery – 4:25 (see above for what I did with my 4 min and 25 seconds of recovery).
1M tempo – 8:22
0.29M recovery – 2:59

so I was lazy and didn’t do the final 2.07M of my run this morning but cut me some slack people! I was dry heaving! thankfully/stupidly I didn’t eat anything before my run. plus I was flying solo and apparently that makes me a baby. if others are with me I’m so competitive I would have pushed myself to finish if they did and preferably beat at least one person in the process.

there’s 3M on the schedule for tonight but ME got us tickets for the Rangers game tonight so not sure how that’ll pan out for running.

back on track and feelin’ it!

/ hoodieruns / Leave a comment

distance: 4.07M
time: 38:54
pace: 9:35ish.
weather: -5, clear.

yay!!! an outdoor, good, hoodie’s got her groove back, run! it was so nice out last night. ME and I ripped around the neighbourhood in short order, with a short walk break b/c ME was feeling a bit light headed at our blistering pace. actual time to finish should have been around 35-37mins. I felt like I could fly last night but was wondering if I could somehow manage to hold a minute faster per mile pace for 26.2M… need to get tomorrow’s speed work in. given that the temperature is supposed to plummet again overnight (read: -25 with windchill) and we’re getting light snow right now on top of wet pavement and it’s going to be icy, the track seems to be the best option.

hope to get a bike ride in after/before volleyball tonight.

during the whole time I’ve been typing this, my left hip has been really itchy… turns out there’s a Remove Before Wearing tag in my pants that I failed to remove before wearing. I’m so put together.

gym morning and the weekend’s long run

/ hoodieruns / Leave a comment

gym activities
cardio: 10 mins on the wave at effort level 5-7
core training: 12 supermans each side w/ opposite arm and leg raised, 12 reverse planks each side w/ leg raises, 50 sec forearm plank with 10 sec leg raises, 2 each side, 30 sec side plank each side, 2 x plank with 10 knee to elbows each side; 2 sets of 20 bicycle crunches.
light stretching.

long run
distance: 11.21M (of 16M scheduled) ~ almost 18km
time: um… 2 hours 11 mins and something? slow anyways.
pace: 11:30/M
weather: light snow fall, -20 ish with the wind chill.
ME was not feeling well at all on this run. the look on his face told me he was enjoying the run about as much as I enjoyed the black nail 14miler a couple weeks ago. I felt his pain. we squeezed in the Lincoln St. hill, the hill next to Lexington (I forget the street name) and a bit of the Bridge St. hill too. I felt good although I panicked in the last 1.5M b/c we were running into the wind and my face hurt, a lot. I was worried about possible frostbite it hurt so much. the last mile I think I was sprinting home I was so panicked! luckily, there was no frostbite, although I did get a bit of windburn. overall, I felt pretty good both during and after the run. that afternoon I didn’t need a nap. ME on the other hand should have had a nap but he didn’t know that I’d planned a surprise birthday party for him at the tube park! twenty or so of our friends joined us for an evening of fun – many thanks to all of you for joining us and helping us celebrate ME’s birthday!

x-training
walked up the tube hill 4, maybe 5, times. hip flexors were protesting a bit so I rode the lift every other slide.

ME and I have a run planned for tonight, after work. schedule calls for 4M @ 9:57/M pace. very manageable. this week’s speedwork out is a bit more daunting… 7M broken up: 3 x 1600m @ 7:57/M pace with 800m recovery jogs in between, bookended by 1M warmup and 1M cooldown. friday is an easy 3M @ 9:57/M pace followed by what should be our longest run to date: 18M. I would like to get 16M (at least) done.

indoor run and it’s snowing again

/ hoodieruns / 1 Comment

distance: 4M
time: 38:22
pace: (again with the bad math…) um… 9:23?
cal: treadmill says 542 but more like 380.

today’s scheduled run was a tempo run of 6M with 4 of the miles at 8:30/M. instead I ran inside on the hamster wheel and watched TLC’s While You Were Out. the run felt pretty nondescript, shoes (new red sauconys) felt fine. the skin on my cheeks is super itchy with all the cold, dry weather we’ve been having and running and sweating inside in dry air made them burn. oh man were they itchy!! I’m going to have to bring in more moisturizer for work and put more in the gym bag. maybe I’ll have to find out if putting a Gold Bond Medicated product on my face is a really bad idea.

KT also ran this morning. she might argue with me about the term ‘ran’ but she did run. she’s just getting back into running and is facing the challenges we all faced when we started – the shortness of breath, protesting muscles, fatigue. she ran though, and that’s what’s important. and she’s not dead… just sucking back lots of coffee :o)

speaking of coffee, this morning I tried a light roast and it tastes like butter. I love butter but I’m not sure I love butter tasting coffee. however… I think I like butter tasting coffee more than the fact that it is snowing again!!! Agh!

ClaireK has ok’d the use of her artwork and I’ll be updating the banner of the blog sometime this weekend.

ME and I might try and get a hill work out in tomorrow morning depending on conditions and Friday there’s another 4M scheduled. this week’s long run is 16M but I’ll be happy with 12-14 if the weather is crappy. that and it’s sounding like our weekend plans might involve some adult beverages and heaps of good food.

an outside run… finally

/ hoodieruns / Leave a comment

distance: 5.01M
time: 49:59mins
pace: 9:59/M
calories: 568cal
weather: -16 oC, balmy.

felt fabulous on the run tonight. apparently almost 2 weeks of rest have made me sprightly.

gorged myself on 6 fish sticks, 2 mozzarella sticks, tartar sauce (homemade), and dill pickle crispers. self control? what?

–races update–
officially signed up for the Ottawa marathon AND the Waterloo marathon. oh my. I might have bitten off more than I can chew.

wish me luck!

BLOG IDOL!!!

/ hoodieruns / Leave a comment

I don’t do enough exciting things impulsively any more. well, except maybe buy clothes and shoes and sign up for races… but nothing that’s free. to rectify that situation, I signed up for the Blog Idol contest at iRun. suprises of suprises, little hoodieruns has made the top ten! squee! so, in addition to a mini biography being published in their magazine, my head shot will also be published… in a national running magazine! so began the quest to get a good head shot.

ME and I tried to do some ourselves…

this:

and this:


were a sample of what we came up with. note flyaway hair, bad lighting and chipped nailpolish. oops.
then Claire of ClaireK. Photography saw my Facebook status and sent me a message to see if she could help. hearts to Claire! we’re meeting tonight to see if we can come up with something more polished.

in other news… I got new kicks.
remember that implusive shoe buying? well I bought Saucony ProGrid™ Triumph 5 (last year’s model) on Sunday. this purchase wasn’t entirely impulsive; I needed something to supplement my Nike’s and old Saucony’s. inaugural run is planned for tonight.

in running news… I’m lazy.
no long run this weekend. I did get some serious weight training in on Saturday though at the gym with KT. new shoes are calling me though. I want to get out there! I miss the relaxing, when my mind just wanders and cleans itself. I miss working hard and breathing hard. most of all… I MISS WARMER WEATHER!

tired legs today

/ hoodieruns / Leave a comment

went to the gym this morning with KT. had big plans to crank out 5-6M… but instead…
distance: 2.1M
time: about 19mins.
calories: 200-ish

I hate the treadmill but my calves just don’t tolerate running in snow for more than 30mins at a time. after my chiro appointment tonight I should really get out and do another 3-4M.

the last two days I’ve been really good at sticking to my calorie budget and tonight, I’m making whole grain crust pizza with veggies and pepperettes! delicious!

happy note: ME brought be flowers at work this morning! yippee! I’m so spoiled! thanks sweetie! :o)

stupid snow

/ hoodieruns / Leave a comment

missed 6M and 14M on the weekend b/c of the extreme cold and snowfall. removed the black nail as punishment. current black nail tally: 0. I am sad.
ME and I decided to swap last week’s mileage with this week b/c of the terrible weather. we’ve still got around 12 weeks before our marathons so no concern about having enough time to get mileage done. that means this week’s schedule is: Monday 5M (done + 1M), Wednesday 6M (did the speedwork last week so take it easy this week), Friday 5M, Saturday 14M.

this morning’s hamster wheel run-
distance: 6M
time: 55:23 plus 35 seconds of pause time for a gulp of water
avg pace: 9:15/M? why do I suck so bad at math?
calories: 685
avg grade: 0.1% (I was doing 1% and 0.5% grade changes and variations for the first 2.5M just to entertain myself)

I was pushing myself in terms of pace, faster than marathon goal pace at times and then down to 9:50ish to cool down in the last mile. felt pretty good. was tired when I got up this morning but I’ve only drank 1 cup of coffee today and I my afternoon slump hasn’t hit quite as hard.

must get back on my New Years Resolutions. let a couple of them slide last week.

tempo done!

/ hoodieruns / Leave a comment

completed this run before work.

distance: 5M
time: 44:33
breakdown: 1M warm @ 10:00/M, 3M @ 8:35/M, 1M cool @ 10:00/M -total time to complete should have been 45:40.
actual: I think the warm and cool miles were around 9:40-9:50 pace and the tempo miles were about 8:17-8:25 pace
calories:565 cal

this wasn’t as hard as expected. of course, running on the treadmill is easier than outdoors but it’s -20 something with wind chill these days! I don’t think I deserve the black nail for it because I felt pretty good throughout. it was hard but not ridiculous. to fend off boredom, I was rewarding myself with button pushes throughout the run, hence the not too sure of actual splits. it worked mostly. wore my blue Sauconys.

last night I played some of the most competitive volleyball I’ve played in since high school. was good, very challenging. my right big toe was sore afterwards from sliding in my shoe with every pivot/jump.

on deck: 6M tonight, 14M this weekend and hockey Sunday morning.

tough as nails, black and blue nails that is…

/ hoodieruns / Leave a comment

so to make myself feel tough and to remind me of how much stronger I’m getting, I’m painting one nail this tough and mean shade of blue-black each time that I complete a tough training run. as you can see, I’ve got one really tough run done so far. that 12 miler that sucked so hard. there might be a new black nail tomorrow if my tempo run tonight guts me.
update on the cross-training dilema: I’ve decided to count cross-training towards a short run during the week if I’m feeling rough. this week, 50mins of soccer, 1 hour of shovelling (the whole driveway by myself!!) and 2 hours of volleyball are counting as Monday’s 5M run. so there.