Author: hoodieruns

indoor soccer – the cross training question

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played about 30-35mins of the game last night. had lots of female subs for once but it cuts into the playing time. I played well but didn’t generate much offense. legs felt good (might have been the Advil I took prior) and my fitness level has definitely improved. talked briefly with LN about using soccer as a x-training day or as one of the short runs for the week. she used soccer as a workout, and counted it towards her total mileage for her marathon training. not sure how I feel about this, like the team we play with now is an indoor team that plays on little fields. do I really push myself hard enough to count soccer as a workout? let’s be honest, most nights I’m busy being a prima donna that I barely break a sweat. I think that I am going to read a bit more from my Competitive Runner’s Handbook and see what it says.

on deck tonight: volleyball. should be running 6M but since it’s like minus 25 out I think I’ll ride my bike and watch The Biggest Loser.

ME is in Toronto with BR for the Leafs game tonight. pout.

12 miler yesterday – world of hurt

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distance: 12M
time: 2:11:07
pace: painfully slow 10:55/M
calories burned: 1389 (according to the Garmin but running on loose packed snow means I probably burned more like 1500)
weather: -8 Celsius, clear and sunny, loose pack snow (about the texture of sand)
post run refuel: 1 pint of Guinness, 5 medium chicken wings and 1/2 a plate of poutine.

ME felt great – he wanted me to put that in my training log. I did not feel great. the best descriptor for my run was: miserable. you know what it’s like to run on dry sand? that’s what the run felt like. miles 1-7 sucked hard until we got to St. Jacobs and there was some clear pavement to run on. miles 8 and 9 were enjoyable and I felt pretty good. at 9.5 I had the Guinness craving hit me. note that I’ve never actually drank a whole pint of Guinness by myself before yesterday, post-run. envisioning the fulfillment of that craving got me through the rest of the run. the final mile was uncomfortable, my calves felt crampy and my legs were heavy. I got it done though and felt much relief that 1. it’s over and 2. I get another red sticker on my calendar for a successfully completed run! yes, that’s correct, I use stickers as motivation. not even nice stickers, just red dots, but hey! it makes me happy to see lots of red on my calendar! it was a bad running day but I discovered that I can tolerate a fair amount of discomfort for a long time so that gives me hope for the marathon.

mileage missed last week: one 5M run that was supposed to have been completed on Friday. went to the ACDC concert instead.

on deck this week: Monday – 5M but may push it to Tues b/c of indoor soccer tonight; Tuesday – rest or the 5M from Monday; Wednesday – tempo 5M, 3M@8:35/mile pace with 1M warm up and cool down; Thursday – rest but maybe a bike ride during Grey’s Anatomy; Friday – 5M; Saturday – 14M.

remembered my training log so I’ll get the Christmas break runs up over lunch.

first speed work session completed (mostly) this morning

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Prescribed work out:
5M, broken down as follows: 1M warm up, 2 x 1600m @ 8:06/M pace with 800m recovery jogs, 1M cool down.

Actual work out:
4.5M, broken down as follows: 1M warm up @ 10:00/M, 2 x 1600m @ 8:06/M pace with 1 800m recovery jog @ 10:00/M, 1M cool down @ 10:00/M.

Additional notes:
total time to complete 41:44 mins; burned 508 calories (according to treadmill); wore pink shoes, blurr shorts and Adidas red long sleeve. shoes felt too small. must have looked like I was working hard b/c I had a couple people looking at me funny. honestly I wasn’t about to go to pieces! no puking on the treadmill for me (see the season premier of The Biggest Loser Couples from Tues). was a bit difficult to get out of bed this morning but the knowledge that KT would be waiting for me got me up and going and I was on time for once! was a bit sleepy on the car ride but now I feel freakin’ awesome! I think remembering to eat before my work out helped. had 1/2 a banana and 1/4 of a bagel with peanut butter. getting into bed by 10:40pm was a good thing too. must shoot for 10:20pm though.

Holidays update:
there is about 5 or 6 runs I did over the holidays that need to go up yet. highlights include a 5K race, a run with my highschool English teacher and cross country coach JS which was a w.o.r.k.o.u.t. in 90km/h gusts along the bluffs!!! a run with little LH (she’s way faster than she thinks), and a few less exciting training runs.
twas the Christmas of fitness with ME receiving a Garmin of his very own, me gratefully receiving a new pair of tights (merci beacoup Daddio!), free weights (thank you MN and little LH), foam roller (thank you MN again) and a Cycleops Fluid Trainer for my bike (thank you ME!!). KB came over last night and taught me how to change a flat on my bike and helped me change my tire for the trainer. the tutorial was very much appreciated!

more later, when I remember my training log.

Christmas break runs

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22-26 December – no running just being lazy, holding down the couch.

27 Dec – distance: 3.75M; time: unknown, likely around 35mins; weather: balmy 10 degrees, very windy. accompanied by little LH and ME.

28 Dec – distance: run with JS; distance: approx 4.3M; time: 40:05; weather: crazy windy, 90km/h gusts 6 degrees. was a freaking great run! So much fun to run with JS, he’s much faster than us! we meandered through Goderich, across the bluffs, down the bluffs, along the beach, went up the stairs onto North St and then back to his place. stairs knocked me out, almost lost my breakfast. got home and was thoroughly chilled. had a hot shower and greasy (bacon and eggs) breakfast. suffered through nasty upset stomach later that evening. I”m sure the multitude of sweets I ate throughout the day didn’t help.
1 Jan – distance: 5K; time: 25:36; weather: -8 degrees. Resolution Run from the Kitchener YMCA. fun little race and got a nifty new jacket. was disappointed that I didn’t get a PR but there were rumours that the race was slightly longer than 5K and I must take into account that the course was icy/snowy in sections. ML ran with us and did very well, finishing only about a minute behind us. for the record: ME beat me.

2 Jan – distance: 4.22M; time: 41:38; pace: 9:52/M; calories: 508; weather: -8 plus a bit of a wind chill. my notes say “miserable. was tired before. snowy.”

3 Jan – distance: 10.01M; time: 1:40:17; pace: 10:01/M; calories: 1144; weather: -5ish; comfortable, last mile was dragging. heavy legs. ate 1/2 Powerade Double Latte gel which was really yummy. feet were sore afterwards where bump in my shoes next to the balls of my feet hit. L knee felt 95%. ate 1/3 of a cup of oatmeal with apple for breakfast. was ok in stomach.

5 Jan – distance: 6.01M; time: 56:45; pace: 9:27/M; calories: 679; weather: -8 degrees. was too cold, didn’t have enough layers on, especially on my bum! felt great, pushed the pace a bit. ME had tight ankles. L knee 98% only minor tweaking. X-training: arms and core at gym, 50mins indoor soccer. paid for this later in the week, was really tired all week long.

Christmas break

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Happy Christmas and Merry New Years to you and yours.
hanging out at ME’s parent’s place. I’m exhausted and was puttering along at some work stuff but have given up in favour of 3 glasses of wine.
Christmas brings such a mixture of emotions. we went and visited ME’s old neighbour who is quite elderly. seeing her circumstances and helping yet another elderly lady up off the floor (great-grandma H had a tumble on sunday night at grandma M’s) at the nursing home has got me thinking. in addition there was a snowmobile fatality up here and the fellow killed has a young family. then there are people like us, home with their families everyone is safe and sound and having a merry Christmas. it’s difficult to resolve the polarities of everyone’s situation but makes me grateful for another happy and healthy year.
as for the running – we missed a 3M and our long run of 8M on the weekend b/c of the nasty snow recently. -17oC is no cake walk so we decided to stay inside. since I’ve managed to put away 3 glasses of wine already today (lil sis, you know what I’m saying here) I don’t know whether we’ll get out for a run today or now. plus ME is out at the liquor store with the other boys.
looking forward to ME’s one Christmas present. should be a great experience for both of us.
missing Mom, Dad and lil sis. can’t wait to see you guys.

Tonight’s run

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on deck for tonight: 5M at 10:09/mile pace. hopefully it won’t be Snowmeggedon tonight but if Environment Canada is calling it a “fast-moving but dynamic storm” with “heavy snowfall” expected, I think I’ll be out of luck… should have sucked it up and ran last night instead. I was just so exhausted though. made the highly intelligent decision to go to bed early and then proceeded to watch 3 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy.

I’m knitting a baby hat right now. I’m a little concerned about size though. this one is a bit of a ‘fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants’ pattern. so far I’m happy with it, although I’m only about 10 rows in.

it’s such a struggle right now to be productive. I am ready for it to be Christmas. the time off is needed!

TOM has said that 2009 is going to be the year of the skinny. I want to organize a mini Biggest Loser at work/with friends to help motivate people. could be fun. just need to figure out the logistics.

crack-a-lackin’

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three whole delicious, pain-free runs!

  • saturday 13 december – 3M, outside, with ME. 30mins and change.
  • sunday 14 december – 7M, outside, with ME. 1h, 12mins and change. saw a couple deer, one of which jumped a big fence to be with his lady friend. startled me so badly I grabbed ME’s arm. had a nice soak in the tub after dinner. (had some yummy steaks and sweet potato fries and laughs with L,M and MN over. little M is so sweet and getting very mobile!)
  • monday 15 december – 3.1M, hamster wheel w/ KT on elliptical beside me (whoo hoo another work out buddy!) 28mins and change for 3M, 1min and a bit for walking cooldown.

all of this with no pain from the dastardly L knee! smiles all around! both knees are a bit sore today going down stairs but that’s nothing a bit of ice and advil tonight won’t fix. must get some yoga/stretching in tonight to loosen up a bit.

in other non-running news…

got a whack of Christmas shopping down on the weekend. now torn about what to give ME for Christmas since I can’t do both of the extra cool items without being wildly over the budget. K(M)P and AVD have both suggested the same route so now I just need to make the last purchase.
still have a couple things to pick up for AE, Mom H, and lil’ LH. but, for the most part, I am done and wrapping is started!

what to have for dinner tonight? I’m so freakin’ hungry rightthissecond!

note to self: post training schedule

pain free run!!!

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hamster wheel 4 miler – no pain folks!

wednesday night after work I ran 4miles with a normal feeling knee! how great is that?! admittedly it was a bit slow (40:20) but I walked for the first .25 of a mile and the last .25 of a mile. ran the first mile at 8:20ish pace and the 2nd and 3rd between 9:40 and 10:10/mile. not too shabby considering how little I’ve been able to run as of late.

yesterday I got an arms and abs workout in before work. it really helped me stay alert during the day but didn’t save me from making some bad decisions in order to stave off some really bad decisions. wait… maybe it did sort of save me… anyways, I feel asleep on the couch for 2.5 hours last night and slept another 7 in bed as well. it’s a sign: I don’t sleep enough.

need to get another 3M in tonight, after work before my date with ME! :o)

this weekend has Christmas shopping and a 7 miler on the schedule.

still no runs

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WTF knee? seriously. I played soccer last night. 50 mins (all 50 mins since we didn’t have any female subs) and the knee feels great. no pain killers, no ice. all good. today I’m sitting in my chair at work and go to sit on my left foot b/c it’s cold (not ergonomical I know) and the knee is stiff. not hurting but where was this this morning going down the stairs? can I run on it or not? is it just faking the not hurting? sigh. I’m frustrated. I think I’ll run at the gym tonight and see how it goes.

been reading lots of running blogs lately (over lunch) and I’m feeling pretty motivated. mawh I wanna run so bad. see the blogs I follow to the right to bask in their motivating glory.

sent MC the wikipedia link for the Beer Mile. gotta do this. asap possible as they say around here.

today’s goal: get into bed early. 9:30-10pm no later.

so sick and no runs. i’m miserable.

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Today my fever broke (yipee!) and I haven’t taken any cold/flu meds in 5+ hours. I will be taking some tonight to get a good night’s sleep in but overall I’m feeling about 65%. Better than Tuesday night’s 13%. So, considering my 52% improvement, I thought maybe I would be ok for a run. Rather than put myself through a relapse, I decided to do some research. I read some
Where Does It Hurt? care of Runner’s World because I remembered something about a neck up rule. Turns out that I should wait one more day before running again. Even then I think it’s in my best interests to run inside. Damn it. I hate having to be patient. I really need to be running!

The knee continues to cause issues. I think it’s IT band inflammation but LM among others have said I should suck it up and get the doctor to send me to physio to be on the safe side. This is really making me want a trainer for my bike so that I can at least get some cardio in and not cause further damage to the knee. I’m looking at the CycleOps Mag+ Trainer as an option. **cough cough Christmas idea cough**

Speaking of Christmas ideas… http://www.moeben.com/ I really like the giraffe ones…

:o)

Off to bed.