regular run

weekend activities and morning run

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saturday run (haha I just typed rum)

distance: 7M
time: 1hr 8mins
pace: 9:45/M
calories: ~800
notes: longest run since the 1/2 a couple weeks ago. solo. felt really good. no pain, no tiredness. probably helped that I ran about 40mins before sunset, when I tend to feel the best. I ran up at mom and dad’s to the conservation area. did a 2.2km loop and headed back towards their place since it was starting to get dark. I jammed my right ankle on a root but aside from some localized tenderness at the bottom of my tibia on saturday night, it’s been fine. (whew! lucky!) after stopping to get some water, I headed up the highway and back and did mom and dad’s street a couple times to get 7M. it was a good run. definite runner’s high afterwards. also was my first run in the new shoes- Saucony ProGrid Xodus in blue.

aren’t they sexy? :o)

on sunday we did family photos in Goderich. Claire from Claire K Photography came up and did our pictures. we had a lot of fun and I can’t wait to see the pictures! P.S. go check out www.clairekphotography and see the work of Claire K > she takes beautiful photos! she’s awesome, hilarious, wonderfully creative! thanks again Claire!

monday morning run w/ HE
distance: 4.3M
time: 44mins
pace: 10:10/M
calories: ~400
notes: didn’t feel so great this morning. maintaining what should be an easy pace for me was hard. woke up with right ear and throat sore. not a cold sore but swollen/pressure sore. was likely just the way I slept. right hip was also tight which makes me think that it was more how I slept. so glad HE dragged my ass out of bed. I felt better after the run, even though my legs and body felt (and still feel) heavy. as the coffee goes into me this morning I’m started to feel better and better. the massive, heavy, carbolicious supper I had last night probably didn’t help. mmm cheesy potatoes….

the plan – see that? not in all caps.

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last night’s run:
4M around the neighbourhood
38:00 mins
avg pace 9:30ish/M
effort: 2M @ E (easy), 2M @ goal M(marathon)
pain: none aside from nausea
notes: ran in my new trail shoes on people’s grass or rocks instead of the sidewalk to make it a bit more of an authentic off-road experience. I hate the people with freakin’ slippery faux brick driveways. they should be banned. almost ended tits up in the rhubarb three times. fuckers. shoes were great though. socks were sucky and I got a blister from them. they are now for after run feet warming. never. ever. for running. ever. otherwise it was a great run. I started out a bit too quick instead of taking my time and warming up so the first M was 9:30ish pace and the mile 2 was 10:30ish and then I kicked it up for some tempo work for a mile and then took a 2 min recovery jog and then gave’er again. miles 3 and 4 were 8:30 and 8:15ish. I wanted to barf by the end but that’s what mile repeats are for according to the Best of Running article in this months Runner’s World.

now for the plan (formerly THE PLAN) update
I needed more than 24hrs to recover from the Niagara 1/2. instead, I took one week off. at this point I need to evaluate the p90x lite approach for weight loss or instead build a solid base for a spring marathon and use that to lean out. if I’m going to attack a BQ, the weight loss is a must. sucks for soccer and hockey b/c I’ll get pushed around more but it’ll make me quicker over 42.2kms. I think p90x lite might be too much for me as I dial up the base mileage running. that said, core work and strength training will be essential for me to BQ. I need to be all around strong to hold my form through a marathon. so it’s eval time… review the p90x dvds, rummage through the wealth of other fitness stuff I have for alternatives and come up with a new THE PLAN. the training schedule posted at runbayou is really interesting. it uses periodization which is cool since I’ve never done anything like that before. so investigating it for use for the spring marathon training plan. in the mean time, the plan is for the week:
M- run medium
T – volleyball and run or strength train
W – soccer and easy
R – hot yoga and easy
F – easy
A- long run
U- rest.

training is coming along (minus the boozy weekend)

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this is my training schedule*. the colours mean something. see below the chart for the legend and the next image for the modifications list. rivetting stuff I know. I think the colours make it better.

anywhoo, I have point. my point is that there is a helluva lot of pink on that chart and I think it means I have commitment issues. like I need a coach to make me colour every box blue. this random hash of pink is kinda annoying. I know I can do better. yesterday (week 6 monday) I didn’t do a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. so this morning I got my lazy ass out of bed at 5:45am as punishment and made myself run 6M as fast as I could. and then tonight I’m doing strength training while watching glee. omg I love glee. and glee is featuring Queen tonight. hearts. then, tomorrow morning I’m getting up and doing the punishment run of 45min moderate (monday’s missed run) and playing soccer tomorrow night and then I’m caught up for the week… albeit with pink modifications all over the place. whatever. I’m getting shit done.

details of this mornings run:

distance: 6M
time: 56mins
pace: 9:15-something
calories: 68o-something
notes: around 4.5 miles I had the sudden realization that I wanted to puke. badly. I refocussed on my breathing and that urge went away. I didn’t eat before my run and I think having some food in the belly might have helped the nausea problem or it might have actually resulted in a puke. not sure. might have to test that one out. I did a negative split on this run. my last 3M were 15-30seconds per mile faster than my first 3 miles. that was pretty cool, especially because it just kinda happened. my left foot plantar facsitis issues weren’t very noticeable either, just a couple of squeaks from it. ran in my green saucs which I think might be too small now. my feet seem to be getting longer! has anyone else noticed this from running?

I’ve got some pictures from the long run up in Sauble Beach from the september long weekend that I need to post but I’m out of lunch time now!

*this schedule is taken from Runners World (http://www.runnersworld.com/) and was created by Jenny Hadfield.

run and weight loss challenge

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yesterday at lunch I crammed in a run since I was a lazy, beer drinking bum on the weekend. I think I really dehydrated myself b/c I had a headache all afternoon yesterday. luckily I have a super awesome pretty new nalgene to make up for it!


run details
route: outskirts of eastbridge
distance: 5.46M
time: ~52mins
pace: 9:36/M
calories: 613
my original plan had been to get my 6 miler done that I skipped on the weekend in favour of camping, smores, beer, hotdogs and a wedding. bad idea. I even packed my running gear and had lots of beautiful trails to run on but nope. sat on my ass. l.a.z.y. so as punishment I decided to do 6M as fast as I could at lunch, estimating that it’d take me 1hr to do. if I’d finished, it would have been a pretty fast 6M for me. I was impressed with my ability to hang on during this run. it was pretty uncomfortable. the PF issues were ok, a little tight but not too bad. need to make another physio apt and get properly discharged for that. today my legs are sore but not painful. that good kind of sore :o) I was also an idiot for running at noon, during the hottest part of the day without any water.

weight loss challenge
I joined a weight loss challenge over at http://www.run-denise-run.blogspot.com. since last week my percentage of weight lost is: 1.19%. pretty sure that most of that was the result of dehydration. see comments above. also pretty sure I ate at least 2 pounds of mexican at lunch. it’s my achilles heel.

1/2 marathon training for this week:
M: scheduled – 35 min moderate; actual – 52 min hard
T: scheduled – 30-40 min XT; actual 60min volleyball
W: scheduled – 40 min easy; actual ?, 60min baseball >> this is the run I bailed on completely last week. keep me honest people!
R: scheduled – 30-40 min XT; actual ?
F: scheduled – 30 min easy; actual ? >> this is a new run this week.
S: scheduled – 5M easy; actual ?
S: scheduled – rest; actual – rest, I can commit to this one! ;o)

1/2 marathon commitment and training update

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yesterday was the first day of official training for my half this fall. so I ran last night ’cause I’m lazy in the mornings and can’t get out of bed.
scheduled run: 35 mins @ moderate effort (7-8)
actual run…
time: 30:54 mins
distance: x km
pace:
effort: 8.5 – 9
notes: was humid and sticky. didn’t run until 9:30pm or so, but I’d thought I’d given dinner enough time to settle and move on. instead I ended up racing myself home as the tummy was in knots and rolling!

today I had 30-40 mins of XT scheduled and because I’m a keener, I got that out of the way early.
XT session: strength class at the gym
workout description: pyramid
exercises >
1. 10 reps lunges (ea. Leg) w/ hand weights
2. 10 squats w/ hand weights
3. 10 dead lifts w/ hand weights
4. 10 Zipper rows w/ hand weights
5. 10 Push ups
6. 10 bent over rows w/ hand weights
7. 10 calf raises w/ hand weights
8. 10 bicep curls w/ hand weights
9. 10 Tricep extensions w/ hand weights
10. 1 minute plank

Here’s the pattern of exercises:
1
1,2
1,2,3
1,2,3,4
1,2,3,4,5
1,2,3,4,5,6
1,2,3,4,5,6,7
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10

I used 7.5lbs weights the whole way through. good workout since you end up doing 100 lunges on each leg! this workout is also a good one b/c it’s pretty easy to do at home. all you need is one set of hand weights and some space. a mat too if you’re working out on a hard surface.

I’ll try and get the training schedule posted too so that you can follow along :o)

a run and a round of golf

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wednesday morning I ran before work (for once!) on the grand river trail.

distance: 4.77M (ran to the last bulge before the bend in the river)
time: 47:18
pace: 9:56/M
cal: 538
shoes: red sauconys

wore my new ankle nike socks… terrible. they’ve shrunk since washing them and my foot didn’t have enough space, resulting in nasty hot spots. ended up taking off my one sock altogether to be able to spread out my toes. generally I felt good. no ankle/foot/IT band pain. was starting to drag by 3M. it was humid and I hadn’t eaten or drank anything before going out. felt better once it started gushing down rain. I’m really glad I ran since it felt awesome and I was really hungry for breakfast at the end!

last night we golfed 18 holes. I pulled my clubs in a pull cart. would have preferred to have carried my clubs but didn’t realize we were walking and brought my cart bag. that’ll learn me! thanks to DS and MS for the round and the ‘tub afterwards! p.s. MIAMI!!

this weekend we’re heading home to goderich for a wedding and some much needed rest. am taking the running gear so should get at least two runs in: saturday or sunday and monday.

and… another nooner!!!

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garmy came with me for help on this one.

same route as monday and wednesday (minus the 3x hill sprints on wed).
distance: 2.32M
time: 19:57
pace: 8:37/M
calories: 261

lickety split fast! way faster than monday. no pain, felt good. I’m happy that I seem to have refound my running mojo. taking it easy this round and not going to jump into any 2+ hour runs any time soon but a 1/2 marathon this fall might be a-okay! wore my red saucony triumphs. they might be just the shoes for me.

tomorrow I am going to get in a run before leaving for a jack and jill later on in the day. the weekend is looming as a black hole of alcohol and food consumption. chugging my water today :o)

also, please send good weather vibes to Goderich for tomorrow. I’ve got a friend getting married on the beach and really it would be one less stress item if the weather could be awesome for it.

best AMcG and soon to be Mrs. AMcG!

group run in NW Waterloo

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ran some trails out in NW W’Loo last thursday. awesome!

time: 45:20
distance: ~4M
pace: ~10:30/M
notes: great run! the trails we were on were hilly and challenging. it was cooler in the shade of the forest. ran in my nikes which I learned later that night are part of my overuse injuries problems. apparently I need a bit more of a stiffer shoe. ME, JB and I went up and down and around and then back to JB’s place. thanks for the good run guys! this is my new, new favourite place to run since it is longer than my old new favourite place but unfortunately it’s a 10min car ride across town… possible fix is bike to JB’s and then run and bike home.

later on thurs night I had my gait analysis done. found some interesting stuff. I guess decision on orthodics will wait until after my physiotherapist gets back from the Tour de France.

played footie on friday night approx an hour of playing time.

then I was lazy and a bad eater all weekend.

in better news… ME got me P90X!!!! so I’m going to check that out tonight. I’m hoping to get a run in before going to the driving range tonight and then p90x when I get home.

forest run! where have I been all this time??

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found the most wicked awesome place to run near the house! whoot!

I even managed to get dirty!! see –>
time: 28:44
distance: ~3M
pace: ~9:45
shoes: green sauc’s.
notes: I heart running in the woods! apparently this place can be flooded in the winter and people skate amongst the trees. very cool! I almost killed a cat on this run. she was hiding on the other side of a log I jumped over and I nearly landed on her. she was very friendly and clearly was out hunting. she had a collar too so I wasn’t worried about her. anyways, have found my new fav spot to run, it’s just too bad it’s very short.
also good thing about this run was no foot pain for the first time in a long time.

foot – not working as expected

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the last 3(ish) weeks I’ve been experiencing off and on foot pain. I initially wrote it off as muscle pain and overuse but it’s been getting steadily worse. after yesterday’s lunch run it was pretty miserable so off to the doctor’s this morning. Dr Fancy Hair (my GP) is thinking possible stress fracture in my 5th tarsal. so immediately after my appointment I whipped over to the lab and got a set of x-rays done. should hear back today/tomorrow if there is a large break. I’m also scheduled for a bone scan 6 july to rule out a smaller/hard to see stress fracture. Fancy Hair says dial down the high impact activities but don’t stop them. (hill run tonight and soccer tomorrow whoot!)

lunch run yesterday:
time: 18:59
distance: 2.64M (4.22km)
calories: ~180
notes: this was awesome to run fairly hard for 20mins and get my heart rate up over lunch. quick shower and still back to work in an hour. good deal. ran a loop from my gym. it was pretty flat with a small rolling hill section in the first quarter. foot felt ok until about 12-15mins in and then it was protesting loudly. pushing in the clutch on my car to drive back to work almost induced a gag. definitely induced a yelp. inaugrual run in the new kicks.

today I’ve got my foot crammed into my fancy new puma’s and I’m looking forward to hills tonight with JB and KB!