Luck Week 13!

Last week before the run, how much fun is that? Are we really here already? It's a tapering week so our first run was Walk 1 min. and Run 10 min. five times. That was Sunday. It was a good run overall. I didn't go out too fast and managed to keep my pace on the way back in.

This morning was a 30 min. run. Managed to get that in before the skies opened up! Wow it got wet afterwards! Felt my right shin a little, must remember to do a good warm up before running. Sometimes because Logan's a wee bit fussy I just start moving without the warm up. Same goes for cooling down or walking it in and stretching at the end. If he's sleeping I transfer him quickly and if he's awake he's fussing so my stretching has been lacking this last few weeks. Strength and flexibility are super important when running so that you can stay away from injuries!

Looking forward to a short run on Friday and the race on Sunday.

Starting to think about where to go next. I know I'd like to complete a half marathon this coming year as well as a short triathlon. Looking into the options at the moment.

See you on the trail!

Week 12

Week 12 began with a great run in the sunshine on the dykes! We ran the whole 10km. Logan fell asleep somewhere around a quarter of the way along. I felt strong, and enjoyed talking with others as we ran. My right foot, the one that I injured a week or so ago felt fine except if I struck down on it in a particular way. I have to be very careful about how I strike down on it as it's still somewhat weak. It took me much longer to finish than the last time I ran a 10km. 55 min. is usually my goal. Pushing Logan and carrying some extra weight from the pregnancy still are my excuses for it taking longer. :) If I am under 70 min. on race day I'll be happy. We even got to break the ribbon at the end of the run. Fun.

On Wednesday I ran by myself again, I'm missing my running partner Kate! She's back at work now, having finished her maternity leave. Susan works that day also. The other Susan has not come out for some time so hopefully she'll be back for a run soon. So there I was alone, running with Logan. I decided to go to Lafarge Lake. Running there is all up hill from my house, although it's a gradual grade. The run home is always faster. I ran to the lake, around it once and then headed home as it was a shorter run today. Again I felt really good, except while running over some grass I struck down on my right foot the wrong way and it hurt pretty badly. Logan fell asleep near the end of the run after enjoying the view from the stroller. He went on to sleep 2.5 hours! I swear that the fresh air really helps his sleep.

Friday ended up being a bit of a bust. First, Susan wanted to run at Rocky Point Park and I was all for that as the weather was supposed to be spectacular. However I had a photo shoot for Logan so decided it would be best if I had him sleep as long as possible (which he no longer does when I transfer him to the van after a run). So I ran from home by myself again. Running by yourself leaves you a lot of time with your own thoughts. I am not usually one for music, although sometimes that helps. The one thing I kept noticing was the GARBAGE on the side of the street. 99% of this garbage was from food containers. 99%!!
Some examples of what I saw: McDonald's bag with empty containers in it, Starbucks coffee cup, plastic lid and container from a DQ blizzard, plastic wrap, other various cups, flyers advertising food, even dog poop - in a plastic bag! If you are going to pick up your dog's poop, put it in a can, otherwise don't pick it up in a plastic bag...let it decompose where the dog deposited it?! I just don't get it. Such little disregard for the environment - and here Earth Day is so close.

My parents have taken it upon themselves to, on occasion, pick up the litter that lines this particular street (about once a week). Kudos to them. No one has asked them to do this, no one pays them to do this. They do this because they too like to look upon the beautiful parkland that lines one side, they want a clean space for their grandkids to walk and play. Don't we all want this?

I didn't complete the entire run so that Logan could get a good sleep before the photo shoot, but went to Lafarge and back. The sun shining down on us was brilliant. LOVE it! Looking forward to our rest up week before the Up The Creek 10km run. Let's hope there's some sunshine this week! Happy trails!

What week are we in?!

Week 9 was a recovery week. That was nice, very easy sessions, actually nice weather also!

Week 10: Had a great Sunday run, we walked one minute and ran six minutes seven times. I felt really good out there! The nice weather really helped too. Love running out on the dykes when the sun's shining.

I was planning how to get my runs in while we travelled to Seattle. I figured I'd run the neighbourhood, or in the park nearby our motel. Then, I fell out of our van while packing the morning we left for Seattle. I fell hard, and injured my ankle and bruised my underarm in two places when I hit the stroller that was folded in the van.

My arm didn't hurt near as much as my ankle. I iced it as we left, wondering how I'd survive all the walking we were going to do down south. I could not walk on it at this point but didn't let on as I didn't want to end up in emergency and having to cancel or postpone our trip. It was really bad though. I tried to walk as normally as possible so that other problems from my gait didn't happen but most the time had to walk on the ball of my foot. I could not put my heel down at all.

Iced it that night and it was SO bad in the night I lost sleep over it. The next morning it seemed worse than the day before. Some swelling, some bruising but not enough to think it was broken. We walked a lot that day, slowly. I kept shaking my ankle out as it felt like something may be out of place. By the end of the day and many kilometres of walking later it actually felt much better. Can't pinpoint any one thing but it's like everything settled back into place. Still sore to touch and walk on but I could actually walk on it.

I could not have run on it on Wednesday so skipped that run. Friday I decided to rest it as well so that I'd be o.k. for our next Sunday run.

Week 11: The Sunday run was another great, sunny day! I was sore while running, could feel the weakness of my ankle so took it really easy. The 1 min. walk, 8 min. run went fast. Talked a lot with a fellow runner who I usually don't run with and that passed the time well. That night I iced the ankle, but feel it should be ok to run on this Wednesday for our mid week run. Here's hoping!

Week 9 Already!

This week is a recovery week, and I think my body's happy for that. The time change happened during the night and this year I remembered! Thankful for that! Last year I ran with my "tail" between my legs as I had forgotten to spring forward with the clocks. The run on Sunday was extremely wet! Wow, wet, wet, wet. I can't believe how soaked I was when I got home. This was the best run I had yet I think. Someone else was covering the back of the group so I gave it a little harder push and stayed with the mid to front of the pack. My legs felt strong, my cardio is great, other than the weather it could not have been more perfect.

This week I will run on Wednesday and Friday again. It's been really nice having the other moms in the group that are available those days to run with. We keep ourselves motivated, knowing that other people are there waiting for us. That being said, one mom had a sick boy and didn't make it out. And another one is going back to work after her year of maternity leave. Sad to lose her on the weekdays but we'll still see each other on the weekends. So that leaves two of us meeting up on Wednesdays and three on Fridays. Thanks for showing up so consistently ladies, we've come a long way from "Walk 1 Run 4" days!

Hoping for some better weather as the week progresses.

During spring break I hope to add a strength day or two to my week more consistently. I loved what Bob had us go through on our "snow day" and would like to strengthen and tone on a more consistent basis. Got my membership to Club 16 over the holiday and it opened mid February so will go there to do my program.

Happy day to you!

Great RUN!

Wow, it's been a great month and a half of run/walk training. I do believe we've run in the rain more than we've run in the dry weather this year. I've kept with not eating before I run and this seems to allow me to feel lighter, and not weighed down with digesting while running. If I do eat anything it's a banana as fruit is quick to digest and light.

Drinking water is ever so important too as it's hard to run or exercise when you are dehydrated. I know that if I'm getting muscle cramps this is usually the reason. Here's a trick I use to keep hydrated. I keep a litre Kleen Kanteen bottle in my van. When I am at a red light I take a big drink. You'd be amazed at how quickly that bottle empties! Well, at least here in the suburbs where there are plenty of lights. If you are in the country or a small town you'd have to choose some other reason to drink. Reminds me of the drinking games we used to play in university. Play with it and see what works for you. Get hydrated!

I had to miss our Sunday run because my kids had a soccer tourney. I really missed going out with the group. Are you a social exerciser or a solo one? I really do prefer to be with people when I exercise and it's why I love this group so much. Hyde Creek is a great starting point and the trail and the dykes are so beautiful to run on.

The ladies that I go out with during the week are great too! Rain or shine, jogging stroller or not we're there for each other and it motivates us to get our bodies moving. This week I ran the run on Monday, it was a glorious, sunny day and I felt really great running. Took a new route and it was nice to have some different scenery. I also prefer to run without music, really! I have an MP3 player but use it rarely. I love listening to nature around me and yes, to the cars whizzing by. :)

Wednesday's run, that was another story. It was cold, windy, and raining as hard as it can get. It was WET! We had a recovery day so the walk was 2 min. and the run was 5 min. and we did that 6 times. Due to a massage therapy session I only did it 5 times. We recently had another friend of mine join our weekly runs and she was not well that day so hope to see her on Friday.

It's pouring rain out there right now and I'm thinking of those in the group that go out Thursday nights. Yikes, it's as wet as it was on Wednesday morning out there right now. Stay safe out there!

Have you used your muscles today? What do you do to stay motivated on a rainy day? Music? Friends? Something else?