22 Days Until My Next Run

I was fitted for orthotics yesterday and it turns out, if I wasn’t in control of my body I would run in circles. My right heal is out by 7 degrees and the left foot is the one with the plantar fasciitis. None the less – 2 weeks until they come in and one week of walking on them and then it’s goooo-time! I think I am a “runner” now because I salivate watching people at the gym run, or people on the road run. It doesn’t matter what speed they are going, if they are moving faster than a walking pace I am envious. I attempted to run the other day and did 2.5 miles at an 8.5 min/mile pace and paid for it dearly that afternoon and the next day. BUT during that 21 min of running I felt soooo good. I felt my foot starting to hurt, but I just didn’t want to stop until I made it to 2.5 miles. That’s about it for me until the New Year! Wishing Everyone a Merry Christmas and Very Happy New Year! Cheers!

Run Envy...Realizing My Appreciation for Any Type of Running

I'm injured. It sucks. I've got "plantar fasciitis" and need orthodics. I haven't gone running since Nov 23 and before that I had taken 10 days off of running. It really hurts and it came out of nowhere. I've been spending time on the stairmaster, elptical and bike and those don't keep my fitness up even like slooooowww runs do. I notice I am now envious of the "weekend warrior" wearing his hat backwards and running slow, just because I'm not right now. Anyone I see moving at a faster pace than a fast walk I envy right now.

So my plan right now is to stay off running until the week of Dec 23 and then ease slowly back in if my foot will allow. Really really frusting. Don't they say when bloggers go silent it's usually because of injury. Yup - that's me. Having said all of the above, there are some positives that have come from this. Most mornings now I am getting my workout in before work which is really nice to have my lunch hour back. My friend Bree who just placed 5th at IMCozumel ran some miles for me (pretty sure my miles ended her up in the loo) - sorry Bree;) What an AMAZING job for her though. If you haven't checked out her blog from my side bar - go have a look. She is an AMAZING Mom, Friend, and all around person. http://breeweehawaii.blogspot.ca/ My mom and I have put in our lottery entries for NYM for 2014 - OMG I hope we are chosen. And Boston is CONFIRMED for April 2014 - WOOHOO! I've got a few goal races in mind for 2014 but right now, my focus is on getting the foot healthy again and enjoying the holidays with my family and friends. Cheers!

Vancouver Eastside 10k Race Report

This race is FANTASTIC! I must say "thank you" to all of the volunteers and organizers for this race. I really liked how the race supported the FOOD BANK. Talk about a fantastic way to collect donations, it's so easy to grab some cans and drop them off at either registration or the day of the race. I was honored to toe the line with the "fasties" and man were they FAST! My girlfriend watched the little dude for me while I ran. Warm-Up The warm-up should have a post all to itself. I don't normally "warm-up" before I run other than jogging a bit. I know "shame on me", but it's how I roll. So when I got down their and saw all of the "elite" runners doing drills I thought to myself, maybe I should because they are fast and they look like they know what they are doing. So I did some watching out of the corner of my eye what everyone else did. Then I started to panic, what if I pull something how AWESOME would that look - lol! So I just ran further away to waste time until it was GO TIME. The Race I had no real goals for this race as the weekend before was my 1/2 mary and my legs still felt like they had a brick in each of them. Actually my 1 goal was to not embarrass myself or make it as little as possible. I overheard one of the girls say that she was trying to get back in shape and I ended up staying with her for most of the race. I have no idea about race etiquette and I actually apologized to her during the race for staying with her. She was pacing me and it felt kind of okay (remember the bricks).

I ended up running a 41:40 which was 1 min and 15 sec fast than my old 10k time so I finished very pleased. I would LOVE to do this race again. The course is pretty as it goes through Gastown. It is not pancake flat, but it's not hilly. Cheers!

Skagit Flats 1/2 Marathon Report and Vancouver Eastside 10k (coming up)

This race venue is becoming nearer and dearer to my heart. Last year I qualified for Boston on this course and this year I ran a PR on the 1/2 mary course. First off, the volunteers are AWESOME! The aid stations are run by the high school students and boy are they awesome cheerers. The course is flat in its truest form. I have raced on courses that claim that they are flat and they are not. This one IS. The course is an out and back course for both the marathon and the 1/2. The race: I went into this race feeling prepared for a PR. I also went into my last 1/2 prepared for a PR so I know that anything can happen. I feel very fortunate that my legs "showed up" so to speak. On a "magical" day a sub 1:30 was going to happen, on a "great" day I was going to run sub 7s for the entire race (that was my secret goal for the day) and on a "day" I was going to be happy that I was out there running. My goal was to remain in my 10 sec target pace of 6:55s - 7:05s min/miles. The result - 1:32:03 (pace of 7:02 min/miles) ....oh so close to the "great day"....but still oh so happy:) My boys were there with me and the midget reminded me that he is faster runner than me just before I started (we even raced and he beat me). The big man was there too and told me how proud he was of me. I had sent Macbeth a MSG the week before and asked her if she was going to come and do the race too because its pretty close for them and she brought her friend who it was her first 12 Mary - so awesome. They both did so well and it was great seeing their smiling faces on the course and again after the race. It just turned out to be a great race day for me. The temp was perfect, my legs showed up, my support crew was there, and my stomach didn't erupt until after the race. I ended up 3rd overall and got a bobble head trophy - I love it. It actually moves. I gotta put this out there... the race venue is small and the first place girl ran a 1:18 and I ran a 1:32 so there is a rather HUGE difference between first and third. But I'll take it. If you live in the area I highly recommend the race. This weekend I have been given a complimentary entry into the Vancouver east side 10 k event. I am super honoured to tow the line with the amazing athletes that will be there and I'm not exactly sure how that happened but I am going with it. It will be interesting to see what my legs will put out on Saturday because I'm not feeling overly recovered from Sunday but I'm going to go after it! Cheers

Miles and Miles

2 more days of running to go and I will finish off my running block of 3 weeks to improve fitness. I should average just over 50 miles for each week and I definitly feel the improvement already so GOAL ACHIEVED! It turned out, I really just needed to get off my bike (the 1 day I was riding) to increase the mileage and add in a couple of longer days. I did do a tempo run each week, but they are still 5 sec per mile slower than my goal 1/2 marathon pace so I don't think the sub 1:30 1/2 mary is a reasonable goal at this point. BUT - a PR is definitley something worth going after. 3 more weeks to focus on some speed and then go time! Pics from the runs:

Cheers!

Quality or Mileage?

This week has turned into a mileage focus week after my 1 tempo run on Monday an 8 miler with 6 at sub 7 pace - (which didn't feel easy - the pic is from before the tready tempo run and it was early). I'm hoping next week will be similar with one solid tempo run and the rest of the week focused on the miles. Looking at last years logs of training in July I had 3 weeks at 60 plus miles and 1 week at 78 miles. I remember that 10 miles felt like a walk in the park (distance NOT speed wise). And I miss that feeling right now, I love that feeling where your fitness is at a certain level and then you can just play with speed to improve that area. I am hoping that over the following 2 weeks I am able to gain a bit more mileage and throw in a quality run (that being a strong tempo pased run) and that I will come out of 3 solid weeks feeling more fit. After that I will turn back my focus to more speed prep and then see if everything aligns for me for an early fall 1/2. I feel very blessed with the weather we have been having here and on the weekends we've been down to the beach and on little hikes. It's fantastic. I hope summer lasts forever! Cheers!

It Only Took 12 Years

I remember years ago when I was planning our "first" date and I thought kayaking would be a great idea and the idea was not well received.  We went to dinner and movie instead, but obviously that wasn't a relationship breaker.  12 years and counting I got my kayaking date with the man.  Thank you BCNET:)  I know he sucked it up for me and he would tell you that he did most of the paddling (which maybe he did more than his share because I was busy capturing this moment on camera).  It was a great afternoon/evening with a guided kayaking tour and bbq to follow.  The man even suggested that if the dude wanted to do this with us he would be game.  HECK YES - that is on this years Summer Bucket List!

The pics (take while not paddling):

Cheers!

Pain in the NECK!

The last couple of weeks were going pretty well.  I had made the commitment to myself to get at least 2 “quality” runs in per week (possibly 3)with 5 workouts total which included cycling and running “free” and then Sat afternoon rolled in.  I was doing weights and then all of sudden my neck went out.  It does that sometimes.  I landed on my head quite a bit when I was gymnast (lol – I’m sure there are a few jokes in there somewhere).  What happens, as my chiropractor informed me of is that my muscles around my neck go into protective mode and tighten up.  Usually after 1 or 2 visits to the chiro I am able to manage the pain and keep running, but not this week.  Not completely listening to the advice offered by my chiro, I went to the gym and attempted the “quality run #1” for the week.  I was 4 miles in and that was enough.  I moved over to the stairmaster and finished with 30 minutes on that beast.  My neck seized up again – ughhhh frustrating.  I also think I am partially fighting something, because I was sweating more than usual and I don’t’ have a whole lot of  energy.  Tomorrow will be my 3^rd time to the chiropractor this week and hopefully the neck thing will be resolved by Monday and training will go back to “normal”.  The weather has been great here the past few weeks and we've had some family time (dinner's) on the beach - LOVE ME SOME SUMMA. 

Here are some pics from the week before:

Cheers!

So Proud

She DID IT!  My Mom got her New York qualifier DONE!  Her feet were ON FIRE and she ran her way to a 2:05:37.  I am SO Proud for so many reasons.  She set her mind to this and went after it and got it!  And now, next November New York it is:)

She looks so strong!

I did NOT have the race of my life and struggled mentally to just stay in the race when I knew my legs were definitly not showing up in any form that day.  I am chalking it up to a solid "training day" with a 1:37:45.  I am disappointed, but will go after it again.

The rest of the week with my mom in town was fantastic.  We went over to Victoria for a day, saw a muscial, hiked, shopped, hung out, went to a track meet (I hadn't been to one since highschool).  The week fantastic and always too short (visits from family most always are).

Cheers!

What to do, what to do?

I've been having that mental battle in my head about what to go after on race day this weekend.  Do I attempt to go after 6:50's all the way through or hold close to 7:00's?  Both sceanrios would result in PRs, but 1 would get me a ticket to NY.  In all honesty I don't feel ready to hold 6:50s for 13.1 miles.  If there was tons of "race day magic" and "wind at my back the entire time" and Burrard street bridge fell flat for for 7 min on Sunday (just as I was crossing), well then maybe NY would happen.  I am pretty sure I am going to aim for the 7:00s which, if successful, would put me in a great position to train the rest of the summer and run a completely flat 1/2 mary in early Sept.  The Scotiabank 1/2 marathon is one of my favourite races.  It is SooooOOOOooo beautiful!

Today was a perfect day for running and I got my last little run in before Sunday's race.  Looking forward to another Amazing day of racing with my mom and I can't wait to be at the finish line and cheer her on as she crosses.

Happy Racing to all of those racing this weekend!

Cheers!

Just Giver

Training has been going well lately.  I don’t know if the NY qualification will happen or not (I don’t quite feel there yet), but I plan to give it my best whole hearted shot.   The plan is to go for it.  Think “RACE DAY MAGIC”, and just hope for the best.

 

I did my “test” run or “the $ run” on the weekend and it went well.  Not perfect, but well.  I managed a PR for my ½ mary in the training run, but 3 out of the 9 miles at “race pace” were not at “race pace” and one of them was REALLY off.  This week is a full recovery week of just running free, no garmin, nothing fast and no leg weights.  I am following what I did 2 weeks before the race in March, because it felt good and ended with a decent result.  Repeat what works right?  My mom has been doing some great runs lately and I think she’s ready for her NY Qualifier.  I’m excited to spend some time with her and relax eat cupcakes and fro-yo (she’s the cupcakes and I’m fro-yo), do some local hiking, maybe a spa visit, good cooking and just some really good quality time together. 

Cheers!

Slugging It

 Getting the training in and am keeping "hopefully optimistic" for the Scotia 1/2 in less than 3 weeks from now.  I have to say if I am being honest with myself my fitness level isn't where I want it to be right now.  I was hoping that I would be doing much longer tempo runs and have the shorter ones feel effortless, and well I'm not there just yet.  On Thursday last week I did a 10k inside my run which was at a 6:57 min/mile pace and I spent until today recovering and today, and I still didn't feel "zippy".  I'm nervous about my goal.  It's defn going to require the wind at my back and a WHOLE LOT OF Race Day Magic cause I need to be running a 6:50 min/mile pace for 13.1!  I play this game with myself over Burrard Street Bridge on my last mile of almost every run.  If I have my garmin on I give myself a goal of holding say a 7:25 min/mile until the middle of the bridge and then have a 1/2 mile c/d down.  If I don't have it on I just run as fast as I can until the middle of the bridge.  It's silly, but I feel like it's making me stronger.  That bridge is almost at the end of the Scotia 1/2:)  Hopefull that will be my only "slow" mile.

 Ran into this "momma to be" who looked as though she could run circles around my sorry A$$ today as I ran 3 sorry miles at "race pace" insde my 8 miles down at the beach and it was such a pretty day to be out running or anything outside:)

Cheers!

We Are "Re-Runs"

Yeah - I'm so happy to report that my Mom and I will ahve the opportunity to finish what we started in Boston.  I really can't say enough about the B.A.A.  they really took the time to make the decissions that they did and we WILL BE BACK!

In training news, I did some faster miles for the first time in a few weeks and it was pain free (knocking on wood now, I don't jinx myself).  I went for a 10 mile run yesterday and managed 1 at 6:46, 1 at 6:44 and 1 at 6:42.  I'm 5 weeks away from the Scotiabank 1/2 and I don't know if that is enough time to get into shape, but I sure as heck plan to try.

The little man and I have been getting outdoors a lot and have done the Quarry Rock hike 2 times already.  It's so pretty there.

I had a beautiful Mother's Day.  My favourites are the homemade stuff and just spending time with the family and my family ROCKS!

Cheers!

Too Much Too Soon

Ahhh - I think I started back with some speed work a bit too soon, and I did it twice.  It left me knee feeling awfully tender and so I have taken 3 complete days off of running now.  I rode my bike on Saturday morning instead of running the 14 miles that I had planned.  Today I will run an easy 8 miles and spend the rest of the week just paying attention and working out accordingly.  My next 1/2 is 4 weeks away from yesterday and the plan is to "GO FOR IT".  I plan to hurt really bad after, but I want to lay it down and see if I am able to hold 6:50s for 13.1 miles.  If the week is good and I feel strong on Saturday, I will do the "Money" run. 

I've also enjoyed the last 2 weeks of pretty much eating like a "jacka$$" so that is hopefully stopping.  I always like to give myself a week after a race to just eat whatever and do whatever, but it usually ends up turning into 2 weeks.  Am I alone in this?  I also find that mentally and physically I feel WAY better the "cleaner" I eat.  So that is the plan.

Cheers!

Boston 2013

This post may be a bit of a ramble but I feel like I need to write it ALL down. To describe the race itself in short (as a first time Boston marathoner) it would be that it was THE most amazing marathon  I've ever ran or been too with THE most tragic ending.  My heart goes out to all of those impacted by what happened. It makes me sick and I can't begin to understand why. With all that happened though, I truly saw and witnessed so much greatness in humanity.

Our trip began as a girls weekend. All of us ( my mom, sister, niece and myself) met at the airport and we kicked off 2 fantastic days of girl bonding, great meals, site seeing and reconnecting. I am thankful my niece and sister had to head back home on Sunday. We even randomly met up with friends from high school at Cheers (where everyone knows your name and your always glad you came).  That was super freaky but so great.  My girlfriend ended up running a 3:25 and change a pr of more than 4 min for her.  We went to some great restaurants "zaftigs" and "legal seafoods". I would highly recommend both. We did a trolley hop on hop off tour and the Boston tea party.  All great.

Now all about the race.

I was excited about running the boston marathon with my mom but I really didn't know what it all entailed. A gentleman that I work with wasn't able to run it this year (he's ran it several times) and I was picking up his packet for him.  He came by my office the day I was leaving and was almost giddy with excitement for me. I didn't get why at the time but I do now.  It is amazing. Right from picking up your packet. The volunteers want to know where you are from and they are from all over themselves. The expo is huge and everyone is just so happy to be there. We walked around the entire area. We went back to "zaftigs" for dinner as we knew the menu and knew we liked it and then got our wake up call for the morning. I don't think either of us slept well because of excitement. We put on our matching outfits and our throw a ways and headed out the door to the green line to make our way down to the busses.  It was so organized. I think we only waited at most 15 minutes to get on the bus. Thankful we met a lady that chatted our ear off the entire way out to the start. Her daughter had had a baby the night before. She was adorable.  The bus ride had me a bit nervous  as I didn't realize it was going to take so long to get out there and I thought someone might be playing a bit of a joke on us that we actually have to run 50 miles not 26.2.  Wow when you get out there it's crazy.  There are large fields filled with people, music playing tons of portopotties, info booths, coffee food and athletes upon athletes. I was in aww.  I was trying to take it all in. Who would know when another opportunity like this would ever present itself. I took tons of pictures. We met our dress a like twins before we headed to the start line. When we got out there I just couldn't stop smiling. I don't think I stopped the entire race until mile 22.  We started in the 3rd wave. I couldn't believe how deep the crowds were, in fact the crowds were pretty deep the entire way.  The biker bar between mile 1 and 2 was just amazing. I don't think I have ever seen that many supporters of runners in my entire life. The crowds carried us. There were people handing out bottles and cans of beer, licorice, jelly beans, water, oranges and that wasn't even the "real" aide stations. I kissed a girl from Wellsley college I high fived what felt like a gazillion people. We saw sister Madonna on the course and i hugged her and told her how inspiring she is and that I watched her cross the finish line at Ironman Canada last year. We met marathon Larry a lawyer from san antonio who has run over 1000 marathons. It was so amazing. It was amazing to be doing this with my mom. I remember thinking at mile 13 we only GET 13 more miles of this together and even as I write this it brings tears to my eyes. I was so in that moment with her. We received our email from marathon foto and it truly captures our day together. We were celebrating.  Heartbreak hill to both of us didn't seem that bad. That might have been because of our pace but I had envisioned a much steeper hill. At around mile 22.5 we were given word that there had been a bombing. My immediate thought was that some punk had put some fireworks in a garbage can and that they are taking it serious. By mile 23 we were told that someone had passed and we saw the response vehicles going out. I kept thinking to myself ( in disbelief) that there were a lot of response vehicles going out for someone who had a cardiac arrest.

Then we were given word that we were going to be rerouted at mile 25 and then shortly after that we were told our race was going to end there.  A lady that we met had 6 people waiting for her at the finish and she was in tears. It was very sad.  A church opened it's doors about a 1/2 mile back up the road (which was across the street from our hotel).  A neighbour invited runners to come in and use her shower, phone and she clothed and fed them.  We heard numerous similar stories to that in the evening and the next day.  This terrible tragedy sure did make us see the greatness is mankind.  My mom was cold waiting at the church, so I ran across the street to our hotel to get us some warm clothes.  Keep in mind we didn't know what or if anything they wanted to do with us.  I phoned the hubs and he let me know way more of the details than what we knew at that time.  I phoned my sister and my moms husband and was able to get in touch with my dad a bit later.  My phone was lit up like a Christmas tree!  I was able to post a note on FB to let everyone know that we were okay.  Oh boy did we ever feel the love.  Thank you to all of our family and friends for the msgs. We decided that we would go back to our hotel and just stay put for the evening.  It was all over the news.  My heart goes out to all of those families that were affected in anyway.  We were safe, we were far from the incident and ever so thankful for that.  There are a lot of "what ifs", but the fact is that we were together away from it. 

The next day was somewhat "theraputic" if you will.  We were able to walk around the city and talk to people and hear their stories.  We proudly wore our jackets.  It was surreal.  We picked up a finisher medal as well.  Normally I am not keen on the idea that should recieve a medal if you didn't finish the race, but we were going to finish and we have decided that for this race we are going to get engraved our last official time at the 35km mark.  That was our BOSTON marathon the year of 2013.  We WILL be back, we will cross the line together.  The photos we took and the ones that we received from marathon foto truly reflect the day  in which we were having.

(source)

Plan to purchase these

My heart breaks for those families affected. It's not fair. This was a day of celebration of acheivements for so many and it was tarnished by cruelty. I am really trying to focus on the greatness I saw in humanity.


Thank you BOSTON, the B.A.A., the response teams, the volunteers and the community!  You shine brightly in our hearts!  Many thank you's for the msgs as well.

XoXoX Boston!

BOSTON - Only Days Away

OMG - I can hardly believe that the time has arrived.  It's only DAYS away.  I feel like I am a bit at loss for words for what this experience means to me.  The pride it holds to share this with ONE AMAZING WOMAN, and that woman is MY MOM.  WOW!  I want to savour every moment of it, be present through all of it and smile a TON. 

My Mom has always been an incredible support to me in my endevours whether it be sport related or life in general and it is such a pleasure to be able to do this with her.

It really has not sunk in that we will be doing THE BOSTON MARATHON together.  I'm excited to say the least.  I'm thrilled that my sister and niece will be joining us in Boston for "pre-race festivities" which will assist in keeping us in "over excitement check". 

Also excited to see this Chic: 

who is becoming super speedy.  She just finished a 30k race in 2:19 with a 5 min PR over last year.  Look out running world!

and THIS Chic - who is just AMAZING in everything she does!

6 days and counting!

Cheers!