Rollercoaster 10K

Or maybe I should call this the 'inadvertent interval' run instead? :)

The good stuff first:

- I ran a 10K - woo hoo! I will be happier when I start running in the double digits a little more often than what I am doing now, but until then, this will do. :)

- It didn't rain on me and the path was well salted by the city so my concern about potential ice was alleviated.

- The dogs were great; they were very serious about running today. When I stopped to walk, they were like horses chomping at the bit, which was good, because my walking intervals were kept very short as a result. I'm finding that my first km is now faster than my second km just because they are excited and anxious to start running - it takes them a km distance to settle into pace. :)

The odd stuff:

- I have been concentrating on my breathing, incorporating the diaphragm breathing learned from yoga and pilates, and as per the discussion in Chi Running/Walking. It really works! I'm enjoying it, too. However, it just wasn't easy to incorporate today for some reason, probably because of what I am about to write next ...

- My pace was all over the map. I acknowledge that I wrote on this blog recently that I was not going to focus on speed so much, and this still is my true intention. However, I couldn't help, but notice last week that I was hitting paces much faster than at the peak of my training program last fall!?! At first I thought it was a fluke, but after tracking it on a few subsequent runs, I'm seeing it more consistently. Huh! Maybe this focus on posture and breathing is already working ... or maybe I am too distracted paying attention to my posture and breathing that I don't realize I am running faster (Angus is at his peak form in the winter so I can also attribute the faster pace to his happier running). Just something I am noticing and making note of ...

WEEK 11/17 HM Training - Run#3+ A Shrunken Tempo

Oy it's a hot and humid one out there ... is it really September?

I went for a short run last night (2.7 km); I ran from the fitness club after yoga home. :) It was such a muggy evening so I took it slow and steady. My hip flexors were still aching so I opted out of my scheduled tempo run yesterday, instead switching it with today's rest day. Fortunately, yoga was very good for opening up the hips and gently stretching this area so it felt better after class.

I slept in a little later today (8:00 a.m.) before heading out with William Wallace for my tempo run. I had sweat running down my body by the time I was done my 2 km warm-up; eek! It's hard to believe that it is now "fall" with the heat and humidity as high as it is today.

I set the bar lower today for my tempo run (40 minutes @6:45/km). The air was soup-like and I'm not crazy - the environment/conditions for running over-rules scheduling. My desired 6:30/km will have to wait until after my Springbank Half Marathon. Wallace and I started out on target and there were a few fluctuations on either side of 6:45, but by the 10 minute mark, I was cruising at a pace faster than 6:45/km. Very cool! I started thinking about how my ego needed this (ha!), and after Tempo #1 went so well and Tempo #2 *sucked* ... it was great to be on track for another good tempo albeit not the one I originally desired ...

... until I saw my friend, Sheila, walking her dog, Tasha. Sheila is a good friend of mine and I dog-sit Tasha on a regular basis. Sheila does not run and she is not the kind of person who would understand it if I ran by her without stopping (she is very much an English lady even after living in Canada longer than she did in Britain). She would not understand if I called out, "I'm 3/4 of the way through my tempo run ... I can't stop now!" It's just not in my nature to do this to her, either. People trump run schedules. So William Wallace and I stopped to say hello, chat and to gush over (me)/lick (Wallace) Tasha.

We chatted for awhile to catch up. It was so much in my heart to resume my tempo and go for the gusto for 10 more minutes, but my heart is not connected to my hip flexors. :( They had stiffened up in the time I was chatting, and it was quite clear that I could not resume my workout. Oh well! It was good while it lasted and I revel in the fact that I was doing better than my lowered bar when I was stopped. :) However, the rest of the run home felt long, as it often does when my planned workout is stopped mid-stream, but I took it very easy because of my tender hips.

I still don't really know what I did which created this tenderness in this area, but I think my body is needing another recovery week and I have a race taper week scheduled so this should do the trick. :)

16 km tomorrow - nice and slow and easy is on the agenda. :) Before I sign off, I want to share this link with you. One of the blogs I follow is called, Lazy Girl Running (she is running the London Marathon in a few weeks). I find her very funny and witty (I think Canadian humour tends to be more British than American in this respect). Let's just say that I had a good laugh about her post about body image and using the Red Riding Hood analogy ... I like her encouragement to be The Wolf! Amen, sister! :) While you are on her site, check out her tour of the 2012 Summer Olympics Marathon tour, too; it's very, very cool IMO. :)

GYM UPDATE

Kundalini Yoga last night was good as always, but I will say that that there were moves that I didn't enjoy as much as usual. There is usually a very sweaty and stinky kickboxing class ahead of yoga on Friday nights (I plan to join the sweaty, sticky people someday!), but their class was cancelled for the evening. I was dropped off early at the fitness club by Benny so I walked easily on a treadmill for 15 minutes so I could watch a bit of TV (not very good TV; the videos on Much Music are kind of crappy these days) until my yoga instructor showed up. She opened the room early to us and it was neat to see how most of us, casual and comfortable with each other, used this time for personal deep breathing and meditation. THIS is what I like so much about this class and the people who attend it. This is my kind of environment and camaraderie. :)

Tonight's class was about returning to the basics. I found it a bit challenging because of my hips; there was some discomfort for me as I did various poses and stretches, but I knew that this was doing what I needed it to do. Funny how we have to attend a class to do this because we won't do it on our own at home, eh? :)

It was sweet to end the class with both Judy and June asking after my mother. :) Judy was thrilled to hear that Mom enjoyed yoga and was looking for a class to join in Peterborough, and June happily passed on to me that she received pics by email of my cousin's new baby.

Did you know that I have been faithfully attending this class for almost as long as I have been running this year? Cool! :)

Week 9/17 HM Training - Run #3 Tempo (Session #1)

Tempo Run for 40 minutes

w/u 2 km @7:15/km

Tempo 6.03 km @6:38/km (10:41/mile)

c/d 2 km @7:27/km

Not a bad workout! :)

It's a busy posting day on my blog. First, it's Food Rules Friday so if you are looking for it, sku down a few posts or click on the link. Second, I posted the blurb from my training book on Tempo Runs so again, sku down a post to read this or click on the link. :) The beauty of having pre-written posts scheduled for certain days. :)

Even though I wasn't feeling like being a speed demon when I headed out this morning with the dogs in tow, I was determined to get this tempo run done today. I decided ahead of time to set my 'quick interval' Garmin option for 6:45/km pace for 40 minutes. It's been awhile since I've run at this pace for a training run (my South Huron 8K race excluded) - I'm a little rusty with the speed after so much longer, slower mileage. Rather than going out there "full hog" to try to run a 6:30/km pace, I thought I would ease into it so I aimed for 6:45/km instead.

I had this in mind, too:

Springbank Half Marathon (before track training on Sept. 11)

Course with a few hills and varying inclines

Ideal Goal 2:25 = avg. pace 6:52/km (11:04/mile)

Niagara Falls Half Marathon (after track training on Oct. 23)

Course is very flat with a few inclines near the end

Ideal Goal 2:20 = avg. pace 6:38/km (10:41/mile)

My splits from today's tempo:

1 km - 6:30

2 km - 6:44

3 km - 6:39

4 km - 6:38

5 km - 6:44

6 km - 6:40

0.03 km - 5:23/km (LOL!)

Truth be told, I actually could have run this faster. Unfortunately, I had a little bit of a dead weight with me. :( Angus was not at his fastest today. I didn't think the temperature or the distance would be difficult for him, but just during the warm-up run, he was beginning to slow behind me so I knew then that the tempo might be a challenge for him. He was fine for the first half, but during the second half of the tempo, I could feel 'one' leash at my waist tugging from behind. :( He didn't drag me down completely, but the small, consistent pull from him made it more challenging for me to maintain pace. :( I need to make a judgment call about taking him with me next Friday, when I have my next tempo run scheduled, basing my decision on the weather, temperature, and his fitness that day. I am a little bothered by it; for a young, extremely fit dog, I find it hard to believe that my slow running pace is "too" fast for him for 10km. :(

I have Kundalini yoga tonight. :) I am playing it by ear as to whether or not I head out for a recovery 5K tomorrow. I may I opt out for another rest day because I have a 19.5 km run (12 miles) scheduled for Sunday (I am at 973 km for the year with today's run). :)

I may also shift all my runs by one day next week because I have the Ingersoll Harvest Run on the following Sunday:

• Mon - rest day (as scheduled)
• Tues - 11.5 km (cancel and complete hill workout instead)
• Wed - hill workout (change to Tues and take off instead)
• Thu - 5 km or rest (change to Wed and complete tempo run instead)
• Fri - tempo run (change to Thu and take off instead)
• Sat - 5 km or rest (change to Fri and run 16 km instead)
• Sun - 16 km (change to Sat and run Harvest Festival Run 10K, making up for cancelled 11.5 km on Tues)

Week 8/17 HM Training - Run #2 10K + 8 striders

It would have been a terrible thing not to go for a run today ... the weather was just perfect! :)

Buoyed by my partial, faster run with Shawna, my goal today was to try and capture some of the speed I have missed from my runs this past, hot, sweaty summer. With striders on the schedule and great weather, too, I was hoping for another great run.

It was. :) :) And I had a lot of fun, too. I felt very good and strong throughout the entire run, the boys clearly had a good time, too, and I saw strider speeds on my Garmin that made me smile. For the first time, I changed my Garmin from "distance" only on display and added "pace" because I wanted to make sure that I was pushing it closer to race pace for my half marathon. I was very pleased to see 5:45-5:50/km as my range for the first half of my striders and then to see that I was running 6:10-6:20/km during my last few striders. After seeing golden splits during my run yesterday and then again today, I am feeling much better about where I am at currently in my training. I finally have a sense of payoff for everything that I have put into this so far. :)

And to be honest, you know what impressed me the most about this run? That it felt this good and went so well after a GNO the night before - LOL! All the glasses of water I drank in-between beers paid off in todays' run!! :)

On a final note, I finally learned about the running group I have seen on Saturday morning setting up water stations around Springbank Park. On my run with Shawna yesterday, she told me a bit about them. I originally thought that perhaps this group was a store-related running group, but it turns out that they are splinter group from the half/full marathon group associated with my favourite running store. The runners contribute a fee and organize themselves for weekend long runs. I recall now a post by Shawna months ago referring to this group. They sound quite interesting and I am going to keep them in mind for next spring.

GYM UPDATE

I missed Kundalini yoga this evening. As much as I feel bummed about it (I hate missing class), I committed to helping a friend and it took longer than originally intended. It is what it is and at least I have Friday's class to look forward to. :)

Week 6/17 HM Training - Run #2 10K+ and 8 striders

My running path was not quite this peaceful or beautiful this morning. :) Pave it, add some sounds and signs of a city around it, and then it is a closer representation.

I had a very good run first thing this morning. I enjoyed it so much because there was no humidity for a sweet, sweet change. The running temperature was ideal for me, the dogs were eager to run, and I felt strong from beginning to end. This was a great feeling and I hope I feel it more often in the future, as well on longer runs. :) Clearly, the temperature had a lot to do it. It was nice for a change not to arrive home soaked from sweating.

My skill at striders is improving. I found my faster pace, "HM race pace", without starting out overly fast, and my recovery time from the striders was much improved because of it. I like how the striders kick start me to run faster overall as well. My pace was clearly faster by the end of the run than at the beginning.

I am beginning to think I may be able to run 5 days this week and all my scheduled mileage. I really hope so. :)

On a side note ... I haven't referred to my achilles tendon in quite awhile. This is because it is not bothering me any more. :) I iced it regularly when it was so tender at the beginning of my HM training schedule, and I have added additional calf stretches after my runs during this phase. This seems to have done the trick. I am pretty happy about this, but still cautious. If anything, the one 'injury' from running that I am currently nursing is that I still have slight tenderness on the front of both shins. They don't bother me when I run at all. The only time I notice my shin splints is when the area is pressed. The best description is that it feels bruised, like I was kicked in the shins, but the bruise tenderness remains longer than a few days. I have started icing these areas, too.

And on a second side note ... running with my arms relaxed and down by my side, hands unclenched and shoulders relaxed, has really improved. I haven't given this much thought until this past weekend - this is when I ran by multiple runners whose shoulders were clenched up so tightly, it looked painful. Two runners in particular had their necks kinked to their shoulders, and it was affecting their gait. Regardless if they have a pre-existing condition or not, seeing them reminded me to double-check myself, and be grateful that attention I paid to this earlier has had positive results.

I run 13K in the morning. :)

GYM UPDATE

Kundalini Yoga tonight was more than excellent. Some things really clicked tonight and it felt great. It was like an "aha" and I loved it. I didn't have an opportunity to speak to my instructor as I intended to tonight because there was another student needing her attention, but my instructor did celebrate my success with me during the class because she was watching. :)

Week 5/17 HM Training - Run #2 10K + 9 striders

10K @1:09:00

Avg. Pace 6:54/km

Treadmill

Today was not a great day, but thanks to a boring treadmill, "thrillmill," it ended on a better note ... :)

Without getting into all the non-running-related reasons, it just wasn't a great day and I was in a bit of a funky mood. It didn't help that today was the hottest day on record to date - 48 degrees C with the humidex - and as anyone under the heat 'dome' will attest to, the air was truly thick and hot. Way too gross and a health concern. And a great reason not to run today ...

Yesterday, I had a lingering migraine that just wouldn't go away. It wasn't the kind of migraine that makes someone lie down in a dark, silent room, but it was consistent enough to make me realize that I couldn't do it today. Skipping my run contributed, in part, to my funky mood today. After a few weeks of altering my training schedule to accommodate a wedding, a trip out of town, and then a 5K race, I really wanted/needed this week to follow my training plan perfectly. Instead, I only had Run #1 for the week under my belt before I was making alterations ... again. :(

So I was already on my slippery slope to funky ground today when it was compounded by every day things-that-go-wrong-as-part-of-life, but always seem to happen all at the same time. :( And because of the record-setting day of heat and humidity, it was looking like I would be skipping scheduled Run #3, too. My ego is already been feeling bruised by how much my pace appears to have decreased over the last month; the thought of heading outside and struggling to run in pea soup thick air made me feel worse. And when you're feeling funky, there's just little to no motivation. :(

So it was quite the mental game between early morning and early evening, working on motivating myself to go to the gym to use the treadmill instead. I have not been a huge fan of the treadmill in the past (very boring and the time ticks by soooo slowly) so it was hard to work up some enthusiasm for jumping on one when I was feeling so funky. :(

I'm writing about this because getting to the gym for a 10K run this evening really was a great accomplishment. It shows a subtle, but significant, change to me. It reflects how much more dedicated I am to my daily runs compared to last year. When I trained for a half marathon last summer and fall, I scheduled four runs per week with three rest days, but there were multiple weeks when I only ran three days because it was too hot, I was too tired, etc. This year, even when it is rainy or humid and hot, or when I am feeling tired, I still head out the door to run. I now become anxious (in a good way, not in an obsessed way!) if I miss a run. It's on days like this that I notice my improved commitment level.

There's further proof of this, too. When I arrived at the gym and set myself up on the only treadmill that has been altered to show pace and mileage in kilometres instead of miles, I realized that I had forgotten my headphones. A treadmill is terribly boring as it is with music or TV entertainment - I can't imagine using it without! :( But that's what I did - if I drove home, I wouldn't return. Instead, I ended up being the lone treadmill user without Apple white buds in my ears. That shows how 'hardcore' I am, right? :)

The first 15 minutes were brutal. My pace was great, actually 30 seconds/km faster than what I have been doing outside these days, but time was going by sooooooo sloooowly. I played counting games in my head, sang songs from my running workout playlist in my head, and tried to find a silent TV screen that would distract me. Ugh! I contemplated quitting at the 5K mark multiple times just to save myself from the repetitiveness and boredom. :( The action that saved me was remembering that I had 6 striders to get done. The act of concentrating on running these striders, and even adding more, is what got me through the final 5K. It also helped to speed up the TM to push my pace an additional 15 seconds faster which made me focus more on what I was doing. I also threw in some imagination and fantasized that I was running my half marathon in Niagara Falls. :)

But the best part is that my funky mood was lifted by the time my TM workout ended. :) Being able to run faster lifted my spirits and gave me an ego boost. Getting another training run done also made me feel better. My day's stresses no longer felt as overwhelming either.

Tomorrow is a rest day, but I plan to go to Kundalini yoga for the first time in two weeks. I missed last Wednesday because I was out of town, last Friday because I was in a 5K race, and then my migraine prevented me from going yet again last night. :( I have an 8K with 6 striders Saturday morning and then ..... drum roll please ..... I am scheduled to run 19.5K / 12 miles Sunday morning. Eeeeeek!

Week 4/17 HM Training - 10K (Not 12K)

This post is several days late. My mother is staying with us for a week+ after her nephew's wedding last weekend, and we have been busy busy busy together, in partnership with an out-of-province aunt/sister (also here for the wedding). I have been chauffeuring them everywhere to visit other relatives, etc. This was unexpected for me so my apologies for "dropping off the map" suddenly without warning. :( I am just getting caught up on my blog now ...

*****

Wow! What a challenging run! :( Thrill Hill Tuesday did not happen today. :(

I headed out for my run late and this contributed in a small part to my challenging run because it was already so hot and humid at the beginning of it. I left the dogs at home because of the humidity - a wise decision. It was really tough out there folks! :(

I gave it the 'ol college try and now that I have luxury of hindsight a few days later, I view it more as a 'success' than I did that day. I was supposed to run 12K with my nemesis hill, something I have been doing with some degree of success over the last few weeks. However, on this day, given the heat and humidity, it was tough for running so I told myself to repeat what I had done with my LSD on Saturday ... just run on cruise control. Take it easy. It's all about the mileage accumulation, not the pace. And I actually did okay with this. I was lucky that where I was running, there was lots of shade and when there was a breeze off the river, it was actually cooler than the humid air. It was going pretty good ...

And then the wheels came off ... :(

In my 9th km, I could feel all the energy leave my body and my pace really start to slow down. I had already coached myself by this point to accept the fact that I would likely not have the ability to run up nemesis hill when I could feel myself hitting a wall. I tried to resist it because I know that once I start walking, that's it - I can only run in spurts after that. But I had to. I just couldn't do it.

A true sign that it was too hot and humid for me to run? For the first time in my running experience, when I reached for my water bottle to drink, the water was too warm. I needed it to cool me down, but was rejecting it because it had warmed up so much during my run. For the first time in a very long time, I needed to stop at one of the restroom/water fountain areas along my running path to refill my bottles with cooler water.

It was a long walk home. :( It *sucks* to stop a run so far from run and then have to spend so much time walking back ... but hey, at least it was still exercise!

I was disappointed, but the good news is that I didn't beat myself up about it. It is what is. I have had some pretty good running weeks, and now that we (in Ontario) are in the throes of a very hot, humid and dry summer, the quality of our runs are just not comparable to spring and fall runs. Like everyone else, I just have to keep doing the best that I can. :)

And I just want to add ... I am extremely lucky that the summer I was learning to run again was 2009 - the wettest, coolest summer we have had on record in Ontario for many years. I have continued running during the summer since then because my desire to become an endurance runner is strong. However, I am always thinking about beginner runners, and how tough it is for them under these conditions. They really, really deserve a lot of credit!

GYM UPDATE

Yesterday (Monday), I went to Body Sculpt. As usual, the class was filled to capacity. I had a great workout and I am excited to point out how much better I did, and how I did NOT feel the after effects today. A very good feeling!

Week 3/17 HM Training - Run #2 10K

I'm not liking this hot, sluggish, and slow theme that's developing here in the last few weeks - Oy! :(

Today's run was a "got it done" run. Period. Blah!

To begin, I did go to that "Rock Bottom" class last night. You might recall that last week, when I tried this class for the first time, I really liked the substitute instructor. It was an excellent class which is why I went to it again last night. I recall that she laughingly noticed that everyone, except for me and another club member, lined up at the back of the studio, as far away from the front as possible. "We call you wall huggers!" she told them.

Well, last night I learned why everyone heads as far back as they can ...

In walks this very, very lean, lithe young woman, the regular instructor. She picks up a barbell with a huge amount of weight on it, and then takes us through our paces. I soon realize that this class is not about fitness; it's about torture ... no one wants to be near the Evil Task Master.

She literally handed my ass to me. Seriously. On a silver platter, too ... Every muscle south of my waist was screaming by the end of the class. Did I mention how lithe and lean she was?!?! She didn't look like a body builder, and I still don't understand how it was humanly possible for her to do all the exercises and repetitions that we did with the weights she used, but holy cow! That little creature did it all. A-maz-ing!

I have never had a fitness instructor focus on the shins before. But Evil Task Master did. She chatted a little bit while we did it, explaining how we forget about them when we start running outside in the summer, but how important this exercise is for strengthening the shins:

1. Stand with your legs slightly wider than hip distance apart.

2. Keeping your heel on the ground, lift the front part of your foot. Put it down. Repeat on the other leg. Keep repeating back and forth. Speed it up. Slow it down.

3. The trick to it is ... keep your body still. Do not swing your hips at all. All the work must be down south of the knees ... the rest of the body keeps balance and as still as possible. No rocking.

As soon as I left the class and arrived home, I knew I was going to pay for this workout dearly in the morning.

I did not take Angus and Wallace with me today - it was way too humid and hot for Angus and I didn't have the heart to leave him alone so I left Wallace at home, too. It was the best decision. Even though I headed out for my run very early in the a.m., it turned out to be very hot and humid anyway. The dogs would have been miserable.

I can say that because I was miserable. I just kept telling myself that it was all about mileage and not speed. I don't recall 10K ever feeling sooooooo loooooooong before. This is when I am happy to run music because I really needed it today. I started concentrating on music lyrics as a way of distracting myself from my challenging run. I didn't care about listening to the birds or hearing my breathing. I just wanted the run to be over with. Seeing the "10" appear on my Garmin was an extremely happy moment for me! :)

Needless to say, I skipped the "Body Sculpt" class offered today. I did it last week, but my body could not go for a third round this week. :(

I did go to my Kundalini Yoga class - "True Authentic Self." My body screamed at me for most of the class so it was hard to connect with my chakras. :) As always, all the poses we did worked the areas of my body where I needed it the most. It wasn't easy for me to hold the poses for as long as I usually do, especially the ones using quads and glutes!

Whose bloody idea was it again to do these workouts during Phase I: Road Work of my training program? If you see her, smack her!

12K tomorrow morning. I have had great luck for the last two weeks with my "Thrill Hill Thursdays" so I'm off to bed now to sleep, rest my body and tackle training again in the morning.

Wish me luck! :)

WEEK 2/17 HM Training - Run #1 10K

10.04 km @1:12:59

Avg Pace 7:17/km

Avg. Moving Pace 7:05/km

For me, today's run ended up being a very interesting one. :)

Angus, Wallace and I headed out extra early in an effort to avoid the heat and humidity predicted for the day. It still ended up being very muggy, and I was wet from sweating when I arrived home (it truly is summer now!). Today was my last 6 mile/10K on a Tuesday. As of next week, my training schedule turns all Tuesday runs into 7 mile/11.5K - it is the one day on my schedule that will remain consistently the same distance until the end of October/my training schedule.

Today is also "Thrill Hill Tuesday." I committed myself to running up a hill I have usually avoided so I forced myself (yes, literally forced myself!) to head toward it at the end of my run today.

Initially, I was expecting my run to be sluggish, not only because of the weather/mugginess, but because of the fitness class I attended last night. I tried a "Body Sculpt" class for the first time at my fitness club. I am really going to try to make it to these type of classes more often in an effort to boost my metabolism/strength/fitness for the next seven weeks. By doing this, I am sure that my runs may suffer somewhat in the short term (sluggish legs, a little more tired). However, in the long term, I think this will benefit my running (more muscle, less fat = go faster!), and that this is the time to do it ... when my training program is focused solely on road work/mileage.

This class caught me a little off guard because I have never had to line up in a long line before. When I walked into the club early, there was already a line-up of women waiting for the instructor to arrive. Wow! Clearly a very popular class, and I soon learned why. It was 45 minutes of excellent arm work and leg work with a barbell, free weights, and tension rope. I really enjoyed it. I purposely kept my selection of weights lighter and ended up thankful that I did because the instructor makes us do quite a few repetitions! There was plenty of squats and lunges, and this is why I am discussing this class more in depth than usual - I knew that I would be feeling it the next morning!

To my surprise, my legs and arms felt great this morning - just a little stiff when I was expecting to be a little sore:

1 km - 7:10

But this is what surprised me when I looked at my results later:

2 km - 6:35

Wow! I ran this during my warm-up when I usually feel a little sluggish? :) And then, look! It shows up again:

3 km - 7:12

4 km - 6:31

Sweet! And then this is when I am running up the hill behind Storybook Gardens:

5 km - 7:07

6 km - 6:53

And then, woo hoo! Three times the charm!

7 km - 6:39

But by now, I am feeling my tiredness and the mugginess ...

8 km - 6:42

And this is when I stop to walk a steep incline from the path up to Wonderland Road, and for a short distance along the bridge ... and then I am stopped at the traffic lights at Riverside Drive ...

9 km - 9:18

Finally, this is when I can start running again and I run 3/4 of the way up my nemesis Riverside hill before needing to stop to walk to the crest, and slowly running to my 10K finish:

10 km - 8:28

So! A nice surprise for me to see some faster times, especially when it didn't "feel" like I running a 6:30-ish pace. I am not expecting the same results tomorrow because right now I can really feel the after-effects of last night's class combined with a 10K run! :( And even though I want to excuse myself, I am heading back to the gym with Ben tonight to try another class, "Rock Bottom," so I can determine which one will suit my goals best. :)

An 8K is schedule for tomorrow. Expect a slow and sluggish run report! :)

WEEK 1/17 HM Training - Run #3 10K

Woo hoo! Success! My mojo somewhat came back to me today! :)

I admit that a photo of a person on top of a mountain is perhaps a little excessive ... Riverside Hill is not a mountain by any stretch of the imagination. However, it has been a nemesis hill to me for a very, very long time so my story about it today elicits "top of the mountain celebration" -type feelings!

When I started my run, I had no plans for hill running. I was heading down the hill, as I usually do, on my way to the running paths. The first few km of my run went well - extremely well, when compared to my runs of the last few days - so by the 4km mark, I decided that since my run was comfortably stronger than anticipated, why not try Riverside Hill again? Attempt again what I had not succeeded at on Tuesday?

I ran up the hill behind Storybook Gardens. I was not pleased about needing to walk it Tuesday because I never walk this particular hill. Only ice slows me down on it ... walking up it the other day did not sit well with me at all. I ran up it from beginning to end today, albeit more slowly than usual, but I didn't walk it and I'll take that. :)

It was hot and humid. I was sweating. But it just wasn't as bad as yesterday or the day before so it still felt like some relief while running. My pace is slower than usual, but at least it was steady and I didn't feel too sluggish.

Angus was doing better today, too. :)

My nemesis hill was at the 9km mark today. As I approached the base, I was stopped by a stop light, giving me a slight rest before tackling the hill. I planned to run at least as far as Braemar Cres. - the upper entrance. I established this in my blog post on Tuesday.

By the time I reached this the upper entrance (woo hoo!), my pace was slow and steady, but I wasn't aching or huffing. I decided to aim for the next subdivision entrance. I have made it as far as it before so I felt better about possibly re-establishing this as my next level. Well, as soon as I reached this street, my pace was still steady and I still wasn't dying (woo hoo!) so I decided to just keep chugging up. And voila! 1/2 km of hill later, I actually reached the top. :)

Now, I have to admit, I feel a little stunned. Two days ago, I shared this new goal in a blog post, but I actually thought it was going to several weeks of Tuesday runs before I reached the top without stopping. I can't believe it I did it on the second try and after running 9km beforehand in heat and humidity! Let's throw in yet another woo hoo! to this!

And as a result, I now have to set the bar higher. :) For the rest of my Phase I: Road Work runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I am going to run up this nemesis hill on the way home. Welcome to "Thrill-Hill Tuesdays" and "Thrill-Hill Thursdays" !! :)

That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger?!?! :)

GYM UPDATE

I went to an "Innovative Interval" class this evening. It is similar to what I see personal trainers doing with their clients, but in a fitness class setting with one instructor. Cardio, weights, cardio, weights, cardio, weights ... I was sweaty (again) by the end of it, although I think some credit is due to the warm workout room we were in. It was okay; the regular instructor was not there and I have had her before (thumb's up) whereas I was not as thrilled with the fill-in instructor today. I am thinking about doing this every Thursday as a way to improve upon my core. A double workout on a Thursday, the day before a run rest day on Friday, makes good sense to me. :)

WEEK 1/17 HM Training - Run #1 10K

The first day of summer ... the first day of official PR half marathon training ... and it was my worst run of 2011. I am not bothering with posting my time. I'd rather forget it. :(

Before this became my worst run of the year, I had decided to make a slight change to my training program. Tuesdays are no longer going to be "Tuneless Tuesdays." Instead, every Tuesday's run (soon to be 6 miles/11.5K on a regular basis) will be about running up Riverside Hill ... from the difficult side. :) With my last training program, I did hill workouts for three weeks during Phase II: Strength Training. At the time, it made me think about how I always avoid going up this hill. I usually run down it at the 1.5-2K mark of my runs, and then take the flatter route home, thus avoiding the incline back. I don't have scheduled hill workouts for the next 8 weeks, but I am thinking that it would be ego-boosting if, by the time I reach this training point, if I were able to run up Riverside Hill without walking/stopping. Therefore, I plan to attempt it every Tuesday for the next 8 weeks.

And this is probably why I feel even more disappointed in my run today ... because I wanted to start with a bang. I could start to list all the possible reasons why today's run went so poorly, but instead, I am just going to say, "it is what it is." Not every run is going to be great, and I'm lucky that most of my runs go well. I have had some stellar training weeks and I have also established several new PRs in the last 5 months so I am not going to beat myself up too much for needing to walk/run a 10K today.

How ironic to say in this particular post that it can only go "up" from here. :)

To finish, I did manage to run from the base of the hill to the lower entrance of Braemar Crescent before stopping to walk up the hill the rest of the way. Next week, my minimum goal is to run up the hill as far as the upper entrance to Braemar Crescent.

A new-to-me "Rock Bottom" class at the gym focusing on the glutes and leg muscles is on the agenda for tonight and an 8K is scheduled for tomorrow.