Tuesday, October 27, 2009

blahhhhh

SO once this week is over I'm back to training for the Bear Mtn 10k. This is crazy pub week, I don't even have time to ride my horses....at school all day every day....until thursday...YAY....once this pub is over I'm going to have a huge weight off my shoulders....but it is going to be super fun!!! week 8 of 12.....and i'm getting fatter every day! yikes.....foot feels awesome tho...feeling totally confident about getting back to running...maybe I'll fit a run in tomorrow...that'd be sweet....

Friday, October 23, 2009

Grrrr

stressed about school.....it's our pub this week, feeling behind on my costing and menus and stuff....ACK...it'll be fine..wish I didn't hafta work tonight...moooo.....it'll be fine...run on sunday, up finney, down the back and back up again...that'll get the stress out...it's gonna be fine....

Thursday, October 22, 2009

can i run yet?.....how bout now?

so.....remember how much I hate running? well somehow whilst training for the marathon, something magical happened....did I start to love running? no....did I get good at it? not really..just faster....I got hooked. I'm totally addicted to running. Kinda like I got addicted to triathlons. I still hate it just as much, but I hate not doing it more....it's wierd....I've been off, nursing my injured foot and realized that after the 3rd day I was going mental. I'm going to have to go for sure on friday or I might go completely nuts.....wierd. I have no idea when that happened, but it sure did. School is super crazy and I need to run to regain some clarity in my brain. It's becoming a little cloudy in there. Just a little!

Monday, October 19, 2009

taking it easy?

So!! Went to the doctor. He said the foot isn't broken. YAY!! He thinks that I've torn/sprained a tendon/ligament and that it should be better with rest. Rest eh? hmmm. not so good at that one. So I'm not going to run all week. See if that helps. Do a light run on friday and see how it feels. Hill training will proceed as soon as the foot feels good. It actually feels better today than it did yesterday and I'm getting ready to head to the pool. Gotta get back to the swim training and that'll be easier on my foot as well. Next race is the Bear Mountain 10k, known as the hardest 10k in Canada due to the hills...can't wait!! November 21st. It's on. Marissa is going to train and run with me. Katie too. Should be goooooood times!!!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

here comes the rain

Well it's officially fall in Victoria, which means it's rain season.....ugh...i'm still all sensitive and spoiled and don't like the rain....give me a week and i'll be perma-damp until march...foot is feeling better-ish....still considering getting xrays, but that sounds like a lot of work....lol...i know, i know, i'm going to do it....20k tomorrow with Vic, we'll see how that goes....I'll tensor wrap it and that should hold it together...in theory...OH..excited for rain running!!! that, my friends, is what we call a silver lining....feeling uninspired...more later...

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Definately Maybe

First run post-marathon went well. Just a little guy, did the Gorge route, tried to take it a little easy, ended up pushing my pace  and doing bench sprintervals, I can't help it, the Gorge route just makes me feel the need to interval train. Everything felt decent, foot was achey but fine. And then I took off my runner after and my foot felt like it was going to explode. I think I need to get an xray. It's not getting better. I'll tensor wrap it before I run tomorrow, that should help. It's making wierd grinding and crunching noises and it just feels wrong. yuck. Training now begins for the Bear Mountain 10k. Lotsa hills. ugh. Printed out the course map today, giving it a try with Marissa tomorrow.
Sidebar: I don't feel good about Starbucks instant coffee. I know, I know, I haven't tried it, but it just seems fundamentally wrong. Although instant coffee has gotten a bad rap. Maybe I should give it a try before I condemn it. However, my first reaction is to feel not good about the whole thing!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

RVM


So lucky to have awesome parents who showed up at the finish line to take photos of me!!!

RVM


How beautiful is the background of this shot?!

RVM


Here's me approaching the finish line at the RVM...

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Recover This

I am the queen of recovery!! Feeling great today....foot sore still, but not as bad as yesterday....quads still hating me, finding wierd aches and pains, knees, ankles....etc. But moral is good and I'm thrilled I did it. Gonna head to the gym tonight and get some stretching done. A little upper body workout sounds like just what the doctor ordered!!

Monday, October 12, 2009

This is What We Came For

Marathon day was yesterday....it was hard, long, painful....and I can't wait to do it again!! All things considered I'm pretty proud of myself for getting it done. I was unprepared for the the full. With the amount of training I had done, it would have been more appropriate to have run the half. But when I went to register the half was full, so I said screw it and went for the full, but I did register for the early start time (6:30am instead of 8:30) which gives you 7 hours time limit instead of 5 hours, which is the regular time limit. Which I'm glad I did, but that doesn't mean I was properly prepared, considering the furthest I've ever run is 20k, 42 was a bit of a stretch! After work on saturday night, I went home for an hours rest, slept in, and missed the early start time. Not to be deterred, I just decided to go for the 8:30 start and hope I made it in 5 hours. As per usual, the first kilometer sucked. But once I found my pace, the first 26 went by pretty quickly. My hip started to go after that...i told myself some funny stories, zoned out on my music and kept going...by the time I got into the 30's I was hurting...my knees and bad hip were hating me...i had to take a few walk breaks but ran most of the way....if you're not someone who's as crazy as I am, you won't know what happens to your body when you run that far....things hurt...EVERYTHING hurts...especially if you aren't prepared....even my skin hurt.......my feet cramped....my back spasmed...hip dislocated...but you run through it...my Sugoi fizz tank is the best performing piece of clothing I've ever owned.....no chafing or moving...it was amazing. Other race highlights include:
- making new friends along the way...when you have the same pace as some people you spend a lot of time with them...you've got 5 hours to chat..
- the cheerful cheering volunteers along the way....they really are motivating
- whomever put the motivational posters on the trees along the side of the road during the last km, you are my god!! "you started this.....now finish it", "you own this" and other such posters really made the last km not so bad

The only lowlight was the volunteers on the side of the road who were sleeping, or looking grumpy, or yawning....seriously? Are you really sleeping in front of marathoners? Really? If you're gonna sleep, you should have stayed home. All my friends had the courtesy to sleep far away from me....

At the end of the day, 5 hours and 16 mins later....I crossed the finish line....aches and pains and all.....my mom and dad were there cheering, which was amazing....i'm so proud of myself. Best training run ever. Just another stepping stone on the road to Ironman Canada....

Saturday, October 10, 2009

1 more day..

hooooly crap......it's almost that time...MARATHON TIME!!!!  this time tomorrow I'll be drinking a bloody mary at the local and eating a soft pretzel with hot mustard sauce....as a reward for having run 42 frickin kilometers....ack....i can do it!! I was BORN ready.....doesn't mean I'm not a little scared....that's a long way to run...today is the fun part...CARB LOADING!!! yay!!! loves it!! at the end of the day, the marathon distance is just something I have to start doing if I plan on making it to ironman canada, which i do.....so I have to look at this as training, not the end result...somehow that makes me feel better...not sure why...i guess i need to justify why I'm doing this when I hate running so much....i'm a triathlete, not a runner....that makes it ok....picking up marissa in a little bit, we're doing a nice lil 10k, just to work out the kinks....i know that apparently you're not supposed to run right before a race but my body responds better to constant abuse...rest, not so much...lol...or at least thats what I tell myself.....wish me luck!!!! marathon countdown is ON!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

soooo soon

well, it's thursday....the marathon is on sunday. I really feel like running is a cataclismic battle within my brain where half of me is yelling to keep going and half of me is yelling to stop....it's festive in my head, I tell ya. But, I'm doing this, for better or worse....my winter training goal is to work on my running and that is what I am doing...Bear Mtn 10k in November, should be delightful....I know that all this work will make me a better triathlete, but that doesn't make it any more fun....at least I have some fantastic friends who are helping me along the way!! Marissa and I have a scheduled weekly run in between classes on weds and I will be running 20k with Vic every sunday (other than race days, of course). Having happy, motivated people around you makes you more happy and motivated!! It's a scientific fact!! My sugoi order arrived today....sweet new Brand Champion tank and Picadilly armwarmers...love my life!! Getting back on the bike on thanksgiving monday...SWEET!!!!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Sneaky Run!

I'm in computer classs right now....finished my assignment....made me feel inspired to do wierd things like make letters large and colorful....lol....we have a 2 hour break before the next class...going for a run....at the Interurban campus today so it's awfully close to Elk Lake...Marissa is coming with me.....yay for running!! Almost marathon time.....yikes....

Monday, October 5, 2009

Creepy Mc. Scarealot

Kickin it at the golf course....all night....all alone...well except for the ghost...it's a long story, suffice it say that it's worth my while to be here til 5am, checking the attic for fires.....CREEPY!!!! It's a good thing Doris (the VGC ghost) and I are buddies...she'll take care of me! The cleaners arrive at 5:30am, which is when I get to leave. At that point I'll go pick up Marissa and head out for a lap of Elk Lake before school. I wish there was more time for sleep in there but I can sleep when I'm dead. Hoping to keep the 10k time under an hour...which means we'll have to keep the pace up....marathon on sunday!!!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

20k

sooooo Vic and I ran 2 loops of Elk Lake today....20k...and by ran i mean ran most of the way and walked some of it....but the name of the game is getting the distance in....the most exciting part is that my cardio was awesome. Felt like I could run forever...HOWEVER, my hip gave out on me...stupid injuries....i feel like it will get better...when I first started training the 10k distance my joints hated me....and I pushed through it and now the 10k distance is easy.....now this is a new distance, new pain to push through.....so i feel like it'll get better....in all fairness I made a huge training distance jump..it's only fair that my body takes some time to hate me for it....so this week is tuesday 10k, thursday 15k and then sunday marathon!! sounds like fun, doesn't it! No? I didn't think so either.....

Saturday, October 3, 2009

nutrition

i'm becoming more and more aware of how much I suck at nutrition for distance training. I'm all good when I'm just strength training and what not but this whole marathon training is making me realize that I need to sort this out. Yesterday I climbed Finlayson in the morning, went to school, rode 2 horses and the ran 10k. I had a protein shake and a sandwich and that was it. Almost died when I had to work at the nightclub. That's not enough food. I must eat more!! Must remember to carb load. Tried to be better today. 20k run tomorrow. NO DRINKING at work tonight!!!!!