Training Update, injury addition

Hey, so now that I’m running again, I thought I’d do an update on how I’ve been training over the last couple months.  I know for some runners, it’s running or nothing, but I would have lost my mind if I wouldn’t have had other activities to fall back on.  

“Training” Update for April

Spoiler alert:  April did not go as planned.  For a while, I was definitely in a “I don’t want to talk about it” place.  Now that things are improving and I seem to be on the other side, I will talk about it, and try to learn and move forward.  If it weren’t for the challenges in life, we wouldn’t learn and grow our wisdom, right? 

What? It’s October?? September in review!

Well September just flew by…  I have hardly posted here, even though I’ve meant to.  There have been a couple of races and a LOT of running to post about, but it just didn’t happen.  I don’t have a lot of time now either, so I’m going to type as fast as I can and post what I can in 25 minutes of writing.  Hopefully I can write coherently enough so that you all don’t run away!

Races:  I did 2 races in September.

On the 7th, Lori, Dianne and I drove out to Olds and did a mud run there.  Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I’d think of this race.  It was a long drive out to Olds, and a lot of arranging my training schedule to go do a 5k run through mud and obstacles.  I’m happy to report that it was a blast!  I’m really glad I did it.  I’m not very good at relaxing and having fun, I take way too many things way too seriously, so this was good for me, and a lot of fun.

September 21st was the Blitz Duathlon in Bragg Creek.  Lori and I had decided to sign up for this race in hopes that it would get us out on our bikes this summer.  I did get out on mine a fair amount – on average once a week for 20 km’s.  It was a run-bike-run, with both the run’s being on trail and the bike being on road.  Lori and I met out in Bragg Creek before the race and car pooled out to the start line together.  We got our bikes into the transition area, and got as organized as we could.  Neither of us had done a duathlon before, so we were just guessing on how we wanted our clothes/gear/etc organized.  It was also a very cool morning in the foothills (frost on the ground).  I was in my tri shorts, a tank and arm sleeves.  I wondered at the start it I’d regret not having a long sleeve top, but it was too late for that, so I just went with what I had.  I also had decided on my hand held water bottle for the first run portion (7 km’s).  The more seasoned racers (and skilled cyclists) most likely refrained from carrying water on the run portions, and opted to just drink on the ride, but I’m still not super confident on my bike and didn’t know how I’d feel about only drinking while riding.  I ran the first 7k in 41:xx or so, and had pushed hard, passing a few people.  I got to the transition and had a hard time getting my running shoes off (I had double knotted the laces because the laces on my trail shoes tend to come undone).  It took me a few minutes but I was off and riding on my bike.  The ride was supposed to be 18 km’s, but my garmin tracked it at almost 19 km’s, and I got it done in about 45 minutes.  The first half was slightly uphill, and I was passed by a lot of people (all the ones I had passed on the run I’m pretty sure).  There were a few large rolling hills and it felt tough, especially after pushing on the first running leg.  After the bike, I switched back to my running shoes (faster this time) and headed out for the final 3 km’s of running.  My legs felt like lead, which was difficult on the trails, I pushed as hard as I could and tried to not fall on my face.  I passed a number of the people who had passed me on the bike, and pushed hard to the finish line in about 1:46:39!  My stats on race day were 3rd AG, 9th woman, and 42 OA, but something changed when they posted the results online, and I was listed as 5th AG.  There were no AG awards other than #1’s, so it didn’t matter either way.  I was thrilled with my time and standing however it went down, especially with the lack of experience in transitions and on the bike.  I would love to do this race again!

In addition to those 2 races, I trained hard throughout September, clocking 256 km’s (160 miles), getting my long run up to 30 km’s and keeping the injuries and niggles at bay.  I also, just last night, finally registered for the Seattle Marathon!!  So our flights are booked and I guess this thing is happening!  I’m excited for October, we are running the Grizzly Ultra as a relay team on Thanksgiving weekend, and have 2 32 k (20 mile) long runs ahead!  Plus the weather is just gorgeous, the leaves are turning, and the temps are cool, it’s a great season for running!

Anyone want to pay me to workout?? Anyone?

I had a great day yesterday.  I wish every day could be like that.  In the morning we headed to the gym, the girls went in the daycare, and I met Lori for a workout.  I started by running 2 miles for a warm-up, and then we did our weights workout.  I haven’t had a good strength training session in a while, so it was great!  We did a lot of our normal routine including:

• Chest press
• Deadlifts with a row
• Kettlebell cleans
• Side shuffles w/ a resistance band
• Some TRX Abs – One new move from Lauren Fleshman’s blog, and pikes
• Side planks
• rolling and stretching… I always like rolling at the gym because they have the black uber hard foam rollers, soooo much pain, but oh so good!

My daughter has her daycamp on Thursday afternoons, so I loaded up my road bike and running gear.  I dropped her off at daycamp, and then had 2 glorious hours to myself.  I drove out to the highway, and got on my bike heading west towards the mountains.  I love cycling in the foothills, it’s hilly but so beautiful.  The ride was nice, the wind was in my face on the way out, and therefore at my back on the way back.  I managed a nice negative split over my 20km ride.  After the ride, I swapped my bike shoes for my running shoes, had a quick honey stinger waffle,  and set out for my 5k run.  I was in a bit of a hurry because I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time to spare before having to pick up my daughter.  I just ran along an adjacent rural highway, staying on the left side facing traffic to be safe.  It would have been nicer to run in the city on the pathways, but I wanted it to be a true brick, running right after getting off my bike.  I was surprised to feel so good.  I started off downhill, which helped, but I was running at a good clip, and my legs felt super bouncy.  I finished my 5k in just over 27 minutes, which is a good time for me, after a day of working out, and a couple of other hard workouts this week (Tempo on Tuesday, and medium long run on Wednesday).  

I thought after my day of working out that this must be like a(n easy) day in the life of Kara Goucher, or some other pro runner.  Workout in the morning, lunch, more running and working out in the afternoon… except I think they also get a nap and a massage in there somewhere.  Oh the life, it would be amazing for it to be your JOB to run… So if anyone is looking for a mediocre, middle of the pack runner, who struggles with injury, I’m your girl 🙂

Terry doesn’t just run…

Today was my older daughters first day of daycamp. It’s a once a week 2 hr program that she goes to alone, without a parent. The plan is for my Mother-in-law to come and watch my younger daughter for the afternoon so that her nap schedule doesn’t get messed up driving to and from daycamp. The important thing to take away here is that every Thursday afternoon I am going to have 2 hours to myself!! Today I decided to use that time to ride my bike. I’m still trying to be a bit cautious with my running so didn’t want to run 3 days in a row.

The bike ride was brilliant. I only ended up having 45 mins or so to ride after dropping her off and doing a quick errand. I parked on highway 22x near 37th street. This is the view of what I rode towards on the way out.

I decided to ride 20 minutes and then turn back. It was a great ride out (which I realized when I turned around was because the wind was at my back). I turned back, and had to work harder, pushing uphill and into the wind. It was a beautiful sunny day though and the fields are a brilliant green from all our moisture.

I think that today’s ride has convinced me that this needs to be a weekly occurrence. I would still like to run on Thursdays, but I will either run on the treadmill in the morning, do a brick during my 2 hour window or push the girls in the stroller later.

I have a duathlon later this fall, so this is the perfect opportunity to get out on my bike. There has also been some talk about triathlons among my mom friends that has lit a spark. I’ve done one sprint, and hope that there is an Oly, HIM or even IM in my future!

I was also reminded today how amazing Alberta is. I love it here, it’s such a beautiful backdrop for so many activities.

Coming Back!!

Well yesterday was my first official day back to running after my cyst removal surgery 2 weeks ago.  In short, it.was.awesome!!  My original plan was to stick to easy 5-6km runs this week, but then Lori told me that her and Danielle were planning to go out to Jumpingpound on Wed night, and I just couldn’t resist.  I thought, what’s the worst, if I don’t feel good, I can bail and walk back to the car, the trail follows the highway the whole time, so it’s super easy to bail out early.  I ended up feeling great, and it was a beautiful night for a trail run.  Here is my dailymile link for anyone who’s interested.  Lori set the pace, and since she’s been rocking her runs lately and running faster than ever, we ran it quite a bit faster than the last time we were out.

I wanted to do something today, but also wanted to take it a bit easy since it’s my first week back and I don’t want any setbacks.  I decided to run 3 miles on the treadmill and then get on my roadbike that I have setup on the trainer.  The bike is a lot less impact, so I’m going to try to use it to get back into things.  I also have a duathlon in September so need to get in better bike shape.

 

After the bike, I was a sweaty mess!  I think the run on the treadmill got my heart going, and the bike got me sweating, it was great!