Belated Merry Christmas to me!

Well, I finally got around to hitting the local stores to look for a late-season deal on a pair of skate skis, boots, and bindings. Turned out most places had already put away their winter gear and pulled out the summer stuff! Luckily, the skis I did find were at Fresh Air Experience, where I had $210 in gift certificates given to me by my wonderful students. Erik gave me credit towards skate skis for Christmas so that, combined with slashed prices meant I was able to get set up for a little over $200.  Not bad for a package that would have cost me $1200 last fall!

I came home with a nice pair of  Madshus Hypersonic skate skis.  They are a mid-quality skate ski, 170 cm, medium camber for a newbie like myself.  The skis I've been learning on are much stiffer and longer (181 cm) so it'll be nice to try out a pair that are more my size.

For boots, I decided to go with the Rossignol X-9.  The men's boot fit better (size 39), probably because I have wide feet, and they were much more comfortable than the serviceable boots I had borrowed.  Plus I think I'll have room to tuck a hot pocket into the toes if needed. I liked the colour better than the women's version anyway. :)

I went with the Rottefella NIS R4 race binding (not that means much to me ;).  Erik has Pilot bindings but I didn't like the Salomon or Atomic boots so stayed with NIS. They seemed easiest to unclip.

There aren't many skate ski days left, but I'd be smart to wait until after my half marathon next weekend before I try them out. The only downside about these skis is that the ones I borrowed had super expensive race wax on them and I'm sure anything less will feel inferior now.  :)

KG's ABC's...

I stole this from Petra - check out her great blog!  Feel free to cut and paste and join in! 

A~Age: 50, for a couple more weeks.

B~ Bed Size: King - bought it a few months ago - I <3 my bed.

C~Chore you hate: Doing dishes. And pretty much all the rest of the household chores as well.

D~Dogs: Two. Gabe - a Chocolate Lab, and Angel - a Golden Retriever. (And Zoe, the cat)

E~Essential Start your Day Item: Coffee with cream and sugar. Only Erik's will do.

F~Favourite Color: Not just one - red, blue, green

G~Gold or Silver: Silver or white gold

H~Height: 5'3"

I~Instruments you play: piano and guitar, a little banjo and Djembe. Can hack at a few others.

J~Job Title: Elementary School Teacher - Primary - currently Grade 3 (7-8 year olds)

K~Kids: Carly - 27, Angie - 25 (and son in law, Mark), Jesse - 13.  Step daughter Jenn - 29.

L~Live: Kelowna, BC, Canada.  The only place to live.

M~Mom’s name: Donna.

N~Nicknames: Barb (and don't call me Barbie :)

O~Overnight Hospital Stays: 3 kids, and one bunion surgery back in '79. 


P~Pet Peeve(s): Negative people, "entitlement", lack of empathy, and people with no sense of personal responsibility.  Oh yeah, and TV, I hate TV.

Q~Quote from a Movie: "Wilson!!!!!!!!!!""


R~Right or Left Handed: Right


S~Siblings: 2 brothers, and one sister. All younger.


T~Time you wake up: 7am most mornings. 6:30 if I have to.


U~Underwear: I wear it.  Except under my bike shorts. :) 

V~Vegetable you Dislike: Hmmmm, none really.

W~What Makes You Late: fooling around on the internet. (Stole that from Petra)


X~X-rays You’ve had Done: finger, hip, low back, dental... (weird question)

Y~Yummy Food you Make: Check out my recipe blog > http://swim-bike-run-eat.blogspot.com/

Z~Zoo Animal Favorite: Too sad to think about animals stuck in a zoo.....

Helloooooo??

Anyone in here?  Sounds kind of quiet...

...OK, I really fell off the blogging habit - no particular reason, except I've been hesitant to post about my running in case I jinxed it.  Seriously, I'm kind of paranoid and superstitious sometimes - go figure..

Plus I know how depressed you all get when it seems like everything's going well with my running and I go and re-injure myself...  ;)

Anyway, I have my report cards done and a few minutes free so here's my training update.

So I last left off on Feb 20 after a successful weekend that included back to back workouts of a 2 hour 17 km long run with a big hill climb, and my first brick of the season.
 
Feb 20 - 26
I had two more decent mid week runs and then the following weekend, I did another brick and another long run, this time running 18km in 2 hours.  I ran up the hill faster this time, and had a faster pace over all, while still staying in zone 2.

Feb 27 - March 5
For a few days after, my shins were a little sore but not painful - in other words, they didn't feel injured.  That first week of March was really hectic and I wasn't able to get my Tuesday run in, which was just as well. I think my legs needed the rest. Thursday, I barely had any time to run and I only managed a quick 30 min run after work.  It was a rest week so I wasn't too worried about it.  My plan for the weekend was an easy run of 60-75 minutes but my legs were tired again and I think I was improperly fueled.  I ran 9km in one hour and then walked the last km back to the car. 

During this these two weeks, I actually hit the pool once and swam about 1200m in just under 35 minutes.  I felt good and comfortable, like I hadn't really been away from the pool since last August. I know I could go out and swim the 750m for the sprint right now without any trouble.  However, I won't push my luck and I'll start swimming on a regular basis at Spring Break.

I've also been cycling riding the trainer.  I've usually managed to fit in a 60-90 min workout during the week, as well as a 90 min brick ride on the weekends.

I've also been trying to do at least one, and preferably two, strength workouts each week.  One is usually done on Monday, my rest day, and the other, if I can fit it in, is done on Friday.

And this brings us to this past week, March 7-13

I've now jumped up into Base 3 training and it is significantly more difficult than Base 1 and 2. 

Up until now, I've been focussing on building aerobic base, with most of my workouts in zone 2 HR with a focus on drills and good form.

In Base 3, I'm now bringing in Muscular Endurance and Force workouts into the mix.  For the most part, that means hills with HR going into Zone 3-5.

Now you may remember that in the past, I have been forced to avoid speed work and hills when running. However, with my recent running successes, I decided it was time to try adding in a little bit of work to the run.

In fact, I've already found my running fitness has improved greatly. I've been running further and faster while still staying in Zone 2.  That in itself, is an accomplishment.

So this week called for 60-75 min run on Tuesday with 2X5 min hill repeats on a 4-5% grade, with walk/jog downhill recovery.  I did the hill behind my house which is closer to 8-9% (and similar to the one in the race) because it was just the right length to run in 5 minutes. My HR was jacked way up there but my legs felt ok.  I finished off the run in zone 1-2 and had time for 55 min in total. Not bad for my first attempt.

On Wednesday, I rode the trainer for 90 minutes. My legs were tired from the run on Tuesday but I forced myself to do it. After a good warm up, I did 2X5 min hard, in a big gear, HR Zone 4 with 2 min recovery. Then I finished with zone 2 to finish up the 90 min. Cadence was 88-90 rpm.

On Thursday, I was to run 60-75 min AE (zone 2). I ran the flats and finished up 10km in about 1:04, which is my fastest 10km ever.  Now, I've never raced a 10km and I'm pretty sure I could come close to, or beat an hour, in a 10km race, but I was very happy to have this pace for a training run.

Friday should have been a spin and/or strength workout but it was a hectic evening and by the time I got home, it was late, and I was tired and hungry so I rested instead. Since I had a big weekend ahead, I think it was a good decision.

Saturday - brick again.  90 minutes bike and 15 min run.  This time, my bike was strong, and my run was too. 15 minutes, 2.6 km - 5:45 km pace (9:15 min mile).

Sunday - another long run - this time 2:15-2:30 was the plan.  I decided to more or less run the whole half marathon route. This is the route I'll be running in two weeks as a training race.

This would be a good time to test fuel, water, and pacing for the race.  I parked the car near the 7/12 km point of the race and ran the flats out and back to the 7km mark, then did the actual route with the big hill, then finished on the flats. This simulated the course elevation and allowed me to refill my water bottle at the half way point.  I carried one electrolyte tablet that I popped into my bottle when I did the refill, and I carried a gel flask with two servings of Hammer Espresso gel which I took at 45 and 90 min mars.  That worked out really well because I started climbing the hill about 10 minutes after taking the gel and I felt really strong.  The second shot at the 1:30 mark, gave me the power to end the run strong.

Pacing
My goal was to start cautiously around the 6:30/km mark until the hill, try to stay under 7:00/km up the hill, and then keep it steady until the last 3-5 km when I would try to pick up the pace.  I think I was more than successful.

Here are my splits, more or less:

6:19, 6:17, 6:21, 6:29, 6:28, 6:29, 6:37
6:32, 6:41, 6:28, 6:34, 6:34, 6:36, 6:39,
6:40, 6:29, 6:28, 6:15, 5:45, 5:49, 5:51

As you can see, I started off faster than I wanted and was finally able to rein it in after a couple of km.  I hit the hill hard at 8-9 km mark and my avg pace was great.  I think I went a bit too hard though, because from km 13-15, I slowed down a bit too much.  After I took the 2nd gel, I felt strong again and I was really able to kick ass for the last 3 km.

I was in HR zone 2 for the entire run except that last 3 km when I bumped it up to Zone 3.

Overall, I did about 2:15 for 21.1 km.  That is almost a 10 minute PR from my October half marathon in Victoria and I think it means I can set a realistic goal of 2:15 for the Okanagan College Half Marathon on March 27.  This only difference then will be that I have to use race time to refill my water bottle and I could lose a minute doing that. (For my training run, my Garmin shut off when I was stopped at the car.)

My goal for the half is to do 6:30's for the first 2-3 km, then speed up to 6:20-6:25.  I will try to stay at 6:30 up the hill, not faster, so I don't lose too much on the downhill and recovery kms after. Then I will push hard (5:45's) for the last 3 kms like I did in my training run.

This coming weekend, I am supposed to do another 2:00-2:30 run but I will play that by ear. If my legs are still really tired, I may cut it back 1:30-2:00 and I will definitely run easy - no hard push at the end.

I am really finding this is one big experiment and I'm having lots of fun.  My legs are pretty trashed this morning (Monday) and my ankle (PTT) was sore last night and today. I don't think it's a big issue - it seems to hurt after all my long runs but it only lasts a day or two.  We shall see. I have an ART appt with the chiro on Thursday so I plan to ask her about that. In the meantime I have it taped up with KT Tape.

Bye for now...  :)

Testing the waters

Well, this weekend was a chance to test my legs.  I ended up losing a week of training after having my wisdom teeth pulled, not so much because of any pain, but because the antibiotics made me so nauseous. By Tuesday, I was feeling back to feeling myself, but the day was too busy to run because Erik was leaving the next day, so I grudgingly moved my run to Wednesday.  Running after having a week off made my legs feel heavy and my shins a little sore, so I kept the run short and easy.

Because I ran Wednesday, I wasn't able to do my usual Thursday run so I had to make some decisions.  A 2 hour long run was planned for the weekend, but so was my first brick of the season.  If I ran on Friday, I couldn't do both the long run and the brick on the weekend.

In the end, it was an easy decision because a friend who's also a triathlete, and whose husband was also out of town, agreed to come over for a girls' night out a la triathlon.  She brought her bike and we set up the trainers in the living room then we watched a movie while we rode for 90 minutes.  After that, a nice meal and wine, and another movie.  It was a fun evening when I normally would have been alone.

Saturday, I decided to do my long run.  I wasn't sure how long I'd run because my legs had been quite sore on Wednesday and I wasn't sure what to expect. It was cold (-4C 24F) but sunny, and there was a strong north wind that made the air feel even colder, but I decided to venture downtown to run the north end of the half marathon route, which included a 2km climb up the mountain.

I decided to park in the middle of the route so I could stop by the car a couple of times and refill my handheld water bottle, plus I could bail if I needed to.  But I didn't need to bail - I felt pretty great in fact!  I was quite fast when the wind was at my back, around 6:30/km, but slower when it was blowing against me.  I ran along the boardwalk to the bridge and back as my warm up, which was very exposed and quite windy, then I refilled my bottle and attacked the next section, which included the hill.

I was curious to see how it was going to feel and whether I'd be able to run up hill all the way or perhaps be forced to walk.  I was happy to find that I could indeed run the entire hill and I kept a faster pace than I had expected (7:20/km).  Once at the top, it leveled off for awhile and then there was a steep downhill to the valley bottom again.

I passed the car again and refilled my bottle for a second time, then retraced my original steps on the waterfront boardwalk. By this time, my legs had turned to cement and I had a tough time keeping a decent pace.  I was in the 7:15/km area and felt like I was trudging along.  As usual, this run was 15 min longer than my last long run so I really felt that last 15 minutes. 

Amazingly, my Garmin rolled exactly 17 km just as I hit the 2 hour mark back at the car and although I had hoped to hit 18km today, I was content with the run given the cold and the wind.

I got into the car and cranked up the heat because my fingers always start to go white and tingly (Reynaud's) as soon as I stop running and start to cool down.  I felt fine as I drove home but decided to make a quick stop at the store to pick up a few things and immediately started to shiver uncontrollably as soon as I entered the cold grocery store.  I guess the only way to avoid this is to be totally prepared and drive straight home after a long run.

Anyway, I am hoping to run that same route a couple more times before the race on March 27.  I think it'll be good for my legs.

I am so happy to be able to run up hills and not feel sore the next day.  This morning I felt a bit stiff but not injured.  And so today, was another test.  I had a brick planned - 90 min trainer and a 15 min run - would I be able to run two days in a row, especially after a 2 hour run?  Only time would tell.

I laid out a complete change of clothes to run in, all my warm gear of course because it was -4C outside, then I jumped on the trainer and rode.  My goal was zone 2 with a few drills thrown in but I decided to watch TV this time instead of listen to my ipod and my effort was really affected.  I had trouble keeping my cadence steady and my HR up.  I really need the podrunner 190 bpm music playing to keep me focussed so I don't think I'll watch TV again when I'm spinning.  After 90 minutes, I quickly towelled down and changed into running gear.  It was pretty gross to pile on warm clothes when I was so hot and sweaty but it felt quite refreshing to step outside in the cold. 

 I only had to run 15 minutes and I was surprised to see I had a decent pace of about 6:15-6:30/km with a zone 2 heart rate. My shins and lower legs felt pretty good with very little of the usual leaden legs that I usually have the first few bricks of the season.

Afterwards, I stretched and iced, and then had a hot epsom salts bath and stretched again before bed.  I guess I won't really know if I passed the test or not until tomorrow, or maybe not even until Tuesday when I run again.  Right now, my legs are telling me I need a rest day, and that's what's planned for tomorrow anyway, so all is well.

This week will be tough - run 45-60 min on Tuesday and Thursday, trainer on Wed and Friday, long run 2:00-2:15 on Saturday, another brick on Sunday.

I hope I pass.

Afraid to Jinx it but....

I'd like to continue with my last positive post and say, I'm still running and I'm still feeling good!

OK, quick, everyone go knock on something made of wood!

It's been a little over two weeks and things are going really well. I've managed to build up my long run to 1:45, about 15 km at a slow pace, and I have started to pick up the pace a little on my mid week runs to see how things go. So far so good.

On Sunday, January 30, I did my planned long run for 90 minutes. I kept the pace slow and easy and focussed on good form, trying hard not to over stride and to keep my body loose and relaxed. I've been adding 15 min to my long run each week and not surprisingly, I always feel great until that last 15 minutes. Funny how that works eh?

That run finished up my second week of Base 1 with a total of 7 1/2 hours of training -

2 X 45 min run
1 X 90 min run
2 X 45 min bike
1 X 90 min bike
3 X 30 min strength
No swimming.

I am doing two weeks of training, followed by a rest week and since the next week included a lot of errands, meetings, and parent teacher interviews, it was a good thing it was a rest week.

During the week Jan 31 - Feb 6

I did 2 X 30 min runs at a little faster pace. I usually run around 7 min / km (11:30 mile) but for these two runs, I did around 6:30 / km (10:15 mile) just to see how it would feel. I had no pain afterward so next week I'm going to bump it up to 6:15 / km. I know I can run 5:30 but I want to get there slowly and carefully.

I didn't get on my bike at all - there was only one day where I could have but I bailed, boo me.

On the weekend, Erik and I went away to Salmon Arm and we went skate skiing for a few hours on Saturday. On Sunday, we came back early because of an impending snow storm and I did a step back long run in a blizzard, running 10 km in 1:15.

During the week, I did continue with my stretching, yoga, and some core but didn't do my hand weights. I also went to one last IMS appt and saw my chiropractor for more ART. I am feeling almost normal now - yay! The skate skiing didn't even bother my groin at all by the way.

This week past, (Feb 7-13) has been a bit messed up. I took my usual rest day on Monday, and then had to make soem decisions about training for the week. Normally I run on Tuesday and Thursday with a long run on the weekend. However, this week, I had my wisdom teeth out and most people thought I wouldn't likely feel like / be able to do my 1:45 long run on the weekend. So I decided to push my Tuesday run ahead a day and make it my long run.

Circumstances were such that I couldn't even start my run until after 7pm so I drove down to the flats and did my run there. Once again, I felt good for 1:30 and only started to plod for the last 15 minutes. 15 km in the bag. That's my longest run in awhile. The interesting thing is that nothing was hurting the next day either - not my foot, my PTT, my shins, nothing. It's such a nice feeling.

I really feel like I'm going to be ready for the half marathon in another month. I mean, I know I could go run the distance right now, but my goal for this race is to meet or beat my Victoria time (2:24) and not feel totally trashed afterward. In fact, I won't even care if I'm a little slower - I think I should easily be able to run it in 2:30 and feel 100% the next day. I know I could run 2:15 or faster right now but I'd be hurting and that's not part of the plan with my half iron coming up in June.

So anyway, this week was supposed to be Base 2 and the only thing that is really getting done is the running. Depending on how I feel, I may do the planned brick (2:00 bike+ :15 min run) on the weekend, but more likely, I'll push that off to mid week, or even next weekend. I have one brick planned every weekend for the next 4 weeks so it may just have to wait.

The biggest risk with my mouth right now, is the possibility of having the clot come out, causing dry socket (very painful) or of the tooth space getting infected. My dentist says it's always a good possibility of happening. We'll see.

Next week, I should be back to normal and hopefully put in a full week of training. I get to bump up the intensity a little as well which should be fun.