A New Month

Long time, no see - I bin bizzy....  :D

So, where did we last leave off?

Healthy Eating

I haven't lost any weight but I haven't gained any weight either - so that's a good thing. I've been eating vegetarian at least 4 days a week and other than the glut of halloween candy, I'm doing fairly well with eating in general. Always room for improvement though.

Core Strength Training 

I still pretty much suck at being consistent at this so far.  I've done a solid session at the gym for the last two Saturdays, including some cardio in the pool, rowing, or the bike at the gym. However, as I continue to struggle with getting a decent sleep, I find it difficult to do any kind of workout after school.  My plan is (was) to go to the gym after work on the days I don't run but every week, something has blocked me - either a 3-4 hour sleep the night before, a late meeting, or too many errands.  I will continue to work on this.

Running

Over the past three weeks, I've had some real success with running. 

* I've run 3 times a week, for 3 weeks

* I've been able to do some hilly routes on my week day routes without feeling injured the next day.

* I've built up to running 9-12km every Sunday and I'm now at the point where I don't feel like my legs are lead for the half the run.

Here's what I ran for the past 3 weeks

Oct. 17-23 > Tues 30 min, Fri 30 min, Sun 60 min  (17.7 km)

Oct. 24-30 > Wed 35 min, Fri 45 min, Sun 75 min  (22.2 km)

Nov 1-6    > Tues 45 min, Fri 58 min, Sun 75 min  (26.8 km)


Marathon Plans

I've been looking around at a lot of marathon training plans, primarily at the long runs.  There are many options out there.  I don't want to be coached for this - I find I have to keep asking coaches to change things - it's easier for me to tweak a plan myself. I generally don't have any trouble with having the self-discipline to do the runs (not  true for other training tho).

Things I'm looking for:

* Running only 3 days a week, with cross training on alternate days
* Slow build of the long run with plenty of recovery weeks
* A possibility of some hill work because Vancouver marathon has some hills
* Adjustable to my life, snow/ice, work, and my breakable body

I have found a few plans out there that fit the bill but the other day I was chatting with Stuart from the Quadrathon Podcast (which I happen to be co-hosting for the next little while - check it out!) and he was telling me a little about the Furman FIRST program which he has successfully followed a few times.

I remember looking at it in the past  and being concerned that the three fairly challenging runs per week might be too much for me. However, given that I can now successfully run hills without having to walk, and I've managed to recover from my last two races without injury, I think perhaps I might be ready to try a modified version of the Furman program.

My Current Plan

Right now, my plan is to run 45 min twice a week, at least once with hills, and then run 1:15 every Sunday until mid December. I want to get my legs used to running that distance (about 25-30 km per week) and feel good doing it.

I am going to run a fun 10k race at the end of November, and treat it like a mid-long tempo run. Then I plan to start my marathon training on this base.

The Furman plan calls for 3 key runs per week.

Tues - Track workout with 400m - 1600m repeats

Thurs - Tempo run of some sort with warm up and cool down

Sun - Long run (usually marathon pace plus 5-40 sec per km - it varies)


I am basing my paces on a conservative 27:30 5km time.

It gives me a marathon pace of 6:21/km (10:13 mile)

Don't get my wrong, I'm not expecting to be able to run a full marathon at that pace, but that's the training numbers I will use, so long as I am feeling ok. Most of the long runs are based on this pace plus a number of seconds per km.


Short Tempo - 5:21/km  (8:36 mile)


Mid Tempo - 5:41/km (9:08 mile)


Long Tempo - 5:59/km (9:37 mile)


I know I can do the long run at those paces, and I tried the tempo run on Friday and felt ok. I think I'll probably skip the track workout until I've got lots of endurance, assuming I'm not teetering on injury.

I also plan to stretch out the 16 week plan over 20 weeks with a few repeat weeks and recovery weeks thrown in for good measure. I want to build up a bit slower than they suggest.

Should be interesting....


Concerns

* I'm not sure how to do specific paces when I'm running hills.

* I'm not sure how to keep to specific paces when I'm running on snow or ice in the winter.

When in doubt, I'll go by my Heart Rate. :)

I guess I'll figure it out as I go. :)

End of Week Three

Yeah, ok, so I gave up on the halfhearted daily blogging attempt.  Once a week will have to do. So - how was my week you ask?  Well it was pretty darn good actually.  I ran three times, and I ate meatless meals three times.  Yay me...

Training

My run after school on Tuesday was pretty miserable, mainly because I'm on my feet all day and my legs are toast by the time I get home.  When I started my run, my legs were telling me to pack it in early, but then I decided to pretend it was the last 30 minutes of a marathon, and suddenly my legs didn't feel so bad after all. It seriously worked, haha, got to remember that one.

I was busy Thursday and really didn't want to run after dinner so I got up at 6 am on Friday morning and went for a run before my workshop.  It was just another 30 minute easy run, but it was ok.  I ran in the dark so I had my headlamp and red flasher, and I had to bundle up because it was cold.  I enjoyed being out in the cold and the dark though - I'm weird that way.

Saturday, I didn't have anything planned so I decided to go to the gym.  Erik agreed to come along and that got me motivated to swim.  I swam 1000m in 25 minutes, then changed and went up to the gym to do a core and strength workout for 25 minutes, and followed that with another 20 minutes of cardio on the bike.  What a productive day!

Today, I went for my 'long' run - one hour easy Zone 2 pace - and felt better than I have in a LONG time. I resisted the urge to pick up the pace, and tried to focus on my goal of building endurance.  Overall, I'm happy to say I got through the week without hurting and my shin pain seems to have (mostly) disappeared. 

The only #FAIL for the week was that I did not do my planned Core/Strength workouts on Monday and Wednesday. I was really tired and mostly just lazy. However, now that I had a successful workout on Saturday, I think I can get back into the habit again.

Healthy Eating Front

I made a few new recipes this week.  One day I made "Yummy Black Bean, Brown Rice, Swiss Chard Mess" when the boys were having leftover chicken.  Another day I had mushroom/onions/tomatoes on a bun when the boys have burgers. I made a batch of hummus and ate lots of fresh fruit and veggies as well as my soup at work this week. On Friday, I was at a workshop that had delicious lunch served so I enjoyed myself and ate what I wanted and when I got home, I made a big batch of the soup she had served - the recipe for Spicy Sweet Potato Soup is on my blog as well.  On Friday night, Erik and I shared a rib eye, a baguette, and a bottle of red wine.

So - that must be why I've gone through the whole week eating relatively healthy but not losing a single pound.  Maybe I just need to eat LESS healthy food.... ??

Plan for the Coming Week


Mon - Upper Body / Core
Tues - Run 30-45 min easy
Wed - Lower Body / Core
Thur - Run 30-45 min with hills
Fri - day off
Sat - Gym workout, swim, row?
Sun - Long run 1:15

Day 11-16 Catchup

Another week has gone by - time to take stock and analyze how well I met my goals.

Training

This one is pretty easy. My goal was simply to recover from my race and I knew that would likely take most of the week.  My legs were pretty sore for 3-4 days and my shins continued to hurt right until the weekend so I didn't bother running until Saturday.  I went out for a run Saturday morning, hoping to get in 30-45 minutes around the neighbourhood.  My right shin was still kind of tight and sore but not enough to deter me. I actually felt good enough to run the hills in the area and did just under 8km in 50 minutes. I ran up every hill except for the end of one steep one. I also did a lot of stretching throughout the week.

Healthy Eating

It was nice to have meals planned and fruit/veggies and snacks prepared in advance for the week. 

I ate breakfast twice out of four mornings - ok I need to work on that some more. 

I switched to decaf tea during the school day.  That went well.

I ate with the boys all week instead of eating meat alternates. However, I tried to make healthy food for them and I practiced portion control.

I ate crap too often.  Someone brought doughnuts to work one day. Another day, there were Girl Guide cookies.

I still eat too much over all and I didn't eat enough veggies at dinner time.

My favourites this week were:

Homemade Fruit/Nut Bars

Homemade Spicy Sweet Potato fries. I eat these cold for lunch all week. YUM!



Next Week

Monday - lower body strength, and core
Tuesday - run 30-45 min after work
Wednesday - upper body strength and core
Thursday - run 30-45 min after work
Friday - core, lower body if I'm not sore or rest day
Saturday - core, lower body if I'm not sore or rest day
Sunday - run 1 hour

Day 10 - Race Recovery, and Following Through

Well, today I'm feeling stiff and sore  - hamstrings, calves, shins... I guess I ran a race yesterday. :)   I don't think I'll feel ready to run until Thursday and that's ok. Today I just took it easy and did lots of stretching and that's about it.

Following Through

Although today us Monday, it's Thanksgiving holiday so I have the day off. I took the time to get organized for the week ahead and try to be proactive and remove any barriers that might stand in my way of healthy eating (see my blog post Day 6, 7, 8).

* My menu planning is done for the week, as is the shopping.

* I plan to eat meat with the boys 2 nights and have meat alternates on 2 nights.

* I cleaned and cut up a bunch of raw veggies for my lunches and snacks this week.

* I have yogurt for breakfasts.

* I have lots of fruit in the house.

* I made a batch of fruit, nut, seed bars for after school snacks (recipe is here).

* I boiled some eggs for lunchtime protein.

* I have a pot of veggie soup ready to take to work this week.

* I'm going to try drinking tea this week instead of coffee to cut back on caffeine.

* I have my water bottle packed to take to school.

I think that's it.  Now to execute the plan.

Day 9 - Okanagan 10k Race

I had a plan and I stuck with it! Yay!

This was my first 10km race and I had no idea what I could do but I was kind of hoping to be under an hour. My previous fastest 10km training run was around 1:04 I think. There was no way to find out except to get out there and do it.

Pre Race, Weather and Gear

I got up around 6am and had half cup coffee and a banana. Erik was still deciding if he was going to be able to race or not but his back was feeling better this morning so we were hoping for the best.

It was mostly cloudy with a hope of some sun, about 10C as we left the house and got up to a high of about 14C by the end of the race with a few rain sprinkles now and again. I decided to wear my tights and a LS tech shirt instead of my warmer jersey, and in the end, I even decided against the vest and my headband. I probably could have worn shorts and even a short sleeve shirt but I was not uncomfortable.

I taped up my right ankle and shin quite well with KT Tape and thought my legs were feeling pretty good this morning. I was optimistic I'd have a decent race.

As usual, I took my handheld water bottle with half a Nuun tablet and I had a chocolate Hammer gel to take 15 minutes before the race, mainly because I don't eat much breakfast. 

We left the house around 7:10am, parked in the Chapman Parkade, and walked 2 blocks to the race start. I hit the porto-potties twice (as usual) but the lines were not bad at all.  We checked our gear and got to the race start line.  Erik went ahead to the :50 pace group and I positioned myself just behind the 1:00 pace group.  It was narrow and crowded in the chute and it took me 30 seconds to reach the starting line but once we were on the road, it was fine.

The Plan:

Run first 2km at 6:15km
Run next 6km at 5:45/km
Run 2km whatever I can do but keep it under 6:00/km.
Goal time: 59:45

The Race

Once we hit the road, there was a huge ability spread amongst the runners and I did not really feel much pressure to run too fast. That being said, I wasn't able to stay at 6:15 as planned, but I figured I was close enough, and my HR was in zone 2 for those two warm up kms.

(FYI - 6:15/km = 10 min mile,  6:00/km = 9:39 mile. 5:45/km = 9:15 mile)

My Splits:
1km - 6:03
2km - 6:09
3km - 5:38
4km - 5:45
5km - 5:43 (5 km split time - 29:18)
6km - 5:48
7km - 5:47
8km - 5:51
9km - 5:43
10km - 5:32 (2nd 5km was 28:45 - neg split)
extra .05km - :15


My Times

Chip time: 58:20  <--yahoo!!!
Gun Time: 58:57

My Stats

288/706 overall
135/422 women
10/63 age group (50-59)  (WOW, I was really happy to be in the top ten for this age group!)

I'm so happy with my result - I felt good and strong and was able to keep on going even when it got tough for the last 3-4 km.

My heart rate was in zone 2 for first 2km, then zone 3, 4, 5 for the last 8 km. I think my pacing plan went well for this race. If I was better trained, I could probably go out harder from the beginning but for today, I was happy to be able to negative split the race and finish strong and fast.

I figure if I was able to actually train for a 10k race, I'd be able to come closer to 55 minutes. Erik wants us to go to Vancouver and do a 10k race around the seawall at the end of November so if we do, maybe I can improve my time.

I'd post about Erik's race, but maybe it would be better if we push him to blog about it himself. :)  Email him at kelownaguy@gmail.com to give him a little encouragement. :)