Tri-ing

Distance: 750m swim, 19km bike, 5 km run
Time: 1:33:22


Ok so i don't look like a professional yet (no aerodynamic posture on a nice and fancy road bike) but i still had an awesome time. September 3rd was the Vancouver Tri - both sprint and Olympic distances. I'm really thankful i didn't do the Olympic because as it was, i found the swim really difficult. I found the wet suit had its pros and cons - it gave me extra buoyancy, but i felt constricted around my neck, and it made it hard to do breaststroke when i got tired of doing front crawl. Oh well! Despite wanting to give up before i had even reached the first buoy, i finished the swim about middle of the pack and ended up 84th of 180 something overall, 3/7 in my age group! But more importantly I completed it, without it being too traumatizing, mentally or physically. My plan now is to take some swimming lessons, so that next time I actually enjoy the swim portion and am not starting the tri off with a lot of doubt and a little freaking out!

My First Tri

Distance: 400m swim, 20km bike, 5km run
Time: 1:27:00

So its been awhile since i last wrote! After the Vancouver half, i took about a month and a half off to let my knee recover, which thankfully it has, and has shown no signs of coming back now that i'm running again. Last weekend my mom, cousin and I did My First Triathlon at Harrison Mills - it was awesome!!! The swim was a litttle hectic - people everywhere and i got mildly hit a couple of times. The water was freezing, but since the swim was only 400m it didn't even really seem like it was part of the race - more like a quick dip to get you energized. The bike was good, and the run was fine once I got used to the feeling of running on leaden legs! I enjoyed the whole thing so much that i've signed up for the Vancouver Tri on september 3rd - im not quite sure what im thinking since i'm going on a week long bike trip right before. Oh well!!

The picture is of me showing off my race number after the tri!

Vancouver Half Marathon!

Distance: Half Marathon (21 ish km)
Time: 1:55:57

Yay! I was able to run the half! Actually I am betting i would have been able to survive the full.. but probably not happily. Even though i was almost 6 minutes slower than the April Fool's run, I am pretty happy with my result, considering I havent really ran much since the April run. And whats better yet... no knee pain today!!!! I am still super sore, but thats just regular muscle tightness, my knee feels awesome! I definitely plan on continuing my training and running a marathon in the fall... I am thinking of the one in Victoria... :D!!

Just do what?

I got a t-shirt for my birthday, a Reebok t-shirt poking fun of Nike with "Just Do What?" across the chest. I think its great, although I do like the slogan "Just Do It." I mean really, what better advice is there? Always dreamed of doing something?, well Just Do It.

As for my knee...I am healing, slowly but surely. I was able to sprint from a class out to the bus stop today to pick up some newspapers, which may not seem like a big feat, but trust me, it was! I have cut back to running about 5km a few times a week. And even though its probably not the best for my leg, I play ultimate every so often. Lots of sprinting and turning sharply... so much fun! If anyone has never played ultimate, I would highly recommend it!

C'est la vie!

So heres why i havent posted any updates on my running life... I havent been running for the last oooh almost 2 weeks. It feels like such a long time. My physio suggests I don't do the marathon as planned... how am i feeling about this? Well it sucks. Although I'm accepting it. I would rather run a marathon at a time when I know I won't potentially ruin my whole running career (maybe lifestyle is a better word). So I am hoping I will at least be able to do the half marathon with my TNT teammates. I have 3 weeks to get better... Just do it!

April Fool's Half Marathon

Disctance: 21km

Time: 1:50

This sunday was the April Fools Run on the sunshine coast. It was awesome. The weather was great and the course was better than I was expecting. Quite a few ups and downs, but it was nice having that variety. I am once again really sore though. Limping around a lot, but i had yoga tonight and i think that helped me loosen up. I cant wait for the marathon to be over so i can go a few weeks without any serious running and let my body recover properly. Only five weeks left!

27km!

Distance: 27.6km (check out the route above)
Time: 2:40

I was really shocked how well my run went this sunday. I was so sore during the week, i was worried i wouldnt recover in time. But i did! Im feeling the pain again now. I miss the days when i could run at the drop of a hat. Now i have to prepare myself, warming up, stretching, all that, just to make it across the parking lot. I also have another black toe nail to add to my collection. Thats now officially 3 nails i am going to loose. On a more optimistic note, I am feeling great mentally. I never thought i would be able to run like this and I know i have found a lifestyle i am going to keep and improve upon for the rest of my life! As long as no one locks me in a room with an unlimited supply of chocolate. That could set me back a little.

No Pain, No Gain

Ah! Last night at sunrun training, which before I had said was never much of a workout, i actually had to stop and walk because the pain in my right leg got too bad. Usually all my muscle/joint soreness goes away once i get into my run, but not last night. I am hoping its just because i hadnt stretched enough during the day, and not an indication of worse things to come. So now im going to try to stretch more throughout the day, so if you know me.. beware, some stretches look a little weird and you will see me doing them. My physio told me to stretch whenever i think of it... when talking to friends, during class, eating lunch.. whenever i can. I used to make fun of my mom for stretching in line at the grocery store ("mom you're embaressing me") but now it looks like ive turned into her... yay?!

Thursday's distance: 8km slow!
Wednesdays distance: 12 laps of a track with sprints plus stair repeats

Soreness is a permanent state

Today
7 hill repeats and a bit of flatness.
I was really sore to start out today and wasn't feeling quite right the whole run, so took it pretty easy. I iced and stretched a lot tonight, so i can actually go up my stairs now! Yay.

Sunday:
Distance: 25.5km Granville island to UBC out and back
Time: between 2 and 2.5 hours

I definitely had my first experience with hitting the wall on Sunday. Once i hit the 21km mark it was a battle to keep running the rest of the way back. Luckily my running partner kept me going! I also tried my first gel today, and to put it nicely, i was not impressed. I was expecting it to be bad, but i was shocked at just how bad it truly was. ew nasty. Luckily i had a lot of water with me to wash it down. I bought about one of every flavor I can find, so i am hoping i will be able to find something a bit more tasty... i aim to be disappointed though.

Sun run training

Todays run:
Distance: 9km

Tonight was sun run training, and of course it does not rain all day until the minute we step outside the doors to get running... gotta love it. Normally sun run nights arent too much of a workout, but we threw in a lot of hills, so it felt pretty good. Im impressed with our group, didnt complain at all as we lead them up hill after hill and even seemed to enjoy it! The other leader, who has done a couple marathons gave me some training tips and showed me how to use a roller on my legs.. i cant wait, they are so sore! I am planning to get up early tommorrow to get a run in.. im not so good at getting up early.. think i can do it?

Long run

Today:
Distance: 21km out and back to Seymour Dam
Time: Just over 2 hrs

i hadn't done more than 12km for the last two weeks, so i had a few problems today, felt really tired and sluggish. It was freezing out and pouring with rain for the first 6km, I couldnt feel my hands! As i was leaving the woods for the road, it started to hail, and once i got onto the road, it was covered in slush. Have you ever tried to run through slush? Its hard! But i got a kick out of knowing i was the only crazy person out there.. no other tracks anywhere in sight. Actually it got me a little worried.. my mind kept on wandering to cougars stalking me, or bears mistakingly chasing me down as a deer (Im not that graceful though!)

Dehydration

I have a really hard time drinking enough water throughout the day and today i am suffering for it. I went for a 6 mile run this afternoon and did not drink anything until after. Didnt really think it was a big deal, but then i got this headache that would just not go away. Tonight at sun run training, there was a guest speaker who talked about dehydration and how it can lead to headaches like the one i have.. i never really put it together before, but now that i know, im going to try a little bit harder to drink more water. So hard to do though!

The running so far...

I started training for the marathon at the end of January... so i guess that means i have been at it for a month.. wow time has gone quickly. Only two months left before the the run! On one of our training runs we were supposed to do a 13km but the route mapping got messed up and we accidentally ended up running 23 km! it felt incredible... except for all the pains of course. Since then I have cut back on my distance again, but will do another half marathon this sunday! I am definetly going to be loosing my black toenail soon.. but then perhaps that makes me a real runner?

So why am I writing a running blog?

Because i seem to have developed a bit of an obsession. I started running seriously last April when i ran the Vancouver SunRun (10km). After my first race, I decided i loved the race atmosphere and wanted to do more. After several 10km runs, with a best time of 49:10, I decided i was ready for a marathon. So as of January this year, I joined Team in Training, and am preparing for the Vancouver Marathon and raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you would like to donate to this worthy cause, please do!