uphill with a headwind

Dear Mother Nature,

Since I started running over a year ago, I have chosen to spend a lot more time outdoors, rarely do I go to the gym to run or ride.

Soon you will be partnering up with Jack Frost to dump piles of snow on us, forcing us to shovel our driveways, scrape our cars, and bundle up, during which time I will still run outside over using a

treadmill.

This morning when I went out for a quick 5k run, you spoiled me with sunshine, no wind, and close to double-digit temperatures on the last day of October.

It would have been really nice to keep that going a little longer, instead of blowing strong wind every time I hit a hill during the bike ride I later went on, to take advantage of the great day.

Sure, I don't think I fully realized the tailwind for the beginning of my ride, which was flat by the way; but it still wasn't very nice to make me feel like I was pedaling as hard as i could to get the top of the hill, only to feel like my heart was going to burst out of my chest, and not make me go very fast.

Please take this into consideration for all runners and riders. We'd appreciate your cooperation.

Signed, Mel

Ok, so as you've read, I went on a 5k run this morning, and a 32k ride about another hour later. My riding route turned out to have a bit more construction that I had anticipated, so I took a bit of a detour.  A garbage truck flew by me probably going about 40k over the speed limit, I discovered that it's not easy to get into the fetal position when you're clipped in.

Because of the detour I chose to take, I totally forgot about the hills! I was going nowhere fast, but it made it for a challenging ride.

So to finish off the month, here are my digits:

Cycling: 177.70 km 6:34

Elliptical Trainer: 2.57 km 0:25

Strength: 1:55

Running: 48.15 km 5:30

Swimming: 6.55 km 3:55

I'm happy having a variety of exercises going, keeping my body and brain challenged. Today is 3 weeks since my first run back.  I have a mild, dull ache once in a while, it comes and goes. Today was the first time I felt anything during a run, a little nag, but very tolerable; most times it's just when I'm sitting around chilling out or something.  As I've commented before, not sure if it's in my head, or just part of healing still, bit of aggravation, getting used to running again. The good part I think is that I can't pinpoint an area, whether muscle or bone, but with my previous injury, I easily could. I'm certain I'm not in pain.  I have run through pain before, this is nowhere close, and I won't be doing that again.  Starting to wonder if I'm just wondering if I'm being overly paranoid, or maybe letting my mind play tricks on me.

I've also been adding mileage slowly week to week.

Week 1 13.9k (lots of walk/run intervals)

Week 2 14.7k (fewer intervals)

Week 3 15.7k (even fewer intervals)

Just trying to do this right, since I haven't been blessed with any of the superpowers that I and other bloggers wrote about yesterday.

For Nikemom's T.G.I.F Friday, here's a little something for halloween... since i ❤ firemen (not canine firemen and it's not my dog, just a cute pic)

Happy Halloween and weekend all.  Good luck to Marlene and Marci racing this weekend, and anyone else who I've missed!  Enjoy!

TIART - Superpowers

Given my recent injury, healing, and research, this weeks Take It and Run Thursdays at Runners' Lounge was an easy one.

You mean being a mom isn't enough of a superpower??!

Buns bones of steel would be nice... no more stress fractures -- but why stop there?  If I could choose any superpower, it would be immediate healing.  You ever see those cartoons where they look down at their hand with a huge gash in it, then all of a sudden the skin morphs back and they're perfect again, ready to conquer the world?  One touch where ever there is pain, an injury, illness, and voila, all better. No need to have down-time for injuries, no pain, just the ability to do what you enjoy. And since we're superhuman, no more cancer, no more disease. Am I asking for too much?

as far off as he's ever seen

sorry to bore everyone with my medical mysteries lately... i should contact the producers of House and see if they can figure me out.

Tonight I did my bike fit.  What the bike fit dude thought would be a slow night turned out to be extremely busy in the store -- with the season's first snow fall overnight, the store was full of people getting their ski gear ready.

It was finally my turn... the procedure of getting measured was a fairly "personal" or "intimate" process, during which I had an audience of the other customers that the dude was helping at the same time. 

Measurements done, digits input into the computer, I hopped on the bike.  Everything was pretty close to perfect.  Almost.  

Seems that my seat height was about 6cm too high.  Even though I still had a slight bend in the knee at the bottom position, it's because I was compensating my tippy-toeing to reach, and shifting my weight a very little bit to allow myself to reach. Even though the shift was slight, I was certainly not as efficient as I could be, and was surprised that i didn't have knee or back aches... guess I'm glad I haven't gone any further than 30k at a time!  He said I've probably gotten away without injury as he classified me as having excellent flexibility, but said I was as about as far off as he's ever seen... so, even though I missed going out for a swim tonight because it took a lot longer than I anticipated, it was absolutely worth the wait. Hoping to get a few more rides in before the snow starts sticking around and temps get too cold.

Speaking of cold, I woke up early to fit my scheduled run in.  Garmin was obviously not impressed with the cloud cover and snow falling, so I didn't get a signal till I was about 1/2 km into my run, so I got somewhere around 5.5k done.  It was dark.  It was cold.  It was snowing. Still trying to convince myself that it was worth getting up for my run. lol

I will go for a swim tomorrow night, and will be running again friday.  My chiro called; he's sending a letter/test results/recommendation tomorrow morning to my family doctor, so I will follow up with him early next week hopefully to begin unraveling the mystery!

have i been robbed?

thank you too all of you who commented on my previous post.  Sorry if it was TMI. I know I was stupid for being embarrassed and let it get in the way of being logical.  I've learned my lesson, I promise.

Tonight I went to see my sports injury doc/chiro.  He said it was nice to finally see my leg... without it being covered by the boot.  After a brief run down of my progress since getting the ok to run by the sports physician (2 different docs... just to clarify), I showed him the plan I've been following, he approved, and asked for a copy to keep for other patients and as reference in my chart.  I explained the little twinges, he explained that it's entirely normal, phantom pains, still a result of some healing, nerves, etc.

Just before getting an ART treatment, I came clean.  Explained my "situation" and asked him what he thought the link might be and why he may have asked.  He suggested something like hormones, possibly thyroid, which may be affecting calcium absorption and causing the irregularity of my cycle.  Hmmm, certainly a possibility.  Strike 1?

Through more discussion, and some google searches, something else rose to the surface. There are reports that seizure medications can affect bone density, and again, the absorption of calcium/vitamin D.  I was on a cocktail of epilepsy medications twice in my life -- first, from about the age of 2-5, during which I was on phenobarbital.  Once my epilepsy came back at age 21, I was on a variety of medications again, some of which did nothing for me, one I was allergic to, and others that seemed to do nothing, but that I stayed on for a few years until I became a candidate for brain surgery.  No one ever told me to increase calcium, get bone density scans, or that these may affect my bone health later in life. Was this included in the super duper fine print, or read aloud quickly during one of those commercials that list all the possible side-effects, like headaches, rashes, skin problems, vomiting, nausea, stomach aches, bloody noses, broken fingers, hair falling out, purple fingernails, extra appendages growing from abnormal parts of your body, and the list goes on???  and on?  still going?  Hmmm.   Strike 2?

I was told tonight that the early years/adolescence is when our bone density is formed.  At my age now, it's a matter of maintenance... he is going to write a letter to my doctor recommending that I have some blood work done (yay me, more needles lol) and a bone density scan done. At least we'll be able to get a starting point, and while I'm still young, monitor my levels frequently enough to be able to see if my bone density numbers start to drop.  

Usually bone density loss, resulting in osteoporosis,  starts much later in life, but could being on the meds early in life  and then again later in life resulted in robbing my bones while trying to grow strong?  I remember being young, I had milk at each meal; couldn't leave the table till it was done.

Strike 3 might come down to something that was in my control... lifestyle. Smoking and caffeine; both reported to affect calcium absorption.  I loved Coke... couldn't get enough of it in my late teen years/early 20's, probably choosing a coke over milk often.  While I still enjoy a can of Coke, I certainly don't drink as much as I used to...  Proud to say I quit smoking in Sept 2005, will never smoke again.  I wouldn't be running if it wasn't for quitting.  I have certainly grown up a lot being a mother; I don't only take care of myself anymore, I am responsible for the well-being of my son as well, so I try to lead by example.  We eat a balanced diet, while enjoying our treats in moderation... but this will still not change the past.  Understood.

Phew! No family history of osteoporosis... not sure how many more strikes I can handle against me!!!  3 is already not a good start!!

Now a catch 22.  I think this is another situation where moderation will be the key.  If it shows that bone density is low, weight-bearing exercises can help increase bone density slightly... but how will the weight-bearing impact of running affect my susceptibility of stress fractures? lol.  Sigh.

So, having said all of this, obviously there is nothing definitive.  These are just a few things that have been discussed and discovered -- a starting point if you will. I haven't even spoken to my family doctor yet, but I will be once he gets the letter and all of my stress fracture test results.  I'm not going to get ahead of myself.  This is merely a brain-storming of thoughts/ideas, all of which will be discussed with my doctor to ensure proper diagnosis and treatment if needed. 

Otherwise, life continues as normal... except that it's threatening to snow!  With my bike fit appointment tomorrow evening, I will do everything in my power to wake up earlier tomorrow to get my run in... hoping it works.  I even have my son working for me;  I put a note on the shower door to come in and get me outta bed in the morning when he wakes up to take his shower... hope it works :)

sorry for such long posts lately about topics mildly related to running.  Go drink some milk would ya?  lol.  I'd better go to sleep if I have any chance of waking up... hopefully to streets not covered in the white stuff...

perfect timing

during friday nights' race, i landed nicely into a squishy puddle of mud, well hidden by leaves. My shoes and socks were left with a nice mud stain.

But today, I got new shoes.  Free shoes! Yay! What can be better than that!  In July I won the ExtraOrdinary Runner award from Runners' Lounge which won me $100 to spend at Online Shoes.

Having already spent a small fortune in shoes, trying to find ones that will work for me, I ordered a second pair of the ones I've been using, the Saucony Progrid Guide.

Having less than 100k on my first pair, and my mileage increasing very slowly, I should good for shoes for a while :)

Weight training yesterday morning, 1600 meters in the pool last night, 5.22 run this morning, the intervals are slowly starting to be more like actual running!  15 min run, 2 min walk, 15 min run! Next run wednesday.

So far the leg has been feeling good! I still have those phantom like pains once in a while... still icing just to be preventive, but I still fear reinjury. No pain at all while running, and i'm sticking with the post-injury plan, and doing lots of cross-trianing. Marlene's hubby made a comment last week when we were spectating at the marathon... that when he had his injury, he "had to get his head out of his leg".  So very true.

Is there a doctor in the house?  If you boys out there don't want to read any further, it's gonna get pretty girly for a bit... sorry.  But I am trying to understand something.  Brief story.

When I first went to the sports physician, he told me to up my calcium, which I did. 1200mg/day along with my usual multivitamin. When I saw him the final time, he had an intern with him, so me and 2 male doctors.  He said I was healed, ready to start training again slowly.  I asked him if I should continue with the calcium... he then asked me a question. Being that there were 2 males in the room, I immediately clammed up being the moron that i am, and was unable to tell the truth -- just to avoid talking about it!  I am such a loser.

Me : Should I keep taking the extra calcium?

Doc : It's hard to get enough calcium through diet alone.  I don't see the harm in taking the extra calcium, but you don't have irregular periods do you?

Me : No (face totally beat red, embarrased....next topic please.)

Total lie.  I do have very irregular periods, had this checked out previously, cervical biopsy showed nothing abnormal, was told I could have an IUD implanted to help regulate my cycle a bit since I am not planning for more children, but opted not to do the surgery, and live with it. No big deal other than an inconvenience from time to time, or so i thought.

So here's my question.  What is the link between irregular periods and calcium? Why would increasing my calcium have any impact on my cycle?  This started years ago, even before i started running, not just since increasing my calcium.  What prompted the doc to ask me that? I've heard of elite runners and athletes that no longer have a period at all due to low body fat percentage. Well, I'm quite the opposite, I am "on" more often than not, and certainly have enough body fat ;)

I have googled it, didn't find anything that seemed related, asked my mom who is a geriatric nurse, she also didn't know.  She said i was silly for being so shy/nervous/embarrassed... they are in fact doctors.  I know.  So I've made an appt. for an ART session tomorrow evening with my first sports injury doc.  I want to talk to him about these little twinges from time to time, make sure that's normal, and I will get up the courage to ask him.  If there's something else going on... like something with bone density or something else, I want to know.  I have a lot of years ahead of me, and want to be able to run for many of them, so it's time I suck it up and ask. 

wonder what it looks like in daylight! -- Trek or Treat race report

That was a blast.

I arrived at the race site later than I would have liked because of what we intended to be a quick trip to a car dealership, but ended up with a sales manager who wasn't in quite a rush.

It was dark... but luckily there were skeletons to direct me to a parking spot.  Picked out a pumpkin for being one of the first 100 registered, brought it back to the car, then inside to pick up my race kit.

Met up with my running group, who all gave me stern lectures and made sure I was ok to run and my friend Patricia, who qualified for Boston last week chose to volunteer!  I've never been much for Halloween and dressing up (sorry if that makes me boring) -- seemed that about half the participants chose to dress up in costumes, so I didn't feel so bad not being the only one in running clothes.

The 10k group left at 8pm, and the 5k followed 5 minutes later.

With this being a trail run and with a lot of children, the beginning was about weaving through and finding a comfortable pace.  I realized early on that this was not going to be an easy run.  

The path was completely covered by leaves that had fallen from the trees already.  The plus side of this is that it's softer than concrete, still taking it easy healing from stress fractures, this was nice.  The major downfall? Leaves hide potholes, mud, tree roots, rocks, and other obstacles very well.

The trail was well marked, while everyone's reflective gear and head lamps helped lead the way fairly well, as long as you were close enough to a group of people.  Oh, that and people screaming. LOL.

Between kids dangling out of trees, a werewolf coming out of the bushes, witches, a girl with a purse screaming running towards you at a dark part of the route it was pretty entertaining. Luckily my pace had me on the heels of another guy and girl running together, so they'd get spooked first, I was behind, giggling.  My plan worked well.  LOL

It was a difficult course to maneuver... a lot of people tripping all over the place because of tree roots, a huge mud pit, hence my not-so-white-anymore shoes, bridges.  It would have been a challenge during daylight, more so at night.

I had my Garmin set to my 8&2 intervals.  Didn't take my first walk break as my pace wasn't so fast anyway, and I was feeling good, but a few minutes later, met up with one of my running group, who was hurting, so I walked with her for about 3-4 minutes.  She tripped in a

pothole, and rather than completing the 10k, she would just walk back to the finish, and urged me to continue.  Took one more brief walk break, and walked up most of the killer steep hill right before the finish line.  Being covered with leaves, I could see myself loosing my footing while trying to bound up, sliding down on my belly, taking out everyone behind me.  I ran to the finish.

All things considering, I was ecstatic.  I was finally participating in a race again -- during my time off with stress fractures, I missed 3 races.

There were 112 5k participants.  I came in 37th overall, 6/20 for my age/gender group!!!!!!!! 22nd female.  My time was 32:29. Not a PB, but I certainly didn't expect one from this run. **edit -- official results got sent out today, still 37th overall, but 125 5k participants (those that were registered for 10 and only did 5 i guess), I was 6th out of 26 for age/gender**

We ended up at one of the house of one of our running group for some drinks and snacks, and a lot of laughs.

Tonight, going out for dinner with friends, celebrating a birthday and an anniversary.  Bringing bathing suits for their outdoor hot tub... :)

Good luck to Marci and Vava racing at Niagara this weekend.  Hope the rain stops long enough for the race! If I were to ever do a marathon, Niagara International is the one I've always had my eye on (only marathon to start in one country and finish in another)... I love the uniqueness of this race, so I'm looking forward to race reports and insight!  Also to Javamom!!! Good luck to anyone else racing who I may have missed... sorry.

retail therapy

i'm a mixed bag of emotions lately.  Happy for lots of things, frustrated by other stuff, sad for other reasons, and annoyed by certain people.  Not gonna get into them, just things I need to work through.

It was a good opportunity to go spend a bit of money. In one of my recent posts, I talked about adding aerobars to my bike.  Well, I did.

I also booked a bike-fit where I bought my bike for wednesday evening.  I purchased my bike during their peak season, and the "pro" of the shop was booked for weeks, then had vacation booked, so I just never got around to making an appointment.  I don't have a bike rack for my car (and not in a hurry to since we're changing our cars soon) to haul the bike there, it would be a very long ride to get here riding. Even though most in there are bike enthusiasts and am sure they're used to sweat or whatever else from a long ride, not sure I want to do a bike fit for 45 minutes after riding there, to then turn around and ride back home.  So there you have it.  Does it make the issues go away? No.  But do I feel better... maybe slightly.

Tomorrow night is the Trek or Treat 5k/10k run.  I emailed the race organizers to switch me to the 5k, done without a problem.  I am running it for fun, to enjoy a run with my running group again... feels like a very long time since I've been out with them.  I need to pick up a flashlight for the run, since it starts at 8pm.  With the days already getting much shorter, it'll be dark by then, and it's in a Conservation area - not a well lit area... i'm already spooked. LOL

rest day?? Rest???

oops.  I got a little carried away...

I was looking at one of the websites where I track my workouts, and noticed that between running, biking, and now with the latest addition of swimming, I haven't had a full day of rest since Oct 10th!

So today I will be that day, I will do nothing.  I had planned to swim tonight after Terron was asleep, but now having seen a bit of snow yesterday and the sudden cold temps, not sure how much I want to come out of the pool at 10:30pm tonight when it's even colder... so I will give in this time, and give myself a rest day.

Thanks to everyone's suggestions to accomodate friday's race, which I'm doing for fun... :)  I'm going to listen to my body and go with it from there...

Have a great day!

schedules are meant to be altered, right?

once again, I'm looking for your thoughts, suggestions and advice.

I totally forgot about a small little local event this friday, the Trek or Treat trail run.  I had signed up for the 10k event months ago, and even though I'd be only doing this for fun, I think I'll ask the race organizers to change me to the 5k event. I don't want to risk doing too much too soon. 

But that's not my issue.

This week I start running on alternate days, starting tomorrow... 

• Tuesday -- 2m walk/8m run
• Thursday -- 10m run/2m walk/10m run/2m walk/10m run
• Friday -- 5k race!
• Saturday -- 12m run/2m walk/12m run/2m walk/10m run
• Monday -- 15m run/2m walk/15m run

"The plan" doesn't start me running back to back days for another 2 weeks, so 3 days in a row is obviously not ideal.

Here is what I was thinking so far:

• Run Tuesday, Thursday morning, and Friday's race at night... skip Saturday, replace with a bike ride, no run again till monday
  
• Skip Thursday's run, have fresh legs for Friday, and run Saturday only if feeling ok, continue with plan on Monday (but that's 2 days off again...)
• Run tomorrow, skip thursday, 5k race friday, skip saturday, short easy run sunday, then monday's planned workout.

I know, it may not seem like a huge deal, but I'm really trying to increase the distance & time slowly, and as described by the schedule.  I'm not sure a 2 day gap will hurt much this early on, but I don't want it to be too much of a change in distance between runs, etc.  On the other hand, I am not sure if running back to back days a few weeks early is recommended. The race sounds like a lot of fun, and I registered with friends, so I really want to fit this in...somehow.

So now I leave it in your capable hands... any of the above sound like a decent idea? Or other thoughts?

Now if some jacka$s comes out of the bushes to scare me, and I fall or something and re-injure myself, I'll be pissed... LOL  Let's just hope that won't be the case.

making the best of it...

Last year a group of us put our names in the lottery for San Francisco's Nike Women's Marathon. Since we entered as a group, if any of our names had been chosen, we would have all gone. Looking back, I'm sorta glad we weren't selected because with this injury, it would have been a lot of money lost while not being able to participate.

So, I registered for the virtual one.  Still paid an entry fee, and as long as you sync up 13.1 miles before 11:59 HST today, you still get a finisher's kit.  The money also goes to a create cause, benefitting the Leukemia and Lymphoma society.  Finisher's kit includes a t-shirt and a Tiffany keychain.

Being only a few weeks into my injury-return, there was no way I was going to push myself to run 21.1k. Plus, I had 2 friends running the Toronto Marathon this morning.  I briefly tried to think of a way to see if someone would run with my ipod and sensor, but wouldn't feel right asking... plus that would be cheating.  I'm not like that.

So I figured, if I'm going downtown, and will be doing some walking to find people, why not have my sensor on... capture whatever I walk!  I wasn't going for a PB, so who cares!  I was planning a run later on in the day, so that would also add some mileage.  I had no idea if I'd even come close, but worth a try.

Got down there fairly early, and started walking.  The weather was perfect, and I layered well.  I walked, and walked, and walked some more.  

I eventually met up with Marlene and her hubby about 10 minutes before we saw Patricia coming in from her marathon!  She qualified for Boston!!! It was great! Shortly after, her husband nearing the finish of his first marathon! They were both superstars today... glad I was there.  By the time I got home, I had accumulated 16.74 km of walking!  I had no idea I'd get that far... so happy it was a nice day out, and that I took advantage of getting the mileage in, even if it was just walking for most of it.

Here's a few pics i got...

The winner...

After a bite to eat, some time to digest, I went out for Day 4 of my plan... 3 min walk/7 min run intervals.  I got just over 5k... so I am a Nike+ Women's Virtual Half Marathon finisher!  I wanted my bling.... it's probably the only time I'll ever get a Tiffany anything  :)

So I did a half marathon today... sorta, kinda.

i can't decide anymore...

if you would have asked me last year, I was all about running.  Other than some weight training, I did little exercise other than running.

This year I bought a bike, and most recently, started swimming.  Now I'm not so sure I have a clear favorite anymore!  All 3 are so different, so much fun, and I've been loving the variety!

Friday I went to the pool.... 30 laps, 1500 meters.  That's 1.5 kms!!!! I don't think I've ever swam that much in my life!  Especially all at once! LOL Oh!  And I bought a swim cap and goggles.  I was thinking -- everyone sorta looks the same with a cap and goggles on... your identity is sorta lost... weird.

This morning, I woke up to go cheer on Marlene and the rest of my running group with their 10k zoo run. I had the best of intentions, but my car on the other hand had other plans; second frost of the year, and my car decides it doesn't want to start.  So that provided a 20 minute delay when if finally gave in to my persistence.

Got off the highway towards the zoo; cars, and lots of 'em.  None were moving either.  The race had already started 30 minutes ago, by the time I get into the parking lot, if there is parking left, I'm sure I would have missed everyone I wanted to see.  So I turned around.

I did not want to spend the day in a mall or indoors at all, so I put my bike in the car, dressed up warm, and parked on a residential street off a country road.  This is not a road I've been on before... I didn't realize it would be so hilly!!  But it proved to be a great workout, and very scenic.  I think I found an area where royalty lives... cuz the houses out there! Damn. They were n-i-c-e.  I got to the end of the road, which led to a highway, so i just turned around and rode back to my car.  Turned out to be a quick 1hr ride, 24k.  Most of me wanted to continue, but I didn't fuel properly for this ride, didn't anticipate the wind or the hills, and I didn't have any beans, or gels with me, so I didn't want to get too far away from my car in a neighborhood that I wasn't familiar with in case I started to fade.  I get very cranky and feel like crap when my blood sugar drops... I hate the feeling.

Since I had my bike in the car, I just happened to go home where I'd pass by a bike store we stopped in at last week.... where I saw some very cool tri-bars ;)   However, there's a huge bike show at the Exhibition this weekend, so they were closed.  Oh well.  Another day.

Yay! I've been doing 5min walk/5min run intervals for the last week. Tomorrow will be 3min walk/7min run, and no more 2 days rest... will be starting every other day for 2 weeks, after which I 'll start back to back running days.

Has any of you readers had stress fractures, or other injuries?  I have been taking it very slowly, and followed the docs advice.  He gave me the ok to start running again after seeing a clear x-ray, tapping my bone, etc.  My first two runs were pain-free -- even afterwards.  My third run, which was thursday, was also pain free, but was a bit tender a few hours after my run where I had the stress fracture.  Nothing major, didn't cause any discomfort walking, or anything, but I admit it sorta worried me.  I iced, and the next day was fine again. Once in a while, I get a faint achy feeling for a moment, then it goes away, even while just sitting around.  It's not a sharp pain, and it doesn't last.  No pain while walking.  Can still jump up and down on my left leg.  Is it just in my head?  Is it just to remind me not to get overly confident, and to continue taking things slow?  A reminder that it's still healing?

I googled it a bit, and some of the info I found suggested the following

• running muscles weren't being used the same way for 6 weeks, getting re-accustomed
• the surface of the bone is rough where the healed stress fracture are; muscles are being aggravated when rubbing over the rough area, the bone will eventually smooth itself out

I expect some tenderness, but do not want another 6 weeks off again ever... anyone have any thoughts?  Am I just panicking? I will see how I feel after tomorrow's run, will ice after my run regardless of how I feel, and thought about booking an appt with my sports injury doc for monday just to get a quick treatment in for preventive maintenance... Sigh... I feel like a car in constant need of a tune-up :)

Tomorrow I'm heading downtown to see 2 friends run in the Toronto Marathon... keeping my fingers crossed that my car cooperates in the morning :)

i'd rather show you...

instead of telling about my run, I'll show you with a few pics i snapped along the way... but i'm starting with the "after" picture first.

The burrs on my socks were a result of the following trail which I chose as the beginning of my run...

I feel fortunate to have this little trail system within steps from my house.  Next run is Sunday!  :)  Good luck to all those racing this weekend!

i took the plunge...

don't worry folks, i didn't fall, injure myself or do something bad... i went swimming!  I am gonna sleep like a baby.

I've been checking out pool schedules recently, and found one of the many public pools in my area that had lane swimming from 9:30-10:30 pm.

I got to the parking lot at about 9:15... YIKES!  It's full!  I had hopes that the pool would be empty and there would be no one there to see me.  I sat in my car, too nervous to get out just yet.  I saw a lady walk in, and lots of people walk out.  I got in the change room, and had about 10 minutes before we would be able to get in the pool, so I stayed in my sweat pants and sweat shirt over my bathing suit...  I'm such a chicken sh!t. I wish I had the type of personality where I wouldn't automatically think people judge me -- negatively, or that I just simply didn't care what people thought about me. This is something I've struggled with my whole life.

Anyway, that lady starts asking me if it's usually busy, I let her know that this is my first time.

Lady: "this is your first time swimming?"

Me: "No, I've swam before, but coming to a pool and doing lane swimming - this is a first."

Lady: "so what made you start swimming?"

Me: "i'm coming off of injury with a stress fracture from running, so i'm trying to incorporate more cross-training"

Lady: "Oh, so you're a runner -- so do you do marathons?"

Me "no... i've completed a half, maybe one day I'll do a full marathon, but I do enjoy it"

Lady: "so if you swim and run, do you also cycle?"

Me: "Yes! I do!  I got into cycling this year as well... but swimming would definitely be my weakness"

Lady: "So one day you'll be a triathlete"

Me:  Once I stopped laughing, I told her that I would love to try-a-tri one day, but wanted to survive my first swim first.

I went into the medium lane... there were about 7 other people there with me. I quickly found an easy enough pace, but found myself on the heels of other swimmers doing the breast stroke... being new in the pool, and without knowing the etiquette, I just slowed down, and lagged behind, using arms only, no legs, etc.

I swam for about 35 minutes.  Not too long, but I definitely feel like I got a good workout.  Back in the change room, Lady had also finished up.

Lady: "You're a strong swimmer!  But I think you'd be faster with a cap, goggles and keeping your head in the water"

Me: "Thanks!  I kept my head up to watch where I was behind the others in my lane.  I didn't want to ride someone's heels the whole time, and didn't want to go to the fast lane, and have someone on my heels either"

I was surprised to hear someone tell me I was a strong swimmer! I've always loved swimming, but never had a reason to swim, other than for the fun of it. I walked outta there really happy. Ecstatic that I didn't let my nerves, lack of confidence or stupid thoughts keep me from trying something new.  I had a great time, will be getting a cap and goggles, may plan for a swim for friday since I have the day off, and my next run tomorrow!

Alright, it's a school night, i gotta get to bed! nite all!

this little piggy....

Friday I went to a local running store, where I picked up the bathing suit! Yikes, still a little unsure of that! :D

while at the check out, there was a basket of this injinji socks.  I've seen a lot of people blog about these lately, so I had to have a peek.  Found a pink pair! In my size!! LOL Salesman commented that these socks would be hard to find soon, as Canadian distributors will no longer be stocking them... so I had to give them a try.  They feel a bit weird, and as soon as I put them on, especially since they were pink, it reminded me of the little piggies... :)

Next run Thursday... and then another 4 day weekend!

finding my groove

Saturday morning we got up to get ready for a spin class -- got outside, ready to get our bags in the car, and we questioned what we were doing. Mid-October, double digit temperatures, not a cloud in the sky.  Went back in the house, dropped off our bags and got ready to ride outside instead... what a great choice.  Easy 23k+ ride.

Sunday - a motorcycle ride with a friend, and a delicious turkey dinner. Quite sure neither of this count as a workout :)

This morning -- day 2 of my post-injury training plan.  5 minute intervals walk/run.  Felt great again, still no pain, so I'm quite pleased. Once again, I could have continued, really wanted to keep going.  Too nice of a day out there to waste it being inside, so I changed my shoes, downed a gel, and went out for a quick and easy 10k ride.  If I would have had more time, I would have made it a much longer ride... I was having a blast. :)

Leaving 2 days between runs right now is tough, but I'm doing what I can to be patient... soon enough I'll be more consistent again, so hanging in there.  :)  Just feels great to lace up.

So as I blog today, I'm watching the recap of Subaru Ironman Canada that we pvr'd, originally run on Aug 24, 2008. They're talking about a man participating, who also had a "second chance." Dwight Kroening, who received a heart transplant 22 years ago, and against all odds, is the first heart transplant recipient Ironman, finishing in 15h 33m 26s.  How's that for motivation and inspiration. WOW.

tag-teamed!

I was tagged by both Nikki and Marci!  I'm supposed to share 6 random things that you may not already know about me... so here goes.

• I love Nutella.  I grab a spoonful when craving a sweet snack...
• I fed the fish threw up over the side of the Kajama boat here a few years ago, after a few too many way too many drinks... about a month before it was used on The Amazing Race show in 2005.
• I'm not a dancer -- I can't, so I don't pretend that I can.  I'm a people watcher though, so I have just as much fun watching from the outside...
• after 33 hours of labor, my mom had to have a C-section when delivering me.  The doc misjudged where I was or something and sliced my head.  So my welcome to the world was 5 stitches to the forehead... made for a wonderful "first baby photo"
• I took a bat to school in a jar with a slice of apple when I was in kindegarten for show-n-tell.  My dad brought it into the house to show us when we had gone out, but it got out of the bag he put it in... went missing for 5 days in the house, my mom found it on the 6th day as she put her foot in her slipper and felt something furry.  It died the next day. :(
• as a child, i slept with my eyes partially open (just a slight crack) but enough to make my eyes very dry... so at times i'd cry, with no tears.  Trust me, that's not the case anymore... when I cry (which is often), there are plenty of tears.

Most of the blogs I've been visiting lately have already been tagged, so if you're reading and want to participate, consider yourself tagged :)