a month later

prog·ress (prŏg'rěs', -rəs, prō'grěs')

n. Movement, as toward a goal; advance.

Development or growth Steady improvement

Baby steps, but in the right direction.  It's been a little over a month that I've been training with my heart rate. As I tell my clients while teaching, there's always a level of resistance with change; it's human nature. There are moments when you question if the effort is worth it, and if it will yield the anticipated results.

The beginning was a struggle, I won't even lie.  But the bloggers who commented on this type of training warned me that it would be, and so did all the articles I found while researching it.  It was more of a mental challenge than physical.  My body appreciated slowing down, making the runs less exhausting.  My mind on the other-hand had difficulty swallowing it's pride.  The "internal" conversations have included the following:

Mind: You've gone much faster than this, why don't you challenge yourself anymore? Are you giving up already?

Body: I'm not listening to you brain -- and don't bother sending out the entire army of endorphins.  I'm already happy being out here running, I don't need you sabotaging my efforts.

Ego: this sucks. really really sucks.

Lungs: You're running, and able to talk without huffing and puffing?? ... this is new.

Heart: It's nice that you're out there keeping my healthy while not making me work extra hard like you used to... all the time.  I promise to repay you when you decide to add some tougher, faster workouts back in, but for now, i thank you.

I missed yesterday's planned 3k easy run due to some other big girl stuff I had to take care of, so I decided to head out at lunch today instead.  Quick check of the weather, showed 9℃ so I decided on a UA Cold Gear shirt, UA Cold Gear fleece jacket.  No hat, no gloves.  It's above freezing, it must be warm!

WRONG.  Turned the corner, and I was f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g, and the rain started. One of those cold, damp days, the temperature quickly plummeting.  My arms quickly shrunk into my jacket to keep my hands warm, and I tried turtling my head into the neck of the jacket... didn't work.  Wind picked up.  But, I'm Canadian, I've dealt with worse dammit.

With my arms in the sleeves, of course it hid my Polar display, so I wasn't keeping a constant eye on my heart rate. Wind and hills are two things that increase my heart rate, so I tried to be conscious of slowing down; aware of my perceived effort.  I've learned to be much more in tune to my body and know when I'm pushing the pace and heart rate a little too high. Once I reached about 2k and was heading back home, the rain had stopped, and wind was behind me, feeling better.  Finished my short 3.5k.  

My zone 2 is 153-163 bpm.  I'm usually in the high end of this range, sometimes a few beats over, but for outdoor runs, I was told when I got the lactic threshold test to allow my heart rate to do what it wants, and go by my perceived effort/speed.  By the time I synced up my run, I had no idea what to expect since I wasn't watching the numbers while running.

Average heart rate was 164, 1 bpm higher than my desired average... but my average speed of 5.3 mph was in the perfect zone.  With a few hills/wind/body feeling cold/rain, I'm stoked that I stayed where I should be!  The best part?  The pace is roughly 45 sec/km faster than when I started monitoring my heart rates. (I know, i know, i'm all over the place between Imperial and metric...lol) I'm actually "slowly running" the whole time now, rather than slowing to walk several times to control my heart rate.  This is exciting!

The situation which I posted about a few weeks ago is also progressing.  I've made my choice, done something about it, and have dealt with the most difficult part.  I am very hopeful I've made the right choice.  I think I slept soundly last night for the first time in a long time.  If running can help me dealt with the emotions of guilt, fear, heartache, unknown, sadness, then I will be running a lot of miles.  But I still think I will be happier in the end.

Lastly, something very very positive has happened in the last few days thanks to BeachRunner, his post from the other day, and the blogosphere.  I have never been so happy to "put myself out there".  I have connected with Ted and his family about something that is very near and dear to my heart.  Have you ever questioned posting something, wondered if you should, and tried to understand why you feel the need to write about it?  Yesterday, I got my answer. Thank you again BR!

The doctor was right!!

No, not my gynecologist that said "i was a little abnormal."  Not my neurosurgeon that said "my case was a little unique."

I got an email from my mom a few weeks ago that had this picture attached.  She went on to explain that she had been flipping through a magazine and came across this picture, and said that my legs were identical to those pictured when I was a child. 

Yes, I was a Michelin baby.... rolls, and lots of 'em, some things don't change. :)

My mom had a conversation with my pediatrician who said that typically when one leg has two creases and the other leg has three, it's a sign of a misaligned hip.  So in my mom's email, she finished by saying "phew, thankfully this didn't become a problem".

Well... maybe it did.

About two years ago, when I joined a gym, I had an personal trainer session, and an appointment with a foot doctor of some sort, who did a fairly basic gait analysis and free consultation. Each of them separately told me that they notice my hip drops when walking. Didn't really think much of it, but found it very odd that they both said it!

As I got more into running, I had a video gait analysis done for other reasons with my sports doctor/chiropractor last year.  Interestingly, he said the same thing (now about 9 months later), and as a result, recommended that I get orthotics. Since this is someone who I trusted, and I've now heard it from 3 different people, I followed his recommendation. Appears that one of my legs is slightly longer than the other too, contributing to the dropping hip.  I can't just be a normal girl, can I?  

When I replied to my mom letting her know that I now wear orthotics for running, and about the difference in leg length, she was a little shocked to learn that the doctor had been right more than 31 years ago, when I wasn't even walking yet!  Hopefully the real kid in the picture doesn't have any major problems growing up!  :)

So, once again, running has pointed out another one of my "unique qualities" ... ya, that's what we'll call it.

he really said that? really??!

ever get an unsolicited compliment from someone, and it sort of shocks you?  By shocking, I mean that it's unexpected, yet pleasant?

Gawd, I hope that this person doesn't read running blogs and happen to stumble across this post; I will feel like such a dork, but here goes.

I mentioned a few months ago that I joined a different gym. (I'm not going to mention the name of the gym, which would further assist this person to find my blog and read my dorky post through the 'powers' of Google).

I quickly learned that the owner of the gym was a runner -- a stellar-one at that.  We had a brief conversation about running when I wore one of my race shirts from last summer, where he was a pace bunny.  

He proudly displays an age-group medal for a race that I hope to run next month, and his framed Boston medal and certificate! I make a point of looking at this display each time I walk into the gym, especially if I'm there for a treadmill run if the weather is less than ideal.  It serves as a nice little motivator and reminder of the training and effort we all make in ourselves.

Anyway.  Jay came home from the gym a few days ago, and retold a conversation that he had with the owner, which started by him ask if I was still running and training for anything.  Jay mentioned that I was training for Around the Bay, the 30k race on March 29th.  He explained that this was his comeback race (not sure which year) after having blown out his knee.  He was overcome with emotion when crossing the line, and placed (maybe 3rd? I can't quite remember) in his age-group!  He then said that he's seen me running on the treadmill, and I'm a good runner, and said I should definitely run the race.

When Jay told me this story, I got a warm-fuzzy feeling, but kept asking him if he really said that to see if he was bullsh*tting me. Are you sure he was talking about me?? Here's someone who has been a runner longer than I, much faster runner, and accomplished in the running community as a Boston Qualifier and finisher; paying moi a compliment!  Since joining the gym, I've been focusing on my heart rate training which has slowed my already slow pace, so the compliment certainly wasn't speed related; it's nice that "fast" doesn't always mean "good" which is great news for me!

On the topic of heart rate training... 2 weekends ago I rejoined the running group, and ran with a different bunch given the pace I needed to keep my heart rate down.  We discussed the ideas and principles behind this type of training, the lactate threshold test that I had done to determine my zones, and what I was hoping to accomplish. She was intrigued, and asked me to forward the information I had from my research. I did.  She then discussed it with a few other group members during another group run last week, and now everyone is interested!  Once the 30k race is out of the way, there's a few that are really keen on trying this out! I expected to be alone on this, so I'm kinda proud to be trying something that others are getting excited about.

That's it for now, I'm gonna head out for a short lunch time run. Enjoy the day!

a milestone of sorts...

so.tired.of.snow.  Got yet another fresh coating last night, but I still got up to meet the group.  My street was wet, but clear, and the snow had stopped.  Drove about 20 minutes, 7 of us showed up, and as we were finally ready to start, the snow started again, and the wind had picked up... a lot.

The snow plows quite obviously plow a lot faster where I live compared to where I run.  We started in a little subdivision, which I wasn't expecting to be touched as yet, and they weren't. Got to a large mall, circled half the parking lot, and continued into an industrial area, which was also not yet plowed!  We were now heading into the wind, snow flying at us sideways, stinging the eyes, with our footing navigating through about an inch of slushy snow.  We got to about 5k, and one of the girls said she was turning back as she had foot pain.  Conditions being what they were, 3 of us headed back with her.  As miserable and difficult as the run had been to this point, running back was at least a  bit better as we now had the wind behind us.  We added an extra loop around the mall, almost 2k, at the end as the road had cleared up a bit by this point with the salters starting to tackle the parking lot.  We were 18k short of our 29k planned run, but there was just no way.

Struggled a bit to keep my heart rate down when running against the wind, spiked quite high when I had to chase down one of the girls who missed a turn. Her ipod was too loud, and the wind didn't help as I was screaming out her name to get her attention.  Running through the snow and slush is also more difficult than dry roads. While I stayed within my desired speed zone, heart rate was slightly higher than I wanted, but with all things considered, I didn't really focus on it too much today.

My feet were soaked.  We headed over for a coffee and chocolate milk, chatted with 2 friends I haven't seen in a while, then headed home to warm up.  As much as I've been wanting to try an ice-bath, inspired by Aron, today was not the day. I was cold and wet already, chilled to the bone, so the hot shower provided some much needed comfort.

When I synced and recorded my run, I noticed that since tracking my distance, I have surpassed 2000 km (~1243 miles), hitting 2009km today!  Thank you feet, heart, legs and lungs for taking me this far, I'm not nearly done yet. :)

the concept is easy....

... lace up your shoes, head out the door, and place one foot in front of the other.  When I started running in May 2007, that's what it was; after the iPod was on of course.  I didn't think that almost 2 years later it would become a sort of 'addiction' and that running would come to mean so much more to me than just trying to shed a few pounds.

But as with anything, "stuff" accumulates over time.  I would come in the house after a run, shoes off, ipod next to the computer to sync up my run, stretch, shower, etc.  As I got a few extra things for running, like Body Glide, Garmin, my desk was starting to become a little cluttered.  I purchased a basket that would keep my running stuff in one place.

Behold the basket...

It makes me chuckle once in a while when searching for something in the basket.  Just like a woman's, or more specifically, a mother's purse, you can find almost everything including the kitchen sink!  The basket currently has:

• Fuel Belt along with about 5 or 6 bottles
• The Stick.
• Body Glide
• 3 hair elastics
• pink Road I.D. anklet -- affectionately knows as a "roadkill bracelet" by one of my running group members
• iPod with the Nike+ kit
• 3 tubes of lip balm for windy/cold days
• newly purchased Polar, GPS add-on, heart rate monitor
• pink Under Armour hat.  Even though it's a ladies' fit hat, it 'rides up' and makes me look like a cone-head.
• package of Sharkies, and a few loose ones at the bottom of the basket
• black Under Armour hat.  Shhh, it's Jay's.  Not sure he's aware that it's gotten a new home :)  but since the pink one doesn't fit that well, i've been using this one...
• black baseball hat
• Timex watch for swimming... i need to get back in the pool
• mittens
• 2 pairs of insoles since I wear orthotics in my shoes.
• gloves
• 2 GU's
• Sports drink mix
• head-band style ear cover thingy
• a quarter, Canadian... lol, that must have fallen out of my Fuel Belt since I carry some money in case of an emergency
• head lamp that i purchased for a Halloween night time trail run last year
• race bib belt
• Garmin, Garmin's charger/usb, Heart rate monitor
• sunglasses in a case
• extra safety pins from previous races

While the act of running is the same, and sure, it doesn't have to be this complicated, there's so much more to just getting out there for a run!  Not that I need to add anything else, but what other items do you guys/gals have that I didn't mention? 

Ran a feel-good 7k this morning, and tomorrow will be meeting the running group for our Sunday long run. We're supposed to get another dumping of the 'white stuff' starting this afternoon... hoping the roads will be ok tomorrow, and that we can run the full distance.  We'll see what happens...  Hope you're all having a great weekend :)

shoes and shoe boxes -- oh my!

Maybe it's happened? I can maybe finally be faithful!  Can I be happy with no longer cheating and experimenting with another.  Am I brave enough to shout it out to the world and say I'm in love!  Am I ready to be loyal and committed?

Shoes, people, shoes.

In December, I went to a local running store that was closing as it moved locations, but remaining open for a few months as a clearance center.  The guy there spent almost an hour with me going through their remaining selection of shoes to see if anything would work. Couldn't decide between two different pairs, so I got both.  

I started out wearing the Brooks pair, which I really liked, but after having a pretty slushy run last week with warmer temps and melting snow, they were pretty wet still the next day. I decided to wear the Pearl Izumis for my run last Thursday.  Now I remember why I couldn't decide -- they both feel awesome!  I seriously contemplated what I should do for Sunday's long run, but stuck with the Pearls since my orthotics were already in them, and it was early in the morning. They didn't disappoint!  So right now I have 2 pairs of relatively new shoes.

Sunday afternoon Jay and I were running around getting some errands done, and we passed by the clearance store. He said we should go take a look to see what they might have left since I have enjoyed the shoes I'm in before they close for good.  No more Brooks in my size, 2 pair of Pearl Izumi's left, both my size, and Sunday was literally the last day and $60 off the retail price!  With 35 minutes left to spare, I scored myself two extra pairs of shoes!

Last night, Jay came home and asked me if I had an empty shoe box for his daughter's school project; I giggled... he responded with "...nevermind."

I'll try to hit the 'mill for today's run, since it's wet, cold, snowy, rainy weather out, and I'm barely holding onto what little of my voice I have left.  It's made for an interesting day of teaching...

Happy Wednesday! :)

giveaways!

It was pretty interesting to read everyone's response to their ideal marathon... so many destinations!

• many chose Boston, even the Olympics!  NYC and Europe were also listed.
• Amanda and Calyx, I'm with ya, I'd love to go to Australia or New Zealand, vacationing at the same time
• Brian getting ready for the Great Wall of China in 88 more sleeps was mentioned!
• even Robin brave enough for a 100 mile trail Ultra!!
• Athens, London and Antarctica were also named

Wish I had one to give to all of you, but without further ado, I had my son pick out the names from a hat, and the lucky winner of the Running the Sahara iTunes download is Bruce @ Confessions of a Race Addict!

I hope to read each of your blogs posts about your dream marathons achieved one day!

So, if you didn't win this one, stay tuned, I may have another download to give away soon! You can also head over to Nikemom's site for her GEARED for WOMEN giveaway!  She's giving away a medium pair of AVENIR Comfy Gel All-Round Cycling Gloves!  Go! Get entered!

better than medicine?

after getting out for yesterday's 5k while not feeling so hot, I wasn't sure what today would have in store.  Took some Nyquil last night, in bed before midnight, alarm clock first buzzed at 6:20am. Snoozed it once, then hopped out of bed; I must either really like running, or my group.  Had some multi-grain Cheerios, a cup of coffee and headed out to meet the group.  I was greeted with a bunch of hugs, and in the group's usual fashion, a bit of bugging and teasing.  Off we went.

Today's run had a very different perspective.  Before my injury, and before starting my heart rate training, I was usually at the beginning of the group, sometimes looping back to lessen the gap, or trying to re-find the group after a few of us at the front would get directionally challenged.  ☺

With my focus now on heart rate and staying in my zone 2, I found myself at the back of the group, but in perfect pace with 3 of the group members that I never usually run with!  The pace was conversational, which never happened before! I always felt like I was dying, and had difficulty getting out a sentence without breathing really hard.  At about the 14k mark, 2 girls dropped off and headed back to the store, while me and another continued the route.  She was starting to get pretty sore by about 20k, so we slowed down a little, and skipped one of the loops towards the end for a total of 23.4 km.  They were all so impressed that I ran as far as I did, and was smiling at the end, and I stayed disciplined enough to maintain a slow pace.  They all thought it was weird that I was running with them, but figured I'd take off and speed up at some point, but I didn't :)

Now, my ear isn't aching, sinuses are clear, throat isn't sore, and I feel great!  Yay running!

5k for Nancy

today came pretty close to being an unplanned rest day... i think the sleepless nights with stress and thoughts consuming my mind has caught up to me, and having Jay, Terron and my dad all sick hasn't helped. Last night I started getting a bit of the aches, and my throat and ear were starting to get sore. Ugh!  Slept in this morning, did some errands, came home and laid down on the couch. I was comfortable, but even with 3 top layers and a blanket, I just couldn't warm up, I had goosebumps!

I got up, layered up even though it was quite pleasant today, and did my FFFK for Non-Runner Nancy.  I had a hard time keeping my heart rate down today on a pretty hilly route, so it was a slower run, approx. 35 minutes. Considering how icky I felt, I'm happy I went out though as I had finally warmed up.  Tomorrow morning we have 24k on the schedule, and I'm meeting up with my running group! I haven't run with them since sometime in November, so I'm excited to get some miles in with them again :)  Hoping I feel well enough to get through it all, we'll see how it goes.  Hope you're all having a great weekend!

big girl panties and flowers

i pulled up my big-girl panties and as FrayedLaces hoped for, found my balls (even though Jay said last night that I've had his for the last 6 years).  Like the feeling of ripping off a band-aid, it hurt like hell; the hardest part is done, but it's far from over.  The situation hasn't involved a boyfriend/husband... but rather my dad. I hope that doesn't change anyone's opinion after all the kind words on my last post... thank you all so much. The support out there from perfect strangers is so amazing.

Family or not, I still need to live my life and be happy.  My dad has had more close calls with his life than anyone i know... yet I'm surprised he makes the choices he does, concerns himself with such insignificant things and takes things for granted the way he does; but I've learned long ago that you can't change other people.  After my surgery, I made a conscious decision to live life to it's fullest, and that's what I've done and intend to continue doing.  I'm sure I never would have started running if it wasn't for what I've gone through... and that's just the beginning.

Yesterday, my day was brightened a little with a surprise lunch time delivery from a florist. Tuesday night, as I sat in my home office finishing up work reading blogs, I heard a screech, then a thud.  I've been waiting for it to happen. I live at a fairly busy corner of 2 side streets, many times cars fail to stop.  Anyway, mother and 2 girls came out of the car, everyone ok. Saw the youngest girl outside crying her little eyes out, so I went outside to see if they were ok, and asked the girls wanted to come inside while the mother was on the phone dealing with insurance, etc.  The youngest said "YES, I'M GOING TO PEE MY PANTS VERY SOON!" Alrighty then.

Well, food was already in the oven for my two kids by the time they came in...  so I just split up the food 4 ways instead of two. The mom came in a few minutes later to see all 4 kids eating... and couldn't thank me enough.  All 4 kids went to play the game of Life afterwards, too cute. It was very sweet of them to send us the flowers yesterday. 

Looking out the window, it's a beautiful sun shining day... so I'm heading out for a run. Hope you all have a great weekend.

EDIT ✎  Don't forget that you have till monday at which point i'll announce the winner of the "Running the Sahara" iTunes download.  Click here for more info if you missed it.

choices and therapy

no comment necessary, just needing to write.  

running has become my therapy. It's my escape from reality, reduces my stress, calms me down, and let's me cry when no one is watching or will notice. Or maybe they think the tears are from pain caused by running... but they're not.

I'm in a situation where I need to make a decision; a really hard one.  I have to decide between being happy, living my life, and potentially have a family member really pissed off, or continue to be unhappy, while helping a family member that really doesn't appreciate or recognize your help anyway.

I know the right answer, but it's the path I've never taken, having always put everyone else before me.  I think this time I have to look after myself and it's scaring the crap out of me.

Yesterday, I went out for a run at lunch, emotions came flooding in, I just wanted to keep running, never turn around, or come back.

so if not the North Pole, perhaps the Sahara?

Last week, I found and posted a video about running a marathon in the North Pole... many of you, like me, couldn't or wouldn't do it.  And as Leana said, it's certainly not a Boston Qualifier! LOL  So how the opposite extreme? Does this appeal to you more?  Are you as brave as Bruce saying that you'd rather run in a desert?!

After posting that video, I was contacted through my blog and told about a documentary called "Running the Sahara". It's a film narrated and executive produced by Matt Damon that chronicles an attempt by three ultra marathoners, including Ray Zahab from Canada, to run across the entire length of Africa's Sahara Desert. Their goal is to run across six African countries, anticipating two marathons per day, for eighty days...without a day off.

I have a free download to give away!  If you're interested in checking out this movie (have/use iTunes and will use the download), post a comment about tell me what your dream marathon would be.  If money was no object, you were physically and mentally ready to run a marathon, could pick any marathon, where would it be and why? Is anything stopping you from achieving that dream? Add a comment, and I'll do a random drawing from those interested a week from today, Monday February 16th.

I have a bit of sad news though... while the video is available through iTunes, it's currently only in the US iTunes store.  I've been told, however, that it will be available for the Canada store in the next month or two. So for the moment, this little giveaway is only open to my US friends.  The only thing that I ask is that you post a review of it afterwards; I can't even get it and am interested in knowing how it is!  (For those in Canada, if you want to view the trailer, change the country at the bottom of the iTunes page to US, search for "Running the Sahara" and you can then see it there.)

Hope your week is off to a good start!

7 on the 7th Race Report

Due to tomorrow being a busy day, and with Run to Finish's 7 on the 7th race, I decided to do my long run today.  Knowing that I haven't been training with much speed lately with my focus on base building and heart rate training, I knew it wouldn't be a stellar performance like Marci! Awesome run!

I estimated running it in 1h25, giving myself plenty of wiggle room with it being an LSD run.  Mileage on the schedule was 21k, and I planned a route mostly on side streets, few sidewalks. Weather was nice and mild, snow melting, puddles forming, so I had to jump more than once to avoid getting soaked.  Efforts were futile; my socks and shoes were pretty wet when I got home.

Anyway, about the 7 miles... I even had a little crowd support! LOL In the spirit of this being a race, I stopped to take a quick pic.  My 7 miles were done in 1:18:19.... and I continued on for another 6 miles, giving me 13.3 miles for the day! Yay!

Now I'm ready for a nap :)  Have a great weekend!

what would you do?

*knock on wood* things have been going fairly well.  You've probably noticed that I haven't complained about lower leg pain in recent posts; the lingering discomfort from my stress fractures have been feeling pretty good!

I have a new heart rate monitor.  Accurate numbers! Yay!  I went to the gym for a treadmill run last night, ran with the speed guidelines that I got from my LT test, and HR stayed perfectly in the proper zone... so cool.

Back in the fall, I signed up for the Around the Bay 30k.  I had registered for this race last year, missed it because of a hip flexor injury from my first and only HM.  This race sells out fast, so I got my bib early, as did most of my running group.  I also missed a 30k race in the summer due to pain in my shin, which I found out the week following that I had 2 tibia stress fractures; opted to run the 15k instead (obviously before knowing it was stress fractures.)

It's now 8 weeks before my third attempt at a 30k race.  To me, this distance is a milestone, and a landmark. By that, I mean that it's a pretty good middle point between a HM and a full. When I completed my HM I was relieved, elated and proud... but to say, ok, turn around and run that distance again... rough. I have the utmost respect for the distance and you marathoners out there; I think that the 30k distance will help my mind prepare for the distance, and help me decide if I would want to tackle a marathon.

I hit 18k this past weekend, comfortably.  Mileage-wise, I've been on target with the training plan... I'm thinking of going with a game-time decision; continue my training, and see how it goes.  If I decide to run it, it certainly won't be a fast race as I've been concentrating more on low HR training and slower paces, and will be more like a training run.  To race fast, I believe that you have to train fast -- not what I've been doing, so not my goal.  But it would still be a PR no matter what.  What would you do?  Do you think that I have enough time to properly train and hit the distance without risking injury?

Stay tuned... I may have a little contest/give-away idea in mind.  Waiting on a bit more info.

Will you be running 5k sometime this weekend? If so, why not dedicate it to Non-Runner Nancy. She's gotten some bad news recently, will require surgery, and may need to find something to replace her passion for running. USJogger is holding a virtual Freakishly Flexible 5k in Nancy's honor... go on over there to sign up!  Let's show her the love and support that is so apparent in this blogosphere.