Week Two

This week was awesome!  I felt that I did everything this week that I wanted to.  Training runs?  Check.  Cross training?  Check.  Getting to bed earlier?  Check.  Eating healthy meals?  Mostly check.  Here's the day by day break down:

Monday:
It was super icy on our group run, but had one of those great nights where I felt like I could have run forever.  When the question was asked, "Should we do an extra loop?" I was practically giddy with joy.      Why can't all runs be like that?

Tuesday:
Into the gym for cross training on the bike, followed by weights.  It felt good to check this off my list.

Wednesday:
Another group run, this one not so good.  I'd had some spicy food earlier in the day and it just wasn't sitting well in my stomach.  Luckily, chatting with some others in the group and a shorter route kept it from being too painful.

Thursday:
Yoga!  I didn't sign up for yoga this session because I know I'm going to have to do some travelling for work which I'm already trying to plan around the running clinic.  Having another commitment on a set day just wasn't going to work, and I told myself I could just do yoga at home.  Sounds good in theory, but until this week I hadn't lived up to my own big talk.  It felt great to spend 45 minutes working on this.

Friday:
Oops, scheduled a run but the day got away from me!  A friend came over for tea with her 1 month old baby in the morning, and then I couldn't seem to get away from my desk/phone in the afternoon, so the run got moved to Saturday.

Saturday:
I just had a 30 minute run to make up for from the day before.  After cleaning up the house for what felt like forever, I finally got out the door around 3pm.  I knew I had my long run with the group on Sunday morning and the roads were very icy because of the snow, melty warm, frigid icy, weather cycle we seem to be on, so I took it slow around my flattest route.

As I was running, my spidey senses kicked in and I remembered being chased by dogs on this route just before Christmas.  With the icy roads, I didn't want a repeat (even though I've run this route numerous times and the chase only happened once), so I altered my route and turned just before reaching the property that the dogs came from.  I was still in familiar territory, running through a part of the neighbourhood that I frequently finish a 10K loop in, only in reverse. 

Turns out, my spidy senses were only slightly off, about a kilometer after I turned, I heard barking and turned to see two large, unfriendly looking dogs running towards me.  Luckily, I was on a stretch of road without much ice down the centre, and I was able to kick it into high gear and sprint.  Those dogs were fast and they kept chasing and barking and growling.  I was afraid to stop because I was sure that they would lunge at me!  Just when I didn't think I could keep my top pace up any longer, they backed off.  My biggest regret?  My Garmin battery was dead so I wasn't wearing it!  I would love to know how fast I was going!!

Sunday:
Group run day.  When I woke up this morning the Weather Network was saying it was -23C (-9.4F), and it was still sitting there when I left the house.  Our group is only supposed to head out until -18C, so I wasn't sure who would be there, if anyone.  I dressed for the weather, but brought my indoor running clothes too.  We were meeting at the rec centre, so at worst, I would brave the cold for an hour, and then finish up on the treadmill inside. 

Not everyone showed up, but about 10 of us headed out for our run.  Our pace was slow, our eye lashes were frosty, and our gels and water bottles were freezing up, but it was a great run.  We climbed a lot of big hills (the kind I normally avoid when I run long by myself), and we also went into the bush and ran on some crusty snowmobile trails as well.  This also kept the pace slow, but it was really nice to get off the road and run in an area I would never go alone.  I started my Garmin late and forgot to turn it off right away when we returned, but I think we went about 16K in about 2 hours.

I got home, had a hot shower, changed into dry long johns and fresh clothes, and headed back out with the BF for a hike.  Well, we tried to hike.  At our first stop, there were about 25 vehicles with big snowmobile trailers.  Not really the atmosphere (or the fresh air) we were looking for on the trails.  At our next stop, in an area where snowmobiles are banned, the snow had a thick crust that just wasn't quite thick enough to stop our boots from sinking through into knee deep snow.  We battled that for 45 minutes before deciding to try somewhere else.  (It was a good core workout though to keep balanced and keep from sinking deeper!)  Finally, we found a logging road with snowmobile packed tracks to walk on, but without snowmobiles using the trail at the same time.  By this time, we were losing the sun behind the hills, so after 30 minutes we headed home.  Despite the cold, it was a beautiful day to be outside.

Finishing this week, I'm feeling better about my training and am looking forward to the runs to come.  Unfortunately, I'm going to miss one of the group runs this week while travelling for work, but I always like running in a different town with a change of scenery.

Cross Training

What?  Two posts in one week?!  I told you I was getting back on track.

The marathon training plan given to me at my clinic calls for 4 running days and 1 or 2 or 3 cross training days.  I had seriously been thinking that I would run 5 days a week to train for the Vancouver Marathon, as I'd trained 4 days a week for Victoria and want to run faster this time around.  More running = Faster marathon time, right?  Mmm, maybe.  But when I look back at my training for Victoria, I know I missed some of my training runs, and I definitely missed a lot of strength and cross training, as in, I was counting grocery shopping and vacuuming as cross training. 

This time around, I really want to be successful in getting both my runs and cross training in.  The 4 day a week schedule is time based, but will add up to more miles than my previous schedule.  4 days should be manageable, and at least one day of cross training should be easy to fit in most weeks.  On weeks where I have a lighter workload/more energy/extra motivation, I'll fit in an extra easy run or cross country ski.

Now that I've got that settled, I'm looking for some advice on cross training.  As I've said, my past experience has ventured from the lame (cleaning the house) to the ridiculous (6 hour hikes up mountains).  One shouldn't really count, and the other wipes me out for the next week. 

Today, I spent 45 minutes on the bike and then did 15 minutes of arms, using the ball and Bosu.  When I was on the bike, I was warm, but it definitely wasn't as intense as running.  I realized that I had no idea how hard I should be working when I'm cross training.  Is there a magical heart rate formula that I should know about? 

What are your favourite cross training activities?  How hard do you work at cross training when it's part of a race training plan?

***

On a side note, after heaps of snow last week, we are having unseasonably warm temperatures and it's all melting away.  This deck table was completely buried on Friday, but is starting to peak out again!

Running with the group last night was more like skating in some sections as the melting snow turned to ice as the temperature dropped in the evening.  We must have sounded hilarious - lots of OOoops!  WHAAAs!  Ahhhs! and Eeks!

Back on Track

Last week was another whirlwind, workwise, but I managed to get all of my scheduled runs in and only missed cross training.

Monday:  First night of the marathon clinic.  There are about 25 of us and lots of different levels and experience.  Also lots of familiar faces from the winter running clinic!  We just went out for an hour and it was a nice way to start after a week with almost no running the week before.

Tuesday:  Scheduled rest day. 

Wednesday:  Second group run.  We went about 11K, and circled through a neighbourhood that was new to me.  By the end of the run, the snow was falling...

Thursday:  Woke up at 5:30 am to catch the Greyhound for work.  Ugh. Still snowing from the night before. Got into Prince George and my ride was stuck in the snow.  I waited in a cafe and got some work done while I was waiting.  When she was finally able to get me, the snow had stopped, the sun had come out, and by the time we got to the house, the sidewalk along the main road near by had been plowed and sanded.  Perfect for 5K out and back!

Friday:  Rest Day.

Saturday:  We don't have a ton of (running) races in this area, and when we have them I usually opt to run in them, so I was really excited to volunteer at a X-Country Ski Loppet on Saturday morning!  My job was to be on the radio at the finish line and help the announcer find the names on the list as a spotter 150m down the course called in the numbers.  It was a lot of fun and made me want to ski in the race next year!  I had planned to get my long run in on Saturday afternoon, but standing outside in the cold for 5 hours took it's toll.  I got home and took a nap.

Sunday:  Some of the group was getting together in the morning, but I opted to sleep in and then go out on my own a bit later.  It was a B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L day!  I was torn between trying to relax, and keep my long run at a slow, easy pace, and feeling frustrated by how slow I was going, and yet how hard it was feeling to run in the snow.

I was definitely feeling back on track by the end of the long run, and by the end of today, I was finally feeling back on track with work.  Now I just have to get back on track by catching up with everyone in bloggy-land!

Week 1 Minus 1

Ya.  Last week was the week that wasn't, running wise.  I guess you could say it was the week that I wish it wasn't, work wise.

I got my scheduled run in on Monday, had a weather enforced rest day on Tuesday, and on Wednesday found myself dealing with a crisis at work that took me straight through to Saturday afternoon and NO time to run.  Though by Sunday I really needed to run, but I was too physically and emotionally drained to go Instead, I spent the day feeling feeling  frustrated that I was back at day one with marathon training.

This Monday, I chose to change my attitude.  Yes, I'm starting over, but restart day coincided with the first day of my marathon clinic and we were given new training plans anyway.  Rather than follow my original plan and try to work the clinic runs into that plan - I'm going to follow the clinic plan.

Rather than being based on miles, this plan is based on time spent running, which is different than any plan I've followed before.  I'm excited to try something new!  Have you ever followed a plan that gives you minutes/hours to run rather than miles/kilometers?

La premiere semaine

Phew!  Week one is done, and I'm considering it a success!

I started the week by swapping a longer (5 mile) run with a shorter (3 mile) run to get it out of the way in what I knew would be a busy week.

Thank goodness!  I knew it was going to be busy, but I didn't know it was going to be snowy!  Tuesday morning, I woke up to a foot of snow after a month long "drought."  Still, I was determined to run.  It was too snowy to get my car out of the driveway to get to the gym, so that wasn't an option, but I optimisitically thought that the road might be in better shape than my driveway, bundled up, and headed out.  When I got to the end of the driveway, and saw that my street was unplowed, I thought the main road off of my road, might be in better shape and gingerly tried to run in tire tracks without twisting an ankle.  The main road hadn't been plowed yet either (this, at 3pm), but there were wider tire tracks and I gave it a go.  3 leaps into calf-deep snow in the ditch to avoid cars and 850m in, I decided to turn around.  I guess 1 mile is better than no miles, but a busy work day had me really wanting to run.  I did 30 minutes of pilates to take a longer break from the computer screen in my  home office before returning to work.

By Wednesday, the roads had been plowed and I'd moved 120 kms north for work.  It was another busy day, but I was determined to get my run in.  And I did, plus a little bonus mile to make up for some of the missed run the day before.  It was slow going, because even though the road had been plowed, it was still snowing and a bit slippy in some places and I only averaged about 6:15/km, but it was a really pretty loop in the snow and I just enjoyed it.

We had a new group of youth arrive Wednesday night (hence the busy-ness) so Thursday was the full on Amy Show as I presented the program orientation in both official languages (et je ne suis pas bilingue).  To get my day off to a good start, I decided to go for a run.  On the way out the door, a jet lagged east-coaster who was up early asked if he could join me.  Glad for the company, and eager to get to know one of the newbies, I welcomed him to come along.  Unfortunately, he wasn't able to keep up, so my 5K run turned into more of a walk/run, but looking at my Garmin stats, I figure we ran at least 2K total, so it wasn't a complete loss.

Friday, Le spectacle d'Amy continued, and I took a scheduled rest day. 

As a side note, I'm really proud of how my French has improved in the past couple of years and how much more confident I feel speaking in my second language.  I am not bilingual, my accent is terrible, I make mistakes in almost every sentence, but I get my point across, and that's what matters.

I was supposed to bus home in the afternoon, but a few things came up and I stuck around to give support to the group leader, putting me on the 11:15pm Greyhound, making that a 14 hour work day, until we got stopped on the highway behind a nasty looking accident.  What should have been a 1.5 hour bus trip turned into a 4 hour bus trip, complete with a near brawl between 3 women on the bus over what was an appropriate volume at which to hold a conversation.  (Tabernac!)  I said it was long, I didn't say it wasn't entertaining.

Needless to say, I slept in on Saturday and did not feel like doing a long run.  It had snowed some more, and was so windy that it was hard to tell if the snow was falling from the sky or coming up from the ground.  I opted for the treadmill, and one mile at a time got through the 9 mile run on my schedule, plus a little extra to make up for more of those missed miles.

On Sunday, it was an absolutely beautiful day and the BF and I went out for a hike in the snow. 

What is normally an easy 40 minute out and back walk in the woods, took us well over an hour in the snow.  Climbing the hills were a real workout and good cross training!  At the end, I flopped in the snow and made an angel!

Let's be SMART about this

As I've mentioned many times before, I work for a youth program.  We ask the people in the program to make learning objectives, and we ask them to make them SMART.  Being one to try to practice what I preach, I took a second look at my goals for the year and realized they are good, but they're not SMART. 

If you're not familiar with the acronym and are wondering what the heck I'm talking about, I'll explain. 

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant (or Realistic or Result-Oriented)
Timely

Looking at my running goals, I'd like to think that the first:  Finish the Vancouver Marathon faster than I finished the Victoria Marathon is pretty SMART.  It is somewhat specific, though I haven't said how much faster I want to finish, but I'll get more specific about that as race day gets closer.  It is measurable.  I'll either be faster, or I won't be.  I hope it's attainable.  I'll have more running experience and I'm hoping to run a better race mentally, but I'm starting with less of a base going into training.  It's relevant to me as a runner, and it goes without saying as these are 2011 goals, that I'm referring to the 2011 Vancouver Marathon (on May 1st).  If I want to get really detailed, I can say:  I will finish the Vancouver Marathon faster than I finished the Victoria Marathon by following a training plan with more weekly mileage (5 runs/week instead of 4), speed work and cross training for at least 30 minutes every week.

Actually, most of my running goals are pretty SMART.  But my diet and nutrition goals?  I'm leaving a lot of wiggle room for myself which doesn't usually add up to success.  Eat fruit every day?  A grape?  A banana?  3 servings?  What am I aiming for here?  I should say, eat at least one serving of fruit every day by always making sure there is a variety of fruit in the house, and eating it with my breakfast and/or for an afternoon snack.

Try at least 2 new recipes each month --> Make two new main course dinner recipes each month by organizing my weekly menu on Sunday and planning for the week ahead, using cookbooks from the library, my own cookbooks, and online resources.

Eat at least 3 meals a day (It's sad that I need to make a goal for this, but I do) --> Go to the kitchen in the morning to start the day with breakfast before going to the home office.  On busy days, set an alarm for lunch.  Prepare a balanced meal for dinner, by organizing my weekly menu on Sunday, planning for the week ahead, and leaving time in my schedule for grocery shopping.

I'm happy with my goals for the year, and will revisit them each month.  Monthly goals will be the baby steps in achieving the big goals. 

I started marathon training today, already shifting the running schedule around to fit with my work schedule.  I was excited to get started on the training plan, but my body was rebelling.  I took it slow and finished 5 easy miles.  It was a beautiful day, crisp but not cold, and there were a lot of other runners and walkers out and about which kept me going.  I'm always much less likely to walk if people are going to see me walking!

Looking ahead at 2011

2010 wrapped up with a quick 7K run tucked in between tidying up the house and helping prepare a feast at home with the BF and his family.  It felt great getting out as my week between Christmas and New Year got busier than planned and I had a hard time fitting a run in and it was also a nice way to end the year.

2011 started out with a slow 8K loop run on the 1st after not much sleep and a bit of an an upset stomach from too much coffee too much wine the night before too much coffee on top of the wine from the night before.  I really just wanted to get out for 5K, but as long as I kept my pace slow, I felt good, so I thought I would do more, but the wind picked up and I was cold and headed home after 8K/5 miles.  Still, a good way to start the year!

I've been putting some thought into my goals for this year, and I've come up with quite a list.

Here it goes:

Running and Exercise:

• Finish the Vancouver Marathon faster than I finished the Victoria Marathon. 
• Run my third marathon in the fall.
• Run at least 1100 miles in 2011.
• Cross train at least 30 minutes once per week.
• Do at least 30 minutes of yoga once per week.

Diet and Nutrition:

• Eat fruit every day.
• Try at least 2 new recipes every month.
• Eat at least 3 meals a day.
• Don't drink coffee after noon.  (I used to be good at this, but it's sneaking back in to my day!)

Mind:

• Read two books every month.
• Apply for school by March 1st.
• Etudie le francais pour 90 minutes par semaine

The Earth:

• Find a fulfilling, ongoing volunteer project (a few hours a month would be manageable).
• Continue to eat as locally and sustainably as possible (cut out prawns!)
• Start a small veggie garden in the spring.

2011 got off to a good start with a run, but unfortunately, marathon training got off to a bad start with a miscalcualtion of weeks!  Ooops!  I'm already one week behind.  I start tomorrow - FOR REAL.