Three Things Thursday: Pre-relay

1. I have my first race in almost 2 years this weekend, and my first ever relay.  I am running leg 2:

2.  At the end of my practise run this past Sunday, my right hip flexor was very tight.  By the time I got home, I practically had to use my arms to lift my leg up the stairs.  After a bit of stretching, and ice, I tried an easy run on Monday morning to shake it out.  It felt fine until I got to work and had to climb the stairs.  Rest and ice, Tuesday and Wednesday, and my run today felt fine.  Lets hope it was just a little blip and won't haunt me THIS Sunday.

3.  I am excited!  I haven't run a race since the Calgary half in June 2011, when I put way too much pressure on myself and hated the race.  This weekend is all about fun.  I have a personal goal in mind, but our team is just in it for fun.  I know quite a few people that are running on different teams, so it should be a good day along the Barkerville Hwy.

Week in Review: May 6-12

It's time to get back on board with my weekly training posts.  And posting in general.

Last week, summer arrived.  It had snowed the week before, so we literally skipped spring and went straight into summer, without giving my body any time to adjust.  Despite the heat, I had some decent runs.

Monday - Rest
I had done a tough run the day before and had not hydrated well afterwards.  Despite plans to start the week with a 5K in the morning, I slept in.

Tuesday - 7K
In high heat, and poor air quality, I went out and did the river walk loop from the rec centre.  I had left my Garmin at work by accident, but I don't think I want to know how long this one took me.  It was very hot, and despite the short distance, I found myself needing a little walk break part way through and thankful for the stoplight for a break.

Wednesday - Rest

Thursday - 8.5K
Our local running store is putting two teams into a local relay race next weekend.  I'm on one of the teams, and a group of us wanted to go out to practice some stages before hand.  Only 3 of us ended up running, and our injured store owner went on bear patrol/pick up duty so that we didn't have to drop a car at the end.  The race is on a very hilly route, and stage one, our practice stage for Thursday night, gets things rolling right from the start (so punny, ha ha).  This was the longest 8.5K I've ever run with the combined hills and heat.  One of those runs that makes you feel like if you can do that, you can do any course.

Friday - Rest
I planned to go out Friday morning...it just didn't happen.  No excuses.  I was lazy.

Saturday - Stretching

Sunday - 17.1K
Two of us met up on Sunday to practice stage 2 of the relay.  This will be my stage next weekend.  I can only hope I have the same kind of day next Sunday as I did this Sunday.  I got off to a slower start, but then again, the first 4K are pretty steady climbing.  I felt stronger as I went.  The rolling hills in the middle were easier than I thought, and I felt confident running, rather than plodding up some of the shorter ones.  The stage ends with 6K of fairly steady downhill, so I flew to the finish.

It was a perfect day.  Warm, but with a nice breeze, some clouds for an occasional break from the sun, and we were out early enough that we still had a bit of shade as we did the toughest climbing at the beginning.  My goal for next weekend was to finish in 1:42, but since I finished just a bit faster than that this Sunday, I think I'm going to really race to the finish and see what I can do.  My team is not competitive, so there is no pressure except for what I put on myself.  I was a bit nervous when I signed up for this race, but now I'm excited!

Have a great week!

March and April in Review

Has it really been over a month since my last post?

This is not going to be a typical monthly recap.

Without going into details, it has been a busy and stressful couple of months.  There is a lot going on right now and I don't think I want to write about it.

On the bright side, I have fit in most of my runs, which has mostly kept me sane, and am on track with building mileage.

Here are some highlights:

• Group runs every Thursday
• Getting back to the track for some speedy 400s
• Finding new long run routes and climbing the Bouchie Lake hill
• The last snowshoe trek of the year, out at Stanley in the sun
• Sunshine in the morning making it easier to get up
• Finding a relay team for the race to Barkerville

My goal for May is to get back to yoga, and fit in 4 runs each week.  If I get healthy meals in, that's a bonus.

Week in review: March 25-31

This was a great week running wise, though not a great week for much else.  I have completely fallen off the yoga wagon despite good intentions togeter back on.  A beautiful walk on Sunday means that yoga was the only workout I missed this week.

Monday - rest

Tuesday - 5K after work
I brought my running clothes to work but forgot my shoes and Garmin. Luckily, I keep an old pair of shoes in my car for running emergencies and we have a trail around town that is exactly 5K.  I didn't sooty about pace and just ran a relaxed run around the loop.  My first run in shorts this year!

Wednesday - rest

Thursday - 11K group run
This was an ok run, but more good than bad.  The bad was that we headed into trails that were still pretty icy so we did a fair amount of walking uphill rather than running for the first half of the run.  The good parts were that even though we were running on snow, it was warm enough to go out in shorts and a tshirt, once off the snow I hit a nice rhythm and had a great run back into town, and the overall distance was longer than planned so even if we walked a whole km, the distance ran was still 10K.

Friday - 5.4km
I took Cookie with me on this run which served  as a good reminder that I need to hydrate after an evening run if I want to run the next morning. Not my best run, but got it done.

Saturday - long run - 13.9km
Because I am hoping to run a very hilly relay in May, I've decided to keep looking for hilly long run routes. This is not a problem where I live.  We have LOTS of hills.  I headed out from town on Pinnacles Rd.  With a little flat section to warm up, once you start climbing this road goes up, up, up for almost 5K with little relief.  It is a challenge, but a strength and confidence builder as well.  I took a short walk break after the steepest section and another short break to get Cookie a drink.  I also stopped at the top to stretch out my calf that was feeling tight, before the 5k back into town.  I was just short of my planned 14km, but decided I had spent enough time on my feet with the slow climb up and called it a day at 13.9km.

Sunday - hike in the snow
We took the dogs out for 90minutes on some snow covered trails.  There was snow on the ground but the sun was shining bright and I had my sleeves and pants rolled up.  The car said it was only 14C, but it definitely felt warmer.

Running this week:  35.3 km
Yoga-ing this week:  None, but I did stretch more before and after (and during) my runs which seems to be keeping my feet from falling asleep on me!
Phone a friend:  Auntie Holly and Ali
Highlights of the week:  4 day weekend!

Happy Birthday, Cookie!

Cookie's birthday was actually a month ago.  I had this post ready and forgot to publish it.  We are coming up to one year that she has been with us in early April, so perhaps I should retitle this, Happy Doggiversary!

How could you say no to that face?

For a while those ears were growing faster than her body!

Week in Review: March 18-24

This wasn't a great week.  Without going into details, I will say that I ran twice, but I spent the week where I needed to be.  Sometimes running can't and shouldn't be the priority.

Monday-Wednesday - no activity

Thursday - Group run - 12.3km
This was both my worst and best run in recent memory.  The bad part was that my feet completely fell asleep on me.  The good part is that I just wanted to get it over with and ran fast, especially after the turn around.  The other good part is that after the run, I did a little more research on what could be causing my feet to fall asleep.  This has happened before, and I have already done the easy fixes, like switching to bigger shoes and a wider toe box.  There are two other possible reasons, and one was tight calf muscles.  Bingo.  I've never made this connection before, but it was definitely the case during this run.  I have become a bit lazy with my stretching regimen and have not fit yoga into my schedule for the past two weeks.  Sure enough, when I stretched my calves out before my run on Saturday, I did not have the same problem.

Saturday - Long run - 14 km
I decided to try another new route this week.  I parked at the boat launch and ran out towards the cross country ski trails.  In my head this route had some hills, but was mostly flat.  In reality, it was mostly hill and a little flat.  Oh well, I like a challenge!  It was a beautiful sunny day, and though my car said it was -1C, with the sun it felt a lot warmer and I ran in just a long sleeve and tights, no jacket or vest.  When I got to the ski trails, I went one km further before I turned around.  I had 13K on the schedule, but because it had been a light week mileage-wise, I did just a little bit extra.

Sunday - Snowshoe - 1 hour 45 minutes
Another beautiful, sunny day.  The snow is definitely melting away in town (though we still have about a foot in our backyard), but about 45 minutes east, and up in elevation, the snow is still several feet deep.  With the sun, the top layer of snow was more like packing snow than powder, so we weren't sinking down as much, which was nice for us, and the dogs who didn't have to become their own personal snow plows!  A good way to end the week.

Running kms:  26.3km
Yoga-ing:  None, but about 30 minutes of calf stretching
Phone a friend:  None :(
Highlights of the week:  Good workmates, Saturday's run, a haircut, snowshoeing on Sunday

Signs of Spring

Spring officially began yesterday.  There's still snow on the ground, it hasn't been warm enough for shorts yet, but I am sure spring is really around the corner.  There are signs!

There's uncertainty about what to wear for the weather...

My shoes are covered in muck...

My legs get covered in splatter...

The back of my car has seen better cleaner days...

Cookie requires a dreaded post-run bath after every run...

It's still cool enough for a post-run hot chocolate for me, but it comes in a rrroll-up-the-rim cup!

Is it spring-i-er where you are?  What signs of spring do you see on your runs?