Cross Training?

I am terrible at fitting in cross training.  So it was kind of nice when I couldn't run very much at the lake on the weekend.  I had to figure out other ways to keep active.

I rode my bike, went on walks with The Husband and even did some swimming. I also got to go wake boarding. Last summer I didn't go at all because I was really scared of hurting myself before my first half marathon.

This weekend I decided it was time! My dad got the boat all hooked up and we set out. I managed to get up on the first try which really surprised me. I was also surprised how much stronger my legs were than other years. My arms....not so much.

It was super fun but my glutes are STILL feeling it!

Recap of the week:

Tuesday: I finally managed to get my long run in. I tried out a new route that ended up being so great that I extended my run and cranked out 13 miles!

Wednesday: I took it easy on the hills because of the long run on Tuesday.

Thursday: 6 mile run with some friends who are much stronger and faster runners than I am. They went nice and slow for me but we still managed a 9:14 pace. It felt great to have such a strong run and not feel totally exhausted.

I'm heading back out tonight for an easy 3.5 with the running clinic.

I might be heading back to the lake this weekend. Any new ideas for cross training while avoiding bears??

Heat and hills and bears, oh my!

My running life has got a little off track this week. I was at the lake because my parents were both on holidays. Usually I love running at the lake but lately there has been a lot of talk about bears and even a few sightings. It's got me really scared!

But...after skipping my long run and spending far too much time snacking and sitting on the beach I decided to brave the roads.  I bribed my mom and our friend Darlene to come out and act as bear patrol for me.

By 9:15 when we got to this enormous almost hill, it was already very hot and sunny. I swear this hill looked a lot bigger when we were driving up to it. I guess it's the best a prairie girl can hope for.

I did a quick 1/2 mile warm up and followed it by 7 hill repeats. I was happy that my pace stayed constant throughout (oh yeah, my Garmin came back to life). Darlene even joined me on the hill for while!

On my way down the hill for the last time I was wishing I hadn't forgot my Gatorade when I saw my dad approaching in his huge yellow truck, with my blue deliciousness gleaming out the window!! He drove all the way there just to bring it to me. I owe you one dad!!

This weekend I need to get in a 10 miler and am trying to figure out a safe way to do it at the lake. Maybe I can arrange some sort of bike relay for my family and they can switch off protecting me from the bears.

Anyone else afraid of wild animals while running? What do you do to stay safe?

Weekend Update (I know it's Tuesday night)

I am officially done my university course and am on summer holidays! I know, that's no excuse for not blogging. So here it is, in short form.

Friday: I got to run with a good friend of mine from B.C. She is working towards her first 1/2 marathon. Not a small task only a year after having her first baby and being a pretty new runner. She had 9 miles on her training schedule so we set out fairly early Friday morning. Her training is a little different than what I'm used to. Her group doesn't do walk breaks!!! We decided to go with that and we also ran a full min/mile faster than I've been doing for the last couple months. However, the weather and conversation were great and the miles passed quickly. Thanks for a great run Lysa!

Alyssa, taking a quick break outside of the new Children's Garden.

Saturday, Sunday, Monday - Total rest!! The Husband, The Sister and I went out to the cabin. We spent a lot of time hanging out on the deck, watching movies, sitting on the beach, and we even did a jigsaw puzzle.

The Husband, enjoying one of his favorite cabin activities.

We also made "Hobo Pies." I'm not sure what these delicious treats are actually called but we've been making them on camping trips since we were little kids. Basically, you butter two pieces of bread, put pizza toppings in between, and bake in the fire. We also made some with apple pie filling for dessert. So Yummy!!!

The fixings.

My little Sis and Husband

I don't usually look this scared when I eat.

Today I got back to running WITHOUT my Garmin. It broke yesterday and I am not happy about it. I was planning to run yesterday and when I tried to turn it on, nothing happened. When I called Garmin they basically just told me I was out of luck. Thankfully, I bought the watch on Visa and it looks like they're gonna fix or replace it. Looks like I'll be running "unplugged" for about a month. Booo!!

The high-tech deck sound system.

Try a Trail 6K Race Report

On Saturday I ran my first trail race! I heard about it from Joanne and decided to check it out.
Before we got to the park my stomach was already feeling kinda yucky. I hadn't prepared for this run the way I usually do and having stomach issues before a race is not uncommon for me.

Joanne and I very excited and not yet sweaty!

We arrived at the start line with tons of time to sit around and scope out the competition. As we sat there in the shade my nerves and stomach started to get the best of me. At most of the races I've been in there are people of all skill levels participating. This day it appeared that all of the newbies stayed home in bed.

All along I had said I would only run this race for fun and the new experience, now I was hoping not come in last place. Well, the race finally started and we all set out in one big clump. I tried to place myself closer to the back and stay calm until the crowd thinned out.

The trail started out mostly sandy and alternated between grass and sand for most of the route. It was also a lot wider than I expected which meant I was often running side by side with other runners. It was only 9:00 but it was already super hot and sunny. The trail was not nearly as shady as I had hoped and I was really glad to be wearing a hat.

Part way through the first mile I caught up to some friends from the Running Room and we tried to stay positive about the heat by being thankful that at least our eye lashes weren't freezing together like that had on many winter runs.

Soon I caught up with Joanne and started chatting with her. She didn't answer and as I caught up to her I actually looked to see if she was wearing ear buds. Turns out she was just really in the zone and didn't hear me. We ran together for a little bit and I started to pull ahead a little. This was really scary and I started to question if I was making a mistake and whether I could hold onto this pace.

Soon I came up to the water station which was awesome since it was close to 25 degrees out and I was sweating profusely! For the next mile I was pretty alone out there. Every now and then I saw glimpses of other runners but they were way ahead of me. Finally I could see some runners up ahead and realized that one of them was my friend Edwina. I started pushing to catch up to her.

Near the 3 mile mark I passed Edwina but she stayed right on my tail, breathing down my neck. I was definitely pushing myself to the limits. I was also trying to save a little bit of energy because I know how strong of a runner Edwina is and I had a feeling that Joanne was pretty close behind me too.

With about 1/4 mile left Edwina passed me and I wished her luck. Now here's what this uber classy lady said as she passed "There's lots of time left, you can still do it!" I only hope that if the roles were reversed I would encourage my fellow runner as I passed them in the nicest way possible.

Throughout the last half mile I was checking the distance on my watch constantly, pleading for it to say 3.75 miles. At last we arrived back at the parking lot where we had started.  We saw a bunch of people standing in a crowd and gave it one last kick to what we thought was the finish line. I'm pretty sure my eyes were closed as I used every last ounce of energy I had left. We passed where the people were standing and stopped to congratulate each other. That's when they started shouting, "Keep Running!" We both looked forward and realized we had about another 200 meters left to go. Edwina started running but my body had nothing left and I started a slow jog, desperately hoping to make it to the finish without passing out.

Speedy Pants Edwina

When I finally made it to the finish line the clock said 34:40 and I couldn't have been happier! In the end I finished 4/31 women in my age group (39 and under) and 9/50 women and 32/88 runners. I definitely surprised myself. I loved the adventure of the trail and not knowing what was around the corner.

Two extra sweaty happy girls!

After some badly needed hydration and some sweaty photos we all headed in for some delicious pancakes and bacon! It was a great way to start the day and I will definitely try more trail runs.

I am so lucky!

I have been wanting to post this since Sunday but going to university and baking 200 cupcakes has taken up more time than I expected this week.

Anyway, this weekend The Husband and I left for the lake right after my last day of teaching on Thursday afternoon.

This weekend the whole family was out which meant my parents, my sister and her husband, and G and I. The weather was perfect and we spent the majority of the weekend sitting on the deck reading, chatting, learning how to play the ukulele (the sister), and hanging out with the world's cutest neighbours!!

I was also lucky to get in some really great runs! Friday morning was super hot and humid. I went for a quick 3 mile run and encountered two deer! One stopped on the side of the road and was blocking my path. I stopped and sort of scuffled my feet to try to get it to keep going. Apparently the deer could potentially see this as aggressive behaviour and attack. Yikes, lesson learned.

On Saturday morning it was a bit cooler and I was excited to get out on the highway and start running. Apparently I was so focused on getting out the door that I forgot to charge all of my gadgets. Before the second mile was completed my ipod died. That was about the same time that my knees started hurting. At the mile 2 point I decided to turn around and call it a day. I started to run back to the cottage. After another mile, the pain seemed to be gone. When I got back to our cottage area the pain was completely gone so I decided to keep going. I am SO glad that I did!

I am not really this crazy colour but I'm also not a photo editor!

Now, this past winter I often told my running buddies how much better long runs were with them and how glad I was not be running at the lake by myself. This year is different! I still love my running buddies but I am also loving running by myself. I think that running without music also helped me enjoy my surroundings even more. There was also no set pace after 6.5 miles because my Garmin battery also died.

Here are some of the highlights!

What an amazing weekend!

Running with a Role Model

The term role model generally means any "person who serves as an example, whose behaviour is emulated by others."

Today I had an awesome opportunity to run with a lady who has been a role model to me for a number of years. Her name is Lynda and she is a retired teacher who used to teach at my school. When her and I worked together I knew she was a runner, she had even run The Boston Marathon!

I used to think "I will never be able to do something like that." Well today, I was helping to pace a group who are training for the Niverville Half Marathon and guess who was in my group, Lynda! It was a beautiful morning and the conversation was light and lively. It was pretty hot but thankfully most of our route was in the shade.

Everyone got back with smiles on their faces and our pace was right on track! We all high-fived, stretched and started to go our separate ways. Two ladies even thanked me for a great run, and one of them was Lynda. I told her she was very welcome and it was an honour to run with someone so inspiring. I never thought I could be a runner, and I definitely never thought I'd be helping to lead a group.

If you're reading this, Thanks Again Lynda!!!

Stats
1:09 min.
6.10 miles
11:28 min/mile
151 BPM

Sweat Your Thorns Off 5K

Over the past few months I have fallen in love!

With BLOGGING! I enjoy writing my own blogs but I especially love reading other people's blogs. One blog that I came across recently is "The Boring Runner." He's just hilarious! And today he's hosting a virtual 5K race! All I had to do is comment that I'll be running and post this brief report.

I had hoped to get out there early and beat the heat but after a very long week I gave in to my comfy bed and slept in late. Around 9:30 I finally got into my running clothes, chewed a couple sport beans and ran out the door.

The skies were clear and the sun was out in full force. It was about 20 C/68 F. It was my same basic route that I run quite often, a big rectangle in a residential area. I have never run in an actual 5K race before but it usually takes me about 28 minutes. Today my goal was 26 minutes. I have been really taking it easy this past month and even pacing a 2:15 group at the running room so I was a little worried about going fast. My runs this past week have been mostly at around 11 min/mile.

After the first mile my legs were already feeling tired and my breathing was getting a little heavy. I just tried to remember, "You're just warming up. You always get faster as you go!"

Well I think it worked, I managed 5k/3.1 miles in 25:42 minutes!

Even though I felt like I was going to puke a couple times I was really happy with my overall run!!

After I got home, I threw on a little running skirt (I will never be able to run in this, it just feels too weird!) and raced in my car to McDonalds before breakfast was over. The Husband has had some pretty late nights due to his retirement from the restaurant where he's worked for the past 10 years so I wanted to bring home treats.

The rest of my day will be spent blogging, sitting by the pool, doing laundry, cake decorating, and watching track and field! Can't really ask for a better day!!

Stats:
3.1 miles
25:42 min.
8:17 min/mile
184 BPM
20 degrees and Sunny!