That Last One Really Was The Last Hill
I ran my first EVER trail run this past weekend! A friend suggested we run around a local lake on Monday, which was a holiday here in Canada. The distance was going to be between 8km and 14km depending on if the trail was still closed due to flooding. I’ve been there before, but it was a very long time ago and I had only ever hiked one side of the lake. Perhaps I should have looked at the map and read the description prior to going… I knew that it was going to be hilly, but really?!?
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Finally we got back to the car. It was pretty warm out and I’d run out of water with about 2km left in the run. Oops! I didn’t think I would be working so hard and I only brought 1 (out of a possible 2) litres. Thankfully I had thought ahead enough to bring a protein bar with me for the ride home. I was super hungry!
Overall Thoughts:
- Totally willing to do it again!
- Thankfully it wasn’t muddy. There were a few mushy spots, but nothing that actually made my shoes too dirty. Rain would have made this run miserable for me.
- Probably would have been nicer not to have been thrown off the deep end, so to speak, since it was my first trail run. The elevation gain was 150m which sounds okay until you convert it and discover it’s 492ft.
- I’d ask for fewer hills, but around here this kind of was fewer hills. Anything less is a gravel multi-use path.
- Wouldn’t mind a pair of trail shoes. Conveniently Asics makes a trail version of the GT-2160 so I wouldn’t even have to search. Of course, this is a want not a need and will only happen if we ever have surplus cash. Reality: probably not till next year.
- I’m not quite ready to say that I want to be a hard-core trail runner. I like it, but I have a lot of work (ahem, leg strength) to do before I can commit to actually racing in terrain like this.
The Latest, Longest Race Report EVER!
Here is the reason that this race report is so late: All I wanted to write about it for the last 2 weeks is “I ran; I finished; everything went according to plan, but my body decided to rebel; I’m still not over it.”
I guess that I should preface this with:
- Yes, I’m glad I ran my 2nd marathon.
- Yes, I’m proud that I finished my 2nd marathon.
- No, I’m still not happy with the result (and probably won’t be until the next let-down. Then I’ll look back fondly on this race). Look how long it’s taken me to write about it!
- My parents kindly offered to switch houses with us so that Spud could sleep in his own bed. This was great. We got to there place in the early evening and could just relax.
- But we didn’t. Colin was trying to figure out how to get his iPod to work on my dad’s computer so he could adjust his playlist. I was watching the Canucks game.
- Apparently you can’t do any iPod stuff like that if it’s not on your own computer (or without massively messing around with someone else’s) so Colin was frustrated for a good couple of hours. The Canucks went to 2nd overtime and lost. Both activities were a total waste of time.
- Set out stuff for morning. I was very impressed that I pinned on my bib and didn’t have a mini-meltdown over it. I refused to fiddle with it once it was on.
- Couldn’t get to sleep in a different house. Probably fell asleep closer to 1am and we had a 5am wake up.
- Colin discovered his backpack’s bladder leaked out all night from a cracked lid. Cue rush around to find duct tape.
- Made it to Skytrain before 6am to get downtown. Not dressed warm enough so stood with our butts in the car idling on the other side of the platform. I’m sure that the people in control wondered what we were doing…
- No one on transit that early who wasn’t going to the race. We all looked tired.
- Shuffled down to the race site to check our bags. Easy peasy – stick your stuff in this clear garbage bag, label with your bib number, hand over to volunteers.
- Colin got (according to him, gross) McDonald’s coffee – love that they sponsor a race – and wandered off to find friends. Unfortunately meet up place is under construction so we never did see any one.
- Pre-race bathroom break. Thankfully not too bad in the port-a-potties. The lines were as long as I expected them to be, but the addition of sectioned off urinals for the guys cut them way down. Please note that the mesh they used to block them off was one way see through. Colin could see all sorts of people on the other side who had no idea that they were behind the bathroom…
- Self-seeding “corrals”. Not loving so much. I stayed way in the back so I wouldn’t get caught up like I did in Victoria. Is there a reason so many people start running quite a bit before the start line? It’s chip-timed! There’s no rush!
- Out and back away from the water with a little loop through Chinatown at the start. It’s just along one of the main streets. It isn’t particularly exciting, but I liked it because I got to see a lot of my friends. Of course, they were on their way back as I was going out… For some reason didn’t see Colin at all. There was a little square block we had to do at the turn around so I must have missed him there.
- Saw friends who came out to spectate (thanks Tamara, Fabiola and Christian!) and take pictures. I didn’t figure out who was yelling at me until I’d passed them.
- Saw the race leaders. Holy fast! I was at 3km when they were on their way back at 9km.
- Saw a guy in a monkey suit. Looked really uncomfortable.
- Saw a slightly crazy lady kind of dancing along expending all sorts of energy.
- A guy in the 8km race that ran along the same route who was wearing an over-sized crown. Again, looked uncomfortable.
- I felt okay during this part. I was keeping to my slow pace and doing pretty well.
- A little reverse loop through Chinatown and then up to the Dunsmuir viaduct. Kind of cool since you aren’t ever allowed to walk up there.
- Nice older neighbourhood. Didn’t realize it was quite so much of a hill, but I plodded along just fine.
- Got to a water stop and the volunteers were yelling “no electrolytes.” In my head I was thinking GU2O, but they meant gels. I was carrying my own so it didn’t matter. Sucky for those who weren’t though.
- Should have stopped for the bathroom here, but there were only 2 port-a-potties and a pretty substantial line up. Note to self: you’re not breaking any records so stop if you think you need to!
- Ran through the Downtown Eastside. If you know Vancouver you’ll know that this is pretty much the poorest neighbourhood in Canada. However it was sunny out, there were lots of spectators and I thought it was really pretty. It doesn’t always look like that though…
- Ran out through Coal Harbour and could start to see views of the inlet and mountains.
- Body was starting to hate me for missing the last stop.
- Funniest moment of the marathon: traffic was really backed up coming out of Coal Harbour. Not sure if people were misdirected or if they just didn’t pay attention to signs. The police were out doing the best they could (I started thanking all of them after this). There was a priest 3 cars back (who I’m assuming was late for Mass) who was yelling really loudly at the officer. Something along the lines of “this better not happen again next year!!!” to which the cop replied, very calmly, “please take it up with the city sir.”
- Another water stop, but they were giving out doughnuts. If it had been closer to the end of the race I totally would have taken them up on the offer.
- Didn’t stop at bathroom for same reason as before. Note to self: STUPID!
- Started running around Stanley Park. Really pretty especially since the weather decided to cooperate. Made me realize how much I love Vancouver and how much I should appreciate living here.
- Finally hit up a bathroom. Thankfully a real one this time, but there were still lines. Tried to appease my body with drugs.
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- Half way point! Woohoo! No gels again. What? This is what happens when the half and full share stations. There was a really pretty mosaic of GU tops on the ground though that would have made for a cool picture.
- Hit the little hill in the park (no were near as bad as the halfers had it). I’d done the route before so I knew what to expect.
- Starting to get kind of warm so start to utilize all water stations even though I was packing my own.
- Water station in park. No cups! What?!? Had volunteer pour directly into my mouth. Had next volunteer pour water on my hands so I could wash my face… Wasn’t smart enough to keep a cup like my friend did.
- Begin use of all remaining bathrooms. This was turning into a “character builder.”
- Ran out of park and then along Beach/Pacific Avenues. Nice view of the water. Unfortunately also the mental killer of seeing where I had to run to (Jericho) across the water before I could turn around.
- The Burrard Bridge. Dun, dun, duh… Really not as bad as it sounds. Way worse at 40km on the way back. My mental game started here because I was seeing friends who were on their way back. Rough!
- Running through Kitsilano was good. Nice beach views. Stations that had an abundance of GU (started stock-piling). Rolling hills, but nothing unexpected.
- Our friends Sean and Brenda came out at km 30 to take pictures. We knew they were going to try to make it, but weren’t sure where they’d be so it was great to see them.
- Started seeing more friends on their way back. I knew that I was pretty much bringing up the rear.
- Took GU Chomps when they were offered just to give my stomach a break. They went down fine, but I remembered why I don’t take them. Ugh. Definitely a personal preference.
- Finally to the turn around! I had to force myself to run to the water station. It wasn’t much of an uphill, but enough of one that I was dying at the top. At this point (9km left) my hamstrings, quads and hip flexors were screaming at me. I chugged as much water and GU2O as I could. A bit sloshy as I left, but better than being dehydrated.
- Return trip! I don’t know when I’ve ever been this happy in a race before. I was feeling really good about how I was running the race, but I knew that I was going pretty slow.
- Saw a poor guy laying on the ground in the middle of the road with 2 medics attending him. He must have had massive leg cramps because they each had one leg and were stretching him out.
- Hit up final 2 GU stations for extra gels. Didn’t need them at all, but if they were 6 people deep offering them I wasn’t going to say no. Those suckers are expensive! If I could have run with a whole box for 6km I totally would have taken one.
- The route went through residential at this point to get down under the bridge. I’ve shown it before, but fake it till you make it.
- Right as I was running out of this area my knee did a little pop/slide thing that had me hop-running for a couple of steps and freaked me out. I can handle aches and pains, but I’ll never mess with my knees. Thankfully I had an Advil so I popped it then.
- Coming under the bridge my knee gave me heck a couple more times so I walked for a little bit just to help it out.
- Here’s my favourite shot of Colin. He’s coming under the bridge and I totally think he looks like a celebrity about to kick a paparazzo’s ass for taking his picture.
- Coming up to the Burrard Bridge I knew that there would be the Lululemon cheer station (their offices are across the street). They were such a help. When you are a slower runner it means so much to have people still out there supporting you.
- Power walked up the bridge. I so wanted to run, but my knee was worse on up-hills. At least I was still passing people.
- Here’s the difference between a faster runner (Colin) and a slower runner (me) coming off the bridge:
- When you are fast there are other people around, you look focused and your feet leave the ground. When you are slow you get the photographer to yourself, you look happy because you have to distract yourself from the pain and you shuffle like an 80 year old man with a walker.
Km 41-42.2:
- It’s all downhill from here. It’s also a lot longer than you’d think it would be.
- I distracted myself by thanking volunteers (so many highschoolers looking for volunteer hours as a part of graduation requirements!) and police officers.
- I knew that I wasn’t going to hit sub-5 hours. I was trying desperately not to lose it before the finish line.
- I totally chicked a guy. Granted that it was a dad running with his daughter and that we’d been out for over 5 hours, but I needed the little self confidence boost.
- I still cheered for myself at the finish line.
- Saw the rest of my friends after getting my medal. Nice to at least say hi.
- Found Colin and promptly fell apart. He wouldn’t even tell me his time at the start because he got a 20 minute PR, but I forced it out of him.
StolePicked up lots of food at the buffet. Got to say the bonus of being near the end is that there is still lots of food and no lines. They gave us a handy drawstring bag when we came into the food area so I took advantage and loaded up.- Got changed and walked over to Yaletown for pizza and drinks with friends. A few of us were celebrating and a few of us were drowning our sorrows (me in pop, but it felt the same).
- Walking to lunch and then to the Skytrain really helped with recovery. As much as I wanted to just sit around and do nothing it was good to have to move. The stairs down to the car kind of sucked, but in a good way.
- Picked up Spud and went home to lick my wounds.
Three Things Thursday: Slacker Edition
1. I still have not done my race report for the BMO Vancouver Marathon and it happened almost 2 weeks ago. I keep finding other things to do and when I sit down with enough time I just don’t have any desire to do it. I want to write about it, but I’m still a mixed bag of emotions. Obviously I’ll have to do a separate post on that.
2. I haven’t gone out for a run since the race. The marathon was on a Sunday and I thought I did really well helping my legs recover. I wore compression socks a couple days before the race, had on my sleeves during and was back in socks for a couple days after. Unfortunately by last Tuesday or Wednesday I was having some pain in my right shin. All of my consulting with Dr. Google determined that I probably gave myself shin splints during the run due to the road cant and the stress of running on concrete/asphalt the whole time. It’s been better the last couple of days, but I’ve yet to get the motivation to get out the door.
3. Okay, nothing to do with being a slacker, but I need to complain about my other race-induced injury. I have a black toenail. Not that it’s a big deal or that it’s my first. But I went the whole training cycle without one. I was so proud of myself. And it’s the stupid one (right foot, next to baby toe – would you call that your ring toe?) that I couldn’t get rid of for a year before due to re-injury. AARRGGHH!!! I’m not even sure how I did it. It’s not the shoe – I know that for certain since my running shoes are one size larger than my regular size. I’m banking on it being from walking around town after the marathon. I was probably shuffling and every time I took a step I unknowingly rammed my toes to the end of my shoe. I was in so much pain that I didn’t notice anything different!
Almost Wordless Wednesday: Race Photo
This photo was taken on Sunday at roughly 37km (although I was running about +1km by my watch so 38km). I am smiling in ALL of my pictures which was totally on purpose. I wanted to make sure I didn’t have any oh-my-gosh-I-hate-this-why-am-I-here-I’m-never-doing-this-again shots.
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| Photograph obviously belongs to MarathonFoto |
I may look like I’m having the race of my life here, but I was so miserable! My hip flexors, quads and hamstrings were extremely unimpressed with me; my digestive tract was unimpressed with me (see Mum? I can be discreet) to the point of severe chafing; and about 1/2 a kilometre later my knee started to pop/give out on the uphills. I figured if I forced myself to smile for the cameras I couldn’t break down and cry (I saved that until I found Colin and then bawled like a baby).
So the lessons learned here were:
- Fake it till you make it.
- Smile even if it feels like it will kill you because it will look like you had a great race.
- When you are a slower runner you get better pictures. If I’d been faster there would have been other runners in the shots. However, when you’re pretty much on your own you have the photographers’ full attention.
Marathon #2 Results
Marathon #2 done! 5:11:29 chip/5:14:09 clock. Had I not had to stop for a total of 8 minutes in pit stops I would have PR’d with 5:03:25. You guess how I’m feeling right now… it’s going to take a couple of days to decide that today was okay after all.
On the other hand, Colin finished with in 3:52:53! He achieved a HUGE PR, beating his old time by 19 minutes and 20 seconds!
Now to decompress with grilled cheese, chardonnay, neopolitan ice cream and a viewing of Run Fatboy Run.
Congrats to Neil Z. for being closest to my time! Send me your address to running42km[dot]blog@gmail[dot]com and I’ll send out your prize when I decide what it will be.
Full race report in a couple of days.
Guess My Time, Win A Prize!
Race day is tomorrow! Still haven’t freaked out, but hopefully it won’t go down like it did in October. As my sister-in-law would say, “WOOSA.”
So, I thought it would be fun to see if any one can guess my finish time. The only goal I have is to beat my previous time of 5:07:18. Click here to see the race report from my first marathon.
Things to consider:
- This is my second marathon (I know what to expect).
- I know the route really well.
- I’ve trained about the same as last time (3-4 runs/week).
- Weather should be good.
- My best half marathon time is 2:11:38, but it was last June.
The person closest to my CHIP TIME will win! Entries will be accepted until race start, 7:30am PST Sunday. Winner will be announced whenever I can muster up the energy to turn on the computer and figure it all out!
It’s Still Funny
Three Things Thursday
1. I’m still holding out hope for good weather on Sunday. They’re saying it will be sunny and 14C/57F. I’m a little anxious about the rain forecast for Monday and that it might decide to show up a day early. Fingers crossed!
Today
- 10°C
- 60%
Fri
- 12°C
- 4°C
- 30%
Sat
- 13°C
- 5°C
Sun
- 14°C
- 5°C
Mon
- 13°C
- 9°C
Tue
- 15°C
- 6°C
Wed
- 14°C
- 7°C
2. As much as I love a good wedding I, on Colin’s wise recommendation, will not be staying up to see “Wills and Kate” get married. Something about getting a good night’s rest before the marathon and all that. But I really should. I stayed up with my mum to see Charles marry Diana in 1981. Granted, I was 16 months old and don’t remember it, but it’s kind of a tradition…
I’ll watch the ceremony on replay. I can do with out the “insightful” commentary from the likes of TLC, etc. Thankfully we have access to the BBC – it seems more official in a British accent anyways. Like what matters in all weddings all I want to see is her dress and maybe the flowers (phbpht, love and commitment). Can’t say that I’ll be buying the official coin releases from the Canadian Mint (remember we’re still a Commonwealth country), especially since the 2 together would cost $130!
3. The Canucks squeaked into the second round on Tuesday with a 2-1 OT win against the Chicago Blackhawks!
Our last clinic session was supposed to be held tonight (no run) so it’s been moved from the store to the nearest pub to watch game 1 against Nashville and maybe chat a little about what to do after the race is over…
Almost Wordless Wednesday
Monday Musings: Holiday Weekend Edition
- When deciding to do a race pace run of any distance make sure that you:
- Do not stay in the car for 5 hours prior to your run. That was the time it took us to get from our house to my in-laws place. We did stretch our legs quite a few times – we have a potty-training preschooler after all – but there was a fair amount of sitting.
- Do not forget that you are gaining altitude. We gained about 1300ft and didn’t give ourselves time to acclimate. We remembered our run last summer as being so much more enjoyable. Probably because we ran a couple days after arriving. Friday we were both sucking wind within the first 10 minutes.
- Do not run on a fairly full stomach. We ran about 3 hours after lunch, but it didn’t help. I can’t regret the two open faced tuna melts (they were fabulous!). I can only regret the feelings of nausea they caused for much of my run.
- Do not run in the afternoon. My head said, “Oh, 15C, that’s not too hot. It’s nice and sunny, too.” My body said, “You just ran away from all the wind and shade. You’re over-dressed with those tights, but thanks for the t-shirt. At least you brought water. And, yeah, 15C is hot when you’ve made me run in RAIN for the last 4 months!”
- Other tips when out on a run:
- Do not pick up out of place produce. Sure we were visiting the fruit stand capital of Canada. However, nothing is in season and oranges don’t grow there. So we left the suspiciously shiny navel orange on the side of the road.
- Do not let dogs that are following you see your fear. Colin was certain that the hound dog that followed us (he sauntered along so I can’t exactly call it chasing) was just lonely. I’m sure that I saw teeth when I turned back to look at him. Between feeling queasy and not wanting to run away even if I could that dog took the opportunity to stay with us for about a kilometre. Fun times. Eventually I told him to go away, that we weren’t “his” and that we weren’t coming back that way.
- Do not follow your husband when he wants to back track a few feet to see what’s on the side of the road. I still don’t think we determined what it was. It was a carcass of sorts, but if it was roadkill or a dump site we’re not sure.
- Do know where you are going. We had a vague idea (it’s very hard to get lost there), but knowing which streets led out to the highway would have been reassuring.
- Do know where accessible bathrooms are. Hotter than expected weather meant more fluids consumed. Not good for this girl with an admittedly tiny bladder. The problem with out of season fruit is that there is no tree cover (and I’d feel bad about relieving myself on someone’s apple tree). We passed by some outhouses, but it was the port-o-potty rental place so they weren’t available to use. Thankfully the corner store we ran by was actually open on the stat holiday. I think it was actually his house attached to the store, but he was nice enough to let me use it.
- Do not accidentally shut off your watch/gps and then have your running partner pace you. When you run different paces it sucks to have to ask how fast you’re going and if you can please slow down…
- Do force yourself to rehydrate at the end. I didn’t really want that G2 (kind of thought it wouldn’t stay down), but felt so much better for it afterwards.
Me: Can you please put it away?
Three Things Thursday
1. Colin and I have a 16km/10mi race pace run to do this Friday or Saturday. We am going out of town to visit his parents for Easter. They live in a town that could be termed “Podunkville, British Columbia”. So, my options are:
- to run 8km out and back on the highway – boring and there’s the chance of being hit by a car, truck, or big horned sheep (and my mum might
kill menot be too fond of that option). - to run a big loop around town like we did last summer. Pretty, but there are lots of hills. Not conducive to keeping at pace and the only real hill in the race is going over a bridge. Might be counter-productive.
- to run around town as it is almost exactly 4km to run a square loop. Repeat 4 times. While this will be the most boring route EVER I think I’ll have to take it. Did I mention that Colin and I don’t run the same pace? Yeah, we’re not even close – my race pace is his steady… So it would probably be best to be at least somewhat close together.
Marathon Thoughts
Score!
Monday Musings
→ Congratulations to all my friends (in real life and online) who completed the Boston Marathon today! I hope all of you had an amazing experience whether it was the race of your dreams or not. I can’t wait to hear all about it!
→ I ran my last long-ish run on Sunday (23km/14mi). Thankfully the weather was great – sun, cloud, and a little bit of wind. I didn’t have any fueling issues so I’m pretty confident for race day. I felt a little sluggish, but I’m thinking that it was due to running on pea gravel for quite a bit of the run and my legs weren’t used to it.
→ It’s TAPER TIME!!! Less than 2 weeks to go to race day. I’m thankful that I’ve been through this before and understand that Taper Madness is a real affliction. I’ve already started to have crazy dreams. The one last night had me running the first half of my marathon on a treadmill (I’ve never run on one at all…). Then the next day I had to run the remainder of the race, but there was something to do with trains, a shopping centre downtown, and multiple running friends. I kind of wish I could remember it accurately. I’m sure that the paranoia of becoming sick will kick in soon as well.
→ I missed my blogging anniversary (blogiversary?) a couple of days ago. As of 15 April it’s been a year since I started rambling on here. Thanks to everyone who stops by (more than once!) and takes the time to read and comment on things that I’m not sure have much value. I know how much other people’s blogs have helped me out and inspired me and if I’ve done that for even one of you that’s awesome! I’d love to promise some sort of giveaway to celebrate, but you shouldn’t hold your breath… Eventually I’ll save enough pennies to do something HUGE. You’ll just have to stop by once in a while to see if it ever happens. ☺
Zombie Feet
Or How To Be Able To Refer To A 32km/20mi Long Run As Awesome Even Though It Was Pouring Rain The Whole Time…
This past Sunday was the final extra long run before the beginning of taper. I’ve done 32km before so I knew that I was capable of the distance. What I was unsure of this time around was the weather. Here is my facebook status from Saturday night:
- I dressed perfectly for the weather. People driving by probably wondered a) why I was out in the rain and b) why I was out in the rain without a jacket, but I was warm.
- My stomach didn’t give me any heck. I actually fueled really well. Fish and rice for dinner on Saturday, Vector for breakfast and GUs on the hour during my run. After the first GU I had dates and raisins every 1/2 hour, however, I think I still might use meds on race day just so I have no TMI surprises…
- I visualized the run. I know I only did it to keep from worrying about nothing, but it totally worked out for me. Definitely going to do this for race day!
- I wasn’t trying to keep up with anyone. I chatted when I was with people, but knew when to slow down and let them leave me behind.
- My music rocked (reliving my youth and all that). I’ve found that having the DJ and commercials actually allows me to zone out. Not knowing what songs are coming up helps me out too. I’m not waiting for a certain song to come on to get me motivated.
- No blisters. Score!
Things to note when running in the rain:
- Don’t worry about getting wet. Seems obvious, but give in to the inevitable. The earlier you embrace the fact that you will have extra cushioning in your shoes from all the water the better.
- Use some sort of body lubricant. I have used Body Glide in the past, but haven’t been using it lately. I won some Chamois Butt’r from Kevin at Half Tri-ing a while back and it’s been great. I don’t ride a bike and technically it’s for the inside of your shorts, but it works really well for feet! Chafing was the number one complaint from group members, Colin and I included. It’s also good to remember where you’ve chafed in the past and prepare… I totally forgot that I chafe on my torso directly under my hrm strap (due to my backpack’s chest strap).
- Injinji socks keep your toes warm. Each of my toes was in a little cocoon and it was wonderful.
- Do not take your gloves off if at all possible. Unfortunately I had to otherwise the toilet paper would have just stuck to my hand. My hands were freezing from the time I
struggled toput them back on at 16km until I was finished. - Your shoes will not be nice and white when you return. Why I was dodging puddles and mud is beyond me. My feet were soaked, but I really didn’t want brown shoes. Besides, the rain washed most of the mud away anyways.
- Be prepared for idiot drivers to splash you. Luckily I was able to only get one small splash from the knee down. Others weren’t so fortunate. If you are a driver please be considerate and at least try to avoid the puddles. If you don’t please be prepared to be cursed out and have rude gestures made in your general direction.
- Bring a towel if you’ve run from your car or a store. It might be as wet as you are after you’ve attempted to dry off, but it can be used as an inferior blanket as well.
- Don’t expect to look good at the end. Drowned rat immediately came to mind. Colin called me Salacious Crumb when I took my hair out of it’s ponytail…
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| Yup, we’re nerdy like that… |
- My feet. I get this odd type of eczema on my hands and feet if I get too hot that makes little blisters under my skin and then the skin eventually falls off. Gross, I know. This happened last summer and then again a few weeks back. Things looked to be getting better recently – like all the peeling was finished. Then I added in a 3-1/2 hour foot soak. Be thankful that even I don’t want to see pictures of it again… The only thing I thought to describe the way they looked was zombie feet, hence the title of this post. Aren’t you glad you read the whole thing just to find that out?
A Joke For Your Weekend
As I’ve mentioned before Spud is almost 4. His favourite new thing is to come up with jokes. Here’s today’s offering, which I think is pretty good (and makes much more sense than most of them).*
Spud: Knock, knock.
Me: Who’s there?
Spud: Door closed. That’s why I knocked! Ahahahahahah! That’s a JOKE!
* I’m his mother so I’m quite biased. Also, I can’t remember how to tell a joke to save my life so any joke is a good one.
Three Things Thursday
1. I’m finally getting a run in tonight. It’ll be my first since Sunday (shh, don’t tell my running friends…). It’s not that I don’t want to run. I’m a stay at home mum so I have the time. I just have ZERO motivation to run when I have to do it on my own. My running partner cancelled on Monday since her little guy was sick. Totally understand that! But I just couldn’t drag myself and Spud out in the pouring rain. Tuesday… rain again. Wednesday… no rain, but when I have a speed workout on the schedule I know it won’t get done if I’m pushing +60lbs. Lots of self-defeating thoughts this week. In case you’re wondering why I don’t just go out on my own in the evenings Colin was working late all those nights (I’ll spare you my thoughts on that).
2. My final 32km/20mi run is on Sunday! Hip hip hooray! And Eek! That means taper is just around the corner… oh, and a little 42.2km run too.
3. Spud made me this sculpture this morning:
He keeps making me “presents” for my birthday that I have to leave on my bedside table. Unfortunately we have a bit of a timeline/3 -1/2 year old logic issue. My birthday was on 17 March. However, he keeps thinking that it’s coming up because my mum didn’t make me my usual birthday cake. Yes, I have had the same 3 layer chocolate cake made for me every year since I was about 5… I tried explaining that I won’t be getting presents again when we finally do have the cake, but he doesn’t really get it. So, until we have cake, I have a feeling Spud will be giving me lots of hand-made gifts and yelling, “Happy Birthday Mummy! Here’s your present!”
Now That’s One Big *** Gummy Bear
Now, I’m not usually one to do posts about contests. I’ll do the bare minimum and link it on my sidebar. However, EMZ over at If I can’t convince you — I’ll at least confuse you is hosting a contest in honour of her 24 hour, yes a FULL DAY, charity treadmill run. It is in support of Sojourner Center in Phoenix, AZ, which is the largest domestic violence shelter in the United States. You can click on the links to find out more as well as to enter her awesome giveaway.
Here’s the prize:
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| I. want. to. freaking. win. this. |
Yeah, that’s a 5lb gummy bear. It shouldn’t really be part of anybody’s runners’ diet, but there’s just something about it. I think I’d give my 3-1/2 year old a heart attack (from excitement) if I ever brought one home.
All kidding aside, please check out EMZ’s blog to find out more about both the gummy bear and the IMPORTANT reason for her crazy (in my mind not in her’s, I don’t think) run!
March By The Numbers
Total Kilometres/Miles: 183.59/114.08
I ♥ Hockey
Especially when my team wins the President’s Trophy for most points overall during the regular season. It’s even better when it’s the first time we’ve ever won it. Playoffs are going to be awesome! GO CANUCKS!
I get that a lot of you like your NCAA, NBA, MLB, or NFL. Not saying that they aren’t great (well, I kind of am – I’m just too non-confrontational nice to talk any smack), but they definitely aren’t for me. My favourite sports acronym has to be NHL! But, really, what do you expect? It makes me the perfect stereotypical Canadian.
32 Days…
Not too long until I get these! I made up the bib with my name since the preview one said 99999/Christopher. I can’t seem to make anything special out of my bib number. All I’ve come up with is 1571 minutes is 26.2hours. Not significant just kind of randomly cool.
* More number fun: if you add my bib number 1 + 5 + 7 + 1 = 14, 1 + 4 = 5. Colin’s bib is 914. Added together it’s 9 + 1 + 4 = 14, 1 + 4 = 5. Yay, we’re the same! It’s a stretch, I know…
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Yes, I’m Still Alive…
My mum pointed out to me today that it’s been a while since my last post. Yup, a week and a bit ago. Oops!
I haven’t had a lot going on lately that’s exciting hence (fancy word for the day) the lack of writing. Here’s a short list of stuff that’s happened:
• Finally got over flu. Thank goodness. I would prefer not to deal with that again this year… Gained back the weight in a matter of hours days. Still pretty tired though.
• Learned how to NOT break in shoes: Part I: After looking at the store closest to me where I could use my discount I found out they didn’t have my size in stock. Ran a very pathetic 10km on my birthday. Putting Dr. Scholl’s cheapy insoles under the stock ones doesn’t help if the actual foam in the sole is shot. B****ed, complained and hobbled for the last 2km due to severe knee and hip-flexor pain. I picked up my new pair of shoes last Saturday at the start of work and “broke them in” during my 8 hour shift. Walking from the front of the store to the back a few times didn’t really do much I don’t think.
• Learned hot to NOT break in shoes: Part II: Ran 32km on Sunday. The long run was in downtown Vancouver along a pretty good chunk of the marathon route. The Good: friends, sunshine!, adequate fueling. The Bad: worried about shoes the whole time (same series, new model). The Ugly: made use of EVERY bathroom on the route. Thankfully my friend was extremely patient and understanding. She was more than willing to run at my slow pace and stop when necessary. Bonus: she had meds! Now that’s when you know your friends… we decided/reaffirmed that no topics are off-limits!
• The new shoes (Asics GT-2160) worked out really well. I went up a half a size – yippee I wear an 11 now (sarcasm) – since my store doesn’t sell 10 ½. Turns out there’s not much difference. Yes, it’s about ½ cm longer, but my toes probably need the room. When I put on my old shoes my little toes feel a tiny bit cramped. I didn’t trip over my feet at all during the long run. No blisters either! The only issue was that I had a tender spot on the top of my left foot because the laces tie in a slightly different spot. Nothing a little toughening up can’t fix…
• Lived in compression for about 12 hours after run – calf sleeves during run and socks after. My lower legs were great on Monday, but my quads were so stiff. I need a compression suit!
• Wednesday was the last day of hills for this clinic! Booyah! I actually did a happy dance at the top of the hill (5km at 1min run/2min walk intervals). Pretty sure I looked like Snoopy, but there were only a few friends around so it was okay.
• A non-running question: If you have a 3 ½ year old do they listen to you? Please tell me that Spud having to be told things a dozen or so times is a stage… I have some luck with counting to 3, but I can only threaten to take things away so often. Today was a challenge with a lot of Spud “not using his ears.” Give me some sort of hope to grasp on to!
Love My Runners 