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!
Three Things Thursday
1. It’s raining. Not a big deal here in Vancouver, but I haven’t had to run in the rain in AGES. Not too sure if I’ll pull out the water-resistant jacket tonight since it’s only drizzle. I might have to use my toque though since my ears started to hurt from the cold on my run last night.
2. Hope to have new shoes this weekend. Really need new shoes this weekend – to break in before the big day and so I don’t kill my knees with the old pair. Will be selling unused sports equipment to get the funds (unless one of you would like to be my shoe-fairy-godmother/father/parent?). When you can’t remember the last time you used your snowboard or rollerblades it’s time to let them go. The place I’m taking them to apparently takes used runners too – I’m sure I’ll weep at the amount they’ll give me for my (original price $159.99) GT-2140s, but anything is better than nothing!
3. Feel free to enter my contest – $40 to CSN!
Three Things Thursday
1. I’m pretty sure my shoes are on their last legs. I came back from my last run (15km total distance w/11km of fartleks) with runners that squeaked and the cushioning under the ball of my foot felt very thin. Granted that I was running downhill for a good portion of the run, but I can only expect them to bounce back so far as they have 480km on them.
- Obviously, I need shoes to run and ones that feel good are preferred.
- I have a 32km long run on Sunday. I will have to hope that they work out well and don’t start to bug my knees.
- I didn’t get a new pair prior to my longest run before taper so when I do get new ones I won’t have them broken in for as much as I would like prior to the marathon.
- I can’t really afford new shoes. I probably should have bought 2 pairs to begin with.
I Did It…
On Friday I registered C and I for our half marathon*. It’s not that this is my first race – that was in February – but there is something that seems to happen when a race is paid for. I have to say that this simple task makes it much more “real”. It’s no longer intangible. It’s no longer a maybe. I went from thinking “Sure, I’ll be running on 27 June” to “(Oh crap) I’ll be running on 27 June.” Not much of a difference there, but many of you (and especially if you are a runner) know what I mean. Now there is something to PLAN for. Not that I haven’t been planning already – I’m halfway through my training program and, let me tell you, I haven’t been doing hill repeats for fun.
But now I have to think of other things:
- SHOES: Will my running shoes hold out until after the race? In reality, probably not. I have a 3 week overlap with my marathon clinic so I’ll have a lot of extra mileage on them. They are already well broken in and I’m pretty sure that the next 9 weeks of training just might kill them or my knees if they go. I’d love for them to last a little longer since my work, a large Canadian sporting goods retailer, will be carrying my shoes in my size (finally), but they aren’t coming in until August.
- FUELING: I need to make sure all the things I like to eat/drink like me in return. So far so good with GU (mmm, mint chocolate) and Ultima lemonade. I just recently found out that cheap Zellers arrowroot cookies love me immediately before a run. Not hugely healthy, but great for shorter runs. Now to find something that loves me prior to my long runs as right now I have to eat 2+ hours before going out.
- WATER: Seems simple, but I really have to work on this. And by “this” I mean actually drinking plain water. I hate it. C makes fun of me for it, but I can’t stand the non-taste of water. I think it’s boring and it does a great disservice to my already miniscule bladder. However, I have to get on top of this since my run is in the summer and so is all my marathon training. I’d have to be pretty dumb not to learn to love water.
- BABYSITTING: Both C and I will be running the half so we’ll have to find somewhere for M to go. We have awesome family and friends who are usually more than willing to offer to help us. However, this one might mean doing something BIG in return. Here’s why: the race starts at 7am. The organizers suggest being there about 1 hour prior for parking, etc. and it’s a 45 minute drive there. You do the math as to how early that is! To any of our regular, reliable babysitters: we’ll talk (or beg; or grovel; or do a drop and run). Addendum: My wonderful sister-in-law emailed me on facebook right after I posted this and kindly offered to either take M overnight or come to our house really early! THANK YOU!!! I’m pretty sure that one of these days I’ll have her 2 kids dropped on my doorstep and I won’t see her and my brother-in-law for a week…
So this is what I’ve been thinking about this week. As for what I’ve been doing I’ve had a pretty productive 9 days. Two really good long runs (12km and 14km) have bookended my week. Bootcamp was great and didn’t hurt me this time around although the rain never let up once during the whole hour. My other runs this week were on pace and I felt great for not slacking off.
All in all it’s been a pretty decent start to the month.
*Originally I was going to register for the marathon too in order to save a few bucks due to the incoming, and much loathed, HST (harmonized sales tax), but that went by the wayside since it meant adding another couple hundred dollars to the credit card.
Love My Runners 