Post race wrap-up and what to do next

Oops, sorry for the long break! I've been distracted with the rapture and the ending of the world and haven't gotten around to posting my post race wrap-up yet. It's very time consuming to prepare for the apocalypse ;)

Race review

The race organizers were a bit more generous this year with the race kit. Last year, my race kit consisted of a t-shirt, a sample pack of 2 Advil, 1 chapstick and a couple of one-use heating pads. This year, behold the bounty:

The package of chocolate Werther's originals did not survive the week.

I was a little leery of the weather - as this was my view for most of the day before. Ah, it was so delightfully dreary!
On race day itself, the weather was a little chilly and it rained off and on for the entire race. This was just fine for me, since I have a tendency to overheat when I'm running and I actually enjoy running in the rain. I brought along a hoodie for the walk over to the starting line, but ended up tying it around my waist while I was waiting in the crowd for the race to start because I was already starting to get a bit warm. I'm proud to say that I did NOT cry at the end. I did get a little misty eyed at the starting line though. Especially after the the national anthem was sung and the crowd started to cheer for us when we all started the race. Argh, I do not know what's happening to my icy cold heart of steel!!

The course was beautiful - we ran down around the Credit Valley area, UTM campus, Mississauga Road - the posh neighbourhood with the million dollar homes and down along the lakeshore. Despite the rain and gloom, the trees were so green and pretty and the waves crashing hard along the lakeshore were quite cool.

For the first bit of the race, I was following the 4:15 marathon pace bunny. I ended up losing them somewhere around the 8 km marker. I think they stopped for water at one of the aid stations and I lost them in the crowd. Then I started to follow this one lady who was dressed in a black and white polka dot tank top and a white running skirt. Wearing white during a rainstorm - how scandalous!! The black and white polka dot tank top looked like Lulu's Power Y tank top, but I've never seen a polka dotted tank at Lulu (and let me tell you, I've been online stalking them for years). Ever the creepy stalker, I kept on (unsuccessfully) trying to catch up with her to confirm its authenticity. (Ah, the strange little games one likes to play to keep the mind occupied for 21 kms.) But I ended up losing her when she turned off to continue on the marathon course. Around this time, I started to run with the two sets of 2:15 half-marathon pace bunnies (dammit!). I passed one of the 2:15 pace bunnies, then the other one passed me, then the one from behind passed me, then I passed the other one...it was all very confusing. I ended up finishing around 2:15 without any pace bunnies...I don't know where they disappeared to, as I started to space out a bit around 20 km. My time was still off from my personal best, I think I could (and should) have done better, since I was killing all of my old times at the 5 km and 10 km markers - however, I did SO much better than my personal worst at the Chilly half, so I'll take it as a victory!!

Where do we go from here?

After my race was finished and my celebratory sushi lunch was digested, I started to suffer from a bit of post-race depression. For the last 6 months, I've had half-marathons on my mind and I've had plans/schedules which were centred around my goal races. I had rolled my ankle back in March just before the Chilly half and since then I've been getting random flare-ups of pain - so I didn't want to train for another half-marathon this year and thought that I should probably back off a bit from the distances. For the first time in months, I found myself without a challenge to work towards. So, I sulked around for a week and quietly pondered what I should do next. I didn't have to wonder for too long - since I can always count on the Running Room to welcome me back into their world of dry-fit technical running clothes and 8AM weekend training practices. Starting on Monday, I'm excited to announce that I'll be coaching the Learn to Run clinic! I'm a little nervous, but mostly looking forward to this new experience. I've had a lot of support over the years from my previous coaches and fellow runners - I'm excited to be able to pass along the things that I've learned to my new group of runners and introduce them to the exciting world of running :)

Happy Half-Marathon Eve!

Tomorrow is the big day!

I just have a few things to left to figure out. Namely, what to wear and what to put on my playlist. Well, I pretty much know what I'm wearing - I just can't decide if I want to wear my favourite green lululemon racerback tank top. I do love this tank more than anything, which is why I'm not sure I want to wear it. Do I really want to poke a bunch of little holes (courtesy of my race bib) in my fave tank top? Oooh, speaking of tops - check this one out! Haha, it's funny because it's true (*sniffle*) ... One More Mile had a booth at the race expo, I wish I had taken more time to browse around!



I need to clean up my ipod playlist - right now, it's 3.5 hours long and I'm REALLY hoping that it's not going to take me that long to finish. I'm feeling too passive to cut down my playlist right now - I should have done it yesterday when I was still feeling residual stress from a very crappy week at work.

Otherwise, there's not much left for me to do, except "rest" which is starting to get kinda boring. This morning I went to pick up my race kit and some bananas from the store for smoothies. Then I went out for a short 3km run to loosen up the legs/calm the nerves. I've spent the last few hours watching people run on CBC, playing Zoo Tycoon, pestering the kitties, drinking green smoothies and checking FB/blogspot every 2 minutes.

That's it for me! At this time tomorrow, I'll hopefully be showered and chowing down on some celebratory post-race sushi :) I hope it doesn't thunderstorm tomorrow morning. I also hope I don't start crying at the finish line. I'm FINE during all of the training runs but for some reason half-marathon races always make me want to cry at the end. Argh, I'm such a sap!!!

Different ways to run

Lately, I've been getting a little bored with my training schedule. It seems like every week is pretty much the same as the week before, except sometimes I'll add an extra hill repeat or an extra km of speed work. To help spice up my intervals, last Wednesday I had a little help from John. What did we do? Well, we went out and found a nice quiet pathway with a slight incline. John was on his rollerblades and I had brought along an old (large) shawl that I had picked up from my trip to Peru. We used it as a tether, so that the shawl was around my hips and John was holding onto the ends, and then I pulled him around on his roller blades. This is the John's eye view of the ordeal.

OMG, it was SO hard - we were going an incline and I could feel every single muscle burning. After awhile, I got a little tired of dragging him up hills, so we decided to try out running on a flat surface, which was easier, but still tiring. After one of the pulls, I was standing off to the side of the path trying to catch my breath, I heard a pack of runners coming and a "hi Michelle!" - I had forgotten that Wednesday nights are also run club nights. How embarrassing - I'm pretty sure we looked a little ridiculous!

On Sunday, I went back to my parent's place for Mother's Day. They've been watching a highly spirited cocker spaniel named Caesar for the last few months. I've been really wanting to take him out for a run since he seems to have an endless amounts of energy and finally did so on Sunday. We started off at a good pace, but then there was a lot of this on the way to the park:

and then there was more of this when we were at the park:



Then he lay down for awhile. Since I didn't have the heart to drag him around, we went back home and then there was a lot of this:



Poor little guy, I think I tired him out, he was actually quiet for the rest of the night!

21.34 km + I am soooooo S-M-R-T

First of all, a thought or two related to the election. I'd just like to say that based on my observations during my long distance weekend runs, I predicted that the Liberals were in trouble a month ago in this very blog. I am soooo S-M-R-T! Lets just see if I can predict what's going to happen in the provincial election in the fall [that is, if I'm still doing long distance runs]...stay tuned...

This past weekend was my last long run before my half-marathon. Since being prepared is not just for boy scouts anymore, I decided to try out the half-marathon route with the stuff I was hoping to use on race day. The good news is that my cute black capri tights worked out well - I should not have worried as the spandex was strong enough to keep the butt bounce under control, yet stretchy enough to let the girls (my freakishly muscular calves) have free reign to bulge all over the place. The bad news is that my favourite running hat is on the verge of dying - the velcro is pretty much worn out and the sweat stains are getting really gross. *sniffle* I've had that hat for almost 4 years!

The sun was super hot on Saturday and I ended up getting a nasty sunburn on my back, shoulders and arms -- in the shape of my racerback tank top (ugh!). The route is very scenic and I was finished my run before I knew it. John was nice enough to meet me at the end, so that I wasn't stranded many km's away from home. I couldn't sit down for awhile after my run because my legs would cramp up, so we strolled along the lakeshore for a bit and then went to a pub for lunch. I was going to get wild and have 1 beer to celebrate, but ended up just having water because I was feeling a bit sick. I caught way too much sun on Saturday and felt kinda heat-stroked for the rest of the day.

I have one more week of training and then its my favourite part of training - taper week!

Schedule:
Tuesday - Cross-training: kettle-bell workout and cardio circuit training
Wednesday - Speeds: 5 k
Thursday - Cross-training: cardio/weight interval training + yoga classes
Friday - Rest
Weekend - 6-7 k

21.06 km + not much else is going on

Wow, it's been almost two weeks since my last post. Its sad to say, but there's really nothing very exciting to report, as I've slipped into a routine with all of my training activities - and they are all just kind of ongoing. Not to worry my faithful readers, that will not stop me from rambling on in detail :)

The green smoothie challenge is still going. We've started making double batches at night and saving the extra batch for breakfast in the morning. Combinations that we've enjoyed for the past week have included: baby spinach or red leaf lettuce plus an assortment of bananas, ananas (pineapple), kiwis, apples and/or pears. I've also been adding some fresh ginger into the smoothies lately and I've been finding it tres delicieux. I tried making a smoothie with grapes, but sadly my little 700W blender had a hard time with the grape skins, thus the texture of the smoothie was very fibrous. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you're supposed to be able to chew your smoothies?

I ran out of chews for my runs, so I picked up a couple of packs of GU Chomps and Clif Shot Bloks from the Running Room. Since I had a gift certificate and a store discount, I also picked up a cute little pair of black capri tights and a black racerback tank top with fluorescent pink trim. I loooove the capris, but I'm not sure if I can wear them on long runs, the spandex might not be powerful enough to rein in all of the jiggle :(

My training is chugging along - I've been doing a pretty good job of keeping up with all of the different cross-training activities (i.e., weights, biking, step + yoga classes) and also going out and doing different types of runs (i.e., hill +/or speed intervals, steady +/or slow runs). I had rolled my ankle back in February just before the Chilly half and thought that I might have re-injured it during my long run this past weekend, since it was throbbing in PAIN on Sunday and Monday. But I've been taking it easy for the past 3-4 days and it's feeling a lot better. Possible injury aside, my long runs have also become rather uneventful, my mind has been a lot quieter on these runs and I've just been enjoying the nice weather/scenery and the way I've been feeling.

Random thoughts from my 21.06 km:
- Hot and sour soup, coffee and chocolate Easter eggs (that's right I said EASTER EGGS, not spring spheres) are bad pre-run foods. I was feeling dehydrated for most of the run
- Donald Trump should shut up and go away. He's such an idiot.
- Why do politicians think we want to see their pictures on their campaign signs? It's not like we're going to suddenly be like: "Wow, you look like an upstanding citizen, I think I will vote for you after all". The same goes for real estate agents. I'm bringing a sharpie marker on my next long run and drawing mustachios on everybody!! (LOL, OK probably not...I know I'll be too lazy to hold a pen on my run and it'll totally mess up my time.)

I'll be winding down the workouts soon, since my half-marathon is about two weeks away! So I'll probably stop blogging about training and start blogging about fascinating topics such as: "What to wear" and/or "Music for my ipod" :)

Warming up for 2012

It appears that Mother Nature is also training, she seems to have amped up the insane weather patterns, in preparation for the end of 2012 when she will kill us all. Today there were 80 km/h winds along with rain, snow, hail and flash white-outs. Ever the cautious runner, I decided to take my workout indoors today and use the dreaded treadmill for a two hour workout which tested my sanity to the limit. Since I despise the treadmill, I decided to do intervals - 30 mins on the treadmill, 30 mins on the seated bike, 30 mins on the treadmill and then 30 mins on the spinning bike. Mother Nature is both a cruel and spiteful mistress, as the weather cleared up when I was an hour into my workout. The beautiful sunshine was taunting me, while I tried to complete the workout that just would not end.

Thoughts from poor me stuck running/biking without actually getting anywhere for 2 hours:
- OMG, I HATE THE TREADMILL!!
- OMG, I HATE STATIONARY BIKES!!
- I hate the way the treadmill at the gym ends fairly abruptly at the end of the workout. Would it not make sense to have a taper period at the end, so the person doesn't go from running full speed to a dead stop within 10 seconds? For me, I get a little dizzy after running on the treadmill, so I like to spend a minute walking before hopping off
- I get motion sickness from reading too much closed-captioning on the TVs when running on the treadmill. No TV makes the mind-numbing boredom even worse.
- That being said, I was so happy for NHL playoffs! I ended up watching 2 periods of the Caps/Rangers game. I could ignore the CC and just watch the boys playing hockey.
- I didn't realize how young Ovechkin is.
- I don't like the Rangers but I just can't help cheering against the Capitals
- There was a guy wearing cargo shorts and a Hilfiger skull cap on an elliptical. He was really cut, so I guess he knew what he was doing, but I couldn't help but judge him anyway.
- Why the hell is Donald Trump thinking about running for president?
- I feel bad for the poor little rodents stuck with nothing to do except running in those wheels stuck to the side of their cage.
- Having mutiple slices of pepperoni pizza and gulps of delicious coke a half hour before a workout is a bad idea. Felt so sick for the first hour of the workout.

The green smoothie challenge is still going on. We've had our first disaster - celery, parsley, lemon, tomato and onion. YUCK! I think I'm happy with sticking to the fruity green smoothies for now...

10.0 km plus a few other things

Not so random thoughts.

Sunday:
- I love running in the rain, but not in thunderstorms. I cut it short since the thunder and lightning scared me. On the plus side, that was probably the fastest 10k I've run in awhile (possibly ever)
- I wore my Lululemon capris for the first time (I bought them on-sale last year just before it got really cold). They are a much tighter fit than my other capris. I glanced at my reflection in a bus shelter when I was speeding by...my freakishly muscular calves are getting even more freakish :'(
- After the storm cleared out, it was the nicest day ever!
- Had a lovely workout in the park with Jamette & Katherine. 6k run + "breaks" for drills = good times :)
- Pushing a jogging stroller while running is harder than I thought. My arms + shoulders were killing me the next day.
- All workouts should end with a smoothie run!

Green smoothies:
- I finished reading Green for Life last night. The book was very interesting and made some good points regarding nutrition and healthy eating. Plus, there are tons of yummy green smoothie recipes at the end! However, I remain skeptical about the last 1/3 of the book which was filled with stories about people being miraculously cured of various ailments (including cancer) from drinking green smoothies. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed the book and I'm now onto reading the Green Smoothie Revolution
- John and I are on Day 4 of the Green Smoothie Challenge (30 days of smoothies). The first few days were interesting... Without getting too graphic, I had to skip hills yesterday because my poor little stomach was feeling WRONG. But today I'm finally feeling back to normal and did my hill repeats (9!) and took a yoga class.
- So far we've enjoyed: strawberry/kale, salad mix/blueberries/mangoes, red leaf lettuce/celery/bananas/mangoes, baby greens/blueberries/strawberries/banana

Schedule for the upcoming week:
Weekend - 20+ km run
Monday - Steady run and/or Cardio-weight training class
Tuesday - Rest! (Rush concert!)
Wednesday - 10 hill repeats. Last week of hills
Thursday - Cardio-weight training and/or yoga
Friday - Rest
Weekend - 20+ km run