Four for Friday –the new discovery edition

1.  This week has bordered on insane.  12+ hr work days, dealing with a ton of people/clients and trying to fit training in as well.  But…it is now LONG WEEKEND!  For non Ontario residents, this is the Civic long weekend so not everything is closed and I actually have to use a personal day to have Monday off but I don’t care.  3.Days.Off.

2.  I have worked in the same area/office for YEARS.  This week in trying to fit my runs in I found there is a great place to run right behind my office that includes a bike trail, some wooden paths, gravel and even a local track. (there’s even a mini ski hill where I could do repeats.  HAHAHAHAHAHA…)  So glad I pay so much attention to my surroundings.

Thumbs up after my Zone5 intervals on my newly discovered path.

3. I also discovered that this heel pain thing is seriously bizarre.  Yesterday it hurt like hell so I taped it out before my tempo run.  Post run with the tape off…it didn’t hurt.  My body is weird I tell you.

4.  This weekend is also my golf club’s championship tournament.  I have been playing pretty ‘ok’ this year but the main goal this time around is to actually ENJOY it.  I get pretty stressed/competitive with myself which then means I can barely swing a club.  Like running, you perform better when you chill the F out.

If you are a Canuck, do you get Monday off?  If yes, Happy 3, if not Happy 2!

Fixing the foot and the art of NON customer service

This stupid heel is still giving me grief…while I did have an amazing run yesterday, I still felt pain and had taped the crap out of it in order to run.  I had another massage treatment on Sunday…these treatments are a work out alone…nothing like spending 45+ like this:

The thinking is that this is not an issue with the fascia but potentially tendonitis.  Whatever he did yesterday wiped me out completely – he worked through all my ITbands, hamstrings, calves (holy soleus pain) and the foot itself.  I was baked and have some nice little bruises to show.  So far, the heel feels … ok.

We had some a lot of unfun this weekend with our lovely airline that we are using to fly to the hubs race in Sept.  They outright moved our flights by a full DAY on both sides.  This meant having to change connecting flights, fight with said airline (coughAIRCANDAcough) to get the proper dates somehow restored and now paying more for  accommodation changes. In total, the hubs probably spent about 10hrs on various phone calls dealing with this as well as a ton of different people….and yet to actually find someone who was helpful. 

You know…I can deal with changes but to have this level of NON customer service is shocking.  We will avoid everything we can to EVER use them again.

This week is another nutty week at work..Pray for me over the next few hellish day.  The upside?  A LONG weekend coming up for us Canucks.

Sweet.

Four for Friday – the I’m not complaining about the heat edition

1.  Yes..it is hot. And it hurts but I still remember winter…vividly…

2.  To get my run on this week, I ran Tues/Thursday at 4:30am.  Sometimes I feel like hot weather running is even more taxing  mentally.  By this I mean, you have to NOT use the heat as an excuse to get the run in.  You have to be safe and judge how you feel but not be slack as a just in case.  Does that make sense?  I don’t mean to push it to a point of being sick …Maybe the Heat is getting to me…

3.  Overall they were good runs this week.  The heat wasn’t the problem for me, it is Stupid Heel that is still an issue.  My PT is on vacation so I went for a massage treatment on Tuesday.  Remember when a massage was relaxing?  Oof…this hurt – a lot. Outside of the pain in the one spot on the heel, there is a lot of scar tissue in the rest of the foot as well that we need to work out . AWESOME!

4.  We have yet another weekend full of training, golfing, friends and family.  Today is a vacation day for me as I have to take the hubs in for an MRI…where they inject dye into his hip.  I am cringing even thinking about it.

Happy weekend…Keep Fit and have Fun!

Gravenhurst Du/Tri recap – a HOT weekend

This past Sat was the Gravenhurst International Du/Tri races that the hubs and a friend competed in.  I knew I wanted to keep my running easy in order to recovery from Thursday’s run so my Sat/Sun runs were 10km each of easy running at the hotel:

Ugh…this just reinforces how much I am loving running outside.  I thought I would go crazy on these things even with a TV in them.  And it was probably as hot in there as it was outside…

In the same fashion as last year, it was hot on race day.   There is basically ZERO shade on the course and the 10km run (for both the DU/TRI) is one of the toughest ones that are part of a race course.   There were people on the course walking (which in a race like that is unusual), puking and lots of people in the medical area post race.  Like I said…HOT.

10km run:

40km bike:

5km run:

 

equals a 3rd place AG finish for the hubs:

Our friend won 2nd in her AG and had a great race:

 

Despite the 3rd place finish, it was not a good race for the hubs which is upsetting to see.   He is a strong athlete and can do way better on the bike but it just isn’t coming through right now which is tough and I don’t know how to help….

How do you deal with a bad race?  How do you help others deal with race disappointment? 

This week is a super hot one here in South Western Ontario.  My goal is run in the morning both Tuesday/Thursday in an effort to beat the heat….and enjoy the early morning sprinkler systems in my lovely neighborhood.

Four for Friday – the 10km Race edition

1.  Race #1 of this run session is in the books.  I ended up having an ‘emergency’ PT session on Wednesday after as my heel as really bad by the afternoon so I was a bit worried about how I would feel on Thursday.  PT helped is considerably but it was still sore so going forward, it will be taped for all runs.

Considering I couldn’t walk Wed, I am pretty pleased with the race.

2.  My time goal was b/w 1:04 and 1:07.  I squeaked in at 1:06 … after losing a minute with having to stop and rearrange some of my taping job.  So I am happy…a 4 min + PB and my first km was the same pace as my last km.  I haven’t figured out my splits yet and though it is a double loop, there isn’t a 5km split.  Weird…

3.  A huge thanks to Kristen for giving me my race mantra:

HTFU – Hoogerland the F Up.  Don’t follow the Tour de France?  Well, Hoogerland is a Dutch rider who was involved in a horrific crash this week. (I can’t even look at the pics anymore) He got back and finished the stage (bloodied and battered) and then went to the hospital post race for 37 stitches.  Think about that the next time a workout is hard. 

4.  I actually liked doing a shorter race – it is a totally different kind of racing and I think I will be throwing a few more of these in the mix going forward.  And yes….it hurt for the whole race.

Happy Happy Almost weekend.  The hubs and a friend are racing this weekend and I am NOT part of their race team but am Capt Sherpa and photo lady.  Have a good one!

Summer Race #1 – Goals and Hopes

Tomorrow night is my first race of the summer and this run session – The Eaton 10km Downtown Dash.

The funny/ironic thing with this is that this is the Ontario 10km Master Championship so there will be even MORE fasties than usual.  Cause you know, I’m not nervous or psyched out enough as it is.

Up until last night, I was feeling pretty good about the race.  I had a great run on Sunday and felt strong despite the heat.  Last night started off as a good run until about .5km to go where it felt like my heel/fascia exploded.  It was the first run I had done without taping it like I usually do so today I am massaging, heating, stretching etc.  It feels better so…. Game On Downtown Dash…Game On.

Goals
1.  Negative split.  I haven’t done this in a race so that is goal #1.  The good thing with this race is it is a double loop so that is relatively easy to manage.

2.  Bust it.  My ‘official’ 10km PB is 1:10 from …awhile ago.  The goal is to RACE the entire race..both pace and mental wise.

3. Time goal.  Because of stupid heel and heat, I am setting my goal as between 1:04 – 1:07.  Slow to you…fast to me.

There you go…See you at the finish line…

The end of the jungle, runner’s highs and a Team Canada uniform

There is no longer a jungle in my backyard.  I actually wish I had taken a picture as at one point, the entire middle of the yard was COVERED in weeds, bramble, branches etc. that I had picked/cut away.  Sorry gardening..you are not fun and I have the scratches to prove it.

It does look way better though…

The weekend was filled with some amazing and very hot running.  Sat was a solid easy run with the intervals through in before golfing and yesterday was such a good run, I am still on a runner’s high from it.  12km of sweaty running with 3kms of race pace thrown in that was like the 3 bears:  One was too fast, one was too slow and one was just right.

The most exciting part of the weekend was that the hub’s Team Canada uniform arrived on Friday…it took everything I had to NOT open the package up before he arrived. 

It’s real dude…it’s real.

How was your weekend?  Do you open other people’s mail?

Four for Friday

1. Less than a week away for my first race of this training session. It is ‘only’ a 10km so the distance isn’t problem….it is the speed I am started to get freaked about. I want to race hard and know it is there..I just have to channel it. I haven’t actually done a 10km race since…..2007? Before I even started running seriously.

Yet another high quality race photo from the Mississauga 10km years ago…

2. 2 days after the 10km race, we are in Gravenhurst for the hubs’ duathlon. Since he is still injury ridden…I may be doing the run portion. Nothing like a little last place on the run section. And this isn’t me being modest or ‘down’…this is me being realistic as it is 10km + 5km on a hilly course and last year was a sweat fest. At least it is a beautiful place to race….

3. Training wise, it has been a good week:

• Sunday: 9km LSD – slow but done.
• Monday and Wednesday: really tough spin and cross training sessions
• Tuesday: 10km interval run in some serious heat.

Last night was supposed to be Tempo Thursday but I was beat so it became my rest day. I AM heading out for a run soon….wish me luck.

UPDATE: It was a rough start but a pretty solid 9.6km run. Me=Happy.

4. This weekend is shaping up to be a pretty ‘chill’ one (except it is supposed to be really hot/humid). Other than training, we don’t have a lot of plans except to tackle the gardening. Unless it tackles us first. I can’t even take a pic as it is embarrassing the state we have left it in. Ugh.

What are your weekend plans? Any races coming up?

Long Weekend Rewind

Long weekends rule…there should be more of them.  Period..end of story.  Ours flew by as usual.

There was 3 runs – 1 great tempo, 1 ok interval, 1 rough long run and lots o’ sweating due to sun and humidity.  I may have sweat out a small child over the last few days.

There was golfing – 1 good round, 1 ok round, 1 not so good round and Canada Flags on some of the holes and Canada on my head.

There were new socks courtesy of Molly…which I LOVE:

and most exciting-ly…new wheels!

My old car I think was a lesser version of Christine…while not necessarily trying to kill me, it caused me more grief than good so I am happy to have something safe, fun and hopefully long lasting.

How was your long weekend?  (Canada or US…or somewhere else I am too duh to have missed)