Last long run of 2007

Got to the Y this morning and met up with Nicole. There was nobody else from our group so we set out alone (yay us!). We ran towards the convention centre and down onto the seawall. Got to Stanley Park and started around the seawall, clockwise. If left up to me, my routes would always be clockwise loops. Even thinking back to my first regular route when I started running as a teenager, I always ran clockwise. Anyway, we ran around Stanley Park until just past the Lions Gate and just before the water park and left the seawall. We took a trail that went up to the causeway and ran over the bridge. Turned around on the other side and headed back over. The bridge is just under a mile so going over and back gives us a couple extra miles and a good hill workout. Retraced our steps down to the seawall where we finished the loop and headed back to the Y.

2hrs 15min!! That leaves us somewhere between 13 and 14 miles. Nicole broke another personal distance record today! Way to go! It was a beautiful day, sunny and crisp and we had beautiful clear views of Vancouver Island and the local mountains. Can't wait to go snowshoeing again tomorrow!!

Snowshoeing!

Cross-training!

DVDs and books

For those of you who haven't heard of the Planet Earth BBC series, you should really check it out. We've watched several episodes in the past couple weeks and then the Landos just got the dvd set for Christmas so we've watched a couple more. They gave us the Blue Planet series and it is amazing too. Wonderful cinematography and amazing scenery and wildlife shots. So interesting!!

I've been reading the Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan and I highly recommend it. The middle section on sustainable organic farming makes me want to go buy land and try to live off it as much as possible in an eco-friendly way. I've been reading pretty solidly the past few days and devouring page after page. It's late and I don't really have the brain-power to get into too much detail right now, but it's really opened my eyes to conventional industrial and industrial organic farming and has given me a lot to think about. I will post more later on the topic. We got the sequel - In Defense of Food - for Christmas and I'm really looking forward to reading it. "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Wet toes

I didn't do the long run on Saturday as I had planned. When I woke up it was snowing so I went back to sleep. Ended up going later in the day for about 5 miles. It was slushy in some spots and I had to go a bit slower. Ended up with wet toes. Had a nice hot bath when I got home.

Nicole came over early this morning after dropping her mom off at the airport. Just as it was finally getting light we headed out and over the bridge to the seawall. Ran around Stanley Park and home again. It was really windy on the far side of the park. No rain and no ice though. It was great. 12 miles, 2hrs. I could feel my left knee as we got closer to home. It wasn't sore, but I could feel it was tight. Will have to keep stretching out that IT band.

Had another hot bath when I got home to warm up. I find if I don't strip out of my wet clothes quick enough I get really chilled and it takes a long time to warm up. A hot bath with the heat light on in the bathroom is perfect.

I'm not too worried by the lack of runs the past couple weeks, but I really have to get back to it when things settle down again after the holidays. :)

'Twas the week before Christmas...

I met Beth on Wednesday night for a run. We tried a different route and went up Heather St to King Edward and then followed that to Arbutus where we turned and came home. The loop was between 5 and 6 miles and had more hills than the routes I've been running recently. I managed to come up with some pretty convincing excuses to get out of running on several occasions this week, which is ridiculous since it only hurts me in the long run - literally and figuratively.

On the other hand this has been a good yoga week. Not sure why it was any different than previous weeks, but for some reason my practice felt very connected and grounded. Maybe it's the weather or maybe it's the time of year. This morning I went to Mysore for the led class (I've been practicing at home for pretty much all of October, November and December) and then joined the Ashtanga Yoga Vancouver group for their annual Christmas breakfast at the Naam. It was really fun and nice to socialize outside of the yoga room.

There is no clinic run on this coming Sunday so Nicole and I had planned to do the run Saturday morning. She's fighting a cold right now (get well soon!!) so depending how she feels we may or may not meet up. I'm still going to try to get in the scheduled 13 miles, which probably won't be as enjoyable on my own. I'm still looking forward to it though, which is strange since I dreaded most of the weekend long runs when I did this marathon training business before. I'm thinking about heading downtown and doing a loop around Stanley Park, then staying on the seawall and running around False Creek before coming home. That should be pretty much exactly the right distance. I'll have to be sure to load up my ipod before I go.

That's all for now! I'll try to post again before Christmas, but if not I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Registered!

I just registered for the marathon! Yikes! I'm committed now. The race isn't until May 4th, but the race fees increase after December 31st. I'll post a map closer to the race day showing the race course and what time I expect to be where for those of you who want to come cheer me on! I really appreciate your support! You have no idea what a difference it makes to see familiar faces along the route. :)

Bagel brunch day!

We ran between 12 and 13 miles today. It took just under 2 hours. It was hard today. Not sure if it was the 7 miles on Friday, the sugar I've been living off of lately or just an off day. We ran through East Vancouver and then hooked up with the Adanac bike route. Ran all the way to the 2nd narrows bridge, did an extra loop up a big hill then back downtown along the water and through Gastown. It was so hilly for the first half and my legs were very tired. My new hat was great! I'd never run with a hat before, but I liked it. And I think it looked snazzy too. :)

We had a tasty bagel brunch after the run put on by one of the runners who is a baker. I had almost hit the "too hungry to eat" stage where I start to feel really nauseous and icky but then I had a bite of multigrain bagel with smoked salmon cream cheese and suddenly everything was a lot better. I fell asleep coming home on the bus. Never done that before. Now I feel deliciously tired and relaxed and I am lying on the couch by the fire and don't plan on moving much for the rest of the day.

Plan for next week:
- Run at least twice during the week. Even if it's only for 20-30 minutes, it's better than nothing at all.
- Eat more vegetables. I didn't eat too much this past week, just too much sugar and not enough of everything else. Made a huge delicious soup for dinner last night and am looking forward to a big dinner tonight.
- Drink more water

Running dry streak over - or - Why having a training partner is so great

I was hoping that when I got home this evening I'd have an email from Nicole saying she didn't want to run. I really didn't want to go out again. I was cold and tired and carsick from the bus ride home. Instead her email said she was on her way and had forgotten her phone - no way for me to cancel! We could have easily talked eachother out of running and gone shopping, but we got changed and headed out into the rainy darkness. 7 miles and an hour and 15 minutes later we were back home feeling pretty smug. I wouldn't have gone had she not come all the way over here. But she did and we ran and still had time for some shopping and some tasty food. I'm excited to wear my new running shirt and hat on Sunday!

That's why you have training partners. They get you out when you'd rather do anything but, and distract you when you feel slow and tired until you forget you didn't want to go out and are feeling slow and tired... and suddenly you're not. You're just running and everything is good. :)

Thursday, mid-December

I haven't run this week since Sunday. Unless running around checking things off my to-do list counts (haha). It's been a busy week and with the weather being less than run-friendly I've managed to come up with convincing excuses that have left my runners neglected in the closet. On the plus side, Christmas gifts are bought and wrapped, Christmas cards sent out to friends and family, stockings hung (by the chimney with care), gingerbread house made, eggnog drunk (Vitasoy makes a tasty vegan eggnog), Christmas lights hung, etc... you get the picture.

I also came out of Pampered Chef retirement and placed a big holiday order. I've got a potential show lined up for the New Year and maybe big fundraising event too. I find being a consultant awkward because PC is not mac-friendly. It's a hassle to place an order and I get stressed. I have an old hand-me-down laptop with Windows 2000 that I can use, but I can't get it to connect to the internet so that means I have to print and fax the orders, but I don't have a printer... and on and on... and it's just a pain in the ass. Anyway, it's done and I'm excited about my free cranberry spatula and a few other things too.

I want to do a cleanse in the New Year to get things off to a good start. I think it's a good time of year for a cleanse to re-enforce good habits and start the year fresh. I'll post more about it here as I come up with ideas and as I'm doing it, and I'll also include the finer details in the food club wiki for anyone who wants to join in. It's always easier with more people so sign up!! ;)

12 miles in the cold

We ran to West Van today! From the Y downtown we hit the seawall through Coal Harbour then into the trails in Stanley Park and up to Prospect point. The gradual hill getting up there was tiresome and I felt slow but that soon went away. Ran over the Lions Gate Bridge and that's where the half marathon group turned around. Nicole, Sandy (our run leader), and I were the only ones left. We continued on down to the West Van seawall to Ambleside where we turned around and looped back the way we came.

Total running time was 1hr 50min and our mileage was between 11 and 12 miles. We were a bit faster today than our normal 10 minute/mile pace. It was really cold with a few slippery spots and some teeny snowflakes falling every now and then. I warmed up pretty quickly and wasn't cold while running except for my face and rear end - as if there wasn't enough padding there?? Took a gel at Ambleside and felt pretty strong coming back over the bridge - that's one hell of a hill!! I think I expected it to be worse and so was pleasantly surprised to get to the top without too much of a struggle. Started feeling tired and ready to stop about a mile away from the Y, but I think the last mile will always be the hardest. No knee pain today! Sometimes my IT band is sore but today I only felt it a couple times and it was hardly painful.

I had a light dinner last night and drank a lot of water throughout the day and I think that really makes for an enjoyable run. Much better than feeling weighed down, sluggish and dehydrated, which is easy to let happen. I think the key is early, light meals, but that can sometimes be difficult on Saturday nights. Have to remember to drink a lot of water today too. My initial tiredness while running could just be due to lack of sleep, but sometimes that's just the way it goes.

Nicole and I had expected to run 13 miles today (half-marathon distance), but Sandy kept it a bit shorter because of the fact that your body is working hard to keep you warm and that makes the run more intense. I much prefer running in the cold than the heat!!

For the month of December our mileage stays pretty constant around 11-14 miles. We're working on building a strong base and getting comfortable there. In January we'll start to ramp up and get into serious distances. 21 weeks to go until the marathon!

Friday night breathing

Ran ~3 miles (30 minutes) last night just as the sun was going down. It was chilly but felt very good.

After my run I went to a pranayama workshop put on my some guest teachers at my yoga studio. Pranayama is one of the 8 limbs of Astanga Yoga (Ashtanga means 8 limbs so it's really 8-limb yoga). The limbs being Yama (moral codes), Niyama (self purification and study), Asana (postures), Pranayama (breathing techniques), Pratyahara (sense withdrawal), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation), Samadhi (contemplation).

It is said that asana, which also can be translated as seat, is intended not as a complete practice in it's own right, but a tool to train the mind towards stillness and focus and open the body to make sitting for long periods of time somewhat comfortable. The 8 limbs are generally approached in order, with the first four more accessible than the remaining four.

It seems as though the asana practice made an easy transition from the east to the west, but the other limbs got lost somewhere along the way. On the other hand, asana practice in India is somewhat rare, with more emphasis being placed on the rest of the limbs.

Anyway, we were told that pranayama is a very powerful practice and is best done under the guidance of an experienced teacher. We were led through 4 basic, "entry level" exercises. It was very calming and energizing at the same time, very balancing. Will I make pranayama part of my daily practice? That remains to be seen.

Ran last night after nearly a week off

A cold last week and the snow this weekend has interrupted my running schedule. I suppose I could have run on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday but I didn't. No excuses aside from heavy rain and a general lack of motivation. Finally went out last night. Ran down 7th and met Nicole and Beth at Cambie. We did a loop around False Creek (Burrard bridge and around to Science World). I left them at Cambie and ran back up 7th to a nice hot bath. Ran for about 1hr 25min total, so between 8 and 9 miles. Probably will go out again tomorrow for a shorter run. It works really well to meet up in the evening like that. We're hoping to do that weekly and either do the seawall or some other route closer to Burnaby/New West.

I was looking at the marathon webpage the other day. There is an early bird discount for registering before December 31st. After that the fee goes up about $15, then another $15 a month or so later. I'm going to have to commit soon! Yikes!

Snow day

No run today because of the ice, cold and snow. Nicole and I will meet up one day this week to get our 10-12 miles in. Works out well since I was sick last week and Nicole's not feeling well now. Only got one run in last week... next week will be better assuming the snow melts. :) Might have to give snowshoe running a try!