I AM Hardcore - 16.1K (or 10 miles)!

"If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.”

Frank A. Clark

This weekend, I am in Québec city. I'm having a wonderful time with my sister, who is here for a book fair. Saturday, I had 16K on the menu (of course I planned 16.1K, which is 10 miles :)). Now, Québec city is beautiful, BUT it is VERY hilly. I'm guessing runners who train here must do great in races! Also, today was a VERY windy day...I'm talking gusts at 80K/h. I was quite worried about what that would mean for me, being a rookie runner and all. The nearest park was "Les Plaines d'Abraham", which I was told had lots of nice running trails.

This is at the entrance and it scared me a little.

There were also these paths around the park.

The first 3 to 4K were done on hills and even on a trail in a wooded section. It was beautiful, but by the end of the trail I actually had to walk up the hill, it was so steep (this happened twice in all)! Then after a little more of the hills...there appeared before me, my saving grace...a track! It still had a little climb and a little descent as you went around, but really it was nothing. I'm not sure how long it was (at least 1K), but I went around about 7 times and I was at 12K when I left. Back to the hills I went, heading towards where I had come from.

The last K was almost all downhill and I was grinning like a fool as I was running down this beautiful street, towards my goal distance. This run was relatively slow, what with the hills and the wind, but I'm totally pleased with how I did. I completed 16.1K at 7.28m/K (or 10 miles at 12m/mile), which took me exactly 2 hours. Plus, I was feeling no pain and I felt good.Yay me!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend...looking forward to reading all the race recaps.

Cheers!

Lifestyle changes - Goals and Expectations!

“The best things in life are unexpected - because there were no expectations.”
Eli Khamarov

When I crossed over from the “world of those who walk” into the “world of those who run” I found my expectations quickly shifting into high gear. Within only a few months, I went from being so proud of myself for running 5K non-stop, to feeling so disappointed at how slow I was. It is almost impossible not to make comparisons, and as competitive and ambitious human beings, we are definitely biased in our comparisons. That is, they tend to be only with people who are better than we are. There is also the tendency to not take into consideration the reasons they may be better than we are, which certainly doesn’t make the comparison fair. It is so easy to get pulled into this cycle of expectations.

Believe me when I say I know this is much easier said than done, but I’ve been working on it. When I first started running, I only had one barometer and that was myself. It was easy to feel proud for going a little farther each week. I still found it difficult sometimes, because I kept thinking it should feel less hard, but I was improving and I was proud of that. Then I started blogging and I started running with a group and I started running with friends and family and all of a sudden, the number of barometers I could measure myself against increased many fold. Initially, I totally got caught up in it all. Taking nothing other than running speed and distance into consideration, I was slow and I wasn’t so proud of myself anymore.

I am not talking about goals here, it is VERY important to have goals, but then ideally we need to let go and enter each situation with no set expectations. The difference between a goal and an expectation is that a goal gives you direction and motivates you to push yourself, whereas an expectation sets an emotional barrier on the goal. My goal is to run a half-marathon in May. This goal is motivating me to prepare to the best of my ability so that I feel ready to take on the challenge on race day. Ideally, I would go into this race with no expectations. If I expect it to be a nice sunny day and it’s raining, I’ll be disappointed; if I expect to finish in style and with no pain, I risk disappointment; if I expect to finish under a certain time, I highly risk being disappointed; and if anything doesn’t go as expected, I risk being disappointed regardless of the fact that I may attain my goal of completing a half-marathon. What a waste of a great achievement!

Everything I do to reach this goal is life experience that will stay with me forever, no matter how it goes on race day. So I am trying hard to appreciate being able to run injury free today and to work towards my goal of running a half-marathon in Ottawa in May. As for how it goes on race day, well: “Que Sera, Sera.” :)

“The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.”

Jim Rohn

Cheers!

Today...Two Things Tuesday!

Life is a process. We are a process. The universe is a process.

Anne Wilson Schaef

Running: I have run 300Ks so far this year...I'm way on track to complete my 1000Ks in 2010! Also, I decided that it was probably a good idea to complete a race before my first ever half-marathon (considering I have never raced before in my life). What's it like to be in a race? So, I am now officially registered for a 10K on May 9th (check out the countdown  widgets on my sidebar)...Woohoo! I'm very excited to have two upcoming races in May.

Asthma update: Today was 5 hills and I was wondering how it would go. You see, prednisone is an immunosuppressant (that's why it works so well on auto-immune symptoms). What that means is that while I'm on prednisone, I am more susceptible to infection. So, now that I am about to stop taking prednisone, I find myself fighting non-asthma cold symptoms. This is actually quite common. When I used to be dependent on prednisone, I would get pneumonia every fall. Anyways, the point is that I wondered how my lungs would do with hills. Plus, I had done my weight training in the morning and it was raining lightly and humidity does not help. Well...truth be told, it went very well. Heartrate did not exceed 154 and my warm-up and cool down runs were at a very decent pace. I felt good when I was done. No coughing. The reason I'm telling you all this is that sometimes, when we have asthma, it is easy to hold back and use it as an excuse. Not that we are looking for an excuse, but we get used to being more cautious. More and more, I'm realizing that taking charge of my health has lead me to push my limits and taught me that I have no idea what the actual limit is! Perhaps, the sky :) 

Cheers!

My longest run so far...14.5K (or 9 miles)

"The obsession with running is really an obsession with the potential for more and more life."

George Sheehan

Yesterday, uber hubby and I had 14K planned...but, before heading out, I decided to check how many miles exactly 14K was and realized that I was just "this" short of 9 miles, so the new plan became 14.5K...which, hubby thought was pretty funny. The weather was absolutely amazing! You'd think months had gone by between last weeks "ready-to-go-here's-my-new-jacket pic" and this week's "ready-to-go-I-can't-believe-I'm-wearing-a-tank-top" pic!! Meg, I lathered on the sunscreen and wore a cap...and am thinking of you.

Before going on, I must make a short parenthesis here...it is not necessarily that I love pink. I actually own nothing in pink other than running gear, but the running clothes I like all seem to come in only one color this year...pink! I'm liking it though...just saying :)

Okay, so the longest run I had done to date was 13K in 1h45m on January 22nd of this year. Saturday, we ran our 14.5K in 1h44m, so 1.5K more in one minute less (my pace was 7:11min/K). I AM improving! We followed the bike trail further out and it looks like it's going to be perfect for our upcoming long runs...and it's by the woods if we need a serious bathroom break. Speaking of which, thank goodness we passed by our home around the 9K mark, because I was this close to pulling a Shut up and Run ...enough said I'm sure. So apart from that little bathroom interlude, the run was a complete success! I was feeling good and I was feeling no pain. Whenever I felt a little twinge in my left hip, I would straighten my shoulders and right away, the pain would stop. This is definitely helping me improve my posture. 

As we were running along on the trail, uber hubby had a great idea! "You know what would be fun, is to go leave a car with a picnic in it at a park along the trail and then from home, run a 25K back to the picnic." Me: "Maybe we could get some of our running peeps to join us." Him: "That's a great idea, let's try and plan that at some point over the summer." I just love that we both think this is a great idea :)

Overall, another amazing run...and next week 16K!

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend...cheers!

Lifestyle Changes – Your perception is your reality.

"One has not only an ability to perceive the world but an ability to alter one's perception of it; more simply, one can change things by the manner in which one looks at them."

Tom Robbins

The thing with perception is that it is real to you. The way you view a situation, is what influences how you feel about it and guides how you react to it. It doesn’t matter how someone else sees the situation, only your perception is real. Therefore, trying to “reframe” our perceptions is an excellent tool in changing our behaviour.

Wednesdays are very busy for me, I have clients in the morning and then again in the evening. I usually have phone calls to return and paperwork to organize in the afternoon. PLUS, according to my Half-Marathon running schedule, I have a Hard Run (i.e., hills, or fartlek) to run! Wanting to avoid as much pain as possible on actual race day, I thought the best thing to do was to try not to skip any part of the running schedule. So, when I just didn’t end up having time to do my run on Wednesdays (which was almost always), I would get anxious as the day wore on, my mind was not as focused as I tried to return phone calls and finish up paperwork, and I would end the day feeling disappointed with myself.

We all know that the best way to fall off the wagon is to be disappointed with ourselves...so this was a “bag-of-chips-waiting-to-happen" situation.

My distorted perception: I really need to get that Hard run in, but I just know I won’t be able to do all I have to do today.
Feeling: Not so proud of myself and worried that work or running will suffer.

Reframing to more realistic thinking: After asking about this, it seems that many people only complete 4 of the 5 workouts suggested in the program and do fine...AND I do not have to do the Hard Run on Wednesday! Perhaps I could do the Hard Run on Tuesdays, because I have more time. If I have time on Wednesday, I’ll do a short run (which I won’t feel bad missing if I can’t).
Feeling: I enjoy taking the time to focus on my work and I am pleased with myself for doing a good job. If I get a run in, bonus.

Pride in ourselves is the best way to stay motivated...and you guess it! The last two Wednesdays, I did manage to get a run in. Knowing that my Hard Run was out of the way, I have been more relaxed and focused with my work and managing to fit in a self-esteem boosting short run on Wednesday afternoons :)

Important points to remember:
1) If a situation is causing you to regularly feel disappointed with yourself, re-evaluate your perception of the situation!
2) Assess: Am I being realistic, “Is it really that serious if I don’t bake the cupcakes myself for the class party?”
3) Reframe: “I know exactly where I can buy some very good cupcakes and I’m sure the kids will be thrilled. There is no obligation to absolutely bake them myself. I can go for my run and be on time to pick up the kids after school, without rushing like crazy.”
4) Outcome: You have an enjoyable day and feel better about yourself!

If you can perceive your life as more manageable, it will be :)
Have a great weekend and remember to give yourself some leeway.

Cheers!

Now THAT is a tempo run :)

"The work of art which I do not make, none other will ever make."

Simone Weil

According to my Garmin Training Center, I am finally entering the "slow run" zone :)

Today was a 4K tempo run and I wanted to really try and push it (being a little high on prednisone and all). During the last K I felt like I was slowing down and, believe me, when I reached the 4K mark, I could not have continued another meter! Although I recuperated quite quickly....and

YES, today I did a real tempo run and came in for the first time ever with an under 10min/mile pace overall (9:56)...that's 6.13min/Km. Plus, although I thought my last K would be slower, I actually improved consistently (6.25; 6.11; 6.09; and 6.06)! Prednisone or not, it's still my body that is doing this...and I'm pretty proud of myself :)

Just wanted to share...now off to yoga.

Cheers!

Hills, heartbeat, and prednisone...

"Order is the shape upon which beauty depends."

Pearl Buck

Well, I'm not hating hills and THAT is a surprise to me. I'm at the half-way mark in terms of number of hill repeats (4 X 500m) and my heartrate went up to 155 by the last hill, which is 5 bpm more than the first time I did hills, but I attribute this to the prednisone. Overall, my heartrate was good and I recuperated quickly. I feel no pain while I run hills (either going up or down). Although in my car after, my right knee gave off a mild ache that didn't last very long. So, interestingly, I'm kind of liking the hardcore feel of doing hills :)

After 12 days on prednisone, I'm back to eating the crumbs off the floor after a meal! Sheesh. It's unbelievable how hungry I am...every minute of the day. Thank goodness I'm working out more (I even went to do my strength training today after my hills). Admittedly, another side-effect of prednisone is the extra boost in energy. My closets should be all cleaned out by the weekend, my reports up-to-date, my garden planted, my bread baked, my pants fixed...okay, I'm exaggerating a tad a lot...but, man I'm hyper!

8 more days...and I'm good to go!

Cheers!