And go!

I've been working on getting my running back; I lost a lot of distance being sick last year.

I've been training to get back to 10k and it has been really hard at times. It has caused naps and extremely sore feet. It has caused questions and tears. It has caused grumpiness and negative self talk.

Today it all culminated in the race I trained for.

The first year it was my second 10 ever and I did pretty well. Last year I didn't post about it at all but I was 8 minutes slower, exhausted and completely crushed (cried all the way home). I didn't know what I was sick with at the time and had my big test 2 days after the run.


This year I took just over 11 minutes off of last years time and almost 3 off of my first years time.

That feels good, really good. This run was my testing ground, to see if there was any health progress and to see if I could find my legs again.

I'm actually tempted to train for another half...

January...practically February...in a new year...how did that happen?

It has been a crazy busy year plus and so much has changed.

The past 6 months have been learning new eating due to Celiac. The hardest thing about it is finding food on the go because everything and its dog has gluten in it. Not only do I have to be careful about it being in what I eat but I also have to be careful of cross contamination. It is so severe that the new house will have 2 toasters, his and hers, and two of all bread spread things.

That's right; new house, his and hers....

My running fell by the wayside with being so tired for so long and I am now struggling to get back in to the groove. I am hoping that once things settle down that I can find the rhythm and get back at it (clothes are a wee bit snug...gluten free foods also have higher calories and I just found this out). I recently joined another running group and it is kicking my ass! They are fast and as I do't know anyone I have this need to keep up and not be the loser new person. Let's just say my knees are complaining!

The new job is still better than the old. Like anything there are things that make it a pain but the majority of my coworkers make the hard days bearable; they are a sassy lot. The hours have been a really big adjustment; 4 days became 5, darkness became daylight, free time got lost. I live closer now which helps with the commute but since beginning to run again I have 3 guaranteed 7-7:30 home times per week. I must be getting old... :)

And yes I am a home owner/mortgage payer now.
And a wife.
And happy.

You could have knocked me over with a feather with all the many ways my life changed in the past year....

I can go on and on about being tired and how my low iron is affecting that. I am a boring broken record.

I see it in how early I go to bed. I see it in how exhausted I feel after work. I see it in the fact I'd rather stay home, on the couch and in my pj's, rather than hang out with friends. I see it in my low patience level. I see it in my extra irrational thinking.

Mostly I feel it when I try to run.

I have a weird non feeling thing going on in my legs. It's kind of like I can't feel them and yet I know they are there and so I have to keep looking at them to make sure they are moving. They are not numb and the only way to kind of explain how they feel is to say that they feel so heavy that I can't feel them. It is very strange.

I am unable to complete the distances I have run before. I've done 10k's and longer with no real problem and now I feel like I am continuously running the last few kilometres of a half marathon. I drag myself and force myself along but my body is slowly winning the battle of mind over matter. It's pretty defeating to feel so crappy and to not be able to do what I could do a few short months ago.

I've been in training for another half but I had to give up my idea of doing the race because of all this. I've been keeping my runs to about 5k as I can struggle through those and not be completely crushed emotionally like I have been after longer runs.

I was doing speed work the other night and I had to stop as I was getting tunnel vision. I sure didn't want to pass out on the track!



I am taking a couple of supplements now and was told that it will take 2-4 months before I start to feel more like myself. It will be a long wait.

Tired

That's how I've been feeling and not just my normal tired.

I've especially noticing it on my runs; lead legs, draging behind the group and the need for after long run naps. In talking to another runner (perhaps whining...) she mentioned getting my iron levels tested as that can really bring you down.

So I did.*

I am off to the Doc later today to see what the results are. Right now I am hoping for a simple answer, tied to a vitamin supplement, because I don't know what other things I need to look at. I haven't changed my sleeping patterns (they are messy) or too much of my eating and I am carrying the same sorts of nutritional aides when running longer distances.

*sigh* Maybe it is just age....



*I do believe this really makes me a runner. I do not like needles and yet I went to the Doc requesting one. I also had to pee in a little cup. TMI?

When We Pretend That We're Dead

*girl pokes head up and looks about*



She's alive! Alive!

And really wants to whine.

But first, since my last post...

I've seen Frost/Nixon, Slumdog Millionaire and Grand Turino.
I've registered to train for a half (lots of cold runs so far).
I've helped someone move countries and get settled into Beautiful BC.
I've applied for a different job.
I was given an amazing gift:

Deeply
*swoon* *drool* Shop here...

And I've otherwise just being going along in life.

Maybe I'll whine later...

Girl in Red

The trot became a walk.

Welcome 2009

I'm starting the year with a new years eve food baby.

*rubs belly*

It's all yummy, crusty breads, fancy spreads, delicious dips, various cheeses all with just a splash of wine and a dollop of trifle.

I love fancy grown up nibblies.

But...

I'll be heading out in less than 8 hours to begin running it off.
I really have become one of the crazies.

I now own two pair of running tights.
I'm not sure how I feel about this.

Childlike

I experienced the kind of wet that one usually gets from jumping in a lake the other day. What did I do? I ran 10k in the rain.

Being a left coaster I'm pretty used to the rain; we all sort of shrug and get on with it. When I met with my group we had a moment of commiseration then headed out for our run.

It was wet, really wet. It was a thick rain, it came with pockets of pounding rain, the kind that jumps back up off the road. By 5k I was soaked through and by 6k I was running with lakes in my shoes. I wish I could have seen what I looked like and could have heard what the people driving by were saying.

Even though I was drenched I had a certain satisfaction while running and felt quite good about it all. Every time I had to leap a lake or river on the streets I found myself giggling and spent most of the run smiling like a goof.

I was only missing my gumboots.

(I'd like these. I am a sucker for red footwear.)

I forgot!

I saw the joggler on the weekend!

He was running the marathon and looked fresh and breezy to my very wheezy.

On Saturday I was up and out the door at the butt crack of dawn; I don't recommend it. My four road mates were quite chatty but I didn't start to perk up until about 8:30 and then they wished I was quiet again; sassy morning mouth.


After a quick boat ride across the pond we made our way to the capitol city of this fair province where we were spending the night before a race the next morning. After picking up our race packages we all got settled into or respective accommodations; them a hotel and me a hostel (unless you can get a private room or are a very sound sleeper a hostel is not a good choice before a race because not everyone has good roomie etiquette like me!). We spent the evening eating a big meal and going to bed early.


Sunday began at 5 am as I was worried that my alarm wouldn't go off and, if it did, that it would wake everyone up. I quietly and quickly grabbed my stuff and slipped out of the room to pack and get dressed before heading to the kitchen for breakfast. After making my toast I threw my pack on and headed to the friend's hotel to drop off my stuff and join them for the the pre run waiting around.

7:30 and we were off. The weather was pretty perfect; slightly overcast changing to sunny and cool but not cold. The course was very pretty, through the city and along the ocean, though I have to admit that I'd have liked it better if it wasn't an out and back where you get passed by the fastest runners. Just before the halfway point I passed a group along the side of the road yelling "beer, beer, beer!" which made me grin as I thought they were just trying to upsell their cups of water. I found out that it really was beer on my return; now that's a run club!

All along the way I was passed by the people I knew as they are speeeeeeeedy! It's good that I trained with them so that it wasn't quite so depressing being left in the dust. At 16k I was feeling not bad at all but by 18 I began to feel the wall of doom. I slid my sunglasses on, gritted my teeth, turned up my music and kept placing one foot in front of the other.


I'd done the distance twice in training runs but it was harder in the race. There were all sorts of factors that could have played into that but since I made my goal I'm trying to let those things lie. :)


I crossed the line, had my timing chip removed, grimaced for a photo and then hit the food tent for snacks and stretching. After eating the bananas, bagels, cookies and gatorade I made my way back to the hotel where I got to have a shower, glorious hot water, and layer up in clothing because I was chilly.

Then it was off to the pub for fish and chips and a pint.

Food; that is why I run!

What Are You Thankful For?

So I got a computer and am getting comfortable with it.
This means I haven't written about the wedding which is alright considering the pictures are not forth coming...

I'd say I would write over the weekend but I am going away for a whirlwind trip to the island to do a slog, erm, trot.

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canucks!

I'm thankful for the pumpkin pie that awaits me on my return. Delish!

Today I ran my furthest distance ever.
It was long in the humidity and the warming day didn't help.

Typically I've ended with a tender feeling knee, not really sore but I am aware of it, but today my right tricep was hurting. I swapped my watch to the other wrist and tried stretching during my walk breaks but it got to the point that I was holding my arm for part of the run. Not fun. Bizarre as well.

I also kind of lost my nut in the last km. My breathing got very gaspy as I tried not to cry and I cursed my way through 90% of it; very lady like. I'm not sure what that was about and in that moment I was quite happy to be the slowest runner of my group because I was alone when I cracked up.

I'm crawling into bed now.

You want to know what's weird?
Being checked out, twice, by teen aged boys. They were the sorts of looks that you just know meant something positive instead of a 'look at that fuddy duddy' feel. And they both did the look again a little bit longer thing. I checked to see if anyone else was around but it was just me wandering by myself.

Odd.

I think it must be because my skin is acting teen aged.
Running with sunscreen on is not friendly to my face.
Bring back the rain.

No, wait, I don't mean that yet!

A More Than Worthwhile Cause

I went on a charity trot over the weekend. It involved uniforms, loud horns, big trucks and a lot of women runners. How stereotypical! *grin*

I had decided in the beginning that I wanted to see if I could run straight through, without my normal breaks, so set off with that goal in mind. I kept picking spots ahead where I figured I'd take a break and then, once there, I reassessed and went a little further. I did this the whole way and ended up running the entire 5 straight through (my time sucked though so it's a good thing I wasn't paying attention to that...). I know a lot of people can do that distance without any problem at all but this was my first real go at it.

When the lot of us were standing around eating and chatting as the door prizes were being called out one of the fire fighter's asked me if I was with X city. I gave a polite laugh and said no but inside I was jumping and squealing like a big kid: "He thought I was a fire fighter! He thought I was a fire fighter!" *bouncebouncebounce*

It's the little things in life, isn't it.

click to donate

Drink Up!

I did a weekend trot to bring people in need water and bettered my 10k by 6 minutes (I'm still darned slow though).


I've also discovered that Zazie's song, Je Suis Un Homme, is a great song to begin a race with. It shall be the go to song from now on (thanks to Scotsman for introducing me to her music).

"Your legs are fish belly white."

It was warm enough to wear shorts on my group run last night....

I'm the Tortoise...and a silly one at that.

When it comes to the competition I don't particularly like timed running races. I psych myself out too easily and get discouraged when the 8 year old and the walker pass me by (He's 8! She's walking!).

The New Years race was timed but it wasn't a results race. Today was about results. The finishing times aren't posted yet but I think I'll be in the last quarter for the people who ran the 10k.

So I can run 10k.
But I feel kind of down about being such a slow poke.

Silly isn't it.

And something to work on...

oh...PS...I did win a door prize though. A gift certificate card for the running shop.

I went to this hoping for a few laughs since I'd enjoyed Simon Pegg in the last two movies, Shaun of the Dean and Hot Fuzz, but at the same time a bit unsure as I knew that it was an American script adapted to the UK. I wasn't sure they could mesh the two without making a mess.

I was pleasantly surprised. I have to assume the fact that I am in the midst of training for a 10k run added to the funniness for me; so able to relate. I went on my own and the fact that I laughed aloud says something (squeaky laughs and big snorty laughs [good thing I was alone!]).

They market the movie as sad guy trying to get the girl back but I thought it ended up more as a man pride movie, two rams butting heads in the woods (or the big, bad city), and eventually getting over yourself to do more than you ever though you could.

I give the movie a bag of popcorn and a thumbs up. Definitely good for a giggle.

Of course I had to see this.
I still think marathoners are nutters.

holy
fuck

*collapse*