I haven't moved since I got home from work because I'm so tired but ironically I'm wired and can't go to sleep. Thinking back over the last few days my fatigue is totally understandable. It has been a crazyawesomefun few days of training, torch chasing and opening ceremonies celebrating. I got up before dawn on Thursday morning to cheer on Brit as she ran with the torch. I didn't really want to go, I thought I was going more out of obligation than anything else. Boy was I wrong. I didn't really understand the olympic spirit feeling until i experienced the emotion of Brit holding the torch high and proud. I couldn't help myself as I darted thought the crowd chasing the torch down the road along with the rest of my training group. I get it! I'm so glad I got up! I'm so excited to feel the pride and the passion of a city that usually gets by on its looks. I saw the torch three more times that day and managed to fit in a hill workout.
I modified my hills today. I ran up a grass hill beside the track to give my sore plantar some softer ground. It was terribly windy, rainy and lonely. I must admit I didn't want to do it. My mindset was terrible, I was very aware I had only slept for a few hours and my hips and shoulders were tight. I told myself that effort was all that mattered today, I was working improving aerobic system. After 5 minutes I considered stopping at 10 but once you reach the "hump" or half-way point there's no turning back. There is no stopping. I would regret it all day. I finished with a 20-minute cool down and didn't move onto the track for sprints because of my sore foot.
Friday involved another well worth it but very early morning. Ella slept over and we got up at 5am to stalk Arnold and the torch. It was insane, we saw arnold amongst a hugely crazed crowd. I was sprinting, pushing, jumping and reaching. It was so much fun! After a 3 hour nap (thank god friday was rest day) I watched the opening ceremonies from the shaw towers. We realized about half way through the evening that a second cauldron was literally below our building. We had a front-row, completely unobstructed view of Wayne Gretzky lighting the cauldron! More to come but for now I'm off to bed to prepare for a sunday run!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Tuesday Torture!
Well the blog title doesn't really speak the truth today. Tuesdays for me, are notoriously the hardest workout of the week but today was a change of pace type workout. We stared off with warm-up as usual followed by 1000 hard, 1000 easy, 800 hard, 400 easy, 400 hard. This work-out should have been easy because there were very few hard parts. Normally I would have wanted to do more but today this workout was a blessing because I felt extra tired today. It was one of those days when I was in a fog that I just couldn't shake. I was thinking I'm so tried, I can feel my glands, I feel like crap, the front of my hips are tired. Despite these thoughts I tired to think of past experiences where I've felt worse and ran fine but I was just not in it today. I just couldn't make myself run fast.
All and all I've been excited about my workouts because they have been going well but today I felt tired from the start. I'm not sure if mentally finding out we had an easier workout allowed me to fully surrender to my fatigue because I didn't have to be up for it or the stiffness in my hips was felt from the plank I did the day before. I've also been tired from a 4-hour sleep before the Saturday workout, Sunday 70-minute run and fun bike but these aren't good excuses because I biked for 30-minutes on Monday.
Things I learned today: I need to continue to pay attention to my diet. I've been cheating with the dairy I'm not sure if this could have an effect on my groggy-ness. I'm trying to look for trends my glands are a bit swollen and I feel foggy/weak tired but not bad. The past two weeks of training have been great, remember this!
All and all I've been excited about my workouts because they have been going well but today I felt tired from the start. I'm not sure if mentally finding out we had an easier workout allowed me to fully surrender to my fatigue because I didn't have to be up for it or the stiffness in my hips was felt from the plank I did the day before. I've also been tired from a 4-hour sleep before the Saturday workout, Sunday 70-minute run and fun bike but these aren't good excuses because I biked for 30-minutes on Monday.
Things I learned today: I need to continue to pay attention to my diet. I've been cheating with the dairy I'm not sure if this could have an effect on my groggy-ness. I'm trying to look for trends my glands are a bit swollen and I feel foggy/weak tired but not bad. The past two weeks of training have been great, remember this!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Easy-ish Run and Booster Juice Bike
Today, like every Sunday, I drove to Burnaby Lake with Robbie for our 70-minute morning run. We met Natasha and agreed we were both feeling tired from the weeks workouts. We mustered our energy by sort of feeding off each other and began the run a little easier than normal. I felt okay with this choices because we had good training weeks and why not ease into the run if our bodies were begging for it. My hips felt ok but I was concerned (and still am) that my heel/plantar area of my right foot is hurting more than normal and not really going away. I think it's related to my tight calfs but I'm not sure. The run was enjoyable, despite my sore foot, it was a mild day and I didn't feel too exhausted. Sometimes when I feel really tired and the pace begins fast I start to dread every minute. I think I develop those thoughts because I know I still have to run and I think about how painful the rest of the run is going to be. Luckily for me this wasn't the case today! Because we began slower than normal I felt pretty good and as we ended our run I realized the overall time wasn't really much slower than normal. Naturally we had picked up the pace as we went along instead of the usual slowing when we begin too fast.
I'm really enjoying running at Burnaby Lake. I think the soft ground helps me recover and running with the girls prevents me from going too hard. I do miss running on the seawall but the pavement, construction closures and people in my way are nice things to avoid. Committing to a morning run is also nice because I don't put off running all day and since I finish so early I have the whole day to do non-running things (usually it's work).
Speaking of non-running things, today I didn't have to work. Instead I gathered all my non-depleted energy and met Renee for a seawall bike ride and a chat. We leisurely biked around the seawall taking in the beautiful sights and exposing ourselves to the overly mild February ocean breeze. I absolutely love the ocean, today we played tourist and re-exposed ourselves to the beauty of vancouver that I always take for granted. We finished our fantastic afternoon ride with a very enjoyable funky monkey booster juice. Things I learned today..... Well I re-learned how much I love the ocean and even just watching the ocean, I also re-learned I love biking (even with a crappy foot break bike). I need to remember that even when the runs are feeling bad I shouldn't think about how much further I have to run because it's always worse in my mind. Remember you can always go harder you just have to make yourself do it and you have to want to do it!
I'm really enjoying running at Burnaby Lake. I think the soft ground helps me recover and running with the girls prevents me from going too hard. I do miss running on the seawall but the pavement, construction closures and people in my way are nice things to avoid. Committing to a morning run is also nice because I don't put off running all day and since I finish so early I have the whole day to do non-running things (usually it's work).
Speaking of non-running things, today I didn't have to work. Instead I gathered all my non-depleted energy and met Renee for a seawall bike ride and a chat. We leisurely biked around the seawall taking in the beautiful sights and exposing ourselves to the overly mild February ocean breeze. I absolutely love the ocean, today we played tourist and re-exposed ourselves to the beauty of vancouver that I always take for granted. We finished our fantastic afternoon ride with a very enjoyable funky monkey booster juice. Things I learned today..... Well I re-learned how much I love the ocean and even just watching the ocean, I also re-learned I love biking (even with a crappy foot break bike). I need to remember that even when the runs are feeling bad I shouldn't think about how much further I have to run because it's always worse in my mind. Remember you can always go harder you just have to make yourself do it and you have to want to do it!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Saturday Broken 1000's
After tossing and turning all night and finally finding rest around 3 am the 7:50 alarm came way too quickly. My hips felt tight as I was trying to sleep and I think subconsciously I was concerned they would limit my morning practice. I tired my normal sleep remedy: I found my golf ball and tried to target the tight areas, drank water and took melatonin but turning off my workout worries was I think my real problem.
I was out of the Bowen house by 8:05 and on the 8:30 ferry with a fantastic sung coffee! Warm-up was tiring and I felt half asleep. I was worried about making it through the workout. Through the whole 20-minutes the front and sides of my hips were making it hard to run efficiently and I felt tired from my 4 hours of sleep. I tried to keep telling myself I won't feel tired once I get into the workout. I've had good workouts off of little sleep before and as a bonus it was a beautiful day so I didn't have to deal with any terrible weather elements. I was relieved to hear the workout was broken 1000, 600, 1000, 600, 1000! I didn't want to deal with race pace stuff today. I began the workout with a 1000 feeling better than expected, finishing in 3:07, I love running in spikes. My 600 was 1:49 and the second 1000 was 3:08. After the 1000 I was worried my body was giving up I felt more weak than tired and heavy. I decided to take my ventolin and moved onto a 1:52 600. After an unimpressive 600 I though there was no way I would be able to handle another 1000. As the 1000 began I was surprised to feel that my weakness wasn't there, I was tired from running but I didn't feel weak. I finshed the first 200 in normal pace and went through 600 slower than I would have liked, 1:51 but it wasn't terrible, I knew I could finish the workout and crossed the line in an acceptable 3:10. I'm so happy I finished the workout strong. Moral of today...don't think about the next interval until you're in it. Don't waste energy talking yourself down before you start because you have no idea how you will feel until you're in it. I will take this experience with me the next time I feel crappy half-way through, I know I also have to thank ventolin but all and all it was a positive day overall.
I was out of the Bowen house by 8:05 and on the 8:30 ferry with a fantastic sung coffee! Warm-up was tiring and I felt half asleep. I was worried about making it through the workout. Through the whole 20-minutes the front and sides of my hips were making it hard to run efficiently and I felt tired from my 4 hours of sleep. I tried to keep telling myself I won't feel tired once I get into the workout. I've had good workouts off of little sleep before and as a bonus it was a beautiful day so I didn't have to deal with any terrible weather elements. I was relieved to hear the workout was broken 1000, 600, 1000, 600, 1000! I didn't want to deal with race pace stuff today. I began the workout with a 1000 feeling better than expected, finishing in 3:07, I love running in spikes. My 600 was 1:49 and the second 1000 was 3:08. After the 1000 I was worried my body was giving up I felt more weak than tired and heavy. I decided to take my ventolin and moved onto a 1:52 600. After an unimpressive 600 I though there was no way I would be able to handle another 1000. As the 1000 began I was surprised to feel that my weakness wasn't there, I was tired from running but I didn't feel weak. I finshed the first 200 in normal pace and went through 600 slower than I would have liked, 1:51 but it wasn't terrible, I knew I could finish the workout and crossed the line in an acceptable 3:10. I'm so happy I finished the workout strong. Moral of today...don't think about the next interval until you're in it. Don't waste energy talking yourself down before you start because you have no idea how you will feel until you're in it. I will take this experience with me the next time I feel crappy half-way through, I know I also have to thank ventolin but all and all it was a positive day overall.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Good ol' Granola
Friday is my favourite day! Rest day! Don't get me wrong I love my training program but Friday is the only day where I don't have to complete a workout before I can relax. Since today is about recovery and preparing for another weeks worth of training I decided to make my favourite granola recipe. I can't take all the credit this recipe is combination of Miss Chloe Fox's recipe and the Gluten Free Cookies recipe book.
4C Rice Krispies
2C Oats
1C Slivered Almonds
1C Pumpkin Seeds
1/2C Pecans bits
1/2C Coconut
1/3C Maple Syrup
1 tsp Oil
Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately then toss wet with the dry. Distribute mixture over two cookie sheets and bake in a 300 degree oven for 15 minuets, stir after 7 minutes. If you prefer the granola to be very crisp keep in the oven for 5 more minutes. Let cool then add 1/2C cranberries.
To make granola bars, make granola as usual and place in a big bowl. Combine 1/2 C peanut butter and 1/2 C corn syrup and heat over the stove or in the microwave for 1 minuet. Mix completely and then pour mixture over the granola. Press into a 16x9 pan and let cool in the fridge. Enjoy!
4C Rice Krispies
2C Oats
1C Slivered Almonds
1C Pumpkin Seeds
1/2C Pecans bits
1/2C Coconut
1/3C Maple Syrup
1 tsp Oil
Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately then toss wet with the dry. Distribute mixture over two cookie sheets and bake in a 300 degree oven for 15 minuets, stir after 7 minutes. If you prefer the granola to be very crisp keep in the oven for 5 more minutes. Let cool then add 1/2C cranberries.
To make granola bars, make granola as usual and place in a big bowl. Combine 1/2 C peanut butter and 1/2 C corn syrup and heat over the stove or in the microwave for 1 minuet. Mix completely and then pour mixture over the granola. Press into a 16x9 pan and let cool in the fridge. Enjoy!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Thursday Hills
Lets try this again... I have created blogs in the past without any real success or direction. To begin with I'm basically going to discuss anything related to my running: workouts, strength training, mind, diet, recovery and races. I'm also excited to use this blog as a tool to dive deep into my thoughts while running. I realize the importance of maintaining a positive mind-body connection but I feel as if I can explore a lot deeper than ever before using this tool. I hope to look for patterns and find some common ground. My ultimate goal is to run fast, breaking 2:01 and then 2-flat.....I wish it were that simple. I'm simply going to discuss my workouts and from here I'm excited to see where this will go.
Thursday Hills: Today I had a fantastic day. The sun was out and Rob and I went for a walk through downtown to checkout the olympic village from the birds-eye view of the cambie street bridge. I had practice in the afternoon and began with a 15 minute warm up followed by stretching, strides and drills. From this I began 20-minuets of continuous hills. Through warm-up I was very aware of how stiff I felt through my hips. I also noticed this stiffness as I was walking earlier in the day and I was concerned I may feel tight in the hip area during the workout. I began the hills slower than I normally do, usually I like to start out fast, but I went out controlled. I was tight in the front and side of my hips but it wasn't as debilitating as it has been in the past. I didn't feel like the hips were limiting me today, I took advantage of this and picked up my pace with each lap. After 10-minutes I moved to the shorter hill to work on my speed and continued to feel strong as I pick up the pace with every hill. Today was a good day, I began feeling slightly stiff and tired and finished feeling happy and strong! I finished with a 400 on the track to work on race pace speed because I'm having trouble running all out. I feel like the front of my hips are fatiguing too quickly and I'm not able to run as fast as my mind wants me to. Today I didn't run the 400 as well as I would have liked, my lungs are not that tired but the front of my hips feel like they are limiting my turnover. I'm trying not to think about it too much right now, all and all my workout was strong. I finished with a 15-minute cool down and then rushed to an amazing dinner with my family to celebrate my sisters 23rd birthday. I'm grateful for my family, my great day with my boyfriend and my running ability.
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