Who Puts Away a Dead Garmin?!

Alright, so remember that Monday of the Boston Marathon... When I went for a run and thought it was extremely fitting that my Garmin died at the end of it... Ya, funny story, since I was leaving the next day for Florida I never charged it. Seriously? And I'm going into a Master's program?

My oh my. Anyways, yesterday I attempted to go for a run, was initially annoyed when I realized I had no Garmin. But then figured I would use my good ol IronMan watch which lets face it, same dif just no pace time really. And honestly, with this delightful chest cold I have it is probably for the best that I couldn't see my pace time.

I did an old and faithful route, that I used to do last year and the year before when I first started to really run outside. I am fortunate enough to live near by a park that has a lake with a walk/running path that goes around it. It was comforting to run a route that I used to do, to know that the one hill I may have to walk up but try not to get discouraged and just keep on keeping on. Sometimes, during these runs, the ones when you head out thinking you have come so far but mentally feeling discouraged like you haven't. It is during these runs, when you run old routes that you can feel reassured in yourself, in your strength and in how far you have come as a runner.

 It was a beautiful sunshiny day out, and the park was full of people running, walking and playing which is always nice. Since I had  no Garmin I used MapMyRun to see how far I went and was surprised as to the distance, yeaaa 5.13 miles... Oh, right, but I'm doing at least 13.1 next weekend (and should be doing 17 or something according to my training plan... awesome).

Anyways, I can't even remember what my time was, but heck, 5 miles is better then none at all, and the feeling of heat, exhaustion, and sweat running down my face was pure satisfaction.

This weekend I am going to attempt to go on a nice slow run on Sunday, and Saturday I'm not doing anything as I am working from 8:30 to a undecided time due to a work even that is taking place.

So Happy Friday to anyone who happens to see this and I hope it is a sunny Friday for you like we are having in the lower mainland right now. 

Back from Florida... but a unwanted guest came back with me

Lesson of the trip... Do not have a lay over in Denver, even if it is April, as they will have a snow storm.

Second lesson, do not try to sleep on the airplane with your mouth open, as you will get sick and take home all those unwanted germs with you (ya that happened as well).

But what an amazing trip we had. It was my Mom, Sister and I who went for 5 days and managed to pack in Universal and the wonderful Disney World Parks. A fun, goofy time was had by all, and by the end of it I think I walked more then I have ran in this whole training cycle. So here are a few pics to showcase what went down:

 Entering Harry Potter at Universal

 If you don't know what this is... I don't even know what to say

 Fantastic late lunch/early dinner at the Animal Kingdom

 

 Magic Kingdom... Ya I know all the 5 year olds

 are jealous of my fashion ;)

Gaston's Tavern in Fantasy Land

Unless 15 hours spent at Magic Kingdom counts towards Marathon training... it didn't happen in this trip. But hey, I got the BMO half next weekend (perhaps need to lower those expectations a bit),  and am going for a run tonight (cold is almost gone) and a run with a co-worker who is doing the full with me in June on Sunday. 

So all is not lost, and this 'holiday' was more of a work out then anything I have done in recent memory I'd say. Only regret, is that I didn't bring my Garmin to track how much walking we did (I have a feeling that number may have been scary).

Runners Unite

April 15, 2013

It isn't the worst event that has happened, it isn't the most violent thing we have seen.

But it was shocking.
It was heart breaking.
It brought to the fore front of my mind how much I love my loved ones, and how much I love running.

I had watched the elite women finish, I was tracking the bloggers who I follow and were at Boston via twitter, and when the first tweets went out about an explosion I wasn't sure what to believe. I attempted to go to reputable news sources and there was nothing, why? Well lets face it, Canadian Running, Boston Marathon and Runners World, these are the commentators and news reporters who are at events like this. These are the Running Communities reputable sources.

Today, I wore one of my race shirts to work, to show that I am a part of the Running Community.

I went for a run last night, and it was fitting that my iPod died, as it gave me time to think of the events that unfolded, how much I value the spectators who have been at races I have participated in and hope that this will not deter them from being a part of race day magic.

Yesterday I ran for Boston. Yesterday I prayed for Boston. And today, I look forward to the future of Boston.

Getting it done... even though I don't wanna!

Hey, Okay so most sporadic blogger? Yepp seems about right. So recap of my goals from the last week after my long(ish) 8 miler on Monday:

Tuesday- Workout DVD Check, Jillian Michaels Shed and Shred Level 1
Wed- Gym- Kind of Check? Home ab circuit... It sucked, I was sweating, It was intense so Check
Thurs- Track session or negative split run -Check- 8:30 for 15 then dropped it like its hot to 8/mle Fri- Swimming - Did not happen :( too tired (lazy? I dunno)
Sat- 13 miler (may modify that to 11) - 13.1 miles (split up) in 2:02
Sun- Swimming with coach - Check, but legs were to sore to do anything with flippers

Alright, so all in all, my goals were pretty much met, I was happy!

On Saturday, I went to the Running Room on Cambie street in Vancouver for a vamp up to the BMO type shindig in the morning. John Stanton was there (founder of the Running Room), and gave us a little talk with advice (super helpful, lesson learned... HILL WORK OUTS, GET ON IT!) followed by a 3.5 mile run with the peeps who were there. It was nice to go out and run in Vancouver with a large group of other runners (something I don't do).

After this my friend Kelly and I went to the sea wall in Vancouver (which owned me last year during the BMO half) and I wrapped up with 13.1 miles total for the day... Yes I was super pumped (and incredibly sore the next day). Splitting up the 13 miler definitely helped, mentally my head plays games with me sometimes and the small break was a huge mental relief.

So I had similar goals for this week: 

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Workout DVD Check Jillian Michaels Shed and Shred Level 2 (did not realize it was longer then Level 1... may have spent half of it staring at the tv trying to figure out what the heck it was she wanted me to do).
Wednesday - Tempo Run Check, 5 miles in 43 mins (getting closer to my sub 50 10 km goal)
Thursday - Ab work out
Friday - Hill Training on the TM before work
Saturday - 15 mile run

All in all I'm pretty satisfied with where I am in my training. However, I am struggling with my mid week runs, so last night I did a shout out to my friends on facebook who inspire me to run and be active. I used them as motivation to get me out the door, and ended up having an amazing run, holding 8:15s for all but mile 3 when I had to take a walking break (aka where the heck is a washroom, and please do not be closed!).

I'm hoping to do at least 3 solid hill sessions before hitting the track for some 800 m sprint sets, and I am not too sure what I am going to do next week with me being at Disneyworld and Universal Studios... but I'm sure I will come up with something...

Amusement park exploration counts toward my long run goals for the day? No? hmmmmm.....

Back into Training Mode

Well, vacation was fun... and my leg/knee isn't bothering me anymore... which means...

TRAINING IS BACK ON!! No more excuses... I've been back home for three days and gone on 2 x 3 mile runs and finally busted out a big one (which shouldn't be big if I were following my training plan) 8 miles... woohooo...

Ya, so anyways Vacation is over for now and it is time to get focused on training. Since Monday is a holiday in Canada, and my attempt at getting my long run in on Saturday didn't come about, today (Monday) was my long run day, and this is how it played out:


 

Split	Time	Moving Time	Distance	Avg Pace	Best Pace	Avg HR	Max HR	Calories
1	08:50.7	8:39	1	8:51	6:28	161	175	82
2	08:43.6	8:38	1	8:44	6:47	170	174	92
3	10:08.6	10:02	1	10:09	7:06	170	177	107
4	09:23.5	9:09	1	9:24	7:54	172	175	101
5	08:54.9	8:51	1	8:55	7:45	175	177	97
6	10:00.0	9:42	1	10:00	7:21	174	178	109
7	09:06.2	9:00	1	9:06	7:25	175	177	100
8	09:10.7	9:07	1	9:11	7:16	175	179	101
9	:02.0	--	0	7:08	7:56	178	178	0
Summary	1:14:20.0	1:13:08.0	8	9:14	6:30	172	179	789

All in all, a 9:14 pace, and I came in under 1:15 (my goal I decided on part way through the run). YAY! It was nice to get my legs back, to have them do a long distance and force myself to finish. As of late, the mental part of running is what has been hard for me so this was a nice confidence boost. Also, it was nice that the weather cooperated, as I was out running in shorts and a t-shirt :).    As the work week is about to start tomorrow, here is the plan for the week: 
Tuesday- Workout DVD Wed- Gym Thurs- Track session or negative split run  Fri- Swimming Sat- 13 miler (may modify that to 11)  Sun- Swimming with coach   Well, I hope that you have enjoyed the Easter holiday, celebrating the true reason for this season, and that your training has been more stable then my own. :)