Day 2?

There is a question mark there because I can hardly believe I am already on day 2. I mean wow, jee golly whiz. Actually its because I ate a handful of chocolate last night, so maybe today is day 1 again ;) But no, onward and upward. I have started strong on this day. Eggs, zucchini and nearly black coffee for breakfast. Raw veggies and a bit of dip for lunch, and another almost black coffee.... a couple of almonds for fun. And water. I need more water. And I got on my spin bike, the first exercise I have done in almost 2 weeks. I went slow. I just pedaled with minimum resistance, just enough to break a sweat. 20 minutes. ... Day 2 continues. DunDUnDun

Day 1?

It has been a quite a while since I posted last.  Since then I have completed another marathon.  It was worse than my first. Perhaps I will blog about it later. ..

So why is this post being called Day 1? There are a lot of reasons....

But the short and to the point version is that my body has been in a slump. I have been picking up faster 5k and tempo run times than before,, but I know my eating was awful (plus now with summer it gets harder)... I was probably over trained too.  I knew there was a downhill coming.  So just over 2 weeks ago I decided I needed to start eating how made me feel best and that was a lower carb,  higher protein and fat diet.  I needed to kick the cravings so I was starting on a 2 week keto go. The morning of day 2 (Canada day) I woke up and went out for a Canada day 5 know run in the community. My friend and I went for a warm up lap and by the time we were done i knew I was off but had no idea what was off. Just a bit of a tight chest....

We ran the race shortly after and within minutes of finish I knew I was sick.  At first I thought this is a little too soon for the "keto flu...."
In bed until Sunday with a headache and body chills and not sure what was up but with a trip to Whistler coming up in figured I should go in to the Dr in case I needed antibiotics. Which I got that day

Turns out. ..... I had pneumonia. X-ray Sunday,  results monday. Whistler Tuesday. 

I caught it early enough I think that I didn't fall harder.  But it's still in there and all the trips are over for a moment.

So today is Day 1.
Day 1 of MAF training. I figure since I can't run yet, or even move too fast for my lungs, it is a good time to start training this way again.  I remember how slow and hard it was, the ego hit, but also the energy left over. 
Day 1 of Keto eating. I need to go shopping.

Now I am clearly a terrible blogger,  so let's see how long this lasts!

SO! I completed a marathon... and then what??

It has been seven months since I completed a marathon. I went on to run a couple more races (RnR Vancouver for one). In November I decided I needed to try something. I needed to RUN A MARATHON. But this time the group is larger. More exciting. Not faster, that is for darn sure. Anyways. I believe we are about 9 weeks out from said marathon. Longest training run this round was 26 km. It was BRUTAL. We keep getting the lovely winter weather of the south coast. Rain. Wind. The end. The training group I am with is made of 2 sub groups, you could say... The Super fast, aiming for a BQ fast group. And then US. The plodders. The ones who would just like to finish. Alive. Breathing. Walking at the very least. Not crying. It has been interesting. I love my running friends. But after training for the last marathon mostly solo I find myself sometimes wanting to run those long runs solo. But then not. Because that last run would have been a lot less positive if I had been alone. I feel like I need to do a recap of the past 7 months, and I probably will. But not today. While the children are screaming around me and I am guzzling a coffee before it gets too cold I just do not have the mental capacity (or 30 seconds of quiet) to bring back the time past. What I really need is a keyboard for my tablet so I can type from anywhere :D lol.... Ok ok. I will try again later. Peace out Home slice

Rock N Roll Seattle Marathon

I actually, COMPLETED A MARATHON!!!


I suppose I will give my real life regular human being version of how it went down.

For the few weeks before (basically since I ran in Portland Oregon, crap I should recap that first before I post this... after!)
Ok so for a few weeks before, since PDX, I kind of slacked on my runs.  I ran 15-20 during the week (2 5's and a 10) and then maybe a bit on Saturday with a 'long run" on Sunday.  My long runs included a 10k race (Run for Water, man I slacked and didn't recount that either) and an 18k long run the weekend before.  That was a hot run, so hot that I thought my friend wasn't going to make it and she was my marathon buddy!!  But we did and it was all good after.

I didn't do much the week of.  Friday I dropped the girls off at school with their people lined up to pick them up and spend the night with family, hubby got home from work and we were off around 10 am.
We stopped at some outlets on the way down (yup recounting the whole thing for you). And then we headed down to Seattle to the Expo. (I am going to try and put up pictures! but right now Blogger is a bit down).  The expo is down, my DH had not been to one before and I think he enjoyed just seeing all of the stuff even though he has no interest in running.  We tried on some Hoka One One and he really liked some, he is a big guy and favoured the cushioning. I found a pair of Altra's on sale and more Injinji socks and I can't wait to try them out!

After the Expo we were out to our hotel.  Went for a walk to find the start line and then found some food.  I ordered Pizza at Whole Foods.  That was such a bad move, I need gluten free and they said yeah sure, we do gluten free..... and then the kid used all the flour covered tools.... I got back to the hotel ate a few bites of the topping, decided the pizza was gross anyways and tossed it.  I had a backup salad. :)

Organized my race wear, the always battle of which shirt, which hat, which socks bla bla bla. I had never gone more than 32 km before so I had no idea!!!

And then to bed.  5am wake up call.  I tend to have stomach issues and I wasn't sure if the pizza was going to do me over or not so I needed to make sure I could have enough time to get things moving while still at the hotel.  I had a nasty breakfast of almond yogurt (I grabbed plain instead of vanilla) and some bar thing that tasted cardboardish... I only ate half of each, I didn't have much appetite.  DH even asked "Is that all you are eating???" Uh thats all I can get in!!! And half a coffee.  Started getting messages from my Marathon Buddy, (MB), and planned to meet in our corral.  Did the rest of the morning stuff and headed out to the start line.  Leaving only half an hour to walk to the start felt weird, but I could have left an hour later at the time we started!!

I got to the start line.  The corrals were just opening and there were tons and tons of people milling around the Space Needle. I got into Corral 26 and found our 'meeting spot'... and waited....and waited.... and watched all the people... and waited... and then it was the first start.  The fireworks/rockets went off of the space needle and the first group was off!  And my MB was no where to be seen.  I made small talk with others around me and eventually started moving forward.  I always love the herd of cattle effect.  I had pretty much given up on MB, I figured either she was starting with her friend running the half way up ahead, or she hadn't got her package yet or something.... And then about half way to the start she was in the corral! I wasn't running it alone!

Got to the start, and our corral was OFF!!  The back of the packers.  I didn't realize just exactly how true this was going to become.  I am often a mid/back pack runner in my half's, I don't have a lot of speed.

Ran past hubby at km 1 or 2, and trucked along.  Talked a lot. Laughed some.  These were the beginning km.  I was on my slow steady 7 min/km ish pace......

In the first 5 k we both needed to bathroom break.  Found one with lots of porta pottys and an okay line, only took a few minutes. Ran on.  Somewhere around 10 k the half marathoners split away from us as we headed towards Seward Park.  At this point we were pretty much "alone" and more so as we had fallen farther and farther behind the mid pack runners.  My MB was starting to have stomach issues.  No biggie, more bathroom breaks, I was committed to finishing it together.  We went around Seward park and as we were on the opposite side we caught sight of the Sag Wagon... it was only a few km behind us!! I personally had no desire to see it so darn close.  But what happens happens.

We exited the park and headed towards the bridge (I don't know what it was called)... up the little hill to get onto it and then along we went.  At this point, around 20 or so km my MB was starting to hurt.  There was nothing that I could do but keep on chattering along, being my obnoxious self, hoping I could distract her every now and then.  We both had our music on most of this time.  I was otherwise zoned out just doing my own thing.  I was a bit hungry but otherwise feeling good.  I had a lot of extra walk breaks as my pace kept me going ahead of her and if I got too far I would stop and walk while she caught up.  I credit all of these extra walk breaks for how good I feel today.

We crossed the bridge and then into the long tunnel.  Running on those damn slanted roads was awful.  AWFUL.  When I hiked the Jasper Skyline trail we were constantly on the side of a mountain, with loose skree, and always with our ankles turned one side or the other... it opened up a lot of problems for me... and I knew if I wasn't careful these banked roads were going to do me in.  MB was having trouble on them too and I pointed out where it looked the most flat to hopefully help her along... anything to ease the pain that was written on her face.  They also had really really loud music playing in the tunnel.  Its a tunnel! no need for that!  Just regular loud is fine.

Exit tunnel, go to turn around, more outhouse breaks, and back we go.  Someone was being taken away by the medic now too, that is never fun to see but they looked okay.  Which is much better than the experiences we had at RnR Vancouver.  Back through the tunnel... more slanty road.. back onto bridge... we took water or gatorade at every stop they had, plus our water that was on us. We continued on.  Lots of stretch breaks.  Lots of walking.  And then another hill.  I had my real zombie apocalypse thoughts in the last tunnel... hazy, humid, yellow ick!!  Then we were onto the viaduct. It was interesting seeing all the backed up traffic all around us, and we in the middle of an empty ramp.  There were 5 or 6 km to go now and we had a walk break.

MB spirits were up because it was only that much farther.  We took a picture and talked to some others that were around us (not many!).  And then we started to the finish.  I said to whoever was around... we can do ANYTHING for 30 minutes.  We run 5 km all the time, we run it tired, we run it hurt, we run it in our sleep, 5 km is a piece of cake.  And then at 20 minutes, and at 7 minutes... I could see everyone around us was tired, exhausted. But we were almost there.

I picked up my imaginary tow rope (yes I totally imagined that I had a tow rope from me to MB, and I was going to get her there damnit!) and we got to the end.  She had her family and friends there and my husband, who had been waiting for almost 2 hours was there too!!  It was great seeing their faces and knowing we were done.

We had completed a marathon.  We are Marathoners!!  We are full crazy.


Afterwards my DH admitted, he was getting a bit worried and thinking of checking in with the medics.  He had known how my training was, he knew I was feeling great that morning, and he had watched my progress and felt that I could/should/was on track for my under 5 finish.  But he also understood/agreed when I told him it didn't matter, we were so alone out there, any choice other than staying with my friend would have been the wrong choice.  There are always other runs. ;)

And it is now the 2nd morning after.  I feel awesome!  I can hardly believe that I feel this good. (knock on wood)  My hips are the tiniest bit stiff still, but I barely notice because it is my normal hip stiff.  I did run (jog) across the school yard this morning because I was late, and my lungs are clearly not recovered... I was a wheeze ball after 100 meters.  So I will just do a couple of walks this week while I recover.

Just never stop moving.  Live to Run.  Run to Live.

After the After....

I am SOOOOO sore today!  Ugh.  I had a great run, but I am now paying for my 'speediness'.
Shall I start at the bottom or the top?  Hmm perhaps the top. Note: I am not complaining... in fact it actually feels kind of good to feel 'sore' like I worked out.

My upper and lower back are a bit stiff.
My glutes and piriformis are sore. It hurts to move while sitting.  I rolled them earlier and they did feel marginally better.... but they are sore.
My quads are sore.  I can still maneuver stairs.
My hamstrings are sore... this one is new... they are not injured, I can just really feel them today.
My left knee was a bit sore/hot.  Seems okay this evening
My calves are mostly okay.
My shins are sore, mostly my right side (always interesting when my right side bugs me because my left side is the issue side).
My toes became large blisters.  All of which I popped. (garoooooooossssss). However that was yesterday and they have given me zero pain today!  But I haven't looked at them.
The tips of my toes are still tender.  I also fear that I am indeed losing a toenail. (garroooooosssss again... I don't do well with feet stuff)

Hoping tomorrow is better, and not the usual 2nd day after worse.
I also ordered some injinji toe socks, I will try just about anything to help my toes.  I know I should also try a half size up on my shoes but I can't afford to just go get new ones right now.  Plus they really pretty much are the right size :S  I don't know if anymore room after my toe would help much, or just make my shoes sloppy.

Anyways... onto another week of training!!!

BMO Vancouver Half 2015 - My Poor Feet!

Woke up at about 4. Because I could not sleep and for some reason I did actually set my alarm for 4.  Consumed my traditional Egg and Cervelat scrambled egg breakfast (yea yea seems heavy but its what I do).  Had no coffee and minimal water.  I did have to make it an hour drive into Vancouver and THEN find parking and sky train and bathrooms.  No time for extra water logging.

Friend C arrived 5 am. Drove to Vancouver.  Found a cheap parking place. Deal!  Oh, it is  not open yet and we have to kill 10 minutes sitting in the car in the parking lot until the gate goes up...... We are also not the only ones!  So we spent that 10 minutes getting our stuff together so that we weren't doing the exact same thing once we were parked, wasting more time,,,,, turns out this was a good decision.

Park and hustle our butts to skytrain, and BAM! We are really on our way.  The temp outside wasn't too bad, I wasn't freezing in the cotton tshirt I had over my run shirt.  Didn't need gloves or a hat. The day was going to be soooo nice and sunny!!!

We follow the line of half marathoners to the start line... over a kilometer away but whatevs, we know how to use our legs.

We need to pee.  NOW.  We start running to pass all the people walking so that we are just that many more people closer to the front of the porta potty line ups!  We chose a line, we chose a new line and we commit.... Turns out this is one of the rare times my line switching (in any aspect of life.. grocery, border crossing, etc) pays off.

Now friend C is a pace bunny and we have 15 minutes to use the toilet and get up to the corral... I don't make her wait, I will see her later.

I make my way up to the corral and I see PINK awesome! That is my home.  Except in my haste I totally get into the corral behind me, and really far into it too before I realize that I could move up into my actual colour.  Not a big deal but lets face it, I would rather stay ahead of that many more hundreds of people!!!!  I relocated myself just in time, although I got a few funny looks for pushing forward, but mostly because we were packed like sardines in there.

The elites go.  The next corral goes (can't remember colour, blue maybe) and then its our turn, yay!!!
I am giving the Hoka's a try again.  My lulu socks (Although I am thinking I need to try something new) and the usual other gear.  I am also rocking a water belt (Nathan) rather than my pack, after all.... its 21, there are water stations, I will be A OK.

Finally  it is our turn to go and I have a pretty good run.  Uneventful really.  My shoes bugged me again where the tongue is sewn in.... blister from that.  That happened around maybe 10 km and took a few km before I could 'move' the issue so it wasn't rubbing there.  I didn't have to stop to use another toilet.  Nothing crazy, just a smiley run. Oh I tried to smile for all the camera guys but I probably just look like I'm wincing, or just awful... I am sure.

I thought I was going to start with a LSD pace of maybe 7 ish minutes a km but that apparently was going to be 6:30 and less... I didn't know I was going to keep it up...  it just happened!! Too many people around with the 2:15 goal (which was where I put my goal when I signed up, a year ago, before I signed up for a full marathon)....

Anyways around the 10 mark I realized that if all went well I could possibly PR it!  I played with this idea during my blister embarking km and decided..... we will see.... I am not going to push any harder than what I am doing.... I also switched from a run 10 minute walk 1 minute interval to a run 3 minute walk (or slow run) for 30 second interval.... and what do you know, my 2nd half of the run was actually a few minutes faster!! Not a PR though, and again that is okay... I was not at all training for one.

The run was over. I finished. My blisters are back and they are ANGRY.  In fact my feet are really angry looking :(  When this next 1.5 months is over I am going to be so so so kind to them... they do not like this marathon running as much.

We walked around a bit, got changed, found some friends, chatted, enjoyed the sunshine..... it was freezing cold in the shade though!!  And then headed home for lunch.  I took no pictures though.  My phone is massive and once I get it in the running belt it does not come out, it takes several minutes to work it in there so it is just not worth it.

Anyways, that is my race recap!

Next weekend : Mothers day and possibly a 32 km training run.
2 Weekends... Rock and Roll Portland road trip!!!!
1.5 month.... Rock and Roll Seattle!

The Day Before This Half Marathon.

So today is Saturday, and this Saturday in particular is the day preceding a half marathon.  The BMO Vancouver Marathon.  I have a few thoughts today.

First.  I am not anxious today.  I mean a little bit because driving to Vancouver and parking and finding the starting line is never just 'easy'... waking up at 4/430 am is not easy. But for the actual race/run.  It will be okay.

I have now realized that for the past 5 weeks in a row I have run at least 21 km.  This is kind of scary but it is fact.  So going the distance is okay.  I know I can go the distance.  I know that sometimes it is slow. Sometimes it seems to take so so so so so so long and forever and hours and hours it seems, but it gets done and usually within the same half hour.  I know that sometimes the miles fly by and then I am on the last 4 or 5 and its half an hour until finish.  I know I can do 21.1 kilometers and that is pretty sweet.

Tonight as I get my things ready. I am more concerned with what part of me is going to be hurt first... not 'hurt' but maybe blisters, or what have you.  No run has gone smoothly.  I can say that.  They have all been coming with their own new war wounds.  So that is my question of the night as I go to bed.... which one will find me tomorrow.... and will I have something packed to deal with it after!!! ;)

Also it is supposed to be a beautiful day in Vancouver!  I have decided to give my new Hoka Bondi 3s another long run.. since I am not 'racing' tomorrow, just another good ole training run.  And thats all I got. I need to go pick my clothes now and get to sleep.