TO QUIT OR NOT TO QUIT(COFFEE NOT RUNNING) THAT IS THE QUESTION?

All My Mugs                                                                   Mother's Day Mugs

This looks like my dog Gypsy, she was my first baby.

Old habits and addictions die hard especially when you have invested money into them. Take for instance my coffee addiction. I had bought a very nice coffee maker with a stainless steel and black finish to match my other appliances in the kitchen. Unfortunately it died on me yesterday despite my efforts to resuscitate it with the usual cleaning protocol. It was dead and I was now going to have to go out and replace it. Or was I?

I have been thinking about quitting coffee for sometime now. Perhaps this was the impetuous I was waiting for to finally just up and quit. I knew if I replaced the coffee maker that I would be investing in my addiction and furthering the probability that I would never quit. After all, once I have put out the money for another expensive appliance I would be damned if I would let it sit there unused. So as I stood there looking at my deceased coffee maker and trying to decide if I should go out and replace it with the newest model I began to empty out the dish washer and ponder the question further. As I opened the cabinet to put some dishes away I was struck by the sight of all of my coffee mugs piled atop of one another. OMG, how could I have forgotten about all of those. Perhaps 20 or 50 coffee mugs peered down at me, some with Loony Tunes characters, some with funny quotes, some with "I Love You Mom" on them. What would become of ALL the coffee mugs if I were to quit drinking coffee? There was the mug I was given when I turned 40, all the mugs I unwrapped at Christmas, mugs I picked up on vacation plus the ones I just couldn't resist in the Knick-Knack store and best of all the mugs my daughter gave me on Mother's Day. Oh yes, I had alot invested in those mugs, monetarily and emotionally. Sure if I was to get rid of them I would gain two entire shelves of cabinet space for storage, but then what would I replace them with? It is hard to replace all those gifts and memories with nondescript pieces of china or glassware. Well I didn't have much time to mull this all over as my husband arrived home with a new coffee maker and in no time I had that sucker cleaned and brewing.

As I sit here writing this I am enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee brewed in my brand new coffee maker and poured in to a very special mug which holds almost 2 cups of coffee plus the memory of the friend who gave it to me. OK perhaps I will quit after this new coffee maker dies and with our hard water that might be in 6 months or a year tops. Until then I will enjoy and savour some quality time with my tummy warming coffee and my heart warming mugs knowing that I could kick this addiction at anytime, if I ever really, really, really wanted to.

PS

Running went smashing this week. Lots of fast tempos and intervals which killed me and I loved it.

SYDENHAM FALL RUN...LATER THAT NIGHT!!

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2009 Sydenham Fall Trail Run Race Report

This report is a bit delayed as it took be sometime to chew, swallow and digest my "HUMBLE PIE".
I went into this race with specific time expectations so falling short of them really affected my overall veiw of the ultimate outcome. My goal was to start out slow and not to go out too fast like has been my habit. Actually my goal to start out slow is nothing new it is just that I have never actually accomplished it in previous races. This race was different though as I was a bit under confident in my ability to hold my intended pace of 4:30-4:35 for the entire 8kms.
The first km was a breeze and I did indeed keep to my 4:30 pace and I felt as I was at a slow gallop loping down the trail. This form actually felt so good that I held it for the next 2km which in hindsight was a mistake as I actually slowed down a bit to more af a 4:40 pace. For the first part of the race I was changing places with a couple of master's women runners including Kimberley Bohn and Shirley Mires. I knew both of these runners however neither knew of each other or myself and I am not sure if that was an advantage to me or not as I was quite intimidated by both of them. Shirley took the lead and Kimberley breathed down my back until we were coming to the 5km mark when Kim pulled out from behind me in an amazing example of downhill racing and flew by me with no mercy. This caught me by complete surprise as I was quite tired by then and feeling her speed by me seemingly effortlessly down the hill was quite the demoralizing experience. It was as though she had this huge reserve she had decided to unleash and I was left to struggle through my growing fatigue in her wake. It took me a bit of time to regroup and get my fight back and I set out to catch her for the next 2.5 km. Although I was never able to close the gap I had to take not letting her open it much further as my consolation prize for the day and I finished 13 seconds behind her with an average pace of 4:40.
 Looking back it really was a great day to race two amazing competitors on my home trail and I learned alot about racing during the course of it.
8km Race Times-
2005 Beat Beethoven 52:?? minutes
2007 Sydenham Fall Run 44: ??
2008 Sydenham Fall Run 40:16
2009 Sydenham Fall Run 37:25
Nice to see all my hard work is paying off and truely it is in more ways then just a faster time.
I learn so much from every race about running, racing and myself. Sometimes I see the good side of me, sometimes the bad side. It is very important to see myself from both angles as it helps me to determine my future path and future goals...and again not all of them running related.

Sydenham Fall Trail Run Pictures & Movie - unedited

Thanks to Derrick and Sara and all of the volunteers for putting on such a great event. I will write more about it when I get time.

Official Pictures are here

It was also fun hanging with David and Kim after as well. Here is a picture as proof.

Hanging out with David and Kim

Sara and Derrick                                       David wins a pumpkin and a silver medal

Rob and Kim(silver for Kim)                         Me and my medal(3rd in age)

Kim, David and Eliza and pumpkins

This is an unedited video my Mom took of the race. You will note at the beginning Derrick is giving race instructions to the 200 runners then he is off on his bike to lead the mass of people to the race course along Sydenham Lake. You will then see Derrick and the lead runners running up the trail across the lake. At the finish Kim races in ahead of me in pink and it is nice to hear all the cheers of my name as I cross the finish line and pose for a picture with official photographer Sara.

A Sneak Peak at the Sydenham Fall Fun Run Trail

I went for a nice meandering walk on MY TRAIL today and took some nice pictures of the fall colours currently being displayed around the lake. This section of the trail is in really good shape for the race tomorrow and I suspect the rest of the trail is in similar shape.

Good Luck to everyone running this year and I hope to meet some of you at the post race festivities.
Thanks in advance to Derrick and Sara for putting on this great event year after year.

NEXT Sunday there is going to be a race on MY TRAIL! Every year a couple hundred people go trotting down MY TRAIL without even knowing that they are trekking on my territory. I can only hope that some will take a few seconds out of their fast paced race to recognize MY TRAIL'S beauty and grace.




At least I know the ones that don't care will be packed up and be on their way back home by late lunch time and the ones who saw something special might think of her now and again and may even be drawn back to appreciate her another time the way I do every day.

NO DOGS?

I have meant to put these photos from a trip to Florida up for a while. I just think the sign is hilarious.

I am pretty sure that the dog has more chance of outrunning that alligator then the guy does. 

The trail this sign was posted on looped around a swampy area and despite the sign I actually went for a jog there as it is the only dirt trail around and I was getting tired of running on the paved roads. It was the dry season so most of the alligators were not that far inland...I hoped.

Post Sandbanks 5km race I felt really good with no knee or calf problems for my effort. Just to be on the safe side I made sure to ice my knee and calve/achilles daily for the first few days. I had some easy NO Garmin runs and an amazing long run with a 50 minute slow tempo in the middle of it as preparation for the longer Sydenham 8km race which is only 3 weeks away.

Sandbanks 2009 The Movie

Sanbanks Official Results

My Goal: 22:30 and on a great day 22:00
The Results: 22:37
5km Race History: June 2008 Time Trial 29:50
                              Sandbanks 2008 25:46
                              Kingston May 2009 22:53
                              Sandbanks 2009 22:37
In Summary: I am getting FASTER: )
Future Goal: 22, 21, 20, ............ minutes
Thanks to Sara for my New Fave Quote she thinks is attributed to Lance Armstrong, "Anything is possible, but you have to believe and you have to fight."
I like it because I do feel the mind plays a powerful roll in determining our success' and failures as far as personal developement is concerned. Believing you are capable and deserving of a goal is key in reaching that goal. My favorite part of the quote is the part about having to fight. I love this part because it means we hold the power to succeed within us.
Note: My Garmin gave the funniest readings for this race. Not at all accurate. It said I ran 5kms in 19:54. Oh if it were only true. Perhaps my Garmin is from the future and was racing with me next year at this same race and somehow got sent back in time. WE HAVE NOW ENTERED THE TWILIGHT ZONE!!

My Trophies

Showing Off my "Trophies" scabs, stitches and ALL!!

My coach once had the nerve to tell me that the excruciatingly sore legs I was left with after my first goal race were infact my "TROPHIES". What kind of prize is that I thought, he must be CRAZY. But hey no one else was giving me any trophies so I took my prize and ran with it(them). The next time I raced my legs were sore again and as before I took my prize and ran with them. I have been running with my TROPHIES for a year and half now and I gotta tell you that these suckers are stronger and sturdier and faster then I ever thought possible. Sometimes I look down at them and I wonder where they came from and how they got attached to me. I am beginning to think that perhaps my coach was not so CRAZY afterall. I am very proud of my TROPHIES these days so I'm happy to show them off scabs, stitches and all and I must admit that my TROPHY CASE isn't looking too shabby either. If I do say so myself: )

Well I spent the week recovering from my fall while testing out the "trophies" with an easy run on Wednesday and Friday. Derrick scheduled a Tempo/Long run on Saturday and all felt great. I feel I have recovered 100% from my unfortunate fall and am good to go for my race this Sunday where I expect to be picking up another set of  "Trophies" for the effort. Wish me LUCK!

3 Lucky 7's

I was feeling amazing. I thought to myself that I wish I always felt so light and springy. I was nearing 2.5 km when I was thinking about a Pose Running Clinic going on in Montreal. I had missed the posting on line and thought that perhaps I could have gone...then I was down. My hand was bleeding and my head was a bit shaken although I did not hit it. I got up and kept going thinking how this was my second time falling in a month and I hoped I was not going to be making a habit of it as it was beginning to hurt. I kept running and rounded a bend on the trail at about 4.5km when a fawn saw me and began running down the trail away from me. I thought to myself I hope the Mom is not around and realized I was actually afraid of a deer. Hey one attacked my Mom and her dog once. Anyways I was thinking about all of that and BOOM I was down again...HARD. The ground came up so fast at me and I knew I was hurt. First thing I thought was I won't be able to finish this long run, 2nd thing I won't be able to run my Tempo on Tuesday or my Intervals on Thursday. I figured I could still run the race on the 20th if nothing was broken so I checked the body parts. I was bleeding from every limb and my left side of my body was all scraped up. The worst injury was my right knee. A thick flap of skin had lifted and was all mangled. GROSS. I thought about walking home but the blood was really coming down so I walk down the trail some more to a house and called my husband to pick me up. I have never had to make such a call to my husband and I hope I never will again. I spent the night going between Emergency rooms at the two Kingston hospitals. I finally saw Dr. Jones at KGH. He cleaned the wound out really good as it had half the trail in there and stitched me up. Which strangely enough leads me to another story. I was at Costco on Friday and my bill came to $77.77. I then went to a corner store and my bill was $7.00. I thought to myself that I was due for some LUCK and another 7 as things usually come in 3's. To my surprise I got my 3RD NUMBER 7 last night at the hospital as the Dr. finished stitching up my knee. 7 stitches in the shape of a 7. I am still waiting for my luck to kick in :)
PS
I feel fine today. A small bit of stiffness. My knees are both bandaged thank goodness because they are horrible to look at. the stones put huge pock marks in both of them and my elbows and my thigh and hip. Otherwise I'm OK. Just find all those 7's interesting so though: )

As Fall approaches...

For some reason this week I am finding it hard to finish my sentences and to form coherent thoughts.
I think it is just my excitement over getting back from Florida to my trail and some more sensible weather.

As Fall approaches I am LOOKING FORWARD to-
-training on my trail
-the race reports from this years Haliburton 50's and 100 Sept. 12th. GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!!
-training for Sandbanks
-racing at Sandbanks Sept. 20th
-training for Sydenham
-racing at Sydenham Oct. 18th
-running in the beautiful fall weather as the leaves change color

STEPS

A great week of training in Florida. The humidity and heat was crazy and I tried my best not to complain about the added discomfort and instead concentrated on running strong and with purpose. I had 2 aqua-runs this week and 4 road runs including a very successful interval run on Tuesday and a great long run on Saturday.

I find I spend a great amount of my running time thinking about my running form. One day I hope that such mundane thoughts will no longer clutter my brain during runs however at this point in my running career I am still figuring out how to put one foot in front of the other. I wrote this poem about my running form struggles.

STEPS

Sometimes the steps are HARD: SLUGGISH, SLOW and HEAVY,

Sometimes the steps are EASY: EFFORTLESS, FAST and LIGHT.

Yet every step does carry me: BODY, MIND and SOUL,

Across the distance by but, the POWER OF MY MIGHT.

Mr. Cranky Knee Beckons Me

The second I deleted my poem from the top of this Blog last week I had a sinking feeling that I may have been a bit premature. At the time of the deletion I was well aware that my knee problems were not 100% behind me and as it turns out I was correct...and that is a GOOD THING:) I was correct that Mr. Cranky Knee was NOT BEHIND ME because he was in fact waiting AHEAD OF ME 5 minutes or so at the end of each run beckoning me to continue on to him. He appears to be waiting for me further and further ahead with each run these days and will soon be so far down the road or trail that his beckoning calls are destined to be but mere whispers on the wind.

This week included 1 aqua-running session in a very warm Florida pool and 4 days of land running including back to back days, an encouraging interval run and a 60 minute long run.
I am starting to think about racing however training smart and staying healthy is my only true goal right now and hence my new motto "Smart Training Beats Dumb Straining".

The Perils of Aqua-Running in Florida

Retiring My Poem

With much thought and no remorse I have finally decided to retire my poem from the top of it's namesake Blog. I wrote the poem one very frustrating day in May, 2 weeks after my PB setting 5km race which marked the beginning of the end of my knee. I was 3 days into a 7 day layoff from running and my computer was refusing to turn on no matter how patient I was trying to be. Pressing that ON button over and over just seemed to escalate my already building frustration so rather then take it out on my computer I decided to take a break and wrote a poem. The line "I need drugs to get me through it" was originally "I need cryogenic sleep to get me through it" as taking 7 whole days off from running seemed like an eternity at the time. Well I made it through the 7 days with no running however the knee ache was sadly waiting for me on my next run and for every run after that for the next 3 months. The ache is still there however it joins me at the end of my runs these days rather then in the middle. I am really looking forward to ditching my cranky running partner altogether soon so I can stop worrying about when he is going to show up.

I had a successful week of training having upped my long run to over 55 minutes and feel I have finally reached a point where I am able to get some good time in on my legs and really start putting together(with the help of my coach) some real training runs.

Monday July 27th to Sunday August 2nd

Things felt really great this past week and I am almost ready to retire my poem from the top of this Blog. If all goes well this week then I will take it down.

I had 7 days of workouts including 3 days aqua-running, 3 days trail running and 1 day rowing on the Egometer due to rough water. My knee was good as gold all week and it was nice to finish each run without that horrible building knee ache which has been my cue to pack it in lately.

It has been 3 months since my knee problems began and one year since I ran in the Kingston Tri which was the goal race that got me training in the first place. It will be nice to start working towards some new/old goals now including the Sandbanks 5km and the Sydenham 8km.

Me, Myself and I QUIT!!

If running has taught me anything about life it would be quite simply to keep moving forward. At least when you move forward you end up somewhere new, hopefully somewhere better and at the very least somewhere not the same. Getting out there to expand your horizons, to learn, see and experience new things is what running and life are all about.

Unfortunately sometimes it is hard to think about moving forward when things get tough. The idea of QUITTING can begin rolling around inside my head and the words "I QUIT" may even slip through my lips in a faint whisper. Saying "I Quit" is like opening an outlet valve allowing all the anxiety and self doubt to escape in one big WHOOSH of air. I know saying "I Quit" doesn't sound good but there seems to be a part of me that needs to think it, whisper it once and a while. Who am I to deny that part of me deep down inside whom desperately wants to give up the fight even when the rest of me am fully willing to go on. OK, so I let her have her say and then I console her and commiserate with her a little and together we decide to move forward again. We decide to move forward because we remember a time when we did QUIT and learned that quitting only put us back where we started which is where we didn't want to be and was the reason we began moving forward in the first place.

So it seems that sometimes a part of me deep down inside needs to be reminded of the reasons to stay on course and follow the plan we set in motion together. I am hoping that in acknowledging this part of me and keeping her close that she will soon stop having the need to say, "I QUIT". However until that day arrives I will just keep on reminding her of our reasons for moving forward again and again until she trusts me enough to follow me no matter where I may lead her with nary a whisper being spoken.

Aqua-Running...A Devious Plan?

"Aqua-Running"... is it a true alternative to "Land-Running"or just one coach's devious plan to keep an unsuspecting land-runner occupied and sane while her broken body heals?
I had that thought the other day while I was aqua-running at my usual snails pace and being blown out of the lake by the swimmers including World Champion Triathlete Scott Takala. What if this aqua-running thing is just an elaborate scheme that my coach thought up to keep me off my feet so as to let my runner's knee heal? I really hope that all of this treading water fast and going nowhere slow will somehow translate into maintaining my running fitness and get me land running more again soon.

Last week's training was a smorgasbord of fitness activities having added sculling into the mix on Monday and Wednesday nights, core on Tuesday and Thursday, aqua-running Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and land-running Monday, Thursday, Sunday. With all that I put off weights until my day off Saturday and only did my arms plus leg rehabs and pull-ups. It was a bit intimidating to get back on the water in a scull but by the end of Thursday's row I felt I was almost back in the swing of things. I also feel that I really hit my aqua-running groove on Friday's interval run and land-running had me meeting or exceeding my planned time outs before yee ole knee began to whine.

Aqua-Running in Georgian Bay

That's me way out in the Bay with my white hat on so my daughter could keep an eye on me.

These waves were better for kayaking then aqua-running.

I was able to get in a good week of training while vacationing on Georgian Bay. The weather was better at the beginning of the week and I was able to get in a 25 min. aqua-run on Wednesday however skipped Friday's planned aqua outing due to the whitecaps on the lake and the chilly water temps. I had to venture out quite a ways in order to get deep enough because of the rocks and boulders close to shore. I also had a few good runs with an interval workout on Tuesday and a Tempo run on Thursday. Saturday's long run was a bit of a disappointed when I had to end my planned 50 min. run at 39 minutes due to my long suffering knee pleading for mercy. I was also able to get 2 weights and core workouts done between all the fun the girls and I were having with Grandma & Grandpa who really spoiled us with great food and non-stop activities.

Monday July 6th to Sunday July 12th

This week I was back to 6 days a week of training. By adding the Aqua-Running to my schedule I am finally able to get consecutive days of running in again . It's not real running but I will take it over having 3 days off a week anytime.

-Monday was 35 min. running with 2 x 8 min. light tempos and 2 min. recovery's.
I only made it through 30 of the planned 35 min. due to a building knee ache but luckily managed the tempo segments fine and ran them perhaps a bit fast at 4:12 pace. Derrick suggested that perhaps my fresh legs played a factor with my speed but I am wondering if my Garmin is just completely messed up. Plus weights x3 and leg rehabs.

-Tuesday was 30 minutes of aqua-running.
I think my first attempt of aqua-running went quite well. I still had some form issues to work out but could see how this would be a good substitute for running on land. As I fastened the aqua blue float belt around my waist and headed towards the lake I could sense that some kids who had barely grown out of their water wings were a bit confused at my getup. In a way I kinda felt like a Superhero in my Super Belt as I waded deeper and deeper into the lake. Finally I could walk no more so as instructed just kept my legs moving like I was running on land. I was able to go across the lake and back before my teeth began to chatter from the cold water so I ended my test aqua-run a bit early at 27 mins. Missed core again...felt bad but got over it.

-Wednesday was a 30 minute easy run. I found my legs felt a bit tired and heavy from the aqua-run the day before.

-Thursday was another aqua-run for 30 minutes with 5 x 90 second intervals and 30 seconds recovery.
I did even better on my second attempt and the water was warmer so no teeth chattering. I also saw the cutest gaggle of geese out aqua-running. There was 20 of them and as they passed in front of me in a long line I felt as though I could have joined right in behind them. Plus stretch/core class.

-Friday was 35 minutes running with 15 minutes Diagonals on the soccer field.
Same workout as last week with 5 more minutes of Diagonals. I wore a patellar tendon strap which seemed to keep my knee a bit more stable. Plus weights circuit x3 and leg rehab exercises.

-Saturday was my one day off this week. Only one day off, how did that happen? Feels fantastic to have added in the aqua-running on what would have been off days due to my knee. Plus leg rehab and pull-ups

-Sunday was a 40 min long run. My knee was just about to complain as I hit the 40 minutes. I can't figure out how Derrick got that one just right. It is nice to have someone calculate all this for me.

Aqua-Running - Place Your Bets!!

To put it BLUNTLY, Aqua-Running is DAMN SLOW!

Monday June 29th to Sunday July 5th

This was the training week I was hoping would put an end to my knee troubles. It started out encouraging but began to fall apart half way into my Saturday run when I had to stop my tempo early. I did manage to set a push-up and pull-up record though so that is something to hold on to. The knee is being real stubborn so Derrick has loaned me his aqua belt for a little water running. Stay tuned to next week to see how that turned out.

Despite the discouraging run on Saturday I was happy with my other workouts and that my speed has not abandoned me completely. I do feel however that I should back off a bit now that I have confidence that it is still there.

I like to reaffirm my running goals on a daily basis to keep my mind focused on the future and not bogged down in the disappointment of my current knee problems. I repeat mantras such as, "I will run a sub 20 minute 5km in 2009....I am a fast runner who runs hard and finishes strong". Keeping my mind full of positive thoughts keeps me moving forward mentally if not physically at this point in my training.

-Monday was weights x 3 circuits plus rehab for knee.
I decided to go for a push-ups record so as per usual counted backwards from my goal # of reps. This time I was going for 30 so counted down to 1 then dropped to knees to do 10 more. Arms were toast for the rest of the workout though it was nice to have a new baseline. Dropping down to knees to get in 5 or 10 extra has been key to getting my reps up over the past year.

-Tuesday was running 25 min. with diagonals on the soccer field.
I ran for a total of 15 min. corner to corner with a recovery run over the top or the field then corner to corner etc. etc. This was a fun workout and easy on the legs. "Easy on the legs/knee" seems to be the theme of my workouts these days.
Skipped core due to lack of babysitting for the day. Almost talked my daughter into doing the class with me but she backed out at the last minute.

-Wednesday was my day off. I may have done leg rehabs and pull-ups but if I don't write it down I forget quickly. Thank goodness for running journals( I use Training Peaks with my coach).

-Thursday was the run I had been looking forward to all week. 31 minutes with 4 repeats of 3 min. with 3 min. recovery.
I did my warm-up, recovery's and cool down on the grass edge of the track and ran the interval repeats on the track. I had my Garmin with me but really wanted to run how I felt. I was hugely surprised after the workout when I noted my pace and realized I ran 4:42, 4:45, 4:26 and 4:00. I almost made it around the track twice on my last 3 minutes. I swear I was NOT STRAINING.

-Friday was weights and rehab for knee

-Saturday was a 45 minute run with a 15min. tempo thrown in to mix up the speed.
My Coach thought that if I could make it 45 minutes without my knee complaining then the worst was behind me. Unfortunately my knee was unhappy from the get go and put an end to my little running party 10 min into my tempo(25 min. into the run) and I walked/jogged(mostly walked) home.
Plus 3 x leg rehabs and pull-ups with 5-4-3 reps(must admit that I was not lowering myself much during the set of 5 but was a nice way to mix it up a bit)

-Sunday was another day off

The Limestone Mile...of Pain!

I headed down to the Limestone Mile yesterday. I WILL be running this race in 2010 and as I may have mentioned before it will be the GRAND FINALE of my second year of training. As we arrived in the general vicinity of the race my daughter decided to plop herself down at a face painters booth, announced she was using her OWN money and ordered the Large Full Face Canada Flag(it was Canada Day after all). I believed the Women's race was to begin in 15 minutes so figured that was plenty of time to paint a child's face. Leaving my daughter for a moment with strict instructions not to leave the chair, I headed to the race area to check out the hoopla. I asked a girl giving out water how long it was until the women's race, "3 minutes" she replied. I looked around and there was no sign of women lining up for the race, my coach then spotted me in my state of confusion. We talked about his daughter's race then he casually pointed out that there go the women now. WHAT, I thought to myself, how could the women have started already? After all I was standing right there and I had not seen any athletes lined up in any formation resembling a START. As it turns out the women started just north of where I was standing on another street and I was at the FINISH LINE. They were now circling a block in the downtown area. I recognized a rival(Stacey) from my last race in a heated battle with a few other Masters runners. I left to check on my daughter and looked back just in time to see the women leaders racing towards the finish. I noted that my daughter was still alive and ran back in time to see Stacey being hotly pursued by this race's version of me all the way to the end. Stacey looked hot and exhausted, much hotter and much more exhausted then she appeared to be after the 5km we had ran 2 months earlier. At that point I think I had seen everything I really needed to see. This race is very different from any race I had ever run. Firstly it was run as two loops of a downtown block. Secondly it started on one street and ended on another. Thirdly if you blink(or take a moment to check on your children) you will miss it. Fourthly it is short and fast. Fifthly it appeared to hurt the participants a great deal. Mind you the pain is short lived compared to longer distance races however I deduced that the effort to maintain the speed over the shorter distance must increase the pain per second ratio(thoughts?)

I am glad I saw the race yesterday as I now have the tools I need for a great year of visualization exercises, and if my knee continues to co-operate then I can start getting back to some solid training based on my fitness level and not my pain level.

Monday June 22nd to Sunday June 28th

Well Blogger since we last spoke I was headed out for a 35 minute run on Sunday the 21st of June. That run went well and this Sunday I increased my long run up to 40 minutes without a word from my knee. I am still running every other day though due to a disastrous attempt on Monday the 22nd to run on consecutive days. I could not finish the scheduled 20 minutes and after a minute of trying to ignore the building pain finally had to stop 30 seconds short.

-Monday was a disaster stopping at 19:30 of a 20 minute run Plus weights and leg rehabs

-Tuesday was core/stretch and I also saw my Chiro. for some Active Release Therapy and discussed the Pros and Cons of running using The Pose Method.

-Wednesday had me running 25 min. with 3x2 min repeats and 2 min recoverys on the grassy edge of the track. The repeats felt so good that I declared "Life is Good...Again". Plus leg rehabs x3 and pull-ups

-Thursday was core/stretch

-Friday was 25 min. on grass Plus weights and leg rehabs x3

-Saturday was a total day off

-Sunday was the BIG 40 minutes with a bit of Fartleking thrown in to break up the speed. Plus leg rehabs x2 and forgot pull-ups

I am excited also that this Wednesday is the 2009 Limestone Mile Road Race. This race will be my focus over the next year as I plan on running it in 2010.

Going To The Well...For Cupcakes?

In my short 1 year of training I have prided myself in my ability to squeeze that last bit of effort out of every workout. My coach who has been at this running stuff just a bit longer then myself(his 7000 plus runs compared to my 500? runs) often uses the term "going to the well" when describing putting in that extra effort. He has advised me on numerous occasions that "going to the well" should be done sparingly and certainly not on every workout. I on the other hand had been advancing so quickly in my speed and endurance that I continued to push for every last drop of effort and even berated myself when I did not. So after one year of continually progressing and a bunch of PR's to show for it I find myself struggling with a bad case of runner's knee. I can't help but wonder if I may have gone to the well too often, wanting to be too fast too soon, and am now somehow paying for my "Greed". Funny how all the extra effort, all the extra pain gets turned around and now just looks "Greedy" on me. I must confess that I can honestly see how going to the well on those many occasions was in fact greedy. To say it quite simply, I wanted to be FAST FASTER. I believe also that my naivete had a part in leading me to this end. Like a child who greedily eats an entire plate of cupcakes not realizing that she will have an agonizing stomach ache in an hour. The pain is not immediate so she keeps on eating. So like the child, I have enjoyed my cupcakes and now as I sit here in pain I have also hopefully learned my lesson to always leave a few cupcakes on the plate to enjoy later.

Welcome To My Testing Blog

Welcome to what will eventually become my "Training Blog", however what I am doing now cannot really be called "Training". It can more aptly be called "Testing", so with that said then, "Welcome To My Testing Blog". With the guidance of my Coach and Chiro. I have been testing my knee to see what sort of punishment it can endure before it begins to "BARK" at me. "RUNNER'S KNEE" can be very insistent when it comes to wanting one to STOP and at this point in my recovery the 30 minutes on Thursday is my record. Today I am going for 35 minutes. It is really hard to believe that my Sunday long runs have been cut back to all of 35 minutes. Wish me LUCK, 35 minutes here I come.

Running @ 45 Is An Uphill Battle

Yesterday I turned the BIG 45!! Why the "BIG" 45? Well because I am planning on living to be 90(anything past that will be gravy) so 45 is halfway... HALFWAY THERE, HALFWAY OVER, HALFWAY TO GO, HALFWAY IN BETWEEN the BEGINNING and the END. I have this nagging feeling that the "BIG 45" is going to be an UPHILL BATTLE as many of the signs are telling me that I am going downhill(IE. more silver hair then blond. more loose skin then tight etc., etc. please don't make me go on). Luckily for me I have always loved running UPHILL as even though it may be the hardest part of a run it can also be the most satisfying. Of course no matter how hard I run up that slippery slope I know I will inevitably find myself at the bottom. However, just maybe I will stay on the hill a bit longer then I otherwise would have if I hadn't decided to turn around and run back up.