the weekend

Saturday was an easy day, and the temps were still good, so the dog and I headed out for a recovery run. I was still stiff from Friday's workout, so we took it slow..him more than I. He still has to get used to running on pavement, but fortunately there are still enough snowy patches that he doesn't have to go for long on bare pavement. I think he'll be ok. I put ointment on his paws afterwards though they looked ok.

We jogged just over four miles, and later on I jogged 1.5 miles to work. And then at work, my throat started to feel sore, so I gargled with salt water and drank lots of orange juice.

Today, I woke up feeling quite tired, but without a cold. woohoo! I still debated sleeping in a little and rejoining the running club somewhere out there--our routes are still limited so it's not too hard to run into them, plus I knew that they were doing hill repeats partway through. However, I decided that it was now or never, and scraped myself out of bed and out the door.

And nearly bailed...my street doesn't get salted much if at all. Which is usually really good, but a whole lot of snow had melted yesterday and then frozen again overnight, nice and smooth....I ran on the street itself, which was better, then slipped my way to run club because I can't run on Lyon without making my will first. I swear, even on Sunday, drivers check their brains in on that street. Must. Get. To. Queensway. blech.

And Kent's worse! I should have gone up Bay, but funnily enough the hills are sharper there...anyway, I made it to run club in the nick of time, and then jogged around for about an hour with some of the others. Once I got out of my neighbourhood, the footing was a lot better, so we didn't have too many issues. I left them as we passed the Market, and promised to meet them up on the hill later on. I had to eat and/or drink something, though.

It's a part of my training!

Today, what appealed to me was beet/carrot/ginger/something juice (I can't remember the fourth ingredient). There was a juice bar there which I've glanced at a few times, but today it was really appealing, so I walked up to the counter and checked out all the options. And the beet/etc juice screamed at me. I'm not sure why. I don't like beets. I don't like carrot juice. I don't really like ginger, usually, though I find it helps combat nausea. But I had to have it. I asked for a small--it was only $3 plus tax. Gels here usually cost $2. And here I was getting beets and etc, freshly blended, instead of corn starch. And the drink itself was just what I needed. It's not something that would usually appeal to me, but it was very refreshing, settled smoothly, and turned out to be good fuel.

On the way out, I had an expresso in homage to Gazelle #1 who wasn't there, and I bought a praline but ended up carrying it around for another hour. I wanted it, but not quite then and there.

I made it to the hill and ran up and down it 2.5 times. I forget how many repeats we were supposed to do. 2.5 seemed ok. Then I left the group again--they were going back to the coffee shop but I knew that if I went too, with just 9 miles or so to my credit, that getting back out to do the 11 remaining would be too much of a slog. I had to get a few more down and work off the juice and expresso.

And what a killer combo. I had tons of energy. I was just going to go down Portage and up Alexandria, but I ended up going past Alexandria, up Macdonald-Cartier, and then back across Alexandria, and up Portage (and I was considering going down to Champlain instead). Just kept rolling along and near the end, I was definitely in the zone. I wanted to rejoin my friends, though, so went into the coffee shop with 14ish miles to my credit, then remembered that I'd actually run one before starting my Garmin, so just 4 and a bit to go. sort of.

I had hot chocolate and finally ate the praline. It was quite good.

After a short stay, I headed out again, to the Canal this time. The footing wasn't so shabby on the path beside it, until I got past Bank Street bridge, and then it was nasty, a few inches of water/slush...got through that (my feet were wet already) to Bronson bridge, and then headed back on Queen E...it took me that long to realize that traffic was largely blocked off it. LOL. And I should have done BAnk and Bronson bridges too, but six in one run plus a couple of hill repeats is maybe enough.

About this point, I started getting tired. Actually, I was feeling ok, except for my left quad was really tight, especially on the outside of the knee. My left foot--the one that had been giving me grief--was ok, but I guess this other thing was a compensation issue. I dug my fingers in it and loosened it up, and then kept going. It was still fine to jog at just under 9:00/mile.

I did 20 on my Garmin, 21 in actuality, and then decided to walk the rest of the way home, another .6 or so. I'm still counting that in my tally, though! I signed up for an ultra, I can count walking. Actually, I'm going to incorporate walking up steeper hills eventually and focus on this....today, though, I was just letting myself stretch out a bit before going inside. It really helps to walk the last ten min or so when the run's a tougher one. Anyway, I stopped my timer for my snack breaks, because I was curious to know how fast I was moving running-wise. 20 miles in just under 3:05, or 9:15/mile. not bad. Actually, really nice. That's pretty much what I used to do, pre-winter (I think)...it's on the fast end of my easy run pace, so especially nice to know that winter hasn't taken too large a chunk out of me.

I have a marathon in two weeks. That has really snuck up on me! I'm going to go for Gold and leave the timer at home...I'm hoping that they have a clock so that I can see 5K splits, but I won't be too fussed if there isn't one. I don't want numbers with me. I'm going to hand the reins over to my body. We've already had a little discussion about how it'll be just five more miles than what we did today, so no biggie.

Anyway, I guess I have a quick nap, then study, then perhaps yin yoga...I need it, but I'm already starting to feel sluggy...will see.