Sunday: more dragonboating. no run.
Monday: 7.5 miles with the dog this morning. Not a steady run. It was already kind of hot, so I took walk breaks to let him cool down including, admittedly, the last two miles. He wilts even more than I do in the heat, poor thing has more fur and fewer sweat glands. Still, I wanted to get him out for a while to tire him. I'll be away for nearly a week in a couple of days. :)
This evening, I was supposed to run with the group but I took a nap that was longer than intended. I missed the group, but headed out anyway and ended up jogging a couple of miles with a racewalker whom I often see during Wednesday speedwork. He's pretty fast--he was taking it easy, and it was a nice pace, like 10:20/mile. Then I continued on and met up with my friends, who were going about 2 min/mile faster...I didn't stick with them long. Too hot for that. lol. This is something that happens quite a bit with the group--I really like being a part of it, but their jogging speed tends to be quite faster than mine, even the people who are slower than I in races and speedwork. Maybe I'm lazy. Maybe they'll blow by me next season. Oh, well. We'll see what happens when my husband gets back; I've been considering doing long runs on my own. I could go at my pace, which is sometimes 11:00/mile for the first few if I'm feeling crappy, and also do Daniels' workouts such as tempo portions within longer runs. I'll think about it more once I decide what races I'm doing this fall!
I walked the last mile home to cool off. It was pretty hot out there today. 8.91 miles in the evening, so 16.41 total.
I think tomorrow will be a lighter day, will see what time I get up. I'm still short on sleep and I'm dealing with stomach issues again. Hopefully they'll go away; I sure as heck don't want to spend another summer with them. I'm not jogging alone in a forest these days--my options are more limited downtown. LOL
oh, yeah, I'm pretty beat up, but I'll do some light resistance exercises soon, to get back into that routine.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Emilie's Run.2
The other book end of my year, of this blog.
(however, I might continue the latter...)
I ran Emilie's Run last year too, on the day my husband left Kansas for Iraq. It's really hard how to describe how that feels, a sick and numb feeling, kind of like the tail end of food poisoning where your electrolyte balance is out of whack, you're cramping from dry heaving and you still feel nauseated and sick, but it's all in a dull way because you're tired. It's almost like it's so horrible and tiring that you've distanced yourself physically and mentally and are watching it as though it were a movie and it was happening to someone else.
Emilie's Run last year was a welcome distraction. It was hot and humid and sunny--my fave Trifecta, lol--and I didn't do so well:
4:25
4:31
4:39
4:55
4:51
total 23:18. I really faded. It was a hard run.
Blech
This morning, it was hot and humid and sunny, but emotionally I was a lot better, especially since I know my husband is safely in Kuwait, if not Kansas by now.
4:24
4:27
4:24
4:43
4:30
total 22:28.
So, I was a bit slow (it's not a pr) and I still faded, but less drastically than last year, and far less drastically within the pack than last year. Last year, all sorts of people passed me in the 2nd half--this year, I don't think anyone did. I don't remember anyone passing me; rather, I was the one who passed people in the 2nd half. Not that many, though, but it was still a nice feeling. For the most part, I was with the same few runners. That struck me as a bit odd, as though I was standing still, or we all were standing still, or walking, but of course it was strangely exhausting too. LOL
But, yeah, that 4th K...I'm not sure if there's a slight incline at that point, or if that's just how the 4th K of a 5K is supposed to feel. I broke down the 5K into days--roughly five days until I see my husband, for real! (he'll be sent to Texas for a few days after debriefing, and I'll see him there and then), and it was amazing how positive that felt even coming around the turnaround, but when it came to that 4th K, I had to count down posts on the side of the road and keep reminding myself about form and keeping things light. It felt pretty hard.
I think I would like to take another stab at this race. My goals would be to stay tight through the 4th K and maybe get my time into the 21 minute range. Plus, above all else, get a heck of a load of living with my husband in between. It's funny how a year can boil down to a 50 second course PR. There was so much more going on, I could write volumes, but I could also sum up what I did this year so briefly: I took 50 seconds off my time from last year.
My form looks marginally better in this year's photos, too, but I still have work to do.
At any rate, I did almost no speedwork after March this year, save for three 'tempo' runs (longer and slower than my usual tempo workouts)...though I've been feeling pretty flat, my stamina has improved. I think. I hope! I would have liked to break 22 minutes, but my hopes weren't high with the condition I'm in (ok, just flat) and the weather. I hope to keep my mileage up this summer, do some faster workouts and keep up with the tempo runs, and then PR at the Army Run in Sept. Beyond that, I don't know.
After the race, I went down to the dragonboat festival. I was a spare on a team. Turned out that they had a full boat, so I hung around, ate, took photos, played frisbee...and enjoyed my nemesis from that morning: heat, humidity, sun. It was a wonderful day.
(however, I might continue the latter...)
I ran Emilie's Run last year too, on the day my husband left Kansas for Iraq. It's really hard how to describe how that feels, a sick and numb feeling, kind of like the tail end of food poisoning where your electrolyte balance is out of whack, you're cramping from dry heaving and you still feel nauseated and sick, but it's all in a dull way because you're tired. It's almost like it's so horrible and tiring that you've distanced yourself physically and mentally and are watching it as though it were a movie and it was happening to someone else.
Emilie's Run last year was a welcome distraction. It was hot and humid and sunny--my fave Trifecta, lol--and I didn't do so well:
4:25
4:31
4:39
4:55
4:51
total 23:18. I really faded. It was a hard run.
Blech
This morning, it was hot and humid and sunny, but emotionally I was a lot better, especially since I know my husband is safely in Kuwait, if not Kansas by now.
4:24
4:27
4:24
4:43
4:30
total 22:28.
So, I was a bit slow (it's not a pr) and I still faded, but less drastically than last year, and far less drastically within the pack than last year. Last year, all sorts of people passed me in the 2nd half--this year, I don't think anyone did. I don't remember anyone passing me; rather, I was the one who passed people in the 2nd half. Not that many, though, but it was still a nice feeling. For the most part, I was with the same few runners. That struck me as a bit odd, as though I was standing still, or we all were standing still, or walking, but of course it was strangely exhausting too. LOL
But, yeah, that 4th K...I'm not sure if there's a slight incline at that point, or if that's just how the 4th K of a 5K is supposed to feel. I broke down the 5K into days--roughly five days until I see my husband, for real! (he'll be sent to Texas for a few days after debriefing, and I'll see him there and then), and it was amazing how positive that felt even coming around the turnaround, but when it came to that 4th K, I had to count down posts on the side of the road and keep reminding myself about form and keeping things light. It felt pretty hard.
I think I would like to take another stab at this race. My goals would be to stay tight through the 4th K and maybe get my time into the 21 minute range. Plus, above all else, get a heck of a load of living with my husband in between. It's funny how a year can boil down to a 50 second course PR. There was so much more going on, I could write volumes, but I could also sum up what I did this year so briefly: I took 50 seconds off my time from last year.
My form looks marginally better in this year's photos, too, but I still have work to do.
At any rate, I did almost no speedwork after March this year, save for three 'tempo' runs (longer and slower than my usual tempo workouts)...though I've been feeling pretty flat, my stamina has improved. I think. I hope! I would have liked to break 22 minutes, but my hopes weren't high with the condition I'm in (ok, just flat) and the weather. I hope to keep my mileage up this summer, do some faster workouts and keep up with the tempo runs, and then PR at the Army Run in Sept. Beyond that, I don't know.
After the race, I went down to the dragonboat festival. I was a spare on a team. Turned out that they had a full boat, so I hung around, ate, took photos, played frisbee...and enjoyed my nemesis from that morning: heat, humidity, sun. It was a wonderful day.
Thursdayorama
(but just the morning)
We had a 6:00 am dragonboating practice. My God. I was offered a ride, but I knew that if I rolled out of bed into and out of somebody's car, it would be like all that transitioning had never happened. I'd be stuck in stage one, comatose, useless.
So I figured that since jogging there had been nice, I might as well do that.
I woke up around 4:30 am, before my alarm, and got dressed, drank some juice, and went. I was on my way by 5:06.
And it was pretty much light by then! I had no idea. I had had visions of going over the bronson bridge bathed by a creamy pinky-gold sunrise, something like that, but it turned out that an anemic pink-lavender thing was already succumbing to blue even before I got under the Queensway.
You see, way back in the day, I had to go to the Byward market at 5:00 am (I ran a stall) and there were a few mornings where the light was this intense gold that shone sideways and made all those dour parliamentary buildings on Wellington look like they were in Venice. (not that I've been to Venice)
So I was disappointed.
However, the run woke me up, and then we were on the water at 6, and I honestly don't remember much of the practice except that it was a good workout. Then, breakfast, kindly brought by our team captain, and then I jogged home by a longer route. I didn't have anything planned except my volunteer stint at the hospital that afternoon.
Then, since I was sort of on a roll, but getting kind of tired, I grabbed the dog after getting a quick bite to eat, and we went off for another hour-ish. Admittedly, there was quite a bit of walking near the end because I was getting kind of tired. I'd already been at it for about four hours by this point. LOL
Total: 13ish miles.
I flaked out of jogging to/from the hospital. I took the bus both ways.
It was a great morning.
We had a 6:00 am dragonboating practice. My God. I was offered a ride, but I knew that if I rolled out of bed into and out of somebody's car, it would be like all that transitioning had never happened. I'd be stuck in stage one, comatose, useless.
So I figured that since jogging there had been nice, I might as well do that.
I woke up around 4:30 am, before my alarm, and got dressed, drank some juice, and went. I was on my way by 5:06.
And it was pretty much light by then! I had no idea. I had had visions of going over the bronson bridge bathed by a creamy pinky-gold sunrise, something like that, but it turned out that an anemic pink-lavender thing was already succumbing to blue even before I got under the Queensway.
You see, way back in the day, I had to go to the Byward market at 5:00 am (I ran a stall) and there were a few mornings where the light was this intense gold that shone sideways and made all those dour parliamentary buildings on Wellington look like they were in Venice. (not that I've been to Venice)
So I was disappointed.
However, the run woke me up, and then we were on the water at 6, and I honestly don't remember much of the practice except that it was a good workout. Then, breakfast, kindly brought by our team captain, and then I jogged home by a longer route. I didn't have anything planned except my volunteer stint at the hospital that afternoon.
Then, since I was sort of on a roll, but getting kind of tired, I grabbed the dog after getting a quick bite to eat, and we went off for another hour-ish. Admittedly, there was quite a bit of walking near the end because I was getting kind of tired. I'd already been at it for about four hours by this point. LOL
Total: 13ish miles.
I flaked out of jogging to/from the hospital. I took the bus both ways.
It was a great morning.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
HOT
Tues: 1.5 miles with the dog. I was a slug.
Wed: 5.22 miles with the dog, albeit mostly walking. But it was so hot! like 25C and humid and sunny. It was a fun outing, though. We stopped to sit on the grass a couple of times. I also did a bunch of yardwork and housework.
Then, evening, tempo run. I think we did just over 8K. In ??. Not sure because my Garmin was somehow nudged off its recharging dock so it ran out of juice. But that was ok because I was feeling sluggish and it's that time of the month but a week early for some reason, so, man, I'm a bit drained. And whingy about the heat. LOL. Numbers would have been a distraction. Instead I had a really nice run. I got into a zone where I was just cranking mindlessly. I think I was starting to fade near the end, but still ever so slightly negative split it even with camping out at the water fountain on the way back. I guess I'm getting into the tempo groove. This is the third week we've done tempo runs, and while they're a bit slower than what I'm used to, they're also longer.
Anyway, tomorrow will be the usual ten-mile thursday, albeit starting before 6 am. WHAAA? Yeah, I'll probably start jogging to Dow's lake around 5:10. Our practice is at 6 am. Then I'll jog home...I'm considering bringing my water/fuel belt so that I can go back the longer way. Or maybe I'll go back the shorter way, then grab the dog for a quick few. And then maybe I'll bus it back from the Civic, or go down to the Parkdale Market again and get more local strawberries and then bus it back. So many options...
At any rate, I might see my husband in a week! WHOA.
Wed: 5.22 miles with the dog, albeit mostly walking. But it was so hot! like 25C and humid and sunny. It was a fun outing, though. We stopped to sit on the grass a couple of times. I also did a bunch of yardwork and housework.
Then, evening, tempo run. I think we did just over 8K. In ??. Not sure because my Garmin was somehow nudged off its recharging dock so it ran out of juice. But that was ok because I was feeling sluggish and it's that time of the month but a week early for some reason, so, man, I'm a bit drained. And whingy about the heat. LOL. Numbers would have been a distraction. Instead I had a really nice run. I got into a zone where I was just cranking mindlessly. I think I was starting to fade near the end, but still ever so slightly negative split it even with camping out at the water fountain on the way back. I guess I'm getting into the tempo groove. This is the third week we've done tempo runs, and while they're a bit slower than what I'm used to, they're also longer.
Anyway, tomorrow will be the usual ten-mile thursday, albeit starting before 6 am. WHAAA? Yeah, I'll probably start jogging to Dow's lake around 5:10. Our practice is at 6 am. Then I'll jog home...I'm considering bringing my water/fuel belt so that I can go back the longer way. Or maybe I'll go back the shorter way, then grab the dog for a quick few. And then maybe I'll bus it back from the Civic, or go down to the Parkdale Market again and get more local strawberries and then bus it back. So many options...
At any rate, I might see my husband in a week! WHOA.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Drained
I didn't sleep well. Seems that I often don't after a tougher workout. There's usually a lot of tossing and turning, and I sometimes get night sweats too. Like last night. I don't think I had a fever, but maybe repairing muscle raises my core temp or something, somehow.
At any rate, I eventually got asleep, and then was woken up by people yelling and smashing things. Garbage cans and so forth were set out for garbage pickup this morning, so these cretins had plenty to play with. They went up and down the street and then apparently settled a block or two away, and then I heard a couple of cars heading over (there was no traffic) and the noises stopped. Hopefully the cops. Of course, I had to stay awake and listen to the whole narrative.
I got up at six and ineffectually dozed for a couple of hours before giving up. I have a dull headache and general tiredness. I will try to do some schoolwork and take the dogs out for a bit, but above all else I will nap before going to work. My last shift is today, thank goodness!! I am so done with this job. I don't mind the smells and sights, but I've come to resent that my workload has increased so much since I've started working there; I have less and less time for each individual, and meanwhile they need more and more. Lately, it seems that a new person is added to my list every few weeks...there's still just one of me, and meanwhile the patients I already have are deteriorating and becoming more dependent. It's gotten to the point where I feel I can't keep them safe. One of the new ones is a wanderer! We don't have a locked ward! Anyway, they asked me when I gave notice if I would go on leave rather than quit. I told them politely that I could go on indefinite leave then; I couldn't commit to returning. LOL
Funnily enough, my last job was like that when I gave notice, too. They wanted to know if I just wanted to go on leave.
So, I guess today's total will be about 2ish miles with the dogs, and 1.5 to work.
At any rate, I eventually got asleep, and then was woken up by people yelling and smashing things. Garbage cans and so forth were set out for garbage pickup this morning, so these cretins had plenty to play with. They went up and down the street and then apparently settled a block or two away, and then I heard a couple of cars heading over (there was no traffic) and the noises stopped. Hopefully the cops. Of course, I had to stay awake and listen to the whole narrative.
I got up at six and ineffectually dozed for a couple of hours before giving up. I have a dull headache and general tiredness. I will try to do some schoolwork and take the dogs out for a bit, but above all else I will nap before going to work. My last shift is today, thank goodness!! I am so done with this job. I don't mind the smells and sights, but I've come to resent that my workload has increased so much since I've started working there; I have less and less time for each individual, and meanwhile they need more and more. Lately, it seems that a new person is added to my list every few weeks...there's still just one of me, and meanwhile the patients I already have are deteriorating and becoming more dependent. It's gotten to the point where I feel I can't keep them safe. One of the new ones is a wanderer! We don't have a locked ward! Anyway, they asked me when I gave notice if I would go on leave rather than quit. I told them politely that I could go on indefinite leave then; I couldn't commit to returning. LOL
Funnily enough, my last job was like that when I gave notice, too. They wanted to know if I just wanted to go on leave.
So, I guess today's total will be about 2ish miles with the dogs, and 1.5 to work.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
SUNday
Man, someone turned that thing on early today. Things were nicely cooking and steaming by the time I headed out, just a few minutes too late for run club. This is an improvement. I had debated just sleeping in--I'm still not 100%--but it was nice and sunny so I got up.
And it was humid and muggy.
I didn't quite catch up to run club, and they went around a corner and they were gone. Gone!
I guessed at the turn they took, chose poorly, so ended up just jogging on my own and feeling my head bake. After a mile or so, I passed a fast men's running group heading the opposite way across a bridge. I continued along the river and then turned back to hit the water fountain and hill up the Canal and they passed me. I then passed them. Then they passed me. Then I passed some of them, and then they passed me when I stopped at another water fountain. One guy asked if it was on yet--oh, yeah! This one was broken but they got it fixed eventually. So I tried to keep up but I didn't want to be hot and miserable AND breathing heavily...I looked at my Garmin and it said 7:23/mile. lol. I sort of hung on for a bit longer and then had to drift back. Got a couple or so faster miles out of it, though, which was a nice change. I ran on, then back again to another water fountain.
Yep, it was all about water fountains this day! I drank and drenched my hat.
On the way back, I met a clot of Walmart walkers--Walmart was having a Walk for/of/? Miracles. Fortunately, there was a lower path I could take.
I looked at my Garmin and saw almost ten miles at just under 1:30. Hey, I could do ten in 1:30. Just over, in 1:31. LOL This was eleven miles total (though not in 1:31), actually, because I'd started it about a mile into my run. I finished off another mile jogging back to the coffee shop. Had a bit of a break there, then a mile home.
Not bad for a steamy steamy day. It was only 23C by the time I was finished, though. I'm gonna fry this summer!!!!
And it was humid and muggy.
I didn't quite catch up to run club, and they went around a corner and they were gone. Gone!
I guessed at the turn they took, chose poorly, so ended up just jogging on my own and feeling my head bake. After a mile or so, I passed a fast men's running group heading the opposite way across a bridge. I continued along the river and then turned back to hit the water fountain and hill up the Canal and they passed me. I then passed them. Then they passed me. Then I passed some of them, and then they passed me when I stopped at another water fountain. One guy asked if it was on yet--oh, yeah! This one was broken but they got it fixed eventually. So I tried to keep up but I didn't want to be hot and miserable AND breathing heavily...I looked at my Garmin and it said 7:23/mile. lol. I sort of hung on for a bit longer and then had to drift back. Got a couple or so faster miles out of it, though, which was a nice change. I ran on, then back again to another water fountain.
Yep, it was all about water fountains this day! I drank and drenched my hat.
On the way back, I met a clot of Walmart walkers--Walmart was having a Walk for/of/? Miracles. Fortunately, there was a lower path I could take.
I looked at my Garmin and saw almost ten miles at just under 1:30. Hey, I could do ten in 1:30. Just over, in 1:31. LOL This was eleven miles total (though not in 1:31), actually, because I'd started it about a mile into my run. I finished off another mile jogging back to the coffee shop. Had a bit of a break there, then a mile home.
Not bad for a steamy steamy day. It was only 23C by the time I was finished, though. I'm gonna fry this summer!!!!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Saturday
I've still got this cold/dog flu. I was coughing yesterday evening and I considered calling in sick, but the coughing went away. They have masks at work, anyway.
At any rate, I woke up feeling muscularly tired. Everything was kind of mildly sore. I'm not sure if it was because of the cold, or because I had a good run on Friday, or because of dragonboating and all those miles on Thursday....at any rate, I did 1.5ish miles with the dog, and then jogged to work. Just 3 miles total.
I had hoped to get over 60 miles this week with a longer run today, but it didn't happen. I felt too tired, and ended up napping nearly two hours before going to work.
I should cut back a bit next week, in preparation for Emilie's Run. I feel so flat so my expectations are pretty low, but it would be good to have a few light days before the race.
Meanwhile, a weird side effect of my sickness is smelling what I think is myself. I should explain, my sinuses were majorly blocked earlier in the week. And then they cleared and my olfactory sensors too, and I started smelling this certain smell wherever I go. I've had this happen before, after getting over a blocked nose, but just in Korea. The smell is somewhat similar to their red pepper paste, and Korea does tend to uniformly smell like this, at least my old neighbourhoods did. When I first moved, I smelled it in the air, on bread, on clothes, etc, and then I stopped noticing until after I got rid of nasal blockage. I'd get a cold, get rid of a cold, and then smell this red pepper smell again for a couple of days and then it would go away. I forget what this mechanism is called, adapting to a certain scent and not noticing it anymore.
It's been happening again; however, it's been more than a couple of days and the smell I'm smelling STILL smells like Korea. It's a faint red pepper/paprika smell. It's got to be me and not Korea after all. I don't eat much red pepper paste or paprika anymore, so I'm rather mistified. I hope it's not an offensive smell. I've been showering enough--the past few days, twice a day at least because of multiple workouts. Yet I am still smelling this Korea smell on me. I left Korea in 2005. It's really quite odd. Unless I was smelling myself and not Korea all along. Another cause could be my choice of soap smell: pine. I was using a lot of that in Korea, but it's been only recently that I've found pine soap here. Maybe pine soap, once it hits my sweat glands or whatever, turns into Korea.
What's even more odd is that I didn't smell it at all at work. I guess that means that there are plenty of competing scents. I could go into much more detail. My stomach actually did a small flip today at one point. That's no mean feat.
And, as for work, or at least that particular job, today was my 2nd last shift. My husband's on his way home! Yeah, I miscalculated a bit when giving my notice several weeks ago and so my last day is a bit early, ah, well! I liked the job at first, but the work keeps piling on, the residents/patients keep deteriorating, and so forth, and so I'm really anxious to leave before something bad happens on my shift. Fingers crossed nothing bad happens on Monday.
At any rate, I woke up feeling muscularly tired. Everything was kind of mildly sore. I'm not sure if it was because of the cold, or because I had a good run on Friday, or because of dragonboating and all those miles on Thursday....at any rate, I did 1.5ish miles with the dog, and then jogged to work. Just 3 miles total.
I had hoped to get over 60 miles this week with a longer run today, but it didn't happen. I felt too tired, and ended up napping nearly two hours before going to work.
I should cut back a bit next week, in preparation for Emilie's Run. I feel so flat so my expectations are pretty low, but it would be good to have a few light days before the race.
Meanwhile, a weird side effect of my sickness is smelling what I think is myself. I should explain, my sinuses were majorly blocked earlier in the week. And then they cleared and my olfactory sensors too, and I started smelling this certain smell wherever I go. I've had this happen before, after getting over a blocked nose, but just in Korea. The smell is somewhat similar to their red pepper paste, and Korea does tend to uniformly smell like this, at least my old neighbourhoods did. When I first moved, I smelled it in the air, on bread, on clothes, etc, and then I stopped noticing until after I got rid of nasal blockage. I'd get a cold, get rid of a cold, and then smell this red pepper smell again for a couple of days and then it would go away. I forget what this mechanism is called, adapting to a certain scent and not noticing it anymore.
It's been happening again; however, it's been more than a couple of days and the smell I'm smelling STILL smells like Korea. It's a faint red pepper/paprika smell. It's got to be me and not Korea after all. I don't eat much red pepper paste or paprika anymore, so I'm rather mistified. I hope it's not an offensive smell. I've been showering enough--the past few days, twice a day at least because of multiple workouts. Yet I am still smelling this Korea smell on me. I left Korea in 2005. It's really quite odd. Unless I was smelling myself and not Korea all along. Another cause could be my choice of soap smell: pine. I was using a lot of that in Korea, but it's been only recently that I've found pine soap here. Maybe pine soap, once it hits my sweat glands or whatever, turns into Korea.
What's even more odd is that I didn't smell it at all at work. I guess that means that there are plenty of competing scents. I could go into much more detail. My stomach actually did a small flip today at one point. That's no mean feat.
And, as for work, or at least that particular job, today was my 2nd last shift. My husband's on his way home! Yeah, I miscalculated a bit when giving my notice several weeks ago and so my last day is a bit early, ah, well! I liked the job at first, but the work keeps piling on, the residents/patients keep deteriorating, and so forth, and so I'm really anxious to leave before something bad happens on my shift. Fingers crossed nothing bad happens on Monday.
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