I ran

This is noteworthy!

Last night, an approaching storm system shoved the hot air aside, and so I had to hit the streets.  First run in at least a week, maybe two, I forget :(.  1.5-2 miles only. However that was enough because I'm out of shape, and it was still hot for running, about 27-28 C.  That's ~10 C cooler than normal, though, so it didn't feel hot at first.

It was so good to run, especially since I've been having the low-grade issues that I get whenever it's hot and I'm not exercising enough, stuff like poor sleep, loss of appetite, muscle soreness, fatigue, etc.  Yesterday morning, I was starting to feel emotionally sandbagged too...the endorphins came just in time!

The next few days are supposed to have scattered thunderstorms and cooler temps, so I should be able to get in a couple more runs until the heat comes back.

Have I mentioned that I dislike summer? And that it's mutual?

At any rate, I'm greatly enjoying and appreciating the reprieve! :)

On the Grill

I hate the heat, but I gotta congratulate it today. (sorry for the abrupt end. This isn't the best version but I really like the cut in the beginning)

Anyhow, talk about record-breaking! my hottest day ever in North America: 44 C! (48 humidex). So I dusted off this old blog to celebrate!

But yeah, I didn't run today. We walked about 1/3 of a mile, which is more than what we've done all week with the exception of yesterday--oh, yeah, yesterday was amazing! Mostly overcast and only about 27 C, I think. Still too hot for me to run with the dog and the stroller, but we walked to a local park, hung out there for a bit, and walked home, about a mile total.  Not bad for a 2.5 year old and his decrepit mom who hadn't walked all week.

Yeah, all week!

I even bought a parking pass for school and used it all of last week--I didn't buy one last year, but it also didn't get above 40 last year, as far as I remember.  Still, I'm amazed that I seem to be the only one thinking "OMG, heatwave." People are saying it's hot, and my kid's school is keeping everyone inside all day, but not one person has called this a heatwave. When we were living in Kansas, we had about six weeks in the 36-42 C range, and that was apparently the worst heatwave in 50 years, but they do everything bigger and better in Texas, I guess. Or maybe everyone else is also going around thinking "OMG, if I go around calling this a heatwave, people will think I'm delusional."  Or maybe everyone is just as fried as I am.  Sorry if this post sucks...I get stupid in the heat.  Park in the shade, folks.

Fortunately, I ran 5 km or more every day except for one during the two weeks I was back in my home province earlier this month.  It might be another two weeks before I run again, but I'm hoping to at least resume walking once the lows get below 28 or 27 C...hopefully soon. 

Oh, and to sum up 9 months of running: bits here and there. Mostly 1-3 short runs a week, and at least one longish (5-8 miles) run on the weekend, weather permitting.  Not much. Oh, well!

!!!

I've been running about 2-3 times a week, nothing major, although I'm starting to get some pep back because summer is finally scramming (although today got up to 31 C which isn't that hot but so unnecessary and gross...UGH, JUST GO AWAY).

I apologize, but summer down here really sucks*.  Usually when I pack a change of under things/outer things and baby wipes, it's because I actually got to run on the way and work up an honest sweat.  But not here!  I live just 0.4 miles from school.

Also, it's tough finding an appropriately lightweight Halloween costume for a toddler descended from not one but two heavy-sweating parents (yes, the kid sweats too).  He likes animals, so I figure he can have fun being an animal, but practically all the animal costumes are fleece jumpsuits...but I digress.

Anyhoo**, I'm writing not because of my non-major writing, but because of this song.  An upside of all the studying I do*** (which is not as much as my peers, but still a few hours per day), is TUNES.  I can't remember the last time I found a song that gave me the freezies :) 

Maybe tomorrow will be a long run, which is about 5 miles these days (I'll have both the stroller and the dog).


*I went home during winter and got walking pneumonia, but I bear no ill will against winter because I love winter.  I was foolhardy and underdressed because it was so nice to run around without sweating (much), but I was also fighting a cold or whatever it was that the lady next to me on the plane claimed was allergies :/
**I don't actually quite agree with the content of the lyrics, but I'm relishing the poignancy.
*** Studying? Best baby weight loss program ever: med school.  I'm back in the middle of my old normal range now.  yeah!

weekly recap, a bit late

Does writing help fuel running?  If not, I will still enjoy the reminiscing later.

So, January 15-January 21: 32 miles, longest run: 12 miles.

It's been warm and I still have extra weight and not enough sleep, plus all of my runs involve the dog at least, and usually the stroller + kid too.  It's not pretty.  However, my fitness has improved enough that I can jog along with the stroller and dog in 20+ C and still breathe easy, even on some hills.  Not every run is a tempo run anymore.  Therefore, occasionally, I get into the zone.  It's not exactly the supremely effective zone that sports coaches discuss--I'm not enjoying elite performances--but it is a sort of bubble in which I forget I have a body and things to worry about, for the most part.  I simply float along.  I love it.  I've missed it.  It takes considerable effort to remove effort, and so I have been without the zone for almost two years thanks to a decreased fitness.

But now I'm starting to get back into the zone :)

I've read that I should be talking to my son as much as possible in order to facilitate his language development, and narration has become somewhat automatic (I recently noticed myself describing stuff to him even though he was asleep and I knew he was asleep!)...but isn't silence also an important lesson?  Does he feel the zone too, and will he eventually remember it and seek it? 

I'm also trying to get the new dog to appreciate the zone.  The old dog understood it, and there were times where I forgot that I was running and was with a dog for upwards of an hour, and I think the mindbliss was mutual because the dog seemed more relaxed too.  This new dog, however, is a social gadabout, and so she doesn't want to be in an introspective bubble.

Oh, well, we will see.

~

Beautiful summer weather right now, highs in the mid-20s C.  Too bad we're in the northern hemisphere.

Anyway, I'm trying to hit 30+ miles/week for the time being.  Last week was 29.1.  Not bad!

I'm also deciding how to track this.  I have Strava, but I mildly dislike it, but I don't have time to do my traditional excel sheets...or maybe I do.  I love the excel sheets because, even though I keep forgetting the sum function for weekly mileage, I put pretty colours all over it PLUS I can plot future training/runs.  I did this for about 8 years and, heck, I need all the help I can get these days so I will try to go old school.

And I will try to write more, like once a week.  

Meanwhile, 3.75 miles this morning with the dog.  The most noteworthy run recently was 10.1 miles on Friday--yay, 2 digits, and in 2016!--in Fort Worth, which is considerably hillier than expected. We also ran by a scrap metal/recycling/junkyard, and apparently the complex bouquet of various burning toxins smelled like Iraq (minus the high note of poo).  There was also a fair chunk of construction on the route, and one part smelled like South Korea (minus the high note of red pepper paste).   I should also mention that Fort Worth kind of sort of looked like Calgary.  And there was another part that kind of almost looked like parts of OTTAWA, mainly Preston Street, same general scale and size/type/situation of buildings on and just off it, same sort of businesses, though not so much little Italy.  It was heartwarming though.  I miss home a LOT. So lots of reminiscing. There was also a bit of off-roading.  Again, more memories, of other off-road runs~

It wasn't the easiest run, but it was reasonably epic.

!

I have been running, and I have been writing, just not here.  Yesterday, I submitted a research essay and signed out of my other omnipresent Google account (the one linked to my umpteen Google docs), and read a BOOK.  During the next several days, I'm going to read other BOOKS, and run, of course, and do nothing even remotely academic.

Anyway, running highlights from the last six months:

2 family 5Ks with my husband, my kid-n-stroller (my husband pushed), and the dog (and my husband held the leash during the last mile of each, because I'm definitely the weakest link).  My results, just over 30 minutes and 29:17.

Yeah, slow.  I'm still about 20 pounds heavier than before, plus I'm still out of shape...I'm working on it, but my kid is still nursing, and so it seems I have to hang onto the extra fat for the time being.  He is eating solid food too, mind you, including meat (favourites being barbacoa tacos and hamburgers), and he's also drinking cow's milk, but I'm definitely still on the hook.  He is just over a year old now, and he's apparently a couple of inches shorter than the average two-year old, but otherwise he's about that size and weight.  His clothes and shoes are mostly 2 year old size.  So, he eats a lot, I guess, and so I just have to be patient.

But I also have to keep pushing, and not just the stroller!  Recently, I've done two almost 10-mile runs.  Each one was supposed to be ten miles, I've been having issues with Strava, and so I'll probably dig up my old Garmin.  My plan is to finally crack two digits on New Years' Day.  We'll see how that goes.

I'm hoping to attempt a 1/2 marathon early in the spring, before it gets hot again.  My kid likes riding in the stroller, and we have a Thule* which rolls really well.  I have time, and no excuses.

In addition, I've kept up with the Pilates series--have I mentioned this?  It's called The Perfect Bum, and maybe I now possess this under those adipose layers, but it turned out to be an excellent regimen for my pelvic floor and core, and now I'm at the point where I'm bored with the maintenance phase and trying to distill it.  Doing ten reps of whatever seems pointless: I can get a similar burn doing five with more intensity.  I don't have the willpower to really do ten, but I can focus for five.  

Anyway, today we ran just 4 miles.  I was originally going to try for 6 again, but it was 21 C and misty/humid, but not actually raining, just on the verge...of brutal.   It's supposed to be chilly now, right?  Right?  It was a hot fall.  ugh





*I highly recommend this brand: light, easy to push, not as expensive as the Bob strollers or whatever they're called, and it doesn't come with cup holders or a bunch of junk attached to it, but does have decent storage space under the seat.

.

I ran yesterday thanks to a bit of a break in the weather and in the night.  I had the kid/stroller and the dog, it was warm (about 26 C, pretty much like every morning nowadays, but less humid), and there was no joy in it.

However, this is perhaps granting me a valuable perspective of some sort, I guess.

Meanwhile, we are halfway through the worst of summer!  Just chipping along, day by day.