Running Room Half Marathon Clinic Weeks 1 & 2

I’m really excited to be participating in my very first running clinic with the Running Room. Sadly, I’m not going to be able to run the goal race after all (#firstworldproblems), but I’m sticking with the clinic, because I have a lot to learn about half marathon training. The Scotia half is 7 weeks after the BMO I’m missing, so my plan is to just keep up the intensity after the end of the clinic and hope for the best!

Week 1

Monday: rest

Tuesday: 5 easy km at lunch 

Wednesday: 4 easy km at lunch

Thursday: Easy 3k with Run Clinic (after intro talk)

Friday: 1 hour hatha yoga

Saturday: Cross-country skiing (5k is what the Garmin recorded, it was way more than that) instead of steady 3k on the schedule.

Sunday: skipped 7k long run due to soreness from skiing

Week 1: 5 workouts, 17 km

Week 2

Monday: rest

Tuesday: 3k lunchtime attempt at a tempo run. I started too fast and then was out of gas. Soccer practice in the evening.

Wednesday: 5.5k with the RR Run Club. Glad I went with the group, because I would not have had that good a run on my own.

Thursday: Easy 3k with the Run Clinic after our Brooks sales pitch footwear and clothing talk

Friday: rest

Saturday: Skipped another 3k in favour of winter adventures, this time snowshoeing! Guessing about 4k.

Sunday: 7k long run with Run Club. It involved actual hills, which is unusual for me. Soccer game in the evening.

Week 2: 7 workouts, 23 km

I really enjoyed my rest day today after a busy weekend. Looking forward to getting out there for another tempo run tomorrow. It can only go better than last time.

Anyone else looking forward to a particular run this week?

Victoria Half Marathon Training: Weeks 1 & 2

I have been totally neglecting my blogging duties! In case there is anyone out there who was actually hoping for regular updates, I’ll apologize. Sorry folks.

The thing is, summer seems to have finally arrived in Vancouver and I’ve been out doing fun summery things instead of blogging. And somewhat instead of running…

But here’s an update on my first two weeks of training for the GoodLife Fitness Victoria Half Marathon.

Week 1

Monday
It was a holiday, I took it off.

Tuesday
First run since the SVHM. For once in my life, ran after work on a weekday! It was not a great run. My legs felt somehow both super stiff and like jello. Don’t ask me how. Anyway, I was attempting to do the first run on my training schedule (10 times two minute repeats with one minute recovery), but gave that up after the first few and just went for an easy jog. Out for a total of 40 minutes, about 5 km.

Wednesday
Did the Grouse Grind (more about that here), which was not a run, but since it was 58 minutes of really hard work, I’m counting it as a 10k run. You can’t stop me.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Nada.

Sunday
Threw a really awesome bridal shower for my friend Caiti instead of running. It was super hot that day though, so there was about the same amount of sweat as if I’d been for a run? (Okay, I know that doesn’t count.)

Week 1 total: 1 run, 1 Grouse Grind, 1 hour 38 mins, 15 km (but really only 5).

Not an ideal start

Week 2

Monday, Tuesday
Nada

Wednesday
Lunchtime run. Didn’t attempt the speed or tempo workouts on the schedule for the week, just went for a really easy one. Felt way better than the previous run. 40 minutes, 5.5 km.

Thursday
Had tentative plans to run at lunch, but had to leave work on time to meet my new landlord with a deposit, so no time!

Friday
Lunchtime run: easy 30 minutes. Not sure how far I went, my iPod nano has been extra unreliable lately. Let’s say 4.5 km?

Saturday
Maintenance day: pedicure and beach time! My feet were so much happier after that pedicure, and my ridiculous tan lines (racerback, running shorts, socks) are a little bit less obvious after an afternoon at the beach.

Sunday
Woke up early (8:00 is early on a weekend, okay!) to run before the heat, but it decided to cloud over and rain a little bit, which was actually quite welcome. I ran from T’s place, so it was totally new to me! Changing up the route completely was kind of fun, but it also meant way more hills than I am used to. (AKA, there were hills.) I walked a lot, so my 14 km run took me 1:38. So much better than no long run though!

Week 2 total: 3 runs, 2 hours, 48 minutes, about 24 km.

Not half bad

And So It Begins… Again

Since we last spoke, I have had a blissful week of recovery (aka laziness). Well, a little more than a week. Which is a little more than I intended. But whatever.

This week, without excuses, it all starts again. I am planning to run the GoodLife Victoria Half Marathon on Sunday, October 7. My 14 week training program starts… yesterday. (Today is close enough; yesterday was a holiday, it doesn’t count. Right??)

I’m going to follow the same training outline that I used for the SVHM because apparently it worked. Four runs a week: one “speed”, one “tempo”, one mid-length run and one long run. I’m shooting to better my training record from last time – I only actually completed all four runs three out of ten weeks last time. I also missed four long runs.

Goals for this training cycle:

1. Run four of four runs at least half of the weeks. (And run three the weeks I can’t make four. No more of these two-run weeks without an excuse!)
2. Run all 14 of my long runs. Realistically, I think it will probably be more like 11 or 12 out of 14. But dream big, right?!
3. Take the “tempo” and “speed” runs more seriously. I was doing these runs last time, but I wasn’t paying super close attention to my pacing, just running intervals as best I could. This time I’m going to try harder to do them as they were intended. That said, running at all is my main goal, so I’m not going to worry about them too much.
4. Work some yoga (and possibly other cross-training) in. This battle is already half-won! I have signed up for a yoga class through work that runs August 15^th to November 21^st. So that’s already 8 sessions of yoga more than I have ever worked into a training cycle! Go me!
5. Use this excellent training mojo to run the GVHM in 1:55. I don’t want to set myself an ambitious goal after such a huge PR at the SVHM. I just want to PR again and get a nice

I’m going to have to play around with my weekday run schedule. There’s a lot going on between now and October and I’m not going to be able to fit three runs in at lunchtime most weeks. This is mostly only an issue because a) I don’t get up early to run and b) I have a very hard time finding time to run in the evenings, let alone motivating myself to go once I get home from work.

How do you do it all? How do you fit in running with everything else going on in your life?

SVHM: Training Week 14 & Race Recap Teaser

Well, I did it. I successfully trained for and completed my second Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon. I’ll get to how successful in a bit.

Monday
No run Monday.

Tuesday
Short lunchtime run. 5 minute warm up, 5 times 2 minute repeats with 1 minute recovery jog, 8 minute cool down. Total of 4.4 km, 28 minutes. Felt good. Felt fast.

Wednesday
Just an easy 5k to keep me moving.

Thursday
Soccer game! We were playing for top spot in our spring league, against the only team we’d lost to all season. We played to a 0-0 draw, which is disappointing because it didn’t put us past them in the standings.

Friday
Friday was my last run before the big day. Just another easy 5k. Took it easy. I ate lots of carbs and picked up my race package.

Saturday
Saturday was a day busy with things other than running. Like my baby sister graduating from high school. I’ll post more about it with my race recap. It wasn’t nearly restful enough, but I ate lots of carbs and drank lots of water and managed to be asleep by midnight.

A surprisingly good picture of the five of us. (We’re not normally that squinty, it was bright.)

Sunday
Race day, obviously. I had an amazing run. I felt so good for so much of it, which was definitely not the case last year. I’ll talk more about the nitty gritty in my next post, so until then you can ponder how I beat my goal by 10 minutes, came in under two hours, beat my last year’s time by almost 20 minutes,  and ran 1:56:32. And if you figure it out, please let me know.

My bling.

Week 14 Total:
3 runs; 1 race; 35.5 km; 3h24m; one soccer game.

Achievement unlocked.

SVHM Training: Week 13 (One More To Go!)

SVHM Training: Week 12

I’m now 13 days out from the Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon. I’m officially tapering. And by tapering I mean neglecting my training. =S  OOPS!

I had such high hopes for last week. I thought I might finally get back to four runs in a week! And then… I didn’t.

Monday
Started out strong, with an excellent run on my lunch hour. 5 minute warm up, 2 minute repeats with 1 minute recovery jog 10 times, 5 minute cool down, for a total of 40 minutes, 6.75 km. The numbers don’t show it, but this run felt AMAZING. I was full of energy, felt like I could have run longer if I’d wanted to!

I also played a soccer game that night. (2-1 win, my team is sitting at 5-1-0 for the spring season!)

Tuesday
Rest day. Went to see The Avengers in the evening. I had heard so many good things and I was not disappointed. It was amazing.

Wednesday
Keeping to my intended schedule I went for a nice easy 7 km run at lunch.

Thursday  
Does dragon boating count as cross-training? Because I worked damn hard at our practice on Thursday night. (Did I mention my company put a team together for a dragon boat festival next weekend?)

Friday
This is where I lost momentum. I had no reason not to run at lunch other than I didn’t feel like it. So I didn’t.

Saturday
I had every intention of going for a run nice and early. I set my alarm for 7:45 so that I’d be up at 8 and out the door by 8:45 with plenty of time to get a 16 km run in before my pedicure. And then I made the classic half-asleep mistake of turning my alarm off instead of hitting snooze. And woke up at 10:15.

But my feet were so happy to have a pedicure!

Saturday afternoon I played dodgeball for the first time since I became an adult. It was part of Corporate Champions Vancouver and it was SO much fun. Then I hustled my butt to my soccer team’s bowling night fundraiser. Another ridiculous amount of fun.

No photos posted yet of dodgeball, so here’s our soccer team from the previous weekend. (This post needed a picture.)

Sunday
I overslept Sunday too, though I didn’t miss another planned run, just a nice relaxing breakfast and coffee before the second day of dodgeball. Unfortunately we got knocked out of the playoffs in the first round (so that was a total of like 5 minutes of dodgeball), so my team went for food and drinks. Which meant I squandered another opportunity to fit my run in.

Week 12 Total:
2 runs; 1h 21m; 13.75 km; one soccer game; one dragon boat practice; 7 games of dodgeball.

Outlook for this week:
This week I am promising myself (and the world) that I will get three runs in. I didn’t run today, but tomorrow, Thursday or Friday, and Sunday. Throw in a soccer practice tomorrow, a soccer game Thursday, dragon boat races on Saturday and Sunday, Tommy’s birthday on Friday, birthday celebrations on Saturday, my sister’s grad on Saturday and Father’s Day on Sunday and that’s looking like a pretty good week. And maybe a little bit busy? =P

SVHM Training: Week 11

It’s been a few days (okay, like a week) since I posted. I have no excuses. Other than I’ve been busy. And I’m still somewhat new at this, give me a break.

Without further ado:

Monday 
Portland recuperation and last minute, day-of prep for last Sparks meeting of the year = too busy to run.

Tuesday
No run. Probably should have but didn’t. (Don’t really recall why.)

Wednesday
This lunchtime run wasn’t super successful, but it was better than no run! 32 minutes, 4.5 km. Definitely better than nothing.

Thursday
Soccer day! Always counts for something, I figure.

Friday
Got out at lunch again, this time for a proper run. 5 minute warm up, 8 minute repeats with 3 minute recovery jog 3 times, 5 minute cool down. Covered 7.1 km in 43 minutes. Not too shabby at all!

Saturday, Sunday
Played in a 7-a-side soccer tournament with colleagues as part of Corporate Champions Vancouver. Three [short] games Saturday and two Sunday left me in no shape for my long run. Oops. Another missed long run. Feel free to judge me.

Week 11 Total:
2 runs; 1h 15m; 11.6 km; one real soccer game; 5 mini soccer games.

There’s certainly room for improvement.

SVHM Training: Week 10

Well, week 10 turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.

Monday
Planned no-run day: in still in Whistler (which you can read about here).

Tuesday
Lunch time run! 5 minute warm up, 1 minute repeats with 1 minute recovery jog, only made it to 12 out of 20 times due to calf cramps. Easy run the rest of the way back to work, for a total of 7 km in 45 minutes.

Wednesday
Did not run, calf too sore.

Thursday
Calf loosened up in time for my soccer game, of which I played about 80 of 90 minutes.

Friday
My first after work run. 20 km in 2:08. Still can’t believe I actually made it happen.

Saturday, Sunday
Planned days off due to Portland excursion (post to come).

Week 10 Total:
2 runs; 2h 51m; 27 km; 80 minutes of a soccer game.

Lessons learned: sitting on a bus for 12+ hours in the two days following a 20 km run is not the best recovery strategy. I was a stiff and unhappy camper.

Looks slightly better than last week with a soccer game thrown in.

Busy, Busy, Busy

As evidenced by my lack of posting this week, I’ve been busy. This doesn’t really come as a surprise to me (I thrive on busy), but this week has been a bit nuts. (As in the dinner dishes from Monday night that are mine to wash were still sitting next to the sink until tonight…) And the running has suffered as much as the blogging has.

I got one run in on Tuesday, but wasn’t able to complete my 20 times 1 minute repeats with 1 minute recovery jog because of some crazy cramping in my right calf. Just after halfway through the run, it cramped up like nobody’s business and just wouldn’t let me do any kind of speed. Luckily I was able to continue at an easy pace and didn’t have to walk back to work, and still managed a 7ish km / 45 minute run.

Wednesday I didn’t run because my calf was still really tight; Thursday I gave running a miss because I had a soccer game in the evening and a run and a soccer game has proven to be too much for one day. I’m leaving at 7:30 tomorrow morning (okay, in 6 hours) to go to Portland for the weekend, to return late Sunday night, so that left me with exactly one opportunity for a long run: Friday night.

I got home from work, changed, chugged some water, threw down some almonds and a handful of Real Fruit gummies (mmm, so good) and set off for a 20 km run. Like it was nothing! Beautiful evening for a run (man I’ve been lucky with the weather) and it felt pretty good.

Just another May evening in Vancouver. (I broke my don’t touch the iPhone while running rule just to snap this.)

I was really glad my calf didn’t act up again. The only things bugging me tonight were one slightly wonky hip (no idea where that came from) and achy knees. And the fact that I was hungrier than I should have been. I really should have eaten a substantial snack before this run. I did take a handful of Real Fruit gummies with me on the run, and while the periodic boost of sugar definitely kept me going, I was probably hungry when I started. Not good enough!

I need to get to sleep, as I am exhausted from my run and have a big weekend ahead of me! I will leave you with the view from where I stretched after my run tonight and promise to post about the Portland trip on Monday or Tuesday!

My word do I love this city…

SVHM Training: Week 9

After my training fell off last week, I knew I needed to pick it back up for Week 9. I also knew it was going to be hard work with a busy week and then a long weekend.

Monday

Planned no running day, as it was a busy one with the rest of my life.

Tuesday

Lunch time run! 5 minute warm up, 2 minute repeats with 1 minute recovery jog 12 times, 5 minute cool down, for a total of 46 minutes and 7.2 km. Not too shabby for a Tuesday. Then 10 minutes into my soccer game that evening I rolled my ankle. Oops.

Wednesday

Instead of my planned run, my lunch hour involved a trip to Rexall to get an ice pack. Rest, ice, elevate repeat!

Thursday, Friday

Continued resting and icing. Contemplated running both days, but I was smart enough not to.

Saturday

The swelling in my ankle was gone and it hadn’t hurt in days, so after a belated Mothers Day breakfast with my family I decided to do my long run as planned. It was a great run on another beautiful day, and I had no pain at all in my ankle. My hip flexors nagged, my knees ached on the downhills and my calves cramped up like nobody’s business, but there was no pain at all in my ankle! 

Sunday

This was another planned day off. Tommy and I went to Whistler for the night as a 2 year anniversary celebration.

Week 9 Total:

2 runs; 2h 54m; 26.2 km; 10 minutes of a soccer game.

Lessons learned: I really need to wear sunscreen when I run for two hours at midday. Avoid bark mulch.

Apart from the blank days, this looks okay.

Stay tuned for a post about my life outside running this week.