Return to Blogging — ENDURrun Stage 1 – the half marathon

So I know, blogging has not been my forte this year. I could come up with a plethera of excuses but really I have just been lazy. I have not however, been lazy with my running. Waaaaay back in January I signed up for the ENDURrun. It has always been a bucket list item and this year all the stars aligned so that I would be able to do it. This is an 8 day, multi-day staged event that covers 160km. I figured it was a great time to come back to blogging! Over the next 8 days I will blog about the courses, the day, and the crazies that I get during the week as I try to complete this event. To get an overall sense of the event, you can got to:

http://www.endurrun.com

As a bit of background, I have been able to consistently training for this event uninjured for the past 2 months *knock on wood*. I am going into the event confident in my mileage, but not confident in handling some of the terrains. Here is the breakdown of each stage:

1 – Sunday – 21.1km half marathon of rolling country hills

2- Monday- 15k flat time trial

3- Tuesday- 30k trail run w 48 hills (6 loops of 5km)

4- Wednesday- 16k hill run (and we aren’t talking tiny)

5- Thursday- rest

6- Friday- 25.6k Alpine run (takes place on a local ski hill)

7- Saturday- 10k flat time trial

8- Sunday- 42.2k marathon of rolling hills

Whew! I am tired just writing that! My concerns are the 2 trail runs as I did not do much trail running in my training. I figure I will cross that bridge when I get to it. To say I was nervous and slightly excited this morning is putting it mildly! I went through all my race day rituals. I am one of those typical “head case” runners. I need an hour to wake up, have my coffee, and just relax before any run. I also have rituals. One is that I need to have my nails painted the colour I am wearing whenever I race. Today’s colour was green. Along with this I need to have a pre-race picture. The pre-race picture comes from my aunt who always felt it was good luck. Now it has become ritual, and today it was a pre-race selfie

It was a little strange because my bestest dude was not there today, and I don’t really know many of the runners except through social media. Many of the runners know each other through local running clubs or groups. Towards the end of the day I was fortunate to meet some of my social media buddies, who were really welcoming and friendly!

The weather turned out to be perfect, and my legs were anxious to get it underway. They had spent months running on tired legs in preparation and had spent the week resting and preparing. I likened it to drinking an extra large cup of coffee every day. I had overwhelming energy! Quick and awkward countdown, and we were off! I am fortunate to be quite familiar with this 1st stage course as this was my 4th year running it. Bestest dude and I have been a guest runner at this stage for the past few years. I knew that there was lots of hills and that I needed to be cautious with my energy. The route consists of a 13k lap followed by an 8k lap. I knew right away that I was going to have a good run. In fact I worried that I was running too fast in the first 10k. I have been training with times around 5:30/km for my runs. This race I was clocking 5:15. Every once and a while I would slow down to a 5:25 because mentally I felt I should, but my legs wanted to run faster. There are some great flat sections in this course where you can settle into a groove, like the Grey Silo golf course path. I felt strong on the hills and I attribute this to Wilmot line training and the cottage. I wore my hydration belt for this race and I am glad I did. This allowed me to bypass water stations, and keep myself replenished with nuun water. Along with 2 vega gels at the 8k and 16k mark, and my fueling was spot on. At 13k I was clocked at 1:08, and had 8k to go. The sun was much more of a factor on the second half of the run which had very little shade, and also made for a very salty runner at the end of the day. Managed to push up the hill at 5:25/km, and fall into a pocket for the last portion of the race. I have a mantra that I say in the last 5k of every race “I can do anything for 5k”. Cleared the last 5k without dipping slower than 5:10/km, with a finish time of 1:50:18.

I was very pleased with this result, and it ended being an ENDURrun half marathon PB for me. My only worry is that I have made a rookie mistake in going out too fast on the first stage. I am not in competition with anyone on the course, just myself, so running this fast wasn’t exactly necessary. Strangely, I felt that I had lots left in the tank when I finished this race. I am hoping this transfers to tomorrow. Tomorrow is the 15k time trial which fortunately is flat 🙂 The body feels good with no niggles (potential injuries), minus one bloody toe 😦

So overall, it was good day! We will see when the lustre wears off and the mental game starts but right now I am taking it stage by stage! Run the stage you are in! Oh and the cutest part? I came home to this card sitting on my counter from my mom ❤ How awesome is she?!?! Now time for golf, nuun and Doritos!  T

Goals Update and Belated Thankful Thursday

So it appears that I have been a little slack on my blog posting over the past week. Note to self, next month make a goal to blog more! Since my blog posting at the beginning of September I have pushed myself forward to follow through on the goals that I set out. The one item I have been a little slack on was my Thankful Thursday commitment. Soooo it may be a little late, and be warned there will be another tomorrow but here it is:

I am thankful for my bestest dude (husband). I bet some of you saw that one coming. After my marathon I wrote briefly on what a fabulous guy he is. I was really fortunate to win the lottery on this one. I sure waited a long time for him to come along (30 years), but I am glad that I never settled. That isn’t to say that we are perfect, because when we disagree we can both be stubborn, but that is to say that he is perfect for me. He has supported me with all my dreams the past 7 years, and put up with my tumultuous moods (picture grumpy bear and watch out). He is very patient, kind, and straight forward with me when he needs to be. He is also my running buddy. When I was injured 5 years ago, I was off running for a year. When I came back to running he was there with me every painful step of the way and continues to be. I am definitely thankful for him in my life.

Now onto other things. So I set all these ambitious goals in my last blog posting, and wanted to be sure to let you know how those have been going. I am happy to say that I have reduced my caffeine consumption to one coffee per day! *happy dance* There was one occasion where I had a second coffee but was sure to make it a decaf. I have also increased my water consumption. It started off with the 5 day water challenge I spoke about. I was consuming 80oz of water a day during the challenge, and have used this as a jumping point to consistently maintain a minimum of 48oz. My hope is to be able to maintain at 80oz, but I am trying to be realistic! I keep a large 32oz jug of water on my desk at work throughout the day, and this reminds me to chug a lug. I have also only spent one occasion drinking alcohol, and it was my cheat day! The first day of the football season how can one say no to cheap chicken wings and beer? I am pretty proud that despite this cheat day I got back on track, and maintained my wish to eat and drink clean! My one cheat day this week will be Sunday. We are travelling to Buffalo for the Bills home opener game, and I just can’t commit to being a good girl during tailgating. Here’s a quick pic of my delicious clean eats salad from Thrive Energy Bar, and the homemade (and sugar free) tomato sauce I canned!

As for my running, it feels great!!!! I don’t know if its fall, the vega sport, or just that I am treating my body well but I feel so much better on my runs! I even ran two half marathon distances within 5 days of each other. Both of these were at 5:25/km which is so much better than where I was last fall. I am hoping that this will continue and I am beginning to appreciate the consistency of running and eating well in my life. I haven’t increased my long run mileage yet, but I plan to do so after my half marathon this weekend.

Speaking of which, I am super excited about the half marathon race I am running this weekend. Well also slightly nervous because this is a brand new race and I have no idea what the course is like. I would really like to come in at 1:51 but not knowing what the hills may be like makes it difficult to know if this is possible. Fingers crossed. It’s called the Harvest Half, and is another fantastic event by the folks at Run Waterloo. I went for a 5km tempo run this morning to shake out the legs, and all systems seem to feel pretty good. Although the fog made it a little like something out of Criminal Minds or CSI. Check this out!

Finally, for those who are following my trial Vega sport journey, I have to tell you I’m a believer. Now if I said to you it was because I have felt better over the past two weeks than I have in a while, you may write it off for a multitude of reasons: 1) It’s fall 2) I am eating better 3) I am drinking more water 4) I am running more consistent. However, I have been more consistent with my running, including higher mileage and I still feel great! My legs are much more “ready to go”. I noticed this especially this morning. I ran two half’s in 5 days then took two days off. Normally I would have a lethargic and gross recovery tempo run when I came back. When I ran this morning, I felt awesome! My legs didn’t even feel tired. This is something I have not experienced in a very long time, like when I was in my 20’s (and I am 37). I don’t know if it has to do with the Vega Sport, but I am starting to believe. The other comment I wanted to make was in regards to the endurance gels. I was forced to use my GU energy gels this past weekend because I had run out of the Vega. I was completely wrecked by GI issues afterwards. I also crashed really hard after about 4k of taking the gel. It made me miss the Vega. If anything I am sold on their gels, and my GI loves me for it! The only problem is that these are harder to locate in my community than the other Vega products, so I need to prepare ahead. Oh and a sidenote, the peanut butter chocolate protein bars are DELICIOUS!!!! So I have decided to make a commitment to their accelerator (tropical), protein powder (I still haven’t decided what flavour!), and the gels (definitely raspberry). Although their protein bars are delicious too! Again, I was not endorsed or paid to write this, I just honestly enjoyed the product!
So I think that is it for today. Stay tuned for tomorrows Thankful Thursday, and happy running!

T

The 1:50 half marathon vortex

So my first half marathon was in 2011. I was slotted to run my first half in 2008, but a brutal bout with ITBS and no benefits sidelined me for about a year. At the point of injury I was a 21:00min 5km runner, which I had worked hard to achieve. When I came back from injury my increase in km’s was slow and wrought with pain. Everytime I increased my mileage my IT band shouted back at me angrily. Needless to say it took me 2 years to regain the distance. When I completed the Chilly Half Marathon in March 2011 my goal was 2 hours. My bestest dude and I crossed the finish line in 1:53 bang on. I was excited that I had come in under 2 hours! And then I entered the vortex, the 1:53 half marathon vortex. These are the 7 half marathons I have completed and their times:

Chilly Half 1:53:00, Oakville Half 1:55:10 (I had to run into a church because of gastro issues), Waterloo Half 1:52:51, ENDURrun Half 1:54:16, Marden half 1:53:11, Waterloo Half 1:55:56 (run approx 2 weeks after the last one), and ENDURrun half 1:51:58

I have slipped into this zone where nothing seems to break that 1:50 zone. Last year I was esctatic that I managed to run 1:51 (barely), and had high hopes for this year. My spring half was kiboshed because I dislocated a toe. Yup, who knew you could dislocate a toe?!?! I have slotted 3 more half marathons in this year. ENDURrun (AUG), Harvest Half (SEPT), and Hamilton Half (NOV). My hopes may be high, but I would like to run a 1:45 by Hamilton. EEEEEKS did I just type that outloud?!?!? Right now that task seems near impossible considering I can’t seem to even bring my time down by 1 minute let alone 6. My long runs are reflecting about a 30 sec/km faster pace this year, so maybe it’s possible?

I know that it means I have to change my training plan but I am not sure how. One can get lost in the world of fartleks, intervals and hill runs. Up until this point all I have ever done is “just run”, and generally I do it alone (or with bestest dude). I don’t consider myself a competitive person except with myself, and that I am seriously questioning. The problem is that I have become “comfortable” in my pace, and rarely push myself on training runs. Even bestest dude has commented on the fact that I always run at the same pace. So then technically I’m not very competitive with myself am I? How does one push oneself to the next level. I contemplated joining a local running group, an idea that is slightly terrifying to an introvert like me. I am generally much more gregarious and social once I know people but really I am not a fan of big groups, or feeling on the spot. If I could be guaranteed to just absorb into the crowd, I would be sold. Then again I come back to the idea of “pushing out of my confort zone”. It appears that either way it needs to happen for me to reach my goal. Whether it means developing a plan in independently or looking to join others. At this point I’m not quite sure what to do. One of my favourite quotes in my job is  “If nothing changes, nothing changes”.

For this week I’m going to run #waterloo10kclassic and see how it goes. Then Sunday night after bestest dude gets dropped off at the airport, and I am sitting in my chair downstairs enjoying a well deserved glass of wine (currently its a two week detox), I will make a decision. Whatever that decision is, it will push me out of my two year comfort zone, and hopefully the 1:50 vortex.