OK, so I still feel like I haven't recovered from the Princess on Sunday. I still feel tired and achy...like I fell out of a tree or something. Plus, darn it, I deserve a bit of a break. So I haven't run once since then, or even been to the gym in the past week. That's fine, I think a few days to fully recover is a good idea. So in the meantime, please enjoy our before and after pictures from the race:
Why are we smiling? We're about to run 21K in 25C!
Note we both have a touch of the crazies in
our eyes...we're dazzled by the new bling!
Also, a friend sent me this, but I'm thinking it's a pretty good idea....might give this a whirl the next time I'm downtown...DANCE WALK BABY!!
Well, it's been over 6 months since my last post. I have no excuse other than sheer laziness....On writing, that is. I have been running. Last year we did the Stampede Half and the Seawheeze. I did them and didn't write about it. I feel like I let myself down there...so let's acknowledge that it happened and move on.
Happy 2013!
This is gonna be the YEAR I RUN AND WRITE ABOUT IT.
I like having the record of it to track my progress and setbacks. I'm kinda funny sometimes. And a few pictures too. I'm kinda funny looking ALL the time, heh!
So what has 2013 brought so far? Well, get this. On Sunday, Princess Chris and myself completed the Disney Princess Half Marathon. That's right...the race that got us started on this whole running thing. Nope, we didn't write about the training. Yep, I will post a few pics this week. And I promise to start writing again, even if it's just for me. And I should have something to write about...we are registered for the Seawheeze again in August and the Disneyland Half again in September. We even have a new recruit for the Seawheeze running her first even half marathon! We are also planning on running the Stampede half again this year. And I promise there will be posts and pictures all year long!
Check out our Progress! We've registered for the Lululemon Seawheeze, a half marathon in Vancouver that's only 95 days away. It does sound like fun and the route looks like it will be gorgeous. And while it's not an exclusively woman's race, I'm guessing it will be slightly geared towards the ladies, which is the kind of race I prefer….even the most unathletic of boys will probably pass me forever at some point. Plus the swag includes shorty shorts instead of a shirt! We registered too late to get the shorts ahead of time, but I understand they look like this:
Pretty sure I have undies with more coverage.
Yeah, short and white pretty much guarantees I will never wear these out of my house, but I have to admit they are totally cute and I would wear them if I had 32 inch hips. Pajama bottoms if I can even squeeze into the biggest size, I guess? For the Stampede Half in a couple of weeks, I’m pretty sure our only goal is to finish the race upright (and then eat as many pancakes as possible), but I decided my goal for this race is to try to be 2:20 or under. I think because it won’t have quite as many photo ops as a Disney run and the race is in a sea level city, that this goal is tough, but possible.
Of course, this means I'm not only have to get my butt training, but I'll have to knock about 30 seconds off my typical per km pace in a half marathon. This doesn’t seem like much until you realize just how fast you have to go without breaks…and the breaks you do get have to be SHORT. Sounds like I'm really going to have to bump up the hill training and speedwork! We have had a couple of shriekworthy training runs where I think this pace could be possible…in fact, we did one 7K last week where if we could have maintained that pace, we would have come in UNDER 2 HOURS for a half…yes, it’s unlikely we could have maintained that speed for any longer than we did, but it gave us a good idea of what our pace should be like to set a new PR. I can already feel my legs getting sore....
OK, OK, while I might not actually be WRITING much about running, I actually AM running. Yes, it has been a while. I went to Vegas in May, where I not only dragged myself out of bed to run, I did it three times. Each run was slower than the day before as the week of gluttony caught up to me. Also, even though I headed out by 8am, it was already over 30C. I took a water bottle even though they were short runs because I was afraid of death by dehydration or of looking like this:
The hours of tanning might contribute too...
And, because I’m me, the first day my run was to Sonic to pick up breakfast sandwiches and French Toast Sticks. I laughed to myself all the way back as I chugged down the sidewalk clutching my greasy brown bag of fast food…I might like to run, but I like to eat more.
Breakfast of Champions...sometimes I AM the best roommate ever!
When I got back from Vegas, we registered for the Stampede Half Marathon which is the first Sunday of Stampede. Because this race is at 7am on a Sunday, this means I will have to be smart on Saturday and drink lots of water and go to bed early instead of partying it up down at the grounds, but hey, maybe I AM growing up a little. Then again, since I’m trying to figure out how to wear a cowboy hat while I run 21K and am far more excited for the post race pancakes than the race itself, maybe not.
That's right, it's been a while. I fell again and this time it was worse....I fell forward and bashed up both knees and rewhacked my elbow, which put me out of commission for a while. I did try to get a few runs in, but even walking hurt quite a lot for a few weeks so I took it pretty easy----still active every day, but no running. But I'm back in action and back to running, which is certainly getting easier as the weather improves and the days continue to get longer. Now it's fully daylight at 6am which makes early morning training that much easier to plan.
That is, until Saturday rolled around. My alarm goes off at 8am and I hop out of bed for a run before a busy day. I take a peek out the window to THIS:
Yeah, it's May.
Seriously? It looked like December out there. Although I had full intentions of going for a run, I do NOT want to go out in 4 inches of slush accumulating on the roads or the sleet that would soak me within minutes. It may not have been cold, but it was certainly miserable. So, I did the only sensible thing to do during a snowstorm and went back to bed for 2 more hours. Really, I had no choice.
Of course, Princess Chris and I had a 10k run scheduled for Sunday, but I didn't feel too good about it yesterday.
Now, I do live in Calgary, so my fears were unfounded. By Saturday night the snow had stopped and melted and our run was still on. Sunday dawned clear, crisp and about a million times greener than it had been a few days earlier.
Ahhhh, that's more like it.
We met at the Weaselhead as scheduled and not only did our 10k, but we overshot a bit for 10.5k. The sky was blue, the sun was shining and the weather was that perfect running temperature of 4C with just a hint of breeze to keep you cool without being chilly. And we weren't alone, the path was packed with smiling runners just happy to be out on a gorgeous day!
With today's 10k, we're slowly building up our long runs and getting back into half marathon form. Heck, we might even register for a race soon!
