What the....Fun Run!?

So, our Seawheeze training schedule on Wednesday alternates between sprint drills and hill drills and today was hills (which I prefer to sprints…I can probably chug slowly up a hill forever if I had to, but I can’t sprint worth a damn).

The last 2 months of hill training have been “jog up hill for 90 seconds, then jog slowly back down and run easy recovery and then repeat until 50 minutes is up”, with the easy recovery time getting shorter and shorter as the weeks went by (ie, the first week you only did the hill 3 times and then had lovely 10 minute recoveries, and the last one was run up the hill 8 times so your recoveries were only 3 minutes). You know, the gradual buildup to hills that are a staple in half marathon training.

This morning was different though.
 
The drill call for the same 8 hills, but instead of easy recovery jog back down and then around the block, you then SPRINTED BACK DOWN THE HILL and then repeated…so the “recovery” was actually at a high speed.

 

So what ended up happening was a jog up the hill and then a sprint back down gleefully waving my arms and shouting WHEEEEEEEEE with a vague feeling of terror that I would trip at such breakneck speed. Which was EXHAUSTING because we never really got a proper recovery, but was probably my favorite drill work EVER, because the running down the hill was SO fun…it was like when running down hills as a little kid was the funnest thing ever and running was for the fun of it before I grow up and it became all hard and horrible because I am out of shape and my joints are getting old. And while it was exhausting because there was no recovery time (and to tell the truth, at the end the jogs back up were slower and slower and had more walking than usual), the sprints down the hill were exhilarating and meant that instead of 50 minutes of varying levels of horrible, I got 8 minutes of pure unadulterated joy in the mix. I actually couldn’t stop the WHEEEEEEEEEEE from escaping, and I’m sure anyone driving towards me would have wondered how someone could run with such a smile on their face.

Anyway, now my legs hurt in all kinds of crazy new places and I am struggling to stay awake. So I will assume that means it was effective training and Friday's long run will be a breeze!

PS… I promised I would post about the 2 Toronto runs I did last month and I haven’t forgotten…I even have fun pictures! They will be up by this weekend!!

NWT = A OK!

Week 3 is now underway, and I’m very proud to report that we are all still on track with the training program!  We have done sprints, hills, maintenance runs and everything, but the one struggle I am finding is trying to schedule my long runs. The schedule says to do them on Saturday, but I find I almost never have the time to do them Saturdays and end up switching them for Sunday instead. This makes Sunday a great day of Run. Laundry. Nap. Eat Everything. I’m still DOING them, don’t you worry, but I find that with summer around the corner my weekends are filling up and I am having to plan well ahead of time to get in the vital loooooooong runs to build up the stamina for race day.

 

For example, last weekend I was in Yellowknife because it was the week before the equinox.  The last 2 times I was in the Territories were in the winter and the sun came up for an hour a day and it was colder than all heck so I wanted to see what it was like at the other end of the spectrum so off we went.

For the record, it is MUCH nicer there in June than in February. And it is darn right UNSETTLING to have the sun still shining at midnight. But we drank $14 bottles of beer, ate some (unexpectedly) delicious food and I got in both the scheduled weekend runs. And I’m happy to report that while I was a poky little puppy for both the short run and the long, the scenery was great, the temperature was just about perfect, I didn’t get too many bug bites and I didn’t get lost.

 

See how pretty?!  The view, not the sweaty rumpled princess. FYI, 2 minutes
 after this I took a "nature break" in those trees....and got caught by a local out walking their dog.

The only downside was that I was expecting it to be easy breathing since I was 3000 feet closer to sea level than usual, but I ended up gasping along and walking more than I wanted to. Am pretty lazy when I'm by myself. Plus I was one Sweaty Betty, I didn’t realize how humid it was there! I also forgot to bring some carb chews, so I had to eat a granola bar at the halfway mark…tasty but not the best feeling to be choking down sawdust halfway through a 14K run. Will have to remember to pack some for the next few weekends when I am away.

The NWT Legislature! Sadly closed on Sundays or I could have used
 their bathrooms. I mean, taken a tour and learned about the government process.

 

Tomorrow is our first Official Trio Seawheeze Training Run, and it will be 50 minutes of Fartlek training. Which pretty much guarantees I will be struggling for breath for 49 minutes as I laugh childishly.

Get Ready, Get Sweaty!

Some of the worst things about getting back from a week long vacation include:

-the insane credit card bill that even when I go over it closely proves was all me.
-buying/drinking whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. More eyeliner and beer for breakfast? Sure thing!
-trying to reduce calories down from the high school linebacker-style consumption I managed last week. Seriously, one day I hit daily calorific intake before I finished breakfast.
-getting back into a running schedule after a week off...feels like starting over.

But you know what helps offset the post-vacation blues? Coming home to this!!!

Sooooo much better than a bill!

HURRAY! My snappy Lululemon shorts had arrived while I was away!  And how cool is the shipping paper??

When I eagerly tore that off, there was ANOTHER cool pattern underneath on a zippered thing resembling a giant pencil crayon case.

Not sure what to use it for yet, but trust me, it'll be something cool.

OMG so much better than white.

When I opened that, the shorts were revealed in all their stripy glory. Hurray! They look just as good in real life as they did online.  Plus, they fit great!!!

No point of reference, but trust me here, they are TINY.

Wait...let me clarify. They are not too tight or too baggy, and they are comfy as heck. But, let me be clear, they have a TWO INCH INSEAM. You know what that means? Like, what it means with regard to PANTS? Well, the tag for the pants hangs 3 inches below the hem of the shorts. They are so short they require built in underpants. They are so short the underwear I was wearing when I tried them on was actually clearly visible above and below the shorts. I'm no seamstress, but I bet less than half a meter of fabric was used in their construction. And I can assure you they will NEVER see the light of day outside in Calgary. But I AM pretty excited to wear them on runs in other countries...I will be in Jamaica next month, so they won't have to wait too long to see the light of day.

Just in time too...Happy June 3......the Seawheeze Training Program kicks off today! And while I don't have a snappy iphone that I can download their awesome app onto, I am still able to follow along oldskool on the web!  

Day 1 started out with Vancouver-style rain at 5am which seemed fitting since the race will be there too. Undeterred, Princess Chris and I met at 530am and did the 50 minute run on the schedule and cheered as we checked it off on the app. Kind of rough after a few weeks off, plus the rain didn't make it easy to get up and out of the house, but it still beats the treadmill!

Yoga tomorrow...hurray!

Princess 2.0

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!

Already got the wheezing part...

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....

In like a lion...

We're at the end of the first week and still totally keen!  We ran three times this week-once on the treadmill and twice outside...in the morning, in the dark, in the snow, by the airport...with a few walking breaks.  But we did it! Winter here in YYC has been unseasonably warm, but both runs this week were in -10C through icy shoulders of the service road or the unplowed running path of the NE. Chilly, but it sure felt nice to be back out there...

Yeah, but I'm still blowing him off this weekend...

Still, I'm heading to Palm Springs for the weekend to catch some REAL sun and enjoy the 25C they're forcasting for the weekend. I'm bringing my running stuff, so I'm going to get in at least one run somewhere warm, sunny and at sea level, which should certainly help with my training! Plus since I'll be near a Target AND an outlet mall, I'd say the chances of buying some snappy new running gear are pretty good...

Can't wait to see you Mr Sun!

Really need to start documenting this...

That's right, still not photographic evidence that we are actually doing any of this, but trust me, we're sticking to our program, we only have 11 weeks to go!

This is how I waddle

So, we're a few weeks in and yesterday was our first official "long" run...we did 9k on Sunday morning. We were going to do it Saturday after work, but when 5pm rolled around it was pouring and so windy it looked like our cars were going to blow away, so we pushed it back.

I'm really glad we did.

Now, I don't mind running at the airport, but there isn't much to see there. And we sort of do it a lot, so while it still beats the old treadmill, it can get stale running the same route, particularly since there's only one now with all the construction.

Anyway, yesterday 9am rolls around and it is clear skies for the first time in a week. It's roughly 13C out and the sun is shining when Princess Chris and I meet at the Weaselhead for a 9k run around the reservoir. It was pretty great. The leaves were rustling, the grass was green and the air smelled amazing, all fresh and with a hint of lilac on the breeze. Plus, since we were running towards the same route as the nearby Running Room morning run, we passed dozens and dozens of runners who cheerfully returned our hellos.  We had both worn the same shirts (not on purpose, but I guess great minds think alike!), so they probably thought we were our own race or something.

We had planned to run 5-6K out and then come back, but at around the 4.5k mark, we hit a puddle so deep we couldn't go around it (even though it was sunny, I guess 2 hours can't erase a week of torrential downpour?) so we turned back (umm, wait, where did all those Running Room people come from then??). We had to double back just a bit, but it was still pretty great---instead of running through the cool, sun-dappled shade, we were running along the edge of the Weaselhead overlooking the water and it was glorious!

We're still not in the shape we were in at the beginning of the year, but we finished up our run in one piece. Then maintaining our winter tradition, we headed to the Pannenkoek Haus for an amazing breakfast served by the friendliest folks in town.

Tomorrow might be our last run as a trio for a while...I leave for Mexico on Wednesday and Princess Chris leaves for a Europtrip soon after, so hopefully we can get in a few blogs on the road in the next few weeks!

Back for real. No, really this time!



This morning the three princesses went for our first run together since...well...our Princess Half Marathon. We've each had the odd run here and there, but it's been a while since we were a trio! It was really great to run with the ladies again, I've missed it.

What's up, you ask?



My toes look prettier, but the idea is the same

-Princess Fliss and Princess Chris have registered for the Disneyland Half Marathon in September, which means we get Coast to Coast medals for extra blingy glory on race day!

-Princess Crys wasn't able to commit to the race before it sold out (back in March, guess we aren't the only ones who want the Coast to Coast) but has promised to keep up the race training with us

-Nobody's running pants fit quite as nicely as they did when we were running 30-40K a week.

So, we have a PLAN and we're sticking to it! Disney was kind enough to even make one for us and while we're starting a few weeks behind, I think this one will work nicely. We have the basics under our (stretched out, in my case) belts and hopefully the flexibility of this plan will help us stick to it.  We were a bit slower today that we used to be, but I think everyone felt good about the run.

As for our paths, the airport construction is in full swing but they've been kind enough to add an actual running route back in for us that's a near perfect 5K, thanks YYC!  Plus, if we run after 7am, the mosquitos are so thick out there they keep us running away from them.

Cleared Waivers!

We got our race waivers this morning!!!!

....Which means we now know our bib numbers too... apparently we were the 9702, 9715 and 9719th ladies to register in this race. In reviewing the waiver, I see Disney has really covered their butts on this one...I just signed away the rights to my images from the race through ALL media, including stuff that hasn't been invented yet AND this is "throughout the universe in perpetuity". Does this mean they could laser beam my face onto the moon if they wanted to in 20 years? Bring it, Disney!

This + Moon = Awesome!

Also, if you want to track our progress on race day (you know, if you're up at 5am on a Sunday) you can do so by clicking here and signing up to follow us online!

Tomorrow we're doing a "practice" half marathon...we need to run 20K, so we're going to follow the route of the Calgary Hypothermic Half.  The weather is supposed to be nice, so we probably won't actually get hypothermia.  I bought waterproof mascara and eyeliner today, so I'm going to give those a whirl tomorrow and see if my face melts off like the Wicked Witch of the West or if I can finish the Calgary run actually looking like a princess!

Packed my bags last night, pre-flight!



Looking good ladies! See you soon!



We're getting close.

Like, really, REALLY close.

Last night was our last running clinic with the Running Room(which ended with an excellent potluck, which in retrospect was something we really should have done every week!) Most of our run buddies will be doing their half this weekend, but we still have a bit further to go.  Two weeks from tonight we'll be packing our bags and checking in for our flight since we'll be leaving Thursday night! I'm already looking forward to choosing which three 100ml bottles of liquids I can't travel without. And which shirts to pack. And which bag to pack them in. And how many pairs of shoes is too many for a 4 night stay again?

On one hand, it feels like we've been training forever and we'd never make it Florida, and on the other hand, it's starting to feel like this race is coming up way too fast...I mean, we have to run 20K on Saturday and won't even get a medal at the end of it!   Unless pannenkoeks count as a medal (I'd take them over metal anytime, since they come with a side of sour cream!) And while I've pinpointed the nearest cupcake store to our hotel (BabyCakes in Downtown Disney, yum!), I have no idea where the closest premium outlet is.

And we need to watch our princess movies to get us all prepped for race day. I mean, what if at Mile 7 I realize I can't remember ALL the lyrics to Little Town or Something There or just how many eggs Gaston ate every morning to help him get large? This kind of training is important too, we have to be prepared!

Shout out to the WestSiiiiiiiiiiiiide....Rec Center

We ran 18k on Saturday. That's right, just 3k short of a half marathon.  Oh, and it gets better.  We ran it INSIDE.  That's right, when we got up on Saturday morning to eat toast and drink Gatorade, the thermometer had dipped to -32C. Now, we've learned that we can totally run in the cold, but this was going to be nearly 10C colder than ever before, and would have been for a full two hours.  Ever prepared, we had a backup plan to run inside at Westside Rec since it featured a 425m track and was near both our houses. We met in the parking lot in our capris and dashed inside before our calves froze, grumbling about the injustice of having to pay $13 to go run in circles when all we really wanted to do was run along the river on a snowy day. Stupid boring inside run we had to pay for! Stupid outside weather being too cold!

Take a Midol, Mother Nature

Pretty much as soon as we walked inside, I felt like I owed the Rec Center an apology. It was AMAZING!  It had  a giant pool area with wave pool, lazy river, wading pool and waterslide set inside. The other pool area had a lap pool and diving pool. Looking up, we realized the track went all around the center, and WASN'T AN OVAL, which meant that even though we would be running laps, they wouldn't be in the same circle over and over.  We peeked into some of the classrooms and they were bright sparkling rooms filled with brightly colored weights and mats and upbeat music. When we went upstairs, we were dazzled by the number of strength training machines we'd never seen before as well as hockey arenas and indoor skating rinks complete with trees and giant firepit in the middle. We were almost speechless! (almost)

Getting ourselves prepped to run, we asked a nearby staffer how far the track was. He directed us to the chart and our hastily done in line math was bang on, we had to do 42 laps to get in 18.2K. The guy noticed our concern about losing track of our laps and offered us a counter we could click after every lap and not lose track. There was a table where we could leave our drinks and so after a quick stretch, we started from there. We were off!

I think we spent the first 3-4 laps exclaiming over new things we saw.  This track was pretty much the best we could hope for running laps inside; it was shaped like a clover leaf so you didn't just see the same people over and over again and it kept things a bit more interesting. Plus, the shape of the track meant you kept running by all the different parts of the center.

We watched some middle aged guys work out with their trainers, sprinting down the 40 yard track set up on one side, or else doing these loopy squats under the handrails. Click!

We watched these adorable little kids at hockey practice all skate around in matching Iginla jerseys for ages. Click! Click! Click!

We were lapped a few times by a guy in those weird "naked" shoes that are all the rage.Click!

We passed a woman jogging in jeans and hiking shoes a few times. Click! Click! Click!

We soon noted that the 3 leaves of the clover shape each had their own "feel". The first one was really quiet, the second one nice and cool and the third one kinda hot and stuffy. Click!

We marvelled over the whippet thin woman who was on the stairmaster for the first hour. Click!

I got to pee in a real bathroom and not behind a bush or in the snow. Click!

We admired a woman walking laps with a baby peering out of his snuggie strapped to her chest. Click!


We watched a little old man walk quite a few laps clutching his Tim Hortons and wished we had one too. Click! Click!

Without even realizing it, time was flying by!  Before we knew it, we were counting down the last 10 laps, and before long, we were DONE!  We squealed and high fived and got the nice guy who had given us the clicker to take our photo. We felt good!



You can't fake this kind of authenticity, you know



Crystal: "piff, 18k, no problem, we could totally do 3 more for the half!"
Felicity: "for sure, no problem!"

....pause....

Felicity: "ummm, but we're not going to, right? We're done?"
Crystal: "oh, yeah, we're done, I just meant we COULD do the other 3k for race day"
Felicity: "Whew!"

Still smiling after 42 laps! And the guy behind us posed too?

Sadly, we both had to dash off without getting to try out any of the crazy new stretching or situp machines we'd been eying or go for a quick dip in the pool or hottub, but happily, it was because we both had massages booked that we had to get to.  I'd be happy to go back there and spend an entire day there testing everything out!

Perception = Reality?

Hmmm...I had perceived that I was thinner.

Well, I also ran on the weekend, but pretty much had a totally different experience than my fellow princesses. Now, I've lived in Calgary for over 25 years so I should be used to it, but it still amazes me how much easier it is to breathe pretty much anywhere else, especially when running. So when I found myself in Victoria this weekend for a belated Christmas celebration I had been looking forward to a long ocean side run for weeks! I was expecting a good run based on the fact that I was going to be at sea level, where I've found that running feels a lot easier because I don't have to breathe through tight lungs full of fire like I do at 3500 feet. This run did NOT disappoint!



After a breakfast of freshly made bread topped with peanut butter and banana, I headed out along the ocean. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the grass was green. Yes, GREEN grass! And it was warm enough that I didn’t need mittens or have to worry about slipping on ice. Along the ocean walk path, I blew by dozens and dozens of walkers….with walkers….or canes. Did I mention I was in the retirement community of Saanich, not actually Victoria? Eat my running dust, good citizens!


Combined with the altitude and humidity that didn’t have my mouth dry out like a raisin in the first 3 minutes, I felt like I was flying! I felt so good, I actually did 14k instead of 12 just because I thought I should take advantage of the great weather and how awesome I felt. Around the 12K mark I had to cross an overpass over the highway, and I actually sped up running up the incline to the top since my lungs weren’t filling with fire. In Calgary, I would have trudged up, possibly crying a little by that point, but behold my sea level skills! I am Superathlete, watch me fly!


When I finished, I checked my trusty Nike Plus, confident I had broken all speed records. I was actually SHOCKED to discover I was only a few seconds faster per km than usual, not really anything special or overly speedy. I guess the combination of altitude, humidity, temperature and the fact that I was alone on a new route and had nothing to compare my pace to except by how I felt. And it felt GREAT! Hopefully, since Florida is also at sea level, this half is gonna be a breeze!

PS...Guess how much butter chicken I can eat at a Fairmont buffet after running 14K?  I DISGRACED myself with at LEAST 4 trips up...but it was awesome!

Lots of Milestones



See how happy cold runs can be?



Not the restaurant with the delicious bellinis, we've hit a few more significant milestones this week. We're all keeping up with the training schedule, even if it's not on the correct date, and feeling mighty proud of ourselves doing it. With Christmas season in full swing, we've had to switch around the long runs (830am on a Sunday after 8 hours of Christmas cheer just doesn't work), but have still stuck to them. Some of the weekday runs are happening at different times, but are still getting done. We've done ALL the hill training, which is tough, but really not as hard as we'd built up in our minds. And most of our training has been through ice and snow, something I never thought I'd be able to do! Crystal was in Toronto on the weekend and ran on her own, but Christi and I hit the reservoir again. It was Christi and Crystal's first ever 12K runs, and my 12K was a full 10 minutes faster than the last one I had timed, so we all felt pretty darn good.

 This was also Christi's first run around the reservoir, and we all like it so much we're going to do the whole thing next weekend for our 14K (Christmas parties abound this weekend, no 830 run for us). We've also noticed that these long cold runs are really making us all frosty. I guess if you're outside running long enough to freeze your 750ml water bottle entirely, the rest of you gets a little icy too...we noticed that strands of hair get frosted all the way down, and you get these little "frost blossoms" around your neck and shoulders where the sweat comes out and freezes. Our breath makes icicles on our eyelashes, and tragi-comic goatees on our faces.


Why is my hair getting old?



Seriously, if you had told me a year ago I would run for miles in temperature cold enough to freeze water in a bottle strapped to my back, I would have said you were crazy. But as it turns out, running in cold weather is fine, and even better in some ways...you sure don't get the sweat rolling down your face and back like in hot weather.



As long as you've bundled up properly (thanks Outlet Malls!) it's really nice to crunch through the snow in the sun with all that winter quiet. And running over ice and snow is fine as long as you're watching the ground closely.



It only looks like we're running with Gumby

OK, one last milestone this past weekend...sort of gross, but it really made me feel like a REAL runner...around the 10K mark on Saturday, I just couldn't wait any longer and peed in the woods in the snow. It was both my first mid-run bathroom break, and the first time I've had bare skin from the waist down in -10C. I'm happy to say I didn't fall over, pee on my shoes, nor accidentally moon a crowd of runners on the path. Some people might read this as a “you’re disgusting, thanks for sharing, creep”, but I felt like I'd achieved one of the secret runner's rituals.


The Gift of Foresight

Christmas season is in full swing, so we've had to juggle our schedules a bit to accommodate all the holiday cheer.  We're actually doing really well sticking to the training schedule.  Saturday was our office Christmas party and if previous parties have taught us anything, it's that we'll be in no shape to run 10K at 830 the morning after.  As you see below, Christi did her run on Friday morning, so to avoid her showing us up for the week, Crystal and I met at the Weaselhead by the reservoir at 830 on Saturday morning for our weekly long run.  We headed out quickly, as it was REALLY cold and Crystal couldn't find all her layers (I watched her bare ankles with trepidation throughout the run) and I have to say it was amazing. The sun was still coming up and the trees were glistening with frost, it was really a Christmasy wonderland! 

The paths weren't cleared, so we had to run single file through the path carved by previous runners, but I have to say the whole route was breathtaking. I know I ran all summer and fall there, but it was totally different in the winter and I loved it!  We noticed that winter runners were a bit friendlier and everyone says hello, and that the path was also being used by walkers and cross country skiers, which we thought would be great for future crosstraining.  On the way back, all we could hear was our feet crunching through the snow and our (ok, my) heavy breathing. By the time we got back to the car, our eyelashes were starting to stick together and we both had frosty goatees. 

It's a good thing I had done this route before, because my trusty Nike Plus crapped out after 2.5K.  I'm not sure if it was just the fact I hadn't charged it all week or if the cold contributed, but we were left without it pretty early into the run.  I had a pretty good idea how far around to go before turning back, and we arrived back at the car an hour and 10 minutes later, so I think we were pretty close.  I checked on Google maps too and it looks like we were pretty bang on our 10K, but even if we were a bit short, I was still double proud of us all for planning ahead and getting our runs done early.  Even though it sucks to wake up early, and I am not an early riser in the least, I gotta say these early morning winter runs are something else.

Synchronicity abounds!

We're 8 weeks into our training and we've decided to kick our training up a notch.  We've been sticking to our program  and having the support of our fellow princesses has been invaluable to our success so far, but we registered for one of the Running Rooms clinics that ends just 2 weeks before our Princess run.  Haha, we thought, this clinic is to prepare for the Hypothermic Half, but Orlando is gonna be SO much better!  Plus, now we'll have more motivation for those darn long runs.The nerves started as soon as we registered...I'm gonna suck, everyone's going to be RUNNERS there and I won't be able to keep  up...but right in the registration package it said not to worry about those butterflies in our stomach, it was going to be fun!  So, we show up at 630 tonight at the location nearest to all our houses and meet the other 12 or so people who will be running with us for the next 17 weeks.  There, we learn we have a fellow princess training for the same run, and she even works at the same place as us! And hey, so does the instructor!  And...we found out as we were leaving that one of the two gentleman in our clinic works there too!  I mean, what are the odds that HALF THE PEOPLE IN THIS CLINIC work at the same place which is possibly the furthest point from work while still being in the same city? Seriously, I just checked it on Mapquest and the airport is 30km away from our clinic, Vegas probably wouldn't even take those odds.

Anyway, we get our welcome packs and a brief overview of how the weekly schedule is going to go, and then head out for our first group run!  We run just under 4k as a group and it felt just fine!  It was a new route, it was COLD out and I think the group stayed reasonably close together during the run, so I think our running levels are pretty comparable.  Oh, and I found out during the run that one of the other girls is not only in the same soccer division as me, but that our teams play each other THIS SUNDAY?!?!?!  Seriously, it was a weird night for me, I should pick up a lottery ticket on my way to work tomorrow.

If we had really been thinking, we would have taken a picture to commemorate the occasion, but no luck. Just imagine the "Hurray for Disney" photo to the right has no sun, long pants, wind breakers over jackets, mittens and headbands, and red noses with sweaty foreheads. Oh, and matching shirts, as soon as they come in, they didn't have any left since we registered mere hours before the clinic started.  I think we're going to have fun at this and learn a few new things along the way. Plus, a lot of the people seemed like fun, so we might even find some new running buddies.  Now all we need is to psyche ourselves up to make it for the 830am Sunday runs.  Our instructor did suggest we all go for breakfast after these long runs at such an ungodly hour, so she knows how to motivate me for sure!

I think this is what pain feels like?

If you've seen Dr Horrible's Sing-a-Long blog, you'd get this.

Remember how I said my 6.5K run felt good and I could have done more? I think this is a good example of why resting improves performance. I ran that 6.5K on Monday quickly (for me) and felt good during and after.  The next day, I did my usual 4K, which felt really good too, then in the evening played soccer. We were short players on the field the whole game, so I ran the whole 90 minutes.  Well, at least until the end when I was mostly shuffling around the field wheezing and clutching my sides, unable to keep up with the other team AT ALL. Did I mention it was 2C out and I was wearing mittens? The next day, my 5K was like torture. I ran slower than the day before, and had to stop to walk a couple of times.  My legs hurt, my lungs hurt, and I felt like my training had gone backwards. Did I listen to my body and maybe take a break from the schedule? No, on Thursday I plod along with the training schedule and complete another torturous 4K run that involved more walking, wheezing and trying to keep legs from falling off. It was my slowest 4K in months and I hated pretty much every second of it. For the weight training that went with it, I could only do arms because my legs hurt too much.  Now today, both upper and lower body feel like they went through a wringer. I'm supposed to cross train for 50 minutes today, and I think I might take my own advice and take it easy. I'll still do something, but I wonder if eating pizza counts as cross training?

Better late than never!

In Disney's Alice In Wonderland, the White Rabbit is well known for saying "I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!"

That statement applied to me today when I opted NOT to do my long run on either Saturday or Sunday.  The weather was terrible, I was tired, and so on--I just didn't wanna.  That means this morning I woke up wracked with guilt over skipping it and a gut wrenching fear of not being able to complete a 10K race in 6 weeks.  I went for a run at lunchtime and did 6.5K in 43 minutes flat, and did the last kilometer 30 seconds faster than any of the first 6.   Maybe I will be able to do this 10K after all!

Week 3...almost

Getting to the last day of week 3 tomorrow and was actually on track all week...cross trained on Monday and Friday and ran Tuesday through Thursday, plus strength training.  I think the fact that it rained for 10 days straight in Calgary meant I had nothing to do but stick with it and pound it out on the treadmill. I have to do 6.5K this weekend, and I'm sort of looking forward to it, as I  feel like the whole running thing is slowly starting to come back to me.  Also, in certain lights and at just the right angles, my abs are looking sort of awesome!

Also, I added a new map below.  We thought it would be fun to keep track of the distance of every run and see how close we would actually get to Disneyland on foot during the course of our training.  We're only going to count running distances, not cross training, just to keep it like a half marathon would be.  Since I'm Google Map Illiterate and that simple map took me 45 minutes to figure out, I'm only going to update it on the first of each month, but below you can see our progress up to September 1...halfway to the border, we're currently in Claresholm!  I'm guessing by October first, we could be virtual shopping at the Target in Great Falls and refueling at Fuddruckers.  Check it out!

Lastly, since Halloween is already all over the shelves, I've been checking out the Disney Princess costumes. I'm thinking if I can find a large child's costume, I can hack it up to make a princess running outfit since I have zero sewing skillz.  So far no luck, but I got some laughs tonight at Toys R Us when I tried to cram myself into an "age 3 and up" costume.  I swear, it almost fit.  And the accessories in that aisle are awesome; I might carry a wand for the run.

Do You Know the Way to San Jose...I mean Chachis?

So the very first post on our blog was July 29, 2010. It’s now 33 days later and quite a few degrees colder outside and we have finally today began to follow our training schedule for the pre-marathon 10k race in Phoenix. And what better way to begin training than to decide to run to the airport and reward ourselves with Chachi’s sandwiches, chilled dill pickles and cheesy, gooey mac & cheese?!! Bizarre idea you say? No way! It was fabulous and well worth the 2.72kms to the airport, Christi keeping a close watch on the killer hawk that now gives her daymares at work and Felicity and I trying to be brave and show no fear to this bird with the 9ft wing span! Well, that’s at least how big it looks in the shadow circling our heads.

We mapped it as 2 separate runs because we stopped in the middle. Also, because we can do basic math!

Never the less, we arrived safely at the airport and Christi and I built perfect sandwiches (Fliss was eager to get back to her amazing Sunterra lasagna) and we were on our way again. Now you would assume we brought a bag or small backpack to put said sandwiches, pickles and Mac & Cheese in, but no, we football carried the subs in one hand and held the Mac & Cheese and Dill Pickles in the other. I’d be lying if I said it made the run easier. It really messed up our stride! And to make matters worse, pickle juice was running all down my arm and then the Hawk was back again, hovering, just waiting to grab one of us by the ponytail and fly off into oblivion with us and our tasty lunches!!

Running for our lives! I mean lunches!

Clearly since I am writing this, we did make it back the remaining 2.31kms unscathed and Chachi’s sandwiches never tasted so good! All finished off with 100 calorie oreo cookie ice cream treats and I would call this first day of actually training a success! Princesses 1 : Hawk 0!

I’m starting to notice a pattern here in these blogs; less about running, and more about food!! Nom, Nom, Nom!!

PS...Fliss here...if Crystal's shorts look familiar, it's because they're Christi's! Hahaha!

C'mon get Physical!

So, we've been at this for almost a month without any sort of concrete plan...sure, we've registered for the race and started running, but other than that...have just been avoiding falcons and eating pasta, both great ideas to be sure, but maybe not getting us towards our goal of running 21K in roughly 6 months.

Well, today that all changes. Behold, our training schedule!

Now, I know you're thinking "WTF? That's a 10K schedule, those big liars aren't running a half marathon at all!"  Well, after careful consideration, we decided that since we have lots of time to get ready for this, we would start with a 10K for practice...this way we start a bit smaller without being overwhelmed and work our way up to 10K first, have a practice race under our belts and get some race experience before the big shebang in February...oh, and go to Phoenix for a weekend to do it!  Yes, we've decided on the Phoenix 10K race on November 7 because it's in 10 weeks, will be good weather, AND is in a city with a Target and a Jack in the Box. We'll have time to sneak in a hockey game too, yehaw!

Got right on track this morning with 30 minutes of cross training.  Hopped on the elliptical machine at the gym and watched sports highlights. One day down, 68 to go! I've added this schedule below as well so it stays on this page.