Chilly Half Marathon Training: Day 8 Rest Day

Today is my rest day.  I'm kind of glad as my legs need a day to recover some.  After dropping James off at school, River and I headed out for a walk.  It was snowing and I had to pry River off the couch.  She is not a fan of the snow.  She pouted almost the whole walk. 

I enjoyed the walk though.  The snow was the big fluffy kind.  It was cold, but it wasn't bitter cold.  I enjoyed walking through all the fluffy snow.  Now Wednesday when I go for my run I will be upset if people haven't shoveled. 

Here we are after our walk today.  River was ready to go inside and have her lunch.

River has been curled up on the couch ever since we got back.  Normally she wants to go out again, but she keeps burying her face every time I stand up.  She really hates winter.

Tomorrow I'm in the gym doing speed work and weights.  I'm looking forward to it.  I have enjoyed my rest day, but I'm ready to be back at it!

Chilly Half Marathon Training: Day 7 The Hanukkah Hustle

Today puts me at the end of the first week of training.  It's been a good week.  To end it, I ran the Hanukkah Hustle 5k.  I really enjoy this race as it's small and I love the course.  I like watching the residents of the assisted living facility get out and enjoy time with family and the volunteers.  Here we are before the race.

It was starting to snow as we headed to the start line.  It was a pretty fluffy snow too.  I reminded Mike that he should be thankful that I was only doing the 5k and not the 10k.  He didn't have to stand outside as long.  I know he went inside to stay warm.  He knows my times and knows when to be out at the finish line.  And he was!  Here I am crossing the finish line.

The race itself was okay.  My legs were really tired from my runs this past week.  I knew I would be slow, but I was fine with that.  It took me awhile to get my legs stretched out and feeling good.  By that point I was almost at the finish line.  The finish for this race is uphill.  I got to the hill and kept repeating, "Up the hill. Across the line."  It got me there.  It's not the hill was particularly big or steep, it was just my legs were that tired.  I got my finisher's medal and we headed inside for hot dogs, latkes, and to check results.

I didn't think I had gone fast enough to place, but I was surprised that I got 3rd in my age group!  We stayed for the awards.  The top 3 in each age group got Star of David pendants.  They were pretty cool!

Here's a picture of both my finisher's medal and my age group pendant.

Tomorrow is my rest day.  I will just take River for a long walk.  Tuesday I'm in the gym for speed work and weights, Wednesday it's a 4 mile run, Thursday cross training and weights, and Friday is my long run.  Saturday is my rest day and Sunday I have a swim meet so I can't run then.  I'm ready to tackle the 2nd week of training!

Chilly Half Marathon Training: Day 6

I have to say that I did beg off my workout today.  I know, the shame of it!  I had all my gym stuff with me and on my way home drove by the gym.  It was so busy I just didn't want to go in at all.  There are 2 reasons for this.  One, I hate crowds and two I still don't like people watching me workout.  I know they aren't looking at me, but I feel so uncomfortable that I just couldn't bring myself to go in and workout.  I feel like all those people that are in so much better shape than I am are judging what I'm doing.  I hate feeling like that, but I do.  Heck, it took me over a year to be able to run on main roads where lots of people would see me.  The whole day it was on my mind though.  I have to get over that and just go and do it.

Mike and I did go to St. Jacobs and had a good time shopping in all the little shops.  We got our Christmas shopping almost done.  It was so nice.  We ate at a cozy little restaurant and got to sit by the fire.

It was a nice afternoon and it's getting me in the Christmas spirit.  I still won't put up my decorations until after Thanksgiving (American Thanksgiving).  I'm looking forward to doing that in a few weeks.

Tomorrow I have my race so I will get a 5k run in and then I will walk River when we get home.  WEek one is almost done!  I have done okay up until today.  Back on track tomorrow!

Chilly Half Marathon Training: Day 5

Brrrrr.....I knew we were supposed to get flurries, but we woke up to some real snow this morning.  It wasn't a whole lot, but enough to cause over 100 accidents in our area before 10am.  The whole time I'm getting James ready for school I had to keep motivating myself to run.  I put on my sports bra and running shirt to take him to school.  That means I was halfway dressed when I got back.

Once I got back, I changed into my running tights and still had to talk myself into getting out the door.  River couldn't go with me so I was running solo today.  Plus the route I had to take was hilly and not the slow rolling kind.

I did get out the door.  The first 2 miles were on the shoulder of the road.  Luckily it's a wide shoulder or I would have planned a different route.  The little bit of snow we got made a huge difference in my running though.  My legs were tired by the time I got to the first steep hill.  I got about halfway up and had to walk.  I was upset, but I can't really beat myself up.  The other steep hills were like that too. 

My legs were really tired today.  The whole run they were just tired.  No soreness though so I was happy for that.  The last 2 miles felt really good.  I don't know if it was because it was either downhill or flat or because I knew I was close to home or because I finally hit my groove.  Whatever it was I felt great!

Since River couldn't go with me, I had to get her out for a walk when I got home.  I quickly changed my socks, shoes and coat and went out again with her.  It made for a nice 1.5 mile cool down.  I think it will help my legs recover better.

I did take this picture after my run and quick change as we were walking.  I was tired!

River didn't seem to keen on walking today.  I think she is still tired from her day at doggy daycare.  She also is not a huge fan of the snow.  She pouts the whole time.

Tomorrow I'm hitting the gym after swim practice for cross training and weights and Sunday I have my race.  So far my training is going well.  I feel good and I know I will get stronger everyday.

Chilly Half Marathon Training: Day 4

So today I was supposed to go to the gym for cross training and weights.  Mike had to go into work early and I had to be at the pool all day so I had to switch my rest day from Saturday to today.  I'm feeling a bit grumpy and sad about it too.

I can tell I need to do something active because I'm antsy and restless.  I can't even walk the dogs since I'm at the pool working on my computer.  I did get the work done so tomorrow when I'm out for my long run I won't have to feel guilty about not working at home.

Last night I had my first Mini Meet since taking over the Swim Academy.  It went well.  We had 97 swimmers last night which I think was a pretty good turn out.  We even had a lot of private lessons come to compete.  Tonight is our 2nd Mini Meet so I hope we have a great turn out for it!

It's snowing today.  Just flurries and it's dusting the ground, but it's snow.  Tomorrow will be a cold run, but once we get moving River and I are fine.  It will be cold on Sunday too for the race.  I just have to run harder so I won't freeze.

The rest of the training week looks like this: Friday 10k run, Saturday cross training and upper body weights, Sunday 5k race.  It's a good first week of training.  I'm feeling good and strong this week.  I know the next 15 weeks will be great!

Chilly Half Marathon Training: Day 3

I know some people may not find my training exciting, but it helps me stay accountable and helps me organize my thoughts since running is my stress relief and my way of fighting depression.

Today was a 4 mile run.  It was cold and windy.  Such a big change from the weather yesterday!  I'm not going to lie, it would have been easy to stay inside and go back to bed.  I had to get River out for a walk no matter what so I figured I should just do my run.

The first 5k felt great!  I was moving at a good pace and I felt relaxed.  Then my stomach started to revolt against me.  I was hoping this whole thing with the iron was settled.  Guess not.  River had to stop to go to the bathroom so I took some time to stretch.  That helped.  The other thing I'm going to try is taking my iron pill at night before bed.  I'm hoping it will be through my system by the time I run in the morning.  I'll know Friday if it works.

I was afraid that my legs would be sore after lifting weights yesterday, but they felt pretty good.  They were tired, but not sore.  River loved running in the cooler weather.  She was all smiles.  When we got home she was ready for her lunch though.  As you can see, she was not amused by our selfie.

I'm so glad I did this run.  I could feel myself losing my stress as I ran.  I took over the swim school part of the team I coach and we have our first mini meet tonight.  I'm nervous about how it will go.  I know it's out of my hands as I've done everything I can to get ready for it, but I'm still stressing about it. 

I'm also worrying about Christmas.  I've gotten almost all my shopping done so I can just do the baking in December.  I have ordered some really cute shirts from Snappy Kid (www.snappykid.com) and can't wait for them to get here!  I love that sight!  It has great geeky shirts for James and my neices and nephews.  I thought I was finished and then I saw this awesome Minion shirt that I got for James for Christmas.  He will love it!!!!!!

Tomorrow I'm in the gym for cross training and weights and Friday it's my long run.  Week one is almost in the books!  March 1st will be here before I know it!

Chilly Half Marathon Training: Day 2

This morning it was speed work and weights.  I was at the gym bright and early.  I hate the treadmill, but for speed work I can tolerate it.  I did the following:

5 minutes warm-up
10 rounds of 1 minute at my long run pace
                    45 seconds at my 5k pace
                    15 seconds at a full sprint
5 minutes cool down

I then did leg weights.  It's been since July that I've lifted weights.  I know I'm going to feel it tomorrow on my run. 

It felt good to be back in the gym and pushing myself like that.  I was tired and I was dripping because I ran inside, but I felt great!

 

This morning I got to go watch James narrate as his school's Remembrance Day assembly.  He did a great job! He was so excited to be the only 4th grader to get asked to do this.  It was a nice assembly and all the kids did a great job!

I then got to spend the rest of the day sitting at a desk figuring out coaching assignments for the next session of Swim Academy.  Whew...that's tough!

Tomorrow will be Day 3 and River and I are out for a 4 mile run.  Thursday morning I'm back in the gym for some cross training and weights and Friday is my long run.  Once I get in the swing of things, it won't be so hard for me to get out the door.

Day 2 is done!

Chilly Half Marathon Training: Day 1

Yes, I'm starting my training for my 3rd half marathon.  This one will be on March 1st.  I have to train all through the winter.  I was disappointed that I had to drop out of the Toronto Waterfront Half.  I want to run this one and I want to run it well. 

I've been struggling for several months with motivation and health issues.  I think I've finally got everything under control and am ready and motivated to get this done!  I have my goal and I have my plan.  Mike and James are helping me by keeping me accountable and River is ready to train with me for as long as she can.  Once the snow hits, she won't be able to run with me.  It won't be safe for either one of us.

Mondays will end up being my rest days, but I wanted to kick off the training with a short run.  River and I did just under 2 miles.  Nice and easy and relaxed.  It felt nice and River enjoyed the cooler weather to run.

Here we are after our run this morning.

Tomorrow I'm back in the gym for speed work and weight training.  I'm up early so I can be back to get James ready for school.  I've been sleeping better so I'm hoping that I can get up and get out the door.

Wednesday I have a 4 mile run, Thursday it's the bike and weights, Friday 10k run, Saturday rest and Sunday I run a 5k race.  River is doing the run with me on Wednesday and Friday.  She will have a blast doing it too!

I have to just keep reminding myself to just get out the door.  Once I'm out and going, I feel great.  I just have to get out the door.  That's the hardest part some days.