Don't be that runner...

This video is great. When I run I (usually) feel like I'm killing it like Shalane Flanagan or someone awesome like that.  However most of the time, I'm pretty sure I look like one of the guys in this video....
Who do YOU look like when you run?

This is what I tend to look like when I run (in 2008) and I'm being awkward (I'm on the left - the girl on the right is having the time of her life running with me, clearly!)

And my Dad is mainly just awkward AFTER he runs (or when he's sprinting but that's another post for another day...)

(Dad on the left, beaver, some lady, and fat guy in the back)

Wannabe

This morning was fantastic. The weather held off and we were able to complete a beautiful 21.6km run through downtown Victoria, Beacon Hill Park, and Oak Bay. We still have 5 weeks to go until Seattle so this will be one of the last longer runs we do before tapering.

Ross Bay Cemetery

So over the last 2 months or so, I have been joining my Dad's Saturday morning running group for their long runs. They are known as the "Want2be's" (link: http://want2bvic.weebly.com/ ) and they are a group of wonderfully talented and fun people. I am a "wannabe wannabe" - I think at the moment they are debating whether I can officially join their club - hopefully no severe hazing rituals are involved. Apparently I'm "too young" which I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or not. Anyways, these guys and gals are great and I really love the getting to join them on their Saturday runs. They have oodles of experience and are very talented runners. They always have great routes and have great chats while running. Two perks for me: they are faster than I am so every run is a little bit of a push - making me faster and stronger (or so I like to believe) and we all get to poke fun at my Dad (in good nature of course) for various silly things like his strange adoration of pace bunnies....It's a win-win in my books.

 

This last photo is of the Want2be's having the mandatory post-run coffee this morning after our run

(Left to right - Karen, Cynthia, Bruce, Don, Mike and Sam)

Anyways, just wanted to say a big thank-you to the Want2Be's for including me!

Post run my calves were pretty sore. They have been feeling pretty tight since I started TRX again so I rolled around on my foam roller for a while which hurt so bad, but I know it does some good. After that I gathered up my water bottle (actually Dusty's water bottle but since he wasn't home I snagged it - mwahahaha) my magazines, and some bath salts and bath bombs that my mother-in-law gave me (thanks Linda!) and had a bath. Definitely worth it even though I detest baths because a) you're bathing in your own filth (so yes, I rinsed off before and afterwards) and b) because when I watched "What lies beneath" years ago there is a bathtub scene that scarred me for life. Which is why I only take baths when I'm desperate for muscle relief. No ice baths for me though; I'm a wimp.

 

(Yes that is an awesome turtle sticker on my bathtub wall.)

Afterwards I napped for about an hour (because I have no other things going on in life - my husband was chopping wood like a boss lumberjack all day) and then ate a delicious egg and spinach salad (veggie bacon mandatory) while watching "I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry".

A pretty successful Saturday to me!

Cypress and I are basically the same. We both like to snooze and cuddle, on repeat.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Workout schedule

 

I'm number one! Actually, I'm usually last. But last night I was the only one at the track (other than my Dad) so I got the number one lane.

 

So since this is supposed to be a workout/lifestyle/running blog, I guess I should post my workouts to keep track of where I'm going with this. With no further ado, here is my current workout schedule:

Monday - easy run, 35-45 minutes

Tuesday - TRX class, 1hr

Wednesday - 1 hr of hills or track/speed work

Thursday - TRX class, 1 hr (and maybe a 1/2hr run)

Friday - rest day, unless I missed a workout earlier in the week

Saturday - long run (at the moment it's anywhere from 16-25km)

Sunday - rest day.

Last night at the track was good - I love running when the weather is cooler because I feel stronger for a longer amount of time. We decided to focus on nailing our race pace so we did 1km repeats at race pace, interspersed with 400m easy jog. After 5 of those we did 100m repeats. Neither of us is going to be the next Usain Bolt. I "think" I had read in Runner's World that if you do 100m sprints at the end of a workout it helps train you mentally and physically for the tough spurt you need at the end of a race. Mission accomplished - it was hard, but it felt good.

Before...

After...I don't know why it looks like I was chewing on my tongue...

Tonight I went to TRX class. It's wonderful and I semi-dread it and semi-love it. I did it consistently for about 6 months a year and a half ago but then dropped out because life and laziness got in the way. I started back up recently and while I thought I was literally doing to die a painful exercise induced death after session two, now I'm feeling good and strong. I like TRX because it is good for everyone - you can make it as easy or as hard as you can handle. For someone like me who doesn't drink milk because the carton is too heavy to lift (just kidding - I'm sensitive to dairy which is why I don't drink milk. But really, those milk jugs are heavy man!), TRX is good because I feel it helps strengthen and grow lean muscle instead of bulking up. I have no idea if that's actually the case, but that's what it does to me. Or what I like to think it does to me. Tonight however, I felt a bit of exercise guilt. It's a weird feeling to work your butt off for an hour (burning up to 800 calories - or so I have read), and feel like maaaaaybe you should crank out a half hour tempo run on the treadmill "just because". I didn't, because I was really looking forward to opening a bottle of wine and sitting on the couch, but it's a weird feeling to feel like you haven't done enough, when you know technically you have.

Calm before the sweat-storm - TRX. My beef with TRX? Because its at a local gym near where I live, they hold it on the mezzanine above the pool. The HEATED pool. Which I'd love if I was being a pool chick and hanging out in a bikini. However I'm trying to work my wobbly butt off in 90% humidity and it blows. Also, I love Neil Young. LOVE him. But playing it as gym music? Really?

 

Speaking of wine, not that I expect anyone to read or follow this blog of mine, but I should add a disclaimer that I am not, by any means, a super health-nut guru who claims to know all there is about running, working out, health, food, etc etc etc. Basically, I want to document my growth, changes, failures, goals and hopefully success' on here. I will also document silly things like my husband and dogs, friends and food and many other random things. I am not claiming to be super super healthy. I love wine. LOVE it. I love nice European cheese. I love chocolate. I love beer (that one took a while but I actually do have a taste for it now). I also love the "good for you" stuff like broccoli and egg whites and spinach, but I can promise you I will be posting pictures and writing posts while drinking wine and eating cheese and calling it "dinner". Rest assured the next day I will go back to egg whites and protein powder, but to be honest, it's all about balance. And I honestly don't like cooking that much so it's a kind of fend-for-yourself situation in my kitchen (poor Dusty).

And so I don't forget, some things I'm going to have to post about soon are: running goals, running music, favorite healthy living/exercise/lifestyle blogs I read.

Xoxo

 

Posted with Blogsy

A new start

Well, I've decided to write a blog. I've thought about doing this two times before, but realized after I had made each one, that I didn't really have anything to really WRITE about. Then all of a sudden, one evening after a long sweaty track workout, I thought "hey, why don't I actually write these workouts down? And write down how I'm feeling? And my goals? And? And? And?". Anyways, I figured since I love reading so many healthy living blogs (as well as tonnes of other lifestyle blogs) I may as well start my own. Even if no one else ever reads this, at least I can track my progress and someday look back at it and see how I've grown and changed.

A little bit about me: I'm 27, married to a wonderful man called Dusty, I live in Sidney, British Columbia Canada, I have two crazy black dogs who are my fur babies and I love more than anything and finally, I love to run, I love it, LOVE it. Have I mentioned that I love it? I ran in high school, but not super super seriously since competition makes me anxious. I mainly focused on horse riding and still ride now. Around 6 years ago, after consistently running only once in a while, my dad asked me to run a local race called the Times Colonist 10km. He started running when I was in grade 10 or 11 and had fallen in love with it. He was always so stoked to go on a run, join new clinics, meet new people and of course get new gear (oh the gear!). So I agreed - and slowly started to love it. I started with running 10 & 1's (run 10 minutes, walk 1) and completed that first race in an hour doing that method. I was hooked. While picking up our race package, I saw a sign up booth for the Royal Victoria Marathon & Half Marathon (now known as the Goodlife Fitness Marathon). I said to my Dad "hey! I should sign up for this!" His response was a cross between a scoff and a snort - clearly he thought that was far-fetched. So I said that if I ran the half marathon (which was only 6 months away), he would have to get a tattoo. Now, a note about my Dad - even though I am quite covered in tattoos, he has none, and is pretty opposed to them. The whole "your body is a temple" thing etc etc etc. Well apparently he thought this idea of me running was SO ludicrous that he said "deal!". So of course I had to do it. Over that spring and summer I ran. I ran hard. I learned a lot - not all good, not all bad. I got injured. I met new people (some good, some bad), I pushed myself in ways I hadn't in a long time, and I know I pushed myself harder than ever before when I actually ran that race (1:58:54). Oh yeah, he had to get a tattoo :) So, I was "bitten", as they say, and I haven't stopped since. I have taken breaks - due to injury, due to life getting in the way, and due to burnout. Now though, I want to push myself in new goals (a marathon, beating my best times) and I want to be faster and stronger than ever before.

Well, that's quite the intro - I guess I will kind of do both "history" and "currently" style posts - I will send out my questions and musings to the great wide world of bloggers, and maybe someday someone will comment or follow me back! In the meantime, I'll just ramble along and post goofy pictures.

 

This is my Dad and I in Canberra, Australia (where I was born and grew up). We ran around Lake Burley Griffin on the most amazing winter day, September 2012.

Me!

 

Chocolate is my favorite post-run treat (as well as soy chai lattes)

These two furry things are my babies. Frank (top) and Cypress

 

 

Posted with Blogsy