Nico Week Nine-Oh

Monday April 28th -- Day sixty

Ok, I've given up the food discipline of the 84 days. I've been pretty good about what I've been eating but I have gained a pound or two! I totally thought I'd be tiny by now. Oh well, at least I'm running well.

Today I did a very easy morning run in Montreal with one of my workmates. I got home at 8pm then headed out again. I had a "Snow White" kind of run. The birds were chirping, squirrels and bunnies were crossing the path and then -- a buck and a doe ran by! The doe stopped and gave me a wink then kept going. Oh Toronto...who knew?

Km : 17

Tuesday April 29th -- Day sixty-one

Brrrr chillsville. Ran in evening 1hr 28min

Km : 20

Wednesday April 30th -- Day sixty-two

No morning run, just lazy and stressed with heavy work stuff. In the evening I worked out on the track in Newmarket. We did 4x200(I couldn't break 36 -Doh!), 1.6k (5:37), 2x0.8k (2:44), 3x1k(3:25). One teammate mentioned my "slow" times. I guess he was right - I used to average 3:10-3:15 for 6k work-outs. Hopefully I'll be back there by fall!

Km : 17

Thursday May 1st -- Day sixty-three

Chiro in am. Lots of work. I feel stressed and I also pigged out today. I'm taking a day off so I'll feel rested for the weekend (not to mention my tummy probably wouldn't co-operate anyway!)

Km : 0

Friday May 2nd -- Day sixty-four

Ok, so some of my discipline has waned. No am run. I did get out (after a nap) later this afternoon for 1hr 20min. I feel SO tired, it's crazy. I'm sure it's from the change in weather and all the flora blooming out there.

Km : 18

Saturday May 3rd -- Day sixty-five

I have been a real whiner this week, eh? I'm sure it's from a couple of crazy weeks of work, travel and trying to run fast. This morning I feel better. I skipped a bike ride with Dr Z (sorry to bail!) and took a leisurely first couple hours to the day. Then I drove to the west end of the belt line and ran for 1hr 19mins and really enjoyed it. If I get the gumption today, I might even do some yoga to help relax before the big effort tomorrow.

Km : 18

Sunday May 4th -- Day sixty-six

Big ol' marsh run, last one before race day. 35km in 2:16:35. I think we were fairly even. I fell back from the leaders over the last 3km but I guess that's ok...I'll guess at splits for each 6k: 27:21, 47:2, 1:11:20, 1:34? 1:54:51.

Km : 37 (w' wup and c'down)

Week total

Km : 127

Come on Maggie!

I'm recapping Nicster's "race" last weekend.

First she ran for an hour and a half, and was conned into running the inaugural 11km run. Everyone was running fast, Nicster started out slow, talked to one of the locals, who said Maggie was the one to beat. She asked Nicster what her time was..."Don't you mean 42 minutes sweetie?" UHM NO. 32 minutes.

Then she caught up to Maggie, chatted her up a bit. Let her take the lead. Then raced passed her, told her, "Come on Maggie, let's go"....and left Maggie way behind...by 2 minutes!

New phrase of the week..."Come on Maggie!".

Anyways, to sum up my week - not nearly as good as Nicster's.....I only ran Mon, Tues, Fri & Sat...not the greatest runs. My sat run was horrible, I only did 15.5 kms, and it was a good thing there were two bathrooms on the route. The good thing about last week was that a vendor took us out for an excellent dinner with a couple bottles of $200 red wine. Can't complain about that!

Sporting Life Sunday! Woohoo! Come on Maggie! CJ's going to rock (as long as she doesn't actually wear her sporting life tshirt).

Julie

Nicadoodle Week 8

Monday April 21 -- Day fifty-three

Ouch! Back is back-breakin'! Tried to run after work and managed 43min. I'll call it 10k but that's questionable! Got chiro treatment in evening with acupuncture and ART. Hope it kicks in.

Km : 10

Tuesday April 22 -- Day fifty-four

Still very bad back. No run, no nothin'. Having a tough time getting around and especially getting up - maybe I should just stay standing?

Km : 0

Wednesday April 23 - Day fifty-five

Ok I need to get training here! Still stiff in am but I think not as bad. In afternoon went out for a jog. Very stiff till about 40min then things seemed to ease as long as I didn't stop (ie: traffic lights). Total time 1hr 10min. 

I think it's time to get crackin' again! Can't afford to take much time here, so if I'm healthy enough in the morning I'll do a work-out. I have chiro at the crack of dawn so I'll tell him that I'm getting back on track - no pain allowed!

Km : 16

Thursday April 24th -- Day fifty-six

Ok, I have to thank goodness that the world developed chiropractors and acupuncture! I saw Dr DO'C this morning and he totally fixed me! I was able to do an 8k work-out at Mt Pleasant afterwards and averaged 3:23/km or something. Yahoooo! Then I flew to Calgary and no probs. I even did a 2nd run when I landed just to socialize with Jer D and Ken M. Oh I'm so happy!

Km : 25

Friday April 25th -- Day fifty-seven

Wow time is tickin' eh? Man I hope everything goes well on May 25......today I ran 1:17 with Lisa H and Jer D and Ken M in Calgary. I had to break out the tights and jacket again but it was worth it for the company.

Km : 17

Saturday April 26th -- Day fifty-eight

I got up early and drove to Canmore with Jer D. I don't usually tag on extras to business trips but I do love the Rockies. Jer and I ran 1hr 24min (I was hurtin' the first 1/2 hr!!! altitude? mountains? travel? I had tons of excuses!) then I hopped into the inaugural rocky mtn women's 11km race. The first loop I conceded to finish with a silver but during the 2nd loop I caught the leader and I couldn't resist but throw in a 2k surge to win me the crown by 2mins. It was probably a bigger effort than I needed to do today but for a total long run of 2hr 10min I really only pushed for about 10mins, so that can't be soooo bad??? I had to bolt right out of there to fly home and was pleasantly surprised to be upgraded to business class. Nice! Twice in two weeks that's happened...

Km : 30

Sunday April 27th -- Day fifty-nine

Geez this week went by fast! I can't believe there are only 4 weeks to go. Only one real long run left. I'm feeling good and ready and hungry (for a good race, well and hungry in general!) Today I had a tough time getting out of bed but managed to get out the door and drive up to Aurora to cheer on a bunch of Huskies in the 5k at Hartwell. BSD also drove up and did his long run. I did 70mins with lots of stops/starts for cheering and socializing (glad I did my long run yesterday!) Now off to Montreal for 25hrs. I should bring stuff to do a morning run but maybe I'll just do circuits in my hotel room instead! I don't want to check my bag, lazy me.

Km : 16

Week total

Km : 114 (2 weeks in a row of lower mileage...hmmmm)

Julie's recap from last week

A much better running week for me! And hardly any alcohol!

Seanna - your beer mile record is mentioned in the latest issue of Canadian Running!!

Mon - Did an awesome hill training run - I haven't done hills since January, and I smoked my overall time by 45 seconds.

Tues - Light run with my sis. Legs still hurt from hills.

Wed - Tempo runs with the running room girls around Wanless Park.

Thurs - Rest

Fri - Light 5 k run.

Sat - Got my ass kicked on an 18.5 k run with one of the running room girls. Then I came home, walk / ran (more of a walk) up to Finch & Willowdale to meet my sis who ran from her house to mine (yup - she runs now), and then did a slow walk/run back to my house. Then helped my dad move furniture for two hours. Topped off the night at the Bier Markt - only 3 drinks all week!

I'm hoping to really push myself this week. I'd like to break 55 minutes at Sporting Life...and, although I'd love to break 2 hours at the Mississauga Half, I'll stick with a more realistic goal of about 2:06.

J.

Back in T.O.

Saturday, April 19
Off. Does 12 hours of travel with an 11 1/2 month old count as exercise? There were non-stop squats of bending down to pick up/sort through luggage while holding a 20 lb baby, and non-stop lifting and carrying in various positions of said baby. My legs actually felt like they had had a workout the next day. One time I squated down while holding him and hovered there for a while almost not making it back up. Now THAT would have been embarrassing!

Sunday, April 20
run 1 hour. Awesome day! Legs were a bit fatigued (ref April 19) but it was so nice out that the run was enjoyable.

Monday, April 21
10 mins with H in the BOB to Riverdale Farms and the same home after hanging out. Is that log-able? Pretty pitiful.

Tuesday, April 22
42 mins in the evening. I went before dinner and was a tad underfueled so it felt harder than it should have.

Wednesday, April 23
Off. Hmm, maybe I will have to start training for something in order to get my butt out there??

Thursday, April 24
40 min run in the evening. Fealt great. Was well fuelled with H's leftover dinner. Nice evening.
Nic, do I really have to do the marathon, or can I just do the half?

Friday, April 25
Off. 1st day of work - exhausted! I was definitely feeling it at 2pm when I normally nap... (think I'd get much sympathy from my boss if I gave him that excuse??)

Sat, April 26
The guy I coach had a 45 min Tempo slotted for today so I told him I'd run it with him. I was expecting an easy effort as I've gotten together with him twice for workouts before. Wow. He seriously challenged me through the run. I'm super pleased - he's one of those awesome athletes you love to coach who follows your program to a T. Hope he has a good one in Mississauga. Total was 1 hour 4 mins for me.

Sunday, April 27
54 min run up don valley trail then down moore pk ravine. Nice. Then ran with Dan and H in the BOB to Riverdale Farm and back. Hey, I'm counting that! ok, Nic, I'll think about racing the Half. Better get in touch with Ross again. I'm not into the long long runs anymore, but I can handle some intensity (I think...)

Past halfway for Nicstah!! Week 7

Monday April 14th -- day forty-six

After work ran 1:16. Felt very dehydrated from yesterday's epic exercise but had to bolt to Oakville to see some sick kiddies.

Km : 17

Tuesday April 15th -- day forty-seven

OKAY! Today I feel it. Doesn't help that I barely had dins last night and only a drop of aqua. Ooops. Barely made it over 50mins.

Km : 12 (a generous 12!)

Wednesday April 16th -- day forty-eight

am: 20min to make up for last night's dismal effort!

pm: Track: 4k w'up, 4x200 (39-36 wow I'm slow!), 3x1.2k (4:08, 4:09, 4:07), 2x.8k (2:41, 2:39), 1.2k (4:04 - someone ran with me for two laps = much easier!) , 4k c'down. Felt pretty good just not zippy. Nice to be on the track, when did I start liking track work-outs???

Km : 20

Thursday April 17th -- day forty-nine

am: chiro for my spasmy back. Ouch!

pm: did my long run b/c of race this weekend. 2hr to a tee. Felt ok but tough to run at 5pm long after a 5:30am wake-up!

Km : 28

Friday April 18th -- day fifty

Ok I thought I'd added this but it never showed up onscreen. Darn!

Early morning start to fly to Mtrl (bumped up to business class = sweeeeeeeeet!) Busy day with work meetings all the way till dinner. No run but that's ok, I kind of knew it would be a day off.

Km : 0

Saturday April 19th -- day fifty-one

Ran up Mt Royal with 2 Brooks guys. On way back down back spasmed again. I couldn't even do strides, felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. Suck it up Buttercup! Asked Whitsey to do some work on it when I got back. Nerves???

Km : 10

Sunday April 20th -- day fifty-two

Race day! 1/2 marathon champs. I wish I was more fit then I would have run like TQS and sat with Catherine the Great (Ndereba) for as long as I could. As luck would have it, I was fortunate to even start the race. My back was in serious distress as soon as I woke up. After warm-up jog, I asked Coach if I should even attempt to race. He suggested to start then evaluate after a few km and bail if necessary. So I started (painfully!) but by 4km no more back pain and I got clickin'. I was pleased to finish 2nd Cdn in 1:15:21. Splits were silly : 17:30/17:40/17:56/18:24 - doh! Ok, I have some endurance to work on for the marathon next month! But I PB'ed in the drug testing with 2x the amount of sample required. Yay me! No cool down due to drug testing and then scooting out of there. Pleased with the day but worried about the consequences to my back. I have a marathon to run in 5 weeks!!!

Km : 25

Week total

Km : 113 (oops, low!)

Hatteras - week 2

Sunday, April 13
"Long" run of 1 hour. ok, not that long, but I ran the first bit of BSD's 18.5 miler with him. Pretty good - back into the wind.

Monday, April 14
48 mins - good with BSD. Felt good. Windsurfed later in the afternoon - good sesh.

Tuesday, April 15
Off running day. NUKIN' wind!!! Windsurfed in crazy over-powered conditions - scary sesh - only marginally 'fun'. Managed to not get catapulted or killed.

Wednesday, April 16
Wrkt w BSD. went into the crazy wind on the way out and with it back. 6 x 3 min on, 2 min off. Felt strong. BSD was lagging - think he may be a tad under-rested. Then windsurfing again in crazy over-powered conditions but felt more comfortable than yesterday. My Dan said I looked better too. Whew! 'cause we all know it's about how you look.

Oh, and a comment on the alcohol - JLo - I'm drinking a tad much too. Oh well, it's vaycay. I'll try to cut back when I get home. It's been mostly beer and wine with some Pina Colada's thrown in and a G&T tonight.

Thursday, April 17
40 min VERY slow. Glad BSD is gone - don't think he would've stayed with me. Bod sore from windsurfing/running.

Friday, April 18
Last run down here. 48 mins. Good. Not much to elaborate on. Still drinking...