Fuel for running

I think it's about time I get a fuel belt. I went for my long run today and managed to only make it 12.5K before I had to call it quits. Started stumbling a bunch and I took that to mean I was tired. Would rather take the bus home the rest of the way than face plant on the sidewalk... 


I feel like I could have made it, though, if I had a gel with me. My dad bought me some to try when he came to visit around the time of the Sun Run, some of the ones he prefers to use when he goes for his long runs. (He's currently training for a 50K race. My mother and I both think he's crazy, but I also used to think a half-marathon was crazy too.) I had one of the gels before I left the house for my run as my oral surgery has meant that I haven't been eating much over the past few days, but I really wish I had been carrying one with me. 


Anybody have recommendations for a fuel belt they like?

Obstacles to running

My Facebook status earlier this week was, whoever came up with the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat' obviously didn't have a mobile baby. And all my friends with babies on the go "liked" it and empathized with me. You see, in the last couple of weeks Natallie has learned how to move...I wouldn't call it crawling, it's more like "the worm" dance move but she has got so efficient at worming (yes, that is a verb in our house now) that she is such a handful. I admit, I haven't done much running since the Sun Run. Partially because I had to recover from being sick but also because I am so exhausted from chasing after Natallie and keeping her out of trouble. I turn my back just to put wet laundry in the dryer and I come back and she's pulled out all the kleenex out of the box and is madly eating as much as she can until I pry it out of her hands and mouth. And then it's off to the pile of magazine under the coffee table, shredding and eating the latest copy of Today's Parent. 

 And you think she is eating all the kleenex and magazines because she's hungry but meal time seems like World War 3 sometimes with my husband and I dodging our little one spewing butternut squash and sippy cups across the room. My daughter has decided she doesn't want to eat unless she is being entertained at the same time, so it takes me putting on what feels like a Broadway musical of singing, dancing and waving musical instruments and blowing bubbles (literally) between bites of food. Showtime is three times a day at breakfast, lunch and dinner. So between chasing Little Miss Trouble and feeding her, I am exhausted. I thought about lacing up my runners and going for a run but I didn't feel like I had the energy to even go up the stairs one more time to change into clothes for running.

I was feeling a bit discouraged about not running and feeling that being a mom was kind of an obstacle to staying fit but then I thought back to why I wanted to train this half-marathon in the first place and it was because I wanted to prove to myself that a new mom can do it. I can stay healthy and active! So today, Natallie decided to stay asleep in her car seat after we got back from church (this never happens lately) so I took it as a sign from God that I should go for a run by myself. I thought I would be really slow because i haven't run in 2 weeks but surprisingly, I felt great. I didn't get a cramp which has happened consistently before and even when I was running up the steep Kerr St. hill, it didn't feel as hard as I thought it would be. Maybe even though I haven't been running, just chasing Natallie around the house has kept up my cardio! 8K later, I came home just in time as Natallie was waking up. OK well...I've got to go get my act ready for the dinner time feeding show now. Hmm..what songs should I do tonight?

Running has spoiled me

I went to the gym after work yesterday. I wanted to get a quick workout in before my oral surgery today (yes, ouch) and I had already done my Wednesday run with the Forerunners Scotiabank Half-Marathon training clinic. Time for some crosstraining for fun. I was on the stationary bike for about 15 minutes before a guy got on the bike two down from me and starting making these horrible "I'm working so hard" grunty breathing sounds. I got off the bike a few minutes later. Then I was over in the weights section and two people were just sitting on the weight benches, talking. Not lifting a single thing. I went to the mats, did some planks, and left. I realized as I left the gym that running has spoiled me. 


When I run, I don't have to deal with sweaty dudes grunting or people using the equipment I want. All I need is my shoes and the road and my will. (Well, and maybe my phone so I can listen to music and track my distance with the GPS...) 


Last week I ran 12K for the first time ever. I did intervals of 10 minutes running, 1 minute walking and it felt great the whole time. I think I find my long runs easier than my speed workouts. But my 14K run tomorrow will have to be postponed (hopefully just till Sunday) while I recover from my oral surgery today. Hate it when life gets in the way of training.

Running Blues

Every runner faces a variety of obstacles throughout their training and racing. I was faced with a large obstacle this week – injury. I was having a sharp pain in my shin, which I thought it was shin splints. I have had shin splints before so I wasn’t too concerned. However as the week progressed and especially after my 12km run, the pain was more severe and localized in one area on my Tibia. I went to the hospital yesterday and the doctor suggested it was a stress fracture. I went for an x-ray and it didn’t show any breaks (thank goodness) but I am going for a bone scan next week to fully determine if it is the bone or muscular. Fingers crossed for the later.

            For the time being, the doctor recommended that I don’t run or do any physical activity that involves heavy impact on my lower leg. For my training this week I am going to be swimming and doing some light biking.  I am hoping to get back to running as soon as possible!

Do you have any suggestions for exercises that are low impact? 

The Sun Run and purple toes

I had a surprisingly lovely time at the Sun Run on Sunday. My parents were out visiting from Toronto, so both them and my boyfriend were cheering at the race and managed to move around so they could spot me four different times. My dad took a cute photo of me looking at my mum and laughing somewhere on Beach Ave. My time was slow, but it was what I expected and I felt a lot more comfortable during this race than I did at the Harry's Spring Run-Off in March. I guess training is working!

I don't think I want to do any races with that many people again. It's fun to see so many people participating and being active, but it's pretty awful weaving around people as much as you have to at the Sun Run. But I do feel like a proper Vancouverite now that I've done it once! Really, it just made me look forward to the Scotiabank half.

After I got home on Sunday and took off my shoes, I noticed that two of the toenails on my left foot were looking a little purple from bruising under the nail. Guess this makes me a real runner, eh?

Sun Run Recap

Were you one of almost 50,000 people that ran the 10K Sun Run? Hopefully you woke up this morning feeling better than I did. If you have been following my blog posts, on Friday night I had a fever of 102, I tried to spend all of Saturday resting in hopes to get better but rest is hard when you have a crawling 8 month old baby. My husband was wonderful and tried to take care of her most of yesterday as I drank gallons of water, orange juice and praying that it would be just a 36 hour cold and I be feeling fantastic by Sunday morning. I woke up this morning at 4:30am coughing like a barking seal and found some cough drops so I could go back to sleep. My husband said I was too sick to run but I am stubborn and told him I was just fine and exercise helps with sickness right?  I had nothing but cough drops and one cracker with peanut butter before meeting up with my sister and getting on the skytrain.

The finish line

I can't believe I made it and didn't pass out!

 I have done the Sun Run for 10 years I think and I never get tired of it. I love the energy from everyone. We made into the crowds with just minutes before the start of the race. And then we're off!!!! I think one reason I like the Sun Run is because I know the route so well, plus it's pretty cool running in the middle of usually busy streets and across the Burrad street bridge. I was still coughing when the run started and at 3KM into the race, I wonder if my husband was right and maybe I should be on the couch watching sunday morning cartoons with some honey lemon tea instead but I tell myself to keep going and it's OK if I don't go fast, I just need to finish. So I did, I kept going and I finished. It took me 57:05 which is by far not my best time, my best time for the Sun Run was 51:05, but I'm still proud of myself that I finished it.

The after-party inside BC Place

 The after party inside BC Place is great, I saw a lot of my other friends that did the race. One of my friend, Joel Pel finished the race in 37 minutes! Incredible!
Check out this time lapse video of everyone crossing the finish line...pretty neat eh? Do you see me and my day-glo socks?
http://www.vancouversun.com/2012sunrun/Video+2012+timelapse/6462696/story.html

uh-oh

The Sun Run is less than 48 hours away and I have a fever of 39° C, that would be 102.2° F. Uh-oh, that sucks. I hope God does some sort of miracle tomorrow and I will feel good enough to do a 10K 9:00am on Sunday morning. I was so looking forward to this run, my sister is doing it with me and we even got neon-colored socks and running shirts bc running in day-glo colours just makes you go faster, right?! I am going to drink a gallon of water and go to bed but I can see that my baby girl isn't asleep yet in her crib and trying to eat the wires from the baby monitor. Oh gosh...I think it's going to be a long night! Any trusted remedies you want to share with me?

Ladder Workout

Last week, the Joe Runners got to go and try on Asics shoes at the Forerunners store on 4^th Avenue and we received the training schedule for the half marathon. I was very excited to receive it and I was even more enthused to see the variety of runs they had planned for us! I unfortunately missed the Wednesday run clinic at Forerunners last night because I got stuck at work so I did the planned run today instead.

I did a ladder workout that consisted of 3 sets (3 minutes-2 minutes-1 minute) with a 2 minute recovery in between each set. I loved, loved, having this variety and can’t wait until next week’s running clinic to do pyramids. On the to do list for this weekend: 12km long run. 

Slow and steady eventually reaches the finish line

I'm not a good runner. I'm still a newbie, still find it difficult to go fast and still haven't run anything longer than 10k so far. Signing up for the half-marathon was really a whim and a promise to myself that I'd keep training after the Sun Run 10K next week. Every time I go out for a run I still find it really, really hard. I'm not at that point yet where running is fun. But I still go out and do it. Having a training plan is really key -- it was a Monday, I had to go for a run today!

My boyfriend ran with me this weekend, and even though I rant and complain about how hard it is and how much I suck he reminded me that this time last year, when he occasionally accompanied me on my Couch to 5K runs, I was way slower and could not run nearly as long as I'm running now. Even when we busted out our bicycles for the first time this season, I was biking so much faster than I did last summer. Basically, I'm healthier. So even though I moan and complain, I'm doing a good thing. It's okay that I'm super slow -- I'm faster than I was before, and I'll keep getting better.

Sunday's run

So as promised, after my day of fun in the snow, I went for a run on Sunday. I love that the cherries blossoms are so beautiful this time of year. Have any of you checked out the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival? On their website they have a map showing where all the cherry blossoms are located throughout the city. I guess I'm pretty lucky that there are lots of cherry blossoms in my area. There were so many cherry blossoms on my route yesterday, it was a pretty decent run too...11km in total. I would of enjoyed it more if I didn't get a cramp 15 mins into my run, I seem to be getting runner's cramp (side stitch) pretty often during my runs. It's always on my right side right under my rib cage and sometimes right under my ribs. Yesterday, it was so sharp and painful, I had to stop multiple times to try and breathe and stretch it out. It didn't really help though. I came home and did a google search to find the cause of runner's cramps and found a lot of different theories, perhaps shallow breathing, perhaps having too much food or fluid or running too fast. Before I had Natallie, I would wake up and run before eating breakfast and I rarely got cramps but now I have to time my runs with Natallie's naps which coincidentally end up being after breakfast or lunch. Maybe that's the reason I have been getting more cramps when running. Do you get cramps when you run?  Is the trick to run on a fairly empty stomach? And what are effective strategies to cope with a cramp during a run?

Reason #101 why I love living on the west coast



There must be at least 100 reasons why I love living on the west coast and today's reason is for the north shore mountains. I was going to go for a run but my mom offered to babysit so I jumped on the opportunity and went up to Mt. Seymour with my husband and my sister. We hiked into the glorious Seymour back country and built ourselves a little jump. It was a clear, blue-bird, sunny day. Amazing! And we all got a pretty good workout since we hiked up with our back packs with shovels and snowboards and built the jump and then after every time we hit the jump, we had to hike back up a ways to do it again. So exhausted now but but oh-so worth it......and I promise I'll go for a run tomorrow!


That's me soaking up the westcoast sunshine!



My husband Simon showing off his back flip skills

That's my sister!



That's me again! What an awesome day!



New Asics!

If you have never been to Forerunners on West 4th, you really should go. The staff there are so incredibly nice and really know their stuff! As part of the Joe Runner prize pack, I went down to Forerunners today along with the other two Joe Runners,Jocelyn and Emma, and the staff all helped us pick out a pair of Asics customized to our needs. It was so great that the staff are all runners themselves and I am so excited with the pair of Asics that I will be getting very soon! Can't wait to break them in!

I took a picture on my phone of the shoes. Sorry for the bad photo, I don't have a smart phone...in fact, it's a very dumb phone, I can't even transfer pictures from my phone to the computer so I actually had to use my camera and take a picture of the picture on my phone. So lame but at least you can see that not only me but also my baby Natallie also approved of my new Asics!

My training partner

My aunt and uncle are in their 60's and they are both runners, they both tell me that it's important to always have a person to train with. They have luckily found another couple their age at church that are just as dedicated to running as they are. Every Saturday morning, rain or shine (or snow or hail), you will see my auntie Janet and her training partner cruising through Central Park in Burnaby. My training partner is 8 months old, 17 pounds and cute as button. I know a training partner is supposed to push you and keep you motivated to train and Natallie does that for me. For one, if I go for a long run it means that I don't have to get her to nap in her crib which means no tears for either of us and secondly, I know that unless I keep training and staying strong, I won't be able to lift her when she's in her carseat much longer!

Other than running with little Miss Natallie, I have been going to a fitness class at Eileen Daily Community Center in Burnaby. The instructor, Wendy, is just wonderful. It is a pre/post-natal class and I had been going since I was pregnant so it's been great to work out and meet with the other new moms and moms-to-be there. All the babies just hang out on the mats and watch as us mommies keep up with exercises and during the strengthing portion of the class I get to have Natallie right beside me. Nothing motivates me to keep up in the 'plank position' more than having Natallie right under me! However, you are only allowed to have your baby in the class if they aren't mobile and since last week, Natallie has realized she can move. It's not very efficient yet, she looks like she's doing "the worm" dance move, she gets up on all fours and the lunges forward with an huge bellyflop and then does it over and over again. This is kind of bittersweet, I am so excited that she is almost crawling but it also means that I can't be in this fitness class much longer. After some research into post-natal fitness classes, I realized that most classes don't welcome mobile babies. Boooooo. If you do know of any fitness classes that welcome a squirming creeping baby, let me know!

I am also researching and planning on getting a bike trailer. I. heart. biking. I recently got into speed biking a couple years ago. Before I was pregnant, I did 75K of the Century Ride in the Okanagon and the 100K Ride for Refuge in Richmond. I hope that getting a bike trailer will mean Natallie can come biking with me and that can be another way I can train for the half-marathon. I am signed up to the Half-Century Ride (56K) on May 27th. My mother-in-law and my husband are doing the ride too and we're planning on towing Natallie in a trailer. I don't think this is the kind of event where people have trailers, everyone is decked out in spandex and clip-in bike shoes but oh well, I want to bike and that means Natallie will come along (maybe I will put her in spandex!) I have read that you shouldn't put your babies in bike trailers until they are 1 year old, is 8 months close enough? Anyone have thoughts on this?

So that's a little bit about me and my training partner, Natallie, who gets me up at 7:00am every morning and motivates me to be the healthiest, active mom I can be.