Increasing Distance

I'm loving our spring weather for running!

Over the last couple of weeks I have managed to fit in a couple of "longer" runs.  I did my first long run with my friend, and new running buddy, Sabrina.  We did 12 km in total, running for 7 minutes and walking for 1 minute. Cardiovascular wise I felt great during the run, however, my legs are still giving me some trouble. Around 7 km my calf started to tighten up quite a bit and I had to stop a few times to stretch.  I stretched for about 20 minutes before the run so I'm not sure why that happened??  On a positive note the chronic aches, on my left side, were absent throughout the run and I felt really good the next day. I guess the physio and massage therapy are starting to work! My massage therapist has also recommended that I try Intramuscular Stimulation so I'm going to give that a go next.  (All this running has made me very grateful for excellent medical coverage). I have also discovered the foam roller, which is my new best friend :)

Photo stop at the 9 km mark

My running accomplishment last week was that I did 12.3 km by myself!! As I have mentioned before, it has always been a struggle for me to run more than 7 or 8 km on my own so I was really happy with that small success. I have to admit though, as I was wrapping up my run that day, I was having a really hard time imagining doing another 9 km. Yikes!

The Forerunners group I have been doing speed training with the last couple of weeks are running 15 km this Saturday. I'm thinking about joining them....... we'll see how the leg holds up on my shorter runs over the next few days :)

I have incorporated the Burrard Bridge in to my running route so it won't be so daunting at 19km on race day.

P.S. Congratulations to everyone who did Boston this morning!!  Today I'm thinking of my friend Paula who did the Boston Marathon last year (amazing!!!). My heart goes out to those who were unable to finish, who were injured, and to the loved ones of the three who lost their lives.  Peace :)