A frigid morning in Fredericton

It is a frigid morning here in Fredericton. It could have been -30 (sadly, which is just around the corner) and I would have got out nice and early to try out my new shoes and Garmin. It is impossible to quantify how much I love new running stuff. 

For those other 405 users reading this blog -- if there are any left after my long hiatus -- did you have trouble adjusting to the smaller digital readouts on the run? I was used to the big 301 numbers, so that was a change. However, I couldn't believe how quickly it synched up with the satellites, no more pacing up and down the middle of my court looking like a total idiot. I'm also trying out a pair of trail shoes right now because I want to see if they will stand up better in winter running than my normal Asics. Oh and my run... 8K. Nothing too special, nothing too fast. I did start out a bit too fast, probably just amped up with the new shoes. I slowed it down on the back half of the run. For the first run in almost three weeks, it was fine. Nothing special. Just a beautiful run along the St. John River trail with all of the leaves changing colour. Although nothing can ever replace the mountains in from my hometown in B.C., I honestly think fall in eastern Canada is pretty amazing.

Labour Day

Does running after kids all day count as cross training? If so I had a marathon session. It doesn't count? Pity. It should. I think I logged more time on my feet today than I did on Sunday's run.

Sunday run

I missed my Friday run so I ran 10K on Saturday at a slightly faster pace to make up for it. It was a brilliant idea until it was time for my Sunday run.
My neighbour came out for the first half of the run but my goal distance was 23K while she was hoping for 30K. The way out was great. We kept on a conversational pace for the 11.5K that we were together. On the way back is when I started having some dead legs. I didn't have any splits slower than 5:05 if memory serves but they were a chore. My breathing was also fine, but I just lost my comfortable pace that I enjoyed heading out. I finished in 1:53:59.

Aint that the truth

"We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort." -- Jesse Owens, American running legend

Hilly Tuesday morning

I had a chance to sleep in until 5:30 this morning. It was absolutely wonderful. When I realized my dying Garmin had no juice in it, I decided to turn my 11K tempo run into my hill run instead, no need for GPS when you're running up and down a hill. So six boring repeats. However, I felt much better today than last week during the hill session. I still have no idea why people enjoy hill repeats.
When I trotted out to start my run, my legs were a bit stiff. But as I soldiered on they were are showing very little residual impact from Sunday's 30K. I was really pleased by the lack of stiffness, which I'm taking as a sign that my training is slowly, very slowly, turning a corner.

Sunday run in Bouctouche

Although I am typing this about 10 hours after I finished, I feel remarkably refreshed for running 30K this morning. I had one of the most scenic 30K runs of my life, only Banff nothwithstanding. I had stressed all night about where I would get my run in, not knowing where any runner-friendly areas are in Bouctouche. So I went for a safe route, which turned out to be absolutely amazing. I ran beside the Northumberland Strait along the highway as the sun peaked over the ocean. Of the highlights, 4K on the Bouctouche Dune boardwalk because at one point it was ocean to the right of me and ocean to the left of me.
I ran fairly aggressively out because I had the hills and wind in my favour, which meant I fought a serious headwind for the final 15K. I was not impressed with the wind and hills on the way back. At the turn I had built up a 250-metre cushion which had vanished by 29K. Thankfully I had a bit more gas in the tank so I could finish in 2:29:51, meeting my 5:00 min/K goal. It seems that of late my long runs are the only ones that I consistently finish on pace.

Easy Saturday run

I missed my Friday run, which is extremely disappointing. But that just amps up the pressure to have a strong finish to the week. We are visiting the inlaws this weekend, so a quick 8K around Bouctouche Bay before lunch. Today is just stretching out the legs for my LSD tomorrow. It was pretty hot by the time I got back to the house, so you cannot believe how thankful I am today was not my long run!
Now my only problem is finding a 30K run in relatively unfamiliar running surroundings.

Sunday run

Up at 5 a.m. for my 26K LSD run. I didn't have time to fuel up, aside from a bite of a banana and trying to escape before I woke up any of the girls. It was pretty dark on the way out so I skipped the trail and opted for the slightly hillier Lincoln road route. I ran some really uneven splits. I don't believe in the first 13K I was more than 10 seconds above or below my goal pace, but they did jump around a lot. I'm not sure if that was because of Garmin errors or me errors -- I'd like to blame the former rather than the latter. On the way back, the sun was coming out and so I turned back to the trail. I could also feel the heat picking up, thankfully I could open up the front of my shirt a bit.

I noticed that I my splits were starting to sag a bit, nothing major, but they were all five or eight seconds slower than I intended. At 8K to go, my dying Garmin announced "low battery" so I figured I needed to pick up the pace or fear it actually going kaput while en route. I picked up my tempo and finished most of my splits around 15 to 20 seconds faster. If memory serves, I ended up running 26K in 2:09:43 at 4:58 pace. My quads are still a bit tight, but it was a decent run. I just wish it didn't start so early.

Saturday run

I had a simple hill repeat on Thursday. It was an easy run to my regular repeat hill and ran four repeats. My first hill session of the season and I don't have any complaints. I ran hard on the repeats but I could feel my lunch coming up on the last repeat. That I'd like to avoid in the future.

Today started very busy, final day of Elle's 4U soccer season and then a princess-themed birthday party (thankfully parents were exempted). As they slept, I went out for an easy 8K run, ave. pace 4:22. It felt good. Getting ready for my LSD tomorrow.

Let's try this blogging thing again

I'm not promising to be a daily blogger again, mainly because my training is not nearly as consistent as it should be right now. But I'm ashamed how long this blog has been silent. I need motivation. So here goes nothing:

It's an offday for me, which is actually good timing considering the deluge of rain. I ran 25K yesterday, my longest run so far as I ramp up for my planned fall marathon. (I will still believe that when I see the bib pinned to my running shirt.) My training has been sporadic over the past months, but I'm getting out four to five times a week lately. My split times aren't where they should be, in fact I'm quote disturbed by how they are not falling faster. But the most encouraging part of my Monday run was how relatively free I am today of any tightness in my legs. Perhaps a small sign of progress. At this point, I'll take any glimmer of hope.
I'm struggling to remember how I coped with running in the rain every day when I lived in B.C. It seems like such a chore now.