Tag Archives: lethbridge

Apr28

Race Recap-Rattler Run 10km…Medicine Hat, Macklemore and my Personal Best

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On Saturday, April 27th, I made the two hour trek out to Medicine Hat, Alberta. The Hat is in the southeast corner of the province and is the sixth largest city in Alberta. I registered for this race only two weeks ago, shortly after running the Lethbridge 10 Mile Road Race. After determining my very pregnant friend Nicole would be around to meet up for lunch afterwards, I decided to register and make the drive.

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The Rattler Run is an annual race organized by Medicine Hat College. They have a “I Run 4 Me” campaign that encourages healthy, active lifestyles for everyone, and encourages people to get out there and be active no matter their skill level. They offer a 3km, 5km and 10km race. This year they capped the races at 1000 participants, and they reached their limit in runners just before race day. The 5 km was the most popular race, the 3 km had the most children (lots of kids from a local soccer club) but I chose to do the 10 km.

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One major selling point when registering for this race was the 11 am start time. It allowed me to get up at 7, have my coffee and oatmeal, and head out of Lethbridge by 8. The packet pick up in the college foyer was easy and quick, but I was surprised to see my age grouping—26-35 year olds! Usually racing categories go 19 and under, 20-29, 30-39, and so on. Maybe even every 5 years if its an enormous race! At 28, I was immediately intimidated by the potential of being with some experienced 30-something’s! I tried to not think about it while I got ready. I. wandered outside into the ridiculous wind to check out the start area (wind speeds were between 45-55 mph today) to realize one problem-country music! Ok, I get it, a lot of people love country music. And when you live in the ‘Texas of Canada’, country music is very prevalent. Since one of the major sponsors was the local country music station, I had to do something drastic……

….One of my first posts in here was about how I don’t listen to music when running. Part of the issue is I don’t want to carry my phone. But, a few weeks ago I bought a hydration belt to wear, and the back pocket actually fits my iPhone 5 perfectly. So I decided to mess with normalcy and attempt to listen to music. I actually tried making a playlist that I was going to attempt to use while running. I realized, though, if it got to the end of the playlist it would not restart back to the beginning. And I didn’t want to putz with it when running. So, since my song of the moment is “Can’t Hold Us” By Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, I did what any sane person would do—I put that song on repeat.

If you don’t know that song or think I am totally damn ass crazy, take 4:18 of your life and listen to it.
Can’t Hold Us-Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
For this tempo of a run and for the purpose of zoning you out and pumping you up, this song does it. I don’t know what genre of music i listen to most, but this style isn’t one I would normally be obsessed with. Maybe it is because Dan and I saw Macklemore on SNL a few months ago and I just thought he was so fun. Maybe it was because I still have a soft spot for him because we first heard his song “Thrift Shop” inappropriately on Christmas Eve when my brother in law was playing it in the van while his kids were sleeping. Either way, I would like to thank you Macklemore, for your unique styling, as I think you caused me to run my personal best 10 km. You should feel honored.

Back to the race…184 racers in the 10 km. I positioned myself at the front ready to rock. The wind was going to be a major mental issue and physical problem, so I needed to start strong. I also was not familiar with the paths we were going on, but the volunteers I talked to assured me we had it better than the 5 km, hill wise at least. I busted out of the gate and ran my first mile in around 7:05. I knew this could pose issues, but was hoping to stay under 8:00 for the first 3 miles. The wind in mile 2 hit me, and everyone else, hard. My legs were working so hard but felt like they weren’t going anywhere. The little hills everywhere weren’t even the issue—use to those in Lethbridge—but between the crazy wind and the unseasonably warm 70s weather, it was going to be a fight.

As I was taking in the surroundings and the other runners near me, I got my mind thinking about where I was placed age-group wise. It really hard to distinguish anyone’s age over 20 when you are racing. By over-judging the ladies’ ages, I figured I was at least in top 3 for my age group. That kept me pushing, as I really wanted a medal-I love the bling! The course was out and back, so reaching that halfway point was another good push, and as the trail system we were on allowed you to be able to view other portions of the course in the coulees, you could see the end in sight (even if it was three miles away).

The air was even drier than Lethbridge and thankfully I did have my Gatorade on my belt, because I needed it about three times. The last mile I really started to push, as we had to run over the highway overpass, and once you got to the top of it, it was all downhill. It actually wasn’t a true out and back, because after getting down the overpass, you went straight towards the entrance of the college, not to the back way like the start. Knowing how little of a distance I had left to go made me kick in everything I had left. I finished with chapped lips, a dry cough, extremely exhausted, and with Macklemore singing still…but I made my personal record! I listened to Macklemore for 48 minutes 38 seconds! I demolished my old 10km of 50:05! I was so excited because that was my major goal of this race.

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Awards were at 12:30 pm in the gym and I was amazed to find out I placed 1st in my age group! There were 27 participants in the 26-35 group, so not too many but still a decent number. The girl I beat out for 1st place was only about 20 seconds behind me. She told me during awards she was really trying to chase me down at the end but just couldn’t. For about two miles in the middle of the race, she had passed me and was ahead, so me being able to push by her then was the key moment.

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I am really starting to think that this whole process I am going through this year with my training is allowing me to get times I never have been able to before. Between this website, the fundraising, the self-reflection, the extra races, and the motivation of honoring my dad, I am really starting to think I can keep surprising myself this year. I have this indescribable driving force when I race now—something I haven’t had in quite some time. I hope this power stays with me all year, as the next month is going to be a rough one. I have this next weekend off, but then I have three weekends in a row of races. The Spartan Sprint is first, then two half marathons; one in Red Deer and one in Calgary. The Spartan race is for challenging myself and for having fun. I have never done an obstacle course run! I do hope to make a best time at one of the two half marathons.

Please show your support for my running in memory of my father Andrew Lammers by donating to one of the two charities found at the link at the top of the page. Both support heart disease research in North America, as the first is American Heart Association and the second is Heart & Stroke Foundation. I am hoping to raise $1000 for each before the Dopey Challenge in 2014—but I really think I can shoot for $1500 each! Take the time to read my “Purpose” up above also, and feel free to contact me if you have further questions.

Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Andrea

Apr14

Race Recap-Lethbridge 10 Mile Road Race!

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The 40th annual Lethbridge 10 Mile Road Race was Saturday, April 13th. I signed up for it when registration opened and opted to participate in the 10 mile distance—There was also a 4 mile distance to participate in. I had never participated in this event before, but knew it would be a well-put-together race, as Runners Soul was sponsoring it.

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I honestly hadn’t really done much preparation for this race as far as being aware of the course and start times. I was so busy this week after coming back from Milwaukee that package pickup kind of snuck up on me Friday! The course this year was apparently different than years past, as it was an out and back situation. The race would start and finish at the college. The first part of the course on Scenic Drive is relatively flat, with a few small “bumps”. For those participating in the 10 miler, we had something special in store for us—after winding on Scenic Drive for 3 miles, we would descend into the river bottom down quite a steep hill, approximately 3/4 of a mile long. This would be a nice descent, but after winding through the pathways and turning around and coming back, we would have to head up this wretched monster! I spoke about this hill in a previous blog about hill training…it is still as ridiculous as I said initially!

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The race day itself couldn’t have been any more perfect of a day for Lethbridge. There was hardly any wind, there was sun peaking out of the clouds all morning, and the temperature was somewhere around 45 degrees. The 9:00 am start time for the 10 mile was awesome also! I had this 9:00 am start time last week for the Trailbreaker Half and while I know many races, especially in the summer, start earlier, I love having this almost “late start” time. I was able to get up at 7:00, have coffee and oatmeal, get ready slowly and be set for the race. I had it set in my head I would go out at a decent pace, but my goal was to be around 8:20-8:30 minute miles. I was nervous for that hill climb back from the river valley, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t collapse.

But of course, like always, I got wrapped up in the excitement of the race and completely ignored my pacing plans.
Pacing Breakdown Map from Nike+

So, my first mile of 7:33 was one of the fastest miles I have ran in a longtime. For real. I decided to just keep my legs moving for mile two. And three. And four. I figured if I felt this good there was no reason to slow down. If I had slowed down to what my planned pace was suppose to be, I would have been frustrated at the finish line if I had energy still left.. Running through the river bottom was probably the toughest part mentally. The trail curves quite a bit and I don’t know how to say it, but the visibility is only about 100 feet in parts. For the whole race I always had at least one guy (it was always a guy) close enough to chase. In this area of the river bottom, all of a sudden those people who I was chasing disappeared. It was like I was racing alone again. Once you got spit out by Whoop-Up, the path opened up a bit and you could see people ahead of you again. I started concentrating on paying attention to the number of people turning around and heading back.. This kept my mind off any pain I may have felt or the possibility of slowing down. I started counting any ladies who had turned around and headed back, and also started figuring out what age group they fit in. I realized at the five mile I was in 8th place for the ladies so far, with what I assume to be probably two people ahead of me in my age group. This was enough to keep me moving after the turn around and now I had it set in my head I was going to place in my age group

As I approached the hill to head back up from the river bottom, I yelled to the volunteers at the bottom HERE GOES NOTHING!. I knew I could not stop and walk, because it would be that much harder to get going again. I kept on my toes and kept moving up that hill, even though the pace felt so slow. I happened to catch up to a middle aged man who was breathing hard on his way up. I don’t know why, but I just started talking to him. I started talking about the stupid hill, my race last week, my pace, etc. I told him how I had ran since I was in high school, but I had only started now taking these road races somewhat seriously. He had started running at age 36 and hadn’t been running that long, and hadn’t done any crazy long distances yet. We kept together up that hill, never stopped to walk, and powered past a few people on the way up. I had a new found energy, as we kept each other going. I passed a girl who seemed to be around my age who had walked. I had this competitive spirit in me that I hadn’t had since high school. I had to keep moving!

The hill made my mile 7 come in at a time of 10:19. I had three more miles to run, and I felt positive I could get the time of 1 hour 25 minutes that I was aiming for. On the trek back to the college, I hugged the curves of Scenic Drive, treating it like running on an outdoor track. My short legs take that many more extra steps than a normal person, so any less distance I managed to run than the other races was helpful for me. Since I was familiar with the road we were running on, I set landmarks in my head for when I would start to pick up the pace. I didn’t want to go crazy too early. I find that this planning and analyzing during a race helps me stay focused, makes the miles pass faster, and keeps me moving.. This is why I don’t listen to music-my mind is filled with a playlist and plan of its own! At the Park Royal neighborhood, I planned to start using whatever energy I had left.. This would be about 1.5 miles from the finish, and there would be a short hill from the Sugar Bowl to climb before I would be at flat road. I got that kick going and kept with it until the finish, improving each mile after that 10:19! My finish time would be 1 hour 23 minutes 14 seconds.

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I called my mom and my husband to let them know how I did. My mom obviously was home in Wisconsin, and my husband was working in the new Garry Station subdivision in West Lethbridge. At this point I hadn’t seen an unofficial result sheet, so I had to let them know what my time was and that I felt pretty good about placing in my category. They both seemed surprised at how good my time was, and frankly, I was too. I had ran the half marathon in Waukesha last weekend, broke my long standing personal record, came back to work this week after a great Spring Break, and hadn’t had much recovery time. I stand by my statement from earlier this year that running is almost sometimes more of a mental competition, than a skill.. Yes, I need to have the mileage and the training in order to compete and race at the level I want to be at. But if I had gone in to this race with a negative attitude, assuming I would not be able to do well since I had just raced the previous weekend, I would not have done well. There is something to be said out there in regards to the power of positive thinking

Awards started in the gymnasium at the Lethbridge College at 11:00 am.

20130414-110551.jpg. They went through the 4 mile categories first before moving onto the 10 mile categories. I was like a little kid when they called me up for 2nd place in the 20-29 female category. After awards, I had to have Sean from Runners Soul take a photo for me, as I didn’t want to try to do a lame self-shot with my medal. So thank you Sean for taking this photo!

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I really enjoyed this race and would recommend the 10 Mile Road Race to anyone in Southern Alberta. It is a well-organized event and a beautiful course. That being said, us runners lucked out the race was Saturday, as if it had been today, it would have been a survival of the fittest sort of event. I am not making this up, but please refer to the photo below to see what my back yard looks like 24 hours after the awards ceremony:

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Real glad Dan and I got the pond pump running…..NOT! Anyways, that’s it for today. For some upcoming posts, I plan on doing an entry on my dad’s middle years while he lived in Switzerland and also reflecting back on some past Walt Disney World vacations. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment. Also, share and like my page if you like what you are reading! And the best compliment would be to head to the charitiespage up at top and read about the American Heart Association and Heart & Stroke Foundation and how I am running in memory of my late father, Andrew Lammers. Have a great week everybody!

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Mar3

First Race Complete! A Recap of Sorts!…

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On Saturday, March 2nd, I competed in my first race of 2013, the Hypothermic Half. It was sponsored by the “Running Room” and held down in Indian Battle Park by Fort Whoop-Up in Lethbridge. I was a little nervous to see how this race would go, since I had been sick since around February 20th. The last long run I had done when training was 9 miles and that was in Friday, February 15th, the day before I went to Los Angeles. I had mentioned in the last few posts here that I attempted running when sick, and that didn’t end well. So, to say I was anxious is an understatement.

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Race start was 9:00 am, with the ‘sleepy-head’ race scheduled for 10:00 am. When I had gone to pick up my race packet up on Thursday, I became aware the route was pretty simple-run twice around the park, down past the police firing range and the country club, loop back, and do it again. However, when we were running, it became clear that this was slightly incorrect. You had to do the same loop three times, only you went around the park once instead of twice.
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I had my Nike SportWatch on during the race, and after the first of three loops, it became clear that this was not going to add up to 13.1 miles. It was going to be under. This is the first time I have been in a race where the distance wasn’t as advertised. I don’t know if I were to go back to the Running Room website if there would be any note about this, but I guess I could have guessed it would be like this, given the low-key atmosphere of the start and finish line. It was not chip-timed, and there would be any 1-2-3 finishers age groupings. It was just for finisher’s medals. Since I am by no means an elite athlete, this didn’t bother me too much, but I do like having that more competitive feeling, and to have results to see at the end is always good. But, I decided I had to make the most of it.

My pace started off ridiculous-I did my first mile in 8:02 and my second in about 8:07. It started to slow down a few seconds each mile, getting towards my comfort zone pace of 8:45 minutes a mile. This was good in a way to make this rookie mistake of going out a bit fast, since it was my first race. It also showed me I was capable of it! The pack started to distance themselves after around mile 3. In our 9:00 am starting group, there was about 30 people. For the whole race, I was running in the #4 or #5 spot. This proved difficult since there was such a gap ahead of everyone else, and the few ahead of me were that much faster—I was pretty much pacing myself and running alone this whole race.

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My legs started getting that heavy feeling around mile 7 and 8. If there had been people for me to “chase” and keep me moving it would have been great. It actually worked out timing-wise that the 10:00 am group, with around 20 runners, started just as I was heading in to start lap 3 of 3. This brought my pace back down to where it should have been, as I had slowed to a 9:20 for one of the miles. Having people to go after and keep up with strongly helped on the last lap.

In the end, the distance my watch mapped was 11 miles, 2.1 miles shorter than an actual half marathon. I finished with a time of 1:36:43. Had this been a true half marathon, I am confident I would have been under two hours, which was my goal given my sickness, and probably be more close to 1:55, which I would have been ecstatic about.

Race results are usually the one thing you can’t delete, or that you always find online. Since this wasn’t chip timed, I don’t know if there are any results being kept. I didn’t see anyone writing my bib number down as I crossed, but who knows. I know, though, that I started off this season strong. It was a great confidence builder! It felt really neat to finish #5 in this small group in our time slot. I actually finished #2 for the women in our group. This shows how small the race was, ha! But I felt strong and proud at the end.

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I will be taking a solid week off of running to recover. I am still hacking up junk from my throat and chest, and I am heading to a mathematics conference on Wednesday in Philadelphia. So the week off will be perfect. My next race will be in April, the 10-Mile Road Race, sponsored by Runners Soul. I need to register for it today while I am thinking about it!

Also, thank you to everyone who has donated to my charities I am racing for, either American Heart Association or Heart & Stroke Foundation (Canada). A few friends donated the past couple days leading into the race! I have currently raised $585 for American Heart Association and $465 for Heart & Stroke Foundation! My goal is $1000 to each charity by the time I run my culminating race, the Goofy Challenge, in January 2014. I feel confident we can make this happen well before the race, and then keep raising money and awareness leading up to the event. Thank you to everyone who has shown support for my cause of running in memory of my father, Andrew A. Lammers. He would be so impressed with the donations people have made so far, and so proud to see all the races I have registered for. Thank to anyone who has donated money, read this web page, shared this web page, or just reflected on the memory of my dad. To infinity & beyond!

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Mar1

First Race of the Year-Tomorrow!

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My first half marathon of 2013 is happening tomorrow! It is the “Hypothermic Half.” It is a local one right here in Lethbridge, hosted by the Running Room. Being that I have been sick the last week, I am just hoping to be able to feel strong throughout the race and look forward to receiving my finishers medal at the end!

I will be doing a full race recap tomorrow afternoon, but if anyone is in town and wants to come down and watch, here is the info! It begins at 9:00 down at Fort Whoop-Up. The course seems fairly mindless, as we loop twice around Indian Battle Park, head down to the police firing range and back, only to do that same sequence one more time. The benefit is the easy viewing from the trails down in the river bottom, and the fairly level elevation. Dan will be there taking photos, but he will be lonely, so other spectators are welcome!

Feb24

The Moral of the Story is…Don’t Attempt a 12-Mile Run When Hopped Up on Cold Medication!

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So, interestingly enough, my Sunday post for today ties into my last post. But it is a 180 in a sense, since this post shows how much of an idiot I can be. Since taking that “unplanned day off“, I ended becoming more sick. On Friday morning of our SWATCA Teacher’s Convention, I woke up feeling like a bus had run over my body after running a full marathon. My head was pounding, my sinuses were clogged. My throat burned when I coughed. I was just feeling oh-so-lovely. I half-ass got ready for convention, and made my way to the University of Lethbridge at 7:30 am. If this had been a regular school day, I would have strongly considered calling in sick-and I don’t call in sick. I went to the chairperson’s breakfast (I was chairing a secondary mathematics assessment session at 10:30) and forced down some tea and watermelon. I apologize to anyone I came in contact with that day because I either a) looked like death b) ignored looking at you c) ignored talking to you, or d) all of the above.

As soon as I dropped off the evaluations for my session, I drove straight to Shoppers Drug Mart and did a rare thing for me-bought some OTC medicine. I wanted to cure this thing fast. After talking to one of the techs, I decided to go big or go home. I bought a box of Tylenol Complete-Cold, Cough & Flu PLUS mucus relief! The bullet points on the package were made for me–nasal congestion, dry cough, headache, sore throat pain, aches, pains & chills…this would save me.

I religiously took my two capsules every six hours. I took a nap with Snoopy (the beagle is truly the best medicine!). I also made my “I am sick, feel sorry for me” dinner-two packs of ramen noodles with only half a packet of the sodium blast. I was going to these CRAZY extremes because I had a goal-to run 12 miles with marathon club Saturday.

I woke up Saturday morning feeling a ton better. My body didn’t ache (but I didn’t take into account the mass amount of drugs in my system causing this revelation). I got up at 6:30. Had some oatmeal. Hydrated. Dressed in appropriate layers. Bid my husband ‘adieu!’ and drove to Runner’s Soul. I could do this.

I had the wise idea to run with the marathon trainers today instead of the half. While I am only doing half marathons this year (my full won’t be until the Goofy Challenge in January 2014) I wanted to get 12 miles in, as my first half of the year is next Saturday-The Hypothermic Half in Lethbridge. . So, I set out with it in my head that I would do a 10-minute mile pace, drink lots of water from my Osprey water backpack, and I’d be good. It’d be that easy.

OK…any of you in Lethbridge or Alberta know how windy it can get down here. Saturday was, excuse my French, fucking ridonkulous. Any direction you turned, the wind was against you. I tried thinking positive, thinking it would get better...but that never happened. Anyway, I ran the first 5 miles pretty solid. I was feeling great. I was on pace, going slower than normal, but sticking with the plan. Honestly, after the first 4, I think I said out loud all theatrical and such “I’m a third way done!” I really had it in my head that running cures the common cold.

Then, I hit Bridge Drive. Please take a second to look at this map, though it doesn’t do justice:
http://www.runnersoul.com/admin/resources/49-1.pdf

The wind was piling in, the incline was steep, my throat was starting to burn, and my chest was hurting. I kept my head up and lifted my knees, taking smaller steps. But I had to walk. My chest was pounding so much and I started panicking. I didn’t want to quit. I basically power walked straight into the wind for 3/4 of a mile up Bridge Drive. Once I got to the top, I was going to start running again-I didn’t want to quit. So I started a slow jog, but then almost burst into tears. My body was giving up-Tylenol Complete can only do so much.

I smartly had brought my cell phone in my backpack and called my husband. I asked him to pick me up from the westside Tim Hortons. I felt defeated. When he got there to get me, I apologetically said “I’m Sorry” for no reason. What was I sorry for? Making him come get me? Being an idiot? Oh yeah-I was sorry for not listening to him….because before I left this morning, I forgot to add he said “I really don’t think you should be running.”

He’s sitting on the other couch right now as I type this. He told me yesterday he wanted me to title this blog as “Always Listen to Your Husband.” I won’t do that, but I will say that he was right. And I was an idiot to try to do otherwise yesterday. I came home, took a shower, and drugged myself up more. I made my same lovely “feel sorry for me I am sick” dinner, and went to bed by 8:30 pm. Yes, I even feel better today than I did yesterday, but that’s the power of these drugs-it’s hiding the fact I am still sick.
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I ran 6 miles yesterday. 6 miles sick. 6 miles I shouldn’t have even run. But, in my mind, I was supposed to run 12 miles. Initially, I was pissed I quit. This is only the second time in the past 9 years I had to stop and call someone to pick me up. . I still need to learn when it is more important to take a day off, and that it isn’t the end of the world. My legs and my body have been conditioned to this type of running over the years, so I will be fine this coming Saturday for my race–as long as I take care of myself first. It’s not like I am going out there trying to win a title or get my personal best. I am going out there to run for my dad–which is why I think I put the pressure on myself to run too soon. But, please note–if I had been able to call my dad to pick me up at the top of Bridge Drive on Saturday, I would have gotten in the car and his first words would have been “You’re a ::insert swear here:: idiot Andrea. You should have just stayed home.” And I would have responded-“You would have tried to do the same ::insert swear word here:: thing!”

In my medicated mind, this picture exemplifies how I wish my drive home from Bridge Drive had been.

In my medicated mind, this picture exemplifies how I wish my drive home from Bridge Drive had been.

Jan26

On a group run, you can’t avoid the hill…

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In my years of running, I will admit to not doing much, if any, hill runs. I hate hills. I try to avoid them. If I go out on a training run, I usually stay on as flat of a path as possible. Maybe once a year I get the wise idea to go do a steep hill. It usually ends up with me swearing out loud to myself during it. Grandad’s Bluff in La Crosse, Wisconsin…that was a hill I did maybe three times. It sucked every time. You get to the top, feel such a relief, then going down is almost as painful, since you feel like you are basically rolling down the bluff as you decline. Whoop-Up Drive in Lethbridge is comparable in pain, due to the fact EVERYONE driving sees you and thinks you are a complete idiot. It feels like that hill never ends!

My dad gives us his opinion of being on top of Grandad’s Bluff in LaCrosse, WI…this was his famous ‘finger pose’ when he didn’t want his picture taken.

Then, there is the trail from the river bottom up to Scenic Drive in Lethbridge. I always saw it when I’d drive down Scenic Drive, but since its on the south side, I never ran it. I live on the West side of town. Lethbridge is split into two pieces by the Oldman River, so anything on the South/North side is more of a pain to get to. I usually just do my runs in the neighborhoods and parks close to my house, so I don’t have to drive anywhere. This allows me to avoid this hill.

My first time up this hill was this past October, 2012, when I did the Bare Bones Half Marathon. I didn’t train for this run ahead of time, stupidly registering for it a few weeks prior after hearing about it from some teachers at school. The run was put on by Runner’s Soul and it benefited the Lethbridge SPCA. The race started in Softball Valley, heading south along the river, and at about mile 4 or 5 we hit the hill up to Scenic Drive.

Since I was at race pace, I really did not want to slow down. It was extra tough to keep moving since there were not many half marathon runners in this race to keep you pushing. You start with an incline that looks roughly 60 degrees, then it flattens out. You hit the last incline of about 45 degrees, then you are on Scenic Drive. Your legs burn like hell, but at least you’ve made it.

Today, with marathon club, we did this hill. I realized the hill was part of the run when looking at the Runners Soul webpage last night. http://www.runnersoul.com/admin/resources/4.5mile-7.2km.pdf  I almost missed the run today too, because I’m an idiot and set my alarm for 6:45 am…only to then realize at 7:35 am it was set for ‘weekdays only’. I bolted out of bed, got ready in ten minutes, and made it to Runners Soul on time for the run. If I had just stayed in bed and tried to tackle the 6.5 miles on my own today, I wouldn’t have gone and done that hill. This forced me to do some hill training.

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The sign greeting runners before descending down into the river bottom

It was my second meeting with this monster. For the training run today, we headed down 10th Ave to the top of the hill, descended into the river bottom, only to immediately turn around and head back up. I now know that this hill is 0.6 miles, at least according to my Nike+ SportWatch GPS.  Also, in looking at the elevation map after uploading my run, it looks like the river bottom elevation is 2742 feet above sea level, and Scenic Drive is 2962 feet ASL. That makes it a 220 foot climb in elevation in the 0.6 miles. And it burns the whole way.

The whole route today was 4.5 miles.  I needed to do 6.5 for my own training calendar, so after getting back to Runners Soul and having a water break, I made the lonley trek to Henderson Lake and did a 2-mile loop.  It was flat.  But it was boring.  I kind of wished I had been back at Grandad’s Bluff for revenge….kind of….

Jan22

Training is 10% Talent, 90% Mental (these stats are made up by me at 10 PM on a Tuesday)

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I posted this week in regards to me joining a marathon club for the first time ever in my running ‘career’. I talked about my training style and how I hardly ever run with music. I also talked about how I usually always run alone. But I haven’t discussed how even after years of longer-distance road-running…getting going on a training calendar has its highs and lows.

I am the type of person who works better with a checklist, a calendar, a to-do. So as I prepped this craziness I have occurring the next year, I started making my first training calendar for my first half of the year, the Hypothermic Half in Lethbridge, Alberta. Planning out each day leading up to the race, I make sure my mileage increases appropriately, with proper rest days & long runs, and that I hit my peak distance at the opportune time. It gets me excited to run again! (Even if it is the death of winter!)

I get into a weird addiction cycle. Even though this ‘calendar’ is just a iPad created document with a stylus and Penultimate, I have to follow it. I get home from work at a decent time, get changed and done up for my run, and out I go. Before the training calendar comes into play, I find excuses to not run, stay at work longer and talk myself out of running…but the calendar gets me going! My long run this past week was Saturday-I ran 5.5 miles. I pumped it out in 50 minutes 17 seconds. i had a 9:08 pace. And I felt awesome. Then, Sunday, I got up at the ass-crack of dawn (at least as far as Sunday mornings go) and did my first Runner’s Soul Mararthon Club run. 4 miles-felt great! 39 minutes 12 seconds and 4.22 miles. Awesome pace for me on a training day!

Went into the work week feeling like the best athlete ever! Oh yeah-I felt like competing with my 18 year old self. But today, on my 4 miler, my legs felt like cinder blocks. It wasn’t windy, but I couldn’t get a good stride. I did exactly 4 miles, not a tenth more, in 38 minutes 24 seconds. And I was grumpy. I took a shower, put on pajamas, and have been sitting at the table marking papers, sitting on the couch watching “Parenthood” and crappily-wonderful HGTV shows, and sitting with my legs crossed. And they hurt even more. Point is…some training days are going to be incredible. They are going to make you even more excited for the insanity you are preparing for. Lets be honest… more often than not, you have these mediocre, blahhhhhhh training days. And those are the tough ones.

The ones that make you dread your run tomorrow in fear of it feeling even worse.

But that’s when you have to power through and focus on the reason WHY you are doing this. I am specifically doing these crazy runs this year in memory of my dad, and that keeps me going…but i also have to remember that i am doing these runs for me…to make me better, more complete, more disciplined. Not every day is going to be a record-breaker…more often than not, the days are disappointing, frustrating, cold, dreary and tough. The pain truly is temporary. Making it though the painful days makes the end even more rewarding.