Month: May 2016

Johnny Miles Half Marathon Week 9

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 7 Comments

I really should not write the intro’s to my weekly training updates post long run! I’ll spare you the details until below about it but it was 17k and we saw 5 rabbits.

Week #9 seemed to appear out of no where, which means that I only have a few more weeks left of training before my 4th half marathon! My first goal of this race is to finish 21.1km & recover without any hamstring pain. Zero pain. But is that goal enough? Is it achievable? Is it a serious goal?

When I write that goal down, it makes complete sense but in my head, is it enough? Will I want a certain time – probably. Will I want a certain pace – maybe. I’m I going to be upset if I don’t get those – maybe OR maybe not.

I’m looking forward to running Johnny Miles in June as I’ve heard it’s a great 2 loop course (if you like loops) and has one hill around the 8k (which you’d run twice in the half). That’s what I’ve been told but still don’t know much about the race. Going to ask some professionals (friend who have run it before). So that brings you to my week #9 of training.

What was Planned vs What Really Happened:

Monday May 23rd: Stretch & Strength | 2k + IronStrength Workout. My legs just wanted to run and I was really tempted to go outside for a long run but ended up running 2k on the treadmill followed by some strength training. Good, hard workout.

Tuesday: 8k | 8k. I had taken the day as a vacation day so I managed to get in my run early afternoon outside. It was beautiful outside but I struggled a little on this run.

Wednesday: 9 x 400’s | 4-5k walking. I was on the road early, in meetings all day and night but we did manage to get out for a half hour walk mid day and walked to our evening workshop. No running but lots of walking.

May 26th run

Thursday: 5k + Strength Training | 9 x 400’s on the Treadmill. This was a hard but awesome workout! I was really looking forward to this workout but slightly scared at the same time. I ran at level 9 (6:39km/hour) on my treadmill for 2k then dove right into it. I took 1-2 minutes in between each round of 400’s. This is what it looked like:

9 x 400's May 26th 2016

For some reason, I think I wrote down the wrong numbers for #7 as it should have been faster than #5 and #6. So that could just be my mental state error while running. Yes, I keep a piece of paper beside me and write down my time and when the 400’s start and end, then I do the math in the end of my pace with this resource.

Friday: Rest Day | Rest Day. Nailed it AGAIN!

Saturday: 7k | Rest Day. It was a busy day with the girls; lots of walking and then fell asleep at 7:15 PM – yes…that early. At 8:15, I told my husband (who also fell asleep at 7:15pm) that we needed to go to bed and not sleep in the chairs. So 8:30 PM bed time it was…I think I got 9 hours of sleep (up once with Maclean). I.Was.Tired!

Sunday: 17k | 17k long run. Sunday Runday! I headed out with my running buddy Krystol to North River Road – which is nothing but rolling hills. We ran out 8.7k and then returned back.

These rolling hills were massive, long and hard! The way out was pretty good and we saw 4-5 rabbits which was fun! The way back was terrible! I’m pretty sure that if it were a date, my date would have been like “I’m going home”. I had to walk far more then I ever had. Thank goodness Krystol is up for anything.

May 29th

We talked a lot which probably wasn’t a good idea while running up rolling hills. Hard to breathe, talking and hills don’t mix well together. I felt like I had no energy or oomph to push through the hills, sometimes just giving up without a fight. It was by far my slowest long run in 1:57:xx! Crazy….but so good afterwards!

A nice reward was coming home to my girls and Saï. He made me breakfast and the girls stretched with me – my favourite post-long run routine.

In other news: our oldest learned to ride her bike by herself today – no training wheels! Happy Parent!!!!

KM run this week: 35 km

KM run during training: 306 km

Overall:.I’m pretty happy with Sunday – Thursday during week 9 but disappointed with my long run. I guess because it was such a struggle, though I knew North River Road was hard rolling hills and I still wanted to run it. I guess what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Training Plan: Hal Higdon Intermediate (modified in km)

If you missed last week, here it is: week 8.

How was your weekend?

Anyone race? Train? Or just relax?

What’s your favourite way to do speed work?

 

Bluenose Kids Run 2016 Recap

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 8 Comments

One of the things I love about the Bluenose Marathon is the race expo. Race info, products, prizes to be won, meeting friends and race directors. It’s that side of the running community that is motivating and inspiring. You meet people you would have never met before and then want to follow up with them on how their race went!

Last Friday, Saï and I drove into the city to pick up my (and the girls) races kits, we also hit up Costco (deadly) and went out to lunch together (bonus!).

It’s always great seeing the BEST.RACE.DIRECTOR ever! Michelle has been the race director for Maritime Race Weekend (September) for the past 5 years. I’m starting to get excited for this double race (5k & Half) but nervous about the massive hills! We also dreamed about places we’d like to run: Me – Hawaii and Saï – Nepal!

Best Race Director May 21

Youth Run

Saturday morning the kids run was supposed to start at 11 am so we made it downtown, found great parking, our friends and then walked over to the start area. It was such a HOT day, I think it got up to +24 c. Around 10:40 am an announcement was made that the race would start late but we didn’t know what time. Parents weren’t too happy about that and the poor kids where beside themselves.

In the end, it started at 11:15, so we spent a lot of time standing around in the crowd ready to go. I forgot their water bottles in the car but figured it would be okay since we were so close to start time…NOPE! Poor Hilary had a meltdown while Lilly was just so happy to be there. Thankfully, I ran into a friend that had an extra water bottle and we showered hair/next with it. Some parents were extremely upset about the late start. We tried to make the best of it.

Once we got started, Hilary didn’t want to run. Lilly had gone with her friend Teghan and Krystol, while I took Braegha with us. We caught up to them as well but there was 4,300 kids running (aged 3 months to 15 years) PLUS roughly 1 parent per child. IT.WAS.NUTS!  There was no way we’d run the whole 2 km but walk most of it because it was so crowded. Just when Hilary was feeling comfortable and started to run on her own, she felt flat on her face on the pavement. I felt so bad but she got up, cried and kept walking.

Kids Bluenose Run 2016

 

A few hours after the race, the girls loved it. Too many people may have cramped their comfort during the run but they were happy. They got some food after running and we sat on the cold floor in the Scotiabank Centre before they got tattoo’s.

I’m really hoping they make some changes to the run next year so it’s not as crazy. They delayed the start because they were still having people register and get their kit bags. I get that and amazing numbers for the youth BUT!!!!! YES, BUT….how many months did people have to sign up? And how many emails/notices when out about kit pick up????

My suggestions:

  • Have three waves. One – grade school kids that can run the distance on their own (2k and 4k). Two – grade school kids with parents. Three – Anyone in strollers. (We almost got hit but a few strollers which made Hilary pretty upset). If we are out growing the space, it’s time to start thinking about corrals for the kids…yes for the kids. I’m okay with crowds but not all parents or kids are.
  • Have water at the start when they know it’s going to be super HOT and DELAYED.

That’s it. I hope that wasn’t too much like a rant but it’s how I feel.

The girls had a blast, we were active, we cheered on others, we were outside. It was a great morning!

Ever run with your kids in a race?

Ever have a race delayed due to registrations/kit pick up not going fast enough?

Anyone else run the kids run at Bluenose?

Bluenose Marathon 10k Recap 2016

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 19 Comments

It took me some time to put this together. Not because I couldn’t gather my thoughts, {maybe a little} but I just haven’t had the time to sit down at the computer and write about it. That’s the life of this mother runner…sometimes things get put on hold….blogging, dishes … ya know!

As I mentioned before, the Bluenose 10k hasn’t been the main focus this spring but more apart of my half marathon training. It was a great race to start off the year and that’s why I was running it, oh…it’s also pretty awesome event to be apart of.

Saturday night I did everything I could do go to bed early, at 10 pm. I managed to do so but while laying in bed realized I hadn’t foam rolled and my left glute was bothering me. Nothing new there…so I foam rolled for a bit. I couldn’t fall asleep for a few hours which was so frustrating as all I wanted to do was sleep.

Sunday morning I got up at 5:55 and started to get ready. All of a sudden, I heard footsteps  bounding down the hall way above me (I was staying at my parents place) and realized it was my Dad. The girls were sleeping upstairs and I thought something might have happened to them as he was walking with some passion in his steps for 6 am. No, the girls were fine. He just wanted to make sure I was up for my run!!! Love him!

Make Your Myles Matter

“Make Your Myles Matter” was the slogan on the t-shirts this year. “Myles” being the Bluenose guy. This year, my brother {Paul} was running the 10k as well, so we headed down to the run together. The weather was PERFECT! Overcast with no sun beaming out but just a little humid.

20160522_074052[2]

I’ve never run a race with my brother and for the past few months we’ve had the sibling rivalry going on. One of us finished before the other but I’ll save that for the end. I met up with some friends I knew (former soccer team mates) and some I’ve met through blogging (Tanya) and the RunAtCan twitter group (Natalie).

The 10k

1 – 5 km

I starting the race with Paul and Natalie.  Just after the .5 km mark my brother said “okay, see ya later”…and I took off from there. I felt comfortable running and it was great chatting with Natalie who just had her 3rd baby 3 months ago! There were roughly 2000 runners for the 10k so it was super crowded.  I started to weave in and out of the crowd ahead of me and lost Natalie for a bit. I was super happy when she popped up beside me again and we ran together for a little longer.

At the start of the race.

Bluenose Marathon Start 2016

Photo credit – By Bluenose Marathon.

As we entered Point Pleasant Park (crusher dust under foot) and continued my pace as I new some inclines and a nasty hill was awaiting me. I actually had no problems on the inclines or nasty hill. This was encouraging but took a moment to walk fast and calm down a bit after that climb!

As we left PPP, I felt stronger as I usually do on the road vs crusher dust. We weaved around a few streets and up another hill, again I felt strong and passed a number of people – encouraging! Up to this point, I was feeling really good and confident I’d finish around 1:02.

10k Bluenose Course

Bluenose Marathon 10k 2016 Elevation

5 – 10km

I felt great between 5-10k, even managing to pick up my pace a little. Around 8ish km, I started to feel crappy. I was on South Park Street for what seemed like days! This was the longest, slowest stretch, not to mention an incline. The longest, slowest incline where you can see people for days along the course ahead of you. I tried hard not to focus on the distance but putting one foot in front of the other.

I ran over an American penny and literally stopped in my tracks to pick it up…which followed by “sorry” to the guy close behind me. I told him that “I found a penny and I had to pick it up for Good Luck”. It was such a random thing do to but I guess I had checked out at that point and figured why not. It didn’t bring me any running luck.

I managed to pick up my pace again and enjoy the last 2k. I glided down the last hill but was cautious as I knew one more hill awaited us to the finish line. I felt strong at this point but conserved my energy for the top part of the hill to the finish line.

My Garmin read: 1:04:22. My first thought was “relief…I’m done” but then I quickly went into “disappointment mode” with my time. I even had a few moments when I was running of “this isn’t fun anymore”. I’m not sure if it was because I haven’t been focusing on this run or if I’m just not loving running at the moment, who knows but I wasn’t overly happy with my pace and struggle along the long incline.

Lots of fun!

Bluenose 2016 with Paul

My brother finished in 1:11, he did great! We went inside and grabbed some food, then chatted with more people we knew. It was fun to be there with him. My running buddy, Krystol, did the half in 2:04 – she looked strong when I saw her.

Overall, I’m glad I did this event. I love Bluenose Weekend, running with my girls (recap to come) in the kids run, seeing my runner friends from all over NS, NB, PEI etc. It always reminds me what an awesome community we have. Supportive. Encouraging. Motivating.

I need to be proud of each an every race I get to do because this time last year I was in so much pain with my hamstring and could barely run 4k outside without pain. I’m lucky, I’m thankful, I’m inspired and I’m grateful for Sunday’s 10k.

Now to focus on training for Johnny Miles (June) and Maritime Race Weekend (Sept) and think about a few other races I might do.

Anyone else run Bluenose or another race last weekend?

What do you do when you fail to meet a goal?

Ever run with your siblings?

Johnny Miles Half Marathon Training Week 8

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 8 Comments

I’m more than half way through this training cycle and I’m feeling like the last two weeks have been just mediocre.

Week 7, I was sick for most of it and out of commission for 4 days (3 missed runs) and this week I skipped a mid week run plus some strength training (different days). Though I ran a race yesterday I’m feeling a little blah about running/training.

What was Planned vs What Really Happened.

Monday May 16th: Stretch & Strength | IronStrength. I’m still loving this workout but needing to step it up a bit more. I feel like I’m letting it slide a bit.

Tuesday: 7k | 7k + 4:02 plank. An evening 7k on Spital Road which is a bunch of rolling hills. Good run. The plank was done over 4 minutes (two arms, right arm/side, left arm/side and than forearms. Rough!

May 17th

Wednesday: 9 x 400’s| Nothing. Instead of running I spent the night hanging out with my Mom who was visiting and Saï.

Thursday: 5k + Strength | 5k Runch. This was a hard 5k, not sure why but I struggled. Though my time below didn’t look like I was struggling, I physically felt like I was. It was sunny and warm which was a bonus.

May 19th.jpg

Friday: Rest Day | Rest Day. Nailed it!

Saturday: 7k | 2k Walk girls at Bluenose Marathon Youth Run. This was a fun yet HOT, HOT, HOT day. (recap to come).

Sunday: 10k | 10k Bluenose Marathon (recap to come). 

KM ran this week: 22km

KM this training cycle: 271 km

Race: Johnny Miles (June 19th)

Training Plan: Hal Higdon Intermediate (modified in KM)

Last week’s training: week 7.

So, I’m not overly excited about this past weeks training. Feeling kinda blah about running and that I’m in slow-mode with training. Though training wasn’t great, my weekend was!

How was your weekend?

What do you do when you’re feeling “blah” about training?

Anyone race?

I’ll be recapping the Bluenose Marathon 10k, youth run & expo this week!