half marathon training

Half Marathon Training….Relieved

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 1 Comment

I feel relieved! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh…………!

Last week, I posted about not being into half marathon training and now I’m feeling relieved.  About an hour after I wrote that post and email arrived in my inbox. “Race postponed”. Instantly I felt relieved. Relieved that I didn’t have to keep training. Relieved that the last 4 weeks of horrible training wouldn’t matter. Relieved that I didn’t have to make the decision for myself to keep fighting with my lack of training. Relieved!

Now, just because my half marathon is cancelled doesn’t mean I’m not going to run. It definitely means I’m not going to bother trying to even FIND my training plan to follow anymore. I’m done with a structured training plan and just running and riding to take care of me – physically, mentally and emotionally.

I’ve been out twice running since receiving word that my race is cancelled. The first run was great and did it with our dog, Carmacks. It’s still good running weather for him, so we’ll take advantage of that while we can. The second run was just a struggle from start to end. My legs felt heavy and I was super angry at everything! After my run, I felt a lot better and wasn’t SO angry. Life is just too up in the air for my liking right now.

PR Run

My half marathon will now happy early November – which is kinda cool as I’ve never run a half marathon in November before! The fall is getting busy with normal races and now rescheduled races.

So, though I’m relieve that my half-ass training is over I’m still going to run and ride as much as I can, when I can, wherever I can. We just had a big dump of snow yesterday!!! After all the snow had melted we now look like a winter wonderland again. Not going to lie, I’m done with winter and snow. Bring on spring please and thank you!

How are you coping with everything?

Are you relieved or not at all that your race is cancelled/postponed?

 

I’m Just Not That Into You…..Half Marathon Training

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 5 Comments

Ugh. I was so excited when I signed up for my next half marathon months ago. But I’m just not into training anymore and week 4 started a few days ago. (heads up, slightly downer of a post but my reality).

I came up with a training plan and have misplaced it between work and home. However, it doesn’t change that much from week to week minus speed work and long runs. To be 100% honest, I kinda don’t care that I’ve misplaced it. I’ve barely put much effort into finding it as well or printing a new copy. I’m just not into half marathon training right now.

With all the cancellations here due to Covid -19, I just kinda don’t care if my race in May is cancelled. It might actually be a relief if its cancelled. To date, it’s still on. Or should I say, as I write this it’s still on.

I’ve also been dealing with tendinitis in my rotator cuff all winter which actually really sucks a lot. The littlest things hurt it. On top of that, for the last 3, almost 4 weeks I’ve had pain in my neck….like when you sleep funny on it and wake up with a kink. Well, I’ve had a kink that won’t go away until this week. I’ve had two massages on my neck and finally felt some relief until I went to soccer last week. I collided with another player providing a set back to my neck. Between physio and massage, I feel like I’m kinda just holding myself together with a little physio tape and no patience.

We are on March Break and everything we planned to do is closed as is the case around the world. It took a few days of feeling sad but we’ve moved on. It’s life right now. We are also sick, not Covid-19 sick but sick. Advil, tylenol, vicks, humidifier, lozenges, gargling with salt water, you name it we’ve tried it. My girls have it the worst and my husband is at work. Paramedics don’t get to work from home. I’m also scared of this virus.

In between feeling miserable and moments of feeling okay, we took advantage of the nice sunshine but cold winds and have gone for a few walks. I have no interest in running, no mojo, no dedication to running, na-da.

My new happy place?

I did get on my bike yesterday for a nice 23 km indoor ride while the girls relaxed in front of the tv. That felt nice but as I rode my bike and I looked at my treadmill beside me, I felt no love for it. No love for having the opportunity to run on it. Maybe that will change in the coming days like everything else is changing so fast. However, my training for an upcoming half marathon is almost none existant.

So what now? I dunno. I have a week off with my sick kids (husband is working) then I’m back to working from home with my kids who don’t have school for two weeks (much like everyone else), maybe longer.

Anyone else struggling with training (if your race is still on)?

Anyones race got cancelled – are you still training? What now?

Parents – what are you doing to keep your kids from not fighting?

I don’t blog post often but you can find me on Instagram: @pipersrun

PEI Half Marathon Recap ’18

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 17 Comments

Two weeks later and I’ve barely run the distance of a half marathon!  I haven’t run very much since my 7th half marathon on Oct 14th and I’m totally okay with that. Sometimes you have to listen to your body and rest….and rest some more.

PEI Half Marathon Recap

This race weekend all started with a conversation with my husband, Saï. He asked me back in July if I wanted to run the PEI half marathon and I, of course said yes! (Thanks love).

Going into this race weekend, I really had no clue what my pace would be or how fast I could run for twenty-one point one kilometres. I sure felt physically great going into it; no injuries (knock on wood), limited back pain (thank you Chiropractor), fresh legs (lack of runs the last week of training) and we were child free (thank you grandparents!).  Yup, my husband and I took a race weekend away without the kids.

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We spent Saturday driving over to PEI, about a 4.5 hour trip for us. Of course at the race kit pick up, we both ran into people we knew. You can’t drive 4.5 hours to a race and not – not run into someone you know. My friend Tracy was running her first full and she nailed it! After getting our kits, chatting with friends we tried to find some throw away clothing as it was going to be 2C (35F) at the start of the race. F….F…Freezing!

We grabbed dinner at the Gahan House in Charlottetown (so good) and made it back to the hotel which was right at the start/end of the race. With our flat runners ready, we hit the hay early but I didn’t sleep well. This seems to be my new normal the day before a race. Oh well, life goes on – maybe those sleepless nights with our babies prepared us for shit like this. Running races (long races) on no sleep. Thanks kids 😉

I woke before my alarm went off at 7:30 am – late eh!!!! The race started at 9 am and we literally could walk out the hotel doors to the start line in 30 seconds. With no need to rush out the door, we ate breakfast, got dressed and waited in our warm hotel room rather then freeze outside like some of the runners we could see from our window.

Around 8:40 we met up with a friend of ours, still waiting inside the hotel with many others. Eventually we all were drawn outside in the bitterly cold winds and stood at the start line listening to “Oh Canada”. So great to hear that at the start of our run. My husband went way ahead as his goal was much faster then mind.

I started off with the 2:20 pace bunny who was running a 10/1’s so I eventually lost her as I was running continuous.  I was freezing cold but I kept my throw away sweater on until about 3 km in, gloves, long sleeved shirt, thick headband, shorts and my Tiux compression socks on. The first 7 km flew by and I felt great!!! I knew the hills at the end might be a challenge but I wasn’t focusing on that right now.

I caught up to the 2:15 pace bunny who was doing 10/1’s as well but I just kept running my continuous pace as it felt good. It’s how I trained so it’s how I wanted to run the race. At the 10 km mark I was at 1:04:xx and thought sweet…I could go for a 2:08 finish. The 2:15 pace bunny would be ahead of me and then behind me (10/1’s) off and on. Ideally, I was hoping for a 2:15 finish and felt that it was close to happening.

I remember running up Sherwood Road that lasted forever and I desperately needed a drink. I took out my Nuun and took a swig and felt like I drank and ice burg. It was SO COLD on my teeth I almost spit it out.

My pace had slowed down and I was struggling a bit. Part of me wish I didn’t wear my fuel belt but part of me was thankful I had my Nuun when I wanted it. I knew the hills were going to be rough but I thought they wouldn’t get to me this time. They did. My friend, Sarah caught up to me but I just didn’t have anything left in the tank to keep up with her.

I did managed to pick up the pace for the last 2 km, where the course became flat again and into the finish line. That finish line! It’s so far away yet so close. I ended up finishing in 2:16:21 with an average 6:28/km! I cut off 9 minutes from my half marathon in May, so I was happy! I was still a good 10-11 minutes off my PB but that was never the focus on this race.

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My husband finished in 1:46:05 – his goal was 1:45. As I walked through the finish line/food area with my space blanket wrapped around me, I felt relieved that it was over and I finished another half marathon (injury free). I felt great!

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We celebrated with some good food (fish and chips for me and a veggie burger for him) and beers. We walked around Charlottetown for a bit, cheered in some amazing full marathoners finishing their races. We followed all that up by taking an afternoon nap.

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We then snuck in a visit a visit with my Aunt and Uncle that evening and crashed hard that night. We stayed Sunday night in Charlottetown and headed back home to our girls on Monday (smart decision staying an extra day). Thanks PEI Marathon for a great race – we’ll be back again!

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As I mentioned above, I haven’t done much running since this half but have been out twice and it felt great. Yoga is my friend and I’m back at indoor soccer as of last night – sure feeling it today (still hate sprinting and recovering, ha ha). We’ve been busy with both girls playing basketball, swim lessons, and biking (yes, are girls are loving biking still).  Happy Fall!

How’s your fall running going?

What’s your favourite race moment from this fall?

Anyone else taking a semi-break from running post race?

 I don’t blog daily anymore but you can follow me over on Instagram.

 

Maritime Race Weekend 10k Recap

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 11 Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve done a proper race recap, so I thought I’d do one from this weekend. I ran the Maritime Race Weekend 10k Saturday. Though I’m training for the PEI Marathon (HALF marathon – Oct 14th), this 10k didn’t actually fit into my training plan…..but I made it work anyway.

In previous years, I go in Friday night and run the Tartan Twosome (5k sunset, 5/10/half/full sunrise Saturday) race but with both of my girls in school and my husband working, I just couldn’t pull it off this year. It’s hard getting to the city with two kids and a dog after working/school all day. This year, I decided 10k Saturday would be enough. I’m not going to lie – I missed running the 5k sunset but I quite enjoyed not stressing out about getting into the city on time!

I had a horrible sleep the night before at my parents place, basically awake every hour and one my daughters woke up with a night terror – yeah, those still happen. I got up early and was out the door by 6:10 to get over to the race about 30 minutes away. It was smooth sailing over and I got a decent parking spot which is about 1 km away from the race line.

Fisherman’s Cove fog!

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I met up with my running buddy, Krystol and we hit up the extremely long yet fast moving porta-potty line. I saw lots of people I knew but didn’t get a chance to say Hi to everyone. The fog was HEAVY but the sun was trying to blast through and it sure did. In a matter of minutes it was hot and humid – like hot summer running.

Happy runners!

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The gun went off and off we went with the rest of the crowd of runners. My first km was around 6:26 and that’s a faster start then I would do for a longer run but also felt in control sandwiched in-between runners. In the past, I’d likely get frustrated running with so many people close by and unable to move around them but this year I just didn’t feel rushed to get out there. I zigged zagged when I could around runners and eventually felt comfortable running.

Just before the 3km mark, you start running up this hill. It’s the hill that never ends and almost doesn’t look like it’s a hill until you get to mid way and then you start working really hard. I don’t dislike it but I definitely worked hard getting up it. I thought I’d have to walk at the top but was able to recover enough to keep my feet running.

As I hit the second water station before coming down that big hill, I grabbed a water, took a sip and then poured the rest over my head. I figured if it was this hot now, I’d be super hot towards the end of my run. I repeated this at every water station – minus the time I was given Gatorade. The cold water felt wonderful on my head. I cruised down the hill, rather fast and got going into a pace the felt really good. I was running around 5:45 – 6:00/km. Not going to lie – I was shocked at how fast I was running for me.

At the bottom of the hill you turn left and run along a very flat road beside the ocean. It was super bright as the sun was shining directly at us. I enjoyed seeing friends pass on the other side and high-fiving them along the way. I was working really hard and pulled off a few decent paces: 5:52/km, 5:59/km and 6:01;km (km 5 – 7) then I started to slow down.

At the turn around point all I could remember is how beautiful it was. The warm sun on my back and the beautiful blue ocean to my left and I remembered why I really loved this race – the views! I was on a bit of a struggle bus in trying to keep that 6 min per km pace and just couldn’t do it. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other knowing that after the race I still had to run another 6k.

As I was nearing the finish I thought I could make an attempt at a sub 60 but it was just too far out of my reach. I was trying to push hard but it just felt like it wasn’t there until I turned the last hairpin corner and passed a handful of people to the finish line. My whole body hurt and I thought you could see if all over my face. I was lucky enough to finish 2 minutes or so behind Krystol who captured my finish.

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I really love this race and will do it again and again! Great job to Michelle (Race Director) and all her volunteers! Krystol and I hung around for a bit, grabbed a yummy bagel, tones of water to hydrate and took a few photos along the way.

10k Finsher at Fisherman’s Cove – sunshiny day!

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I left Fisherman’s Cove around 11am and headed back towards my parents house to run my next 6k. I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to do it and almost backed out. I’m not sure what inside of me made me do it but off I went to run another 6k. I had changed out of my sweaty clothing and ran along the COLTA trail (Chain of Lakes Trail Association). It was such a beautiful place to run and so many bikers and walkers! I think I was the only crazy one running in the HEAT of the day. Good lord it was H-O-T!!!

This run was much slower with paces of 6:52 to 6:11/km. I think towards the end of my run I just wanted to be done and picked up my pace somehow! It was a hard run but I was able to jump in my parents pool to cool off with my girls – so worth it! We also snuck in a trip over to Peggy’s Cove – so beautiful!

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I had to look up my race etc today as I didn’t look after the race. My chip time was 1:01:27, gun time was 1:02:38, 50th in my age group (out of 187). Not too bad!

How was your weekend?

Anyone race?

Have you done a double day run on race day before?