weekly wrap up

Half Marathon Training Week #9 ~Bluenose

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 17 Comments

It’s getting closer! Now only three full weeks away is my next half marathon – really hard to believe that it’s almost here.

My daughters are both running the 2k the day before my race, so it’s going to be a fun weekend of running! Sadly, my husband works that whole weekend – bummahhh!! Anyway, training last week was better then week #8 so I’m heading in the right direction. Or at least I think I am!

What was Planned vs What Really Happened

Monday: 60 minutes cross training | Rest Day. My body was in need of a rest day after my 15k long run on Sunday so I took it.

Tuesday: 8 k | Yoga Flow. I went to yoga at lunch and it was just what my body needed. A good stretch and a little challenge here and there. I was thinking about running that evening but decided to take it easy.

Wednesday: 45 min tempo run | 5 k trail run (35 minutes) with  Carmacks. It was the first run that I’ve fallen while running with him attached to me. Thankfully, nothing was broken and I only had a few good bruises and 1 large splinter to dig out of my hand.

Thursday: 5 k | 20.40 km Cycling. I didn’t really want to run on my treadmill (only option for the day) so I jumped on my bike around 8 pm once my girls were asleep (husband was working).  It wasn’t the best ride but I got it done. I’m way off my monthly cycling mileage for the month but I’m okay with where I’m at. There is a possibility I can get in a ride Monday night so we’ll see!

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Friday: Rest Day | Soccer Game. Friday’s are usually my standard rest day but I had a soccer game. One that I was really nervous for since I haven’t played much this winter due to injury. We had no subs which meant I played the whole game. So much sprinting, tracking, running, jockying and moving around the field. This was my speed work for the week for sure! My abs hurt for a few days after along with the muscles in my feet and shins! Oh, and we won!

Saturday: Rest | Rest Day. I took the day off from any activity. My girls has swimming lessons and then went to our neighbours for a sleep over. Since they were gone, my husband and I went out to dinner and came home to watch “Downsizing”. Meh, it was okay but I don’t think I’d recommend it. at 9:30 we got the call to come get the girls as they couldn’t fall asleep. We both anticipated this so it wasn’t a big surprise.

Sunday: 15 k Race | 17 k Long Run. Our girls planned to go back over to our neighbour’s house to have breakfast and my husband and I planned to go for a long run together. However, our neighbour wasn’t feeling 100% so we brought them home for breakfast. I went for my long run and my husband ran when I got back.

So my long run. We’ll it was just plain shitty. I ran 3 k with Carmacks and came home to meet my husband for our run but that fell through so I went off to run another 14 k by myself. I chose a hill route as my husband and I enjoy running that and I figured I’d just stay with the plan.
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It sucked. I hated it. I enjoyed only 1 km of that run as I was flying down a long hill but pretty much everything else about that run sucked. Running is hard for me right now, really hard. And, that’s okay…not every run can be easy or good or enjoyable! In the end I was happy to have accomplished the distance but hope I can get back to really loving running again.

This could have been the week that I just pushed myself to do a few workouts rather then enjoy them. However, I think coming off the flu has taken me a little while to really get to 100% feeling great. I’m hoping that this week is better. Better sleep and recovery, better running, better workouts.

Total km of running this week: 22km, 20km cycling, 1 soccer game.

Total km this training cycle: 137 km

How was your weekend?

What do you do when running is just hard?

Do you substitute other sports for speed work?

I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap today.

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Half Marathon Training Week #7 – Bluenose

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 26 Comments

I had such high hopes for this week! I had it all planned out so that I wouldn’t miss any running. Keep reading to find out what actually happened!

With my hip joint/obliques still not at a 100% and my upper back sore again from last year’s car accident (whiplash), I decided to go see my Osteopath. I had an appointment scheduled for Wednesday which meant two days of rest post appointment – so no running. I tried to pile on a few runs Monday and Tuesday knowing I would have two days of rest before a long run. Well, life sure can change in a instant and change ALL OF YOUR PLANS!

What was Planned vs What Really Happened:

Monday: 50 minute cross train | 7k treadmill run. An evening treadmill run for the win!

Tuesday: 7k | Yoga Flow & 5k treadmill run. This was my first double day work out in months and it was a good one. However, my husband came home from work in the middle of the night (mid shift) super sick. Keep reading.

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Wednesday: Speed work | Osteopath appointment – no working out.

Thursday: 5k | Rest day / Rock Climbing. I did about 15 minutes of rock climbing during a work meeting. No, this was not resting but I did it anyway. I didn’t do a lot of climbing but it probably was only about 15 minutes at the most of actually climbing – maybe less.

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I had a phone call from school saying Hilary was sick and I was an hour away while my husband was at home…sick. He went to pick her up and Lilly was waiting to – TWO SICK KIDS. We had a horrible night of little sleep and early in the morning we packed up and went to the hospital.

Friday: Rest Day | rest day.  You know where this is going, don’t you?

Yes, I was sick by now at the hospital and we were told it was just (yes just) a viral infection. This has been THE worst viral infection our family has ever had. It’s. Been. Horrible! We all slept most of the day, barely ate anything, drank water, ate Popsicle’s, took advil or tylenol and just felt horrible.

Saturday: 5k | Super SICK. No running. No Swimming lessons for the girls. No anything. This by far was my worst day of it all. More naps, more water, a little more food, and more meds. I think I walked the dog at one point just to get a little fresh air.

Sunday: 14k | MISSED. Still sick. There was no way I could run 14k. I did think about getting on my bike and peddling out a few km but I still felt horrible. The girls got out on their bikes for about 25 minutes but it was so cold out, we called it a day. Fresh air for the win.

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It’s Monday as I write this and I’m home with one sick kid, not to mention I’m still feeling like crap. I’m not sure what viral infection this is but it’s HORRIBLE! I don’t remember ever being so sick for so long and having very little aids to get better (other then advil, vicks vapor rub, hydrating and sleeping).

I’m done with sick!

Beyond the sick, I’m questioning my training now. With missing most of last week, I kinda don’t know what to do. Do I jump back in and pick up where I left off or where I should be at week 8? Do I easy back into running? Do I scale back and no worry about catching up. I missed my 14k long run, so what do I do next weekend – 14k or the 16k in my training plan. My last long run was 10k – my cut back week, before that it was 13k.

ANY ADVICE WOULD BE AWESOME!

So it wasn’t the week I had planned out, that’s life right. We’ll it’s life with kids and I just want to see us all get better…SOON! My goals for my half will likely change to just wanting to finish and I’d be happy with finishing under 2:30 to be completely honest. At the rate I’m going right now, that’s a realistic finish for me. Time will tell.

How was your week? (tell me something good)

Any suggestions on what I should run next weekend as my long run?

Who’s watching Boston?

I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap today.

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Half Marathon Training Week #5 ~Bluenose

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 20 Comments

Happy April!!! Another week of half marathon training is in the books and it was a little all over the place. I took an extra rest day and then piled on a few cycling miles to try and reach my cycling goals for the month of March! I’ll write about that soon for now, this is how week #5 went of training.

What was Planned vs What Really Happened:

Monday: 50 min x-train | Rest Day. Just didn’t have it in me to work out.

Tuesday: 7k | Nothing. This wasn’t a great day. Our hot water tank died and I had to get that replaced, drove to the city for a workshop and drove back. Got home after 630, got the girls to bed and ate a late dinner sometime after 730. We then had to clear out our old couch from one room and put it in another room. I was just spent after all that.

Wednedsay: 7 x 400’s | 7k treadmill run. It was a long day at work but I managed to get in a good 7k treadmill run. It wasn’t was of those runs where I was dreading how long each km was taking me but more of a surprise…I’m already at this point in my run. Kinda slow going but it felt good!

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Thursday: 5k |5k at lunch time. My first runch of the year up and down some hills, it was rough going.

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Friday: Rest Day | 26.27km Cycling! I pounded away on my bike for an hour and one minute to get in 26 km. My monthly goal was 100km and this would get me SO close!

Saturday: 5k pace | 20.18km Cycling. As noted above, I was so close to my goal for the month I couldn’t let it slip away. Happy to say I met it with a little to spare.

Sunday: 13k |13k long run. Boy, was I NOT wanting to do this run. I just wanted to put it off, and put it off again. We did a small Easter egg hunt for our girls and then my husband went back to bed (night shift) and my girls and I drove to Halifax for family dinner.

Before dinner, I had to get in my long run so my girls hung out with my parents and I ran. Even as I put on my running gear, I didn’t want to run. For some reason, running just hasn’t been FUN lately for me. It’s more then likely because I’m really having to work hard during all my runs. Hills are hard, distances are hard, speed with with Carmacks is hard BUT, I’m still doing it all. No one ever said it would be easy…and I’m okay with that.

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As I started out for my long run in my parents subdivision that is nothing but hills, I decided to hit the main road (St. Marg. Bay Road – SMBR) and then head up towards the 101 highway. This meant that I had to run up a really massive hill and I was half excited for the challenge and have scared I couldn’t do it. I made it to the first street and took a short little jaunt down the road to catch my breath and reset for the next leg of the hill.

I wanted to make it to the bridge to the Golf course and once I got there I decided to go over the bridge and run around the golf course. This might have been a bad decision as it was nothing but hills again! After a kilometre in there, I left and ran back down the massive hill to SMBR towards another subdivision where my sister lives. I then back tracked to my parents place but those last 4 km were the worst.

I took some fuel and water with me (left my Nuun at home – sad day) and consumed them along the way. I finally tried the “salted” maple syrup my friend gave me from Endurance Tap – WOAH!!!! This stuff is AMAZING! I honestly though I was about to dive into a plate full of pancakes with THE BEST maple syrup around! It was thick and sweet. I have no sweet clue if it helped me but it was by far way better then any fuel I’ve had to date!

I finished my run strong which made me feel good however I could hardly comprehend how my legs even knew how to keep running those last few kilometres. I had on my Tiux compression socks which are a life saver for me. I did some stretching and legs up the wall for a bit, grabbed a shower and was ready for Easter dinner with minutes to spare!

Total running km this week: 25km (46 cycling)

Total km training this cycle: 73

I’m happy with my week of running and cycling but looking for a little more balance during the whole 7 days rather then packing it all in a few days. More planning is needed on my end.

How was your Easter weekend?

Anyone run a race this weekend?

Favourite fuel for training/racing?

I don’ t blog every day but you can find me over on Instagram most days!

Also, looking for some running discounts? Check out my discount page that is always being updated.

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I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap today.

Run, Ski, Cycle, Skate, Ski MORE! Weekly Wrap Ups.

/ Anna @ Piper's Run / 15 Comments

Happy Monday!

I’m way behind in blog posts and sharing my weekly wrap ups but it’s for good reason. I’ve basically spent the last week with my kids and made zero time for blogging. So you are getting two weeks of workouts in one blog post!

Weekly Wrap Ups!

March 5th – 11th:

  • Monday: Rest Day (day after long run)
  • Tuesday: Indoor training – cycling 20.21 km
  • Wednesday: 5 k run with Carmacks.
  • Thursday: Rest day…aka watch all kinds of TV by the fire!
  • Friday: Rest Day
  • Saturday: Snowshoeing with my daughters and our friends. (Fresh snow!)
  • Sunday:  10km long run!

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This was my first 10k since November and it went rather well. I decided not to take my dog out and just see how I could make out with the distance. I have some minor pain in my obliques but seemed to work it out over a few days. Happy to say that my half marathon training has begun.

March 12th – 18th:

Keeping in mind this is week is March break (spring break) for my kids and I was on vacation with them. We stayed home and didn’t stop all week. My body is completely exhausted and I really should have taken Monday (today) off just to recover.

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  • Monday: Skiing with my daugther’s all day.
  • Tuesday: Skating with my daugther’s. Ran 5k at the beginning of a snow storm.
  • Wednesday: Skating again with my daughters.
  • Thursday: Cross training: indoor Cycling – 24.46km
  • Friday: Skiing all afternoon/evening with my daugther’s.
  • Saturday: Skating AGAIN!!!!!!! And 5k with Carmacks.
  • Sunday: Skiing one last time on the most beautiful day of the year!!!!

It was a pretty great March break for our girls. We also went shopping with gift cards and hit up the library twice.

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Running with Carmacks this winter has been lots of fun. He sure is making me run WAY faster then I would on my own….by about 20-30 seconds. I guess those will be my tempo/speed work days! As I mentioned above, I’m completed exhausted! My body is tired and I feel like I could sleep for a full 24 hours to recover. A rest day can’t come soon enough!

Half Marathon Training:

Early last week I had a bit of an eye opener! I realised the I’m basically in my half marathon training without having a training plan or actually realising that I should be “training” for a half marathon.

I’m running the Bluenose Half Marathon with two girl friends, our husbands use to work together a few years back and we became friends. It’s a girls weekend and I convinced them to run their first half marathon!!! Anyway, I freaked out a bit and then sat down and decided on Hal Higdon Intermediate training plan – which I’ve done before. I’m going to modify it as I need to and don’t plan to run 5 days a week as it’s planned out.

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My body is not ready for 5 days of running…at the most 3 days of running a week, plus yoga, cycling and lately a tone of skiing and skating! I’ll be writing more about my training plan and how training is going. I’ll also be going back to my “What Was Planned vs What Really Happened” recaps. Because, the reality of a full-time-working-mother-runner-who’s-husband-works-shift-work running schedule doesn’t always go as planned. Just being honest!  Let’s do this!

How was your week?

Did you celebrate St. Paddy’s Day?

Training for a race?

I don’ t blog every day but you can find me over on Instagram most days!

 I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap today.

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