I'm back in Alberta this week. As always, running in the drier climate, with more packed snow is frustrating.
I went for a brief run with my sister yesterday; my first since I'd landed on Monday. While I had no fear that she was faster than me, I was worried by a few things.
First, the air is drier in Alberta than in Ontario, and thinner because of elevation. That means less oxygen getting to my muscles, and a constant thirst.
Also, the snow packed on the sidewalks made running more of an effort, because I would start to slip a little as I pulled my foot from the pave... er, snow. That means more effort expended in balance as well.
Lastly, my shoes were reaching their replace-by date, as I have had them since before my race in September. I had kept them going this long because Alberta has 0% provincial sales tax (PST), so the only tax was the 5% goods and sales tax, as opposed to Ontario, where the PST is 7%. In any case, I was definitely feeling my legs and knees ache for the past few runs, and decided it was time for a new pair.
Remember: Even if you aren't using your running shoes, the foam in them will degrade over time, so storing them for years in a closet will not keep them fresh and new!
So I stopped by the local Running Room this morning and got a new pair. I found a pair of Glycerin 6! The Glycerin 6 was my first pair of running shoes, and when I bumped up to a Glycerin 7, I learned a harsh and expensive lesson about using new shoes on a treadmill first.
Today, my sister and I will be going to the new fitness centre in our hometown to try out these new shoes, and hopefully not make the mistake I made the first time 'round.
I am lucky that I came home during a week of relatively nice weather; the forecast hovers around a high of 0C. Apparently the day after I leave, the mercury drops dramatically. Lucky me!
In other news, I am signed up for the St. Patrick's Day 5k run on March 13. It sounds like a fun run to do, as there are prizes for best costume, dry-fit shirts, and I know someone else who is running that race. It's about two kilometers longer than I'm supposed to run that day, but it's all in good fun.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Yay for the Running Room!
I would like to thank the people of the Bank St. Running Room store for caring for my Garmin watch while it was missing. They hid it from prying eyes, asked who it might belong to, and cosseted it while it was alone.
Long story short, I thought I'd put my Garmin watch in my bag three weeks ago, when I apparently hadn't. The Running Room staff found it, and put out the word that a precious (and runners consider their running watches very precious) Garmin watch was missing its owner, and they couldn't understand why the owner hadn't claimed it in three weeks! However, most of my running had been indoors, and I figured it was somewhere around the house (as I usually do). Fortunately, my Garmin and I are gladly reunited, and I won't have to spend $200 in Alberta for a new one!
The run today was a long, slow 7k of wondering if I was going to finish the route. My legs were tight, and it was -14C, with a windchill to -20C, so I bundled up in four layers: a skin-tight layer, my long-sleeve half-marathon wicking shirt (for inspiration), my 'warm' layer, and the wind-breaking coat. It did the job of keeping me temperate, but I was concerned when the wind would pick up and I'd feel the chill through my entire body.
On bottom, I wore my usual outdoor running pants, but I have found that all of my regular running socks don't cover my ankles, leaving a gap where cold wind can blow and freeze my skin.
So in light of the deficiencies in my garb, I have gone and spent another sheaf of money at the Running Room, investing in a warmer winter mid-layer which can double as an early spring/late fall layer, a pair of socks that cover my ankles, and a cute pair of evaporating running gloves. All ready to hit the roads in Alberta when I go home next week!
I have discovered a slight issue with SparkPeople's nutrition and fitness plan: if I were to try and follow it while training for a half-marathon, I would fall over in exhaustion. The problem is that runners need to consume a lot more calories than SparkPeople is advising. I am thinking that I will consider the SP advice on days that I am not running, and use good sense on the days that I am.
However, tonight's meal regime is a bust: it's Superbowl night.
Long story short, I thought I'd put my Garmin watch in my bag three weeks ago, when I apparently hadn't. The Running Room staff found it, and put out the word that a precious (and runners consider their running watches very precious) Garmin watch was missing its owner, and they couldn't understand why the owner hadn't claimed it in three weeks! However, most of my running had been indoors, and I figured it was somewhere around the house (as I usually do). Fortunately, my Garmin and I are gladly reunited, and I won't have to spend $200 in Alberta for a new one!
The run today was a long, slow 7k of wondering if I was going to finish the route. My legs were tight, and it was -14C, with a windchill to -20C, so I bundled up in four layers: a skin-tight layer, my long-sleeve half-marathon wicking shirt (for inspiration), my 'warm' layer, and the wind-breaking coat. It did the job of keeping me temperate, but I was concerned when the wind would pick up and I'd feel the chill through my entire body.
On bottom, I wore my usual outdoor running pants, but I have found that all of my regular running socks don't cover my ankles, leaving a gap where cold wind can blow and freeze my skin.
So in light of the deficiencies in my garb, I have gone and spent another sheaf of money at the Running Room, investing in a warmer winter mid-layer which can double as an early spring/late fall layer, a pair of socks that cover my ankles, and a cute pair of evaporating running gloves. All ready to hit the roads in Alberta when I go home next week!
I have discovered a slight issue with SparkPeople's nutrition and fitness plan: if I were to try and follow it while training for a half-marathon, I would fall over in exhaustion. The problem is that runners need to consume a lot more calories than SparkPeople is advising. I am thinking that I will consider the SP advice on days that I am not running, and use good sense on the days that I am.
However, tonight's meal regime is a bust: it's Superbowl night.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
This Past Week of Running
As mentioned in my last post, the half-marathon running clinic started this week. I also started a diet and fitness regime, with the help of SparkPeople.
The first night of the clinic was... interesting. I had planned to leave a full 30 minutes before, so I could drive downtown (alas, I can't attend the Bank St. clinic, due to conflicting schedules), find a place to park, get into the store and rest easy.
But as many plans go, this one went wrong from the moment I sat down in my car, because the car wouldn't start. I had left the ceiling light on, and drained the battery to nadir. :P Fortunately, my friend in the building was home, and was able to boost me. So useful to know someone in my apartment building!
I got downtown about 15 minutes later than I had wanted, and finding parking was a lot easier than I'd feared it to be. When I got in, the room was packed! Yes, there's going to be a lot of people in this half-marathon group. The problem will be hearing the group leader at all.
The first run was 3k, and it was strange running the other direction. Turns out, 3k from either Running Room store winds up at the Pretoria Bridge. It was an interesting run... It was cold out there, but there were still a lot of people walking, or coming back from skating, or even running like us. I felt a bit wobbly this run, and my knees felt a bit weak, as if my body was saying, "What? We're running this speed why?" Perhaps I've been too genteel to it recently.
The next day, my right knee ached, so I decided not to use the university treadmills. I could have used a cycling machine, but decided to rest the knee completely and apply ice when I got home, which is what I should have done right after the clinic. Lesson hopefully learned.
In the topic of other exercise, I have joined, as I mentioned above, SparkPeople, a fitness and nutrition tracking website. There are a lot of these websites around, like FitDay, but I found SparkPeople to be shinier and prettier colours. Also, when I used FitDay, they just tracked what I ate. SP also suggests meal plans, organizes the foods into shopping lists, and compiles the day's tracked foods into daily reports and tells you what you're doing right, what you need more of, and what you need less of.
On the fitness side, it advises work-outs according to your goals, provides demo videos of exercises, tracks your cardio and how many calories you've burned, and tracks your weight and measurements.
There's also a lot of community groups on SP. I just joined one for '20-somethings looking to lose 25-49lbs' and a group for half-marathoners.
Having followed SP for a week, I have lost 3lbs, which is encouraging, but there's so much more to go!
My inspiration for this sudden goal (which has been nesting at the back of my mind) is my sister: in a year and a half, she trimmed down from 200+ to 144lbs, and though I really don't think I'll follow her methods (some of the things boxers do to cut weight is a bit too extreme for me), the results are amazing. I decided that with time and dedication, I can do that too.
Also, the exercises are kinda fun.
The first night of the clinic was... interesting. I had planned to leave a full 30 minutes before, so I could drive downtown (alas, I can't attend the Bank St. clinic, due to conflicting schedules), find a place to park, get into the store and rest easy.
But as many plans go, this one went wrong from the moment I sat down in my car, because the car wouldn't start. I had left the ceiling light on, and drained the battery to nadir. :P Fortunately, my friend in the building was home, and was able to boost me. So useful to know someone in my apartment building!
I got downtown about 15 minutes later than I had wanted, and finding parking was a lot easier than I'd feared it to be. When I got in, the room was packed! Yes, there's going to be a lot of people in this half-marathon group. The problem will be hearing the group leader at all.
The first run was 3k, and it was strange running the other direction. Turns out, 3k from either Running Room store winds up at the Pretoria Bridge. It was an interesting run... It was cold out there, but there were still a lot of people walking, or coming back from skating, or even running like us. I felt a bit wobbly this run, and my knees felt a bit weak, as if my body was saying, "What? We're running this speed why?" Perhaps I've been too genteel to it recently.
The next day, my right knee ached, so I decided not to use the university treadmills. I could have used a cycling machine, but decided to rest the knee completely and apply ice when I got home, which is what I should have done right after the clinic. Lesson hopefully learned.
In the topic of other exercise, I have joined, as I mentioned above, SparkPeople, a fitness and nutrition tracking website. There are a lot of these websites around, like FitDay, but I found SparkPeople to be shinier and prettier colours. Also, when I used FitDay, they just tracked what I ate. SP also suggests meal plans, organizes the foods into shopping lists, and compiles the day's tracked foods into daily reports and tells you what you're doing right, what you need more of, and what you need less of.
On the fitness side, it advises work-outs according to your goals, provides demo videos of exercises, tracks your cardio and how many calories you've burned, and tracks your weight and measurements.
There's also a lot of community groups on SP. I just joined one for '20-somethings looking to lose 25-49lbs' and a group for half-marathoners.
Having followed SP for a week, I have lost 3lbs, which is encouraging, but there's so much more to go!
My inspiration for this sudden goal (which has been nesting at the back of my mind) is my sister: in a year and a half, she trimmed down from 200+ to 144lbs, and though I really don't think I'll follow her methods (some of the things boxers do to cut weight is a bit too extreme for me), the results are amazing. I decided that with time and dedication, I can do that too.
Also, the exercises are kinda fun.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Clinic starts tomorrow!
I'll admit that I haven't been running as steadily as I'd hoped before the start of the clinic. In fact, 'intermittent' is probably a better word than 'steadily'.
The clinic is starting, regardless of my fitness level. Fortunately, we start slow and steady; three runs of 3k this week, and 7k on Sunday. I've been doing 3-4k, so that's not a big concern.
My goal race is the Ottawa Race Weekend half-marathon, for a time of 2 hours and 15 minutes. I don't mind if it's less, I just want it to be better than my last race, which was 2 hours and 38 minutes.
I ran with my sister for a while on Saturday. We were in Ste-Hyacinthe for her boxing National Championships, and there was one huge difference between me and anyone else who ran: I was in a shirt and a pair of shorts, and the boxers were in long sweats and covered to the nines. Most of them were trying to sweat their way to making weight, which is a huge part of boxing.
Normally, I'd think this is absolutely crazy! And then I saw my sister and her friends in the hot tub and was amazed. They looked fit and amazing. I thought, if they can do that, why can't I?
So I'm going to take it up another level, and find an online personal trainer to use three days a week. The question is, which one?!?
The clinic is starting, regardless of my fitness level. Fortunately, we start slow and steady; three runs of 3k this week, and 7k on Sunday. I've been doing 3-4k, so that's not a big concern.
My goal race is the Ottawa Race Weekend half-marathon, for a time of 2 hours and 15 minutes. I don't mind if it's less, I just want it to be better than my last race, which was 2 hours and 38 minutes.
I ran with my sister for a while on Saturday. We were in Ste-Hyacinthe for her boxing National Championships, and there was one huge difference between me and anyone else who ran: I was in a shirt and a pair of shorts, and the boxers were in long sweats and covered to the nines. Most of them were trying to sweat their way to making weight, which is a huge part of boxing.
Normally, I'd think this is absolutely crazy! And then I saw my sister and her friends in the hot tub and was amazed. They looked fit and amazing. I thought, if they can do that, why can't I?
So I'm going to take it up another level, and find an online personal trainer to use three days a week. The question is, which one?!?
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