Tag Archives: Edmonton

Thankapalooza Thursday

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Well it is Thursday again. Even though I think a few Thursdays slipped away with out me posting why my life is so wonderful for the rest of the world to read!

  • My family is freaking awesome even though they are all total crazies. Rather than explaining them I shall just post photos as evidence. Luff you all and you are welcome for me sharing these photos with the world. I can not find any funny photos of my parents so I can just say they are the coolest people in the world. Ever.

  • I have been racing the spring Wednesday night cross country races. I have been beating my times from last year by a lot. Great success. Training is paying off.
  • I am going back to Vegas in June. I am so so so so so excited we are staying at the MGM signature and it is so fancy and so much nicer than where I stayed last time. I am going to get my serious tan on and shop.

Oh HAI Vegas.

In other news

Life is pretty dandy. My job is amazing and the weather is finally stabilizing in poo hole Edmonton. I have been training 30km plus a week. Last week had a bit of well A) a really shitty week and B) my body felt decrepit. Everything was sore all the time and I did not even want to move. So I only ran 20km and took three days off. I had a minor heart attack because I wasn’t making mileage and thought I was going to get fat and die. WELL none of those things happened and that taught me a very important lesson. Take time to rest and listen to your body. 3 years ago I tore my right quad really badly. I was out quite awhile, arguably I came back from training too soon but it all worked out. That was the crappiest thing ever because I couldn’t run at all. So last week I just kept telling myself, rest or injury? Obviously rest was the best thing for me this week I am back in full swing and my training times are banging fast. This week of training looks like this,

  • MONDAY 5km TUESDAY 5km WEDNESDAY 4.5 xc race THURSDAY lift FRIDAY 8km SATURDAY 5.4 xc race prerun SUNDAY 10km 30×1 w/1 intervals = 37.9 km

Well that is all for now

BYEBYEBYEBYEBYEBYE

Life and the Edmonton Hypo Half

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Life has been CRAZY lately! But really positive crazy; and I love crazy lezbehonest.

Quick catch up of training.

Training has been going extremely well with one hiccup that has been raining on my parade a bit as of late. I have been hitting my weekly mileage goal (30-40k) or surpassing it; since it is March soon I will be adding hill training and regular intervals back in to my schedule to start building up for trail racing season. I have built a solid base as part of my winter training schedule so I can put a big ass check mark beside that. Had a great 10km trail run in Jasper last week; the run was actually brutal and my legs were like rocks from snowboarding the day before but it was good none the less. The hiccup I have been fighting has been my hip; a few (2) weeks ago my hip started to hurt when I was training like it popped out, but like a true stubborn athlete I just fought through the pain and have not stopped training. Then it has started to get a bit worse and sometime I hobble around like a strange cave creature, and to add insult to injury I ate shit on a training run last week on that hip. Karma I tell you. So this past week of mileage was in the big old pooper because I took some time off to try and heal it and to taper for the Hypothermic Half in Edmonton.

Now for the Hypo Half

Honestly there is nothing I enjoyed about this race. It was really expensive. It had snowed over 20cm in the last day before this race which, was well crappy. The course wasn’t plowed at all and the mushy slurpee-oatmeal like snow was really hard on my hip. I wore compression socks, 2 pairs of pants, base layer, base tank, lulu zip up, XC dry fit, and a wind breaker along with hand and head coverings, I felt like the Michelin man. I did something that I have only done 2 times before in my life and that was quit a race. The first two races I dropped from were because I was going to poop my pants and well we all know what that looks like when runners do. If you don’t Youtube it. I started the race knowing I shouldn’t be running on my hip so to “cure” this I took two Aleve (the best pain reliever in the WORLD EVER) But despite that I could start to feel that weird muscle burning you feel when you know you’re hurt at about 4km. I dropped at 10km managed that out in 55 minutes which, is a good time but my body was not having any of it and I did NOT want to risk getting hurt further at a stupid “fun” race. I do not regret dropping it is hard because I am competitive but I know its for the better. As half marathons go I think I will stick with the real Edmo half, the Victoria half, or just major events in general..much much better.

AND Now

Back to normal training and life things. I bought new Inov 8′s (Terraflys) and loving them. I have a serious running shoe addiction but that’s okay these are a great minimalistic trail shoes. I have also been lifting like normal, focusing on major muscle groups and hip stabilization. I saw the movie Act of Valor LOVED IT.

Week of Training

Monday – 5km
Tuesday 5km
Wednesday – Off
Thursday 8km
Friday 6km
Saturday – Off
Sunday 8km

Next week we do hill intervals..oh babay.

I also saw this photo and it is SO SO SO TRUE for runners and made me laugh! Check it!

Story of my life..Totally addicted to my garmin

Winter AGAIN

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So it’s winter again in the good old town of Edmonton. It is not really bad out yet but holy cheese nuts it is dark all the time!

Today is the first time in over two weeks that I have had the chance to run in daylight and the whip cream on the run was that there was SUNSHINE! Pretty much amazing. The side walks are starting to get that little bit slippery and I have whipped out my winter runners again.

Not going to lie all this darkness isn’t very fun and starts to wear on people; my runs have almost exclusively been in the dark and when it gets dark it usually gets colder. My training has been good as of late I’m on my last week of 25km/week of training and then it will go back up to 30-40km/week. I am really looking forward to getting more snow so I can start Cross Country Skiing!

These weeks of rest have been nice and training has been consistent! I will be starting speed work again next week and start hill training again!

In bigger news we have our Sinister 7 team all lined up and ready to roll we only need one more runner for leg 7 and then we will be complete! This year I will be running Legs 1 and 2 which will be about 32km! So excited!

Remember just because it is cold and dark doesn’t mean we stop training!

Winter Training Plan

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Race season is almost officially over for the 2011 year! One last XC race on November 5th at Goldstick then poof all done. This was an amazing race season and I am super excited for next year. I have started and made my winter training plan that will take me in to February. The biggest new and exciting thing on my training plan…..Cross Country skiing! The ultimate cross training for runners and something new for me to try. Over the weekend Jesse and I went on a hunt for Cross Country Ski’s and then realized my father had 2 pairs in our basement that exactly fit Jesse and myself. AMAZING AMAZING! Also thank you father because I know you read my blog <3. I will start training as soon as we get some beautiful white stuff ie snow; then in January I am going to take the learn to loppet course to prep for the Birke. Since I snowboard in Jasper quite frequently on weekends I will move my training around during the week and then hopefully get out running or XC skiing the day after before home time.

February will be a big month since I am going to do the 30km Birke and the Edmonton hypo half marathon.

My new training plan is a mixture of cross training, LSD, speed work, and tempo 5 and 8km runs. I am aiming to keep my running mileage over 30km/week and XC skiing mileage pretty high; well as high as it can go. I have incorporated swim training and my beloved Moksha once a week along with the normal 3 times/ week lifting; I will now be doing legs once a week to build strength; leg day sucks nuts.

This week will look like….

Monday – Lift chest and tri’s and 5km run ( I only did because I feel malnourished and deathly tired)
Tuesday – Moksha and 8 km run
Wednesday – Lift shoulders/bi’s/back and 5km run
Thursday – Swim and Intervals
Friday – would normally be legs but I race Saturday so only 5km
Saturday – RACE 5km
Sunday – OFF or legs but prob snoozing Sunday

2011 Fall Classic

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Today was the 2011 Fall Classic; making this year 28 of this race in Edmonton. Proceeds of this race benefit the mustard seed charity here in Edmonton. Great cause and a great race. There are 5 mile (8km) and 10 mile (16km) events. This year I did the 8km.

The race was well-marked and had a lot of great volunteers. It was a loop and then an out and back course. I enjoyed the course quite a bit the only thing that was a bit tough was the turn around seemed to take forever to get to. I ran the race in 43 minutes, which placed me 41st out of 167. My personal race went okay at 4km I had to walk for a minute because my stomach started to act up and I thought I my have a bathroom emergency on hand. My stomach settled a bit and then I went on my way in slight discomfort. Then again at about 6.5km I walked for 30 seconds to trying to relieve some stomach cramping; after it settled enough I kept going finishing in 43 minutes. Not too bad my goal was 41 minutes so not too far off. I would have made my goal if my stomach did not act up but that’s life!

I will defiantly continue running this race year to year! Also my Friend ran an amazing race; she took first in our age category and 9th overall with a time of 36 minutes!

This week is the last Wednesday night race and then I am off to Jasper (favorite place in world) Friday for work so I will get some great training in there! I am thinking of doing the Halloween Howl 10km as well but we will see how things go!

 

Poop Happens and Edmonton 21

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This past week I raced twice. The Wednesday night race (WNR) at Emily Murphy Park and the Edmonton 21 10km run. I also have been having some pretty shitty stomach problems. No pun intended. They have been effecting my running quite a bit.

The WNR is a 8km race 2 4km laps. My pace time was really good and I was feeling great but I dropped at the 4km lap because I had to poop. Really BAD! This is also the second year in a row I have dropped in this race because of bathroom problems. Its like the poop inducing race. My 4km time was 21 minutes which would have been a good split time.

The Edmonton 21 10km race was not that great. My stomach has been acting up really bad the last few days and I considered not going to the race at all. Finally I made myself to go. There were like no runners there at all; the first sign of a possibly lame race. The course was nice but poorly marked and the last 3 km were not very fun and an out and back to make a kilometer at the 8km mark isn’t worth it; when there were obvious alternatives. The race was at laurier/hawerluk park my training grounds so I know the terrain really well. After the Keillor road hill I passed about 15 people and was feeling really good; then at about the 5 or 6 km mark my stomach really started to act up. I had to stop and walk because it felt like one of two things were going to happen. Pooping of the pants, or passing out. I walk/ran the last 4km of the course. It was very frustrating because my legs and lungs felt good; my pace was 5min/kms no problem when I was moving but I would have to stop because of my stomach. Shitting your pants is out of control so I just hobbled through. I finished in 58 minutes which, is less than ideal but I still finished and didn’t drop. On a positive note no poop in pants and stinger waffle cake things are DELICIOUS. Also a thank you to Morgan and Jesse for taking pictures and coming in the cold.

Pre race freezing

Fighting it out at about 8 km

This week is the Whitemud park Wednesday night race 4 2km laps to make an 8km run and Saturday 5 Peaks Devon sport 7km. Hopefully my stomach starts to feel better for the upcoming races. I have been cutting out dairy and other things that contribute to stomach/digestive problems.

Every runner who has been at it for awhile has had the “I need to find a bathroom NOW” moment during training or a race but it should not be this persistent.

We will see how training goes this week!

Franks Wednesday Night Races Fall 2011

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Yesterday the 2011 Wednesday night races kicked off again!

Fall 2011. The first race is at hawerluk park and is a 5km XC. This was honestly the worst race I have competed in all year time/running wise. Much worse than my previous years on this same track, same day. It was also 31 degrees outside because in our lovely city Edmonton summer falls in the first week of September when NO ONE has holidays.

Anyways long story short my ruined shoulder/ collar-bone started to act up and cramped up my neck my shoulder girdle and down my armpit at about 2.5km and my time plummeted.

I really found that LSD pavement training for the Edmonton marathon really hurt my XC pacing etc. Which, is to be expected but I have been clocking a ton of kms and hills but I need that short quick XC power back. I am back on a strict XC training schedule for the next few weeks here; still pumping in LSD runs once a week since it will be half-marathon time again in early October. I ran 4 km in 20 min flat today in the heat so I am moving back in the right direction.

The Ooks are up and kicking in full force now the first grand prix is this Saturday at Goldstick with the deadly Esso hill all Edmontonian runners love/dread.  I may even enter and run as an open. It will be the first time ever I race an ACAC grand prix as an open runner and not as a registered college athlete. OR the first race I don’t race at all and just coach. Exciting but kind of crazy!

Anyways next blog next Wednesday it’s the Emily Murphy 8km XC!

2011 Edmonton Marathon

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Today was the 2011 Edmonton Canadian Derby Marathon! I ran in the half-marathon which, is 21.1 km.

It was a nice day out today, no rain, or wind, but got hot-ish at around 9 am. My race was not what I wanted it to be; signing up for the race I was aiming to run a 1:50. Then approx two weeks ago I tore my quad training and it has been acting up since then. So starting the race I paced the first 10k out to run a 2 hour half marathon and it was going well I was right on the money. But at approx 12 km my quad really started to act up so I had to scale down quite a bit. I ended up running a 2:20. That was a bit disappointing for me because I know I could have run a 2 hour race injury free. But it is over now so there is nothing more I can do but keep training and take care of my quad. Road racing also is not my forte if you will; but the distance is good training.

At about 11km

At the finish

I am super pumped for next weekend to get back on the trail;  Saturday I race 5 Peaks Chickacoo sport (7.3 km) and on Sunday I race a 5km road race for Cystic Fibrosis.

Recovery Week and New Training Plan

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Recovery week is over after Sinister 7; I also just had a recovery massage and almost passed out the pain was so bad. I am not kidding I almost died. This past week I only ran and lifted twice to give my body a break and gear up for half-marathon training which, commences today.  My recovery week schedule was as follows,

Monday – bi’s and tris
Thursday – 12 x 1 w/1 intervals
Friday – Complete upper body (high weight low rep)
Sunday – 3km in 15:30

I cheffed up a new training schedule last week that focuses on longer distances and less hill training. Excel is amazing! This schedule will run until August 21st the day of the Edmonton Intact Half Marathon. Then come September the focus will be a mixture for cross-country coaching season and then the Goodlife Victoria Half Marathon in October.

This schedule encompasses all the same stuff as usual but the long slow distance days are 1.5 hours and I will be swimming and biking once or twice a week in preparation for the St.Albert Triathalon.

Below is my training schedule the Tu/Thu/Sat columns have that weird  x  w/   in them; that is because I follow the Fast Trax training interval schedule and add them in every Monday when they are posted! I have planned and scheduled to run up until the day of the race since it is only a 21.1 km distance hence no huge taper period. However, I do play this by ear if I feel like I need a few days rest before the race. I rest.

Legend ( for what all this weird crap means using examples)
20 R 30 L = 20 minute run and 30 minutes weight lifting
6-8 R = 6-8 km run
10 x 3 w/3 = 10, 3 minute intervals with 3 minutes rest. 1.5 or rest is walking and 1.5 is jogging
1.5 LSD = An hour and a half long slow distance run

So that explains all the dashes, numbers, decimals, and random letters in the little squares.

So that is my plan!

For now…..