Tag Archives: half marathon

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

Storm Snowshoe Race #1

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On Sunday the 8th I competed in my first ever snowshoe running race. The race was the first ever snowshoe running race held in Edmonton; pretty dang cool! The race was 4km and put on by the lovely 5 Peaks Northern Alberta organizers; and we all know they know how to execute a race perfectly..they are so awesome. Part of the deal is that you could rent snowshoes for $10…good deal.

Now 4km easy easy… 21 minutes no big deal…..NAWT this sport is HARD….and on top of it all I had one hell of a time with my snowshoes.

This is how my race went down…Jesse and I parked at the Royal Glenora stairs and ran over to Kinsmen field for a warm up, then we arrived and got situated with our snowshoes. Good. Then at 11 am the race started and I was feeling ready to roll Jesse and I paced out together and at about 700M my snowshoe flew off. Bad. I stopped and put that bitch on as tight as I could..so I thought. For the next 3.3 kms my left snowshoe fell off every 4 feet; I kid you not. Bad. I wanted to quit but I didn’t because I do not like quitters. Good. I eventually finished the race. Good. In a slow time. Bad. Got a free drink and some homemade soup. Good!

A less than enthused Teagan; I beat her by the way. Small redemption.

Jesse looking refreshed..haha

Jesse got second in his age category and I didn’t come in last even with my serious technical difficulties. After the race a few people came up to me and commended me on my efforts as they witnessed my run away snowshoe. That was really nice because I wanted to break that snowshoe in half.

Next step, purchase my own snowshoes that fit me perfectly; I think and hope this will make snowshoe racing much more enjoyable! They are on sale now everywhere so I am going to snag a pair so I can throw down like Bobby Flay in the next race! BOOM.

As for my running training still consistently running 30-40km/ week my body feels great the weather has been beautiful so things are good!

I am looking forward to the Hypothermic Half Marathon on Feb 12th and HOPING for nice weather!

Finally this is a great picture and Jesse and I are both in it!

Such an awesome photo!

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 Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon

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This thanksgiving Jesse and I spent the weekend in Victoria. For 2 reasons; 1) to visit my best friend and 2) run the Goodlife Fitness Victoria 1/2 marathon.

This was an amazing race and a good personal race for myself. The course was fast but not flat. There was enough elevation change to make it interesting for a road marathon. I decided to run this race by doing 10 and 1′s. This is running 10 minutes walking one and staying diligent to this regardless of feeling great or shitty. After the first 10 minutes it took all of my will power to stop and walk for a minute. My course goal was under 2 hours or 2 hours flat. I ended up running a 2:04, which was 4 minutes off my goal and finished in the top 50% of my age category.

None the less I was really happy with this time for a few reasons,

  • I have been having horrid stomach problems as of late
  • I have been training for XC and trail exclusively

In retrospect I could have run a 2 hour for sure.

The day before the race I did a 4 km prep run out onto the breakwater and along Dallas road; it was awesome and a good warm up to elevation change. But for some reason my Garmin decided not to record that run; it has been doing that every so often.

There were 6000 people in the half marathon it took me about 5 minutes to get over the mats to start the race and then I had to do some heavy recon to pass a crap load of people to get in good position. My first 10km was done in about 55 minutes so my split time was really off; this is what pisses me off because I didn’t push out the last half properly. I slowed down on 2- 10 minute sets, which I think cost me that extra time. However it was a great race environment and a well organized course. Aid stations were positioned perfectly and they had a TON of volunteers helping out. Kudos to them. The finish of the race was great the finish shoots were easy to get around and then the food was right there! Next year we will be going back to Victoria to run this again or might go to Kelowna to spice it up. This defiantly will not be the last time I run this marathon.

In other news – The Wednesday night races come to a finish next Wednesday. Always sucks because they are so fun. On Sunday I am running the 5 mile in the Mustard Seed Fall Classic. My legs have been like cement the last few days after the 1/2 and training runs have not been stellar to say the least. Hopefully they can pull it together for Sunday. Ooks race this weekend in Camrose so I will be out there coaching. It will be a bittersweet day because Camrose is my FAVORITE XC course of all time and I have run so well on it; but it is exciting to watch other people compete and enjoy it. I may or may not take them on a run through of the course before the race so I get to run a bit of it!

Photo from Victoria – The best suffer face ever! I am also too cheap to buy them so I take screen shots!

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!

5 Peaks Chickakoo and Run For The Lung

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On Saturday was 5 Peaks Chickakoo; I raced the sport distance. The race was amazing. Getting back on to the trail was awesome since, I just came off the Edmonton half marathon. The 5 peaks races are always awesome! So well organized, and super fun. The race course is scenic and fun, I use to hike it when I was really little with my parents. The first 2 km start off super flat and fast then it moves in to rolling hills. A few of the hills gave me a serious run for my money; lots of ups! The course finishes off with about 2 km of flat and slight down which, is nice to come in quickly. I did not run as fast as I wanted too but I was happy to get back on the trails and stay in the middle of the pack. Again, the 5 peaks race directors and volunteers out do themselves!

On Sunday was Run for the lung which, is a race in memory of a girl named Jessie whom passed away from Cystic Fibrosis. Her family is family friends of ours and I work with Cystic Fibrosis Canada so it was a really amazing event. It was a 5 km road race; and I was expecting flat and fast…NAWT two huge hills. The race started off from Original Joe’s in Terwillegar and headed out some direction I do not know which? I was 6th overall and the 2nd woman until about 4km then I started getting a bit of pain and fatigue on my left side so I slowed down a bit and ended up taking 4th for women. I can’t complain about that since I raced the day prior. Overall great event for a great cause!

Now cross-country season is starting so I am working with the head coach to get everything organized for that! It is very exciting that I am a real assistant coach.

My upcoming races are………….dundundun

  • Frank’s Wednesday night fall series! yay budday! Best 6 Wednesdays ever AND starting on my birthday!
  • Edmonton 21 – 10km on September 18th
  • 5 Peaks Devon 7.3km on September 24th
  • Victoria 1/2 marathon on October 9th
  • Camrose open 5km on October 15th

 

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…..