How to Get Back into Running

I've had a lot of questions lately from somewhat casual runners on how to get back into running, or how to set a reasonable running goal and what is a reasonable running goal. I thought that my views on these might back interesting blog posts.

Q: I used to like running. I used to run a lot. Then I stopped. How do I get back into it?

A: First off, you need ask yourself some questions. How long has it been since you ran on a regular basis? A week? Months? Years? How far and how often were you running when you ran regularly? A lot of how fast you can return to running depends on what you've been doing during your layoff.

The answers to these questions will help you figure out how to start again. If it's been 6+ months since you ran regularly for any kind of distance (I'm thinking more than 15K/week here) then I'd suggest pulling out the old Couch to 5K program.

Couch to 5K works wonders. It features reasonable mileage increases and is challenging enough for those coming back to running to enjoy it. You might be able to jump in at say, week 4 and then go from there. But the key is to take it slow. I'd recommend repeating the challenging workouts or even whole weeks, because it's better to play it safe than to overdo it. And if you've been a runner in the past, odds are you'll start out like a bat outta hell at first because of your enthusiasm and the chemical rush of running again.

I'd also recommend signing up for a 5K race 8-10 weeks out. It's great motivation to stick with a training program and enough to push you out the door on the days when the weather isn't perfect.

If it's been less than 6 months, then you can ease into a run/walk routine at a slow pace. The key is to get used to the stress of running without overdoing it. When I came back to running, I ran a 7 min/km pace (11:30ish/mi) and gradually increased my run walk intervals from 5:1 to 7:1 to 8:1 to 10:1 to 15:1 and so on. If I felt "off" or tired, I walked or repeated a run/walk interval before moving onto the next one. I never went over 32 minutes. The goal is to gradually increase your endurance while building a routine again. Don't worry about speed, it'll come.

No matter where you're starting from, there's nothing to be ashamed of when you're starting a training plan. Fellow runners on the streets, paths and trails won't judge you. Everyone needs to start somewhere, and you should be proud of the fact that you've taken that first step.

Army Run... ish

On September 19th, my Mom, older brother and I walked the Army Run. Mom doesn't run and I've been really trying to limit my races to avoid injury, so walking sounded like fun.

Sunday morning dawned sunny, yet crisp. There was little wind, but it was pretty chilly in the shade. My family met us at our place, only blocks from the start line. The three of us walked over and lined up with the walkers. My Mom had never participated in an event of this size, so it was really neat watching her take in the whole experience. She was so excited about the free t-shirt, the timing chip and the pace bunnies, of all things.

The soldiers fired the gun—which was as loud as a cannon—to start the race. We all jumped out of our skin and started moving forward. It took us about 10 minutes to get to the start line and then we were off!

The route was a little different this year, owing to the fact that the Terry Fox Run was the same day and used part of the previous year's route. The walk took us through downtown Ottawa, past some major landmarks like the Parliament Buildings, the Rideau Canal and some beautiful scenery.

All along the route there were military bands, like this one: the Blackwatch pipe band and the RMC Cadets band. There was also another band at the start, but I wasn't able to see which one it was.

The walk itself took us about 55 minutes. It was a great morning for a walk and it warmed up nicely. We chatted all along the way. And I think my Mom may have been bitten by the running or walking bug... she was asking me all about the Couch to 5K program. I really enjoyed just spending the time with my Mom and my brother. And we were certainly thinking about our little brother, Matt, who's got less than three months left in Kabul. We're all really excited for him to come home!

Next thing we knew, we were done, had our dog tag medals and a snack. Here's some of the post-race fuel they were giving out! Pretty neat stuff eh? Though it's mostly sugar and carbs... not much in the way of nutrition. I haven't tried it yet and I'm saving it for after a grueling run when I'm craving a treat.

And finally, here's the post "race" photo of us in Confederation Park. After this we walked down to a restaurant where my husband and Dad were holding a table for us. I treated myself to some very tasty french toast for brunch.

I'd definitely do the Army Run again... it's got a great atmosphere, it's not as insanely crowded as our Race Weekend events in May, and it's super well-organized. I love the route, too. I highly recommend it!

Ottawa Army Run 5K

The Army Run is coming up in 10 days. I hadn't planned to run this race, since I have my 10K in a month and I wanted to focus on it instead. I figured that racing a 5K might be tough to fit into my training, given that I usually go all out and don't properly rest after.

Then my Mom emailed me yesterday, wanting to do the Army Run for my little brother. He's stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan, until December. The thing is: my Mom isn't a runner. At all.

So I suggested to her that we walk it together. This way I can still fit in my 10K training run on the Saturday and use the 5K walk as a recovery workout the following day. I'm really looking forward to it, since I wasn't able to run this race last year. Their race t-shirt is awesome (a long-sleeve technical tee) and the race medal is a dog tag! Awesome!

The proceeds from the race go to support the Canadian Forces Personnel Support programs (CFPSA), including Soldier On and the Military Families Fund.

I'll be sure to post some pre- and post-race pictures!

Race Report: Emilie's Run 5K

Saturday morning dawned warm and overcast. By race time it was 24C, but it felt like 27C with the humidity. There were some clouds, but the sun came out just in time for the race start. There was a bit of a breeze, which turned out to be a headwind on the way back.

The course itself is flat, with only small undulations along the route. It's an out and back on newly paved asphalt. The event had about 600 participants in the women's only 5K. My friend Jen and I started out near the back of the pack... I knew after last year that the racers would be really fast and I didn't want to get caught up in the madness that is mid-pack at Emilie's run!

I'm happy to report that my gun time was 35:02, which is what I was shooting for. I finished 34/41 in my age group. My garmin tells me that I ran 34:43, as it took some time to get across the start line. My splits, according to sportstats, were 7:16, 7:10, 7:07 and 7:06 and 6:25.

I'm very proud of the fact that: a) I ran the whole thing, from start to finish. b) I didn't blow up. And, c) I ran negative splits.

Like I said the other day, I knew a personal best was out of reach. And even if I'd been 100% healthy, a personal best would've been tough given the heat and humidity. I had lots left in the tank at the end. I'm not sore today, two days after the race, and I wasn't sore yesterday either. But I sure was tired on Saturday night!

I'm looking forward to my next race, the National Capital 5K, on July 31st. In the meantime, I'm going to work on improving my endurance and most especially hills, as the next course is all downhill on the way out and almost entirely uphill on the way back. Ouch!

Race ready

Tomorrow I'm running Emilie's Run 5K. I'm so excited! I love this race... it's a flat course, it's all women and it's a really fast field of racers. It's so inspiring to see all the women running together: mothers and daughters, friends, family. It's a totally different atmosphere than other races.

I'm going into this race with one goal only: to finish. I don't care if I have to walk. I don't care if it takes me 40 minutes. I'm just excited to be part of a race and to be running again.

I'm looking forward to seeing who wins the race. One of my running heroes, Tara Quinn-Smith, won't be running it this year. She won the race last year and set a new course record. But sadly, she's been battling some nagging injuries and will be sitting it out this year.

In physiotherapy news, I went two weeks between appointments and all is well. She feels that the remaining issues just might be me. Like my tight glutes. Certain niggly things in my back. But the bulging disc and pain in the lower back is gone. I have some tightness/soreness below my knees, but that's more a result of the return to running and reintroducing the running-related stresses to my body.

This time we're going a month between appointments to see how I do. If all goes well, I expect she'll discharge me. I do have to start a flexibility-related cross-training activity if I plan to run anything more than 10Ks in the future.

Race transfers

Ottawa Race Weekend has a policy of no race entry transfers. Meaning if you register early, you run the risk (har har) of having to eat your entry if you can't run.

Yesterday, Race Weekend announced that they would allow race entry transfers for a two-week period! Hooray! I don't think this was highly advertised, so I figured I should post it here.

I'll get most of my money back. It's too bad I already downgraded from the half marathon to the 10K. Both distances are sold out, but the half entries are in much higher demand. Still, it feels good to know that I'll be able to recoup some of the money.

A Quest for the Perfect Half Marathon Training Plan

I was in the Running Room the other night buying a new shirt when I happened to glance at their calendar for their clinics. The Half Marathon clinic, with the Ottawa Race Weekend HM as the goal race, starts February 2nd. I'd banked on having until early March to work on my mileage and frequency. February 2nd would really throw a kink in my plans. Heck, it's the day after I get back from Hawaii. So naturally, I started freaking out. I hadn't planned on a 16+ week training plan.

I'd looked at a few HM training plans a few months back but hadn't found any that I liked. Some were too easy, others used minutes instead of miles or kilometres. Most cap the long run at 10 miles and I'm not comfortable racing a distance I've never completed in training.

On the other hand, a lot of plans were too intense with 4 straight days of running a week. I knew I'd end up injured instead of actually racing. Other plans used the walk/run method, which has been hugely successful for some people, but it's not my cup of tea.

I know I could've just altered the plans, jumped in at a convenient place in the plan... but there would've been a lot of adjustments. So, I continued searching for this elusive plan and today I finally found a plan I like! It's Ryan Hall's Half-Marathon Training Plan from RunnersWorld. The short plan weekly mileage is right where I'm going to be when I'm ready to start training. There are 3 rest days a week and no more than two runs in a row. It takes me above the half marathon distance in training, which will relieve a lot of the race day pressure.

It's perfect. Now I can rest easy, as it's a 10-week plan. No February 2nd start. I get a couple more weeks to maintain my mileage before I jump into this plan.

Oh and as for the shirt, I got it on clearance for $30 instead of $90. Score!

Races Races Races

I took advantage of race entry discounts and registered for a number of Somersault races in 2010. I really enjoyed their races this year, so I figured I'd run the same events next year!

Registering early for races can be a bit of a gamble, but it's totally worth it. With Somersault, I saved $25 off the race-day entry price. And by registering early for the other races, I saved 20% off the entry fee and I got a free change of entry. That means that if plans change and I can't run the race, I can switch to a different race without paying extra. Talk about handy!

So, next year's race calendar looks like this:
02/19 - Winterman 10K
05/30 - Ottawa HM
06/19 - Emilie's Run 5K
07/31 - National Captial 5K.

I'm hoping that all the work I'm putting into my HM will pay off on my 5K time in June. Then I get another month to work on my speed again.

November was a good month

A very good month for me on the running front. I had the new personal best in the 5K at the Cookie Run. I've also been following a training plan that I built for myself.

The goals of the training are to increase my mileage to 20-25 miles per week (that's 32-40km a week for the metric folks) and to run four times a week. Now I can't do this all at once, so Novemeber was just mileage building. This past week I ran 27km, which is a new weekly mileage record. And for the month of November, I ran just over 101km. That number is huge for me! It beats my old mileage high by 20km.

December should deliver a new mileage record, too... providing all goes as planned. I increase by 2km again this week (8/8/13) then a break next week (5/5/10). After that I'm moving to the 4 runs a week phase for 4 weeks, with no mileage increases planned. I might be able to add mileage at the end if I'm feeling okay, but for now the plan is to tackle one phase of training at a time.

I also plan to run the Running Room's Resolution Run on December 31st. Hopefully it'll be warmer than the -25C we had last year!

Cookie Run 5K Race Report

This morning I ran the Cookie Run 5K in support of the local Girl Guides. My goal for this race was to beat my old personal best (PB) of 30:08 from June. I really wanted break 30 minutes! I knew I could do it, as I've broken 30:00 in training and now I can hit it during everyday runs without really taxing myself. It was just a matter of by how much I would break it.

When I woke up it was cloudy, risk of flurries, -5C with the wind and I was really unsure as to what to wear, as the forecast called for it to warm up and for the sun to come up. I ended up wearing my my Sugoi Mid-Zero tights, a very light long-sleeve tech tee under my Sugoi Locust Jacket, along with a tech beanie and gloves. It ended up being the right decision.

Before the race I met up with two friends who were attempting a personal best in the 10K. They planned a 5:40/K pace (they run 10/:45 intervals). So as long as I was near them, I knew I would break 30 minutes. I warmed up a bit on the walk to the start and jogged a little before lining up.

The race started at 10 a.m., it was about 0C at that point with a slight wind. I turned on my Nike+ right as the horn sounded. There was a hill right after the start, which lasted about 500m and then a slight downhill. The rest of the course was pancake flat, minus a very tiny uphill just before 2K, and a downhill on a path at 4K. There were lots of kids and people of all ages and abilities. The course was on a closed road at our local research centre, so there was lots of room for everyone.

I tried to run the tangents as best I could, as there were lots of turns on the course. I took water at the 1.5K mark as my mouth felt cottony from my puffer (hooray for exercise-induced asthma) but didn't need it on the way back at 3.5K. The pace felt very comfortable and I felt as if I was going too slow. I knew this was a product of my speedwork over the last month, as I'd had this feeling in most of my runs recently. I resisted the urge to peek at my iPod, but I knew the race was going well because I was keeping pace with my friends.

At the 4K mark, I could feel my legs starting to get heavy. My head was clear, so I knew I had something left in the tank. I rounded the corner and saw the finish line. I started my sprint about 200m out and crossed the finish line in a blaze of glory!

The clock at the finish line wasn't working, but volunteers wrote down bib numbers and times. My iPod told me all I needed to know: 28.16! Woohoo! I beat my old personal best by 1:52!

I grabbed some water and girl guide cookies and used the walk back to the car as my cooldown. I'll likely be sore tomorrow... but I feel good knowing I left everything out on the course. I'm on such a high! My friends also beat their previous PB in the 10K by about 2 minutes. Congrats guys!

My next race is the Resolution Run 5K on New Years' Eve. Until then, I'll continue to work on building up my base. I start running 4x a week in December.

Nooooo!

I'm getting sick! Gah! Noooo!

I'm not surprised. Quite a few people I know have been sick and it's been making the rounds at work. So far it's just a sore throat/sinuses/ears... but I've heard it gets worse. The bright side is that I don't have a fever!

The thing is, I really want to run on Sunday. But, getting sick is throwing a wrench in that plan. Normally I would've run the race if the cold wasn't in my lungs. But, it's more important for me to be healthy for my wedding than to PR the 5K on Sunday. And, I think my fiancé might kill me if I ran it while I was sick!

So I'm taking more vitamins than usual, resting and drinking lots of fluids. I've cancelled my run tonight and hopefully I'll be better by Friday so I can have a bit of a tune-up run on Friday or Saturday.

Fingers are crossed.

Pre-wedding and pre-Army Run jitters

My wedding is coming up in 3 weeks. This means no slacking off in the eating or exercise departments. I tried on my dress this week and I can't gain weight. It fits like a glove!

Since I can't slack off on Weight Watchers and running, I've decided to set a goal for my 5K and a food-related reward. If I break 30:00, I get key lime pie. I finished my last serious race with training in 30:01 (on my Nike+) or 30:08 (chip time, no mat at the starting line). I really think I can do it this time. I've added in some modest speedwork and I've been realistic about my weekly mileage. I hope these decisions pay off on race day.

I'm excited and nervous for this race, as it's going to be a big field. All my 5Ks have been relatively small races of only a few hundred runners. The Army Run, however, is going to be big. REALLY BIG. They had a cap of 7,000 runners last year, a number that was split between the 5K and half-marathon distances. This year, the organizers removed the limit on the number of runners. The thing is, a 5K is a very attractive distance for a lot of people. It's very approachable to the average runner and people who are in shape, but aren't runners. It's a great introductory distance for new runners and big, publicized races tend to attract a lot of them. I expect a lot of jostling, a lot of newbies, people in the wrong starting position and walkers all over the place. It'll be a challenge, that's for sure.

But I'm still excited. There's nothing like the atmosphere of big races like the Army Run. The crowd support is amazing. It gives me the chills just thinking of it. And seeing that many people in one place to run is an inspiring sight.

My first half-marathon

I've registered for my first half-marathon! I'm so excited!

I committed to running shorter distances in 2009. I ran one 10K and the rest were all 5Ks. I wanted to get some experience racing and just enjoy running. I didn't want to immerse myself in running, or burn out, either. I often just jump into something so whole-heartedly that I end up just dropping it part-way through. I've done with other hobbies and activities. Another reason for the shorter races was the fact that I didn't have the time to do the necessary training for anything longer than a 10K.

As I've raced throughout this season, I've become more comfortable with the thought of the half-marathon. It seems like a good challenge, both mentally and physically. The mental side of the distance (21K) is daunting, but I think I can do it. And in the Winter/Spring I'll have the time to really work on building up my base mileage and I'll be able to devote enough time to properly train for a good half-marathon time.

It feels really good to have registered and committed to the half-marathon.

Race on Saturday!

I've got my next 5K on Saturday. The race is Somersault's National Capital 5K and the event also includes a bunch of different races such as a sprint triathlon and Olympic triathlon. It's also going to be a fundraiser for a group of 5 cyclists who were hit by a vehicle a few weeks ago here in Ottawa. The group were on a training ride, as they are all triathletes.

As for me, I think the run will be a lot of fun and a nice challenge. The course is a little hilly and new to me. I don't expect to be able to beat my PR from my last 5K, as I haven't run much since that race. But I am hoping that the race will be good motivation to get back into running.

I'm going to be using 2 new gear items in the race: Sugoi R&R compression knee socks and a FuelBelt. I'm going to try the socks to see how they help with recovery and issues in my left knee, not to mention my awesome varicose veins. The Fuelbelt is a 4-bottle belt that is much more comfortable than my sad, 1 bottle one. The bottle was really uncomfortable and moved around far too much.

Wish me good luck!