The long run that wasn't

Saturday's long run just wasn't meant to be.

My calf was feeling better, so I went out hoping that I could make it the full 20K. I chose a fairly flat route, warmed up with a walk to the starting point and made sure to start out slow. At 5K in, it was starting to get sore. I decided at 8K to stop and stretch it a bit, then head home... cutting it to 16K. As I ran a bit more, I realized it wasn't feeling better and was only going to get worse. I called hubby to meet me 3K later.

I decided that since I wasn't going to hit mileage goal for the run, then I might improve the quality of the run. I worked on my speed and tried my half marathon race pace (6:45/K) for about 3K and it felt good. At least that's promising!

My 20K long run is important, but really, the half is my goal. Last thing I need right now is a more serious calf strain than the one I already have. My number one goal through this training cycle was/is to get to the start of the half uninjured.

I stretched right away and have spent most of the weekend RICEing it. I've also pushed my runs back this week to give my body an extra day to recover. I'm going to try the 20K again on Sunday before I head into my taper. I'll feel better if I can get it under my belt, but I've already done 18K so I know I can do 21. I plan to use my taper to reduce volume over 2 weeks, but still do some quality tempo/interval workouts. This isn't what I wanted to face 3 prior to the race, but I'll deal.

Hills by Accident

Yesterday was one of the warmest days so far at 20C, so I thought it would be a good day to work on getting acclimated to the warmer weather in preparation for my goal race. So I headed out on my long run in the sun and heat. Hard to believe 20C is considered hot, but hey, I live in Canada! Plus it was dry... I had to run in that weather given that we had record-setting rainfall in April.

Two years ago I ran the 10K at Race Weekend. We had no warm weather leading up to the event, so the 20C+ plus weather on race day was a shock to the system! I wanted to take advantage of yesterday's weather to experiment with my hydration needs and clothing. I was also lucky that it was my cutback week, so it was a long run on the shorter side of things at 12K.

I ran on the bike path along the Western Parkway to Island Park. This is the middle of the half marathon route, though it'll be run on the road and not on the path. When I reached Island Park, I was 5K in, so I figured it was an opportunity to finally try the path on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River. I ran across the Champlain Bridge... man, that sidewalk is narrow! But it wasn't crowded, so I was able to enjoy the views of the rushing water, the vistas of downtown Ottawa and the noise of the rapids with the birds flying overhead.

I turned right onto the bike path on the Quebec side and ran right along the water. I followed the cyclists in their team gear, figuring they'd lead me back towards Hull. All was flat for another KM or so... but the last 3K? Rolling freaking hills. And steep ones to boot. I hadn't meant to do a hill workout, let alone such a challenging and aggressive one. It was pretty much up-down-up-down, complete with hairpin turns, until I hit Terrasses de la Chaudière. Oye. At least I know where to go if I want a killer hill workout now instead of doing hill repeats in front of the tourists at the locks by the Bytown Museum.

As a result of the accidental hills workout, my left calf is NOT happy today. By the looks of things, it's just a calf strain. I'm icing/stretching as much as I can in an effort to get it back to normal ASAP. My mileage peaks these next two weeks at 37K, with long runs of 20K before I taper. I can cutback the mileage if I need to, but obviously I'd rather not do it unless I absolutely have to.

Feeling like a runner again

Today I ran my longest run of the year: 12K.

It was glorious.

I felt like a runner again as I ran along our picturesque Rideau Canal at 7 a.m. - the only other people I saw were other runners. I exchange hellos and good mornings with almost everyone I passed. It really was wonderful.

I also saw the editor of iRun Magazine, Mark Sutcliffe, as he ran his our personal marathon to celebrate turning 42.2 years old. He was running a 5:00/km pace as he ran the 12K out and back. He and his posse passed me several times... I wish I could've run with them, but that's a little fast for me! haha.

I've been feeling much stronger, fitter and faster as of late. I also popped into see my trusty physiotherapist this week to make sure all was okay with my back... and it was. We spent some time working on it and my flexibility, but it was really encouraging to know that I can continue to up my mileage as long as I keep an eye on my flexibility.

My army run post is coming soon, I promise. I was hoping to steal a few minutes at work to post it, but that didn't happen this week.

Getting into a routine

I've started following my 10K training plan. I adapted a Hal Higdon Plan for intermediates and cut it down a bit. Originally the plan called for 5 days of running, 1 day of cross-training and 1 day of rest. Well, I know I'm nowhere near ready to run that often.

I met the criteria for the plan, which included having been a runner for a year or two and completed a number of races, including a 10K. That sure sounds like me!

Last week I ran a total of 14K, which included a wonderful 6K run on Sunday afternoon. We had torrential rain and thunderstorms all day long. We finally had a break during the late afternoon, so I quickly threw on my gear and headed out. The paths were empty, there was little wind and it was just beautiful. The rain and storms held off long enough for me to get my run in while staying dry!

The coolest part of the run was all the neat smells along the way... weird, I know. Near our house, it smelled like wet concrete, while along the route there were all kinds of wet vegetation smells. It was really neat.

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!

Prize idiot - Long run edition

I was so excited to get out for my run today. Yesterday we had tons of freezing rain, so no running for me. I was dying to try out my new Garmin.

I'd prepped my old shoes the other day for winter running - I'd added the customary 9 screws in each shoe. I'm a big fan of screw shoes: they're cheap ($1 for a box of screws at the dollar store) and easy to do. And if they break, the screws are cheap to replace. I picked up 3/4 inch screws since I figured that might be a better length than the 1/2 inch ones I used last winter. My fellow blogger described the wonders of the screw shoe in a recent post.

Today's run was promising: cloudy and just below freezing for the first time in weeks. Thank God for warmer weather. I wore my screw shoes and the walk to my start of my run reaffirmed the fact I needed them. The sidewalks were still really icy and somewhat treacherous.

Then I reached the path. It was clear! A few puddles here and there, but just wet. What??? By 2 km into the run, I knew the screw shoes were a bad idea. I hadn't hit any long icy or snowy stretches. Ugh. Soon I'd realized the 3/4 inch screws were a bad idea, too. I could feel them poking through my Superfeet insoles. Soon the pointy ends were hitting the ball of my foot. The uphill or downhill stretches were even more painful, but the worst pain was reserved for when I landed on large rocks or pieces of salt. OUCH!

By 8 km I had visions of bloodied socks running through my head. I stopped at this point to see if I could remove them by hand, but they'd migrated right into the shoe and the screw head was flush with the sole. I was out of ideas and decided to run home and deal with the pain. Too bad I don't run with a screwdriver in my pocket... though that could make for some interesting comments from passing runners.

And to make the run even more of a calamity, I'd stopped my Garmin at about 3 km to switch it from imperial to metric. I forgot to start it again and only realized this after I'd been running for 15 minutes more. Thankfully I'd also brought my Nike+ and it captured the time missing from the Garmin.

Today's run just wasn't meant to be. But, the good news is that: a) it's funny; and b) there were no bloodied socks, just a couple of blisters. Oh the wonders of trial and error. I was so happy to get home!