Breaking through the mileage barrier

These last two weeks of my training schedule marked a new milestone in my running career: long runs over 13K. It's an awesome feeling to push your body further and further each week.

I've hit new highs for my long run, at 14K last Saturday and 16K yesterday. I had to resist the urge to eat everything in sight yesterday and needed an hour-long recharge nap in mid-afternoon. I really hope that the post-run tiredness goes away as I condition my body to run the longer distances. Oh, and I'm still ravenous today. My coworker's softboiled eggs are looking and smelling mighty tasty right now. This coming Saturday's long run is 18K.

I'm also really looking forward to next week's cutback week. I don't think I'm overtrained at this point, but I'm definitely feeling the need for a bit of a break from the mileage increases.

Update to the Fuelbelt bottle situation: I gave up and bought new ones. They are so much better than my old grimey ones. The dude at the RunningRoom said he replaces his every 6 months and joked that the old bottles could be used to throw at cars that cut you off. LOL.

Looking back and looking forward

It's January 1st. Hubby and I are cuddled up on the couch, with the cat under the blanket, watching the Winter Classic on TV. I've been wanting to write this post for awhile now, so today seemed like a good day to do it.

2009 was a pretty good year for me. The highs include:

• my first race at the inaugural Winterman event in February, where I ran the 5K in -7C and snow.
• running the Ottawa MDS Nordion 10K in May. The crowds and race experience were incredible!
• Setting repeated PRs in the 5K throughout the year, finishing with 28:09 at the Cookie Run in November.
• Running over 750 KM in 2009, more than double my 2008 total.
• Getting married!

I capped off 2009 with the Running Room's Resolution Run last night. The temperature was -11C, but it had snowed most of the day, so the footing was pretty treacherous. There was no PR for me, but I had a lot of fun. Saw a guy wearing gold tights, while others wore Christmas lights or New Year's Eve party hats. I can't wait to try out the fancy new jacket I got for entering.

Now for looking forward. Well, 2010 promises to be equally great! Some of my goals for this year are:

• Finish the Ottawa Half Marathon (time goal to come later).
• Drink more water.
• Improve my 5K and 10K times.
• Run 1300 km.

Cheers! And Happy New Year!

The "other" milestone

I've been eagerly anticipating this milestone for awhile.

I've been watching the number of miles run on my Nike+ profile slowly creep towards 1000. It's been moving faster since I started running more often and longer distances.

On Thursday I hit 1000 kilometres on the Nike+ site. I'm a bit of a nerd that way, but it was pretty satisfying to see the number change over and the colour scheme change on the website. Now it's a spiffy blue colour. It'll likely stay that way for awhile as the next level on the site is at 2500km. It took me 2 years to hit 1000 and I expect it'll likely take me another year to run 1500km.

I know that I'm above and beyond 1000 (I have 27kms in lost runs thanks to some bugs in the software) but I'm a sucker for the instant gratification, even if it's a colour change on a website. It's the little things that count...

A week of milestones

This week I'll hit quite a few milestones. I'm pretty excited about them because it really drives home the fact that careful, measured training can pay off.

Tonight I'll mark the first milestone: the beginning of the second phase of my pre-half marathon training. This week I begin running four times a week. It doesn't sound like a big deal, I know. But, it's such a huge step for me. I tried to do this back in September, but it was just too much too soon. Now I'm ready to make the jump. For the next four weeks I will maintain my mileage at 28K a week. I'll run 3K on Mondays, 5K on Tuesdays, 7K on Thursdays and 13K on Saturdays. I just need to remember to slow down. I've been running my long runs too fast, even though my perceived effort is consistent. I always end up feeling like I could've gone faster.. but that's a post for another day.

I'm really looking forward to tonight's run. It's supposed to be warm (I love how warm is a relative term in the winter months!) at -3C, with some snow. I love running in downtown Ottawa at this time of year. The Christmas lights are lit and it feels so cheery and festive. I always come back from my runs in a good mood.