Catching Up

I haven't posted since Little Fox's birthday party. I haven't been doing much running, and nothing really exciting has happened. So here are some photos and updates on the day to day around here.

Cottage season has started. We spent a long time getting Cottage 3 ready. Cottage 2 is half ready, and Cottage 1 needs some work!

 

Little Fox and I have been spending some time at the beach. 

 

I've been helping with a Learn To Run program in Kensington. I wanted to help with one before volunteering to lead one on my own. It's going well so far!

 

My birthday was on the 13th. The newest Diana Gabaldon book was (finally) out on the 10th,  so I went shopping. Thanks Mom!

 

 

Molly found a family of baby bunnies. We kept them in a basket for a while so Little Fox could see them, and then put them back outside. Hopefully Molly won't find them again. The bunnies all crawled up into a big pile. Here's 7 of the 9 bunny-butts. 

 

I've been doing some crafty stuff for the cottages. 

 

Last night was our niece's prom, so we went to see her in her dress and get some photos. It's too bad that it was raining and so cold!
Red Fox is going offshore for the month of July. I'm mentally preparing myself for running this place without him!

Little Fox is 6!

Little Fox turned 6 yesterday! On Sunday, we had his birthday party. My dad, mom and stepfather came and stayed with us for a few nights. Thank GOD they were here, because that party was chaos. I always had respect for school teachers, but Little Fox's teacher must be one incredble teacher to be able to handle some of those kids!

I let Little Fox invite 8 kids from school. We also invited a family friend. Red Fox was on my case a little bit over the last few weeks because we didn't invite the whole class and he felt bad that some kdis felt left out. About 15 minutes after the kids arrived, he said "good call on not inviting the whole class".

We got everything all cleaned up, decorated and the cake made. I was prepared for some noise and some craziness.

 

 

 

Gift area

Coffee and tea. Lego spoon and sugar dishes (balloon plled up over a mason jar) and a lego "T"-bag box.

 

So then the kids arrived, and chaos ensued. They screamed. They ran. They jumped on furniture. They peed ALL over the bathroom. They pushed. They cried. After about 15 minutes, I sent them all outside. It was cold and wet, but I didn't care. More screaming, running, pushing, crying... my throat hurt from yelling at them to stop doing things, or don't go near the road, stop climbing the trees. 

After 45 minutes of outside play, we brought them in for cake and gift time.

 

I closely monitored these 2 boys. They were pretty good while under close supervision.

The cake gets the thumbs-up of approval. Only one thumb, though, I guess.

Cake cutting with a sword!

(No, I'm not pregnant. It just looks that way.)

 

 

After cake and presents, there was about 20 minutes before parents came, so I said they can either play with the lego, or watch netflix. I sat at the lego table and the kids were great. Little Fox said he had a fun party, so I guess it was a success. He said that some of the kids asked to come over for a playdate.

 

As soon as the last kid walked out the door, I had wine. There was a little bit left in the bottle that wouldn't fit in my glass, so I started to drink it out of the bottle just as the last parent drove past the kitchen window. Jeeze, Erin, have some self control. I hope she didn't see me!

 

 Little Fox spent some time putting together one of the lego sets he got, and we all enjoyed the quiet and calm.

 



 On monday, his actual birthday, he got some gifts from the grndparents in the morning and then went to school. I took some cupcakes to his class, and he said they sang happy birthday to him. After school, we put together another lego set, and then went to the Frosty Treat for supper. He had his usual chicken fingers and fries. Then we took him to Summerside so he could pick out a few toys. He picked out some cars (of course) and a dinosaur bone kit. He was asleep in seconds, so I think he had 2 really fun days!

 

 

Blue Nose Marathon Weekend Recap

I know I haven't posted in a long time. After my long run on Easter, I didn't run very much, and I was sure I had sabotaged my half marathon, and didn't feel like writing about it.

We left for Nova Scotia on Friday, early morning (I had a meeting at my office that afternoon). I made sure to have my water bottled filled, and drank water all day. After the meeting we went to my Mother-in-Law's house, where we'd be spending the weekend.

On Saturday morning, we went to the Expo to get my race kit and browse the booths. The man who gave me my race kit was originally from PEI, so we chatted a bit and he wished me luck. I went to get my chip activated, and when I saw my name and bib number come up on the screen, my heart pounded. I was actually doing this!

We walked around the Expo, and I talked with Courteney a bit at the Run Nova Scotia booth. We noticed that at the next booth over, there was a man doing caricature drawings for free. Red Fox and I both had ours done. Red Fox's is awesome, but I'm not a fan of mine (Red Fox said "well... he captured your German heritage"). I also bought a Blue Nose headband to wear during the race.

 

After the expo, we went back to MIL's, and basically just did nothing rested my legs. And charged all my devices: phone, ipod (which I didn't use at all), and garmin GPS watch.

 

 

 

That evening, I had a giant plate of spaghetti, and went to bed at about 9. We'd have to get up at 5, and I knew I wouldn't sleep well. I had the internal debate regarding my ear plugs... if I don't wear them, I'll hear snoring all night. If I DO wear them, I might not hear my alarm. I didn't wear them, so I was awake at 2:30, and basically didn't sleep after that. I got up, taped my feet in an effort to avoid blisters, and got dressed. Put my hair up and braided it, and put on some makeup. I KNOW, it was a race, but they take photos, AND the makeup has SPF30, which was the only sunscreen I had. We packed up all our stuff, and stopped at Tim Hortons for breakfast on the way. I had a yogurt that I brought with me, and half a bagel. Honestly, that's more than I usually can eat before a race!

 

Red Fox dropped me off at the Metro Center and I went in to stay warm and prepare. I went to the bathroom 3 or 4 times... mostly preventative... I didn't want to have to stop for a pitstop mid-race. Finally, it was time to go to the start area. I saw mom, Little Fox and Red Fox on the way, and they got some photos and took my jacket.

 





I lined up with the 2:15 pace bunny. I hoped to at least keep the guy in my sights.

My view from the starting line

And we're off!

 

This was not my best race. I was feeling good at the very beginning, and looking for my mom, Ref Fox and Little Fox occupied my mind. It was sunny and warm, so I took a drink at the first water stop. BIG MISTAKE. I got the worst side stitch I've ever had. I tried to run/walk through it, but I just didn't go away. I lost sight of the pace bunny at about km 2. A lady stopped and asked me if I was ok. I said I was, and when I caught up to her a few minutes later I thanked her for checking on me, and we talked about how disheartening it is to get a stitch, have to walk, and watch all the runners blow past you. I saw Mom and the boy at about km 8, and I still had the stitch. I told Mom I didn't think I'd be able to do this. Finally, about a km later, it faded.

But then, at km 10, my knee started hurting. I was like, Nooooooooooooooo. It hadn't been bothering me since last summer, WHY NOW?! I had been texting Red Fox during my walk breaks. I also sent Courteney a text to let her know I felt like death, and that I had seen Heather. As I was going in to Point Pleasant Park, I saw runners coming out. I thought I might catch Heather, so I pulled out my phone and got the camera ready. I was JUST about to turn the corner and put my phone away when I saw her! I yelled to her and snapped a quick picture.

Here are some screen grabs of my desperate (and typo-filled) texts, and some of the photos I took along the way.

 

*at km2

*That's a photo of the 15k sign

*there were a few Kenyan runners running his year. This guy just flew past. It was AMAZING!

 

Heather. Looking strong!

In Point Pleasant Park

At the end of this street, we could see the Hill. So close, yet so far away. That guy in the grey was also hurting... he stopped a few times to rub his knee.

 



 



As I entered the park, someone had some music playing, and the song was Hedley's Anything. There was a man running beside me and we both loudly belted out "Forget that, I can do anything!" and then looked at each other and laughed. It was one of my favorite moments. Running through the Park was really nice. It smelled like ocean (obviously), and was nice and cool, with a  bit of a breeze. I was in some pain by this time, and I took the chance to walk up that giant hill that is in there.

The support along the route was amazing. So many bands playing, lots of people with cowbells or other noise makers and drums, and everyone cheered for everyone. The water stops were high energy and full of encouragement, and the police and commissionaires personnel were great. One guy was directing us out of the park, and made a little dance out of it. It really made me smile.

Another of the bands near the end of the route played Nelly's Ride Wit Me, and the lyrics "why do I feel this way... must be the money" also made me laugh because at this point, I felt terrible, and I certainly wasn't getting any money for it!

*I don' know why I look so happy. I wasn't happy! 

*This one is more accurate. Looking pained in this one.

Finally I could see the finish. I tried to finish strong, but my knee hurt SO bad, so I just tried to actually keep running. I saw mom and Little Fox, cheering and yelling "you did it!!" and then crossed the finish line. I felt relief and pain! I checked my garmin and saw that I finished in 2:21:36, which I was pretty pleased with, considering how much walking I had to do. As soon as I stopped running, my calves cramped up into knots, my quads went weak. I hobbled over to get my medal, and the volunteer and I laughed at how long I was taking to get to her. I went in to he Metro Centre to get a banana and make my way down to meet my family. I s-l-o-w-l-y made I down the hill, and tried to fumble my way through a decision about lunch. Really, my head was a bit messed up, and I wanted someone to direct me and to say, "ok, we're going here, and we're doing this" but we eventually came to a decision to meet Alex and Alex at their hotel and eat at the restaurant. We originally planned to go to Cora's, but the hotel was closer, and we wouldn't have to drive there.

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with my time. I'm disappointed about the side stitch and knee pain, and I think if it hadn't been for those things I could have finished within my 2:15 goal, but all things considered, I am really pleased. It's now Tuesday morning, and my knee still hurts. My legs are quite sore. But I feel pretty damn good about it all!

Oh, I almost forgot. Here's my favorite photo from the whole thing. It was taken by Jeremy Buehler, a photographer along the route. I love this one because it perfectly captures how enthusiastic Little Fox is, and I love that he's so happy, friendly, and outgoing. There are other photos from the other direction so the runner's faces are visible, and everyone is grinning as they run past him. Also, hank you, Mom, for coming to Halifax to watch the race, and thanks to Mom and Red Fox for their support, encouragement, and reassurance that I would finish and not collapse on the way.

Half Marathon Training - Weeks 11 and 12

I didn't update last week, because I didn't run. On Sunday evening, we went out for chinese food. On Monday at lunch time, I ate the leftovers. On Monday at 4pm, I was suffering from the worst bout of food poisoning I've ever experienced. By tuesday morning, the digestive part was better (manageable), but I was feverish and exhausted. I slept all day, wrapped in a blanket on the couch by the fire. Wednesday and Thursday I still couldn't bring myself to eat much. After that, I basically gave up for the rest of the week.

Which brings me to Week 12. On Monday, I went out for a 6k run. It was the best run I'd had in months. Warm, not overly windy, not wet or muddy (or snowy!). I started out with one pair of tights, a long sleeved shirt, and my jacket. After the first 2.5k, I took my jacket off, shoved it in my mailbox, and finished my run. I felt so free with no bulky layers!

On Wednesday, I went for a short 3k. It was SO windy that day! I had to run really hard but still felt like I wasn't moving.

On Thursday after work/school, we drove to my mom's in Nova Scotia. I had my long run planned for friday morning, and had a route all figured out. I was REALLY looking forward to the run. I slept in my running tights so I'd be ready in the morning. I woke up early on friday morning, and had some of my mom's muffins for breakfast. My route too me down mom's road, and then along the Lahave River to Bridgewater. I wanted to run across the train bridge, and then run up oward my old high school as far as possible.

It was a bit colder that I anticipated, and my thighs and butt were frozen by the time I made it to the end of the road. Fun Fact: It is exactly 1 km from my mom's to Mo's store. I loved running along the river. My Garmin stopped tracking at once point because I went down a path to a little park right on the riverbank. I didn't notice at the time. Oh well.

It didn't seem to take very long to get to the mall, and I was feeling really good. I texted my friend Pat because I'd be running past his house, and I wasn't sure what side of the road the sidewalk was on. I waved as I went by on my way to the train bridge.

 

I stopped when I got across because I felt a blister developing on my toe. I put a bandaid on, and kept running. I made it to my High School in about 45 minutes. Fun Fact: My bus ride to school took 45 minutes. I'd be an awesome runner by now if I had just skipped the bus to run to school everyday! I kept going and stopped when I unexpectedly ran out of sidewalk. I crossed the road to watch and listen to the rapids. I'd never seen them from that vantage point before. It's funny how I never appreciated it until I moved away!

When I reached the school again, I noticed that my Garmin stopped tracking. I stopped it, and restarted it, but I had no idea how long it had been or how far I had gone. So, to play it safe, and to make up for the distance I lost from my planned route when the sidewalk ended, I ran up river a bit when I got back across the train bridge.

 

I don't remember ever being on that part of the trail or that far up river on that side before. The river was high, and loud. The trees along the bank were flooded. The traffic on the overpass was loud too. For some reason, being under an overpass always freaks me out, but I stopped long enough to get a photo of the graffiti.



I was starting to get a bit tired by this point. My thighs were sore and tired. I started taking more walk breaks (other than for photo ops!). I texted Red Fox and facebooked my mom to let them know where I was and when I expeced to be home. I kept on keeping on, and when I passed the mall, I thought, ok, I'm almost-almost there (and also, where did hat WIND come from?!). With about 3 or 4 km to go, I thought... "oh... this is the wall". And then my dad called! I chatted with him for a few minutes, and that helped me recoup. When I got to Mo's I knew I only had 1km to go! My legs were exhausted when I got to Mom's but I felt great, and really enjoyed the whole run. I'm unsure of my actual distance, but I think it was about 18km. My pace was about 6:35/km, which I feel ok about.

Sometimes, a change of scenery is a wonderful thing!

Half Training Ver 2.0 - Week 10

Another crazy week! On Sunday, the weather was supposed to be bad. We got more snow, freezing rain and crazy wind. When I woke up on Monday morning, we had no power. The freezing rain was still falling, and our tree limbs were cracking and crashing to the ground. Obviously, I didn't run that day! The details are for another post, though! (Coming right up, for thsoe who missed them on Facebook).

The weather/roads stayed terrible, and power stayed off until Wednesday night. On Wednesday, we finally gave in and went to a hotel for the day and night so that we could get some work done and be warm. There was a pool, so Little Fox and I went for a swim. I swam laps and tried some pool running (even though I didn't have a belt). My muscles felt wobbly when we were finished, so I figured it was a decent work out in place of the running I missed in the first half of the week.

I was finally able to run on Thursday. I had to go to Summerside for groceries to replace everything from our fridge and freezer, and I thought it would be a good oportunity to go running at the track again. The roads had so much snow and ice on them that there were places where the road was only one lane. I didn't want to risk getting hit by a car or run over by a snowplow/snowblower. I stopped at Credit Union Place first, and ran the track for 30 minutes. I'm not sure how many laps or km that was, but based on my usual pace, I'd guess 5 or 6k. I noticed I wasn't pushing myself very hard, so I started doing some pseudo-intervals. I ran 3 or 4 laps at an easy pace, and then ran hard for 2 laps. I did that about 4 or 5 times, and felt like I accomplished something when I was finished!

I planned to run my long run on Saturday, but the weather was calling for MORE freezing rain, so I postponed til today (Sunday).  I spent some time this morning putting some more songs on my ipod, and charging my garmin a bit (not enough, apparently!). I hit the road at about 10am, with 16k on my schedule. I wanted to stick close to home because I knew the roads were cleared enough for me to run safely, so I basically ran the River Rd and Cape Road a few time each until I reached 16k.

Cape Road was the only road with snow/ice/slush. This was the worst section. Not so bad!

I felt pretty good at the beginning. By about 4k, my quads were starting to feel tired, and knew I'd be struggling by the end! At 5k, I paused my garmin, went inside for a quick pee-break and to get a pebble out of my shoe. Wow, is that ever annoying when you're running!! At about 8k, Red Fox drove by after a trip to town, and gave me a much-needed banana.  I did the first 8k in about 52 minutes (I think?), and felt pretty good about that time. Kilometres 8-12 were ok, but windy. So windy, in fact, that I was blown off the road! The last 4 kms were killer. My thigh muscles were SO tired and weak, and I had to take some walk breaks, but I got it done! My garmin gave me the low-batery signal with 3k left, so at 15k I stopped it, and then started it again for the last km. Just in case.

See the 3 footprints in the mud? That's where I was blown off the pavement.

 

My total time was 1:43:23, with an average pace of about 6:30/km. I feel pretty good about that, considering I had to take walk breaks during the last 4k. My legs were killing me when I finished, and I had a pseudo-ice-bath halfway up the driveway. It felt SO good, and if my butt hadn't been so cold, I would have sat there much longer!

Now I understand why people do ice baths. It actually did feel really good on my legs!