Running On...My Quest for C2FM

When life hands you lemons...drink wine! I'll be back with details and stories of woe...until then, I have wine to drink. J

Today was Boxing Day. Today there was a major afternoon nap. It was great. J

Seems I have a few of these posts titled that! And, no, I haven't given up - just giving my neck time to heal fully. I looked at running yesterday, but there was still tenderness and pain when I moved a certain way, so I thought it would be prudent to give myself a couple more days to recover. Of course, I looked at my lovely colour-coded, highlighted schedule and felt sad. OK, in all honesty I felt guilty. But, I am going to mark my drop last Thursday and pick up from there. I'll be a week behind, but I would rather take up where I left off than try to run 5 miles when I'm not ready mentally or physically. And with the slash marks in my schedule, I won't be looking at blank columns. Hmm, this really is a mental thing for me - right down to the colour-coding, spreadsheet visual! On that note - there is Christmas breakfast to prepare, spiked coffee to drink, a book to read and some reflection on the year that's passed and the one to come. Merry Christmas :) ...

Still in pain - better today, though, as I can actually raise my left arm over my head (and no longer needed assistance to get dressed - it's come to my attention that almost all of my clothes are the pull-on, over the head variety, hardly any button-ups at all...this needs to change). I've used the heating pad and have taken cat naps here and there, all things that are helping. And I'm smart enough (!) to not attempt a run at any speed. Will most likely take tomorrow off (Sunday is automatic rest day) so that I can be up and running on Monday. We'll chalk up this week as a true Step Back - and try to remember to NOT jam the phone between my shoulder and ear no matter what little chore needs doing! J

It had to happen sooner or later, right? I am injured...after a great treadmill run yesterday, I was on top of the world. Now, I feel like the world is on top of me. The pain is excruciating! I can barely move! Getting out of bed required Ron's help this morning. Trying to get dressed also meant relying on Ron. I have been in tears most of the day. The heating pad has barely cooled off before it's switched back on. Ibuprofen has been my best friend. And it's all my mom's fault! She called last night just as I was getting ready for bed. Instead of sitting down and chatting with her, I attempted to do my nightly chores at the same time. You know, multitasking - saving time - thinking I was being efficient. I had the phone jammed in-between my shoulder and neck while I used two hands to rinse the tea cups, wipe down the counters, unplug Christmas lights, ooh - and pluck the dead buds off my Christmas Cactus because they were bothering me. Never thought any more about i...

In The Plan, I've taken some liberties for stepping back in my training. Everything I read says to take a week and drop the mileage in order to prepare your body, give it rest, make it stronger. Since I am a numbers gal, I opted for 3 weeks ON, and the 4th week OFF (off being a step back in mileage, not a full week off...yikes, I'd never get started again). Why the 3-4 schedule? Told you, I am a numbers gal - there are 52 weeks in a year...this being a year long project...52 is divisible by 4 (13). Nice round numbers. And looking at 3 weeks of all out knowing there will be a bit of a break come week 4, is comforting. The runs are going well, so I don't want to lose any momentum this week. And this is only Week #8. But I will adhere to my self-imposed 3 Steps Up, 1 Step Back program with a small cut in mileage. Today was to be 2 miles - with icy roads, the treadmill was my go to machine and I ended up doing 2.7 miles. Still, a cut from the 4 miles I am looking at accompl...

OK, I will have to seriously look at this in the New Year. Until then, I am refueling with warm milk and Nanaimo Bars. Pretty sure I'm on to something here ;) J

Testing out a potential 2019 word today - fabulous speed workout on the treadmill and the word feels right. More on that later. You have a choice! You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off your face! Anonymous J

OK, not the brightest bulb on the Christmas Tree...last run was #21, no 20. Seems I have mislabelled my runs on Garmin. Still feeling empowered by yesterday's run. So much so, I was all up in everyone's face last night at a Christmas party about the running breakthrough. Note to self, no everyone wants to hear about your running. Brick workout today, followed by weight routine. Am feeling much stronger and my chin-ups seem to be supporting that idea. Did 8 chin-ups, no hops to get me started, and felt I could have done another one. Push-ups felt good, too, with 8 almost full (from knees) in a row (remember, I have incredibly weak arms). Even my treadmill run was improved! Heart rate monitor on the watch...had to do a double take this morning as we were sitting having coffee. Resting heart rate was a 46! Haven't seen that low of a number since I got my watch. Still loving Mamma Mia 2 soundtrack for my workout. This marks the end of Week #7...wow! J

Yes, I'm keeping track of how many runs I've done (I name them on my Garmin site, so I know today's was Run #20). And, no, I am not including my Brick workouts in this number - this is strictly a running workout number. All that being said, seems I've just finished my twentieth run since I began the C2FM Plan. Time flies - it feels like only a week ago I began this quest with my first run (a 2 mile :30/:60 interval run). But it's been 7 weeks - and today was a 4 mile .75/.25 interval run. An interval run that felt amazing. Have we turned a corner? Will Run #20 go down in the books as a pivotal point in my quest? Time will tell - but I was incredibly happy that my snarky, dark, pessimistic side was actually on board this morning (no tantrums, no arguing). And incredibly happy that the legs felt good - good enough to push the pace a bit, running intervals intending to be around the 12:30m/M pace ended up being 12:49, 11:58, 11:14 and 11:15. The focus on cadence se...

There are some people in my life that lift me up...are genuinely interested in what I'm up to...cheer me on from the sidelines. To them, I say a huge thank you. I basically write this blog for myself - I set goals for myself - but when I feel like I'm living in a vacuum and I question why I would even attempt such a monumental undertaking (knowing my history), that one 'how's your training going?' can renew my enthusiasm. Today, I thank my nephew David for asking (and for listening). For believing in me when I don't believe in myself. And for always being there to chat about mileage, pacing, nutrition, ups, downs, goals, celebrations. Sometimes that little conversation can work wonders!! J

I had a very hard time getting out the door today. A really hard time - indicative of my past couple of days and I may be staring at that slippery slope sooner than I thought (but that's another post). The goal today was to do The Plan's scheduled workout (4 x .50/.25 - same run as Monday), but I knew I would have to entice myself with something else... Enter the Willy Nilly. A run where I just do what I can, walk when I have to, until the planned mileage is done. I like Willy Nilly Runs because they get me out of my own head. They are liberating - a way for me to say 'Hey, run or not, it's all good.' And this run, even though I started off grumpy and full of tantrums (don't wanna, too cold, damn iPod wasn't charged), ended up being awesome.  I ran the one side of the loop in the 'hood, walked the other side. And I got it done!!! Hey, maybe Wednesdays should be now known as Willy Nilly Wednesdays (to go with Wine Wednesday)? I could use it as a spe...

This was supposed to be a Monday thing and I completely forgot this week. So, found this as it's International Mountain Day and the quote really speaks to me and my Quest: Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you. ― David McCullough Jr. 

Yikes, not a good idea to take an extra day off (actually, it is, but then I wouldn't have anything to bitch, er, write about). I was a bear by 3:00 Saturday afternoon. Now, in my defence, we were putting up Christmas decorations...and the proverbial 'we' could have something to do with the snarkiness experienced. But I am thinking it may be the fact I didn't do my workout. Yes the endorphins, but also the realization at that time that I was missing something. This could work to my advantage, if I cultivate that feeling. But, as evidenced today, I tend to ignore that feeling - disregard the thoughts of 'hey, maybe my not working out is causing some unease' - and think another day off is a good idea. I get lazy - one day off usually becomes two, three and then, next thing I know, it's two or three weeks and I'm starting again. Luckily, that nasty, er, motivational spreadsheet is staring me in the face. And the need to write a blog post is poking me ...

Can't believe it's been 40 days! I have scheduled surprise (kind of oxymoronic, eh?) rest days for every 40th day of The Plan. I went to write in my daily journal and realized (thus the surprise) it was Day 40. Spent the day listening to Christmas Carols and putting up decorations, including the tree. Fabulous way to spend a scheduled surprise rest day! J

Today was one such day. I was late getting out, not because I didn't want to go - but by the time I did get dressed, I had lost my enthusiasm. I told myself I had to, no exceptions. Well, 'myself' was a grouchy bear the whole time. Carping about the pace, the breathing, the fact we still had more to go. It was incredibly hard to keep going in the face of such opposition and dislike for what I was doing. But I did! It was not stellar, but there were high points: 1. A minute faster than the exact same workout as last week! 2. A higher cadence than last week's run (this was a goal of the run today)! 3. And my first bit of trail running (because I really didn't want to keep running on the road, so I took a little path that leads to a clear cut lot with ATV tracks...this helped me to slow down at the end and gave me a focus over and above the unhappy little voice in my head)! So, even when I didn't want to, I did - and am very happy with the results. J

I think that's what's used on Twitter???? There was not a stitch of exercise done today - other than 5K walking around as Ron and I took a morning to go into the city for shopping and lunch. Pretty sure that 5K is null and void with the half order of chicken pasta in a cream-garlic sauce I ate!! No worries. The brag comes with the purchase of merino wool trail socks bought at Costco. The Universe must be aligning with my thoughts on doing a trail run (and trail workouts) by offering up the exact sock I was looking for! Just waiting for the new trail shoes I bought last week to come in (had to order a different size) and I'll be ready to go!!! J

'They say' that you should always have 3 goals going into a race: your A-game goal (perfect conditions, feeling awesome), your secondary goal (perhaps bad weather, not feeling 100%) and your what-would-I be-happy-with goal (most likely to be pulled up during the race when things aren't going according to plan). So I've been thinking I need to have 3 goals for this project. The first goal, obviously, is to get myself from the couch (figuratively, as I have been doing some running and haven't been a total sloth going into this project) to full marathon. It's on the bucket list - and with my friend Brenda running and finishing her first marathon in Greece, I am inspired to give it a go. This is a BIG goal and, honestly, it scares the hell out of me! The second goal, as I've mentioned previously, may be a shorter, but challenging race. I've blogged about one such race HERE , but there's also another one I'm looking at which is a road race and not...

Finally got back into the pool after 2 weeks 'off' (wow, it's been two weeks since I was at the pool). When I say 'off', I mean I went to to the pool, saw it was busy and came back home. I think I've mentioned, I don't like when the pool is busy. Today, I had almost the entire pool to myself! So, the goal (yep, there's that word again), was to swim one lap front crawl, one lap breast stroke for 30 laps total. There was no technical goal, just wanted to swim nice and easy and keep my breathing even and controlled. The first couple of laps were not so easy - not so controlled - and not so nice. I felt like a fish out water (is that the right metaphor for this discussion?). I ended up stopping in the shallow end and taking a few deep, calming breaths. Then, I started again. Much better. It helps me to stay relaxed if I count rhythmically. So on a beat only I could hear, I moved slowly down the lane, visualizing a dance in the water. My breathing evened ...

I read somewhere (another 'they said') that each run should have a goal, whether it be speed, easy, long/slow, tempo, etc. I am trying to approach this C2FM plan with that in mind. There are 3 runs during the week (4 if you count my Brick workout - but that is an entity all to itself), so I look at each one with a goal in mind. I'm hoping this strategy will stop boredom from setting in. Or, the bigger issue, stop me from comparing every run and coming up short of my expectations. Today had been dedicated to speed, but I just didn't have it in me - so I changed the goal before I hit the road. And I'm OK with the change - the important thing is to have a goal for when I start the run. I decided to do the prescribed .25/.25 x 6 with the run segments clocking in around the 11:00/11:30m/M pace. This is the pace I'd like to be able to eventually run at...so I guess this was a tempo run (?), maybe race pace (?). The idea was to keep my cadence up while maintaining go...

So, the calendar page got turned. And I got caught up in the future... I think that's one of the things that derails me when I start a new training program. That looking ahead to those 10, 12 and 13 mile runs. The thought of running 3.5 at this moment in time has me shaking my head and wondering if it's doable. 13 miles? I immediately believe that I will never be able to do that. Defeated before even getting past the 3 mile mark. This Day - that's all that counts. A workout that is appropriate for This Day . That's what I need to believe in! That's what I need to focus on. That's what I need to do! J

I was afraid this week would be less than great having had issues with time and motivation. But after yesterday's awesome 'long' run, I was more determined than ever to finish the week off on a high note. With a Brick workout of 2 mile cycle and 1.5 mile run on the treadmill under my belt, Mamma Mia Here We Go Again soundtrack blaring on the stereo, and that damn spreadsheet needing to be coloured in, I picked up my weights and got 'er done. There may have been some extra dancing (with and without Zoe...she's getting very good at dancing) and possibly, a couple of 'awesomes' thrown in for good measure. All in all, very, very happy with the wrap up to Week #5. J