400

At the beginning of the year I set a goal to run at least 400k this year.  With today's run in the books I can happily say I have met that goal.  Actually I can say that I have exactly met that goal.  I have logged exactly 400k of running since January 1st!!  I am super proud of that since I am not the greatest when it comes to follow through on those kinds of goals.

What shall I do now that I have reached that goal and have 4.5 months left in the year?  Well increase it of course!  I will now be aiming for a total of 700k for the year.  I figure with Half Marathon training I will likely log another 200k leaving me with 100k for November and December.  I know that I slack of majorly after a race so this will be the motivation to keep going.  Who knows maybe I'll sign up for another race after the Half just for a little extra motivation!

Today's run was one of those sucky ones where you push hard yet can't seem to go any faster.  I was far slower than usual but my lungs were exploding, my legs felt like lead and my brain wanted to stop.  Luckily I am stubborn and kept moving.  I had to stop a couple of times for lights but I made sure to start running again right away.  I also passed a friend on her way to work which was a bit of motivation to keep going.  I don't want to have to explain why I was walking!!  So all in all it was a great day.  I feel good now and have everything packed for the gym tomorrow.

We are heading back to Florida to visit my brother and his family in January and I would love to be down a size or two and have just a touch more space on the plane.  It was a little crowded when a heavier person was sitting beside me and I wanted to have the window which doesn't allow a lot of moving room.  Next time I want to be able to move a little more than I could this time.  I figure if I keep up the mileage running and the trips to the gym I should have no issues with that one.

Sometimes

Sometimes you have to step back and see the little things

Sometimes you have to remember that this whole thing is a journey and not a sprint.  

Sometimes I am amazed at what my body can do now that it couldn't do a few years ago.

I am coming up on my 4 year runiversary.  Looking back I can't even remember what it was like when I couldn't run.  This morning I started the day with a 5k run.  I didn't want to get up but I knew that Saturday would be terrible trying to run 12k if I didn't get up today.  I did it despite the cold that knocked me out for the last few days.  I had to walk a bit because my sinuses filled and I needed to clear them:). Don't worry I had tissues!

Tonight was the last Thursday soccer night of the season.  It was cold and damp.  Not what you expect in August.  I was freezing so I decided to stand for a bit.  Four years ago that wouldn't have happened.  

During Adryanna's game she had to use the washroom.  Her team was very short handed so she needed to be quick.  The washroom isn't far but by the time you walk over, go and walk back it takes a few minutes.  So we ran!  A few years ago I would not have kept up and tonight I felt like I was flying.  It felt great to run the 200m or so each way and not be totally out of breath.  We raced back and I even beat Christina back to the chairs.  She wasn't happy but I was:)

Saturday we have to be on the soccer fields all day.  Two games each for the girls.  I need to run 12k before 9am.  I have no concerns with this.  I will get it done.

Sometimes I look back and think the old Selena would be pretty proud of the new one.

July Update

Well July wasn't my best month for running this year but I am okay with it.  No point in beating myself up over slacking.  I'll pick myself up and get back at it.  I have to if I want to run another half this year.  July's run total is 20k.  Yep that's it!  That doesn't mean I didn't move though.  I was in vacation the first week and everyday had over 10 000 steps.  I went camping twice and walked a lot both of those trips.  Overall I am happy with how the last month has gone.  The last run of July was even in the nasty heat and humidity of Florida!  

August is well underway and training must start for an October race.  My plan has me running 10k tomorrow, I feel a cold starting but hopefully it will be mild enough in the morning that a good run will help it.  From here the mileage just gets longer!

I mentioned Florida and you may be wondering what would possess me to go there at this time of year.  Here is why:

Meet Thomas!!! He is the newest member of my family and he is my nephew:). My brother and his wife live in Florida and he was being born August 1st so my mom and I headed down for a short visit:)

I have even more reason to get and stay in shape now!

Complete Randomness

It's been a neat few weeks.  I have been busy and happy doing some fun things.  I did one morning of interval training which was interesting.  I overestimated my abilities a little and was humbled by the fact that I couldn't quite do what I wanted.  I haven't tried again since but more because I haven't been super strict about running lately.  I've been tired and as a result it has been nice to just stay in bed instead of getting up.

Last week I had one of my best runs ever though so that's a bit of motivation.  It was raining and beautiful out there.  I wasn't sure that it was going to be a good one when I started out but quickly came to remember how much I love to run in the rain and ended it feeling refreshed and alive.

We went camping a couple of weeks ago and I planned to run but refused to set an alarm.  I always wake up super early when we are camping.  Usually because someone has to go to the washroom and won't go alone.  Well this time the girls decided they would learn how to sleep in.  Imagine my excitement when we woke up to find that many of our fellow campers were awake and getting breakfast ready.  The smell of bacon and eggs cooking over a fire ended my desire to run.  I did manage to get loads of walking and hiking in though.  We were in a group site that was on the edge of the provincial park and the showers and playground are in the middle.  It is about 2km each way.  I happily walked that at least twice each day we were there.  I logged at least 13000 steps on my Fitbit and was super happy.  The absolute best part though was when Christina started to whine on the way back and I was able to give her a piggy back the last 500m or so.  I even skipped and ran a little to make it fun and to make her stop the whining!

This week is super hot.  I was lazy yesterday morning and didn't get up to run.  I felt mad as soon as I did get up so decided no matter how hot it was I was going to run after work.  It was 38c with the humidex and I planned a 5k route ending at the soccer field.  It was nasty but I made it there.  I walked a lot but the important part was that I was moving.  Tomorrow I won't sleep in!

Next week I am heading to Florida for 6 days.  I get to meet my new nephew and spend some time with my brother and his family.  I'm looking forward to the time away and running in a different place.  When I get back it's training time for that Fall Half Marathon that I am going to run!

June Update (or maybe confession?)

Let's start with the confession part shall we?   I have only run 40k in the month of June.  Yep that's less than half of what I ran last month.  I started off strong (remember that half marathon?).  Sadly the wheels fell of a bit after that.  I'm not sure exactly why and maybe it has something to do with my body rebelling from all the training but I was just plain tired.  The last thing I wanted to do was get up at 5am to run.  I managed to get up once or twice a week though.  The fun part is those runs that I had to drag myself out of bed for were actually really good ones.  Well except for the last one, it was terrible but I'm not thinking about that.  The rest were fabulous.  I was able to run my fastest ever 5k a couple of weeks ago and I managed to run a most perfect run another day where all of my splits got faster.  So moving forward I will use those runs as my motivation to keep going.

My goal for the next few weeks before Fall Half training starts?  I am going to get fast!!! Okay maybe not lightening fast but fast for me.  I know I have it in me to get faster so I am going to focus on that.  I will do some speed training once a week and maybe throw in a trip to the hill down the street.  It is nothing like the hill that we used when I trained with Runners' Edge but it's nice little hill.

August will be the start of training for the Niagara Falls International Half which is the last weekend of October.  I know now that I need to have a goal race to keep me going so that's what I'll do.  After the fall Half I will have to figure out a winter plan.  If this winter is anything like last I will definitely need something to keep me going.

Niagara Falls Women's Half Marathon 2014

Last Sunday I ran my second Half Marathon!! The Niagara Falls Women's Half was the one I ran in 2012 also and loved it just as much this time as last.  I love it so much that I am going to do it again next year.

Over the last few months I have trained and prepared and it was so exciting when it finally arrived.  I trained through the cold of winter and the warmer temperatures of spring but not the heat.  Race day dawned at about 14c which isn't too hot.  By the time the race was done the temperature according to my dashboard was 27c  which is about 20 degrees hotter than most of my training runs.  It sucked but I had to keep moving so I did.  My pace slowed a lot and I walked  a lot more in the last few kilometers than I would have liked but sometimes you have to do what it takes to get finish.

One of my favourite things about this race is the crazy energy of the whole thing.  The organizers and voluncheers (that's what their shirts say) are super supportive.  The organization is amazing and the fun is all around.  From drum lines to harpists, flowers in port-a-potties to fancy hand soap this race has it all.  I am so happy to have run it two out of the three years it has been run.  I look forward to next year and the fun it will have then.

Next on deck for me will be the Niagara Falls International Half in October.  Last time I ran a half, two years ago, I was just done at the end.  I took the recommended two weeks off, which turned into 3, then 4 then a half hearted attempt at getting back at it, then a break then a year of off and on running.  Last fall I decided I was getting back out there and not quiting this time.  I started this adventure to get healthier and won't quit now.  So this weekend, after just a week off, I decided to go for a short run.  It was tough but felt great by the end.  I'll take it easy this week but then it's go time.  I'm going to push myself over the next few weeks and work on increased speed, I'm going to stick to my long runs and come August I will be building my distance again and training for October.

May Update?  Nothing too exciting to share.  It was taper time so my mileage was a bit less.  I ran 84k in the month of May.  My weight stayed about the same and I went to the gym a few times.  I slacked a bit because I was tired and wanted to focus on the race.  Now that it's behind me I'll get back to the gym more and work a bit better on my eating.

Another for the books!!

Saturday morning I got up and ran my longest training run to date. I ran 20k, most of which was into a headwind too.  It was a terrible and fantastic run all at the same time.  I was happily tired when I returned home.   I've been having some IT Band issues and was pretty sore but the stretching worked wonders and within an hour of getting home I was showered, fed and ready for an afternoon at Frogfest with the kids.  Frogfest is a celebration of Frog season at a local nature park.

As the day went on I could feel a cold coming on.  It seemed like my body knew that the hardest run was done and it let the virus in.  Sunday morning I went shopping and bought all the ingredients for a soup from my Oh She Glows cookbook called "on the mend red lentil-kale soup".  It is spicy and tasty and filling.  I made a pot of that and also bought stuff to make honey, lemon, ginger tea.  I ate the soup for a couple of days and drank the tea like crazy.  I am happy to report that I made it through that cold quickly and with no medications.  My mom was never shy about taking or giving us medications when we were sick but now I prefer to keep things to a minimum.  I take the things I have to but cold pills only seem to prolong the inevitable.  This time I managed to kick the cold in less than a week.  

This morning was my first run since Saturday.  I skipped my workouts for the first half of the week so that I could get a little extra rest.  I was nervous going out but quickly felt great.  It was the perfect run.  The weather was perfect, I watched the sun come up and the world wake up.  I felt great from step one to step 8905 (or at least that's how many steps my pretty pink fitbit says). 

Before today I was a little nervous for race day but after today's run I feel like I will be just fine!!  Three weeks to go!!