Ice, Snow, and 29K

I had a lot of time to reflect on my training experiences while running yesterday. Two hours and 53 minutes of time to be exact. This is what I've come up with. Training in the dead of winter and outside of a formal training clinic is just not the same. In fact, it's quite difficult. Thank goodness I had Peter for company. Or at least partial company. Peter has become quite fond of running with the iPod, so he hears maybe every second thing I say. If I happen to be behind him when I say it, he hears nothing. So the key difference is that 29K feels a lot longer without the distraction of several people to chat with and encourage you along the way. It also takes longer because of the lousy footing that the ice and snow provides - especially along the pathways. The routes available to run in the winter are fewer. So many of my favourite routes are not plowed this time of year. A few times yesterday we had to abandon the path for the road. It was hard to decide which was worse - the crummy footing on the pathway or the speeding cars on Colonel By that were clearly annoyed to see runners at the side of the road.
All of that aside, I am feeling stronger. The training is paying off. And next week I get to do 29K all over again. I'm mapping out a better route - a longer loop with less time spent on the paths or busy roads.

Trying Not to Focus on the Journey

Well, I'm about halfway through my training. That should be a good thing. But halfway means I still have nine weeks to go. Nine weeks of tempo runs, hill work, speed work, and Sunday's long slow distance runs. This Sunday brings the first 29K. There's still a lot of work to be done before the Rome race and it can be overwhelming to contemplate. So, I'm going to focus on the big day and approach the training just one run at a time. Otherwise I'll start to think about what the weather can bring, freezing temperatures, lousy footing, puddles or ice, sometimes both.
This past Sunday I ran a decent 19. It was much warmer than the week before and I felt strong and energetic. This morning I ran 6K through the farm plus another two to get to Frederica's and home. I really should be running faster on Tuesdays and skipping the walk breaks. Tomorrow night I can look forward to seven hills and on Friday a fast, steady 10K. That's as far ahead as I'm thinking.

Colder than a ...

You can fill in the rest with your favourite Canadian winter cliche and you would be right. On Sunday, I was attempting to do 26K, but I made a bad choice about the most appropriate route and lived to regret it. A big chunk of our run was through the Experimental Farm, which sits on the highest part of Ottawa and offers very little shelter from the biting cold wind. If I'd been smarter, I'd have mapped out a route that kept me along the canal where it's lower and more protected. It was a very sunny day, and the parts of our route that took us along the canal were much more bearable. As it was, I was out long enough to have done my 26K but because we were running with a slower pace group I failed to make my distance. There was some confusion, too, about our actual mileage. Lessons learned: map out the distance ahead of time, choose the proper route for a cold day, wear my balaclava when the wind chill is minus 27, and bring some recovery food to eat in the car. Oh yes, and try to have plenty of gas in the car so that you don't have to fill up before you can get home to the kitchen.
So that's what I did wrong. In the afternoon, Peter and I did everything right. The secret to doing everything right is to plan to do nothing. We had long hot baths, read in bed, napped; we hibernated really. Luckily, we had enough ingredients for Peter to make a delicious comfort food dinner of stuffed turkey breast, sweet potatoes, and peas. We watched our old Year in Provence videos and were in bed again for the night at 9:30. Since we're both training for the Rome marathon, we've decided that this should be the new agenda for Sunday afternoons. Do nothing. Let's hope we can stick to it.
This past week was a pretty good training week. I ran alone on Tuesday evening and mapped out a new 6K tempo route through the neigbourhood, accompanied once again by my ipod. On Wednesday, I was forced to do my hill training inside on a treadmill - due to work commitments and weather. I ran through the farm early Friday morning with Terry and Frederica, but added a 10K steady run on Saturday morning in the rain. From now on, I plan to run on my own on Friday mornings to get a good 10K steady run in.
Tomorrow night brings more hill training. This time outside. I really hope it starts to warm up out there.

A Perfect 23K (I love my ipod Nano)

Unfortunately, I talked myself into skipping the Running Room's Sunday Run Club run. I almost never miss it. But I managed to have my most satisfying run in a long time. This was the first time I've run this far without any company. (Just my new training partner - my Nano). How did I achieve such a great run:
Nutrition
Pre-run - one egg, scrambled, with a little ketchup, and two pieces of whole wheat toast with butter and honey. During the run - water and Gu vanilla gel. A mouthful about one hour in, and another at about 1:40. Felt a little crampy at about 2 hours, but thankfully, the feeling passed quickly. Recovery - a few of Peter's chocolate-covered espresso beans and a peanut butter/honey sandwich.
Clothing
Seemed to get this just right for the weather, which was -9 celsius with no windchill factor. On top, just my running bra, long-sleeved shirt, and running jacket. Just tights on the bottom, not even winter weight. My new MEC boy short underwear and Defeet pink/black socks - gifts from Santa. I felt perfectly dressed, not cold, and didn't have to discard layers.
The Route
Ran from home (near the Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital) down Sherwood to Dow's Lake, then followed Queen Elizabeth Driveway to the NAC, up to Parliament Hill and down Wellington to the Portage Bridge, over to Hull, then Laurier to Alexandra Bridge, back over to Ottawa, then south on Sussex to King Edward, a turn around there, and north on Sussex til it meets Colonel By. Took the Colonel By path straight through to Bronson, where I crossed back over to the Driveway, then to Dow's Lake, and back home along Sherwood. This route takes you past many tourist destinations and some stunning architecture and panoramic vistas. I fall in love with Ottawa all over again every time I run the bridges.
My New Training Partner
With over 600 songs on our new Nano, I could just hit "Shuffle Songs" and be sure of enough tunes to carry me throughout the run. I was out 2 1/2 hours and enjoyed 40 songs. I loved not knowing what song would play next. Some were songs I'd never heard before, as the songs on our computer have been put there by my husband and grown sons, as well as me. It turned out to be a pretty eclectic mix - everything from Gillian Welch and David Grey to Chocolate Watchband and the Medieval Babes.
If anyone has a song they suggest I make sure is on my running playlist, please let me know. As you can see, my taste is music is pretty diverse.
Next Sunday is 26 - but I think I'll get out of bed this time and find some company at The Running Room.

Hills Are Not My Favourite Part of Training

You know you are well into your training regimen when you set out to do hills. Why else would anyone go up and down a hill at 85% effort, over and over again. It's not my idea of fun. I resist doing them until my training schedule calls for it. But last night I couldn't avoid them any longer. It was time to begin that dreaded component of my training program. Peter and I set out in another snowstorm to the store, but this time we made it. I ran with Peter and others as they set out to do a 10K fartlek, but I left them at Pretoria so that I could head back to Echo and do my hills. That means I had a 3K warm-up run. It was a slippery run in the freshly fallen snow. But very pretty. Echo hadn't been ploughed. There were several other runners using it for their hill training. Because it was my first night I only had to do 4 repeats. There was a marker at the 200 meter mark, so I wimped out and ended each hill there. Echo is such a long stretch and not as steep as Willard or Bronson. I think I'll move to one of those hills next week. I like to crest a hill, reach the top, and have no doubt that I've completed it. Echo to me seems like more of a speedwork interval. It's just so long. I enjoyed my cool-down run, which was just taking Colonel By to Bronson, then crossing over and coming back along the little path that goes right in front of the homes. Let me share my little secret - I love to glance in the windows as I run by to see how the rooms are decorated. Those are such beautiful homes. The path was very snowy, so the footing wasn't great.
Peter and I did go out on New Year's Day to meet Adrienne for a run. We ended up completing 19.5K. We were a bit stiff from the Resolution Run the night before, but if was a pretty good run, and I'm pleased that I got my scheduled run in. Next Sunday I move up to 23K. My Tuesday morning run was pretty decent, too. Frederica, Terry, and I ran all the way to Bank Street. We usually turn around at Bronson. I set the new coffeemaker that Michael bought us to begin brewing at 5:45. That's a.m.! Just knowing that the coffee is waiting for you is another incentive to get out of bed at that ungodly hour. Thanks Michael! I'm going to try that trick again tomorrow morning.

Resolution Run PB

50:44. This beats my best 10K race time by less than a minute (Hbc Canada Day - 51:21) but it felt like a real accomplishment because I've been fighting a chest cold since Wednesday. It was a fun, but challenging race. The temperature was minus twelve, but with wind chill, felt like minus twenty-one. This was the coldest resolution run I've raced in. And probably the coldest run so far this winter. I was dressed properly but still felt cold for the first 4k or so. I realized I was still quite sick as soon as I started run. I felt warm and a little dizzy. The climb past Carleton University seemed endless. Really the worst stretch of the race. I felt stronger on the way back - it helped that much of it was downhill. I couldn't read my watch in the dark (even with the Indigo light) so I had no idea how I was doing. I didnt' realize that Adrienne had been catching up to me and pretty much followed me the whole race. I noticed her at my side just after I passed the 9K mark. When I saw the 9K sign, I was surprised that there was only 1K left and I bumped up my speed. Then I saw Adrienne at my elbow. We ran in pretty much side by side. Peter had a good race, too. He ran in shortly after with a time of 52:03. A personal best for him, too. We chatted with a few runners briefly at the finish but we were getting cold so we drove Adrienne home. The next race was to shower and dress and make it to Il Primo for 8:30. We had a lovely dinner with Adrienne, Alison, Gerald, and Susan. We somehow made it to midnight to ring in the new year. The cold air in my lungs made me cough through dinner and, later, made it difficult to get to sleep. Still, I don't regret participating in the race. Today, although I should stay in bed, Peter and I are meeting Adrienne at Colonel By and Bronson to get in our Sunday long distance run. We're hoping to accomplish 19, but we'll see what happens. Happy New Year everyone! May it be a year of personal bests ( in all avenues of life) for all.