Today was my long run though I find it hard to say that 12k is a long run for me. However, to kick it up a notch Coach had me do 2 sets of fartleks during the run. I originally had a route planned out but after the first loop I realized it was a nice morning and I would be much happier running along the beach. I will say it was a beautiful morning especially watching dawn break. That really did make my 2nd set of sprints much easier.
As I mentioned before I lead a group of seniors on a walk each week. A few weeks ago a couple of them asked if we could make the walk a bit longer. I advised absolutely but we needed to make sure M (initials only of course) was comfortable walking that distance. M wasn’t there last week but me and the other seniors gave it a try and all agreed it was a perfect distance and they liked the speed we walked at. I again reminded them, we only walk as far as everyone is comfortable with and at a speed that makes everyone feel safe.
Yesterday M joined us and I explained that we had lengthened the route but if it was too much she should let me know. Off we went and of course as soon as we started so did the rain. During the walks I try to walk a bit with each senior so that I can chat with them and see if they have any issues I can help with. We were about 2/3’s of the way through this walk when I realized M was lagging a bit so I dropped to the back of our group just to check on her. She admitted since she hadn’t walked in a few weeks and she was struggling a bit but wanted to keep going. I stayed at the back with M for the rest of the walk and intentionally slowed down the pace (the rule of thumb is if you are in front and can’t hear the conversation behind you that you have gotten too far ahead). M finished the walk and said she really did want to do it again next week.
Today I continued working with my husband to build up his walking endurance. I decided it was time to make it a little more challenging so we headed towards the beach. However, when we got to the bottom of the hill instead of heading to the promenade I said let’s turn around and head back up the hill (I know it is too soon to do a long walk with him that ends in a steep hill). This morning I ran up that hill but this afternoon I walked it a pace that is more appropriate for my husband’s training. This was just an extra walk for me but for him it is to make him stronger. I promised him after we do that walk several more times in the next week that we will start adding distance so that he will soon be walking the promenade.
What’s important here is knowing the people you are walking with and making sure you are walking to their abilities not yours if they are not at your fitness level. Keeping seniors moving (and my husband is a senior) benefits them greatly so it is best to make it as safe and enjoyable for them as possible.
It was a really busy morning today. I had to drive my brother downtown (an hour on a good morning) for a specialist appointment at 8:30am. That meant doing a quick 1/2 hour walk with the dog first thing and putting off training until I got home. I realized something on my training though this morning while doing the fartleks, the faster I run the longer my stride gets. I think it is just a natural way the body moves instead of doing faster little steps. Regardless, it is still hard but I figure that it must be helping me if this training is so difficult. I also noticed I have started a new mantra in my head, getting stronger, getting faster. It seems to be what is pushing me through the sprint training.
My husband told me that when he retired he wanted me to start training him for walking and help him lose some weight. I had to explain to him that it wasn’t going to work unless he made some other adjustments as well. I’ve learned along this journey that it is not just one factor that makes you healthy, you need to do a combination of several things. So for me, it is back to basics to help him kick start his journey.
I started with he has to eat 3 proper meals every day. He found this to be counter intuitive since normally he doesn’t eat breakfast. I referred him to my post a while ago that talked about why breakfast can be important. Next is avoid snacks but if you are going to have one try to make it healthy. Trust me, he is well aware of where my stash of almonds is kept. For me, especially after a long run, I need to have something to snack on and I love almonds. Another is eating a lot of fruits and vegetables. He was a bit surprised by how much he liked spinach/beet salad which I have at least once a week.
I think the hardest part of my basic health plan for my husband will be reducing carbs and focusing on healthy or ‘good’ carbs. My husband is addicted to bread and believes he may die if he can’t eat it. But this is not about depriving yourself of something you really like, instead it is about having it occasionally and adjusting your other meals during the day to compensate for things like bread (note we really only eat whole wheat bread). Besides, he is liking some of the healthy carbs that he is eating such as quinoa, low sugar blueberry bran muffins and my homemade whole wheat waffles (which by the way taste awesome).
So, how is all of this working? Well in the first week with targeted walking and eating differently he has lost 6 lbs. I remember at the start of my journey when I would lose big numbers and how motivating that would be. Now, he just has to keep it up but I admit it has also made me decide I can go back to some of those basics myself. I think the two of us working together is going to be good for both of us.
So my husband has been home for a week now. He thought retirement meant sleeping in every day and just puttering around the house. However, that is not how this household works. There is no sleeping in, get up time is 5am most days (I didn’t make him get up at 4am with me on Thursday when I did my long run), tea and breakfast is only made once and really it is not to order. This morning I remembered how he is not a morning person and can be quite nasty. I took him aside and told him, you don’t want to chit chat, that is fine, but you need to be polite and respectful. May have to keep working on this but we will get there.
If you recall I mentioned that when I first saw my training for this week I thought it was quite easy but I soon realized I was wrong. So let’s review, an easy 5k, next a 5k with 1 set of sprint training, hill training, a 14k run, another 5k with 2 sets of sprint training and a fourth 5k with 3 sets of sprint training. I figured it was going to be a bit challenging but that was ok, I could get through it.
Let me be clear, this was the hardest week of training I have done. Now, I remember when the thought of running for 10 minute intervals seemed daunting. I remember the first time Coach said to do a 12k and I was sure it would kill me so how could this week have been so hard. Well, let me tell you, that sprint training is just brutal. Ok, 1 set of sprint training during a run is ok, 2 is really hard, 3 is for God’s sake why am I doing this to myself!
Yesterday when I did the 2 sets of sprint training running along the beach I realized I needed to find a way to be successful doing the 3 sets. So, I decided this morning to do my training on the dreaded treadmill. There was couple reasons for this, firstly running on the treadmill is easier than running outside and secondly, no hills would be involved. Still, when I was doing that 3rd set I had to keep chanting to myself, you are running faster. Yes, I did it and it didn’t kill me but boy did I ever feel it.
Here’s the thing though, when I got off that treadmill this morning I thought good on you, you pushed through it and got it done. I really want to try this again next week and see if I can do it even better. I think back to a year ago when I was so far from as fit as I am now and remember it was really hard then as well but I kept going and look where it got me. I realized, I am good with training hard!
I am not happy with my Fitbit today. Because it was pouring rain this morning I opted for the dreaded treadmill. Today I was to do an easy 14k and I know I tend to run faster on the treadmill than outside. I also know that 14k will take me about 2 hours on the treadmill. I did a pretty easy run but I did push it in to high gear for several minutes at the end. When I looked at my Fitbit it said 1) I had run about 13k and 2) I only ran for 1 hr 33 min. I do know it is incorrect because my tracking app on my phone had me at just over 14k. Ok, time to do a reset and hopefully tomorrow it will be more accurate.
My husband and I have been walking together each day since he came home and Monday he commented to me that his feet were bothering him. I looked down at his shoes and went OMG, no wonder, those are crappy shoes. I told him it was time to go look for some proper walking shoes because without good shoes it is pretty easy to find excuses not to walk each day.
So out we went to a shoe store. The problem is that my husband is from Scotland and is very stereotypical in that he is a cheap bastard. He immediately balked at the price of good walking shoes but I told him it was a must. When he finally settled on a pair I think it nearly killed him to pay for them. I tried to make him feel better by telling him that those shoes were about half the price of the ones I wear. Note, that statement did not make him feel better in anyway.
I know I’ve talked about the importance of good shoes when running but a lot of it applies to walking as well. When I started walking (wow, nearly 2 years ago) I had pretty good walking shoes. I have worn good walking shoes for many years because quite frankly they give far better support to my bad knee. But there are several other reasons good walking shoes are important,
- They help maintain correct walking technique
- They are an important part of injury prevention
- Your feet being comfortable can help with both endurance and speed
- Proper fitting and appropriate walking shoes can lessen the impact of walking by cushioning your step
A final comment, it is also important to replace your shoes on a regular basis My podiatrist told me a good measure for me is every 6 months for my running shoes (actually 12 months since I alternate 2 different pairs) and that it is important to replace them before they start breaking down. Walking shoes are no different and I will be keeping track of my husband’s shoes to make sure he swaps them out at the right time.
The one good thing about my husband retiring and being home permanently is that now I have someone to walk with each day. I promised him I would slowly get his walking up to more of a training level so for right now we are doing about an hour a day. It’s not at my usual pace but that is ok, I need to give him some time to work himself up to my level (though he says running is never going to happen). What I like best about it is having someone other than the dog to talk with on those walks.
Coach gave me my training schedule this week and I was like really, that just seems too easy compared to what I have been doing for the last several weeks. I am doing 4 5k runs, a 14k run (as opposed to 18k) and a day of hill intervals. But then I read her final comment, this will be a tough week so listen to your body. Ok, time to break this training down a little more.
Yesterday was the same as I do every Monday, a nice 5k run, no big deal just getting warmed up for the week. Today was back to 10 intervals of hill training. I haven’t done that for a while and I put a lot of effort into the intervals and I admit they felt pretty good (note, I really do like the hill intervals as I feel I get a lot out of them). Tomorrow is another 5k run however, we are going to kick it up a notch. About 1/2 way through the run I will do a set of fartleks. Ok, I’ve done that on other runs so I’m not too concerned. Thursday will be the 14k and as instructed I will run it at a steady pace avoiding the trap of starting off too quickly and not having the energy to finish. Friday is the 3rd 5k but this time there will be 2 sets of fartleks. Finally on Saturday I will do my last 5k and it will include 3 sets of fartleks.
I get that this may not sound too bad and it didn’t when I first read the instructions. Then I realized, by time I hit Saturday there is going to be a significant amount of sprint training (fartleks) going on. I do think this is the right thing to do as I am really not concerned about endurance and being able to run 21.1k, hell I am almost there now. What I have been worried about is being able to do the run in less than 3 hours (again, the streets will be only be closed for 3 hours so you want to be done before traffic starts again). Coach’s goal is that I am finished in 2 1/2 hours (not so sure about that) and so now we are going to focus on building up my speed.
Really, I am game to try this speed training as not only will it help me to run faster for longer, it also helps to build my confidence which I will need to be successful at my 1/2 marathon.
Tonight we are hosting a dinner party with a couple close friends to celebrate my husband’s retirement. For reasons that I cannot explain I decided not only would I make lasagna, I would make everything from scratch including the noodles. Top that off with a cheesecake, no sugar blueberry sauce and my own dressing for the caesar salad and I have spent hours prepping food. Now I remember why I don’t make lasagna very often.
Because I knew I was going to be tight on time today I decided instead of my usual Saturday 1 1/2 hour walk I would do an easy 1 hour run. I figured that would get me to 6k and at least get me a bit of a cardio workout. I hit the treadmill before 6am and had the most recent episode of Grey’s Anatomy to watch. I thought it would be a great way to get myself moving so that I could face the challenges of the day.
Things were going along well. I felt comfortable and was doing a gentle run. However, I hit the 1/2 hour mark and thought, crap, this isn’t hard enough. I sighed and upped the speed and kept going. Then I hit the last 10 minutes and still felt I wasn’t working as hard as I could so I upped the speed again. The last 2 minutes I said screw it and bumped my speed up to what I do for my sprint training.
Much to my surprise by time I was done I felt awesome. Checking my Fitbit I saw that in 57 minutes I had actually run 7k. My heart rate was in the cardio zone for the first half of the workout and then hit peak for the 2nd half. My pace in each of those segments was strong and steady. Looking at my stats I felt pretty proud of myself.
I realized that I don’t like easy anymore, I want the challenge. I want at the end to be drenched in sweat and feeling like I had accomplished something. I want my body to tell me, great workout. Who knew that training for a 1/2 marathon would change my mindset so dramatically. Now I can’t wait for whatever challenges coach is going to give me next week because I know I can successfully accomplish them.
Yesterday I had some fun. My sister noticed our neighbour’s young Australian Shepherd running out on the street. Another neighbour was trying to catch him but she didn’t know his name. I went out on the front stoop and called him and over he ran. We then gave him some treats as we connected him to a leash and then walked him to his home 2 doors away. Here is where it got fun, not 10 minutes later he was back at our front door (obviously a smart dog as he learned pretty quick that we had treats) so same process and back to his owner. The owner has no idea how the dog is getting out but promised it won’t happen again (oh yes it will but we didn’t have the heart to tell him that). Later in the afternoon the dog saw us when he was out walking with his owner and immediately started wagging his tail. I figure to him we are now the treat ladies.
Today was my 18k run and it was cold out so I thought I would run on the dreaded treadmill. 10 minutes into the run I thought, I so don’t want to do this. By 20 minutes into the run I was having a hot flash and became drenched with sweat. At this point I just wanted to stop and that voice in my head told me I have been working hard lately so I shouldn’t feel guilty about giving up on this one session. I promised myself I would quit after an hour.
The hour mark came and I still did not want to run but I sucked it up and told myself I could get 1 1/2 hours. But then, approaching that mark and covered with sweat a new voice started in my head saying ‘you got this’. I started repeating those words and focusing on taking one step after another. At 2 hours I realized I only had 45 minutes to go so I started telling myself ‘you can do this’. The next thing I knew I was at 2 hours and 40 minutes so only 5 minutes to go and at that point I just smiled and started a new cadence in my head, you just pushed through it.
I know that there is nothing wrong with having a day where I don’t feel like training and that my head isn’t in the game. The important thing is not letting those thoughts overwhelm you and to do what you can to push through. I’m not saying you always have to do this, sometimes life just gets in the way but I know for me I felt better getting to the end of that 18k than I would have felt if I cut it short. I just needed to refocus on the basics, a run is just 1 step at a time and if I do enough of them I will have run a 1/2 marathon.
I am going to struggle a bit this week to get all my workouts done. It is not because I don’t want to, it is because I am just booked solid. Today for example, 8 k run followed by 2 k walk with the dog then some strength exercises. Managed a quick shower before attending a virtual meeting after which it was a hurried lunch before starting my volunteer income tax clinic which takes the entire afternoon. Somehow I have got to manage to get in at least one more 1/2 hour walk to meet today’s goals. The rest of the week doesn’t look much better but I will find a way to get it all done. As I warned my husband, this is what retirement looks like.
Saturday my husband and I were out walking the dog for an hour. At one point my husband told me his calves were burning. I tried really hard not to laugh at this as we really hadn’t gone far and the incline we were walking up was not really that steep. A while later into the walk he suggested I write a blog on discovering new muscles and I was like Babe, all my muscles were discovered about a year ago. He reminded me that anyone starting out won’t be in the same place I am which made me think, this could be a good topic.
I mentioned before that my husband is retiring soon (Friday) and he has committed to letting me do some walking training with him. He does do a fair amount of walking on the job sight, maybe 5-6k a day, but I realized it is not what I do. Rather, he walks at a slower pace and doesn’t really deal with elevation. This is likely why his muscles were burning, they haven’t done this in a long time (can’t wait to see how he does going up the dreaded Oxford hill but that won’t likely be until the summer).
I’ll be honest, it’s been a while since I started to find muscles that hadn’t been worked enough. I do recall though finding those calf, quad, and hamstring muscles when I first started running. I guess the last time I really felt they were working harder than normal was doing the hill interval training. Or, maybe when I started doing my strength training and was working on 1 legged bridge lifts (ok, when you first start these it is really hard). Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like there aren’t days when I finish a good workout such as the 18k run that my muscles are a bit sore and tired, I just seem to have gotten to the point where I am fit enough for them to handle it.
I guess brings us back to a point my coach has told me all along, listen to your body. Yes, it is ok to feel some discomfort and that means your muscles are working. But, it is important to recognize the difference between discomfort and damage. I’ll be working on that with my husband in the coming months.
I thought I would start with an update on the beach beaver (as I fondly have named him). Turns out some caring people were concerned as really, beavers don’t hang out at the beach and reached out to find help for him. Two RCMP officers rescued him and took him to a local wildlife rescue centre. It was determined he was about 2 years old making him a teenager in beaver years. He had also overdosed on salt water which made his liver and kidney functions deteriorate. Fortunately he should fully recover and when that happens they will find a safe place to release him back into the wild.
Today was a walk day. Even though it is Saturday I still get up at 5am and hit the road by 6am. It was a little chilly this morning and I wondered if I should have worn a heavier jacket as opposed to my running jacket. Still I walked at a brisk pace to make sure my heart rate was where it needed to be. However, about 1/4 of the way into the walk I started feeling bad about the fact that I wasn’t running. Seriously, what the hell is happening to me?
To put this in perspective, I do some form of run training 5 days a week. There are 3 different runs which right now I do during the week, 5k, 8k and 18k. I then on 2 other days do my sprint training. This is a lot of running but still I couldn’t help think of walking today as somehow slacking off. I know it is not, I need this day for my body to get some recovery time but it was almost like that little voice in my head was telling me I need to work harder. I decided to shut it down because I don’t need to work harder, on top of all my runs I am doing a lot of walking each day. I am making myself even more fit each week which has always been the overall goal.
I realized that my mindset has changed in a couple ways. Firstly is the ability to stop doing the self criticism which for a long time I was so good at. Secondly, I no longer look for excuses not to work hard and instead question whether I should be doing more (again, I shouldn’t). I realized I want to work hard, I want to be the most fit that I can be. Most of all I always want to feel good about myself which really I do. Funny, I am now very attuned to the fact that I can not think of myself as physically lazy anymore. I really am becoming a runner.
One other thing I noticed on that brisk walk today (note there was a 2nd not so brisk walk as I am working on my husband’s walking skills but I will talk about that next week). This walk, which I did numerous times starting in the summer of 2020, used to take me 1.5 hrs. Today it was under an hour with my heart rate never peaking. Yep, I’ve come a very long way.
Today was my long run day and it was to be another 18k run (note, I like long run days because I have a big bowl of oatmeal and raisins for breakfast so I can carb up). I decided to try a new route so ran from the the east side of White Rock to the west side (note this is only about 5k). I had planned to do this a couple times round trip but decided the route was not well lit and there were too many dips in the sidewalk. I turned and headed south toward the beach. That was a nice run and by time I got to the west promenade I was 1/2 way through my run. When I had run a couple k along the promenade I noted a couple at the fencing that blocks the rail tracks taking pictures and they were very excited so I figure with the tide in there must be a seal in the water. As I ran by the woman called out to me, look there’s a beaver. I thought, um I don’t think there is a beaver down at the beach then holy shit!!!, there’s a beaver down at the beach. I thanked her for pointing it out to me and I got to see it later further along the beach. I always really enjoy my runs when I see eagles or the tiny baby rabbits but this was even better.
I admit lately I have been a little too engaged in social media. Between the ‘freedom convoy’, border shutdowns and continued rallies to now the Russian invasion of Ukraine it is almost overwhelming. The invasion is particularly concerning as I worry that this will result in things like the use of nuclear weapons. My husband suggested yesterday that maybe I should talk about stress and the things I am doing to help relieve it.
You would think the past 2 years dealing with the pandemic would have been enough for the world to handle but the latest issues have taken it over the top. Having said that, one of the things that COVID and my brother’s recent health issue managed to teach me is how to not let things overwhelm me. Ok, the obvious thing is running which simply gives me a way to distract me thoughts from the scary stuff and instead focus on myself. Alright, that may sound a bit selfish but I really don’t think it is, rather I see it as self-preserving.
But there are some other things I turn to when things are making me anxious. The biggest one is my pets. A walk with the dog or throwing her ‘babies’ for her brings on a significant sense of calm. When that isn’t necessarily working then cuddling the cats always helps. The other is (oh, and I so hate to admit this) but cooking. Now I don’t really like cooking but I find it tolerable if I have a new recipe to try using one of our vast number of appliance or a new cooking method (I made the most amazing steaks using a sheet pan recipe recently). To do this I go through all sorts of cookbooks to find something that I think I will really enjoy. My latest is an Irish Pub cookbook which has a few interesting recipes that I want to try including a beef and Guinness pie which with marinating takes over a day to make.
I finally have a few fail safes. I look for a good book that I can read. I have started doing diamond painting (a bit stalled right now) which makes you concentrate incredibly hard so there is no room for stressful thoughts. I also listen to my favourite music especially songs I find soothing. Soon, my husband and I are going to work on some refinishing projects. Lastly is a good soak in the hot tub (even if I am not stressed this happens on my long run days) which really helps me relax.
So don’t let what is going on in the world right now take over. Find the things that help keep you centered. Remember, taking care of yourself is just as important as taking care of others.
gwennefarrell 