Showing posts with label ice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ice. Show all posts

Friday, December 13, 2013

Winter time in #YYC...And the running is easy (?)

I've been away for the last couple of weeks on work travel, so getting the runs in was a little tougher. And what I came back to in Calgary wasn't exactly setting the scene for a smooth transition back into the training program - while it hasn't been as cold as it was when I was away, it was still fairly cold. But the biggest problem has been the slick pavement and large chunks of ice, which haven't really instilled confidence in me when it comes to attempting tempo runs on this slick surface. For some reason, Calgary doesn't seem to plow all that much after snowfall - and there's been a lot of snow lately!

So for now, my plan is to head to the gym for a treadmill tempo/interval run, and then when pace isn't an issue I'll do a medium run tomorrow and a long slow run Sunday. (In comparison Halifax seems to have gotten its first shovel-worthy dumping of snow today!)

In the meantime, check out my article on winter running in Calgary, which I just discovered is hot off the press in the Nov/Dec issue of OptiMYz magazine (pp. 75-7).

Enjoy, and stay safe and warm out there, runners!

~ HRG

Sunday, January 20, 2013

T-minus 21 days till race day, and counting: Slip slidin' away

Today's run was an 18k LSD. When I woke up after a late night, my first reaction was to hit snooze on my alarm. Our bed seemed so cozy and warm, whereas getting up to go run outside wasn't all that appealing.

But then I remembered my post from the yesterday, and how inspired I'd been after my yoga lesson. I can't on the one hand write about inspiration and on the other decide to hit the snooze button and lie in bed because I was up too late the night before.

So I tried to turn off my brain and the negative self-talk that was telling me to stay in bed and go for a run later in the day, and instead tried to focus on how lucky I was to be able to head outside for a long run, and on how much I would enjoy running and chatting with friends and fellow runners. I knew that once I got started, I would be glad I had gotten up and headed out for that run.

Arriving at the Running Room, I did indeed see many friendly and welcoming faces who seemed happy to see me there. So instead of plugging in both earbuds and focusing on my music, I turned to them and started chatting away.

The roads were very icy, though - the theme of the week. It had snowed, then melted, and snowed, then rained, and a thin layer of ice coated the sidewalks.

Because I was chatting, I wasn't entirely paying attention, which meant that all of a sudden at about kilometre 4, I lost my footing in the middle of a sentence and fell to the ground with a loud "whoop!" that sounded much louder and dramatic than I actually felt hurt.

Our pace leader, Wendy, asked how I was doing and kindly told me to take some time to let it all sink in - because I might be in shock. The rest of the group seemed to be more in shock than I felt, partly because my "whoop" had been so dramatic. I was a little stunned, but more embarrassed than anything. But everyone was super kind and made sure to ask how I was doing, checking to see that there was no obvious bleeding or rips anywhere.

Beyond a couple of bruised knees and a scraped palm, I was fine, though. Although it was tempting to turn around and head inside - the roads really were treacherous - and grumble about how bad the run was, instead, I turned back to chatting with my friends, and the kilometres ticked off gradually.

Until we were at kilometre 17, and Eye of the Tiger came onto my iPod (I still had one earbud in).

I was tired, and my legs were heavy, but I knew it was partly because of the fall and another part because of our staggering gait on the icy patches.

I remembered Stephanie's words from yesterday: I could be achy, tired and miserable. Or I could just be achy and tired. So I focused on the energy in the song and enjoyed the little boost the music was giving me, almost singing out loud to the lyrics. I knew too, from previous experience, that it's the tough runs that are super training for race day, when I'll likely be just as tired and exhausted but will need the mental stamina to continue.

And I finished that run.

My legs are tired and achy now, and my knees are sore and a little bruised, but I'm happy I persevered. I know I would have beat myself up if I'd let myself quit too soon.

One more long run down before race day!

Hope you're all staying safe out there, folks.

- HRG

Friday, January 18, 2013

T-minus 23 days till race day, and counting!

It's Friday, which usually means I get the day off (unless I've skipped a few too many runs and am trying to jam another one in to the week). But I was a good girl this week and managed two out of three runs, which ain't half bad, considering the weather.

Although last night's weather was not as hairy as Wednesday's, once I got out on the roads I soon found out that the sidewalks were deceivingly slippery. What seemed like water running across the pavement was actually patches of really, really thin ice. And what seemed like ice, was ice.

Which made for an interesting run. I'm not sure if it was the fact that I had to adjust my gait to avoid slipping and face-planting (shortening my stride and running rigidly, tentatively), or if it was the fact that Tuesday I did a Yin:Yang yoga class immediately following my tempo run around the Commons, but for the first half of my 8k run my legs felt heavy and my calves achy. (Ok, I had also overdone it a bit on Tuesday's run, when I started out at 5:10 for what should have been a 5:30 pace.)

In any case, for whatever reason, I felt like I was tottering my way through much of the run last night. Partway through, I started hearing my negative self-talk creep in, wondering if I was feeling the pain because I haven't been training enough...was I ready to race...maybe I've put on a few too many pounds since the holidays...Ok, truth be told, after a long day at work I was mentally tired and dreading the run to begin with.

And then I remembered the lessons I'd learned from last year's training, which included trying to stop the negative self-talk. And I remembered that it's the tough runs, when you don't want to be out there, that help you on race day. Because if you can totter your way through an icy city when all you'd like to do is be home curled up under a blanket, then you can do this on race day, when there are friends and family lining the sidewalks to cheer you on.

I also reflected on a great article in Runner's World I'd just been reading the previous day, which said that the days when you don't want to go out for a run, because it's cold and icy out there, are exactly the days when you should get out there. Because when you finish that run, your endorphins will be flowing, and you'll feel a sense of accomplishment.

So I kept going, and I fought the urge to berate myself for running a minute slower than I would usually run (just more negative self-talk). The point of last night's icy run was to get out there, and do it.

Eventually, my gait loosened up a bit, and my legs forgot the ache. And when I got to my hubby's store, I did feel really happy that I'd chosen to go out and get 'er done.

How's your training for race day going? Stay safe and warm out there!

~ HRG

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Week 12 complete, and 13 begins: Marathons are also about the chocolate-banana smoothies and ice baths!

Well, last week was tough, there's no denying it. But as I was discussing with a fellow runner on Twitter, usually a tough run is followed by a great run. And that's what happened this week. After my awesome Body Attack class on Monday, which was supposed to have been a rest day, I didn't know quite how I'd be feeling on Tuesday. But after Bruce's quick chat on perceived effort vs heart rate monitoring, we headed out for our 6k tempo run. And it was a great run.

To keep things easy route-wise, Bruce made us do laps around the Commons. I thought I was going to stick with the 4:15 group, given the attacking that my body had done the previous day. As we came up Bell Road and along Ahern, turning left onto the sidewalk next to the Commons, I started to pick up the pace. We were supposed to be running at around a 5:50/5:55 pace, but pretty soon, I was catching up to the 4hr group. Looking down at my Garmin, I saw that I'd picked up to around 5:06 in order to catch up with them.

I let myself slow down to around 5:24 and drafted along behind the 4hr group, feeling pretty good. My breathing was a little heavier, but I was just enjoying the feeling of speed, and of the strength in my legs. At around 5k, my calves and shins were cramping a tiny bit so I held off a tad. I find that usually helps burn off the latic acid and lets my muscles recover and loosen up a bit.

Anyways, we were supposed to do threre laps around the Commons and head back, but by lap three, I saw Andrea and Bruce standing at the Five Corners. I guess I forgot how to count that day, because when Bruce told me we were supposed to do three laps and head back to the store, I got confused and thought I'd only done two. So back around the Commons I went.

By that time, I couldn't see the group ahead of me, and there was no one behind. Confused, I headed back to the store, only to see Wendy, Carol and Andrea stretching there, when I thought they had been behind me! In the end, I did 8k at around 5:30/km and it felt great.

Long story short, this run reminded me how much I love running short, fast (relative to me) distances. I don't mind not being able to breathe for a few kms (5-10) if I know the finish line is nearby!

On Wednesday and Thursday, my husband and I headed in to the Valley for an early birthday mini-vacation. We had a great time sampling local beers, wine and food and watching the local bald eagles (did I mention I'm such a Lisa Simpson?), and it was nice to relax with him in the countryside for a few days -- we don't often get two days off together due to our different work schedules.

Friday, the weather was a typical Halifax spring day -- wind, rain, snow, ice pellets...I'd been running in a tank top and shorts only a few weeks ago, now this? I opted for Zumba instead, but for some reason I didn't quite feel like I had my A-game. So Saturday, rather than repeating my mistake of the previous week of doing too much (10k + Ashtanga), I just did Ashtanga. At this point in the training schedule, skipping out on a few runs isn't going to make or break my race. And I knew that if I was feeling tired, sometimes it's just best to take it easy and give my body a break.

Today, we ran 32k. And I conquered the MacDonald Bridge once again! I've never been a fan of running it, but today it was pretty cool - there must have been 50 or more runners heading over to Dartmouth from the Running Room, and I felt surrounded by our positive energy. We headed past the Mic Mac Mall, then under the highway to Shubie, around the Mic Mac Lake and back over the bridge. I kept my pace consistent with Wendy's at around 6:45-7:00. My legs felt a little sluggish, but I knew that today was just about getting the distance in.

After crossing back to Halifax, Wendy peeled off at  23k to head back to the store, and we continued through the outside loop at Point Pleasant Park. For some reason my Garmin decided to conk out at around 24k (I'd charged it the night before! Jonathan at the Running Room suggested doing a master reset, so I tried that after our run. I'm going to *need* it to last longer than 2 hours for my race, that's for sure!).

I was happy to have stuck it out with the group this week after a few weeks of runing the long runs on my own. I was reminded today that the thing I love about running with a group is that you get to meet some really interesting people. Today, I ended up running with Rachel, who is in our clinic. I had no idea, but she's running her marathon in the name of animal welfare, and raising funds for that cause. I hope to be able to profile her in a future Runner in Profile spot.

Since most of the group is running their race the week after me, they were doing 29k today but I was supposed to do 32. We stopped at South and South Park, and then I walked with them to the Running Room for a quick bathroom break and some water. Then I left everyone to their stretching while I finished my last 3k -- amazing how much better I was feeling after a little break, but at 32k, I'd had enough. But I was done! Next Sunday, I'll taper back to a nice comfortable 23k, followed by 29, 32, 16 and then...42!!!

After my run, I headed to Starbie's for a chocolate banana smoothie, praying they had bananas -- it's one of my favourite post-long run recovery drinks, and I can literally feel it working only minutes after drinking it. My legs were starting to cramp up. Then home, for an ice bath, followed by a soak with some Epsom salts. Phew!

I'm still not 100% sure about the benefits of an ice bath for recovery, but most serious runners swear by them. See this article published in Running Times Magazine a few years ago. Says @Love4GambiaErin, "Am 100% pro ice-bath.  Feels like relief.  Important tip: hoody, hat and latte required." I have to agree: when you're sitting in cold (or ice-cold) water up to your legs, a jacket and hat definitely helps dull the cold in the rest of your body!

I'm looking forward to profiling Erin soon in an upcoming Runner in Profile spot. Stay tuned!

Happy running, and healthy recovery,

~ HRG

Saturday, April 2, 2011

My favourite running accessory: Arm warmers

The weather lately has been weird. Last week was sunny and 6 degrees. Yesterday was rain and ice pellets. Today there's snow drifting. But hey -- that's spring in Nova Scotia!

One of the running accessories that I love for this time of year are my arm warmers -- they're perfect for starting a run with a little extra coverage, peeling down once you warm up, and easy to slip on and off if you get cold throughout the route.

I've owned a pair of LuluLemon's Brisk Run armwarmers for about three years now, and they've been great up until the last few wears. The pair I own has reflective birds on it, which are not only cute, they're handy when you're running at night. There are thumb holes and little pockets at the wrist that you can pull over your hands to act as mitts when your fingers get a little chilly.

The newer versions that I've seen have a slit in the wrist so you can wear your watch or Garmin under the sleeve and have the face poke through, which is handy because with the older version if you wear your watch over the sleeve, you're pretty much stuck with the sleeve on until you finish your run (unless you stop to remove the watch, remove the sleeve, put the watch back on, etc etc). The only thing is that a few friends of mine tested them in the store and the slit is not quite in the right spot. But hopefully that's something the designers will fix for their next version, which I'm told is coming out in the fall (why don't they release them in the spring too? It would be perfect for this time of year, especially out here!).

The newer versions also have a little pocket on one side for your iPod, and extra hemming in the elbow to give you room to bend your arm without stretching the material too much. Lat fall they had some funky patterns like striped grey and black, or bright neon yellow, which are a nice change to the usual black.

I really liked the second generation of these arm warmers, and was looking for a new pair -- my older pair has strangely stopped wicking, so if you sweat at all and then it gets chilly (like say for instance you end up running by the Arm or the harbour where the winds are colder), you end up with a pair of freezing sleeves on your arms for the rest of the run. Unfortunately, as I said, when I emailed them Lulu told me that they won't be releasing a new series of arm warmers until the fall.

So instead, I ended up going to Mountain Equipment Co-op and purchasing a pair of their nylon-esque arm warmers for $23 (I didn't want to invest the $80 or so for a pair of Saucony armwarmers at Aerobics First -- I can't imagine paying that much money for something that only covers a fraction of my body surface!).

The MEC versions are nothing special. They're lined, so they keep you warm, and so far they seem to wick well. There's only a small reflective logo on one arm, and no thumb holes or pockets to slip over your hands. But otherwise, they do what they're designed to do, and they were a good buy. I look forward to testing them on future runs, but I'll also keep my eyes open in case I find any at Lulu in the future.

Who knew you could write so much about arm warmers?

~ HRG