There's running, and then there's running stupid...

I know, I should really know better. I mean, how many years have I been running? But still, every so often, I catch myself doing it - running stupid.

Take last Sunday, for instance. I had a really really tough 19kms. The kind of run where you just want to quit at just over the halfway mark, because you can't even think how your legs are going to make it the rest of the way. Hills feel like they're 20 degrees steeper than they actually are, and there's just no more gas in the tank.

Not a fun run. Those are the days that I catch myself asking, "Do I really want to do this? Do I have to run a marathon this season? I could just start doing other things...yoga...dancing...strength training...This is getting boring and I'm not enjoying this."

According to one of my running buddies, who'd been kindly hanging back with me as I fell further and further away from the pack, at the moment where I told her to go ahead, since I was going to walk up the hill at Chebucto, I gave her "dagger eyes" when she asked if I was sure.

Oops.

I walked, and they ran ahead.

But then, after a short walk break, that little voice inside me that doesn't like me to quit said "Ok, let's go again." So I did. And I caught up with the group, who gave me a little cheer of encouragement for my super bad comeback.

...a comeback that didn't last much longer, since a few kilometres in, I started flagging again.

And what should have been a 23k run ended up being a 19k run. That was it, I was done.

But as I ran, and my legs turned heavier and heavier, the smart little voice that had told me to keep going up the hill at Chebucto had also reminded me of a few salient points (guess that's why it's the smart voice in my head - wish it would pipe up a little more often!):

- on Thursday, I'd had an upset stomach and hadn't eaten well either;

- on Friday, I hadn't had a proper supper. I'd snacked and had a glass of wine, because I had had a late lunch and an afternoon snack, and as I was counting my calories I didn't want to overdo it;- this was followed by what I've chosen to call a "popcorn supper" on Saturday.

Oh. Right.

And then my smart voice piped up again (ok, sometimes it's a bit of a know-it-all voice) and reminded me that I'd also done yoga, plus weights, plus 35 minutes on the bike on Saturday.

Oh...Right...

Is it any surprise that the next day, when I was set to run 23 kms, I ended up feeling like someone had poured lead into my legs about halfway through the run?

Maybe it's arrogance, maybe it's that I've been running (not very fast) for years, so a Sunday run just seems like any other run. But evidently last Sunday I forgot what I already knew: runners need to fuel and rest properly the day before a long run. There's just no getting around it. When you're out there for two and a half, three hours, you need to be able to draw on stored energy, and you need legs that are fairly rested.

So today, I've tried to remember what I forgot last week: I've done an easy 6kms, plus some moderate upper body strength work. But I'm not going to tack on a yoga class just for fun (though it might indeed for fun). And for tonight, I'm skipping the popcorn, and it's either spaghetti or pizza for me, followed by a good night's rest.

And we'll see how tomorrow goes!

Hope your training is going well, runner friends. Just remember: don't get complacent and even though your smart inner voice gets annoying from time to time, it probably knows what's best for you.

~ HRG

My favourite pre-run/race supper: Gordon Ramsay's Pancetta Spaghetti, served with a side pep talk by hubby

It must be annoying at times for the partner of a runner to keep the enthusiasm up when night after night they have to hear about yet another run's high's and lows. After awhile, all we runners seem to speak about is running, running, and more running. Especially when we're training for a race. And if you're not a runner, it may be hard to understand our one-track minds and how much running seems to take over our lives. How many times can you say "Wow, that's great that you had a good run tonight," with the same amount of enthusiasm as the last 50 runs?

But this week, with four weeks left to go till race day, I asked my husband to step in again to be my running coach. When he's in coach mode, he's always so terriffic at encouraging me before and after a run, cooking me healthy meals, pushing me out the door when I don't want to go, running me a warm bath on cold winter nights...He also does things like research recipes for certain training periods.

And that's how he discovered my favourite pre-run/race dinner: Gordon Ramsay's Pancetta Spaghetti. It's clean, light and yummy, too! (Of course it helps that it was dreamt up by a marathon-running super chef with an attitude.)

So tonight, knowing that I have a 29k run in the morning,  hubby cooked up a plate of Pancetta Spaghetti for me, served with a side pep talk. "Don't worry about time tomorrow," he said as I savoured a flavourful mouthful of Proscioutto (he subbed it in for the Pancetta, and it's just as yummy). "Just do the run, and call me when you're done so I can run you a bath. And make sure to eat oatmeal and some fruit for breakfast."

God I love my husband!

So tomorrow as we're running in the rain (100% P.O.P., according to The Weather Network), I'll hear his voice in my head, offering one last bit of advice as I bit into my last mouthful: "Just get 'er done."

How lucky am I?

~ HRG

Week 10: No turning back now!

It's official! This week I signed up for the GoodLife Marathon - May 15 in Toronto. No turning back now!

I can't believe we are already into week 10, although the distances should tell me that - we moved up to 29k last Sunday (although my Garmin conked out so I only did 27...but that's not bad). Funny: when we started out for our run on Sunday, I just couldn't imagine how the heck we could run from downtown Halifax, all the way across the bridge, around to Shubie and back, and then add another 10k on top of that! Yet I'd done that route a few times last fall...Our minds just have short term memory, I guess.

So, instead of doing the run across the bridge (which freaks me out -- it's just so darned high and long and I feel utterly exposed there. Usually I pick up my pace to around 4:30 and sprint the 1 mile across till I get to solid ground again...), I opted to do loops around Halifax instead. For some reason that made it more manageable in my mind.

I found the 27k hard, there's no denying it. Part of it, I think, is that I've been getting a little lazy with my nutrition. That morning, I only ate a slice of toast with a little bit of PB on it -- I was having stomach issues so I didn't want to exacerbate it. But I realized that I've got to start paying closer attention to my nutrition, because the distances are just too long now to ignore. This week I'll probably run around 41 or 42kms combined, plus some cross-training thrown in for good measure. You just can't run that far on a handful of calories and expect to get anywhere.

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to meet with Colin Harris of http://www.takemeoutside.ca/. Colin is, get this -- running across Canada! He's doing about 3 marathons a week. In terms of nutrition, he says he burns about 6,000 calories a day so eating is just not a problem for him. His breakfast usually consists of a bagel and maybe PB -- much like most runners start with. He'll run about 10k in the morning, stop for a nutritious lunch, do another 15k in the afternoon, have a break and then do the remainder following the break and a snack.

Colin ran 1,300 kilometres from St. John's, Newfoundland  and burned through two pairs of shoes to get to Halifax, and left from Truro on Monday morning to continue his journey east. He'll be visiting schools across Canada to speak to kids about the importance of getting outside. "Canada just has the best backyard ever," he says of his running route. "I just believe that everything feels better when you get outside."

I'll be asking Colin to answer some questions for a HRG Runner Profile spot soon, along with other local runners like Erin of http://www.love4gambia.com/, who is running across The Gambia.

So when the going feels a little tough, I just have to remember Colin and Erin. What's a little marathon when you're running across entire countries? Now THAT's dedication!

~ HRG

Week seven: I'm back in the game, baby! & inspiration is everywhere, if you look for it...

You read it right: after seven weeks of mental struggles, I finally feel like I'm back in the game, baby! Sunday's long run (19k) felt pretty great. I decided to make the move up to the 4-hour group on Tuesday, and ended up maintaining a 5:34 pace over 6k with relatively little effort (comparatively speaking). Who knows - I may not achieve the 4-hr goal on race day, but I might as well try and push myself a little. Hill training started Wednesday, Thursday was the first week in weeks that I ended up doing the three running days back to back as per the schedule.

In addition to all that, I've gradually been building my strength training back into my schedule (which I'll share in a future post, as per running buddy Carol's request :) ) and have started watching my nutrition and caloric intake more closely (I use an online tool called http://www.fitday.com/, which is a little tough slogging at first but is a great tool if you do want to track what you eat and/or lose weight). As Bruce and our guest speaker Ken Brandy reminded us at this week's clinic, now is about the time to start thinking about nutrition - not only on a day to day basis (I try to maintain a 50/35/15 ratio of carbs/fat/protein) but also on our long runs (experimenting with things like gels or sports drinks).

You've probably heard it time and again - nutrition is so individual, especially the gels/drinks for your long runs. Myself, I'm partial to gels in the warmer months, and Sharkies in colder months (the gels just end up getting frozen and gloopy in the cold). I used to enjoy the jelly beans, mostly for taste, but energy-wise they really haven't done much for me.

I finally feel like my mind is back in the game, and now that I've gone through the marathon training schedule once, the distances don't seem as intimidating as they used to. From now on, most of our long runs on Sundays will end up being at least a half marathon every week. Only a year ago, I couldn't imagine how I could ever run more than a half marathon. I'll say it again and again: it's all relative. Now that I have run farther than 21.1k, a half marathon seems like a humanly achievable distance. If you approach running as a gradual approach, building on the distance week by week, I believe that anyone can do it, if they put the time and effort into training.

I started chatting with another local runner this week -- Jon from the Spring Garden Road Running Room, who really put this into perspective for me. He's just started training for a 100-mile race. When you look at it that way, a marathon is just a piddly training run for him. Jon will be tracking his training on his new blog - http://www.seejonrun100miles.blogspot.com/. I hope to interview him here at Halifax Runner Girl in an upcoming post, and plan to follow him in the weeks and months to come for inspiration.

Speaking of inspiration, I finally got a taste of the potential that running has for inspiring others this week. Although we live several provinces away, my brother and I are fairly close. And while we speak once a week, we don't always manage to keep up with what exactly is going on in each other's lives. Well, I was at work this week, when I saw an email from him pop up in my personal account. It was a comment from my bro, who'd finally had time to read my first marathon story from last fall.

Like me, my brother has inherited some of our mother's crazy Quebecker spirit, along with our father's British stiff upper lip. So to read from my brother that my post had both inspired him and brought tears to his eyes made me feel proud. I mean, my hubby has repeated time and again how proud he is of me and my persistence in keeping up my training. But he's kind of partial to me ;) To read it from my brother, who took the time and post something kind on my blog to say that I'd inspired him...Well that was a feeling I kept with me as I started out on the first week of hill training -- four times up the hill at Bridgeview. But you know what? Somehow that inner glow of pride made my legs feel lighter and the hill flatter.

Another shout-out to my friend Laura, who has not only begun training to climb a volcano this spring, but who also managed to raise several thousand dollars through fundraising in the last year -- all to help Diabetes research. Her blog is also a source of inspiration for me (and I really enjoy the quirky illustrations she produces too).

This week, I plan to profile another person who inspires me and keeps me going - my running buddy Wendy, in my first Runner in Profile post.

Inspiration is all around us, if only we know where to look!

~ HRG