Wordless Wednesday: A Little Interval Training

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(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: CEP Compression Love

Between April 28 and May 26, I ran 3 half marathons. On one of those races, I tacked on a 10km race the next day.

Sounds crazy! It was. It was also a test to get me on the track to push my endurance. If it hurts keep going....push those legs...keep moving forward! WHY? In order to get me ready for a couple trail challenges. In a couple days, I will do my first 25km trail race.(OMG!). Then in another couple weeks, I will do 2 legs in an Ultra Marathon - a total of 30.5 km. eek!

I just wanted to say that in those three half marys, my legs felt pretty damn good. And recovery was quick! Sure part of it is training. But I credit my happy legs to my CEP Compression Socks!! Love running in them, but i also wear em AFTER the run. I honestly think they make a difference in recovery!

Thank You CEP!

Here is my May Montage of CEP Happiness! How do you #RockYourCEPs?

#TeamCEPCANADA2013

#rockyourCEPs

Bowness 10km - Hitting the road after hitting the trails

The day after I finished my 5 Peaks race, I hit the trail  for a small local race in the community of Bowness!

My legs were sore, it was spitting rain...but it was a great day for a run! I wanted to come in around 65 mins...Its totally feasible!

Tara and I hung around  (went pee my usual 2x pre-start). Chatted about 5Peaks, since I got Tara started on that too. She only runs 5km distance, so the 5Peaks have been a real eye opener for her.

GO TEAM FABULOUS!

She is pretty fast, and the hills and trails have been a great ass-kicking - erm TRAINING opportunity!  She had done the race the day before too so it was also a challenge for her to lay two races back-to-back! 

So off the 10km squad goes. I keep up the 6:30 pace pretty much the whole race...then at the mid-point where we went off pavement onto trail, I lost a bit of my happy pace. But I kept focus. Jsut slowly pushed and pushed myself to get back up there. I was pretty happy that the last 3 km i picked right back up and pushed HARD (and chased a gal who had to have been 8 inches shorter than me) right to the finish! 67 mins was not the under 65 I wanted, but I was so consistent and it was a solid push, I was happy! I was also soaking wet (not from the rain, but from the sweatfest!). 

Tara snapped these in the last few meters of the race! Not looking too bad, I must say! 

The temp during the he entire race was awesome...nice and cool, no rain, just great. The volunteers did a great job of cheering us on, and most of us runners were all hi-fiving each other as we passed each other. THAT is why i love small community races!

Seriously I finished the race...i grabbed some yogurt, fruit, water...then towelled off, changed and went to work! lol. And that was my weekend! 

Now this weekend...one last LONG run to prep for my first 25km trail run! EEK! 

Hittin the Trails with 5Peaks in Canmore

 Last Saturday got up at 5 and headed out to Canmore with Sherrey B to hit the trails for the 5 Peaks series - out that the Canmore Nordic Centre!

Love this series. Hard as hell, rarely a PB, and best workout ever! Its a super well organized race, and I get up and go extra early to get my volunteer on. Which is also fun. I get out here and run for the fun and the amazing workout.  And it feels great. It is SO SO SOOOO much harder than any road race. You cant get your footing, you never secure a constant pace or feel a consistent cadence. But you FEEL IT! I love how novice and pros are out there. There are two distances sport and enduro (this race was almost 5.5km and 11km). Normally I do the sport distance, but did the enduro for training and challenge! (And then had a 10km road race planned for next day to push myself to get ready for my first trail half in a couple weeks!!) 

My one celeb sighting before the race was registering Chandra Crawford (2006 Olympic Gold medalist, winner of many world cup medals in Cross Country Skiing!) for her sport distance race! She heads up Fast and Female, a very cool organization (Go Check Them Out!)!  As she is registering, her colleague introduces me...and tells Chandra about my recent race weekend out in Canmore! She got so excited when she heard about me running the mountain half mara and then followed with a 10km the next day, she asked if she could hug me! ME? But I just ran slow! She is cheering me on saying wasn't it so amazing to know you could? Didn't it jsut feel awesome to know what you can accomplish? It was pretty awesome to have someone like her (this woman has upteen medals...she's a inspiration to a lot of us Canadians) say that to me. I mean, i think I said something about me not being fast or anything...and she was no way! What an inspiration keep it up! And she is right! It is pretty cool to now be able to set a challenge like that for myself and  have the endurance to complete it, both in pretty good times. I am going back for MORE next year. Three years ago I would never have dreamed of doing that! Her short pep talk made me feel great! Love her!!!   Pity...no pics of that moment :-) 

So...back to the race...off we go...climbing up out of the Nordic Centre and into the back country (after the bear and cougar sighting talk, of course). 

I am in there...right under the start sign! Ha! Can you spot me??

I never take pics on a race route...but as this was my first trail race of the season, and I knew i was off my planned pace I decided to take a couple! 

Yup...these are the easy spots...I took a few moments during the run to grab some shots of the route. Since someone I know asked...boy your times on those trail runs are sure slower than your road races...Thanks for POINTING that out. Maybe if you ran one 'mister go check my times and comment' you might get how hard a challenge they are...a LOT of hills. And not rolling hills. These are mountain trails, rocky, slippery, uneven. I LOVE IT!!!! Running trails has helped me lose a lot of weight, given me strength, mental and physical agility. And I have made me some 5Peaks friends too!

The halfway viewpoint...stellar...had to snap a pic! 

I finished the race (just shy of 11km I think, though my GPS was a bit off) check my time and was right around 87 mins. Not bad for hella hillworkout! And, I got a third place medal for Athena category. Athena? That would be the over 165 pound category for women. I am more motivated to get out there and run harder. Can't wait for the next race. I coulda/shoulda been faster...my hills endurance just wasn't quite there. But it is getting there! 

Do you hit the trails? If you haven't you should!

Why I run trail....because it is FREAKING GORGEOUS!!! 

National Running Day Update

Today went for a RUNCH date (harhar get it...run and lunch!!!) with  Cori! We've been doing it for a while now....It was a hilly affair today. But went a tad easy, since last night Cori hurt her back! OUCH! I was worried she should not run, but there was no putting off a jaunt for #nationalrunningday! Nice easy run on a hot sunny day. The hills always look easy...then you get on em and they push back. It is hard work showing them who is the BOSS! We got our sweat on for sure!

These were taken at the top of a hill, then as we boogied down. Surprisingly we are in focus! 

Oh yes...we got the BEAST on as we came down our hills! To see Cori's pics and recap go HERE! 

RUNCH is DONE! 

UPDATE: After RUNCH DATE, went home and putzed...then went for another run at my local Running Room! 

Got 2 runs for a total of 9km in today! 

Happy Day, indeed!! 

What did YOU get up to??

Rain Run Gets er Done!

On Sunday I finally got to go for a LONG run with Michelle and Cori!

As Michelle tweets...woootie wooot! We had been planning for a while. And with my trail half coming I need some distance. I have been having troubs regulating my time. Staying Steady.

I was SO GRATEFUL for the offer of my two lovelies sayin, "Yes, we will run with you!". So no way could I bail with this weather. Prepare to get wet!!!

So we meet up and Cori snaps this pic! It definitely shows the rain...and the reticence to get out in the rain. We have a few jokes about going for coffee, waiting for it to clear.

Then Michelle says, "First K is the worst" So out we go!

So we get moving, and a nice pace. About 6:30 per kilometre. 10 and 1s. Its nice running. and the rain seems to cease. Its pretty laid ack, and there is lots of chatter. From me. The Chatterbox!

I might have let the other gals talk. HA!!! WE talked last weeks Calgary Mara (Cori did a PB 10km, I did a half and Michelle did the Mara).

We chatted about all doing the Mara next year, Cori's kids, Cori's dog, training plans and what works or what doesn't, why we run, how happy we are to have all met, our plan to do a relay in Oct, and a lotta other stuff. EVERYTHING, nothing, and lots of laughs.

Made the miles whiz by. We kept a nice comfortable pace. Tried hard to stick to the LSD plan. Work on that endurance!! woot. They were patient with me when I had to take a potty break. As luck would have it a race was setting up and there were portapotties on the pathway!

Then another 5 km later, at the halfway mark, we all had to pitstop at Edworthy Park. Man!!! Well despite the GI issue, the last half still went well. We slowed down a fair bit with the hundreds appearing on the pathway for the EnerPlus MS Walk. But, we cheered the runners and walkers on. And politely declined the aid stations! It was a great run. Slow, and got us all out there and we had a last. I honestly think that I haven't had an enjoyable long run in recent memory!! Thanks ladies! Can't wait for the next long run!

Soooooooo....What do you do after 18 kilometres? 

Why, you jump in puddles!!!

Nothing more refreshing than 18km in the rain...we LOOK and FEEL fabulous!

Thanks to Cori! for having her phone at the ready and taking such great pics! 

Mine was wrapped in platic as I don't have a waterproof belt for it! 

Wordless Wednesday: HAPPY NATIONAL RUNNING DAY!