I fell asleep again… oops

I woke up to the sound of my alarm this morning, hit snooze, slept for 9 more minutes, then got up and turned off the alarm. I felt a bit dizzy, so I laid back down on the bed “for a minute or so” but the next thing I knew it was 6:45am and I was still in bed. I got up and quickly put on my running clothes and headed outside to get at least a short little run in before work. After all, a short run is better than no run.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 3.5 km (I told you it was a short run)
Weather: 16C, sunny, wind 13 km/h

Back from Vacation

I’m now back in Ontario after a week long vacation in Orlando, Florida. I had great plans of running at least 5 days when we were there. I did 3. All in all, I guess that’s not too bad… we were on vacation after all and I really didn’t want to set alarms to get up at the crack of dawn to run. We were vacationing along with another couple, so we had plans to do things together during the day, which also makes it more difficult to get runs in.

Of my 3 runs, 2 out of 3 were pretty uneventful.

Run #1: I ran one evening through our vacation property, through the property across the street and then down the street for a bit of an out and back. It was a sweaty run, of course (it was Florida in late May after all), but other than that, nothing notable besides dodging a few lizards.

Run #2: I decided to head run around Sea World, Aquatica, and surrounding area. I ran out to the first main intersection, crossed the street by CVS, and proceeded to run up a few steps up to the sidewalk on the other side of the road. Me being the ever so coordinated person that I am, tripped up the top step and scraped up my knee. I squirted water on it from my camelback to clean up some of the blood and continued my run. I ran past Sea World and a loop around Aquatica when I noticed the angry looking clouds behind me. I felt a few drops and thought maybe I’d stay in front of the storm the whole way back. It went okay for a while, I was only a couple miles from the hotel, so I wasn’t too concerned. I got all the way back to the road the hotel was on before the rain started to pick up. I turned into the Marriott Cypress Harbour property and it started to pour. I headed toward our villa and the wind started to pick up. I stopped to stretch on the steps (covered) and watched the rain and wind around me. I was drenched, but I was mere minutes away from a nice shower and clean, dry clothes.

Run #3: Another uneventful run down nice long roads, a quick run through a Hilton vacation property and back to our hotel. Nothing to write home about, yet I appear to be writing about it here.

Now that I’m back, I had plans of a long run today, but that didn’t happen. I did some unpacking, went for a walk, enjoyed the nice hot weather (I couldn’t get enough of it in Florida, so I thought I’d enjoy it here as well) and I’ll get up for a bit of a run in the morning.

Good night, everyone!

Daytime Runs Rock

I'm on vacation as of today, so I got to enjoy a nice morning run that was not at the crack of dawn. I headed out for my run around 9am, which was great! I didn't have to wake up super early, I didn't have to try to drag myself outside half asleep, and there were actually other people out and about that I could say "good morning" to. I got to be one of the people that I'm jealous of as I head to work in the mornings. The people who are out enjoying the nice weather, going for wonderfully nice runs along trails and through parks while others hustle and bustle along to get to their workplace and sit indoors at a desk all day. I'm usually the desk person, today I got to be the one outdoors.

Today's Run:
Distance 5.5 km
Weather: sunny, 17 C

Yesterday's Run (which was a morning run, but a 6am morning run)
Distance: 4 km
Weather: I don't remember the exact temperature, but it was likely around 12 C.

Smells like camping

I just got back from my run this evening and all I can think about is camping. It's a nice warm evening and the warm wind felt like a summer evening at a campground. I could also smell fire outside and it truly smelled like campfire, perhaps someone nearby has a fire pit in their yard. I don't have any big camping trips planned for this summer, but I'm now definitely looking forward to the weekend trips that Ryan and I will surely be taking.

Today's Run:
Distance: 6.5 km
Weather: 15 C

Saturday's run was 11 km along the Ottawa River (I was in Ottawa for the weekend).
Thursday's run was 5.5 km on the treadmill.

Happy 35th Birthday to Ryan!

Today's my husband's birthday. Since it's the middle of the week, we didn't do too much to celebrate today, but we had some dessert and then some ice wine this evening. There were some celebratory times last weekend and hopefully some more on Friday when we visit my sister.

I did manage to get a quick run in this evening (before the the indulging of cake and wine) and it felt good. My leg/hip feels almost completely normal.

Today's Run:
Distance 5.25 km
Weather: 10 C, Sunny.

Lack of Running

I didn't run at all on the weekend. It was windy and cold and I just didn't want to, so I didn't.

Last night, I did plan on getting out and running, but I decided to go to the gym instead and run on the treadmill as I didn't feel that well and didn't want to get too far away from the house only to want to be in bed. It's a good thing I chose the gym because I did a whopping km on the treadmill before I decided that I felt too ill to be running. So.. home I went, sat and drank some water, and then went to bed.

Hopefully everything will work out today and I can get out there for a good run tonight.

Tight Hip

Ever since the half a week and a bit ago, my right hip has been tight. I’ve had a bit of pain, but mostly, it’s just tight. On my run tonight I noticed that I can’t extend my right leg as far back as my left. I had to run with a shorter stride this evening to be sure that I wouldn’t limp as I ran. Back to the ol’ foam roller for some more stretching. I’ve booked a massage for Friday as well, so hopefully we can fix this hip.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 7.75 km
Weather: 17 C, wind 13 km/h

Nice Sunny Evening

I was planning on going to the gym last night, but since it was so nice out, I didn’t want to be cooped up inside. I went for a nice, fairly short, slow, easy run around town, through the park, and down a few trails.

I’m definitely loving this weather that we’re having. It looks like another nice one today, too!

Last Night’s Run:
Distance: 6.5 km
Weather: 20 C, sunny, little wind.

Kitchener Downtown Mudpuppy Chase

This morning I ran the 10K race that runs through downtown Kitchener. The rain held off and it was actually quite warm. I wore shorts and a tank top for the first time in a race so far this year. I actually wore my vest as well, but wished I hadn’t. My iPod was in the pocket, though, and I didn’t have an arm band or anything so I kept it on.

I was hoping to run a 50 minute (or less) race, but that didn’t happen. I started out well, but just couldn’t keep it going in the 2nd loop of the course. I did the 1st loop in 24 minutes, but I really slowed down the 2nd loop. For some reason my legs just didn’t want to go. I think I need to do more hills and speed work.

I ended up finishing in 52:30, which did put me 3rd in my age/gender group.

Calling for Thunder Showers

For today and tomorrow, the Weather Network called/calls for thunder showers. There was a decent storm this morning (I was glad I hadn’t gone out for a run when I was considering it as I would have been out when the pouring started) but since then, it’s been a decent day. It’s been a little windy, cloudy, but didn’t rain more.

Tomorrow morning I’m running a 10K road race. It’s calling for thunder showers all day. Hopefully it’ll be kind of like today and not too bad. At least it’s not supposed to be cold out. It’ll all be good.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 5.2 km
Weather: cloudy, 21 C

I forgot to post last night

So.. I’ll do a quick post now.

I ran on the treadmill at the gym last night. My hip and leg have been hurting since the half on Sunday, so I thought I’d take it a bit easy run-wise and ran 5K on the treadmill. It felt good. The leg feels much better today. I’m looking forward to the 10K race this weekend, although, once again, it’s calling for rain.

Waterloo Half Marathon

This morning at 8:30 am, I started running the Waterloo Half Marathon. It was nice and rainy and it didn’t stop until after I was done. There was wind, there were hills, there was a muddy, puddly, almost pot-holey section near the end. I got a nice cramp in my side a third of the way through (it went away fairly quick) and my hip decided to start to hurt just past the half-way mark (I'm guessing my muscles were mad because of the cold).

It would have been a nice run had the weather been good, but I was really just miserable the whole time as I was wet and cold. I did not PB today. Not in the rain. Maybe next time.

Today’s Run:
Distance: Half Marathon (21ish km, 13.1 miles) – I finished in 2:01
Weather: 7 C, rain, wind 17 km/h

ENDURrace down.. Waterloo Half Tomorrow

Today I ran the 8K portion of the ENDURrace 2 part series. Last Saturday was the 5K and tonight the 8K. I had decided that tonight I was not attempting to place, but was just going out to enjoy the run as I’m running the Waterloo Half Marathon tomorrow morning and didn’t want to tire out my legs today.

I finished the race in 42:22. Tomorrow’s the more important race. Hopefully it goes well.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 8 km
Weather: 15 C, cloudy, wind 15 km/h

Running before coffee

I ran first thing morning, before coffee. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to put the sleeves back on my jacket before I headed out.

Lesson Learned: I need coffee before I can function properly.

This Morning’s Run:
Distance: 5K
Weather: 1C, 30 km/h winds

Exam done. Back to Running.

So now that my exam is done, I can get back to running without feeling like I should be studying.

I didn’t go for anything super-long tonight as I don’t want to wear myself out too much this week. I have a half marathon on Sunday morning (and I actually have an 8K on Saturday evening as well) and I want to have as fresh legs as possible.

I also get to finally read my newest issue of Runner’s World today. It’s been sitting on the piano taunting me since it came in the mail, but I told myself that I couldn’t watch it until I was all done my exam. Tonight, before bed, it will be opened.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 5 km
Weather: 12 C, clear, wind 15 km/h

Quick run in an attempt to clear my head

I have an exam tomorrow. Because of this, I did not go for my long run yesterday and have been reading ever so interesting books and notes for hours on end over the last few days. Tonight, I attempted to study some more, but my head would have none of it. So, I put down the books and went out for a run. Just a short 20 minute run to get outside, get away from staring at the pages and to clear my head. Now, to attempt to read a wee bit before bed and hopefully pass my exam in the morning.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 3.7 km
Weather: 8 C, clear, 15 km/h wind

Race Season has Begun

I ran my first spring race today. It was a 5K, the first half of a 2-part series. The weather this evening was… well… not so nice. It was snowing. It was blowing. The snow was blowing sideways. It was on the chilly side, and the wind was quite strong. I wore gloves. It was the first time for gloves (not counting my run earlier today) since… well.. winter.

Even though the weather was not what we’d hoped, it is still April and you never know what to expect in April. Actually, that’s not true… you know to expect the unexpected.

My time wasn’t bad. I finished in 24:19, which put me 3rd in my age/gender group (actually got a 2nd place medal as the 1st person in my age group placed in top 3 overall female) and 12th overall female out of 179 female runners. I was hoping for a bit better time as I really want to get back into the 23 minute times (I’ve only been there once, but I liked it… my PB for 5K is 23:18), but I’m not training specifically for 5K distance.

I’m focusing on half marathon and 10K and hoping to break the 50 minute mark for the 10K this season. Next weekend I have an 8K and a half marathon and the following weekend a 10K. Wish me luck!

Today’s Runs:
Noonish run: 4 km, weather 5 C, bit of wind, a few snowflakes.
Evening 5K race: 5 km (obviously), weather 3 C, windy, snowy, etc.

Night-time Run

I was studying for my exam next week and didn’t get out for my run until a bit later this evening. I headed out shortly after 10pm and got to enjoy the nice warm evening with not too much traffic. Definitely enjoyable. I love nice quiet warm night-time runs.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 8 km
Weather: 17 C, warm breeze

Fresh Shoes

I started a new pair of shoes tonight. What a great feeling. I knew my old shoes were just about done a few weeks ago, but didn’t realize just how worn they were until I put on the new pair today. I now have happy feet again.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 5 km
Weather: 9 C, clear, wind 13 km/h

My first snot rocket

I feel like it was almost a right of passage.

Today, I blew my first snot rocket. I’ve been running for 5 or 6 years and it took until now, which is kind of crazy. I had a bug fly up my nose, so, it was necessary.. and it a way it was kind of liberating. I was in the woods at the time, so it seemed only natural.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 20 km
Weather: 15 C, sunny, wind 24 km/h