Trail Run Bust

The clocks went back last night, so technically I had an extra hour to gear myself up for this trail run I was planning. Map in hand, geared up and ready to go by 9:30am. I drove to the location, passed the entrance and had to back track to the right location. The spot was secluded but the trail looked inviting.

Well it didn't last long.........an abrupt stop was just around the corner.

I headed back to my truck and decided to go to the other end of the trail and do the loop by the lake. Seemed easy enough, the trail however was more geared for mountain biking and hiking.....running not so much. The leaves were wet and slippery and were covering all the ankle breakers along the way. I hiked it but no running was involved.





I felt good but I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't running. It was still early, I could head home and run my regular route. I decided to head to the end of the trail as it was called 'Strawberry Bay Lookout'. I assumed there would be a lookout over Lake Muskoka.

And there was.......

I spent some time up here taking a few pictures and hiked part way down the road that was paved down to the lake.

I'm glad I went out. As I was hiking back down the trail I realized it wasn't a total bust. When I signed up for the 6km run it was about putting myself out there and trying something different. The run being cancelled was disappointing but today I did something different, it wasn't a race, but it was different. So tomorrow I start looking for a new race to sign up for.

Race Cancelled.

Disappointed. The Pumpkin Smash & Run is cancelled. Ugh. Must find new race, although I might still map out a route on the Trail System and run the 6km on Sunday.

The Countdown Begins......

One week until my first official race. Ugh. Terrified is me.

The sun is shining today with a big beautiful blue sky. I went out to officially run 6 kilometres so I could have a time comparison for my race next week. I started out great, in good spirits. It turned sour about 4 minutes into my first running interval. Too hot....too much clothing. The temp changed, it must have. I shook it off and kept going. The second interval was harder, my mojo was off and I was running through all the excuses in my head 'too many leaves on the ground' 'too much clothing on for the temp' 'this new playlist isn't working' 'going up a level with my barefoot science insoles was a mistake' 'too much traffic on the road'. I nearly started to cry right then and there.

Who was this wimpy person decked out in running clothes? When did I become such a whiner? I started to reflect on this past decade and my laziness, and it made me sad. Ten years of slothen behaviour has turned me into Wimpy. I tried to channel the Hardcore Me of my mountain biking days - the days when I rode so hard I would puke on the side of the trail rinse my mouth out and get right back on my bike. Where was that dirty hardcore girl? Would I be able to find her?

I think there is hope! With all the reflecting I did on my run today I didn't even realize how much time had gone by and suddenly I'm at the 5km mark. I checked my time 41:36. Holy shit!!!! I kept going and complete the 6km in 48:52.

Mind games are overwhelming.

To continue the reflection I am sharing some picture of me circa 1996:

Hardcore Girl in her Glory.

and the boys she used to ride with (left to right) Mental (I miss him -RIP Jamie), Rob (now the husband), Mackinnon (surprised he doesn't have a sport stick), and John (he wasn't a regular but a damn good rider and that's all I have to say about him)

And so the countdown begins, one week to race day.......

The Running

'Couch 2 5k' - the program works. I downloaded some really crappy playlists that told me when to run and when to walk. The music drove me to insanity. I spent some time making my own playlists. Funny how my running improved when I wasn't annoyed by the 'boom boom boom' of the hip-hop and the rave music pulsing through my head. I will have to touch on music more in-depth at some point.

I mapped out my route, to my delight my road is 2.5 km long. So out my driveway, north on my road to the the highway, turn around and run south past my house and down to the lake, turn around and back home. 5 km. Easy right?!?!! No major hills except the ones in my mind, that is where it becomes difficult.

The first week going from walking for 5 minutes to running for 1 minute was liberating. I was running!!! IN PUBLIC at that.....well, if you saw my road you would realize that public is subjective. I sailed through the first 3 weeks of the program. My confidence was high!!!

Week 4 hit me hard. My body turned into a brick shit house and was totally uncooperative. My legs felt like lead. Mind games mostly. I repeated Week 4. Running for more than 2 minutes was harder than I thought. After doing Week 4 over I procrastinated about jumping into Week 5. Looking at the program I realized I would be running for a solid 20 minutes by the last run. OMG, how was I going to do this?!!?!

I ended up exceeding that. I ran for 37 minutes straight.....nearly the entire 5km!!!! My head wouldn't let me stop and apparently my body could handle it. I did revert back to doing Week 5 the way it was meant to and really ended up repeating that week like I did for Week 4, making the program 12 weeks. I think 12 will be my lucky number.

I have now finished the program and my running strategy is with intervals with 10 minutes of running, 1 minute of walking, lather rinse repeat until I have completed the full 5 kilometers. My time has been in and around the 45 minute mark. I'm slow, but I don't care.

Yesterday was Day#2 of training for my first 'race'. I beat my previous time and clocked in at 44:30:01 - did you know that iPods have stopwatches?!?!? No more guessing at my time! I've had the thing for years and never knew it had that function!

My first race is a 6km Pumpkin Run on November 1st that my gym is hosting. Commitment - here we go.

Twelve Weeks of Torture

I'm twelve weeks into the 'running' gig and thought a blog would be a nice way to document the torture. My laziness has got the better of me in the last 6 years, my dirty thirties have turned into my well, lazy-ass let's get chubby decade. If I was wittier I could have come up with something better.

Twelve seems the be all end all, magic number if you will of most 'programs'. Alcoholics take a 12-step program, there are 12 days of Christmas although you end up with partridge in a pear tree, you take a puppy from it's mother at about 12 weeks, donuts are best when in a pack of 12 even if they are a dime a dozen (hee).......so my realization is that this 'Couch 2 5k' program I started to 'learn to run' should be 12 weeks too. It isn't, it is an eight-week program. My plan was to complete it in eight weeks, but apparently I'm on the 12 schedule with the recovering alcoholics.

Anyways, the road to better health and a better body started back in April when I joined the local gym. I never had intentions of becoming a runner. Speed walking on the treadmill was always something I enjoyed, well tolerated, but running I remember doing as a kid when you realize the street lights are on and you are blocks away from home. "Run Lisa Run, you don't want to be grounded" my friend would yell from her front porch. I guess she was my first cheering section. I must remember to send her a message on Facebook to thank her for the encouragement.

Going to the gym didn't seem daunting, I've always liked the gym atmosphere and found being surrounded by buff men motivating. I started with basic strength training and cardio on the treadmill, stationary bikes and elliptical. I ended up trying a class or two of spinning, which I loved but the class times never seemed to coincide with my schedule. I'm sure I could have made it work, but my mind had thrived on 'laziness' for so long that it got the better of me.

I kept going but wasn't really working it hard enough.....and I knew that. Running crossed my path sometime in mid-July. I don't really remember how, or when but it was likely while I was surfing on my chat board and came across the on-going 'runners' thread. There was a link to 'Couch 2 5k' program. I clicked to read. It almost seemed doable, my mind flickered from 'yes you can' to 'no that's crazy' a few thousand times that day. I remember a few ladies on the board piping up about starting the program. I got excited then immediately put it on the back burner.

Andre, the fabulous owner of the gym started chatting with me one day at the gym. I had inquired about Personal Training. I had realized that my strength training routine was pitiful and wanted kick it up a notch. I had watched Marissa, on of the trainers at the gym work with a few different ladies and was impressed with her style. I decided to jump in with both feet. Andre suggested trying her out and somehow during the conversation the 'running' topic came up. The gym offers a 'Learn to Run' program, so he put me on the list. I got a phone call soon after from Katherine, unfortunately a new clinic wouldn't be starting until a few months down the road. I had the plan to strength train intensely until the running program started.

Training Session #1 was pure torture, but Marissa had a charisma that didn't make me completely hate her, I was oddly drawn to the pain. I ended up back the next week. Andre again stopped me to see how things were going. He asked me about goals, and he wanted me to start thinking specifics. I left the gym that night feeling positive but slightly intimidated by the GOAL concept.

Mind Games commenced - "I don't do goals, I'm lazy and goals only make me self-loathe" ran through my brain. The goal of 'look good in a bikini', 'fit into a size 6' entered my brain.....so did the 'be healthy and not care about my weight'. How pathetically typical of me (insert eye rolly)
I had a moment soon enough. I stumbled upon the Facebook profile of Erik Trinidad. I virtually met him back in 2003 while he was blogging about his Global Trip. I followed him around the world, again virtually. I went back and read his Everest Base Camp entries and I remembered how much I was intrigued by his trek.....even though he nearly died from altitude sickness.....but that is another story. (Read Here: http://www.theglobaltrip.com/ ) Another much taller, but equally as handsome New Yorker help inspire my 'goal'. WARNING: CHEESEBALL GROUPIE ALERT. Ryan Star's song 'So Ordinary' is a song I listen to often, it is in regular rotation on what I should call my RyPod because there are so many of his damn songs on there....but I digress. The songs lyrics are poignant 'Stop trying to be so ordinary, be strong, be brave and begin your story'

(Insert epiphany)

1) I hate being ordinary, but somehow it has become the story of my life.
2) I love travelling and want to see the other side of the world
3) I need a goal for me, not Andre, not for my husband, not for anyone else but me

GOAL: Trek to Base Camp on Mt. Everest in the year 2013

Surfing the internet began. All things trekking to Base Camp needed to be absorbed. I had it....a specific goal. My goal is to trek to Base Camp on Mt. Everest in the year 2013.....the year I turn 40. I had decided that running was going to be my training. My first hurdle would be 5 km, and I was going to join the ladies of my chat board doing the Couch 2 5k program, fuck the gym program, I could join that later.

Something changed the day I set the goal. I didn't want to vocalize the goal at first, I wanted to mull it over before I made it official. That didn't last, I was bursting to tell people. Andre heard me say it the very next day, at that point I couldn't turn back.

Goal Set. Let the torture begin.