Posted by: Karen | March 13, 2005

PR, but no Cigar

Hey, at least I am consistent. I have raced three 10ks in the last six months within a 30 second variance.

September 19, 2004 1:00:28
November 21, 2004 1:00:46
March 13, 2004 1:00:16

I broke my personal record by 12 seconds! I have never run 10 km that fast before, so I am smiling. I was aiming for closer to 59 minutes, however, so I’m not exactly jumping up and down.

I raced hard and well. I did not socialize, I did not obsess over distance markers versus my watch. I pulled my cap down on my forehead and focused as if I had blinders on. I concentrated solely on my effort. Was I breathing hard enough? too hard? How was my form? Find that rhythm, pull up one of those songs in my head and make it work.

The temperature hovered around the freezing point, but the inch or two of snow that fell last night had mostly melted on the pavement. Fortunately for me there were lots of runners ahead to trample the slush into water by the time I got to it. I ran almost this exact course in November for the Jingle Bell Race and there were plenty of racers and volunteers around me today, so I wasn’t concerned about scenery or course markers. I focused my eyes on a point about 10 feet ahead of myself and saw the soles of sneakers come and go.

Darrel Janz, the Anchorman for our local 6 o’clock TV news, called out the 1st mile times in a booming bass voice as I went by – 9:35. Enh, not bad for my warm-up mile. Legs were still a little tight, but no pain yet. That was a good sign.

I tried not to think about the distance I had yet to cover, and focused on my effort in each moment. Most of the moments involved heavy breathing and keeping a steady pace. Out 3 breaths, in 2. Out 3, in 2. Push,ush,ush, Gasp,asp…

By the 5k mark I was close to where I’d wanted to be at 29:49. I took a couple of short drink breaks and only walked long enough to drink a gulp or two of diluted gatorade I carried in my belt. I didn’t stop for long – I had a PR to crush.

By now I was leapfrogging with Mr. Orange Soles and two Chatty Green Shirts. These folks seemed to surge past me with very little effort and I struggled to catch them on their walk breaks. A sign wandered into my peripheral vision: “Photographer Ahead”. I lifted my cap brim, pasted on a smile, gave him the thumbs up and then went back to the default form.

Between six and seven km I faced a brisk North wind and struggled up a gradual grade. I was still breathing hard, doing my best.

Somewhere between seven and eight I kind of zoned out in this great rhythm. I was heading down a gentle slope, and I was feeling good. Man, TOO good. I wasn’t breathing hard. This isn’t a Sunday Jog, girl! As the realization struck me I struggled to get the feet to take bigger strides, or faster strides, or something!

I worked hard, but I must have lost some time in lala land, or maybe on a walk break. My watch at the 9k marker said 54:40ish and I dug down for any energy I had left. No 3 out 2 in any more, I switched to 2 in 2 out and poured out what I had left. The slight downhill in the last 500m was a blessing. As I made the last turn in the parking lot I saw the clock several meters away, reading 59:57. Argh!

I blasted past cheering friends to the clock and worked at catching my breath in the chute. Dawn snapped a great shot of me as I ran under the clock. Check out her report and other pics to see more of what our day looked like.
Oh so close!
It was still a PR, and I had to give myself credit for it. Coach Dianne had come to cheer me in – what a great surprise! I recovered in time to cheer in a couple of our Tuesday runners and we headed in for beef stew, beer, and to talk over how we will do better next time.

12 Comments

Posted in General, Road Races

Posted by: Karen | March 12, 2005

A Little Bit of Tension Goes a Long Long Way

Clint Black

No one’s gonna jerk me around
Once I get my feet on the ground
I’m gonna hit it running, gonna call it day
Y’see a little bit of tension goes a long long wa-a-ay

The boss man has got mine in a sling
but I’ll be swingin’ when I loosen up my strings

Every night when the sun goes down
you won’t find me hangin’ around
I’m in locomotion like a rock out on a ro-oll
I’m nobody’s puppet
I’m out of contro-o-ol

More boss man lyrics and a lethal base line …

… But I’ll be swingin’ when I loosen up my strings

Clint Black – Loosen Up My Strings

This song has Attitude. It’s bluesy and has a great beat if you need to play something obnoxiously loud in an effort to feel better. It’s about work, but I’m applying it to my general irritated state at the moment, and what I’m going to do about it.

I’m trying not to get ticked off at the St. Patrick’s Day race, that I’m running tomorrow, but it’s getting under my skin. Two years ago I tried to volunteer, e-mailed the RD, but didn’t make it on the list. Volunteered at the finish line anyway, was not told about the volunteer party that night, and was only acknowledged 3 weeks later. Last year I volunteered, made sure I was on the list early, and they’d run out of volunteer shirts by race morning. Grrr. This year I figured I might as well race it. Registered three weeks ago at my local store – paid cash. Got called back by the store where I registered, seems they don’t take cash, must be cheque. I detoured on my long run two weeks ago to give them a cheque.

Today I went to pick up my package and I wasn’t on the list. I have my receipt from the store, and the volunteers also took my word for it that I paid, but I’m not on the flipping list! Arrggh. Now I need to see if they cashed my cheque.

Yeah, so I had tight calves the other day – not gonna phase me. So it snowed this morning and there’s gale force winds out there – not gonna bother me. I have a great number, 1555, a cool new celtic long sleeved t-shirt, and a beer ticket. I’m going to kick butt tomorrow.

No one’s gonna jerk me around
Once I get my feet on the ground
I’m gonna hit it running, gonna call it day
Y’see a little bit of tension goes a long long wa-a-ay…

Strings oughta be good and loose by about mile 3.

4 Comments

Posted in General

Posted by: Karen | March 11, 2005

Schoolyard Run

Now that my husband is working shifts I’m having to get creative in squeezing in my runs. Yesterday I set a pot of water on to boil, instructed Dance Boy to plunk in some Macaroni at a certain time, and took Monkey Girl to the school yard playground, a km away. Once she was happily swinging along, I ran twice around the big school yard on packed-down grass.

The sun was shining, and it was 15C/59F. It has been unseasonably warm this last month or so. I ran in shorts and a t-shirt, and the mild breeze was comfortable.

The ground was nice on the joints, but my calves didn’t want to warm up. The plan had been to warm up thoroughly, run a few strides (as hard as I could for 40 seconds at a time, with 40 seconds recovery between), and then jog a very long cool-down. The school yard includes two baseball fields and a soccer field. I ran around the yard twice in about 15 minutes or so and checked on Monkey Girl. She was doing fine, so I headed back out around the field.

Now was when I would have done the strides, but I didn’t feel warmed up. My calves were tight and my breathing wouldn’t settle down, so I kept my steady pace and did two more laps around the field in another 15 minutes or so. Nothing felt right, so I never did do the strides. I figure if I’m not warmed up after 30 minutes, it just wasn’t the right day for it, and Monkey Girl and I headed home for supper.

After a quick meal of Kraft Dinner I took Dance Boy to his school dance, came back home and watched an early Survivor on the Satellite. Monkey Girl morphed into Betty Crocker and baked cakes in her Easy Bake oven.

Normally, when I have a race coming up and I have runs like I’ve had this week, I start to get worried. I am trying for another PR on Sunday morning, at the St. Patrick’s Day 10k. What if I feel this yucky on race day? I know better than to let it worry me now. At the Jingle Bell Race last November I DID feel that way, managed to push hard for the whole 10k anyway, and still managed a time only 18 seconds off my PR. I also remember that I had a lead-legs run the Thursday before my Tampa 15k race this February, and then raced an awesome race two days later.

I think I can.
I can.
I will.
I will beat my PR by a minute!

6 Comments

Posted in General

Posted by: Karen | March 10, 2005

Welcome Penguin Bloggers

Penguin Athletes have been rambling on and trading tips about our running and other related sports activities for years on our message boards, but several of us have also been discovering the joys of blogging.

I want to particularly welcome Nancy’s new blog. Yesterday she wrote a very inspiring post about facing swimming fears.

Another very active Penguin is MsTeechur. Check out her ongoing story about having lost weight and actively keeping healthy and fit.

There are more Penguin blogs I like – check out my Blogroll and you’ll find them – but I want to especially recommend these ones today.

3 Comments

Posted in General

Posted by: Karen | March 9, 2005

Tuesday Group Run

Obligatory Running Note:
I had a “concert run” last night. You know, the kind where everything creaks and groans in concert? Hamstrings, calves, feet… We went down the Holly Park hill past the big Ukrainian church, across Langevin Bridge, past Eau Claire along the river to the 10th St. LRT bridge, and back up the Curling Club stairs.

I looped back on the Holly Park hill to see how our two newbies, Judy and Kathy, were doing with Dawn. They seemed to be sticking together, so I zipped down the hill to catch back up to Yolanda, Krista and Linda L. I just managed to squeak through the light behind them at Memorial. I count that as hills AND speedwork.

In looping back I lost our other big, tall, newbie, Gerton (whose name sounds a lot different than it looks). He’d started out running with us, as he said his conditioning was “not good”, but I took one look at his long legs and knew he could probably speedwalk faster than my 10k pace. He ran on ahead with Ian, one of Gord’s runners. I think they ended up doing the long route (about 8 more blocks).

The backs of my legs groaned annoyingly most of my run, reminding me that I really, really should have done a recovery jog Sunday or Monday. Linda patiently ran alongside me and Yolanda and Krista were right behind. I wasn’t looking forward to the stairs close to the end, but you know, once I went UP them and stretched a bit at the top, I felt much better. I should have done the stairs at the beginning.

If you’re in Calgary and thinking of starting/re-starting, now’s a good time to show up. It’s easier to be new when you’re not the only one.

3 Comments

Posted in General

Posted by: Karen | March 6, 2005

Fish Creek Follow-Up

Definitely check out Dawn’s report and pictures to see more of the terrain we covered yesterday.

I have a few twinges today; tight hamstrings, some achy bits above my ankles on the outsides of my legs and a popped blister between my toes, but otherwise I’m feeling pretty good.

I’m going to ice the achy bits, bake some bread, and take a little girl out to fly a kite 🙂

2 Comments

Posted in General

Posted by: Karen | March 6, 2005

Fish Creek 8k XC – Long

I had a most excellent adventure in the mud yesterday! Warning: it often takes me longer to write these things than it does to run them, but I hope I can draw you into my experience and have you enjoy it with me.

I stashed a small pack for my daughter in the van and actually remembered to bring everything I might possibly need for my race. Yaktrax, mitts, shorts, long sleeves, short sleeves, hat, spare change of everything, race fee, dessert, bowl, plate, cup, spoon, etc. I was feeling pretty good by the time we picked up Dawn and we headed south on the Deerfoot freeway. We got there in plenty of time to register and hedge back and forth over how much skin to cover and how much traction to wear on our feet.

The sun was shining, a very gentle warm breeze blew, and it was at least 13C/55F. I decided on a short sleeved shirt, leggings and Yaktrax over my old trail shoes. I could have changed into shorts and been fine, but I was already in my leggings and was too lazy/nervous/distracted to go into contortions in the van. I kept an old long sleeved t-shirt on to keep warm until just before the start.

The race started late – I think there was some difficulty in getting the course marshals into place. I had Little Miss Explorer all ready for her kids’ race on time, but by the time they finally lined up some kids, she’d wandered away. It took me a minute to coax her back to the start area, but by that time the kids were half way through their kilometer, so she cheered them in, instead.

The mild weather of the last few weeks had melted much of the snow and ice in the Fish Creek valley, leaving ice-filled trails, slick mud, lots of soft, damp ground, and a few unavoidable puddles. Funny, I don’t remember the race director mentioning puddles in describing the course. He said something about one or two “slight changes in elevation”, where the experienced XC racers all chuckled knowingly. We were repeatedly warned about ice, ice, and more dangerous, slippery ice.

One of the best things about running towards the back of the pack yesterday was that all the fast runners’ spikes chewed up the melting ice nicely, giving lots of grit for my Yaktrax to dig into. We started off on a grassy plain and the orange flags quickly led us to a winding, treed, slippery north slope, down into the creek valley. Once down we padded along a trails of slush, mud and trampled grass, over/around some big fallen trees.

There were three deep puddles within the first 15 minutes, all had big chunks of ice floating in them. I don’t know how solid they looked before the first racers got to them, but it was clear to me I would not be running with dry feet for long. The first one was a couple of steps long and there might have been a muddy way around if we’d taken the time to look, but the runner in front of me, Leah, charged right through with a chilled exclamation (Oooh!!), and I followed right after, with the same surprised sound.

We’d plunged in right past our ankles, and the frigid water was quite “refreshing” as it flooded our hot, sweaty feet. The next two puddles were progressively deeper and longer, the last one taking at least 4-5 of my short strides, and up to the tops of my calves. It was a challenge to keep my balance in the puddles, as some of the ice chunks got caught under foot and the ground on the bottom was hard and uneven. Gush, squish, glish, went my feet for the next 5 minutes.

Leah and I leapfrogged through the valley, one or the other stopping to re-tie a shoe lace or adjust a warping ice cleat. I remembered Leah from January’s Nose Creek race, where we managed a heartily competitive pace in comparison to each other in much colder weather. I wanted a walk break, but knew I’d be walking up the “changes in elevation” later in the race, and wanted to put as much running time in as I could on the “flat”. I saw lots of prints in the mud, and wondered how the fast runners managed their balance in the squishy stuff. I stuck mostly to the gritty ice and trampled grass where I could – it gave a more solid rebound.

We gasped up two sunny, steep cliffs on the other side of the valley, interspersed with running through more mud, ice, slush and small puddles in the valley in between. We had some great views of the valley from the cliffs, when we took the time to look. Sometimes we were able to see one other runner in the distance ahead of us, but mostly we were on our own, diligently following the flags through twists and turns.

The downhills were mercifully gradual compared to the steep upward. On the second down hill I saw one flag near the top, and then as I gleefully galloped on the broad shale path towards the bottom I got a sinking feeling… no more flags. Where did they go? Well, I was NOT going back up that hill to find out! We ended up at a small park restaurant where some friendly girls eating huge ice cream cones mentioned seeing some orange flags over to the west. A busking guitar player confirmed this when he pointed out Alan, a volunteer dressed in bright red, further down the shale path.

Mmmm. Ice Cream.

I’m thinking we found a wee short cut, because once we re-joined the course we were closer to the guy we’d been trailing most of the race. We’d been out more than 50 minutes by now and were getting good and tired, but still kept up a strong pace. Leah’s tibia, an old injury, was bothering her, as her doctor had taken away her orthotics. Along more twisty paths by the creek, over a bridge (that we’d run under, on solid ice, last year), and up, up, up a very steep, long, melting-snowy-muddy north slope back up out of the valley.

Once out on top Leah and I kept walking to catch our breath, and then I pointed out the finish line to her, maybe 150 meters away. Leah’s tibia was causing her pain, but when I challenged her to a “make a show” of our finish, she was game. At first she was all for letting me lead her in, but I egged her on and we ramped up our form for an exciting sprint. She joyfully zipped around me in the last second and there were cheers all round. Dawn snapped a fantastic photo right at the end – I’m shouting “LEAH!”
Leah zipping past me. Go Leah!
Lots of high-fiving and back-slapping at the clock and Derek says to me “What a great way to end the season, eh!” Yep. That XC had everything a trail runner could ask for. Great course, great challenges, great weather, great company, great finish!

8 Comments

Posted in General, XC Races

Posted by: Karen | March 4, 2005

Not Whining

After reading Fig’s post, “Just Say No” and Chris’s take on it, I was determined not to get all whiny on my little run around the neighborhood this morning before I got ready for work. I was out for about 30 minutes and my legs felt kind of heavy, but I sucked it up and did most of my distance in bursts of under 9.5 minute miles (fast for me). The sun was shining, the air was crisp, the sidewalks were dry, and the mountains looked gorgeous.

I won’t say I felt great or anything, but I sure felt good to have it done.

Tomorrow I’m racing the last XC 8k of the season. I will savour every second and do my best!

4 Comments

Posted in General

Posted by: Karen | March 2, 2005

Tuesday with Bessie

My kids and I were VERY curious as to what had come in the mail on Monday. Big Box from Tampa

Can you believe it? It was a stuffed cow from Chick-fil-A, the sponsor of the Relay race we ran in Tampa! She came with 52 coupons for a free Chicken Combo meal, good in the Tampa area. It’s a good thing we have friends in Tampa!

We named her Bessie, and encouraged her to feel right at home. Snow White looked a little surprised to see a cow in our living room.
Mooovin' In
Bessie was up bright and early for breakfast.

Bessie came to Gord’s Running Store last night for our group run. She was all excited when I strapped her into the van.
Ready to Go!
Here she is with our Penguin Running group.
We'll whip her into shape in no time!
Of course Dawn and I had some explanations to make, hauling a cow into the store, but Bessie behaved herself and everyone agreed she is quite a prize.

We had a good run of about 50+ minutes, which included one steep uphill and then a set of 67 stairs. There were some icy patches we had to watch out for, but I felt good and was able to pick up the pace quite nicely towards the end.

Bessie was pretty tired from her run, but Linda helped her touch the No Parking sign at the end – a Gord’s Run ritual. Yolanda even helped Bessie with her stretching.
Linda & BessieYolanda and Bessie

7 Comments

Posted in Bessie the Cow, General, Silliness

Posted by: Karen | February 28, 2005

Moooooo!

You are not going to believe what Dawn, Dianne & I WON when we raced our relay in Tampa! It made my Monday! I snapped a couple of pics of mine to upload later, but if you want to catch the breaking news check out Dawn’s blog for her picture and the story.

2 Comments

Posted in General, Silliness, Tampa Trip

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