Day 363: Running

I've run more this week. I've enjoyed it, squeezing in a shorter run here or there, and managing to run nearly every day. Monday, I did yoga, then swimming in the evening. Tuesday started with a run (about 8km). Wednesday, another run (about 6km), and in the evening my last triathlon training swim class. We did another timed swim, to compare with the first day, and I dropped my time by a over a minute. Pleased! Best of all, the stroke enhancements were feeling very natural, and my stroke stayed consistent over the entire 500 metres (ie. my pace was consistent and did not fall off). So that was definitely worth it. I ran again yesterday evening, a short but fast run, probably about 5km, and got back in time to see my daughter's soccer game. I've been going to her games in my running gear, running on whatever paths or trails are nearby while the team warms up, then watching the game. I went for my long run this morning ... only a little over 15km, which seems short, but I couldn't take any more time for running. We had too much on our plate today. And then I swam a lane swim while the kids were at their last swim lessons. Hoping to get in at least one run on the weekend, maybe two. Even if they're short, they feel worthwhile.

Day 358: Long Run

Another long run this morning: 18.6km, or one hour and fifty minutes. Feeling good, except I find my lower legs start to ache and get hot as the run progresses. But overall, I feel strong, breathing easy (not exactly a fast pace). This week I hardly ran at all. I ran on Tuesday morning with my friend, N, and then the long run today. I wonder how much stronger and faster I'd get if I ran every single day for a couple of weeks.

I've been swimming and biking instead. Swimming for half an hour while my kids are at lessons, for two extra swims this week. Biking with the kids to swim lessons, only a couple of kilometres one way, but with the stroller attached, plus the weight of two kids, and the crazy heat we've been having, it feels like it actually counts.

Did not sign up for the Belwood Triathlon, which went today. On my long run, I thought, well, I probably could have done it just fine, because I felt good all run ... but my heart wasn't in it, and I never got properly prepared--bike wasn't tuned, we don't even have our own rack to carry the bike, etc., etc. It's been a busy week to say the least. Still have to make up my mind on one more triathlon this summer ... but I'm thinking probably not, and I'll just keep training for the running races instead.

Day 355: Swimming

I put it all together in the pool yesterday evening. I think I'm actually getting it. The instructor added one new finesse to my technique every session, and the one on Wednesday last week was really hard to incorporate. It felt like learning to swim all over again. I hoped to get into the pool last week to practice, but never got the chance; instead, I visualized and practiced in the mirror (does that sound weirdly obsessive??). But it worked. When I got into the pool yesterday evening, I could still swim. Miraculously, I could also slide my hand into the water near my head and reach forward under the water before pulling back, rather than coming up and stretching out and hitting the water with my hand at the top of my pull. We had a different instructor for the session, a woman, and she gave me two more little tips. One I'd been doing naturally, but trying to stop myself from doing, thinking it was wrong, so that was a relief; and the other was just a further finesse on the push forward underwater before pulling back. I still have lots to work on, but I could feel the difference in my stroke overall, and my speed. I also felt really strong anyway, so it was a happy day in the pool.

A yoga class yesterday morning, early, cleared my mind. I've been shirking on the yoga, choosing more aerobic work-outs, and forgetting that yoga is what got me here in the first place, a familiar friend, and a quiet contemplative space that my mind just needs on a regular basis.

This morning, I ran.

And the kids started their swim lessons today, and I made a discovery: lane swims are happening at the same time, which means I can slip in a half hour lane swim during lessons. It's about half as much as I'd do ordinarily, but would be great nevertheless: give me something to do while the kids are swimming, more practice in the pool, plus it's crazy hot right now and that pool looked divine. I want in!

Day 353: Long Run

Brief post to note that I fit in a long run this morning: 16.5km, more or less. I ran for an hour and forty minutes. I started very very very slowly--you might say sluggishly. But felt better and picked up the pace as I went along. Drank a lot of fluids and sweated impressively; the ends of my hair were soaking wet. It was hot, even at 8:30am. And it was good to be out and running. Felt good to have some time alone to think, with no interruptions (summer is all about interruptions--four of them, to be precise).

This past week I ran three times, all on trails or grass, once for thirty minutes, once for forty (with eight hill sprints), and then today. I also swam twice, each time for about 2300 metres, and biked once. I missed yoga entirely. My body is sorry about that, and I hope to rectify it early tomorrow morning.

Next week: two swims, one bike ride, one yoga, and at least three runs, including one long--upping the time by ten minutes. I'm upping the time rather than the distance to remind myself to keep it slow; the distance will just come from running longer. The long run is meant to build endurance, not speed. I like speed and I need the reminder not to push it--it's not a race.

Day 350: Lethargy

I must have counted wrong. I didn't get the idea for the triathlon last year in July; I'm sure it was August. Oh well. I'm sticking with these numbers because going back and recounting would be way too tedious.

Checking in, here. In the absence of another triathlon to aim for, I'm amazed that I've kept going. But regular exercise feels normal now. In fact, missing a day of exercise feels weird--or, more precisely, makes me feel like I'm being lazy. Which may not be a good thing. I shouldn't feel like a slug on a day when I get up and bike 30km, and then that same evening swim another 2300 metres, just because the day before I did "nothing" (pulling the kids in the bike stroller to soccer practice = "nothing."). I just shouldn't. Which makes me think I may have got some kind of exercise dysmorphia going on. But the odd thing about becoming more fit is that I actually feel less fit. Suddenly, 5 minutes/kilometres sounds, well, not that fast, not when I realize how fast I can go when I push myself hard. I think I'm happiest when I'm pushing myself just a little bit too hard. Not sure that's entirely healthy.

Yesterday's swim lesson, the instructor gave me one more tip to finesse my technique. He saved the toughest for last, he said. My hand has been entering the water basically at my furthers reach, then pulling straight back; but the correct technique is for the hand to enter the water near my head, then push forward under the water, pause in a moment of glide, and then pull back with greater force. The way he explains it, my stroke will be more efficient and move me faster through the water if I can take advantage of the push at the very end of my stroke: it should almost give me a little bump ahead. Just trying to get my hand to go into the water and glide forward took all of my mental concentration. I felt like I was learning to swim all over again. And I wasn't convinced that it would make me faster, because my arms would be moving more slowly. My plan, to go faster, was to stroke faster, but he's advising me not to go that route because the speed I'll gain will be minimal compared to the energy I'll spend. Learning this new way of moving my arms through the water should give me more power, more efficiently. If I can just figure the damn thing out.

I'd like to get back to the pool before next Monday's lesson to swim laps and try to get the hang of it. My shoulder is sore this morning, too. The new technique uses different muscles. I need to build those up. But I also need to run more this week, and haven't; that's making me feel like a slug, too.

And I think, if I am to be honest, that I'm fighting something off: a summer cold or flu. Need to remind myself to take it easy ... be healthy ... enjoy life ...enjoy this body as it is, right at this moment; rather than wishing it could be that much stronger or faster or more graceful.

Day 348: Soccer

So ... after my long run on Friday, I was at a child's soccer tournament all day Saturday (no exercise for me), and got up fairly early for a long bike ride on Sunday: 53km. It breezed by so fast that I was sure we couldn't have been out for that long. I'd love to do 100km some time this summer.

Yesterday, I was back at the pool for swim lessons, and the instructor showed me another finesse to my technique. Wow. It helped amazingly. Already, during that one session, I felt faster and more efficient (and the instructor timed me, and I actually was faster, averaging under a minute per 50m). Exciting. Now to build up the right muscles. I was swimming with my arm outstretched and long, pushing all the way down, rather than bringing my stroke close to my body. There's a little pocket of air there that makes it easier to push hard. It felt good. Can't wait to try it out again on Wednesday. Plus, it was the perfect day for the pool. Hot, hot, hot. I felt like a lucky woman to be jumping into cold water. I swam about 2400m. There were moments when I felt fast and proficient, and others when I felt more tired and was thinking too much, but when I'm learning something new, especially when swimming, I think about all of the other elements that I used to have to think about that now come naturally, such as breathing every three strokes, and breath control.

I biked home from the pool, gobbled some supper, and then we gathered up the whole family and went to my husband's soccer practice. He'd booked a field for a practice for his team, but most of them couldn't come, so he decided to make it an all-family event. I got the chance to practice dribbling and ball-handling. Boy do I feel fit when I run. It was fun. We played hard for an hour and a half. I ran as much as I could, figuring since we'd be up late, I wouldn't want to get up early to run on my own (my running friend is away this week). Late-night exercise doesn't work well with early mornings.

Today, it looks like the only thing I'll get to do is a yoga class.

Basically, I'm trying to make the exercise this summer fit in with our lives ... and that's so far meant less early mornings than during the school year.

But my husband and I are talking about joining a co-ed rec soccer league and playing together in the winter. I've never been much good at team sports. I think it would be good for me! And make use of the fitness I've gained.

Day 344: Long Run

Wednesday was my big day, this week. It was a packed schedule, in addition to the morning bike ride, and by the time I biked myself to the pool for 5:15, I felt pretty sluggish. My muscles were sore and tired. I ended up swimming about 2300 metres, but let's just say the sprint drills were more like "sprint" drills. After swim lessons, I biked to a family birthday party and let loose: had a few drinks, went out afterward with my husband, stayed out late, felt like I was on holiday. I love that feeling of reward after a lot of hard work.

Yesterday, I took the whole day off. I'd considered running in the evening, but stayed home over the supper hour instead. I'm already missing three suppers a week due to swim lessons and yoga. Instead, I decided to get up early-ish this morning and go for a long run. I went about 15.5 km, and ran for an hour and a half. The time was actually my goal rather than the distance (which I only calculated after the fact).  I ran nice and slow. I had to remind myself at first what the purpose of the run was, but it was pretty nice to run at an easy pace. I went to the nearby park so I could run in grass. It felt pretty safe. I don't like running by myself in isolated areas, but it wasn't too terribly early, and there were people around. Lots of "good mornings." I ran a loop, which admittedly got a bit boring, but it did the job. Lots of hills. The grass was wet and my feet were soaked by the end.

By my calculations, my pace was a little better than 6 minutes a kilometre. I'd hoped to be at about 5 and a half minutes per kilometre, but was focussing more on not pushing it and going slowly rather than aiming for that time. Especially because I didn't have the distance all calculated out in advance (the disadvantage of going to the park to loop around rather than looping around the neighbourhood, where I know exactly how far I'm going ... but I think running on grass is more important than timing my distances, at least for now).

Small goal: to get signed up for a fall marathon and start working deliberately toward it, figuring out week by week exactly how to pace my long runs in advance of the race.

What I'm doing right now: my plan is to do one long run each week, lengthening the time that I run by 10 minutes each week, which will naturally lengthen the distances too. Up to, I don't know how long ... it's a lot of time to put in. I suspect I'm more of a 10km runner, but I would like to complete a marathon. Once.

:::

Oh yes! The reason I did the long run today is so I'll be free to do a long bike ride on Sunday morning with my friend Nath! She's planning for us to go about 55km!

Day 342: Twice Daily

So far this week, I've exercised more than usual: twice daily, morning and evening. This isn't deliberate, it just happens to be when I've found time. I ran on Monday morning, then went to swim lessons Monday evening. I really like swim lessons (well, so far, one lesson in). It's fairly self-administered, and the instructor lays out a plan for the class, and you basically work your way through it, with drills and various endurance and sprint swims. The instructor was impressed with my self-taught stroke, and thinks that I could increase my power by changing how my arm enters the water, pausing at the top, then pulling down strong under the water. The drills felt really weird and were a challenge at first, but as the lesson went on, I appreciated the way they were challenging me to find comfort in the water while doing unfamiliar things.

And it's so lovely swimming a 50m pool. They do have an evening swim, from 8:10 til 9pm, which might be an option for August when these swim lessons are over. The swim lessons are more expensive than the lane swims.

Yesterday, I ran in the morning with my friend, then went to a yoga class in the afternoon, which was brutally focused on the legs. My quads were dying.

This morning, I got up for a bike ride with a friend and was totally disorganized. Pitiful. I'd given myself ample time to prepare (so I thought) but still wound up arriving late at our meeting spot with tires that needed pumping. Sigh. But it was kind of nice being all worn out and unambitious. This morning I didn't push as hard, so we were able to ride beside each other and chat much more. I usually push as hard as I can, for maximum work-out benefit. Today it was lovely just to enjoy the ride.

This evening, another swim class. I hope it will be as enjoyable as the first. Tomorrow, it's my husband's turn to get up early for a yoga class. I hope to run in the evening, possibly committing the terrible environmentally unfriendly act of driving to my new favourite running location so I can cruise around the trails. My legs seem to do better on grass/trail/anything but pavement or cement. Friday is wide open. Maybe another run. Maybe a day off. It would be great to get a long run in this weekend, but it will have to be on Sunday morning. Here's hoping.

Day 340: Run

I love running. I got to run last Thursday at a beautiful park with loads of trails and grass and hills and trees. I only had half an hour to spare, between dropping my daughter off at her soccer game and picking up the little kids, so I ran as fast as I could. That seems to be my running plan, when working with limited time. I estimate that I ran about 6km in that half hour. It was pure joyous running, uphill and down, pushing against my edge. The next evening, I ran again, unfortunately right after supper which my stomach did not appreciate. I ran close to 7km in half an hour. Slightly less. I was really pushing my pace, but I didn't feel like I could have comfortably run much longer at that pace.

Then, the weekend. The holiday. Sitting on the beach. Packing and unpacking. Driving. Taking children to camp. Not running. Not swimming. Not anything.

This morning, I got up and ran, though not at a really early hour. 7am. I think that will be my summer plan--the 7am run rather than the 5am swim ... all depending on how much I like swim lessons, which start this evening. If I like swim lessons, and they seem to offer some exercise value, then I won't swim in the early mornings during the month of July. I'm going to try to fit in more evenings, and more running. Because there's going to be a whole lot less napping during the next two months.

I ran some interval sprints this morning--ten in total. Ran for forty minutes, not a hard run, just under 8km. I'm trying to run on grass as much as possible--on any surface other than cement sidewalk, really.

Last week: four runs, one bike ride, one yoga, one swim.

This week's plan: five runs (hopefully one long), one bike ride, two swims, one yoga.