Took the morning off

Yes. I actually took the morning off. I did not go to spin class. I'd intended to go, and laid out my clothes, and then asked my husband's opinion--I said: most of my Facebook friends think I should take tomorrow off. And he said, I agree. He is a kinesiologist, so I like to consult him on matters related to training. And his argument made sense. I'm stiff and sore because my muscles have suffered many small tears--this isn't a bad thing, but could be if I don't rest and instead go hard too soon and turn small tears into big ones. The "you could injure yourself" argument was the one that got me.

He did suggest I could go swimming instead, since it would work difference muscles, but once I'd decided not to go spinning, I wasn't going to get up to go swimming. I'm also quite tired. Rest is important to recovery too.

Last night before bed I took a bath with Epson salts--brought to me by a friend!! What a sweet gift. I slept well. And I'm feeling ready to get back to running really soon. Maybe even this afternoon. I sometimes do a short speed run while the kids are at swim lessons. Today, I plan to do a short easy run, just to get my legs moving. Also planned this week: yoga, and another easy run tomorrow morning with my friend, and hopefully a longish run on the weekend. I've read that a good way to keep yourself marathon-ready (or training-for-a-marathon-ready) is to do a 16km run on the weekend in place of your long run. That's a pretty easy distance for me, and I'd love to keep the habit of the longish weekend run in place, even as I slow down and think about next season.

This seems to be the time of year for slowing down, taking stock, and getting excited about next year.

To that end, I've already signed up for another race!!! Couldn't help myself. I loved Hamilton, and I've heard about another Hamilton race from other runners--it's called Around the Bay (or something like that), and it's the longest-running race in Canada, perhaps in North America. The tagline for the race is "Older Than Boston." It's an odd distance, at 30km, but a good distance. It's run on March 25, so it will be a good start to next season.

And yesterday I contacted (by wimpy email) the coach of a local running club. I haven't heard back. If that doesn't work out, there are interval training runs led by local running stores--free, as far as I can tell. There's a free Tuesday evening trail-running club that will start up in the spring that sounds fun. Mostly, the problem with joining any club is going to be getting to the practices. Right now, running works especially well for me because I can run whenever there's an opportunity, unlike swimming or yoga or spin class. I can squeeze it in during soccer practices or swim lessons. With the kids (and my husband) so active and busy after school, it's difficult to add in any set and scheduled activities for me. In fact, writing that out makes me realize that I no longer have ANY set, scheduled activities after school or in the evenings. My set, scheduled activities are all early-morning, before anyone else in the house is awake. And then I squeeze in a yoga class here, and runs here and there when the schedule has a break in it.

This week, for example, I'm hoping to squeeze in yoga on Thursday over the supper hour. Next week that won't work because it's parent/teacher interviews and a family birthday party. So I really can't pin down regular times at that time of day.

But oh how I love to run when I get the chance. I think it would be really good to get one session a week with a coach or a team, though. I could aim for that. One session a week where someone else is pushing me, not just me pushing me.

Real marathoners train up to 100-150km a week. Some even more. If I did that, how fast could I go? (Wait, says reality, you really really don't have time for that ...)