Making the Long run....longer....but making the long run

Yesterday the twins celebrated their 10th birthday.  We had company drop in.  My sister came over with her husband and brought funny cards for the girls (this has become a tradition and always brings laughs that are shared throughout the year).  She also brought something that was in fact to be shared ....but ended up being pretty much hoarded by yours truly.  I did pass the bag around a few times but I stopped short of putting it in a dish on the table for all to enjoy.  What did she bring?   The name does NOT speak of what is in the bag.  I think Trader Joe's should be chastised for calling them Peppermint Pretzel Slims, as the eater of these babies would be anything but slim.  The bag (which is only 170g) contains a whopping 840 calories of blissful indulgence and oh man did I ever indulge....i stopped short of licking the bag but it took willpower...:)....this stuff is really really good.  I believe my next stop to Bellingham will include a visit to Trader Joe's and I might just stock the snack shelves with this little beauty.

So irun to eat...and with a long run put aside I knew that today was the day to get it in.  Of course there was that early morning hockey game on the North Shore to get the girls too.  I  originally thought I would run the Mount Seymour Parkway after dropping the girls off, but we had an impromptu sleepover and I had four 10 year olds in the car with me this morning.  With a busy day of running errands before returning to work tomorrow my running took the back seat today.  I did manage some me time; but not of the golden running variety.  

It wasn't until the late afternoon that I paused and realised the day, which weather wise had turned out to be pretty darn good, was almost done.  The girls were eyeing their Rollerblades and knowing that we should enjoy the weather while we it was still enjoyable, I said gimme 5...threw on my gear and we were off.  They both said they were fine with a long run/roll.  We left the house at 3:00 and returned home at 430....we ran for a good hour and 15....but we had multiple stops.  I know this definitely goes down as a bad training week, but there were a couple of really cool things that I discovered.  While Grace likes to keep up a constant pace, Rachel likes to go in spurts and often lags behind taking in the view and saying hi to everyone she meets.  So I could circle back to Rachel and then run to Grace then sprint for awhile while Grace tried to catch me.  It kept us all together in a kind of circle that gave me a bit of speed work and shook it up a bit.  The highlight for me was at one point through Queens Park, Grace sprinted ahead on the path.  I started to chase but realised I needed to circle back to Rachel.  I did this and then as Rachel and I  crested the hill  we spotted why Grace was in such a hurry.    The Park was calling.....making the long run longer....but definitely making the run. 

Christmas Wishes

Two big thumbs up!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  Santa brought the twins the roller blades they wanted and of course we had to try them out in spite of the weather.  I donned my running gear, helped them figure out the lacing system, helmets, knee pads, wrist gaurds on....another reason to appreciate my chosen sport.  Runners-check.  Door open-check..:)...and out the door we went.   Ended up being a lot of fun for them but not so much running for me.  Being out on Christmas morning enjoying outdoor time with the ladies was wonderful.  So glad we chose a non-electronic Christmas this year.  The older children seemed happy with their treasures too. 
I was missing my Dad alot yesterday.  10 Christmases without him.  As my twins approach their 10th birthday tomorrow I am reminded that they never knew their Papa in person.  And yet the way he is woven into their lives through memories and stories has kept him alive and  real in their hearts.  I took them by the cemetary yesterday.  It is a symbolic gesture that always makes his presence stronger for me.
Enjoy your Boxing Day.  Mine will include a promised roller blade today at some point - and a run for sure, but saving my long run for tomorrow as I am still feeling a bit bloated from Christmas dinners and that second helping of tiramisu.
Cheers to all and sorry for the short post.

Pacing...is it better left for when your teen misses curfew

My remarkably talented sisters comment on my first post started me thinking about the pacing game. Up until the last few years I never put  much thought into the whole pacing thing...it seemed to go against my whole "run for fun" philosophy...
My lack of a pacing plan was evident when I ran my first marathon, the Royal Victoria Marathon in 1997. I followed, and I use the term loosely, a Jeff Galloway training plan with a friend.  My goal was to finish, hopefully uninjured. Coming in just over 4:30 hours I felt proud of my accomplishment.  The question I asked was could I do better. I set my sites on the 2000 Vancouver Marathon with a goal to qualify for Boston.  I was doing barely any gym training, a lot of swimming as cross training, minimal core work, and running for time not distance.  I finished in just over 5 hours. 
When I ran Victoria again in 2008 after a long absence from distance running brought on by the birth  of my twins seven months after that 5 hour Marathon run in 2000 (top that for an excuse for a sluggish run), I finished in 4 hours 24 minutes.  This time I had been in the gym 3 times a week and trained with a plan and pace chart.  I still managed to mess up in the run.  With a split time of just under 2 hours I couldn't help getting swept away with the crowd, and the beautiful city and the adrenaline rush....rookie mistake ..came out too fast.
So to me the importance of pacing is clear.  But it is just one ingredient in the mix for setting your sites on a goal.  I watch as one of my sisters continuously sets new Personal Bests in the Half Marathon and my other sister who qualified for and ran Boston is always setting new goals, and I know that the pacing along with the cross training, core strengthening and nutrition are all important elements to succeed at improving my running.

And then I read Frances' blog and savour the venue from which she "runs from home", on an island where the pace is not set by cars but passenger ferries, where running is taken right back to where it should be...lace up your shoes and head out the door, keep your head up and take in the view, run by neighbours and smile and say hello, shout out compliments on their latest garden acquisition, or on days when you aren't feeling so neighbourly keep your head down until you are out of sight and do fartleks from tree to tree. 

The beauty of running is it doesn't really have to be anything we don't want it to be.  Pacing can just be what we do when the teenager hangs out past curfew.  And personal bests can just be the fact that the first thing we did when we rolled out of bed was thought about what a great day it was for a run. 
Blaze a Trail...:)

sunday surprise

Sometimes when you know you have to get a run in you struggle.....i find when that happens it is better to run around doing the things you need to get accomplished and come back to the run so you can give it the energy it deserves....i had this kind of run on Sunday.....my nine year old twin daughters, Rachel and Grace, were due for a little excursion (Christmas themed of course) so mid morning and afternoon were spent driving downtown and enjoying an ice skate at Robson Square, followed by a walk through the Four Seasons Hotel to take in the decorated Christmas trees.  We even enjoyed (the ladies might argue that one) some roasted chestnuts as we walked.  Definitely a Christmas Spirit kind of day.    We didn't get home to New Westminster until 2:30.  The sun was shining and the road was calling.  I laced up my mizuno's and got my iphone ready for the run ahead. I am currently training for the Vancouver First Half Marathon.  My goal is to finish in under 2 hours.  I run with my iphone using the Nike + Gps and I also utilize Runner's World Smart Coach App.  With 49 days until race day my scheduled run yesterday was an 11km run at a nice slow and steady pace. 

I headed out the door and ran towards Queens Park.  I have recently let my feet take me on a few runs down toward the old Woodlands site behind Queens Park hospital.  There is a nice paved trail that takes you all the way down to Braid and meets up with the Skytrain route.  Going down is nice and I had a beautiful view out to the Fraser.  Coming up presents more of a challenge and I powered up the hill as best I could.  Just as I was coming up the longest stretch of the hill I saw a car driving slowly toward me, and I watched in disbelief as the driver rolled down his window, ignoring his wives pleas and instead hollered at me as I tried to run by...I really didn't want to stop....but my father taught me well the rules of a good citizen and I had to...out of breath, I stopped and took my earplugs out and listened as the driver asked me where the visitor parking was.  I looked around and gave him the best answer I could considering I was just "running" by. 

I thought about it as I ran away.  First in a negative context.  I would never!  How could he?
He obviously wasn't a runner.  I obviously didn't wear the struggle that I felt on the inside as I powered up the hill.  I must have looked like a runner.   He must have known I would just begin again like the runner he knew I was.   And he was right.

Run 11km - Time 1 hour 11:30 minutes - Pace  6:30per km