sticking to a plan

I have always been a planner,whether it is a three week holiday across states, a road trip to Disneyland or a day trip to the park I enjoy the preparation for the event just as much as the event itself. I have found with my running that I enjoy the planning too, although I seem to procrastinate in the choosing of minor details. Once I choose the main goals everything else seems to flow. I have chosen Victoria as
my goal marathon and with that October deadline ahead
 I can start hammering out the details. I like to look forward on my schedule and see
when the long runs will be coming in the summertime. I'm hoping to get
one long Oregon beach run in again this year if it works out.
I love the portability of my chosen sport. No added apparatus required. No special equipment needed. Every road is a treadmill with a view. This is one place
where I don't plan. I love the long run. I run for time and I run without a planned route. My feet take me where I need to go and for as long as I need to travel.....happy trails!

I spent some time debating which marathon I would tackle next.  In fact I spent so much time debating I stopped running long enough to put on a few extra pounds.I am back with a vengeance and having seen the garment that will be bestowed on all marathon finishers at the Royal Victoria Marathon this year I believe I will stick with my old friend Victoria and head over in October for my fourth marathon.

I started my actual marathon training this week and I am following the "Quest for Improvement" Marathon program on the marathon website.  I had success with this program in the past and last year I shaved 11 minutes off my personal best.  I have always been a slow and steady marathoner having a PR of 4:18.  I would love to break four hours but this year I am going to just see where my training takes me.  I plan on sticking to the program verbatim .  This means I will be hitting the track every Saturday to do that much loved speedwork.

A fun twist on speedwork is the new app for iphone "Zombie Run".  I have only used it for one run so far but it is quite hilarious as you basically are chased by zombies while running.  I am hearing impaired so had a hard time with the british accents narrating the story but it is a really neat idea to add some zing to your workouts.   I wonder what I looked like as I ran in and out of  people on sixth street, dodging every virtual zombie in my path.  Next time I will try it at Burnaby Lake where the shadows on the trails and the ripples in the lake will make my heart race just a little bit faster.

I have missed blogging so I am going to try to blog every Tuesday and see how that works for me.  I am juggling a few balls at the moment as I am volunteering, just signed up for a few online fitness courses and of course working and then there are those kids and their sports and my son is graduating this year, the garden is calling and I`m enjoying planting, and of course that work thing.....

Yesterday my sister texted me and asked me to come join her and her husband for a pint at the Dublin Castle...I was so tempted.   I had had a hectic but enjoyable day with the kids that included running around, getting out in the yard, housecleaning, visiting.  I was due for a 2 1/2 hour run if I was to keep to my Vancouver Marathon training schedule and it was a day that was made for runners.  Crisp and cool and breathtakingly beautiful.
So can you believe I texted my sister back and said I was going to opt for fitness.  As iphones have a tendency to do it autocorrected my misspelled fitness and replaced it with the word finesse.  I was opting for finesse. 
Now if we were to analyse this statement I really couldn't have said it any better.   I mean finesse is "to do something skillfully or slyly, especially something that requires delicacy".  Well!!!
Lol!  I have to say that running long requires a great deal of finesse. 
So yes Rachel I know you are proud of me when I say I opted for finesse.

I know

Seriously I know....I mean it has been a long while..I am just going to apologize and move on. Yesterday was the death anniversary of my brother Christopher. He would have been 55. He died when I was 8 years old. He was only 19 years young at the time. I can remember moments from the day he died as clear as crystal. I was in grade 2 and it was donut day at Our Lady of Mercy School. All the kids were just getting their donuts. I hadn't ordered mine for whatever reason, mom forgot, I forgot, no change that day for myself and my two other siblings still in grade school. Not sure why but there was a reason. I knew I hadn't ordered a donut so wasn't expecting one. As the donuts were being handed out, Mrs Thomas, the loveliest grade two teacher you could ever meet, called my name and said my Dad was here to see me. Once already that school year my dad had shown up on a hot lunch day with homemade hamburgers for my grade school siblings and I so I was excited by his appearance. What treat was he bringing today? I didn't run out of the classroom because I wasn't a rule breaker but I practically skipped to the door. I didn't notice that Mrs Thomas looked sad or that the principal was whispering to the Nuns in the hall. All I saw was my Daddy with his arms reaching out to me. I noticed my sister and my brother almost simultaneously coming out of their classrooms down the hall. When I got to my Dad I noticed the tears on his face. I don't think I had ever seen him cry before. He looked shocked as he said your brother Chris died today... I can only remember feeling overwhelmed by the situation. I wanted to cry but couldn't. I didn't know how to act. I didn't know what to feel. I didn't understand what was going on. As the days went by and sorrow blanketed our house like a winter storm, the grief of my siblings and my parents overwhelmed me. I would walk into a room and they would be sobbing. I thought there was something really wrong with me because I couldn't cry. Hadn't I loved my brother too? It wasn't until his casket was brought to the house for the wake and the open casket sat  in the hall that I was finally able to cry. I think back now to the feelings of an 8 year old child trying to understand the death of her brother. Trying to understand that she would never get to see him do those amazing handstands that went on for a lifetime or until his face turned blue. One thing I was truly reminded of yesterday is the importance of keeping my brothers memory alive. I told a few stories to my children yesterday about their uncle and we visited his grave site. We are all thinking of you Chris and what a wonderful gentleman you were and wishing we had had more time with you.  - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone