Happy Halloween! 1:48:51

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Another 30 minutes on the trainer before work. I had a voice lesson this afternoon so I didn’t have to practice this morning. The lesson went really well. I am back on track at last!

We were at the Oak Bay track tonight for km repeats. I was to do 8 of them with 2 minute recoveries. I wasn’t feeling too confident about being able to nail this WO and hitting the time target of 3:28 – 3:30. After the warm-up and strides I just decided to get on with it and see what would happen. Thankfully the kms were pretty consistent: 3:23 (typical) 3:30 - 3:28 - 3:29 - 3:27 - 3:28 - 3:29 - 3:26. The last two were tough and I was breathing pretty hard at the end but I didn’t feel as horrible as I thought I would. It was hard doing these on my own (LeRoo couldn’t make it) but at the same time it allowed me to run in my own rhythm and to concentrate on my form. My legs still aren’t firing as well as they should and I think I need to fall more but that will come the more I work on it. At least I had the courage to stay up on my toes and the spring was much better. I did the old cool-down route from last summer. I passed by the Oak Bay Fire Department off of Monterey. It was dusk by this time and they had built a HUGE bonfire…it must have been 50 feet high with flames shooting rocket-high into the sky. There were oodles of kids dressed up for Halloween screaming and laughing. I made my way towards Willows Beach and I could hear kids calling out ‘trick or treat!!’ The streets were littered with ghouls and ghosts running back and forth from house to house. The houses and lawns were decorated for the occasion…very fun!  I loved Halloween when I was a kid (what kid doesn’t!) and I got those old excited feelings back. I even thought of ringing a doorbell to see if I could get a treat but chickened out! The total run was 78 minutes.

I got an email today from BC Athletics. It looks like I made the team to go to Nationals after all…that was lucky! So, I’ve confirmed my spot and will commit to running a good race on December 1st in Guelph…brrrr…we’re going to freeze our arses off!

Spin & Easy Run 1:29:35

Wednesday, October 30, 2007

The morning started off with a 30 minute spin again. I had a coaching with Robert later in the day so I didn’t need to sing a lot this morning. It went well but we still need to run through a few things so a couple more coaching sessions and maybe a run-through with friends as audience members will be a good idea.

I ran 60 minutes after work around the UVic trails with Matty. We did a small pick-up towards the end. IRR was in the middle of their track WO when we started doing Poser drills on the in-field of the track. I brought the bungee chords this time to do some resistance stuff. I did a whack of stretching after supper and yakked on the phone with Barb.

Spin & Run 1:30:06

Monday, October 29, 2007

I’ve been assigned 30 minutes of spinning every weekday this week so I was up bright and early in order to get on the trainer and still have enough time to sing before work. I had time to do both but it meant a 6:20 wake up for me. I did it and both went well…we’ll see how long I stay so optimistic about getting up that early!  

I did my easy run tonight with Juice at the lakes. It was a gorgeous night, no wind at all so the lake was incredibly still, mirroring the tree lined shore. The leaves have changed color so it was pretty stunning. We took the long route including the IRR warm-up trail through the woods. My easy pace was a bit quicker than Juice’s but he had no problem holding the pace. I cannot believe the huge improvements he has made this year in his fitness. I am certain he will be running 10km in under 40 minutes sometime in the next year. We ran a total of 60 minutes and then I did 6 x strides. My legs felt pretty good and I didn’t have any soreness from Saturday’s race. After dinner I did my weight routine x 3 sets then watched a movie while flaked on the couch.

Thetis Lake 1:30:10

Sunday, October 28, 2008

I sang for a good hour yesterday morning before the race (it went well!!) so I took the day off from singing and had a lazy morning before heading out to Thetis Lake to meet Pan-Pan for a trail run. We had the best time scooting around the gnarly paths, running the route we used to do when we ran with the Sunday IRR group with Rob leading the way. We have to get those runs going again…I miss those trails so much! It was surprisingly dry for this time of the year so the run was fantastic with just a bit of a slow-down as we picked our way through the horrible bramble that has taken over a section of trail near the hydro lines. We came out the other end with bloody scratches on our arms and legs. Otherwise, we kept a steady pace, chatting most of the way and did a small pick-up in the last 15 minutes. We got back in just over 70 minutes so I did a short out and back to do 90 minutes. My legs felt really good today so I had fun attacking the hills. Pan did a big hill run the day before but he was surprisingly perky.

BC X-Country Championships 20:36 (1:03:20)

Saturday, October 27, 2007

What a fab day of cross-country racing! BCs this year was super exciting especially the Senior Men’s race with the top three in a pack right up until the last 400metres where there was a sprint to the finish with Simon breaking easily away, showing his huge talent in the speed department. It was a nice day too, with loads of spectators and a course that allows everyone to view almost the entire length of the race. Juice ran the all-comers race in the morning with Boob. Apparently there were eight ribbons to give away but only seven runners! He said he went out too hard trying to keep up with Rob (!) and died a slow death on the course…we’ve all been there. Sylvan said he had a terrific run so he’s back, baby! I, on the other hand, had a far from stellar run today. My warm-up and strides felt great but about 400m into the race I thought hmmm…this is feeling a bit too uncomfortable too soon. Sure enough, about 2kms in I could feel myself getting flatter and flatter. I had no spring in my legs and had no ability to switch gears when the lead pack started to pull away on the second loop…nothing and just felt tired. I tried everything but my body wasn’t responding. So I was left on my own, sucking wind and just trying to keep moving…fun! Oh well, it was still a good experience and a good speed session. We knew going in that this wasn’t going to be a big goal race for me and I was feeling less than sharp all week. I paid the price for the bigger volume weeks leading in but this work will hopefully pay off in January. I’ve got to do some stuff on the track to work/concentrate on my turn-over and form. I can’t say I was “running tall”. It was more like running short and stiff…ha! Malcolm would have been horrified! So, Matty has set up this week for me and has included a couple of days with Pose drills and a track session and it looks like we are adding a few more days of spinning to the week.

Thanks to everyone who came out to watch and cheer! I also got a chance today to meet and chat with some of the Vikes women during the warm-up and cool-down which was nice.

The day ended with a reunion of the old gang at Il Greco. Pan-Pan and Lin were in town and Squintch, Don-Don and Tori were there. There was tons of razzing mostly towards Pan-Pan. Don-Don was a weakling and used Tori as a shield so I couldn’t quite get at him but managed a beautifully executed sharp finger-nooggy to his head just as we were leaving! Joyce hung out with us and spoiled us rotten. Thanks Joyce and Angelo!

Lambrick 1:02:48

Thursday, October 25, 2007

The Fat One predictably wasn’t too thrilled about yesterday’s run but what’s done is done. The week before a race I will have to run on my own so I make sure I do what I need to do.

Sylvan joined in for tonight’s WO at Lambrick Park. After a 20 minute warm-up and a few strides, we did 4 x 3 minutes with healthy 3 minute recoveries running on the race course. I did the first two intervals in flats and the last two in my spikes. No problems at all with the spikes.  The 3 minutes were supposed to be pretty fast since we got a good break in between. I focused on staying relaxed. I felt much better than on Tuesday so with the tuning up we did this week, I should be ready to go for Saturday’s BC X-C Championships. It will be pretty well the same 2km loop as last year, with the women running 3 loops and the men 5 (2km longer for them than last year). The weather is supposed to be great…sunshine and cool.

Syl and I drove over to the Penny Farthing where Boob and Juice met us after their IRR WO at Beacon Hill. Squintch joined us soon after we got there. He did his first run in a long while and said it was pretty gruesome. I remember that feeling!

Oops! 1:10:27

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

The lesson with Selena went ok today. I got some stuff figured out so it was feeling pretty good.

I met up with Juice, Boob, Wayne, Andrew and Alan for a run along the Saanich trails after work. I was supposed to do 45-50 minutes but Alan and Boob decided to take a trail that they thought would lead us home in plenty of time. Instead, we got lost and hit a dead end a good 40 minutes into the run which meant backtracking. We were in the middle of the bush so all we could do was make our way back…well, 70 minutes later we were back in the p-lot, 20 minutes longer than what I wanted to do. Grrrr...At least we got to see the full moon in a crystal clear sky on our way back…just stunning. I did 6 x strides in my spikes on the grass behind Boob’s office and 1 set of weights after dinner.

Short and Quick 1:11:12

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

We warmed up tonight on the UVic trails, did a few strides and then did 8 x 2 minutes with 90” recovery between the first five intervals then 2:00 breaks between the last three. We started at UVic, made our way to Lambrick Park where we did 2 of the intervals, then retraced our route back to UVic. I spotted a group of Vikes guys doing their WO on the Lambrick Park race course in preparation for this weekend’s BC cross-country Championships. When I got back to UVic I did 6 x strides in my spikes on the in-field of the track while IRR did their warm-up drills and then did a 20 minute warm-down. My legs felt a bit flat tonight but I think it’s just from pulling back after a hard couple of weeks or maybe I went out too hard at the start. I’m sleeping well so that’s good and am really looking forward to the race. It looks like we’re going to have wonderful weather again this year! Juice had to do the IRR WO earlier in the day before his rehearsal and said it went well. Squintch is back from being away with work-related trips so we went and had a big Sushi meal at Sen Zushi and got caught up. I am looking forward to the big social gathering at Il Greco this weekend with the whole gang. I plan on wearing my jimmies as we are meeting at the late-night time of 8pm.

Selena is Back! 51:44

Monday, October 22, 2007

My singing right now is going ok, but not fabulously well. Thankfully Selena is back from her trip and we have set up a lesson time this week. I think I need a kick in the pants (or maybe some encouragement!). Either way she’ll no doubt deliver what I need. She’s brilliant that way.

I just did an easy run around the UVic trails tonight. I laced up my x country spikes afterwards and did 6 x strides on the field inside the track. The BC X country race is this weekend which should be a lot of fun so we are toning the training down a little and will ramp it up again next week. I did my weight circuit after supper, doing just 2 sets.

Easy Sunday 1:10:29

Sunday, October 21, 2007

I did a very easy run around Cedar Hill this morning with The Fat One. LeRoo was unreachable and so by 10am I was itching to get the day started. Juice did his run at the lakes and was supposed to meet Shan but they somehow missed one another. Still, he did two loops at a very solid pace. We had a big brunch at Demi-Tasse. I tried to do some shopping for clothes downtown but felt really uninspired so we bailed and went home where I crashed for a couple of hours while watching a movie…a real lazy day!

Juan de Fuca Tempo 1:30:29

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Yesterday was a day off from training. I met Shan after work for dinner at the Med Grill for a granny night. We caught the “early bird” special and were out of there by 7pm…perfect. I still had loads of time to have a quiet night in. I knew I had a big run this morning and was glad to be in my PJs by 7:15.

Juan de Fuca is the new IRR venue for Saturday morning runs so LeRoo and I met everyone there even though we were doing a slightly different WO. We all did the warm-up together, chatted a bit then the group did 10-9-8 minutes while LeRoo and I ran 2 x 20 minutes at tempo pace with 5 minutes recovery. I swore to myself that I would stay in the “comfortably hard” zone you’re suppose to run tempo runs in instead of the usual “slightly uncomfortably hard” zone that I tend to do. I ran the loops at a more relaxed pace than last week (9:45 per loop). All of them were at the same pace and the effort was hard but comfy. It’s only taken me three years to do this properly (or close to it). Boob stuck around to watch everyone run and LeRoo and I ran with Ased for one loop which was great fun. The WO ended later than expected and although I wanted to catch the Vikes’ x-country race, I was just too filthy and sweaty to go straight from the run to Beacon Hill. I ended up missing the women’s race but caught the guys’. There weren’t as many runners or spectators this year compared to last…too bad.

I walked back to Jennie’s place with Jen Mac and got to carry PK most of the way. She is so good, even a spell of the hiccups didn’t bother her one bit. I got a nice visit in with Jennie and Simon while waiting for Juice to finish his talk for POV. On the way home, I dropped by to see Phil at Island Runner. He was in great form, making us laugh as usual. He sent me off with a new pair of Saucony Sinister shoes to try out. These will be great for training runs, I think. It was pizza for dinner and the rest of the night I paid homage to The Tube.

Blah 1:05:25 + Strides and Drills

Thursday, October 18, 2007

I knew right away in the warm-up tonight that I was in for a real fun WO. My energy was blah and my legs were blah. The past couple of weeks of big training have finally caught up to me. Matty said not to treat this WO with too much importance….good thing! We were going to do 6-8 km repeats around Beacon Hill but we shortened it to 4-6 after the warm-up. Sure enough, I felt pretty rough and was finished after the 4th. LeRoo incredibly did 2 more while I did 6 x 100m strides on the cedar chip trail along Cook St to work on turn-over. As we started our drills, Syl came by and provided some entertainment. IRR in the meantime did 5 x 4 minutes along Dallas. Juice had another pre-show talk to give for the opera so he did the IRR WO earlier at the lakes and said it felt pretty good. I was running on fumes in the warm-down. Dinner was at The Penny Farthing with Juice….burger and fries….oh yeah! 

Same as Monday 1:29:41

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

I did a 30 minute spin again this morning before work. My legs feel so much better afterwards and the run tonight felt great! I did 60 minutes of easy running and some strides and I felt like I could have done another workout. I guess having a good night’s sleep last night made a huge difference. I did weights and core stuff after dinner and pent the rest of the night relaxing.

I feel so badly having called LeRoo a cockroach! I wasn’t trying to be mean. Honest! LeRoo is lovely in every way so I take it back…she is a butterfly!!

Trails and Track 1:26:51

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Yeah, yeah…I bailed. I didn’t go to the show after tonight’s WO. I was just too fried. LeRoo is a cockroach (you’re right Shan!) Nothing can stop that woman! I sang this morning and it went so-so. Not my best practice but I am not worrying too much about it.

I met LeRoo after work for tonight’s run. Matty has a niggle or two that he is wisely babying so he did his own thing. There was a big IRR group out tonight at the UVic track. That's so nice to see! After socializing a bit LeRoo and I headed out for our warm-up. We did a few strides, whined a bit about how awful we were going to feel and then off we went. We did 5 x 5 minutes with 90” recoveries and then had 5 minutes to jog back to the track to do some faster stuff. The 5 minute repeats felt very good tonight. Energy was good, leggies felt good. Just as we were about to start our track intervals, Syl showed up. He did a PIH WO already and drove to the track to see what was up. He said he was “finished” after his big WO but of course he was a nut and did the track session with us anyway. Here’s what we did on the track 400m (72”) 2:00 recovery, 300m (52”) 90” recovery,  200m (33”) 60” recovery and 100m (15”). These felt pretty perky although the track was super slippery. Syl was staggering around looking very drunk after that but is such a glutton for punishment that he did the cool-down with us as well. We ran through the UVic trails in the total dark (that was so FUN!)

Easy Spin and Run 1:27:56

Monday, October 15, 2007

I did a 30 minute spin but didn’t have time to sing this morning. My symphony audition is next month so Robert and I will be meeting next week to start rehearsing so I better be sure I give myself enough time to get some practicing in before work. It looks like we will get to do the audition in the Farquhar auditorium at UVic so that will be a good acoustic to sing in.

I did an easy run around the UVic trails after work. My legs felt good. I like how they feel after the morning spin. It’s starting to feel real chilly out there especially when the sun isn’t out…brrrr…I did my weights and core stuff when I got home and stayed in for the night. LeRoo and I made plans to see a concert at Sugar Bar tomorrow night but I am still recovering from two late nights in a row on the weekend so I may bail. What a wimp.

Long Run 1:30:06

Sunday, October 14, 2007

A second late night in a row and a restless sleep had me dragging my butt today. Juice and I met Matty and LeRoo at the lakes. We did the Bear Hill route but ran in the opposite direction this time…that was a dumb idea. We faced a really long stretch of road that seemed to go up forever that lead us to the back-side of Bear Hill where we found ourselves scrambling up a much steeper incline than what he would have done had we gone the usual direction. It was a slog going up, boy-o. I thought we were going to loose LeRoo but she survived! The run down Bear Hill was great fun! We continued around the lakes at a good clip and finished off with a 10 minute pick-up which finished me off. We all waded into the lake to ice our legs, shivering like mad. 

Tempo Run at Juan de Fuca 1:17:42

Saturday, October 13, 2007

It was a nice day out there today. LeRoo ans I did our run at Juan de Fuca, both feeling a bit grim after being out too late the night before. After a 20 minute warm-up and a few strides, we did 30 minutes at tempo pace. The first 10 minutes for me felt great, the second was a struggle but I caught my second wind on the 3rd . We were averaging 9:35 per loop which is about what I was doing them in last winter. What a great WO although I was pretty bagged afterwards.

Juice and I spent the afternoon at Timothy’s place. I just love his property. He has acre of land that overlooks a beautiful valley and it’s just so incredibly quiet there.

I took LeRoo as my date to the opera tonight. Juice had to give another pre-concert lecture before the show and then sat with us to watch the show. The production was really wonderful with some great singing…very inspiring. Mozart is the best!

The Recluse Goes Out! 30:00

Friday, October 12, 2007

I was too darn lazy this morning to get up and spin before work. I needed to sing and didn’t feel like dragging my butt out of bed earlier than I had to. I did 30 minutes on the trainer after work although I suppose I should have just gone for a ride in the sunshine…what a day! LeRoo convinced me to meet her and some great friends at the Canoe Club. Juice had a concert with symphony tonight. They were playing with a group featuring Taiko drums which I wasn’t in the mood to go to. If a certain someone hadn’t bailed…I might have gone…ahem. Anyway, the night was a lot of fun but I stayed out later than I should have and will pay for this tomorrow morning, you bet. That’s ok, it was definitely worth it after a week spent in my hermitage!

Quick at UVic 1:12:10

Thursday, October 11, 2007

We did some shorter, faster stuff tonight on the UVic trails. Matty and I did a 20 minute warm-up, some strides and then 8 x 3 minutes with 90”. I kept reminding myself to keep the rhythm fast but to stay relaxed. I felt good and worked hard and the 3 minutes felt very consistent although I missed LeRoo and her fast feet! I yakked with Shan and LeRoo for a bit on the phone after supper and also got caught up with Er which was so nice! We are going to see if I can make it out to Calgary for a visit in December and we may even try to do a trip to Banff...sweet!

Easy Spin and Run 1:30:07

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

I got in a 30 minute spin and did some singing too this morning before work. On days like this I wish I had the day free to do stuff without rushing around. Don’t we all! After work, I did an easy 60 minute run with Matty around the UVic trails and some strides. I felt a bit groggy in the first 15 minutes of the run but then I perked up and felt quite good. I did my weight circuit and went to bed. I think it’s time to rustle up a social life…thankfully LeRoo has planned some fun stuff for me this coming week.

Beacon Hill 1:19:24

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

I met LeRoo and Matty tonight after work at Beacon Hill. I wasn’t sure how fresh my legs were going to be after the race Sunday and yesterday’s stuff. After a 20 minute warm-up and a few strides we did 5 x 7 minutes with 2:00 recoveries. LeRoo was recovering from a cold she got on the weekend and wisely took our advice to cut it down to 3 x 7 mins so I was basically running solo with Matty miles ahead of us. He was flying tonight. The WO felt good I felt pretty smooth. Just before the cool-down we did a few drills. I managed to get a stretching session in after supper. Juice did two loops at Cedar Hill in the afternoon and said he felt pretty good so it looks like he has already recovered from the half.

Morning Spin, Afternoon Run 1:31:13

Monday, October 8, 2007

I slept in until 9:30 this morning. I had some trouble falling to sleep last night so I guess I needed it. I hopped on the trainer and did a 30 minute spin. My legs felt pretty good considering yesterday was the first time I ran any real distance on the roads. The spin seemed to loosen them up a lot. I started putting summer clothes away storage and taking out the winter stuff. This sucks. Summer was just too short this year.

I picked up Matty in the afternoon for an easy 60 minute run. It was pretty warm out and the sun even poked out for a bit. We decided to run on the trails at Thetis for a change. I haven’t been there in so long and had forgotten how beautiful it is there. My legs felt pretty good but I usually feel sore two days after a race so I will have to see what tomorrow brings. I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and finishing off getting the clothes organized and managed to do my weight and core stuff too. Back to work tomorrow…pooey.

RVM 8km Race 28:14 (1:32:11)

Sunday, October 7, 2007

It was a 5:15am wake up time this morning…groan. Juice and I made it downtown to the race start with loads of time to spare. It was still dark when we started our warm-up but at least the rain was holding off and it wasn’t cold or windy. My 20 minute warm-up felt kind of sluggish but I figured it was from waking up at such an insane hour. It’s time to get back into the habit of running early on the weekends. Damn. My strides felt pretty frisky though so I wasn’t too worried. After a last minute consult with Matty who came to watch and cheer, I joined everyone at the start. I was very happy to be standing at the start of a road race again, joking around with friends while we waited for the gun to go off. I simply felt so thankful to be running again. How appropriate this race was on Thanksgiving weekend! The start felt quick but I found my rhythm pretty fast and stayed relaxed. I ran about 6km of the race with a young guy named Ben. As we approached the turn-around we both commented on how darn smooth Simon looked as he cruised by us. I called him a loser as he ran by. Ha! The enthusiasm and cheering from all the runners as we headed back from the turn-around was so great and gave me so much energy! Coming in first was a thrill but I was even more pleased with beating last year’s time while feeling so comfortable. Matty said now that I am fit, the real training begins. Yikes!

I started my cool-down with big shots, Ian H, Eric K, Zach and Simon. We ran along Dallas and watched the halfers making their way back from the turn-around. I waited for Juice at the Ross Bay Cemetery and ran along side him on the grass path next to the road. He just had 6km to go and was looking very strong holding a solid 4:30/km pace. Just after Cook St., he got a side-stitch that forced him to walk for a stretch. Andrew Green came up from behind and we encouraged him to start running again. Andrew ran beside him right to the finish! What a nice guy…thanks Andrew! Juice still finished in a very respectable time of 1:33:50. Just brilliant!

Don-Don and Matty joined us at Beacon Hill Drive-Inn where we ordered egg and cheese on english muffins, dripping with butter …mmmm…healthy eating but boy did it taste good! I got razzed in stereo today by Don-Don and Matty. They said I am like a pit-bull when I run…nice. I thought I was more like a golden retriever. After we ate we walked over to Dallas Rd just in time to watch Steve run by in the lead for the marathon. After he passed, we cut through the streets of James Bay and made it back to the finish in time to watch him win in a time of 2:20:14. That’s when the rain started coming down and the winds picked up. Those poor marathoners! We stood huddled under a tree where there was less than a kilometer to go and witnessed dozens of people cramping and stiffening up….brutal.

I took a hot shower, ate more food and had a lazy couple of hours on the couch. We were treated to the most amazing turkey dinner I have ever had at Patrick and Bob’s. We were a pretty big group of people but they still had tons of food left over. All of us left with Tupperware filled with turkey, cranberry sauce and stuffing! That will be Tuesday’s lunch for me! I drank more wine than I should have and stayed up way too late!  A great way to end a fun day!

Wet and Muddy 48:34

Saturday, October 6, 2007

The winter rain is here. LeRoo and I did a soggy run around the lakes late this morning…the lazy butts we are. Legs were muddy, shoes were soaked but it was such a nice run anyway. We ran at an easy-pace with 5 x strides. My legs feel fairly good but I have no expectations for tomorrow. I just hope to go under 29 minutes.

Juice and I picked up our packages for tomorrow’s RVM race in the afternoon and then he went off to rehearsal while I did some errands and got some groceries. I have to get to bed as early as possible…it will be a frikkin’ early start to the day tomorrow…yuk.

Nifty WO 1:24:21

Thursday, October 4, 2007

The WO tonight was pretty different from the usual I’ve been doing lately. Matty mixed it up a bit so I got to run at various speeds on different terrain. It made the WO interesting so it went by fast. I was on my own tonight but I guess that’s good to do every so often…can’t be a baby all the time! So, it went like this: 20 minute warm-up (changed into training flats) 15 minute tempo on the UVic trails with the first 5 mins as a gradual pickup (so I wouldn’t start off at some maniac pace), 5 minutes recovery, jogging as I made my way to the field next to the track. From there, I ran 3 minutes hard looping around the stadium on the gravel path, then I had 1 minute to get my butt to the start line on the track in time to do a 400m at a slightly quicker pace (76-78), working turn-over and form then I got 3 minutes to recover. I did the 3 min/400m circuit 3 times in total. After a 5 minute recovery I did 3 x 150m, each repeat moving from easy to speedy followed by a 20 minute warm-down.

Recovery Run 1:00:16

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Juice and I met at Boob’s office for an easy run along the Saanich trails. My legs were feeling good after yesterday’s hard WO but I made sure it was an easy recovery run. Matty would have been happy! Juice said he was feeling good despite being a bit jet-lagged. I am so curious to see how he makes out in the half this weekend. I did 5 quality strides on the grass. My legs are finally adapting and recovering faster now after WOs, which is good. I did my weights and core circuit and got some stretching in too after supper. It was another veg night on the couch watching tv. My life is just so very exciting these days!

Intervals at Beacon 1:27:42

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

The run tonight was at Beacon Hill. Boob showed up thinking that everyone from IRR would be there. There was a mix up (my bad!) and the group went to the lakes instead so he just did the warm-up with me and LeRoo and then went home. The plan I got from the ailing coach was 7 x 5 minutes with 90” recovery. After a 23 minute warm-up and a few strides, off we went starting on the cross-country trail but extended the route this time by continuing along Dallas after looping around the soccer field then hanging a left on the chip trail on Cook, running the exterior of the park, then a sharp left at the base of Quadra /Southgate cutting back into the park following the main road to where we started at the petting zoo.  We covered this route twice and got some encouragement from run groups along the way! It was cold and the wind along Dallas Rd nearly blew me away but what fun! The first couple of intervals were kind of too quick so I paid for it a bit in the next two, with some stiff legs. The last three felt loads smoother. Matty wanted the last two intervals done on the roads. This was my first time running fast on a hard surface since I started back training but I felt totally fine and kind of liked the feeling of some stable footing and the harder surface gave my feet something solid to react to. We ran the last 5 mins on the mile loop holding the same pace and were both thrilled to have finished less than a hundred meters from where we started. After 30 minutes of hard running this was a great boost to our confidence that we were able to confortably hold about a 5:15 pace on that loop. We did a 20 minute warm-down which was done in the dark-blah! LeRoo now gets to rest up for the half on Sunday while I will have another WO on Thursday with a mix of track, road and trail. Should be fun but I will miss LeRoo’s company!

Easy at Cedar 59:41

Monday, October 1, 2007

I sang for over an hour this morning…trying to make up for not singing at all over the weekend. My audition with the Victoria Symphony has been rescheduled for the end of November so I will get some quality time now to work with Robert on the music while Selena is away. I miss her already!

I went to Cedar Hill for my run after work. The Fat One has come down with a nasty flu-bug so I ran a few loops there  on my own at an easy pace followed by some drills/strides. My legs felt kind of stiff in the first 15 minutes a gift left-over from the weekend of hard running so I just took it really easy. By the end I felt pretty good but made sure I kept the pace the same. I picked up a few more episodes of Entourage on the way home, cooked up some dinner, did my weights and then flaked out on the couch until bedtime (which is getting earlier and earlier now along with the disappearing daylight). I’ll be back into the routine of being in my PJs by 7:30pm every night very soon….sigh…

Juice comes home tomorrow night after a month away in St. John. He was conducting an opera there, La Traviata by Verdi. The opera went really well but he is fed up with living out of a suitcase! He is still planning to run his first ever half-marathon this weekend and I think he is going to have a good one!