No Particular Point...
I have so been sucking at this blogging stuff lately. Like...REALLY sucking.
I suppose I have nothing to write about. Just work, and sleep and run.
Still haven't put air in the bike tire but I will do that soon.
Still haven't looked into the swimming around the corner either.
I was supposed to work 3 days this week--Im working 5 now...
I'm not complaining though--University isn't cheap...
And So i run...at 5am
That's right. At 4:45, I drag my sorry bum out of bed. I put the running clothes that have been sitting out for me since the previous night, eat a bananna, have a glass of water, and head out down the County Hilly Road, for a steady 8km. Fantabulous. It was quite hilly too. On previous days this week, I have done tempo paced runs, and I plan on doing some hill training tomorrow. To strenghten my beautiful legs. (No, they really are nice..) I like running so early though! How good does that feel to come back at 5:55am, have had a breakfast, a run, a shower, gotten dressed and ready for your day, done a load of laundry and had a second breakfast before everyone else get's up!
My Legs are regaining thier muscles.
I am gaining aerobic strength...
I am on a comeback! See TOLD YOU I'd bounce back soon.
Monday marks the official beginning of my 12 week half marathon training program! Thank goodness for the structure....1:50 half, here I COME!
I am exhausted. Canada Day and the Monday following are easy days. I will run when I want to. (But I am on a structured plan now, so I will run. Maybe even next Sunday's long run, considering I don't need to be home until whenever.) and then I will sit and probably binge on Junkfood (This binge will most definately consist of icecream)...And watch a nice girly chick flick.
*shrugs*--I need a binge every now and again. Don't we all. Hmm maybe I am just an exeption ;0) I'm exceptional in many ways.
I feel like Im in a slump. Sigh. Whatever.
So really.. I run..I work. That's the consistancy of my life right now...
Yay..
Take care friends.
P.S.
Im not homesick anymore. My mom doesn't want to talk to me anyways. So there. ha. right.
I'm Sick
Im Sick...Not the throw up, marriage with the toilet kind of sick. Im homesick. :'( Oh well I'll get over it.
Im running. It's fantastic. It's much cooler around here. The water is beautiful. It's got a nice breeze coming off it...
I also have something mulling around in my brain too...Can you guess what it is?!
I am contemplating a Sprint Triathalon. Or and Ironman....Someday...
But really.
My Aunt has a bike and as soon as we put air in the tire we are all set. There's a pool around the corner from my house. I run.
I just don't want it to interfere with my training, all this cross training. I would have to train my swimming and my biking, and I am going to do my running...That sounds like a plan..I think so atleast...
Whatchya think? About this triathalon stuff? Think I could do it?!
Who knows, maybe Ill be the next Lisa Bentley!
Im here
Hello friends!
I made it just fine. I got here to my Aunt's house at a little after 6 on Thursday. It was funny becuase my little cousin Gary didn't know I was coming and then I went in and was like "I brought you some milk home cause your mom wouldn't," and he's like "Uh, my moms not home!!" The look in his eyes was priceless. I laughed soo hard. And I made for his graduation!! Im so proud he got an award. He'll be in highschool next year.
Fantastic:)
So it is much cooler down here. There is a lot of wind and stuff too, but I already know where I am going to run!
I'll have my Aunt to half marathon by October folks, wouldn't that be fantastic?? I think so.
Please leave links to your blogs so I can add them to favorites.
Yes, that's right you are all buttons on my computer, I never memorized any links.
You love me anyways.
Tiger
Rude Awakening
So, my body decided that it wanted to tell me something today.
It had been about 3 weeks since I had been on a structured running plan. Trying to build my base and finish off assignments, and eat healthfully.
I finished off my assignments. I guess that's important.
SO, this is what my body told me:
1. Tiger, you aren't eating right.
2. You're legs have lost a little muscle.
3. You're not drinking enough water.
So my action plan is quite simple. Start eating better.
A wise person that I once spoke to mentioned that how he works on his eating is to do it on a 30/70. So basically thats 3 free meals a week. That way I'm not torturing myself on a stupid diet, but I am still eating pretty healthy.
The legs I am not too worried about. I bounce back pretty quickly from stuff like this. Good thing my structured program doesn't start for 2 weeks. I'll be fine. back with even more speed. I don't really have any time goals for my half in September. Just basically trying to build a big base in between, and my major goal is to run a 1:35 half in May again. Which I am sure that I can accomplish with a lot of base training, tons of speed work and a lot of dedication.
Water again, is simple. Lots and lots and lots of water. Easy breezy. I can handle that.
So, this isn't gonna get me down! Im just gonna fix it.
Im glad I got this rude awakening.
Want to see my motivation???
See how many people are at the start line??? Im in there somewhere!!
That other pic is somewhere about 17km, where I had almost lost it. I am still hanging in there though
And this...This is my favorite picture of them all.
This is my triumphant finish line picture!!! The high that I got at the finish line was uncomparable to anything else I had ever experience!
I'll go with Joe on this one, I wouldn't trade that race for the world!
Tomorrow, I am off, away from home for the rest of the summer. Im so excited.
Love you mom!!
Take care guys, Ill keep you updated and will continue to follow your blogs!
Tiger
Structure!
Don't you just love structure!I know that I personally need it to function. This whole unstructured thing doesn't work very well for me, So what I am doing is creating my own "SUPER PLAN!" so that I have something to look forward to I guess. Last week was much better running wise, and I felt great while I was running.I don't know the mileage, but I ran about 5 days out of 7, for atleast an hour each day. Since I felt good, I have my training plan scheduled with me running 5 days, and having Monday and Friday off. Since I am computer illeterate and cannot figure out how to insert a chart, I ask that you bare with me, cause this might not look like its supposed to but you will get the idea!So, the training will be done in four week blocks (Thanks Bruce for the idea). Three weeks of increasing mileage and intensity, and then a week of recovery.Mondays will always be rest daysTuesdays will be tempo runs. They will increase from 7km to about 10, and it will take about 3 weeks before the next increase.Wednesdays will be speed work days. During recovery weeks, there will be no speed work, just easy runs. They will be done in 800's, starting from 6, going to 10. The pace I will be aiming for is about 4min-4:20/800 m. There will be a 2k jog there and back for warm-up/cool down, and 200-400m intervals in between each set.Thursdays will be steady pace, going betwen 8 and 10kmFridays again will always be rest days.Saturdays are between 8 and 10kmSundays are Long Runs. They are starting at 14km, going up to 24km. More in my head than anything. If I can do 24, I can do 21.1, Right? Right.On recovery weeks, I will still do a tempo run,and a reduced distance long run of about 12 to 14km. My tempo pace will be about 530/km. Race pace is 5:00 per kilometer. Ideally. LSD is 6:00-6:30/kmSo, blogger friends, I need your help. What do you think. Good?? Bad?? Too much?? Not enough.I will listen to my body though...Cheers, Tiger
It's Over!
Alright friends! So it's over! Well it's officially over atleast because I have already graduated highschool before. This, this here is just to upgrade my courses and get enough University Level credits so that I could go to University!
Guess what I did this weekend?! I went Camping! It was fantastic, I brought some pics back for you....
This is the sky with a weird cloud and a little bit of tree... I was feeling, how you say, artistic:0)
The campfire...mmmm...hotdogs
I went for a "Victory Lap" around Bronte Park. It was soo nice. I ran the first like 5k and decided it was too nice to run and miss everything, so I started to walk. And got seriously lost, thus I ended up going like 16km.
It was dirt road between the trails! soo nice...
And this was on the trails!
Here's the sign they have at the beginning of the trail
Tree's and Sunshine!
And I could have fallen over the edge of the gorge! That was scary, but still very nice!
Next time I go trail running, which I think will be once a week, or once every other week, just so I can mix things up, I am a) Not turning my Garmin off and b) Bringing someone with me
I have 2 exams left, for which I should be studying, that's why this post isn't so long! I have so much to write about...*sigh*
Wanna know what though, last time I left highschool, everything was so like, uncertain. I was so scared and I don't think that I was ready to graduate highschool. I didn't have any plans for the future, other than to just work, and make money. I worked, and hated it. Like with a passion. My mom convinced me to go back to school. So I did.
Like I said before, the school year sucked, but now, I am ready to move on. Everythings set in place. But it didn't just fall into place, I worked for it. Im going to University to do what I want to do. I have a good job for the summer.
I'm growing up, and Im gonna be okay!
Tiger
Grateful
I am so grateful for the life that I have.
I shouldn't really be blogging. I should be finishing off that last assignment as tomorrow is the last day of school...
Finally! Yesterday I had the chance to listen to 10x Ironman Champion
Lisa Bentley speak. She was so inspiring that my head hurts. I'll explain.
She was talking about how everything in life is in chapters. Life is just one big book and you have the chapters that are just so easy to read and you sail through them but eventually you want them to be over so you can turn off your light and go to sleep. Yeah. I believe it. Wouldn't it be boring if life was always perfect?
A chapter in your life could be injury. Then you turn the page to rehabilitation. A chapter could be training, and you turn the page to racing. I just think it makes so much sense. What a good analogy.
I want to tell you something that she said that really struck me. Now I probably won't do the story justice but it was a good one...It was about her best race, and it was the Ironman in Hawaii. Apparently her training had gone really well, and she was feeling like she could actually win the race. So, in Hawaii she wakes up with some chest infection or something and she was all pout pout, cry cry, Im not going to win the Hawaii Ironman because I have a chest infection.
Apparently they have meetings when you're like a proffessional athelete or something and she meets this woman who is doing the Hawaii Ironman as a fundraiser. She has 2 children who are dying of
cystic fibrosis, and then she realized, "Wow, I am lucky. I am able to run and swim and bike. What the mom wouldn't do to see her children run to the end of the block or ride their bike 2km?" and then her whole attitude changed. She went out on the race course and she was going to do what she loved. What she didn't have physically she made up for in heart.
And she came in fourth. At 80%. And she loved every single minute what she was doing. Her husband mentioned to her that it was one of the windiest years. But she didn't remember it. She just remembered the 9hours doing (or something, Consider that a random guess) what she loved.
And I was like...Woah. She's right.
She also talked about how to get yourself through those mentally challenging days. When you have a good run, go home and write down what was magical about it? What made you feel like you could go forever, and put it in the magic box. When you have those tough runs you pull it out of the box.
She also said that you should make a list of your assests. When you have a tough run, that's another thing you can pull out....
I made a list of my assests, but in the interest of not boring you I have shortened it down. It may still bore you but whatever...
1. I am able. I can physically run
2. I have a great support system
3. My family loves me
4. I have great friends
5. I can run and feel free
6. I have a safe place to live
7. I am getting an education
8. I got accepted into the program I want
9. I am strong.
10. I am determined and I don't give up very easily
11. I have money to buy good Running Shoes, and clothes, and extra things like my Garmin, HRM and Ipod.
12. I have people who want to see me succeed (Now atleast)
13. I am sensible.
14. I am loved
15. I love myself (But not in a narsassitic king of way...Which is more than a lot of people can say)
I think that a lot of people don't realize how lucky they are. This is what I love to do, and I can do it, so I am going to do it, even when the going gets tough. You too should write a list, and if you are comfortable with it, share it!
When you don't feel like running, go out and run for 10 minutes and if you still feel like crap, go back, because everyone deserves 10 minutes.
Throw You're Heart Over The Bar and Your body will follow. I really like that one. A lot.
What else. I think that's it. This woman is inspiring. She ran the Hawaii Ironman one year and DNF'd at 10miles in the marathon cause her coach noticed her favouring one side of her body. Turns out she had done it with a ruptured appendix, which apparently probably ruptured on the Tuesday.
I want to be a proffessional athlete. It's not gonna happen but a girl can dream.
In other news,
I want to give props to my mom who has lost 20lbs in 4 weeks. I am proud of her, even though I am not the most supportive of all daughters, occassionally bringing junk food into the house. One of my sisters isn't very supportive of it, shes liike 'Well aren't you going to treat yourself once in a while and my mom was like 'I don't consider that treating myself, I consider it clogging my arteries'
I love how her whole perspective has changed. She's gonna do it!
School is over tomorrow. Then on Saturday night we're going camping for fathers day and swimming all day. I'll get a run in too because there will be no more homework. Just studying. I think I have ADD though cause i Can't study for very long.
Saturday is also my last day at work. I am so excited:0) Auntie Cyndy here I come.
Ok guys, Cherish the gift of sport. I'll be back tomorrow with a post that says "HURRAY ITS DONE"
...maybe I don't have to post;0)
God Bless
Tiger
My Hero
His name is Steve. Steve Prefontaine.
I watched the movie "Without Limits" today. He is my hero. He should have made his stupid running friend run home and then he would have just stayed their with his girlfriend and stayed alive and they could have got married and yadda yadda had little baby Steve Prefontaines and I would marry one of them. Providing they had a boy. I think that Steve is a little too old for me. (To all those who were born in the time of pre, take no offence to that prior comment. I don't think that you are old. I think that he would be too old to marry!)
Here are somethings that Steve Said.
A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.
I don't just go out there and run. I like to give people watching something exciting.
Something inside of me just said 'Hey, wait a minute, I want to beat him,' and I just took off.
You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.
Yesterday I worked, and it sucked.
Today, I went for a run. 11km. It was ok. Beautiful weather. Then, my sisters and I went out for lunch. It was good. Then my dinner didn't agree with my tummy. There needn't be anymore details on that. Then, I went to SportCheck and purchased a brand new Camel Back. Its blue and ergonomically correct for female runners. My butt! It's fun though, I have been wearing it all day. Yeah Im kind of a looser. Then I took Cooper and my brothers and sisters for a walk. We had a dinner picnic at the park cause it was so nice. Then we took my brothers and sisters back to my dads house about 45 minutes away. The car ride sucked. The ride home was better. I got to drive. With my mom. My mom has a brake on her side of the car whenever someone else drives. Whatever. Now Im home and blogging before getting ready for bed. It's gonna be bedtime soon.
Today Was Better Than Yesterday!
On Wednesday I am going to the Running Room to meet 10 time Ironman Champion Lisa Bentley.
I gotta go kids! Take Care, Keep Running. I cannot wait til friday!
Coach Tiger
(I'll explain later!)
General Runing
Cooper needs to learn how to heel. Yup. If I keep running with him, I will either get injured, or have a sub 3 hour marathon, should I start to train now for September. Yes. We ran. From my home, to the end of the block. This is about 600 meteres from my home. This dog is a strong little bugger. For that 600m, I was running a 5 minute
mile. Yes, or atleast that's what the Garmin registered for lap pace.
At that point, I turned around, and we walked home. I gave him to my mom, and I said, "
He needs to learn how to heel or Ill have a broken nose cause I tripped over him"We are going to take him to Obedience school. He will be a runner dog before I knw it.
Speaking of running, there has been a lack there of it. There has been maybe 15 miles over the last 2 weeks. I am "Maintaining" my aerobic capacity. I can start running again on Sunday, cause I'll need a good break from studying anyways!
(
Just for the record, having to right the words 15 miles over 2 weeks is very motivating to me.)In more running news, I have a brother that is going to start running with me. We ran together yesterday. He runs about a 12:30 mile. Not bad for a new kid. But then again, when I ran with him, I did a couple of "Strides" (just cause I know what they are now and I wanted to try them and be able to say that) so I don't really know what his pace is. But he's got a long way to go!
Everything on the school front is
much calmer now. I have exams to study for but I'm not too stressed cause I already have the sheets and I have 2 weeks to study. No more really serious assignments. I can make a comeback!
I have decided that my fuel belt does not carry enough water and will be investing in a Camel Back for the Summer months. It's going to be brutal. It's so hot out today (37 degreees celcius) and all I can do is drink water. Its too hot to eat. It's too hot to move. It's to hot to breathe. I need to run to the bank to get a new Bank Card. I don't know though. We are waiting for a severe Thunder Storm...
I think that's all. Off to work
Tiger*
Meet Cooper
This Is Cooper! We are fostering him from the Humane Society. The last dog we had was an 8 year old "Bagel" whom we found a good home for. This one, I am hoping we can keep. Cooper stands to about my waist, and he's got long legs and big paws. He's barely over a year old and has a ton of puppy energy.
Do you get my drift? This is my new Running Partner! One that I can take out in Rain or Shine! I think a 5am run every morning would be good for me. He's a little silly when he walks, he tries to pull, but I think it is partially because he has been in a shelter since he was a pup. If I walk him and feed him and take care of him he might just be mine.
I won't get my hopes up yet though.
If this doesn't work, I am suggesting we foster a 3 year old, retired greyhound. You wait, I'll have a sub 3 hour marathon before you know it!
Cheers!
Tiger Out*
**SCHOOLS ALMOST OUT!! LIKE 6 DAYS!! Thank goodness!
The Calm After the Storm
I'm not going to say that I am back yet. Infact, we are just going to pretend that this year only has 51 weeks, and that last week didn't exist. It was a write off, but I did finish very much homework. It consisted of just what I said it would. Homework, junk food, no running and little sleep. Gosh, I was soo tired. I've been napping everday after school. So, are we agreed, Only 51 weeks this year?
And according to the scale I've actually lost weight. Hm. Whatever. I just feel like bum cause Ive been eating SOOO bad. Whatever.
I went for a run today. 6.7 miles at an average pace of 9:03/mile. I cannot wrap my head around this miiles thing. I can't figure out if it's fast or slow or avg. Blah. Oh well I'll get used to it I guess.
Finished my paper on Obesity. Finshed my Mock Marriage Project. Still have 2 presentations, an in class exam and 2 exams. Then, on June 21st, I am off to Kingston, Ontario to stay with my Aunt for the summer. I bought my train ticket. I am so excited. New Running Terrain! Don't worry, I'll still keep you my friends updated.
Blogging may be more frequent. Tomorrows Speed work. Thursday may be another run. The weekend; well we wil cross that bridge when we come to it.
Stay Tuned for my "Own Private Port Credit" Post. Picture Pictures Pictures. Im just waiting for a nice day!
I'll Catch up with Everyone's blog's soon! I've missed you!
Tiger
