Quoting
"Th-th-tha-that dat don't kill me, will only make me stronger"- Kanye WestSo true. So very true.
Everything that happened during the time when I was 13-16 didn't kill me (although I thought it might)
My mom getting sick 3 days into first year of University didn't kill me (although I thought it might)
Running Around The Bay super sick didn't kill me (although I thought it might)
Changing my eating habits didn't kill me (although the first day I had to do without 2 rebulls a die, I swore that if I didn't die, someone else would)
and you know what?
This running slump I've fallen into won't kill me either. And since we're being logical, I don't think it will! My body
obviously needs to rest; come on, I probably haven't slept properly since September:P
And then there's allergies. Yeah. I feel like my eyes are going to pop outta my head, my brains are going to ooze out of my ears, and my sinuses are going to explode. Yeah. I'm not in a very good mood. But it won't kill me.
I went to the Doctor today. She gave me a drug store. Seriously. Ventolin and flovent, and a 6 months supply of singulair. Remember that Singulair makes me nervous? Because of the fact that it causes suicidal behaviour. Yeah. Haha. But I think it'll help my allergies so thats good.
Get this, my blood pressure is 90 over 60! I rock. OH! Another thing, I haven't been to the doctor since October 29th, 2006. Haha. AND I was talking to my doc about school and her tuition when she went to school was $1280.16. Seriously. Four year is like my one year.
So, here are the goals up until May 11th:
1)Eat fantastically
2)Get in 6 runs, just to remember that you can run and keep the muscles loose
3)Stay happy, don't overthink things.
Life is good.Stay happy!:)
Figuring it out.
Hi!
So I'm trying to get out of this overthinking bit. We all know that it's going to take a long time.
'I had a reallly bad run again on Wednesday.
I ran 2.5k and really didnt feel like running so I walked the rest of the way. Seriously. I usually don't stop but I did. Really though, who cares. Gotta accept the bad runs. I know I didnt get it done.
The overthinking part of me tried to figure out what was wrong.
I personally think that its all the changes going on in my life right now. I work so well on consistency and all this change is throwing me off.
It's not bad change, but its
new and
scary.
I can't be so hard on myself sometimes. Im gonna rest up until after Mississauga, I have someone to run with now. Then I'll kick training into gear.
I also have to
accept the bad runs and
hold onto the good ones.
Just like I have to accept the changes in my life!
(P.S. Im super excited about these changes:))
This morning I went to Spinning at 9:30am. Spinning.kicked.my.ass.
But I finished the class.
You know what she said throughout the class?!?
PACE YOURSELF.How many times have I heard Pace yourself? LOTS! haha.
Then we went to the whole foods market and had salad, followed by an intense hot Yoga class. I might add that this also kicked my butt. Follow this up with afternoon nap and dinner/icecream/chat fest with best friend?
The PERFECT DAY!
So, I'm out for a bit. I work tomorrow and its my moms birthday. I'll run, oh like, 20 or so on Sunday and then I'll spend the day with this boy that i like.
'Yeah.
Life's good, Change or not.
"Life is too short to be anything but happy, so kiss slowly. Love Deeply. Take Chances and never have regrets. Forget the past but never forget what it taught you"
It's a variation of what I have on the sidebar. I like that one too. Oh, and one more thing:
"Don't live with regrets. At one point and time, what you did was what your heart wanted."
Wow. Im pretty sappy today.
Peace and Love and Running Strong:)
Tiger
Super Tiger Training Program-LEAVE YOUR OPINIONS
Yes, I know, You've been waiting
FOREVER for this.
And yes, I've pretty much had it designed since I told you about it.
And Now, I'm finally getting time to explain it to you.
First things first.
Running and I almost broke up yesterday morning.
Yep. Running dragged me out of bed early sunday morning when I didn't want to get up. It made me forget my warm clothes and my bank card so I could get gels.
I was not very impressed with it.
So I was supposed to run 35k. Everyone had said it was way too far to run for half marathon trianing, so I decided I was only going to run 18k.
About 20 min into the 18k, I made an executive decision to turn it into a:
RWYLR run. That is: Remember why you love running.
Yeah. So I ran about 15 or 16 and it took me as long as I wanted it too. (I forgot my Garmin too). It was along the water and along the trail. Just me, my running shoes, my ipod and a smile. It was fun. I sort of enjoyed running alone. I do, however, think I need to build some mental toughness. Not a lot, just a little.
I also noticed that I am having trouble breathing again. This is allergies that are activating my asthma though. It SUCKS!!!!
Ok.
So SUPER TIGER TRAINING PROGRAM.
I'll let you know how it's going to look first, and then I'll justify it and convince you that it is what's best.
It's going to be intense...
The basics:
I will be using a method of periodization. 3 weeks of gradual building, and then a recovery week. Instead of being called a recovery week, it will be called a "Remember why you love running week" or RWYLRW for short
I find that in training, we tend to forget why we run and why we love it so much. But more on that later.
I will also be trianing alone. I envy the people that can go out and run 20 miles by themselves.
I will also include 1 day of yoga per week (hot yoga) and one other cross training class (i.e. Boxing or spinning).Abs will be done 3x/week. Core is important because it helps with form. I will also do strength training 2-3x/week. When I say strength training, I'm tlaking training that can be done in my home, like squats, and lunges with weights. Abs can be done in 10 minutes before the day starts.
So there are going to be 3 phases. This is something I am taking from the Running Room's training method. Think of it as a house, base building, strengthening and sharpening.
First phase is
"Base Building"I think I already have a pretty good base from the trianing that I have een doing recently and since Mississauga is just a training run, I'm gonna consider that part of my base building. My long runs will start at 22k, and will work up to about 32k. (just for the base phase.)
I will run 5 days per week, and alternate weekly between speed work and hill work. The race that I am looking to do is flat, but I think hills are good for strength anyways, and it helps keep things interesting. I will do one tempo run up to 12km. The two maintenance runs will be between 6 and 10k depending on energy level, etc. The yoga will be on the same night as my long run, a good way to get a good stress, and Im considering putting the spinning or something the day after the long run for 'active recovery' but we'll see how that works.
This phase will last until the beginning of June.
Strengthening Phase:Pretty much the same as the above phase in terms of running 5 days per week. In this phase, I want to consistently keep my long run at about 30-32 km per week. Again, I have the RWYLR week every 4th week. One tempo run, speed work (more important than hills I think) and 2 maintenance runs. Pretty simple I think.
This phase will last til the beginning of August.
Sharpening Phase:I want to do one 26 mile training run. Is there benefit to this? I dont see the logic of training less than that. So we'll see. More tempo runs, more speed work, all that good jazz.
Nutrition: NO MORE JUNK FOOD! Im pretty okay at that, but seriously, I gotta get serious. Just eat food that will nourish my body and keep me healthy. Im considering a multi-vitamin and am going to take extra iron. The better I eat, the better I will run. It seems logical. Water intake has to improve as well. I find on my long runs I come home with a serious migrane afterwards (even if I have eaten) and Im thinking that this is either dehydration or a salt imbalance.Like when I say headache I mean like omg my head hurts so bad I'm going to throw up headache! I'm also going to take salt tabs cause I can't do gatorade and gels and I always run out of water. (especially in the summer)
My Justification: I love the intense training, but I find that during school I am not able to train intensely. After Bruce get's back from Boston I'll ask him what he things of the FIRST plan, and will probably use that training during school. I will have spring races as tune up races and my A Races will most definately be in the fall (after I have time to train intensely.)
I know that overtraining is a definate possibilty but I think I can look for the signs and adjust accordingly. I do, however, have age on my side:P
Training alone will be a challenge, but I want the challenge. This whole entire experience is going to be so rewarding. I want to concentrate on my pace and my mental toughness (cause i gots none) and if I were to join the clinic it would be more social rather than the other. Maybe during my RWYLR weeks, I can go back and run with people.
And if worse comes to worse, and I'm struggling so much I hate running, I can fix up my plan. This plan will fit
my life, not my life fitting the plan.
So that's what I Think, I'm gonna try and make a spreadsheet, but until I figure out how to do that, this is it!
What do YOU think of my training plan? Anywhere I can tweak?So, incase you didn't read the last post, this is the just of it:
First year University done, new job and new boy. What more could I ask for?iTIGER
April So FAR!
So, my friends, I know you've been patiently waiting for this ridiculously long blog posts.
It might not be that long actually, I might have to split it up into parts.
Last you heard, I had finally had a good run and I was getting on the train at 7am Monday morning.
I was getting on the train so I could go downtown to start...
JOB TRAINING! It was a two day intensive training program where I learned about all there fabrics and their culture and everything.
It is really really cool.
They do goal setting sesssions with their staff and then their displayed. They tell you that goals are only meant to be acheived 50% of the time, so if you are always meeting your goals your not setting them high enough.
The guideline we use to set our goals is:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely
And then once you make your goals, they display them in the store so everyone knows about them. Once you write them down your accountable.
Its pretty pretty super actually.
Im really excited about this new job:) So different from what I've been used to the last five years, but its a good different, I think.
Oh, and theres this restaurant called "FRESH" near where I did my training. It's a vegetarian restaurant and everyone was like "OMG ITS SO GOOD" so I'm like, ok Ill give into peer pressure... just this once. I had the uh...magic tofu wrap.
GROSS!!
Im so turned off of tofu. It did NOT sit in my tummy very well at all...
but i tried it...
Wednesday, I completed my last exam.
10:01pm, it was summer time and I was a very very very happy person.
Pretty much floating on cloud nine.
I went home, and went to bed because of the day I would have the next day!
Thursday, I woke up and took my sister to school.
I then made my way to my old highschool to see my Science teacher and see how he is feeling, 25 days out from the race.
And I get there and he has this somber look on his face and says "Come in, I need to talk to you"...
Uhoh...
He tells me about how he goes out for a run and comes home with pain in his like diaphram or something and the next day he cant stop yawning and wakes up in the middle of the night in a lot of pain. So he goes to the hospital and they check him out for alot of things, including a collapsed lung. The last thing they check him for (because he's healthy and mobile and active) is a pulmonary embalism (SP)...Basically its a blood clot in your lung.
Needless to say those aren't good to have, and he spent time in the hospital and spent time off school.
He's just getting over it.
And he's not running with me.
Now, to be honest, I'm not disappointed because its not like he didn't run. He had signed up, he had a 9 week training plan he was going to follow, he was going to do this thing.
So, now you're wondering what my shirts gonna say, right?
It's gonna say :
GO TIGER!!!!
and my blog address.
The back is going to say:
"
This one's for mister Science Teacher! Out of Commission this year, but back on top next!"Yeah. Then of course the signatures and stuff. It's gonna be a lot of fun.
But he doesn't know yet.
SO Sh...dont tell him.
The rest of the day Thursdsay I spent at the mall with my mother. We went to lululemon, and I got clothes to work in! Then I got put in for shadow shifts the next day! That night, I was pretty much ridiculously happy, and I went for my run.
I was pretty much ready to like jump out of my skin and finish my run in like 10 min, but I didnt, and spent time chatting along the way. I ran with two people I hadn't run with before, and it was fun.
Then I went out for coffee with my Running Buddy. She thinks I shouldn't do the 35k for a 21.1 race. It's injury she says. So...Im not. She also said she doesn't think we should run together. Im not sure if thats for the 35k or if its forever...
Then Friday I had my first shadow shift...
Retail is intense and my feet hurt SO bad. But I loved it.
The people are pretty cool too.
Hehe.
Then friday night, I went out with this boy that I like and have seen a couple other times before.
I won't give you any corny romantic details, but there was moonlight reflecting off lake water and snuggling.
Hehe.
So that's April so far.
I will update probably tomorrow with the SUPER TIGER TRAINING PLAN because it is being revised.
It's finally nice here in Canada:P
I'll probably only run 25k on Sunday.
I'm recovering until Monday from school and then yeah!
So, I dunno if that was worth waiting for but I gotta run to work now!
Bye friends!
I'll catch your blogs tomorrow!
Hmm
ITS OVER!!!
I finished my last exam at 10pm last night.
Then I jumped and skipped around all night cause I was soo happy.
The first quarter of my
"Race" is done!
I will continue the story below very soon.
I have so much to write about!!!!!
You're in for one VERYYY long report:P
Finally!
So I've been sort of MIA the past few days in terms of reading and writing blogs and for that I apologize. (sorta, remember, it's exams)
So many exciting things have been happening, but all I am going to tell you about is the fantastic
long run that I finally had on Sunday. Complete with pictures and all:)
So the run started off ridiculously early. Well, I mean, it normally starts at 8:30am. I left my house at 6am so I could walk the 7km (It was morning, I didn't want to walk TOO fast) to the Go Station, where I met my group for 7:30am. Then, we were off.
I had come super prepared. I'm talking, a shirt, a sweater, a pair of jeans, sweat pants for over my jeans ( I hate being cold), new socks and shoes and my winter jacket.
I took my camel back because I currently only have 3 bottles for my fuel belt, so I figured it would carry more water. I brought a bottle of advil for afterwards, my inhaler, 4 gels and a packet of sport beans. When we started it was 4 degrees and there was a little bit of wind..
This is a picture I got about 10 minutes into the run. Seriously, the sun was basically coming up as we were running. We were running away from the clouds and into the sunshine. We started off pretty fast, running with some other people. They looked pretty strong, but the thing is that they didn't talk during their runs. I told *D* she was welcome to go ahead, but there was no way that I was going to continue running sub 6 minute kilometers for 30k...seriously.
She ended up staying with me, and I got us back to a 6:35 per kilometer. Go slow to go fast right? So we just trudged along. I talked about the new boy that I like, and how schools almost done. We set goals for the week and asked about the goals from the previous week. (Accountability, right?) and we just kept running. I took gels every fourty-five minutes, and 2 sports beans every walk break (that I didn't take a gel). This seemed to work fine.
By now the sun had come up and this is the picture that I got from the trail. Beautiful, isn't it? Sun and water. Would have been nicer had there been leaves on the trees, but I guess that all comes in good time right? We were told to run towards the CN tower, and this is one of the nicest views I had. (I think this is my all-time favorite picture of scenery from a run)
So, once I saw the CN tower I knew it was going to disappear again. Mental toughness, I said to myself. If I can stand that, I can build myself up mentally and I'll end up being a stronger, better, more efficient runner, right? It wasn't that easy...
This picture, I believe is just about where I lost it. It's about 18k in, just before the the pretty pretty path. We saw our friend *A* here, who is unable to run for a little while because of her IT band. We met her, and she had water and offered words of encouragement (Such as, you're almost there, no matter how much I didn't believe her:P) and we continued on our way. Just as a side note, I'm veryyy greatful to her for bringing the water because if she hadn't I would have run out.
So we were running. Like I said. I pretttty much lost it at about 18k. I was like, OH BOY! I still have to run another 12k. We're really far from home, and if I cabbed it from here to where we are meeting breakfast there goes my first born child. lol I'm exaggurating but still. So, from 18 to 24k, I pretty much wanted to cry/die/curl up in a ball on the side of the road and let the bikes run me over. Yeahh.. It was tough. I was tired. We couldn't see the CN Tower anymore. I just felt like we were never going to get there.
Luckily for me I have the verryyyy best running buddy ever. *D* just kept on talking. Talking about trips she's planning, and family and boys and food. Seriously. She was amazing. It kept my mind off the pain that my body felt and what my mind was thinking, and kept me listening to her. I mentally did the landmarks thing. You have to run through here, past here, and over that. It helped (a little). Once we got onto the city streeets and I could see the streets ahead, I think I got a second wind. Little did I know, we weren't running to Union station this time...and we weren't running to the CN tower...
Why are we passing it? We still had 6km ( I think) once we passed the CN tower. At this point, I was just mad that they were going to tell us we're running one place and make us run an extra 6k when we were already so tired. But, after this point, I just felt light. My form came back, and I looked strong. I kept looking at street signs, trying to figure out when we'd be done, but I looked good, and I even felt really good.
We turned the corner onto the street where the car was hiding, and we heard someone yell "HEY". My first instinct, for the record, was to run even faster and get away from them (Not a big fan of homeless people trying to rob me of my ipod and Garmin. Instead, I look over, and it was 2 of the guys from the group who were standing by the car while everyone else went to go change! It was kinda fun, they made a finish line and we crossed it and then the took our picture with my camera:)
After we 'stretched' (or sat in the trunk of the car, ready to die of exhaustion) we went to the washroom to change. I will have you know, however, that post run changing takes
much longer than it would normally take me change. Seriously, it probably took about 20 minutes to organize everything, wash my face, change, and get the energy to walk out the door. This is a 'bathroom' shot of me, after my run. So here I am, changed, big frumpy sweater and all:P
We were then informed that "Richtree", the place where we were having breakfast, was like 5 blocks away! I must tell you that I was none to impressed, but still we trudged to the restaurant (for yummy breakfast). I had an omlette, with lemonade and water. I was a little sore but nothing ridiculous. This is a picture of the group that I ran with (Or met for breakfast afterwards. The different paces of everyone is pretty spread out. But everyone is pretttty cool:))
We headed home on the train, and I got a ride. I went home, and had a nap. When I woke up from my nap I was pretty dizzy. I'm assuming this was dehydration, so I had some water and stuff and felt much better in the morning. Im thinking I generally have the nutrition of my long runs down pat, but hydration is where I am lacking. This is going to become even more important as the weather gets hotter (and we all know how my body reacts to the heat)
Then I woke up bright and early to be on the train for 7am so I could be downtown for 9...
Too Be Continued...
Help Wanted
Guys,
It's
ALMOST over.
Training for my new job starts Monday!
My last exam is Wednesday.
Tomorrow I'm running 29km-ish.
Fabulous.
The point of this blog is for me to ask you for help.
I need something new to write on this years shirt.
Last years shirt was the same one I was wearing in the ATB pics (Come on, schools too stressful to make a new shirt) so I need
you to give this uncreative Tiger some Ideas for her shirt.
I'm thinking I should put some sort of a quote on the back
The front should maybe have a picture?
Haha. It's a tradition (so far), a new shirt for every race. and I need to make a new one.
SO HELP PLEASE:o) Give me ideas for the quote, and what I should do on the front.
Got a veryyy exciting post for after Wednesday I promise! PROMISE!!! It'llll be worth it!
TiGrr!
The Reality of it All
School sucks
Im glad its going to be over a week today.
Infact, as I write this, there is exactly 7 days, 6hrs, 6 minutes until I have finished my first year of University.
There is no time to be reflecting on that yet, but I just thought I'd let you know.
Oh, and parents are nosey. Seriously. You don't tell them who your talking to they look through your phone to see who it is and then question you persistently about said person, even though you're waiting to see if things work out before you tell them.
In other news,
The Mississauga Half Marathon that I will be running is in 33 days, 16hrs, 1 minute. (according to the countdown clock). I'm not necessarily nervous because I know the distance is one that I pretty much run every week. 21.1km is nothing now.
However, it has been awhile since I have had a good run.
Let's recap the runs I've had:
1) 30k in Hamilton, after formal. It sucked.
2) 15k with the Half marathon clinic because my group left without me. Treated it as a long tempo run, but it really wasn't good.
3) 30k ATB road race. We won't revisit, but it wasn't a good run.
Run number 4:
24km on the trail. It was beautiful and it was fun. We jumped in an impromptu stream (cause of the snow runoff) ran up mountains, and trudged through mud and quicksand. I even tried to pace myself, but still at like 24k I was ready to quit.
What do you think guys, is it a mental thing? Could it be a mental wall, that just makes my body want to shut down at a certain distance. I take gels every 45 minutes, maybe I should take them sooner? For the most part I've been sleeping okay, and I'm eating much better than I used to, and I would have better runs.
Even the weekly maintenance runs are mediocre. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this marathon bit.
I'm a little frustrated.
Why are parents ridiculous? and Why am I not good at this training?!
Argh
To make up for my grumpiness,
I found you a fantastic YouTube Video.
Watch it, And finish strong:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo-nbnw8zSI&feature=related
Around the Bay Race Photos
Exam time is still on.
Extreme super tiger plan to come. (I keep adding fabulous adjectives to it)
In the mean time, here are the pictures from the 30k ATB.
I look like I'm close to death in all of them.
Note the purple lips.
At the bottom are pictures of my 15yr old brother who ran his first 5k and my step dad who ran his second.
In other news, there might possibly be a new character in Tiger's cast of characters, and we need to think of a name for him.
Suggestions please:o)
Sorry for the lack of formatting,I'll be back soon, I promise.
Spring is in the air
You know it! It's that glorious time of year where the snow in Canada starts to melt.
We start to remember what is under that white stuff
The glorious sunshine starts to shine, and it's actually a little warm
The little buds on the trees start to form little flow...
ACHOO!
Excuse me! Let me continue.
The little buds on the tre..trah..ah..ah..ah CHOO
Not only is it the glorious time of year when the snow starts to melt and everything gets nice, but it's also....
ALLERGY SEASON!!!!!
Yeah. Now, I'm going to try and ooze as much positivity as humanly possible, but that might be difficult when I'm oozing other substances from my nose. (Sorry for the lovely mental picture that I just provided you all with...).
Let me just explain to you the extent of my allergies in the spring.
My first, sad attempt to start running begun in the spring...
It also ended just about as quickly as it started because walking down the street and breathing at the same time were not possible. (sort of like that cold I had last week). We just thought that it was asthma acting up, but someone suggest I go see an allergy doctor (don't know what their actually called), and so we went.
Turns out I was allergic to spring. Trees, grass, blossoms...
Fabulous.
So we went on this allergy medication for people with asthma called 'singulair'. (It now turns out that singulair may be linked to
suicide....)
Last spring wasn't so bad. I mean, it was bad ,but it was better because I had improved my aerobic stamina and stuff, because of the running. I do, however, remember sucking back the ventolin twice a day.
I'm holding out hope that this spring will be better. Aside from the normal itchy, watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, coughing, difficulty breathing, these suckers just suck the energy right out of me.
But I am still holding out hope that this will be a good training season. Infact, I'm actually thinking (or overthinking) about it right now.
Allow me to enlighten you.
Marathon: Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon
Date: September 28th, 2008
Time Goal: Something ridiculous, and virtually unobtainable. 3:40...Or I guess I'd be happy with sub 4hrs..or to finish.
Course Description: The flat and fast features of this event (includes the marathon, half and 5k) have consistently been the reason for so many people reaching a personal best, qualifying for Boston, having a memorable but good first marathon or an outstanding one. Even power walkers or slower runners love this course because of its 6 hour 30 minute time limit. (taken right from
this website)
Training: the idea behind my training is...well...experimenting. I'm young, right? I have lots of time to figure this out. And over the summer, I will be working full time, and I think I'll be able to train much more consistantly than I was through school. This super program that I have created will be challenging, yet hopefully pay off dividends...
I will share my super tiger plan with you later. I should be studying and doing other more important things like studying for the 3 exams I have coming up!
Run strong
You know you're a runner when...
Went for a run. When we stopped I looked at my foot, and my toe I guess was bleeding and had soaked through my socks and shoes.
Nice, huh?
It's Crunch Time
Something's wrong.
It's 6 degrees celcius.
It's sunny.
There is
no wind.
It's
perfect running weather.
And I have no desire to run.
I have no desire to
move.I'm slipping on my eating habits. Slacking on the water intake, the breakfast eating, everything. I mean, bad food
after the race, bad food all day monday, bad food yesterday (my brothers birthday) and guess what I just did? Guess? You'd be soo dissappointed...
I.
ordered.
pizza.
With regular crust.
And no vegetables.
And I find myself craving redbull. I'm so tired. My brothers gonna make me dinner tomorrow. And I'm pushing for the next day too. I just can't be bothered.
I haven't run more than 260m (which I did today) since Sunday.
I mean, I was sore, and I'm still a little sore, but there's not any reason to not run.
I think this might be the quarterly exam slump.
I had my psych test today. I think it went alright.
I have stuff due on Thursday. Stuff due on Friday.
Then it's into serious studying.
I'll be done April 16th at 10pm.
So, here's the goal:
Run Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday for the next two weeks.
All I really expect myself to do in terms of quality is a long run.
Oh, and now redbull.
I hate this.
This slumpy-ness
In other news, April is off to a good start.
I got a new job.
I work at
Lululemon Athetics.
I really like what they're all about! Very excited.
It's Crunch Time.
Miss me,
TiGrr
