Fairweather athlete

By 'fair' I mean, absolutely gorgeous weather! I went for a another 10 miler today and it was hot out. Ok, so its only about 17 celcius but it was shirts-off-warm out there. The run itself was pretty decent too. I was a bit too excited for the first while and new i'd pay for it in the end, which I did. The last couple of miles were pretty tough energy-wise, however I didn't have any aches and pains which is great news. Well, my lower legs were a little sore towards the end which is a bit odd, so i'll have get to stretching my calves out.

I am still fighting with getting out the door even though when I am out there I am super stoked to be running. During the runs i'll start making plans to race or run different routes and what not but I can't seem to maintain that enthusiasm into the next morning when the alarm goes off. It definitely feels good to be able to just go out there and get 10 miles in though, and the weather helps as well. So for the time being i'm going to try and get a long run in on the weekend that gets progressively longer, and possibly look at doing a longer trail race later in the summer if I can find one. I would like to explore running further than my max run which was 30miles in just under 3 hours. I have never run futher in distance or in time before. I will definitely break the 3 hour barrier before I break the 30mile one though, you can bet on that.

Next goals: get a battery for my watch and 2 hr run on Saturday.

10mi nice and easy

So, i've been feeling extremely lethargic lately. Probably from the end of semester push, both because of the effort and the present lack of obligations and repsonsibilities. I decided yesterday that running was probably the key to getting out of this state, and so I gave it some thought. Today I decided my regular 10 mile run on the transcanada trail would be a good idea so I set out at a nice easy pace and it turned out really well. I hadn't thought about it being allergy season so it was pretty tough on the lungs but my energy level was good and my legs responded well, not without some aches and pains but that is to be expected. It was good and fun, so i'm going to keep this experiment going. I've also noticed a little more meat around the midsection which is cause for concern...
Goals for the next seven days:
2 more(min) runs of 10mi+
3 - 30+min yoga sessions
Very short term goal:
2hr long run two weekends from now

Easing into it...maybe not...oh well

Sad State of Affairs

Enough with the good intentions! Evidently the will to run has disappeared, well not completely since I did go for a run today, however the whole goal setting thing is failing miserably.

humpin it

Although I only managed to get 3 runs in this week, it was still a good week because I managed to get over the hump of dragging my ass around. Today marked the first day where there was some jump in my legs, on a few occasions I actually felt like striding out, and when I started up a hill I was compelled to pull my knees up and work rather than cut my stride and grind. So this is good.

I am feeling the pressure of the school/running balance for sure, being that I am not in shape and I am in the end of semester crunch. For now I will say the Times Colonist is going to be tentative and probably end up being a race week decision. It falls on the weekend following my last exam and there is a camping trip I would like to join in on in Victoria. Sounds convenient because they are both in Victoria, but think about it for a minute...

I guess that is about all the news, on a more general note, I am still feeling very much uninspired in most pursuits in life right now. I know that sounds bad, but....I guess it is. I think I need to pick up a book and get some new ideas flowing, I've thought of an author so I'll try and find some time for that, perhaps it will refresh me. I am also going to a conference this saturday out at UBC which I expect will be inspiring. It is called Bridging the Gap, which is an international development conference presented by Engineers Without Borders. A friend was a major part of the organizing committee and promises it to be a great one. I'm not sure if there are still tickets left but check it out.

oops

ok well i missed the deadline for the knee knacker due to some indecisiveness, perhaps if i get in great shape and run maybe a thetis lake ultra or something I can request to get in....if not well I only have myself to blame.

yowza, how about this weather. It was blazing hot on saturday but today, gross, about 5 degrees and raining. I know its cold when I head out and in the first 15mins my forehead is frozen. Not to mention the lung burn. I am still struggling to get out there, but mainly just getting out the door, once I am out there I feel great so I think I will employ the tactic I when I trained best and that is roll out of bed put the gear on and start running while still half asleep. It is hard to sacrifice the glorious morning coffee wake up but I think this will be necessary. I am still just doing easy 35min runs, although the other day I was pressed for time so I hammered it which was pretty nice actually. I have also decided that on these easy runs i'll do a couple of Ironworkers hills to get the muscles and lungs activated on a regular basis. Really I am still just muddling around. I am also going to commit to weekly updates on sundays so I can keep track of my running seeing as I am not really keeping a log these days. Well, off for another long day at school. Happy trails.

Knee Knacker....hmmmm

So i've been sick for about a week and a half now, so I really haven't run in the least. I used to get chest colds every november for as long as I remember and know that any amount of running is a bad idea. Today is probably my second to last day of being sick so I decided it was ok to go for a run to clear out the last of the nastiness. Not to mention the blue sky was beckoning me. You know when you are called out on a gorgeous day, and you think wow this is going to be a great run. I knew better of course and it was a bit of a struggle with the lungs in rough shape, however the body held up well.

In other news, i've been having some motivational problems lately, for reasons not entirely running related, so on my run today I decided I just need to commit to something and that should give me the little push I need. I also figured, the bigger the goal(read: extreme) the better, for someone like me. I had already been playing with the idea of doing the Knee Knacker 30mi ultra trail run across the north shore mountains, and I think i'm going to take the plunge and sign up. Unfortunately there is a lottery so I might not get in. There is a provision for people who "may contribute to the competitiveness of the race" however I haven't done many trail races in my time, all I have going for me are the marathon credentials which are seriously outdated. Anyhow, i'll hope for the best. Its going to be pretty badass thats for sure, and take some serious hill training over the next few months. I knew this day was going to come sooner or later, now its time to commit to it and make a plan. I'm quite excited, but thats easy when there is sun shining and the temperature is mid teens in mid february!

Running on Empty

I don't know if it is a lack of maturity, sheer laziness, or just lack of desire, but I have never for the life of me been inspired to eat properly. In the past I think I generally took in enough of the right nutrients just because of the sheer volume of food I was eating, but when i'm not training hard I think I am chronically undernourished. The year before last I started to read the Chris Charmichael book and started to pick a few things up but I have long since regressed into my poor diet. I just really can't bring myself to it. The main problem is I just don't get the satisfaction out of food that other people do, I think anyway. The brief moments of eating food, even when it tastes good just never becomes the payoff that inspires me to spend the time preparing it. I realize there are some quick and easy good meals out there, and I suppose I should just learn them, but even then I don't get any enjoyment out of going to the grocery store and finding the ingredients. Anyway I am just writing nonsense because I always come to the same conclusion, I need to get off my lazy ass and respect my body more and just fuckin learn it as much as I loathe it. Yes I said loathe. So I think this time I am just going to jump into it and hope it sticks, like actually go out this week end and cook some meals for the week, lunches and what not, plan the meals to make during the week, buy the damn ingredients and all that bullshit haha. I suppose I should commit myself to a month of it and see if the benefits convince me to stick with it. I have been living on my own for 10 years, bout time I got with the program. For whatever reason I have comment moderation on, so i'm going to turn it off and if anyone has some good advice or recipes that are quick and easy, feel free to spill some knowledge out!