May 24 weekend. Just me and the boys. Great great day!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Three Sleeps Away
I am just hoping that I will get three good nights of sleep before I run for the Ottawa Race Weekend. I finished my last 6km training run last night and to be honest, I felt sluggish. We have had a heat wave for the past week and yesterday was in the 30's. Everyone involved with this run is hoping the weather will cool off a bit. Sunday is expected to have a high of 28. So keeping hydrated will be key.
To prepare for the race, I am going to try a low fiber diet for the next three days. I am hoping that the reduced whole wheat may slow down the system a bit. I'm also going to lay off dairy. I plan to load up on carbs and not too much protein the days before the run. I'll see how it goes. I also plan to remember to drink plenty of fluids the day before the race and use salt a little more freely. I hope it works. My goal is to have no more than one quick pit stop along the course.
As far as times go, I would love to be in the 2 hour range, but if I'm 2:15, I won't be upset, especially if it's very hot. I am keeping relaxed and I think I will be able to enjoy the experience of the race. I am so thankful that my cousin, Sophie gave me the excuse to do this, my brother-in-law Scott is coming from Kalowna to run in the race with me, my good friend Sophie kept me motivated by training with me, and that I will be doing this event with the support of my kids and Ian. I have met some really nice supportive people at the Running Room. I plan to take their words of encouragement with me to the start line.
I have always wanted to run a half marathon. Here is my chance. Wish me luck!
To prepare for the race, I am going to try a low fiber diet for the next three days. I am hoping that the reduced whole wheat may slow down the system a bit. I'm also going to lay off dairy. I plan to load up on carbs and not too much protein the days before the run. I'll see how it goes. I also plan to remember to drink plenty of fluids the day before the race and use salt a little more freely. I hope it works. My goal is to have no more than one quick pit stop along the course.
As far as times go, I would love to be in the 2 hour range, but if I'm 2:15, I won't be upset, especially if it's very hot. I am keeping relaxed and I think I will be able to enjoy the experience of the race. I am so thankful that my cousin, Sophie gave me the excuse to do this, my brother-in-law Scott is coming from Kalowna to run in the race with me, my good friend Sophie kept me motivated by training with me, and that I will be doing this event with the support of my kids and Ian. I have met some really nice supportive people at the Running Room. I plan to take their words of encouragement with me to the start line.
I have always wanted to run a half marathon. Here is my chance. Wish me luck!
Tough Training
I have decided that training for a half marathon is very time consuming. It would be more time consuming if I were able to take it seriously. As much as I absolutely love having something that selfishly is just for ME, these days it is more of a compromise with the kids and Ian for Mommy to get some time to run. Most weeks I am able to get the shorter runs in during the day with Simon in the stroller, but Ian has been travelling with work and it has made things a little bit more complicated.
Some training strategies I have tried:
Running hills in the morning with the dog and Simon - didn't go quite as planned. During the warm-up, the dog's leash got stuck in the stroller's wheel. Simon did not enjoy the repeated hills and complained so much after the 6th hill, I let him sit in the car and watch the last three.
Intervals at the soccer field - Plunked the kids in the middle of the field with tennis balls, a soccer ball, baseball gloves and water. I managed to keep an eye on them while I circled trying to do 2 min intervals of fast and slow jog. With three boys, I guess you can't expect them to just play nicely. It turned into more of a yelling and wrestling match for the boys than a nice supportive run for mom. I only lasted about 40 min before I had to stop for fear that one of the boys was going to get hurt.
Biking to do errands - Just so I am not on my feet all the time, I am trying to bike to do errands rather than drive. You should have seen the face on the lady at the dry cleaners when I picked up my nice clean dress and folded it into the bike trailer with the kids.
Post tapered 12 km run on Sunday I chose to join the kids in a game of ball hockey - I felt good. It was a nice relatively short run, so I thought I could get rid of my extra energy with some fun. I managed to tweak my knee when I tried to stop too quickly. Ouch! Now I am being forced to rest and feeling grouchy about it!
I think that if I ever train for another half marathon, I will do it at a time when I can get most of the training done on my own time and I don't have to drag one, two, or three kids some place so that I can run.
Next year perhaps....
Some training strategies I have tried:
Running hills in the morning with the dog and Simon - didn't go quite as planned. During the warm-up, the dog's leash got stuck in the stroller's wheel. Simon did not enjoy the repeated hills and complained so much after the 6th hill, I let him sit in the car and watch the last three.
Intervals at the soccer field - Plunked the kids in the middle of the field with tennis balls, a soccer ball, baseball gloves and water. I managed to keep an eye on them while I circled trying to do 2 min intervals of fast and slow jog. With three boys, I guess you can't expect them to just play nicely. It turned into more of a yelling and wrestling match for the boys than a nice supportive run for mom. I only lasted about 40 min before I had to stop for fear that one of the boys was going to get hurt.
Biking to do errands - Just so I am not on my feet all the time, I am trying to bike to do errands rather than drive. You should have seen the face on the lady at the dry cleaners when I picked up my nice clean dress and folded it into the bike trailer with the kids.
Post tapered 12 km run on Sunday I chose to join the kids in a game of ball hockey - I felt good. It was a nice relatively short run, so I thought I could get rid of my extra energy with some fun. I managed to tweak my knee when I tried to stop too quickly. Ouch! Now I am being forced to rest and feeling grouchy about it!
I think that if I ever train for another half marathon, I will do it at a time when I can get most of the training done on my own time and I don't have to drag one, two, or three kids some place so that I can run.
Next year perhaps....
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