Hitting A Brick Wall

It’s been a little quiet over here on my blog.
Do you remember when I ran the #GhettoHalfMara with my run buddies? Do you remember how I said that it felt like I was killing my knees? So as it turns out, I was.

 It wasn’t just the half marathon, I was generally overdoing it.
After about a month of thinking "Oh, it'll just go away!", and it not just going away, I decided to cut down on the running (nope, hadn’t decided to see someone just yet.) I started doing knee strengthening exercises and running shorter distances with less frequency. I told myself that I could have 2 weeks, and if it still hurt – I’d go see someone. Well, I went to see someone.

I found out that I had, indeed, “overused” my knees. I was prescribed some exercises, some SuperFeet insoles and ideally, I need to stop running (for now).

It has been three weeks since I last went for a RUN.
5 reasons why I dislike this fact?:

1. Not being able to go for a run with my run friends just plain SUCKS.
When you're a pretty busy person, running with friends can be an extension the entirety of your social life. Not being able to run with your run friends, usually means you don't see your run friends.

2. Running burned A LOT of calories.

This gave me more wiggle room. Not burning those calories, means no poutine keeping a closer eye on what I'm eating.

3. Being in pain is exhausting.
Pain makes motivating yourself to move your body A MILLION times harder.

4. Not being able to do what you enjoy makes exercising a chore.
Imagine having to watch repeats of a terrible movie instead of watching a new awesome one. That's what exercise can be when you don't enjoy what you're doing. Which, in turn, makes motivating yourself to move your body AN EXTRA MILLION times harder.

5. Numbers are my motivation.
Being motivated by doing "better than the last time" can get you into trouble. (Exhibit KNEE). However, not being able to do as much activity as I was used to also gives me the feeling of “Why even bother?” When you can't get the same intensity or improve from where you were, it's hard to motivate yourself try.

My knees are definitely better than they were 3 weeks ago, (thanks Dr.Stefanie Yao) but I’ve never been very patient with injury recovery. I’m doing everything I can to not F*#$ this up.

I've hesitated updating my blog because I wasn't feeling accomplished - It's hard to share your struggles. But what I've realized, is that overcoming these struggles will be a greater accomplishment than running a bajillion kilometers.

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.” – Randy Pausch

Time to Refocus

Photo Credit

In 2013, I've really "upped" my running mileage. It felt amazing when I realized that I could run over 10km at least once a week. I had a rockin' February where I ran a total of 119kms, and topped that in March with a crazy 127kms total (which included running a non-race half marathon with my run buddies!)

I'm a 'numbers' girl. I love seeing my average minute per kilometer drop. I love watching the kilometers increase. I love watching the pounds drop.

After I ran a Ghetto Half Marathon, my knees were bothering me.
Now don't get me wrong - Being overweight and a runner, I'm no stranger to sore knees. However, it always goes away after a day or so.
This wasn't doing it's usual thing, so I've scaled back my running a bit. Added in some knee exercises to strengthen the muscles, added some walking days, and I'm going to pay really close attention to what my knees want.

At first, when I decided this, I felt sad. My numbers aren't going to be increasing.
The problem with being so numbers driven, is when numbers aren't your goal. My goal isn't to run over 100kms in a month, it isn't to get faster and my goal (believe or not) is NOT to lose weight.

My goal is to be healthy.

If I stick to my orignal plan: (Eat Healthy. Exercise for at least 30mins/day x  at least 4 days a week) I will reach that goal.
Will that goal naturally decrease my weight? YES. (*Bonus!)
Will that make me faster? YES. 

It's just time to refocus on what my actual goal is, stick to my original plan, and not get caught up in the numbers.
While I don't appreciate the pain, (Knees - I'm looking at you) I appreciate the nudge to remember what my real goal is. Now let's stay injury-free and get healthy together!

I ran another race.

As the title clearly spells out – I ran another race. This one was the Bazan Bay 5K. I thought it might be appropriate to do a little race recap! (Even though I'm a little late in doing so.)

It’s a little weird, because lately I’ve been running longer distances. Before the race, I couldn’t remember the last time I ran “only” 5K. I had no idea what to expect of myself.
I set a goal between “There’s no way in hell” 30mins, and the “Would be cool” less than 33mins. The fastest I had ever run 5km was just under 34mins and that was with Skye pushing and (pretty much) yelling at me to go faster. This was actually my first race ‘by myself’.
I ran my warm-up with Lara and felt completely psyched out. I was feeling tired and winded… but I wasn't tracking how fast/far we were going… so who knows, maybe I was setting an unrealistic warm-up pace. I placed myself near the back of the pack at the start line. Which leads to kind of a hilarious moment when they announce “3, 2, 1 - GO!” and you end up just standing there waiting for the crowd ahead of you to get going. Then finally: Time to get moving!

I started out “easy”, because I like to gauge how much I’ve got in the tank, and then attempt to use it all by the end. At my pace, I was in this awkward group of people who were walk/running. So I played hopscotch with a handful of people. There was this one girl in particular who was easy to spot and I chose her to “keep up” with.
The course is an out and back. So less than halfway through (at my pace) you get to see the ‘Elite’ runners coming back. It is SOOO awesome to watch. The only downside is that it tricked my brain a little and made me start thinking that the “back” part of the “out + back” was happening sooner than it was.
On the way back, my legs were excited, and pushed onward. HOWEVER, it wasn’t all rainbows and lollipops. My breathing was getting really bad. I was breathing HARD and making the strangest noises. So much so, other runners were looking at me like I was crazy/going to die. I kept hearing Rayna saying "who can't run 2km?", an inside joke we love to say when things are feeling uncomfortable.

Before I knew it, I saw the finish line. I was EXCITED and pushed myself as hard as I could. I got close and I started SPRINTING, I got across the line and then I heard Skye yelling from the sidelines "You're not done!! Keep going!!" That line was just the start of the 100m sprint. *Facepalm* I had NOTHING left. That last 100m, an 80yr old man with gout could probably have gone faster than me. I had passed the girl who I was trying to keep up with, but in that last 100m she made it past me. Sweet victory was all mine though when I found out my chip time was faster than hers.

I almost forgot to tell you my chip time! 31:33, baby! What a crazy awesome achievement. I'm feeling reeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaally good about that time. Cutting over 2 minutes off my previous PR.

Do What Works For You

I'm one of those people that don't like to plan out too much. I'm not sure if it is because I'm lazy or if I just dislike when things don't go my way. Normally when I plan something, I plan out the bare bones and then just wing it from there. I like doing this. I don't like being regimented to a single possible outcome.

My Brain: Enemy #1

Clipart by Amy Vangsgard -
http://clipartof.com/1110809

Blog post worthy runs usually happen when I don’t find time to blog about them. I’m finding time now, so join me as we venture back in time a little…

I had taken Thursday as a rest day and since one of the #LetsGetPhysical rules is you can’t go two days in a row without working out; it meant I had to go for a run. I was NOT up for it. My legs were sore, I was cranky and I knew that the run was going to be hard. A hard thing about working out is overcoming the mental “I don’t wannas” or “This is going to suck” and trying to remember how good it feels to just get out there. However, some days your brain will play a lot of tricks on you. Friday was one of those days. I forced myself to get changed and strap on my runners. I was doing a couple of light stretches and then BAM: Started Crying.

Running, Racing and Reading

Photo Credit: Julian Bialowas

It's been too long since I blogged about my running. It's caused by a combination of a few things. Like I'll write about a run, read it back then think "Who the heck cares what I felt 1km into my 3.2km run?"

Well, upon the suggestion of one of my run friends, I'm reading ALL of Kathryn's blog posts over at her 'Boring Run Blog'. She is hilarious and inspiring and sometimes I just want to tweet her and be like "Seriously Kathryn, you're awesome." Then I don't.. because I feel like that would be awkward.

But I digress... I realized recently that there IS someone who cares how I felt 1km into that 3.2km run. Future me.

My First Running Event

"Are you nervous?"
That was probably the question I was asked the most in regards to participating in my first running event. Santa Shuffle - 5km Fun Run. The answer was always no, but here's why: I've got the coolest new friends. I've mentioned this before, but Skye and Kathryn have started a run club on Saturday mornings. It's here where I have met the most awesome new friends. 

#yyjRunClub:After we all finished.

But I don't waaaaaaanna!

In my last blog post I talked about how I am doing this "#LetsGetPhysical" lifestyle change.

Well I just want to talk to you about a common 'problem' I run into at least once a week. I call this problem the "But I don't waaaaaaaaanna!"s.

Holy Moly. Did I just do that?

So... I took up running.
Yeah, for those of you who've known me for a while, I know what you're thinking.

First Walk/Jog Home from Work

August 28th, 2012 I started an initiative to get healthy. I call it "#LetsGetPhysical".