Burnout

It’s really hard to come to terms with the fact that I’m still so busy.  I’ve come to understand that there isn’t a monopoly on busy.  How we fill our time, be it a job or school, we can be in a complete state of occupation for the entire day.  I’ve been writing an awful lot more than I did when I was in school and/or working.  It’s keeping me busy, occupied in the very least.  I’m focused on syntax and motivations.  I’m not making a lot of progress in other areas of my life.  I think my social life is spiraling out of control, the material aspect of my life is threadbare, my love life is glacial and moves at that pace.  If I were starving I might be able to write a book about it.  I might just if I can ever figure out what it all means.

I burned myself out in the last run.  Hero ran my first segment and winded myself for every one after that.  Not my most consistent run and I’m still resting too much but that’s why I keep doing this.

Tomorrow I’m going to try to up my game and run a minimum of 3minutes each segment and 1:30 each recovery.

10.09.2014 in numbers

Total Time: 1:41:18
In the “Zone” : 34:09
Average HR: 76%
Peak HR 102%
Min HR 45%
Total Cal Burn: 1231
9:00 | 4:45 | 2:29 | 2:01 | 1:22 | 1:30 | 2:31 | 2:07 | 1:53 | 2:04 | 2:14 | 1:31 | 2:16 | 1:31 | 2:31 | 1:39 | 2:33 | 2:01 | 55:19
Total Run: 19:09

I didn’t pause my HRM during the stretch at the end so my Average HR% is a little low.

Best song: Imagine Dragons – Radioactive
Worst Song: Miley Cyrus – Party in the USA

Turn down

I’ve been starting strong and finishing weak.  This Tuesday was one of the worst runs I’ve had since coming back from my injury.  I couldn’t focus on anything and was only just barely making my minimum quota for each run segment.  I quit when I started to feel ill and sat down.

Total Time: 0:22:58
In the “Zone” : 14:51
Average HR: 83%
Peak HR 99%
Min HR 62%
Total Cal Burn: 432
6:57 | 3:03 | 2:11 | 1:44 | 1:45 | 1:34 | 1:25 | 1:30 | 1:41 | :34 | :30
Total Run: 8:25

Best song: None
Worst song: all of them

Not Every Run.2

My friend and I have been discussing the benefits of running every other day on a Bi-Week system.  So Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday.  There are some obvious benefits: every other week you’re running 4 days instead of 3; you can sink into a rhythm of expected rest and repair; variance keeps everything interesting, etc.

If I’m going to be completely honest, I don’t have the mental awareness to dedicate myself to a pattern.  I like to commit to days.  I run on Tuesday.  I run on Thursday.  Saturday and Sunday are a coin toss depending on things like fun and recovering from fun.

I went for my run on Sunday night and it was such a warm night that I stripped down to my tank, too bad I couldn’t find my skirt before I left.  It was beautiful.  October in Vancouver and running in a tank at 8pm.  If someone pays my visa I’d be a happy happy girl.

The run itself was mediocre.  No groove was found.  Each lap was a slog.  I don’t even think I managed to  break a 3min run.

10.05.2014 in numbers

Total Time: 0:38:10
In the “Zone” : 25:49
Average HR: 82%
Peak HR 99%
Min HR 57%
Total Cal Burn: 705
5:03 | 2:57 | 1:49 | 1:35 | 1:30 | 1:31 | 1:35 | 1:47 | 1:34 | 1:19 | 1:51 | 0:56 | 1:31 | 0:59 | 3:40 (I thought someone was stealing my jacket…) | 1:06 | 1:31 | 1:10 | 4:38
Total Run:  13:20

Best song:  Imagine Dragons – Radioactive
Worst Song: Shakira – Loba 

Not Every Run.1

Not every run is a good run.  Not every day is a good day.  I’ve been working on a project for a submission and so I haven’t taken time away from that to spend here. But I didn’t skip a run! Because I’m awesome. Well not quite “awesome” perhaps “addicted” is a better word.  All last week I kicked it over to my Aunt’s house and walked her dog.  On Thursday (10.02.14) I had an engagement during my preferred evening run so I opted to run up to her place, walk her dog, and then run back.  Obviously, it was a record breaking temperature for October and I was roasting on the short run up.  The run itself was only alright, I had a couple of good segments but with the punctuation of about an hour while I walked the pup it’s hard to say if it was a good one.

The Walk is a good one, and Mila is well behave for the most part until she has to cross a busy road and then she thinks she is some sort of champion leaper and tries to climb into my arms.  On the off chance I brought my phone and snapped a few for your enjoyment.

They’ve been filtered but it was a pretty day.

10.02.2014 in numbers

Total Time: 1:21:31
In the “Zone” : 52:22
Average HR: 70%
Peak HR 98%
Min HR 45%
Total Cal Burn: 1147
5:33 | 3:00 | 1:45 | 1:39 | 1:42 | 1:37 | 1:41 | 1:10 |  44:47  | 5:00 | 2:35 | 1:35 | 1:26 | 1:25 | 6:30
Total Run: 15:26

Best song of my Run: Skream – How Real
Worst Song: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Maps

Badfish

I’ll admit that I took the weekend off to stay up late around campfires, eat overpriced ice-cream in Grandview Park, drink more than one should drink, and send too many text messages to unsuspectings.  I did it all with the expectation that I would go for a run the next day, and then the next day was Monday and it was bucketing rain.  Amazing how quickly the clouds rolled in and we went from a weekend of glorious crisp autumn sunshine to torrential storms.  It was so bad my dog refrained from eating or drinking all day to keep herself from needing to go outside.  Who knew a chihuahua had the presence of mind to dehydrate herself in order to stay out of the rain.  Normally I won’t let a little rain get in the way of a run, but really I was just not feeling it and so I decided to rule it a lost weekend and feel the guilt of a lost weekend.  It was worth it.  Today was the perfect autumn day: crisp and bordering glove worthy.

So tonight I went for my regular Tuesday run, sans partners, and it was a good one for about half.  I did a double loop without really thinking about it, and then another loop and a half before my stomach started to rumble.  See, not keeping especially busy during the day has given me terrible eating habits.  I tried to hit my third run and about 1:30 I had to cut it and go back home.  I finished my workout on my elliptical trainer in the basement where I proceeded to give myself the hiccups and bore myself so incredibly remembering exactly why I used to bring something down there and watch a TV show while I shoop shooped along.

It was leading up to be a better run than my last  one.  Look at those recovery times.  Beautiful.  You can see where I hit the elliptical and I swear that near 2min interval was strictly boredom.

09.30.2014 in Numbers

Total Time: 00:33:43
In “Zone” 00:19:36
Average Heart Rate: 83%
Peak Heart Rate: 102%
Minimum Heart Rate: 59%
Calories Burned: 502
2:05 | 5:12 | 2:38 | 3:12 | 1:47 | 1:31 | 4:28 | 3:13 | 2:04 | 1:56 | 1:31 | 4:00
Total Run Time: 19:04

Best Song of the Run: Katy Perry – Dark Horse
Worst Song of the Run: Zed’s Dead – Collapse

Run Ths

A Fresh look and a new platform for this blog and I’m looking forward to getting fancy.

Thursday night was probably one of my best runs since the niggling ankle injury.  Is it because of the bananas? Maybe.  I hope not.  I still hate bananas.

It might have been a sense of competition.  I’ve been running with a couple of friends who are quite competitive.  Both of them are now and have always been fitter than I but we have completely different training goals.  I’m looking at my watch, tracking my resting time and trying to get a more consistent form without thinking about distance for the time being whereas they’re shooting for overall distance.  I’m not sure if anyone is thinking about pace at this juncture but It doesn’t really matter.  It was still a fantastic run.

09.25.2014 in numbers

Total Time – 1:38:24
Time in Zone – 1:00:01
Avg HR – 79%
Peak HR – 103%
Min HR – 51%
Calories Burned – 1469
Bike to Friend’s house – 13.37
5:28 | 3:01 | 1:34 | 2:27 | 1:30 | 2:19 | 1:31 | 1:40 | 1:30 | 2:05 | 1:30 | 1:31 | 2:00 | 1:54 | 1:29 | 1:31 | 1:35 | :35 (Sprint)  | 1:29 | 1:10 | 1:05 | :58 
Stretch 30:11
Bike Home: 14:34
Total Running Time:  19:11 (!!)

See what I mean? Phenom run.  now I just need to lessen and eliminate those walk times.

Best song: Dead Sara – Weatherman 
Worst song: Lorde – Bravado

A Tale of Two Circuits

I’m trying to keep this all up to date but I’m also trying to be consistent with running, writing, and job hunting so I’m going to do a double whammy post today.

This week I’ve been dog sitting a different pooch.  Far less labour intensive than Il Gran Injurer.  She is still a very young pup and so my primary task is entertaining her midday while her people are at work and school.  She’s got a lot of energy but she’s a wiry thing that can’t pull me off my feet.  She’s still got some leash training ahead of her but I brought her for a run around the lake in a local park.  She’s not bad but at one point she cut me off and I stepped on her foot.  There was yelping, there was cuddling in the rain on a dirty muddy path, and there was a bit of a limp for a few minutes but all in all it was a non event.

I brought her back home, got caught up in a dark place that in involved the Matrix, coffee, and cuddling with a silly white dog.  I waited for the local high school to let out and Biked down to the High school track and navigated my way around the the three track teams that weren’t all that interested in coordinating which lanes they were using and threw some serious shade at the casuals. Lesson learned: go later and avoid the track teams.  Then I biked home.

There was nothing spectacular about either run.  Running the lake was fun because the slight hill on the north end was a welcomed challenge over the safety of the track.  My ankle isn’t quite ready to make that transition between protecting and strengthening.

I cleared my watch after the lake so I have no idea what that run was in the numbers but this was the bit on the track and the cycling bits.

09.23.2014 in numbers

Total Time 47m 31s
Time In Zone 39m 35s
Avg HR 81%
Peak HR 100%
Min HR 52
Calories Burned 850
2:43 | 1:31 | 1:49 | 1:27 | 1.44 | 1.29 | 1.47 | 1.23 | 1.46 | .59 | 4.47
26.00 Cycling stretching etcetering
Total Run time:  6:49

I’m sure there were a best and worst song on that run but I can’t remember anything.

Hit me again, Jack.

Autumn starts today and yesterday was a glorious day. The last day of summer lived up to my greatest expectations of what a day on the cusp of a season change. I won’t continue to eat lyrical about a fantastic coastal day. I slept over at a friends house because by the time I was ready to bike home it was well past 10pm and I wasn’t feeling the night ride home. We woke up in the morning and we made our way to the track. It felt like a good run, it was definitely a better run than my last one.
I run with a couple of girls who are far more fit than I am, even before I injured my ankle they’ve been fitter than I so I felt pretty good that despite the fact that they were running by distances and I was running one minute at a time they did not lap me.  So that felt nice.  They did run a few sprints after I had finished my times

I’ve been pushing myself but I hope only to a safe amount.  I played tennis in the afternoon and it felt great to swing a racquet again.  That and my bike ride home made yesterday a 2000+ calorie day.

I refuse to spend another day of 2014 injured.

A better run log 09 21 2014
Minutes in Zone: 35:38min (I clearly have no idea what I’ve done and what zone my watch was in before.)
Average HR 81%
Peak HR 103%
Minimum: 56%
Total Calories Burned: 840
Warm up Lap 5:23
1:36 1:30 | 1:30 1:33 | 1:00 1:47 | 1:07 1:47 | 1:00 1:32 | 0:51 1:40 | 0:51 1:47 | 1:00 1:33 | 0:45
Cool down + stretching 18:49
Total 46:56
Running 9:40

Best song of the run: Still Hozier – Take me to Church 
The worst song of my run: Eminem – Berzerk 

Back on Track

I loathe bananas.  Their smell is sick inducing, their texture off putting, and the fact that I can taste that cloying sweetness for hours and a coffee later makes them wholly undesirable.

Unless my legs hurt.

With a bunch of bananas hanging out in my kitchen you can only guess what I’ve been up to.  I’ve
gone for my second run this week and it wasn’t nearly as successful as my first run back.  It was a glorious evening.  After a day of pelting rain, the evening was cool and clear and the track was empty.  I mean EMPTY.  The older runner that I see there every time I go was making his way around the loop and we were never on the same side of the track.  It was glorious.  Except I wasn’t feeling all that great.

I’m going to blame the vigorous cycle up to the track and my general lack of fitness.  Aside from my ankle recovery I have a reoccurring hip flexor problem that felt annoyed with each stride. After a few laps I decided I would rather pack it in and cycle back than spend another week of injury treatment.

Realistically I think my problem is hydration.  As much as a enjoy water unless I’m consciously thinking about the benefits, and there are plenty, I don’t really drink that much water.  I would rather wait for the kettle to pop or the coffee maker to ding than pour myself a tall icy glass of water as the weather turns cool.  Cell hydration, circulation, and cognitive abilities be damned.

I’m going to hit the track again tomorrow and hopefully after a couple of boring track runs under my belt without incident I can start doing some more interesting runs and hill work.

Run of shame statistics 09 19 2014

21 Cycle to the track (4.1km)

5m w | 1:40 r | 1:31 w  | 1:31 r | 2:13 w | 1:16r | 1:31 w | 1:22 r | 1:06 w

22:05 Cycle back 

Total time Running: 4min

Time in Zone: 9.48* 

Average Heart Rate: 80% 

Minimum Heart Rate: 57% 

Peak Heart Rate 97%

Total Calories burned: 1133 total  

Total Distance Running: Dismal (Maybe half a mile?)
Total Distance: 8.2km + Dismal

Best Song of my run: Hozier – Take me to Church

Worst Song of my run: Calvin Harris – CUBA  

*Zones- I use a heart rate monitor when I work out and I’ve set a manual Zone of 60-90% of my Max Heart Rate.  Calculating your MHR is pretty easy, for most exercises it is 220-your age.  If you’re swimming its 200-your age.   To be honest, I’m not sure if my HRM is is calculating my time in zone based on the manual zone or something much much higher but this is the information as per that little gem. 

And We’re Back

Here on the West Coast we’ve been absolutely spoiled with a great end to the summer.  We’re now half way through September and only now have we been seeing the rain.  Last night was one of the last rain-less days.

I’ve been struggling with this ankle injury, and really getting antsy about my slipping fitness.  Last night I decided that I would take the risk and run with my neoprene.  The ankle was tight and grumpy at first and livid during my stretch.  The real trouble I had while running is that my legs have simply lost their condition.  I’m starting from ZERO again (or at least that was my plan) and so my R:W was something around 2-3:3min for the first few laps around NS Track and then my leaden quads brought it down to 1:1.  I threw a few sprints in there, no more than 50-100m but it felt great to pump those legs again.  

Stretching was a bit of a problem and I’m not sure if I’m doing more harm than good when it comes to stretching this injury.  There’s a bit of tightness in my ankle when I’m stretching my calf out but when I’m stretching the front of my ankle and my shins even sitting with my foot flat and my knee bent at less than 90 I’m whimpering.  I tried a few above 90s and could barely get my toes down.  My ankle is quite swollen today, there’s no pain, and I think that RICE can get this taken care of.

There’s a 10k at the end of October that I might try for.  Worst Case Scenario is that I don’t run it.  Best Case is that I do terribly at it. 

That was my success yesterday.  My downfall was the fact that my bike is still suffering from a flat, looks like my patch didn’t hold and I’m going to have to get a whole new tube.  

I keep a book with my runs on it and I should be publishing it here.
September 16th Run: (I cleared my watch so these are obvs not 100%)

30Min walk to the Track 

3r 3w 2r 3w 2r 2w 1r 2w 1r 2w 

30Min back 

Total time Running: 9min

Total Calories burned: ~1200 total  

Total Distance Running: 1.2km
Total Distance: 6.3km

Song during my best lap: The Neighbourhood – Say My Name/Cry me a River   Clearly I need to review my playlist and my pace if this is the song that I felt strongest with.

Why is this on my playlist?: Angel Haze – Planes Fly  This came on during my stretch and SMH I have no Idea.  It doesn’t help that it came immediately after a strong Zed’s Dead song so it was a double disappointment.