I haven't been a terribly active blogger these last few weeks. This because: a) my life is frankly not that interesting (but I blog about it anyway); and b) I've been busy writing/editing and I feel like any moment I'm at my home computer and not working on my manuscript is equivalent to goofing off. Therefore, it's time for a lightening round/potpourri blog post.
Toronto Marathon, October 17th, 2010
I believe I mentioned in passing that Andrew and I had planned to run the Toronto marathon when we were home in October. It started out rather lovely. The weather was good--sunny, but only around 13/14 degrees Celsius--we were enjoying running the streets of Toronto and recognizing places we'd been, and we were projecting a finish time of around 4 hours and 15 minutes at the halfway mark. Unfortunately, we didn't get there. My IT band burst into flames around the 30 km mark.
Okay, it didn't burst into flames, but it started to give me that old familiar feeling that if I didn't stop running, and soon, my knee would tear itself apart. I seem to have a 30 km cap on my IT band, as that is usually where it bothered me in our training runs. Sometimes I'd be able to keep going (as in our last 37 km training route), but there were a couple of times where we had to walk home. I was disappointed to stop (I think I actually started to hyperventilate and cry a bit), but I'm still able to run now, which might not have been the case if I'd tried to push through. We're taking it slow right now, having only run more than 5 km once since getting home. We're also transitioning into our Vibram Five-Fingers, which are awesome, but they take A LOT of getting used to.
Hotel MacDonald, October 23rd, 2010
Andrew and I celebrated our 6th anniversary (actually on the 22nd of October) as if we were rich by staying at the Hotel MacDonald in Edmonton. For those of you who aren't familiar with Edmonton's Hotel MacDonald, it's an old CP Rail Hotel built on the edge of the river valley and it's beautiful. We brought our camera with us intending to take pictures of the hotel and our room, but we never got around to it. We booked a suite as apart of a packaged deal where we got our room, dinner (excluding beverages), breakfast and valet parking all for one price. The food was marvelous. I had pork for my main, while Andrew went for the surf 'n turf (also the most expensive entree on the menu). We were absolutely stuffed at the end, but it was well worth it.
Chantel Kreviazuk and the ESO, November 1st, 2010
To be honest, neither Andrew or I are huge fans. We don't own any of Chantel's CDs, although we're familiar with her music--and she wrote my favourite Song Quest song, from the CBC challenge last year: "In Waskada Somewhere." However, when we saw the show advertised in the 2010-11 ESO program we thought it might be fun so we purchased tickets. We sat in our regular spots (dead centre, front row of the Upper Circle), and so had a good view of the stage.
I rather enjoyed the concert. I think Chantel has a strong singing voice, and is an excellent pianist. Attending the concert made me wish I had more time to practice (both the piano and singing), but I still lack the basic underlying skills to ever be better than the average individual who's completed their Grade 8 Royal Conservatory exam. She told the audience stories about the origins of her songs, which I think added a nice personal touch, and also made her seem quite human--like she might be fun to have a couple of beers with. I also thought the orchestra sounded splendid, as always. The orchestrations were lush and dramatic, and seemed as though each arrangement would be perfect for the final scene in an award-winning movie.
RED, November 5th, 2010
I'd noticed a couple of folks endorsed RED through their Facebook posts, but hadn't much notion of what the movie was about. A couple of weeks ago I even had a conversation about it with my skating coach. On a whim last Friday afternoon I thought I would check out the trailer and immediately thought: yes. Andrew and I hadn't been out to see a movie since How to Train Your Dragon at Easter, so this seemed like the perfect choice to break that streak. It was full of action (lots of guns), was completely silly, contained surprisingly few swear words, and a whole slew of big names (Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, and others). Andrew and I both enjoyed it immensely. And, it was partly filmed in Ontario--during a scene in the movie I leaned over to Andrew and said: I think that's the Toronto Reference Library! I couldn't find anything online to absolutely confirm this statement, but I'm pretty sure.
NaNoWriMo, all of November, 2010
Ah NaNoWriMo, how I love to hate you. I've previously blogged on my concerns regarding NaNoWriMo here, so I'm not going to re-hash my feelings now. What it does do is force me to write everyday, which I should be doing anyway. I've choosen to work on Nora's third and final story, which has been a lot of fun. I've realized that Nora's a lot like me in her neurotic, over worrying tendances, which is perhaps why she's so easy to write. Presently I'm at the halfway mark in my word count, and that's with a day on which I wrote absolutely nothing. I should get the 50,000 done with no problem, but I'm hoping to get more than that written, since I know 50,000 words is not enough for a completed novel.
Ciao,
Andrea
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Long-term running plans: Marathon
As previously blogged, the damage I sustained to my hip last fall has finally been repaired, and blessedly, the fall I had last week doesn't seem to have caused anything new and unpleasant. I am not yet a true runner. I don't love running. I don't get up on a run morning in anticipation of getting out there and knocking back a few kms before work. I do it because it only costs me a pair a shoes every 12 months or so (it should probably be less than that given how much we run...but it also depends on how my joints are handling the impact of running) and I can run where ever I am. However, I really missed not being able to run, not having the physical capability of being able run without severe pain in my knee caused by the stressed muscles in my hips.
Now that Andrew and I back to running on a regular basis I'm happier, especially now that I'm getting my stamina back. We're slowly increasing our distance back up to our run length from last summer. In fact, next week we'll be back up to what we were running just before I was injured (around 17-18 km on Saturdays). Although our speed seems to be down, which I find disappointing. We ran our half marathon last spring in just under 2 hr (1:57), and I want to run our marathon (I'm getting to that) in 4 hr or less, but considering our time yesterday, we won't achieve that goal. I hope it's because we're still getting back into the swing of things, and that I've still got some residual soreness from my fall last Friday. I hope that switching to fresh runners (which we purchased yesterday) will help us pick things back up. I have goals, and time factors into these.
Goal 1) Run a marathon. Current plans should have Andrew and I running our first full length marathon this October. We had initially thought we might run the Victoria marathon--it's known as a speedy course, and we have family in the area--however, the timing won't work. There's a wedding in Ontario the weekend after the Victoria marathon and our family won't be in town. So we looked to Ontario venues and found an alternate race. The Toronto marathon is held the day after the wedding and so we're aiming to run there instead. The one bummer (other than we'll have to be careful not to drink to much at the wedding) will be that we'll have to hop a flight back to Edmonton only a couple hours after we cross the finish line. Who's going to be dead tired at work the next day? I will.
Goal 2) Run the Boston marathon. The Boston marathon is the crème de la crème of marathons. I think around 10,000 people run the race every year and you have to qualify to be on the starting line. Last I checked I would have to cover the 42.2 km distance in 3.5 hr to be allowed to enter, Andrew only has 3.15 hr. The scary thing (I think) is that the winners will complete the race in little over 2 hr. That means a running speed of around 20 km/hr. I'm tired just thinking about it. The problem, of course, is at present I'm no where near capable of running that time. At least I've got the rest of my life to try, and on the plus side, the qualifying times go up the older you get.
Ciao,
Andrea
Now that Andrew and I back to running on a regular basis I'm happier, especially now that I'm getting my stamina back. We're slowly increasing our distance back up to our run length from last summer. In fact, next week we'll be back up to what we were running just before I was injured (around 17-18 km on Saturdays). Although our speed seems to be down, which I find disappointing. We ran our half marathon last spring in just under 2 hr (1:57), and I want to run our marathon (I'm getting to that) in 4 hr or less, but considering our time yesterday, we won't achieve that goal. I hope it's because we're still getting back into the swing of things, and that I've still got some residual soreness from my fall last Friday. I hope that switching to fresh runners (which we purchased yesterday) will help us pick things back up. I have goals, and time factors into these.
Goal 1) Run a marathon. Current plans should have Andrew and I running our first full length marathon this October. We had initially thought we might run the Victoria marathon--it's known as a speedy course, and we have family in the area--however, the timing won't work. There's a wedding in Ontario the weekend after the Victoria marathon and our family won't be in town. So we looked to Ontario venues and found an alternate race. The Toronto marathon is held the day after the wedding and so we're aiming to run there instead. The one bummer (other than we'll have to be careful not to drink to much at the wedding) will be that we'll have to hop a flight back to Edmonton only a couple hours after we cross the finish line. Who's going to be dead tired at work the next day? I will.
Goal 2) Run the Boston marathon. The Boston marathon is the crème de la crème of marathons. I think around 10,000 people run the race every year and you have to qualify to be on the starting line. Last I checked I would have to cover the 42.2 km distance in 3.5 hr to be allowed to enter, Andrew only has 3.15 hr. The scary thing (I think) is that the winners will complete the race in little over 2 hr. That means a running speed of around 20 km/hr. I'm tired just thinking about it. The problem, of course, is at present I'm no where near capable of running that time. At least I've got the rest of my life to try, and on the plus side, the qualifying times go up the older you get.
Ciao,
Andrea
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Hip Hallelujah
I had what was hopefully my last physiotherapy appointment this morning. I blogged last year that I was experiencing severe pain when I tried to run, which is problematic since running is one of my main forms of exercise. Since then (December 2009) I've been going to the Glen Sather facility at the University of Alberta. I picked the Glen Sather because it was close and it was anticipated that they would be familiar with dealing with an injury like mine. I also guessed that they've would have some pretty good PTs working there. I'm quite lucky, as it only took 4 visits for the problem with my iliotibial band to heal up. I still have to do stretches everyday, and a series of strength moves twice a week, but I can eventually phase those out once I've worked my way down to zero pain.
I still get a small amount of pain or discomfort in my knee, although usually when I'm not paying attention and sit at my desk with my legs crossed and tucked under my chair. It's pretty minimal though (I'd rate it at a 1 or 2 out of 10--compared to the 8 I experienced before). I find a well placed ice pack sooths the ache quite nicely. Interestingly, I tend not to feel any pain when I'm running; a good thing, since I'm now working on rebuilding my endurance. At the end of the summer, before my injury occurred, Andrew and I were running around 18 kilometres on Saturday mornings. I would like to get back to that and even push beyond up to marathon length runs. Right now I can handle about 7 kilometres before I feel completely exhausted.
We haven't decided on a race yet, but I would like to enter something this year. Unfortunately, we won't be able to fit in the Calgary race this May, as our European trip will interrupt our training for it. I would like to run something with a sizable number of participants--I like running with hundreds of other people on the course with me--so I'll have to start looking to see what I can find.
Ciao,
Andrea
I still get a small amount of pain or discomfort in my knee, although usually when I'm not paying attention and sit at my desk with my legs crossed and tucked under my chair. It's pretty minimal though (I'd rate it at a 1 or 2 out of 10--compared to the 8 I experienced before). I find a well placed ice pack sooths the ache quite nicely. Interestingly, I tend not to feel any pain when I'm running; a good thing, since I'm now working on rebuilding my endurance. At the end of the summer, before my injury occurred, Andrew and I were running around 18 kilometres on Saturday mornings. I would like to get back to that and even push beyond up to marathon length runs. Right now I can handle about 7 kilometres before I feel completely exhausted.
We haven't decided on a race yet, but I would like to enter something this year. Unfortunately, we won't be able to fit in the Calgary race this May, as our European trip will interrupt our training for it. I would like to run something with a sizable number of participants--I like running with hundreds of other people on the course with me--so I'll have to start looking to see what I can find.
Ciao,
Andrea
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
My physiotherapy experience
At the end of September I blogged about a fall I had experienced while skating. That post focused mostly on the after affects of the fall, but it seems like that actual impact itself did quite a number on my body. I'm still not one hundred percent sure that the fall lead to the subsequent problems I've experienced, but after having my first physiotherapy session it seems like a good chance. When I fell I banged my right knee and my left hip hard on the ice. I had a bump form on my hip and there's still a tiny pink mark where it hit. I took a week off from my normal running routine after this incident as I was plagued with a cold. When I got back to running, bad things started to happen. My left knee started to hurt, a lot. To the point where I feel like my knee is actually going to tear itself a part.
I visited the Health Services clinic at the U of A a week or two after the pain began. At the time I was told it was probably my IT (iliotibial) band and I should do some stretches for it. I did as I was told (although granted, perhaps not as regularly as I should have) and waited two weeks before trying to run again. The same thing happened. After about ten minutes the pain had returned and just as bad as it was before. I went back to trying the stretches and waited a further three weeks. Last Saturday Andrew and I tried to run again. We decided to try a five minute on, five minute off routine to see if easing myself back into running would help. It didn't. We agreed as we walked the rest of our route home that it was time for me to go back to the doctor.
Monday morning I headed off to Health Services and saw a second doctor. This doctor agreed with the initial assessment that it was probably my IT band and it was time to go see a physiotherapist. I set up my appointment after leaving Health Services and now I've finished my first assessment: It's my IT band. Although, instead of just in the left, it's actually tight in both hips. I suppose I should explain what the iliotibial band is. It's a large muscle that runs from the hip (why I suspect my fall may have had something to do with my current problems) to the side of the knee and also connects to the glut muscle. I've been told that my hip tends to "pop out" which pushes on the IT band and then pulls on my knee. This seems to be why I tend to only have pain while run--the constant motion builds up until it forces me to stop. The other structures of my knee are solid (yay).
I now have a specialized strengthening and stretching routine. Four different strength moves four to five times a week plus three stretching moves every day of the week. I have to go back in two weeks (just before Andrew and I head back to Ontario for Christmas) to see how things are coming along. I'm going to have to make a concerted effort make sure I go through this routine as directed. I want to make sure my IT bands get better so I can get back to running. I had hoped at the very least to run another half marathon next year, and maybe even move up to a full, plus I was toying with the idea of trying a Women's triathlon in Leduc. For now, we'll see how things go. I'll keep on with alternative forms of exercise until I'm given the go ahead to get back to running.
Ciao,
Andrea
I visited the Health Services clinic at the U of A a week or two after the pain began. At the time I was told it was probably my IT (iliotibial) band and I should do some stretches for it. I did as I was told (although granted, perhaps not as regularly as I should have) and waited two weeks before trying to run again. The same thing happened. After about ten minutes the pain had returned and just as bad as it was before. I went back to trying the stretches and waited a further three weeks. Last Saturday Andrew and I tried to run again. We decided to try a five minute on, five minute off routine to see if easing myself back into running would help. It didn't. We agreed as we walked the rest of our route home that it was time for me to go back to the doctor.
Monday morning I headed off to Health Services and saw a second doctor. This doctor agreed with the initial assessment that it was probably my IT band and it was time to go see a physiotherapist. I set up my appointment after leaving Health Services and now I've finished my first assessment: It's my IT band. Although, instead of just in the left, it's actually tight in both hips. I suppose I should explain what the iliotibial band is. It's a large muscle that runs from the hip (why I suspect my fall may have had something to do with my current problems) to the side of the knee and also connects to the glut muscle. I've been told that my hip tends to "pop out" which pushes on the IT band and then pulls on my knee. This seems to be why I tend to only have pain while run--the constant motion builds up until it forces me to stop. The other structures of my knee are solid (yay).
I now have a specialized strengthening and stretching routine. Four different strength moves four to five times a week plus three stretching moves every day of the week. I have to go back in two weeks (just before Andrew and I head back to Ontario for Christmas) to see how things are coming along. I'm going to have to make a concerted effort make sure I go through this routine as directed. I want to make sure my IT bands get better so I can get back to running. I had hoped at the very least to run another half marathon next year, and maybe even move up to a full, plus I was toying with the idea of trying a Women's triathlon in Leduc. For now, we'll see how things go. I'll keep on with alternative forms of exercise until I'm given the go ahead to get back to running.
Ciao,
Andrea
Monday, June 1, 2009
Running accomplishments
Andrew and I ran our first official 1/2 marathon race, which we took part in on Sunday morning in Calgary. Our race started at 7:00 a.m., meaning we had to get up at 5:30 a.m. We left our friend Michelle's place at 6:00 a.m. and head over to the nearest LRT station. All runners participating in the various races that day were given permission to ride Calgary transit for free. By the time we reached the stop for the starting line the train cars were packed with runners. The race started pretty much on time. Approximately 4,000 people participated in the half and full marathon race and so it took us 5 1/2 minutes after the starting tone went off before we even crossed the starting line (each runner is timed by a RFD chip attached to their shoe, so even though it took us a while to start the race, it didn't affect our time).
We spent a lot of the first part of the race dodging people (a number of participants sign up just to walk) and trying to get into a spot where we could run at our regular speed. We actually spent much of the course passing people (which made me feel good) and we weren't passed too much by other runners. The weather was wonderful for the run. The sky was clear and sunny and there was very little wind. I had started out wearing a long sleeved top under my vest, but managed to wriggle out of it (my bib was pinned across my vest over the zipper) when I got too hot. The course at Calgary was pretty flat, which made the running fairly easy. In Edmonton we train on a course involving 2 enormous hills. Around the 15 km mark I was getting a little worried that I was going to burn out, but I managed to keep on going. Our goal was to complete the 21.1 km course in under 2 hours and our official finishing time was 1:57.19.
Interesting things along the way:
Early on in the race (maybe 1 km in) while running up a major road we came along a couple of cars that had some how managed to turn onto the course. I'm not quite sure how they missed the 1,000s of runners on the road or how they got past the road blocks, but there they were, quite unable to move. Musicians were stationed along the route including: a Celtic fiddler, an accordionist, a drum core, a steel drum band and an Elvis impersonator—I think he was the first one I'd ever seen live (he was singing "I can't help falling in love" as we ran by).
Our official stats:
Andrew: finished 991/2836 overall, 612/1114 men, 100/163 men between 25-29 yrs, finish time 1:57:19, averaged 5.34 min/km
Andrea: finished 992/2836 overall, 380/1722 women, 101/334 women between 25-29 yrs, finish time 1:57:19, averaged 5.34 min/km
Ciao,
Andrea
We spent a lot of the first part of the race dodging people (a number of participants sign up just to walk) and trying to get into a spot where we could run at our regular speed. We actually spent much of the course passing people (which made me feel good) and we weren't passed too much by other runners. The weather was wonderful for the run. The sky was clear and sunny and there was very little wind. I had started out wearing a long sleeved top under my vest, but managed to wriggle out of it (my bib was pinned across my vest over the zipper) when I got too hot. The course at Calgary was pretty flat, which made the running fairly easy. In Edmonton we train on a course involving 2 enormous hills. Around the 15 km mark I was getting a little worried that I was going to burn out, but I managed to keep on going. Our goal was to complete the 21.1 km course in under 2 hours and our official finishing time was 1:57.19.
Interesting things along the way:
Early on in the race (maybe 1 km in) while running up a major road we came along a couple of cars that had some how managed to turn onto the course. I'm not quite sure how they missed the 1,000s of runners on the road or how they got past the road blocks, but there they were, quite unable to move. Musicians were stationed along the route including: a Celtic fiddler, an accordionist, a drum core, a steel drum band and an Elvis impersonator—I think he was the first one I'd ever seen live (he was singing "I can't help falling in love" as we ran by).
Our official stats:
Andrew: finished 991/2836 overall, 612/1114 men, 100/163 men between 25-29 yrs, finish time 1:57:19, averaged 5.34 min/km
Andrea: finished 992/2836 overall, 380/1722 women, 101/334 women between 25-29 yrs, finish time 1:57:19, averaged 5.34 min/km
Ciao,
Andrea
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Why I run
I wish I could say I run because I love it. That it makes me feel free and gives me a rush of exhilaration, but that's not true. Simply, I run because it's an easy way to exercise. You don't have to go to a gym to run, you just need a pair of shoes, and it gives you a chance to spend some time outside. I do feel better after a run, largely because I then believe myself justified to eat desert if I want to. Plus, I generally feel exhausted, especially after a Saturday morning run. I also run (at increasingly longer distances) because it's something that most of the rest of my family wouldn't do.
Today, Andrew and I are driving down to Calgary. We're going to visit Michelle while we're there, but on Sunday morning we're going to participate in the Calgary Half Marathon. That's 21.2 km of running, which will probably take us slightly less than 2 hours (we expect to run at approximately 10.75 km/hour). I'm hoping to finish in about the middle of the pack of the half marathon participants. According to the Calgary Marathon website they expect approximately 8,000 people to compete in the event tomorrow morning, although I don't know how many are running the same distance we are. This will be our second official road race. Last summer we ran in the Edmonton Canada Day Fun Race, which was a 15 km route. We completed the course, including 2 enormous hills, in 1 hour 29 minutes.
We hope that one day we might be able to run the Boston Marathon; however, you have to meet a qualifying time to participate. The current standard is 3 hours 40 minutes for woman and 3 hours 10 minutes for men of our age group. The winning time this year for the men's division was 2 hours 8 minutes. After this weekend our plans are to continue to run our training course (of approximately 20 km) throughout the summer and work on getting our speed up. On the flat track at Butterdome I can run over 11 km/hour, but only for about 20 minutes before I burn out. This is going to take some work, especially for me since I'm not really a natural runner (Andrew could run a much faster time if he ran on his own); however I've already seen a huge increase in my speed and endurance from when I started running 3 years ago.
I will report on our experience after we get home, and possible have a picture to put up.
Ciao,
Andrea
Today, Andrew and I are driving down to Calgary. We're going to visit Michelle while we're there, but on Sunday morning we're going to participate in the Calgary Half Marathon. That's 21.2 km of running, which will probably take us slightly less than 2 hours (we expect to run at approximately 10.75 km/hour). I'm hoping to finish in about the middle of the pack of the half marathon participants. According to the Calgary Marathon website they expect approximately 8,000 people to compete in the event tomorrow morning, although I don't know how many are running the same distance we are. This will be our second official road race. Last summer we ran in the Edmonton Canada Day Fun Race, which was a 15 km route. We completed the course, including 2 enormous hills, in 1 hour 29 minutes.
We hope that one day we might be able to run the Boston Marathon; however, you have to meet a qualifying time to participate. The current standard is 3 hours 40 minutes for woman and 3 hours 10 minutes for men of our age group. The winning time this year for the men's division was 2 hours 8 minutes. After this weekend our plans are to continue to run our training course (of approximately 20 km) throughout the summer and work on getting our speed up. On the flat track at Butterdome I can run over 11 km/hour, but only for about 20 minutes before I burn out. This is going to take some work, especially for me since I'm not really a natural runner (Andrew could run a much faster time if he ran on his own); however I've already seen a huge increase in my speed and endurance from when I started running 3 years ago.
I will report on our experience after we get home, and possible have a picture to put up.
Ciao,
Andrea
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