Monday, February 17, 2014

Week 8 Recap

Well last week was the perfect workout week and this week was the exact OPPOSITE!! Things just didn't go right but I'm still proud of the work we put in.

Monday: Rest Day or Optional cross training
We chose ...... rest day!!

Tuesday: Yoga cancelled. Weights and squats.
Unfortunately yoga was cancelled as there was no instructor available. We did about 30 minutes of free weights, Kettlebell and lots of squats.

Wednesday: Track workout - Mile sprint and Stairs 
Mikayla had Field Hockey practice at 7:30 so there was no way we would have time to drive into Vancouver to get some hills in. We decided to run a Magic Mile at the track and run stairs in the bleachers. The Magic Mile kinda sucked for both of us. We both had music issues and were slower than our last Magic Mile last year. My pace was 5:51 mins/km or a 9:24 mile. Last time I did it, I was a 5:07 pace or a 8:14 mile. Jeff was slower as well. He did about a 7:03 mile and last time he was 6:45.  It's ok, last time I think we were a few weeks into speed training. It started to drizzle that night which was fine as it was refreshing.
We then ran a bunch of stairs in the bleachers. The stairs are really short but we did what we could to get our heart rates up. It was a pretty good workout. Not hills but close enough.



Thursday: Yoga
Thank goodness yoga was still on. Tough class as always and my arms are always sore the next day from this class. We tried a new pose called Eagle Pose which I got right away and liked. It's rare that I can do a pose before hubby and this was one of them. Not that I'm keeping track or anything ; ) He's just so good it's nice to beat him sometimes!



Friday: Valentine's Day so no run
I had a long stressful day at work and didn't finish fixing up something with my schedule until after 6:00. And the we had dinner reservations for 8:00. We decided to move the run to Saturday morning since Mikayla had an early game. 
We had a lovely Valentine dinner. I truly am married to the love of my life and am blessed to have my Valentine forever ❤️. Hope everyone's day was full of love!



Saturday: 5k slow easy run, Pace 7:16 mins/km
Mikayla had an early Field Hockey game in Vancouver. She had to be there at 8:30 and the game started at 9 so we figured we would run while waiting for the game to start. The neighbourhood we were running in had lots of inclines which is different for us. Since we are not used to morning runs and since I really hadn't eaten properly we decided to just run super slow and easy. Jeff was also having some issues with his hip flexors saying they were quite tight and sore.
It was more of a maintenance run so nothing speedy or special.
We went to a store I heard of on twitter called Distance Run Wear. It was a great little store that specializes in long distance running gear. The owner was super nice and knowledgeable. They have clothing that you can only get in the US called Oiselle. Super cute and comparable to Lulu! I will definitely go back to check it out.
We picked up a whole bunch of new fuelling. We are pretty happy with chocolate Gu but decided to try their new salted caramel flavour and also picked up Sharkie chews and Nuun tablets for an electrolyte drink.


Sunday: 14k long slow run turned into a 13k desperate to get home run due to the MOST HORRIBLE RUNNING CONDITIONS EVER!!!! Pace 7:22 mins/km
We had planned to head out for our 14k run around 2:00. The weather had a wind warning and rain forecasted. There was no rain or wind so far that day. Usually we are really lucky with our running weather but we really pushed our luck this day and our luck ran out. The run got pushed back to about 3:00 due to a phone call that I had to take.
It looked like the wind picked up but still no rain. Just in case, I wore a water resistant shell jacket with a hood and a swiftly long sleeved shirt. I wasn't really layered heavily and when I started out I had the hood up but the wind was strong enough to keep blowing it off so I kept it down.
We headed towards the water and it was SO much colder than I thought. The wind was crazy!! Our first km was completely against the wind and there was so much resistance it was almost like hill training. We should have known then that the weather was turning. As soon as we turned onto our favourite road it got much better because the wind was at our back and almost pushing us along at times. We finished up 4k on that road and turned around but we were facing the wind again. It was only sprinkling rain at this time but the wind was so strong I said forget this so we turned around again and decided to head in the other direction. Well then the rain started to pick up but it was totally fine as we weren't facing the wind anymore. We looked at each other a few times, saying we were crazy because the wind and rain were really picking up.
We reached our other long road at about 6k and again turned away from the wind for another 3k.  We took our Gu gel at around 7k. We decided to try the salted caramel and I really like it! It was sweet but it was a thinner consistency than chocolate so it went down easier. Will definitely add this to our fuelling. We also tried the Sharkie chews which are organic. They were tasty but very sticky and hard to get off our teeth. Not sure how practical that is. We might just have to suck on them.
By this time it was an absolute downpour and the rain was coming at us sideways. I have no idea what we were thinking heading farther and farther away from home. SO stupid! So at about 9k we were 5k away from home, heading into the wind and it pretty much had turned into a wind/rainstorm! I totally don't mind running in the rain and am not trying to sound like a wimp but this was a totally different story! 
I was pretty upset at this point because I felt so stranded and was absolutely soaked and freezing. We had no choice but to continue running home. Walking would have been worse and hubby offered to sprint back and get the car but I would have froze waitng for him. I almost started crying but had to get tough and continue on. I told myself to just keep running and stay tough. But it was the most miserable 30 minutes of my life. The conditions became horrific. The running itself was totally fine, my legs felt good, my lungs felt good but it was basically a storm so I had to stop a few times to block my face from the wind because it was so strong and I could barely see. I can't believe what we ran through. I kept cursing ourselves for being so stupid. The rain was so heavy and cold it felt like ice picks on my face. At one point it felt like hail. I didn't even wear gloves so my hands were rolled inside my sleeves which were soaking wet. My hands were so cold and wet they really started to burn and hurt. It took everything in me not to break down and cry. Jeff wasn't wearing a waterproof jacket so he was soaked through to the bone everywhere. 
I don't know how but we made it home at 13k. We couldn't turn any of our devices off because we couldn't move our hands. Jeff could barely get the key in the door. As soon as we got inside I broke down because my hands were in so much pain. Jeff helped me take off my shoes and we collapsed in front of the fire.
It turns out that the wind was about 42kmph!! Yikes! When I went to pick up Mikayla later from work there were blown branches all over the road.
Anyways, NEVER AGAIN!! Worst running conditions I have ever experienced!
Despite the conditions we had a decent pace of 7:22 mins/km. I know we could have done 14k that day and at a faster pace but that really wasn't in the cards. If anything this run gave me some mental toughness to push through the worst conditions imagineable. 

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