Dawn on the Run

Okay so I haven’t decided yet what my goals or plans for 2009 yet are. I mean there’s still a little over a month left of 2008. However I have been thinking about a few things and hoping my legs will be up to it as well. Right now I’ve definitely got the energy, I just need the body to keep up with my new found energy level. Hopefully the two will be in sync.

Some of the things I’m thinking about are perhaps the Police Half here in Calgary. It’s one of my favorite events and I really missed running it when I settled for doing the 5k this year. My escort at the back of the pack also missed me as well. Mind you I’m hoping I won’t be the last runner in 2009. The other event I’m thinking about is the new Seattle Rock’n'Roll Marathon but I’m likely only considering the half for that. Again it all depends on the legs co-operating.

The other goal for 2009 is to get healthy and find a way to control my cholesterol without statins. Eat healthy and stay active! The plan for that is also to drop a considerable amount of weight. I’m gonna take it one day at a time and maybe even though I’ve tried time and time to do this time just maybe this time I will have the willpower to stick to my guns and finally drop the excess weight that is affecting not only my health but my running speed/power. I’m down 11 pounds this month which is a good start but I have a long long way to go and I know there are gonna be days it will not be easy. But I’ve done it before. The difference is this time I must not only succeed but I must keep it off.

As always to keep up with my goals and actual activities I use a spreadsheet to track “the plan” along with what I actually do. Some of my friends have come to enjoy using the same workbooks. When I first starting using Excel to log things I used a calendar format. Karen still enjoys using this format so I still create a blank every year for her and others who like this easy format. For me, well, I’m geeky and like to track all kinds of stats so I developed the “Log” format and it’s what I use now.

The CALENDAR Format
Features:

• Easy to use for those who like to keep it simple.
• One workbook, with two spreadsheets (tabs).
• Tab one is for recording your actual workouts.
• Tab two is for recording your plan for the year.
• Allows you to log three different workouts daily in the colored rows.
• Each row will automatically added up at the end to give you a weekly total.
• At the end of each month it will give you your month-to-day and year-to-date totals.
• The white space beneath each number can be used to add comments about each workout.

The LOG Format
Features:

• One workbook, with two spreadsheets (tabs).
• Tab one is for recording your plan and actual workouts.
• Tab two when “refreshed” will show you your stats.
• On tab one in the grey columns you can record you plan for the year.
• The “actual” section allows you to track various stats about your workout.
• There are two rows for every day in case you do a “brick” workout.
• Need a third line? Copy an existing one and paste it below your days. DO NOT addlines to the bottom of the complete log.
• Use the COMMENTS section to track things about your workout such as weather, what you wore, how you felt, ect.
• Under WKOUT track things like TEMPO, STEADY, RACE or again what is important for you to be able to filter on.
• Use the last column to track your shoe mileage.
• The second tab “2009 Stats” totals up your plan and your actual workouts. To update it, after logging your workout on the first tab, simply go to the second tab and put your cursor in the table that you want to update. Right click and select “Refresh Data” from the menu that appears. It will add the new workouts and update your stats for you.

Sample view of Log Layout

With either log if you run into problems and need my help….email (pinkchick@shaw.ca) your
sheet to me and I’ll see what I can do.

I hope you all had a great year and while it may still be early to say this…all the best in 2009.

Tonight I opted to run to the Running Room rather then drive the icy roads. It was a slow 2k downhill but I did manage to pick up the pace from Sunday’s run. I also managed to run it all except for a short break to wait for the lights to change.

The chat for “run club” tonight was Tarveen. She gave an awesome on Biomechanics, injury prevention, etc. As I had run to the store my plan was when the group headed out I went the same direction as them which coincidently was also towards my home.

To make the route just a bit longer I opted to weave through the neighborhood a bit. I also did it to avoid this one rather large uphill. It had been nice running down it on the way to the store but I knew it would suck going home. The alternate route still involved a small hill but that was much easier to take.

As for the legs. They still ache a bit but not as much. The one thing I’ve really noticed a big change in is my energy level. I feel so much more alive since I quit taking the statins. I have a physio appointment tomorrow so hopefully that will work out a few more kinks and my race this Saturday will be an improvement over the last one.

On a side note hubby is now working nights. Which means he gets home in the morning shortly after I leave and heads out before I get home. My bus pulled up early tonight and I managed to catch him pulling out of our street. I stole a quick kiss in the middle of the street and he headed to work. I headed to home. On the plus side for three nights I get to hog the bed and steal all the covers…lol. Have a great week everyone!

It snowed all last night and was still snowing this morning when I got up. I had to drag hubby out of bed. He had no desire to go running in the snow. “Are you nuts!” I should have replied yes but didn’t…lol. I dressed and made us our breakfast shakes while he layed in bed for an extra 10 minutes.

The roads were a tad snowy and still not cleared but we made it there safely. It was pretty messy out so I opted to run around the lake. I started out with one of the 5k run club members but it didn’t take her long to be way ahead of me. She was running a good pace and doing sets of 10/1. I opted to stick with my sets of 5/1.

Hubby despite his complaining headed out with the speedy 5k runners and ran 3 sets of 10/1. We met up in Cobbs Bakery after to pick up the usual - 2 cinamin buns for him and some cape seed bread for me. I’ve become addicted to the stuff, actually so has half the run club and we all usually head in there after our Sunday morning run.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention before the run, Deb says “heh, did you know you are in the Running Room Ad for the Vegas Race?” No I didn’t but I checked it out when I got home. Yup, that’s me in the front, center with the white shirt and pink hat…lol.

Later this week I’m doing a motivation chat for Deb’s Walking Clinic. This all reminded me of the video I’m in on “Why I Run” that was done when I was in Vegas.

Watch Why I Run in Sports Online  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com.

Then while I was there I found this other vedeo taken in Vegas….omg….Canadians, including me singing the National Anthem. Thankfully we run better then we sing…lol. Oh yeah I’m in the middle about half way up the stairs on this one.

Watch Oh Canada in Sports Online, Faith Videos, and Music Videos  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Not much to post this week. I was still a little sore on Sunday after completing my slowest ever 5k on Saturday. I went to run club on Sunday am but only cause my husband won’t go running unless I go. Makes no sense to me however as he never runs with me…lol. He’s a much faster run and always heads out with a different group. So on Sunday I didn’t walk much, barely over half a km according to Mr. V.

I had Monday and Tuesday off. Monday my daughter and I dropped off some old clothing at the local Value Village. We’ve both been cleaning out our closets. Tuesday was a quiet day at home putting together a small Rubbermaid cabinet which will be used to clean up some of the clutter near my computer desk.

Wednesday it was back to work. Thankfully a short week. Again I went to run club simply because I needed to drag hubby along. He ran a speedy 5k while I managed 4 slow sets of 5run/1walk and only covered just over 2k. The legs are feeling better but it will be a very slow come back. Thursday and Friday were busy days at work which made them pass quickly and before I knew it, it was the weekend again. Yipee! I really like my weekends.

A bunch of us went for drinks after work last night. I read a book earlier this week “Eat this not That” and it mentioned somewhere that Guiness Beer is good for you cholesterol. Hmmm so I tried it and had 3 pints. I’d never had Guiness before, it wasn’t half bad. We always get appys at these things as well. Don’t pubs ever have appys that aren’t deep fried? I nibbled on a few things but behaved reasonably.

This morning I weighed myself and I’m down 8 pounds. A good start but still a long ways to go. One day at a time I will work on my weight, the cholesterol and hopefully on my running comeback. For 2008 I should probably have renamed this blog “Dawn on a Walk” but next year it will definitely be “Dawn on the Run”.

Yesterday was the day of the 3rd XC in our 10 race Grand Prix series put on by the Calgary Roadrunners. I headed out to pick up Carrie & Nikayla around 10:30 as usual. Good thing I always allow extra time cause yesterday my brain wasn’t working. Instead of taking the usual route to the race I took 14th and managed to get us lost. We went in circles three times in the downtown core before I figured out how to find Bow Trail and head west to Edworthy Park. That was even after I looked at the map each time I ended up going in the wrong direction.

Anyhow we still managed to get there in plenty of time to find a decent parking spot only a block away and get registered. What it didn’t leave me was anytime to visit with my running buddies. You see there’s a section on this race that’s downhill, very narrow and well I usually end up spending all my time hugging trees so the fast guys can pass me. So last year I opted to time myself and take a headstart. This year I decided to do the same thing.

I got a kiss for goodluck from little Nikayla and a hug from my daughter as well as Karen. I hit start on my Garmin (Mr V) and I was off running. It was about a 10 minute headstart if they started on time.

As it had snowed all week but been sunny and cool but still on the plus side the last few days the trail was a mix of mud and snow, basicly a slippery mess. For me Edworthy is the race I “love to hate”. It’s my least favorite of the series as the first part is along a steep ridge and I’m afraid of heights. This time on top of the steep run along the ridge, we had a greasy trail to run on. It made for a very treacherous start to the race for me.

Finally I finished the ridge section and headed inland. I let out a sigh of relief “whew” and ran passed the first course marshal. Time to head downhill. The downhill trail was slippery mostly with snow and not as much mud. I held tree branches in a few places to stay upright. I was thankful for the headstart as the path is too narrow for passing. Through the brush I could see the downtown core to my right. Down, down, and more down til I was all the way to the bottom. I made it almost to the bottom where the pathway was thankfully much wider, before the lead runners when flying past me. They flew by without hesitation yelling “good job Dawn”. It was about 25 minutes into the race for me and likely only about 10 minutes for them…lol. Some of them looked pretty muddy so I doubt the slippery mud had slowed them down at all.

The next part of the race went briefly through a field then along a fence line and back into the trees. For the most part it was pretty much flat and an easy run. Through the flat section I was passed by a large number of the runners .

By the time I hit the end of the flat stretch I could feel my energy draining. Let’s face it most of my training runs this year had been less then half an hour and it was now about the time I was done. However, Mr V indicated I was likely still only half way through the course. Yikes. The other problem was the first half had been all downhill, so guess what??? Yup, the last half was ALL UPHILL!

Somewhere on the uphill not only did several runners pass me, so did Karen and oh yeah, my daughter and little Nikayla even caught up to me as well. Even worse as I dragged my butt back up, up, up and away I got passed for the second time by the lead runners who were doing the loop twice to do the longer race. They again yelled “Good job, Dawn”. I laughed, said thanks and just took more photos. The one good thing about being so dang slow is at least I get great photos…lol.

Almost to the top, but not quite.

Finally I’m back on top and heading back along that treacherous ridge area. I don’t mind going back along the ridge as much as I’m not looking downhill. I checked my watch and I had been out around an hour. There was still the odd runner passing me here and there. Hmmm any bets Karen passes me again! Yup shore enough with still at least a half km or so to go Karen goes running by. I laughed and said “knew you would pass me again”. With Karen gone I figured I was probably the last runner left on the course. Again I laughed. Alright a personal worst (PW) only thing one can really do about it is laugh. The finish was in sight and I tried to pick it up, after all my family and friends had all hung around to cheer me in. It was a tough race and a tough finish.

How tough was it? Well check out Mr V below.

I limped back to my car with Carrie and Nikayla. I ached all over but was happy. At the hall my fav soups were all gone. I settled for a half bowl of potato-carrot. Even though I burned 600+ calories during my race I opted to skip the buns and chose two small cookies. I’ve dropped 6 pounds this week and am trying to remain committed to dropping more. That was the promise to myself and my Dr so that I can stay off drugs for my cholesterol. I did meet/chat with someone at the race who is a nutritionist and may look at going that route as well.

We did have our club’s Annual General Meeting last night but I opted to skip it as I figured I would likely be too sore. Yup I was…lol. Happy but sore. Recovery may not be easy but I will get there. You guys know me, I just don’t give up easily.

Oh yeah, the race results. By the way it was supposed to be a 4k event but they’ve listed it as 5.4k. Mr V only logged it as 4.74 so he must be off somewhere as I know I didn’t take any shortcuts…lol. For that distance I think the little one did just awesome! Heck we all did in our own way.

• Nikayla - 48:19
• Carrie - 48:19
• Me - 1:20:54

Photos - My Flickr Set
Photos - Calgary Roadrunners site
Race Results

The XC race a couple of weeks ago involved creek crossings. I caught a great photo of Nikalya making a big splash what I didn’t catch was the before and after shots. Someone shared them with me so I created a collage of the three stages of crossing the river then I animated it.

• First you jump up in the air as high as you can. Dont forget arms out for balance.
• Second you land with the biggest spalsh ever.
• Third you try not to fall over…oops. Need more practice on the staying upright.

Altogether now….

 

 

PS….make sure Mom has dry clothes for after. tehehehehe
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

A friend of mine, Jeff (aka Amazing Hip) , created a fun video and well I just have to share it….

What a difference a week can make! If you’ve been reading my blog this year you will know I’ve been dealing with a so-called injury. It started somewhere way back in January. It began as what seemed to be IT Band issues and knee pain for my right leg. After cutting back on my running mileage I started by seeing chiropractor and then eventually switched to physio. I seemed to be making some progress but kept having set backs. The pains/aches switched from my right leg to the left and to both over the next weeks and months. I had good days and bad days. I still somehow managed to teach 3 running clinics this year and run 11 races so far this year. I however estimate my mileage for the year will likely be around 500k with about 100k of that being walking not running. I usually average over 1000k.

Just thinking about it depressed me. Oh yeah, what I haven’t previously mentioned was that other strange things that have been happening. Okay so strange might not be the best word but well I don’t know what else to call it. So let’s see we’ve got aches/pains, depression, rashes, memory loss, loss of balance, feeling tired (more so then usual) and heck I can’t remember what else. Told ya there was memory loss…lol. At least I still had my sense of humor. That was until I started reading about Lipitor on the web. My sense of humor faded as I read on.

Now I don’t believe everthing I read on the web but surely 866,000 websites can’t all be wrong. This one in particular caught my eye on some of the side effects. I started taking the drug a couple of weeks before the problems with my legs started. The other side effects started along the way. Being an active previously active runner I didn’t think it had to do with my drug I attributed it my running. It wasn’t until I got so frustrated that I figured there had to be more to what was going on that I decided to check this out. I mean I know I’m over 50 and all but surely everything that was going on wasn’t related to running or being over the hill.

After reading many pages on the web I decided to stop “cold turkey” taking the Lipitor. I did check the web first to see if there would be adverse side-effects from quitting. I found none. I did find comments that said I might start feeling better in a few days but it might take longer for the legs not to ache so much.

It’s been 8 days since I took my last pill. Okay so I’m not feeling 100% better the change is awesome. In the mornings I no longer have to hold furniture to walk to the bathroom. I’m not afraid of the stairs in my house. I can even walk up and down them without holding the railing. The knees still hurt a bit but it’s more like a 4 or 5 out of 10 instead of an 8 or 9. Some of the flexibilty has returned to my legs, yeah! I’m not feeling as tired and managed to make it through my day off without wanting to take a nap…lol.

I also went for a short run today and while I’m still a slow poke I noticed a difference in my energy level and I managed a 10 minute set comfortably. The run was on my way to my Dr appointment. Oh yeah, I had an appointment to get a refill on my other perscriptions and let her know I had stopped the Lipitor. She was fine with me having stopped the Lipitor but was concerned at my refusal to take another statin. At the moment I just want to get my muscles back to normal. I will work on reducing my cholesterol some other way - loose weight, take Omega 3, garlic, eat more fish and of course as I feel better get more active. It was hard to be active when I was in such pain.

Tomorrow is another day and another trail race. I’m looking forward to it.

You know that old expression “don’t leave home without it”? Who knew that would refer to my “Fairy Wings”. Okay, so your next question is likely what on earth do I need wings for. Well last night the local Running Room held a “Spooky Sprint” - dress up and cool prizes for the 3 best costumes. Hmmm maybe I could finally be first at something…lol.

I had picked up Nikayla from the daycare after work as she was gonna come for the fun as well. We got home with barely enough time to dress up two spooky gals. Well scratch the spooky bit as we went with fun costumes. I dressed Nikayla up as an angel, very much in character for her. Mom had supplied the turtleneck and tights over which I threw one of my oversized tshirts. I then belted her shirt with a gold chain, added wings, halo and white face paint. Presto, one sweet little angel.

I checked my watch, oops too much time on Nikayla and only 15 minutes left to turn me into “Pink Barbie Fairytopia”. Heh, what else would “Pink Chick” wear…lol. I quickly put on my pink tech shirt, pink tights, added my “tutu” belt decked with flowers, fabric & ribbon. Hmmm not much time for a fancy face painting job I settled for some glowing glitter and pink eye shadow. I added the pink wig and would put on my pink glowing antenna at the store. We raced out of the house making it to the store just after 6pm. I adjusted Nikayla’s wings after we got out of the car and realized mine were still at home hanging on the bedroom door. Isn’t that were all fairies keep there wings?

Oh well, I would be a wingless fairy. At least I had my magic wand. I had made the wand earlier in the day. Couldn’t find one at any of the local stores so I used pink duct tape to transform cardboard and a stick into a magical pink wand. Too bad it wasn’t magical enough to make my wings appear…lol.

Only a handful of runners showed up in costume. There were however lots of kids that showed up for the kids run. Just before we headed out they held the costume judging. Dressed up runners were chosen as winners by the number of cheers. Thankfully no “Boos”. I took 1st place…wooohooo! For that I got a netted tote bag, a metal water bottle (Brooks), a towel (Polar), one of John Stanton’s running books, and a Powerbar. Cool prize! Now to go running.

Since I couldn’t fly, I opted to walk and help with the kids run. Speaking of flying, that’s pretty much what Nikayla did. She spread those angel wings of hers and was finished the out & back course for the kids run before I’d even walked half the distance.

The kids each got stickers and a bunch of other goodies. Nikayla and I then went to Quiznos for a couple of small subs. All in all it was a pretty fun evening for the angel and the wingless fairy.

Here’s hoping everyone has a great Halloween on Friday. So just what are you or your family members dressing up as?

Today I ran in a relay race with my daughter and her daughter. We ran as a three generation family team called the “Pink Chicklets”. The race - Confederation Park Relay XC, put on by the Calgary Roadrunners.

We headed out early hoping to get a good parking spot but everyone must have had the same idea as the parking load was full and the street was quickly filling when we pulled up. I dropped Carrie off with her soup pot first and then found a place to park back on the street. Thankfully we didn’t have to park too far away. I left most of my stuff in the car as it was close enough to come back to after. We headed down to register and pick up our team numbers. We were team number 1727. I was to run the first leg and then Carrie & Nikayla would run their legs at the same time. That way they could keep an eye on each other and well we might not take forever to finish…lol.

Nikayla hung out with her buddy Les for a bit. She also had fun throwing or kicking leaves at him, her Mom and anyone who got close enough. There was a ton of leaves to run through and have fun with.

There were also a ton of runners and somewhere around a hundred teams registered. It was one of the largest crowds I’ve seen at the race. The weather - cool but sunny, somewhere around +6C. It felt a tad chilly but there were still a few in shorts and t-shirts. I had opted for long pants but rolled them up so I could hopefully stay dry when crossing the creeks. Yes, creek crossings, 2 of em but more on that later.

Considering the size of the crowd we still managed to start not to long after the scheduled noon start. It really didn’t take long before all the runners were way ahead of me, say maybe 200 meters…lol.

The leg felt okay, but that was likely due to the 2 Advil I took earlier. I ran the flats and the downhills but walked most of the uphills and took lots of photos along the way.

The course heads out fairly flat towards 14th, then up a bit of a slope, then back along a ridge parallel to where we had started from. Lots of leaves to run through and lots of fun. Despite being slower then usual it did seem to be easier then in the past. Maybe that’s cause I’ve run it so many times I know the route well. Across from me I could see the speedy runners already heading out for the 2nd leg and I knew I would soon be lapped. Sure enough, below you see the runners coming up behind me around the halfway mark.

On the other side of the course once we head down the last hill we run along the creek briefly then cross it. This is the first crossing, then it’s a narrow pathway along the creek for a bit and back into the open again. The guy on his back (lower right, below) said “here, let me pose for you” and dove to the ground…lol. Two seconds later he was back up running and way ahead of me.

Ahead was the tunnel. You run through it on the way out, up a hill, etc and then back through it again. Just on the other side, ah yes, the second creek crossing. This one a bit more challenging and a bit deeper. Everyone was yelling for me to jump in, belly flop, whatever. The knees didn’t like the idea of any of those suggestions so I kind of crawled my way into the water and used the trees to pull myself up on the other side. Not likely the best photo op for my river crossing but heh I got some good photos of others doing it later. Then it was down the road and to the finish. Nikayla & Carrie both headed out to do their legs at the same time.

After I was done I headed over to the base of the first hill to watch for “the kids”. It seemed to take them forever and finally I spotted Carrie. But where was Nikayla. Carrie was walking and not looking happy. Les headed out to find Nikayla and got her motivated. Seems she tired herself out a bit with all the horseplay before the race. She’s 7 and hasn’t learned to save it for the race…lol.

Thanks to Les, Nikayla nearly caught up to her Mom. As a matter of fact, her Mom worked extra hard to try and stay ahead.

I found out later that Les carried Nikayla across the first creek but when she got to the second she jumped in with both feet making this huge splash that soaked her from head to toe. She laughed and ran through the rest of it. Then it was off to the finish.

Being cold, Nikayla got changed immediately after the race. It was a bit of a long line for the soups and many ran out but we still had our fill. Another race done, yeah!

Above Karen stays cozy under her hoody and blankets while Carrie stayed cozy by staying inside…lol.

More Photos - My Flickr Site
Calgary Roadrunners photos