Dawn on the Run

July 2, 2009

What goes down…must go back up

Filed under: General, Running — dawn @ 7:12 pm

2009-07-02MrV
As you can see by my Mr V screenshot, today’s run was not the usual flat run through the park. Since today was my day off I instead chose to do my run on the way to the hair salon. Which meant I had no choice but to run downhill and then right back up again. It’s a pretty long uphill so I chose to stop where ever my 20 minute time I would usually run for ran out. I also chose not to do the usual short sets. I mean the start is all downhill and heh, I just don’t walk downhill…lol.

I lift the house just before noon and headed out. I opted to wear oneof my running skirts to see how there really were to run in. I’ve aquired a few since losing the weight but have yet to actually run in one. As you can see by the chart my pace got a bit faster along the downhill stretch except for one little section. That might of been where I slowed to cross the street but I’m not really sure.

Going downhill felt pretty good and my fastest pace somewhere in there was 6:13/km. Not bad for a slowpoke, eh. I even managed to keep a decent pace as I headed back uphill. At the 2k mark, just shy of 16 minutes, I took a walk break and kept walking until 20 minutes when I shut off Mr V. Amazing, 2k in just under 15 minutes – nice improvement. The walk break at the end brought my average down to 8:41. Still not too shabby for me.

All in all it was a great workout and left me feeling pretty good about how Sunday’s Race will go. Oh yeah, after my hair appointment I headed down to Stride’s Running Store to register for the Stampede Road Race. I opted for the 5k this time and may look for a 10k in August. One race at a time. Have a great weekend everyone and keep on running!

July 1, 2009

Happy Canada Day

Filed under: General, Videos — dawn @ 9:01 am

So Where Was I….

Filed under: Running — dawn @ 8:31 am

Ok since my run on the 21st, I’ve been doing a bit more running. A new session of “The Start Line” started up last week so I’m running on Tuesdays and Thursdays during my lunch. Okay that will be for most Tuesdays and Thursdays. I will likely miss a few here and there due to holidays, etc. Anyhow it’s a 12 week program building from sets of run 30 seconds to running for 9 minutes to get some beginners or those starting over again out running. I’m one of the pacers for the group and using it to help build up some speed.

Our sessions for last week and yesterday were all 10 sets of run 30 seconds and walk for 90 seconds (20 minutes total) with a walk to warm up as well as cool down.

To recap things from my Garmin:

Date
Distance/KM
Ave Pace
Max Pace
Ave Heart Rate
Max Heart Rate
Calories
June 23 – Tue
2.20
8:51
6:17
124
159
156
June 25 – Thur
2.24
8:56
6:43
134
220
144
June 30 – Tue
2.23
8:57
5:49
133
174
149

Fairly consistant on all three runs. Not sure what happened with the max heart rate on last thurs…maybe it was a cute guy on the route or something…lol. As you can see my Ave Pace is actually pretty decent for me considering how much walking we are doing for the moment. Of course I’m not sure how long I can keep up that Max Pace for yet. Would be sweet if I could someday run a 5k at that pace. Sure would amaze me and some of those used to seeing me at the back of the pack.

Oh yeah as you can see I also missed my weekend run. Ooops life just got in the way. Tis another reason I’ve decided to stick with racing the 5k at the upcoming Stampede Road Race on July 5th. A couple of others from our Start Line group will be running the 5k as well.

As for the rest of the week, I do plan to get another run in there somewhere. Maybe on my way to the hair salon tomorrow. Today I’m taking Carrie & Nikayla out to celebrate Canada Day. Thursday, it’s running, hair and package pick up for the race, Friday is Stampede Parade and a tent party. Saturday is a little R & R and then Sunday is race day. It’s a busy rest of the week, good thing I don’t have to work for the rest of it…lol. I love my job!

June 21, 2009

Slow But Got’er Done

Filed under: General, Running — dawn @ 5:29 pm

Just got back from doing an 8k loop, okay more like a figure 8. It was a great run. I struggled all day to find the motivation to get out there and somehow I think it was seeing this quite that finally got me motivated to get dressed and get’er done.

“Run when you can, walk when you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.”
- Dean Karnazes, Runner

I found it while surfing through some flickr photos in effort to find a cool photo for this weeks featured photo over at http://completerunning.com. Anyhow after writing my article and razing a friend on Facebook who was complaining about having to walk for part of a race. He’s a pretty speedy runner and it’s not like him to walk. For shame. Heck I’m happy just to have run breaks between my walks…lol.

I mapped out a possible 8k route in Google and headed out the door. Oops part way into the first k I looked at Mr V to see what my heart rate was and realized I’d forgotten to put on my heart rate monitor piece. Oh well. My mind drifted listening to tunes and settling into a nice steady pace. Bits and pieces of a poem ran through my head but I’m not sure I can remember how it went. I used to write lots of mushy romantic poems.

The was a cool breeze blowing as I set out to run.
I had 8k to do and was gonna get’er done.
Three ground hogs went past…
But unlike me they were moving fast.
I had barely gone a couple of miles
When I ran past a man who was all smiles.
Downhill to the cop shop.
Determined to look good, I did not stop.
Next it was the duck pond loop.
Oops watch out for dog poop.
That was only half way
Into a slow running 8k.

Okay so I never said I was a good poet and that wasn’t quite how it went but oh well, you get my drift…lol. So how was your weekend? Did ya run? Did ya git’er done?

June 16, 2009

Rest a bit…then Right Back at it

Filed under: General, Running, Swimming — dawn @ 5:34 pm

So after running my 10k I opted to take a week off from my training while I decided what to tackle next. The thought of another 10k crossed my mind…hmmm. The next one locally is on July 5th. Completely doable. Now to put some training in place to get me there with an improvement over my Underwear Affair time. So I started back with a real easy swim on Monday. So easy the only laps were running after my granddaughter in the wave pool…lol. Reminder to self – don’t take Nikayla if one wants to swim laps. Nikayla has learned to swim but still struggles and while we had fun it was a real easy workout for me. I still figure I did about 250 meters of running in the water.

Today I hit the pavement at lunch. Okay not literally. It was a gorgeous day and I headed out right at noon for a little speed workout. I started with a nice easy walk to Eau Claire which took me about 10 minutes. Next I did an easy run for 5 minutes to warm up and then I began my 30/30 sets. I ran as fast as I could for 30 seconds, then died, I mean walked for 30 seconds. I repeated this for a total of 4.5 minutes and then walked for 1.5 minutes after before resuming with a slow jog for 9 minutes. Total speed workout of 20 minutes. Finally I strolled back to the office for 15 minutes. I was still beet red as I sat at my desk eating lunch.

I only timed/tracked the 20 minute section of my workout and Mr V says I did 1.81k with an ave pace of 11:05. That seemed kind of slow but remember there was a slow jogging section before and after the 30/30. Reviewing the laps was better. My best pace in one of the 30 all out sections was a 3:53…not bad for a slow poke like me. Calories burned 212.

Next run tomorrow, just a nice steady jog.

PS…still losing, down 39.

June 6, 2009

10k Underwear Affair – Race Report

Filed under: 10K, General, Race Reports, Running — dawn @ 11:09 pm

Don’t faint with shock, I’m actully writing a rae report the same day it happens…lol.

The race wasn’t to start until 6pm but registration was from 3:30 to 5:30. We didn’t plan on heading out until around 3:30 so I slept in and then relaxed for most of the day. Well at least I tried to hubby. Didn’t understand my wanting to head down to the race so early so we had a bit of an argument about it. MEN! Not being a runner he just doesn’t understand wanting to be there early enough to check in and relax.

Anyhow despite not agreeing with me we left around 3:30. By the time we stopped for gas and the bank we didn’t arrive at the Round Up Center until 4ish. That was perfect. There was a small crowd so I got checked in quickly and then was able to tour the venue checking out the sponsors and booths. I won some pink undies from the Joe Boxer booth…cool beans. We wandered around taking lots of photos. They’ll be on flickr later. I have to review them first and weed out the ones that are a tad blurry from me running too fast…lol.

It got pretty crowed and the lines got long as time passed so I was really happy that we had arrived there when we did. We checked outside a few times to find the weather was back to a wet snow. Dang it all. It had been sunny when we drove to the race. I debated digging out the rain coat I had packed in my tote but opted not to. People were dressed in everything from practically nothing to long johns and layers. The outfits were awesome.

Finally it was time to run. They lined us up by the start area. The start was inside so no chance to “beam up” my Garmin, oh well there would be mile/km markers so it was more of a timing device anyhow. A few speeches and we were off. Amazingly the sun was shining. There was evidence of the snow but with the sun out it was actually quite warm. The start took us through the Stampede grounds and headed south then west towards the Talisman Center. A lot of the 10K was along the paved pathways along the river. With the sun shining it made for a pretty run and about 15 minutes into the race I opted to take a 2 minute walk break so I could remove a layer. I was already overheating. Running without my shirt was quite comfortable. That was to be the only walk break I would take.

I kept a pretty steady pace slow and steady. that would get me through the race. The kms came and went with ease. I had been nervous about running this as it was my first 10k in about a year and a half. I was amazed that I was doing so well. I was pretty much at the back of the pack with just a handful of runners behind me. I was at about the 3k mark when the lead male runner passed me going the other way. Wow! After that it was a steady stream of runners headed back. That was cool as it allowed me to get some great photos of everyone. I also enjoyed all the hi-5’s I got as I carried on my merry way. I even got a “you look beautiful” from someone. Somewhere around the 4k mark the runners kept saying “you’re almost there” …lol. It may have been a lie but it was a nice lie. Somewhere in Stanley Park area I finally made it to the turn around point. I think it was about 45 minutes and 5k into the race. Awesome, right on pace.

The second water station was there but I opted not to indulge. I had hydrated myself well all day and well frankly if I had taken any I likely would have had to pee. With the outfit I was wearing that likely would have cost me precious time. The run back went equally well. The legs were doing great and the knee was not bothering me at all. Somewhere around the 8k mark I headed down the last underpass and felt my right knee turn to jelly. It was only briefly and thankfully I did not collapse. I recovered quickly and continued with no problem. There was a light sprinkling of rain that came and went in mere seconds. Luck was with us in so many ways for this race.

There were still a handful of runners behind me as I head towards the finish. I picked it up a bit as my goal time of 1:30:00 was quickly approaching. Round the last corner and there was the entrance to the finish. In through the door and I saw the clock flip over just as I crossed the mat. 1:30:03 is what my Garmin read as I stopped it. Soooooooooo close and soooooooooooo awesome. It had been a hard finish and a volunteer saw me falter so she quickly brought me a large glass of water. Somehow hubby had missed my finish so no finisher photo. Oh well.

I got myself a well earned Bud Light and chicken burger as well as a half banana for my post race food. My leg started to fail me so I found a bench to sit on while I ate. That helped. Once the last runner was in they let us know how much money was raised and awarded top 3 prizes for male/female for the 10k. The 5k was a walk so no prizes there. Then it was time for the costume contest. With so many great costumes I wasn’t going to go up but then I saw only 4 guys went up for the male so what the heck. There ended up only being two of us for the female costumes so based on audience support/cheering I won. I got a great plaque and some Joe Boxer undies. I needed some new stuff as since losing all that weight most of mine are getting too big…lol. After that was the group costumes.

2009underwear789sm

We only hung out for maybe 20 minutes longer after that. I was tired and could here the hot tub calling my name. All in all it was a great night. Thanks again to everyone for all your support. By the way my goal was to raise $1000 and I hit that target right on. Acutally as the company I work for will match some of the donations that amount might be closer to $1500. Oh yeah I’ve signed up to do it agin in 2010.

Flickr Site – http://www.flickr.com/photos/dawn-pinkchick/sets/

June 5, 2009

The Race is on!

Filed under: 10K, Clothing, General, Race Activities, Running — dawn @ 1:41 pm

Yup rain or snow tomorrow I’m once again running in my underwear. Had to go with plan B for my costume and will save plan A for next year. What’s plan B? All I will tell you is that it includes tights and a long sleeved shirt under my underwear. For the rest, you will have to wait until I post the new photos. Did I mention snow!? Yup that’s right, the weatherman (hate those guys) is forcasting snowfall for tomorrow! How dare he!!! I mean as if the rain (aka torrential downpour) last year wasn’t bad enough! Oh well at least this year’s after party won’t be so muddy as they’ve moved that to the Roundup Center and completely changed the route. For the 10k we’re heading south from the Roundup Center and following the river down past Stanley Park. Should make for a pretty run even in the rain or snow.

There’s no time left for training runs but donations can still be made over here. Many thanks to all of you that have supported me in one way or another this year and in the past. You all ROCK!

Oh by the way I am a tad nervous as this will be my first 10k in over a year. I don’t expect to be fast. Heck why should that change now. All I want to do is finish before the party is over…lol.

In the meantime to entertain you, below is my outfits from years past.
2007underwear1

Flickr Photos from Past Events

June 3, 2009

Losing & Winning at the Same Time

So I’m winning at the “Losing Battle”. Down a bit more and have now lost 38 pounds…woohooo. I won’t say it’s been hard or easy. There are days that it’s been a breeze to stick to the plan and well days where I accidently blew it.

Okay there’s only been one “accidental day”. How does one accidently blow one’s diet? Well by ordering something from a menu that looks healthy but is a calorie disaster in disguise. We took my parents for lunch on Monday. I ordered a salad, a chicken pecan salad to be exact at Boston Pizza. Would you believe it was over 1100 calories…OMG! And as if that wasn’t bad enough I ordered a side of Thia Chicken Bites at another 500 plus calories. YIKES! I should have known better.

My bad. No biggy been doing so well one day shouldn’t mess things up too bad. Next time I eat out, I’ll stick with the “safe” foods and not blow it especially when I’m so close to my “below 200″ goal. I’m not gonna beat myself up either as since being with SparkPeople (Feb 2009) I’ve only gone over my calorie allotment twice.

Speaking of winning & losing, today I met up with another friend who is winning the battle of losing, Meg. Meg is down an awesome 32.6 pounds. She’s a radio DJ for Energy 101.5 and I’ve been following along with her weight loss. In a way her success has motivated me to stay on track as well. Today her and a few of the other DJs were hanging out at a downtown Tim Horton’s so I headed over to meet her in person.

We had a great chat about weight loss and running. Some of them at the station have also taken up running. We plan to keep in touch whether it be about weight loss or running. She’s a cool gal.

As for my running, I need to write a few posts and let you in on how that is going. Just so you know it’s going well. Still have good days and bad days with the legs but the recovery time is getting shorter and I’m getting faster.

May 20, 2009

Seeing is believing…

Filed under: Challenges, Goals & Results, General, Weight Loss — dawn @ 4:59 pm

Having my old jeans literally fall to the floor even after doing them up was one thing but seeing the difference in the photos below is cool.

beforeafter

Can hardly wait to see what the difference will be in a few more months!

May 19, 2009

Hills Are My Friend Once Again

Filed under: Challenges, Goals & Results, Cycling, General, Running — dawn @ 8:15 pm

Today was yet another successfull day in my running shoes! 7k run done! Once again hills are my friend as I ran (not walked) 3 of them on the run home from 40th & Centre St to Country Hills. Not my fastest 7k but it still felt great.

Mr V tells the story a bit better then I ever could. Not sure why the heart rate is so erratic at the start. Likely some interference locally or something as I know I was quite calm when I started out. Unfortunately it doesn’t show my laps since I had it set in the wrong mode, silly me.
1km 7:58
2km 9:12
3km 10:28
4km 11:37
5km 11:21
6km 12:01
7km 12:45
So yes each km did get gradually slower. My goal today was not speed but getting 7k done and running up each hill no matter the pace. I suceeded on both counts and am a happy camper.
2009-05-19mrv

I also managed to get in a bike ride on Friday past. Again no speed demon but I got out there and that’s what counts. I also got to finally wear the bike jersey I got a few years ago for Christmas. Yahoo it fits! Down 36 pounds…wooohoo. To quote a good friend “Look out Lance”…lol.
bikeride-may09

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