Boxing Day –10 miler race report and the goods

Sunday was the Boxing Day 10 miler in Hamilton.  This is a GREAT race…amazing volunteers and police officers, great swag, good facilities and food after…and a free beer post race.  Sweet..

Pre race excitement:

Slow mo running for the camera before the start line:

Racing on in:

Overall I was really happy with the race.  I held 7+ repeats at the threshold pace my coach wanted me to try and I fought through my brain telling me to stop.   Honestly…I could have been faster but I specifically slowed down when I wasn’t doing the thresholds…and I lost 3 min at a portapotty.  Duh..

We didn’t do a lot of boxing day shopping but I did score a few amazing deals

Aussie Luxe boots – I want to wear these all day….

Dash tights – on sale at lulu online..

I am also pretty happy to have not gone overboard over the holidays…running has been great, spin/core is back on and while we haven’t been strict, it has been mindful.

Of course…I am doing a bit of saving up for New Years Eve where we are having a totally decadent meal at our fave restaurant.  It ain’t all about the control you know..

Four for Friday – Happy HoHo

1.  The awesome Patrick started this great site:

Go, join up…all the cool kids are doing it.

2.  I spent a llloonnnggg time yesterday making these bad boys:

Oh She Glows Pumpkin Cinnamon rolls.

They were so good…I want to marry them.  It did prove to me again why I am so not a baker..the kitchen was a disaster, I kept having to wash out my measuring cups (cause I only have two…) and I rolled out the buns with this:

3.  Today (Christmas Eve) is a mellow day for me and the hubs.  We had my family’s Christmas yesterday which was a lot of fun with food and movies.  Today was a great 9km run and a pasta dinner.  Tomorrow is all about the running around and visiting…

4.  Boxing Day is the 10 miler race.  My coach is having me do some threshold running meaning a 2km sllloooowww warm up and them running a fast pace for as long as I can hold it.  When I can’t I go back to the warm up pace and then back again to threshold.  So if you are there and see someone alternating between almost a walk and looking like they are going to barf…that’d be me.

No matter what you celebrate or believe in, I wish you all the best for the holidays. Cheers from me and the hubs!

Hola! Did you miss me?

Did you even notice I was gone?  No?  Well, I was in what felt like paradise (Puerto Vallarta and Punta Mita)for 8 days where we:

Drank margaritas and ate our weight in guacamole

Took part in an amazing Mexican parade:

Went whale watching

Drank things that were lit on fire

Stayed at a luxury resort where this was the view from the lobby

 

and a butler brought us coffee daily on our terrace (which overlooked a golf course AND the ocean)

we saw lots of these

and did lots of this (to combat the guac and magaritas)

and left with lots of memories

Back to the real world of work, cold, snow, laundry etc. 

reality bites.  :)

Four for Friday…the almost vacation edition

1.  I was re-tested last night.  If you are a newbie, my group trains by Lactate Threshold:

What does Lactate Threshold measure and how it it done?
Basically, as you exercise, lactic acid is produced by your muscles. The harder you work, the more lactic acid you produce. Lactate Threshold is the point at which your body can't remove the lactic acid and it accumulates. Some people naturally build up lactic acid quicker than others and you can't really change this BUT you can train your body to work more efficiently. The Lactate Threshold test is pretty straight forward:
10 min warm up on the treadmill and then 3 min stages of increasing (1km / hr) speed. After every 3 min, a blood sample is taken (via a diabetic finger prick) and analyzed. You go until you reach a lactate measurement of 10, or until you can't go anymore. I started at 6km per hr and kept going until I just could not. You don't get any rest between the stages so it is a flat out run the entire time. Your heart rate is monitored and recorded at each stage as well.
Ultimately, the results are used to create a more detailed training program in order to get faster and work more efficiently. The results are broken into 3 training zones (1, 3 and 5) and you are given your target heart rates and speeds to run in your training plan.
Zone 1: basic training level. This is the zone where your slow twitch fibres are working and usually the level where your lactic acid build-up is the lowest. This is where my LSD runs will be.
Zone 3: tempo running.  and Zone 5: flat out speed training.

Considering I am still doing some post marathon recovery I did ok – I did more stages (6) than previously.  Training is gonna get real hard this winter and as far as racing goes?  I am already scared..even the boxing day run is turning into a full out race.

2.  Since it seems drivers are getting worse and worse, I ordered a few new baubles for me and the hubs to run with:

If you run outside in the dark without lights…think about this – a car will always win against you…

3.  This morning’s early run was chilly but fun:

4.  but next week’s won’t be ‘cause I’ll be running on this:

BooooYah!

Have a great weekend and like me, dream of sun, sand…and beach loungers.

I refuse to complain about Winter

…cause it is only the beginning of Dec….

and I live in Canada and we get Winter here…..

and if I start now….it will be a long few months.  So you make the best of it…and it you are the hubs, wear a masculine toque while driving:

Having said that, there was a lot of chilliness on this weekend’s run.  Sat was a fast 9km that wasn’t bad but not great.  Sunday, I ran the 4km to the clinic and then did 10km with our group.  Overall it was a good run but the last 3km were right into the wind and cold.  There wasn’t a lot of chatting by that point. 

The highlight as far as running goes this weekend was getting some of the swag from the upcoming Boxing Day 10 miler.  (apparently you could get your swag but not the bib and chip – those are race day only…..I don’t get it either)

Sa-Weet gloves:

Impressive tech t-shirt – the middle has a thin fleece layer that is quite nice:

These will go great with the medals they give out:

Last year we got Gaitors with snowmen on them. 

Do you know what Gaitors are?  I didn’t but if we get the amount of snow they are calling for this year, they will come in handy.  Pic to follow on Friday’s post.

Four for Friday

1.  Mentally I think I am now ready for winter and thus winter running but my butt isn’t as it froze on last night’s run.  Me thinks it is time to invest in some new tights.  Any suggestions?  (and by that I mean not only to keep me warm-ish but look good on someone with stubby legs like me…)

2.  The hubs is a great guy but very busy with work, volunteering, training etc.  The allure of chocolate for breakfast has been lost on him as he has yet to remember the advent calendar I bought him. (even when sitting in plain sight).  I have been opening the windows and taking the chocolate out (and shutting the windows up) to see when he might catch on.  Don’t worry….I haven’t eaten the treats ……… yet:

3.  I’ve been lucky enough to win a few things of late which I treat as Christmas gifts as they hubs and I don’t exchange prezzies:

From Marlene:

(I love this stuff as it is good for bruises…and I am the klutzy-est person on this planet so I could bathe in it and still be wounded..)

and from Jamie a gift pack from www.Liftyoursole.com

Yippee!

4.  My new run clinic started on Tuesday which is also my 2nd year Run-A-Versary.  This year Running and I:

-set a PB in the half marathon

-ran our first full Around the Bay together

-ran a marathon

-ran another one

-kept off the 25+ lbs I had been lugging around

and continue to enjoy each other no matter what the day brings. Big kisses running….