I Am Not The Sharpest Knife In The Drawer

I was at a grocery store yesterday, had dashed in to find the single item I needed to finish making supper. Coming out, a man paused in front of me, smiled and said coyly, "I know what you're doing New Year's Eve." Clutching my bag of bean sprouts, I smiled back and laughed in confusion. Psychic? Or just crazy? How much can a person tell from a bag of bean sprouts? He pointed at me and said, "I do it every year." My eyes widened as I continued to smile. Riiiiight. Then he said, "There's no better way to start a new year, is there?" And that's when I realized I was wearing last year's Resolution Run jacket.

Excesses and Excuses

I'm sure you noticed that HBBC was a bust for me. I lost my momentum completely. I was self-indulgent and lazy during the holiday season and now I'm paying for it with fitness setbacks and weight gain. I feel awful. And I'm old enough to know better! Well, I'm starting fresh today, and I'm putting myself back on the to-do list. I will make better choices about what I eat, I will drink more water, I will take a multi-vitamin daily, and I will start exercising regularly again. If I forget or backslide, don't let me get away with it; give me hell!

Off to a good start: I'm trying a hot yoga class with my running partner this evening. I hope to try a spin class soon too!

The Runningest Town in Canada

In November, I asked, "Is Orleans the runningest town in Canada? Seems like you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a runner from 6am to 9pm." Today I learned that Orleans runners aren't deterred by snowstorms and weather warnings either. This morning, as I was nervously fishtailing my way down the street, wipers bat-bat-batting fat wet snowflakes and icy raindrops off my windshield, I had to drive around a runner slogging his way up the road in ankle-deep slush the consistency of a 7-Eleven Slurpee. I hope he got home safely!

HBBC Tally - Week 5

December 17 - December 23

17
18
19 +3: run 3 miles
20
21
22 +2.5: run 2.6 miles
23

Additional challenge and question points:



Weekly Total: +5.5

Challenge Total: 5.5 + 48.5

HBBC Tally - Week 4

December 10 - December 16

10
11
12 +2: run 2 miles on the treadmill
13 +3.5: run 3.93 miles (and it felt great!)
14
15 +4.5: run 4.45 miles
16 +3: 1 hour of yoga

Additional challenge and question points:



Weekly Total: +13

Challenge Total: 48.5

Run-bot

Sometimes, about a minute or two into my run and usually when I haven't warmed up adequately, I get this awful sensation like something is washing right through me. I don't know what it is, a rush of chemicals or hormones or something, but it's extremely unpleasant and I absolutely detest it. It is this sensation that prevented me from becoming a "real" runner for a very long time because when it comes over me it makes me feel so weak that the effort of continuing to move forward seems impossible. It used to stop me cold but now I push through it and it's over and forgotten in a minute. It hasn't happened for a long while so I had forgotten about it but it happened twice this week. I didn't warm up for either run, just headed straight out, so I guess that's the cause. Anyone know what it is? I hate it. Hateithateithateit.

And another thing! During my last two runs I have gotten into a groove where I feel like I'm on auto-pilot. My legs don't even seem to belong to me. I'm a machine from the hips down and the run is all in my head. What is up with that?

The Kind of Runner I Am

I signed up for the Ottawa Race Weekend today. I've got five months to get cosy with 10k and I am looking forward to it!

Yesterday was the first decent run I've had since becoming sick a few weeks ago, and what a nice morale booster it was! A little over 6k and hilly, which I'm feeling today but I don't mind. It felt great to be out there! As I was looking at my route map it occurred to me that the elevation maps don't always tell a true story. One of my favourite routes covers some nice big hills that don't show on the map because the land elevation is different from the street elevation; two of the hills I like to run are highway overpasses.

As I was running I was thinking about the progress I've made in the past few months. My breathing's better, my form and pacing are better, and I can cover much longer distances. But my speed? Meh. Pretty much as good as it ever was with small bursts of better. So I was thinking...does it matter to me? Is racing important to me? And I have to confess, it's not.

When I think about the kind of runner I want to be, I don't often think about how fast I covered the distance. I want to be the kind of runner who finishes the run she starts. I want to be the kind of runner who covers the distance not effortlessly but comfortably. I want to be the kind of runner who casually says, "Just heading out for a run, back in an hour" or "What a gorgeous day, did five miles this morning and loved every minute of it." I want to be the kind of runner who's lean and energetic and who smiles while she runs. I want to be the kind of runner who signs up for a race not to try to win it but for the fun of it. The only competition I think about is the one in my own head...can I go farther? longer? faster than the last time? That's the kind of runner I want to be, and that's the kind of runner I am.