Injuries and continuing gym bonanzas

Injury alert!  Nothing too bad, but my thumb has been giving me trouble the past few days.  It got sore from stapling large amounts of papers together at work (I would constantly jam the stapler into the palm of my hand to help the staples get through the pile). Now it hurts to even hold a glass of water.  Some rest should get it feeling back to normal, but for now, I'll tread (or hand?) carefully.

I visited the gym 5 times this week.  Thursday night I tried a new Pump class, the instructor for which I really liked.  Then Saturday I did Zumba for 45 minutes, then ran over to another gym to do Shred, followed by a class called Awesome Abs.  The Zumba killed my shoulders, the Abs killed my butt (go figure).  I feel really strong today!

In other news, I got some new responsibilities at work.  It's nice that I'm trusted to start taking on new things.  It certainly helps with confidence levels.  Mood is good and motivation is high.  This week is going to be another gym bonanza as I prepare for my next run, but work will have calmed down a bit.  I'll be training for my new tasks, but I won't be working 10 hours per day.  It'll be nice to focus on other things in my life, such as… everything else!

Steady as she goes for now.  Perhaps there will be some more groundbreaking news next week. :)

4/4

Monday Attack, Wednesday Shred, Saturday Attack, and Sunday Pump.  It was pretty much a normal week, except that I would have done some running if it wasn't for work.  I'm on my feet for most of the day at work, and the September rush creates some long hours, so by the time I get home, I'm not about to strap my running shoes to go on for a hungry, dark, cold, late night run.  I need to stop making excuses, though...

Weather.  The weather has changed.  We were in the midst of a heat advisory, and then 2 days later it was suddenly 6 degrees.  I'm sure once I get back outdoors for my runs I'll appreciate the cooler weather more (well, not 6 degrees, although 12 I don't mind), but for now, it's just a shock to the body and mind.  I love the summer so much.  I don't want to have to bundle up to step outside...

I have felt quite energetic this weekend!  I jumped out of bed yesterday morning and this morning, ready to work out.  Today at Pump, I pushed myself to a new level with the squats, upping the weight by a few kilograms.  I was inspired by the soreness in my muscles the few days after the Longboat 10K.  While I broke my record at that one, there was a price to pay.  Extra leg work will help, since stronger legs will mean less pain after I push myself.

My next run is a 5K coming up on October 6th.  It's the CIBC Run for the Cure.  I've been thinking about my goal for that run.  If I divide my 10K PB, I'd finish the 5K in about 29 minutes.  But it's a shorter distance, so I should be able to push myself a bit harder for the duration.  I've therefore decided to settle on 25 minutes as my goal.  Now, I know that's quite a bit of a time difference, but it's not something I necessarily have to accomplish this October.  If I don't make it on the 6th, then I'll aim to make it next 5K.  Aim high or go home!

A Victory

I ran the Longboat Toronto Island 10K today!  It was a beautiful day for a run - sunny, a bit cooler at about 20 degrees, and not too windy.  Esther and I participated in this one, with Josh, Esther's husband, watching from the sidelines.

We started off near the front.  Esther is a little speed demon, so she set a pace, and I tried to keep up with her for as long as I could.  I lost sight of her sometime before the 4km mark.  It was a sad moment, but it also meant that till then I was going at a faster pace than usual.  The course was very flat, and it was a mix of pavement, grass, and boardwalk.

This time, my faster pace at the beginning had my body screaming for relief until 5km.  Up until 5, I was thinking "What have I gotten myself into?!  I haven't trained properly for this!!  I haven't gone for a run in ages!  I should just stop and take a breather!"

But so many things came to my mind and made me continue.  I thought of my gym classes, I thought of my instructors encouraging me to keep going, I thought of Marie doing pushups on her toes and egging me on to get off my knees and follow her, and heck, I even thought of having to post a FB status update about the race.

Just after I passed the 5km mark (which was actually the start line that we'd looped back to), the pain and hesitation left my body.  Everything normalised, and I realised that I was now more than halfway done and that it was totally possible to keep going.

So I kept going and going and going.  The last 2 kilometres were along the boardwalk.  The sailboats on the water were a beautiful sight to behold, but I found it easiest to look down at the ground so that a) I wouldn't get distracted by the pretty view, and b) I wouldn't get discouraged by what was up ahead (almost 2 kilometres of just boardwalk).

Once I got back up on the pavement, I could see the finish line.  Oh, the sprint that I did.  Oh, that sprint.  I ran so hard and so fast for the last few hundred metres that I almost made myself sick.  Felt damned good.

I picked up my medal with glee and went off to find Esther and Josh for the BBQ that was being held.  Veggie burger, apple, apple juice, Cliff Builders bars… It was a feast well earned.

My time?

Drumroll…

58:32!!

A triumphant 5:51 min./km.  The time I was aiming to beat was from my May 10K, a time of 1:02:37.  I blasted it!  I shaved 4 minutes and 5 seconds off of my time, and I came in at under an hour, which was my goal last run.  Right when I finished the race, I was pretty sure I'd come in under an hour, so I was in a good mood, but when I confirmed it online when I got home, I daaaaaanced.  I boogied in delight.  Woo!

I feel reinvigorated and energised.  This is going to be a good week since I'm so inspired.  I plan to hit the gym at least 4 times, which I hope will begin to propel me to some new level of fitness.  I'm also going to make sure I go for runs more often, if anything to toughen my feet up (I got a few blisters this morning).

And you know what?  It's time to sit and think about a new running goal.  How exciting is that?!

Only three times?

I was talking to a co-worker and friend today about my exercise these days.

"How's the gym going?" she asked.

I took a breath to answer, then stopped myself.

I took a step back from what I was going to say, thought about what it meant, and its implications, and then continued, "Wow, I sound like a total snob saying this, but my response to that is: it's going well, but I only went to the gym three times last week."

*Only* three times?  Clearly I've reached a point where going to the gym three times per week doesn't feel like enough.

And it's true!  I never went out for those runs I promised in my last entry, which has left me feeling unsettled and unprepared for my 10K on Sunday.  But last week for me was an incredibly busy week.  I went out every night.  As Marie put it on Facebook, "Work was just a break between one party to the next".  It was a much-needed social week, as I connected with new friends and re-connected with old friends.

Work this week has become a madhouse, and it will continue for the next few weeks.  I won't have as much time to relax, read, meet friends for coffee and drinks.  Tomorrow is definitely a gym night, but we'll see what I have time to do in the next few days before the weekend.  I feel confident at least in my basic fitness level that running a 10K without direct running training won't kill me.  But I feel like the 1:02 time I would like to beat will not be beat this Sunday.  And you know what?  I'm okay with that.  There will be other races, less busy weeks, and more training to come!

That's all for now, as I must now go and rest from an 11 hour day at work!  My next update will probably be about the run.  Ciao!