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?!

Not faster than a speeding bullet, but...

I decided to go for a casual run today after work.  I was going to take it easy and just keep the heart pumping for 40 minutes.  But, after a few minutes of running I decided to try something new.  I could tell I was running a bit faster than usual, so I planned to run for 10 minutes at that pace (or faster) and then later map it and calculate the pace.

Breakdown:

 2.11km in 10 minutes =  a 4.44 min km (a 7.37 minute mile.)  

I'm happy with this!

Now, granted it was only 2 km, and I slowed down for the remainder of my run.  However, it serves as a benchmark.

In all, I ran 6.06km over 35 minutes, which is a pace of 5.46 min/km.  Now, to try and knock another 15 seconds off of that and maintain it for 10 kilometres.  I've got my work cut out for me.

Class-wise, things are going well.  I did a double feature yesterday - BodyFlow immediately followed by BodyPump.  1 hour and 45 minutes of just me, the floor, and the weights.  This coming Friday I have another double feature with Marie, followed by a movie I've been waiting to see for months… Man of Steel!

I have a few confessions to make.  I think I might be more excited about the new music than the actual movie.  I'm worried that the movie is going to disappoint over-excited me, but I know that Hans Zimmer is going to kick butt with the new musical score (if the trailer music he composed is any indication).

My other confession is that the music from the trailer is on my iPod, and it actually helped me train for my 10K!   It remains on my running/workout playlists.  I imagine Superman shooting up into the sky, and it makes me run a little bit faster.  I've always admired Superman for the amazing physical feats he can do, but also for his kind and caring personality.  If I ever want to stop or slowdown, I think "What would Superman do?"  He wouldn't give up, because the fate of the world lies in his hands.

A week in review

I've been back in TO for almost a week now.  Sunday evening seems like a good time to sit and write a review of my activities over the week, so here I am.

This week I focused on getting back into the groove and establishing a regular schedule.  My work hours can fluctuate week to week, but I can organise my activities around it fairly easily.  This week I attended 3 fitness classes and went for a run.  Not bad for "getting back into it".  A (somewhat detailed) break down:

Monday - arrived back in the city in the late afternoon.  Rest day.

Tuesday - Jillian Michaels BodyShred.  A 30 minute class, but high intensity throughout.  Works on strength and cardio.  Definitely a challenging class - the most challenging of all the ones I've tried so far.

Wednesday - BodyPump.  It's an hour-long strength class using the barbell.  Surprisingly, my arms weren't that sore after this one.  This means I'll have to up the weights next time!  I did get a good glute workout from the lunges, though.

Thursday - Rest day.

Friday - 7.7km run in 47 minutes (calculated pace is 6min 6 sec/km).  This is slightly faster than the average pace I ran my 10K at.  Right now my running goal is to do a long distance run at a 5min 30 sec/km pace, so I have to work at shaving half a minute off my time.  That would put me at 55 minutes for a 10k, and I'd be very happy with that.  Once I reach that goal, I'll aim for an even faster pace.  That's something I love about goals.  Once you reach them, you've accomplished something great, but you can always up the challenge and restart your efforts.

Saturday - Rest day.  I discussed signing up for some more runs with friends, and possibly starting swimming to work towards a beginner triathlon.

Sunday - BodyAttack.  This one is an hour-long "sports-inspired cardio workout" class.  I did something funny to my buttocks (again).  It's a bit of a strain that will require some rest for the next day at least.  BodyAttack has gotten easier since doing BodyShred, but the arm strength component still knocks me out.  When I got home, I did 10 minutes of my own abdominal exercises to round it all off, which included flutter kicks.  I hate (but kind of love) them, which means they're something I absolutely have to work on!!

In all, my week was a bit random.  I kind of just searched for a class that was happening at a convenient time and then attended it.  I'd like to sit down sometime and figure out a schedule to spot train certain parts (arms day, legs day, core day).  For the moment, though, I'm paying attention to a full-body, overall fitness.  I certainly feel stronger and fitter since before my vacation, and I want to keep improving on that.  There are also a number of classes at the gym that I haven't tried, so I'd like to get a few more under my belt before I start making my plan.  I'm so excited because of all the things I have not done yet.  I could spend weeks trying out all the classes and machines at all the different gyms I have access to with my membership.  Mixing it up and keeping things new is an important component of motivation.

Finally, here are two tools I like to use:

One is a pace calculator, so you can see how fast you run or calculate a good pace at which to run a race.

Coll Running Pace Calculator

The other is a mapping tool.  It gives you information on distance and elevation.  This has been a useful site for me when creating routes to train for my run.

Map My Run