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Speed demon!

So you remember my goal, right? To run the Army Run in under 30:00 (chip time). Well, last night I took steps towards achieving my goal by doing a genuine speedwork session. I did a 4X400 workout. Basically, I ran 400m really fast, then walked for the same amount of time it took me to run the 400m. I did that four times. I was running the 400m at a 250m/min pace. It was pretty tough, but I think it was good for my legs to experience that so that when they get back to my usual pace, they'll feel really good. Is that the point of speedwork? I don't know...

I was thinking last night and it doesn't matter if I don't achieve my goal this time around. There are plenty of 5Ks between now and the first snow and all this exercise will do me some good, regardless. I was afraid of failing in such a public forum but I know I will eventually succeed. 29:59 is entirely doable with some practice, though. The odds are good, but if it doesn't workout, it's okay. 

Right now, I'm trying to convince people to run with me but it's tough because the Run for the Cure is right after and a lot of people are not keen on doing both. I think I will run both because the Run for the Cure is pretty easy. It's  packed with people and strollers, so at some points, it slows down to walking pace.

Fruit is for chumps!

Michael Phelps (who currently has won more medals at these Olympic games than many countries have *ahem*) eats a lot. 12,000 calories a day in fact. I came across his typical meal for a day and was flabbergasted.

Breakfast: 3 fried egg sandwiches, 2 cups coffee, 5-egg omlette, bowl of grits, 3 pieces of french toast, 3 chocolate chip pancakes

Lunch: 1 pound pasta, 2 ham and cheese sandwiches, energy drink (1,000 calorie)

Dinner: 1 pound pasta, 1 large pizza, energy drink (1,000 calorie)

Apparently, you can become a world class athlete without ever eating a vegetable or piece of fruit. Well, I don't know what grits are so maybe those are vegetables, but still, this is a horrible diet and yet he is obviously in amazing shape. Not only is he famous, successful and three gold medals away from a 1,000,000 dollar bonus from Speedo but he gets to eat french toast for breakfast and pizza for dinner every day! V. envious.

Ferd at Yoga

Aren't I super flexible? Ha ha. Lies. that is not me. But I did go to a yoga studio  to take a class this morning. One thing I really hate doing in life is doing something badly whereas everybody around me is doing well.  That pretty much describes my yoga experience. And the friend I went with was superyoga woman, all pretzel-like as I creaked and cracked in to a barely sub-90 degree position.

Nevertheless, this afternoon/evening I feel very relaxed and comfortable. Perhaps I wll do some more. I did hatedthe fact the entire class was filled with young twenty something girls in lululemon-wear. I felt like such a cliché. Of course, it is an ancient spiritual practice, so I choose to view it as such. and not as some new age trend.

we ran for the cure

Laurk and I just finished our run. Yes, we ran all the way (except for when we had to take our seven thousand sweaters off in front of the National Archives building). I will never be ungrateful for the privilege of youth. The ability to just get up and run (which isn't to say that by kilometre 4, we weren't hurting a bit). I always have a short period of inspiration after I finish a race but usually it only goes so far as buying some fancy and unnecessary piece of running gear. Hopefully, I will get a bit more out of it this year than a fanny pack.

Don't forget to stretch

So any day now you can expect to receive an email from yours truly, soliciting donations for the Run for the Cure. I know everyone has their own charities that they choose to donate to (or not) but if you were looking for somewhere to donate your money, please think of me! Anyways, I will be running with Laurk again, it seems (yay, tradition !!!) and in order not to totally embarass myself in front of the fitness afficionado that she is I went out for a run around the neighbourhood today. First non-treadmill run in a looooong time, heck, first run, full stop, in a long time.

As expected, the pavement kicked my ass ! A senior citizen whizzed by me somewhere around kilometre 3 with a look on her face that made the requisite "eat my dust" comment superfluous. My question is, can one go from being destroyed by a 3.5K run to a sub-35 minute 5 K in 9 days? I think I know what the answer is but I'm hoping I'm somehow wrong.

Run Cookie, Run

This weekend I completed my first officially timed 5K, the Girl Guide Cookie Run. It was so much fun. I ran the whole way (except for a bit when my pinny was falling and there were safety pins involved so I started walking, but only for mere seconds) It was amazing to reach the finish line and be that girl, the girl who runs the 5K the whole way without stopping. Because I never thought I could be that girl and now I am her ! My time was a bit of a joke but I started off too slow, I think. Next time I'll bring a watch. In any event, I encourage all of you to do the thing you cannot do, because you can do it !!! Next stop, Carleton U Sprint Triathlon with Laurk !!!! (technically, next stop in the 5K santa shuffle but the triathlon is so much cooler sounding).

(P.S.: Yes, yes I know, it's just all too Tony Robbins but I'm high on life people, you gotta cut me some slack !)

if they don't win that's a shame

So last night, I watched the majority of the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees baseball game. Other people were there for part of the time but some of it I watched by myself. And the fact is, I liked it a lot. I didn't just get it; for the first time I enjoyed it. The fact is I'm a complete johnny-come-lately when it comes to professional sports. If someone's something of an underdog in the post-season then automatically I act like I've been rooting for them all along. This is why I'm hoping New York gives way to another team in regards to the world Series this year. Give baseball a whirl is what I'm saying.

if they don't win that's a shame

Baseball is not that hard to understad. I mean, I always got the rules: hit the ball, run around the bases. But once people started using words like RBI and designated hitter and wildcard and pennant, I was like, what the hell ? and I walked away. I even went to a baseball game once with Melanie and Laura. I spent most of the evening looking for a hotdog concession with a short line-up and I really felt like I hadn't missed much. Yet, now in a few concise minutes my housemate explained everything to me and I understand all the other numbers (apart from the score) that show up on screen during the baseball game. Woo Hooo ! Next sport: football !