Remaining Injury Free/ Last long run snag

Its been a whileSince I last blogged here, life has gotten a hold of my energy and time, but I wanted to update people here! I am training for the marathon on our Canadian thanksgiving weekend (October 6) in Kelowna BC.

Runs have gotten to a length of 34 km last week, and I have had to squish my training because I got out to a late start in training.  So I have been adding 3 or 4 km each week for the last 3 weeks.  This may now being nipping me in the butt.  Literally.  Today I was due for my 37 km run, my last long run of the training.  all week however, my hip has been tight and a tad, a titch sore.  Stretching, foam rolling and my cruel but effective baseball rolling have all been part of the game.  Now however I sit typing when i was scheduled to go out this perfect Saturday and run my heart out.  But something doesn't feel right.  Experience has taught me not to push this too hard or I will pay.  BIGTIME!  Now I am left with a conundrum.  When to actually do my longest run?When to actually run at all again?  I have also learned that this can be feeling fine but not dealt with properly.  So I will sit and stew about it, frustrated and worried, but determined to figure something out before taper time.  I will roll and stretch and take care of my body, knowing that I will get there somehow, perhaps not the way I wanted but in one piece, hopefully not hobbling, and hopefully with a medal around my neck on the 6th.

Signed Up For A Marathon?

I have committedagain to the regiments of training for a marathon.  This will be the third for me.  It wil be Kelowna's BMO Okanagan Marathon.  This week I pushed my times to see if I could get back to my old ones and am taking a few days to rest my poor butt.  Literally!  Stretching my hip flexors and massaging will keep the injuries that come to me with speeding up away!

Its been a humid summer for running which is a hinderance to speed for me as well, but I am seeing good gains.  My goal was to amp up the mileage to over 40 km per week and keep raising it. 

Have you signed up for a fall marathon?  The serious training starts soon depending on your plan.  One rule I try to stick to is to not increase more than 10% per week in mileage for the long run and over all, as I pay for it in injury, feeling it in my glutes.  Stretching and masaging helps stave off long bouts of recovery.  Happy training everyone!

Scooter Race

Enjoy.You are welcome. :)

Taking in Life on the Run

My running life had a high point I love to embrace:  where ever I go, I run.  ON a vacation, people would say, why run?  Aren't you on vacation?  But honestly, I have taken in more beauty in my life while running than I ever have.  From shorelines to rolling hills, to cityscapes, and little moments of splendor, its incredible what I have witnessed and have been able to appreciate while running.  Moments with nature are common as I run often along a water channel, I have seen beavers, all types of birds, deer, hawks, eagles, turtles, snakes, and many other wildlife encounters.  If not out there, I would miss all that.  Makes getting out there more of a draw for sure!I feel I need to be able to bring a smallish camera with me that I can take pictures with, but in a way I like that I can capture them in my heart, for me to appreciate privately as a part of my inner life, my self care, as so much of life is "putting it out there" for everyone to see.
This leads me to look at possible vacation spots and trips through the eyes of an athlete.  What will I see when I run?  are there trails?  Expanding your world, your length of runs also helps this as you may find yourself like me, wondering how far I need to go to get to that sweet spot.  Being fit then takes on a new purpose!

Running Buddy

It has been a long time since I ran with anyone at all, in fact 9 months is about right with my friend Jeremy.  Jeremy and I have been running for the same amount of time.After a couple of lame attempts to get out for a run together (most of which was me saying lets do it and then bailing!) we went out yesterday for a 12 k.  One observance:  friends like him are rare for a guy, we have family holidays in the summer together, we play on the same worship team, and we are often either really similar or polar opposites.  Mostly opposites though.  What I want to say is this: we went faster than usual on our run, even while talking a lot and enjoying the scenery.  Firends push friends to go further and push themselves.  We have run marathons together and been one another's compadres.  I appreciate my friend, and it was a good run!  One tends to be able to share more while running, for guys it is much easier to talk more in depth when you are parallel, doing the same task, so its a win-win.  Go get yourself a running friend like mine!