Halfway through December already?!?

Running is going really well these days and we're already halfway through the Strides Run Streak! I can't believe it's Dec.16th already!  December started off really painfully cold and while I like to take pride in the fact that I will go outside for a run in most conditions...I just wasn't having it. The thought of putting on 10 lbs of clothes and trudging around town at an unbearably slow pace just to say I got outside and ran in -30?...no thanks! I wanted some good quality workouts...so I spent quality time with my treadmill and Netflix for 8 days in a row! I actually find the treadmill a really good training tool and was mixing it up lots with speed work, hill climbing, power hiking workouts etc.

When it finally did warm up again, I had an extra pep in my step when I headed back outdoors and noticed I was regularly running faster that I was before. It's been 2.5 months since I've been fully back running after my injury and I'm happy to say I'm definitely feeling I'm in the same place (or perhaps even a littler further along) than I was this time last year. Wahoo!

Even though I've never been a morning running person and likely never will be, I've really been enjoying my morning weights/strength/core workouts! I've been consistently going to the gym a few mornings a week and I think this is ultimately what I've been missing from my training regime this whole time. It's great that you can run and run and run, miles upon miles, week in week out - but eventually you're likely going to get injured or niggles going on that you could have avoided! Trust me, I've made this mistake many times!

This is the year I'm going to be a faster AND stronger ultrarunner! My body needs to take me through anywhere from 5 to 20+ hour days out there on the trails this summer. Let's do this! I'm loving Christmastime more than anything - but definitely super excited for what the New Year brings!

I won the lotto! :)

Yup I won the lotto...my kind of lotto that is - my first ever race I've entered that's gone through the lottery process! The Miwok 100 km is usually pretty popular and they only let in 350 runners each year so i'm pretty pumped! I'll be running 100km with 12,000 ft of total elevation gain in the Marin Headlands, which i think is officially in Sausalito, Ca but literally just across the Golden Gate bridge. So we'll be making a mini vacation out of it and hopefully taking a week to check out San Francisco and surround after the race

Here's a look at the course profile - fun no?

This is gong to a be a long race for fairly early season for me...i'm usually a 50km girl up until at least June with a 50 mile thrown in there after.  This race is May 3 which means significant winter training time to get up to 100km shape.Yikes.  This is good though as originally i was going to sign up for the Gorge Waterfalls 100km. And while I would still love to run this some day - March 30 is a really really early race for me to be running that distance.

In other news, the #stridesrunstreak continues and i've run 12 days in a row now. Yesterday I had zero time - busy at work and busy after work so I stuffed in a bare minimum 1 mile run with L-Dawg at around 9pm. My own minimum was going to be 5km for the month of December but this was the one day that I allowed myself to slack off and just get the 1 mile in. I think my body needed the break anyway so a nice little jog around the block with Logan was actually pretty fun.

My parents arrive today for 2 weeks of Christmas fun. It should be good - and Dad brought his ice skates so maybe we'll hit up the Olympic Oval for some public skates. I've never been there, not even to race around the track so it'll be fun to go skating. However i'm pretty pathetic - like really pathetic. So i might put on some knee pads under my pants. I can't risk falling on my knees as I don't think my left knee would survive a fall like that after just getting over last year's fall on the trails and bashing it on a rock.

That's it for now. Happy Holidays!
Deb

Sinister 7 Take 2

Yay, I managed to get through the stressful registration process yesterday and register for the Sinister 7 Ultra! I was in Vernon for the weekend visiting my family and couldn't leave to make the drive home to Calgary until after registration. Last year I think this race sold out in like 12 mins so I knew it would be crazy again - if not more so this year as the race has been extended to be a full 100 miler now which appeals to a lot more people. 

Anyway, it was super stressful as the site was slow and bogged down and I was definitely doing a little panicking when 20 mins had gone by and I couldn't get the site working in my favour! But I'm happy to say I'm in and pumped to be toeing the line again next year! A chance to redeem myself after last years stupid fall ending my race early!

Here's a pic of me running it as part of a relay in 2012. It was like 30 degrees that day....

In other news, yesterday was the beginning of the 3rd annual Strides Running store #stridesrunstreak. Basically you run every day of December and I've done it so far each year! It's fun as they have prizes and little things going on to keep you motivated. The rules state that you only have to run a minimum of 1 mile per day but my own goal is a minimum of 5 km. Unfortunately today we're having a blizzard in Calgary and super cold temperatures all week. While I'm usually pretty good running in all kinds of conditions and temps, I'm feeling particularly wimpy this week and will likely be spending quality time with my treadmill!

Happy running! And stay warm out there!

Deb