Week 10 Antelope Canyon 50 Miler Training

After a quick weekend at home, it was back to the grind.

Monday was another day for speed.  My photo pretty much depicts how I felt about the workout, 5x400.  Running round and round until I wanted to vomit.  Happy to get it in before going on a field trip with my daughters class.

Tuesday, I was scheduled to work to Hong Kong, which means no running.  I used to wake up at 4:30 before my flight to run on the treadmill before working the 15 hour flight to Hong Kong, but those days are over.  I now wake up just in time to pack the kids lunches before rushing off to the airport to catch my flight.  

View from 39,000 ft.

I am now usually so tired after working the flight over to Hong Kong that I don't workout on the day I land and save myself for a trail run the morning before my flight home to Toronto.  I try to get in a good meal and get some rest.

Nothing like a Good Bowl of Noodles

Thursday morning, I drag myself out of bed to the closest trail; Lion Rock.  It was the weekend leading up to the Hong Kong 100km Race.  I was excited to see trail markers and some sections that I usually run.  

Race Markers #HK100

I could not imagine racing an ultra with Hong Kong's insane stairs.  They are unforgiving and never ending.  

It's always a hard workout but completely satisfying when I make it to the top. The trails are usually quite and occasionally I will come across fellow hikers and some wild animals.

I come up from the back of the mountain and over the top. You can make out the shape of the Lion to see why this peak is named Lion Rock.  It is quite amazing that there are so many trails right in the city beside all the hustle and bustle of the city down below.

Can you Make out the Lion?

Made it back in time for a quick shower before heading straight to the airport for my flight back home to the freezing cold temperatures.

Friday was long run #1 of 2.  It was actually not as cold as the week before, but once again we were warned of another extreme cold alert headed to the city for the weekend. Because of time limits, we took our run partly on the trails and part on the road.  

Look, No Gloves for Photo

City Trail Run

It cooled down quite a bit for long run #2 on Saturday, but we got it done. It's always so much harder on day 2 partly because it is a super early morning wake up and we're always tired from the run the day before.

The extreme cold weather moved in that day and got colder as the day went on. By the time we woke up on Sunday, it was -29 degrees with the windchill.

The sun was out which made it seem like the gorgeous day, but it was frigid.  The kids were adamant about getting out and doing some winter activity, so we braved the outdoors for 1 hour and took the kiddos tobogganing.  What a great way to end the week.

Week 10 done :)  How was your week? 

Week 9 Back to Work

Yeah!!  The kids are back to school this week which means this mama is also back to work.

With the kids back in school, I was able to get back to training. Monday was speed work with 5x400m with rests in between finishing with a nice slow 3km cool down around the block.  It was nice to be back out and the weather was looking up.

Fuel Post Speed Work

Tuesday, I met up with the gang again for a nice solid road run.  It had been a while since I had run road.  I was sad to see how slow I've gotten from running in the trails. I got used to the slower pace and many stops.  My buds were kind to me and let me run at a slower pace than they were used to, but I was panting to keep up with them. I can't believe I was dying to hold a 6:28 min/km.  It was a tough pill to swallow, but I will just have to work harder to get my speed back.

I flew out that evening to London for work and arrived Wednesday. I took a quick nap then headed out to shop as my kids gave me a list of goodies that they needed and then met up with my cousin for dinner and drinks. We headed over to one of our favourite Ramen spots for Truffle Ramen. It was to die for and worth every single calorie.

Cousin in London

Kanada-Ya

I woke up early Thursday morning before my flight home and headed out to Regent's Park for a quick run. The sun was just starting to peak and many runners were already out. It was nice to be able to run in capris and not winter gear for a change.

Many Routes Through the Park

Got back in time for long runs with my buddies. Friday was the start of an extreme cold alert that was moving into Southern Ontario.

Friday, we headed into the trails for 5 and a half hours in -23 degree weather.  It was not nice at all. It was awful. The skies were clear, but the icy trails were covered with fresh snow which made footing hard.  We went up to the Durham Forest and explored two new sections.  We were supposed to be in the woods for 6 hours but called it quits after 5:30 with 31 km's completed as we were frozen and needed to thaw out.

So cold, my iPhone died :(

Saturday, it seemed to be a bit warmer, -12 with the windchill and I headed back into the trails. We went to trails just south of us and it was surprising to see the difference in the trail conditions.  There was little to no snow, but still ice on many parts of the trails.  Finished with 22 km.

Crazy Ski Hill for Repeats

Week 9 done with 75 km's. Still kind of low and will try to pick up the next few weeks. How was your week?

Happy New Year Welcome 2019

Happy New Year!  Hope you all had a great week. Training this well is still a bit off as the kids are still on their winter break and hubs is working.

New Year's Eve morning, I was able to sneak out for a quick morning road run with my run buddies before hubs had to head into work.  It had been a while since I ran on the road. Most of my runs this training cycle has been in the trails. I have realised how slow I have gotten from running in the trails.  It was a workout for me to keep up with my friends. They were kind enough to slow down their pace to keep me company.

Took the kids to Crafty Pots a local pottery painting place for the kids to keep busy and then we headed out to a friends place to ring in the new year.  It's a great place to spend the day.

Happy New Year !!!

New Years day was quiet as we all slept in. My mini me had been asking me where I run with my friends,  I was excited to take her out on the trails.  What a great way to start 2019.  She wanted to try something "hard" so we went out to an old ski hill that is apart of the Rouge Urban Forest Trail system.  I'm so proud of her making it all the way to the top without complaining. We were able to catch the sunset.

Wednesday was a full day with the kids at home and keeping them busy.   It was a fairly warm day so the kids and I decided to head out on bikes, scooters, and roller blades to the park.  Many people had been talking about Bird Box on Netflix, so I set it up on the iPad and headed down to the treadmill to see what all the chatter was about.  It definitely wasn't as scary as I thought and it made the time pass quickly.

I had decided to take Thursday off to rest up before the two long runs on Friday and Saturday. We ended up getting a small snow storm the night before and the kids were asking to go tobogganing. We headed out to a local hill with buddies and ran up and down the hills with the kids. What a difference in weather by just one day.

My buddies and I headed out to the trails for our first long run of 2. Since it was still holidays for some we had a few extras buddies join us for the first few hours.  We explored more of the Durham Forest and ran in a new section that we had no been in before.  The trails were still a bit icy from the week before with some fresh snow on top which made it quite slippery.  A few of my buddies ended up falling along the trails. Thank goodness we were going slow and the fluffy snow was there to soften the fall :)  We finished up with 31 km in 5 hours 27 minutes.

Saturday morning we headed to the Rouge Urban Forest which is further south. The trails were icy here, but less snow.  We saw a few deer, but the run was cut short because my friend tripped and twisted her ankle.  I finished the last few kilometres on the treadmill when I got home.

It was a great start to 2019.  I was able to spend time with the family and kids while getting in some pretty decent runs.  I also found out that I will be an ambassador for Endurance Tap for 2019.  I have been using Endurance Tap as one of my nutrition aids when training.  They are a Canadian product made with real natural ingredients - proprietary ginger, Canadian maple syrup, and sea salt. I have had no stomach distress with this energy gel. It goes down easy and tastes great.

How was your New Year's ? Any goals for 2019??

Merry Christmas - Week 7

I knew going into this week would be challenging for training as it was the week of Christmas and everyone schedule would be all over the place.

I didn't expect on doing much running at all this week since the kids were out of school and it WAS Christmas.

Monday was Christmas Eve and we have always had my in laws over for Christmas Eve dinner and their tradition is to stay up until midnight for a Christmas countdown. This year, hubs had to work and I was still running around getting last minute gifts for the kids. I've never left it so late, but it was so hectic. Hubs came home early afternoon and told me that I had some time to head out and get in a quick run before my in laws were to arrive.  So, I quickly changed and literally ran out the door to a trail just near our home.

I'm very fortunate to live quite close to a few trail systems that I can just run to and get in a quick workout.

 The Bob Hunter Memorial Park is an easily accessible trail system which is a part of the Rouge National Urban Park with very flat and some paved trails. They are well marked, flat and easy for all.

Sunset

The sun was starting to set as I was running back on one of the trails that takes you past the remnants of an old homestead. You can see the photo of the well and if you continue further down the trail you will see what is left of a stone oven.

I made it back before it got dark and we headed out to Church for Christmas Eve service and home for a nice delicious dinner with the family and counted down Christmas. 

Christmas Day we all slept in and eventually made it up to open presents. The kids were super happy with all their presents.  I was able to sneak out for another quick run in Bob Hunter Park while the family were resting up. 

And we were off to another Christmas feast with family that evening.  I just had to get out and burn off some energy and calories before another night of over indulgence. 

In Canada, we call the day after Christmas, December 26th Boxing Day.  It's a holiday for most people which mean hubs was home and I was able to head out for a longish run.  My buddy got to my place for 6 am and we headed out for an 18 km trail run. I hated getting up so early, but it was so good to move and burn some much needed calories that I had been collecting over the last week.  I made it back for hubs to head out to enjoy some retail therapy and I went straight back to bed.  Thank goodness the kids were so wiped out from the Christmas festivities that No. 1. slept in until noon.  No 2. was happy just to chill with me while I slept.

I took Thursday off as I knew that our back to back long runs were the next two days. It was nice to just hang out with the kids and run errands as it was back to regular hours for most businesses.

Friday - Long run 1.  I was lucky to have my brother willing to watch the kids for me as I was headed into the trails with my buddies for a 5 hour run.  The past few Fridays, it has been wet and rainy and this Friday was no exception. It was however a bit warmer, so it was not as icy as the week before.  Our buddy Karen joined us again for about 1.5 hours of the run and she got most of the icy bits.  The weather was supposed to be warming up as the day progressed. 

We went up to the Durham Forest Trail system as the trails seem to be endless and still fairly new to us. There are also many markers so that we don't get lost

Marker Posts

On this run, we decided to go off trail as many parts of the trails were icy or super muddy.  We may have trespassed on some private property, as we were forging our way through some un marked trails.    We were all pretty relieved when we finally made it back to a marker post and a clear trail.  All in all, it was fun and no one was hurt :)

Creepy Woods

I ended up having a nice date night with my boys Friday night as our daughter had a sleepover.  It's rare that we get so spend time with No.2 all by himself.  The kids usually fight to get our attention when they are together.  He was thrilled to have us all to himself and our undivided attention.

Saturday morning came too soon. My buddy showed up at my door for 5:30 and as my Garmin says, we started running at 5:36. I think she knows that if she didn't show up at my door,  I would stay in bed.  She was able to squeeze 21kms of trails out of me before I tossed in the white flag and head to home.

My Loves

Thankful and other week is over.  The weekend was upon us and it was time to hang out with the family.  Can you believe we actually went to a mall and spent nothing?  We mastered the art of window shopping.  

78.41km ran in week 7 and only 4,216 calories burned according to my Garmin stats. I'm sure I consumed that many calories at Christmas dinner. Here's to next week and hoping for less mileage and more calories burned.

Hope you all had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and have a Wonderful New Year Celebration!!