A bitter sweet victory

I finished the Phoenix marathon with a personal best of 4.01!!!

Staying warm before the race

finished!

This is a great accomplishment considering my winter training. I did a test to see how my fitness would hold up after a few months of training in the cold outside just by effort. The outcome is that I kept my fitness and was able to finish in a fantastic time.

But there is a downside. The marathon is not a race to underestimate. For me every marathon I learn something. This time my old friend of intestinal discomfort visited me around mile 14. First I thought I was ok and could run on but I was wrong. I used the port a potty and lost maybe a minute of 2 or 3 but it didn't end there. After that I had two more stops to use the bathroom due to pretty bad diarrhea. In short, I could have done this race in about 3.55 or so. That means I could have qualified for Boston (50-55 age group) with a few minutes to spare. 

However as every marathoner knows, there's always something. It's too hot, too much wind, diarrhea, too cold etc etc. It is what it is. I did very well and know that I can get my BQ. I just have to be strong enough to overcome whatever it is that particular race. 

I also learned that with my colitis I need to travel at least 2 days before the start of the marathon. This race I arrived the day before and it just does not give me enough time to settle my stomach. I won't give you TMI here. Live and learn. 

About the Phoenix marathon. It's a great race. The course is slightly downhill, I liked it a lot, not too much pounding for the quads. The weather was perfect. Dry, not too warm and overcast. Very well organized and lots of nice goodies at the finish line. I was also very impressed with the tank top that I got, very good quality. 

It's not a race with a huge crowd and lots of support. There is some support though and the race is fairly new. I think it will only get better. I personally like a smaller race a lot. 

I also got to see some of my running friends and of course my super supportive coach Susan Loken. She is the one that helped me to train hard and improve my time from a 5.30 to around 4 hours. Can't wait to see what else I can do, there's always new goals and improvement!

That's it for now. I am thoroughly enjoying my time in Phoenix and Seattle. Don't think winter is over yet, I will be shuffling through cold and snow until at least mid April. But I know it's worth it!

The porta potty is my friend

How happy am I that our town kept some of the porta potties down at the trail for the winter.

It's very obvious that I am the only one using it, it truly feels like home. Well not really. Taking your bottoms off at -30 is no fun albeit necessary when I know I won't make it back home. 

Just a short update. 6 miles yesterday, just easy recovery miles. I will do 8 today, with 4 X 800 meters hard effort. Mustering up courage again to get it done. It's getting cold again. -30C/-22F forecasted for the coming week. On a positive note, the days are getting a bit longer. Spring can't come soon enough for me but I know I have a few months to go yet. 

Long Sleeve Sunday

Ended a gorgeous unheard of week of nice weather. At least for us. Everything is relative.

How I felt running in 40F weather

Total of 45 miles this week with a 17 miler on Sunday. It did not feel that hard so I guess my training is going well.  And yes it happened. I actually ran a few miles in just a long sleeve shirt. Only a few miles when I had the wind in my back. Running against the wind was still cold and hard. Crazy for this time of year here, but I'll take it.

On Saturday it was actually nicer and I felt so happy running in nice weather. Just wonderful. I can enjoy it for just a few more days because next week it's -20 again.

This is what I felt like eating yesterday, had serious sugar cravings.

This is why I don't buy any of these goodies. I would eat it all if I had it in my house. Instead I ate rice with lots of stir fry veggies and turkey. I did make a picture but it looks gross so I will spare you that. 

0C/32F makes for...

One sweaty Momma and a panting dog!

That's right. The body adapts to just about anything I guess. After a long stretch of extremely low temperatures freezing point feels kinda balmy.

Monday: 4 miles recovery

Tuesday: 8 miles, 3 miles tempo

Wednesday: 8 miles

It looks like it's going to stick for a few more days. Lucky me!!

Lots of running means good fuelling. Last night I had a wonderful winter salad. Spinach and kale with toasted quinoa, roasted butternut squash (yes plenty of olive oil) and some pulled pork. Very yummy!!

This is my favorite home made dressing: 1/3 cup of mix of lemon juice and balsamic vinegar (I use mostly lemon juice, just a splash of balsamic), 1/3 cup of olive oil, honey, tsp of good mustard, minced clove of garlic, salt, pepper. You can add herbs like basil if you want depending what kind of salad you are making. But it's good enough the way it is. 

45 mile week

Finished a 45 mile week today. It was a tough one. I don't think the temp. was above -30 for the entire week. It's been extremely cold for 2 weeks now and I had enough. I really need a little break. Hopefully next week is better.

Sunrise this morning.

I did 12 miles today but I divided it in a morning and an afternoon run. I just can't run that long in this cold. It's too hard on my body.

Polar vortex dog. Allie loves running outside in this weather

I also have to find a way to keep my butt and thighs warmer, they just get too cold no matter the layers. Anybody with suggestions feel free to let me know. 

Ok enough with the whining. I am still going and part of the success is for sure  you people reading this blog. This week I was seriously contemplating the treadmill but I made a deal with myself to run through winter so I'm going to keep at it. 

Thanks for reading. :)

What a difference a day makes

Beautiful sunny day to run 6 miles. Can't believe what a difference of 10 degrees of windchill makes.

The temperature today was the same as yesterday -20C/-5F however the windchill today is -27C/-14F compared to -37C/-34F. This really made my run a lot easier. My bones were not so sore and I did not have to wear as many layers.

Sunset in freezing clear temperatures can be gorgeous. The snow reflects the beautiful pastel colors of the sky.

I want it back!!

This will be just a short post. As some of you may know our truck was stolen at the airport when we came back from vacation and today is a lot of phone calls and paper work. It was an old truck so not insured for theft. UGH! I really hope we'll get it back, but still it's just money....

This is where the truck used to be..

Today was another brutally cold day in the frozen tundra. The forecast said -20C/-5F but it had a wind chill warning. With the wind it was -37C/-34F. That is quite a difference but very important for outdoor activity. That means an extra layer on my head and one for my legs.

I did 7 miles and got way too hot. It's almost impossible to dress for outdoor activity in this weather because safety will tell you to dress a certain way but the body eventually does warm up and produces a lot of energy. My legs actually never really warm up so running is hard on those legs.

The reason I mention the temperature on almost every post is that I really need it for my own feedback, this way I will be able to look back and learn from how I felt. But also I have noticed that I get a lot more traffic for my blog on days that I mention the temperature compared to days that I don't. Especially from other cold countries like Sweden, Lapland, Russia etc. I really hope other runners get inspired and get the courage to run in their climate. It's possible and rewarding!

Finally a picture from the northern lights. I did not take this picture but I've seen it this beautiful. I guess you need a good camera for that. There's beauty everywhere, go outside and look for it!!

From plus 30 to minus 35

And I'm back!!

After my last post I did not get to run again in Nicaragua. I had too much diarrhea and felt too weak. Fortunately I was not too sick to enjoy my vacation. I felt ok but too weak to run. I tried it once again but felt shaky and my heart really started to race. It just did not feel good.

Poor me feeling not so good ^

The t-shirt says run now wine later hahaha, I thought that was funny.

Goodness I look really terrible and visibly dehydrated in this picture.

I'm back in Canada now and happy to have free health care. I had all my fluids in and out of my body tested right away. No results yet but we'll see.

The good thing is that I feel basically normal again so I went for a run today.

It was -35C/-29F. Yes that is quite a difference to the heat and humidity in Nicaragua. But nothing that good clothing can't handle. 

I don't know what I dislike more, extreme cold or extreme heat. I can handle dry heat like in arid desert climates but humidity is truly a battle for me. 

I did 5 easy miles today. I thought it might still be a bit difficult so I prepared to go real slow but surprisingly I felt very good. I played a little with my tempo but kept it easy. Hopefully I will stay ok and be able to pick up regular daily training again. 

I noticed that in this extreme cold shoes do not cushion at all. Whatever shoe I'm wearing it feels like a racing flat. I had noticed it before but not really paid attention to it. This time I really felt it. I guess the material it is made of is not working in these temperatures. It's not a big deal since the snow softens the landing on pavement anyway. I tried out a pair of shoes that I bought for winter running a few years ago but did not like. I actually do like them now, they are stiff but work well in this cold. They also have a double insulated layer so that my feet stay nice and warm.

Saucony pro grid razor ^ worth a try if you live in a cold or wet climate

No matter what, running outside is awesome. Forward movement is a wonderful thing!

Montezuma's Revenge

Traveling around in exciting countries can be so eventful. After my altercation with a stingray I had a visit from Montezuma. Anyone that has been to Mexico or one of the less developed Mediterranean countries knows what that means. Travelers diarrhea.

So that means another two days of rest from running, lots of running actually just not the right kind.
Any runner knows that so much interference with training is not beneficial for mental well being. It plays tricks with our minds that all is lost. Of course that is not true so I need to repeat that many times. I'will be ok I will be ok etc

This morning I had a nice little run around Little Corn Island. It's a tiny Island in the Caribbean. Different Ocean than last week. We were at the Pacific coast last week and at the Atlantic Coast this week.
Since I am still very weak from not eating and lots of fluid loss the last two day I took it easy but it still felt hard. Did 55 minutes of running/walking and taking pictures. Also I hate humidity.

This little girl thought it was fun to run with me for a while.

Anybody knows what kind of bird this is? You can't really tell but it's really big.

Post stingray survival run

I had two days of rest after my debacle with a stingray. Make sure you never get stung by one of those babies because it's seriously painful. My foot is still swollen from the venom but it doesn't hurt anymore. Actually I think I could have run yesterday but I did not want to push it.

We are in the north of Nicaragua now and it's the area of eternal spring. It's nice and warm but never hot like in the rest of this country. It's the area of coffee. 

I did a 55 minute run in town this morning. When I got outside at 5.30 am I saw a guy with a shotgun sitting across the street. No uniform or anything just a regular guy. I did not know if this was a good or bad sign so I just started my run. It seemed there was a guy like that on the sidewalk every other block or so. Lot's of people out running and exercising here so all seemed good.

I wanted to take a picture of the guy with the gun but when I was done running he was gone. I did see him in the park where I took my last loop so I snagged a picture from the back. Him and his buddy.

I love early morning runs and see people get ready for the day. People in Nicaragua are extremely friendly and happy.  It's a great country to visit. That is if you are a bit adventurous. If you are an all inclusive resort type this country is not for you. 

Barefoot rancheros

800 meter repeats barefoot on the beach how does that sound?

Not too bad right? 

Yes after feeling sorry for me for the last few weeks  you may now envy me. 

We landed in Costa Rica on Sunday and I did a few easy miles early in the morning. There's nothing better than explore a new city on an early morning run. Great way to get to know the new place.

Yesterday we traveled up to Nicaragua, San Juan Del Sur to be precise. Met a great girl that I had missed for too long!

So this morning I did my 800 meter repeats barefoot on the beach. 6 of them, all in around 3.50-3,55. Not too bad after a night of margaritas.

Travel time

Long run this Saturday morning. Last one before my trip to Nicaragua. I'm flying out tomorrow but we're heading to Edmonton today. The flight is at 6 am and the drive there is 3 hours so leaving tomorrow is not an option. I'm writing this blog lying in the most cloud like bed you can imagine. Very unfortunate that I can only enjoy that for a few hours.

Long run was 2.5 hours, about 15 miles. Nice crisp cold weather, nothing crazy.
Every day I use the lacrosse ball and a foam roller to self massage and hit trigger points. Even more so after a long run. Now that I am going on a trip the lacrosse ball is coming along. It's small but can hurt oh so good.
I highly recommend lacrosse ball self massaging. It's painful in the beginning though.

Cool off!

This is my Allie after a run in 7C/44F. She got so hot that when we came home she threw herself in a snow bank to cool off. So funny! She did not want to come in knowing that would be way too hot.

I guess it's a warm spell here, just a few days but so much fun to run in. Yesterday I ran 5 easy miles. Today 20 minutes warm up/cool down and 2 X 9 minutes @ tempo effort. I took my watch and actually ran a good tempo for the 9 minutes. Ran about 8.50 which would be about right for a tempo run. I am pretty happy with that because it means that when it's warmer I do run a bit faster even though there is still a lot of snow on the ground which is slushy.

I was very warm myself and had to take off my ear warmers and gloves. I bet I could have been running in just a long sleeve! Crazy for this time of year here.

I better get used to it since I will be traveling to Nicaragua coming Sunday for 17 days. Hope you guys don't mind tagging along and see some colorful pictures instead of these blue and grey winter ones.

800 meters

Yes 800 meters are my nemesis. It's mentally one of the hardest workouts for me. I am usually procrastinating on that day of training.

I had 800 meters on my schedule this morning but it's a going by feel schedule. However it was not too cold so I thought it would be a great idea to measure out half a mile and do some repeats.

Ouch! Hello wake up call. I even took my gps watch with me and I really tried hard but gave up on the watch pretty quick. No matter how much I tried to pump my arms fast my legs just did not want to follow. I did the 800 meters in about 4 minute and 15 seconds while usually with good weather on the track I do my repeats at about 3.45-3.50.

What am I trying to proof and what was I thinking? I read everywhere that cold weather running is harder on the muscles and joints and there is no way you can get to your normal speed. Also there was quite a bit of snow on the ground so it's not that the surface is like a nice smooth athletic track. But somehow I thought that I might be the exception to the rule. NOT!

Sigh, oh well. I did 6 repeats and it was really hard. Physically I would say it was just as hard as when I do them in summer on the track. It felt hard and now, half a day later I can still feel it so I definitely had a good training. Oh and I am super hungry.


Today is a good day to remind myself why I am running through winter outside. It's not to break any personal record but to stay healthy and happy during the winter and be curious about my potential and what it will result to comes spring.

2 thoughts that get me through the long run

Temperature: -8C/17F windchill -13C/8Fb

Long run of 2 hours. 11 miles.

One of those days that the temperature felt colder than it should. Went back because my face was cold in the wind but I didn't want to put my balaclava on because I knew it would be too warm. Lathered a lot of vaseline on my face and went back out. Sure enough that did the trick. Can't do without vaseline in a cold climate!

One other pair of footsteps on the trail. Somebody's been brave!!

One of the things that keeps me going on a long run is thinking about the treats I am going to enjoy when back. Hot chocolate is one of them, the other is a hot bath with scented epsom salts. That's about it, I'm a simple woman.

Trees grow through roofs

Everybody knows that!

5 miles today at an easy pace. Beautiful sunny day. Nice and crisp. 

Temperature -10C -17C with windchill (13F/8F)

The wind came strong over the lake and that made one stretch pretty cold. The rest felt really nice. 

All the snow on the trails has been cleared now so that makes it easier.

I'm also doing Turkish Get Ups with kettlebells for strength daily (well I try). I definitely need to work on strength! It's the perfect strength exercise for runners, more about that another time.

Heat wave

Just kidding of course. But -5C/20F feels mighty warm after crazy cold temperatures.

I only had a 40 minute run on my schedule but I wanted to take advantage of these warmer temperatures so I ran 1.15 minutes with some fartlek in the middle.
Felt great! Days like these are awesome!

A colleague at work brought her puppies. OMG YES PLEASE!!

Running before work

Wasn't sure if I would make an early run before work. Had to start at 8 so I was out running at 6. In the end cold is cold, darkness doesn't really make it colder, well maybe a little....

I really need this ^^

Did one hour with 4 X 3 minutes at 85% effort. Temperature about 0F/-18C. I wanted to do at least 6 repeats but ran out of time because my app did not want to cooperate.

You see a gps/garmin only works if kept warm somewhere under my coat so I couldn't use that. My stopwatch also quits in the cold besides I can't see it in the dark anyway. 

So I downloaded a few apps that beep on intervals that you can select yourself. You can hear it when listening to music as well. 

I tried the gymboss app first but it really sucks, it stops beeping in the middle of the workout which is terrible. Now I have something else, can't remember the name but it's not perfect either. I will try a few different ones in the next few weeks.

By the way my phone quits too when getting too cold but I keep it inside a mitten in my pocket and that works so far. 

I bought these and tested them out today. I'm very impressed with the performance. I had the microspikes before and really liked those too. However these are more specific for runners. They are lighter. You can really run fast on ice and packed snow. Love them! 

As cold as it gets

If I can handle this I probably will be ok this winter.

This seems brutally cold but I was actually getting too hot after the first 4 miles and went home to take off some layers.

This is what I learned so far from running in extreme cold:

- With the right gear you can run in pretty much any cold weather.

- Most important areas to protect: head, neck, hands and legs. If your neck and head are warm you feel good. 

- No gloves, use thick windstopping mitts. 

- Protect your legs. Especially your butt! This area gets very cold and one layer is not enough. I wear a thick running tight and as a second layer a wind stopper. Still my butt is cold but it is doable.

- No wind stopper jackets, I'm serious, you get too hot. No hard shells either. You  will overheat.

- Wear a second hat or take one with. Nothing is worse when your head covering starts to get wet from your sweat and then that starts to freeze. You will need a second layer to stay protected.

- Use your head and hands as regulator for temperature. Even in brutal cold you will have moments that you get too hot. For instance you start against the wind but another part of the run the wind is behind you. This will feel like it's super hot and you'll start to sweat. The best way to regulate that is via your gloves or hat. Either take them off or allow some wind to cool off your skin partially.

- Drink! You will not be thirsty but running in extreme cold dehydrates you quickly. It's very dry. Water will freeze and I don't want to buy more gear. I am wearing enough weight as it is. I just go home more often and drink. 

Kids still playing outside. Shows that as long as you are well dressed you still can have fun and enjoy the outdoors.

Failed attempt...............

This is not me but if could have been. I tried to go for a run but stopped at 1.5 mile, a very hard 1.5 mile. 

My inside runner person feels like freaking out but I know it will be ok. Just rationalize those crazy OCD thoughts away. I worked the kettlebells instead. 

Temps around -22C/-4F don't know the wind chill but it was cold.

There's always tomorrow....