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| The boy and I during our visit to Nonna and Nonno"s. He's showing off his crusty bread! |
Everyday I go through my comments and remove all the spam that got posted. They usually have to do with diet or web design. But there was one today that told me if I have vaginal discomfort while urinating, I should wrap it in gauze and put it in the infected area. WTF does that mean? I know it's computer generated spam, but at least make sense! I get about 20 spam comments a day. It's because I don't have word verification (annoying for those who want to leave comments). Ahhhhhh, the sacrifices I make for my readers! You are all worth it though:)
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| Pretty ship:) HMCS Haida. |
Yesterday was my long run (20K/12.5M), and my longest distance to date! It was a freaking cold day again. Minus 18 Celsius (0F) with the windchill. Cold enough that I never really got warm. Even though I was sweating, the cold gave me chills throughout the run. I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty much done with the cold. Makes me proud, and I feel like a committed runner because I ran through this winter. And all outside! It wasn't a particularly mild winter either. The route mapped out for us was the same one we've done for the past month, It was getting a little old so we (the Back of the Rat Pack Girls - minus Monica and Dawn) decided to run a completely different route and ran along the waterfront for 10K before turning around and making our way back to the Running Room. We got to see beautiful scenery and some lovely ships, including the HMCS Haida. It was quite a treat!
We had the pleasure of running with a new friend, Bernette. I think we all felt a little bad that we found each other so late in the clinic. With only a couple of weeks left, Bernette runs closer to our pace, but was trying her darnedest to keep up with the faster runners in the clinic. It was a pleasant run filled with good conversation and even better companions. The only downside was that my toes did cramp during this run, and they cramped pretty early on. The cramping started at 13K. It wasn't as bad as it had been in the past...but very annoying none the less. I got pretty quiet later on in the run because I was focusing on the pain in my toes. Mind over matter. It's all mental. I was able to complete the run without having to stop, but I hate how the discomfort consumes me during the run. That SUCKS!
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| This has got to be the most unflattering photo of me ever! But I don't care. Everyone else looks fab. I look like I'm trying waaaaaay too hard, or constipated...pick one! |
So now we scale back. That was my last long run before the half marathon on March 3rd. I know that I can definitely run another 1.1K no problem. Even with crampy toes. My hamstring was sore after my run, but I stretched really well, and it feels great today...my rest day. I will run again in the morning. A short 6K (3.7M), then run again on Wednesday (10K/6.2M) and Thursday (8K/5M). Friday is another rest day, then Saturday is 6K. Sundays long run? A measly 6K. I can do that backwards! Okay maybe not. Now I'm just getting cocky! I'm so excited and nervous all at once. I'm looking forward to seeing what my finishing time on the half will be. My goal has always been to finish. We shall see how I do. I'm hopeful I will run the race healthy and pain-free. If things keep going the way they have, that hope may become a reality.
I have physio three times this week and next week, and a massage booked the Thursday before my race. If I have to have something stripped again, so be it. It hurts like nothing I've ever felt before, but is totally worth it. I had no discomfort in my calf yesterday. Mark (massage therapist) talked about how stripping of muscles could have been used during medieval torture. He's convinced that if he lived back then, he could have gotten anyone to talk during muscle stripping. I concur 100%. Not only would it have been torturous during, but would have actually been beneficial in the long run. More like therapeutic torture. He's a bit warped. He also mentioned that if you were laid out on a stretching rack during torture, there must have been a time where you thought, "that feels pretty good"...right before you begged them to stop stretching you. See warped!
I went out for lunch with my gal Beverly today. I haven't seen her since the taping of the Steven and Chris Show and I missed her terribly. We talked about future plans. I'm toying with teaching the next Learn to Run clinic at the the Running Room with her. I'll have to run alone again, but with the nicer weather coming, I'm totally pumped to get up early, early, early if need be and finish my runs in the morning. No problem. Once I get into a schedule, I'm good. I like the morning runs better anyway. Gets it out of the way and also gives me energy and good mindset for the rest of the day. One more month and I think I'll totally be there! Can't wait. Sadly, Beverly's not running the Around the Bay relay with me. She's plagued with injuries right now and needs to take care of herself. The upside of that is I get to run it with my hubby as my partner. Nothing says "I love you" like sweating your asses off running a 30K relay together. LOVE YOU BABE!!!!!!
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| After the 20K on Sunday! |