 |
| I only look happy because my ordeal is over! |
Out of the five runs I did this past week, I was only dry during two. Yesterday and today! And I'm used to running in the rain. But running in the rain, with strong winds when the temperature is hovering at 0C is trying on even my best days. It was raining sideways in my face for Pete's sake. I think I'm pretty tough and I don't balk at a 6K run, but the 6, 7 and 8K runs I did in the pouring rain felt like the longest runs ever! I was soaked to the skin when I got home and needed to strip down at my front door. That's how drenched I was. I honestly think I would have rather run in the sub zero temperatures than repeat the week of running I did last week! Anywho, moving on.
Friday started out like a fine enough day. Hamilton didn't get hit with the bad winter weather that Environment Canada had promised. I was fine with that. It was just wet and raining and cold. I headed out to Peterborough and the driving was fine. The roads were wet, but I didn't feel like they were slippery at all. I took my time and made my way up the 115. Peterborough was not as blessed as the Greater Toronto area. The trees and ground were covered with a pretty thick layer of ice. As I'm driving along, I felt my car jerk a few times. Then just as I make it into Peterborough, my engine light goes on and the entire dash lights up. I have just enough time to pull over before the car just stops. Now I'm on the side of the road, and it's freezing rain. I call CAA and although they put me as a priority and I was supposed to get service within 20 minutes, it takes about an hour for Bob's towing to get to me. Incidentally when my car broke down in Peterborough last spring, Bob's towing picked me up then too. That time it was Jake who helped me, this time it was Ken.
 |
| My car on the back of the flat bed:( |
It sucked to be me on Friday! Not only did I have to cancel with my client for the second time that week (the first was Tuesday when I stayed home with sick Julien), but I had to be towed from Peterborough to Scarborough. Once I made it to the garage, my mechanics were able to tell me what was wrong with the car (frayed wires to something), but couldn't get the parts there on time because it was 3pm on a Friday afternoon. That meant I had to leave my car there and hop on the Scarborough LRT to Kennedy Station then head on over to Union Station and grab the Go bus to Hamilton. I hadn't eaten since breakfast and had no food on me because I was supposed to have lunch with my client in Peterborough. I ended up buying an apple and almonds in Union Station which tided me over until I made it home. Once I got home I made salmon cakes and broccoli for dinner.
 |
| It's been a while since I was on the subway. The new cars are just one very long car. You can walk from one end of the entire train to the other. |
So I have officially switched over to a Paleoish diet. It's similar to Dr. Poon's, but cleaner. No artificial sweeteners, no dairy, nothing processed, no legumes (including peanuts). Lots of lean protein, fish, seafood, vegetables, fruit and nuts. I'm making a couple of concessions. I'm not giving up cream in my coffee, and I'm still eating natural peanut butter before long runs. It gives me the energy I need and I digest it well. So there you have it! I's easy and structured and I pretty much eat that way anyway. No more treats on weigh-in days, and that's okay. It was all processed and artificial anyway, and I don't need it.
I don't think I'm going to go back to the clinic to get weighed anymore. I'm going to monitor my weight myself. I'll continue to weigh in bi-weekly and just record it here. I weigh-in every other Wednesday with a group of women at work anyway. I'll just keep doing that and record my results on my blog and Facebook Page. I wasn't feeling the love the last time I was at the clinic and don't wish to receive the stern "I think you're not being truthful with me" look from Dr. Stephen again. I don't really need any negativity in my life. And since I feel good about all my food choices and my diet overall, I don't need to be accountable to anyone else but me!
 |
| Thank goodness this happened right at the end of my run. I had to wait 15 minutes for the train to pass! |
Yesterday I had a pretty packed day. I got up and ran 8K pretty early in the morning. My run was pretty solid until the end when I was delayed by a train. That sucked, but it only cut half a kilometer off my total run time. Afterwards, I met a couple of old college friends for lunch in Toronto. I hadn't seen them for about three years. Man the time passes quickly. They both look the same to me as they did in college. Young and beautiful as ever! Happily, I do not look the same. I was probably at my heaviest for a time when we were in college together. Sometimes I forget how different I look to people who haven't seen me in a long time. Old friends and acquaintances usually act differently with me until they see that I've only changed on the outside. I'm still the same inside.
After lunch, I headed back home for a few hours, then I was off to dinner with Dawn and Monica. Since our half marathon clinic finished back in March, we don't see each other as much. I've still been running on weekends with Monica, but Dawn is training for her 200K Ride to Conquer Cancer. We went to the Bean Bar, had some good eats (grilled chicken with asparagus and a glass of red wine) and caught up. I'll be seeing much more of Monica starting this week. Our 10K clinic that we are co-instructing starts this Thursday. This means I'll start running a couple of evenings a week again. I'm gonna miss my morning runs!
This morning I had to get in my long run for the week. I'm in week 11 of my half marathon training for the Niagara Women's Half Marathon on June 2nd. Monica was going to do my long run with me, but she had a crappy sleep last night and wasn't able to make it. So I was solo for my 16K. This is the furthest I have ever run alone. I ran up the escarpment and continued to follow the path right to the end. It let me off in a parking lot somewhere on the Hamilton Mountain, but I have no idea where I was. I had to run down a huge hill before the path ended which pissed me off. I had just run up the escarpment for 6K, ran on flat ground for about 1.5K, then ran down a pretty steep hill for about 500m. I cursed the whole way down because I knew I would have to turn around and run right back up the damn hill again. I had never run to the end of the path before and it was exactly 8K from my front door to the end of the path.
 |
| The end of the path. No idea where Arbour Road is. |
When I got home I was starving. I stretched and had a tablespoon of natural peanut butter and a hard boiled egg before cleaning myself up. I made a recovery lunch of salad with oil and vinegar dressing and salmon and another hard boiled egg. It was pretty boring but filled me right up and I felt much better after eating. I felt light headed once during my run and did have a couple of energy gummies. I'm sure they are not Paleo, but I need that shit when I'm doing long runs! My toes cramped again at 13K. I am counting the days until I get my orthotics. There is nothing more frustrating than having to walk out toe cramps. It really messes with my pace!
After lunch I went to my girlfriend Elin's place for a glass of wine and to show her and her hubby how to make the sauteed cabbage I eat constantly. Julien is feeling good again, so he wanted to play with Elin's son and the boys had a good time outside on this lovely and sunny day! Tomorrow it's supposed to be 19C. I'm glad it's a rest day. I have no spring/summer running gear. Thank goodness I get the very generous employee discount at the Running Room. This will be the last time I'll be retiring running gear because it's too big for me. I'm officially calling myself at goal!