Vancouver Fall Classic Run

Time to sit down and recap the weekend. This past Sunday, I did the Vancouver Fall Classic Run at UBC. These past few months have been a bit brutal. I've had a IT band injury, which I have recovered fairly well from, and now I am seeking physio who has diagnosed a completely different problem with my ligaments in my knee, which stems back from a dance injury a few years ago. However we keep working at it, and little by little things do get better.

This would be the last chance for my cousin and I to get out and spend the day together and run a little a race.
After discussion with my coach, he had said to just treat it like a everyday training session.  Basically take it easy, and don't push on it, as we don't want to go back and repeat the last 6 months of injury.

The race itself was not too packed, offering up distance of,  Half marathon, 10 km or 5 km.
 We opted for the 5 km. The day was pretty wet, and pretty cold, but once we got moving it was ok.
With in the first 10 mins, the rain let up quite a bit, and at that point, i had to get rid of my jacket as I was warmed nicely.

I completed the 5 km using 5 min run / 1 min walk. This seemed to be the perfect formula for me to sustain.  I had thought I could get through the race in 35 mins, i would be happy, but overall, i cane in just at 37 mins.   Average pace 7:25 /km . That is a 30% increase in time since I started to run in 2016. It can only get faster !

My coach was there on the side lines, as was my good friend, who pretty much  has motivated me to keep moving. I remind he is responsible for kicking my butt ! and I am thankful for that.

  I pushed at the very end to get through it, as  I was just coming up around the corner and my cousin  was gone...... no sight of her !
but she only beat me by 13 seconds... so that' s OK                  Pictured Above: Me and Coach Jerry 

What's up next.. well, we are hoping for 2018, I will get to a Half Marathon.. that's the goal, but I will have to run a few 10 km before that happens.  !
Stay tuned !

Update..... Where is your health check ?

Its been quite a while, since I sat down and wrote an update.  2017 has been a year of up's and down's. Starting with achieving great progression with health. Along the way, there has been disappointments with knee bio-mechanics, but overall, I am moving forward.

In May I started with a Run Coach. When people hear that, they think.. WOW... you must be a real athlete. Um..... sure.   Well getting there in my own good time. :)  However it was the best decision I had made to keep me moving forward. A literally had 1 good month with my coach, and then my knee started to act up. frustrating. With encouragement and positive thoughts, I kept moving.

Working with coach, has allowed me to keep my cardio going, but also to achieve other goals within cycling and swimming.  When I decided to use a run coach, my decision was based on what my downfall was. Last year I had done a triathlon, and I totally fell behind running.  I struggled with it, I struggled with IT band syndrome, due to not running with proper form. It was harsh ! So to fix that, you concentrate on that discipline. Made my decision a lot easier.

Running for me has encompassed a full cardio development for me, but it has helped with Mental health. My best friend started to run a million years ago, due to mental health, and yes it works !
As I have gone through many changes in my past couple years, anxiety is the main one that creeps in once in a while.

Now a few months later, I feel great and I keep it moving !

Run for Mental Health .. .and bring your family...

A few weeks after the Vancouver Sun run, I needed to keep moving forward. I talked my cousin into doing the Shoppers Drug Mart Run for Woman. http://www.runforwomen.ca/
This run raises money for Woman's mental health for the Vancouver Woman's Hospital.

My cousin, started doing her training using an app on her phone, and I continued to follow the sunrun training, that i would consistently have 3 run days a week.  This is how I kept moving forward.

This was kind of new territory for my cousin, but not really, she has done other events over the years, and she is active, and goes to the gym everyday... so for her, i didn't worry about her being able to do it. I was just glad, i had someone to run with, who could appreciate the charity that we were supporting.

To Run or not Run, that is the question....

After almost 1 year of iliotibial band friction syndrome, I decided to get back in the game and try to work on my run discipline.  The triathlon was a success for me, not so much the time it took to complete.. but rather, that I did completed it !   If you want a challenge, the Triathlon is the a huge one, practicing 3 disciplines for a one event. 

That was a huge undertaking, and my training was effected by so many things the previous year and mostly for not being consistent in training with running. Running was my downfall, in fact, i think my running took longer then the quadruple distance of cycling did.

In January 2017, I was diagnosed with GAD ( generalized anxiety disorder)  I had realized that I needed to get back into exercise, and try and up my game. The true way to manage the symptoms is through exercise, eating right, and getting enough sleep. 

On a suggestion from by my friend, he had said, I should try the Sun Training program. Even though he suggested it last year, it fell on deaf ears, and i carried on trying to struggle through my injuries.

The Vancouver Sun run is a 10 km run that happens ever April, and has been a run I had participated in before in the early 90's with my company team. 

The training program was only 13 weeks, i learned enough to stay injury free and be able to meet the goal of completing the 10 km run. I met some great people in the group, the serious runners, i have stayed in touch with, and the rest, well maybe i will see them again next year.  
Overall it was great group of people and i took away a lot to learn more about running.

The training was tough, as we had one of worst winters this year. I had to learn to run in the snow and ice with cleats. However I stuck it through and make it to the end, did not miss one any training runs. 



Above: Waiting to move to the start line 
Right: Me & Coach Tina, she's such a inspiration and motivator to keep us going ! 


My story doesn't end here...... this was just the start !

First Triathlon Sprint.... Completed !

August 14th came and went pretty fast, so I am now getting around to updating my blog.

I am hoping that some of my followers will take that journey with me, as I am embark on the next training over the next few months.

When I set out on this venture.. it was really more like a 'dare' I didn't really believe I could do a triathlon, but as the date came closer and closer, I was able to reassure myself and say "HELL YAY"
I can do this.

Training was a struggle from everything... finding time, weather, motivation. All three factor's affected everything thing, every day. Motivation was the worst, and when you have a brain like mine, turning things off, is pretty easy. Discouragement is my worst enemy.

Keep in mind, this was a small triathlon. A sprint to be exact. What entails for a sprint, well you need to be able to swim 750 metres, ride 20 km and run 5 km. Piece of cake.. Right ?!

The first part of my training in swimming was pretty easy, Or at least I had thought so, however I did not have the speed. It had been 10 years since I had last swam. I was a competitive swimmer in the 1980's and early 90's, but interest changes, work gets in the way, and I found that I didn't really enjoy the sport anymore.

First time I jumped in the pool, I swam 1 km and it took me 40 mins. I had my 2 bosses with me. No pressure there !
And all I could think, what have I gotten myself into... I can barely keep up. I had to stop at the end of every 50 metres. I was totally out of breath. Plus I was still getting over a strained ACL from skiing so, i was having to wear support gear on my knee. Perseverance did prevail.

I continued to work at swimming for the next 7 months, slowing increasing my time.
Swimming was hardest thing to fit into training schedule, as time is so limited to pool schedules. However I did find the right pool, with the right hours.

Most of my training was at the Canada Games Pool in New Westminster, BC,  They had a nice section permanently laid out for lanes.   It is ironic though, this is the pool I learned to swim in, in 1971 and had many competitions there over the years. Familiar environment to me, but yet swimming not so familiar anymore.

The easy easy easy part of the training, was bicycling !  So many opportunities to get on a bike. Ride to work, ride in the evening, ride with a club... you name it,, you can ride. and Find lots of people to ride with ! Well sort of...
First Challenge was to get a bike. I had my trusty Electric bike for a number of years, but obviously if I was going to go through a challenge like this, i need to find something a little more challenging.
I looked at bikes, tried some out, but I didn't really know what I needed or wanted.

Until I got a text message from my friend Keith, who had figured it out. The next day, i went over to the neighbourhood bike store, and looked a couple bikes. I ended up with a Specialize Dolce, woman's version. Its a nice bike with easy gearing to get started on a triathlon.

For 2 months, I rode a bit back and forth from Port Moody to Vancouver, and on the weekends I would ride out towards Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge.
Keith had said... Join the Cap's club... so I hesitated for quite sometime, because every-time I asked about the club, I was told that I needed to be able to ride a minimum of 30kph.   When I took my first ride with the club, it averaged at 22kph.. so needless to say, I should have just listened to Keith... and joined the club.

Running, shutter... that's the worst part of the training for me... I am not a runner.. yet I have run plenty of races in my younger years, and did quite well. Running

Triathlete ... to be or not to be... That is the question

I mentioned in my last post that, that i will be doing a Triathlon sprint this summer. I can't say where the total inception came from  for doing this... how ever I was urged on by my friend, not so much to do the triathlon.. but to be more active in general, maybe a bike race or a running race... But NOOOO...... triathlon is the way to do it...   Atleast that is what my brain says at this time in my life.

Complete the imaginable ! Yup.. its amazing a person like myself, who suffers through depression, anxiety, how i can still manage to pick up and complete the impossible.. well hope to complete the impossible ...

So, where do you start.. well you can be stupid like me and just go out and start doing all the things in fast motion... and then end up having IT band problems with your leg... like i do ! However this is nothing new... . and very typical of my personality. Full on... or Full off.

Yay... don't recommend that... so  I started a running program a couple weeks ago,  Pretty simple, run and walk, alternate between 1 and 2 minutes.    Now up to 30 mins of alternating.. not going a very fast pace, but that's ok, slow and steady completes the race. The only thing that is really missing, is the lack of energy that my dog has... he would run along side with me... and now.. well at at 15 years old... he runs for the first km, and then he's done.. .and when we are finished, he starting heading back to the house... sometimes even before i am done...

  Its been almost 10 years since i seriously ran a race. I kept thinking ah.. that was 5 years ago.. until I looked it up.. and realized ,,, well nope it is actually 10 years... and things are not like they were 10 years ago.. many factors, weight, age... motivation is still there... but sometimes when it is raining out there.... i don't feel like going !

As my friend Keith says..... it doesn't matter if the weather is crappy, or don't feel like doing it.. you just have to do it !

So I just keep my tag line in my head...  #KickmybuttK

Where the time has gone, and the new road i am travelling ...

Its been almost a year since I have update my blog. So many things have happened in my life, that i guess it time to bring you up to speed.

Last year, i started a new job, doing something that actually like, and working with the best company and people i could ever find. What a blessing ...

Last summer, i received a kayak, i spent quite a few days in the summer out on it, and really enjoyed it, but my physical health was not there. In 1 year, i have managed to drop 25 pounds and I am on a new path of recovery.

Lucky for me, i have always been surrounded with fun and caring friends, but unfortunately my friends were more enablers when it comes to food. Food is dangerous for a person like me, it has lead to deep episodes of depression, Severe over weight, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

However I lucked out when one friend of mine, has pushed me enough to keep going. Finding the right food to eat, making the comments when i shouldn't eat that, and basically keep track of what heck i am doing.  It was the kick in the butt that I needed. I no longer have high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Depression comes and goes, but less and less these days. and my weight, well that is coming down.

January 2016, I started to cross country ski. I have always wanted to learn, i did once while i was a kid and in 2014, the same friend took me out and gave me a quick lesson. I wasn't totally hooked as I am now. but buy a pair of half decent skis and it gives you incentive to get out there.

Only 7 weeks in, and I am afraid the season is running out. However each week I physically can do more then before.













A typical Norwegian is born on skis, well unfortunately  I wasn't, however i am glad to embrace my heritage.


To set the bar high, I have embarked on training for a triathlon sprint.   That's right, gone from being totally inactive to working up to do this next step.

Stay tuned for more progress !
Canadian Nordic Girl