Ice, Ice Baby!

The run streak continues, except now I am half way through the Advent Run Streak, and so far so good. I'd be lying if I said every run has seen me feeling absolutely fantastic - in fact, last Wednesday's tempo run was awful, and I hated every minute of it!

Things started off pretty well on Monday with just a nice and easy 6km. Mondays are usually a rest day for me, but given I would be running slowly and it was only a short run compared to my normal distance, I actually quite enjoyed it. The Advent challenge set by Sinister Sports for that particular day was to play our favourite Christmas song whilst out on our run. I don't tend to listen to music when I'm running as I like to absorb my surroundings, but when I arrived home, I did opt for "The Christmas Present" album by Robbie Williams, and with a mix of old and new Christmassy songs, it certainly put in the festive mood :)

Things got moved around a bit this week when it came to speedwork, and my usual Tuesday evening "oh my gosh, I hate speedwork!" was replaced with a nice and easy 12km run. It was ugly sweater time for the day's challenge, and I happily wore my wonderful snowflake sweater for the duration of my run. I certainly got some strange looks whilst pounding the local pavements but I didn't mind, and as I posed for a quick piccie at the Telford Lake light display, I got that buzz of excitement that I always get leading up to Christmas :) It was a good run, I was feeling great, and it really didn't feel like I had done two weeks of running already without a rest day.

Things took a turn on Wednesday though. It's usually group run night, but we had had some freezing rain and the roads and pavements were horrendous and covered in sheet ice. I had a tempo run on my schedule but really didn't want to do it, much preferring to do my usual Wednesday evening run with the pups. I hadn't ran with the pups for several days and I was feeling extremely guilty, but I knew that if I ran with Wilson - who was the one making me feel more guilt that the others! - we would both end up on the floor with an injury as he just runs so fast and I wouldn't be able to control things on the ice. I reluctantly left them at home and headed to the rec centre instead with the intent of doing the tempo run on the treadmill.

I hate tempo runs, and I aren't a huge fan of treadmills, so I was already beaten before I even pressed the start button. Usually I can do my tempo runs at around 7 to 7.30 miling these days, but I really had no motivation on Wednesday, finishing my run in a disappointing 48 minutes or something. I tried to speed things up, but every time I did, I felt tired and couldn't be bother, so I ran at a relaxed 7.50 pace instead and that was enough.

Of course, by Thursday I was back to feeling pretty good again - this running game really is a strange one! - and with 10 miles of easy running on the schedule, I was all set to go. The pavements were still treacherous with an inch of solid ice pretty much everywhere - there's a shortage of ice melt and salt right now, so nobody is able to clear the ice from around the houses, and there was no way I was prepared to run in residential areas at an 11 minute mile whilst navigating the icy conditions.

I decided to head out onto the range roads at the back of our house, and whilst they were still icy and covered in snow, they were far better than the sidewalks as there was at least some gravel underneath which gave some traction. I took my Fenix headtorch out with me as there are no street lights out on these roads, barely any houses, and it really does get dark, and I ended up having a fantastic run out there. At one point I was just merrily trotting along and heard a rustling in the bushes which did startle me. When I turned to look, it was just a cute little porcupine going about his business, and as my headtorch shined brightly in his little face, he let out a squeal and I'm sure he was none too impressed at the light shining right in his face. I left him be to do his thing, but it was great to see the local wildlife out there. Thursday's run wasn't fast, but I definitely felt much better, and I got home feeling more content.

Friday was another easy 6k, and tonight it was about getting off the beaten track. Unfortunately the trails are even more lethal than the sidewalks with the amount of ice, so I kept it local again and headed out to Telford. taking in the Christmas lights once again on a dark but relatively mild winter's night.

I was really looking forward to running this weekend. Andy has been away all week and things have been hectic with being home alone, and I haven't been getting back from my evening runs until close to 8pm. Being the weekend meant I would finally get to run in daylight, and with decent temperatures and no rain or snow, it has been pretty nice running outdoors. The pavements are still horrendously icy and I have still been wearing my spikes, but yesterday and today, I had some fantastic runs, getting a lovely 10 miler in on Saturday, and a wonderful 16 miles today. The legs are feeling tired but I'm also feeling fit and strong, and I have really enjoyed the running. My lower back and hips are a little tight and feel fatigued, but I  know that is from trying to balance in the icy conditions when I'm running, and all in all, it's been a great weekend of running.

We have been spoilt in both autumn and so far this winter as things really haven't been too cold and there has been very little snow. The freezing rain has been a pain along with the ice, but in general, things have been good. Overnight tonight however, things are really going to cool off, and we are looking at highs of -18 degrees celsius over the next few days with the potential for snow. From a running perspective, it really makes no difference to me as I will be out and about in whatever the weather brings unless I have a speed session scheduled. But the dogs aren't big fans of the really chilly weather, and certainly our two Mexican girls are not made for freezing temperatures, so much so that when it does get as cold as it is going to get, Tillie refuses to go outside, and April can only tolerate it for around 10 minutes or so.

I made sure to take the pups for some good walks at the dog park this weekend whilst things were warmer, and they sure had a great time. These pups are so good at keeping me happy and entertained when I am home alone, and I can never say enough about how much they really do mean to me. We were going to head to their favourite park in Edmonton this weekend, but I had read that it was a skating rink and the last thing I want is for any of them to slip and hurt themselves on ice - it happened to Brandy and it led to her having to had knee surgery a few months later. In the end, I kept it local, but with three great dog parks on our doorstep, I think the dogs were more than content :)

Andy should be home in the next couple of days, and with him being away, I haven't had time to be making any videos, so things have been on hold for a few days. I'm pretty sure that when he gets back, it will be all hands to the pump, and I will be getting some great videos out over the next few weeks. I have to admit that I am kind of missing doing the video work and whilst the break has been nice, I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.

So that's another week done, and it's now less than two weeks until Christmas arrives. I'm getting excited, and so, so looking forward to having that time off.

Have a wonderful week folks, until next time ..... happy running, and puppy snuggles to all our furry followers out there :)

It's a bluebird kind of day :)

This past week has been all about Runukkah, which if you've been following along in recent weeks, you will know it's the virtual event organised by Sinister Sports. Comprising of an eight day running streak in recognition of the Jewish festival of light, otherwise known as Hanukhah, I chose the longer distances for the week which started with the 3km last Sunday and increased in distance each day by 3km, finishing with 24km today.

My usual mileage for a week is around about 80km or 50 miles unless I am racing but taking part in Runukkah would mean around 108km for the week, or around 67 miles. Yes I'm an ultra runner and I have raced much further than this, but I have to say that running for 8 consecutive days without a rest day, and with the distance increasing each day, I have found it quite the challenge!

Things weren't too bad earlier in the week - a 6km run on Monday followed by a 9km on Tuesday wasn't too bad at all as I would typically run further than that so they felt relatively easy. Tuesday's run was scheduled to be a tempo run, I really didn't want to run indoors, so I decided to go to the outdoor track in the hope that some of the snow would have melted, and I could keep things flat to get a decent pace going. How wrong I was! 

Monday evening 6km

I had anticipated some lying snow and had therefore opted to wear my Salomon Spikecross just in case, but I was extremely disappointed to see that pretty much the entire track was still covered in a good couple of inches of snow, and that some of it was actually quite icy. I had no  intention of bailing on the session but I knew it wouldn't be as fast as I wanted, and I slogged it out despite much huffing, puffing, and maybe a little bit of swearing! I was frustrated as the pavements would have been easier to run on, but I was bored of dodging cars and having to stop/start for lights when I'm supposed to be doing a good speed session.

I actually didn't do too bad at all and ended up with around 47 minutes for the 10k - not brilliant, but I knew the effort was there.

Wednesdays are usually my night for running with the pups at the local running group, and as soon as I got home from work, both Wilson and April were hassling me in expectation of their usual weekly run. Unfortunately though, the group organiser had been feeling poorly, and with 12km on the cards for the night, it would be too far for the pups. They are more than capable of going that kind of distance, but Wilson is getting a little older now, and April can get a little lazy, and given the chilly night air, I certainly didn't want to be out for over an hour when I knew on my own I could get it done in much less time.

I'd gone out on the Wednesday aiming for the "fastest time" just in case that came up on the dreidel for a prize the following morning and there is no denying that I was feeling really good that night. After a couple of miles, I arrived at the train tracks and low and behold, the lights started flashing and the CPR was making its way through town. Now if you've never seen these trains, they are long - bloody long! - and it's not unknown to be waiting for a good 5 or 10 minutes before you finally get to cross the tracks. Wednesday was one of those nights, and given that results submitted for Runukkah needed to be elapsed time rather than moving time, I gave up the chase and eased off the pace. 

Wednesday evening fun :)

I headed out around the local reservoir and had a little fun taking some pictures in the dark with just the glow of my headtorch - it felt good to just have some fun and be a little silly. It was also day one of the Advent Run Streak, another virtual event organised by Sinister Sports that I had signed up for, and with a challenge set each day, the first day was to send a joyous message to somebody.  I arrived home after my run and had some fun just playing around with the Christmas decorations and hopefully passed on a joyous message to those that cared to pay attention.

A joyous message?

Thursday saw the mileage increase to 15km which was the norm for my usual Thursday night runs. I headed out on to the local range roads to try out the new Fenix headtorch and I have to say I was very impressed with the brightness and the comfort. I will be doing a headtorch head to head as a video on my YouTube channel in the next couple of weeks, so look out for that if you are interested and follow along on my channel "Del's Jogs with Dogs". The beam of the headtorch was so bright that I could pretty much see the other side of the lake when heading around Telford - it has definitely been a good investment, and I can't wait to use it during one of my races.

Thursday night 15km

The Advent challenge for Thursday night was to do a plank, and with the whole thing being just for fun with the choice of making the challenges as easy or difficult as you like, I decided to be a little silly and was happy to see that it paid off and made a few people smile :)

Holding a plank for 5 whole minutes!

Friday was a tough one for me. It's usually a rest day and I get to relax ready for the weekend. This week though I had to do 18km, and heading out after work in the dark after an already business few days was hard. By now, I had become focused on trying to get the fastest overall time in the ladies for Runukkah, so I headed out to the range roads and Telford once again to avoid road crossings and traffic, and to make sure that I spent as little time as possible waiting around. So far, I had been managing to maintain a decent pace of around 8.40 miling for every run so far this week, which given the ice and snow - and the darkness! - I was pretty happy with. 

I was chuffed to finish Friday's run with the same average pace overall, although my legs were for sure starting to get a little tired and I felt like I was missing those rest days I am more accustomed to! Meanwhile, the challenge for the day was to go plogging on our runs - basically to pick up any litter spotted whilst out on the route. I can honestly say that in the 90 minutes or so that I was out there, I didn't see one bit of litter which shows what a wonderfully clean and tidy city we live in.

21km on Saturday is once again typical for me on a weekend, and I was so looking forward to getting outside and running in daylight for a change. It was a beautiful day, and whilst not exactly shorts and t-shirt weather, it wasn't too bad for running. Yet again, I headed around Telford Lake with the intention of keeping my elapsed time to a minimum as I avoided traffic. It was still very icy around the lake and I was still running in my Spikecross which seemed comfortable enough, but I was missing that lovely cushioning provided by the usual road running Hokas that I wear!

Saturday 21km - beautiful morning :)

1 hour 55 minutes later, I finished my half marathon with tired legs but feeling great. Today's challenge was to get as much vert as possible on our run, but with this city being pancake flat and the highest hill only giving about 10 metres of elevation, I would definitely have finished in last place had it been a competition!

With all the longer runs over the past few days, I had been feeling really hungry and very dehydrated, and this was having an impact on how I felt towards the end of my runs. I tried to drink more water before bedtime, but it didn't really replenish the fluid that I needed, so each day I was setting out already quite thirsty. I could have taken drinks with me, but the weather would have resulted in them freezing, so I wasn't able to drink whilst out there either.

Sunday morning I really felt that dehydration and with today being the maximum distance for Runukkah, I was expecting it to be a tough finish for me. The weather had gone bitterly cold overnight, and when heading out on my run, it was still only -18 degrees Celsius, or -29 with the windchill. I was sure to wear my thermal layers and the merino wool base layer certainly kept me snug and warm, but the balaclava I was wearing started to freeze and kept slipping off my face, so much so that I was convinced my cheeks and nose were going to get frostbite!

I was still chasing the fastest overall cumulative time so once again I headed around the local lake in an effort to avoid all the road crossings and traffic lights. My legs were feeling much better today, and I was still knocking out the same pace that I had been doing all week, and it was feeling comfortable. It was such a gorgeous day with clear blue skies and bright sunshine, but the wind was horrendous, especially when it hit me full on whilst running along the south side of the lake. It caused me to walk a couple of times as it was so brisk and cold, but I knew I had to keep pushing forward if I wanted to retain any cushion on time gained over the past few days.

The cold weather seemed to have kept everybody at home where they were nice a warm, so I was able to just knuckle down and focus on the run without any distractions. I ended up finishing in 2 hours 12 minutes for 24km - I was happy enough with that, and it meant that I had successfully completed the Runukkah run streak with a cumulative time of around 10 hours 20 minutes for the 108km we had to run in the week. Whether this is enough to give me that overall ladies win in the 3km to 24km category remains to be seen, but I know I really couldn't have done anymore given how busy my life is these days.

Sunday sillies and 24km done :)

So whilst that particular run streak is now complete, as I mentioned previously, I am still doing the Advent run streak. The good news with this is that we only have to do 2km per day as a minimum - coach has me doing just 6km on my usual rest days, and as things stand, I think I can cope with that.

I didn't get to run with this pups this week due to the higher mileage required, but now that I have some 6k runs scheduled in, they will for sure be joining me subject to the weather conditions. I am extremely cautious of having them running in extreme temperatures whether hot or cold, although they do seem better able to cope with the cooler weather, especially if wearing their coats and booties on days such as today.

To make up for those lack of runs, we have been going to the dog parks for an extra walk, and yesterday we did meet up with a friend and their pup for a puppy playdate. Nike is still quite a young dog and is quite energetic, boisterous and playful, and I think our three were a little bit taken aback by his energy levels. They didn't play together as much as we would have liked but they still had a great walk together and I'm sure there will be more to come.

Video wise, we did finally release the parkrun video which you can find here if you've not already taken a look. Some friends had kindly provided photographs which are included, and I am truly thankful to them for that. We were hoping to film some more videos this week, but the dark nights meant the quality wasn't as good as we would like, and with my hubby having to work away this week, we haven't had the time to do what we had planned. There may be a delay in releasing our next video, but it is in progress and it will for sure be shared on my channel very soon.

For now though, I'm looking forward to a few easier days of running, of relaxing with the dogs, and getting things ready for Christmas which will be upon us before we know it.

Until next week, happy running, happy trails, and happy waggy tails to all the loveable pups out there!