It’s back to reality after a wonderful weekend away. The weather was perfect all weekend and we had an amazing time hanging out in the campsite, lounging on the beach, taking frequent dips in the lake to cool off and sitting by the fire at night. I’ve washed my hair three times since we got home and it still smells like smoke – but that’s all part of the fun!

I wasn’t planning to run all weekend, but we did end up running for our lives through the woods when we went for a hike and were attacked by bugs. We were absolutely swarmed and after toughing it out for 20 minutes or so, we ended up making a mad dash out of there.

I’ll be making a few changes to the schedule this week because of running my long run on Friday instead of Sunday. Plus, it’s Canada Day on Wednesday and hubby and I decided to take Thursday and Friday off to make it an extra long weekend.

Monday: 5K (filler)
Tuesday: 10K (general)
Wednesday: 10K (intervals)
Thursday: 10K w/ 4K LT (clinic)
Friday: off
Saturday: 7.5K MRP
Sunday: 23K LSD

5 more posts until my 500th post giveaway so watch for that coming up soon.

For now, I have to catch up on what you guys have been up to this weekend. Have a great day!

We’re going camping with another couple this weekend and I knew I wasn’t going to have the motivation opportunity to complete my long run, so I decided to run to work this morning.

Logistically, this took some preparation. I left my car (along with a bag of clothes, toiletries and food) here last night and got a ride home. This morning I had hubby drop me off one town closer to work (home was just a little too far). I wore my new Nathan Intensity bladder-pack, which is made exclusively for women – love it! I was armed with plenty of water, a couple gels, ID, cash and my cell phone. I had also informed one of my co-workers that I would be running to work and which route I was taking (I’m a little paranoid).

I started running at 5:30AM sharp and my legs were pretty slow and stiff at first, but I gradually found my rhythm as I warmed up and it felt pretty good. The route was net downhill with just a few good climbs to keep me honest. Traffic was very light for the first half, but there were definitely a lot of cars buzzing by as I got closer to work (I took a major road the entire way – with sidewalks of course). It was a beautiful, cool morning and it was pretty awesome being out there as the sun rose.

Two quick pit stops along the way, and I arrived at the office around 7:30 – leaving me plenty of time to freshen up before stating my day at 8.

20KM, 2:00:27

About the freshening up… we don’t have showers at work and I don’t have access to a gym nearby. *gasp* I semi-washed my hair in the bathroom sink and used a combination of baby wipes and body spray to disguise the fact that I had just run for two hours. Not much can be done about my red face, although it’s finally subsiding.

I definitely enjoyed commuting on foot and will likely do it again. I’ll just have to remember to leave more food at the office next time! I thought I had plenty, but I’m ravenous!

Tonight we leave for our little camping getaway, so I hope everyone has a great weekend and I’ll check back in on Sunday. Wilderness, cold drinks, swimming, campfires and RELAXATION – here I come!

(5 words to describe 5 x 1000 intervals)

My personal pace bunny and I waited until 9PM to hit the park, but it was still 27C/81F with 51% humidity (“feels like” 32C/89F). I realize this is nothing compared to what some of you have to deal with, but for us Ontarians it’s HOT.

I will easily admit that I am not a fan of running in the heat. I was not in the mood for it at all last night and almost called it quits before we even started. Finally I decided to just suck it up and fight the heat.

As we ran our warm-up, I was already sweating and choking on the thick air – not to mention COMPLAINING! I kept telling my husband pace bunny that this was not going to be pretty.

It was not fun and I had to work my way through every single interval. I promised myself during each 1000 that this one would be the last. I can quit after this one. I’ve had enough. I must be working twice as hard, so surely 2 repeats count as 4, which is almost 5…

Somehow I made it through all 5 and although they weren’t quite as speedy as last week, they were still pretty fast and pretty much right on pace for my goal 5K.

4:39, 4:31, 4:28, 4:28, 4:30

[compared to last week's 4:27, 4:32, 4:26, 4:25, 4:22]

It was hot, nasty, sticky, brutal… and awesome.

I’ll have one or two more opportunities for speed work before my July 11th 5K, but I’ll be on my own because hubby starts his own training plan next week. I’ve done two weeks of 3×1600 at the track and two weeks of 5×1000 at the park. Any suggestions?

Thanks for all your comments on my race report and for making me feel like a bad-ass for having that tarantula on my face. When I lived ta home before getting married, I used to scream and call my Grandma (she lived with us) every time I found a spider in the house to rescue kill it. You can imagine she got a kick out of those photos!

I’m doing some mileage-cramming this week so I can enjoy a couple days off camping this weekend and yesterday — for the first time ever — I ran in the morning and again in the evening. I got up early (to which hubby remarked, ‘You actually got up?’) for a slow 7K (my legs are stiff and sluggish at that hour, especially when I only give myself 15 minutes to wake up first). It which was a great way to start the day and I’m hoping to continue getting up early at least once or twice a week now that it’s getting so hot. The temperature is just about perfect at 6AM and it’s so quiet and peaceful having the streets (mostly) to myself.

Hubby decided to join me for my evening run and we waited until 8:30 when the temperature was somewhat bearable, although the air was still thick with humidity. We ran our favourite park loop and finished off 10K covered in sweat and having ingested more bugs than I care to remember. *gag, cough* I even discovered one stuck in my eye when we got back to the car.

Tonight my personal pace bunny will be taking me out for a repeat of last week’s workout, tomorrow is a super short run before work (sister’s high school grad in the evening) and Friday is my long run (via commute to work – this will be another first!). I’m really going to need a cold drink by the time we get to the campsite on Friday evening.

See part one here.

Chase Point #6: Knock Out

“Like Rocky Balboa or Mohammed Ali, you’ll train with the best and be the best you can be. At The Boxing Loft you’ll prepare for the ring, start moving fast when you hear the bell ding.”

Now it was time to get really physical. We had to complete 5 stations for 30-60 seconds each. Bicycle crunches, push-ups, jumping rope, burpees, jabs with weights and pounding the heavy bag. Holy crap, it was exhausting.

Chase Point #7: Urban Design

“This time your test is one of urban design, with creativity and patience you will do just fine.”

We accidentally stumbled upon this challenge when we saw a bunch of chasers exiting a building. Inside we had to draw a card with the name of an urban structure, then use recycled materials to re-create it as a model. We got The Panthenon.

I think we did alright!

Chase Point #8: 8 Legs or None

“The flip of a coin will determine your fate, but don’t show up before 11am or you’ll have to wait. At the same square where you started your day, we have a few friends who can’t wait to play.”

So, we each flipped a coin. All three of my friends got the snake.

And I got the spider.

I had to lay there with this thing on my face for the longest 30 seconds EVER. *shudder*

Chase Point #9: Up The Creek

“On the east side of Rees Street Slip, you’ll navigate your boat and try not to slip.”

We headed back down to the lake where we navigated around a set of buoys in two kayaks attached together.

We got caught in a downpour out there, but it really didn’t matter at that point. [We completed this challenge last year, only we had individual kayaks and no paddles!]

Chase Point #10: Step It Up

“Near Union go to the Goodlife facility, for a test of strength, endurance and even agility.”

On the way to Goodlife Fitness we ran into a bridal party shooting photos and the bride agreed to pose for a photo with us. Her professional photographer grabbed a shot too!

When we got to the gym, we had to choose a chocolate bar from a pile. We were then informed that we would have to burn the number of calories in that bar between us. Patricia and I chose the creamy milk chocolate – 280 calories! We could choose any machine we wanted, so we jumped on the treadmills, cranked up the speed and incline and got it done. Here’s Patricia finishing up:

After collecting our 10th Chase Point, the 4 of us ran back to Metro Hall where we had started our day and crossed the finish line together. They even held up the finishing tape for us [hopefully they captured this in the official pics]. What a day!

Here we are soaking wet and exhausted, but already talking about next year!

I highly recommend this experience if you ever have the opportunity. It is by far one of the craziest and most fun events you will ever complete. The City Chase takes place all over Canada, the U.S. and even the world, so check it out!

***

My upper body is feeling a lot better today, but I’m taking a much needed day off! Starting tomorrow I have some serious mileage to cover over the next 4 days so I can slack off when we go camping this weekend. I’m treating it as a recovery week, but I should still be running about 45K. We’ll see how it goes!