It's cloudy right now, and was clearly raining earlier, but the skies are supposed to be sunny for tomorrow's half marathon. I think the expected high is forecast to be around 17 C, which we should be getting close to around the time I'm hoping to finish. Nice running weather, overall.

My two "easy" 8 km runs this week went quite well. Tuesday was pretty much a flat route (didn't want to push too much after Sunday's long run), but at a good pace. I love tracking lap times and such with my watch. Then Thursday I did the hill run with some flat stuff before and after, at a reasonable pace. Made myself go a little faster up the hill - tried to envision running with my running buddy and talking away.

I just love running outside on these cool spring mornings. Both days it was around 7 or 8 C, good weather for tights and a long-sleeved shirt. It always takes a bit of an effort for me to force myself out the door without a jacket or gloves, because it is a bit cool and for that first minute or so it would be nice to have more clothes. But it's amazing how fast the body warms up.

As for tomorrow's half, I'm feeling reasonably rested but have stupid anxiety over this run, which is ridiculous. It's just a run, and no one but me cares what my time is. However, since I do care, hanging over me is the knowledge that my two slowest half marathons were on this course, that it's hilly, and that I would really love to do better this year. No pressure...

The smartest way to run tomorrow is as a good training run for next month's marathon. Not an LSD - if I'm feeling good, there's no way I'll be able to deliberately run slow, having run that distance before. But no real pushing or trying to run hard, either. Just a comfortable pace. Plod up the hills, take water breaks (maybe a couple more than usual - still trying to learn to drink more), and so on. I bought a waist pouch and will try eating a few sport beans somewhere in the middle, again, just for the practice.

That's the plan. We'll see how it plays out, starting about 24 hours from now.

Today was the 30 km LSD, and it went well. Based on my distance calculations, I should have had a little more S going on - average pace was about 5:20/km, and it would have been better at 5:30 or even 5:45. But I did deliberately slow myself down, more than once, and I was tired at the end. Thank heavens for pace bunnies. My experience has been that I am pretty good at pacing someone, but terrible at pacing myself.

For the record, today's run was somewhere between 30.6 km and 32.7 km. Why the uncertainly? Well, I was planning to run on a 400 m track, but since it was so sunny today, realised that meant about 3 hours of running with no shade. Okay, if it's a race, that's miserable, but suck it up. But for a training run? No way. So instead I ran to the park, and then made up the difference with laps. The question is: how big is a lap? According to a coach timing people there one day last summer, 0.9 km. According to DH's Garmin, on two separate days, 0.827 km and 0.880 km. Who to believe? I choose to be conservative and call it 0.85 km, which gives me total distance for today of 31.2 km. Which I feel very good about.

Physically, I'm tired but not exhausted. A little stiffness and soreness. My right calf is a little sore, which is new, so when I finish here I'll ice it for a while. It's already feeling better than immediately after my run, so I'll take that as a good sign. Hip is okay - making a little noise but nothing beyond what I'm used to after a long run and less than after Around the Bay. All good stuff.

Two more weeks of hard training before the pre-marathon taper. The half marathon next Sunday, and then about 32 km the Sunday after that. At which point it all starts ramping down again. And I've already decided to "cheat" on the mid-week program this week and next, both to make sure I'm fresh from the half, and to make sure I recover from the half. It will be more of a run than an LSD, and I want to do those 32 km in two weeks and feel strong afterwards.

The fact is, I have been running now for so many years that missing a couple of runs isn't going to have a huge impact. That may sound arrogant or too full of myself, but IMHO it's the truth. Obviously you can't train for a marathon by consistently shorting the mid-week distances. But I have done so much mid-week distance since Christmas - preparing for ATB, and then for the half, and now for Ottawa - that I'm not counting on every.last.km to get me through. Far more important - for me - is to make sure that I don't overly stress my hip. It's been good so far, but I just don't have the confidence that I can run hard, hard, hard for the next two weeks and still be saying that.

On that note, tomorrow is a REST day. "Rest" includes a little easy (no hills) time on the stationary bike, a few light weights to work my arms, some ab and hip exercises. NO running, "easy" or otherwise. Then the plan is for 8 km on Tuesday and 8 km on Thursday, no more running until Sunday.

On the bad news front, DH is really having a problem with his calf and can't run at all right now. He was babying it along this week, thinking about maybe some light running this weekend. But last night he sprinted a couple of steps to get the wine we forgot in the house, and it just went on him. Big time pain. He's currently trying to check out what's going on, but he won't be running a half next Sunday. And probably not the 5 K, although he may walk it. Our friend has been sick and doesn't feel ready for the half, which is a real shame since he had such a fantastic time with ATB and I'll bet could have done a 1:30 :(

Wanted to write about personal bests, but would rather ice my calf (to be cautious) and have something cold to drink while reading yesterday's newspaper. Some other time.

Two more runs since I last wrote, presumably "smarter" than the one before that ;) 14.5 km on Wednesday and 8.4 km today, as called for by the marathon training program. Rest day tomorrow and then 30 km on Sunday. I am really wondering how that's going to feel. It's supposed to be a slow 30 km, and to try and make sure of that, I'm planning to run it on one of the two 400 m outdoor tracks that DH and I periodically make use of. Or perhaps do the first half on the track and the second half using the park loop. No need to decide now - can just wait and see how the day goes.

The only thing I know for sure is that it will be warm - ridiculously warm compared to last weekend. The predicted high for Sunday is over 20 C. What a shock to the system, but good practice for Ottawa. I understand that the last couple of years the weather has been hot, so may as well try to get used to it now.

Wednesday's run was not so great - not horrible, but not wonderful. The temperature was about 7 C with overcast skies, a little wind but nothing major, so pretty good conditions (no gloves!). And I'd had enough sleep, my hip wasn't bothering me, it felt great to be outside, and normally under those circumstances I'd expect a good run. But somehow it never quite "clicked". My legs weren't tired, but they weren't really in sync with my breathing, so that automatic-just-running feeling never really kicked in. I kept getting stuffed up and had to clear my nose at what felt like 10 second intervals. Got all cramped up and needed a potty break at Hart House in the middle, which is not common on a weekday morning and was very annoying. Stepped in a puddle on my first lap around the park - yuck. Had to keep running around a great big puddle which meant watching for traffic. Knowing that I'd decided to do Ottawa helped me keep going, but it was definitely a matter of just putting in the distance and counting down until it was over.

I don't want to make too much of this, because it happens. Like anything else, you do something often enough, you're going to have times when it's just not that great. And times when it's fantastic and you don't want it to end, and mostly times that are somewhere in between.

Like this morning's run. Wednesday's run didn't have hills, and Sunday's run won't, so I did the hill run and a few park circuits to make up the required distance. And it was a good run. 8 C or more, and sunny. No jacket! No gloves! For a brief time I worried about not being warm enough but of course that wasn't a concern once I was moving. It takes such an effort to overcome that instinctive "I'm cold" feeling, though, and to go out wearing what you know will be enough, even if it doesn't feel that way for the first minute or two. I'm still a little puzzled by the final distance:time ratio - 8.4 km:44:29 minutes. It felt, overall, faster than that, and my typical pace is closer to 5:00/km. Either the hill took longer than I thought, or my distance approximations are a little off. Didn't time any segments, just the run itself, so I can't put it together. But it's not really a big deal. Maybe I was just tired because it's Friday and I could have used more sleep this week.

So the half is almost here and I'm looking forward to it. Hills and all. No need to run them fast, and I don't want to run too hard, anyway, and risk messing up before Ottawa. Actually, I say I'm looking forward to the half, but that won't be true right before it starts. Those few minutes, for me, are like exams used to be. I would study and study and study, be pretty much ready, if nervous, and then in the few minutes before it started I would suddenly feel this great fatigue with the subject and wonder how I was possibly going to find the energy to lay out the required material for the next three hours. Then the exam would start and I would do it because there was no reasonable alternative. Waiting at the race start, I think about how far I have to run and have absolutely no desire to do it, can't imagine where the energy will come from, and so on. And then it starts and away we all go and somehow that feeling melts away. Or at least it has so far. Which is not to say that during races I don't get that "how am I ever going to finish this" feeling. But once actually moving, it doesn't seem as impossible as at the start.

In other news, had another ART session on Wednesday and the surrounding muscles got really sore. I think that's good. Now that they're loosened up, they're working harder. My hip still worries me - not so much because it's a problem but because I think every little twinge or sore muscle is the beginning of a big problem. But so far it's help up okay and if I don't "train stupid" there is every reason to think that it will continue to do so. But I'm afraid to take that for granted.

More to come on Sunday after the big 30 km. And at some point I'd like to write about personal bests and how my feelings about them have evolved.

Okay, so about that training smart - guess I've had a lesson this week that I need to pay attention to what "smart" really means. For me, it means "don't run two days in a row".

Having said that, it's not like I'm writing to report a disaster. On Monday morning I ran my planned 8 km, on the track, a little slower over all since the middle few were with my running buddy, who had just returned from vacation and wasn't at his usual speed. And that, combined with the long run and the hills on Sunday, was enough to make my hip sit up and take notice. Not in a dramatically painful I'm-going-to-collapse-under-you way, but enough to remind me why I don't run two days in a row. Especially when the first day is a long run.

So I took it easy today - just some light elliptical and cycling, about 20 minutes total - and it feels good again. A little minor muscle pain in my legs overall, but that doesn't surprise me; it was a long run on Sunday and I expected to feel it somewhat, especially with the two long hill runs in the middle. I've taken a few anti-imflammatories over the last couple of days and that probably helped settle things done as well.

Tomorrow my scheduled training run is 15 km and I'm hoping it's dry so I can run outside. No hills though - just circuits of the park. The overnight temperature is supposed to be 4 C and that's okay for a morning run. By now it's also light enough that I'm comfortable going out on my own. Tomorrow night is another ART session and that should be good. I wonder if the fact that some of my muscles have been loosened up is why I'm feeling them more lately - perhaps they're actually moving in a slightly different way.

Still feeling optimistic about finishing the marathon. My running buddy thought it was a good plan, and it turns out that he ran his first marathon with much the same attitude; i.e.: to get the experience. Of course, he was much faster, but then we can't all be Olympic-qualifying material... Not to mention I'm not nearly that young anymore...!

Sunday, long run planned, and it wasn't raining or snowing after all - hallelujah! Having said that, it was overcast and windy, and we debated running inside to avoid the rain that looked imminent. But in the end we decided to go outside, and I am SO glad. I hate the wind - hate it, hate it, hate it - but it could be windy at the half at the end of this month, and we need the exposure. Plus, running outside meant I could do the hill route a couple of times, plus experience the standard and more minor ups and downs, and overall have a better run.

On the advice of someone from the Running Room forum, I saved the 30 km for next week, when it's on the Hal Higdon training schedule, and went shorter today. Shorter was about 2:15 and 26.5 km. The average of that was fast - and I was supposed to be doing my LSD - but a lot of it was at a much slower pace. I think it took 56 minutes to do the first 10 km. But I couldn't help gaining a little speed on the long downhills, and also picked up the pace for about the last half hour, since I knew it was the last half hour and was feeling good.

Today was my first time wearing a fuel belt, and although initially it was annoying it was actually not that hard to adjust to. I started drinking water at about 10 km and had a few sport beans at the same time, drank some more and ate a few more about an hour later, and generally felt quite good. No debilitating stomach cramps, and no exhaustion in my legs. This gives me hope. Now I just have to be able to do something similar over longer distances.

The awkward thing about the fuel belt was trying to get to the bottles and the pouch while wearing a shirt, and a jacket, and gloves. But as it gets warmer, the layers come off, and the routine gets more familiar, that should all improve. I still resent having to worry about this stuff - wish the human body (or at least mine) was designed to go longer without water and food - but it's not, and at least solutions like the fuel belts are available.

My hip is feeling a little touchy, but more "worked" than "pain". I iced it a bit and will put heat on before bed, maybe take an anti-imflammatory. Tomorrow's plan is for just 8 km, and then the next run on Wednesday. Wednesday night is also an ART session and that should feel good.

The forecast for overnight and tomorrow is "periods of rain". Sigh. Guess I'll plan on being inside tomorrow and keep my fingers crossed for Wednesday.

The Boston Marathon is tomorrow and the conditions for that are forecast to be miserable - rain and headwinds. Yuck. The web site has a long warning about how to avoid hypothermia. What a shame for those people running, especially those for whom it's a "first time" or "only time" experience. Right about now I am very glad that I didn't come up with this Boston qualifying goal last spring...!

Another week, another milestone - this time, running two consecutive days without hip problems.

After last Sunday's run, I followed my usual schedule and cross-trained on Monday, then ran again on Tuesday. Originally the plan was to combine track and treadmill, but instead I decided to do a tempo run. I was kind of tired, we had dinner late on Monday so my stomach wasn't at its best, and that just seemed like a better idea. Total time was 59:33, total distance was 12.1 km - darn good for a not-feeling-great day when it all felt like hard work.

Wednesday night was my second ART session, and again the benefits were obvious immediately. It didn't hurt nearly as much, but what little "awareness" there was in my hip went away, and the surrounding muscles were much less disturbed. A little stiff, but not painful. Per the therapist's instructions, I did ice it and put heat on it before bed, and also took an anti-inflammatory. Then I ran 10 km on Thursday at an "easy" pace, and on Friday ran 5.1 km easy and then did 5.3 km on the treadmill (hills). A good workout.

Of course, I am tired, tired, tired of running inside. Each night before we're due to run, DH and I review the forecast, it's always yucky, and we always agree that we'll assess things in the morning. Thursday I actually wasn't too sorry to be inside, just in case my hip had any problems. Friday, we planned to go outside "no matter what". Well, the "what" referred to temperature and wind conditions. When it turned out to be snowing, that pretty much decided things.

Today would have been a good day to be outside, but no way I was doing my weekend long run after two consecutive days. Maybe it would be okay, but being cautious has worked for me so far and I'm not eager to gamble at this point. Tomorrow, the scheduled long run day, the forecast is for rain mixed with snow. Enough, already! It is half way through April. The bulbs are coming up. The lilacs are budding. There is new grass in our yard. It is time for warmer temperatures, and no snow!!!

So - changing topics - my marathon plans are about to take a dramatic change in direction, because I'm planning to move them up about 5 months. What? Explanation:

I have been running for a long time, and at this point have a very solid base. Yes, I don't do enough hill training and hate bad weather. But week after week, I put in the miles. Three weeks ago I did the 30 km Around the Bay, faster than expected, and recovered quickly. There are marathon training programs that have 30 km as the longest run. And that made me start thinking about the National Capital Marathon, which is at the end of May. Six weeks or so from now. Time to do at least one more 30 km or 30+ km run, and possibly two of them.

The key for doing the marathon would be to take the energy involved in doing the ATB at a 5:00/km pace and put it into doing more km at a slower pace. Well, that would be one of the keys. The other would be getting more practice drinking and getting calories while running. In retrospect, having talked to others, my ATB finish would have been stronger if I'd given my legs some energy instead of relying on just a couple of water stops.

In short, I think that I'm strong enough to do it. But why do it now? Why not wait until September? Well, that's part of the "grand plan", which is: I want to do Boston. And that's not an unrealistic goal. As unreal as that may sound.

My Boston qualifying time is 4:00 hours, which is an average pace of about 5:40/km. That's significantly slower than my normal running pace, and presumably I'd run at least part of the race at something closer to 5:00/km. Precluding a total breakdown, 4:00 hours is in sight. Sub 4:00 hours is in sight. Boston in 2008 isn't the moon.

But I don't want to kid myself that it's easy, either. The marathon is a big distance, even after doing 30 km. If I'm counting on doing sub 4:00 in September to qualify for Boston, and I have a bad day or it's a bigger distance than expected, that's it. I've bet the farm and lost, so to speak. So there is a real temptation to do the marathon in Ottawa, to get the experience, but with no expectations. Yes, it would be wonderful to do it in 4:00. But I don't have to. This can be a learning experience and preparation for the marathon that "counts".

Which is not to say that it can't be its very own marathon experience. By default, it would be, since I've never done one. But I love the idea of doing a marathon "just because", and being relaxed about the outcome. Not having anything truly riding on it. Not feeling like I let myself down if x or y doesn't happen. My first half marathon was such a rush - I couldn't believe I'd done it, that I'd done it in under 1:45, and so on. My first marathon could be the same way. Just to have done it, to be able to say, "Yes - I ran a marathon". Something I've been thinking about since my first half marathon, and something I have every reason to believe is within my reach.

DH said if I did the marathon, he'd do the half. And so, after running it past a few people on the Running Room forum, after talking it through with DH again, after really thinking about it - I took the plunge and registered tonight. Mostly because there's a cap on the number of racers, and six weeks away it was already over 75% full, according to the web site. I figure the worst that happens is I'm out the $90 it cost to register. Not the end of the world, and registering now buys some peace of mind. And some mental commitment, I think. Tomorrow's long run will have a different feel now that I'm running with a marathon in mind, six weeks out. It will also be a lot longer than originally planned when there was only the half marathon at the end of this month as an immediate training goal.

Yikes - what have I done? What am I thinking? It's a little overwhelming. At the same time, there is this excited feeling in the pit of my stomach and I'm anxious to just go for it.

Wonder what my running buddy is going to say when I tell him...! He has always been encouraging and I'm sure will be so now. Especially if I have a good run tomorrow.

And a good run tomorrow involves running s-l-o-w-l-y. No watching the clock to see if I'm doing 5:00/km. That's not realistic for the marathon - I will burn out too quickly - and it's not realistic for tomorrow. Someone on the RR forum had a tip for making sure you don't start too fast - no mouth breathing for the first bit - and I'm going to remember to try it. And a good run tomorrow also involves drinking more water and consuming some calories. I bought some "energy beans" and will start on them around the 12 km mark. If that doesn't work, tomorrow and the next few weeks are the time to learn what does work.

Oh - in the interests of no pressure I am not going to tell a lot of people that I'm doing the Ottawa marathon. My running buddy and his wife. Some other people at the gym. Our friend who also did ATB. DH's parents, since we're planning to stay there that weekend. But not my family. Not the people I work with. If it goes poorly, the people who know will understand. No one else has to know.

OMG - I can't quite believe what I've decided to do.

The end of another week, two more good runs since I last wrote.

Friday being Good Friday and a stat holiday here, DH and I agreed to get up early and treat it like a work day for things like getting to the gym early, and getting the housework out of the way. It was cold and windy outside, with snow flurries, so we ran inside. My goal was 10 "easy" km on the track, followed by a 30 minute hill workout on the treadmill. Maybe it was the extra hour of sleep (gym opening an hour later than usual) but those "easy" km were still sub-5:00. Definitely not complaining but still kind of surprised. I selected a "6" intensity on the treadmill for the hill workout - it was definitely tiring but I should probably have been running harder. Next time I'll try the "7". In any event, 15 km in all so a very good run.

We wimped out again today and ran on the track, but this time at U of T. That's the second time in a couple of months and it's definitely still a nostalgia trip. Not too busy, probably because it's Easter, so I was able to pick a lane and pretty much stay in it. Total run was 18.585 km in 1:29:33 - again, faster than planned or expected.

At the same time, it was a bit of a tough run because we went out to dinner and to the symphony last night, and my body does not particularly like to run with that much food in my system. I felt like it was all digested, but as soon as the run started could feel more weight than usual in my stomach and was sort of rueing the indulgence. Still, not nearly as uncomfortable as it could have been. Needed a water and bathroom break at 12 km, and stopped to talk to DH at 15 km (he was having some issues - started getting blisters - not good), so it wasn't 18+ km continuous. However, still a good weekend run (i.e.: longer than usual run) and good prep for the Half at the end of this month.

However, I really need to learn pacing, and how to run slower on purpose. I have tried, but it feels so uncomfortable, in that my steps feel awkward and the running doesn't feel so enjoyable. It's one thing to be a little tired and naturally run at a slower pace, quite another to run at a slower pace when not particularly tired. One of those things I am not going to worry about before the Half, but will need to concentrate on while training for the marathon.

So overall I am quite pleased with the holiday weekend's running. No doubt outside, with hills and wind, my overall pace would have been slower, so I should not get too wound up about running sub-5:00 indoors. At the same time, it does make me appreciate the years of running that have helped me reach the point where getting up early and running 10 km is, 99% of the time, no big deal. It's generally my minimum morning run, since I'd rather do at least 12 km but sometimes start late and don't have time. It was very close to 10 years ago - definitely sometime in April 2007 - that I did my first and only official 10 km event, and at that time was very happy with finishing somewhere around 57 minutes. Like the old Virginia Slims ads used to say, "You've come a long way, baby".

And this baby hopes to go all the way to 42.2 km this year! Assuming no injuries or major life changes that play havoc with my training, it's in sight, it's very much possible. And that is a very exciting feeling.

After a week of no running, I ran Monday and again this morning. Both went very well. Monday was especially nice because it was 8 C and overcast but not raining, so DH and I could run outside. Total run was about 12.4 km - a couple of laps around the park and the hill run twice. I have mapped out a good 15 km run that also involves doing the hill run twice and am just itching to try it one morning. Unfortunately, we are looking at flurries and sub-freezing temps for the next few days, so it won't happen until next week. Next weekend, assuming okay weather, I also have a 17 km route with three hills that I would like to try. One of them would be near the end so it would be especially good training.

The great thing is that the park and/or the school make it fairly easy to add distance if it feels good, without ending up too far away and having to get back to the starting point.

Total run today, on the indoor track, was 14.1 km, at a faster pace than usual, around 4:47. By the end I was feeling rather tired but tried to maintain it, mostly to make up for not doing any hills.

The spring half marathon will be happening the end of this month and between now and then I plan to train pretty intensely (except for the usual taper). Then it's a bit of rest before full-fledged marathon training starts. The first couple of months should be pretty nice. No emphasis on speed, just on building distance, nice time of year to run, etc. Somewhere around July it probably needs to get a little more intense - by that point 30 km should be relatively "easy" - and then the time will just fly until the actual marathon in September. Being superstitious about injury, though, I'm not actually registering until after the half marathon.

In trivial news, last Friday I finally bought a proper runner's watch so now I can track my exact times instead of just approximating them. That will be especially nice during an actual race - maybe provide a little extra motivation if I'm running well enough to be close to a really good time or something.

The big news is that last week I also learned about something called Active Release Therapy (ART) and the possibility that it could help my lingering hip issue. ART is essentially a deep tissue massage aimed at loosening scar tissue and dealing with adhesions. I got the name of a practicioner from someone on an on-line running forum, and went to see her today. And what an amazing difference! She found the spot right away and started manipulating it, and it HURT, A LOT, but in a "good hurt" way. Like when you massage a tight spot on a muscle, but much more intense. But right away I could feel the area loosening up and within just a few minutes the "awareness" in my hip was pretty much gone and it felt fantastic. I have to ice it tonight, and put some heat on before bed, but can still run on Friday. Next Wednesday I have another appointment to see how it's doing and perhaps loosen up a bit more, and after that I may even try back-to-back runs.

It would be so wonderful to resolve this thing. In the big picture, I can't really complain because I am able to run and it really never hurts - it just gets uncomfortable. But I feel it if I try to run two days in a row, I'm paranoid about taking time off after every big run, and it's always a nagging worry. It's been almost two years now, and although as I build to marathon distance of course I've got to be careful about injuries, a reduction in the paranoia/fear department would be a real boost.