Whenever I'm training and have a set distance goal, sometimes it can be hard to hit an exact amount of km, especially if its on a trail or in a subdivision. If you're like me and have OCD, I like to have my numbers be exact.
I started using this website I found on google and thought I should share it with my fellow runners :)
Its called on the go map and I'm 80% sure google runs it (its based off google maps). What I really like about it is that you can map your trail runs in parks. Sometimes when I'm feeling zero motivation, I open up the website and plan a route. I don't know why but it always gets me excited about running!

Heres an example of a random trail I was playing with in the city..

Its also nice because you can switch between miles and kilometres (I'm pretty confused when it comes to miles sometimes?!)

Also it feels much more badass saying you ran 21.1 kilometres as opposed to 13.1 miles ;) just sayin..

In other news:
Ive officially checked in to not 1.. BUT 6!!! Spartan races! All elite heats (what have I gotten myself into?!). I decided to take the plunge last week and just buy a Eastern Canada Seasons pass. It makes sense money wise, since myself and my boyfriend Kirk are planning for so many Spartan races close to home this year.

Heres the races I've officially registered for so far,
Quebec City Sprint - June 4th
Quebec City Super - June 5th
Toronto Sprint - July 2nd
Toronto Super - July 3rd
Montreal Super - July 30th
Montreal Ultra Beast - July 31 (death by Spartan race)

I must be out of my mind, but sometimes the only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy ;)

Happy running friends!
The Rural Runner

Continue Reading

I believe that the main reason barely anyone is capable of sticking to a New Years resolution, is because we all make them and then forget about them within a week or so. Going to be completely honest, I have been so busy lately with working full time, running, social life (what social life?!), that I completely forgot about my resolutions (until now.. cough cough).

SO.. since its a new month, I decided to review and revise my resolutions, as a way of continually assessing whats working, whats not, and how to move forward and accomplish these goals.
Considering I have only 88 days until my first (ultra.. maybe) beast (excuse me while I faint on the floor).. I figured now is as good of a time as ever to rewrite some goals for my training and this race.

New February goals:

• Hill training once a week. I know how tough the UB is going to be, with all of its crazy elevation changes, so I am trying to physically and mentally prepare myself for this. So far I'm 2 weeks into my training plan and have already seen major improvements in my hill climbing ability. By the end of this I'm going to have the nicest calves ever. 

• 30 pushups and 30 situps a day. Something this easy is actually so hard to maintain. I have not been keeping up with this goal, but I know I need to work on it, so it stays on my list.

• One long run a week. If I am going to be able to do 26+ miles, I'm have to train for it. The best way to be prepared for a race is by mimicking the conditions. This goes hand in hand with the hill training. I know the race is an ultra distance, so I want to make sure I can actually physically run and handle an ultra before hand. This means treating long 20+ km runs the same as I would race day. Call it a trial run. Im talking nutrition, water, supplementation, similar trails.. I need to find whatever works for me and makes me feel more comfortable and prepared for the race.
  
  
  
• Do upper body training more often, at least once a week. I recognize this as one of my weaknesses in OCR races and have been trying to work on my strength much more so I'm able to make it across monkey bars and rigs, carry buckets up hills and complete hercules hoists with no difficulty.

• Another new goal this month is to work on getting rid of my doubts. I feel like a lot of us self-sabotage and hold ourselves back due to fear, when really, we have the capacity to accomplish amazing things. I want to live my life to the fullest and experience everything, which means letting go of the insecurities and taking a leap of faith that everything will work out.

The Rural Runner

Continue Reading

Now that Ive been home a bit and life has calmed down, I figured it was time for a race recap.

Kirk and I arrived in Fort Lauderdale after a long day of flights and being at 4 different airports. We picked up our rental car (note to self.. Book this in advance next time. Airport car rentals are a nightmare.. And Canadian debit cards are apparently useless in America.)

We finally got everything sorted and headed straight to Whole Foods.

Seriously, there needs to be a whole foods in Nova Scotia.

We got all carbed up and ready for a weekend of racing.

The race venue was pretty flooded, and it was raining hard on and off.. But that didn't rain on our parade, duh we are Spartans! Aroo!

The race went very well, I only ended up doing Burpees for the Hercules hoist (this seriously weighed more than I did and lifted me off the ground) and the rig (opps, need to practice my monkey bars). I'll get you one day, burpee free race!!

Heres the pictures from Saturday's race

Who's this happy during a bucket carry?? Me apparently.. Lol like I said, we were in Miami, it was warm, can't rain on my parade!

The only obstacle that is easier when you're a shorty.. Also, man buns and barbed wire don't get along.

Mmmm doesn't that water look delish.

Pretty excited because I passed a dude! #spartanchicked

Kirk was waiting for me at the finish line with a big hug :)

Ps - you get a free Shock Top at American races.. Now that's what I'm talking about!

I placed 33rd in my elite heat for females, and 5th age group, which makes me super happy because I thought I would be near the bottom of the group! A goal for me had been to place top 50 of elite females so to do this at my first elite race was pretty exciting!

New goal: top 10 female.

Kirk placed 3rd in elite and made it to the podium! He has been training his ass off and deserves a big win like this!

Look at that smile! :)

Holy moly am I ever a proud girlfriend, I literally bragged to anyone who would listen to me that weekend about him winning! Well deserved. Someday, I'll be up there with him :)

The next day I was far too bruised and beat up (8 foot wall probs) to race elite again so I had the wonderful opportunity to cheer on Kirk instead. Watching him race is amazing, he's so fast and focused and when he goes through obstacles he makes it look effortless. I've never been so proud! He came in at 4th place in a very close finish! That man never fails to impress me.

Later on that day, we met up with our friend Juan and ran in the open heat (less competitive). It was super fun completing the race with friends and getting some awesome pictures along the way.

Romantic date idea.. Bucket carry through a swamp, haha😂

Again, man buns and barbed wire don't mix.

We decided to do a sexy hair flip dunk wall photo.. But I forgot.. Hahaha still the best picture ever.

Dunk wall photos are beautiful.

Note to self.. Don't wear a strappy sports bra at Spartan races. Also, say hi to my awesome friend Juan! :)

Overall it was SUCH a amazing weekend. I made a bunch of new friends, completed some goals and had fun racing. For now, it's technically Spartan race off season, but we're training for our upcoming race, the hypothermic half marathon. Back to the cold in Nova Scotia!

After that race, the workouts will be getting very intense as we have decided to compete in the Montreal ultra beast (45+km) July 31.

Ps - we made the 3 hour drive to Orlando to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and it was literally the BEST DAY EVER! 

Cheers,

The Rural Runner

Continue Reading

This week was pretty busy for me, I spent the evening on Wednesday out for a bike ride with my momma! Was supposed to run, but skipped out to do this instead! We biked for about an hour and it was a great workout.

Biking is so fun because you can go super fast without realizing it.. 

Then when I get off the bike I end up collapsing to the floor because I can't feel my legs! Happens every time. Legs like jello.

That's what's awesome about biking though, you can cover a lot of distance in a short amount of time! I fully intend on commuting to work eventually.. Once I'm better at biking.. And probably not till spring haha. But the good thing is the gas money I'll save and the exercise I'll get everyday!

I don't live too far from the hospital either.. So that makes the commute easier, but I might be a little tired during my 12 hour shifts so that's why I want to wait until I'm a better biker.

Anyways, me and mom biked all the way to the next town over and had a wonderful conversation the entire way!

Giggles all around!

It was a little chilly.. Wish I had worn a warmer jacket cause it was windy! Not looking forward to snow coming soon. Canada probs.

But we had a great workout and relaxed the rest of the night.

Today, I also had a great workout, my Instagram friends have constantly been tagging me in posts for #30burpees30days and to be completely honest I haven't been keeping up with them at all (Burpees are my nemesis). So in order to make up for the days missed, I had the brilliant idea to do them all collectively in one day #badidea so today I ended up doing 200 Burpees. Even typing it sounds depressing haha. My entire body was shaking and I hurt but they're done. #noragrets

Like I said on Instagram, it literally took everything I had to lift my arm to take this picture.. Please note the glistening sweat all over and my red face.. This was literally only half way through.. You don't wanna see the after picture, it's pretty darn ugly haha.

Side note, 2 weeks from today I'll be in Miami with Kirk! (Another reason I need to practice Burpees).

We are racing the Spartan race sprints both Saturday and Sunday, which I'm very excited about! And also pretty nervous. I've raced before, but never in the elite heat (competitive), and so I'm hoping it all goes well. As with all my races so far, my goals are to finish and not come in last place haha (and also to not do a crazy amount of Burpees).

For those of you who don't know, fail an obstacle in the Spartan race and do a 30 burpee penalty. I've been doing a lot of running so I feel pretty prepared in that aspect (although I'm not as fast as everyone else) but I'm kinda concerned about obstacles. Hopefully I can make it through the monkey bar rigs and inverted walls without falling off, the rope climb shouldn't be a problem though (somehow good at this one)! I'll definitely be writing race recaps right after I'm done to post on here too!

Stay tuned friends,

The Rural Runner

Continue Reading

Monday - this week starts out with a basic 8.05km run, an easy 6.4k and finish with the last 1.6k at a faster pace.

Tuesday - today was my first progression run, starting with 3.2k at an easy pace, then 4.8k increasing the pace as I went. The last 1.6k was cool down. I ended up doing 10km instead of 9.6 just to round it off and the run went fairly well, finishing with a time of 64 minutes. I posted about this run earlier in the week.

Someday soon I'll get my 10k to under an hour! I'm so close it's driving me nuts!

Wednesday - today's run was another 8.05km run at a steady pace. I also worked for the Remembrance Day parade today, and ended up with a couple HUGE blisters on my heels from my dress uniform. This unfortunately led to me to not being able to run for the rest of the week because I lost so much skin. Talk about sad panda :(

Thursday - today was scheduled for cross training, and I took the bike for a spin because it didn't bother my heels at all. I also posted about this workout earlier this week, and really enjoyed it so I will definitely be biking again!

Friday - another 8.05k run was scheduled for today.. That didn't get done :( stupid injuries setting me back. On the bright side.. It could be worse.. Skin heals pretty fast luckily!

Saturday - today was supposed to be my long run of the week - 16.1km. That didn't happen.. My heels were still pretty bad.. I could feel my heart beat in the blister so I figured it was best to give it some more time before pushing it or making the injury worse. Not running for 4 days takes a lot out of you mentally when you know you're supposed to be training but just can't. But.. It's always best to heal first and not risk it though. So I sucked it up and waited to run.

I did however do a workout today to make up for my lack of exercise..

3 rounds of:

- 30 triceps dips

- 30 push-ups

- 30 squats

- 40 crunches

- pull ups to failure

My upper body is still sore!

Ps new under armour pants! They're crazy comfy and kept me warm on my run Sunday.

Sunday - each week, this is my rest day. This week however, I was feeling guilty about not running for what felt like ALL week, and figured if I put some blister pads on my heels I would be okay to run.. So, to make up for the long run I missed, I did the 16.1k that had been scheduled for Saturday.

I was so happy to finally get back out there, and the weather was cooperating perfectly. My mom even came along biking beside me! We chatted the entire way and it was wonderful having someone to carry my water and snacks, hehe. I maintained a very steady pace around 6.30 km, without stopping once to walk.. Which is huge for me, considering normally whenever I hit anything past 8k I need to slow down for a minute. That's an hour and 45 minutes running without walking and I was pretty darn excited!

We did however stop for a minute when we hit the halfway point, so mom could find a bathroom and I could chow down on a vanilla flavoured Gu.

I always think it's a good idea to try out whatever you'll be using race day.. before race day. This goes for everything.. Supplementation/nutrition, sneakers, clothes.. Everything. Planning ahead and doing a run through, so you will be prepared on race day, is always a good idea.

The Gu went down easily and caused absolutely no problems with my stomach (happily surprised about that). And I actually enjoyed the flavour. The texture is a little weird.. It's thicker than pudding. And mine was a little cold because of the outside temp, so I think that made it a bit tastier. After I ate it, it wasn't like a had a huge jump in energy, but instead I was able to maintain my pace without feeling tired or having a crash, which was great. I'll definitely be continuing to use these in the future.

I also was able to practice on some obstacles while waiting for mom.. 18 days until the Miami Spartan race sprint! Must be prepared because I do not want to do any 30 burpee penalties.

Yes, I am also somewhat of a child when it come to playgrounds. Can't help myself!

Once mom returned, we were back on the trail to finish our run/bike. I know I'm still slow, but I'm so happy with my improvements so far! Even though I'm sad I wasn't able to do the entire 49.9k scheduled this week, I'm glad I didn't push it with my injury. During the long run on Sunday my blisters didn't even bother me since a had the bandages on so now I'm ready to make up for lost time!

This week coming will be my training week 4.. Things step up a notch now and I'm due for 62.8km for the week. I'll be posting later in the week about my schedule.

Until then,

Keep training friends

The Rural Runner

Continue Reading

As some of you may know, I'm currently training for my second half marathon. I'll be racing the hypothermic half in Halifax, January 17, 2016. I started my training 12 weeks before the race, and am currently on week 2. Not going to lie, week one was actually somewhat of a struggle. I had typically been running about 3 times a week and amping that up to 5-6x a week proved to be much harder than I imagined. I was feeling it at the end of the week. However, I took my rest day on Sunday and just like magic, felt amazing for my 8.05km run today.

Sometimes I stop to enjoy the beautiful country view! And take a selfie..

The pace was easy for about 5km, with the final part at a faster pace. My legs felt great and overall it was a wonderful run. Even after only a week, I am noticing a significant increase in the amount of time I can run without having to slow to a walk, which makes me super excited! Even managed to do some obstacle training during my run (can never be too prepared for the Miami Spartan races in December)!

Yes.. I use farm fences as obstacles.

Tuesday, tomorrow, is 9.65km. Starting with a 1.6km warmup followed by a 4.8km fartlek with 4 minutes faster and 1 minute slower pace, and finishing with that last 3.2km as a light cool down. This is different from last weeks fartlek, which was 3 minutes faster pace and 2 minutes at a slower pace.

Wednesday's run repeats the run from Monday (8.05km at an easy comfortable pace). 

Thursday is different this week, it's not cross training, but instead am easy 4.8km run to get some distance for the week and build a base, as the kilometres will be increasing next week.

Friday's run is 6.4km, 4.8 at an easy pace and the final 1.6km at a faster pace.

Saturday is a 12.9km run (same distance as last weeks longer run). The pace is easy, with it maintained throughout the run.

Sunday is scheduled for rest day.

However, since I have a race on Sunday, I will be switching around the schedule a little bit. The long 12.9 kilometre run will take place for me on Friday, followed by rest day Saturday (for the day before the race), and switch the original 6.4 km run from Friday to Sunday. This works out well because the race is 7km on Sunday so I'll still get the mileage, just at different times and a half kilometre more.

Super excited for this race this weekend, because it's a relay race and I get to do it with my friend Erika and my boyfriend Kirk! The relay is 21km with teams of 3, and each person completes a 7km leg. It's called the lucky 7 relay and is 7 laps around Citadel Hill. I've heard good things about this race, apparently it's a lot of fun, and there's free breakfast after.. So it's a win-win!
Update: Heres the race recap from Lucky 7 Relay.

Happy running friends,

The Rural Runner

Continue Reading