Hello friends,
As you all know I've been training for my up coming ultra the end of July!
The race is fast approaching, and I'm doing what I can to prepare myself for what is sure to be a difficult 12 ish hours on top of a deathly mountain. No big deal right..?
My training this week included 1 long run, a speed workout, and a few average distance runs. I mixed in some biking as well.

Monday:
21.1km we decided to run this one straight up the mountain to the look off, across, then back down the mountain. The view was absolutely worth the climb!

Half way through I got a little tired and needed to take a break...

Running downhill is actually way harder than you would expect.

After completing the Cabot Trail Relay, which includes some serious up AND down hills, we have realized that downhill running is something we actually need to practice more often. Were always so concerned about the uphills and being able to maintain a decent pace while climbing, however, running back down is often overlooked. Downhill running can be a great time to gain time and cover a lot of ground fast, however it can also cause quadriceps exhaustion, shin splints and even injury if not done right. Theres an interesting article I found on running competitor here, for anyone interested in more information.

Tuesday:

(Rest day) but I was hugely motivated to run for some reason, so... 3.2 what was intended as a short stretch out run after our half the day before, turned into a very fast run with Kirk. Felt good to get the legs moving for a short distance though.

Wednesday:

Today was scheduled for a 9.7 km run. However, I only ran 7km.. which I told myself was okay cause I ran when I wasn't supposed to yesterday.. and it was crazy hot out. Almost like running in a humid sauna.

Thursday:

Cross training. Biking is my favourite form of cross training! I feel so free and happy when I'm on a bike. I like to bike to work when the weathers nice. Or to the market with a backpack for a short local ride.

Friday:

Scheduled for 8.05km. Lets honestly hope I have the energy for that after work. 

Saturday & Sunday:

I am scheduled for a 25.75 km run after work Saturday, however there is absolutely no way I will be completing that long of a run after working over 12 hours, plus long training runs like this require planning and preparation before hand. So instead, I'm having rest day Saturday and the long run on Sunday before I lay down to sleep for my night shift. Its hard following a training schedule when you work such long hours and are on your feet all day!

Training goes on though.

Hope everyone's training is going well!

Happy trails!

The Rural Runner

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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

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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

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I'm finally back to work full time (long story short.. Was on a leave of absence), and feel like I've been busier than ever!

So far, January has been jam packed with work, reading, spending time in Cape Breton and of course training runs and workouts!

Since finishing my January half marathon.. My runs seem to be few and far between.. Only reaching 62km so far for the month. I've been lacking motivation lately, as I had finished the half that I trained for since October, and then kinda thought.. "Well, what now?". So I decided a good way to kick that motivation up a notch, is by making a new goal.. 

Enter Spartan Race ULTRA BEAST!

By 26+ miles, that really means... 

"of course it's gonna be more than 26 miles.. Expect to die on the side of a mountain for atleast 27 or 28 long and gruelling miles."

Just paraphrasing here.

Having not officially registered yet.. Because the race cost the same as like.. 4 months of groceries for me (plus $40 parking? What an expensive lifestyle!).

Yup $235 is a steep price to pay to torture yourself for 12 hours.

Which, by the way, my goal is to finish in under 12 hours. Kind of because I think that's an appropriate time for my first one.. But mostly just because I don't want to be out there for absolutely any longer than 12 hours. Seriously.

**UPDATE (March) - So I Have purchased and Eastern Canada Seasons Pass for Spartan Race, and have officially committed to the Montreal Ultra Beast on July 31!**

Sure, for the typical marathoner who is doing 26 miles no problem.. 12 hours sounds INCREDIBLY SLOW! But! You must realize that we will be going UP and then down.. Then up and down again.. Then up and down AGAIN, on the side of a 2000 foot mountain, all while mixing in 50 different obstacles including monkey bars, barbed wire crawls, rope climbs, bucket/log carries.. And whatever other instruments of torture Spartan Race has up its sleeves.

SO, my point is.. 12 hours is a pretty decent time for a first ultra beast. As long as I do not miss the cut off time, I'll be a happy camper!

Next topic, what I've been up to this month!

Since finishing the half, and deciding on this big new goal.. I've been focusing a lot more on building strength for carries and monkey bars at races, and doing longer runs.

We did a nice 16km run, slow because of the ice, but a gorgeous day for it.

Afterwards we worked on some obstacles. The 8 foot walls are my arch nemesis.

Don't let the smile fool you.. Sandbag carries are harder than they look!

We also did a 10km run along the water, the snow was super deep which made the run a tad difficult. Gotta embrace the Cape Breton weather.

We also spent a couple hours snowshoeing as our cross training, a super fun way to get outside in the winter and be active!

This month I also was able to go out with my sister and friend Lee to The Middle Spoon. A local desert bar, and we stayed for lunch.. And of course cake!

I had the squash soup and chocolate cake for desert. 

Lisa and Lee shared the sweet and savoury platter in behind.

The hint of raspberry was delish!

Lisa had the peanut butter cheesecake and Lee had the lava cake (would totally get this one next time).. And yes, that says "spoon" and it's made of chocolate, too cute!

This month I've also been spending a lot of time reading..

So many books.. So little time!

This new year I had a personal resolution to read atleast one book a month, and so far it's going well. I've already read the book my sister Keshia gave me.. Girl on the Run by B. R. Myers and enjoyed that. Sometimes there's nothing better than resting the legs and getting lost in a book.

I'm currently enjoying Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson. Such a great read so far and filled with plenty of laughs, also an interesting read being a mental health nurse with the book written all about how she handles her depression/anxiety.

Next up for light casual reading is The Maze Runner by James Dashner. I've watched the movies with Kirk and loved them, so he gave me the first book in the series for Christmas! I'm looking forward to beginning this series of books (4 total I believe).

I also have a new book that I like to refer to as my bible. It's called Relentless Forward Progress: A guide to running ultramarathons by Bryon Powell. There seems to be some great advice and tips in here that I'm hoping will help me with training, nutrition, etc during my race coming up in 3 months. There's also training plans within the book, and chapters on basically ANY question a beginner ultra runner like myself might ask. I'm excited to read this book, but will need to set aside a time where I can focus fully on it, and start to develop a training plan for myself, especially now that I have an official goal for April!

The other new book I have on my to read list is actually a big vegetarian cookbook. Which is great because I can simply flip through and find something to make for dinner. This cookbook, called Meatless has vegetarian recipes that range from simple quick snacks, to homemade soup, and even full meals! The pictures inside are absolutely gorgeous and detailed, and I can't wait to give some of these recipes a test run.

So that's how my January has been so far, a busy but wonderful start to the new year!

How has your 2016 been going? Any new goals for the year?

Cheers,

The Rural Runner

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