OK, so I did it.
I signed up for a half-marathon clinic at the Running Room, which means starting Jan. 25, I will be training to run 21.5 kilometres.
I waver between feeling pumped and being scared out of my wits. But my fundraising is slowing and I can't help but think my running monthly five click races isn't exactly inspiring donations.
My next race is the St. Catharines Road Runners Valentine's Run in Port Dalhousie. It's a five-kilometre race and will be my last. It will have to be a minimum of eight clicks for me or bust when it comes to future runs. And now, with my half-marathon training, that means that my final race in the Running for the Cats series will be a half-marathon.
A friend at work is working on me to join him for one in May in Buffalo. We'll see. But for now, I have my sights set on the Twenty Valley Wine Country Run half-marathon. More than twenty clicks through some of the most beautiful countryside.
As for my March, April and May runs, they're still undecided. There has been talk of the Lincoln County Humane Society organizing a K-9k in the spring. When and if that happens, I'll definitely be running in it.
In the meantime, wish me luck. I'll need it so I don't lose my nerve. And please, keep donating. That helps keep me going, too.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Head butts from heaven
Lactic acid is evil.
It's like being punished for a good deed — or maybe it's a reminder to stretch after running instead of having tunnel vision for the free food being served up just on the other side of the finish line.
I ran my back-to-back five kilometer races, one on New Year's Eve and the other New Year's Day. First up was the Resolution Run and though I don't get daunted by five click jaunts, I was just a little bit on Friday.
I had only run twice since my last race. A slip on some ice made training impossible but when the bruises and pain faded, I had something else holding me back. I found out my cat Maya, who had been languishing for a few weeks, had stomach cancer. She died on Dec. 28 and I had little motivation to really do much of anything except spend whatever time I could with her. And she doesn't run, so that meant lounging on a couch with her slumbering nearby.
By the time the Resolution Run had come around, mentally, I felt like I could do it, though I wasn't really feeling up to it. And at about three-klometres when my legs started to feel a little heavier than usual, I just imagined Maya — my Maya Papaya as I called her — giving me little head butts, like she used to do when she wanted loving, nudging me along. Of course, then I felt like bawling, which doesn't exactly make someone run faster.
I crossed the finish line at about 32 minutes — not the most impressive time but one that provided me with some long-absent motivation. I had New Year's Day and the St. Catharines Rowing Club's Three-Mile Challenge the next day to focus on.
Problem is, there was all this food at the end of the Resolution Run and instead of stretching, I scoped out the scene and then stood around refueling. I had a touch of soreness and stiffness in my legs when I woke up New Year's Day.
Heavy legs, heavy heart, but again, I just imagined a tiny furry black head gently pushing me along the hilly course through Port Dalhousie, so much so, that I crossed the finish line on New Year's Day in 29:49. It didn't hurt that it was 13 degrees C and more like spring than Jan. 1.
Still, it was such a relief to be done that I jumped into line to fill up on the vegetarian chili that rowing club volunteers cooked up when I should have been more intent to stretch my rusty muscles instead.
It wasn't long before my legs stiffened, before each step became laborious and painful, even as I stood around filling my face at the rowing club. That's how I am today, in pain. Oh and I also have a cold.
But I swear I can still feel Maya Papaya nudging me along...
Next up, the St. Catharines Road Runners 31st annual Valentine's Day Run. This will be my last five click race. It's time to step this up and run farther, faster.
It's like being punished for a good deed — or maybe it's a reminder to stretch after running instead of having tunnel vision for the free food being served up just on the other side of the finish line.
I ran my back-to-back five kilometer races, one on New Year's Eve and the other New Year's Day. First up was the Resolution Run and though I don't get daunted by five click jaunts, I was just a little bit on Friday.
I had only run twice since my last race. A slip on some ice made training impossible but when the bruises and pain faded, I had something else holding me back. I found out my cat Maya, who had been languishing for a few weeks, had stomach cancer. She died on Dec. 28 and I had little motivation to really do much of anything except spend whatever time I could with her. And she doesn't run, so that meant lounging on a couch with her slumbering nearby.
By the time the Resolution Run had come around, mentally, I felt like I could do it, though I wasn't really feeling up to it. And at about three-klometres when my legs started to feel a little heavier than usual, I just imagined Maya — my Maya Papaya as I called her — giving me little head butts, like she used to do when she wanted loving, nudging me along. Of course, then I felt like bawling, which doesn't exactly make someone run faster.
 |
| Me and my speedy friend Wayne, who jogged next to me as I ran the Resolution Run. |
I crossed the finish line at about 32 minutes — not the most impressive time but one that provided me with some long-absent motivation. I had New Year's Day and the St. Catharines Rowing Club's Three-Mile Challenge the next day to focus on.
Problem is, there was all this food at the end of the Resolution Run and instead of stretching, I scoped out the scene and then stood around refueling. I had a touch of soreness and stiffness in my legs when I woke up New Year's Day.
 | ||||||||
| Me at Martindale Pond, post New Year's Day race | . |
Still, it was such a relief to be done that I jumped into line to fill up on the vegetarian chili that rowing club volunteers cooked up when I should have been more intent to stretch my rusty muscles instead.
It wasn't long before my legs stiffened, before each step became laborious and painful, even as I stood around filling my face at the rowing club. That's how I am today, in pain. Oh and I also have a cold.
But I swear I can still feel Maya Papaya nudging me along...
Next up, the St. Catharines Road Runners 31st annual Valentine's Day Run. This will be my last five click race. It's time to step this up and run farther, faster.
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