AHHHHHHHHHHHH.It’s officially Spring as of yesterday. It has been truly winter-like for us here on the northwest coast of BC where it’s usually super mild! It has lasted longer than I can ever remember in the past and since I’ve pretty much trained straight through between Fall and Spring racing seasons due to Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend in January, I’VE NOTICED.. I’m not complaining, just noticing and feeling ready for the weather to change!
I BOUGHT A TREADMILL AND I’M SO EXCITED!!! (is that weird?)
I’ve spent a fair amount of time on a treadmill since the fall and I have actually come to love doing certain speed workouts and hill intervals on the infamous “dreadmill”. I EVEN BOUGHT MY OWN. Never thought I’d say that. My machine hasn’t arrived yet, but it’s shipped and soon this baby will be mine…probably the day the last bit of snow melts hahaha.
I plan to use my new treadmill throughout the year (and probably decorate it to reflect festive times) to throw in a few extra miles here and there when I have spare time at home, for specific workouts from Coach Andrew, and when the weather is BRUTAL.
Over the snowy months I also invested in some (run)Yaktrax and have not only come to highly appreciate them, but to love them! So awesome! If you like to run outside regardless of the snow and ice, you need to get a pair of these. Unreal. I wonder if they go on sale in the non-snowy months?
I’m ready for any late(r) dumps of snow that decide to suprise us, AND I have the option to train in the comfort of my own home any time I feel like it now, too. Yess.
Okay, back to Spring.
The things I’m most excited about, besides feeling my runners come into direct contact with the pavement, are more daylight to accomodate both super early and after work runs, spring & summer gear, and RACES. Duh.
Bring on the shorts weather! Shorts & fun compression socks! I have a few new pairs of new shorts from Oiselle that I can’t even wait to be free in! And speaking of compression socks, I was recently contacted by a rep from Tiux who asked if I’d be interested in trying their new endurance socks. (Duh). He sent me the True Red/Maroon Endurance graduated compression socks and they are REALLY awesome. My feet are crazy (and gross) and I really don’t like socks that are too thick, thin (blisters & calluses), slide down, don’t breathe, etc, etc, etc. These socks are awesome. I tested them out on a treadmill run of about 8km in a pair of shoes I don’t wear outdoors, and then again in my usual long-run Nikes last weekend for a very long, very soggy 33km with Sam, and my feet were feeling totally fine by the end of it. The leg compression feels good, not too tight but tight enough, and the colour is sweet. They are also specific to left and right. I’m sold. If you want to get yourself a pair, here is my link for 15% off! http://tiux.refr.cc/jamiek
What is Coming Up?
Now that my two goal races for spring are approaching, I’ve decided to recap each week of training on Sundays here on the blog going forward so stay tuned for that on Sunday if you are a runNerd like me and enjoy that type of thing! This is going to be mostly for accountability and reflection, but who knows, maybe it will be interesting to you, motivating, or spark ideas.
First goal race is THE TENACIOUS TEN presented by my most favourite running apparel company, Oiselle. I love Oiselle and I recently became part of their Oiselle Volee team, which is a global community made up of women with diverse running backgrounds and competitive goals.
This race is happening in Seattle on April 22nd which also happens to be Earth Day, starting and finishing in Gasworks Park. There is a ten mile as well as a ten kilometer race. I’m running the ten miler, while my friend Whitney is taking on the 10k. I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS WEEKEND TRIP! The medal is A COWBELL and all runners get a Tenacious 10 trucker hat.
Woo. I look foward to leaving it all out there – shit is gonna get (the good kind of) ugly – and then I will use the experience as a way to refine my goals for…
The CALGARY MARATHON on May 28th! This will be my first time attempting to break 4 hours in the marathon. I have run three full marathons so far and I feel ready, but anything can happen on race day. There is a crew of #rupertrunners heading to Calgary for various distances during this event weekend and it’s going to be a very Canadian time as the weekend theme is Canada’s 150th birthday. Canadian flag compression socks from Running Skirts will be a must at this race. Will report back, of course.
New, very far in advance plans
OH and lastly for today..I have a problem. I want to run every race. I’m also pretty impulsive, not afraid to run alone or travel alone, and I like planning shit. So yeah. I picked out my fall marathon already, California International Marathon, and then, when I somehow came to notice that registration for the BMO Mesa-Phoenix is already open (a February marathon I’ve been interested in for a bit) I did some more reading to find out that it usually sells out, so.. yeah I registered for that too. Whoops. At least defferals are allowed.. 🙂
JammieKomadina 