Winnipeg Running

I can now add Winnipeg to the list of cities I've run in. I've obviously run in Toronto and I've also run in Chicago and Montreal during my half-marathon training. This morning I ran 5k in Winnipeg.

I'm here with the AfriGrand Caravan and we're having a great time hanging out and relaxing before a busy week of events hits next week.

I just ran on the streets around the house where I'm staying. Once again I used the run 10/ walk 1 system. Because I was almost finished by the end of my second run 10, I kept running for another minute to finish it out. (in other words I only did two walk periods).

My 5k time was 33 minutes! That's 1.5 minutes fast than last week's 5k. That's a 10:38 average mile! I can hardly believe it. :)

4 weeks til my half marathon!

10 miles! 1 month left! 12 min/mile

This morning I got up at 5am to go for my 10 mile run. The lake was beautiful--first I got to watch the stars and then the sunrise! I'm super tired now, but it was worth it to see the city like that. And to get 10 miles in.

I love this run 10, walk 1 thing. Today I picked up the pace even more than last week. I averaged 12 minutes per mile, which is 3/4 minute per mile faster than last week and over a minute per mile faster than two weeks ago.

I ran 10 miles in just under 2 hours (despite my exhaustion, I picked up the pace for the last 50 meters so that I could just barely make it in under 2 hours).

I ran without my ipod on for the first 8.5 miles. When I started it was way too dark out to listen to the scary suspense novel I've been listening to on my long runs. And then when it got light enough, I was really enjoying the weather, the run, and the surroundings, so I went without it. I put it on for the last 1.5 miles because I was getting really tired and needed the distraction of it.

Tomorrow I'm off to Winnipeg with the AfriGrand Caravan!

Digging the Run 10 Walk 1 (or My First Run in Tights)

I did a 5k run today using my new run 10 walk 1 thing. It was my fastest 5k time yet! I think that's pretty cool, especially since at 5k pace, my walking compared to running speed is a lot more significant than at my distance pace. So I had to run that much faster during the run times to make up for it.

I ran 34:35, which is an 11:09/mile average. I ran the first mile in 10:37 (I decided to run the last bit of the mile and start my 1 minute walk after that so that I could see what my mile time would be). Because I was running harder, I got a side stitch for a big portion of the second mile, but it was manageable in part because of knowing that I would get to walk for a minute when I made it through 10 minutes.

I know that running is a lot mental and I know that I have a lot of mental blocks to overcome with running, but I'm still impressed by how much of a difference the run10/walk1 makes for me psychologically!

Oh, I should mention that it's decided to get cold in Toronto. And this morning it was cold when I went for my run. But this weekend, I bought running tights at Mountain Equipment Co-op, so I felt pretty good. And there's nothing that says runner like running tights! :)