Taking it Outside

Things finally started to warm up here in Ottawa this week so I took Wednesday’s run outside. It definitely took me a while to adjust but it was such a beautiful day that my 5 miles went by (relatively) fast :) I did my first mile at 12:00 min/mile and gradually sped up to 10:30 for my last mile. 

I have my last long run (10 miles) before the NYC Half scheduled for Sunday. It’s supposed to be another nice day so I’m hoping to run along the Rideau Canal, my favorite route. It’ll be a good opportunity to test out my Camelbak and my playlist! 

Unfortunately the weather this afternoon wasn’t quite as welcoming so I stuck to my treadmill for the 5 miles on my schedule. Today’s source of entertainment was The Voice, my favorite of the singing competition shows. And not just because I have a thing for tattooed musicians ;) 

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I really like the fact that The Voice showcases talented singers from the get-go. I always skip the first few episodes of American Idol because I get really bored watching all the horrible auditions. I also think focusing on mentoring rather than judging is a great concept. 

This was the first week of battle-rounds and the performances were, for the most part, really good.  Of course, I disagreed with the mentors’ picks every single time; I guess it’s a good thing I’m not judging any of these shows :P 

Do you watch any of the singing competition shows? 

What are your workout plans for the weekend?

Less than 2 Weeks!

Hey guys,

I decided last year that I wanted to run a half-marathon in New York City in 2012.  I planned on doing the More/Fitness Magazine half in Central Park in April, but on a whim I applied for the NYC Half lottery and I actually got in!! So, in less than two weeks I'll be running my first half-marathon in NYC :)


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I've walked a half-marathon before, but this will be my first time running one. So I am super excited/crazy nervous!!

I've been following a training plan from SmartCoach since January. I did some tweaking because with the longest run on the original plan was 10 miles and I didn't feel comfortable jumping from 10 to 13, so I included an 11 miler and two 12 milers.

I did my second 12 mile run yesterday and it was not easy!! I thought about quitting about every step of the way through the first 6 miles but I kept telling myself that would not be an option come race day so I pushed through it. Thankfully the second 6 miles were much more bearable. 

Mile        Pace

1            10'17"/mi

2            10'04"/mi

3            10'18"/mi

4            10'25"/mi

5            10'08"/mi

6            10'17"/mi

7            10'00"/mi

8            10'12"/mi

9            10'22"/mi

10          10'19"/mi

11           9'57"/mi

12          10'07"/mi

I took quite a few walking breaks and took a couple of honey stingers at miles 6 and 9 so all in all it took me around 2:20 minutes.

I know I'll be much slower on race day since I haven't been training outside much and I won't be able to pause the clock for bathroom breaks ;) But since it's my first half, I don't really care how long it takes me as long I finish.  I love NYC so much so I also want to make sure I just have fun with it and take it all in - I mean, how many times will I get to run such an amazing route?!

So, while Sunday's run wasn't the easiest I'm happy with it - I proved to myself I can keep pushing when every ounce of me wants to quite and that might come in handy on race day ;) 

Anyone else running the NYC Half? 

Any other races coming up?