I Love Regina race report. Sort of.

What do you call a race report when you don't technically race but you did really give 'er and treated it like a real race? Um, right. You know what you call it? You call it 4 degrees out, a stupid online registration that doesn't work because you live out of town (lame!) and a Goddam Garmin.

Here's what happened:

I had full intentions of heading into the city for the 9 am race. I tried to register online and found out I couldn't because I'm not a city resident. I would have had to show up on a Sunday morning BEFORE 8 am just to register, then hang out for an hour. Not the end of the world, except that it was four degrees out and I was going alone. What in the hell would I do?

But then I got ticked at myself for nearly baling on yet another race.

And I have a handy new tool, the Goddam Garmin. Why can't I just do an accurate 10 km (6.21 miles) and treat it like a real race?

Yes, well.

That's what I did.

And guess what?

59:44. My last personal record? 1 hour 4 minutes and change. Heck yes.

Splits (I love that I can do this):
Mile 1 - 9:27
Mile 2 - 9:39
Mile 3 - 9:53 (minutes 25-35 are always my toughest)
Mile 4 - 9:58 (See?)
Mile 5 - 9:32 (I started feeling fantastic)
Mile 6 - 9:26 (See? FASTEST MILE!)
Last .21 in 1:50 (but it ended rough. I was dragging my feet. 6 miles is definitely where my endurance level is right now. Time to get building! Bring on the hills and track workouts. Did I just say that? Yes I did.)

A few notes - I drank no water or ate any gels. No worries, given how cool it was outside, but I need a new water bottle because had it been any warmer I would have been hurting. Also, as a congratulations to myself I bought this:


My girls need a house!

Fat, but fast

Yesterday's weight: not much less than three weeks ago.

But.

Yesterday's run: 4.02 miles in 39:13

For all you math averse people, that's 4 miles with an average of 9:45 min/mile. And thanks to the Goddam Garmin, I know that my first mile was my slowest and my fourth was my fastest. Well, well, well, look who's loving technology? And who's actually getting faster.

The only downside is this run was in preparation for the 10 km on Sunday. My last 10 km time was 1:04 and change, my best is somewhere around the 57/58 minute mark that I hit during the half last fall, but that's not official. This time I was hoping to get under 59:59...after yesterday's run, I know it's possible, but those 4 miles HURT, people. As in, owie. No, not injury hurt, just really hard work hurt.

Tomorrow I'm doing an easy 3 miles and taking Saturday off. My first race report (in oh so long) of 2010 to come Sunday!

Splits

I still consider myself a "new" runner, a novice, a beginner. It's something that, until recently, has held me back. A email conversation changed that. So did technology.

For my birthday and mum's day, Mr. Wumpus bought me a Garmin 405. It's got a heart rate monitor, programmed workouts, a virtual training buddy, oh and of course, it's GPS equipped. I'm also certain it will beam me up if I press the correct portion of the bezel. I haven't yet figured that part out.

My first run was an epic failure. I had turned the training buddy feature on when really I just wanted to see time, pace and distance. Two miles of fiddling with the thing and I was ready to throw it in the bushes. I took a week off and considered returning it (also, the thing costs a fortune). Then I decided to give it one more shot.

I managed to figure out how to work the damn thing properly and then went out and had an epic, epic four mile run. Not epic in that it was all that fast, but because a) I'm doing a 10 km in three weeks and didn't know if I had six miles in me, now I know and b) because I fell in love with my Garmin - it beeps for every mile and tells you your pace! How exciting is that? So exciting and c) (here's the big part) I actually treated this run like a workout not just something to slog through and check off my to do list.

And why does that matter? Because of the said email conversation. The Power of Smithers gave me some very sage advice: Treat training like training. Make every workout a workout.

Sounds simple, sure, but until now, I've given myself every excuse to just phone it in, do the required distance and call it done. When the training plan says "tempo" I run it the same as "easy." About the only things I ever change pace for are track workouts and hill repeats, of which I did very few last time around.

This time, for this training round, I'm going to train. I'm going to stop telling myself I'm a beginner and a novice and start treating workouts like workouts.

Oh, and the post title? I had often wondered how the pros (Steve, Sara) could list their mile split times. I mean, the best I could do was estimate and then come up with my average pace. Then I got the Goddam Garmin. Um, right.

Technology is a beautiful thing.

Sweet and bitter

I celebrated a milestone yesterday. For all of you who want to know, I'm now 28 again. And then a few more times. Whatever. I'm not one who really cares about age. I don't feel "old" no matter what the driver's license says and I've heard that your 30s are just like your 20s only you have money, don't have any exams and your skin is saggier. True story. Where was I going with this? Oh, right. Good and bad, bitter and sweet, yin and yang, all that jazz.

Good things:
I received a Garmin 405 for my birthday. Wow.
I ran today and officially kicked off my 2010 training season. (maybe I did that already? Nope. Restart. Today is the kick off.)
I'm feeling positive and productive and I've cut back my caffeine intake and haven't killed anyone. But I work from home, alone. So take it for what it is.

Bad things:
I stepped on the scale yesterday. Ouch.
I ran today without really figuring out how to use my Garmin. There are very few things in this world more annoying than technology screwing with your day. My run, therefore, was a little pathetic and I was frustrated and irritated by my new toy. Bad toy!
Did I mention I stepped on the scale? Yes, well. Ouch.

But on to bigger and better things.

I've got a few hundred posts rattling around in my head, but the general theme is this: I've got some time goals, some fitness/weight/shape goals and a new virtual training buddy. All of this is good. Stay tuned for the details. Until then, just know that I will spend tonight learning to use the goddam Garmin and will head out tomorrow for more miles and less frustration.

Oh yes I will.