Weekly Summary & Via Ferrata

Monday - Mountain biking
Wednesday - 2 miles to stretch out my muscles (sore from Monday!)
Saturday - 10 miles, paved
Sunday - 3.1 miles with the puppy, then Via Ferrata

Total: 15.1 miles - still nothing great but better than last week!

For those who haven't heard of it, Via Ferrata is basically scaling the face of a mountain but with the assistance of strategically placed iron rungs and ropes. This way you don't have to be a climber; but that's not to say that it's easy! It was hard work and I ended up with some sore muscles and bruised knees. We were hoping for sunny skies so that we'd have views of the mountains around us, but unfortunately it was cloudy. I want to go again sometime when it is sunny and we have a view! Nevertheless, it was a great experience!

Before starting the Via Ferrata, we did the Peak2Peak gondola:









Then off on our adventure:










Lots of snow on top of the mountain!


Overall, a great adventure. I want to do it again on a sunny day!

Weekly Summary: July 9-15

Not much to tell this week, since I only ran twice (oops):
Monday - mountain biking (2 hours plus commuting)
Thursday - 5 miles, trail
Saturday - 3.1 miles, road, plus about 10km of walking

Total: 8.1 miles

Yeah, a pretty low week and I don't have an excuse so I will have to do better this week! I am planning to go mountain biking twice this week, as well.

Then next Sunday is Via Ferrata!! 

Weekly Summary: July 2-8

Tuesday - 5 miles road
Thursday - 5 miles trail - hit a tree and got a nice, puffy bruise on my left knee
Friday - 3.1 miles, trail - pretty much a hike out and run back... big climb!
Sunday - 11.5 miles - all but the last mile was trails

This week felt so incredible compared to the struggle that I've had over the past couple of months. I'm still slower than normal, but my runs are starting to feel good again! It helps that most of my runs were on trails this week instead of pavement (so much better for the body AND the mind!).

It also helps that summer has finally arrived! I just love being on the trails when it's sunny and warm outside. I always feel like I'm on holidays when I'm out there. :)

Today's long run was with some trail buddies. We went out to Norvan Falls, which is always enjoyable. We stopped at the falls and also at Third Debris Chute to get some cold water on our hot, salty skin; it felt so nice. I was actually concerned beforehand that I wouldn't be able to keep up to the group, since I've been struggling with that lately, but I felt fine and the pace worked for me. I actually felt as though my fitness is coming back. Exciting!

Might just be ready by race day on August 11! :)

"You run too much"

Well, it's been over a year since I posted here! I am going to try to get back on track, just as I am trying to get my running back on track.

This is how the past year looked:

• June 2011 - 77 miles. Started dating someone who told me that I run too much and need to try other things. 
• July 2011 - 72.5 miles. Trying new things while attempting to keep my running at a maintenance level.
• August 2011 - 72 miles. Still managing to maintain, still being told I run too much. 
• September 2011 - 69.9 miles. Having a hard time balancing everything.
• October 2011 - 47.3 miles. First time bungee jumping. 
• November 2011 - 62 miles. In spite of the decreases, I managed a 10km pb of 54:12. 
• December 2011 - 48 miles. Still being told I run too much. 
• January 2012 - 48.2 miles. Thinking about 2012 races, missing being an ultra runner, and missing trail running. 
• February 2012 - 19.3 miles. Low enough? No, I still "run too much". Start learning how to swim.
• March 2012 - 25 miles. Still working on swimming. Missing long runs on the trails. 
• April 2012 - 52 miles. Stop dating the person holding me back. Start trying to get my fitness back. Still swimming. Discover that I've gained 5lb over the past year.
• May 2012 - 65.2 miles. My fitness is slow coming back. Still swimming. First whitewater rafting trip.
• June 2012 - 65.4 miles, including some hiking. Every run is a struggle. Swam 3 times and then decided that it's going on the backburner until winter, so that I can go mountain biking once a week instead. :) 

And that brings us to July. As you can guess, I learned a few things over the past year! ;) But now I am really struggling to get my fitness back. It's strange to me that two years ago I went from injured to 50 miles in just 6 months, but right now I am struggling to do even 20k runs. I really hope the balance starts to tip soon and I start feeling better on my runs! I keep telling myself that it will come as I keep working at it.

For motivation, I am doing the 22.5km option at the Squamish50 on August 11. Having a goal keeps me moving forward, and I am excited about the race.

I am also considering a 50km in October. It will be a challenge to be ready for that, but again the goal is key for keeping me motivated. I'll decide that based on how things go the next few weeks.

Lesson learned: Running makes me happy. Being pressured not to run makes me unhappy. I won't make that mistake again!