Little Illusions

Posts Tagged ‘lululemon’

Distance: 4.96k

Time: 31:44

I finally broke the 32 minute barrier! I tried a new feature on RunKeeper where you input a goal pace and the program lets you know how close you are. I ambitiously entered 6:15 minutes per kilometer, and I almost did it. I was really pleased to see that I got under 32 minutes. I think I would have averaged less than 6:15 if I had been faster for the first kilometer. I’m not sure that I would use this goal pace thing all the time; I already have it set up to get my average pace at each kilometer, and I hate hearing the computer voice saying “You are behind your goal pace by x seconds”. Although maybe she shamed me into a faster time…

There was not much else exciting about today’s run. I didn’t get rained on and the wind wasn’t too bad. Really, the only interesting thing besides my awesome time was that I actually saw a guy running shirtless who should be running shirtless. I remember a while ago, the Gomers were talking about how men who should be shirtless aren’t, and those that shouldn’t, are. It must have been my lucky day, because it wasn’t really shirt-off kind of weather, but there he was. It was a nice couple of seconds of eye candy, and maybe if he had been going the same way as me I might have run even faster!

Road Tested: Ta Ta Tamer by lululemon

The only downside of this run was that I tried my new lululemon sports bra, called the Ta Ta Tamer (no, I’m not kidding). I have a couple of cheaper running bras, but one consistently chafes my shoulders with every run longer than 5k. This is very uncomfortable, not to mention unattractive, so I decided to invest in a quality run bra. I did my research on this bra for running, and it said on the website that it was made for bigger women to run comfortably. Since I’m still breastfeeding, I’m still on the larger side, so I need a supportive bra. I tried this one in the store and it seemed to fit the bill. It was comfortable and kept everything in place. I tried on two different sizes, one with a larger band size and one with a larger cup size. The smaller cup size seemed to fit better and the band didn’t dig as much as the other one. I didn’t do as vigorous a “jump test” as I did with the cheaper ones, partly because it looked nice, and partly because lululemon has never let me down before. Well, there’s a first for everything…

This bra chafed me even worse than my other one in the shoulders. To be fair, I didn’t wash it first, I removed the inserts, and I didn’t have the band done up on the tightest hook, like I did in the store. Initially, the straps were sliding all over the place, which started to chafe right away. I tightened them on the fly (which is a plus, because most bras won’t let you do this), and the straps did not slide as much. They still dug in, though and my shoulders were both rubbed raw after my run, especially my right one. I was pretty disappointed because I was hoping this could become my long distance bra, and it looks like it won’t. Now that I’ve washed it, I’m going to give it another try, with the band hooked tighter and the inserts back in. But if it still chafes, I may have to keep it for shorter runs only. Maybe it’ll fit better when I’m not nursing and I’m not quite so buxom (I hope).

Practicality: It pains me to give it 3/5, but maybe next time will be better. I’ll be slathering my shoulders in BodyGlide just in case, though.

Cuteness: 4.5/5 It is by far the cutest bra I have. Period. It’s aqua blue, it lifts, it separates, you get the picture. It loses half a point because hardly anyone will see it, even if it looks great.

Overall: 3.5/5 As cute as it is, if it’s not comfortable, it’s not wearable. I’m going to give it another go, and if it’s not better, it’ll be a non-running bra.  I may relegate it to work bra once I’m not nursing anymore.

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Distance: um, 10k

Time: 1:01:04 (official time)

Although I don’t normally get my stuff ready the night before, I was taking the bus and didn’t want to waste time I could be sleeping. So, before I went to bed, I set out my running outfit with by bib number all pinned on and my timing chip on my shoe, made a new play list of all Madonna songs (inspired by that episode of “Glee), and had my ID, money and bus fare all ready to go.

My bib number

I woke up at 6 am (ridiculous for a Sunday morning I’m not working), had coffee and a bowl of cereal, get dressed, and had to re-pin my bib number because it wasn’t flat against my shirt. And, although I’m not usually this vain, I put on some makeup. I had totally broken out in acne, and didn’t want that to be the first thing to show up in pictures. I needed to leave by 7 to catch the bus, but I left a bit early so I wouldn’t miss it. There were 4 of us by the time the bus arrived: me, two other runners, and a little old lady who was smoking while waiting for the bus. Yum.

I arrived downtown by about 7:30but still had to walk from the bus stop to the start line. On the way, I drank an entire bottle of Gatorade, so I wouldn’t have to stop at the water stops during the run. While I walked I noticed that while many runners were wearing their race shirt, lululemon was also very well represented. When I get to the start line I saw that it was divided by time.

I wish! Next year…

I went to the 60+ minutes area, and saw people completely ignoring the signs saying that walkers and people with jogging strollers need to start from another area, and that you’re supposed to wear your bib on the front of your shirt. I contemplated for several minutes how to get rid of the old sweatshirt I was wearing before the run started because nobody else seemed to have done the same thing.

Me, in the aforementioned sweatshirt, pre-race.

I ended up casually “dropping” it at the base of a nearby tree. Just before the race started, I saw old friend that I didn’t know was running the race, and we agreed to try to stay together.

I think the race started right at 8:00, but I was too far back to see. The only reason I knew it had started was because people started moving. Slowly I made my way to the start line with the crowd, and it was really packed. Once I crossed the start line, I started running, with my Madonna play list on low volume, and my RunKeeper on. I tried to stay with my friend, and didn’t realize I got ahead of her at first. Then I noticed she wasn’t there and I looked behind me. I couldn’t see her at all, so I decided to go ahead. I ended up going slower than I wanted to (7:09) for the first km because it was so crowded and it was hard to pass people because the road was not that wide through Beacon Hill Park.

From the 2-6k mark, I tried to pick up the pace and was surprised at how many people I passed, but I was also frustrated because I had to dodge so many slower people than me that managed to start ahead of me. I know that I ended up running more than 10k because I had to zigzag around the slow people. It took a little while for me to realize that the slower ones tended to go to the left, and then I tried to stay on the right. But every so often there was a whole group of runners that were going too slow (to me). I was surprised to see this competitive side of myself, not just to beat my last 10k time, but to beat the other runners. I even found myself uncharitably wishing the slower runners would just get out of my way. I almost tripped a couple of times trying to pass people, but somehow I managed to keep my feet.

The drummers around the 2k/6k mark were awesome and very inspiring. From the 2-3k mark, I got to do a great slow downhill, but knew I would have to run back up it soon. This area was more crowded because runners were going both ways, so the road was divided. It was even worse at the turnaround at the 4k mark, and became a gross bottleneck that made me want to scream. The run back uphill from the 5-6k mark wasn’t bad at all; I don’t think I slowed down all that much, but I saw lots of other runners bite the dust. I also saw something that I will never forget. Right around the 5.5k mark, a walker (she was wearing an orange bib) was with a child (I’m assuming it was her son), and she was going the opposite way to me (i.e. she was only at the 2.5k mark). She actually turned around and joined the people going the same way as me! It took everything I had not to yell “cheater!” at her. The only real thing that stopped me was the thought that maybe she knew she couldn’t finish and cut it short. Thinking about it now, if that was the case, wouldn’t she have just left the course? I feel like I should have said something. What is she teaching her kid? That it’s okay to cheat if nobody’s looking? Well, I was looking, and you suck, lady.

After that hill, I got to run downhill for awhile, and once I got past Douglas Street, I didn’t have to share the road with runners (or at this point, walkers) going the other way. So I finally had enough room to move, and started to really pick things up. At around the 6k mark, I found out my time was  about 38minutes and I realized I probably wouldn’t get in under an hour but I decided to try anyway. Also somewhere between the 6 and 7k mark, my RunKeeper lost the GPS signal for a bit and I started hearing my splits about halfway between the markers for the rest of  the route. Somewhere between the 7 and 8k mark, I heard my time was around 44 minutes. I remember vaguely wondering if I could finish 2.5 k in 15 minutes, but knowing that my fastest time for 2k was about 13 minutes and I didn’t think I do half a kilometer in 2 minutes. Then, about halfway down this hill just before the breakwater, a group of senior ladies were cheering outside their independent living building. They were the best cheerleaders out there, waving their hands and yelling encouragement to the runners. It made me smile and pushed me forward.

Right around the 8 k mark, I was feeling strong and and still hoping against my time that I might be able to pull out a miracle, but I had forgotten all about the hill once the road turns past the breakwater. I managed to make it up okay but I worried that it might have slowed me down too much. I saw lots of runners having to walk and felt glad that I had done this part of the route a couple of times and this hill wasn’t that bad. I heard my 8k split about halfway through (about 50 minutes) and wondered if I could really finish the race in 10 minutes.

The last leg, I was trying to pick up the pace and finish strong, but was thwarted a bit by not-so-favorite Madonna songs playing rather than something more motivational. Not too far ahead of me, I saw two runners dressed up as gingerbread people and I vowed to not let them cross the finish line before me. I  succeeded at passing them, just before turning onto Government street and seeing the finish line. I picked up the pace a bit again, but I waited until just before the Wax Museum to “give ‘er” and run as fast as I possibly could to the end. As I flew (to me) by, I saw a few people sitting on the curb with the “catchers”. As I approached the finish, I briefly looked for my Mom in the crowd but there were so many people so I focused everything on getting to that finish line. I started to feel a bit emotional about being almost done and knowing that even if I missed that one hour mark, that I definitely beat my last time. I looked up at the clock and saw the time at 1:09, but I knew my actual running time was faster.

After I crossed the finish line, I checked my RunKeeper. 1:01:18. Just over an hour, but only slightly disappointed because I beat my last 10k race time by about 5 minutes. Not only that, but I remember really struggling with the distance on that run and feeling much more tired. I felt good after this race, tired but not exhausted. Instead of going to the food area, which was just a sea of people, I met my mom on the other side of the barrier and we decided to walk up to Starbucks for a coffee. I briefly wondered if I was missing part of the whole “race experience” by not lining up with my fellow runners for bagels, bananas and chocolate milk, but just didn’t want to wait in a crazy line up. We actually had good timing because everyone was still down at the harbour, so the Starbucks wasn’t busy yet. Had a dark cherry mocha, which was better than any old bagel.

My kind of post-race fuel-up. Plus a free sample!

Post-race at Starbucks.

I can now say that even with the crowds, this was the best race I’ve done yet. I felt great the whole time; in fact, it’s funny to think how long my other 10k seemed, when this one didn’t seem to take long at all. And, although it was frustrating to navigate through such a large crowd, it was cool to be part of such a large race. I did learn a couple of valuable lessons to take to my next race, especially my next shorter race:

• I was totally right on the money to not stop at the water stations. They were crowded and by giving them a wide margin I avoided having to run on a bunch of empty paper cups. Plus, I wasn’t wearing any water.
• I know I’ll be faster next year, but I need to make sure I’m fast enough to get a different coloured bib. It must be a little less crowded closer to the start line.
• Don’t underestimate the hills. I didn’t feel like I slowed down much on them, but my RunKeeper says otherwise. That being said, the slow, steady incline at the 5k mark that everyone seemed to dread only slowed me down by about a minute. Not too shabby.
• Although you don’t want to start too fast, don’t start too slow, either. I really think that my chance at beating one hour was ruined the most by my slow first km. I’ve read so much about getting a negative split and not starting too fast, but I really don’t think I needed to worry about saving energy. I had more than enough to burn and could have really started off faster.

Every race has been a good learning experience for me, and I think each one gets me more prepared. I only have one more race before the marathon in June, and it’s the Kool Half Marathon Relay, which is more about having fun than winning. Speaking of having fun, another valuable lesson is to always have a good victory beer after the race.

Here’s mine! And here’s to all the runners who did it, the organizers who planned it, and to the volunteers who made it happen. See y’all next year!

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Distance: about 7k Thursday, 3.87k Friday, 4.91k today

Time: about 50 minutes Thursday, 27:21 Friday, 34:08 today

So I did a couple of new things for the last couple of runs. Last Thursday, I went running with a group. I saw a sign at lululemon that said there was a new running group on Thursday evenings. It’s no secret that I love lululemon and joining the group was free, so I decided to give it a try. When I got there, there were 6 of us in total. We ran to the breakwater and back, which was somewhere around 7k, but I don’t know for sure how much because my RunKeeper didn’t start when I thought it did. Now, I know someone had to be the slowest, even though it was supposed to be for all abilities, and that someone was me. I actually overdid it enough to try to keep up that I got a bit nauseated at the beginning. Then, I just let them run ahead. Even so, I probably ran faster than I normally do, which is good, I think. It was absolutely gorgeous out, still warm and sunny. The breakwater wasn’t even that windy. On the way back, the leader, Rob, brought up the rear, so he kept pace with me. I chatted with him a bit and found out that he runs ultramarathons, like 50k (not much longer than a marathon) and 100k (eek!) runs. He didn’t seem to think my plan to run a marathon in about 12 weeks was absolutely insane, so that helped me feel less gomer-ish about being so slow.

The next day, due to circumstances that were mostly out of my control, I had to squeeze in a run after the kids went to bed, at 7:15 pm. I didn’t feel safe about running the breakwater that time of night, so I decided to just go around the neighbourhood. My goal was to do about 4k, and considering I didn’t know the route, I did a good job of mapping it out. I even got in a couple of decent hills. By the time I got home, it was dark, but I was really glad I got in that run. It really is my therapy.

Today’s run was nothing special. The only new thing about it was my shorts, which were totally comfortable and not too big, but also not so small that my butt was hanging out. It was absolutely gorgeous out again, which makes it so much easier to get out for a run. Way more motivating to go out in the sun than in the rain, but my house was unbearably warm when I got home.

This Thursday, I plan to do my next long run, and I’m hoping for 18k. I did 15k last week, so I think I can do it, but I know an ice bath will be necessary. I also probably need to get some Body Glide or Vaseline beforehand, too. I keep getting a blister on my right 4th toe and my sports bra rubs on my shoulder. I might also try some sort of Gu or jelly beans, to test them out. Now that I’ve tried a few new routes, I’m more motivated to try to map out a run for this long run, too. I think I’ll get bored running the walkway 3 1/2 times, so I might try to incorporate the TC 10k route into this run. That way, when I do it, it won’t be completely unfamiliar.

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Distance: 9.83k

Time: 70:25

I’m way too tired from my run today, and my boys waking me up at 6:30 am to write a full post, so I’ll do a list of the good and not-so-good things that have happened run wise in the last two days.

Good:

1. I now fit into my lululemon hoodies that I bought way before I got pregnant with my first son. They didn’t fit in between pregnancies, because I could never zip them up over my chest. Now they do, so I’ve been wearing them non-stop. I so missed them. Warm and cozy. When I Tweeted about this, the lululemon Twitter person actually Tweeted me back to congratulate me! Kinda cool.
2. I beat my last 10k time on this route by about 2 minutes, although I did not beat my PR from the race last month.
3. I’m closer to being back on track with my training plan. I was tired at the end, but from an energy standpoint, I probably could have kept going for another couple of kilometers.

Not so Good:

1. I wrecked my knee. Call me stupid, or hardcore, or just plain stubborn, but I was absolutely determined to get the distance in today. My right knee was fine for the first half of the run, but it was screaming again by the end. And the pain radiated through my whole leg, so that my inner thigh was hurting at the end, too.
2. I learned that when wearing short-sleeved shirts that I need to put my armband on the other way because the jack for my headphones rubbed the skin just below the elbow on my arm raw.
3. RunKeeper totally messed up my splits on my iPhone so that the first 9k had 0 time and 0 distance, but my speed for the last kilometer was 1:19/km. Also it said I only burned 2 calories. Well, I guess if it took me an hour and twenty minutes to run one kilometer, I wouldn’t burn very many calories! Oddly, when I went to the website, my splits were on there for each kilometer, and they looked okay (http://bit.ly/9ZJffu).

So, I don’t know what to do about my knee. I refuse to even consider stopping running, and I really don’t want to even cut back too much, because the marathon isn’t that far away. I tried stretching it more after this run, and I plan to rest it tomorrow. I even considered an ice bath, although I didn’t do it. Any suggestions out there?

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Distance: 4.95k yesterday, 4.88k today

Time: 34:45 yesterday, 34:08 today

So, I realized that I have run three runs this week, without having any postings up. I did a quick post about my 7k run on Tuesday on my iPhone but it hadn’t been published yet; it’s there now. Both yesterday and today were beautiful days to be out running. Both days were sunny, with a mild headwind on the way to the bridge, so I got a tailwind back. Yesterday, after much thought, I wore a short-sleeved t-shirt with pants instead of wearing a long-sleeved shirt with crops. I realized after about a kilometer that I should have gone the other way, because my legs were warm but my arms were cold! So, today I wore a long-sleeved top and my new cropped lululemons, and I really think it was more comfortable. In fact, if the weather holds, I will wear capris more often. But enough about fashion.

One of the running groups I follow on Twitter (I think it was Runner’s World) put out an article recently on the rules of running. My personal favorite was that if you care even a little bit about being called a runner versus a jogger, you’re a runner. To some, it may just be semantics, but I actually get a bit offended if I’m called a jogger. To me, it sounds like someone who’s a poser. Someone who doesn’t take it seriously. Which is strange, because I never thought of myself as a serious runner; I’m not even sure I’ve been running long enough to be one. I do know that I will run in any weather (except for heavy snow, I don’t have the right shoes), and that I feel very “hardcore” when I run in the rain during a wind warning. Does that make me a “serious” runner? Or just a dork running in the rain?

Speaking of “serious” running, I have modified my New Year’s Resolution a bit. Although it was really fun to run the 10k race a couple of weeks ago, I was the slowest person in my age group. Not that I’m really upset about it, but I’m not sure that running in races where I come in last all the time is not the best way to spend my money. So, I’ve decided to try to do some “Fun Runs” when I can instead of races. There is a 5k on Valentine’s Day for Muscular Dystrophy that I’ve signed up for, instead of killing myself trying a 12 k this weekend. This run looks much more relaxed, and I get a t-shirt this time! Still planning to do one each month, although I’m not 100% of my work schedule yet, so I haven’t signed up for any other runs. Has anyone else done any of these kinds of runs? Are people still competitive? Or is it just a big party for runners? I’ll find out next week, and keep you posted!

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