Alive With Sport » Run

First Race of the Year

joannealisonfox — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:16:02 +0000

The best part of racing is the big brunch you can justify afterwards! The Steveston IceBreaker 8km race was this weekend and I ran hard AND ate some yummy waffles afterwards. I felt strong during the run definitely feeling the positive effects of my Thursday morning trail runs and of the Fall marathon in San Fransisco. This race is always a good fitness test for me and this year was my best time yet at 35:52 – that’s a >30 sec best. Woo hoo. It looks like this year is off to a good start.

Longest Day Run

joannealisonfox — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 23:35:52 +0000

Wow, the Longest Day run at UBC is awesome! If you haven’t done this race before, you should put it on your calendar. It’s got a great friendly community vibe and has the best post-race food you’ll ever see. My friend Stephen took this “action” photo to prove it. They had cheesecake and ice cream for dessert, for pete’s sake. That’s my kind of race!

Lots of friends & familiar faces… equals lots of fun! However, 10Km races are hard. The 10km distance is not so much fun (after about 6km) and this route had a little hill that almost got me. Even if it was hard, I was only 30 sec of my 10Km best so it’s a good start.

Ultimate Tuesdays

joannealisonfox — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 01:46:23 +0000

I’m mixing up the my triathlon training this year by playing a social ultimate frisbee game on Tuesday nights. It’s fun – and a great dose of family and friends – to balance with my triathlon craziness. I haven’t played since 2005 and it’s a bit of a shock to the system.

I wore my Garmin last week to see exactly what kind of workout Ultimate Tuesdays deliver. Garmin made a little movie for me [click the image below to play]. You can see where my stuff was on the sideline, my lazy defense, our sometimes crazy offense, and where I parked the car (& please excuse my visit to the washrooms). Triathletes and their technology. Jeez.

I ran 6.8km in 2hrs 40min – which sounds VERY slow and steady! Ultimate is pretty much the opposite of slow and steady and involves lots of short bursts of sprinting, lots of standing around, and lots of smokies on the BBQ.

Throw a frisbee at the finish line & all my Ultimate Tuesdays will pay off.

Perfect Day in Vancouver

joannealisonfox — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 01:25:52 +0000

It was a perfect day for a swim and run. Sunshine, a kits pool swim, and a seawall run. Who could ask for anything more? I even got a bonus visit with my Leading Edge friends – as I was entering the pool as they were finishing up there wetsuit swims. Too hot for a wetsuit if you ask me.

Getting outdoors

joannealisonfox — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 22:23:50 +0000

I seem to be immune to the triathlon bug this year. You know the bug – the one hits for weeks or even months after you sign up for some race that scares the pants off you. Not that I’m cured, I do forsee that this bug will hit again in the future. It’s just that I’m seeing that there’s more to this sport than just an obsession with training & racing.

I’m finding other equally rewarding ways to stay involved. For example, this weekend I volunteered at a water station at the Ladner Half marathon. It was great to see everyone out there! As a bonus, we were stationed way out on the country farm roads right beside a self serve farmers kiosk with beautiful purple, yellow and orange tomatoes.

I’ve also been using my bike as a way of traveling lately. Commuting is a great way to get in the training, even if you don’t have a big race that scares the pants off you.

My all time favorite motivator for getting out there is being outdoors. With no racing bug to focus the speed and distance, I’ve been enjoying the settings even more. I have really appreciated my favorite trails and especially the swims in Boundary Bay. Getting outdoors is what it’s all about!

Seven for Seven

joannealisonfox — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:19:51 +0000

I’m 7/7 in the Feb bike challenge! It’s Monday and I have to admit, my legs are tired. Riding 1hr on your bike isn’t actually that much, but I’m feeling it. With such a busy weekend**, scheduling workouts was a challenge (Sunday included a 6am trainer ride and a 9pm speed endurance run – accompanied by Torbin on the bike with lights). Today, I opted out of bike commuting to give my legs a couple more hours of rest. The downside is that I may be on the trainer until the wee hours this evening.

**I took the Triathlon Community Coaching course this weekend. I made some great new contacts/friends and took away some great practical tips about safety. On that note, I’m going to go buy myself a RoadID right now. If you don’t already have one, do the same!

Here’s what my Feb totals look like so far.

Bike for 182.1 km in 08:43
Run for 25.1 km in 02:22
Total Duration: 11:05

The tally so far

joannealisonfox — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:17:04 +0000

Here’s the results for my first couple days in the February bike challenge

Day 1 – 1:02:19, 22km – nice ride, mild weather
Day 2 – 1:20:51, 27km – soggy bike in the am, nice in evening, also had a quality run session
Day 3 – 1:01:18, 17km – all over downtown

Wednesday night I was super tired, so went to bed early. Man it’s awesome when you actually get enough sleep. I so rarely feel well-rested. Tonight, is a bike commute home through the city. I’m going to meet up with a few of the other bike challenge ninnys for company.

New Runners Reset Your Counters

joannealisonfox — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:08:01 +0000

I need to reset my counters, I got me some new runners. I always forget when I’ve bought a pair of new runners. Thus, I also always forget how long I’ve had my current pair of runners. Last weekend, my arches started hurting so I’m sure I put way too many miles on that last pair. This weekend I’ve got a 1 hour 40min long run on the books, and I’m starting to think about race plans for the Langley half marathon. Calm, confident but aggressive – that’s what I need to be. Just like this guy.
photo by Torbin, Serengeti safari, Tanzania 2009

New Year, New Best

joannealisonfox — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:36:51 +0000

Looks like I’m starting the year off right with a 36:23 personal best at the Steveston Ice Breaker 8km race! I went out way too hard but still hung on for about a 30sec best time. It hurt like a son-of-a-gun. With about 2km to go, I couldn’t help thinking I hope the half marathon doesn’t feel like this. However, It is nice to see that I’ve cracked the 37min-ish barrier that this race seemed to hold for me over the past 3yrs. We’re still a little travel weary from our trip to Mexico, and Torbin seems to have brought back a tropical bug with him, so all-in-all, I’m pretty happy with the effort. Next up, the Langley half marathon.

Queensborough Run

joannealisonfox — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:39:40 +0000

I ran in a new area today and it was beautiful. Mixed trails and road with lots of time spent along the river shoreline made for a nice route. I also enjoyed talking with Rob about his IronMan Coeur d’Alene experience and relaxing in the sunshine on the Starbucks patio after the run.

1:43:17, 19km
Avg HR 143
link to route map