Monday, October 20, 2008

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November 19, 2008

Yes- yes-yes! Today is the day!
My poor spikes have been trapped in their protective bag since July!
Today, they finally got to come out.
Oh how I love the tight, form-fitted feeling when I slip on my sprint spikes.
I lace them up, and tuck the laces into the sides.
As I stand up, the sharp pins sink into the mondo and a “velco-like” reaction happens as I walk.But sometimes, even the more exciting days can also be witness to pain.

The accelerations I did felt great. I pumped my arms and really focused on pulling the track underneath me (coach’s orders). In between the runs, ‘Team Carla” stood idle and talked in smaller groups. It was just for a split second – but I looked up to watch Aaron run his second 30m – and at about 20m out – it happened. I heard his groan only milliseconds before I saw him clutch the back of his leg … definitely an injury. He hopped on the good leg for a couple metres before collapsing at the side of the track. A bag of ice and a comfort from the coach helped out, but I could see it in Aaron’s eyes he wasn’t feeling all that comforted.
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*update: After a couple visits with Dr. Assessment the injury has been dubbed: 2^nd degree tear. Best wishes for a speedy recovery Aaron!!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

By

Cassie Hawrysh

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November 19, 2008

Hey – it’s Thursday again!
As not to let our legs get bored with just a mere 600 stairs – Carla made sure to switch it up this week …. Adding 10 more sets, running up half the staircase; skipping every other step – again – this was about as fun as it sounds.
However, I must confess these stair workouts are super encouraging!
No matter how crappy we are all feeling mid-way through the session, the feeling at the end is pure pride. Trust me – you should try a few – you can do it – REALLY!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

By

Cassie Hawrysh

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November 19, 2008

A little bit of speed endurance never scared me …. and what better way to start transitioning to train inside.
200m (goal: 32s) <200m walk> 2 x 450m (goal at the 400m mark: 64s) <8-10m>

As always, this work out was significantly harder to do than it was to read on paper.
I swear, my body must have been missing lactic acid because once I reached my threshold – I – hit the wall – hard! Even my eyes were feeling lactic … and that’s just not right. Haha

Thank goodness Coach Carla knew how to take the edge off.
With what you ask?!
A strength circuit filled with 6 med ball exercises and 10 more using your own weight – of course!!
I just keep reminding myself … she knows what she’s doing!! 🙂

Friday, October 10, 2008

By

Cassie Hawrysh

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November 19, 2008

As most stair-runners will admit, it’s the downward part of the workout that seems to hurt a tad more – the evilness of that fact of life is that going down ANY stair cases for the remainder of the week afterwards hurts!! *ugh!!*

So, despite that, I pushed through today’s workout – thank goodness the track is flat …
well … most of the time.

Actually, what made this death even more murderous was that I was in Winnipeg, MB (visiting family and friends for the Thanksgiving holiday) and the closest track was both unpaved, and unlined. Yes, I’m sure you can imagine my joy.
With the backstretch on the 400m completely rutted and muddy my 500s also included some fancy footwork. Trust me, a couple of times I realized I was putting my ankles in serious risk.

5 x 80m
4 x 500m <3 min walk>
My times were on pace (less than or equal to 82s at the 400m mark) but I was overjoyed to have the workout come to an end. *oouf!*
                                                                      .   .   .
                        Hooray – time for far too much food and a few extra helpings!!
                                                Happy Turkey Day Weekend!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

By

Cassie Hawrysh

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November 19, 2008

En route to my 8 to 5 gig, I caught myself staring off into the distance at a red light… and I noticed something – the morning sky. No, no I know – here come the jokes: “Saskatchewan is so flat you can watch your dog run away for a week” – but I mean I realized in that moment that the sky was a rare sighting while I was in downtown New York. With hundreds of buildings scraping up the sky it was no wonder some days I wasn’t even sure if it was cloudy or if I was standing in the shadow of a business epicenter.

It really is nice to be home.

Wide open spaces allow for room to breathe and for this, I am thankful – seeing as today’s workout required a few more litres of oxygen than my typical Thursday.

The quick warm-up on the turf didn’t exactly prepare my quads for what was about to happen

Stair workouts – a different breed of pain.

We all split up into 3 groups of 4 and chose a set of stairs on the sunny side of Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so much sunny as it was cloudy and dreary. Both toques and mitts were in attendance.
Ten sets of sixty stairs …. Our break was a mere walk back down.
That’s right! A bit of quick math tells you that we did a grand total of 600 stairs!
Followed by some double leg hops up 10 stairs 5 times and a set of ankle rudiments on the turf, and the day was complete …. Well, almost – I also still had to hit the gym and lift weights.
Mr. Pain – it’s always a pleasure ….

Friday, October 3, 2008

By

Cassie Hawrysh

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November 19, 2008

A slight detour on life’s ever-changing road map has lead me to the proverbial “Big Apple” – and yes I DO mean the term popularized by John J. Fitz Gerald in a number of New York Morning Telegraph articles in the 1920s – NEW YORK CITY! And what a fabulous experience it has been.

Empire state building wait-lines , the current Wall Street turmoil, the havoc that is Times Square, the uber-selection on Broadway, the occasional less-than-sane subway rider, and a few hours of being lost : all coming together in a blink of an eye.

The city’s industrial-strength “I ♥NY” campaign was loud and proud on every corner we turned … as we would then suddenly bump into another set of tourists aimlessly walking around in amazement. Eyes up, cameras poised.I didn’t do any running downtown – come to think of it I didn’t see any runners downtown. Central Park proved to be the hub of athletic action however. While it took us two hours to bike (at a fairly accelerated pace) the loop I saw many, many people of all ages taking on the hills and valleys within New York’s most famous green space. It was such a different atmosphere there too. Those who would be evidently be college students, the older runners who have been clearly on-pace for longer than I’ve been alive and then there were the racing cyclists. I have four words for them – Go speed racers, go! Twice I almost got pegged: once leisurely riding and the other – more embarrassingly –standing still in a cross walk – oops! Ha ha!

Thank goodness for the hotel gym! 🙂

Home-sweet-home on the 6^th!

Friday, September 26, 2008

By

Cassie Hawrysh

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November 19, 2008

Special Endurance Day.
I am starting to think coaches use descriptive workout terms like “special” to trick us.
But we’re not that easily fooled are we!? The word ‘special’ itself appears quite harmless, and in all honestly typically evokes a warm-fuzzy, hug-from-your-mom kind of feeling … however, in the running world special could, more accurately, be replaced with tricky, difficult, or thorny.

Thorny (in my side) Endurance Day – Yea! Now that rings a bit more true.In flats, on the outdoor track, I did the following workout on my own at 11am
200m <5 min break>
600m <15 min break>
3 x 300m < 3 min breaks>

Goal times:
200m = 33s (girls) 600m = 70s (at the 400 mark -girls) 300m = 51.5s (girls)
= 30s (guys) = 62s (at the 400 mark -guys) = 45.5s (guys)

My 200 was on pace, and my time at the 400m mark of the 600 was actually sub 70 (which was what I was the most nervous about) but the remaining 200m after that felt like I was running in waist-deep water on a sandy lake bottom. UGH!

Then, once I gathered a bit of composure, and attempted to suppress the exhaustion cough I had developed after the 600m run – I ran my three 300s.
The times were average. I was somewhat disappointed, but ultimately it’s the beginning of the season – and compared to this time last year – I’m running MUCH better.

It’s really all about perspective though isn’t it?

I mean, we train, we compete, we train some more, we make adjustments in our diets, and try and stay mentally prepared for anything – but at the end of the day we don’t always look back at how far we’ve come. It’s the here, and the now. The “Why didn’t I run faster”, and the, “I’m not improving” comments that I hear so often from other athletes that force me to step-back. Put your training into perspective. I’m not saying lower your expectations, I’m saying be realistic and fair to yourself.
Set your goals high, and then set them higher – but don’t ever lose sight of them by thinking you aren’t doing everything you can – not even for a moment – because in that moment you’ve already let them get away.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

By

Cassie Hawrysh

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November 19, 2008

Wait a second, did I read this workout right?!
5 x 600m?!?!?!

Blink. Blink. Stare.
Hmmmm looks like I’m going to have to psych myself up for this one.
*Longer distance sprints tend to be a bit of a mood killer for me.
I know, I know – suck it up.

At least we weren’t on the track. We ran the group through some bushes, down some paths and I laughed as one of the rookies happily burst-out “ Yay crunchies “ – undoubtedly referring to the crumpled up leaves.
We warmed up with an unholy amount of skipping A’s and double leg hops up the long slant of the hill. As we completed our up-hill sprints I don’t believe anyone cared much about the “crunchies” anymore.

Running down the path – at a pace of about 75-80% – I couldn’t help but pay more attention to the terrain. “How do cross-country runners do this?” I found myself wondering. The two girls I was running with train for x-country. While It was good to have them there to push me at the ends of the runs … especially when my mind was more than prepared to go on shut-down and my body wasn’t all that far behind … it remained a challenge. Trudge, trudge…

Friday, September 19, 2008

By

Cassie Hawrysh

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November 19, 2008

It’s always the first few days after time-off that tend to test any runner’s mind.
“Am I really as out of shape as I feel right now?” you wonder to yourself … as you push forward through the next run.The variable is your general level of fitness. If you were in top form and took some much-needed time off then the answer is no, you are just starting the re-building phase.
However, if you have been sitting around all summer indulging in a keg-too-many the answer is more likely that you are practically starting over. In either case, the great news is that you’re starting!

Today’s workout was the first ass-kicker of the season.
2x300m <5 min breaks>
2x200m <3 min breaks>
2x100m <2 min break>

My calves were cursing me as it was… before I got the news that we were tackling all this up-tempo ON the track. Joy!

Thankfully, ‘Team Carla’ is back together and we’re all apart of what I call: “grouPain’’
My runs ended up being well-executed and ultimately helped to flush out my muscles!

Friday, September 15, 2008

By

Cassie Hawrysh

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November 19, 2008

Today was the first official practice of the 2008/2009 season! Hallelujah!

We’ve agreed to meet Monday, Wednesday and Fridays as a group and Saturdays on our own, all the while supplementing lifting weights Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday inclusive.

After two weeks of this we will groove back into 6 days a week.
Opening up the season with a circuit is to be expected.
Some general running movements and solid core work allows for the right mix of team bonding and reconnecting through a little pain and suffering. 🙂
10 x 100m barefoot tempo in the grass and the boss let us go home.