Getting Back on Track...Watch out 2013!

Joy here...Okay, I've been back in Canada for two weeks now, and it's time to update the blog.  At first I wasn't really updating because I was sick and jet lagged, and I didn't have much to say.  I was also nursing my knee and taking things a bit easy.  Then I didn't update, because all I really felt like doing was whinging about the fact that I left the tropics behind and came back to frigid winter.

The frozen landscape greeting us upon our return to Canada.

But I figured that no one wants to read about some crazy, whining lady who has nothing better to do than rant about the weather.  My mom always used to say "if you don't have anything nice to say, just don't say anything at all."  Those are wise words coming from a kindergarten teacher who raised 4 kids of her own.

So I guess following the wisdom of my mom, I just kept myself quiet.

Now, I think I'm ready to weigh in with a bit of a more balanced perspective, as I've tried to get rid of my Christmas buddha belly by getting back into the swing of things with both my running and cycling. Since returning, I've done a few rides on my trainer in the basement and a couple of sessions with Coach Woods and the rest of the running crew he trains.

The dome where we do our indoor workouts.

All of that has happened indoors.

Indoors?  You might ask.  Well, as you know, I've got my bike set up on a trainer in my basement, poised in front of the TV, so that I can ride in the warmth of my house, even in the deepest, darkest moments of winter.

And as it turns out, Coach Woods has arranged for us to do our workouts indoors at an indoor track.  For those of you in warmer climes, you may not have ever seen a "dome" like the track where we do our workouts.  Basically it's like a big, inflated balloon, and inside the balloon it's nice and toasty warm, and we can do our workouts along with other people (mainly kids playing soccer) on a Saturday morning.

The view inside the dome, with fields in the centre
and a 400m running track around the perimeter.

So for the last two Saturdays since returning from the balmy tropics (sigh), we have gotten up and headed out to train with Coach Wood's crew (we're toying with the idea of calling ourselves "Mike's Machines"; there's even talk of getting shirts...yes, we're all nerds).

The first Saturday, all I could do was a little warm up followed by the drills and then a cool down run.

The "corner" of the dome where we gather together to
do all our little running drills together before breaking off
to do our individual workouts.

The second Saturday, I did my little warm up, followed by the drills (where I discovered that at the jumping drills, I have some serious jumping abilities!!!), and then my workout, which consisted of running hard on the 100m straight stretches of the track, and slowing down on the 100m corners of the track for a total of 5 times around the track.  Okay, granted, I only made it 2.5 times around the track before I started to feel a little pain in my knee...but at least I'm getting back into my workout groove!

And it was inspiring to see one of the Olympians running 5kms around that indoor track, reaching a Personal Best (PB) time for herself of 20 minutes.  It was great to see her force, power, and dedication as she ran around and around and around in that dome.  And what was even more encouraging is that her 20 minute PB for a 5km is not all that much faster than my 23 minute 5km run back in the fall of 2010.  It's encouraging for me to know that even though I might feel like a sack of potatoes at the moment, soon enough I'll be back up there running to my full potential.

Indoors.

Definitely indoors until spring.

But I'm not whinging.

Over and out,
Joy