Speed Trials

Work Out > Eat Right > Sleep Tight.

No really, he sleeps like this…

One healthy habit influences the next. We’re often told that the best way to lose weight, get in shape, stay healthy is to eat right and exercise. But just as important is getting enough sleep. It’s amazing how much my whole day can just be destroyed if I didn’t get enough sleep the night before. My resolve shrinks to nothing, and I automatically steer towards easy comfort foods (muffins anyone?) and vegging out.  I just don’t seem to care about eating right or exercising when my body is craving sleep.  And the longer the sleep-deprivation lasts, the worse it gets! I’ve had bouts of insomnia that lasted long enough to completely destroy entire training plans and eating plans before.

See???

On Saturday Angelo and I went to a wedding in a nearby town, and we spent most of the day eating, and most of the night drinking and dancing. We didn’t get to bed until late, I was drunk, and we had to get up early the next morning to go to the Water Park with my dad and brother. We spent the whole afternoon out at the Park, and didn’t eat anything till about 6:30pm. I ate a lot at dinner, but still somehow got to bed kind of late and didn’t sleep well Sunday night. Then today, I had breakfast, but I was stuck in a meeting all day with no lunch, and so by the time I got out at 4pm, I was in absolutely no shape to go for a run. (I had wanted to make up for missing Sunday’s 6k run).

Waking up…

My training brain was trying to convince me to go for a run, because I didn’t want to miss two work-out days in a row.  I got worried that my gut reaction to postpone the run another day was just laziness, just a rationalization to give up and nothing more.  But I also knew that my eating and sleeping habits had fallen off course, and as a result, I couldn’t expect my body to perform the way I would have liked it to. I knew that it would have been super punishing to crank out 6km, and I decided that what was most important was to refuel properly tonight, get a good night’s sleep, and get back at ‘er once all systems are go.

Too much cuteness… Sleeps for everyone!!!

For today’s 4km run, I wanted a route that was simple but challenging, so I when I discovered that my favourite laundromat is 2km from my house, the decision was made – I ran to the Tang!

When Angelo and I first started seeing each other (four years ago this July) we lived about a block apart, and we both did our laundry at the Tang Coin Laundry. Though we didn’t actually MEET there, we did have a couple of dates at the Tang. I wasn’t looking for love at the Laundromat – but that’s what I found! (now there’s a story for our grandkids!!)

This run was straight up Somerset Street West, which includes a pretty good incline between Preston and Booth. It was hard!

Once I got to Bronson Ave, I stopped briefly to take some shots of the new Chinese Arch that’s being built at the entrance of Chinatown:

It’s going to be beautiful once it’s done! I can’t wait.

I completed the quick out and back run in 26 min, which includes stopping for pictures and red lights. I was a sweaty mess by the time I got home.

And now I see these things in my near future:

Have a great weekend everyone!

This weekend I was invited to accompany my mother and her girlfriends on an excursion to Toronto to see The Jersey Boys at the Toronto Centre for the Arts.

We took the train early Saturday morning, spent the day in TO, had a lovely dinner at Mezza Notte (gnocchi that could ALMOST rival Angelo’s Nonna’s) and saw the Saturday night performance.

I have real mixed feelings about musicals.  Maybe it’s because I studied to be a dramatic actor, rather than a show-person, or maybe I just have some leftover snobbery from school that these highly financially successful, mainstream pieces of entertainment shouldn’t share the stage (pun intended) with Theatre (with a capital “T”).  My expectations for the show were to be entertained, and not think much more about it. I was going to hear some songs, see some pretty costumes, and maybe be wowed by the sets, and then I was going to go home. And that would be that.

In some respects the show actually exceeded my expectations.  But then, I was also taken aback by some aspects of the show that I never thought would even enter my mind, and it made me take pause on the whole thing.

But let’s start with the good:

The songs. They were great, and there were real musicians on stage, and the actor who played Frankie Valli was SO GOOD and replicated his sound so well, I was bowled over.

Jeff Madden. He’s the actor who played Frankie Valli. He was GREAT. he gave depth and nuances to the character. Lead singers are tough roles to crack, because it’s so easy to play it overly-bombastic and larger-than-life. After all, that’s the frontman’s job. But Jeff Madden played the person within the character, and simply let the power of his voice prove to us what a frontman Frankie Vallie had been.

The Technicals. This was by far the best part of the production. The set was great and created texture, levels of playing area, and easily transported us from one location to the next. The lighting was also extremely good, meshing neon signs with smoky spotlights, from seedy New Jersey Bars to stark hospital waiting rooms. Also, a standout scene occurred at the end of the first act when the set turned itself around and put the audience ‘backstage’ so that we could see what blinding lights and camera flashes must have been like for the four boys on stage.

The transitions. They were all super smooth.  I had a professor once tell me that directing is “50% casting your actors, and 50% managing your transitions” If a director gets the right people on stage, then s/he doesn’t have to worry so much about what goes on during the scene. But transitions, if left unattended, can be lengthy, heavy, and ruin the flow of a show. These were seamless as one scene flowed to the next.

Okay, Now on to the bad:

The use of female characters. I know this is a musical and all, but the female characters were so cliched and so one-dimensional.  Any female character could have been swapped with any other female character and no one would have noticed. It would have been less offensive to simply remove the female characters altogether, and just have female members of the chorus to fill the waitress/vamp/housewife archetypes.

The script. There were moments when the story jumped and sped forward, or screeched to a halt, or moved from present to past, and to me it seemed a little rushed. Maybe a little half-baked. Whatever version of the script this might have been, it could have used one more.

The overt sexism. Basically, I’m reiterating the first two points here. This was a play about four guys who worked to get the fame and the glory, while stringing along wives and daughters, treating them like shit, but asking the audience to root for them anyway, because “hey, we’re the friggin’ JERSEY BOYS! We’re FAMOUS!”. I didn’t buy it, and I would have benefited more from the show had they had a little more introspective when it came to the people they used to get to the top. (but maybe that’s my own personal bias. I’ve always felt that those people are the ones whose stories should be told). At one point, one of the Four Seasons challenges the audience by asking if any of us would have done differently had we been in their shoes. It was a poor choice, in my opinion, and I immediately disengaged from that character for the rest of the show. And yet, I could only assume this scene had been added to create empathy for this character.

At the end of the day, this show really was all about entertainment. None of my companions felt that there was anything wrong with the script or the female roles or any of that, they were just happy to reminisce about a time where pop bands wore suits and ties, danced as they sang, and the pretense of innocence was strong and bright.  The ladies hummed and sang “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” all the way back to the hotel room!

Ottawa felt the shake of a 5.0 earthquake at about 1:45 this afternoon. I was sitting at my desk, when all of a sudden it sounded like a big truck was driving past our building. After a few seconds, we all realized that it wasn’t a truck, and the walls started shaking and everything was rattling, and then it was over. 25 seconds tops. Our building was evacuated, but only for 1/2 an hour and then we were all given the okay to return to our desks.

Source

Secretly I had hoped to be sent home, so I wouldn’t have been able to go to the gym after work. After all, my gym is in the basement of the building where I work, and who knows if there were going to be any aftershocks… (rationalizing is a hell of a thing, isn’t it??)

I don’t know why it’s been so difficult for me to get motivated to stick to my training plan, but it seems like this week has been a real struggle. Once I was on the treadmill, though, I felt really strong.  Today called for more speedwork, and knocked out 6 x 400 meter sprints. Here’s a breakdown:

Warm up (800m): 5.5mph
Sprint 1:  6.7mph
Recover 1: 5.7mph
Sprint 2: 6.6mph
Recover 2: 5.8mph
Sprint 3: 6.6mph
Recover 3: 5.8mph
Sprint 4: 6.8mph
Recover 4: 5.8mph
Sprint 5: 6.8mph
Recover 5: 5.9mph
Sprint 6: 6.8 to 7.2 mph
Recover 6: 5.8mph
Cool down (800m): 5.7mph

Total: 6.4km (4miles)
Time: 39:56
Pace: 6:14/km (10:02/mile)

I felt strong and solid in my run today. I easily could have increased the speed slightly all the way through. I’ll have to remember that for my next speedwork session. In the meantime, I’m just happy I got up and did it!!

PS. Don’t forget to read my last post about signing up for a sprint triathlon.  Have you completed a triathlon (sprint or full)? How was the training – grueling, or tolerable? Do you think it’s something I should do so soon after a knee injury? Let me know what you think, or share your own experience! Leave me a comment on this post.

Training for the Hintonburg 5k Centennial is going very well, and I’m sticking to the plan and pushing myself out the door even when the mood does NOT strike me. (like yesterday’s 5.75k. I had just returned from a trip to Toronto, and the LAST thing I wanted to do was go for a run.  I basically just put on my running shoes and walked out of the apartment and told myself I could go as slow as I wanted – and I ended up running 5.75k in 32 min!)

Additionally, I’m already signed up for my favourite annual race, the Fall Colours 10k (I ran the race in 2009 and in 2008, where I set a PR for 10k at 51:57). This Race takes place on (Canadian) Thanksgiving in Cumberland Village.  It’s really pretty and the leaves are usually changing colours, and both years it’s been sunny and cool – perfect for a good race! My goal for this race is to finally break 50min. It’s going to take some training, so I’ve extended my training plan, as you can see:

Now, at first I was content with just these two races this season.  But my eyes have been wandering, and my fingers have been surfing, and it turns out there is a sprint triathlon scheduled for September 19 that has totally caught my eye.

The Sprint would consist of a 200m swim / 13km bike / 5k run.

Should I do it? Would a sprint triathlon push me over the training edge? Is it a recipe for further injury? Or am I hiding behind last year’s injury because I’m scared of pushing myself too hard? Is this the perfect opportunity to put to practice the swimming lessons I took last winter? Would a little swimming and bike training actually be GOOD for my knees?

I have received opposite responses from my two main sources of athletic inspiration: My beloved fiancé and gym-partner thinks that I should hold off on triathlons until I’ve had a full season of running under my belt; whereas my brother and running-guru thinks I should give it a shot, but with a goal to finish, not to compete for time.

I tend to agree with both. With either. With whoever I spoke to last… And so now I call upon you, my faithful blog friends. You have stayed in the shadows for too long… Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Should I sign up for a sprint triathlon, or should I focus on my two races and leave it at that (that is – until next year!).