2015: The Year Of...?

2014 was supposed to be my #YearOfBigThings and even though I didn't hit all my goals, it was still a pretty awesome year. 

As I mentioned in my 2014 recap, I didn't really have any solid plans for 2015.  That is slowly changing.  My running is coming around.  The knee pain is subsiding and my legs are starting to feel better.  So much so that I actually registered for my first race of 2015:  The Frosty 5km.  I had told G last year that I wasn't going to run any early season long distance races in 2015.  My body needed a break from the high mileage.  My plan was to race short distance for the early part of the year and I'm sticking to that plan. 

I'm going to continue working on my bike and my swim.  I've been bumped up a lane in the pool so I'm back with my old speedy group.   Earlier this week I started laying out the ground work for a training plan to get me back on the bike on a regular basis.  Things are starting to come around.  I'm starting to feel like I've turned the corner so I'm going to lay down my athletic goals for 2015.

1.  Break 20 minutes for a 5km.  My current 5km P.R. is 20:07 and that was off the bike at Toronto Island in August this year.  I know I have a sub 20 5km in me.  I'm not sure where or when I'll aim for this but it will happen this year. 

2.  Do another 70.3.  Again, not sure where or when but it's going to happen.

3.  Reclaim my AG title in the Recharge with Milk Triathlon series for the third year in a row.  I'll be 44 next year (!!!) so I'll be at the top end of the 40-44 y/o AG.  I'm going to have to up my game big time this year as I'm sure a whole slew of younger fast ladies are aging up.  I've got my work cut out for me for sure.

Other Goals:

I've never done a vision board but I've started gathering images and I plan on spending a large part of tomorrow putting things down on paper.  Literally.

In addition to my athletic goals, I have a few other things I want to work on for 2015.

4.  Learn more.  Specifically in regards to coaching / health and wellness.  I feel like this is a path that needs more exploring.  It's a huge part of my life and it's something I'm very passionate about.

5.  Give more.  I get so wrapped up in work, training and racing that it's hard to find time to do this.  Whether this means volunteering at a race or elsewhere, it's something that I need to do more of.

6.  Work on cultivating my friendships.  I have met so many amazing people through blogging and triathlon and we see each other during race season and sometimes we train together but when it comes to just hanging out, that doesn't happen often.  Sometimes it's too easy to say I'm tired or I'm busy.  Friendships, like marriages, require some give and take and effort to make them work.  I find that when I take the time to get together with people, I'm a much happier person.   I may be tired or busy going into it but afterwards, I'm always in a better mood.

For once I can actually say I'm looking forward to the "unknown".  I don't have much planned and normally that would kind of a freak a planner like me out, but I've slowly become ok with this.  It's kind of liberating to not be too committed to anything.   I don't know why but Monty Python's "And Now For Something Completely Different" keeps running through my head.  Perhaps that's what 2015 will be all about.  Who knows.  One thing I do know is that I'm up for the adventure.

Wishing you all a healthy & happy 2015! 

The Last Hurrah: Niagara Falls 5km

Normally it never takes me this long to write a race report but life has been incredibly busy as of late that blogging has taken a bit of a back seat.  C'est la vie when you have an unpredictable full time job.

After Barrelman in September, I said I was done for the season.  I was taking a break.  My knees were a mess and I needed to rest and start working on fixing them.  And I did take a break.  I took a whole 19 days off running and cycling.  For a Type A like myself, that is a big freaking deal.  After the 19 days, my knees felt a fair bit better but the minute I pushed myself or maybe did a bit too much, they hurt again.  So I started going to physio.  I needed a routine to work on strengthening all my smaller stabilizing muscles that have pretty much been sleeping for the last couple of years.   The knee pain came and went.  Some days would be great and some days would totally suck.  But that's how rehab goes.  It's never a straight line.  I did what I could when my body would let me.  I managed one run a week, no more than 6km.  I rode my bike from time to time and I swam and lifted weights when I could. 

My run group had been planning their fall trip to Niagara since the summer.  I had decided I was going to go regardless of whether or not I could race.  The closer we got to race weekend, the more I was getting the itch to do something.  Clearly I have a problem.  I contemplated doing the 10km but then figured I didn't want to suffer through that.  A 5km would be a bit more tolerable given my lack of speed and lower pain tolerance.  So a few days out from the trip, I signed up for the 5km.  The field was really small so I hoped that I'd be able to podium at least. 

Saturday morning G and I rode 60km through Caledon, booked it back to Toronto, threw a bunch of stuff in a bag and drove out to Niagara so we could participate in the #PhatAssChallenge.  So glad we did that, what a blast.  The ride really did a number on my knees though and they were quite sore and running around Niagara for an hour didn't help things either.  My physio had taped them on Thursday and I was determined to keep the tape on until after the race on Sunday. 

After the #PhatAssChallenge, the group of us went out to dinner at a local Italian place.  I even had a beer.  Normally I'd never do that the night before a race but it was a 5km and I was just racing it for fun.  I ate a whole lot of white bread and pasta.  Two things I don't normally eat but that's what was for dinner.  After dinner we wandered around the strip a bit then went back to the hotel.  I think I fell asleep sometime around 11 pm.  The hotel was providing us breakfast at 6:30 am so I got up at 6:00 got myself sorted and rolled over to the hotel restaurant for some coffee and blueberry Eggos (I kid you not).  I grabbed an apple and a banana for good measure.  G drove me out to the race start which was about 4km from the hotel.  Had my knees not been killing me, I might have considered running to the start as a warm up..it wouldn't be the first time I've done something like that.  But we drove and I ended up running circles around the parking lot for my warm up.

We parked in the same lot I parked at for Barrelman.  The run course was on part of the Barrelman course so I knew what to expect for most of it.  It was listed as an out and back but reading the course description, it didn't seem to be so there was a bit of confusion as to where it actually started and ended.   We followed the stream of runners making their way through the parking lot and found some fencing lining the road.  We saw some crowds gathered around so we figured that must be the start line.  As we got closer, I saw hand written signs on posts stuck in the grass that said "5km"  "10km" and "2km".  Ok then.  I had opted for shorts, a tank top with my WTP singlet over it + my crazy tattoo Sugoi armwarmers.  Shorts was ambitious.  I was so bloody cold I went back to the car to change into my tights.  There was no way I could stand around in shorts.  I got my tights on and did a few laps around the parking lot along with some drills to activate my glutes.   I ran into Deb, one of the gals from my run group who was also doing the 5km.   We jumped into the crowd and made our way towards the front.  Her hubby Eric was racing the 10km so he snapped this shot of us before we took off.

  

I'm such a nerd.  

Anyway.  I shuffled up closer to the front and then the next thing I knew, the gun went off.  I was not in an ideal position at all.  I had to dodge a lot of people before we got to the first turn. Once we turned the corner, there was room to spread out and pass people.  I could see a younger girl in front of me with a guy so I focused on reeling them in.  I was pushing hard.  I caught them just before the first km mark.  My Garmin beeped at the km mark and I glanced down to see a 3:58.  Um.  What?!  I didn't think I was capable of seeing those speeds right now.  I knew I wasn't going to be able to maintain that but I was going to try to stick as close to that as possible without barfing. 

I could see another woman and a young girl a fair ways in front of me.  I couldn't tell if I was gaining on them or not.  It wasn't until we got close to the turn around that I felt I was closing in on them.  I prefer to be the chaser.  I find it very motivating to have someone in front of me that I have to catch.  These two girls were running together.  I'm not sure if they were mother daughter or if they knew each other.  Whatever the case, they were the two lead females.  I knew that if I caught them I'd be in the lead.  We hit the turnaround and I got ready to run into the wind.  I knew coming back along through Kings Bridge park was going to be a wind tunnel.  It was the same with Barrelman.  I'm booking it along when all of a sudden I become aware of a very strange feeling in my hamstrings and glutes.  They were slightly burning.  The harder I went, the more they burned.  I could feel them working!!!  OMG.  I'm not sure what excited me more at this point.  The fact that I had actually managed to recruit my glutes or the fact that I was very close to catching these two women. 

I heard someone yell my name (hey Shelley!) so I said "Hey" back and that startled the younger girl.  I was literally right behind them.  She turned around, saw me as I passed and surged to stay with me.  She hung on for a bit and then fell off.  When I say younger girl, I'm talking about 10, maybe 12 years old.  She was YOUNG.  But she had a set of legs, holy smokes.  I had no choice but to keep it pinned.  The finish was down by the Niagara Power Plant right on the Niagara Parkway.  It was a nice gradual downhill from just past the 4km mark.  I let my legs go on that downhill.  I saw G and waved.  As I came around the bend, I saw the tape go up and I started grinning.  I've won a couple of races outright but I've never actually gotten to break the tape.  This was going to be the first time.  I raised my hands in the air and smiled as I crossed the line.  

I glanced down as I stopped my Garmin and saw 20:42.  Uh.  Excuse me?  How the hell did I manage that??? I was fully expecting to be between 21:00-22:00 minutes.  My official race time was actually 20:37.  30 seconds slower than my current 5km PR.  30 seconds is a lot over 5km but given my complete lack of speed work, I'll happily take it.  

And of course I had to buy the race picture because it's not every day that you get to break the tape! 

Trophy Girl!

 I can officially say that's it for my 2014 racing season and what a season it's been! I definitely need a break.  I'm currently in full on rehab mode.  I feel like things are moving in the right direction and I'm having more good days than bad so that's a plus.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to get into a more regular routine come December and then I can start to plan out my 2015 season.  Fingers crossed!

 

Run the Runway 2012

I heard about this race on the radio one morning on my way to work.  My first thought was Awesome!  Running on tarmac amongst the planes, how cool would that be???  As soon as I got into work I googled Runway Run 2012 and signed up.  I hadn't run a 5km in ages so I figured this would be a perfect test to see where my speed was at.  It was nice and flat and I hoped that we'd be lucky and not have too much wind to deal with.  It was also only about a 20 minute drive from home so I figured why not.
I left my house a bit later than I hoped, due to much messing about on Facebook but I still figured I had a decent amount of time to get there, get my kit and do a short warm up.  It took me just over 15 minutes to get up to Corvair.  I noticed a long line up of cars turning left but thought nothing of it and then realized that I missed the turn.  Ugh.  So I had to keep going north until I found a place to turn around.  The next set of lights allowed me to do just that, along with another dude who also missed the turn.  It meant that I was driving into a long line up of cars that were turning right to get into the airport.  I assumed that all these folks were also doing the race.  I glanced at the clock and it was shortly after 8:00 am.  The race started at 9:00.  We were crawling along.  Of course, I panicked and silently cursed myself for not picking up my race kit earlier in the week.  I couldn't see the parking lot nor could I see where we were supposed to turn.  Oh well.  I'd get there whenever I got there and if I missed the start so be it, nothing I could do about it now.

The line up with no end in sight.

 Turns out I didn't have much to worry about.  As I got closer to the parking lot, traffic seemed to speed up.  I rounded the bend and could see people turning into the lot.  There were volunteers everywhere directing traffic which was great as you were basically told where to park.  There was no driving around looking for the "best" spot so there was no parking lot chaos.  Thank goodness!  I parked the car and followed the crowds to the AMF.  The lot was almost full as well.  I'm glad I left the house when I did or I would have had to find alternate parking.  That would have sucked.  It was almost 8:30 so I had half an hour to collect my bib, take everything back to the car and do a little warm up.  Perfect. 

Packed Parking Lot

I tried to talk Gary into coming with me but he would have had to pay to go out and watch so I figured he could save that $60 for another day.   In retrospect, knowing what that $60 covered, I should have just paid it for him.  The funds raised by this race went towards Hope Air, a charity that provides flights for Canadians in financial need that live in remote areas that need treatment or care at larger hospital facilities.  The family that spoke at yesterdays event had to travel 16 hours to get their daughter into treatment on a weekly basis.  I missed the first half of the speech as I arrived fairly late but what I heard certainly got me choked up.  I felt like I was back at my very first race, The Run for the Cure, standing in the crowd, alone, listening to the survivors speak and blubbering like a baby.  What can I say, I'm a big softie.  After the speech, I made my way outside and tried to figure out where on earth we were running.
These smaller races sometimes leave a lot to be desired in terms of organization but this one wasn't too bad especially given the fact that it was being held up at the aiport.  The only real issue I had was with hearing the announcements.   It was tough to hear anything inside the hangar unless you were right up by the stage and outside was even worse.  Several of the runners had to step up and ask the people making announcements to speak up.  I made my way right up to the front so I could hear.  I noticed a bunch of other Team Running Free members and we started to chit chat while waiting for the race to get started.  These guys were from the Orangeville Team and they were all really nice (hi to Hannah, Jeff & Len!).  Hannah had just run her first marathon in Ottawa and was still on high from that.  She'd never run a 5km either so she wasn't sure what to expect.  I told her to go as hard as she could for as long as she could.  That's what I was planning on doing.  I'm not going to lie, a small part of me wanted to run leaning forward with my arms extended, you know, like kids do when they're pretending to be airplanes, but I didn't think that would get me very far.

We were finally given instructions to follow the volunteers out to the runway.  I imagine for the volunteers it was kind of like herding cats but they managed to get everyone fairly organized and over to the start line on the runway.   I wished my fellow Team Running Free mates a good race and wandered off to make my way up towards the front.  I manged to find some space about 3 rows back which was perfect.  The countdown started and then we were off.  The crowd spread out very quickly probably because there was a ton of room to do so.  One of the positives of racing on a really wide surface!  This was great as I didn't really have to work my way through too many people.  The course was a big oval.  We ran out about 200 m, made our way around some pylons and then headed out along the runway.  My heart rate immediately spiked and I could feel the lactic acid starting to build in my legs.  My breathing was shallow and ragged.  Not the best way to start a race but at least it was short.  I figured that I'd calm down by the time I hit the first km.  Sure enough, as I approached the 1km mark, I started to feel better.  My Garmin beeped and I looked down to see that that first km was run in 3:44.  Uh.  Wow.  Not sure I'll be able to keep that pace up but it's a good start.  I passed a few guys and then realized that there were no other women in front of me.  Wow, where is everyone? was all I could think.  I figured there had to be another woman close behind me but I didn't want to turn around to check so  just kept running as hard as I could.  Kilometer number 2 rolled over in 3:53.  Whoa, another sub 4 minute km.  Geez.  I was really feeling it in my legs.  It was hot as all hell out on the tarmac.  I figured we should be turning around soon so I kept my eyes glued on the runners in front of me, waiting patiently for a sign that the turnaround was coming up.  Given that the course was totally flat and I had a bunch of taller people in front of me, I couldn't really see anything.  Finally I saw the 3 leaders coming towards me.   Ahhh, I was almost halfway done.  I also got to see where all the other ladies were.
I made my way around the pylons only to be smacked in the face by a headwind.  Awesome.  That would explain my sub 4 minute km's earlier.  I glanced at my Garmin and watched the speed drop.  4:00 min/km's, down to 4:08's down to 4:11's.  I hoped that the 2 women that weren't too far behind me didn't have a strong finishing kick.  I seemed to be able to hang on to 4:10's but I desperately wanted to find someone to draft off of.  I pushed hard to catch the guy in front of me and I tucked in behind him for a bit.  He started to pull away and I couldn't hang on.  I couldn't see the finish but I could see the 4km marker coming up.  I started to tell myself only 5 minutes max, just hang on for another 5 minutes.  I was totally dying.  I was hot, I was hurting and I really felt like I was going to heave.   The triple H was almost in affect!  I was hoping that I'd save the heaving until I crossed the finish line.  Projectile vomit would not have been very sporting of me.  The finish line started to come into view and I saw 2 of the volunteers scrambling with the finish line tape.  I tried to push but I had nothing.  As I got close to the line 2 guys passed me on either side and broke the tape.   

REALLY?  


Ah well, first place was first place, no matter if got to break the tape or not and I managed a new PB of 20:17 so it was impossible for me to be disappointed.   And the guy in question came up to me much later and apologized profusely which I thought was really nice.  He had no clue that I was the first place woman.  He thought that they put the tape up because he was the first place team finisher.  Such is life.

It was definitely an interesting place to race.  Given the logistics involved I thought that the organizers did a pretty good job.  There was a TON of post race food and water which is always great and there were plenty of porta potties on either side of the hangar so they were very well prepared.  The medal is also pretty cool too.  The best part is that race managed to raise $200,000 for Hope Air.  It's definitely something I'd do again.  If you want something flat, fairly fast and unique, then I'd highly recommend this race.

 
(photo credits: Phaedra Kennedy)