The Gong Show Goes Around The Bay

Fun Fact:  Around the Bay is North America's oldest road race.  True story!  I've run this race so many times as an individual participant and I have to say 30km is a perfect race distance.  It's longer than a half so it's still pretty challenging to train for and even more challenging to race well.  It doesn't beat me up as much as a marathon does.   That last 12km in the marathon is what does me in.

This year I decided to do the race as part of a two person relay and I convinced my friend Kiki to do it with me.  We called ourselves the Gong Show because that's usually the happens when we get together.  I took the back half of the race which is where most of the hills are as I figured it would be good prep for the run at Tremblant.  After all I went through in January and February I was genuinely concerned I might not be able to race this.  But when I banged out a pain free 16km run in Florida two weeks before, I knew I was good to go.   I texted Kiki when we got back from Florida to let her know I was 100% in.

My coach's instructions were to race it and to negative split it.  We settled on a goal of 1:10 for 15km.  I figured the hills would slow me down for sure and I wasn't 100% sure I'd be fully recovered from training camp.  So many doubts.  But I didn't let them get to me.  I filed them away and focused on the fact that this would be a test of where my running fitness was at.  Plain and simple.   Sometimes you have to take the emotion of out it because it can mess with your head.

I had an optional 2h and 30 minute ride on Saturday.  I opted to ride for 45 minutes just to spin my legs out.  I wanted to be as fresh as possible for Sunday.  We spent the afternoon at my parents having a belated Easter dinner and we drove home in a snow storm.  I hadn't figured out my race day ensemble yet so as soon as I got home I checked the forecast (again) and then checked Instagram to see what other people were wearing, ha ha.  I came up with this.

It was supposed to be cold and windy.  I had originally thought about wearing my Zoot wind tights but knew that I get really warm in them so I opted for my Zoot biowrap tights with another thin pair of tights underneath.  I wore a long sleeve with sleeves underneath it - I figured if I got warm, I could pull them off easily enough.  My vest is completely wind proof so I knew my core would be fine.  I brought my wool Buff along and wore another one to hold my hair back and cover my ears.  I hoped it would be warm enough.

Race morning, Kiki came by my house and we loaded up the car and headed off in search of coffee.  We hit Tim Horton's and when I tried to roll down my window, it was frozen shut.  So going through the drive through became a bit of a debacle.  But we managed.  Thankfully there wasn't anyone behind us.  I'm pretty sure there would have been some honking, ha ha.

We whipped along the QEW and made it out to the Hammer by just after 8:00 am.  We found some primo parking and sat in the car and stayed warm.  We were just down the road from our secret bathroom stop so we each had a washroom stop in the warmth before we had to head out to our respective spots.  I was carting all of Kiki's warm stuff with me as we'd do the hand off of everything at the relay exchange point.  That meant I got to keep my toasty warm jacket on and that she'd have it waiting for me after.

Around 9 we made our way over to the relay buses and Kiki got on for a few minutes to keep warm.  It was SUPER windy out and the wind was COLD.  She jumped off as it started to fill up and before I knew it, we were on our way.  I was chatting with a lovely woman from Brantford who was my seatmate.  We were at the exchange point in about 15-20 minutes.  The bus pulled over and we were able to stay in the warmth until we wanted to get out.  We sat there for a while, a bunch of us trying to figure out when the best time to get over to the exchange point would be.

We watched the leaders come flying by and eventually people started to trickle out.  I had wanted to do a warm up but didn't really have much opportunity to do so as I was wearing a heavy coat and carrying a knapsack.  And, I had to use the porta potty again.  So I got in the line up and hoped that I wouldn't miss Kiki.  I was watching for my friend David but I never saw him.  I can only assume he ran by when I was in the porta potty.  I got out and ran up the road, watching for Kiki's Boston jacket. A few minutes later I saw her and waved her down.  I grabbed the zip ties and toenail clipper to remove the chip from her shoe and transfer it to mine.  My hands were so cold, I couldn't get the zip ties on so she did that while I shed my layers.  I shoved my jacket into the knapsack and took off.  I booted it up that first hill and had to calm myself down.  I was passing people all over the place.  The wind was brutal through those first 2km but I knew as soon as I turned onto North Shore that it would be fine.

My legs felt a little rough, probably due to the lack of a proper warm up.  But once I got warmed up, I felt really good.  My first two km were sub 4:30.  My goal pace was 4:40.  But, this was about seeing what I was capable of.  So, I figured I'd aim to stay just below that for the first 10km.  And I did, with the exception of the climb just after the 20km mark, which is a long grinder of a climb.  That km was 4:45.  I was amazed at how strong I felt going up hills.  All that glute work paid off.  My form work has also paid off (for the most part).  Normally I'd over stride on the down hills and totally fry my quads but I didn't.  I focused on landing under my body and leaning forward.  There was so much form check chatter in my head the entire race it was crazy but in the best way possible.  I kept telling myself to keep my chest out and arms back.  I have a tendency to drop my right shoulder / arm out a bit so it's almost like a chicken wing, ha ha.  It wasn't hard for me to do at the start of the race but by the end, I was getting fatigued and I could feel my form starting to go.  You can see it in my race photos too.  It's crazy.  My entire right side just collapses.  But that's another post for another day.

This would be the first time I'd run the course without the big hill in it so I was looking forward to NOT having to run up that lung buster.  I figured that would also help me in terms of my negative split.  I am horrible at doing running math so but I figured if I picked up the pace in the last 2-3km I should be good.

I made it through the hills and rollers feeling pretty good.  My legs didn't feel sore or tired at all, which totally blew my mind.   The only thing that hurt were my feet.  I could feel blisters happening, which annoyed me as the socks I had on were ones I had worn multiple times before.  No matter, I was still catching people as I went along.  When we turned onto Plains Road, we had a fair bit of wind to deal with.  I draft hopped people as I went along.  I'd get up behind someone, sit behind them for a bit to break the wind, then pull out and move along to the next person.  The road started to change direction so the wind ended up being at my side, which is much better than running into it.  The big hill had been replaced by flat so I was really happy about that!  I kept checking my pace and doing the math.  I was definitely going to make it under 1:10, the question was, by how much?

I started to push the pace with about 4km left, gradually increasing my speed with every kilometer.  Of course I had to high five the Grim Reaper at the 28km mark as I flew by.  This year there were TWO of them!  I was starting to feel tired and I could feel my form falling apart.  I had to force my shoulders back as I was staring to slouch.  I could see the 29km mark and I really started to push.  I wanted that last km to be the fastest of the day.  I heard someone call my name as I ran towards the entrance to Copps Coliseum (or First Ontario Place as it's now called) but I didn't see who it was.  I took my sunglasses off as I made the turn onto the ramp.  I turned onto the finishing chute and as I came towards the finish line, I heard the announcer call out our team name which made me smile.  I hit stop and glanced at my watch:  1:07:55.  WOOHOO!  I booked it hard those last few hundred meters to try and get under 1:08 and I squeaked by.

I ran into my friend David as I left the arena area and we chatted for a while.  Kiki called me to find out where I was so I went to grab our medals and then went off to meet her.  I changed out of my sweaty shirt and bundled up in my nice warm jacket. Kiki was checking sports stats and said we finished 14th.  I thought that was pretty good.  I texted G to tell him we were leaving and he told me that we were 4th in the open female category and 14th overall.  We missed the podium by 32 seconds, ha ha ha.  If this race went by chip time we would have been on the podium but they use gun time (old school) and the 3rd place team beat us by 31 seconds.  Oh well.  I didn't have any expectations for that so it was a pleasant surprise!

After I downloaded my Garmin, I went back and checked my splits.  Sure enough, my last km was my fastest.  My 2nd last km was my 3rd fastest km.

I was beyond happy with my effort.  I feel like I actually raced smartly for a change instead of going out too fast like I normally do.  And, more importantly, it proved to me that these legs still have it.  There is nothing wrong with the engine, it just needs a bit more fine tuning and that will come.

I had a blast doing the relay and it's definitely something I'd consider doing again.  Especially that early in the season.   The bling ain't that bad either.

My next race will be the Mississauga Half on May 1st.  Can't wait for that one!

You Can't Always Get What You Want: The ATB Race Report

But if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need...so the song says.  Those Rolling Stones fellas really hit the nail on the head with that one.

Brace yourself folks, this is a long one.

I said over and over again that this race was going to be practice for Boston.  I said I wasn't aiming for a particular colour of medal, I just wanted to race smartly, practice my pacing and get used to running without a fuel belt.  

Bulls**t.  I was just kidding myself.  Deep down, I still wanted that gold medal.  I figured with the right pacing I'd get it.  It might be close but I'd get it.   But I didn't.  I missed it by 6 bloody seconds.  Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself.  Those of you that follow me on Instagram know how it all ended.  I've re-hashed the race in my head on and off for the last 48 hours.  I've talked to G about it.  I've talked to Ming about it.  Realistically, I did what I set out to do but somehow that wasn't good enough for me.  Somehow it still ended up being about that damn medal. 

I am far too competitive and much too hard on myself for my own good.  I let a "bad" day / race throw me for a loop.  After Sunday's race I had serious doubts about my ability to be able to run 3:10 at Boston.  And who knows, maybe that is a pipe dream.  But what are dreams if they aren't BIG?

I am thankful for G and Ming who both helped talk me off the ledge.  This was Ming's response to me on Monday:  "Yeah, trust the work you've done and don't doubt yourself. You've analyzed what happened and what needs to be done so flip the page on that and move on... don't get suckered in mentally and over-analyze too much.  Believe me, your body will respond very quickly to hilly stimulus. The first 1-2 hilly runs, you'll feel strained a little... but 2.5 weeks is a lot of time for your body to adapt to a new stimulus. So I have confidence you will rock it at Boston!"

Sometimes I just need a good kick in the pants and a new game plan.

I'm making Sunday's race sound like it was a total disaster.  It wasn't.  It was just a lot harder than I had anticipated it would be.  But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger right?   On to the nitty gritty of the day...

G had been away all week and hadn't gotten any workouts in and as much as I love having him at my races, I didn't think it was fair to drag him all the way out to Hamilton to sit around for 3 hours.  Luckily I still had company.  Thanks to the wonderful world of the Interwebz, a few weeks ago I met up with one of my blog readers / twitter followers to discuss Boston.  It will be Jo-Anne's first Boston and she wanted to pick my brain so of course I more than happy to oblige.  To say we hit it off would be an understatement.  We chatted away for over 2.5 hours.  She was also doing Around the Bay so I offered to carpool out.  She picked up our race kits on the Saturday and then she arrived at my house at 7:30 am on Sunday and we were off.  Due to my lead foot, we made it to Hamilton by shortly after 8:00 am.  Needless to say, we didn't have an issue with finding parking or waiting too long in the porta potty line.  We did our warm up together, went back to the car and dropped our stuff off and then jogged over to the corrals.  She was in Corral C and I was in Corral A so we wished each other luck and parted ways.  I had to pee once again so I ducked into the Quiznos right by my corral and got in a small line up.  There was less than 10 minutes to the start.  Thankfully the amazing store manager went and unlocked the staff washrooms so the line up moved along nicely.  I was in and out and into my corral with about 3 minutes to spare! 

While I was standing in the Corral, I heard someone call my name.  I looked over to see a woman smiling at me. She looked kind of familiar but I couldn't place where I knew her from.  This is the problem with social media sometimes, especially if you're on a few different channels.  She introduced herself and I thought I heard her say Katrina - the music was loud, the announcer was talking and I have a hard time hearing at the best of times.  We chatted for a bit and she mentioned that her husband was also shooting for 2:15 so she had told him to keep me in his sights.  Not hard I suppose, given that I had let the 'fro fly free. It was only after the race when I was on Instagram that I realized this woman was Irina - a fellow Daily Miler and IG follower. 

I found the 2:15 pace bunny and got in with the group.  Kathleen Wynne did the countdown and messed it up (!?!) and then we were off.  My legs felt pretty good out of the gate.  I thought I might be a bit overdressed but knew that we were pretty sheltered at that point and figured it would change once we got out in the open.  Of course my first km was too fast (4:15) but that's the pace that the bunny was running as well so that's where I stayed.  At about 3km in I heard someone say Hi Phaedra and I turned to see Zindine, a fellow Daily Miler (and Irina's husband).  I chat with him for a bit and then move along.  Shortly after that I hear someone else yell my name and I turn around to see my sister's friend Tracy.  I totally flip out and she runs up to run with me. We chat for a bit, but she is super speedy so she pulls away after a while.  That little pack of us was filled with people that I knew (or knew of).  Shortly after I saw Tracy, I ran into Dave Emilio, another Daily Mile pal, fellow Boston runner and Race Director for the Tannenbaum 10km.  I also spot Kenny Yum just ahead of me, yet another Daily Miler.  I ran with Dave and his friend for a little.  That made the time pass nicely.

They changed the beginning of the route this year and I have to say, I don't like it.  The old route was flatter and had a bit more shelter.  This route had virtually no shelter and I think we climbed no less than 3 bridges.  Not fun.  There were some points on these bridges where the wind was gusting so much it was blowing me sideways.  It was a very windy day on Sunday and I think that really made things so much harder for me.  I was never really sheltered from it, despite the fact that I was running in a pack.  And of course, it never seemed to be at my back.  That would be too easy.

My plan to get fluid at every aid station worked like a charm, although it did slow me down a fair bit.  There were 2 aid stations in particular that were horrible in terms of organization & volunteers and I'm chalking it up to the fact that they weren't fully manned.    The one that really stuck out was the 11km aid station.  I had to stop and back track to grab fluid.  It just seemed like everyone wanted fluid and there weren't enough folks doling it out.  I felt kind of bad for the volunteers.  I made a point of grabbing both water and gatorade at each aid station with the exception of the last one at 28km.
My fueling plan was as follows:
Prior to start:  30 Energy Bits + GU Roctane drink (1/4 of a bottle), 45 minutes in: 1 GU Roctane, 30 minutes after that, 1/2 a GU Roctane, 15 minutes after that, the other half of said Roctane.  That took me to 90 minutes in.  At that point I was well into the hills in the back half of the course.  My plan was to take my last full Roctane at 1:45 in, figuring that would be enough to get me up the big hill and to the finish line.  I missed the 1:45 mark and ended up taking it at 1:48.  No biggie.  

I was doing fairly well until the 11km mark.  Then I noticed that my right leg was feeling really sore (IT band area) and then my left glute really started to hurt.  I made a mental note to myself to get a gait analysis done at some point in the near future.  I am clearly favouring one side over the other and I need to figure out how to fix that.  Anyway....back to the race.  I'm chugging along ducking behind some taller runners trying to block the wind but feeling pretty crappy.  At this point, I can't fathom that I still have 19 km to go.  I pass the 14km mark and I look up to see Ming running along the road in the opposite direction.  I was totally surprised to see him, I didn't think he'd be there.  He must have been looking for me with the 2:15 pace bunny but I was a fair bit ahead of him.  A minute later he runs up beside me and asks me how I'm doing.  I say I feel like crap and that I'm just going to hope that I can hold on to this pace through the hills.  I'm not convinced that will be possible but I'm damn sure going to try.   He tells me not to worry that it's tough out there today because of the wind.  That made me feel a bit better.  He ran with me for a bit more and then peeled off just before the relay hand off.

I was starting to get a little fed up with the wind.  It was constantly in my face (I had windburn by the end of the race).  The wind has to be one of the most demoralizing things to race or train in.  You have to work THAT much harder to move forward at the pace you want, therefore you tire out more easily.  It's so frustrating.  On the plus side, it does make you stronger, eventually.  But I wasn't thinking about that at that point in time.  I was cursing under my breath.  Once I got into the rollers, the wind seemed to die down but now I was faced with nothing but hills.  I did what I could to get up them but my winter on the treadmill translated into a serious lack of strength on the hills.  I lost a lot of speed through here, although I did make sure that I hammered the downhills to make up for something.

By about 24km I was totally dying.  I wanted to quit.  I really really did.  I thought to myself there is no way in hell I can run a marathon at this pace.  No.  Freaking.  Way.   But, I didn't stop.  I didn't even slow down to walk.  I knew that if I did that I'd be done.  Surely I could suffer through the next 6km.  And if I stopped there, I wouldn't get to see my favourite dude - the little guy in the wheelchair playing We Will Rock You.  You can't do Around the Bay without high fiving the little guy.  So, I kept going.   Soon enough I could hear Queen blaring and I ran up to him, thanked him and gave him a high five.  I let myself really fly on that downhill, as I figured I'd have to fight my way up the Beast.   That was exactly the case.  It was ugly.  My legs and lungs were completely on fire.  I got passed by a tiny wisp of a woman and I vowed to keep her in my sights so I picked up the pace as best I could.  She was always just in front of me....until we got to the top.  Shortly after I crested the hill and my heart rate started to settle down and I proceeded to try to reel people in, she being my first target.  I caught her.  I had just under 4km left.  I started to push the pace.  Just before I got to the Grim Reaper my legs were saying they'd had enough. My mind had other plans.  And so the conversation began:

Mind: "Uh, hell NO.  Ain't nobody got time for that.  You got a race to finish now suck it up and get yo ass moving." 

Legs:  "I. Just.  Want. To. Stop.  I'm hurting.  I can't do this anymore."

Mind:  "Shut up legs"

I manage to pass a kilometer focusing only on the pain I was feeling, nothing else.  Once I saw the 29km sign, it was all systems go.  A green light went on somewhere and the pain no longer became so relevant because all I could smell was the finish line.  I really started to push the pace.  I caught a girl who had passed me on the Beast.  She tried to stay with me for a bit.  She asked if we'd make 2:15 and I said I thought so.  I told her to keep it up, that she had it and that she was doing great.  I pulled away from her and really started hammering.  My finish line blinders came on.  I turned down the ramp into Copps Coliseum and saw the clock counting down.  I wasn't even thinking about whether or not I'd make it in time to get a gold medal.  I watched the guy in front of me cross the line and then all of a sudden two people came out with a rope and ushered him in.  The volunteer handing out medals turned to me and said I'm sorry as she handed me a silver medal.

I was pissed.  Then I was upset.  I was so close.  I didn't want to get my picture taken by the photographers that were milling about, I just wanted to sit down and sulk in a corner.  Which I did for about 5 minutes until I realized that my legs didn't really hurt that much.  I walked around for a bit more and noticed that I was walking fairly normally.  Bonus.  So, I sat down, stretched and waited for Jo-Anne.  I ended up chatting with a lovely guy from Ottawa and then Jo-Anne showed up.  She had a great race - she ran a 2:37!  Shortly after she arrived, I saw Christina and ran over to say hi.  I also met Britt, who follows me on IG - it was nice to put a face to the handle.  I chatted with them for a bit then went back to Jo-Anne.  We gathered our things and headed outside.  On our way out I spotted Jodi, another IG friend / blog reader that I'd yet to meet IRL.  I ran over, tapped her on the arm and she threw her arms around me and give me a big hug.  The three of us chatted for a while and then Jo-Anne and I went back to the car.   Seeing / meeting those folks really put a smile on my face and made me forget about how I was feeling.  

G said he knew I wouldn't be happy unless I beat my previous year's time but I knew going in this race wasn't about beating last years time.  For me it was more about the medal.  Of course the ultimate goal was to race smartly and practice my strategy for Boston.  The more I think about my day, the less important the colour of the medal is.  Despite feeling crappy by 11km in and having less than ideal hill fitness, I still managed to hang on to my goal pace in very windy conditions.  I honestly can't be disappointed in that.  I may not have gotten what I wanted, but I think I definitely got what I needed.

Look out Beantown, here I come.   

Look Out Beantown, Here I Come!

This will probably be my last post until after Boston, but you can bet that I'll be tweeting and posting on Facebook and Instagram over the next few days.

I've been thinking about obsessing about my race day plan for the last few days now.  I've been trying to familiarize myself with the course profile because I can honestly say I don't remember much from the last time I did it.  I remember the steep downhill at the start and I remember cresting Heartbreak Hill but I don't remember the four rollers that happen between miles 16-20.  I must have blocked them from my mind completely, ha ha.

Yeah, it doesn't look that bad all stretched out like this but looks can be deceiving.  I do remember my quads being completely shredded by the time I hit the 15km mark.  Not a pleasant feeling when you're barely half way through a marathon.

This time around things are going to be different.  For one, I have 10 more years of experience under my belt.  Secondly, I'm mentally a lot tougher than I used to be.  When things start to hurt, as I know they will, I won't get down on myself and I won't slow down.  I'll work through the hurt.  Obviously I want to hurt to stay away for as long as possible so that's where my pacing plan will come in.

My goal is to go sub 3:20.  I'm not sure how possible that will be given that my legs are still not 100%.  I'd say they are still at about 85%.  I ran this morning and my left leg still had some nerve pinching going on.  I'm hoping with some tennis ball rolling and anti inflammatories that I get to 95% by race day.  To go sub 3:20 I need to run 4:44 km's (7:37 miles) at the very least.  I ran that pace on my long run last weekend and it felt easy despite the less than ideal condition of my legs so that's a good thing.  The first 500 m from the start line is a pretty steep drop which evens out a bit and then continues to drop for the next 3.5 miles so it's easy to get carried away.  My plan is to hold myself back slightly for those first 4 downhill miles.  If I'm running a bit slower than goal pace, I'm ok with that.  Once the course starts to even out, my goal is to settle into my marathon pace.  I don't plan on trying to negative split this race, my goal is to run it consistently.  If I have a slight positive split, that's ok.  My biggest concern is that I will get caught up in the starting rush of adrenaline and go out too hard for the few first km and shred my quads.  If I can manage to run a fairly consistent pace that feels comfortable for the first half, then my hope is that I might actually have a bit left in the tank to pick up the pace once I get out of the Newton Hills.  And that will all depend on how my legs feel race morning.  Only time will tell. 

I obviously really did a number on them at Around the Bay but, as I said before, I don't have any regrets.  Especially now because when I came home last night, I had some mail from the folks at Around the Bay.  I thought maybe I got a finishers certificate since I was in the top 5 in my age group.  I opened up the envelope to find this:

I couldn't believe it.  2nd place??  How the hell did THAT happen?  When you look online I'm listed as fourth in my age group, however they do have a masters category so I'm assuming that a couple of the women in my age group placed overall in that category, thus bumping me up to second in my age group.  Whatever the case may be, it totally made my day.

 I'm still not packed which is kind of stressing me out.  I've been so busy at work that I haven't been able to give much thought to anything else.   I come home late so I scarf something down, pack my bag for my next days workout, make my lunch and then I'm so tired I have to go to bed.  I suspect that tonight will be a late night and I won't get much in the way of sleep since G wants to hit the road at 5:00 am tomorrow.  I can always sleep in the car though so I'm not too fussed about that.   All I need to do is get through today without too much stress (ha ha, yeah right) and then it's literally off to the race(s)!

Bring it on!

Goal Getter 2013: March Update

It just seems like yesterday that I wrote my February re-cap.  March was certainly a whirlwind of insanity.  I celebrated a birthday, ran a half marathon, worked 13 days straight (5 of which were in Miami, boohoo for me) and ran a 30km a couple of weeks later.  I set PB's in both races I did and I came very close to hitting goal #10 on my list of resolutions on my birthday (breaking 1:30 in a half marathon).   That would have been an amazing birthday present.  I guess the next best thing is knowing that I'm getting really close.  A summer of racing triathlons should set me up nicely for a sub 1:30 in the fall.  What I did manage to do is hit goal #14:  My race time was fast enough to get me a guaranteed entry to NYC in 2014.  YEAH.

One goal I did have that I didn't put on my list, mainly because I wasn't really serious about it until about a month before the race, was getting my gold medal at Around the Bay.  After my result at the Chilly Half, I was pretty sure I'd be able to do it.  It wouldn't be pretty but I'd probably be able to pull it off.  I did it but it took me almost a week to recover from it.  I went much harder than I should have. But I honestly don't think I would have changed anything, other than the fact that I should have booked a massage a couple of days after the race.  That probably would have helped speed my recovery.  Oh well. 

Got the gold!

 I'm still chugging along nicely with my swimming as well.  In fact I dragged my sorry butt up at 5:30 am this morning to get to the early swim so I could get some mileage in before I went to meet my friend for a run.   I managed to swim 2700m in just under an hour this morning.  That brought my total for the month to 11 swims totaling 23,800m.  I'm now at 231,250m which means I have less than 20,000m to go before I hit 250,000m.   I suspect that I'll probably hit the 250,000m mark sometime mid-May. 

My cycling has been sporadic but at least it's not non existent.  I'm really looking forward to getting outside and riding once the weather warms up.  Realistically that probably won't happen until the end of April but that's ok.  I've got the Computrainer to keep me somewhat accountable in the meantime.


The area I need to get a better handle on is my diet.  I was so good during the month of February but this month has been tough.  I think my crazy work schedule, mixed in with the races and G being away has made it tough to stay on track.  We haven't actually done a proper grocery shop in about a month.  THAT is highly unusual for me.  I will be rectifying that tomorrow.  My body is craving good wholesome food.  I am going to toss out all the little bits of chocolate and other junk that have made their way into the house over the last few weeks as I can't seem to control myself once I indulge.  So into the trash it goes. 

Other than that, I'm happy with the way things are going.  Next stop - BOSTON!

How are your 2013 goals shaping up?

Going for Gold: Around the Bay Race Report

"Gold medals aren't really made of gold. They're made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts"  - Dan Gable

                           

I knew that if I wanted that gold medal I'd have dig deep.  I'll admit it, I was scared.  Scared that I'd blow up.  Scared that I'd fail.  Realistically the only person that would matter to is me, but still.  Fear is a great motivator.  It can also cause you do to some silly things, like throw your race plan out the window.  Which is pretty much what I did.  Instead of sticking with my carefully thought out plan, I chose to run on feel and when I couldn't feel anymore, I'd run on guts. 

My original plan was to be consistent and stick to 4:27's  (that would have me crossing the finish line in 2:13:30).  My fear being that once I hit the hills in the last 12km, I'd slow down a fair bit, despite the fact that I've been running hills on a regular basis in my training.  That would have been a totally fine plan except that once I started running for some reason I felt that 4:27's wouldn't give me enough of a cushion if I slowed down a lot in the rollers.  So, I ditched my plan and opted to run based on how I felt.  Not always a wise thing to do, especially in the early stages of a long distance race because you almost always feel good.  I didn't go too crazy at the start.  In fact, I was incredibly consistent.  My first km was a bit on the speedy side so I dialed it back and managed to hit exactly the same pace for the next 5km (4:20's).  In fact for the first 17km of the race, I managed to stay between 4:20's-4:25's, although my Garmin seemed to be off just a bit for the entire race.  So I think my pace was closer to mid 4:20's through the first 17km.

The First 10km: Getting into a Groove

I had my trusty "Safe & Danger" band on my right arm.  I knew that for the first 10km if I came in around 44 minutes, I'd be good in good shape.  I also knew that the pace I was running was probably going to get me to the 10km mark faster than 44 minutes.  The course is quite flat along here and relatively sheltered so you don't get much in the way of wind until you start heading north.  There are still plenty of people to draft off of as well so I was able to take shelter behind a few dudes, which was nice.  The closer we got to 10km, the more the crowd started to thin out.  I chugged along really well through here, making a point to grab water at every aid station.  My fueling strategy was the same as at my last race.  It seems to work really well for me.  There were a couple of points between 8 and 10 km where my "too slow" alarm went off so I picked up the pace.  We were running into the wind for a couple of km so it's not surprising.  As we came up to 10km I could see the clock.  I didn't pay much attention to the time on my Garmin as it seemed to be off a bit.  I was going on gun time, not chip time so the clock at 10km would tell me exactly what I needed to know. 

First 10km:  43:41.  Sweet.  I was well ahead of where I needed to be and I was feeling good.

The Middle 10km: Staying Focused

As soon as you cross the 10km timing mat, you start to climb a slight incline onto a bridge.  I felt strong going up this incline and actually passed a few people.  On the bridge, however, I slowed down.  It's one of those metal bridges with holes in it, which makes the footing incredibly uneven.  I changed up my stride going over this, which kind of bothered my left knee a bit.  Luckily I wasn't on there for too long and we were headed into one of my favourite parts of the course:  the stretch along Beach Blvd.  Last year there were people that had set up a bacon stand.  I kid you not.  Sadly they weren't there this year.  I'd be lying if I said I felt great through here.  I didn't.  But I didn't feel horrible either, I just felt kind of "meh".  I could see it in my pacing too.  My Garmin started to beep a bit more frequently.  It was almost like I was losing focus a bit.  I didn't panic though, I just kept moving forward, figuring that perhaps I was just going through a rough patch.  I kept watching the time, trying to do the math as to where I thought I'd be time wise at 15km.  I was pretty sure I'd be sub 1:06:00 which was perfect.   The clock at the 15km mark came into view and I could just make out 1:05 something.  As I got closer I saw 1:05:32.  Amazing.  I was at the halfway point.  I had at least another hour and 5 minutes.  Probably more given that I figured there was no way a negative split was happening today.   Knowing that I was well ahead of my 15km "danger" pace of 1:07:30 seemed to buoy my spirits a bit and I started to feel a little better.  I hoped that it would last as I knew that the really hard part was coming.  As we came off the road onto North Shore Blvd, Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills" came on.  How appropriate, as that was exactly where I was headed.  Into the rollers.  I cranked it up and put it on repeat.  I actually started to feel good again so I tackled the first few rollers with gusto.  I remember thinking "this isn't so bad".  Riiight.  I was then smacked in the face with the first of the really ugly rollers.  "Oh yes, now I remember."  I could feel my quads starting to burn.  I let it fly on the downhills, knees be damned.  I spied the clock at the 20km mark but couldn't make it out just yet.  As I got closer, I could see it counting down to 1:27:30.  By the time I got there, the clock read 1:27:34.  Ok, I was slowing down a little but I was still very much in my safe zone and that's all I cared about.  

The Final Leg: Finding My Guts

Remember how I said I felt good between 16 and 20km?  As soon as I hit 21km, it was like I ran into a brick wall.  My entire body hurt.  Probably due to the long grinder of a climb that you do between 20 and 21km.  I got to the top and I was gasping.  I remember looking at my watch and seeing 1:31:30.  I started trying to do the math again.  Anything to keep my mind off the pain.  We were coming towards the hilly part of the GoodFriday 10 Miler course.  There was a very short steep downhill, followed by an equally steep but a little bit longer uphill.  Pure. Evil.  It took every ounce of strength in my legs to get up that hill.  I was starting to worry that I wouldn't be able to hang on over the next 8km.  It was at this point that I noticed a guy running right beside me.  Totally keeping pace with me.  He'd occasionally pull ahead of me a bit and then look over his shoulder to see if I was still there and then he'd settle back into my pace and run beside me.  It was like he needed some company.  There was no way I was getting any words out but it was nice to have the company, even if it was only for a few km.  As we pulled out onto Plains Road, he pulled ahead.  I tried to stay with him but I couldn't.  My legs were really starting to hurt.  My feet were also starting to cramp a bit.  I was thankful to get out onto Plains Road as that meant we were out of the rollers.  All we had left was the Big 'Un in between 25 and 26km.  I caught up with my friend for a bit and ran behind him as we headed towards the valley.  Once we started heading downhill, he pulled away from me again.   I could hear the familiar chorus of Queens "We Will Rock You" and I knew I was coming up to the highlight of the race:  The little dude in the wheelchair and his boom box.  This guy has been out at this same spot, playing this song every. single. time. I've done this race.  So, just like last year, I ran up to him, gave him a high five, thanked him for being there and told him he was always the highlight of my race.  With that done, I started the descent into the valley.  Once again, I let it rip down this hill.  My quads were absolutely shredded by this point but I didn't care.  I knew that once I got up the Big 'Un, it was flat and slightly downhill for the last 3km.  What I didn't bank on was the wind.  More on that later, let's get back to the Big 'Un.  

Everyone has their own opinion on this final climb.  Some people say it's not so bad, others (like myself) say it's horrible.  So in my opinion, it's the worst climb on the course.  When you get to the top you're at the 26km mark so I suppose the only thing that would make it even worse is if it was at the 29km mark.  Thankfully it's not.  It is definitely the steepest climb on the course.  You can see it prominently on the course elevation profile.

Yeah see that lovely dip at 25km, that's the Big 'Un.

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Given how hard I had pushed myself through the first 20km, I figured this climb was going to be just plan ugly.  And it was.  It was like I was carrying a knapsack with about 30lbs on my back.  My pace slowed to 5:30's and all my Garmin did was beep.  Thankfully I could barely hear it over my ragged breathing and cranked up ipod.  I can thank the Arctic Monkeys for getting me up that hill.  Much like they did last year.  I was actually wobbly when I got to the top.  I remember cresting that hill last year and actually feeling pretty good.  Not this year.   Nope.  I was going to leave it all out on the course this year.  It took me about 5 minutes to catch my breath and get back into a rhythm.  Then I noticed the wind.  Good. Freaking. Lord.  It wasn't horrible but in my already depleted state, it certainly wasn't great.  It made the last 3km just a little harder than I wanted them to be.  I tried to catch a few people and draft, anything to ease the hurt I was feeling.  I managed to do that with a wee little guy in a Longboat Runner's singlet but given that he was shorter than me, it didn't really do me much good so I moved on.   I was running on nothing but guts and fumes at this point.  Once again I started trying to do the math in my head based on what my Garmin said.  At about 28km I knew absolutely for sure that I'd make it in well under 2:15.  I think I started smiling just after I high fived the Grim Reaper.  I was guessing I'd be in around 2:12:30.  As I got closer to Copps Coliseum, I started scanning the crowd.  My sister said she'd be out with her boyfriend Jesse and I knew G would be waiting for me somewhere.  Sure enough I saw my sister and Jesse just past the 29km mark.  I could hear her yelling Go get it PK and I remember saying I've so. freaking. GOT THIS.  And making my trademark Rock On fingers (of course).  I may have been hurting but I was beyond happy.  I was smiling the entire way and trying to get the crowd to make some noise, which they did.  I took a very wide corner into Copps, pulled off my sunglasses and pounded down the ramp, wincing at the soreness in my quads.  As I turned the corner I saw the clock had just ticked over to 2:12.  I had nothing left, there was no final sprint.  Nothing.  Some guy came flying by me as I came into the Coliseum.  You go buddy.  I raised my arms and grinned as I crossed the line.  I had done it.  

Gun time:  2:12:26.  Chip time:  2:12:14.  5 minutes faster than last year.

I walked over to get my medal and as soon as the girl handed it to me, I kissed it.  I couldn't stop smiling and I totally couldn't wait to see G.  As I walked out of the stadium I happened to look up and saw him standing there smiling that smug look he gets sometimes when he knows that he was right.  I didn't care.  He was right.  I DID it.  All that worrying was for nothing.  

Good as Gold.

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As I was exiting the stadium, I saw my friend from earlier.  He stopped to thank me and shake my hand.  He said I really helped him.  I thought that was really sweet.  I said that even though I didn't say anything, it was really nice to have the company.  THAT is exactly what I love about running and runners in general.   

I hobbled out to the exit of the Coliseum to go meet G and my sister.  The one thing I hate about finishing in Copps is that they make you take the escalator up to the second floor and then you have to walk DOWN the stairs to the exit.  For whatever reason they don't allow you to just walk straight out.  I guess they want to keep some semblance of order and not have everyone and their brother walking around in the finishing / food area.   Other than that, this race always delivers.  It's incredibly well organized and well supported.  It's not surprising that it sells out every year.  I'll probably be back next year to do it again, even though I'm not planning on running a spring marathon.

Me and my awesome cheerleaders.

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Now I've got 3 weeks to recover and get my last little bit of intensity in before I toe the line in Hopkinton.  Some people that push themselves at Around the Bay go on to have crappy experiences at Boston because it is only 3 weeks later.  Last year I ran ATB at more comfortable pace and I still caved at Mississauga, which was a whole 6 weeks later.  So perhaps this year's experience will remind me what it's like to run with guts.  That being said, I'm not going to be stupid.  Boston isn't a walk in the park and I don't want to re-live my last experience there.   It's been 10 years since I last ran Boston so hopefully I've managed to learn something.  I guess I'll find out in 3 weeks.

Practice Makes Perfect

Tomorrow will be my last big run before I start my taper for Boston.  It just so happens that 30km of the 34 I plan on doing will be part of a race.  I'm a big proponent of adding a few races into a training cycle, especially if you're training for a longer distance race.  What better opportunity to practice your "A" race game plan then in an actual race situation?

I'm done fretting about trying to make my goal time for this race.  Instead, I've decided to really focus on my preparation leading up to it.  This will be the last time I get to test my pre-race fuel strategy before the big day so I'm taking full advantage of it.   I tested things out at my last race and I figured I'd have to make one or two tweaks with my race morning fuel.  This time around I'm going to add a bit more chia to my mix and I'm going to have my half Clif bar 2 hours before the start of the race instead of an hour.  I want to make sure that it has time to fully digest before I start running.

I started my carb loading on Thursday.  I normally don't eat a ton of starchy carbs but I added some sprouted grain bread into my lunch that day.  On Friday I added sweet potatoes to my lunch and my afternoon snack consisted of greek yogurt and some Love Grown Oat Clusters.  Normally it would just be greek yogurt.  For dinner, I indulged in some pasta with turkey sausage, spinach, tomatoes & mushrooms.  This morning I made whole grain pancakes with a fruit compote.  My snack was a lighter version (i.e no peanut butter) of my chia pudding.  Lunch was broccoli slaw, veggies and tuna.  Tonight's dinner will be pan seared tilapia, mixed greens and some sweet potatoes.  That's what I had for dinner the night before my last race and it seemed to sit well with me.  I used to have my pasta dinner the night before a race but it really does a number on my stomach so I've taken to eating it 2 days before so I don't have to camp out in the bathroom race morning.

I've been using chia as my breakfast before a long run and it's worked quite well for me over the course of this training cycle.  I've been trying to get my body to burn fat as fuel first before it taps into my glycogen stores.  I'm don't know how to tell if it's working (this is all new to me!) but given that I haven't bonked on a run yet (knock on wood) I'm assuming that it is.  So tomorrow's breakfast will be a big bowl of chia, almond milk, a tablespoon of peanut butter and a scoop of chocolate protein powder.  Yummo! 

I don't have much of a game plan for tomorrow's race, other than to try to stay consistent in my pacing.  I am probably going to run a bit faster through the first half because the second half is hilly which is sure to slow me down a little.  I had printed out a pace band but realistically I only care about my splits at 10km, 15km and 20km.  So I simplified things a little bit and made my own little pacing cheat sheet.  I think I'll actually type it out and print it off vs. using my handwritten one.  I'll cover it up with clear packing tape and I'll be good to go. 

I've got my race ensemble all planned out as well.  It actually matches my bib, which I totally did NOT plan.  And superstitious me is really digging my bib number with multiple 3s and a multiple of 3.  I do this with pretty much ever race bib I get;  I add the numbers up and then reduce it to one single digit number.  So 3+6+3 = 12 then 1+2 = 3.  Given that my lucky number is 3, I'm pretty happy.  I know, I know soooo silly but I don't care.  We all have our "things" and that happens to be one of mine. 

This is also going to be race number two of my #13in2013 challenge.  Things are rolling fast and furious now that race season has started.   Bring it on!

Setting Goals

As excited as I was for this year to start, I have to admit, I am still kinda hanging on to last year.  I want to move forward but I think I'm a little scared to.  I had such an amazing year last year.  I think it's only natural to wonder if this year could be any better.   I set such high expectations for myself by the end of last year.   They haven't gone anywhere but, knowing I'm going to be tackling a much more challenging distance, there is some doubt.  What if I fail?  I suppose that doesn't really matter to anyone but myself in the grand scheme of things.  I have to go out and try.   So that means taking off my rose coloured holiday glasses and taking a good look at my upcoming race season.

It's time for some goal setting and it's time for me to put it all out there once again so I can remain accountable.  So far I've actually registered for 3 races between now and the end of May.  The goal is 4 races but I also need to budget accordingly.  Race entries ain't cheap!

First up:  The Chilly Half Marathon, March 4th, 2012.  The day after my birthday.  So, no big night out for my birthday.  That will have to happen the weekend after, ha ha.  I ran that race last year in 1:47:49 on a snowy day.  Considering the snowless winter we're having now, I'm really hoping that we have a nice cold snowless day this year for the race.  It is just under 8 weeks away.  Given my current lack of top speed, I think I will have my work cut out for me.  One of the insane girls in my run group said that we're going to aim to break 1:30.  I think that's nuts for this early in the season.  I think I'm capable of a 1:40:00 with my current level of fitness.  I may re-evaluate that when I get closer to race day.

Next up is Around the Bay, 30km on March 25th.  The last time I did this race was 2006 when I was training for Ironman.  I pulled off a 2:40:15 which included a 2+ minute stop at an aid station to tape down a toenail.  So I could have broken 2:40:00.  I am much faster than that now.  My ultimate goal at this race has always been to break 2:30:00.  I'm more than sure I'm capable of that, even though it is a hilly course.  So I'll put a goal of 2:20:00 out there.   That puts me at 4:40/km's which will be tough but I think it's doable, especially given that I'll have a few more weeks of mileage and speed work under my belt.  Again there may be a re-evaluation of that when I get closer to race day.

My BIG race this year is the Mississauga Marathon on Sunday May 6th.  The goal here, which has been set by my friend Kiki is to break 3:20:00.  THIS will be a challenge.  My marathon PB is 3:34:07.  I know I'm faster than that now.  The question is by how much over that distance.  I have upped my mental game big time in the last year and the marathon distance is 50% training and 50% mental.  So I think when the going gets tough, I'll be able to suck it up and keep going.  I'm also hoping to re-qualify for Boston, which with a 3:20, will be no problem.

The 4th race I've registered for is the Toronto Women's Half on Sunday May 27th.  It's only 3 weeks after the marathon but I think if I'm smart with my recovery, I'll be able to go out and rock that course.  I ran it last year and ran a 1:41:37.  If I'm fully recovered, I expect to be sub 1:35 here and hopefully better my age group placing (I was 5th in my AG last year).  Which would be awesome given that this race is usually stacked with very fast ladies.  I'm also coaching a friend of mine who will be running this race so either way, I was planning on being there. 

I am going to have to learn to use my Garmin as well.  I think that will really help me with my pacing.  I guess I should actually finish reading the manual.

Making it all official:

Chilly Half Marathon:  1:40:00
Around the Bay:  2:20:00 or faster
Mississauga Marathon:  3:20 or faster
Toronto Women's Half:  1:35 or faster

It's going to be a fun and challenging season of racing!